Peter LaBarbera and Linda Harvey are on their neverending Warren Throckmorton witchhunt again. It must be one of the most painful things in the world to be the Last Bigots Standing, but Pete and Linda bring it upon themselves, so no pity! Hold your nose, we’re going to have Linda time now:
A broad coalition of pro-family groups recommends that parents keep their children home on the deceptive, pro-homosexual “Day of Silence,” to be observed this year on April 16, 2010, but one “gay”-affirming counselor started what he calls the “Golden Rule Pledge” instead.
Yet, the “Golden Rule Pledge” actually functions as a disinformation tool and a divisive wedge in schools and among Christians. It is insidiously misleading and would bring harm to kids. It grieves me to take this position, but there’s no choice, because lives are at stake.
That’s right, Linda. Lives ARE at stake! Gay kids attempt and commit suicide at a much higher rate than the rest of the population because of the pig ignorant bile you leave everywhere.
[Warren Throckmorton] has expressed his preference for students remaining in school on the “Day of Silence” and hearing pro-homosexual propaganda, and learning to sympathize with those practicing these behaviors, rather than taking an unequivocal, biblical stand against these harmful practices by remaining home.
Refer to post title.
Throckmorton doesn’t even like the Exodus-sponsored “Day of Truth,” which encourages kids to remain in school and have a frank conversation, in love, with friends while presenting the biblical view of homosexuality. Throckmorton calls this “offensive.”
Well, why would he like the “Day of Truth,” since the people who sponsor it value actual, verifiable truth like pedophiles value children?
Throckmorton’s support of the “Day of Silence” will do incalculable harm to many young people. Misleading professionals like Throckmorton in positions of influence can make our sons and daughters become comfortable with entering into, staying in, or approving of homosexuality, bisexuality and gender change.
Wrong! Again, we deal with actual truth, not “I hide my bigotry behind Bible verses I don’t understand” truth. Helping make our sons and daughters comfortable with their biology, their sexual orientation, and helping them along the path of healthy development is a GOOD thing. And guess what? I can point to tons of high school kids who are living this reality right now. Meanwhile, Linda continues to have nothing more than some bur in her nether regions that she inexplicably blames on gay people.
If I were a parent who discovered my minor child had been counseled in this way, I’d bring the largest and most aggressive medical malpractice suit I could launch against this counselor at Grove City.
Well, to be fair, no one accused you of being a good mother, Linda.
Jesus would never make a person feel more comfortable about:
Young males having sex with males, the incidence of which rose over 12 % per year between 2001 and 2006 among males ages 13 to 24 1;
Young “lesbians” choosing a fatherless life for any future children, since they can never conceive children with female partners;
Hoping in such relationships for a false “marriage” in violation of Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-9, where Christ told us that “from the beginning” people were created male and female, and that one man and one woman form a marriage;
Teens and even younger children believing they should change genders. As with homosexuality, we should be doing everything possible to counsel these kids and prevent these behaviors among youth.
I could swear up and down that because Curious George doesn’t refer to the Man in the Yellow Hat owning any other color hats, that’s because other colors are evil, and I could swear up and down that Curious George was written by a supreme deity, but I’d still be a malevolent bigot, hiding behind a book.
And yes, it’s the same. For that matter, you don’t know what Jesus would say, because he ain’t here, and he didn’t see fit to discuss these subjects. Although there’s a strong case to be made that he was confronted with men he knew to be in a sexual relationship with each other, and didn’t have a word to say about it. AND, there were gender variant people all over the Bible, and Jesus didn’t seem to have an issue with that either. AND, since medical science is indeed figuring out that people are born with brains that are gendered in a way that doesn’t match their physical gender, AND since medical science should theoretically be considered by Christians to be the study of God’s wondrous creation, Christians should be the first to get on board with its findings.
Game, set, match, crazy cat lady.*
As the piece continues, Linda takes issue with the Golden Rule itself:
Hmmm. “…The way I want to be treated.” So, if a student is about to enter, or has entered, a high-risk practice that is called an abomination by our Lord, and has shared this with classmates, a “true” Christian should attend school to support a day that affirms this behavior and scorns any warnings to that student? Some friendship!
Here’s a biblically-based alternative: “Friends don’t let friends do homosexuality!”
Uh, actually, Linda, since you have no proof for anything you say (not the high-risk part, not the abomination part), actually you’re just a malevolent woman who feels she has a right to impose her backwards worldview on innocent children. Perhaps the admonition should be “Friends don’t leave their children with lying Fundamentalists.”
I wouldn’t leave my kids with a deranged imam, and I certainly wouldn’t leave them with Linda Harvey.
No, the “Day of Silence” is about propaganda. The goal is to shame and label Christians and tradition-minded students and teachers, silence their authentic witness, and even silence any public health warnings. Real safety would be to scream from the rooftops about the harm homosexuality or gender change will bring to these young lives. And since no one is born homosexual, these desires are demonstrably changeable, so no one is left without a positive alternative.
My god, these people never show their work. Show me how monogamous sex between two same gendered individuals is harmful, please? Show me how safer-sex practices work for straight people, but not for gay people? And then show me how transgender people expressing their appropriate gender in whatever way they choose is harmful. And then show me your proof that people aren’t born gay. (And don’t give me that unscientific crap about how no “gay gene” has been found yet. A first year student of genetics, even from a Christian school, could explain how stupid that argument is.) And then show me all the people who have “demonstrably changed” their sexual orientation. I mean, even John Smid is now admitting that he’s still into dudes. They all do, eventually.
This is such a travesty that if we were all ancient Israelites, we’d be rending our clothing and putting on sackcloth and ashes!
Really, she just said that. But since Linda’s not an ancient Israelite, she’s going to stick with the frumpy separates and wild and crazy pink headband she got at TJ-Maxx last week.
Please join me in praying for Warren Throckmorton, for his repentance, and also for his duplicitous dealings to be revealed so no further harm is done to our precious and impressionable kids.
And please help me pray that the emotionally manipulative “Day of Silence” is revealed for what it is — adults exploiting precious kids.
Uh, no thanks. We’ll stick with the reality-based world that Warren is becoming more of a part of every single day.
*No, I do not have any personal knowledge of how many cats Linda Harvey has. My educated guess is “47.”
I wrote the other day about Alan Chambers’ bizarre talk at the Liberty University G-H8 summit. In case that left you wanting more, here’s Rena Lindevaldsen of Liberty Counsel* speaking for almost ten minutes about how, if Fundamentalists have to abide by the law in our secular society, it’s somehow a violation of their freedom of religion. Uh huh. Just to clear things up: religious freedom doesn’t include the right to lord your beliefs over other peoples’ lives. Note that every complaint Rena has about non-discrimination laws involves conservative Christians feeling the need to use their religious beliefs as a club to hurt other people. THAT is the freedom our opponents fight for. They’re not fighting for the right to believe and worship as they please. They have that, and they’ll always have that, because no one has ever threatened to take it away!
No, these people are simply children who refuse to learn to play well with others, and if I was their preschool teacher, I’d have a really hard time passing them.
Anyway, Rena goes over the Religious Right’s Greatest Hits:
1. Catholic Charities wouldn’t abide by the law in Massachusetts, so they cried victim when they freely chose to close their doors, thereby throwing children under the bus.
2. The photographer in New Mexico who broke the laws of the state of New Mexico when she refused to photograph a same-sex wedding. Was she a photographer working in a religious institution? Oh hell, of course not! She just thought she should be able to deny her services to any groups/people she doesn’t like, much in the way restaurants denied service to African Americans before the law compelled them to do differently.
3. The couple running the bed and breakfast in Vermont who opened their space for weddings and parties, oh, except that one time when (!!!) a homosexshul couple wanted to have their wedding reception there, so they said no, and used their religious bigotry as an excuse to deny that service.
4. The YMCA had to allow gay couples to have family memberships! OH NO! The sky is falling, and it’s like lions are personally eating Rena Lindevaldsen’s flesh!
What tedious whiners!
Anyway, here’s the video, if you want to watch it. She moans and groans about transgender people, GLSEN, Kevin Jennings, PFOX and some other bullroar. But again, notice that NONE of the so-called “religious discrimination” she whines about involves their actual religious freedom. It’s ALL about religious people being denied the right to their own self-appointed moral pedestal over the rest of the population.
Under the leadership of James Dobson, Focus on the Family was infamous for distorting the work of researchers, earning it the nickname, “Focus on the Fallacies”.
Then, the organization was labeled, “Focus on the Foolishness” after Dobson suggested that Sponge Bob was gay. (Yes, the cartoon sponge that lived in a pineapple under the sea)
We must also remember, “Focus on the Fairytale”, the name given the organization after I photographed its “ex-gay” leader John Paulk in a gay bar.
With Dobson retiring, however, it is clear that Focus on the Family is adrift and searching for a new mission. It may have found one in its blistering attack on the play “Santa Claus is Coming Out”.
Instead of helping real families in a time of economic upheaval, the right wing organization is in a tizzy over this comedy that poses the serious question: “What if Santa Claus were actually gay?”
By using an imaginary icon, we can explore how people would react if a real superstar, such as a politician, athlete, or leading man in Hollywood came out of the closet. Given the stereotypes and prejudice against GLBT people, this is a legitimate subject well worth exploring.
Unfortunately, Focus on the Family provides the answer by exploiting this issue for political gain and distorting the essence of the production. The Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network (GLSEN) will also benefit from a charity performance of “Santa Claus is Coming Out”, giving Focus on the Family further reason to misrepresent the play, as they did in its bigot blog Citizenlink.
In a story headlined “GLSEN Fundraiser Sexualizes Santa”, the group claims that the comedy, “perverts the innocence of Christmas and sexualizes the longtime, child-revered icon of Santa Claus.” The group went on to claim that the goal of Santa Claus is Coming Out is to, “desensitize kids and attack parents’ God-given rights to protect their innocence.”
Interestingly, Focus on the Family had no such concern about “innocence” when it heedlessly and needlessly “outed” Sponge Bob a few years ago to millions of youth. Until Dobson spoke, who knew that Bob’s pineapple was a gay bar that made divine tropical drinks?
The charges leveled against Santa Is Coming Out are ludicrous, if not libelous. In an interview with Instinct Magazine, Playwright Jeffrey Solomon rebutted Focus on the Family’s bogus charges.
“We have not marketed this play with sex,” said Solomon. “The play is not about sex. The play simply asks a hypothetical question: ‘How would the world react, if Mrs. Claus were revealed to be a beard, and that Santa Claus was actually a gay man?’ The very mention or the image of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people is not automatically sexual, unless you are viewing them with sex-tinted glasses.”
Solomon is correct to say that Focus on the Family is choosing to sexualize a non-sexual comedy in order to rile up its batty base. What the group means when it says parents have “God-given rights to protect their (childrens’) innocence,” is that fundamentalist Christians are superior to the rest of us. That they have the unique “right” to censor and silence people who disagree with their “Valuless Traditions” disguised as “Traditional Values”.
Sorry, but in America GLBT families are a positive reality and they will not just disappear or hide because hate groups are opposed to their very existence. Indeed, it is poor parenting to instill prejudice in young people and preach intolerance in the name of religious belief. America’s youth should be taught to respect all people and be presented with a realistic view of our nation’s diverse families. To do otherwise is irresponsible and a failure to prepare a child to succeed in the world.
Isn’t it time that Focus on the Family take its huge budget of more that $125 million and help real families stay together? Has this group done anything substantive to address the divorce rate in America? Has it stopped child or spousal abuse? Has this wealthy organization increased living wages so families can afford to stay together?
Nope.
Instead it wastes precious time and money on petty, media-friendly pet issues that play well to frothing fundamentalists who get worked into a lather and then donate what little money they have left over from their paychecks.
By attacking this play, Focus on the Family has earned a new nickname: “Focus on the Frivolous.”
I applaud Jeffrey Solomon and director Joe Brancato for producing a play that will make people think, which is a heck of a lot more than Focus on the Family is asking of its followers.
If you are in New York City, “Santa Claus is Coming Out” is running until Dec. 20 at the Kirk Theater (410 West 42nd Street). Tickets can be ordered by calling 212-279-4200. (www.ticketcentral.com)
Full-statement from Jeffrey Solomon:
This is playwright Jeffrey Solomon, writer and performer of “Santa Claus is Coming Out” the play that was attacked by Focus on the Family Action Education Analyst Candi Cushman on her blog
Her indictment of the play was riddled with misinformation, distortions, half truths and outright lies including that
“Pictures on a Web site promoting the production depict Santa in not-so-subtle sexually suggestive situations.”
This is just not true. We have not marketed this play with sex. The play is not about sex. The play simply asks a hypothetical question. “How would the world react, if Mrs. Claus were revealed to be a beard, and that Santa Claus was actually a gay man?”
The image I believe Ms. Cushman is referring to is of me, a grown man, sitting on Santa’s lap in a way that would suggest I am a boyfriend or spouse. We are reading a newspaper heralding the news of Santa Claus being outed to the world.
It is NOT a sexual image, anymore than Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus holding hands is a sexual image, or the Little Mermaid kissing her beloved Prince Eric is sexual. I reject that classification categorically. The very mention or the image of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people is not automatically sexual, unless you are viewing them with sex-tinted glasses.
Though her report was riddled with many other accusations, let me address Ms. Cushman’s central charge: “Clearly homosexual activists like Solomon have no qualms about using shock tactics to expose children to homosexuality.”
The intention of my play (or its marketing) was never to expose children to homosexuality.
This play is not intended or children. Nor was my intention to destroy the myth of Santa Claus. I love Santa Claus, really. The play is very much inspired by the magic of Santa Claus I loved as a child.
Rather it was to ask adults, “Why is it still taboo to be open and honest with young children, about the existence of gay people?”
We love to tell young children that Santa Claus exists, and yet at the same time, we pretend GLBT people don’t exist. We do this by feeding them a diet of exclusively heterosexual fairy tales, television and movies in which princesses can kiss and marry princes (or even frogs) and beauties can live happily ever after with the beasts who abduct them.
But the child who may grow up to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered has no reflection of himself.
There is no happily ever after in sight during his or her formative years.
The other way we do this is the unspoken agreement too many of us make not to talk about the subject of GLBT people with children.
Teachers, aunt, uncles….We abide by a code that says GLBT lives are in some way inappropriate (and therefore profane) for children to know about.
This code reduces GLBT people to sexual beings only.
I can tell you that the fact that subject was unmentionable and invisible when I was a child caused me a lot of unnecessary pain and shame.
God bless my parents, but I believe that it takes a village of affirming adults, who are responsible to “protect the children.”
I have created in the play, the Santa Claus I needed. The one I wish I had known. There is nothing sexual about that.
Americans Are Tired of the Politics of Personal Destruction, Says TWO
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out criticized the on-going smear campaign that anti-gay organizations and politicians are orchestrating against Kevin Jennings, who is serving as the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.
“We are witnessing a disgraceful political hit job filled with baseless allegations, ugly innuendo and outright homophobia,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Kevin Jennings is a hero that has saved the lives of many students and is eminently qualified for his position. Thanks to his work, countless gay youth were able to concentrate on scholastic success instead of basic survival or even suicide.”
The groundless attacks intensified after fifty-three House Republicans signed a letter to the Obama administration asking for the dismissal of Jennings. “As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools –an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children,” the lawmakers write.
“Jennings ‘real agenda’ was promoting tolerance and stopping children from essentially getting mugged in schools because of their real or perceived sexual orientation,” said Besen. “These attempts to slime Jennings have nothing to do with his exemplary record or qualifications. Instead, extremists are trying to use Jennings as a proxy to further their culture war.
“When America elected Barack Obama,” Besen continued, “they wanted to end the politics of personal destruction and transcend politics as usual. People are tired of the lies, distortions and roaring rhetoric and it is time that anti-gay activists retire such tactics.”
The smears began when right wing media outlets irresponsibly reported that Jennings counseled a fifteen-year-old student who was allegedly having a relationship with a twenty-four year old man. They claimed he instructed the young man to use a condom, while he should have reported the illegal relationship to the authorities.
However, the truth is, the young man was actually 16, the legal age of consent, and no sexual relations actually occurred. The suggestion of condom use, if the young man had chosen to be sexually active, was appropriate, given the alternative was that he may have contracted HIV if he was ignorant on how to protect himself.
Media Matters tracked down the young man in question, Brewster, who said:
“In 1988, I had taken a bus home for the weekend, and on the return trip met someone who was also gay. The next day, I had a conversation with Mr. Jennings about it. I had no sexual contact with anybody at the time, though I was entirely legally free to do so. I was a sixteen year-old going through something most of us have experienced: adolescence.
“I find it regrettable that the people who have the compassion and integrity to protect our nation’s students are themselves in need of protection from homophobic smear attacks. Were it not for Mr. Jennings’ courage and concern for my well-being at that time in my life, I doubt I’d be the proud gay man that I am today.”
“It is beyond ridiculous that Jennings is being criticized for giving advice on a legal relationship that never even occurred,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “These abusive attacks are immoral and despicable and show that the modern Republican Party must resort to below the belt politics to hold onto its dwindling support.
“It is surreal that the GOP is once again posing as the party of family values,” continued Besen “One would think they were too busy walking the Appalachian Trail or applauding the ‘family values’ of Sens. David Vitter and John Ensign to even notice Jennings. Why is a party that is a billboard for bad behavior still preaching to America? Jennings is an outstanding educator and upstanding citizen. He should be left alone to do his job and educate America’s children.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that counters anti-gay propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit TruthWinsOut.org.
Kevin Jennings is a former leader of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network — GLSEN — which since 1995 has been key to the formation of antibullying programs in thousands of public and private schools nationwide. Jennings was recently appointed by Secretary Arne Duncan to be Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
This record of accomplishment angers the Family Research Council, which — in appeals here and here, has waged a smear campaign that accuses Jennings and GLSEN of promoting unsafe sexual behavior, and that equates antibullying efforts with “affirmation of homosexuality.”
Given these harsh allegations, in the spirit of fairness one might think that a benevolent FRC would give Jennings and GLSEN opportunities to disprove the allegations and defend their reputations — but that has not happened.
FRC’s supporters will not learn the truth about those who are falsely accused unless they venture on their own to sites that reportfacts about GLSEN which show religious-right critics to be distorting and fabricating key facts about GLSEN programs in order to scare conservative audiences, fuel anger and hatred toward gay students, and affirm bullying as a means of pressuring youths into fundamentalist ex-gay therapy.
Really, she just said that. But since Linda’s not an ancient Israelite, she’s going to stick with the frumpy separates and wild and crazy pink headband she got at TJ-Maxx last week.
Kevin Jennings is a former leader of the 
