NY Giant Victor Cruz helps bullied teen gain closure

On the risk of sounding preachy (oh the hell with it, I might as well), I think it would do our community some good to focus less on trivial things, such as wondering if Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is gay, and more on things like this:

In NFL Characters Unite, Cruz meets 19-year old Joey Kemmerling, who came out when he was a middle school student. Joey was relentlessly bullied for years because of his sexual orientation. Classmates called him hateful names, physically hurt him and even threatened to light him on fire. The school locker room was a particularly painful and dangerous place for Joey, as much of the taunting took place there. At one point in high school, the situation got so bad that he contemplated suicide. With the support of his mother, Joey was able to move past the homophobia and harassment he experienced and he decided to use his voice to help stop bullying. He launched a youth-led anti-bullying organization, became active with the nonprofit GLSEN and has spoken to groups of students, educators and even members of Congress. Now, thanks to Victor Cruz, he gets an opportunity to clear another hurdle: revisiting a locker room, a place that still conjures up painful memories. Cruz takes Joey on a tour of the New York Giants locker room to help him put the agony of his past truly behind him. Joey gains closure he needs to continue on his path to full recovery and learns to Never Say Never to overcoming his fears.

'NOM's Brian Brown continues self-delusions' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Today marks a very special anniversary for me. On January 8, 2013, I published How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America. Since that time, I have no doubt driven a lot of you crazy with my constant promotion of the booklet. However, there is a method to my supposed madness. I'm not naive to not realize that one day, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters will exit the public arena of blogging. I know that one day, I may get too tired, too burnt out, or something else of an emergency nature may cause me to cease this blog.  And when that day comes, I want to leave something of a legacy. I want to leave a reminder about what we fight. We aren't fighting religions, nor people in a general sense. We are fighting ignorance and lies peddled by those who seek to exploit fear and religious beliefs. The lgbt fight for equality is about dignity, respect, embracing our God-given right to self-determination, and the ability to fully embrace our sexual orientations without fear of reprisal. Most of all, I want to empower the lgbt community (especially our lgbt children) to fight the principalities and organizations which seek to keep us shackled in a second-class status. And fight to win.

So, as I have always done, I encourage folks to read, download and share How They See Us either via new site established in December or via Scribd. We will win this fight. Of that I am most certain.

In other news:

2014 may be the year of decision for marriage - How do you know when you have lost the fight against marriage equality? When you write an column in a right-wing publication calling for a constitutional amendment against marriage equality and the majority of commentators say "you must be crazy!" It's very very rare that I would link something from that awful Daily Caller but this is a hoot.

NOM prez pretends his movement has momentum; and I'm a unicorn - And this confirms the first item. NOM president Brian Brown is getting delusional. It's okay. He gets paid extremely well for it.  

Not Pono: Hawai'i Republicans Bash Transgender Teacher - More lies about lgbts wanting to 'indoctrinate' children. Cut it out, folks.  

Philadelphia PD Revamps Policies For Dealing With Transgendered - Good. We need more like this.

LaBarbera: Kids Better Off In Single-Parent Household Than With Same-Sex Parents - Dear Peter, the next time you whine about being called a bigot, please remember that attacking same-sex families is in fact bigoted.

A lesson in anti-gay 'paraphrasing' via Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' memoir has just been published and Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council sent out the following tweet:

Memoir: Fmr SecDef Gates was "blindsided" by Obama push to repeal law on homosexuality in military @washingtonpost http://t.co/Ca712FwPMS
— Peter Sprigg (@spriggfrc) January 7, 2014

This is the portion of Gates' memoir which Sprigg paraphrased:

“For me, 2010 was a year of continued conflict and a couple of important White House breaches of faith,” he writes. The first, he says, was Obama’s decision to seek the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays serving in the military. Though Gates says he supported the decision, there had been months and months of debate, with details still to work out. On one day’s notice, Obama informed Gates and Mullen that he would announce his request for a repeal of the law. Obama had “blindsided Admiral Mullen and me,” Gates writes. 

Now some may say that this still doesn't look good, but I disagree. Sprigg's tweet fails to mention that Gates supported the decision to repeal DADT. The only problem was that Obama, as per his prerogative as President, pushed for the decision more immediately than Gates wanted.

The way Sprigg tweets, it fits his organization's false narrative of Obama supposedly pushing a "radical homosexual agenda" when the truth is less about agenda and more about a simple disagreement as to the immediacy of policy change.

'Utah marriage opponents denies calling for an 'uprising'' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

AFA Affiliate Defends Russian 'Gay Propaganda' Law -  Don't get mad. Broadcast.  

Did Sheriff Richard Mack Really Call For An Uprising Against Gay Marriage In Utah? - Utah marriage equality opponents - "Hey, we never said a thing about an 'uprising' because of marriage equality. I mean no one said it in the meeting and just because the word was in our literature didn't mean we were talking about violence. We were really talking about a nice game of croquet where everyone participating gets trophies . . ." 

Pittsburgh City Council Elects First Openly Gay President - Looks like our nefarious plan to "indoctrinate" the Pittsburgh Steelers is right on track. I get Troy Polamulu  

Evander Holyfield Has Homophobic Beliefs But ‘Love For Gays’ - Don't they all. That's like getting slapped in the face and then being kissed on the lips by the same person. In spite of what some folks claim, lgbts neither figuratively nor literally go for that crap.

 17 Politicians Who've Faced Gay Rumors Or Sex Scandals - No comment two times. Those who know what I mean know what I mean (and that's not a typo.)

NOM's Brian Brown whines about being called a bigot while acting like a bigot

Apparently the irony of acting like a bigot while decrying being called a bigot is something National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown never considered as he recently railed at the gay marriage conducted at the Rose Parade:

"All along, we’ve been hearing from activists who support same-sex marriage, ‘Hey, if we redefine marriage, it won’t have any effect on you, this is about loving individuals, what they decide to do, it will have no effect on you.’ Well, lo and behold, it has to be shoved in the face of families -- many of whom voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman – on a float at a family event. … We know that when you redefine marriage this is taught in schools, we know that teachers tell kids that folks who believe in this notion of marriage as a union between a man and a woman are discriminating, they’re the functional equivalent of bigots. And now it hasn’t even stopped in the classroom, now the idea has to be, well, at family events we need to make a point to have a same-sex marriage to sort of put it right in their faces and call them out. Well, that’s just wrong. In America, we can disagree over key issues, but the idea that you would target children and make this about using a family event to sort of indoctrinate kids, that’s just wrong."

Or in other words:

Yep, no bigotry there.

FRC's Tony Perkins crows about 'Duck Dynasty' while hiding his fear of debating

Of course Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is crowing like a rooster over the recent 'Duck Dynasty' controversy.

"Although the victory belonged to the Robertsons, the real winners may be the American people -- who finally witnessed homosexual activists for what they are: intolerant bullies. As FRC has said for years, the goal of GLAAD and others is to silence anyone who dares challenge the idea that homosexual behavior should be celebrated. We've seen these vicious tactics used against wedding florists, bakers, photographers, sports journalists, students, and teachers who've been fired, hauled into court, fined, suspended, and ordered to violate their religious beliefs by endorsing same-sex "marriage." For once, the American people have stood up and shouted, "enough!" I had the opportunity to talk about this incredible sea change over the holidays. If you missed it, check out the video from those interviews on ABC's "Nightline" and Fox News's "Kelly File . . ."

If you ask me, I think he is overestimating the entire thing by calling it a "sea change for three reasons.

First, wasn't he and others on his side making the same ridiculous comments last year about how the "American people stood up to gay bullies" during the Chic-Fil-A controversy? And we see how much of a "sea change" that did NOT turn out to be.

Secondly, I find it ironic that Perkins would mention his interview on the  "Kelly File" It was on that program which Perkins allegedly REFUSED to debate lgbt activist and bloggger Jeremy Hooper, thereby forcing host Megyn Kelly to interview Hooper and then Perkins in one-on-one sessions. A good journalist knows how to find a new angle in any news story, but unfortunately everyone seems to have missed this one, including the lgbt media.

Lastly, if Perkins wants to talk about ugly tactics and intolerant bullies, perhaps he should take another look at his organization, as this clip shows:



According to Media Matters:

Perkins has called gay people "pawns" of the "enemy," said that gays will experience "eternal damnation," praised a Ugandan bill that would impose the death penalty for homosexuality, and declared that members of Congress who voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell had the "blood of young Marines" on their hands. His organization has been labeled a "hate group" for routinely peddling the myth that gay men are more likely to be pedophiles than straight men. In addition to regularly spouting anti-LGBT rhetoric, Perkins has also been linked to white supremacist groups in his native Louisiana.

Of course Kelly didn't ask Perkins about any of these issues even after assuring Hooper that she would.

It's relatively easy to use an interview to bolster your view of a "sea change" when you have the person doing the interview in your hip pocket, isn't it Tony?

Robin Roberts: ' “I have never been happier or healthier than I am right now.'

Those who read this blog know that I have railed several times against the lgbt obsession with celebrities. However, this time is an exception.

African-American lesbians don't have as much visibility as they should, not even in the black media. While gay black men, bisexuals, and transgender men and women have to deal with being stereotyped, black lesbians are generally erased, as if they don't exist.

So when Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts came out, it was a good thing.

And today was even better as she debuted a picture of her and her girlfriend, Amber, at her niece's wedding while talking her happiness and health:

Roberts:“I’m going to tell you all this, because you have had a front row seat for that tumultuous year,” Roberts said. “I have never been happier or healthier than I am right now. And my year-end post was just full of gratitude and just telling everyone all that I’m grateful for, including my girlfriend, Amber, who loved me through a very difficult year.”