Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Daily Show nails Massachusetts situation

Y'all (I used to say "folks," but I noticed that Peter LaBarbera has stolen the word), I'm trying to write on lgbt issues but today I can't.

All I can do is throw out this very appropriate clip of The Daily Show featuring Jon Stewart talking about the Massachusetts election.

He is very on point:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Mass Backwards

www.thedailyshow.com

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NOM involved in Massachusetts vote and other Monday midday news briefs

Hey Brown supporters: Don't shoot NOM, shoot the stances that spurred them into action! - NOM is involved in the Massachusetts vote. But do Brown's supporters want them there?
Uganda: Anti-gays launch campaign against US, UK, Canada... - Proceed at your own risks, guys.

Gay rights group targets Sen. Kean - This is interesting.

Liberty Counsel: Still Silent On Lisa Miller - This one slipped under the radar.

Martin Ssempa talks about 'poop' to demonize lgbts

You want to know how Martin Ssempa, a proponent of that awful Ugandan anti-gay bill, tries to convince people regarding the so-called evil of homosexuality?

Ariel Rubin of the Huffington Post gives us a clue. On Jan. 15, Ssempa held a conference to announce a Feb. 15th "million person march" in support of the bill.

That in itself is bad enough. What Ssempa did at the conference is even worse:

A captivating speaker and natural performer, (he was once the East African breakdancing champion), Ssempa clearly knows how to work a crowd. When a reporter asks why he is persecuting adults engaging in consensual acts in the privacy of their own bedroom, he quickly takes out his laptop to expose just what these acts are.

A pornographic slideshow of black and white photographs of men engaging in scatological fetishism is revealed. "I want to show you from their website", he proclaims, a devious smile forming. "I've taken the time to research what homosexuals do in the privacy of their bedroom. It is inhuman, it is animalistic, and it cannot be right. I want to show you these pictures." The audience lurches forward, leering at the pictures and groaning in disgust. Ssempa, enthusiastically goes on:

I want to say homosexuals eat each other's poop. Homosexuals stick their hands into their rectum. Homosexuals stick all sorts of deviant sexual things into their rectum. I want to show you this is from their website. So the first picture that I want to show you, you can see this man has just eaten the other person's poo poo and is rubbing it on his mouth, and I'm going to ask that we print for each of you a photocopy of this story so you get it fully.

Then, of course, they are grabbing each other's gentials, that is level number one, touching each other, grabbing each other. Then number three, now they are licking eachother's anus and are licking poop. And they call poo poo, chocolate. You see it is a change of words. I want you to see, Sheikh please forgive me but I want these people to see, they say a picture is worth one thousand words. This is a man eating the other person's poo poo, can you see that one? Please from BBC, I want you to tell them, we know what they do.

Point of fact - you can easily find the same outrageous sexual behavior on heterosexual webpages devoted to the sort of thing that Ssempa is accusing lgbts of. Strange and deviant sexual behavior is not indicative of the lgbt or heterosexual orientation.

What Ssempa is doing is the equivalent of pointing to the mugshots of African-American criminals (while ignoring the mugshots of criminals of other nationalities) to make the case that black people are inherently more violent.

Now people may want to laugh at Ssempa's behavior but to do such would miss the point.

We can't laugh at Ssempa. It would waste much needed time that should be devoted to exposing him.

In the early 1980s when the AIDS crisis struck and people were panicked, discredited researcher Paul Cameron came to prominence with junk science designed to demonize the lgbt community.

Psychologically, Uganda is at a place now where the United States was then - ignorant and totally susceptible to any demagogue or phony eager to exploit fear and religious beliefs.

I wonder how many of us laughed at Cameron.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Does Miles McPherson want to hide his gay = pedophilia belief from the Proposition 8 trial?

I read an interesting piece on the Truth Wins Out webpage regarding two San Diego pastors not wanting to testify in the ongoing trial regarding Proposition 8, the ballot measure in California that prevented gays from marrying in the state.

The two pastors are Jim Garlow and Miles McPherson:

Curiously, both San Diego pastors were subpoenaed to testify at the Perry v Schwarzenegger federal trial, also known as the Olson-Boies trial, on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which was backed, endorsed and aggressively promoted by both pastors and which eliminated the existing right of gay and lesbian Californians to marry.

Both Pastor Jim Garlow and Pastor Miles McPherson, through their legal representation — Brian R Chavez-Ochoa of Chavez-Ochoa Law Offices, Inc. — have filed motions to quash their subpoenas to avoid testifying in public. What follows is is the gist of their arguments against publicly continuing their anti-LGBT and anti-marriage-equality ministries before Judge Vaughn Walker in a court of law.

I won't dwell in Garlow because I find McPherson's reasonings rather interesting. The following are his justifications for not testifying:

I, Miles McPherson, hereby declare and make this declaration out of my own personal knowledge and if called upon to testify to the contents herein I could and would do so competently

1. We preached at our church – The Rock Church – marriage and issues surrounding Proposition 8.

2. We organized supporters of Proposition 8 based upon our belief in traditional marriage; which happens to contradict same sex marriage and other forms of marriage, other than one man and one woman.

3. My church and I have nothing but love for homosexuals and lesbians, but we reserve the right to disagree with those we love.

4. I am concerned about the precedent that this subpoena sets for all those who wish to speak out about their beliefs.

5. Because of my preaching on Proposition 8, 1 have received hundreds of e-mails threatening me and expressing hate towards me and my church.

I hereby declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States and the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed this 7th day of January, 2010, at San Diego, California, County of San Diego.
MILES MCPHERSON

Pastor Miles McPherson’s motion to quash his subpoena can be found in the PDF file at this link.

That third point - 3. My church and I have nothing but love for homosexuals and lesbians, but we reserve the right to disagree with those we love - stands out mostly because I have an issue with it.

I wrote about it last year during the Carrie Prejean scandal. At the time, Prejean attended McPherson's church, the Rock Church of San Diego and I was pointing out the fact that McPherson was relying on the discredited work of Paul Cameron to claim that homosexuality and pedophilia are connected in a piece he wrote entitled Sodom and Gomorrah, a City Inflamed.

The piece has been scrubbed from on the Rock Church of San Diego's webpage. However, the following is a part of my post regarding it - the part which clearly shows McPherson using Cameron data to make the inaccurate connection between homosexuality and pedophilia:

I looked at the church’s webpage and found there to be a lot of inaccurate information, particularly regarding gays and HIV:

male homosexuals are 430 times more likely to contract HIV than a heterosexual, while heterosexuals have a 1-in-750,000 chance of contracting the virus responsible for HIV, a male homosexual has a 1-in-165 chance of getting HIV. A 20 year old gay male has a 30% chance of either dying or contracting AIDS before the age of 30. They are also 23 times more likely to get other sexually transmitted diseases than a heterosexual.

But it’s the next section that caught my eye like a blinking light:

There are also moral repercussions stemming from homosexual behavior as evidenced by the fact that one third of all sexual crimes against children are committed by homosexuals even though they are representative of only one percent of the population. Pedophilia has even been called central to the gay lifestyle. The agenda of the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is to lower the age of consent so that sex with children will be legal.

The idea that homosexuality and pedophilia are linked is a lie that has been refuted continuously. The American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America all say that the homosexuality and pedophilia are not linked.

So where did that notion come from? The discredited researcher Paul Cameron:

In a 1985 article published in Psychological Reports, Cameron purported to review published data to answer the question, "Do those who commit homosexual acts disproportionately incorporate children into their sexual practices?" (p. 1227). He concluded that "at least one-third of the sexual attacks upon youth are homosexual" (p. 1228) and that "those who are bi- to homosexual are proportionately much more apt to molest youth" than are heterosexuals (p. 1231).

Does McPherson not want to testify to avoid being asked about his usage of junk science against the lgbt community? It is a good question in light of the fact that he is the second Proposition 8 proponent who is seeking not to be ordered to testify citing the same reasons (being threatened) while trying to hide past statements which show an ugly anti-gay bias.

Hak-Shing William Tam was one of five defendants who petitioned the court to be allowed to defend Proposition 8 . On January 6, he requested that he be allowed to withdraw from the case citing the possibilities of threats on himself and the lives of family members.

However, according to the Associated Press:

In the months leading up the trial, lawyers for two unmarried same-sex couples on whose behalf the case was brought complained that Proposition 8's sponsors were withholding evidence to which the plaintiffs were entitled by citing a letter they had uncovered written by Tam to members of his church during the campaign.

In the letter, Tam outlined what he described as the disastrous consequences for allowing gays to marry in California.

"One by one, other states would fall into Satan's hands," he wrote. "Every child, when growing up, would fantasize marrying someone of the same sex. More children would become homosexuals."

The contents could come up in the trial because one of the issues is whether the measure's backers were motivated by anti-gay bias.

So that's two Proposition 8 proponents who either claimed that same-sex marriage would make children gay or used discredited studies to claim that gays molest children at a high rate.

It sounds like McPherson (and Tam) want to hide what's increasingly obvious. Proposition 8 was passed via ugly anti-gay bias.

But lgbts and our allies already knew this.

UPDATE - Tam testified as a hostile witness. He stood by his beliefs regarding homosexuality and pedophilia but couldn't say where he derived them from.

Big hat tip to Truth Wins Out and Box Turtle Bulletin.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

The Player's Club (1998), written and directed by rapper Ice Cube, was vile.

I'm sorry but it's the only way I could put it.

It tells the story of a college student Diamond (Lisa Raye) who works her way through school by dancing at a strip club.

Her nemesis is another stripper named Ronnie.

Ronnie is a hateful, soulless, bleached blonde lesbian who talked Diamond into stripping in the first place. She also, in one scene, gets Diamond drunk and rapes her.

Now I had a debate with a good friend of mine who said that Ronnie's sexual orientation had nothing to do with her villainous qualities. I totally disagreed. Ronnie is a hateful individual who uses men for money and holds power over the women at the club like a pimp.

I certainly think that writer Ice Cube was trying to make a point about lesbians - that they aren't "real women" so they have to be monsters.

It is with trepidation that I post this scene because it also includes a nasty rape (Ronnie's brother rapes Diamond's cousin). It is highly misognystic in the fact that it takes place during a bachelor party where everyone hears what's going on and no one does a thing about it.

And one more thing about this rape scene. Ice Cube plays a character in the movie who sets up Diamond's cousin to be raped as a way of getting back at her for an earlier insult.

His character isn't punished. However, Ronnie is in a knockdown, drag out scene punctuated by a comment by Diamond at the end about how "it's bitches like you that make it harder for women like me."

You know a man had to write that mess:

A defense for Americans responsible for the Ugandan anti-gay bill and other Friday midday news briefs

All the bile that's fit to print - Robert Knight, who is not above using discredited Paul Cameron studies and intentionally distorting legitimate science himself, defends Lively and others responsible for the Ugandan anti-gay bill.

Couple walks out during anti-gay sermon - Bold stance from two gay men of color.

DC Court Rejects Anti-Marriage Equality Initiative - Harry Jackson gets smacked down again. Life is good.

We Got Anti-LGBT Hate From A Student Newspaper At Notre Dame - Ugly. Just plain ugly.

Clayton sacks teacher over alleged gay threat - A story nearly forgotten.

Chelmsford threat demonstrates the need for GLSEN

One of the ugliest things about the attacks on Obama appointee Kevin Jennings was when they included further attacks on the organization Jennings founded, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.)

GLSEN received a large amount of flack during the attempts to get Jennings fired, particularly being accused of advocating that children read pornography.

The charge, of course, is ridiculous but count on hearing it again when the Day of Silence rolls around.

GLSEN addresses problems which our lgbt students face in schools across America, including the following story out of Chelmsford (which you will most likely not hear about on Fox News or via reading Big Government or Gateway Pundit):

Chelmsford police say they have identified a 15-year-old boy as the person who posted a threatening message on the social networking site Facebook.com.

"At this time, it appears to be the senseless act by an individual who failed to recognized the serious consequences that may result from such a post," said Deputy Police Chief Scott Ubele in an e-mail.

According to Ubele, the investigation is continuing. The boy's name hasn't been released because of his age.

The page, which has since been taken down, is titled “kill all gay people yea,” and has Chelmsford High School students listed as guests. The event was listed as a group trip on Jan. 19 from 6:55 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. and lists “do you hate people that are gay and have a green car?” as a host.

Chelmsford High School Principal Anne O’Bryant said a student at the high school saw the page Wednesday night and immediately notified deans at the school. O’Bryant said, once she found out about it she immediately notified police.

“We just can’t take any chances,” she said, adding that she spoke with all high school faculty and addressed all students over the intercom Thursday morning. “There could be something there. We certainly addressed it with our staff and our students and told them there is no tolerance for this in our community.”

This isn't a joke, people. There is a huge problem here regarding homophobia in our nation's schools and we need organizations which can help us get abreast of it (such as GLSEN) and not ignorant third parties (Big Government, Gateway Pundit, Linda Harvey, etc.) who will exploit and cloud people's minds with ignorance.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The dumbest attack on Kevin Jennings that you will ever see

During the right's obsessive attacks on Obama appointee Kevin Jennings, I thought I had seen it all.

It turns out that I didn't. Check out this journey into the bizarre via Fox News's Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld:

I guess it's supposed to be funny. It comes across as so stupid that I refuse to get offended. By the way, I noticed how Gutfeld distorted the two incidents regarding the reading list and the supposed Fistgate conference.

For probably the one millionth time (and no, I'm not exaggerating) the truth regarding both incidents are here and here.

The irony is that the site Big Government is linking to Gutfeld's video. My guess is that the site couldn't scrounge up another lie for "Fistgate 15."

And here I thought the point of focusing on Jennings was about "protecting the children," not engaging in silly, homophobic attacks.

I cringe to think about the video which may be created about Amanda Simpson or Dylan Orr. I also say forget focusing on Jennings. Let's focus on whoever thought up Gutfeld's video.

THAT person definitely has issues.

Pat Robertson gets called out on all sides and other Thursday midday news briefs

Reactions To Robertson - He deserves all of the negative reactions to his tasteless comments.

Audio: Well at least the 'Schund' part is spelled out - Jeremy from Goodasyou.org reminds us that all elections matter and sometimes what happens on a subtle basis can have bad repercussions for the lgbt community.

Stolen Yard Signs: Worse Than Murder - The pro-Proposition 8 people and their silly ideas of persecution.

Psychologist testifies on 'remarkable similarities' of gay and straight couples - More highlights from the Proposition 8 trial.

Ugandan Opposition Party Reiterates Stance Against Anti-Gay Bill - And the nastiness in Uganda continues.

Congressional hearing to target Ugandan anti-gay bill

From the UK Gay News comes this:

The United States Congress will be holding a hearing next week to discuss the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is due to be debated in the Ugandan Parliament next month. The hearing is being held under the auspices of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

“We hope to have a good panel of witnesses, including human rights workers from Uganda was well as international NGOs, and State Department officials,” Representative Tammy Baldwin, who is due to chair the Commission hearing, told UK Gay News earlier today.

“The hearing on Capitol Hill is for an update on the situation in Uganda … and we hope that this will raise further awareness of the situation in Uganda,” she added.

Rep. Baldwin described the Bill, dubbed in the United States ‘Kill the Gays Bill’, as “frightening and hostile” legislation.

According to DC Agenda, Baldwin will be chairing the hearing. Personally, I think the hearing is highly appropriate when one takes into account that there was an American influence in the creation of this bill, i.e. Scott Lively, Don Schmierer, and Caleb Lee Brundidge attending the anti-gay Ugandan conference which got the ball rolling on the monstrosity.

News of this hearing comes on the heels of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who chairs the Senate finance Committee’s subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, threatening Uganda with trade sanctions if the bill is passed.

I am now taking bets on how long will it take before those who shall remain nameless but are on the right complain that since "a radical lesbian," i.e. Rep. Baldwin, is chairing the hearing, Uganda will not receive a fair shake.

Hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What does Britt Hume think about Pat Robertson?

Someone tell me again why Britt Hume feels persecuted for the fallout via his comments to Tiger Woods. Christianity doesn't look good with spokespeople like Pat Robertson hogging up the spotlight.

Related posts:

Cliff Kincaid, Britt Hume, and the descent of Christianity

What Barnes and Noble taught me about being black and gay

I've got electricity again!!!!!!!!!!

In light of recent events, my apartment's loss of electrical power for a night (albeit a very cold night) isn't a huge calamity.

It was a small inconvenience. But I hate inconveniences, whether they be large or small.

Now in order to keep abreast with what's going on during the outage, I went to an internet cafe in Barnes and Noble bookstore. After doing what I do, I browsed a bit to see if I wanted to buy anything.

Maybe I'm getting older but bookstores are starting to depress me. Or maybe it was today's sojourn through Barnes and Noble which has me down.

I learned two things today. President Obama is an evil disgusting demagogue who has curtailed our freedom and will lead us down the path of destruction to rival that of Dante's Inferno is he isn't stopped.

How do I know this? Why because of the myriad of books in the current events section which says so. Okay maybe I'm overstating this point but it seems to me that if this country is in such ugly straits, why are so many people free to make money off of telling us just how bad of a shape we're in?

If President Obama is really as evil as these books say that he is, shouldn't the authors be political prisoners? Shouldn't there be knocks at doors in the middle of the nights and disappearances which leave nothing but shoes on the side of lonely roads?

Only in America do we market speaking out against alleged tyrants.

I bet you that many of those authors voted for Obama and will probably do so again. After all, he is their bread and butter.

Now the other thing I learned is what I feel is a suitable metaphor between the division of the black and gay communities.

In Barnes and Noble, there is a section of books dedicated to African-Americans and there is another section dedicated to lgbts.

But as a black gay man, I couldn't identify with either because both left me out. That idea that somehow being black and gay are somehow separate (which also springs up in gay and black media)reared its ugly head.

Granted, the black section had one of those "Down Low" books, but let's be honest. Giving a black gay men a book on the "down low" is the equivalent of giving sewer water to a person dying of thirst.

It's interesting how both communities have people writing about the complexities of being black or being gay but no one ever wants to write about being black and gay.

Would a book like that sell? That's certainly another bit of food for thought.

And that is especially galling to me when I journeyed to the section on women's studies and saw books geared to lesbian and heterosexual women.

So I guess I learned today that despite all of our talk to the contrary, the invisible idea that being black and gay is somehow ingrained in some of us so-called progressive folks. And that's something which we can't completely blame anyone on the right.

The Seeds of Hatred and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Yes my electricity is still out and yes work is being done to get everything taken care of.

But meanwhile, check out these news briefs

John Moore: The seeds of hatred - An excellent piece about the Ugandan anti-gay bill which also manages to give Paul Cameron a swift kick.

'Pffffft'-OX - PFOX lie on the horizon. Why should anyone be surprised?

CPAC keeps GOProud as sponsor, ignores Liberty U's threat to withdraw. Crybaby Liberty pulls out - This is a hilarious feud. A gay Republican group wants to help sponsor a conservative conference. But religious right groups also participating in the conference objects. This story has more twists and turns than an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Just GLAAD to be nominated, 2010 - The GLAAD award nominations have been announced.

Prop 8 Trial, Day 2: the arguments unfold - A recap of Day Two of THE TRIAL

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

Due to forces beyond my control (long, long, looooong story), I now have no electricity in my apartment. Unfortunately this means there most likely will be no posting until tomorrow around lunctime (at least let's pray).

And I bet something juicy is going to happen while I'm gone.

Damn, I hate that.

But why let it all be bad. I now present a special Tuesday night edition of Know Your LGBT History.

As you all know, I usually do this Friday afternoons, but this is a special condition where I need something to make me smile. And what better than one of my dreamboats featured in this segment.

Fame (1980) is one of my favorite movies. It told the story of a group of students attending the New York School of Performing Arts, giving us an insight into their lives and hope for success.

I saw the movie during my first year in college and instantly fell in love the young man in the clip below, Montgomery McNeil:

The irony is that the first time I ever saw the actor who portrayed Montgomery (Paul McCrane) was in the movie Robocop. He was the bad guy who got turned into toxic waste.

Anyway, if you haven't guessed it yet, Montgomery is gay and he does come out to everyone:

Okay, sue me but I didn't like the scene. And I didn't like what the movie did to the character. He didn't die or get beaten up which is good. But he did nothing. Not one thing. He just sat back and observed as his friends fell in love.

Hell, they could have at least given him a love interest.

But they did give actor McCrane a chance to add two songs to soundtrack of the movie. One which he sings on camera. It's a hearbreaker:

'Fistgate 14' a huge flop and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Hoft builds false Jennings "Gay Bars" claim on "hate group's" distortion - Big Government is up to "Fistgate 14" and it's a huge lie like the other 13.

Perry v. Schwarzenegger: Recapping Day One - Recapping day one of THE TRIAL

Ugandan President To Pressure Anti-Gay Bill Sponsor - Give him hell!

TV presenter told "tone down your gayness" - Okay. No more Bette Davis references.

Fox News VP: We ‘hope’ Palin will be ‘polarizing’ as a Fox News contributor - Not an lgbt issue per se, but I couldn't resist slipping it in. Don't worry, Fox. She will be.

Cliff Kincaid, Britt Hume, and the descent of Christianity

Cliff Kincaid and AIM (Accuracy in Media) continues its descent into abject lunacy.

Last week, Kincaid claimed that the outrage over Uganda's anti gay bill is really a conspiracy to protect the position of Obama appointee Kevin Jennings.

This week, he goes beyond the pale by actually defending the bill in a bizarre paranoid rant:

The Washington Post editorial page has now joined lesbian MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow in blasting the government of Uganda for considering a law to protect children from homosexual predators and the dangerous public health impact of the homosexual lifestyle. Despite its moderate views on some foreign policy issues, the Post has always come down firmly on the side of making homosexuality into a special right that should be protected and even glorified by governmental institutions. Now it wants to impose that view on Uganda's mostly Christian population.

And the piece goes downhill from there (that is if there is a place lower than hell).

Kincaid actually manages to insult new Obama appointee Amanda Simpson and make a dig against gays in the military and against ENDA in the following paragraphs, connecting all of these points in a manner that's worthy of the most creative conspiracy theorists.

At least he didn't mention Kevin Jennings this time.

But Kincaid's piece got me thinking.

The next time that someone wants to push the "Britt Hume is being persecuted because he dared to mention Jesus Christ" meme, I am going to point him to the ramblings of Kincaid.

Hume was mostly criticized (for his advice to Tiger Woods to turn to Jesus and Christianity as a solution to his problems) because he disrespected the Buddhist religion and came across as a presumptuous arrogant jerk.

But some folks weren't reacting solely to Hume's comments. They were reacting to the continued perversion of Christianity.

I hardly think that an anchor criticized for placing his religion above another fits the realm of being persecuted. And neither does not being able to get the government to pay for a license tag which endorses your religion.

But to so many people in this country who call themselves Christians, it is persecution.

It highlights a problem which no one wants to delve into - the fact that Christianity in America is highly tainted.

To some Americans, Christianity has nothing to do with clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, or providing comfort and support.

It's about clandestine meetings with think tanks.

It's about smartly dressed and coiffed men and women appearing on television and spouting phony talk points about "values," "family", and "morality" in an attempt to impose a caste system on just what makes up a family

It's about large groups of people gathering together in the luxury and comfort of mega-churches and prayer conferences while they whine about how they are being persecuted simply because they can't dictate how other people pray or live their lives.

And in Kincaid's case, it's about spinning wild stories regarding how people who just want to live without fear are "imposing their values" on those who seek to harm them.

The sad thing is that Kincaid is not an anamoly. He is indicative of a lot of the Christian thought in this country, from James Dobson to Peter LaBarbera to the rest of those who describe themselves as "defenders of the family."

And while it's true that these folks not indicative of the entirety of Christian thought in this country, I wish those Christians who have an objection to the mess they spew would be more vocal about opposing them.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Self-promotion time - My Kevin Jennings piece makes The Huffington Post

And I thought that it would be a boring Monday.

With all of the wild happenings of today ( the Proposition 8 trial, Sarah Palin joining Fox News, Republicans trying to smear Harry Reid, Mark McGuire and steroids), please forgive me for focusing on a little bit of selfish news.

The Huffington Post ran a piece I wrote about the unsuccessful attempts to remove Obama appointee Kevin Jennings.

I wrote it last weekend and I hope that it will be seen as THE definitive piece of the entire kerfluffle:

Despite a heavy December effort last year by various groups, i.e., Big Government, Gateway Pundit, Fox News, etc., the push to get Obama appointee Kevin Jennings fired died back in October when the charge that he aided and abetted the sexual abuse of a child turned out to be a false accusation and an embarrassment to the right.

When President Obama initially appointed Jennings to be the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education, I doubt he realized that his political enemies would attack Jennings with the unrelenting stridency of the Greeks attacking the city of Troy.

But they did and it made for an interesting part of 2009 as members of the right pored through Jennings' past writing and speeches in an attempt to find reasons to have him dismissed and, by extention, embarrass the Obama Administration.

As the situation progressed, it became less of a campaign fueled by righteous indignation and a desire to protect children (which it never was in the first place) and served as an example of the mad goings on in Washington as well as the depths some people will stoop in order to push a lie.

Not too many people are aware of this, but some on the right had bad blood with Jennings long before his appointment to the Obama Administration.

Jennings, an openly gay former teacher, founded GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Network), an organization largely responsible for gay student awareness in high schools, most specifically through the annual Day of Silence in which participating students take a vow of silence during the day to bring attention to the bullying of gay students.

However to some on the right, specifically the religious right, acknowledging the simple fact that gay students exist is a problem (they like to use the word "recruitment" a lot) and daring to devote any iota of attention to the problems these students face because of an unsupportive environment is akin to the plot of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

For years, organizations such as Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, and the rest of the usual suspects have unsuccessfully tried to either eliminate or undermine the Day of Silence with the most recent failed attempt being the Day of Truth, in which they encourage students to tell the truth about homosexuality.

Of course the truth to them encompasses either citing discredited Paul Cameron studies or legitimate studies taken out of context.

The fact that Obama chose Jennings, a man whom they have already had negative history with, was probably something that they couldn't stomach from the get-go.

You can read the rest here.

And I would be remiss if I didn't thank Pam Spaulding for her help in getting this published. I owe you big, Pam. When is your birthday again?

Some people actually support the Ugandan anti-gay bill and other Monday midday news briefs

Uganda’s “Kill Gays” Bill Still Has American Defenders, Death Penalty And All - Yes some people actually still support this monstrosity.

Pope calls gay marriage an 'attack on creation' - I wonder how he feels about the molestation of children by Catholic priests?

Damn! - The Supreme Court kicks us in the ass. Why is it the pro-Proposition 8 folks don't want a public view of the trial?

Gay Muslims made homeless by family violence - An issue which deserves much needed attention.

Welch: Election of Gay Mayor a Sign of America's "Cancer of the Soul" - Hey Britt Hume! THIS is why so many people have a negative view of Christianity.

Prelude to controversy - SOMEONE is not happy over Martha Stewart's focus on gay weddings

I call this post a prelude because I am merely introducing the controversy. The parties involved, one being a online friend of mine heavily involved in it, will no doubt make their feelings known on his site.

Last year, Martha Stewart Magazine featured its first gay wedding - the June wedding of blogger Jeremy Hooper of Goodasyou.org and his husband, Andrew Shulman.

It was a nice piece free from any criticism of which I was aware of . . . that is until now.

A blogger by the name of The Barefoot Bride not only criticized the showing of this wedding but also encouraged people to write in and complain to the magazine:

I understand that one reader’s views, opinions, and purchases can not change the course of an entire magazine. However, I believe that I speak for a majority. A very large majority. As marriage amendments protecting marriage as between one man and one woman have been passed across the country, the facts speak for themselves – America as a nation does not support same-sex marriages. If you are also disappointed in this article as much as I am, I would encourage you to write to MSW and let them know. A magazine without input from its readers is not serving its readers.

***Note: I just wanted to clarify that I don’t hate homosexuals. I actually know a couple gay and lesbian people and they’re great folks. This, however, does not mean that I agree with their lifestyle choices. I don’t un-follow Twitter feeds or unsubscribe from great blogs just because the writer believes that same-sex marriages are fine – differences are differences. However, as a paying customer of Martha Stewart Weddings, I would like to be able to read the magazine without having to see photos of homosexual couples being intimate.

Now throughout her screed, she emphasized (over and over again) that she has a right to her opinion. And that she is in the majority regarding her opinion about marriage equality.

No one is disputing the fact that she has a right to her opinion and the idea that she is in the majority is irrelevant. What galls me is this statement:

I may not always agree with the lifestyles and life choices made by all the people featured in every publication I read, but I do not appreciate picking up my favorite magazine to see photographs of homosexual couples being affectionate. For someone who believes that same-sex marriage is wrong, such articles and/or photos are offensive – and something I certainly would never knowingly pay money for.

So to her, it's not enough to feel that marriage equality is wrong. She has a problem with lgbts being publicly affectionate.

Would she rather we shake or hands or better yet get all clandestined with our affections as if we have something to be ashamed about? Why should we conduct our lives in accordance to her ignorance?

The Barefoot Bride invited people to write in their comments and this worries me.

There are some in our community who have a tendency to shoot from the hip, speak without thinking, and throw out nasty comments.

For the most part, people have behaved themselves with the exception of an ignorant few.

However, I can just picture Maggie Gallagher salivating over this mess in eagerness to create another martyr of the pushy gay community, another person supposedly "victimized" for speaking out against marriage equality.

So if anyone weighs in, please be polite. Or better yet, be dignified like Jeremy when he asked the following:

As one half of the couple featured in the mag, I'd like to know why, exactly, you think you are more entitled to freedom than my husband or myself. And please don;t start with the religion: We are talking about CIVIL marriage. Church ceremony is an ancillary (if oft utilized) component. Gay and lesbian people are fighting for the civil component, gladly leaving the church discussion up to the individual denominations/sects/etc.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and share them with my readers. Let's have an open discussion about why my rights as a tax-paying citizen should be denied by personal religious whims. You can reach me at contact@goodasyou.org.

Jeremy Hooper
Good As You
www.goodasyou.org

Oh, and PS: People of many different faiths (including a nun in full habit) were at our wedding. Where is respect for *their* faith views?

I'm sure Jeremy is going to weigh in on the controversy via his site in the same dignified candor. I can't wait to read it.

But as for the rest of us, instead of writing to The Barefoot Bride, write to Martha Stewart Weddings and tell them how much you support the magazine's decision to run a gay wedding.

Because this situation is not about The Barefoot Bride. It's about us.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

The War on Kevin Jennings - Chronology of a Failed Smear Campaign

When President Obama appointed Kevin Jennings to be he Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education, I doubt he realized that his political enemies would attack Jennings with the unrelenting stridency of the Greeks attacking the city of Troy.

But they did and it made for an interesting latter part of 2009 as the religious right and their cohorts pored through Jennings' past and pulled out almost everything they could find to use against him.

And when they couldn't find anything of use, they made things up.

I covered the entire incident and have provided a chronology of posts detailing each smear .

Part 1 - The initial attacks began in June and culminated with the "Brewster incident," when Jennings was accused allowing (and encouraging) the statutory rape of a child. After this charge was found to be incorrect, the attacks tapered off until December.

'Fistgate' and President Obama - religious right pushes a pitiful attempt of guilt by association

More attacks on GLSEN'S Kevin Jennings - Now the Family Research Council gets in the act

More right wing lunacy on Kevin Jennings courtesy of Kevin McCullough

Attacks on Kevin Jennings sleazy, un-Christian

The war against Kevin Jennings - now it's getting pathetic

The religious right thinks that character assasination is a Christian virtue

Support Sean's Last Wish and Kevin Jennings

Traditional Values Coalition attacks Kevin Jennings and . . . Tom Cruise?

The tea party idiots - will they go after the lgbt community next?

The possible attack on the President's lgbt appointees

The continuing attacks on Kevin Jennings - now Fox News gets involved

The new attack on Kevin Jennings - he said something ugly about God

Washington Times publishes ugly hit piece on Kevin Jennings

Let's not be so quick to blame Obama if Kevin Jennings is dismissed

New facts vindicate Kevin Jennings - the young man he counseled was of legal age

Religious right owes Kevin Jennings an apology

New attack against Kevin Jennings - the 'NAMBLA' connection