By now, dear reader, you’re probably familiar with the controversy surrounding Chicago archbishop Francis George’s remarks comparing the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan and the backlash the inflammatory comments have provoked, including TWO’s petition calling on the Cardinal to hand in an early resignation to Pope Benedict XVI and the full-page ad with the same message that we’re placing in this Sunday’s Chicago Tribune.
However, you may not know that the Cardinal George controversy also touches my hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Days before George’s incendiary remarks came out, St. Norbert College — a private Catholic college located in De Pere, a Green Bay suburb — announced that the Cardinal would be the speaker at its spring commencement exercises next May. A “concerned student” started a Change.org petition asking the school’s administration to rescind Cardinal George’s speaking invitation.
The college has thus far refused to do so, and the story has attracted quite a bit of attention in the Green Bay area. Now here’s where I’m going to do a little bit of shameless bragging: my mother Michele is an alumna of St. Norbert College, holding the master’s degree in theological studies. As I’ve mentioned before, she also happens to be an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality in her family, in religious traditions including her Catholic Church, and in the greater Green Bay community. She even got a dedicated group of LGBTs and allies together to form the Adult Gay-Straight Alliance of Green Bay. So naturally, when a local television station was compiling a report on this story, they turned to her.
So now I present to you my mother, Michele Becker — a Catholic mom for LGBT equality — in her first media appearance as an activist.
I couldn’t be prouder to call this amazing woman my mom.
Last night, Wayne issued a press release calling for Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to step down after comparing the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan in the following statement:
“[Some Catholic priest is] telling us that they won’t be able to have church services on Sunday if that’s the case [it's about the Chicago gay pride parade happening earlier in the day]. You know, you don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.” George said. “So I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that.”
Pressed by Fox Chicago’s Mike Flannery and Dane Placko, George acknowledged that it was a strong analogy, but reiterated his sentiment.
“The rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan; the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people — who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church,” George said.
Oh, dear Bishop…
Yes, your church’s teachings and official rules are an enemy to entire minority populations around the globe, including the LGBT community.
THAT BEING SAID.
Most American Catholics are far more supportive of our equality than are the members of conservative Protestant denominations, and so your pronouncements are at best incidental, as a large number of American Catholics started to ignore these sorts of statements years ago. So these delusions of grandeur about gay pride parades somehow being a direct attack on the Catholic Church are too cute by half.
Most of us just wish that, rather than worrying so about what LGBT people are doing, y’all would do something about that whole child sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock pretty much every corner of your church, and by “something,” we mean something more than simply sending child-abusing priests to new colonies dioceses.
I know. Not convenient for your purposes.
As to the complaint from the Catholic priest that started all this off: you are saying that you will not be able to have your church services if the gay rights parade starts in the morning? Is this a parking problem, or are you just being a nuisance? Does the parade route go through the narthex and down the aisle and then around the altar in your church? Or are you just making hay because you think you have a right to excrete some sort of “religious freedom” claim, due to your desire to be free from the gays that day? Far be it from me to make assumptions about a priest I’ve never met, but I would imagine it could be uncomfortable, as a priest, to be greeting parishioners, only to have a passing drag queen on a float see you and scream out, “Hey, gurl! I mean, Father! Fathergurl! Gurlfather! Anyway, hey gurl!”
Again, I have no idea about this particular priest, but there is certainly a hell of a lot of precedent…
But, oh wait. If you read the whole article linked above, you’ll find that an arrangement was reached to move the parade start time back to the afternoon, which makes this entire issue null and void. And this arrangement was reached before Cardinal Needs To Resign spouted off, comparing gay people, who want nothing more than to be treated equally and not be bullied to death by religious dogma spouted by the likes of Catholic bishops, to the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.
I dunno. Fundamentalist religious people, whether Roman Catholic or Pentecostal, have spent the last few years becoming the most absurd of Professional Victims. They cry “persecution!” when they have to wait in line at the grocery store these days. They’re just sad and whiny people, honestly. But yet again, every time I hear them bitching and moaning about whatever they happen to be going on about these days, I just can’t help but remember the names of the gay teenagers who have killed themselves over the past year because they were bullied, because they felt they had no hope, because the people who abused them wouldn’t have felt they had a license to abuse gay people if the Highly Religious of our society didn’t spout off more evil, hateful words on a regular basis than any fourteen year-old bully could muster…
So, you know, get over it, wingnuts, whether you be Catholic or Protestant. The Vatican may own your church building, but they don’t own the street in front of it, and there just might be a parade of gays and lesbians and bisexuals and trans people a-comin’ down that street. Even when you’re having church.
Deal with it, champs.
Go sign the petition demanding that Cardinal George resign, please.
Not content to be simply the mosquito in the underoos of the greater Chicago area, Porno Pete is upset that a different area in Illinois is having a gay pride celebration:
Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera said today that Springfield’s first-ever “Gay Pride” celebration is another tragic watershed for the Land of Lincoln – and said aggressive homosexual activism encroaching on America’s heartland will surely undermine the First Amendment and religious liberties of citizens who stand for traditional, biblical morality.
Encroaching on America’s heartland! What’s next, gays? Nebraska?! Oh, there are already gays in Nebraska? Well, whatever.
LaBarbera and AFTAH (Americans For Truth About Homosexuality) will stand in silent counter-protest to the Springfield homosexual “pride” festival near the state capitol (on Capital Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets), under the banner: “Homosexuality: Wrong. Unhealthy. Unnatural. Changeable.”
And he can’t prove a damn one of those adjectives without looking at his old faith book, which he interprets so poorly as to give me the sneaking suspicion that he reads it upside down.
Anyway, Springfield gays and the people who love them: enjoy your Pride, and enjoy the fact that Peter, in this press release, is promising to keep his trap shut in “silent protest.” Wouldn’t want his voice hole interfering with the festivities, now would we?
While we were all busy celebrating Hallowe’en this weekend, I somehow managed to hear about this:
One of the mail bombs sent by terrorists in Yemen was addressed to a small, gay-friendly synagogue in Chicago.
Or Chadash leases spaces in Emmanuel Congregation’s lakefront synagogue on the North Side.
“We have a highly visible lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community and at first we thought that might have attracted attention,” Lilli Kornblum, the Co-President of Or Chadash told FOX Chicago News. “But as we learned that more packages were sent, we now don’t take it personally, Well, we are taking it personally as human beings and as Jews but it seems we were randomly selected from any number of Jewish organizations in Chicago.”
Scary. But we’re not wingnuts, so I assume we’ll all continue checking the mail every day, right? Good.
Why do these so-called “ex-gays” always have an item to peddle when they announce they have gone from gay to straight? Does each LGBT person who comes out write a book about the experience? Check out Cornelius Williams, another “ex-gay” salesman interested in product placement. Does he not notice that he still looks and sounds gayer than pink hot pants on Freddy Mercury’s ass? (Sorry to bring you into this Freddy – I still love you)
P.S. And they wonder why they are called “ex-gay” for pay.
Sen. Lindsey Graham’s has charged that the White House engaged in “seedy Chicago politics” to get its health reform bill passed.
“It was definitely a cheap shot and completely unwarranted,” Valerie Jarrett, one of several Chicagoans who came to Washington with President Obama, said of the South Carolina Republican’s recent remark on CNN.
I suppose Graham would prefer seedy South Carolina politics – such as a family values governor, Mark Sanford, claiming he walked the Appalachian trail, while he was flying to South America to shack up with his mistress. And, who can forget Rep. Joe Wilson who screamed “you lie” at President Obama during his State of the Union address. Such decorum and southern hospitality.
Or, how about when John McCain lost to George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican South Carolina primary, after the Bush campaign insinuated that McCain had an out-of-wedlock black baby?
Let’s not forget that for decades, Republican presidential candidates were forced to pander to racist Bob Jones University if they hoped to get the nomination. It is sad to say, but the absurd Confederate Flag issue is still a big deal politically in this state.
Of course, the most corrupt, sleazy political operative of all, Lee Atwater, perfected his craft in South Carolina. And, let’s not even get into the career of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.
Sen. Graham, please spare us the disingenuous, sanctimonious lecture on the morals of South Carolina politics. This type of opportunistic regionalism is obnoxious and divisive.
For the record, I’m not picking on South Carolina. I am from Miami, not exactly a hotbed of political ethics. But, Graham just looks plain foolish insulting Chicago, when political corruption and immorality in his state is at least as bad, if not worse. The last thing we need is this windbag insulting the Windy City.
Several hundred people protested in front of the Renaissance Hotel this evening in downtown Chicago against the Radio Hall of Fame for inducting Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. Focus on the Family had spent $800,000 on Proposition 8 to stop gay people form marrying in California.
It is mind-blowing, that the Radio Hall of Fame honored a leader of Proposition 8. Dobson put his Media Empire and vast amounts of money into the service of denying equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. And, the Radio Hall of Fame reacted by giving this demagogue a trophy. Truth Wins Out and the Gay Liberation Network thank all who attended the rally this evening.
Coalition To Protest Awards Dinner If Undeserved Award Is Not Rescinded
NEW YORK ‚Äî Truth Wins Out (TWO) launched a new website today, DumpDobson.com, that calls on the Museum of Broadcast Communications to reverse its decision to honor Focus on the Family’ James Dobson in its Radio Hall of Fame. Unless the museum withdraws its pledge to induct Dobson, TWO will join Equality Illinois and the Gay Liberation Network to protest the awards ceremony, Saturday, Nov. 8, (5:30 PM — 7:30 PM), at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel.
“There is still time to reverse the reckless and irresponsible decision to honor James Dobson in the Radio Hall of Fame,” said Truth Wins Out’ Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It is simply unconscionable that the Museum is giving its imprimatur to a demagogue who has profited from divisive and discriminatory rhetoric. If the museum wants to regain its respect and credibility, it will choose to dump Dobson.”
“We believe that you and your associates at the museum must be aware of Dobson’ contribution to anti-gay hate, and yet you chose to ignore, or perhaps even applaud, his harm to our community,” wrote Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network in an open letter to Bruce DuMont, president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications. “Museums should be places that celebrate the best of human endeavor, not the worst.”
To fight back against this offensive decision, DumpDobson.com is asking fair-minded people to take four actions.
E-Mail Radio Hall of Fame CEO Bruce Dumont, brucedumont@museum.tv, and urge him to withdraw Dobson’ honor.
Sign our letter to the Radio Hall of Fame urging them to reverse their foolhardy decision to celebrate Dobson’ shameful and ignoble career.
Dobson’ ugly rhetoric is so polarizing that former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) said that, “Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies.” Focus on the Family co-founder Gil Alexander Moegerle said that, “I believe Dobson-style politics have been inept, simplistic, exclusionary, divisive and alarmingly sectarian…James Dobson’ political style has been one of relentlessly demonizing his adversaries.”
Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman on Oct. 23, 2004 that, “Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.” Dobson also told the Daily Oklahoman that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is “a God’ people hater. I don’t know if he hates God, but he hates God’s people.”
In the past two years, at least seven researchers have accused Dobson of manipulating or cherry picking their results to back his anti-gay teachings. Letters and videos documenting the concerns of these respected professors can be viewed on RespectMyResearch.org.
Dobson also profits from intolerance. He founded a ministry, Love Won Out, that promises to “cure” homosexuals — even though the so-called “ex-gay” leader of Love Won Out, John Paulk, was photographed in a gay bar. Dobson continues to promote dishonest psychological theories about gay people that are rejected by every respected medical and mental health association in America, including the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.
Truth Wins Out, which operates DumpDobson.com, is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org. The Gay Liberation Network is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered direct action group
It has been 10 years since Matthew Shepard was savagely murdered. Shepard was the University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten and left to die on a fence in a frozen Wyoming field – simply because he was gay. Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen was the featured speaker at a memorial rally in Chicago hosted by the Gay Liberation Network. The march drew an estimated 400 people and it was covered by the local NBC and ABC television stations.
“This senseless violence does not happen in a vaccum,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “There is a multi-million dollar anti-gay industry that dehumanizes us every day. They pump millions of dollars into making GLBT people appear to be moral monsters and then act surprised when hate crimes occur. We marched to speak out against this poisonous rhetoric that has harmed so many families.”
Besen amd GLN’s Andy Thayer were also on the popular “Feast of Fools” podcast to discuss the march.
With a gift of $35 to Truth Wins Out, you can receive an autographed copy of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."
The college has thus far refused to do so, and the story has attracted quite a bit of attention in the Green Bay area. Now here’s where I’m going to do a little bit of shameless bragging: my mother Michele is an alumna of St. Norbert College, holding the master’s degree in theological studies. As I’ve mentioned before, she also happens to be an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality in her family, in religious traditions including her Catholic Church, and in the greater Green Bay community. She even got a dedicated group of LGBTs and allies together to form the Adult Gay-Straight Alliance of Green Bay. So naturally, when a local television station was compiling a report on this story, they turned to her.
Today, I was on the popular podcast Feast of Fun, produced out of Chicago by Fausto Fernós and his partner, Marc Felion.
