It's not a good idea for Armstrong Williams to criticize homosexuality

Armstrong Williams

I could hardly believe it when I read about this unbelievable degree of audacity coming from conservative columnist Armstrong Williams:

People naturally chafe under rules and customs that limit their choices. We all want immediate gratification. But moral wisdom teaches us restraint. The essential choices we call virtues were distilled over centuries of trial and error – from the time when homo-sapiens were not even aware of the biological processes of reproduction, through the Roman times when polygamy was the norm. Homosexuality was ultimately shunned because of its effects upon the social structure, when, in ancient Greece men's passion for boys became a distraction that weakened the state from within. It is interesting to note that among meditations of the Roman ruler and philosopher Marcus Aurelius is a passage praising his father for overcoming his love of boys.

Williams was commenting on a favorite issue for so many conservatives, i.e. the so-called destruction of American morality. His column is a rambling piece of nonsense which manages to criticize Islam, Rupert Murdoch, Jesse Jackson, the media, Catholic priests, and of course homosexuality.

What strikes me as blatant audacity by Williams is the fact that he would actually have the nerve to criticize homosexuality seeing that he was sued in 1997  for sexual harassment by his male trainer, Stephen Gregory:

Gregory alleges in a suit filed a year ago that Williams repeatedly kissed him on the mouth, grabbed his buttocks and genitals, and climbed into bed with him on business trips. After rebuffing Williams, Gregory charges, the talk- show host retaliated by docking his pay and ultimately firing him.

Gregory went into more details as to the alleged incidents in a 1997 edition of Washington City Paper:

According to Gregory's complaint, Williams became more and more affectionate during these hotel stays and at work. Though he can't remember exactly when, Gregory alleges that Williams began to touch him more often—pats on the shoulder, gentle hugs, slaps on the butt—in the middle part of 1995. "It felt strange, but it was very subtle at first," Gregory says. "I just tried to ignore it; like, 'Oh, that's just him.'"

But it got worse, according to Gregory. After their workouts at the Y, Gregory would drive Williams to work. He says Williams would often rest his hand on Gregory's knee during these short drives.

Williams was allegedly even more aggressive when traveling. In the summer of 1995, according to the lawsuit, Williams tried to climb into bed with Gregory one night when they were staying at the Drake Hotel in New York. It was the first of "numerous occasions" in 1995 and early '96 when Williams did so, Gregory says.

The article, by the way, is a serious barn burner which not only talks about Williams but other DC notables.

Of course Williams denied all charges, but later settled out of court. Why? According to political journalist Doug Ireland, Gregory allegedly produces affidavits from other men who supposedly Williams had, shall we say, shown interest in.

And it gets more interesting. David Brock, openly gay former conservative journalist and founder of Media Matters,  made a claim about Williams in his book Blinded by the Right. Brock said that:

Williams once made a pass at him in Williams' apartment, allegedly asking Brock if he was "dominant or submissive in bed."

Please bear in mind that I am not outright calling Williams gay because I don't know. These things I mentioned, however, are facts.  And they are facts which Williams probably should have kept in mind before making the comments he did about homosexuality.

He should have known that someone reading his column would resurrect them.


Hat tip to Right-Wing Watch.

Truth Wins Out exposes another phony ex-gay activist and other Thursday midday news briefs

TWO Special Report: Meet Janet Boynes, The Bachmann Family’s ‘Ex-Gay’ Minister - Pay attention wannabe gay activists. THIS is how you take the fight to the religious right. Truth Wins Out reveals the schizophrenic world of lies of yet another "ex-gay" minister with unapologetic accuracy.

Bachmann, Romney, Santorum Promise "Presidential Commission To Investigate Harassment Of Traditional Marriage Supporters" - Of course it were about signing a pledge to protect the gay community from harassment, these folks would claim that "it's not needed."

Citing new research, psychology group supports gay marriage - Not bad, APA.

Obama Administration Gives States More Money For AIDS Drug Funding - While I am not happy with everything President Obama does, I sometimes wonder why some of our progressive leaders feel the need to bury positive news. I heard about this from very few progressive sites. They must have been busy with their "Obama is the devil" bitchfest.

Same-sex households skyrocket in Illinois - That ought to piss off NOM.

New York Times Publishes Glowing Tribute To Anti-Gay Hate Group - What the hell is the New York Times smoking?

Home Depot marches in a gay pride parade. Oh the horror!

For the longest time, Home Depot has been attacked by the religious right for its support of the the lgbtq community. And now, thanks to a video pilfered from someone else, the American Family Association has obtained "stunning footage" of the organization's float in the recent San Francisco gay pride parade:



Someone hide the children (sarcasm alert).

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper

Related post - Home Depot attacked for supporting THE GAYS

A little comedy courtesy of the Family Research Council

I am so glad that I receive daily emails from the Family Research Council because the organization is always good for at least a laugh. For example, take its defense of the American Family Association today:

Just yesterday, a homosexual group vilified the Governor (Sam Brownback of Kansas) for speaking at Gov. Rick Perry's "Response" prayer event in Houston this weekend. The Kansas Equality Coalition blasted Brownback for appearing at an event sponsored by American Family Association, which they describe--not as extreme--but "barbaric." We've partnered with AFA for years, and I can tell you that nothing the organization has ever done could be characterized as such. If spreading the gospel, defending family values, and protecting marriage is "barbaric," then Gov. Brownback has plenty of reasons to join the rally. Obviously, the misguided people at Kansas Equality could use the prayer!

Are they kidding? Check out AFA's definition of  spreading the gospel, defending family values, and protecting marriage via the words of one of its spokespeople, Bryan Fischer:



Of course it's not surprising that the Family Research Council has a warped view of morality, seeing that the organization itself isn't exactly the bastion of morality it claims to be.

I think it's safe to say that the Family Research Council defending the AFA against charges of barbarism is akin to Freddy Krueger defending Jason Voorhees against charges of being bloodthirsty.

Rep. Allen West's wife makes him look like a homophobic hypocrite and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Rep. Allen West's Wife Joins Husband In Attacking Gays - Seems to me that you don't talk about how your husband loves his gay relative who serves in the military in response to the pushback of comments he made about how gays will hurt the military. In her attempt to defend her husband, Rep. West's wife makes him look like a hypocrite and makes herself look like a clueless so-and-so.

The animus fueling NY's 'Let The People Vote' team: Gays seek to 'soothe troubled conscience', push 'sexual deviancy' - Apparently NOM's allies believe that if you "love" someone, you call them "sexual deviant."

Top Five Homophobic Statements From Boehner’s DOMA Briefs - Oh this is going to be an interesting case. I am keeping an eye out for Clement's "proof."


Journalists Must Stop ‘Rightwashing’ Reality - I love that term "rightwashing." I am going to use it more.

Perkins Will Lead The Response In Prayer - May my life not become so bad that I need the leader of an anti-gay hate group to pray for me. 

Did Koch Group Team Up With Religious Right to Suppress Wisconsin Vote? - Is a pea green? Could James Brown get down?

Family Research Council shows hypocrisy with attack on Biden

No matter what the subject is, one can always count on the Family Research Council to show itself as a hypocritical organization.

In this case, it is the recent controversy involving the debt ceiling. The following came from an FRC email:

It was the deficit of diplomacy in the Vice President's office that did. Yesterday, during a closed door meeting with Democrats, Biden (who is no stranger to public embarrassment) reportedly accused the Tea Party of acting "like terrorists" in the debt debate.

 . . . For months, liberals have been using labels to marginalize groups that threaten their radical agenda. This unfortunate incident is just an extension of that "define and destroy" mentality. As FRC witnessed first-hand, the Left will try to silence anyone it deems effective. After last November, liberals are desperate to marginalize the Tea Party like they tried to marginalize FRC by calling us a "hate group." While the tactic may snag headlines, it won't win elections. In fact, this is exactly the kind of elementary school name-calling that the public is fed up with. It's the kind of discourse, as pointed out in this week's Pew poll, that Americans find "ridiculous," "disgusting," "stupid," and "lousy."

First of all, for FRC is criticize Biden for comparing the Republicans to terrorist is the height of irony seeing that FRC head Tony Perkins compared the gay community to terrorists in April. He did this in response to the law firm King & Spalding dropping its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act:

This has moved from cultural terrorism to corporate terrorism. That's what this is. Now, back in the 80's and early 90's I worked with the state department in anti-terrorism and we trained about fifty different countries in defending against terrorism, and it's, at its base, what terrorism is, it's a strike against the general populace simply to spread fear and intimidation so that they can disrupt and destabilize the system of government. That's what the homosexuals are doing here to the legal system.

And now the Pew Research Group can count themselves as one of the groups whose work has been distorted by religious right groups like FRC.

The statement by FRC: It's the kind of discourse, as pointed out in this week's Pew poll, that Americans find "ridiculous," "disgusting," "stupid," and "lousy. is inaccurate.

According to the study,  the responses had to do with how the public felt about the budget negotiations as a whole.

Also, I found it hilarious that yet again FRC took the time to make yet another attempted swipe at the Southern Poverty Law Center for designating it as a hate group while at the same time engaging in the slight of hand distortions and propaganda techniques which led SPLC to give it that designation in the first place.

Apparently FRC seems to think that it owns the exclusive rights to not only the words "values," "morality," and "family," but also to the word "terrorists."

NOM whining that Al Franken 'ambushed' Tom Minnery

Over two weeks after an incident in which a Focus on the Family spokesperson was busted during a Congressional hearing for distorting a study, the National Organization for Marriage is trying to sneak in a defense of that spokesperson.

On July 20 during a Congressional hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Al Franken called out FOF's Tom Minnery for misrepresenting a study on families to make the case that children do better in a heterosexual household as opposed to a same-sex household.

It was a two minute exchange which was played constantly over the blogsphere. And while some members of the religious right tried weakly to defend Minnery, the gist that Franken had caught him lying was unshakeable.

Now, NOM has something to say about that. Or rather the organization linked to a piece written by a woman named Carrie Daklin of Minnesota Public Radio.

The entire point of Daklin's piece was not focused on whether or not Minnery had tried to deceive, but rather the ridiculous point that Franken was mean to Minnery:

I have testified in a trial. It is not fun, it is not exciting. It is stressful. You are out of your element. Your adversary is salivating to get you to say something he can spin, some little something he can magnify out of proportion and use to his advantage. As an experienced paralegal I knew this when I testified, and I was in hyper-vigilant mode because I knew it. Imagine what it is like for someone who has no knowledge of the courtroom.

I have no knowledge of congressional hearings. I have never been to one. I can only hope that if I did have to testify before the Senate, whoever was questioning me would be kind, would recognize that this was his sandbox, not mine, and that, as a representative of our country, he would not embarrass me for his own purposes.

Sadly, when Tom Minnery testified, that was not the kind of treatment he received from Al Franken.

Where is my violin?

This was a serious hearing about a subject which affects millions of Americans. Minnery was offering testimony which was supposed to accurate. But his testimony was not accurate and Franken called him out on it.

If Daklin is truly concerned with how Minnery was treated, I suggest that she contact him expressing the wish that he get his ducks in the proper row should there be a next time he is called to testify in front of Congress.

As for NOM, is anyone really surprised that the organization weighed in on the issue when it thought people had forgotten about it and that it gave a weak defense of Minnery designed to craftily change the subject.

Apparently those leaving comments on this blog post are also in on the act. One commentator, in an attempt to prove Franken wrong, actually cited a Politico article on the matter. Of course she omitted the portion of the article in which the original author of the study said that Franken was actually correct.

Equality Matters puts the entire thing in the correct perspective:

It makes sense that NOM would focus on Franken’s style and not the substance of his argument; the group is no stranger to manipulating and misrepresenting studies in order to claim that gays and lesbians aren’t capable of being effective parents. In fact, NOM chairwoman Maggie Gallagher did just that, under oath, during Congress’ last hearing concerning the Defense of Marriage Act. 

This is a trend with groups like NOM and others in the anti-gay movement. As Judith Stacey, Professor of Sociology and Gender and Sexuality at New York University wrote in 2004:

According to the child protection discourse that Professor Wardle, Maggie Gallagher, and others deploy, social science research demonstrates that legalizing same-sex marriage poses dangers to children and families… In particular, claims that research establishes the superiority of the married heterosexual-couple family and that children need a mother and a father conflate and confuse research findings on four distinct variables - the sexual orientation, gender, number, and the marital status of parents… Unfortunately, opponents of same-sex marriage, like Maggie Gallagher and Professor Wardle, and even some advocates, draw selectively, indiscriminately, and inappropriately from research findings about all four variables to address questions the studies were not designed to, and are not able, to illuminate. [University School of Quinnipiac Law Review, via Lexis, 2004, emphasis added]

UPDATE - Now the American Family Association - via its phony news service One News Now - is continuing to push the false narrative that Franken "was mean" to Minnery.  It's interesting that both this phony news article and Daklin's piece emphasizes the fact that Franken is a former comedian while de-emphasizing the simple fact that Franken was correct about Minnery's fraudulent testimony.

 Related post: Tom Minnery's lies are commonplace in religious right data

SC newspaper prints interracial gay wedding announcement and other Tuesday midday news briefs

South Carolina Paper Prints Interracial Gay Wedding Announcement - Oh this ought to be good.

Related - announcement in question from The State newspaper


Porno Pete Updates Tax Status - Part 2 of the "Porno Pete's group loses tax exempt status" controversy. Apparently until yesterday, his site was still saying that donations were tax-deductible. Shame, shame, shame.

AFA rips, reuploads, reinterprets video as if it's their own; feign surprise if you wish - American Family Association breaks commandment number seven to beat up on the gay community again.

Rep. West Angry Over Being Dropped From Speaking Gig, Calls Planned LGBT Boycott ‘Intolerable’ - Translation: How dare the gay community call me out for picking on them! Who do they think they are? Human beings?
  
American Conservative Union bars GOProud from co-sponsoring 2012 CPAC - Well so many people are telling GoProud "we told you so," so I won't.

NOM's Proposition 8 hypocrisy will not be forgotten

The National Organization for Marriage has a link on its site talking about how the California Supreme Court will be hearing Prop 8 arguments on Sept. 6:

Breaking News:

California’s Supreme Court announced on Thursday that a new hearing date, Sept. 6, had been added to the calendar in the ongoing legal challenge to the state’s voter-approved marriage amendment.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals— where the Prop 8 case is on appeal — asked the state’s high court to determine, whether under California law, marriage amendment proponents “have the authority to assert the State’s interest,” since California’s governor and attorney general refuse to do so.

“The coalition of national organizations like Focus on the Family, and state organizations like all of the family policy councils, will not be deterred on the issue of marriage,” [Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com's executive committee] added, “because it involves God’s heart, society’s future and a child’s protection.” --CitizenLink

You will notice that the link is from Focus on the Family and NOM doesn't even offer commentary on what this will mean for the state of marriage equality in California.

It's an ironic thing seeing that (according to NOM Exposed), the organization spent over 1.8 million in the effort to pass Prop 8.

But then again maybe it's not ironic, seeing that after spending that money to pass the law, NOM was nowhere to be seen when it came to defending it in court.

Sure, when the trial was over and Prop 8 was overturned, Maggie Gallagher, NOM's chairperson, appeared on news programs and wrote columns about how the case was biased against "traditional marriage."

Gallagher blamed the judge, she blamed the lawyers opposing Prop 8 - Ted Olson and David Boies, and of course she blamed the gay community.

But the one thing she never mentioned is just why didn't NOM testify in the case.  The defense of Prop 8 only had two witnesses and one of these witness, David Blankenhorn, not only didn't have the scholarly credentials but his testimony also ended up hurting the defense's case.

Some folks speculate that Gallagher didn't want to be cross-examined in regards to NOM's finances and the claims the organization made in regards to children being harmed by marriage equality.

And some folks have even speculated that Gallagher didn't want NOM to be exposed for its use of false claims about gays using marriage to harm children, which most likely would have happened had Olson or Boies were allowed to cross-examine her.

Now just who would speculate such a thing?

Most likely anyone who has any decent common sense.

Articles on gays in Charleston, SC causes good controversy

Some folks in South Carolina aren't exactly happy because the Charleston Post and Courier featured three articles on South Carolina's gay community.

I personally enjoyed the articles.

One  featured a lesbian couple who went to New York to get married,

Another article featured a gay couple - both Republicans and self-made businessmen and one being a former military man who left the Armed Forces because of his relationship, and

The last article was a very informative Q&A with Christine Johnson, the director of SC Equality.

Naturally all three articles generated a lot of responses, some positive and some negative. The article receiving the most responses was the one featuring the married lesbian couple. Various comments featured Biblical verses, talks of Sodom and Gomorrah, the idea that children will be corrupted, etc.

And of course other comments were very supportive.

The point is, regardless of the comments, the articles and the discussion is needed. I am Southern born and bred and personally I get a little annoyed with the idea that the lgbtq identity encompasses solely the big cities like New York and California. And I also get annoyed with anyone thinking that South Carolina is backwoods.

So spare me the ignorant comments about the South. The lgbtq identity is a multi-national, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural. Our struggle did not begin at Stonewall but way before it. And while many of us have never seen the Castro, that still doesn't mean our contributions to the lgbtq culture should be ignored or seen as second-rate.

No matter where we are - be it the North or South, a small city or a big city - we should all encourage members of our community be open and truthful. That's how we win.

Porno Pete's tax exempt status gets revoked and other Monday midday news briefs

IRS Revokes Peter LaBarbera’s AFTAH Tax Exempt Status - Asskicking report by Ex-Gay Watch. Amongst the juicy bits, Porno Petey received a salary of over $75,000 in 2009. Hate is certainly lucrative.

Ugandan gay rights group has computers, member list stolen - This ain't good, folks.

The Revenge of Obama's Anti-Bullying Czar - How Kevin Jennings survived the onslaught of the religious right.

Religious Right Activist Compares California LGBT History Law To Nazism - Taking a page from the Bryan Fischer book of craziness no doubt.

Bachmann Continues To Dodge Ex-Gay Questions - You can run but you can't hide, Michele.

MRC whines that CNN is pushing 'gay marriage' on its viewers

The Media Research Council, a right-wing "media watchdog" group is griping that CNN is showing favoritism towards the idea of marriage equality:

A Culture and Media Institute analysis of 239 programs aired on CNN from the period June 15 to July 15 revealed that CNN quoted or interviewed nearly four times the number of gay-agenda supporters as critics.

Nexis searches for the terms "gay," "homosexual," "LGBT," "same sex marriage," and "marriage equality" revealed that CNN quoted or interviewed 98 people who supported the gay agenda, 48 people who posited no opinion regarding gay issues, and 28 critics or defenders of traditional marriage.

And CNN's on-air personnel haven't been shy about their advocacy. Whether congratulating newly "married" gays, excoriating marriage traditionalists or citing skewed statistics from gay organizations, pro-gay groupthink is obvious at the network - and some even admit it.

Sounds sinister, don't it? Well think again. MRC's report is filled with slight of hand examples which supposedly constitutes a bias if one ignores certain facts. Take for the example the claim that celebrities advocating marriage equality are treated better than those who are against it:

On June 27, a Showbiz Tonight segment favorably quoted five celebrities who supported the Marriage Equality Act in New York, which legalized gay marriage. Host A.J. Hammer weighed in with his opinion in an interview with openly gay George Takei, stating that: "I've been hearing a lot of people today comparing New York's new gay marriage law to other major civil rights victories over the ages." Actor Tom Hanks and actress Charlize Theron were allowed to express their support for gay marriage without question or opposition.

The same can't be said for former New York Giant David Tyree, a public opponent of gay marriage. Tyree went through a hostile June 17 interview with Kyra Phillips in which she relentlessly demanded he justify his position. "There are women and women come together and raise a family as well and a man and a man come together and raise a family as well." When Tyree stated that he understood her views, Philips underscored her point by stating that "Oh, no, I'm not expressing my views. I'm just stating a fact."

There is no unfairness here. The Showbiz Tonight segment was comprised of brief comments from celebrities. Tyree, on the other hand, was being interviewed on a serious news program as a spokesperson for the National Organization for Marriage. MRC omitted the fact that Tyree comments (gay marriage will lead to anarchy) was a part of a campaign by NOM to stop marriage equality in New York.

Certainly his comments deserved more scrutiny than brief comments from celebrities.

And while continuing to make the case that marriage equality opponents are discriminated against on CNN, MRC undercuts its own credibility:

When Tyree stated that he understood her views, Philips underscored her point by stating that "Oh, no, I'm not expressing my views. I'm just stating a fact."

Her facts, of course, came from citing a study by the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, which "advances sexual orientation law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates it to judges, legislators, policymakers, media and the public."

In other words, the Williams Institute is a gay advocacy think tank. In 2008 Williams bizarrely claimed that same-sex marriage was a remedy for California's budget deficit, raising "about $63.8 million in government tax and fee revenue over three years," and be boon to the state's economy. Simple arithmetic, however, showed that, even using The Williams' Institute's own numbers, gay marriage would ease the deficit by less than three tenths of a percent and ad a little more than 1/100^th of a percent to the economy.

In other words, MRC seems to be saying that we can't believe the Williams Institute because it is a pro-gay group and will have a natural bias for marriage equality.

But if this is the case, then why should we believe MRC's report on CNN and marriage equality in the first place, because that group is anti-gay and therefore has a natural bias against the lgbtq community.

Equality Matters puts it best:

Kudos to CNN for refusing to treat the lives and relationships of gays and lesbians as just another political controversy between two equally valid perspectives. CNN -- along with a majority of Americans -- realizes that the LGBT community deserves to be treated with the same dignity and respect afforded to everyone else. Anti-gay advocates like David Tyree -- who asserted that marriage equality will lead to “anarchy” -- deserve to be grilled by news networks for their irrational beliefs.

If MRC is looking for a news network that gives air-time to members of anti-gay hate groups, fear mongers about the “gay agenda,” and ignores major LGBT news developments, maybe it should check out Fox News.

KNOW Your LGBT History - The Naked Civil Servant

Last week, I featured Partners, a hideously homophobic movie starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt. I remarked about how it was amazing that Hurt would agree to be in such a movie seeing that earlier in his career, he won enormous critical acclaim and awards for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant.

Today, I want to talk about the latter movie. The Naked Civil Servant was a 1975 British television movie detailing the life of Crisp, a legendary figure in the gay community, and his desire to live life as a flamboyantly out gay man and on his own terms in spite of the homophobia around him. And it was a dangerous time he lived in. Homosexuality was illegal in Great Britain then.

I never met the late Quentin Crisp, but from what I've seen in interviews, he embodied a spirit of self-love and self-awareness like no other. And Hurt did him more than justice with his portrayal. As I said before, Hurt received much acclaim and a few awards. From wikipedia:

For his performance, Hurt won the BAFTA for Best Actor in 1976. The production also won the 1976 Prix Italia and in 2000 it was placed fourth in a poll by industry professionals to find the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century.

The best thing about Hurt's performance is even now, it holds up as probably one of the best portrayals of a gay man on screen:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

GOP attacks Dan Savage and other Thursday afternoon news briefs

Editor's note - I won't be posting tomorrow morning because we are busy moving into a new apartment. I hope to resume posting by tomorrow afternoon.

GOP Denounces Dan Savage - Suddenly I feel sorry for the GOP.

NOMmers in their own words: Joe Grabowski edition - Here is some more of that "love" the National Organization for Marriage likes to claim that its supporters have.

Fox News Underreports Beginning Of New York Gay Weddings - Fox News telling a lie? We must be on planet Earth.

Rick Perry Tosses Tentherism Under The Bus To Placate Anti-Gay Hate Group - I haven't seen someone do a moonwalk this good since the late Michael Jackson.

Kern: Real Hatred Comes From Gay Rights Advocates - Isn't Sally Kern hilarious?

Bachmann Dodges Question On Ex-Gay Therapy: My Clinics Are ‘Not Running For The Presidency’- If she thinks we are going avoid talking about her husband's lies, she is dreaming.

Religious right not happy with Rick Perry and other Thursday midday news briefs

Bachmann Pal Bradlee Dean: Lawsuit Against Maddow Is About ‘Protecting’ Children From Homosexual Agenda - Why of course. It's his "won't someone think of the children!" defense.

Christianists Turn On Rick Perry - How dare Perry have a short (very short) moment of truth about marriage equality!

Vander Plaats Responds To ‘Faggot’ Joke Controversy: ‘We Speak The Truth And Love’ - All together now! Let's really hear it . . . BULL@!$^%!

Bryan Fischer Claims He Does Not Believe In "Imposing" His "Values" - Where the heck is that lightning.

O'Reilly: "Liberal Media" Is Attacking Christians To Promote "Secular Left Causes" Like Gay Marriage - Damn! Who told him our plans? Now we are going to have to go with Plan B.

Anti-gay pastor Eddie Long's fifth accuser in lawsuit

The Eddie Long scandal just got more interesting:

Bishop Eddie Long Had Fifth Accuser in Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit: MyFoxATLANTA.com

Related posts:
  
Eddie Long scandal underscores failure of the black church

Eddie Long scandal - Chronology of what has happened and where we are now
 

What they DID talk about during the NAACP town hall meeting on gay issues

After my post this morning about the lack of press at the NAACP's first town hall meeting on gay issues, I got a lot of responses from folks and entities - such as No More Down Low TV - saying that they will be presenting videos and transcripts about what happened.

I also got a link from a friend on twitter to an article talking about the town hall meeting.

From the article, it appears that this was a very beneficial meeting (except for the omission of the transgender and bisexual community of course). If anything, it does more to illustrate my point about what a shame it was that more press didn't cover this event.

From People's World:

In his opening, (Julian) Bond, a veteran civil rights leader, said, "We know sexual orientation is not a choice. We know homosexuality is not a mental illness. We know you can't 'pray the gay away.'"

The event was organized as a town hall-styled meeting with audience participation and a panel that included famous gay African Americans, like comedian and actress Wanda Sykes and CNN Anchor Don Lemon who publicly came out in his memoir, "Transparent."

Bond said gay rights are another component of civil rights.

"Sexual disposition parallels race. I was born black and had no choice. I could not and will not change it if I could. Like race, our sexuality isn't preference. It is immutable, unchangeable, and the constitution protects us all from prejudices and discrimination based on immutable differences."

Many panelists and audience members spoke about the role of the church in the Black community, and the conflicts that have arisen from that relationship on the issue of LGBT rights.

Bond said although one might be a member of a church that preaches against a religious same-sex marriage that viewpoint should not be extended to same-sex marriage in city halls, as a civil right.

Sykes said her church experience pressured her from being truthful with her sexuality because of the ingrained notion that gay and lesbian relationships were fundamentally wrong. Such sermonizing can be lethal, she said, because of bullying and violence against LGBT youth and the high level of suicides.

"You just suppress everything and become this other person. You start living that life that you think that you're supposed to do. I worked it so hard I got married! It just hit me, like, wait a minute. Why aren't my relationships going further? Why can't I really open up? And I realized oh, that's right. I forgot; I'm a lesbian! That's what it is. You don't have breasts!" Sykes said to an applauding and laughing audience.

The article also talked about the situation involving the passage of Prop 8 in California and how some folks blamed this on the black community. NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, as far as I am concerned, nailed the true problem of the situation:

 . . . according to Jealous-and audience members-the bigger issue was the lack of outreach to the African American community at an early stage.

Jealous criticized LGBT groups "who come to the black community late" because it sends a message of disrespect.

"If folks really wanted to win on Prop. 8, and thought the black community was so important, then they should have been organizing" outreach a lot sooner, he said.

The article also said that Bond had put together a task force designed to help the African-American community combat homophobia and transphobia.

The task force has a three part mission:

to strengthen NAACP's knowledge of LGBT issues and policies;
to build relationships among LGBT civil rights and human rights organizations;
to advance awareness of LGBT issues "as they relate to overarching programs and interest of the NAACP."

Might I suggest that the task force add a fourth goal - to increase visibility of lgbtqs of color in the black community.

Rachel Maddow sued by homophobe for $50 million and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Maddow Sued For $50 Million By Bachmann Buddy Bradlee Dean. Allegedly. - This ought to be a fun lawsuit.

AFA lets the people vote; people don't want to - See what happens when the American Family Association doesn't slant its poll.

Nimocks: Bans on Interracial Marriage Were Wrong Because They're Discriminatory, But Bans on Same-Sex Marriage A.O.K. - Hold on to your stomach. He actually said something about "marriage uniting the great halves of humanity." Geez!
  
Anti-Gay Christian Groups Can No Longer Profit Off Apple - Some good news!

Conservative Columnist Dismantles NOM’s New York Campaign: A “Futile Venture” - Ouch!

I am disappointed by NAACP gay/lesbian town hall meeting

Earlier this week, the NAACP held its first ever town hall meeting on gay issues in the African-American community. The town hall meeting had a panel with included comedian Wanda Sykes and civil rights legend Julian Bond. CNN Don Lemon also served as moderator.

It sounded like a good idea and it was. I am sure that a lot of things were said which needed to be said. And a lot of things were learned.

But as for right now, I don't know what was said nor do I know what was learned because very few entities covered the event.

The black media, of course didn't touch it. And the gay media - and I am highly disappointed by this fact - also didn't touch it.

Oh sure, everyone announced that it was going to happen in highly patronizing tones - "the NAACP is going to have their first town hall meeting" "oh that's awesome" "it's about time."

However when it actually comes to covering the event, so many seemed to have forgotten that it was taking place.

That's not to say that there was no coverage at all.

MSNBC gave it sloppy coverage, centering around the issue of marriage equality and how many African-Americans opposed it. The article didn't talk about anything specifically said at the town hall meeting.

And this was sad because a transgender activist also attended the town hall meeting and she made a very good point about the unfortunate omission of the African-American transgender community.

The omission of members of the transgender community, and the bisexual community for that matter, should have been the most covered angle.

Marriage equality is a very hot issue right now, but to many lgbtqs of color, it's not the prevailing issue in our community. We do worry about other things, such as health, self-esteem, the ability to come out, and how to function with a dual identity in communities which do not address who we are because they are so busy trying to whittle us down to what they want us to be.

Or being made invisible, as in the case of the transgender and bisexual community.

I was hoping that the NAACP's town hall meeting would be a step in a direction which finally saw lgbtqs of color being seen as people not being forced to choose between both identities but embracing both with pride.

But unfortunately, the entire situation revealed that while we are exactly that - people embracing both of our identities with pride - it also demonstrated just how quickly folks want us to be invisible.

Or even worse, tokens.

Video evidence of NOM bussing in people to NYC rally

We all know that the National Organization for Marriage's claim of 10,000 in attendance at its New York City rally against marriage equality is bogus.

But for more evidence of the group's duplicity, check out the following video. Apparently NOM couldn't get enough people from NYC to join its rally, so it bussed in the several hundred demonstrators that did attend its rally:



According the video's creator, NOM was working with several groups, such as the Hispanic Clergy Association. Just more proof that the so-called widespread opposition to marriage equality in NY is an astroturfed creation of NOM.

By the way, the video also points out some signs by participants at the rally; signs which  refutes NOM's claim of standing against marriage equality "in love."


Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper.