The Miss USA contest began as a beauty contest and ended up as a mud bath. The theatrics started when celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who was a pageant judge, asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, if she supported marriage equality.
“I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other…choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage …(but) I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman,” Prejean replied. She then added that she did not wish to offend anyone.
As a result, she may have lost the beauty contest. Hilton inflamed the issue by calling her a “dumb bitch” on his video blog. The catfight quickly spiraled into a cultural sensation nearly on par with Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.”
What could be juicier for the television talk shows than a jilted beauty queen vs. a bitchy queen spewing venom about the hottest of hot button issues? For two dueling airheads, this story has certainly had no shortage of oxygen. (Read More)
Truth Wins Out joined local Boston GLBT advocates to demonstrate against Exodus International, which hosted a training seminar on Tuesday to teach people to “pray away the gay.” The protest was held at the site of the “ex-gay” symposium – the Park St. Church.
“We thank Join the Impact MA for coordinating an effective response to the damaging misinformation Exodus International peddles to vulnerable people,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Speaking up and educating the public is the first step in exposing the ex-gay myth. I was honored to be part of this bold action.”
The protest, at one point, moved to the burial grounds of some of America’s Founding Fathers, which was next to the church where the seminar was held. The radical, anti-gay organization, Massachusetts Family Institute (FMI) filmed a poorly shot video of the protest. Interestingly, their own video shows that protesters had not “desecrated” the graveyard, as they had stated in a press release.
“It is amazing that people who claim to represent ethics and morality would not only lie – but capture their dishonesty on videotape,” said Besen. “What the Massachusetts Family did was reprehensible and they should be ashamed of their blatant lies.”
Speakers at the protest included: Arline Isaacson of The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Stewart Landers, Scott Gortikov of MassEquality, Tom Lang of KnowThyNeighbor.org, Paul Sousa of Join the Impact MA, and keynote speaker Wayne Besen, founder of TruthWinsOut.org. Co-sponsors include MassEquality, the Mass G/L Political Caucus, the Anti-Violence Project, Know Thy Neighbor, CourtingEquality.com, and LBGT@MIT.
Of the five or six members of Iraqi LGBT who reportedly have been sentenced to death in Baghdad for belonging to a supposedly banned organization, one has escaped custody and one has been executed, says U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
Wockner adds:
Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Division, said: “We are trying urgently to determine who they (the condemned men) are and what has happened. … Together with other groups, members of Congress and concerned activists, we’re doing everything we can to investigate and determine who’s jailed and what their fates may be. The Iraqi government and the U.S. government must both investigate these charges immediately.”
At press time, Long was in Iraq attempting to learn more.
Equality California has invited Carrie Prejean, Miss California, to meet with gay couples and students, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
EQCA executive director Geoff Kors hopes that Prejean will get to know these people and learn first-hand the impact of her vocal opposition to marriage for gay people.
Miss California probably doesn’t realize how hurtful her statements are, especially to LGBT youth,” Kors said in the statement. “But this is about something much bigger than the issue of marriage alone, and I have to believe that if she meets us, she will come to see our humanity, and at the very least, I hope she will understand that what she says as Miss California can either hurt people or bring them together.
The Bay Times reports that a former Miss California (2003), Nicole Lamarche, has released a lengthy statement about the controversy involving Prejean’s response to a question about gay marriage during the Miss USA pageant. Lamarche is married to fellow seminarian Jeremy Nickel and now serves as minister at Cotuit Federated Church in Cotuit, Massachusetts.
The truth is that it is difficult to know for sure the intentions of the biblical authors, but we do know something about God. Those of us who know God through Jesus of Nazareth know that he went to great lengths to express God’s love to people who were labeled as outcasts. He spent time with children, prostitutes, and lepers, all of whom were labeled as outside of the grasp of the Holy.
Lamarche indirectly criticized Prejean for using the Bible as a weapon against others.
Meanwhile, over at MSNBC.com, Helen Popkin asks, “Who died and made Perez Hilton official spokesperson of everything?”
Why, exactly, does Exodus International — the world’s largest ex-gay organization — allow scientifically inept writers to make the organization’s outreach to youth appear ignorant and irrational?
And why does Exodus commit research fraud just a few months after the reparative-therapy lobbying group NARTH was publicly exposed and criticized for committing fraud with the same research?
I wondered this, again, after reading Emproph’s latest dissection of a new Exodus Youth article that claims to educate readers about the science of sexual orientation.
Exodus cites 16-year-old research as if it were current; ignores research that has occurred since 1993; mischaracterizes studies regarding the biology of sexual orientation; and overlooks the antigay politics and discredited claims of its main source, reparative therapist Jeffrey Satinover.
Exodus also mischaracterizes the research of Dr. Lisa Diamond, who publicly discredited NARTH last year for mischaracterizing her research regarding sexual fluidity and bisexuality in the same manner.
Exodus concludes by misrepresenting the research of Dr. Robert Spitzer, who in a 2001 study found that few people appear capable of changing their sexual orientation — and that of those who claim to be successful, many remain mostly or fully same-sex-attracted despite their claim to be heterosexual.
When a self-proclaimed ex-gay 12-year-old boy named Scott began to post YouTube videos, in which the boy committed acts of violence against himself and threatened to commit violence against others, the ultra-conservative publication WorldNetDaily applauded the boy for conducting his emotional breakdown in a manner that WND considers politically correct:
Scott’s portrayals of self-abuse and irrational confusion drew a legion of YouTube visitors who posted profane remarks and threats of their own in the boy’s YouTube comment section, serving as evidence (in WND’s warped opinion) that civility, tolerance, and non-violent conflict resolution — not to mention parental supervision of a 12-year-old — are evil.
As some observers, myself included, became aware of the problem in the past week or so, we opted not to draw additional attention to Scott and his obvious emotional disturbance because of the additional comment abuse that such attention might bring. Instead, we urged readers of various other blogs that did cover the story to flag the boy’s videos for official intervention and to call upon YouTube to get help for Scott — and for his parents, who were either negligent or abusive in allowing the boy’s crisis to develop.
According to Edge Boston today, help may have finally arrived.
EDGE received an email from an individual claiming to be Sgt. Chris Meehan of Texas’ Collin County, which includes suburban Dallas.
The correspondent claiming to be Sgt. Meehan, who is attached to an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, told EDGE, “I have been working on several cybertips reports that have been received regarding Christianu2uber.
“Several news publications were referenced on this, including your recent article,” the individual who self-identified as Sgt. Meehan added.
“I wanted to update you that we have located this 12 year old, and spoke to him and his parents about this situation,” the correspondent wrote.
“I know many readers expressed concern for his well-being and safety. He has decided to delete his youtube [sic] site and videos, and we will provide him counseling and assistance to get through this situation.”
While it saddens me that sites such as YouTube are full of vile and sadistic commenters, I am glad that authorities were apparently able to track down the boy and that YouTube finally suspended the boy’s account.
I wish such action had occurred in one day instead of ten, but better late than never.
Felony violence against gay people should be a protected form of expression if it is committed by pastors, according to the text of a fund-raising e-mail dated Friday from the Family Research Council.
In the message, FRC President Tony Perkins — who in 1996 paid Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list, and who as recently as 2001 addressed the white-supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens — argues that an expansion of existing federal hate crime laws (which punish felony violence) to include sexual orientation could be used to arrest pastors.
Here is the full text of Perkins’ message. Emphasis is FRC’s:
Hate Crimes legislation to silence you!
April 17, 2009
The enactment of so-called “hate crimes” legislation is a long stated objective of the homosexual agenda.
What “hate crimes” legislation does is lay the legal foundation and framework for investigating, prosecuting and persecuting pastors, business owners, and anyone else whose actions reflect their faith.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark-up the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 this Wednesday, April 22. They need to hear from you.
It was in a similar hearing last Congress that Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) admitted that under the legislation pastors could be arrested for hate crimes.
The act would establish a new FEDERAL offense for so-called “hate crimes” and add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes. It will mandate a separate federal criminal prosecution for state offenses.
Adding “sexual orientation” to thought crimes legislation gives one set of crime victims a higher level of protection than it gives to people like you and me.
ALL people deserve to be protected from crime, not just certain groups.
Sign our Petition TODAY to say equal protection under the law means equal protection for ALL. Please join the over 22,000 people who have already signed this petition. If you have already signed, please forward to ten of your friends and ask them to sign.
Sincerely,
Tony Perkins
President
Contrary to the wishes of Perkins, we believe that pastors who commit felony violence against gay and lesbian Americans should be punished to the fullest extent possible. But they won’t be punished equally, unless sexual orientation is added to existing federal and state hate-crime laws, because at present most such laws treat violent crimes against a victim’s race or religion more harshly than violent crimes committed on the basis of the victim’s perceived sexual orientation.
FRC believes that “pastors, business owners, and anyone else” are entitled to a special right to commit acts of violence on the basis of their faith.
We disagree.
Growing U.S. public support for hate-crime laws suggests that Americans are slowly realizing that false appeals to religion must not be used by right-wing extremists as a blank check to justify violence against people with different religious and moral beliefs.
The latest anti-gay terrorism in Iraq — is gluing shut the anuses of homosexuals, while forcing the victims to ingest a form of Ex-Lax. The special glue can only be removed by surgery — thus often leading to a painful death.
It is always a challenge to know if such information is accurate. But, confirming (I have) the latest form of torture is beside the point, really. What we do know is that the news from overseas is rarely encouraging.
For example, in March “tens of thousands” of people from Burundi demonstrated to outlaw homosexuality. This destitute nation is the kind of place that you may have seen in late night infomercials where flies buzz around the lips of starving children. Eighty percent of Burundi’s population lives in poverty. Famines and food shortages have occurred and the World Food Program reports that 56.8-percent of children under age five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Yet, the good citizens of Burundi have time to chant and hold signs demanding the imprisonment of homosexuals.
Back to Iraq — our tax dollars are now overseeing the wanton murder of gay Iraqis. The New York Times reported this month that “the bodies of 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City…”
In Nigeria, lawmakers are debating a bill that would imprison gay people who live together and jail anyone who doesn’t rat out the gay couples. In July 2008, London’s Independent wrote a story about a 26-year-old gay man in Turkey, Ahmet Yildiz, saying that his own family may have killed him. “They wanted him to see a doctor who could cure him, and get married,” a friend explained.
Box Turtle Bulletin reported that a Ugandan newspaper this week published an article under the banner headline, “Top Homos In Uganda Named.” This outrage — that jeopardizes the lives of gay people – follows a recent anti-gay conference in Uganda featuring a board member from the American “ex-gay” organization Exodus International.
In Moscow, mayor Yuri Luzhkov has rejected calls for a gay pride march to be held during an upcoming European music festival. He has called pride parades, “gay propaganda” and “satanic acts”, according to the New York Times.
What we are seeing in front of our eyes is the globalization of gay bashing. The United States has exported marketing techniques and church structures to culturally homophobic countries. The sexual minorities caught in these nations’ do not have the same freedoms that we enjoy in the west, so they can’t fight back. They are essentially voiceless and fearful — allowing insidious myths and stereotypes to go unchallenged. With gay people effectively demonized and hatred promoted by civic and religious leaders, hysteria on gay issues ensues. (Read More)
It is fair to say that I have officially driven the so-called “ex-gay” industry to distraction. The proof is in the pudding.
The group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is now trying to discredit me by making false accusations about an alleged incident in Orlando. A couple of years ago, I organized a protest in this city against the “Ex-Gay Educators Caucus,” which hosted a booth inside a convention hall at the National Education Association’s annual meeting.
Following our protest, I wandered in to the hall and approached the “ex-gay” booth. I did not think twice about doing so, since I had been to dozens of ex-gay meetings, booths and conferences over the years without incident. I had even written an entire book and interviewed dozens of ex-gays – with no confrontations.
Once at the booth, I asked a single question: How many ex-gay educators were in the so-called “ex-gay caucus?” I asked, because all I saw were professional anti-gay activists posing as legitimate educators.
Before I got an answer, I was verbally and physically accosted by anti-gay activist Greg Quinlan (pictured). I told him in no uncertain terms to back off. I do not apologize for this – as it is my right to basic self-defense. I’d do it again without hesitation.
In a bizarre twist, after deliberately trying to provoke a confrontation, Mr. Quinlan called the “mall cops” to play victim – even though he was the aggressor. It was the most bizarre thing I had seen in my 20 years of activism. The incident was as pathetic, as it was perplexing.
Of course, the outcome of the non-incident was that I peacefully walked away with the mall cops and immediately went to a meeting with the GLBT educators caucus. I gave a short speech. There was no police report – not even questioning – of the alleged “incident.” No time in the cell block at the big house. Indeed, no one in the hall really noticed that anything had happened – because it really hadn’t.
Yet, PFOX is now sending out a surreal press release that exaggerates the truth and is pure fiction. Why? Because PFOX is on a pathological campaign to create fake “hate crimes” out of thin air that supposedly took place against ex-gays. The group’s goal is to get “ex-gays” included in the hate crime bill in Congress. Thus, if you approach a booth, they call the cops and make false charges and allegations.
Indeed, they did this last year at a state fair in Virginia. They blew an incident out of proportion and claimed to be victims. Interestingly, once again, there was no police report. The police did confirm that something happened – and that PFOX complained – but, again, there were no arrests and no charges filed. I wonder why?
A few weeks later at the Falls Church, Va. fair, Mr. Quinlan tried to create another fake hate crime. Unfortunately, he threatened to call the police on Nick Benton, publisher of the Falls Church News Press. Thus, Quinlan’s agenda was exposed in the media and his credibility shattered. (His credibility had already been damaged by claiming to have worked as a key volunteer at the Human Rights Campaign. While I worked at HRC, no one had ever heard of him.)
A disturbing pattern has emerged from PFOX.
1) They buy a booth at a local fair.
2) They provoke a confrontation
3) They call the cops, even as they have no evidence, thus there are no arrests, nor police reports.
4) They send out propaganda to the media blowing these non-events – that they provoked – out of proportion. Or they embellish or simply make things up.
In light of this creepy and alarming trend, I would strongly advise all GLBT people and their allies to stay away from PFOX booths. They are looking to create trouble because it is an organization that relies on fakery and trickery to disguise the emptiness of its mean-spirited agenda.
I’m not mad, really. At this point, I just feel sorry for these folks. They can’t accept their gayness and refuse to love their gay children. Instead, they have created a poisonous house of cards designed to vindictively harm their own families. PFOX is losing this battle and they have become more desperate and more outlandish by the day. I just hope those involved in this organization seek the help they need – before they further self-destruct in anger, confusion and bitterness.
The latest anti-gay terrorism in Iraq — is gluing shut the anuses of homosexuals, while forcing the victims to ingest a form of Ex-Lax. The special glue can only be removed by surgery — thus often leading to a painful death.
It is fair to say that I have officially driven the so-called “ex-gay” industry to distraction. The proof is in the pudding.
