Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Family Research Council accused of undermining support for resolution against Uganda's anti-gay bill

The Family Research Council claims to stand against the lgbt community because it believes in "traditional morality.".

However, according to blogger Joe Jervis, the organization's idea of "traditional morality" includes undermining Congressional support for a resolution denouncing the Ugandan "kill the gays" bill:

According to the FRC's official lobbying report for the first quarter of 2010, they paid two two of their henchmen $25,000 to lobby Congress against approving a resolution denouncing Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals. The resolution passed in the Senate on April 13th, but remains languished in the House almost four months after being referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Did the FRC's lobbying kill it? As we learned last week with Malawi, international pressure CAN sway even the most virulently anti-gay government.

To make matters more interesting, Jervis has three screencaps of the FRC lobbying report saved on his site. The resolution, H.RES.1064., is marked as "pro homosexual promotion."

Opposition to gay rights or any progression of the lgbt community has been a hallmark of FRC since its inception in 1981 even to the point that the group published "research papers" supposedly proving that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle. FRC removed several of these "research papers" from its web page, claiming that some of the sources were outdated. However, the organization continued to use the same sources in new "research papers."

FRC also employs Peter Sprigg as its Council Senior Fellow for Policy Studies. Sprigg has, in the past, called for the deportation of gays and lesbians out of the United States and outlawing "gay behavior."

Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out, an organization which combats groups like FRC, said this new revelation is not surprising.

"Fundamentalist groups like to bitch ad nauseam that mean old gay groups and journalists are the real haters, but yet I don’t think any of us have ever advocated for or supported jail sentences or the death penalty for Fundamentalist Christians," he said.

David Bahati, the creator of the Ugandan anti-gay bill, recently said that some evangelicals in America have privately told him that they support his bill.

After this revelation about the FRCs' lobbying efforts, one has to wonder if maybe his claim was correct.

Related posts:

Family Research Council's anti-lgbt stance built on distortions

Family Research Council pushes bogus report supporting DADT

Family Research Council continues to use 'outdated' work

Ugandan anti-gay bill creator wallows in the filth of his own homophobia

The poop porn paradigms of the homphobic Martin Ssempa

I got this from Box Turtle Bulletin and I don't know whether to give the site a hat tip or . . . I just don't know.

I've talked about Ugandan anti-gay bill supporter Martin Ssempa's penchant for showing "poop videos" in churches in an attempt to demonize the lgbt community and thereby get support for that bill.

But nothing I can say beats the visuals of these two videos.

The first is a talk by Ssempa. No nasty pictures are shown but trust me when I say that his words are astounding in their hatefulness.

Ssempa is like a sideshow performer who drives nails up his nose so as to take delight in shocking his audience. And showing those videos to demonize lgbts is the equivalent of showing interracial (i.e. black men/white women) porn in predominantly white churches to invoke images of "big black bucks."

Bear in mind that Ssempa is or was once a buddy of Rick Warren.

Want to see something stranger? How about the remix of the video (which is a parody of the first video):

The entire thing would be so funny except for two things:

While we laugh, people are taking this mess seriously and they are causing a lot of hell for many innocent people,

and is it just me or does Ssempa know the technique he is describing from those videos a little too well?

I'm not making any conclusions. I am merely pointing out facts.

O'Reilly, Senator Orrin Hatch insults the gay community and other Thursday midday news briefs

Orrin Hatch On Gays: 'Their Religion Is Politics' - Apparently we are not "distracted by religion." What a tool! It's my religion that's keeping me from saying something especially nasty to Hatch right now.

O’Reilly compares gay people to al Qaeda - It just ain't Thursday without lgbts being compared to al Qaeda.

As long as Focus tips the Barber, it's their credibility that will be cut - Matt Barber, the lgbt community's "best friend" has crossed another plateau. He is now being quoted by Focus on the Family. Just remember Matt that no matter how high you go in religious right circles, your past ugly comments is a string around your leg that, when yanked, will send you plummeting back to Earth. And the lgbt community will yank that string whenever we want.

Vanzi retains Appeals Court seat after bitter campaign - We won. Deal with it.

WorldNetDaily Gives Space To Ryan Sorba - A new anti-gay loudmouth with the same old rhetoric.

'Golden Girl' Rue McClanahan dies - Sorry to end on a sad note. I miss "Blanche" and "Vivian" already.

'They are the ones who want to impose their will on others' - State senator smacks down National Organization for Marriage

Minnesota state senator John Marty (DFL-54) was recently attacked by the National Organization for Marriage due to his support of marriage equality. The above video is his response and it kicks total ass.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

African-American hypocrisy, silence hurting African gays and lesbians

Harry Jackson is probably the most prominent black pastor in religious right circles. He is a favorite due to not only his futile struggle to get a vote going against same-sex marriage in D.C. but also his insistence that the gay community is attempting to unfairly piggyback on the struggles of the African-American civil rights movement.

So imagine the irony of the fact that he chooses to support a "hard rock ministry" who have been very supportive of the persecution of African gays and lesbians

According to the Minnesota Independent:

The leaders of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Intl., Inc., a hard rock ministry that holds Christian assemblies in public schools around the Midwest, said that locking up gays and lesbians in prison is the “right” and “moral” thing to do.

. . . On the group’s radio show, broadcast live from the Heritage Foundation on May 22, co-leader Jake McMillian praised the actions of the African nation of Malawi which has recently arrested a gay couple for getting engaged.

“They are very conservative,” he said. “They sentence people for crimes against nature.”

Frontman Bradlee Dean added, “They are very moral; they uphold the laws.”

McMillian continued, “We have got countries all over the world that are standing for what’s right and what’s wrong. In Rwanda, there’s legislation right now that repeat offenders of homosexuality will spend their life in prison.”

“Yes!” interjected Dean.

“Because they love and value life and they love and value that which God gave,” said McMillian. “And so they enforce laws against that which destroys life which again is crimes against nature”

People for the American Way recorded this program where supposedly Jackson not only came on to say that he has been reaching out to the group, but also compared them to the late Martin Luther King, Jr.

My guess is that Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - an organization which King once led - will most likely be silent about this bizarre usage of her father's name.

Just like she was silent when World Net Daily writer Molotov Mitchell invoked her father's name in support of that awful "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.

Bear in mind that King was very quick to declare that she was sure in her "sanctified soul" that her father "didn't take a bullet for same-sex marriage."

I wonder if she feels that King was assassinated to support genocide?

King's silence and Jackson's hypocrisy merely highlights the unfortunate fact that during the controversy regarding the Ugandan bill and the Malawi couple, the African-American community - particularly the leadership - have been shamefully silent.

Where are these same righteously indignant people who were so quick to voice their anger at "rich white gays" exploiting the struggles of black people for their own selfish purposes when people like Scott Lively were leading Africans to pass laws against their own people for simply being gay?

When I was a teenager, I heard so much about apartheid in South Africa and how black colleges should divest from the country. The movement was featured in countless African-American articles, television shows, and speeches by black leaders.

Certainly African gays and lesbians deserve the same amount of support. But they haven't gotten it yet from the African-American community and I don't think they will.

The silence of the Black American community during the persecution of their African brothers and sisters (and Jackson's embracing of those who would support this persecution) serves to remind me that no one person or group owns the patent to struggling for the right to live free and in dignity unencumbered by someone else's ignorance.

But it also reminds me that even though no one owns this right, there are so many people ready to squander it.

Homophobe Scott Lively attacks DADT repeal and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Lively: Repealing DADT Will Outrage Muslims and Lead To More Terrorism - After the crap you pulled in Uganda, Scott Lively, perhaps you should keep your mouth closed on this one.

The hundreds of churches in Iowa that you should avoid - They don't 'hate' gay couples. They just want to force them to divorce.

Same-sex partners of federal workers can start applying for benefits next month - Well this is good news.

Dissecting the ACORN ‘Pimp’s’ New Census Video - James O'Keefe, i.e. the Acorn Pimp, should have known that his 15 minutes were up when he was grilled in an interview on - of all places - Good Morning America. Now Newsweek destroys him. The lgbt community needs to pay attention to this because sooner or later, O'Keefe's type of "propaganda journalism" will target our organizations.

Tea Party Supporters Hate Gay Marriage (Duh) - Tell me something I don't know.

DADT Repeal: Mike Mullen was working for 'TEH GAYS!'

There are times when the American Family Assciation's One News Now is infuriating with its slanted anti-gay coverage.

Then there are other times when you can't help but to laugh.

For example this piece regarding the possible DADT repeal voted on by the House and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen under fire for 'dereliction of his duty'

A conservative military watchdog who has lobbied hard against repeal of the 1993 law banning homosexuals from military service is blasting the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the way he has conducted himself throughout the debate.

. . . Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), believes Admiral Mike Mullen (USN) should be held accountable for how he has handled the issue of the ban's repeal.

"As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he does not have operational responsibilities," she contends. "His sole role is to convey to the president the best professional advice of the other four services.

"He did not do that," Donnelly argues. "Instead, he served as a conduit for the political views of the president. In other words, [he] conveyed views from the president on down rather [than] from the other service chiefs on up. That, I think, was a dereliction of his duty."

That's the gist of the article. To One News Now, Mullen is "under fire" because one activist (who by the way has no expertise in the military at all - as witnessed by her disastrous testimony in front Congress on the issue two years ago) is complaining that she didn't like the way he handled the issue.

And to make matters even more comical is the fact that at the same time this article was published, Mullen was voicing the fact that he didn't exactly like the vote because of the time frame.

Thereby showing just how clueless Donnelly has been in throughout this discussion.

That's not a fire, that's a wet match.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Why doesn't Robert Knight want to talk about Paul Cameron?

A few days ago, I sent an email to Coral Ridge Ministries writer (and former employee of the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America) Robert Knight.

I was inspired to ask for the interview due to Knight's recent piece in which he connected the recent House vote on the DADT repeal to a " homosexual conspiracy" to overturn so-called traditional values. This is what I asked:

My name is Alvin McEwen and I am editor and blogmaster of the site Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.

I am emailing in pursuit of an interview with Mr. Robert Knight.

I read his recent piece regarding DADT and I would like to interview him regarding past comments he made about the gay community, particularly the research he used - most specifically that of Paul Cameron.

If this is a possibility, please get back with me.

Thank you for your time.

Today I received this answer:

We would like to decline your request at this time.

Andrew Scott
Writer/Editor

Coral Ridge Ministries
P.O. Box 1600
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl 33302-1600
www.CoralRidge.org

On the surface, it may seem like an insignificant correspondence, but like so many things, there's a lot of work under the surface.

As I wrote in a recent piece, while George Rekers helped to create the junk science that demonized the lgbt community, it was Robert Knight who appeared on talk shows, in debates, and in front of Congress repeating this junk science.

And both men have another thing in common - they both utilized the work of the discredited Paul Cameron, a man who has been rebuked or censured from a plethora of legitimate medical organizations because of his bad research techniques. He is also a man who published "studies" that said, amongst other things, gay men are four to seven more times likely to rape their fellow servicemen in the Armed Forces - that it when they are not wallowing in feces, sticking gerbils up their rectums, and molesting children at a high rate.

Knight even referred to Cameron's work in an effort to defeat ENDA in 1994. So yes, Knight has some explaining to do.

Did he know the facts about Cameron's dubious history?

If he didn't, would he be willing to retract his past dependency on Cameron's work?

Why doesn't he want to talk about it?

It's one thing to oppose pro-lgbt legislation on a religious basis. However it is something entirely different to inaccurately cast members of the gay community as a disease-infested ravaging horde by way of bad research.

For that matter, not just Knight, but every other religious right spokesperson and group who used Cameron in the past and still in the present to claim that "homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle" needs to start talking.

But they won't if the gay community allows them to pretend as if none of it ever happened.

Related post:

Why we should care about Paul Cameron

Boondocks to take on 'No Homo' . . . and Tyler Perry? and other Tuesday midday news briefs

This upcoming episode of the Boondocks will supposedly air on June 14. According to an episode summary:

Granddad is cast as the leading man by mega-superstar of stage and screen, Winston Jerome. But when the theater group turns out to be a homoerotic evangelical cult, it's up to Huey and Riley to put a pause to it.

Two to one, Winston Jerome is a take-off on Tyler Perry. This may turn out to be interesting.

In other news . . .

Homophobic Backlash Sweeping Africa, More Jail Terms Seen - Oh look! The Black media has finally gotten on board.

Newsweek Reporter Gets Jail Time In Iran For Gay-Looking Ahmadinejad Picture - I'm speechless.

A Loss In Our Community - We lose a vital voice in the community.

Because AIDS makes some 'traditionalists' hard - Trash can't help but to be trash, no matter how it tries to spray itself with deodorant.

Why we're losing the 'gay' debate - Relax. This is a piece from One News Now. Apparently the columnist, Peter Heck is whining that his side is losing the unfortunate war on lgbt rights. Well let me tell you why you are losing, Peter and it won't even take that long.

You are losing because your foundation has been built on lies and deceit. You have pushed phony horror stories and junk science for years against the lgbt community and now it is coming back on you. Or to be more specific, you are losing because you believe nonsense like this:

all sexual behavior – married heterosexual conduct, adulterous heterosexuality, bestiality, necrophilia, homosexuality, pedophilia, coprophilia, polyamory...ALL of it – is chosen behavior. No one is compelled into any sexual conduct. Even those who choose to abide by God's design for sex within the confines of a married, monogamous, man/woman relationship, how, when and if they engage in sexual behavior, is a choice. It has nothing to do with unalterable, unchangeable, immutable characteristics.

That ignorant statement flies in the face of all credible research and science, but let me guess. Your Bible leads you to say it so that makes it correct.

So basically you are losing because you are a dumbass.

FRC: Gays and lesbians shouldn't be employed in 'some' jobs

On a web page solely devoted to stopping the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the Family Research Council finally lists reasons why it feels that lgbts shouldn't receive employment protection.

These reasons are more of the same nonsense regarding how a "Christian employer" should have the right to discriminate even if said discrimination is taking place in a secular business and how Christians on the whole will be "forced to accept homosexuality."

I was almost disappointed because I had anticipated the usual "drag queens teaching school children" talking point which I have come to expect from religious right groups. But then I read the following:

* ENDA would mandate the employment of homosexuals in inappropriate occupations.

So according to FRC, lgbts should be barred from some occupations. The organization doesn't go into detail but based upon its past linkings of homosexuality and pedophilia, I don't think it's farfetched that FRC is saying that gays shouldn't be employed in occupations involving children.

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but knowing groups like FRC, maybe the jump isn't completely inaccurate.

Related posts:

Congressman: if gays were more 'quiet,' they wouldn't have to worry about getting fired

Family Research Council deliberately misinterpret words of Obama official to discredit ENDA

Lgbt employment protection? Absolutely not. Ugly anti-gay comments at work? Sure.

Family Research Council getting extremely 'scary' about ENDA

Religious right groups can't make up their minds when lying about ENDA

Family Research Council exploiting Amanda Simpson's appointment to stop ENDA

Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA

Bathrooms, Church Exemptions, and Lies: Five ways the religious right misrepresents ENDA

'Men hand-in-hand skipping down to adoption centers to 'pick out' a little boy for themselves'

Andrea Lafferty - I'm proud to be a member of a hate group

Andrea Lafferty - 'Won't someone PLEASE think of the children.'

Andrea Lafferty: ENDA will lead to the molestation of disabled veterans

Traditional Values Coalition stoops to lowest level of fraud in new attack on ENDA

Religious business owners should not have the 'special right' to discriminate

Andrea Lafferty spins lies against transgender teachers to hurt ENDA

The 30 Dirty? Why can't the religious right stop lying about ENDA?

Monday, May 31, 2010

Robert Knight: Obama and gays are trying to destroy American values!

Just as in the case of George Rekers, not too many people are in the know about Robert Knight.

Knight has had a history as long as Rekers when it comes to demonizing and stigmatizing the lgbt community. Whereas Rekers created the junk science in the background, it was Knight standing in the foreground on the talk shows, in debates, and in front of Congress repeating the junk science.

Don't get your hopes up. I sincerely doubt that he will be caught in a scandal with a "luggage lifter" any time soon.

With Knight though, there is no need to look for hypocrisy in his personal life in order to cast doubt on his credibility. His words alone are enough to do that.

Gone are the days when Knight helped create anti-gay legislation as a member of the Family Research Council or repeated false data as a member of Concerned Women for America.

These days one can find Robert Knight spouting the same nonsense about lgbts but as a writer with Coral Ridge Ministries, a far cry from the limelight he once held:

This week, their (homosexual activists) target is the military. Soon, it will be passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would criminalize traditional morality in every workplace with 15 or more employees. After that, they will try to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Finally, they aim to pass an "anti-bullying" law that will threaten schools with losing federal funds if they refuse to force kids to read Heather Has Two Mommies and Gloria Goes to Gay Pride. The agenda is breathtakingly ambitious, and would be unimaginable to previous generations.

These radical laws would be a watershed moment for socialists, who are at war with family and religion as impediments to a growing state. . .

To Knight, it's never about the fact that lgbts merely want the right to live and work freely unencumbered by people's religious beliefs or ignorant stereotypes. To him, it's all about a nefarious plot to destroy "traditional values."

It's a talking point that Knight should be used to. This is what he said in 2003 about Nashville’s attempt to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination code:

Few public officials and businessmen realize that when they allow the addition of “sexual orientation” to their nondiscrimination codes, they are tying their own hands when it comes to objecting to:

· A man in a highly visible sales job coming to work in a dress and high heels;

· A woman in a highly visible position coming to work in men’s clothes;

· A person of indeterminate sex who insists on using either the men’s room or the women’s room;

· A person of either sex who indulges a taste for extreme sexual promiscuity and pornography during working hours despite being charged with representing the company’s tone and character;

A man who frequents prostitutes while on business trips and claims that it is none of the company’s business, regardless of the company’s public image.

Also, according to the site Wired Strategies (see section called Gays are diseased, die early, and are less productive than heterosexuals) Knight freely cited discredited researcher Paul Cameron in front of Congress in a past attempt to defeat the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA):

“homosexual behavior is extremely unhealthy, contributing to the spread of AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C and other sexually transmitted diseases….A study of more than 6,400 obituaries in homosexual publications reveals that homosexuals typically have far shorter life spans than the general population. Other reports indicate that homosexuals are more likely to have drug and alcohol abuse problems. It is unfair to force businesses to pay the extra insurance expense and lost productivity that inevitably results from homosexual behavior.” [Editors note: the source for this "research" is the discredited Dr. Paul Cameron - see below for extensive information about his extreme beliefs]

- Robert Knight, Family Research Council, testifying at ENDA Hearings, July 29, 1994 – committee on Labor and Human Resources, US Senate.

Knight's newest column can be viewed as infuriating if it weren't so pitiful. Usually when someone tries a comeback, he does something new instead of the same old stale nonsense.

But I guess when lies are all you have, you really can't do anything else.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - All in the Family

It's been a good week in so many ways. Now I want to push an relaxing ease by not focusing on politics but another segment of Know Your LGBT History.

This week's segment was supposed to run last week but got pre-empted. It is an episode of the classic television show, All in the Family - the sitcom about bigoted New Yorker Archie Bunker, his lovable wife Edith, his daughter Gloria, and his liberal son-in-law Mike.

Through this mult-award winning show (one of the few which swept the Emmy categories by winning at different times Best Comedy Series, Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series), producer Norman Lear tackled controversial issues never before seen on television, such as the one in this episode, Judging Books By Covers.

Archie despises Mike and Gloria's friend Roger because he thinks Roger is gay. However, we learn that one of Archie's best buddies, former football player and uber-macho man Steve, is in fact gay.

I think Lear was trying to make a case here about using stereotypes to judge people. There was one facet of the episode that I didn't like, though. I think it was established that the character Roger was not gay, but what if he was?

What's wrong with an effeminate gay man?

One interesting note about this episode is that the late President Richard Nixon hated it. An added bonus after a video of the episode is a clip featuring Nixon talking about it. It's HIGHLY telling about Nixon's hypocrisy and his ignorance regarding history. To him, gay men are nasty but committing impeachable offenses are just peachy. Also, I'll have him to know that there were more gay Roman emperors than the last six.

Mercy we have come a long way:

And now, here's Nixon:

Glenn Beck picks on Obama's 11-year-old daughter and other Friday midday news briefs

Glenn Beck smears Obama's 11-year-old daughter - Not necessarily an lgbt issue per se, but what one that I cannot ignore. Damn the crap about the First Amendment because there is such things as ethics and responsibility and a man who has several million listeners and viewers has NO BUSINESS making fun of an 11-year-old child. So this is the man who is supposed to bring America back from the brink? Maybe "teabaggers" who believe this shouldn't worry about being connotated as having testicles in their mouths and devote time to removing their heads from their asses.

Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal: The Family Research Council's intellectual Waterloo - This VERY WELL WRITTEN smackdown of Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council needs more attention because it proves a point that I have tried to make on a few occasions. The lgbt community needs to stop being soft with the religious right for fear of being thought of as "intolerant." No one should tolerate lies even if they are told in the name of God. We need to start stomping VERBAL mudholes in religious right groups so that everyone knows the extent of their lies.

AFA’s Bryan Fischer Attempts to Explain His “Nazis Were Gays” Comments - Bryan Fischer tells deliberate lie to cover up his first one.

Phony Pediatric Front Group Dumps George Rekers - Or crap doesn't like the smell of other crap.

Iowa GOP committeeman to gay candidate: I’ll sink you - Look at this. Someone slips and shows his true face.

One News Now re-edits AP story for sake of anti-gay spin on DADT

The following is the lead paragraphs of the Associated Press article regarding last night's House vote to hopefully repeal DADT:

U.S. moves to end army's gay ban

WASHINGTON - Congress has taken two big steps toward ending the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

In quick succession Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House of Representatives approved measures to repeal the 1993 law that allows gay people to serve in the armed services only if they hide their sexual orientation.

Here are the lead paragraphs of the same article published by the American Family Association's One News Now with Associated Press writer's (Jim Abrams) byline:

Congress bows to gay agenda...repeals 'repeals don't ask don't tell'

WASHINGTON - Congress has given in to pressure from gay activists and the White House and voted to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

In quick succession Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House approved measures to repeal the 1993 law that allows gay people to serve in the armed services only if they hide their sexual orientation.

No one should be surprised. One News Now is owned by the American Family Association, the same organization which employs Bryan Fischer. Fischer thinks that lgbts caused the Holocaust. And aside from that, usually One News Now is a sounding board for other one-sided articles against the lgbt community (its polls are a slanted colossal joke).

But even after taking all of that into account, editing a story for the sake of spin strikes me as especially sleazy, even for them.

Related posts:

Look out! Here comes a new distortion about changing sexual orientation

Black pastor declares war on Democractic party over gay rights while I laugh my ass off

Day of Silence success leaves religious right sputtering

Religious right misleads about testimony in DADT hearing

Attacks on gay students no big deal to the religious right

Hypocrisy of the day - Gary Glenn (again)

Gays serving openly in the military = reinstating the draft

Thursday, May 27, 2010

One hurdle down on repeal of DADT - not time to pop the champagne YET

Champagne will NOT be popped until the work is completed, but this is still a big deal:

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to end 'don't ask, don't tell,' the 1993 policy that bars openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military.

The vote followed passage earlier by a Senate committee that took a first step toward ending the policy that allows gays to serve in the military only if they don't disclose their sexual orientation.

In a 16-12 vote, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a provision to repeal the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the only Republican to vote for the amendment to a defense spending bill, said it passed after "vigorous and aggressive debate."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who promoted the measure with Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said: "It's time for this policy to go. It doesn't reflect America's best values of equal opportunity, and it's not good for the military."

Repealing the 1993 law, a priority of gay rights groups that President Barack Obama has pledged to pursue, still faces a tough road.

The full House took up the identical amendment late Thursday amid fierce opposition, particularly among Republicans who cited letters from military service chiefs urging Congress to hold off on the legislation until the Pentagon completes a study of the impact on military life and readiness.

The measure could face a filibuster when it reaches the Senate floor.

For my money, the ignorant comment of the night against the repeal was by Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon of California:

Congress going first "is the equivalent to turning to our men and women in uniform and their families and saying, 'Your opinion, your view, do not count."

McKeon is proof that some people can't wrap their heads around the fact that many of our soliders are lgbts who merely want to openly serve the country they love.

Homophobia certainly makes one stupid, doesn't it?

Ugandan anti-gay bill creator wallows in the filth of his own homophobia

It has been said that sometimes you have to let purveyors of ignorance and hate speak freely because sooner or later they tend to damage their own cause.

This saying should be remembered when listening to an interview with MP David Bahati, the creator of that awful anti-gay Ugandan bill.

The interview is courtesy of outtakes from the Current TV’s Vanguard documentary Missionaries of Hate which looked at how this bill came into being. Bahati was interviewed by reporter Mariana van Zeller.

Among other comments, Bahati claims that evangelicals in America have given him private support for his efforts, although he doesn't tell who these folks are.

Bahati also says that he has no compunctions in making family members suffer because of the bill and that Uganda is "leading the way" in this issue.

Don't let anyone fool you. Behind Bahati's self-righteous veneer is pure hatred.
Transcript:

Bahati: “I’m proud. I’m proud to be a part of the cause to defend our family here in Uganda, but also to protect our children. That is very positive to me. The negative is in the way of fighting pressure from all over the world for people who are sometimes not really informed on what is the real issue we are fighting, are people who are just depending on what they hear in the media, and sometimes and most of the time being distortions.

van Zeller: How did you feel when you heard President Obama come out and specifically reject this bill?

Bahati: Fist of all, I have a lot of support for President Obama. He has inspired is, me also, of young people across the world. WE know he stood on the platform of change. But clearly we know that homosexuality is not the change the world is seeking, but the evil the world should confront. At the same time, I thought it was improper for a man who knows African culture, related to African culture, at the same time a man of great faith to use the platform of prayer, to go to the pulpit of God and try to convince the world to embrace sin. I felt a bit low that he could do those things in that fashion. But I will continue to pray for him and continue to love him, but I know that along the line what matter most is the people of Uganda.

van Zeller: Do you think there are other people in America such as Rick Warren who deep inside back this bill, support this bill but are now coming out and rejecting it?

Bahati: The many friends that we have, especially evangelicals in America, when we speak to them privately they do support us. They encourage us, but they are in a society that is very hostile. And we appreciate that and we say do what you think is right for your conscience. But remember at the same time remember we are engaged in a spiritual battle. We are engaged in a very difficult battle and it is important that you come out clearly. But we accept that they are in a bit of a hostile environment because America has… so of the many leaders in America been blackmailed by pro-gay communities. But we have support in America. There are people who support what we are engaged in. Many, many Americans don’t accept homosexuality as a human right, who take it as sin. They know it.

But how we treat these homosexuals is a matter that all of us disagree. There are those who think we should appreciate them, be tolerant of them. But for us we are saying, no we shouldn’t. We should call sin, sin because we cannot relate the Bible.

van Zeller: How powerful do you think this “gay agenda” as you call it, how powerful do you think it is?

Bahati: Well in terms of resources, in terms of propaganda, resource in terms of money, they are very, very, very powerful. And we know that what we are against us a spiritual battle in a way, and we know that our commander is God. So we think at the end of the day, we are more powerful than them. People who believe in heterosexual family, people who believe in God are more in the world than those who don’t believe in God. And so we think they are powerful, they have their resources, they have money, they are using public relations funds to realize, to work with the media to put a negative propaganda around this one, but at the end of the day I think the people of Uganda, the resolve of the people of Uganda has remained very firm and we think that God is using this small bill to shake the foundations of sin around the world. And also we think that God may be using this country, Uganda, to provide leadership in the area of moral issues where actually the world needs it most.

van Zeller: Many people say that the visit of three American Evangelicals to Uganda back in March and the conference that was held here was the main catalyst for this bill.

Bahati: Well, I think that that is in a way to be a bit insulting our country, that you’re suggesting that Ugandans cannot think for themselves. They cannot try to address the issues they are faced with. And it is somehow… refreshes the memories of colonialism, so it is something that is very disturbing.

van Zeller: What would you, what do you think you would do if you found out that one of your relatives is a homosexual?

Bahati: If I knew that my brother and my relative is a homosexual, and the laws of Uganda require that if I know that I should report to police, then I would really respect the law of the country and report him or her to police.

van Zeller: Even if that meant that he would have to spend the rest of his life in prison?

Bahati: Yes, because I know if he was kept around he would be doing something bad to our society.

van Zeller: So you think that other countries would use this bill as an example of something they should follow as well?

Bahati: I think this is in a way providing leadership in the world where it is needed most, especially where the moral values are really decayed.

Big hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin, which has been on top of this mess in Uganda since the start.

American Family Association spokesperson: Gays were responsible for the Holocaust in Nazi Germany

Oh Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Those who claim to follow you have lost their minds. This is the quote from the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer:

Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews. Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting. Maybe it's time for Congress to learn a lesson from history.

Since the news of a DADT compromise came into focus, the religious right have been melting down. So far, according to them, DADT should not be overturned because:

Gays will rape their fellow servicemen,

Gays will taint the Armed Forces with their "nasty, AIDS-diseased" blood,

and now this awful statement by Fischer which is a spit in the eye of everything accurate and decent.

The comment is also a spit in the eye of the innocent men,women, and children - be they Jewish, gypsy, gay, lesbian, and all other nationalities and walks of life - who were ruthlessly and so needlessly slaughtered in the Holocaust.

It's usually fun to watch the religious right go into meltdown, but this has ceased to be fun days ago. Some of these folks actually believe this mess.

And just so you know, Fischer's source for this lie is Scott Lively - one of the men responsible for that awful "kill the gays" bill in Uganda..

I doubt that there will be anyone from the religious right denouncing Fischer's comments. He will be one of the speakers at the next Family Research Council Values Voter Summit. And joining him will be Rep. Michele Bachmann, Rep. Mike Pence, and Mike Huckabee.

Does this scare the hell out of you? It should.

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper. Hooper has a plethora of comments by Fischer which leads one to wonder not only about the integrity of his Christian beliefs, but also the beliefs of the American Family Association, who employ him.

Family Research Council pushes bogus report supporting DADT

In what has to be a desperate attempt to derail the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Family Research Council Senior Fellow for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg held a phone conference today with several reporters.

During this phone conference, he referred to what he called the "first-ever study of 'homosexual assault' in the military."

What? Did you expect anything different from a spokesperson of an organization which says that it was created in part to fight the alleged "homosexual agenda?"

Rather than go into detail about the "report," I would rather give two very good reasons as to why its validity should be doubted.

It's not that Sprigg's nonsense echoes a report by discredited researcher Paul Cameron, who earlier claimed that gays are four to seven more times likely to rape their fellow servicemen. Cameron also claimed that some perpetrators of heterosexual sex assaults can be termed as gay because apparently some gay men "like women too."

That offhand, sly referral to Cameron's lies isn't the reason why Sprigg's report should be lining birdcages.

The reasons involve past statements of Sprigg, such the one in 2008 when he said that he would like to see gays exported out of the United States:

Or earlier this year when on Hardball, he said that "gay behavior" should be outlawed:

I think it's a relatively safe assumption that (and I apologize to the late Mary McCarthy) every word Sprigg writes about the gay community is a lie including and and the.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Right-wing group: 'nasty, diseased' gays will ruin the military

Regarding the possible appeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, nothing puts the argument of this issue into a better perspective than the two following videos.

One is from a right-wing group called America's Survival. America's Survival is led by Cliff Kincaid, head of the right-wing group Accuracy In Media. Kincaid and AIM has a long history of smearing the gay community.

Earlier this year, AIM was forced to retract a story on its web page which inaccurately accused Obama appointee Kevin Jennings of being a pedophile.

And Kincaid is probably one of the only few people in this country who openly defends Uganda's anti-gay bill including the part about the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."

Now listen to the testimony of Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, who was the first American to be wounded in war in Iraq. On March 21, 2003 Alva stepped on a landmine, sustaining heavy injuries to his leg:

In regards to the DADT repeal, whose corner should we be in? People like Alva, an openly gay man who sacrificed his body for this country . . . or people like Kincaid who has no problem stooping to the lowest common denominator, i.e. lies and fear stories?

The answer should be clear, but it never ceases to amaze me as to how so many folks tend to complicate a simple issue.

Related posts:

Family Research Council pushes bogus report supporting DADT

Cliff Kincaid's International Gay-Bashing

Cliff Kincaid: Outcry against Ugandan bill a conspiracy to save Kevin Jennings

Minnesota Republicans allied with 'kill the gays' ministry? and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Minnesota Republicans In Bed With Punk-Rock ‘Kill The Gays’ Ministry - The personification of a HOT MESS!

FRC's senior fellow called for gays' exportation/criminalization. Yet *we're* the "radical' ones!?! -And the Family Research Council is caught in another distortion.

McCain laments effort to 'jam' through repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy - You ever notice the constant sexual images and semantics members of the right uses when opposing pro-lgbt legislation and the like?

African Newspaper Roundup: Homosexuality Not A Western Import, and Other “Horrors and Revulsions” - Let's not forget the struggles of our brothers and sisters in Africa . . . even if the American black community has.

Virginia Supreme Court to Gays: You Have No Employment Protections - This is why we need ENDA.