In 2007, 18-year-old J.T. Chestnut’s father forced the openly gay young man to join the army in order to “straighten him out.” In the army, Chestnut endured steady harassment for being gay, and when he finally couldn’t take it anymore, he fled to California. In West Hollywood, he found a vibrant LGBT community, made many wonderful friends, and began boldly speaking out for LGBT rights.

Unfortunately, though, Chestnut’s decision to flee from his abusers has come back to haunt him. He was arrested on Halloween in West Hollywood while on his way to a friend’s house, and when his having gone AWOL was discovered, he was ordered to return to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to face a court martial. As of this morning Chestnut remains in military jail, alone and scared, waiting to be brought up on charges. He released this statement:

“I am so grateful for the support that I am receiving. I decided to go through this process because I know going AWOL wasn’t the best decision, but if I didn’t receive the bullying and harassment for being gay, I wouldn’t have done it. I was 18, scared, and just came out of the closet. I respect the men and women who serve our country.

Thank you to my sister and every single person who has been a constant support and helping me through this every minute. I can’t wait to see all my friends, sing Whitney Houston, and have a glass of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.”

New Hampshire activist Kevin James has started a Change.org petition calling on the U.S. Army to free J.T. instead of prosecuting a victim of bullying and harassment. Please head over to Change.org and sign it.

h/t: Diablito

Through ABC Family and the Christian Broadcast Network, industrialist and Christian Right evangelist Pat Robertson (not his real name) has spent more than 30 years using Hollywood and the cable television industry to inject his social prejudices — and his failed threats of destruction against various cities — into North American households. Mind you, these are households that never asked their cable company to pollute their living rooms with his Christian cash-crazed telethons such as The 700 Club.

While Robertson used Hollywood domestically to preserve various social bigotries and to market himself as a kindly Christian gentleman, he also used his industrial empire to profit from forced labor in the diamond and gold trade in Liberia, and to support notorious African war criminal Charles Taylor.

Few Americans know about Robertson’s history of international human-rights abuses, because he has focused his television empire on other issues to distract public attention. Robertson doesn’t choose issues such as social violence, middle-class poverty, inaccurate news shows, or infidelity and divorce — issues that might enjoy broad public agreement, but which would hit too close to home among his viewers and donors.

Pat Robertson says the primary threat that America faces is from homosexuals who are using Hollywood to glamorize gay people’s rights and to pressure straight actors into accepting gay roles.

Homosexual Hollywood — it’s an alarming prospect, isn’t it? There’s just one problem: Straight actors are taking gay roles (for pay) because directors and casting agents refuse to hire openly gay actors!

The 1996 documentary The Celluloid Closet had no problem finding homophobia in Hollywood 15 years ago. If things have changed, tell that to all the openly homophobic celebrities that AfterElton found last month. Respected straight actor Colin Firth says he sees discrimination against gay actors and feels “complicit” for having accepted a gay role that could have been performed by a gay actor. Actor Rupert Everett has been outspoken about antigay discrimination in Hollywood, as has veteran actor Richard Chamberlain:

Homophobia is alive and well in Hollywood — and few should know that better than Robertson, who is a product of Hollywood conservatives’ glamorization of Christian Right war criminals and human-rights violators.

Hat tip: People for the American Way

Remember the guy I wrote about the other day, Ben Shapiro?  He has a new pop-up book coming out where he exposes that people in Hollywood are liberals, which means conservatives are victims because nobody will listen to them.  Also, your teevee is indoctrinating you into liking gays and having abortions, he says.

Well, he went on Fox News with Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio Secretary of State, and they talked to Sean Hannity about how Big Bird and Elmo are pinko liberals, “pushing their agenda” on kids by daring to teach minorities how to read.  Then it takes a hilarious turn when Blackwell chimes in, grabbing for the smelling salts over the fact that a gay student was voted prom queen in Virginia.  This can be traced back to Big Bird as well, you see, due to more of that terrible “lib’rul indoctrination.”   Enjoy:

As awful as wingnuts are, and as awful as their influence on our culture, and on LGBT people, is, at least they are in-your-face entertaining.

[h/t Andy]

West Coast Ugandans and humanitarians who appeal to the consul in Los Angeles for respect and equality toward LGBT Ugandans are likely to receive a small taste of that nation’s U.S. evangelical-bred cultural warfare:

Veteran gay activist Michael Petrelis discovered that Uganda‘s L.A. honorary consul is none other than Matthew Crouch, son of the infamous prosperity-preachers Paul and Jan Crouch of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

The younger Crouch is a Hollywood Christian entertainment producer.

An October 2005 news release on President Yoweri Museveni’s web site shines light on Crouch’s quid pro quo deal in which he would promote Uganda among U.S. Christians in exchange for government support of his activities.

However, some of Crouch’s shady business dealings were exposed by the Los Angeles Times in 2006.

In many ways, Crouch and his company, Gener8Xion Entertainment, are Hollywood anomalies. He hasn’t had to look further than his parents ‚Äî with their tax-free donor base and worldwide television reach ‚Äî to bankroll and market his movies. In other ways, the stereotype of a Hollywood producer fits snugly. Friends and foes describe him, by turns, as charismatic, arrogant, charming, ruthless, visionary and greedy. [...]

Associates also say that Crouch’s impulsiveness ‚Äî and perhaps a desire to escape his father’s long shadow ‚Äî has prompted him to take shortcuts that have led to risky decisions. During the production of “Omega Code,” his key personnel included a former adult-film actor and a novice screenwriter who was arrested and convicted of soliciting a child for sex.

Nevertheless, a year later, Crouch was appointed honorary consul for Uganda — a Hollywood entertainment-industry ambassadorship.

Petrelis uncovered Tweets from Crouch dated in the spring of 2009 regarding one of the evangelist’s recent trip to Uganda:

@MC8X at nashville airport flying to Dallas. Leaving for Uganda Africa on tues. Scheduled to meet with President Museveni while there! 1:49 PM May 30th from Tweetie

@MC8X wow! Couldn’t tweet from Uganda. Back from Africa a few hours ago. Was at a pastors conference with 10,000 people/leaders in Africa! 9:52 PM Jun 11th from Tweetie

Petrelis has written to Crouch asking for communication about his Ugandan political affiliations.

The Uganda-Los Angeles consul’s address:s Gener8xion Entertainment, 7095 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 1260, Los Angeles, CA 90068.