Monday, March 22, 2010
From JMG: Porno Pete's Americans For Truth Labeled Hate Site By Southern Poverty Law Center
Due to the lobbying of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network, Porno Pete LaBarbera's Americans For Truth About Homosexuality has been listed as a hate site by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the watchdog group that tracks hate groups in numerous categories. Via Andy Thayer at Feast Of Fools:GLN's Bob Schwartz:After years of vilifying gays as disease-prone and child molesters, the website of the Naperville-based anti-gay organization Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) recently became listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network (GLN) lobbied the Law Center to list AFTAH as a hate group so that its lies against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people could be exposed to public scrutiny and condemnation. The listing appeared in the most recent issue of the Law Center’s quarterly publication, Intelligence Report.
The criteria that the Law Center historically has used to determine whether or not an organization is a hate group is not merely that it opposes legal equality for gays or others, but whether or not they intentionally utilize discredited and slanderous propaganda to spread lies about a group of people. By repeatedly using the phony “research” of defrocked psychologist Paul Cameron, who is roundly condemned by every major professional psychological association, AFTAH’s website apparently met the Law Center’s definition of a hate group.
“Getting LaBarbera’s website labeled a ‘hate group’ is important because it helps assist the political marginalization of a man who has dedicated his career to denying others legal equality. Through demonstrating against LaBarbera and his organizations over the years, GLN and others have made LaBarbera gain the reputation of being a bigot, and thus radioactive in many ‘respectable’ circles. This most recent victory, getting the Southern Poverty Law Center stamp of disapproval for LaBarbera’s website, makes it less possible for him to garner support for future anti-gay legislation and initiatives.We can't wait to see LaBarbera's response.
Labels: AFTAH, bigotry, hate groups, hate speech, Peter LaBarbera, religion
From JMG: HomoQuotable - James Randi
"Well, here goes. I really resent the term, but I use it because it’s recognized and accepted. I’m gay. From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there’s not much “gay” about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was — at least outwardly — totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style. At no time did I choose to adopt any protective coloration, though; my cultivation of an abundant beard was not at all a deception, but part of my costume as a conjuror."Gradually, the general attitude that I’d perceived around me began to change, and presently I find that there has emerged a distinctly healthy acceptance of different social styles of living — except, of course, in cultures that live in constant and abject fear of divine retribution for infractions found in the various Holy Books… In another two decades, I’m confident that young people will find themselves in a vastly improved atmosphere of acceptance.
"Before publishing this statement, I chose to privately notify a number of my closest friends and colleagues — none of whom, I’m sure, have been at all surprised at this “coming out.” I’m prepared to receive the inevitable barrage of jeers and insults from the “grubbies” out there who will jump to their keyboards in glee to notify others of their kind about this statement, which to them will be yet further proof of the perfidy of the rationalist mode of life that I have chosen. Those titters of joy will be unheard over the murmur of acceptance that I confidently expect from my friends." - Famed magician James Randi, coming out at the age of 81 after seeing the film Milk. "The Amazing Randi" was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson and now spends much of his time debunking paranormal and supernatural claims.
Labels: coming out, gay seniors, Milk the movie, the closet
From JMG: Dutch 'Pink Army' To Sue Gen. John Sheehan Over Genocide Allegations
Last week retired US Gen. John Sheehan ridiculously claimed that the Bosnian genocide of thousands of Muslim men and boys was the result of the homo-infested Dutch army. A group of openly gay Dutch soldiers has announced their plan to sue Sheehan for libel. “Gay reproach is world news,” reads NRC Handelsblad’s weekend headline. “The fall of the Balkenende cabinet hardly attracted any international attention, but an American former general who claims the Dutch army is weakened by homosexual soldiers is world news – from Al Jazeera to the New York Times.” At the end of last week former US general John Sheehan caused outrage by blaming the presence of gay soldiers for the Dutch army’s failure to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.(Tipped by JMG reader Alja in the Netherlands)
The fallout continues in Monday’s press, with de Volkskrant reporting that gay Dutch soldiers are planning to sue the retired general for libel. Communication strategist Peter Schouten has launched the Pink Army foundation on their behalf. Via the Pink Army website. He’s looking for Dutch soldiers to bring a class action lawsuit against General Sheehan in the Californian federal court. Pink Army is demanding that he should publish a full-page apology in the international press – and attend a course in “sensitivity training”.
Labels: DADT, John Sheehan, lawsuits, military, Netherlands
Sunday, March 21, 2010
From 365gay: Corvino: How the Sacred Heart decision makes sense
It is sometimes said, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” Which may be why the recent Colorado story about Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish School, which expelled two pre-schoolers because their parents are lesbians, saddens me.
Although I’m now an atheist, I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools for a good chunk of my life. There’s much about that experience that I still value. Thus (unlike many commentators on this story) I “get” why lesbians would want to send their children to a Catholic school in the first place. The rich intellectual and moral tradition, the emphasis on fundamentals—these are valuable things, and they’re often hard to find in public schools.make the jump here to read the full text
From Bilerico: The Tea Baggers haven't changed, we have
Filed by: Alex Blaze
March 21, 2010 1:00 PM
I come from a part of the US that's full of tea-bagger types - middle- to upper-income white Republicans who think America sucks now but was a great place when minorities knew their place, who think they're the only people who work in the US, and who are paranoid that their tax money is going to pay for free gifts for the undeserving leeches on the system (who are everyone who isn't like them). So it really just sounds like these folks are letting their true colors show on the eve of health care reform passing:
Preceding the president's speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.
A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president's speech, shrugged off the incident.
But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.
The racial aspect of the tea bagger movement has been apparent to most people on the outside looking in, and they've been calling Barney Frank the faggot who ruined the economy since 2008. The only thing that's changed is now they're using the word "faggot."
Continue reading "The Tea Baggers haven't changed, we have" »
From JMG: Rep. Devin Nunes: Dems Brought Anti-Gay And Racist Slurs Upon Themselves
Because it's the Democrats' "totalitarian tactics" that are making people "act crazy" and shout racist and anti-gay slurs against members of Congress. And totally not because the teabaggers actually are the kissing-cousins of the KKK.
Labels: bigotry, health care reform, racism, Tea Party, teabaggers