My possible FINAL word on the gay vs. black conflict

As you all know being an lgbt of color, this constant conflict between black community and the lgbt community over civil rights and such exhausts me every time it comes up. I hate it. At times, I get angry at the black community for it's willful ignorance on the matter and other times, I get angry at the lgbt community for the ignorant assumptions it makes on the matter.

And in the long run, I can't seem to communicate to either community just what exactly is going on, i.e. that they are both being exploited by a third party (the religious right). So now I will issue my "possible final word" on the matter. I say "possible" because you never know. I may have something new to say in the future.

My "possible final word" doesn't come from me, but the legendary teller of fables, Aesop:

An Eagle had made her nest at the top of a lofty oak. A Fox, having found a convenient hole, lived with her young in the middle of the trunk; and a Wild Sow with her young had taken shelter in a hollow at its foot. The Fox resolved to destroy by her arts this chance-made colony. She climbed to the nest of the Eagle, and said: "Destruction is preparing for you, and for me too. The Wild Sow, whom you may see daily digging up the earth, wishes to uproot the oak, that she may, on its fall, seize our families as food." Then she crept down to the cave of the Sow and said: "Your children are in great danger; for as soon as you shall go out with your litter to find food, the Eagle is prepared to pounce upon one of your little pigs." When night came, she went forth with silent foot and obtained food for herself and her young; but, feigning to be afraid, she kept a look-out all through the day. Meanwhile, the Eagle, full of fear of the Sow, sat still on the branches, and the Sow, terrified by the Eagle, did not dare to go out from her cave; and thus they each, with their families, perished from hunger.

Moral - Gay folks and black folks can argue all day as to who gets to be the  "sow" and who gets to be the "eagle." But both groups better damn well recognize who the hell the fox is.

Cancer study reinforces dangers of homophobia and other Monday midday news briefs

Will Money Help Gingrich Win Over The Religious Right? - You actually to ask that question? Is a pea green? Could James Brown get down?

Navy gives thumbs-up to same-sex couples to marry on base in states where its legal - Good for the Navy!

Gay Republican Activists Still Really Not Looking For Dignity - No comment necessary.

Trans Woman Attacked at McDonald's Meets Woman who Saved Her - This is an awesome story.


Study finds gay men are more likely to have had cancer - A study we need to get in front of before the religious right exploits it. If and when folks like Peter Sprigg do exploit this story, they will most assuredly omit this passage:

Liz Margolies, executive director of The National LGBT Cancer Network, told Reuters that more information is needed to plan care and prevention strategies.

She pointed to research which suggests gay men, lesbians and bisexuals are more likely to smoke and abuse alcohol than straight people and said that LGB people are less likely to visit doctors for health check-ups, partly because of stigma.

One more thing - this morning I said that I would be publishing a quick guide on how to refute NOM's phony talking points on marriage equality. It's coming. And here is another preview. A little bit of the prologue:

As evidenced by their talking points, the National Organization for Marriage is taking a highly deceptive tone in its supposed "defense of marriage." The idea that "marriage has to be defended" is nothing more than a cynical talking point designed to take attention away from the true issue - the lives of same-sex couples and especially the livelihood of their children.

And it is a talking point which fuels NOM's tactic of creating division on many levels - same-sex households vs. heterosexual two-parent household, the lgbt community vs. the heteroexual community, and so on. This "divide and conquer" strategy, created in a passive/aggressive manner, is designed to appeal to people's fears, jealousies, and ideas of religious superiority rather than their belief in basic fairness.

The truth of the matter is marriage is not "under attack." It has never been under attack. But what is under attack is truth, integrity, and basic fairness for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples and especially their children who seem to be nothing more than chess pieces in NOM's game of exploitation and manipulation.

Defeating the National Organization for Marriage is easier than most think

The Chinese general Sun Tzu once said:

All warfare is based on deception.

That fits this video to a tee. I'm posting it because minus the ominous music, it's the National Organization for Marriage's whole argument for opposing marriage equality. It's the argument the organization has used across the country and now in New York.

Why am I posting it? Because Sun Tzu also said:

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

Winning wars comes down to one point - studying those who set themselves up as your enemy so that you know their arguments and tactics.

And whether we realize it or not, the right to achieve marriage equality is a war.

Coming soon - How to refute NOM's talking points on "marriage."

Preview:

NOM - "Gays and Lesbians have a right to live as they choose, they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for all of us."

Answer - That statement is a diversion. Allowing gays and lesbians to marry does not "redefine marriage" because they are not forcing heterosexuals to engage in gay marriage.

Comedy time - Five Red Flags Signs to 'Down Low Men'

It's the weekend, so I'm going to have a little fun.

The following video is a comical example of the dangers of not discussing lgbts issues in the African-American community.

A while back, a black gay man, J.L. King, wrote a book talking about "down low" black men, or black men who are secretly gay while maintaining a heterosexual facade.

The book was featured on Oprah and all hell broke loose, as it does in all situations of ridiculous moral panics.

African-Americans (particularly black women) practically flipped out over the real notion that there is such thing as closeted gay men. Fueling the madness was the now debunked belief that these men were causing the HIV rate to go up in the black community, chiefly amongst black women.

Seminars, books, and talk shows spread across the country supposedly giving tips about how to "detect down low men." Strangely enough, the idea of having a real conversation about homophobia in the black community never crossed the mind of these "concerned individuals."

The following video is an example of this insanity. According to this lady on the video, the red flags of "down low men" are men who:

don't check their nails palm down,

chew gum loudly,

chooses to blow something out of a man's eye,

pronounce their "esses better than a rattlesnake,"

and fart silently. Apparently a heterosexual man's fart is supposed to make noise.

No disrespect to the lady in this video, but I think she is serious:

Know Your LGBT History - Gimme A Break

Gimme a Break was a long-running 80s situation comedy featuring Tony and Emmy-award winner Nell Carter as a woman who is taking care of a California chief of police (Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters as a promise to a dying friend.

It got some criticism early in its run because of the implication that Carter was playing the stereotypical sassy black maid in the spirit of Beulah. However, Carter's timing and comic talents gave this television show its life.

The episodes varied from outrageous comedy to serious issues, such as the one featured in this week's post, The Chief's Gay Evening.

During a stakeout, featuring unfortunately a man in drag (couldn't they have gotten a woman police officer), the chief discovers that one of his officers is gay (not the guy in drag, by the way). What follows is a conversation about stereotypes and the damage they do.

I found the episode to be dated in terms of comedy, but still useful in showing young lgbts what the community had to deal with in the 80s. However, there was one thing I really liked about this episode. The gay man (Eugene Roche) stood up for himself without "begging for tolerance." There was no shame nor weakness in his portrayal.

Ironically, Carter appears only at the beginning and ending of this episode, which is a shame. When the actress died in 2003 of diabetes, it was discovered that she was in a long-term relationship with another woman, Ann Kaser. They were raising her two adopted sons together:







Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

NOM threatening New York lawmakers and other Friday midday news briefs

Faith Groups Campaign to Block Gay Marriage - I believe the phrase "it's on now" is very apt here. A portion of the article which stands out is the following:

As in past years, the local religious opposition to same-sex marriage will have the support of a Washington-based national political lobby, the National Organization for Marriage, which formed in 2007 to fight same-sex legislation around the country. That organization was behind the April 12 blitz of automated phone calls singling out voters in about a dozen Senate and Assembly districts where legislators have said they are undecided. Brian Brown, the group’s president, said the calls urged voters to tell lawmakers they opposed same-sex marriage.

“We spent over half a million dollars in New York” in 2009, he said, “and we’re ready to spend that and more this time. We are willing to spend a million against any Republican senator who votes for gay marriage.”

Bear in mind that Brown and NOM are the same folks who have called the lgbt community "bullies" for causing the law firm King & Spalding to change its mind and elect not to defend DOMA in the courts. But it's okay cause NOM is "bullying for Jesus."

New York's organized opposition: Defending sanctity of preconceived monologues - Meanwhile, the New York Family Research Foundation is erasing dissenting comments from its facebook page to make it seem that all of those responding are on board with its anti-marriage equality stance.

Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill May Be Fast Tracked For A Vote - Meanwhile, things just nastier in Uganda.

Clovis school district approves application for gay-straight alliance club - Victory!

Governor signs bill to end discrimination - Another bit of good news from Hawaii

A Houston tragedy the religious right won't tell you about

Mom: 'I Lost My Son Because I'm a Lesbian': MyFoxHOUSTON.com

This is a sad story coming out of Houston, TX.

According to Sharon Laverne Fuller, she lost custody of her son, William Fuller, a decade ago to his father, Rev. Tracy Burleson, because she is a lesbian.

This loss led to a chain of events which now sees her son and his father on trial in a murder-for-hire plot in which the ex-husband allegedly hired the son to murder his present wife, Patricia Burleson.

Burleson was found shot dead in her driveway a year ago.

And the kicker?

Also on trial is Tyonne Palmer, a woman who allegedly both men (the father and the son) had a sexual relationship with.

The point here is not to bash two-parent heterosexual households, even though if this had happened in same-sex household, the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, and various religious right groups would trot it out as a way to criticize same-sex families.

Ms. Fuller say it best herself in this interview. You see, at the time of the custody hearing, even her family supported her son's father:

They said that God told them to do that. And my question now is: did God change his mind?”

The point here is a basic question - in the history of the world, what has caused more death, destruction, and basic havoc? Lgbts or people thinking that they know what God wants?

By the way, Fuller has moved back to Houston to aid in her son's defense.

You know how "selfish" lgbt parents are.

Editor's note - The original post inaccurately stated that Ms. Fuller was once married to Burleson. 

Anti-gay groups to get an huge infusion of money, taking homophobia to state levels

If you want any indication of how successful the lgbt community has been in this so-called culture war, the following item in Minnesota Independent gives you a huge clue:

Anti-gay rights groups around the country will see a cash infusion over the next two years through a plan called “Ignite an Enduring Cultural Transformation.” And the groups are remaining mum about who is responsible.

The campaign, which largely targets states where Republicans won control of legislatures or governorships, has garnered the support of Republican political superstars such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Jon Kyl (Ariz.), and Rep. Trent Franks (Ariz.). The groups intend to pass anti-gay marriage amendments, curtail abortion rights and, in at least one case, ban “transgender bathrooms.”

Family policy councils — a creation of Focus on the Family in the 1980s — have launched the Ignite plan in 15 states. Each family policy council has a three-prong plan to achieve their legislative goals over the next two years: lobbying for legislation, mobilizing pastors and social conservatives and supporting candidates that have backed their initiatives. Each group has used a stock brochure containing nearly identical wording to explain their plan and to solicit funds. In many cases, an Ignite plan was launched with an anonymous matching-grant donor.

Requests for information from many of the policy councils were denied, and Focus on the Family told the Minnesota Independent that they have no involvement, declining to offer information on any organization that might back the plan.

The article goes on to list groups and dollar amounts. It ain't pretty:

In several states — such as Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — Ignite plans seems to be targeted at getting anti-gay marriage amendments passed.

 . . . The Family Policy Council of West Virginia (FPCWV) plans to spend $168,000 through 2012 (it’s average yearly budget is $132,000) during its two-year Ignite campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, and also to defeat laws that would prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians.

 . . . The Pennsylvania Family Institute plans to spend $1.5 million through 2012 on anti-abortion rights measures as well as a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage in the state. The average yearly revenue for the group over the last three years was $1.4 million.

The group also received a matching donation of $7,500 at the end of 2010.

 . . . In Minnesota, the Ignite plan calls for adding an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution banning gay marriage; the Minnesota Family Council is planning to spend $4.71 million in the next two years. The group averaged $832,000 in revenue over the last three years between the Council and it’s affiliate, the Minnesota Family Institute. If the Ignite campaign goes according to plan, the group will spend more than twice its historical average in working to abolish gay marriage in the state.

Seems to me that these groups are following the game plan of the National Organization for Marriage, i.e. get a mysterious, highly moneyed backer to fund their plans - funds which will pay for obscene amounts of flyers to spread, commercials to be filmed, and publicists to develop talking points as well as book spots on local television shows.

Get on the ball folks, cause it's coming. Whining about "Gay, Inc." ain't gonna cut it. It's safe to say that we are kicking serious ass on the national level with DADT overturned and DOMA and Proposition 8 slowly but surely on the way out.

There is definitely a lot more stuff to do on that level, but let's not forget the local levels. It's obvious that the other side hasn't.

Hat tip to my Facebook buddy Philip Lowe Jr. for this tip.

Ex-gay group disses 'It Gets Better' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Exodus International Attacks Google And Toy Story Over Anti-Suicide Ad - What a load of tripe from Exodus International, especially that part about "thousands of ex-gays." If this is truly the case, then I challenge them to have a march. Show your numbers instead of attacks on those of us comfortable with our orientation.

Photo: Meet the purchased families that'll drive down the L.I.E - Great! Another phony "we have to save marriage" tour.

Guest column by Irene Monroe: Marriage equality film comes to Harlem - Excellent news because despite what has been implied by "some people," marriage equality is not solely a "white" issue.

Fit to Rule on Same-Sex Marriage - Even the New York Times tells Proposition 8 proponents not to blame the judge simply because their case was piss poor.

VIDEO: First gay justice on Supreme Judicial Court confirmed in close vote - Barbara Lenk is confirmed in Massachusetts.

ACLU threatens to sue Clovis schools - Good. There is NOTHING wrong with gay/straight alliance clubs in high schools.

Proposition 8 defenders shouldn't blame the judge because their case was poor

By now, you all have heard the latest from the Proposition 8 proponents. They have filed a suit asking the courts to vacate the decision against Proposition 8 because the judge, Vaughn Walker, is gay.

These folks assert that since Walker was gay, he had a interest in the case and should have recused himself.

Let me just say that if that is the case, then I think the case in which the Supreme Court ruled that gays shouldn't be allowed in the Boy Scouts should be overturned because all of the justices ruling were heterosexual. But that is ridiculous.

And that is the point.

While legal experts agree that this gambit is desperate and will not prevail, it has succeeded in obscuring the fact that Proposition 8 proponents lost because their case was poor.

I mean really, really poor.

In the 13 day trial, lawyers fighting Proposition 8 brought out the experts, academics, and same-sex couples who were affected by the law.

In contrast, proponents only brought two witnesses.

Where was Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage or all of those pastors who rallied their congregations against marriage equality, such as Miles McPherson of the Rock Church of San Diego?

All of these "brave defenders of marriage" conveniently didn't not to testify.

It is not known why Gallagher didn't testify but others, like McPherson, claimed that they were fearful of violent reaction by those who supported marriage equality.

Some, like myself, felt that McPherson was worried less about violence and more worried about being questioned on bogus positions he took, such as using discredited research to make a link between pedophilia and homosexuality.

In the words of legal analyst Andrew Cohen, the trial was an "uneven matchup" which led to the foregone conclusion that Walker would rule against Proposition 8:

Judge Walker will so rule, in large part, because he has been left with virtually no other choice as result of the odd tactics and weak case presented to him by opponents of same-sex marriage.

Take, for example, the bizarre courtroom display Wednesday by Charles Cooper, the lead attorney for defenders of Prop 8. His side presented only two witnesses during the long course of the trial, neither of whom was particularly compelling. In fact, one of the defense witnesses, David Blankenhorn, was so hapless during his testimony a while back that Judge Walker on Wednesday questioned his credentials as an expert on marriage. When you have bad facts, you argue the law. When you've presented little evidence, or the evidence you've presented is not so hot, you say that evidence doesn't matter. That's partly why Cooper told Judge Walker during closing arguments, "Your honor, you don't have to have evidence for this."

But you do need evidence. And commercials telling lies about how children will suddenly become gay if  marriage equality becomes law or leaflets featuring phony horror stories about states which did pass gay marriage laws or pastors thundering about morality from the pulpit just ain't going to cut it.

It's easy to persuade voters that way, but in a court, you need logic, you need evidence, and you need witnesses.

Those who defended Proposition 8 had neither of the first two and very little of the last.

And that's why they lost.

Their pathetic maneuver of "gaming the referee" after the fact is just a matter of sour grapes by people who unfortunately have enough money to turn those sour grapes into wine.

But I don't think any court is going to swallow it.

Latest 'It Gets Better' video the best so far

You've probably seen this video, but what the hell. It's so awesome it needs repeated viewing:

NOM accuses gay organization of declaring a 'jihad?' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

A 'jihad,' Maggie? Really?! - Jihad is such a strong word, Maggie Gallagher. For shame. First mingling with birthers and now this. Actually this came before the birther association.


Down to the Wire for Josh & Henry: ICE Refuses to Terminate Deportation Proceedings, Citing DOMA - This ain't good, President Obama. Don't allow this to happen.

Gay Mormon Comes Out on The Voice - You have to admire his moxie.


The Utter Horrors of Gay Parenting - Strap Peter Sprigg down and make him look at this.

Manhattan commissioners to vote on repeal of discrimination ordinance - Oh come on folks! Voting to repeal a non-discrimination ordinance?

National Organization for Marriage refers to birther site in attack on lgbt education

 The National Organization for Marriage is in a good mood because as the organization tells it, a new poll says that a majority of Americans reject "teaching gay subjects in elementary schools:"

Bob Unruh reports:

An overwhelming majority of Americans say elementary school is no place to promote the homosexual lifestyle, and even among liberals there is the strong belief that such lessons should be left outside the door of the classroom, according to a new poll.

The results are from a WND/WENZEL Poll conducted for WND by the public-opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

"Whether they object on moral grounds or simply out of concern that many U.S. schools are failing in their core missions of teaching basics doesn't really matter – the vast majority of American adults want this type of curriculum kept out of the classroom," Wenzel chief Fritz Wenzel said.

There is just one BIG problem with that poll. It comes from the site World Net Daily, or more commonly known by some as WingNut Daily.

It is an extremely homophobic site. Among other things:

• A writer on the site, Les Kinsolving, has in the past referred to the lgbt community as the "sodomy lobby." In October of  last year, he called a judge’s order to stop enforcement of the military’s ban on gay and lesbian troops in the military as a "disease ridden judicial decision."

• At its online superstore (yes World Net Daily has a "superstore"), interested individuals can buy a discounted copy of The Pink Swastika, a discredited book which claims that gay men started the Nazi Party.

• In August of last year, the publication dropped conservative writer Ann Coulter as a keynote speaker from a conference it held because she earlier spoke at a conference held by a gay Republican group.

• And in February of  last year, another writer on World Net Daily, Molotov Mitchell, spoke out in favor of Uganda's "Kill The Gays" bill, even evoking Martin Luther King Jr's name in defense of it.

Even the World Net Daily article, which NOM refers, to repeats lies about Obama appointee Kevin Jennings, such as he supports "teaching children about fisting."

So I think its safe to doubt the credibility of this site's poll.

But vicious homophobia doesn't even scratch the surface in regards to World Net Daily's madness.

World Net Daily has also been the leader of birther nonsense, shamelessly implying that President Obama is ineligible to be president. The site has ran over 100 articles regarding this issue, including the following:

Kagan, Sotomayor blew chance to stop eligibility challenge?
Lawyers say Supremes broke rule, failed to respond to recusal motion

Hawaii official now swears: No Obama birth certificate
Signs affidavit declaring long-form, hospital-generated document absent

Questions raised over Obama birth date
Was claim he was 3 months old during 'Bay of Pigs' a slip?

Promises of Obama birth hospital trip vanish
Authors admit no one given tour of president's 'birthplace' in Hawaii

Oprah's half-sister 'has Obama's birth certificate'
Rush Limbaugh clowns about Winfrey's family secret

The site sells birther bumper stickers, postcards, and videos. World Net Daily also created a national billboard campaign asking "Where is the birth certificate."

Ironically, even now when Obama has made his long-form birth certificate public, World Net Daily is still spinning conspiracy theories. On Sunday, the site ran the following:

Online 'birth certificate' document 'was changed'
Analysis raises possibility content of text was altered

Way to go, NOM. I wonder how the African-Americans allies you made in Maryland and you are now making in New York would feel about your citing World Net Daily, a site working actively to delegitimize Obama's presidency.

Perhaps Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher, NOM's leaders, should remember before they spout off yet again about "unfairly being labeled as bigots" that you are always known by the company that you keep.

Or in this case, the sources you cite.

Related post:

Eleven examples of NOM's bigotry
 

Ex-gay documentary packs a serious punch

From the release:

In the summer of 2005, Zach, a 16-year-old boy from Memphis, Tennessee wrote on his MySpace blog that he had told his parents he was gay. Within days of his coming out, his mother and father would send him to Love In Action (LIA), a fundamentalist Christian program that refers to homosexuality as an addictive behavior. The depressed and fearful teenager shared his feelings on his blog.

"This Is What Love In Action Looks Like" documents the widely controversial and inspirational story of what The New York Times referred to as "A modern day message in a bottle."

In the documentary, former Love In Action director John Smid as well as former adult and teenage clients share their hearts on these experiences. In addition, local bloggers, community activists and classmates of Zach tell their stories of becoming involved with what would become an international news story.

Concerned people around the world awaited news of how Zach was doing during his eight weeks in Refuge. By the time he emerged in late July 2005, there was a barrage of headlines in the international press, including Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Times, Time Magazine and The Advocate among others.

In the years since it began, with all the media coverage and investigations, Zach had declined to tell his story. Until now. The teenager whose MySpace blogs began it all gives an exclusive interview for the documentary.

"This Is What Love In Action Looks Like," is directed by award winning filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox ("Blue Citrus Hearts," "OMG/HaHaHa").

Arizona newspaper features same-sex couple with 12 children and other Tuesday midday news briefs

This video breaks marriage equality down to the matter of common sense. All of that stuff NOM spouts about marriage being about "two halves uniting to create children" is just junk. What would it really hurt allow couples such as this one to get married?

And in other news:


'Little popular support in RI,' says Maggie; 'Stop stealing my gig,' says Pinocchio - Maggie Gallagher tells a blatant lie about popular support for marriage equality in Rhode Island.

2 gay dads, 12 happy kids - Yes! We need more articles in the media like this one.

Peter LaBarbera Thought Matt Barber’s “Joke” Was Funny - Dumb asses of a feather flock together.

Family Research Council clearly ducking debate over hate group charge

"The people who avoid a debate are the ones afraid of losing."

This statement by Family Research Council head Tony Perkins was meant to smear the lgbt community in regards to the recent debacle of the law firm King & Spalding's decision not to defend the DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) in court.

Of course this decision was a bit more complicated than the narrative of a bullying lgbt community, as this Huffington Post article clearly shows.

But I find that Perkins's statement about cowardice relating less to the lgbt community and more to his organization, the Family Research Council.

In November of last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center officially named FRC  - and several other religious right groups - as anti-gay hate groups because they

have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups’ influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the “facts” they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations.

In response, FRC  launched a huge "Start Debating, Stop Hating" campaign which claimed that SPLC's accusation was a plot to attack FRC's "Christian" stance on gay marriage and homosexuality:

The surest sign one is losing a debate is to resort to character assassination. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal fundraising machine whose tactics have been condemned by observers across the political spectrum, is doing just that.

The group, which was once known for combating racial bigotry, is now attacking several groups that uphold Judeo-Christian moral views, including marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

How does the SPLC attack? By labeling its opponents "hate groups." No discussion. No consideration of the issues. No engagement. No debate!

Perkins said an interview with Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller:

“We’re not afraid to debate the issues,” Perkins said in a phone interview. “We are not running from the debate. We are confident on the issues we advocate for based on empirical, peer-reviewed research.”

The comment is highly ironic seeing that the last time Perkins did have a debate on the issue - on the news program Hardball with the SPLC's Mark Potok - he distorted data to make the inaccurate claim that pedophilia and homosexuality is connected. He also cited an organization, the American College of Pediatricians. It was later discovered that the ACP is not a legitimate medical organization but a sham group created to push religious right distortions about the lgbt community.

Hardball's host, Chris Matthews, was forced to give a clarifying statement regarding the ACP on a later broadcast.

Since that time, Perkins has pretty much avoided debates, appearing on "friendly" news programs such as  Fox and Friends.  Nor has he been directly addressing SPLC's charges.

Now in December of last year, FRC spokesperson Peter Sprigg said the following:

"We will be preparing a more detailed response to (the) charge that FRC spreads “falsehoods” in our well-documented research, which does show that certain harms are associated with homosexual conduct."

Sprigg referred readers to two pieces he wrote - Getting It Straight: What the Research Shows About Homosexuality and The Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality. However, both of those pieces contained serious problems with distorted data and studies taken out of context and included studies that FRC admitted removing from its web page because of outdated sources.

Matt Barber uses Bin Laden's death to be disgustingly homophobic

Comments are coming in from all over regarding Osama Bin Laden's death. Probably the most repugnant comes from a familiar source:

We can always count on the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber to make one feel morally superior. Remember this tweet on the night of President Obama's State of the Union address:

It would be easy to say something about Barber's obsession with gay sex, but something else needs to be said. It's really sad when someone who claims to represent Christianity and the "love of Jesus" exploits this occasion to make a crass joke about the lgbt community.

Granted this is the same guy who whines about how the lgbt community are anti-Christian bullies.

Barber's conduct leaves me to ask him a question:

The lgbt community are not anti-Christian bullies, but if we were, what would it have to do with you because if one were to judge you on your behavior, you are as Christian as the man whose recent death led to your crass comment.

Hat tip to Truth Wins Out.

National Organization for Marriage exploiting black people in New York and other Monday midday news briefs

Higher HIV risk in black gay men linked to partner choice, risk perception - Last week, Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council blamed the problems lgbt teens face on the fact that they are "forced" to identify as lgbt. Uh Sprigg, here is what can happen when gay men try NOT to identify themselves as such.

NOM involvement in Bronx rally is racially motivated - Meanwhile, the National Organization is exploiting black people in New York in order to play them against lgbts just like they did in Maryland.

Kwa-Thema Brutal Corrective Rape Murder of 24 Year Old Lesbian - Let's not forget that the worldwide struggle - or war - for lgbt equality still exists. Caution beforehand - this story is graphic. I momentarily had second thoughts of including it.

Tea Party Nation: Obama Only Killed Bin Laden To Help His Reelection - Did you really think that those SOBs would give President Obama credit for anything?


Republican and Truther Commenters Are Outraged That Obama Announced Osama bin Laden's Death - They just can't help themselves.

Now do you believe that Obama is legitimately the President?

Today everything is preempted with the news that Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind 9-11, had been killed in a U.S. raid on his mansion.

Just think. Days before, the media was consumed with the nonsense of Obama's birth certificate with Donald Trump leading them by the nose and Fox News (and various other right-wing entities) striking them on the rear with a cattle prod just in case they veered away from the course.

And even before then, suspicion about President Obama and his motives had been stoked by folks like Glenn Beck, Congressmen like Allen West, faux news organizations like Fox, and assorted fools like Andrew Breitbart and Sarah Palin.

"He's a Muslim." "He's a Kenyan." "He hates America." "He is always apologizing to our enemies." "He is trying to destroy the United States." "Obama's  Justice Department is lenient on black people." "Obama is an empty suit."

Have I left anything out? Am I missing any barb or sling thrown at Obama since he was elected?  If I have, you must forgive me because there have been so many.

Nevertheless, through it all, Obama never forgot that he was elected President and he had a job to do. That's why we have something to celebrate right now.

Granted, this piece is not to praise Obama. Some folks on the left and the right don't like many of his policies - and justifiably so. And also, we have a long way to go in terms of grappling with the economic problems this country faces But Osama Bin Laden's death sends a message to all of the naysayers and folks who make it their business to stoke up negative noise about Obama.

He is the President, elected legitimately and has America's best interest at heart.

Perhaps sometimes you should just shut your mouths and let him do his job.

Finally !!! Black journalists weigh in on the birther nonsense

Finally something I like but never see - a majority of black journalists discussing this birther crap. And notice WHO didn't show up. Via Media Matters:


From the May 1 edition of TVOne's Washington Watch with Roland Martin



Related posts:

N @&!%r, show me you papers!

And how do African-Americans feel about this 'birther' mess?