Wednesday, October 27, 2010
I have totally lost all respect for Evangelicals...
Via JMG: Tony Perkins: Gay Kids Kill Themselves Because They Know They're Abnormal
Tony Perkins appeared on NPR today to declare that the rate of suicides among LGBT youths is so high because those kids know they are freaks. And not because they're taught every day of their hopeless lives that God hates them. Via Right Wing Watch: Tony Perkins, president of the evangelical Family Research Council, says gay activists are exploiting the concern over bullying — and twisting the facts. "There's no correlation between inacceptance of homosexuality and depression and suicide," he says. Rather, Perkins says, there is another factor that leads kids to kill themselves. "These young people who identify as gay or lesbian, we know from the social science that they have a higher propensity to depression or suicide because of that internal conflict." Homosexuality is "abnormal," he says, and kids know it, which leads them to despair.Joe goes on to say: "Repulsive and typically full of Christianist love. But what the FUCK was NPR doing hosting Tony Perkins? Do they bring on the KKK to discuss affirmative action? Would they give airtime to Faisal Shahzad to provide an opposing view on the political value of car bombs? Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council are spending millions of dollars every fucking month to enable the murders and suicides of LGBT Americans. What about that is unclear to NPR?"
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
ViaJMG: Obama Breaks Bill Clinton's Record For Number Of Openly Gay Appointees
He's only halfway through his term, but President Obama has broken Bill Clinton's record for the number of openly gay appointees to his administration. Gay activists say the estimate of more than 150 appointments so far — from agency heads and commission members to policy officials and senior staffers — surpasses the previous high of about 140 reached during two full terms under President Bill Clinton. "From everything we hear from inside the administration, they wanted this to be part of their efforts at diversity," said Denis Dison, spokesman for the Presidential Appointments Project of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute. The pace of appointments has helped to ease broader disappointment among gay rights groups that Obama has not acted more quickly on other fronts, such as ending the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military. In a sign of how times have changed, few of the appointees — about two dozen required Senate confirmation — have stirred much controversy.Obama's highest-ranking openly gay appointee so far is Office of Personnel Management director John Berry, who oversees almost two million federal employees.
Via JMG: ARKANSAS: School Board Member Celebrates Gay Suicides And AIDS
From Independence County, Arkansas: Midland School District board member Clint McCance took to Facebook to mock the suicides of LGBT youth and celebrate the deaths of gay people from AIDS. This is what the queer youth of Arkansas face in their schools. Repulsive. Another Facebook page calling for McCance's firing has already appeared. It looks like the Midland School District has wiped the names of its board members from its website, but Midland Superintendent Dean Stanley can be reached at dstanley@midlandschools.org. Be polite, yet forceful.Monday, October 25, 2010
Via JMG: Will Ireland Elect A Gay President?
Openly gay Sen. David Norris decided to run for president of Ireland after supporters launched a Facebook campaign urging him to enter the race. And now polls show him far ahead. Although, like the British monarchy's, the Irish president's power is more symbolic than real, elections to the post have previously been used to protest against the Republic's political establishment. Norris is non-aligned, and is hoping to tap into the widespread discontent over the profligacy of the Celtic tiger years and the way the state's main party, Fianna Fáil, handled the economy. Norris denies his sexuality will be an issue even in more conservative rural parts of Ireland. "It's a non-issue," he says. "It's a non-issue with the people of Ireland. Some may have some concerns, and I hope I am able to address them. I have just had a major radio interview in Dublin and the interviewer asked me about it, and people came on the programme to say 'Will you get out of that? What does it matter! We want someone with vision ... someone who is independent.'Norris says he has lived a "decent and respectable life" and that those seeking to embarrass him for his sexuality "will find no scandal."
Labels: Ireland, LGBT History
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Via JMG: Will Angry Gays Cost The Dems?
Today the Associated Press wonders if gay voters disillusioned with the Obama administration will cost the Democrats seats in tightly contested races.
Across the country, activists say gay voters are angry — at the lack of progress on issues from eliminating employment discrimination to uncertainty over serving in the military to the economy — and some are choosing to sit out this election or look for other candidates. President Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago, with its large, politically and socially active gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, offers a snapshot of what some are calling the "enthusiasm gap" between voters who came out strong for Obama and other Democrats in 2008 and re-energized Republican base voters, including tea party enthusiasts who say they are primed to storm the polls. [snip]Folks, you must vote. And yes, you should vote Democrat, even as disappointed as you may feel, if for no other reason than this is the year that we vote in the candidates that will control post-census redistricting. Are you so angry about DADT that you'd put the fucking teabaggers in charge of redrawing the boundaries of your district?
In places like Cook County, Ill., where the gay population represents about 7 percent of voters, that could mean the difference between victory and defeat in some races, said Rick Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois. One of those races is a much-watched and close battle for Obama's old Senate seat between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk. "If (candidates) can mobilize the gay community and get them out to vote, it could make all the difference in the world in some of these key races," said Garcia. But volunteers who've been calling the 18,000 or so members of Equality Illinois to urge them to vote have been getting an earful. Many members say they won't vote or will vote against incumbents, regardless of their party affiliation or stance on gay issues.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
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