South Carolina lgbts of color have serious discussion on identity

Even as the unfortunate zaniness of the Hobby Lobby decision grips our community with uncertainty, we still manage to make progress on other fronts. Check out this very excellent segment of the Columbia, SC African-American Sunday morning talk show, Awareness, where three very good friends of mine have a pleasant and thought-provoking discussion on being an lgbt of color:

'SCOTUS sends mixed messages but guts 'ex-gay' industry' & other Monday midday news briefs

In a decision today which has the potential of far reaching negative effects for lgbt equality, the Supreme Court ruled for family-owned stored Hobby Lobby against ACA's birth control mandate:

The Bait-And-Switch Behind Today’s Hobby Lobby Decision

Six Groups Other Than Women On Birth Control Who Have Something To Lose In Hobby Lobby

BUT in another ruling which we are sure to hear negative things about from the religious right once they are done with their Hobby Lobby euphoria, the Supreme Court also put another nail in the "ex-gay" industry:

 Supreme Court Upholds California's Ex-Gay Therapy Ban

In other news:

Bobby Jindal Courts Religious Right With His Eye On 2016 - Oh this OUGHT to be so much fun!

Barber: Gay Marriage Is 'The Brainchild' Of Satan - Oh stop. We all know that cellphones are the true "brainchild" of Satan.

NOM's march participants contradict group's message of 'love'

The truth is a delightfully strange thing. No matter how you try to hide it, it always comes through. Case in point - those who led the recently unsuccessful March for Marriage claimed that it wasn't against gays nor did it espouse any type of hatred.

I guess they forgot to tell the few folks who participated:

Don't be fooled by the whinings of a 'gay witch hunt' because it's all a big con game

To hear folks like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, Bryan Fischer, Matt Barber, and the rest of the religious right tell it, folks like them (they like to appropriate the word 'Christian' but I'm not going to abide by their fantasies of entitlement) are the "victims" of the successes of the lgbt equality.

They claim that their views will cause them to be  "unfairly" labeled as bigots, their views are going to be shunned, and their voices are going to be forcefully silenced:

“This New McCarthyism demands, ‘Do you now think or have you ever thought that marriage should remain the union of a man and a woman?’ Answer incorrectly, and watch your career be taken from you and your reputation smeared on a thousand websites. . . .That is the fear, that traditional American values are being criminalized as opposed to simply being out of fashion, ” - Tony Perkins

“Even supporters of abortion don’t go around saying that people who believe that life begins at conception are evil people. But this is not the case here, and the problem is that the establishment gay marriage groups have not condemned this view that those of us who favor traditional marriage are bigots and therefore should be abolished.” - Brian Brown

It's a clever move for these individuals to slyly shift to victim mode. In doing so, they can conveniently avoid mentioning their past endeavors to hinder lgbt equality. 

When Perkins, Brown, and the rest of that ilk nail themselves to the cross of false victimhood, they can avoid mentioning all of the nasty comments, lies, and distortions they have propagated against the lgbt community over the years. They don't have to talk about the many times they accused of us being pedophiles and all around public health menaces. They don't have to talk about the anti-gay propaganda they have pushed and have inspired others to push. Propaganda like this below:

You see, this entire so-called culture war, this argument over marriage equality and lgbt equality in general didn't happen in a vacuum. Nor has it been attempts of an overly aggressive minority of folks to force their views against "traditional morality" on the majority as Perkins and Brown will have you to believe.

It's merely an unfairly maligned group of people slowly but surely attaining justice and rights after being dogged, scorned, beat upon, and stepped on for a long period of time.

Perkins, Brown and company are counting on the fact that people will forget all of these things, but it ain't going to happen. I, for one, won't forget it. And I'm going to make it my mission that people remember it. All of it.

And by all means, please don't think any silencing of Perkins and company will be going on. The way I see it, they have a LOT of explaining to do with regards to their past behavior.

Editor's note - For a good history of anti-gay propaganda over the years and how it reflects on today, read 'How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America'

Latta town council rehires lesbian police chief

Crystal Moore has been rehired

This just came in and it is a must post. Crystal Moore has been rehired as Latta, SC's police chief:

Latta Town Council met Friday at a special meeting where they voted to rehire an employee its mayor fired. The meeting was the first since Tuesday's special referendum where residents voted to change the way the town's government works, striping some powers from the mayor.

Council unanimously  voted (6-0) to rehire previously fired Latta Police Chief Crystal Moore. Mayor Earl Bullard, who originally fired Moore, was not at the town council meeting on Friday evening. After she was re-hired, Moore was sworn in around 7:30 pm.

"Thank you for your hard work and dedication. I will see y'all on the streets,"  Moore told the town council and some residents at the meeting after she was sworn in.

 . . . The vote from Tuesday was certified on Friday afternoon and now, hiring and firing of key positions are done by the council and not by the mayor.

Earlier this week, Bullard hired a replacement police chief, Freddie Davis. However, on Friday evening, before re-hiring Moore, the town council voted that Davis' contract was not valid and asked him to step down as police chief The town council also voted 6-0 to expunge 7 reprimands from Moore's record. Those reprimands, which were all delivered to Moore on her firing day by Bullard, were the reason Bullard gave for firing her.

 Moore was appointed police chief before being fired by Bullard. The speculation was that Bullard fired her because she was lesbian. Bullard denied this, but a taped conversation in which he made rude comments regarding the lgbt community and children contradicted his claim. Since that time, Bullard and the Latta town council have been feuding over his actions

Related post:

Was a SC police chief fired because she is lesbian? The proof is in the mayor's statements

Know Your LGBT History- 'Night Warning'

The motion picture Night Warning (1982) is from the time when movies were gritty instead of stylized pulp and it is a surprisingly good little thriller. First, take a look at the trailer:

I should reveal that the trailer is extremely deceptive. The plot involves Jimmy McNichol portraying a high school student who lives with his aunt (portrayed by the late Oscar-nominated actress Susan Tyrell in one her infamously throw all caution to the wind performances). She has been taking care of him ever since an ugly auto accident took the life of his parents when he was an infant. Things begin to get strange when McNichol, a basketball star at his high school, has the possibility of receiving a scholarship to college. Needless to say, his aunt is furious because she doesn't want him to leave.

In fact the possibility of him leaving makes her so screwy that she tries to seduce the television repair man and ends up murdering him when he turns her down. Claiming that he tried to rape her, Tyrell is backed by McNichol who came in right after the murder. As the motion picture continues, Tyrell continues to become more unhinged.

However, for the purpose of this blog, let's talk about the policeman investigating the murder. Detective Joe Carson (portrayed with venomous glee by Bo Svenson) is right to believe that there is more to the story. However, his conclusions are not only wrong, but also fueled by a vicious degree of homophobia. At first, he accuses Tyrell of being a lesbian. Then, after he discovers that the murder victim and McNichols' coach were lovers, he suspects that McNichol was involved in a gay love triangle and subsequently committed the murder himself. Oh and he also forces McNichol's coach to resign in an ugly scene.

To say that Carson is homophobic is an understatement. His dialogue is frequently peppered with anti-gay slurs and regardless of the fact that another policeman attempts to convince him of another theory involving the murder, he is bound and determined to work the gay angle.

As the movie continues, Tyrell takes even more drastic steps to keep McNichol at home and we find out that her mental state has never really been secure. Needless to say as the movie reaches its climax, she begins to get a little "knife happy" (as all unhinged women did in thrillers back in those days). Night Warning reaches its crescendo as we find out unsettling things about the auto accident which orphaned McNichol as well as his aunt's relationship with him.  Of course there is the requisite bloody fight at the end, but just when you think its over, Night Warning throws a curve at you.

Detective Carson's homophobia, which was lurking throughout the movie, fuels an explosive climax which will leave you both sad and breathless at the same time. This movie is offered in its entirety on youtube so what the hell, here it is under its other name Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker. But is is NSFW:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'Religious leaders spooked about Obama's pending LGBT executive order' & other Friday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Unfortunately, a mishap with my home computer kept me from publishing a morning post today. I hope to take care of it when I get home via a little history erasing (okay a lot of history erasing) and rebooting several programs. This mishap took place at a bad time because I am super psyched about this afternoon's edition of "Know Your LGBT History." It will be posted come hell or high water because I've been waiting for almost a week to put it out. But on to today's news briefs:

140 Religious Leaders Petition For Exemption From Obama’s Pending LGBT Executive Order - Oh come on, guys!

Why I Outed Gay Republicans - A good friend of mine, Michael Rogers, reminisces about the justifiable chaos he caused by outing gay Republicans and I totally agree with his reasoning.  

For NC banquet, FRC assembles one of most anti-gay crews imaginable - For a North Carolina banquet, the Family Research Council is assembling a homophobic version of the "Legion of Doom" If there is a God, the entire wait staff will be gay folks.  

Majority Believe Marriage Equality And Religious Liberty Are Perfectly Compatible - Yet more proof that those who are the loudest about this issue aren't necessarily correct. They just know how to boggart.

  Ben Carson Explains How Gay Marriage Is A Marxist Plot To Impose The 'New World Order' - See post above this one.