Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Friday, February 19, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

Let's bring down the craziness of the week a bit with this entry of Know Your LGBT History:

In spite of its name and reputation for being a blaxploitation film, Blacula (1972) is actually a good movie with genuine scares in some places.

The movie is about an African prince who is cursed with vampirism by Dracula after an attempt to get him to stand against the slave trade. He is awakened in the 20th century where he causes extreme mayhem while searching for the reincarnation of his true love.

A big plus of Blacula is the portrayal of the title role by Shakespearean actor William Marshall, which is another example of how talent can take a bad movie and make it into something more.

You actually feel sorry for him in some scenes, especially at the end. And this could probably be a first. How often do you feel sorry for a bloodsucking creature of the night?

But for the purpose of this blog, the following scene shows how Marshall's character (who is not named Blacula, but Mamawaulde) is awakened by two gay men. No they don't try to have sex with him. They bought his coffin with other antiques during a rummage sale:

More anti-gay insanity courtesy of CPAC and other Friday midday news briefs

Elaine Donnelly and pals 'inform' CPAC about the dangers of DADT repeal at presser - After the Stephen Baldwin dig at Obama (see below), I think that I'm done with CPAC.

Stephen Baldwin On Obama: 'Homey Made His Bed' (VIDEO) - Nothing says "intestinal disorder" quite like conservative Christian implied racism. I said it once and I will say it again - Stephen Baldwin was sooo much more useful to the universe when he was showing his bare ass in B-rated movies.

Turns Out Everyone Who Opposed Bob McDonnell Was Right - A certain governor seems to have declared war on the rights of gay citizens.

Frank: House on track for ENDA passage, ‘less sure’ about Senate - The Beach Boys said it best - "wouldn't it be nice."

Why This Black Gay American Still Supports President Obama - Good perspective from Earl Fowlkes. Everyone need to read this.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

World Net Daily writer evokes Martin Luther King, Jr. in support of Ugandan 'kill the gays' bill

The above video is the essence of the term "going too far."

This video by World Net Daily writer Molotov (and believe me when I say that the name fits) Mitchell has been around for months. It was shocking when I first saw it and when I view it now, I am still repulsed.

In this video, Mitchell criticizes Rick Warren for speaking out against the infamous Ugandan "kill the gays" bill.

And just so that no one mistakes his position, Mitchell goes into detail as to why he thinks Uganda is correct for pushing this bill, which goes as far as punishing gays and lesbians with the death penalty.

Amongst Mitchell's points:

The Bible is totally on Uganda's side,

Uganda is merely reacting because an "evil homosexual king, Mwanga" raped young boys and murdered a group of them who would not have sex with him (never mind that this incident took place between the years of 1885-1886),

Uganda "doesn't want to kill homosexuals, they just want them to stop practicing homosexual acts,"

If gay Ugandans don't like the law, they can leave,

and the Founding Fathers would have agreed with Ugandans. I believe his words were (at 2:51): "Ugandans are making decisions that our very Founding Fathers made so long ago but we are terrified to touch today."

But the most offensive item from this video comes at 3:00 when Mitchell actually evokes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to justify not only this bill but his labored defense of it: "Like the great Dr. King told us, 'the moral arm of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.' Ugandans, stay on the right side of history."

Mitchell's diatribe is probably the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and the fact that he actually evokes the words of Dr. King, a man who died for the causes of justice and nonviolence, to support a bill which would create genocide is beyond foul.

And it further illustrates the futility of the argument taking place between the gay and black communities about whether or not the civil rights movement of yesterday is the same as the gay rights movement of today.

Both communities need to recognize that while they are playing a useless game of position, people who share both identities (gay and black) are getting wiped out.

CPAC welcomes homophobes and other Thursday afternoon newsbriefs

Meet CPAC speaker, "XPAC" youth outreach leader and gay-hating bigot Kevin McCullough - The title of this post states the obvious but I've jumped all over Kevin McCullough on several occasions for inaccurate homophobic statements he has made. It's time for someone else to get in on the fun.

Video: And the winner of #CPAC10's 'Who'll 1st liken us to Hitler?' contest is... - And where would a right-wing conference be without ugly references to our families?

Lesbian Mayor E. Denise Simmons Joins Senate Race - One story you probably won't hear about. Click on title to see why.

Black and Openly Gay New President for Grinnell College - Another story which needs more attention.

VA Anti-Gay Gov. McDonnell Strips LGBT Employees of Protections - And we should be surprised because . . .?

'Kill the gays' bill supporter reduced to showing gay porn in church

It's getting increasingly clear that neither Peter LaBarbera nor Paul Cameron has anything on anti-gay Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa when it comes to stigmatizing the gay community or being a walking Freudian slip.
Check out his lastest exploit:

A pastor seeking to bolster Uganda's anti-gay laws which already make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment screened gay porn in a Kampala church Wednesday in a bid to drum up support.

The screening was attended by around 300 supporters crammed into an evangelical church in the Ugandan capital after plans for a "million-man march" were thwarted by police.

"We had planned to have a million-man and -woman march in Kampala but unfortunately we were told that we could not march because of security concerns," Martin Ssempa told the crowd.

"The major argument homosexuals have is that what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody's business but do you know what they do in their bedrooms?," the pastor asked.

Ssempa then displayed a slide show of gay pornographic pictures.

"This one is eating another man's anus (eds: correct)," the pastor said, before going into graphic scatological descriptions.

Of course some folks weren't happy over this:

Noma Pakade, from the African gay rights group Behind the Mask, accused the pastor of perpetuating violence by his anti-gay campaign.

"Showing pornography in church in the presence of minors is twisted homophobic propaganda, where homosexuality is equated to paedophilia and pornography," she told the BBC.

"It is not surprising, but rather disappointing, that in Africa in the 21st Century yet again discrimination and prejudice is legitimised through religion."

This isn't the first time Ssempa showed porn in order to stigmatize the gay community. Last month, he held a press conference showing alleged images of men eating excrement. Needless to say, the press conference didn't go well.

I'm praying that the horrid bill he supports doesn't become law, but already, I think, Ssempa has reached the plateau where people are wondering is he fighting against gays or maybe some hidden urges in himself.

Hat tip to the Huffington Post.

Paul Cameron: Gays are 'compelled' to have anal sex

Last week, various blogs (this one included) brought you an interview with discredited researcher Paul Cameron from Midweek Radio Politics.

In the interview, Cameron claimed that according to a "new study" (done by him of course), gays serving in the military are four to seven times more likely to rape their fellow servicemen.

Just par for the course when it comes to Cameron's continued attempts to demonize the gay community.

Well believe it or not, there is a second part of this interview. It's shorter than the first and in it, the host proceeds to rip Cameron from one end to another. And Cameron's response is to talk about how gays are "compelled" to have anal sex.

The man is disgusting, but remember that he is also the one who formed the basic building blocks of religious right junk science used against the gay community.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Intersection between Christian beliefs and junk science is a dangerous location.

A situation which hardly ever gets discussed when it comes to opposition to gay equality is the bad intersection between Christian beliefs and distorted science.

To some who call themselves Christians, opposing gay equality on religious grounds isn't enough. Some Christians align themselves in or with "traditional values" groups and religious figures who have created a body of "scientific work" which supposedly proves that homosexuality in itself is a "dangerous lifestyle" that is indicative of dastardly deeds, sexually transmitted diseases, and an early death.

However it should be noted that this body of "scientific work" is rife with junk science and studies either cherry-picked or taken out of context.

A perfect example is a recent piece by Catholic Online entitled Opposing the Homosexual Agenda: Religious Bigotry or Science and Justice?. The author, Sonja Corbitt, tries to make the case that there are justifiable reasons to discriminate against gays and lesbians. And the research she cites is highly dubious:

A "Review of Research on Homosexual Parenting, Adoption, and Foster Parenting" was done by George A. Rekers, Ph.D., Professor of Neuropsychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina. It is a well-known review, and in it, Rekers cites numerous national and international studies that revealed:

• Households with a homosexually-behaving adult uniquely endanger children.

•Households with a homosexually-behaving adult expose children to significantly higher rates of psychological disorder, (particularly depression), suicide, and substance abuse in homosexually-behaving adults, which results in higher rates of child depression, child maltreatment and neglect.

• Households with a resident homosexually-behaving adult are substantially less capable of providing the best psychologically stable and secure home.

• Households with a homosexually-behaving male contribute to a potentially higher risk of removal due to the sexual abuse.

• A husband/wife relationship is significantly healthier and substantially more stable socially and psychologically.

• The best child adjustment results from living with a married man and woman compared to other family structures.

• Compared to a family without a homosexually behaving adult, empirical evidence and 30 years of Rekers´s own clinical experience with children strongly support the conclusion that a home with a homosexual-behaving individual subjects a child to a set of disadvantages, stresses, and other harms that are seriously detrimental to a child´s psychological and social development.

This review is an extensive survey of many, many studies and their research; the science behind it was used at state levels to guide public policy regarding child custody decisions, adoption, and foster parenting, as well as to defend and uphold laws to this effect in other states and on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America. These laws were upheld by the US Supreme Court.

At first glance, Corbitt's citation of Rekers sounds reasonable. But there are a few facts she omitted.

Rekers, a former professor at the University of South Carolina and a founder of the Family Research Council, has testified against the lgbt community in adoption cases.

In 2004, he was an expert witness in a case involving gay adoption in Arkansas. The state had banned gays from adopting in 1999. In January 2005, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy White ruled against the state of Arkansas. Furthermore, he called Rekers' testimony "extremely suspect." He also accused Rekers of testifying solely for promoting his "own personal agenda."

In 2008, Rekers was also an expert witness in a case defending Florida's gay adoption ban. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman ruled against the state. In her decision, she said "Dr. Rekers’ testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy."

Lederman may have been put off by the fact that Rekers said based on "research," a case could be made for banning Native Americans from adopting children.