Gee Matt Barber, why don't you tell us what you really think about decriminalizing homosexuality

The United Nations resolution urging countries to decriminalize homosexuality gives us an interesting view into the religious right mindset.

The non-binding resolution, backed by the 27-member European Union, calls on governments worldwide to decriminalize homosexuality. France, which put forth the initiative on Human Rights Day, is expected to submit a draft of the proposal at the U.N. General Assembly next week.

More than 80 countries have laws against homosexuality, including nine that prescribe death as punishment.

The resolution has opposition from the Roman Catholic Church which claims that it would lead to same-sex marriage.

Interestingly enough due to negative outcry, the Vatican seems be opposing the resolution and giving it support at the same time:

The United States government has yet to give an answer about the resolution which is still being drafted and carries the support of 56 countries.

But leave it to One News Now and former Concerned Women for American spokesperson Matt Barber to put an incorrect spin on the story:

The decision (I think the article meant resolution) represents just one step in the overall plan of homosexual strategists, according to Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel. "It's a brave new world out there, and homosexual activists have infiltrated the ranks of the United Nations. So I will not be surprised if this resolution does in fact pass," he contends.

. . . If the resolution succeeds, Barber fully expects a push to begin for recognition of homosexual "marriage" that could become a party of international treaties, binding signatory nations to recognition.

Barber offers no proof about his claim of "homosexual strategists" and it's not the first time he has exploited the fear of the unknown as a substitute for truth. On more than one occasion, Barber has conjured up the specter of invisible hordes of "homosexal strategists" or nameless groups of "radical homosexual activists" to justify his claims.

The most recent attempt came earlier this year when he addressed how researchers were complaining as to how he and other members of the religious right were distorting their work to claim that gays have a short lifespan.

Barber said that the researchers were under "tremendous pressure" to complain. Of course he didn't offer any proof of this at the time. Just like he doesn't offer any proof of his lie about "homosexual strategists" in the U.N.

(I talk about the situation regarding Barber and the Canadian study here and here.)

Using the threat of gay marriage to oppose a pro-gay law, ordinance, or resolution is a tactic the religious right have undertaken since their success in the 2004 general election. It is said that Bush was elected on the backs of so-called values voters who came to the polls in huge numbers to oppose same sex marriage.

Since that time, the religious right have sometimes tried to beat back potentially pro-gay laws or ordinances (be it anti-discrimination laws or hate crimes legislation) by claiming that they would lead us down a slippery slope to gay marriage, polygamy, and out-and-out chaos.

It's never amusing when they manipulate this fear, but on this occasion it's downright ugly.

To hear Barber say it, the United Nations should not worry about advocating that lgbts not be persecuted by arrest or death. Gays getting torched out of their homes or publicly hanged doesn't seem to be a big deal to him.

But allowing those same gays to walk down the aisle? That's worse than the Apocalypse.

Talk about your lack of priorities.

Hat tip to On Top Magazine for help on this post.

Way to go Colin Powell!!

If I ever became a Republican, it would be because of people like Colin Powell:

Powell: GOP 'polarization' backfired in election

The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" and start listening to minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for Sunday's "GPS" program, President Bush's former secretary of state said his party's attempt "to use polarization for political advantage" backfired last month.

"I think the party has to take a hard look at itself," Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views — I don't object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority."

Colin Powell is the only publicly known black Republican worth a damn. The rest aren't worth shit.

I don't say that because of what Powell said but because of the meaning behind his words.

All other African-Americans who publicly align themselves with the Republican Party (and conservatives) have no backbone. From Star Parker to Michael Steele to Alan Keyes to Ken Hutcherson to Harry Jackson to Larry Elder, they seem to be content with toeing some stupid line, taking that right wing think tank money and running interference for those who have real power in the Republican Party.

Attack Jesse Jackson or bring up Louis Farrakhan's name to inflame the white folks?

No problem.

Attack gays for daring to compare the lgbt struggle to the civil rights movement even at the expense of making lgbts of color invisible in the public eye?

No problem.

Exploiting the election of President Obama by allowing yourself to be in-demand criticizers of his policies on right wing sites like Town Hall and One News Now even though you know that your appeal is solely because you and him share the same skin color?

No problem.

Where are the black Republicans who will demand leadership roles in the party rather than wear the token sign with pride?

Former Representative J.C. Watts tried but to paraphrase comedian Paul Mooney, he got his "Negro wake up call" and realized that the Republican Party only wanted him for photo ops or when they needed a black man to criticize Jesse Jackson.

They didn't give him any real leadership.

Powell is not stupid. He maintains his autonomy and integrity.

Even a pitbull has to rest

I'm tired. And this is highly ironic because I am on the cusp of an interesting story which I hope to finish by next week. And if it turns out like I want, it will be a doozy.

But today, permit me to direct you to other interesting links:

O’Reilly’s Christmas paranoia: They want to ‘revoke’ Christmas! (oh spare me, please. And here I thought we only wanted to have Judy Garland's birthday declared a national holiday. Those damned aetheists are always butting in on the "gay agenda.)

Gay Marriage and a Moral Minority (Amen my brother! And I especially liked that first sentence.)

W. Va. Lesbian Couple Fights to Keep Baby (From Florida to this? Talk about a dance. Every time we take two steps forward, they try to drag us back one.)

On the defense, digging that hole, where they belong. (That Newsweek article by Lisa Miller has really upset the religious right. I have never felt so much the desire to kiss a woman than I do now.)

Truth Wins Out hits back with ad in Salt Lake City newspaper (Go Wayne! It's your birthday!)

Yes Mr. Huckabee, there are some haters on your side

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared on the Daily Show publicizing his book, Do The Right Thing. In this appearance he yet again tried to make his opposition of marriage equality sound reasonable.

Host Jon Stewart skewered Huckabee and I rather liked that. But Huckabee did something that annoyed the hell out of me.

He made another reference to us gays supposedly "unfairly" calling people on his side of this so-called cultural war "haters."

It amazes me how the religious right and their cohorts like to flip the script. They are adept in trying to play the victim by whining how the “other side” (and that would include me) are so quick to call them “bigots” and “haters” when supposedly all they want to do is “protect traditional marriage.”

And I'm frankly tired of it.

Most of all, I don't like Mike Huckabee carousing the talk show circuit channeling Maria Von Trapp and taking advantage of the fact that he has a platform that lgbts don't have in order to distort the reasons behind our anger.

What he needs to do is check the backgrounds of some of his supporters.

Such as Jane Porter (nee Folger).

According to People For the American Way's Right Wing Watch:

Mike Huckabee willingly associates himself with Porter, praising her in his new book as "one of the main catalysts" for his success in the Republican primary and haling her as among a "new wave of leaders" who will remake the Republican Party in their own image.

Oh really?

This is the same woman who, according to Wayne Besen (in his excellent book Anything But Straight), falsely accused the gay organization ACT-UP of being partially responsible for pressuring the American Psychiatric Assocation of removing homosexuality from its lists of disorders in 1973. The only problem with that is ACT-UP did not exist until the 80s. The organization was formed to fight ignorance about the AIDS virus.

This is the same woman who, on a July 30, 1998 episode of the ABC news program Nightline, said she agreed with the sodomy laws that at the time could jail lgbts for private sexual behavior.

And this is the same woman who wrote a mind boggling, idiotic column in which she forecasted a future where Hilary Clinton was elected as president.

Apparently according to Porter, Christians will be placed in prisons for re-education and labor camps thanks in part to us lgbts:

When the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" ("Thought Crimes" for the Workplace) became law, businesses and ministries were targeted by homosexual activists and were forced to close when they wouldn't comply with a law forcing them to hire those opposed to their beliefs on moral issues.

When they canceled my program, banned my book and targeted my ministry, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd be forced into "prison ministry" against my will. Unfortunately for our nation, that ministry is growing fast. A homeschooling mom was assigned the cell next to me. I try to comfort her, but she cries constantly at the thought of her kids being raised in government foster care.

The forced labor here makes me think that I should have done more for our brothers and sisters in China sent to labor camps for the crime of hosting a home church, or those imprisoned in every Muslim country for choosing Christ over Allah. We should have seen the writing on the wall when Yahoo turned over confidential searches to the Chinese government, sending people to prison, and when Google barred American Christian sites from its search engines as "haters." Finding allied ministries is now almost impossible.

And don't think Porter likes Obama either. Again according to Right Wing Watch, since his election, she has written six columns pushing the lie that Obama should not be president because he is not a natural born U.S. citizen.

If Huckabee wants to do the right thing, he needs to stop playing the martyr and look at the behavior and words of some of his supporters.

He would see that us lgbts do have a point when we refer to them as haters.

Don't start nothing and there won't be nothing

Tomorrow is Day Without Gay, in which members of the lgbt community are encouraged to take a day off from work (call in "gay") and donate time to service.

Unfortunately, certain circumstances preclude me from being able to "call in gay" at my job and donate time to service.

But I will make contributions to the cause in my own way; especially the part about trying not to spend money during the day. Although that will be partly because of necessity.

Despite it all though, I hope that tomorrow will be successful and the beginning of an annual tradition.

Speaking of which, it seems that the religious right and their cohorts are doing their best to make our protests seem like rampant acts of violence.

The scuttlebutt today is a column by singer and "Christian" Pat Boone (published in World Net Daily) in which he sounds the same familiar lies that Michelle Malkin, Chuck Norris, and Newt Gingrich alluded to; that lgbts are engaging in wild acts of violence against Mormons and Christians.

Boone's claims follows a full-page ad printed in the New York Times that I talked about last week. The ad, by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, tries to take the high road while inferring yet again that gays are a violent lot who can't abide by the due process of law.

What a crock of shit.

But I have to say something. I love the way the community has jumped on these lies and those who push them. We didn't wait to voice our opinion and demonstrate how full of it these folks are. And we are doing it in positive manners.

Wayne Besen puts it best:

In a breathtaking display of lies and hypocrisy, a group of anti-gay culture warriors and long-time Mormon bashers placed a full page ad in the New York Times pretending to be both victims of alleged homosexual “mobs” and staunch defenders of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Both claims are absurd and a cruel attempt for the victimizers to claim the mantle of the victimhood - which is a manipulative and cynical political ploy.

The dishonest Times ad essentially claimed that violent mobs of gay protesters were attacking the Mormon Church and its followers in the aftermath of California voters narrowly approving Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in that state. They even launched a website www.NoMobVeto.org. (It seems they forget that they put basic human rights up for a vote, which is essentially mob rule)

This Times ad is full of blatant lies - much like the immoral television ads attacking same-sex families during the Prop. 8 campaign. The fact is, the vast majority of the rallies across America were peaceful. Considering gay families just got stripped of their basic rights by deception and deceit, the protests were remarkably tame. If any other group had been subject to such humiliation through a multi-million dollar smear operation, there would likely have been riots in the streets - not the fake “violence” conjured in the bogus Times ad.

Besen especially points out the hypocrisy of the signers of the ad who are all of the sudden "defending" the Mormon church:

“Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.” – Bill Donohue, Catholic League

“Mormonism either affirms historic Christianity, or it doesn’t. Since it doesn’t, it can’t call itself Christianity – a fact that all the good will and public relations in Utah can’t change…“While Mormons share some beliefs with Christians, they are not Christians.” –Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship Ministries

“Most evangelicals still regard Mormonism as a cult.“ — Rich Cizik, National Association of Evangelicals

I really do hope this group shines a light of shame on those who promote religious bigotry - but they better be wearing very dark sun glasses when this occurs, as the glare from the light may be quite blinding. It appears that the only thing these men have in common with Mormons, or any other religion that they don’t agree with, is an uncommon passion for anti-gay discrimination. To watch these hypocrites act as the great defenders of the LDS church, and religion in general, is beyond laughable.

Box Turtle Bulletin also breaks down other comments these "peaceful folks" have said:

Ronald J. Sider - Evangelicals for Social Action

We cannot ignore this general truth when we come to the issue of AIDS. If the Bible teaches that homosexual practice is wrong, as I think it does, then it is right to suppose that violating God’s law in this area will have negative consequences.

This is not to say that the AIDS virus is some supernatural divine creation to punish homosexual practice; have emphasized that I reject that view. But I refuse to bow to today’s widespread relativism and deny and ignore the clear biblical teaching that some actions are wrong no matter what Hollywood or Greenwich Village says. Ignoring the moral order of the universe has consequences.

As a citizen. I insist on the right to say that and to seek to shape public policy in ways consistent with that belief without being called a bigot. [Emphasis added]

Chuck Colson - Prison Fellowship

It’s these attitudes, and the worldview that produces them, that have fueled the gay-rights movement. It rolls on because it resonates with what many Americans believe. And that means that the only way to slow it down is to change the terms of the debate: to once again establish that we are not lower than the animal species, that sex is not for recreation-it is for procreation.

This is why, for example, we need to pass a federal marriage amendment. If we do nothing, we are going to be facing the same future that Christians in the UK are facing: a future in which preaching the truths of the Gospel is against the law.

Dr. Alveda King - civil rights activist

God hates racism and God hates homosexuality.

Add to this Mr. Obama’s unprecedented support for homosexual rights and anti-procreative marriage legislation, which includes his promise to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and which would unleash a storm of sexual immorality such as America has never seen: then we can see which way the wind is blowing.

That’s what we’re facing today in the debate over homosexual rights. Homosexuals can either choose to be victims, or choose to make a change.


William J. Donohue - Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It‘s not a secret, OK? And I‘m not afraid to say it. That‘s why they hate this movie. It‘s about Jesus Christ, and it‘s about truth. It‘s about the messiah.

Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost.

Name for me a book publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death style. There are certain things that the left won’t tolerate. They are censorial at heart.

As for Pat Boone, I say we sic Little Richard on him. That is unless he has given Little Richard rightful recompensement for the songs he and racist record companies stole.

After all stealing is a sin, unlike homosexuality.

They don't hate us - they just want to treat us

Who would have thought that anyone associated with Sally Kern would become the lgbt's best spokespeople in demonstrating the basic dishonesty of the religious right

Kern (who was re-elected in the November elections) began a firestorm earlier this year when she called lgbts "terrorists" in a speech.

Her comments initiated a groundswell of anger in the lgbt community and a rallying cry of support from the religious right.

The main thing I remember from it all was the guise that Kern took. She claimed to be a simple politician, mother, and Christian who said what she said not because she hates lgbts, but because she loves them.

That old Anita Bryant defense never goes away. Well if Kern loves us gays, then she needs to have a talk with her husband, Steve:

A special investigation has revealed Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has his eyes on the state executive office and is working closely with religious extremists to fill the Metropolitan Library Commission of Oklahoma County with anti-gay members in order to court the fundamentalist vote.

Cornett and Steve Kern, pastor of the Olivet Baptist Church and husband to State Rep. Sally Kern, are being accused of teaming up to rid the library system of all gay and lesbian materials, as well as those their church-based philosophies find objectionable. A source close to Cornett alleges, “The Mayor is looking to become Oklahoma’s next governor in 2010. With the conservatism rampant in the state, he feels now is the time to fully side with fundamentalist Christians in order to get their backing. He believes one way of doing that is going on an all-out assault on gay citizens. Even if things are done that would later be overturned in court at a great cost to the City, he will walk away a hero to certain people.”

The insider also stated, “The Mayor is aware that Ernest Istook is returning to Oklahoma to join the governor’s race again. Istook has the conservative base locked in, so the Mayor must shake loose Istook supporters if he is to get past the Republican primary. Gays are easy targets for him. He tried to use them in 2006, but it backfired. This round he wants to make it clear he is without a doubt against gay rights.”

Gossip Boy received other tips regarding Cornett’s ambitions and the scheme to appease Christian extremists, who sided against him in the 2006 race for 5th District Congress, and began a covert ploy to expose it. A reporter posed as a citizen working with the Mayor to push gay and lesbian literature out of city libraries and contacted Steve Kern.

According to this transcript, Kern said the following regarding gays during the conversation:

"We have to get rid of that and start curing those sinners. It’s past time that this nation stopped placating sin and start putting them in education programs. Courts can force drug offenders into treatment centers and violent people into anger management. There’s no reason our courts can’t do that with homos."

Treatment centers? Isn't that special.

If this story pans out to be true then the fact that we seem to be used as a campaign issue yet again gets me upset.

We have been used so many times as campaign issues by the religious right that we should sue for our cut of their donations.

At least leave the money on the dresser, boys.

Seriously though, I don't the idea of treatment centers for gays is high on the list of religious right priorities but it does speak to their activities.

I refer to it as the Native Son philosophy.

In 1940, African-American novelist Richard Wright wrote Native Son, an excellent novel in which he declared that if black men were violent, it is because racist American society was taking every option away from them to be anything but violent.

In that same sense, the religious right likes to point to the HIV rate and studies that allegedly show lgbts suffering from a high rate of depression and the like as proof that lgbts have no sense of morality or values or that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle."

But in many cases, it is religious right actions that can lead lgbts to behave in ways that are not necessarily conducive to their survival.

These actions - whether it be attempting to keep lgbt children from forming gay/straight alliances, keeping lgbts from getting married and adopting children, and very vocally complaining about any and every thing that gives a positive look at the lgbt community via libraries, movies, or municipalities - go a long way in sending a message to lgbts that we don't count as humans.

When you tell a group of people that they are diseased (physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually) and then take every option away from them that will prove you wrong, sooner or later, you will have diseased people.

So I guess that means folks like Steve Kern have been trying to "treat" us already.

Grandstanding Principal Wants To Return

Irmo Principal Eddie Walker doesn't want to resign after all.

You will remember that Walker is the South Carolina principal who announced rather publicly earlier this year that he would resign before permitting a gay/straight alliance to be formed at Irmo High School.

The controversy his stance created pitted members of the community against one another. Some said that Walker stood up for morality while others said he should be fired.

Now apparently, Walker has changed his mind about resigning:

Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker, who planned to resign at the end of the school year because his values conflicted with a proposed Gay-Straight Alliance at the school, has changed his mind and wants to stay, school officials said.

Lexington-Richland 5 interim superintendent Herbert Berg received a letter from Walker this week “indicating his desire to remain at Irmo High School,” district spokesman Buddy Price said Thursday.

Before the new controversy erupts over Walker, I still have a question.

Obviously Walker is a popular principal. From what I have seen and heard, parents and students alike respect him.

But there is nothing wrong with gay/straight alliances in high schools. Despite all of the conjecture, they are not dating clubs nor are they sex clubs. Gay/straight alliances are a welcomed refuge for lgbt students who are still in the closet or are out and intimidated by other classmates.

So my question is why couldn't Walker have had a meeting with the students who wanted to start this organization? I think he would have gotten a better understanding as to why a group like this is needed. I constantly hear that Walker's door was always open and he made himself accessible to students. Well this was a time where such accessibility would have been the difference between reaching a quiet understanding and escalating the situation.

And Walker's objective as a leader should not have been escalating the situation. Perhaps had this meeting taken place, Walker wouldn't have felt the need to subject himself and his school to being public spectacles.

The way Walker handled this situation (and the way he continues to do so) is largely responsible for the criticism he is receiving.

At first, he made this huge unneccessary grandstanding gesture of quitting in order to "stand up for his values and beliefs." But now he is avoiding the grandstand and instead has taken to crawling back like an immature child who realizes that his threat to run away from home did not allow him to get his way.

So should Walker be allowed to return? As long as the gay/straight alliance is allowed to exist and thrive at Irmo, the school board can appoint Walker to any position they deem necessary.

But they should remember (as well as Walker) that the Irmo community suffered a needless controversy; something that wouldn't have taken place had Walker been the leader that so many have claimed him to be.