August 30, 2007
Queerty notes:
Worried we gays won’t approve of his violent tendencies, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson and his flacks released the following statement.
“Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men’s room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men’s room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.
“Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That’s absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn’t angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.”
Funny… We heard him say: “I … hit him against the stall with his head, actually.
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Hate Crimes
August 16, 2007
Background: In August 2007, a fundamentalist mega-church in Texas refused to conduct funeral services when it found out the deceased man was gay. Rev. Lea Brown, the openly lesbian pastor of Wichita Falls Metropolitan Community Church (Texas) and a veteran of the U.S. Army, has a few thoughts about that.
Whew. I don’t know about you, but I sure sleep better at night knowing the Christian churches in Texas are standing by their principles.
Take the High Point Church in Arlington, Texas, led by Rev. Gary Simons (brother-in-law of mega-church pastor Joel Osteen). The church believes that homosexuality is a sin. When they recently found out that they had inadvertently (according to their version) agreed to provide a funeral for a gay man, they withdrew their invitation 24 hours before the event on the principle that they didn’t want to appear to be endorsing “that lifestyle.” Sure, the grieving family was left scrambling to find an appropriate venue in which to say goodbye to their loved one, and then contact 100 expected guests about the change of location in their time of sorrow. But hey, principles are principles
Aren’t you glad that at least in Texas there are church folks who are willing to risk looking like heartless bigots rather than betray what they believe to be their “Christian” beliefs?
I mean, let’s give credit where credit is due. They chose one principle that they believe is true (homosexuality and homosexuals must be rejected), when there are so many principles that they could have chosen instead. Let’s review a few, shall we?
First, there is the principle of compassion, which dictates that we seek to understand the suffering of others, and do what we can through kindness to help in times of need. Cecil Howard Sinclair, the gay man who died at the age of 46 from an infection prior to heart surgery, didn’t really need to have the funeral at High Point Church. But his mentally challenged brother probably did. Mr. Sinclair’s brother works as a High Point janitor, cleaning the toilets, dusting the pews, and sweeping the floors that church members soil each week. Perhaps saying goodbye to his brother in a familiar place would have been comforting to him, and would have given him some peace as he returned to work each day in the weeks and months after his brother’s passing. Perhaps all of Mr. Sinclair’s family, including his partner, might have been comforted by the knowledge that the 5,000-member church actually cared about them at such a difficult time.
We could say that the church acted with compassion when it offered to pay for a community center space for the funeral, and provide food and a video presentation for those attending the service. In fact, we could even say they came dangerously close to violating their principle by these actions. But thank goodness they didn’t offer to find another church space for the funeral. That would imply homosexuals and their loved ones actually deserve to grieve in a sacred place, as if God was actually with them in their pain. And we could probably agree that feeding homosexuals and their families is acceptable, but for heaven’s sake – don’t pray with them or stand with them at the graveside! Because that would certainly imply endorsement of two people of the same gender being in love with each other, wouldn’t it?
Then there is the principle of gratitude. Cecil Howard Sinclair was a veteran of the United States Navy, and he served in the first Gulf War. He was willing to risk his life for our country, and for principles like “freedom of religion” that High Point members enjoy each day. Perhaps their willingness to make a video presentation of Mr. Sinclair’s life for the funeral was the way they chose to express their gratitude. Thankfully, we can again be assured that they didn’t compromise their principles though, because they edited out the images that showed Cecil being affectionate with his partner. After all, we wouldn’t want a veteran’s image to be tarnished with pictures like that.
Finally, there is the principle of hospitality. In the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 10 Jesus instructs his followers to shake the dust from their feet from any town that does not welcome them warmly and listen to what they have to say. It seems that hospitality was rather important to Jesus, because he said that any such town would actually be worse off than Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of judgment. (Funny, he never mentioned homosexuality as being the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah – just their lack of hospitality). How courageous of High Point Church (which has a larger population than many towns in Texas) to risk fire and brimstone. They could have considered entertaining the notion that perhaps being a Christian is more about love than about unbending principles, but they didn’t. Jesus would be so proud!
Now, it is true that not all churches in Texas are so principled. Right here in my own town of Wichita Falls there is a church that would have gladly received the family of Cecil Howard Sinclair. At Wichita Falls Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), we celebrate the lives of all of God’s people of all sexual orientations. In fact, we would even lovingly welcome anyone from High Point Church into our sanctuary. Lest we forget, even Jesus reached out with compassion to those who were the oppressors of his day, just as he did when he healed the Roman centurion’s son. The fundamental principle we live by is this one: Love your neighbor as yourself. We think that means loving all of our neighbors – straight, bisexual, transgender, Baptist, Muslim, lesbian, HIV+, poor, Latino, queer, disabled, Republican, veteran, peace-activist, immigrant, and gay.
So, I guess we could say that High Point Church doesn’t have the corner on principles – just on their particular principle, which does indeed put them at great risk of looking like heartless bigots. But like many others on a spiritual path, those of us at Wichita Falls MCC will love and pray for them anyway. We will pray, “Forgive them, God, for they know not what they do.” We will pray for their healing, that they might change their ways. We will pray that God will bless them and be with them, and that our actions would truly show that we desire to love those at High Point Church just as we love ourselves.
I guess we just have different principles.
Rev. Lea Brown is the openly lesbian pastor of Wichita Falls Metropolitan Community Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, and a veteran of the U.S. Army.
Metropolitan Community Churches E-mail: info@MCCchurch.net Web: www.MCCchurch.org (aoldb://mail/write/www.MCCchurch.org)
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Church won’t hold funeral for gay man
Church defends decision on gay man’s funeral
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Texas
August 15, 2007
Well, somebody’s being left behind.
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District Drops GLBT History Month and All Celebratory Months
Following protests by a small number of parents who wanted GLBT History Month removed from the 2007-2008 calendar, the Philadelphia School District dropped all celebratory months including Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Last year, for the first time, school officials produced about 200,000 calendars designating October as “Gay and Lesbian History Month.”
“It is appalling that a school district would drop months that recognize and educate our school children about the history and contributions of America’s diverse fabric,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum. “It is long overdue that important national contributions made by gays and lesbians are openly recognized.”
Thomas Brady, the district’s interim CEO, supports the decision to eliminate the monthly designations in the annual calendar. According to the Philadelphia Gay News, Brady does not plan to actively crusade for GLBT students nor support a GLBT-studies program in the schools. While Brady is for people being treated fairly and equitably, he opposes lifting the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning openly gay servicemembers. “I’m very comfortable with where it is now. Fifty years from now and we’re having this conversation, it would be different,” stated Brady.
Starting in 2006, Equality Forum produces and distributes, nationally and internationally, educational information for GLBT History Month each October. GLBT History Month 2006 and 2007 Icons include James Baldwin, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Martina Navratilova, Alexander the Great, Leonard Bernstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Cole Porter, Harvard University Reverend Peter Gomes, among others. The GLBT History Month Web site (www.glbtHistoryMonth.com) provides for each Icon a video, biography, bibliography and other educational resources.
“GLBT History Month is important for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) students and for the mainstream community, said Lazin. “The GLBT community is uniquely disadvantaged because it does not learn its history at home nor in public schools. It is important for young people to have role models, know their history and take pride in the national and international contributions of their community.”
Equality Forum is a national and international GLBT civil rights organization. Equality Forum undertakes high impact initiatives, coordinates GLBT History Month, produces documentary films and presents the largest national and international GLBT civil rights forum. For more information about Equality Forum, visit www.equalityforum.com. For more information about GLBT History Month, visit www.glbtHistoryMonth.com.
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Press Releases
August 13, 2007
Press release:
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today condemned a grotesque, violent new product marketed by actor Joseph R. Gannascoli and Rockwell Billiards. Gannascoli, who played the gay character Vito Spatafore on the hit HBO drama, The Sopranos has authorized his name to be used on a pool stick branded with the phrase “A Cue to Die For.” The new product plays on the fact that Vito was beaten to death on The Sopranos with pool cues and then sodomized with one.
Rockwell Billiards, an Oregon-based company, proudly announced the new line of pool cues in a recent press release stating, “The cue is named ‘A Cue to Die For’ following in Gannascoli’s theme from his cookbook novel, ‘A Meal to Die For’ and the way he was killed. Gannascoli played Vito Spatafore; the gay mobster, in HBO’s hit series The Sopranos. Joe starred in The Sopranos from 1999 appearing in 43 episodes. He was finally whacked in episode #11 during season 6. Vito was brutally beaten to death with a pool cue when the mob found out he was gay.”
“It’s highly inappropriate that what served as a very real example of the hateful violence the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community faces is now being used as a gimmick to sell a product,” said GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano. “The insensitive inclusion of the pool cue in the ‘To Die For’ marketing theme betrays the legacy of The Sopranos character and is unacceptable.”
The Rockwell Billiards news release goes on to say, “The signature pool cue has found its way into numerous billiard halls across the United States and into the hands of many celebrities including Joe’s good friend and co-star of The Howard Stern Show, Artie Lange. Artie is a long time pool player and was presented with a cue during one of Joe’s recent appearances on The Howard Stern Show. Visit Vito’s web site: www.joesoup.com and check out A Cue to Die For, A ‘Meal to Die For’ and coming soon … A Cigar to Die For.” The press release then gives contact information for media interested in interviewing Gannascoli. “Joe Gannascoli (Vito) is available for radio and television interviews. To schedule, call Doug Friedman at (973) 985-1050. Rockwell Billiards: John Candy (877) 231-1466 www.rockwellbilliards.com“
GLAAD is calling on Rockwell Billiards and Gannascoli to remove the name, “A Cue to Die For,” from this product immediately and apologize for using such a vulgar symbol of violence and anti-gay bigotry to make a profit.
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The Beeb delivers the wonderful news:
Top White House aide Rove resigns
Top White House aide Karl Rove, seen by many as the brains behind George W Bush’s presidency, has said he will resign at the end of August.
. . .
“Obviously, it’s a big loss to us,” White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino told the Associated Press news agency. “He’s a great colleague, a good friend, and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed.”
. . .
Mr Rove has been accused of underhand political tactics since his teenage years. …
. . .
Mr Rove told the Wall Street Journal that he had first floated the idea of leaving last year, but had delayed his departure when the Democrats took control of Congress.
He said he took a final decision to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told aides that if they stayed after the end of August they would be obliged to stay in the administration until Mr Bush’s own departure in January 2009.
. . .
He said he expected Mr Bush’s current poor ratings to improve, and that conditions in Iraq would get better as the military surge continued.
Adds CBS News:
Rove became one of Washington’s most influential figures during Mr. Bush’s presidency. He is known as a ruthless political warrior who has an encyclopedic command of political minutiae and a wonkish love of policy. Rove met Mr. Bush in the early 1970s, when both men were in their 20s.
. . .
Rove also predicted conditions in Iraq would improve and that the Democrats would nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, calling her “a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate.”
. . .
Attorneys for Libby told jurors at the onset of his trial that Libby was the victim of a conspiracy to protect Rove. Details of any save-Rove conspiracy were promised but never materialized.
. . .
Rove … was not indicted after testifying five times before the grand jury, occasionally correcting misstatements he made in his earlier testimony.
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George W. Bush,
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August 12, 2007
And that’s the extent of our pathetic grasp of Spanish. More to the point:
‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ Stars Promote Rights
“Y Tu Mama Tambien” stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna said a gala dinner they are hosting Saturday will raise money to support human rights and shine light on poverty and injustice in Mexico.
The $300-a-plate meal in the capital will benefit Mexico’s Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights as well as Witness, an organization founded by singer Peter Gabriel that promotes the use of video and film to document human rights abuses.
. . .
Luna and Garcia Bernal, who recently launched the Canana production company, also want to use documentaries to raise awareness about failures of the Mexican judicial system, including the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
. . .
The actors, who starred in the 2001 road movie “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” have vocally backed other social and political causes such as Mexico City’s new law legalizing gay civil unions.
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