Readers may have noticed that we’re boiling over here over the fact that three gay kids that we know of have killed themselves this month, having been bullied mercilessly to the point that they felt they had nothing to live for, and that their only escape would be death. Dan Savage has stepped into the fight with his new YouTube project, It Gets Better, wherein successful, happy LGBT people talk directly to the kids who are in the middle of what can be the hell of middle and high school, with that simple message: ”It gets better.” And he’s right. Any kids reading this: it does get better. From my 7th to 9th grade years, I was bullied and harassed day in, day out by a bunch of malcontent assholes who, for whatever reason, saw me as a weak link and thus an easy target. For some of them, calling me a “faggot” twelve or thirteen times a day was just What They Did. That’s quite a hell for a kid who, up to that point, wasn’t much interested in “people” in the first place. Going to school became a daily fight, and what I wanted, more than anything, was to disappear. I was fortunate, though. I was never seriously physically harmed; the administration and teachers at my public schools at least sort of tried to do something about it; I had loving parents who fought for me like wolves, even when I wanted them to back off; and I had music as an escape. One of the unfortunate aspects of being bullied is that you often feel like you’re the only one, but the truth is that there are always others dealing with just as bad or worse.
Kevin Dean is a personal friend of mine who graduated from the same private Christian high school I did in Memphis, Tennessee. [Readers might be interested to know that this is the same school where Michael Oher, whose story was told in The Blind Side, went. That was a few years after us, but the point is that this was a Good School.] When I attended that school, I had somehow ended up on the other side of the social divide, had lots of “popular” friends, and was able to finish my high school years with relative ease. Little did I know that, before I came to that school, my friend Kevin was one of those who had it worse than I ever did, much worse, at the hands of people who probably didn’t have the first clue what they were doing, but because of the way they were raised — again, Christian high school — obviously got the message that it’s okay to pick on/beat the shit out of the ones they perceived to be weak, different, “faggots,” or anything else that didn’t conform to the norm. Would my experience have been more like his if I had gone to the [to use the word loosely] “Christian school” instead of the public school when I was younger? I don’t know. Kevin wrote this essay last year, about his personal experiences with bullying, in the wake of another gay teen suicide, Eric Mohat, aged 17. In its original incarnation, the second part of the essay was Eric’s story. I’ve updated it, with Kevin’s permission, to include the stories of the boys who have died this month in Indiana, California and Texas. I think you should all read it. It’s after the fold, because it’s not short, but read it, print it, share it with your kids, hell, share it with other people’s kids. And let them know that yes, it does get better. Kevin can be reached here, and if you have a story to tell, send it to me.
Bully: A Story in Four Acts
by Kevin Dean
I’m in gym class, 5th period on a random Tuesday of my 7th grade year. The gym teacher, a mammoth black man who seems completely disinterested in anyone who isn’t on his football team, has stepped out of the locker room for over five minutes. My classmates are becoming rowdy, snapping each other in the face with towels and slamming lockers. One boy is showing another boy a cigarette he has in his pocket. These are the times I start to get worried.
I’ve just transferred from a smaller satellite school to the main campus of Briarcrest and I only know a handful of people. I’m scrawny, with big frizzy hair and braces. My parents aren’t the richest people in the world, so I am wearing jeans from JC Penney and an Oxford shirt from Sears. I have enormous feet, which my mother has trouble finding shoes for. The ones we settle on are white clunky off-brands, and they make me look like I have robot feet, especially with my tapered leg jeans.
To make matters worse, I’m slightly effeminate and incredibly shy. I don’t like sports, and I don’t make friends easily. Not only am I dealing with the average teenage angst, I’m also questioning my sexuality, looking at boys in ways I know I shouldn’t. I’m horrified someone might find out my secret, so I tend to stay hidden as much as possible. I have three or four friends that I sit with at lunch, but other than them no one really knows my name. I’m not sure I want anyone to know my name.
Speaking of gays [imagine that], gays can kiss longer than straight people, so nyah. Good thing, because two polls now show that marriage equality has majority support, so there’s a lot of kissyface in our future. The Religious Right are victims now, in Canada and Indianapolis, where they were asked to make gay cupcakes. I discussed the need for minorities to stand up for each other, specifically as regards moderate and liberal Muslims vis a vis the gay community. Oh, and I went off on Chris Barron of GOProud, which led to a Twitter Fight, which led to a nice discussion about BBQ. He’s a fun sparring partner, I’ll give him that.
Then a crazy guy in Saxby Chambliss’s office decided to leave threatening anti-gay comments on JoeMyGod, so that was embarrassing for big old homophobe Saxby. Speaking of homophobes, HomoCon is tomorrow! YAY! Okay, that’s all.
Music this week is from that old gay classic musical RENT. I happened to be listening to the Original Cast recording last night, and I really don’t have to set it up for you, because you’re all gay and stuff, so you can probably sing the entire show all the way through in your sleep, and some of you probably know the blocking. Anyway, one of my very favorite moments in all of musical theater is after the first “La Vie Boheme“, when Mimi and Roger sing “I Should Tell You” to each other. [Insert flutter, sigh and single tear here.] So we’ll start with that, hit shuffle on the old iTunes machine and, oh look, it’s like, my favorite Tori Amos song ever, and also some other stuff. More videos after le jump.
1. Jay Brannan – “Bowlegged and Starving”
2. Tokyo Police Club – “Tessellate” [Remix by Tom Campesinos!]
3. Banjo or Freakout – “Joy to the World”
4. 10,000 Maniacs – “Gold Rush Brides”
5. Tori Amos – “Lust”
6. Fever Ray – “If I Had A Heart”
7. Lightning Dust – “Never Seen”
8. U2 – “Numb”
9. David Mead – “Girl on the Roof”
10. Port O’Brien – “In the Meantime”
Radical Cleric Uses Violent Imagery and Overheated Rhetoric In Anti-Gay Crusade
ST. LOUIS – Truth Wins Out’ released a special report today, “The Stealth Bomber Meeting”, that detailed a chilling sermon in support of theocracy in America and renewed culture war against LGBT people by radical pastor Lou Engle of The Call Ministry. The popular cleric unleashed his extreme rhetoric during a revival at the Gateway House of Prayer in St. Louis.
Truth Wins Out’ Evan Hurst slipped into the event to document the extreme and delusional ideology of Engle, who considers himself a prophet sent by God to warn San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom that he would be judged for “promoting homosexuality.”
A frequent theme in Engle’ fiery St. Louis talk was crushing LGBT equality and rolling back recent gains.
“It’ the rod of God,” bellowed Engle from the stage. “I am looking for the secret of heaven that can penetrate the homosexual agenda with the love of Jesus and the truth!”
Engle’ preaching was decidedly political and his sermon repeatedly used violent, anti-gay imagery designed to rile up the crowd of 200 intense followers.
“If we’re struggling with a homosexual, same-sex desire, LET THE BIBLE KILL YOU, rather than make it easier for you, and say well, there must be a better scriptural answer to this…Brothers and sisters, let the Bible kill you rather than you twist the scriptures!”
“The remarkable thing about this event was how violent the rhetoric from leaders like Lou Engle is becoming,” said Evan Hurst, who authored the report for Truth Wins Out. “As we cross the tipping point where solidly half the population supports equality, I worry and wonder how much more extreme they will become, once an overwhelming majority of the public supports equal rights.”
Earlier this year, TWO’ Wayne Besen attended an anti-gay conference in Lynchburg where Engle acknowledged that when he preaches against LGBT issues, Christian youth often “rage against him.” Engle said that the far right has lost on this issue barring a miracle. One idea floated by Engle to turn the tide was creating an intercession by holding a 500,000 strong youth rally.
“It appears that Engle is following-through on his pledge to seek extreme solutions to what he rightfully sees as increased acceptance for LGBT people in America,” said Truth Wins Out’ Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Unfortunately, he is creating a potentially dangerous situation by turning to violent imagery and overheated rhetoric. Although Engle may sound delusional, he has many followers and people must pay attention to what he is preaching. He believes what he says and so do his cult-like minions.”
Engle has also been criticized for his large role in fomenting anti-gay sentiment in Uganda, where the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill is being considered by the legislature.
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation campaigns, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates about the lives of LGBT people.
TOPEKA — In a stunning about face, the Westboro Baptist Church announced today that their decades long campaign against gays, soldiers, Jews, Catholics, American flags, joy, and Lady Gaga was all an elaborate prank. “We were just fooling!,” said Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps and frequent spokesperson for the group. Phelps-Roper added “Psych!” and did a little dance.
The about face came as a surprise to gay activists and anti-gay leaders alike.
Linda Harvey, of the anti-gay MissionAmerica, reached for comment on Thursday, said “Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on! I’ve been marketing a watered down version of…a prank?” Evan Hurst of gay rights organization Truth Wins Out was more measured in his reaction. “Really? That’s sort of LOL, now that I think about it,” said Hurst, dryly.
For the Phelps clan this coming out party is a blessing on many fronts. The patriarch of the clan, Reverend Fred Phelps, heaved a sigh of relief and said that coming clean will offer him an opportunity to make the last fifth of his life count. “I’ve always wanted to join the Peace Corps, or maybe mentor at-risk children. Maybe I can do that now.” Clarifying his true opinions on fags, he added, “That’s kind of a mean name, don’t you think? I mean, I don’t actually know any fags, but that Ricky Martin seems like a nice enough boy.”
For her part, Shirley Phelps-Roper dreams of being a judge on American Idol. “I just want to encourage all those fag singers to…I mean, no, sorry…old habits die hard! Anyway, that Simon Cowell is a dick, right?”
Activists on both sides of the debate over homosexuality remain confused as to the purpose of the Phelps clan’s decades-long ruse, but all agree that their decision to pursue other opportunities is a net positive for the country.
A statement from a cadre of right-wing leaders released in response to the developments with the Phelps family reads, in part:
We have always condemned the Phelps family for saying all of the things we actually believe in such a clear manner, without obfuscation. We look forward to continuing our work defending the traditional family with all of our euphemisms intact, so that we may hurt gay people and their families under the guise of Christian love.
A press release from the National Organization for Marriage simply reads: “Whew!”
Evan Hurst had a slightly different take on the organization’s changes:
Well, at least the Religious Right won’t have such an easy time artificially separating themselves from the hatred they espouse. No longer will anti-gay hatemongers be able to say “No, we’re not haters, we don’t do all that mean God Hates Fags stuff!” They may have to start actually owning the untold pain and suffering they cause millions of families.
Analysts predict that it will likely take at least a thousand years and untold millions of dollars to make restitution to the myriad numbers of people affected by the Phelps’ prank.
So, do the Phelps clan actually believe that God indeed loves fags?
In response to this question, Rev. Phelps became flustered, scratched his chin and said, “God? Never heard of him.”
Peter caught me making a comment on here about Linda Harvey, and he wrote a big mad “Evan is so mean” post about it. But I’ll do you the courtesy of getting everybody up to speed on where the comment came from, and then I’ll explain it further. This press release is from a talk Linda gave wherein, among other things, she defended her friend and SPLC-certified hate group leader Scott Lively, he who went to Uganda to spread the pernicious lie that gays were responsible for the Rwandan genocide:
Harvey said the Southern Poverty Law Center was wrong when it recently classified several anti-gay groups, including Scott Lively’ Abiding Truth Ministries, as “hate groups.”
“I can’t stand the Southern Poverty Law Center. They are such a hypocritical organization. They don’t cover any of the violence that happens to any of the conservatives.I love what they do with the Klu Klux Klan and racial issues, . They need to go back stay out of this other stuff. They need to get out of classifying hate groups, family groups. I mean I am a normal ordinary person I just happen to have conservative values. I don’t hate anybody. I don’t go on anybody’ websites. I don’t picket funerals. I can’t stand Fred Phelps. I think he is funded by the gays,” Harvey said. “I think he is.”
She said she and Lively have both worked on the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, and that she “loves” Lively.
Ms. Harvey then showed up in the comments section of that press release, and she was shocked, shocked (shocked!), that anyone could have a problem with her dear friend Mr. Lively (there is video at the above link of Lively speaking, by the way):
And how is Scott Lively a “Holocaust revisionist”? Don’t get that one. Are you trying to imply anti-semitism that does not exist? Listen to my daily radio show and hear my support for the state of Israel, much more than you’ll get from most of the left these days, including the Obama administration.
How is Scott Lively a “Holocaust revisionist,” asketh The Linda.
Let us explain this: Scott Lively wrote a book called The Pink Swastika, which argued that the Third Reich was, at its core, a homosexual movement. Indeed, the SPLC (Peter’s personal boogeyman now, apparently) handily disposed of the book’s malevolently asinine thesis in 2005:
In 1995, a book calledThe Pink Swastika made similar claims about the Nazis’ treatment of homosexuals during the Holocaust.
Written by fundamentalist activists Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams, The Pink Swastika says that rather than being victimized by the Nazis, gay men in Hitler’s inner circle actually helped mastermind the Holocaust.
“While we cannot say that homosexuals caused the Holocaust, we must not ignore their central role in Nazism,” write Lively and Abrams. “To the myth of the ‘pink triangle’ ‚Äî the notion that all homosexuals in Nazi Germany were persecuted ‚Äî we must respond with the reality of the ‘pink swastika.’”
Historians agree that this “reality” is utterly false. But many anti-gay crusaders have used the “gay Nazi” myth as proof that gay people are immoral and destructive.
(…)
In fact, while the number of homosexuals who died in the Holocaust does not approach the number of Jewish or Gypsy victims, the historical record shows that between 50,000 and 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality (or suspicion of it) under the Nazi regime. They were routinely sent to concentration camps and marked with a pink triangle on their prison garb.
They were not systematically exterminated. But huge numbers are believed to have died in the work camps, along with an untold number of homosexual Jews, Gypsies and other “defectives” who were sent to extermination camps.
The myth that Nazis condoned or promoted homosexuality sprang up as a slander against Nazi leaders by their socialist opponents in the 1930s. Only one of the half-dozen leaders in Hitler’s inner circle, Ernest Rohm, is believed by credible historians to have been gay.
The “gay Nazi” slander stuck, though, partly because German laws against homosexuals remained in place for a quarter of a century after World War II ended. That effectively silenced many homosexual victims of the Holocaust from telling their stories. A landmark survivor’s memoir, The Men With the Pink Triangle, began to break that silence in 1972.
Read that whole piece, please. I’ll wait. And then you tell me whether or not Scott Lively is a Holocaust revisionist, Ms. Linda.
Now. Holocaust revisionism is anti-Semitism. Here’s the comment I made:
Oh, and Linda, “Holocaust revisionism” does not only apply to direct anti-semitism. Of course, it could be argued that Scott Lively is anti-semitic since he co-opts the Holocaust in order to lie about gay people, to satisfy whatever mental illness he suffers from. In fact, yes, now that I think of it, his work IS anti-semitism, because it belittles the reality of the Holocaust in order to score points. And by supporting him, you are supporting that strain of anti-semitism.
(Then again, all fundamentalist Christians are anti-semitic at their core, considering the fact that they actually believe their apocalyptical horseshit.)
And you just parrot right along with it, because you’re too virulent to see that if your Jesus was here, he’d probably lay you out like the Pharisee you are.
Let’s get this out of the way: There is one word in that comment I would change. I would remove the word “all.” Because, quite frankly, it was late, and I popped off. Because the truth of the matter is that many fundamentalist Christians do not realize that some the beliefs they are taught, and some of the beliefs which they espouse about the state of Israel are profoundly anti-Semitic. So it’s a mistake to say that they “all” are, because I’m quite sure that many who hold the beliefs I’m about to explain have never taken the time to reflect on the inherent anti-Semitism contained therein.
But that’s one word in a larger train of thought, which I will now flesh out, for the record: A particular and prominent belief system in Fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity is known as “Christian Zionism,” which is inspired by “pre-millenial dispensationalist” eschatology. (Think: Left Behind; Rapture Ready, etc.) In its simplest form, this means that these Christians believe that for Christ to return, the Jewish people must set up a state in Israel. (Done.) At which point:
Uri Avnery, is the leader of Gush Shalom, an Israeli peace group. He was discussing the theology of many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Christians in a 2002-JUN essay, and wrote: “According to its theological beliefs, the Jews must congregate in Palestine and establish a Jewish state on all its territory so as to make the Second Coming of Jesus Christ possible…the evangelists don’t like to dwell openly on what comes next: before the coming [of the Messiah], the Jews must convert to Christianity. Those who don’t will perish in a gigantic holocaust in the battle of Armageddon. This is basically an anti-Semitic teaching…” 1 This teaching implies that Jews who remain true to God’s covenants in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) will be all exterminated in a massive genocide that may be more numerous than the Nazi Holocaust.
This theology is most popular (and growing) in extremely conservative, fundamentalist churches, from Pentecostal to Southern Baptist to non-denominational, etc.
It is an anti-Semitic belief system. Period! It takes all of the humanity away from the Jewish people and instead makes them pawns in the biggest “screw you” ever doled out by a (supposed) deity in human history! It ends the story that Fundamentalists believe started in the Garden of Eden by exterminating the raceGod called his “chosen.”
It is helpful to understand this, because often you will see fundamentalist Christians (John Hagee, etc.) expound on their deep, deep “support” for Israel. Indeed, in Peter’s “big mad Evan Hurst is so mean” post, he says this:
Surely Hurst is not unaware of the fact that the “fundamentalist” Christians he so obviously despises are historically a bastion of support for the State of Israel.
No, Pete. Evan Hurst is all too aware, and is just as cynical as many Jewish Americans about the supposed “support” Christian fundamentalists have for Israel. Because this belief system is not inspiring them to “support Israel” out of love for the Jewish people. It’s, rather, about propping up Israel so that Jesus will come back and take his final revenge on everybody they don’t like. Jews, gays, Muslims, you-name-it. Read Revelation 20. This is the moment of triumph in the premillenial dispensationalist Christian Fundamentalist worldview, which, again, is extremely popular in those circles. This is the moment where Jesus comes back and just cold kicks everybody’s ass. They project all of their perceived victimization onto this imaginary moment in the future where their white warrior will come back and avenge everything they claim to have suffered at the hands of, you know, whoever is upsetting them that day.
Could I have fleshed out that comment more at the time? Sure. Maybe I should’ve. Well, now I did!
But, Peter LaBarbera, for perhaps the first and last time, you’re right about one solitary thing: I shouldn’t have said “all.”
The rest of it stands.
At least Truth Wins Out has a comments section where people can air their views on things, as opposed to AFTAH, where freedom of thought, expression, and even occasionally poorly worded popping off is deemed far too threatening.
(Oh, and Peter does announce, finally, that he suddenly remembered to award the Gay Grinch award to Wayne! He forgot to do it for three months, because, well, you see, what had happened was…)
RELATED: Peter earlier issued a quote-unquote challenge to me, to Wayne, and to Jeremy Hooper, Joe Jervis and Rea Carey to answer a question that this site and Good-As-You have already answered at length: Should other groups like the Catholic Church and the Family Research Council also be classified in the same SPLC-certified hate-boat upon which Peter now sets sail? There is a simple answer: that the SPLC has very specific guidelines for what crosses over into “hate” territory, which they use to decide who is indeed a force for genuine hatred in this country. That’s the simple answer. For a more fleshed out answer, may I recommend that you visit Good-As-You because Jeremy took the ball and ran with that question.
UPDATE: Joe.My.God has also now responded to Peter’s Hate Challenge Wolverine Wankfest or whatever it is.
TWO’s Evan Hurst just wrote a dagger of a dandy on our blog that will no doubt raise hackles from so-called “ex-gays” and their allies.
“There is no credible evidence that men like Exodus’ Alan Chambers can change their inherent sexuality,” wrote Hurst. “It goes against everything we know about biology, about sexuality, about men’ sexual responses to stimulus.”
Like clockwork, Evan’s assessment of “ex-gays” was immediately backed up by an article on the website LivingChurch.org, which discussed a recent right wing Anglican sexuality conference. According the article, a leading “ex-gay” activist must go through extraordinary measures to keep from acting on his natural sexual orientation:
The Rev. Mario Bergner, an Anglican priest and former college drama teacher, described his journey out of homosexuality and into a new life as the married father of five. Speaking of how online porn presents a new challenge to Christians, he confessed that he has a lock on his own computer that is monitored by his wife and others to whom he is accountable.
Okay, so that is how this “ex-gay” thing works.
One apparently puts a chastity belt on the computer, turns the spouse into sex police and prays no one attractive walks by. I’m sure this is all very reassuring to his wife.
What is striking, is that Bergner is considered a leader in his field. He has an array of products, including his book, “Setting Love in Order: Hope and Healing for the Homosexual.”
Is it just me, or is placing a padlock on the computer a very bad example of hope and healing?
Given his extremely weak “recovery”, why is Bergner going to Belfast in February to hawk products and provide “practical training for church leaders in the area of same-sex attraction?” Why is he considered an expert and writing books on this topic?
Dude, if you are placing a Master Lock on the the computer to stop from masturbating to pictures of men – you are not healed. You are not an “ex-gay”. And, you have no business turning your sexuality into a profitable business and teaching seminars on this topic.
If this is the best example of “healing” the ex-gay ministries can offer, they should really shut down immediately and stop committing consumer fraud, before more people are hurt.
What a scam.
UPDATE: Apparently, Ted Haggard is on a similar plan. On “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Tuesday he said he is being “super accountable.” Ted says he regularly checks in with his wife, Gayle, and reveals his whereabouts on Facebook and Twitter. If he’s out of town without her, he said, he stays with a pastor rather than at a hotel. (I guess Haggard is safe unless the pastor he is staying with is Bergner)
Radical Cleric Uses Violent Imagery and Overheated Rhetoric In Anti-Gay Crusade 
Okay, so that is how this “ex-gay” thing works.
