November 3, 2008

“TheCall” Anti-Gay Jihad in San Diego

Do these “Christian” wingnuts have any clue how much they look like their second most hated enemy, Muslims, prostrating themselves toward Mecca at prayer?

Rex Wockner attended the Pray The Gays Away rally in San Diego this weekend — and has lots of stomach-turning photos:

Jesus v. the homosexuals

It’s too strong to say that attending this national Christian event in support of Proposition 8 today at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium made me feel raped or like a Jew touring a camp.

Why would you say that’s “too strong,” Rex? I don’t see much difference between this…

…and this:

 

But I did have those thoughts. It was certainly painful. …

TheCall’s PR guy told me there were 33,000 people there, counted by clickers utilized at the entrances. In journalism school, I took a module on how to estimate crowd sizes. I’d say 15,000. And another journalist and I never saw any clickers.

The stage featured James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, ex-homosexuals telling their odd stories, a really good Christian rock band, and a barrage of other opponents of same-sex marriage. The event lasted 12 hours.

The crowd prayed, sang, spoke in tongues, prostrated themselves, sobbed (for California, for marriage, for the homosexuals) and, on numerous occasions, whipped themselves into a true frenzy.

Lots of words came into my head during my hours there: Cultlike. Brainwashing. Frenzied. Frightening. Depressing. …

I really wonder what they think we gays are going to do to marriage. Nothing worse than usual has happened to marriage in the years Massachusetts has had same-sex marriage, and nothing worse than usual has happened to marriage in California in the 4 1/2 months we’ve had it here. They don’t ever actually say what they think will befall marriage as a result of same-sex couples marrying. …

Instead of explaining what it is that gays are going to do that will harm marriage, they talk about schools indoctrinating children and about churches losing their freedom-of-religion rights. …

More at the link.

By the way, do the “Christians” at Qualcomm Stadium realize that Qualcomm donated $5,000 to defeat Proposition 8?

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", California, Christianity, Civil Rights, Events, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family/James Dobson, Homophobia, Marriage, Massachusetts, Proposition 8, Radical Religious Right

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October 8, 2008

Latest Proposition 8 Lunacy: Homosexual Marriage Causes Sterility

I hestitate to say, “Now I’ve heard it all,” because the equality-haters never fail to amaze me with their convoluted justifications for turning gay and lesbian Americans into permanent untouchables, nor with the blatant lies they use to do it, nor with their deliberate ignorance, which is so breathtakingly astounding one can only wonder if these people were all homeschooled* by Paul Cameron.

This next example of sheer idiocy does not come from the official anti-marriage campaign — but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this doozy ends up in their next attack ad.

On a blog promoting the elimination of our legal rights in California is a long essay by one “John A. Evans,” who asks if support for Proposition is “intolerant.” It begins, surprisingly enough, with this admission:

Probably the most relevant definition of “intolerant” is “an unwillingness to grant equal freedom” to others. Certainly married heterosexuals are granted a host of legal rights and obligations that would be denied to others if those in same sex relationships cannot be “married.” There is also a degree of legitimacy and respect, associated in our culture with the institution of marriage, that might be denied to same sex couples if they are denied “marriage.” Denying rights and legitimacy to some, while granting it to others, certainly appears “intolerant.”

Nothing wrong there — but the writer’s apparent sanity is an illusion; he quickly dissolves into a comparison of “tolerating” homosexuals and “tolerating” smokers. (That probably caught Frank Schubert’s attention.)

And here, dear reader, is where the writer makes his “point”: that it is right to be intolerant of things that kill, and smoking and homosexuality both kill.

Oh, but Evans doesn’t stop there — he posits that homosexuality also causes sterility

As you read, try to keep your eyes from rolling right out of their sockets:

… Now we have become so intolerant of smoking that smoking is illegal in public buildings and those who sponsored smoking—the tobacco companies—have been required to pay billions of dollars in damages to those they lured into the habit. Why is such pronounced intolerance for smoking so acceptable?

The obvious answer is that smoking kills people—not immediately, and not everyone, but irrefutably. Health costs for everyone are increased by smokers. Even non-smokers are harmed by being in the presence of smokers. The first question in every medical check-up is “Do you smoke?” Some smokers excuse their smoking with the confession that it is a habit—a physical compulsion—that they are helpless to resist. It is part of their inherent nature, they claim, that cannot be denied. The fact that others have ceased smoking is irrelevant to those who remain smokers—they do not accept that it is possible for them to stop smoking. …

So the problem with smokers is their behavior, when they claim they were born smokers. Gee, what a clever way to equate an acquired addiction with an inherent trait.

Not.

Fail.

I’ll tell you what’s often inborn: stupid. But without access to the writer’s psych workup, it’s impossible to know whether he was born stupid, or chooses to be stupid.

Is this societal intolerance of smoking, now crystallized into law, intolerance of smokers? Generally speaking it is not. Most do not condemn smokers for smoking.

Oh, really now? Tell me more.

Most recognize they have challenges in their own lives that are as great for them as is smoking for smokers. Smokers are not denied the right to vote, or to eat where they want, or even to employment in almost any job because they smoke. …

Exsqueeze me? “Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit.”

But never mind all that — here’s the money quote:

How is this relevant to Proposition 8? Smoking may kill people eventually—usually decades after they become addicted and long after they have reached the age of reproduction. Smokers have had many children—many people alive in the world today are children of smokers. In contrast, homosexuality has an instant medical resul [sic] —it causes sterility. Which is more damaging to society—cancer and heart failure caused by smoking or sterility caused by homosexuality?

Paul Cameron, that is you, isn’t it?

And, gee, where have I heard something like that before? Not from Paul Cameron, I mean, but… Oh, yeah, I remember — it’s right out of the ol’ Reasons to Pull Out of Your Ass for Banning Interracial Marriage Handbook:

“It is stated as a well authenticated fact that if the [children] of a black man and white woman, and a white man and a black woman intermarry, they cannot possibly have any progeny, and such a fact sufficiently justifies those laws which forbid the intermarriage of blacks and whites.”

If a population of animals, let us say frogs, were faced with two diseases—one that caused cancer late in the life cycle of the frog and one that caused immediate sterility—which one would be the focus of major research grants searching for a cure? The frogs will suffer from the cancer, but they will become extinct from sterility.

OK, Einstein, first explain how homosexuality causes sterility, and tell us where you got this whopper.

Second, explain why animals — all of them — aren’t extinct. “No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis.”

Tell me why the bonobo (or dwarf chimpanzee), especially, still exists, when the entire species is bisexual, and 95% of the population is just as happy to establish a primary relationship with a MOTSS as with a MOTOS.

Tell me how the Amazon dolphin ever managed to survive, when its males are such big, gay perverts, they’ll happily penetrate each other through the blowhole, making the Amazon “the only example of nasal sex we have in nature.”

Oh, I know the old “reasoning”:

You: “Homosexuality is unnatural!”

Me: “Homosexuality is perfectly natural throughout the animal kingdom.”

You: (sputtering) “People are not animals!”

Finally, if this “homosexuality = sterility” idiocy were true, tell us why you might want to “cure” sterility in a group of people you’d rather see extinct in the first place.

Here’s a little tip, Skip: If you want to “cure” (i.e., eradicate) homosexuality, you can’t do it through these bullshit “ex-gay” programs you’re thinking of. They don’t work. If you want to “cure” homosexuality, you’ll have to kill all the heterosexuals, ’cause, Baby John, heterosexuality causes homosexuality.

With all the Radical Right’s yammering on about how only a penis and a vagina make a family, they just can’t handle the truth — the undeniable, unimpeachable truth — that 100% of all homosexuals are the result of heterosexual breeding.

Suck on that, Johnny.

Does the government have a legitimate role in opposing, or at least not encouraging, sterility? Admittedly many in America today support the nihilistic doctrine that humans are an ecological disaster and that the fewer humans there are, the better off the earth would be. That is the official policy of the Chinese government. But should that be the policy of our government? …

Is there an equivalent to Godwin’s Law for trying to equate the Demon Homosexual with the Yellow Menace? If not, there should be.

Or should our government support policies conducive to child bearing by Americans? Certainly that is the original basis for the legal privileges granted to “married” couples. It was intended to create a legally protected environment most conducive to the physical and emotional security of children where they would be most likely to receive the constant and sensitive nurture that is so essential to infants and children.

Never mind the reams of evidence that queerspawn grow up just as nice and normal as (and often more caring and compassionate than) the children of heterosexuals — the Radical Wrongys never listen to that in the first place.

Instead, Mister Wizard, tell me where your “best for the children” spiel leaves couples like my wife and me, who aren’t going to have children (and, yes, we could if we wanted to).

Every time the gay-bashers scramble for justification, it always comes down to “what’s best for the children.” And they always conveniently ignore childless-by-choice couples like Buffy and me — and like every heterosexual couple who choose not to have children.

Ya think marriage, or the lack of it, is going to change our minds? Or the minds of Mr. and Mrs. Childless-By-Choice next door?

“Golly, honey! I know we said we didn’t want kids, and nothing changed in the 15 years we lived together without benefit of marriage, but now that we are married, I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to whelp out more little brooders than the Duggars! Gosh, I never realized how conducive to childbearing man-woman marriage really is!”

Proposition 8, in effect, is a refutation of the California court’s approval for, and condoning of, a particular life style.

Don’t you love the way they get it exactly backwards? Proposition 8 is not a “refutation of the California court’s approval for, and condoning of, a particular lifestyle”; it is the “approval for, and condoning of, a particular—” chosen “—lifestyle” above all others: the Christian lifestyle.

Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, nor is it a choice. Religion, however, is very much a lifestyle, and very much a choice.

Of course, these same homophobes also insist that since gay people aren’t born gay, we have to “recruit” new members all the time to keep our membership up — when in reality that’s what religions, not gay people, do.

‘Phobes do have a bit of a problem with projection, don’t they?

Anyway…

Proposition 8 does not take away the right of anyone to live with anyone they please nor does it limit their ability to have whatever type of sexual relationships they choose. It does not restrict anyone’s right to a job…

John A. Evans, if you’re not deliberately ignorant, you are deliberately lying.

“While states as diverse as Iowa and California already protect LGBT Americans from employment discrimination, 31 states still do not,” which means that “in most of the nation, it is still perfectly legal for an employer or landlord to say ‘lesbians need not apply,’ or for the manager of a movie theater to say, ‘We don’t sell tickets to gays like you.’”

…or to receive any particular level of benefits from that job, such as health care.

I can’t imagine the arrogance it must take to state such garbage as if it were fact. Try selling this bunk to people like Robert Ryan and Ralph Martinelli or Nickie Brazier and Heather Aurand, to name just two couples who have discovered the hard way that inferior, second-class civil unions and domestic partnerships do not afford the same benefits — especially healthcare — as marriage:

“The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission … concluded that civil unions create a little-understood, separate category of citizens that is often more vulnerable to federal discrimination. …

“First, many employers are not recognizing civil union partners for spousal health benefits because they are governed by a federal law, not the state one that requires them to.

“The federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, uses words like ’spouses,’ ‘husbands and wives,’ and ‘married couples’ in its benefits guidelines for self-insured employers.

“While such companies may also cover civil union partners, the law — coupled with the federal DOMA — gives them a loophole to avoid it without obviously discriminating.

“Companies in New Jersey and Vermont are doing this, while in Massachusetts, with marriage equality, employers don’t question their obligation to the couples. …”

To boot, since the federal government refuses to recognize same-sex marriages, or domestic partnerships, or civil unions, couples legally joined in their own states are learning that when one spouse can add the other to his/her employer’s health insurance plan, the value of the dependent spouse’s coverage is taxed as income by the IRS:

“As a growing number of employers offer domestic partner benefits, gays and lesbians are discovering a hitch — domestic partner benefits, unlike health benefits provided to married heterosexual couples, are taxed as income. As a result, gay and lesbian employees take home relatively less income than their married heterosexual co-workers who perform exactly the same job.

“For example, a gay or lesbian employee earning $40,000 a year and receiving domestic partner health insurance benefits toward which the employer contributes $250 a month would owe income and payroll taxes on a total of $43,000 in income at the end of the year.

“A married heterosexual employee earning the same salary and receiving the same health benefits for his or her spouse would owe income and payroll taxes on only $40,000.”

“As a result, married workers who get family health insurance benefits get a double benefit — they get health insurance coverage for their spouses and children and are not taxed on the value of that coverage.

“In sharp contrast, workers who have an unmarried domestic partner are doubly burdened: Their employers typically do not provide coverage for domestic partners; and even when partners are covered, the partner’s coverage is taxed as income to the employee.

“Employers who cover domestic partners are also penalized under current law, since employer payroll tax responsibilities increase along with employees’ income and Social Security taxes.

“As a result, the taxation of domestic partner health care benefits sets up a two-tiered tax policy that costs many American families and their employers millions of dollars each year. This report estimates the financial impact of this extra tax on employees and employers.”

Now, Johnny, you tell me: How are we treated “equally” again? And what entitles you and yours to such special rights?

Proposition 8 does not deny anyone life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Gosh, why does that sound so famil—? Oh, yeah! I remember now — that’s from the Handbook of Justifying Racism, Or: We Don’t Hate Colored People, But We Don’t Want Them Using Our Water Fountains or Touching Our Lily-White Daughters:

“[Negroes’] rights, social, civil, political and religious, will be jealously guarded; but they must not marry or be given in marriage with the sons and daughters of our people.”

“All this is not to say that any race, creed, or caste should be denied any inalienable rights. But it is to say that Deity in his infinite wisdom, to carry out his inscrutable purposes, has a caste system of his own, a system of segregation of races and peoples.”

“Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it. I would be willing that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. But let them enjoy these things among themselves.”

But tolerance for individuals who choose same sex relationships does not require tolerance (or worse, encouragement)…

Gosh, that sounds awfully familiar too!

“We must not … feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them…”

It is legitimate—intolerant or not—to fund school programs warning of the evils of smoking and encouraging students not to begin smoking. It is also legitimate to encourage child bearing and rearing and to create a privileged legal environment—called “marriage”—for those who undertake that most essential responsibility. Granting the same legal protections to sterile relationships is bad policy.

“Sterile relationships.” The only thing “sterile” is this guy’s synapses.

Well, at least he agrees that he has access to a “privileged legal environment” denied us. Disgustingly, his whole point is that it’s perfectly acceptable to discriminate against people he doesn’t think are as good as he is.

To ask the obvious, who is going to pay the taxes necessary to fund the social security benefits of same sex couples?

To ask the obvious, who is paying the taxes necessary to send your children to public school — and to private religious schools, thanks to “faith-based funding”? Last time I checked, I didn’t get a tax break just because I don’t have kids — I’m paying for your rugrats’ education, Johnny B. Dumb, and don’t you forget it.

And I’m paying for your mother’s Social Security check every month — when, frankly, I’d rather use the money to buy a time machine so I could duct-tape her knees together in time to stop her from giving birth to such a delusional homophobe of son.

Everyone knows the answer—the children of heterosexuals, because only heterosexuals have children.

That’s going to come as quite a surprise to Mary Cheney, and Melissa Etheridge, and Clay Aiken, and…

John-Boy, you are without a doubt the most delusional case I’ve encountered this week. And that’s saying a lot.

If citizens choose not to have enough children, or are discouraged by culture, economic pressures, etc. from having then, then the economic vacuum of unfilled jobs will be filled by immigrants.

OMG, look at this! He’s rolling all his phobias into one! Now gays are to blame for the so-called “illegal immigrant” problem!

Nature hates a vacuum of population as much as it hates any other type of vacuum.

The only vacuum is the one between your ears, Johnny.

Same sex marriage is sterile.

Then why am I still getting my period at 47 years old?

Sterility has worse than cancer.

John A. Evans has worse stupid than Forrest Gump.

It is legitimate not to condone behavior that has such dire consequences for individuals, families, society and the entire human race.

Like denying civil rights to a class of people for no other reason than that you hate them and fear them?

It is acceptable and legitimate for individuals and government to refuse to grant the same rights and status to sterility in our culture that is granted to heterosexual relationships that can and do produce children.

You know what’s scary, folks? For every John A. Evans who spews such garbage, there are countless more who swallow it like it was ice cream.

What’s worse is that you can never tell whether asses like John A. Evans really believe their own lies, or are just clever con artists who know how to manipulate the truly stupid among us.

* Actually, I’m not kidding about the homeschooling thing. “Paula,” the blogger responsible to blame for propagating Evans’ lunacy, is indeed a homeschooler. What’s more, she follows the Charlotte Mason method, which eschews “dry, factual textbooks” in favor of “living books,” which are “usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style.”

In other words, who needs pesky facts when you can get yore larnin’ from a single “authority” who, gosh darnit, prolly talks all real folksy an’ everything, like that Sarah Palin gal?

Gee, I’ve got a “passion” for both psychology and genetics, and I always write in a conversational style — I guess that makes me qualified to write a “living book” on curing religious insanity through fetal brain surgery.

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", California, Family Research Council, Hate Speech, Heterosexuality, Homophobia, Marriage, Parenting, Proposition 8, Race/Ethnic Issues, Radical Religious Right, Random Bigotry, Random Stupidity

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October 1, 2008

Forget the Conference Call, and Watch Miles McPherson Hate You Live

The gay-bashers at The Rock Church are holding an anti-marriage, pro-8 rally tonight at 7:00 p.m., where Miles McPherson and “special guests”…

• Rock groups the Katinas and Stellar Kart

• Ron Luce of Teen Mania, a youth outreach organization

• Sean McDowell, a youth oriented Christian apologist

• Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason, an organization that trains Christians to think clearly about their faith

• Yvette Schneider of Exodus International, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization promoting the message of freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ

• Brian Sumner and Christian Hosoi, skate pros; and

• Kyle Loza, pro freestyle motocross rider and X Games gold medalist

…will be whipping delusional Christians-In-Name-Only into a froth of poisonous spittle as they try to convince Californians to turn gay and lesbian people into less than three-fifths of a person.

Here’s the streaming Webcast link:

http://www.iprotectmarriage.com/the-fine-line

Incidentally, Buffy wrote about these particular homophobes a couple of days ago — you should read her excellent dissembling of their hateful crap-o-ganda (Buff’s a much better writer than I am!).

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", California, Hate Speech, Homophobia, LDS/Mormons, Marriage, Proposition 8, Radical Religious Right

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September 30, 2008

If Prayer Worked, We Would Have Prayed Away Sarah Palin A Long Time Ago

She only grows more ignorant, hateful and utterly revolting by the minute:

The governor told us though she’s not a member of any church, she visits a couple of them regularly when she’s home. She took issue with news reports that one of them, The Wasilla Bible Church, sponsored a conference where gays could be made straight through prayer.
 

Palin: Well, it matters though, Katie, when the media gets it wrong. It frustrates Americans who are just trying to get the facts and … be able to make up their mind on, about a person’s values. So it does matter.

But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what’s prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.

You know, George W. Bush is sounding like the paragon of tolerance — and intelligence — compared to this stupid she-thug.

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Election 2004, Hate Speech, Homophobia, Radical Religious Right, Random Stupidity, Republicans, Sarah Palin

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September 19, 2008

Obama-McClurkin Redux: He Throws Us Under the Bus AGAIN.

Damn it, Barry, I hate the fact that you keep proving I’ve been right about you all along — I wanted you to prove me wrong. With all my heart and soul, I wanted, so very badly, for you to prove me wrong. But here you go again:

Obama to Launch Faith Tour
That Includes Supporter of Prop. 8

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign is reportedly launching a “Faith, Family, and Values Tour” next week that will include Catholic legal scholar Douglas Kmiec as one of the campaign’s surrogates. Kmiec wrote an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle this summer in which he urged support for passing California’s marriage ban, Proposition 8.

The Christian Broadcasting Network is reporting that the Obama campaign next week will kick off “Barack Obama: Faith, Family, and Values Tour,” designed to woo the votes of left-leaning Catholics, progressive Evangelicals, and some conservative mainline Protestants. If LGBT people find the tour eerily reminiscent of the South Carolina gospel tour the campaign arranged last year with antigay “ex-gay” gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, their instincts may not be far off.

CBN names Catholic legal scholar Douglas Kmiec as one of the religious surrogates who will hit the road stumping for Obama. Kmiec wrote a June 13 op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle supporting California’s Proposition 8, the ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, titled “On Same-Sex Marriage: Should California Amend Its Constitution? Say ‘No’ to the Brave New World.” Kmiec’s first two sentences in the piece read, “The California ballot initiative intended to set aside the state supreme court’s judicial invention of same-sex marriage deserves public support. Maybe it is enough to say, as many do in conversation, that it merely re-secures a millennia of tradition and common sense.” …

Here’s Kmiec’s hit piece.

Kmiec’s views run counter to those of Obama, who voiced his opposition to Proposition 8 in a letter addressed to San Francisco’s Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. “I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states,” the Illinois senator wrote.

B.F.D.

Contacted by The Advocate for comment, Obama campaign spokesperson Shin Inouye confirmed CBN’s report, reiterated Obama’s support for LGBT rights, and echoed the theme of diversity that Obama often trumpets himself.

Oh, for crying in a bucket, Inouye, face the music.

And, Obama… Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?

I tell you, Barry, the only reason I don’t rip you an even bigger one right now is that the only thing I want less than for you to be POTUS is to have McCain and that freak of nature Palin in charge.

But that is all.

You want to prove me wrong, Barry? Do right by us for once in your wishy-washy life, grow some balls, and sack Kmiec, now.

Otherwise… Oh, forget it. You don’t care about us. You never have, and you never will.

Oh, and Obama supporters, if you have a problem with me raking your man over the coals again, take it up with the person who keeps causing all this bad blood: Obama. You deal with him and his Kmiec problem — and if you don’t give a damn about us LGBTs any more than Obama does, then maybe you’ll have a problem with him being in bed with “the former constitutional legal counsel to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.”

If your guy spent half the time “reaching out” to the progressive base of the Democratic Party as he has to our sworn enemies (our sworn enemies, kids — the right wing that hates you just as much as it hates me — remember them?), he wouldn’t be in quite so much trouble at the polls as he is right now.

At one time, he could have even had my vote. All he had to do was apologize for his terrible judgment for Donnie McClurkin, swear it would never happen again, and then make sure it didn’t.

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, California, Catholicism, Donnie McClurkin, Election 2008, Homophobia, John McCain, Marriage, Proposition 8, Radical Religious Right

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Shocker! Mormons Famous for Putting Electrodes on Gay Men’s Privates Hate Equality!

From the Who’d-A-Thunk-It? Dept:

Evergreen International supports LDS church’s
stand on Proposition 8

LDS Church teachings about same-sex attraction are under more scrutiny than ever, given the church’s public involvement in efforts to amend California’s constitution to prohibit gays from marrying.

In Salt Lake City this weekend, however, the church is finding unwavering support for its stance from a group representing Mormons who experience same-sex attraction.

Well, duh! These are the sad, self-loathing “ex-gays” (soon to be ex-“ex-gays”) who think they can “cure” homosexuality by exposing you to hardcore porn and zapping your genitals with electric shock (’though they claim they don’t do the electroshock anymore).

Evergreen International, which offers itself as a resource to Mormons who “want to diminish their attractions and overcome homosexual behavior,” does not involve itself in politics, executive director David Pruden said. …

That’s true — Evergreen International is much more interested in mental and physical torture than in politics. Why, if Evergreen ran Guantanamo Bay, every last detainee would have already confessed to personally having orchestrated 9/11.

In opening remarks Friday at Evergreen International’s annual convention, chairman Larry Richman publicly supported the church’s advocacy on behalf of California’s Proposition 8, emphasizing that marriage between a man and a woman “is central to the gospel plan of salvation” because “the sacred nature of marriage” is closely linked to the ability to conceive children.

I’ve always been quite able to conceive children — I just don’t want any.

Oh, and Larry? I don’t believe in your gospel, no matter how many times you send those annoying teenagers to knock on my door. (I love door-to-door proselytization — my record at making “Christian” solicitors practically run off the property is down to 15 seconds flat. Sometimes I don’t even get to the part about how ashamed they should feel for corrupting Jesus’ message of love to promote their own hateful agenda of bigotry and persecution.)

More stupidity from the gay-torturing troglodytes (as well as the perfunctory ex-”ex-gay” quote) at the link.

And the Salt Lake Tribune can kiss my lesbian butt for pushing both the ProtectMarriage.com site and the Evergreen International site at the end of the article (under “What is Proposition 8?”) without publishing the URLs of Prop 8 opponent sites. Golly, what fine, fair and balanced news reporting. Not.

The Truth About Evergreen International:

The story of an “ex-gay”: Aaron’s Story

Legacies, A Documentary by Sean Weakland

“The Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature”: A Revised History of Homosexuality & Mormonism, 1840-1980
Connell O’Donovan

Fact Sheet: So-Called “Reparative” Therapy and “Ex-Gay” Ministries
PFLAG via Affirmation

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", California, Church-State Separation, Homophobia, LDS/Mormons, Marriage, Proposition 8, Radical Religious Right

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September 16, 2008

Obama Should Take “Coming Out Swinging” Lessons from Lindsay Lohan

While we would rather be shot than sign off with X’s and O’s, we must admit: High-profile babydyke Lindsay Lohan wrote a most readable blog post on her MySpace page yesterday:

I really cannot bite my tongue anymore when it comes to Sarah Palin.

I couldn’t be more supportive of a woman in office, but let’s face it, it comes down to the person, and their beliefs, male or female.

Is it a sin to be gay? Should it be a sin to be straight? Or to use birth control? Or to have sex before marriage? Or even to have a child out of wedlock?

I find it quite interesting that a woman who now is running to be second in command of the United States, only 4 years ago had aspirations to be a television anchor. Which is probably all she is qualified to be… Also interesting that she got her passport in 2006.. And that she is not fond of environmental protection considering she’s FOR drilling for oil in some of our protected land…. Well hey, if she wants to drill for oil, she should DO IT IN HER OWN backyard.

Well, actually, Lindsay, she does want to drill for oil in her own backyard (specifically, she wants to drill the hell out of ANWR, caribou be damned), as well as everybody else’s backyard.

This really shows me her complete lack of real preparation to become the second most powerful person in this country.

Hmmmm-All of this gets me going-Fear, Anxiety, Concern, Disappointment, and Stress come into play…

Is our country so divided that the Republicans best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?

I know that the most important thing about this election is that people need to exercise their right to vote, regardless of their choice… I would have liked to have remained impartial, however I am afraid that the “lipstick on a pig” comments will overshadow the issues and the fact that I believe Barack Obama is the best choice, in this election, for president…

Palin’s Desire to “save and convert the gays”-really??

According to this Associated Press story, the church of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is hosting a kind of conference devoted to the “conversion of Gays” — no kidding.

. . .

I feel it’s necessary for me to clarify that I am not against Sarah Palin as a mother or woman.

Women have come a long way in the fight to have the choice over what we do with our bodies… And its frightening to see that a woman in 2008 would negate all of that.

Oh, and…Hint Hint Pali Pal- Don’t pose for anymore tabloid covers, you’re not a celebrity, you’re running for office to represent our, your, my COUNTRY!

And in the words of Pamela Anderson, “She can suck it”..

Lindsay- “I have faith that this country will be all that it can be with the proper guidance. I really hope that all of you make your decisions based on the facts and what feels right to you in your heart-vote for obama!”

Samantha- “I love this country- however i wasn’t born here and don’t have the right to vote- so i beg of you all to really do your research and be educated when you cast your vote this coming november…. and if you’re in doubt- vote for obama! Mainly because if she gets elected my green card probably won’t get renewed!!!”

xoxo
Lindsay and Samantha

There are more than 2,600 comments — most of which are what you’d expect on MySpace (i.e., dumb as a box of rocks, and not worth the wasted pixels). Lindsay, perhaps you should get yourself a real blog; if you’re going to continue writing smart stuff like the above post, we’d be open to hosting it. Goodness knows, we old, gay liberals need someone who can reach young gay liberals — and MySpace just reaches… well, it’s MySpace, you know?

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Celebrities, Homophobia, Radical Religious Right, Sarah Palin, Women

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September 13, 2008

Black Women Who Get AIDS Are Lesbians, All Gay Men Must Die, and Other Lunatic Spew from Hate Group That Wants You Dead, Too

They’re called the “Hebrew Israelites,” and they’re scarier than a megachurch full of drunken Promise Keepers with erectile dysfunction and loaded AK-47s.

If you think a group called the “Hebrew Israelites” has anything whatsoever to do with being Jewish, you couldn’t be more mistaken — they hate Jews, too, and think the Holocaust is “a joke.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest Intelligence Report (Fall 2008) features several articles on these hate-filled cretins, who are nothing less than the mirror image of the KKK, and just as deranged. They believe, for instance, that African-American women are destroying the black community with the spread of AIDS, because they’re actually lesbians, and, of course, everybody knows lesbians are notorious for spreading AIDS.*

And that’s just for starters.

‘Ready for War’

… [S]ecurity guards wear black headscarves, black T-shirts and black military-style pants tucked into combat boots. They grip cell phones and billy clubs. On their belts are sheaths and holsters, some empty, others holding blades and guns. …

Behind that locked door is the Baltimore branch of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, a black supremacist sect headquartered in New York City. Obsessed with hatred for whites and Jews, the leaders of the Israelite Church have managed to build up 29 church branches in recent years. …

… [T]he Hebrew Israelite movement [is] a black nationalist theology that dates back to the 19th century. Its doctrine asserts that African Americans are God’s true chosen people because they, not the people known to the world today as Jews, are the real descendants of the Hebrews of the Bible. Although most Hebrew Israelites are neither explicitly racist nor anti-Semitic and do not advocate violence, there is a rising extremist sector within the Hebrew Israelite movement whose adherents believe that Jews are devilish impostors and who openly condemn whites as evil personified, deserving only death or slavery.

The notorious white supremacist leader Tom Metzger once remarked of extremist Hebrew Israelites, “They’re the black counterparts of us.” …

Confrontations between Hebrew Israelite street preachers and their perceived enemies are growing uglier and gaining increasing attention through video clips circulated to legions of viewers on websites like YouTube. …

In [one] video, a preacher of the Israelite School, a man who identifies himself as General Mayakaahla Ka, offers this stark prediction for the future of the white race: “Every white person who doesn’t get killed by Christ when he returns is going into slavery!” …

Mobile clusters of up to a dozen extremist Hebrew Israelite street preachers, known in the movement as “camps,” have become a common presence at busy intersections, plazas and public transportation centers in large American cities, especially in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., as well as Venice, Calif. The camps are often remarkably aggressive and intimidating, railing against “white devils” and calling for death for Jews and homosexuals. …

Extremist Hebrew Israelites have a long, strange list of enemies. At the top of the list are white people, who they preach are descended from a race of red, hairy beings, known as Edomites, who were spawned by Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (later known as Israel) in the Old Testament. Equally hated are “fraudulent” Jews, “the synagogue of Satan.” They’re closely followed in no particular order by Asians, promiscuous black women, abortionists, continental Africans (who, according to the extremist Israelites, sold the lost tribes of Israel, who were black, to European slave traders), and homosexuals, who according to extremist Israelites should all be put to death. (In December 2006, three gay men who were assaulted inside an Atlanta nightclub identified their attackers as Hebrew Israelites; no arrests were made). …

The man with the most power over the extremist Hebrew Israelite movement is Jermaine Grant, 30, the head of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ. Grant rose from the lower levels of the organization to become its top leader in 2000. This was after Christ failed to return to earth to slay or enslave all Edomites, as had been long prophesied by Grant’s predecessor, Ahrayah, the movement’s founding “godfather.” …

Since 2001, Grant has produced the Arch Angel Awards, a version of the Grammys for musical artists who are avowed loyalists of the Israelite Church. The most famous of them is Wanya Morris, the lead singer of Boys II Men, a popular R&B group that’s won four real Grammys and sold over 60 million records. …

 

God and the General

… [”General Yahanna”], whose real name is John Lightborne, is the leader of the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge… Lately, Yahanna has forged a presence on YouTube, where videotapes of his group’s street sermons demonizing the white race are widely circulated, and in Washington, D.C., where the Israelite School’s noisy demonstrations have led to a host of citizen complaints… Yahanna spoke by phone with the Intelligence Report, elaborating on his arguments that it’s not only white people destroying black communities, but also black women, the Rev. Al Sharpton and lesbians. Additionally, he discussed the future enslavement of white people, and the reasoning behind his condemning Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. …

[Yahanna:] You live by Old Testament laws, some of which, like polygamy, are illegal. We don’t go against the law. But we believe that, according to the Bible, man has the right to have more than one woman. Now they have gays getting married and all kinds of stuff, saying adults should be able to marry children and animals. …

[SPLC:] You say the Lord is against the abuse of black women. But YouTube videos show you hurling abuse at black women passing by on the street.

[Yahanna:] We have black women who’ve written us personally, thanking us for what I’m saying in those videos. Christian women are doing some of the most egregious things in their households. The Christian black women are the number one group getting AIDS and STDs. If you survey the religion of the people getting AIDS, Christian black women represent the highest number of new AIDS cases in America. Muslim women come second.” [Editor’s note: Yahanna is referring to his own informal “survey.” There is no official research on the religious backgrounds of AIDS cases]. …

Because we say to black women that they cannot continue this lifestyle, they attack us. We’re talking about black women stopping all the things they’re doing sexually to destroy the black community. Black men are making whores out of our daughters. In D.C., they tried to oust a minister [the Rev. Willie Wilson] who told black women they’ve got to stop being lesbians, and quoted the same AIDS stat I quoted. But when I post it on YouTube to save black women, it gets twisted into somehow I hate black women.

So you believe AIDS is a God-delivered curse to the wicked?

I believe any sin we do against God helps to bring these curses on us. I heard all the rumors that AIDS was created in a lab and it doesn’t discriminate. We as black people have lost our moral compass, and until we get it back, we will get thousands more curses. The bedrock issue is not whether they’re lesbian, it’s how do we save these sisters from destroying themselves by the sexual deviancy that leads to the transmission of STDs and AIDS.

Could a gay man join your church?

Absolutely. We have quite a few ex-gay men in the Israelite School community. If you follow God’s rules, you’ll have enough power to leave any sinful life behind — crack, drugs and homosexuality, anything that’s destroyed our communities and left us in these ghettos. We give them the power to wash that stuff out and to live a healthy life that will help save other people’s lives. We have people come to us who say, “Yes, I’m gay. Yes, I’m a child molester. But I want to be brand new.” We start them on that righteous walk, and we’ve had great success.

What do you do about ex-gay members who go back to same-sex love?

Things like that are brought to our council, no different than someone who was on crack and backslid and ended up taking crack again. So a homosexual who leaves that lifestyle but backslides is just another sinner who’s made a mistake. But as of yet we haven’t had any who’ve done that. In fact, we have the opposite. They’ve gone on to take wives.

What do you believe should happen to gay men who choose to remain gay?

They should be condemned to death. …

See also:

The Theology of Dispossession
 
 
* Just in case some lesbian-hating ignoramus who can’t think for himself, or a Paul Cameron follower — or, wait, that’s redundant — stumbles across this post, let’s get one thing straight (so to speak): the truth about HIV/AIDS among Women Who Have Sex With Women, per the Centers for Disease Control.

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", HIV/AIDS, Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Homophobia, Judaism, Race/Ethnic Issues, Radical Religious Right, Religion & Spirituality, United States, Women

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September 10, 2008

Truth Wins Out Calls on Sarah Palin to Comment on Her Church’s Support of “Pray Away the Gay” Conference

Coalition to Hold Educational Forum Thursday to Counter “Ex-Gay” Program

ANCHORAGE, AK — September 10, 2008 — Truth Wins Out (TWO) today urged GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin to speak out about her church’s support for an “ex-gay” conference that will be in Anchorage on Saturday. Palin is scheduled to be in Alaska today and should use her visit as an opportunity to inform Americans whether she agrees with her church that homosexuals can be cured through prayer, says TWO.

“It is time Sarah Palin lets the American people know whether she shares her church’s view that being gay is a choice that can be prayed away,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Voters are entitled to know who Palin is and what her views are on this issue before they go into the voting booth. Palin’s visit to Alaska is an opportunity for her to address whether she supports the goals of Focus on the Family’s divisive anti-gay conference.”

The controversy began when Time Magazine discovered that Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship, had a Sunday morning program insert advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on curing homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out.

Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director, Wayne Besen, is now in Anchorage to oppose this anti-gay symposium. He will speak at a forum on Thursday evening in Anchorage with local religious and community leaders to discuss the danger of so-called “ex-gay” ministries. The “God Loves You Just as You Are,” symposium is sponsored by the Metropolitan Community Church (7208 Duben Avenue) and will take place at 7:00 p.m.

“We appear wherever Focus on the Family spreads lies and fear,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Love Won Out distorts gay life and conflates stereotypes with science, while selling false hope to vulnerable people. We are looking forward to working with Alaskan advocacy groups to counter Focus on the Family’s false and destructive messages.”

John Paulk, an “ex-gay” leader who was on the cover of Newsweek, originally founded the program. Love Won Out suffered a major setback after Paulk was photographed in a Washington, DC gay bar in 2000. Besen is the author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the “Ex-Gay” Myth. TWO shadows this anti-gay seminar across the nation to ensure that the public is armed with the facts and aware that Focus on the Family is deliberately disseminating misinformation about gay and lesbian people.

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life.

Related articles:

Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Time, September 2, 2008

Wayne Besen: Palin Should Explain Her Views On ‘Curing’ Homosexuals
Lavender Newswire, September 4, 2008

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Focus on the Family/James Dobson, Homophobia, Press Releases, Radical Religious Right, Sarah Palin

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September 4, 2008

Wayne Besen: Palin Should Explain Her Views On ‘Curing’ Homosexuals

NEW YORK — September 3, 2008 — Truth Wins Out expressed deep concern today after learning that Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s church appears to support so-called “ex-gay” ministries. These programs that aim to “pray away the gay” are ineffective and have harmed thousands of gay and lesbian people. TWO urged the media to ask Palin if she supports such programs and what her views are on this topic.

In a background article on Palin, Time Magazine revealed that Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship, had a Sunday morning program insert advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on curing homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out. Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director, Wayne Besen, will be in Anchorage next week to oppose this anti-gay symposium.

“We are deeply concerned that Sarah Palin may share the extreme and medically unsound view that gay and lesbian people can and should be cured,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “We call on Palin to express her views on this issue so we have a clear idea of where she stands. We hope this is an area where she disagrees with her church.”

Focus on the Family’s notorious “ex-gay” road show will take place at an Anchorage mega-church on Sept. 13. Besen will join several clergy and parents of gay children to speak out on the harm of ex-gay programs on Sept. 11. The seminar will be at the Metropolitan Community Church (7208 Dubin Avenue) at 6:30 PM.

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Events, Focus on the Family/James Dobson, Homophobia, Press Releases, Radical Religious Right, Sarah Palin

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September 3, 2008

Sarah Palin News Coming Fast and Furious

So fast and so furious that it’s impossible to blog everything, or even one thing, in depth. And, believe me, there is nothing I’d like to do more right now than hit every single Palin story out there. But there are only 24 hours in a day, so I’ll contribute what I can to the truth effort by simply pointing out each new story as I find it, in the hope that folks with greater resources can put it all into perspective.

I’ll make just two remarks for now:

1. If somebody tells you “Family is off-limits,” you remind them that Palin brought her family into this.

2. I never thought I’d end up enjoying this election cycle 1/1000th as much as I am right now. I feel like I’m discovering George W. Bush all over again — only this time, the chucklehead in question isn’t going to hijack my country for the next four years.

With that, here are my Sarah Palin Bookmarks of the Moment, with many more to come:

Rank inexperience:

Choice stuns state politicians
“She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?” — Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green (R-Wasilla)
Anchorage Daily News, August 29, 2008

Palin On Iraq
“Palin: I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.”
Andrew Sullivan, August 29, 2008

Scholars question Palin credentials
David Mark, Fred Barbash, Politico, August 30, 2008

Vice in Go-Go Boots?
Maureen Dowd, August 31, 2008

Osmosis
“Sarah Palin learned foreign policy by osmosis? Really?”
Obsidian Wings, September 2, 2008

Impulse, Meet Experience
George F. Will, September 3, 2008

Palin traveled abroad rarely
“Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin got her first passport in 2006 and has visited just four countries, and she had little involvement in her state’s cross-border issues, raising questions about her supporters’ assertions that Alaska’s proximity to Russia has given her unique experience on foreign affairs. …”
Bryan Bender and Sasha Issenberg, Boston Globe, September 3, 2008

Anti-gay to the extreme, of course:

Palin no friend to gays and lesbians
The Real Spiel, August 31, 2008

Palin’s brand of crazy Christianity (yep, she believes in creationism and “ex-gay therapy”):

Sarah Palin on faith, life and creation
Michael Paulson, Boston Globe, August 29, 2008

Palin and Her Pastors: “Those that die without Christ have a horrible, horrible surprise”
Ken Silverstein and Sebastian Jones, Harper’s, August 30, 2008

Palin’s Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview
Nico Pitney and Sam Stein, HuffPo, September 2, 2008

Mayor Palin: A Rough Record
Nathan Thornburgh, Time, September 2, 2008

The Palin Church Video
Domenico Montanaro, MSNBC, September 2, 2008

Todd Palin, the Alaskan Independence Party, and secession:

Palin And The Alaska Independence Party
Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, September 1, 2008

Members of ‘Fringe’ Alaskan Independence Party Say Palin Was a Member in 90s; McCain Camp and Alaska Division of Elections Deny Charge
Jake Tapper, ABC News, September 1, 2008

Todd Palin, Longtime Former AIP Member
Jake Tapper, ABC News, September 2, 2008

Palin Backed Alaska Independence and Called Shallow By Woman Claiming To Be the Real Miss Congeniality
Ron Chusid, Liberal Values, September 2, 2008

Todd Palin’s DUI:

Palin’s husband has DWI arrest
CNN, September 1, 2008

Todd Palin’s DUI
ABC News, September 1, 2008

Troopergate:

City of Kenai’s letter to woman accusing Chuck Kopp of sexual harassment (PDF)
October 10, 2005

Kopp to release personnel file
Anchorage Daily News, July 18, 2008

AK Gov. Says Staffer Pressed for Trooper’s Firing
Kate Klonick, TPM Muckracker, August 13, 2008

Investigators Are Looking at Governor About Firing
Michael Luo, New York Times, August 29, 2008

Monegan to Palin: ‘Ma’am, I Need to Keep You at Arm’s Length’
Washington Post, August 30, 2008

Sarah Palin poses ‘Troopergate’ risk to John McCain’s US election bid
Philip Sherwell and Tim Shipman, Telegraph, September 1, 2008

New Emails Suggest Holes in Palin’s Trooper-Gate Story
Zachary Roth, TPM Muckraker, September 3, 2008

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper’s Penalty
James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick, Washington Post, September 4, 2008

Polar bears can f—k off and die (literally), because they get in the way of oil drilling:

Bearing Up
Sarah Palin, January 5, 2008

Palin Fought Polar Bear Protections
Justin Rood, ABC News, August 31, 2008

Ted “Intertubes” Stevens, Bridge to Nowhere, and Alaska-style politics:

Vetting Sarah Palin: Irl Stambaugh, Walt Monegan and Cronyism
(She almost got recalled as the mayor of Wasilla for firing city officials who didn’t support her)
Hat Thief, August 29, 2008

Palin’s husband allegedly got advisor fired for dating the wrong woman
The People’s Forum, August 29, 2008

Palin Repeatedly Professed Desire To Renew Federal Funding For ‘Bridge To Nowhere’
ThinkProgress, August 30, 2008

Palin Was a Director of Embattled Sen. Stevens’s 527 Group
Matthew Mosk, Washington Post, September 1, 2008

Palin backed ‘bridge to nowhere’ in 2006
Ken Dilanian, USA Today, September 2, 2008

“Abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing,” book-banning, and earmarks McCain wouldn’t approve of:

As mayor, Palin brought culture wars to town
New York Times via News & Observer, September 3, 2008

Sarah Palin, Israel, and Jews for Jesus:

Palin on Israel
Ben Smith, Politico, August 29, 2008

Jewish voters may be wary of Palin
WFAA.com, September 2, 2008

Palin Meets with AIPAC
Matthew E. Berger, MSNBC, September 2, 2008

Palin’s baby’s baby and Palin’s baby’s baby daddy:

Palin’s teen daughter is pregnant
CNN, September 1, 2008

The Bristol Stomp
“Jake Tapper asks: ‘What would the response be if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and his wife Michelle had a pregnant unmarried teenage daughter?’ I can answer that. Mona Charen, Ann Coulter, and Michelle Malkin would sprout bat wings and fangs and start divebombing, Peggy Noonan would issue a pained sigh that would ruffle nun’s robes from here to Hoboken, Laura Ingraham and Bill Bennett would engage in a finger-wagging contest to condemn our loose licentious liberal culture, and Jennifer Rubin at Commentary’s Contentions would crash into the wall doing cartwheels. …”
James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, September 1, 2008

Sarah Palin’s future son-in-law says he’s an Alaska ‘redneck’
“Here’s part of his entry before it was made private: ‘I’m a f—kin’ redneck who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes. But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s—t and just f—kin’ chillin’ I guess. Ya f—k with me I’ll kick ass.” Status: “In a relationship.” Children: “I don’t want kids.”
Luisa Yanez, McClatchy, September 3, 2008

To know Sarah Palin is to not want her one heartbeat away from the presidency:

Alaska Pipeline
Deb Peterson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 30, 2008

Miscellaneous Sarah Palin lunacy:

Sarah Palin, Buchananite
Christopher Hayes, The Nation, August 29, 2008

The Palin Meltdown in Slo-Mo
Greg Sargent, TPM Election Central, September 1, 2008

Finally…

Is Track Palin the 16-year-old vandal in this story? Rumor has it…

Bus vandals charged
Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, December 5, 2005

Why did Track Palin spend “most of his senior year in high school” in Portage, Michigan?

Palin’s oldest son has Michigan tie
Chris Christoff, Detroit Free Press, August 29, 2008

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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Creationism, Election 2008, Homophobia, John McCain, Radical Religious Right, Random Stupidity, Republicans, Sarah Palin, United States

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September 2, 2008

Don’t Blink, Or You’ll Miss Barack Obama Validating Same-Sex Marriage

Frankly, we’re stunned, in a good way, that the guy who refuses to acknowledge the validity of all marriages, actually used the word “spouse”. Here’s the micro-mini press release issued today by former Jerry Nadler staffer-turned Obama campaigner Shin Inouye:

Sen. Obama’s Statement on Passing of Del Martin

09/02/2008 (10:49 AM)

Today, Senator Barack Obama made the following statement on the passing of civil rights activist Del Martin:

“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear that Del Martin had passed. Del committed her life to fighting discrimination and promoting equality. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her spouse Phyllis Lyon, and all those who were touched by her life.”

That’s not about to turn me into an Obama fan — Barry’s got way too much anti-gay baggage to dump, and to make up for, for me to even begin to trust him — but it’s something. What kind of “something” is open to debate; my guess is that somebody told him that ignoring the death of Del Martin would be like ignoring the death of Cesar Chavez.

I haven’t written anything in a while about Obama and Teh Gays, because there hasn’t been a lot happening — save for another fawning “some of Obama’s best friends are gay!” piece in The Advocate, “Should You Believe in Obama?,” that’s been online for the past week or more. I haven’t blogged it until now because there just isn’t that much in it to make me do more than shrug and go “Meh!”

Well, that’s not entirely true.

The article begins with former Obama aide Kevin Thompson talking about about his long friendship with the Obamas, and how cool they were with him coming out. All well and good, until:

And after Obama marched in a Chicago pride parade for the first time, Thompson says, questions again poured forth: “He wanted to know the history of Pride — how is it that every city has one, what was the origin of it, what was the whole story about Stonewall.”

Waitasec. If memory serves, the first time Obama marched in a pride parade was in 2004. Only four years ago (and at age 43), Obama was asking his gay friend about “the history of Pride — how is it that every city has one, what was the origin of it, what was the whole story about Stonewall”?

Shouldn’t Obama have known this stuff already?

Let’s turn this around: Let’s say you’ve got a white candidate who claims to be a major ally of the African-American community, whose black friends say that he’s worked tirelessly on their behalf… What would you say about such a candidate if you found out that, just four years ago and in middle age, this guy had to ask a black friend about the history of slavery, civil rights, and the Montgomery bus boycott?

It seems I knew more about the African-American struggle for civil rights by the time I was five than Barack Obama knew about the battle for gay equality when he was 43.

That bothers me, a lot. But it doesn’t surprise me. Which is probably why the thing in this article that bugs me the most doesn’t have so much to do with Obama himself (I already know what his liabilities are), but with a certain anonymous quote.

In the piece, (Bill) Clinton campaigner David Mixner says that “Some people don’t know what to make of [Obama] because he hasn’t known the leading gay activists or even his own advisers on gay issues for very long.” Nothing wrong there; what irritates the hell out of me is the follow-up remark writer Michael Joseph Gross opted to include, from “another” unnamed “national gay political leader”:

“The mafia doesn’t know him. David Geffen, James Hormel, David Bohnett — they’re not his friends. His real gay friends are regular people in Chicago.”

“The mafia”?! Thanks for propagating that little right-wing myth from the bitter lips of Michael Ovitz, Mr. Gross.

Think about it: In an article mentioning the Dreamworks head honchos, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen — super-rich Hollywood power wielders all — would you allow an anonymous comment referring to them as “the Jewish mafia”? Sheesh.

What else bugs me:

Jim Madigan, an attorney who was a student in professor Obama’s constitutional law class at the University of Chicago in the late 1990s, says Obama taught the course from a distinct perspective. Every civil rights case study, from Dred Scott v. Sandford to Bowers v. Hardwick, was made “from the perspective of the individual plaintiff,” Madigan says. Moreover, Obama approached race and sexual orientation with an even hand: “The approach was always, ‘Look at how the government is treating the individual,’?” Madigan recalls. “What was personal for him and what was personal for me — we treated them in the same way.”

Well, Mr. Madigan, that’s easy to do in a classroom, where every issue is dealt with in theoretical terms — and where learning from history is the safest sort of 20/20 hindsight. Outside the classroom, Obama has not yet “approached race and sexual orientation with an even hand.” He admits that the marriage of his own parents wasn’t legally recognized throughout the U.S., but can’t bring himself to make the connection between Jim Crow laws and anti-gay laws. Worst of all, in a lame attempt to justify his thoroughly unjustifiable opposition to same-sex marriage, he uses the same arguments (”tradition,” “religious beliefs,” and “states’ rights” among them) used to justify opposition to interracial marriage.

Fail.

To Gross’s credit, there is, at least, mention of some of the anti-gay company Obama keeps…

When it was reported that Obama described [James Meeks, who is also pastor of Chicago’s Salem Baptist Church and who last year was named by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the “10 leading black religious voices in the antigay movement”] as one of his spiritual counselors — and when the candidate was endorsed by other African-American leaders who have been outspokenly homophobic, including gospel singer Donnie McClurkin — some gay leaders condemned the U.S. senator, claiming that if he truly were our ally, he could not also be their friend.

Yeah, well, I still feel that way, even if Obama renounces all ties with his anti-gay buddies the way he did with Jeremiah Wright — because that decision was borne clearly out of political expediency, not a genuine epiphany.

I’ll also give Gross credit for ending the article with a caveat none of us can afford to forget:

Marriage marks the limit of Obama’s courage. He supports civil unions, believes marriage rights are best granted by the states, and asserts that he believes “marriage is between a man and a woman” — the phrase that’s been honed by conservative opponents of marriage equality.

His stance on marriage is the one crashingly false note in his message to gay voters. It is difficult to understand his position as anything but calculated dissembling. Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois says, “I wish he was being brave and bold and doing the right thing, but it’s his campaign’s and his determination that it would not be helpful or beneficial when running for president of the United States at this particular time. I don’t think he can risk any position other than the one he’s taken.”

Probably without realizing it, Garcia expresses the one thing that annoys me the most about Barack Obama: He’s not “brave and bold” enough to stand up for what’s right — and his anti-equality position is rooted in pure politics. If Obama is so pro-gay, and so honest and open and genuine, then he would come out in favor of marriage equality, damn the naysayers.

Finally, as long as I’m on the subject of Obama and Teh Gays, here’s something else that’s been bothering me for a while: Remember that LGBT conference call the Obama campaign (not Obama himself — he wasn’t on the call) had with a bunch of high-profile gay leaders trying to convince 1,200 listeners (including me) to go to work for Obama? The call began with Steve Hildebrand, deputy campaign manager of Obama for America, telling us that there would be another LGBT conference call “within the next two weeks, which Obama himself will join.”

That call took place June 6th. Today is September 2nd — and the Obama campaign has never followed up on its promise of a second call.

Believe me, if they had, I’d know about it — I’m on the mailing list, which bombards me with constant pleas for donations, but is conspicuously silent otherwise.

I guess I’m never going to get my questions answered.

But, you know what? All of this amounts to a whole lotta nothin’. Obama’s the nominee, and, thanks to McCain’s pick of the worst vice presidential candidate in the history of the United States, I think Obama will win. There’s not much point in my complaining about Obama anymore, as not a thing I could say or do will turn back the clock and get a real Democrat into the White House.

Oh, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop complaining about Obama — and if the guy does become the next POTUS, I’ll probably be ten times as brutal on him as I’ve ever been.

It just doesn’t matter if I criticize him or not. In case you hadn’t noticed, this politics thing is completely out of the hands of We the People, and it doesn’t matter much what we say. Our “candidates” are always chosen for us, and if we don’t vote the way TPTB want us to, there’s always election-rigging.

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Donnie McClurkin, Election 2008, Homophobia, Jeremiah Wright, John McCain, LGBT History, Marriage, Race/Ethnic Issues, Radical Religious Right

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