Don't let your anger rule your mind on Nov. 2

I know that there are a lot of folks angry at the Democrats and President Obama right now. And I know some of you are planning to show your anger by sitting out of the Nov. 2 midterm election.

But don't be stupid. No matter how angry Obama and the Democrats got you, there are some people out there just waiting to do worse.

Sure you feel angry and betrayed, but it helps to realize that politics is game. It's an unfortunate game we must play to get what we need and it's the only game in town.

And when there is only one game in town, you have only two options:

1. act all huffy and puffy when things don't go your way

2. or be patient and learn to master it.

Our problem is dual. The opposition has learned the second point while we are stuck on the first.

Better yet the following video by the Victory Fund illustrates the point much better than I can:



Win or lose my friends. There is NO third option.

Hat tip to Rod2.0Beta

Related post:

Gay rights groups continue to miss the real enemy

Chris Barron of GOProud speaks with a forked tongue and other Monday midday news briefs

There are really two things that any self-respecting lgbt should dislike about Chris Barron of GOProud - his face.

Guest column: GOProud's Chris Barron: Winning Hearts And Minds - Here he is last week pretending to be concillatory to Pam's House Blend

Bryan 'only gays were savage enough for Hitler' Fischer: Ann Coulter was simply FABULOUS! - And today, he shows his true face by saying things like:

What a charming two-faced young man

And in other news:

Civil rights legend Julian Bond on Eddie Long: 'He is a raving homophobe' - The Eddie Long controversy is long from over and Julian Bond has a couple of things to say about it.

New Hampshire Gay Marriage Repeal Effort Underway, Rep. Jim Splaine Warns - They just can't leave well enough alone.

Appeals court: Transgender identity irrelevant - Good. You cannot use someone's trans status as an excuse for assault.

Something that needs no introduction but a lot of attention

Eddie Long determined to fight allegations of sexual coercion

Bishop Eddie Long didn't step down in the face of allegations that he coerced four young men into sexual activity.

Instead, he told a packed house at his church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, that he was innocent of the charges and that he was determined to fight them:

Georgia pastor Eddie Long took to the pulpit to tell his side of the story on Sunday, days after four lawsuits were filed claiming he coerced young males into sexual relationships.

Speaking to the massive congregation packed into the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church for an 8 a.m. service, Long said that "this is probably the most difficult time" of his entire life, but he intends to fight the allegations against him.

He said his first responsibility was his family, and the members of his Atlanta-area church. However, he added that he would be "remiss" not to address "the world."

"I've been accused, I'm under attack. I want you to know, as I said earlier, that I am not a perfect man," he said. "But this thing, I'm going to fight."

Long added that he's "not the man that has been portrayed on the television. That's not me."

"And I want you to know one other thing," he told the cheering crowd Sunday morning. "I feel like David against Goliath, but I've got five rocks and I haven't thrown one yet.

He then turned on his heel and walked away from the pulpit, ending a 20-minute address that was peppered with references to Scripture and often interrupted by loud standing ovations from worshippers.

Related posts:
 
Eddie Long rumored to step down amid possibly more allegations of sexual coercion

Eddie Long scandal now includes pictures

What will the Eddie Long scandal do in addressing black homophobia in the church?

Eddie Long hit with third sexual coercion lawsuit but is defended by congregation members

Prominent anti-gay black pastor accused of sexual coercion 

Eddie Long rumored to step down amid possibly more allegations of sexual coercion

It is usually here that I come out with my Know Your LGBT History segments, but due to the extreme nature of the following, it has been pre-empted. And by the way, let's have some feedback  on my Know Your LGBT History segments. Not only is it good for my ego to know that people are reading it, but it helps me in deciding whether or not I want to keep featuring them.

The walls seems to be closing on Bishop Eddie Long.

From Black Voices:

It has been reported that the Bishop Eddie Long is going to step down as pastor after his sermon set to be delivered on Sunday. Long is currently the pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. He was recently challenged by three young men who filed suit against the pastor for allegedly coercing them into sex.

There are also reports that as many as 30 young men have contacted the plaintiff's attorney, BJ Bernstein, in an effort to file suits of their own or join the existing lawsuit.

Bishop Eddie Long's sex scandal has been in the headlines of national news for several days. Since the story broke, there have been suspicious pictures released that feature Bishop Long wearing muscle shirts and spandex, posing in the bathroom. Some have wondered why Long would send these images to his "spiritual sons."

On the Bishop Eddie Long sex fiasco, which I discussed this morning on MSNBC, there appear to be three angles of consideration: Legality, morality and hypocrisy. Legally, one has to determine if Long violated his fiduciary responsible to take care of the young men under his guidance. Secondly, there is the question of whether the men he may have slept with were of legal age and whether or not there was coercion.

I wasn't aware of the claims of 30 young man, but there has surfaced a fourth lawsuit:

A fourth young male member of Bishop Eddie Long's megachurch is suing the prominent pastor, claiming Long coerced him into a sexual relationship.

The lawsuit was filed by Spencer LeGrande, a member of New Birth Charlotte. New Birth Charlotte is a satellite church run by Long in Charlotte, N.C. The lawsuit said Long told LeGrande "I will be your dad" and invited the 17-year-old to journey to Kenya with him in July 2005. LeGrande said that Long gave him a sleeping pill on that trip and that the two engaged in sexual acts.

The Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of impropriety, but attorney B.J. Bernstein has said all four of the men who filed lawsuits consented to being identified publicly.

Meanwhile, pastors in Atlanta are gathering to pray for Long:



I predicted it a while back. This thing has hit like a nuclear bomb.


Hat tip to Joe.My.God. for the video

National Organization for Marriage refuted again and other Friday midday news briefs

But first, it would seem that what I wrote this morning had a negative effect on some of you. Most specifically:

Where the f#@! have you been for the last 40 years? You must have had your head up your a#!, because a lot of us HAVE been fighting the good fight against the evagleicals and the GOP. How dare you pretend that we haven't. Many of us raged against them as we watched our brothers and sisters die of AIDS, while they callously blamed them for their illness. We have fought long and hard, that is why it is now so offensive that those who promised to be our allies have turned on us. You accuse us of not standing up to the real enemy, yet you have the nerve to attack US, your own community? Are WE the real enemy? You should be f@%!ing ashamed of yourself. As far as I'm concerned you can go f&$;!( yourself.

My response:

You prove my point. Could you divert that energy and rage - sans the profanity- to groups like frc and afa. They are to blame for the calamities you described.

Now onto news briefs:

National Organization for Marriage refuted again:




Pawlenty Joins FRC's Watchmen to Fight Pawns of Satan - Another pathetic bid for the presidency by Pawlenty. I guess he got tired of fighting "crossdressing third grade teachers."

Anti-gay megachurch pastor denies seducing young men - Eddie Long makes a statement on the sexual coercion charges.

Dumbest homophobic mess EVER: Indianapolis bakery offended by rainbow cupcakes - You read that right.

Gay rights groups continue to miss the real enemy

I'm going to say something that will probably get some people angry.

All of this anger against the Democrats and the Obama Administration, while appropriate and on some levels very useful, also underlines just how much off the mark the lgbt community is.

The point came to my mind when I read the following piece about GetEqual, the direct action group getting a lot of attention:

GetEqual has a real problem with the Democrats who have introduced (and often passed in the House) these bills for gay rights but they never go after the Republicans who kill these bills in the Senate. In fact, they don’t even go after the few Democrats who helped to kill these bills. They would rather blame Obama… over and over and over again.

The video they released features Obama, Barney Frank, and the HRC and outwardly blames them for the failure of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to be repealed… But Barney Frank is a member of the House – which did in fact repeal DADT. DADT was blocked from coming to a vote in the Senate. Two Democrats from Arkansas helped Republicans to block it… But Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor are missing from GetEqual’s video.

One must really contemplate who GetEqual is really working for.

The piece was criticizing videos made by GetEqual attacking HRC, Obama, and Barney Frank for supposedly breaking promises they made to the lgbt community. Now I don't agree with everything in that piece. I totally resented the negative comments said about blogging buddy and mentor, Pam Spaulding. However, the piece got me thinking.

Earlier this year when Family Research Council spokesman Peter Sprigg commented on Hardball that he wants "homosexual behavior to be outlawed," where were we?

Or how about when he said he wanted us exported out of the United States?

And don't get me started on the many, many, many anti-gay comments of Bryan Fischer. Other than People for the American Way's statements, there has been no push back against Fischer or the American Family Association, his employer. At least not by the lgbt community.

In fact, when folks like Fischer, Sprigg, etc. say the things they say about us, where is our anger? Where are the vigorous statements from the Human Rights Campaign or those who consume themselves with labeling HRC as "Gay, Inc.?"

But yet some of us can heckle President Obama at a speech. And some of us can write pointlessly nasty comments on places like Facebook.

I think sometimes we are aiming our fire at the wrong targets. Groups like the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, etc hold a lot of power and I think it's because we haven't challenged them like we should.

These are the groups that have for over 30 years:

relied on the discredited work of Paul Cameron to smear the lgbt community,

truncated legitimate science to make us sound like the "diseased other" in American society,

took unfair possession of  the word "family" in an attempt to exclude us, and

exploited religious beliefs and fears to get away with all of this.

So while we raise holy hell with our allies for not doing what they are supposed to do, the question remains are we guilty of the same dereliction of action?

Don't get me wrong. No group has ever gained equality without exerting pressure on its allies, i.e. those who hold the keys to this equality. But at the same time, one has to ask why is the lgbt community leaving organizations like the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for American, Focus on the Family, etc. free and untouched to continue their mischief ?

This isn't a matter of changing minds. It's a matter of drawing attention to what these organizations have been doing under the guise of "family values."

You see, when people turn on their televisions and see these religious right spokespeople being quoted on news programs, they aren't aware of the levels of inaccuracy they have stooped in order to form their anti-gay talking points.

And they will never know unless the lgbt community call out these organizations with as much vigor as we voice our displeasure with Congress and President Obama.

In the long run, no matter how slow and sloppy they move, the Democrats aren't our enemy and neither is President Obama. It's those organizations who exploit religious beliefs through lies, distortions, and junk science. And as far as I know, we have YET to come up with a plan to put them on the defensive or to make them explain their behavior.

Until the lgbt community makes a concerted effort with combating religious right groups who filter lies against us, we will get nowhere, no way, no how.

Not even if Jesus Christ were elected President.