Jeremy brings us the story of North Carolina bumpkin state senator Jim Forrester, who apparently referred to the city of Asheville, North Carolina, as a “cesspool of sin” in the lead-up to the unfortunate vote for hate that just happened in that state.  Now he has clarified his anti-Asheville comments!  Bumpkin say what?

“It was kind of brought up in a church meeting we had and I don’t know what prompted me to say that, but I distinctly remember a couple of weeks ago they were all out baring their breasts and everything up in Asheville,” Forrester said. “They have a lot of very liberal people. They have a lot of homosexuals that live in the Asheville area.”

Forrester continued: “I think, it used to be you think of Wilmington with all the movie people down there would be the worst place in the state or Chapel Hill where they have a lot of liberal people and so forth. But Asheville is just doing a lot of things that I don’t like and I don’t think a lot of people in the Asheville area like.”

Boo hoo hoo, whiny yokel. But here is why I find this funny. Here are three pictures of Asheville, North Carolina, if you have never had the good fortune to go there:

In short, Asheville, North Carolina, is one of the nicest, most beautiful places in this entire country, not to mention in North Carolina. Ooh, but wingnut no likey the Asheville, due to gays.

If you’re not familiar with Chapel Hill, it’s recognized as one of the nicest small towns in America, and is the home of UNC-Chapel Hill. Read more about it here!

I’m not as familiar with Wilmington, the third place Wingnuts McGee was whining about, and I don’t feel like looking it up right now, but you see the running theme here?

To draw a contrast, Jim Forrester’s district features a lot of race cars turning left, and also two interstates cross there.  Stop me before you get too excited.

The reason I bring this up is that it reminds me of the constant bitching and moaning that the Right does about “coastal elitists” and whatnot.  They sit in their La-Z-Boys in Nowheresville, America and lose their minds about lib’rul places like Boston and New York whar people just don’t act right.  And when you read or hear their words enough, you start to notice an undercurrent:  jealousy.  The idea that somewhere out there, smarter, better educated people are having more fun and living happier lives.

So Jim up there is free to call all the places he doesn’t like “cesspools of sin.”  The rest of the country will continue to call them “the nicest places in North Carolina.”  [And no offense if you live in another part of NC that is also nice!  There are actually lots of nice places in that state, as it is a bit like Tennessee and has a fairly strange combination of cool, cosmopolitan cities and beautiful scenery, and amidst all of that, thousands of lifelike replicas of the cast from Deliverance.]

By Wayne Besen

In one of the best articles on the ex-gay myth in years, the Times of London captured the true essence of these dangerous programs when the newspaper went undercover at Exodus International’ 2007 annual conference in Asheville, NC. The article cut through the spin, painted an accurate portrait of what Exodus is about and offered a genuine glimpse of the pain and suffering caused by sexual engineering programs.

Reporter Lucy Bannerman did her homework and rightfully highlighted the false advertising of Exodus that leads people to believe that they can pray away the gay. The counterfeit hope and unrealistic expectations are made clear when Exodus’ leader Alan Chambers triumphantly appears at a pep rally.

“How many of you are in need of some hope here tonight?” A murmur passes through the dark auditorium, pleasing Chambers, the man with the microphone. Heads nod. “How many of you are at the end of your rope?” he continues. “How many are ready for an encounter with the Lord?”

Later in the expose, “an amazing week of breakthroughs, transformations and healings,” is promised. And, an Exodus sexual engineer tells the reporter that she will have a “very impactful” experience. The reporter also points out that an Exodus’s affiliate in the United Kingdom, Re-alignment Ministries, uses the slogan “reinventing people.” Anyone who says that Exodus is not misleading people with pie-in-the-sky promises of heterosexuality is simply not telling the truth. (Read More)

Sporting a fog machine for its smoke and mirrors routine and an extravagant stage that would make The Rolling Stones blush, the “ex-gay” group Exodus International held its glitzy annual conference in Asheville, North Carolina. I was in town all week to partner with regional and state organizations to oppose the meeting and its dizzying array of distortions.

A dark cloud hovered over the Exodus event, with violent hate crimes unsettling the local GLBT community. At the very moment ex-gay televangelists were railing against homosexuals in the foothills, news broke of an 18-year old boy in Anderson, South Carolina whose father, “yelled, cursed, swung a baseball bat, prayed and tried to cast the demon of homosexuality out of him.”

In nearby Greenville, South Carolina, Stephen Moller, an anti-gay thug who murdered 20-year-old Sean William Kennedy outside a gay bar, just learned that he would spend approximately 10 months in jail for his ferocious crime. In this gross miscarriage of justice, the message was sent that murdering gay people was tacitly acceptable, if not encouraged. While in town, I spoke to Sean’s grieving mother, Elke Kennedy, who rightfully called the sentence, “a joke and a slap on the wrist.”

Meanwhile, on the opening day of the Exodus conference, an anti-bullying bill was stalled in the North Carolina legislature. Into this backdrop of brutality stepped the ex-gay activists Alan Chambers and Randy Thomas, who were determined to show the progressive residents of Asheville that Exodus did not stigmatize gay and lesbian people. Unfortunately, they kept tripping over reality and revealing the true nature of their duplicitous, deceptive and depraved ministry.

For a week, western North Carolinians were dazzled with disingenuousness. The audacity of the lies was breathtaking and the sheer nerve was mind numbing. By the end of the conference, everyone who had paid attention learned that Exodus leaders are shameless charlatans who lack even a modicum of morality. (Read More)

(Randy Thomas, Left)

Exodus Blatantly Lies In Local Media And Unveils Deceptive “Asheville Talking Points’ To Appeal To Progressives, Says TWO

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) teamed-up with an inspiring group of state and local GLBT advocates to fight back against the “ex-gay” group Exodus International, which invaded the progressive city of Asheville, North Carolina this week with its cruel message of false hope. This Friday, TWO founder Wayne Besen will also appear on a panel, to discuss the movie “Fish Can’t Fly,” an expose on the ex-gay industry.

“I have been honored to speak out against lies and intolerance with so many incredible activists in Western North Carolina,” said Truth Wins Out’ Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We are having an impact and making a difference in the lives of many people.”

The Exodus conference has been a hot topic and covered by the local mainstream media — which has generally done a decent job. However, Exodus leaders Randy Thomas and Alan Chambers have been chronically lying to the press and spinning the truth. Chambers began the mendacious marathon by claiming in the Asheville Citizen-Times that Exodus’ message is “not about fire and brimstone.” Oh, really?

Exodus leader, Alan Chambers, said in a 2005 Exodus Newsletter, “One of the many evils this world has to offer is the sin of homosexuality. Satan, the enemy, is using people to further his agenda to destroy the Kingdom of God and as many souls as he can.” (Read More)

Exodus International Offers False Hope, Divorces and Ruined Lives, Says TWO

NEW YORK — TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) will join a coalition of state and local North Carolina organizations to counter a conference in Asheville (July 15-20) that plans to teach people to “pray away the gay.’ The controversial Exodus International symposium will sell books that promote exorcisms and encourage gay men to play touch football and lesbians to wear lipstick to become heterosexual.

“Ex-gay groups would be a farce if its failures weren’t so destructive to individuals and families,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of TruthWinsOut.org. “We plan a robust week of activities to highlight the harm caused by this nefarious right wing organization and to show the truth about the lives of GLBT people. I want to thank the Coalition for Equality for their commitment to educating North Carolinians about the dangers of the “ex-gay’ myth and the positive contributions GLBT people make to the community.”

Schedule of Events, July 15-20

Tuesday, July 15, 7:00–8:30 PM, Kick off Event
“Can You Pray Away the Gay?”
Firestorm Caf?© & Books (48 Commerce St., Asheville)
Speakers: Wayne Besen, Director, TruthWinsOut.org and author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-gay Myth,” and Ian Palmist, Director, Equality NC

(Read More)