'All right Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my close up' - NC lgbt newspaper publishes feature on me

Editor's note - I should have had a Bette Davis/Joan Crawford picture handy

As part of its look at lgbt African-Americans in the Carolinas, the North Carolina lgbt newspaper QNotes published a nice article on yours truly and my work on anti-gay lies and propaganda:

In the middle part of the last decade, Columbia’s Alvin McEwen was in the process of writing a book. He’d wanted to track the actions and movements of the anti-LGBT religious right and document them. The book publishing was slow, and a friend, he said, suggested he start a blog. And so, his blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, launched in 2006.

McEwen, 43, poured his heart into tracking statements and actions from well-known right-wing leaders.

“I was looking at how anti-gay groups distorted information,” McEwen explains. “Looking at their tactics and their history of cherry-picking science and relying on junk science.”

He soon attracted attention and support from gay blogosphere powerhouses Jeremy Hooper of GoodAsYou.org and Pam Spaulding of the now-retired Pam’s House Blend.

 . . . McEwen believes — and has often been able to prove or link together — deliberate attempts by rightwing groups to twist facts, mischaracterize scientific studies and malign LGBT people in the process.

“They say they are standing on God’s principles and God’s law,” he said. “Okay, if you’re doing that, why do you have to lie? Why do you have to do all these other things?”

Check out the rest here. I think the author and the publication did a wonderful job.

Federal judge orders Mobile probate judge to do his job, issue same-sex marriage licenses

First gay couple to marry in Mobile, Alabama. #ALmarriage http://t.co/zRHALOGrQT pic.twitter.com/OwYU6VUDaq
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) February 12, 2015

It's a good day to be gay, particularly in Alabama. Not only did Chief Justice Roy Moore get verbally ripped from one end to another during a CNN interview with Chris Cuomo, but less than an hour ago, a federal judge ordered the probate judge in Mobile, AL to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses:

A federal judge on Thursday afternoon ordered Mobile County, Alabama to start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, a ruling that could pave the way for other local officials across the state to follow suit.

In an eight-page decision, U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade reiterated that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage had been struck down and clarified that Mobile County’s probate judge, Don Davis, had to adhere to that decision.

Shortly afterward, the Mobile county office that issues marriage licenses opened its windows, which had remained shuttered this week, to begin serving all couples.

Though Granade’s ruling only applies to Mobile County, gay rights groups hope it will provide clarity to probate judges in all 67 Alabama counties, more than half of whom refused to give out marriage licenses to gay couples this week even though same-sex marriage became legal in the state on Monday.

 . . .  It was Roy Moore, the state’s chief justice, who prompted the defiance of many probate judges by ordering them late Sunday not to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

'CNN's Chris Cuomo 'takes Roy Moore to church' during interview' & other Thursday midday news briefs

I heard a lot of positive buzz surrounding this interview. Apparently CNN's Chris Cuomo took Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore "to church." What do you think?

In other news:  

Coming Out At School Is Worth The Risk For LGBT Youth, Study Finds - Yes it is.  

NOM directly links its anti-gay, pro-discrimination cause to 1963 March on Washington - One wonders if NOM will complete the inaccurate analogy and find its own Bayard Rustin (i.e. the gay black man who coordinated the 1963 March on Washington). 

 Mississippi KKK Chapter Backs Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore In Anti-Gay Marriage Fight - Aw that's nice! Roy Moore has his own cheering section.

 Linda Harvey: This Valentine's Day, Fight Against LGBT Rights - Damn, Linda! Can't you do what the rest of us single people do on Valentine's Day - watch horror movies and porn.

The Erasure of 'Gay' From Black History & the Black Community Must Stop

Bayard Rustin

In celebration of Black History Month, the following piece I wrote and initially published by The Huffington Post is very appropriate. Throughout the piece are photos of famous lgbts of color:

As a gay African-American, I've heard the argument about how "you can't compare the gay civil rights movement to the African-American civil rights movement" more times than I care to count.
The constant so-called moral outrage of some African-American heterosexuals when the topic is mentioned has gotten me to the point where my mind automatically tunes out the monotonous drones of how supposed sinful homosexuals are "high jacking" the civil rights movement or how gays "can't compare their sin with black skin."

As such, I almost missed the epiphany which occurred two weeks ago.

Nell Carter

I was vaguely scanning comments on a conservative site by an anonymous African-American female as she went on and on about how gays were never subjected to slavery, segregation or declared three fifths a person. While the logical side of my mind was gathering up the customary argument of how wrong it was for disadvantaged people of any stripe to play the "Oppression Olympics," the emotional side of my mind struck immediately.

"This is the most ignorant crap I've ever heard," I thought. "Just where in the hell does she think gay black people were during slavery and segregation? On a spaceship orbiting the Earth? "

I was instantly struck by oddity of what I had thought. Not that my outrage wasn't coming from a place of truth, mind you, but how the simple fact never entered my mind that yes, gay people were subjected to slavery, segregation and racism because of our skin. Just as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of color exist now, we existed back then. Then it suddenly struck me again that I've never recalled any acknowledgement of this fact during the myriad of discussions, I've read, listened to or seen regarding comparisons between the gay and civil rights movements.

And why is that?

Older gays give advice, younger gays should pay attention

Part of the mission of this blog is to provide our lgbt children with encouragement and strength as they navigate through life. With that in mind, this video courtesy of Buzzfeed of older gays giving advice is pure awesome:

'New Jersey case could destroy 'ex-gay' therapy' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

New Jersey Judge Slaps Down Ex-Gay Group: Being Gay Is Not A ‘Mental Disorder’ - There are just so many sweet spots about this case, but the best is that it is happening slowly, therefore the humiliation of ex-gay therapy is happening in delicious slow motion. 

This court ruling could mean the end of gay conversion therapy - And the repercussions would be like "so much crushed velvet."

 Gov. Robert Bentley doesn't want same-sex marriage disputes to hurt Alabama's image like 1960s did - I got some bad news for you, Gov. Bentley. We are waaaaay past that territory.

 Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback Rescinds Anti-Discrimination Protections For LGBT State Workers - Gov. Brownback isn't exactly known for being the lgbt community's best friend so I'm surprised that it took him THIS LONG to show his true color.  

How Conservatives Are Pushing Liberals Out Of Christianity - This is an important piece because some conservatives are pushing the lgbt community out of Christianity. The final judge is always God, so Man's talk of who is or isn't a Christian is always immaterial.  

Bill O'Reilly Invites Hate Group Representative To Attack SPLC After Ben Carson Added To "Extremist Files" - And they all play dodge ball. Sooner or later, that ball will get them. You can only dodge the truth for so long. 

 Alabama Marriage Mess Shows Dangers Of Distorted 'Religious Liberty' Claims - A serious plus in this Alabama marriage equality mess.

Anti-gay groups attempting to push new, error-filled study on gay parenting

Having learned absolutely nothing from their attempts to push through a soon discredited study  during the DOMA trial two years ago, anti-gay groups and conservatives are at it again.

According to Zack Ford from Think Progress:

Conservatives are excitedly promoting a new study that supposedly reveals negative outcomes for the children of same-sex parents. Like the infamously flawed Mark Regnerus study rushed out two years ago, the new study seems timed to impact the Supreme Court’s upcoming consideration of marriage equality for same-sex couples. It suffers, however, from some of the same flaws and biases as Regnerus’ study, and doesn’t actually support the argument against marriage equality that it tries to make.

The new study comes from Donald Paul Sullins, a Catholic priest and sociology professor at Catholic University of America. Sullins is a fellow of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute, a project of the anti-LGBT Family Research Council, and a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, which has funneled millions of dollars into fighting marriage equality over the past decade.

Those facts should destroy the study's credibility from the beginning, but in this environment of headless monsters (i.e. inaccuracies which continue to be propped up as fact no matter how many times they have been refuted), it's best that the beast, or this new so-called study, is completely refuted. And Zack does a wonderful job at pointing out its errors, including:

There is no information whether or not the same-sex couples were married,

The study has the same flaws as the infamous Regnerus study,

and lastly:

As a vehicle for opposing same-sex marriage, the study severely lacks integrity, as its political positions don’t jibe with its data. “Biology matters,” Regnerus asserts, and Sullins emphasizes that his study identifies “the importance of common biological parentage for optimum child well-being.” Nowhere, however, does Sullins or Regnerus suggest that this has any policy implications for adoption or foster care by different-sex couples. It might be a hard case to make given Sullins has two adopted children of his own.

The attempt to push this flawed work underscores the simple fact that the lgbt community shouldn't take anything as a given. The feeling now is that the Supreme Court will legalize marriage equality nationwide. However, with opposition so willing to stop this from being a reality and determined to stoop to all sorts of levels of distortion, it would serve the lgbt community to not be so quick to set wedding dates and be more inclined with remaining on the lookout for more distortions, smears, and lies.