Lookie there, you all get two Random Ten’s this week, because I didn’t have time on Friday afternoon. So it’s technically the end of the holiday weekend for many people, so here’s your music post! Let’s start with Nina Simone, just because she’s been coming up a lot lately, and also she’d be really kind of pissed off if she saw how far we really are from achieving Dr. Martin Luther King’s dreams and goals. “Lilac Wine?” Yes. Then we hit shuffle on the iTunes, see where things are ten songs later, blah blah blah. More videos after the jump!
This came across the wires yesterday, but I didn’t get to it. Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, have just launched the Born This Way Foundation:
“My mother and I have initiated a passion project. We call it the Born This Way Foundation,” Gaga said in a statement about the foundation, which takes its name from her hit single and album. “Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment.”
The foundation will work with a number of partners, including the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. According to the statement, the foundation will focus on “youth empowerment and equality by addressing issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and will utilize digital mobilization as one of the means to create positive change.”
Lady Gaga has already made her voice heard on bullying, and it’s awesome to see her mother and her going even further to lead in this fight. Their website is here and you can follow them on Twitter here.
This screed from supposed “ex-gay” and anti-gay crusader D.L. Foster, about the suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer, has to be seen to be believed. It’s been amazing to watch, over the past year, as the suicides of gay teens have reached a certain level of prominence in the media, as members of the Religious Right like Linda Harvey have gleefully pissed on the graves of those we have lost. But I think Foster has outdone Harvey in the hate department, which is quite a feat. Is the hate of the Religious Right, which feeds the casual bigotry of those who bully gay kids into severe depression and, tragically, sometimes suicide, to blame here? No, Foster, hateful twit that he is, blames Dan Savage and Lady Gaga:
Homosexual activists Dan Savage and Lady Gaga should be brought up on charges of murder for issuing wholesale false promises and lies to young people confused about their sexuality.
“Lies” like “you can have a happy life” and “don’t let the bullies get you down.” This runs completely counter to D.L.’s message of “I’m filled with self-loathing to such a degree that I have become an abuser, and you can too!”
Just this past week, Savage’s so-called “it gets better campaign” proved just how ineffective it is when a fourteen year old boy in Buffalo, New York committed suicide after embracing its dead message. ABC News reported that Buffalo police are considering charges.
Yes, against the bullies. Because, unless you are mindblowingly stupid, you understand that the tragedy of Jamey’s death came despite the fact that there are now messages getting out there to tell gay kids that they’re going to be okay. The bullying was still just sadly too much.
Responding to Jamey’s “It Gets Better” video, D.L. says this:
If homosexual activists are looking for a culprit and someone to lay the blame on, they need look no further than what a dollar store mirror will show them. Plying confused children with false hope is just like giving a drunk kid car keys and telling him to drive home safely.
This is why anytime a rube from the Religious Right claims to want “dialogue” with LGBT people, they should be summarily laughed at and scorned. These people do not exist in the reality-based community. They actually believe their ridiculous, disproven dogma, which says that gay kids hate themselves “because of their sin,” which is, again, batshit stupid, as there are many, many, many gay teens who have never dealt with self-hatred or depression, and it’s because they have supportive families and communities. You take away the religion-based bigotry, and you have healthy kids, whether gay or straight. Right from the closet case’s mouth:
The tragic irony of the “it gets better” lie is that it ignores the only true hope for those who are personally embattled with sexuality and gender confusion issues. It (whatever “it” is) never defines what “hope” is, thus its nothing but a carrot stick trick to hurting children. Savage conveniently tosses out the bait only to dissappear then re-emerge with “outrage” when another sexually confused teen succumbs to their inner demons. The real outrage is that America has been suckered into accepting a lie that continues to kill its youth. Of course, it gets Savage and his IGB cohorts lots of media face time and awards and such. For them, the exposure certainly does get better.
Actually, Dan gets letters all the time from kids who are doing much better now because of the “It Gets Better” project. D.L. cannot prove that these kids are “personally embattled” or dealing with “inner demons.” No, that’s likely what D.L. deals with, and it’s because he’s a victim of the same machine that he’s now been empowered into abusing others with. And it is precisely that abuse that leads to dead kids.
In a way, I feel sorry for the Religious Right, because it must be quite a concept to grasp, to find out that everything they’ve ever believed is not only a joke, but also leaves a trail of blood and dead kids’ bodies. It must shake them up. But after I’m done feeling sorry for them for about eight seconds, we’re back to normal, where these people need to realize that if they don’t want to be viewed as monsters, they need to stop being f*cking monsters.
But let’s be clear here. The solution to such turmoil in youth isn’t the usual humanistic “just believe in yourself”, “just love yourself”, “you were born this way” screeds. At best, such is fatalistic window dressing. Telling someone that they cannot change what they hate about themselves is no promise, its a death sentence. Imagine if Christ came and told us that we could not be free from sin?
Yet again: take away the Religious Right dogma, and these kids have a hell of a lot better chance of surviving past 12th grade. Pile on the religious hate and the bodycount will continue to grow. It’s quite simple, because, again, for the slow wingnuts, these kids wouldn’t hate themselves if hateful fundamentalist whack-jobs like D.L. Foster didn’t teach them that they should. The fact that D.L. is a make-believe “ex-gay,” which means he actually knows what it’s like to be different because of your sexuality, and that he still chooses to twist the knife in regards to these kids, is simply a reflection of his own lack of character.
D.L. quotes something from that loon Jew for Jesus Michael Brown and then winds up here:
Savage, Gaga, Swilley, Obama and all the rest that have promised “it gets better” have no power to change anything because they are finite humans with the same limitations and frailties as the kids who believe their false promises.
Contrast the false —and powerless— promises of Savage, Gaga (who’s now whining to SOTUS about the issue) to the promises of new life given to all men who are in covenant with Jesus Christ.
Joshua 23:14 – God says not one of his promises will ever fail you
Jeremiah 29:11 – God says his plan for us is filled with hope
Titus 1:2 – You can rest in his promises, because he cannot lie
Numbers 23:19 – God is not a man that he should lie. If he said it, he will perform it.
Nothing will get better when the only hope for change is rejected. The only hope for this world is Jesus Christ. Not a church, not a program, not a campaign, not the lies of gay activists. Jesus Christ.
D.L.’s true message: his perverted vision of “god” created you wrong, but if you swear fealty to his perverted vision of “god,” you, too, can find a way to repress your true self and write hateful screeds about dead kids on the internet.
What is it this year with anti-gay GOP presidential hopefuls openly declaring their love for very, very gay things? First it was Michele Bachmann queening out over Glee, possibly the gayest show on television. Now we have Tim Pawlenty offering, seemingly apropos of nothing, his opinions on which Lady Gaga songs are the best:
In an … interview, Pawlenty told the ladies of Glittarazzi (totally unprovoked, by the way) that he loves Mother Monster, despite her weirdness and her politics. Pawlenty even said he’d watched Gaga’s HBO concert special.
“I have a question for you guys, are you ready? What’s your favorite Lady Gaga song?” The ladies made their picks before Pawlenty egged them on, “How about ‘Born This Way,’ the new one, you like that?”
The former governor of Minnesota is apparently a fan.
“In terms of the beat, you know, I like ‘Bad Romance.’ I gotta say, even though she is a little unusual, ‘Born This Way’ has got some appeal.”
Okay, so he likes “Bad Romance.” I like that one too. And I like the “Born This Way” song. Unfortunately, Tim just doesn’t seem to understand that, though it is just a mere pop song, the lyrics to “Born This Way” are actually scientifically sound. David Gregory confronted him about it yesterday on Meet The Press,* and the exchange went like this:
GREGORY: Is being gay a choice?
PAWLENTY: Well, the science in that regard is in dispute. I mean, scientists work on that and try to figure out if it’s behavioral or if it’s partly genetic –
GREGORY: What do you think?
PAWLENTY: Well, I defer to the scientists in that regard.
GREGORY: So you think it’s not a choice? That you are, as Lady Gaga says, you’re born that way.
PAWLENTY: There’s no scientific conclusion that it’s genetic. We don’t know that.
And here is that video, if you want to watch it for some reason:
Okay so, of course, the science is not in dispute. Tim Pawlenty presumably either knows this and is pandering to bigots, or he needs to spend a little time with Google and learn about these things. Or he could just read what Zack Ford said on the subject yesterday:
In fact, there is no dispute among health professionals. All major medicalprofessionalorganizations agree that sexual orientation is not a choice and cannot be changed, from gay to straight or otherwise. The American Psychological Association, the world’s largest association of psychological professionals, describes sexual orientation as “a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors.” There is considerable evidence to suggest that biology, “including genetic or inborn hormonal factors,” plays a significant role in a person’s sexuality.
So there you go. If you’re going to “defer to the scientists,” Tim, that’s what they say. When the Religious Right talks about how they haven’t found a “gay gene,” they are either being scientifically ignorant or willfully deceptive, or both.
*The fact that I am typing words right now about a conversation that happened on Meet the Press between a journalist and a presidential candidate on the subject of Lady Gaga is absolutely insane. Reminds me of the great 1992 Color Me Badd debate between Poppy Bush and Bubba.
“This is Ryan Murphy’s (creator of “Glee”) latest depraved initiative to promote his gay agenda,” Dan Gainor, vice president for Business and Culture at Media Research Center, told ABC News.
The Fox show on Tuesday was centered around Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” – or what Glee club leader Will Schuester called the queen of self-love’s anthem to acceptance. The “assignment” this week for the New Directions students was accepting who they are – “the best and worst parts” – including their nose (Rachel), trouty mouth (Sam), slanted brown eyes (Tina), and homosexuality (Kurt, Santana, and Karofsky).
Yeah, what an “agenda.” Lots of gay kids in an extremely talented high school glee club has no bearing on reality whatsoever.
Calling McKinley High the “gayest high school in the history of mankind, Gainor told ABC, “This is clearly Ryan Murphy’s vision of what growing up should be, not most of America’s. It’s a high school most parents would not want to send their kids too.”
When he’s not busy telling kids to get off his lawn, Gainor should visit a public high school sometime, because gay kids are coming out younger and younger and it’s indeed becoming quite common for there to be lots of out gay kids, yes, in high school. So that’s the wingnut “Dan Gainor.” Let’s see how another wingnut is feeling about the television show featuring musical numbers and positive messages:
“We are not ‘slaves to our biology’ unless we choose to make ourselves so by believing it to be the case,” said Chuck Colson, a prominent evangelical and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, in an earlier commentary.
“[S]aying that biology is somehow normative is not the same thing as saying that is determinative. We are free to choose how we behave, both for good and for ill.”
Is the felon conceding that homosexuality is biological in origin? What’s that sound? Oh yes, the sound of fundamentalist wingnuts moving the goalposts, yet again. One more wingnut:
Lane Palmer of Dare 2 Share Ministries noted that the only way everyone was born was as fallen, sinful beings. Fortunately, that sinful life can be redeemed.
“Lady Gaga might sing about a sinful lifestyle being the design God had for her, but I promise you He (God) has something infinitely better for her, and you, and me,” he said.
Yes, please continue to make yourself feel better about your boring life by attempting to put yourself up on a morally superior pedestal over Lady GaGa. Tell yourself that your notion of a deity has better plans for, um, Lady GaGa, if only she would abandon her success to become a wingnut. That will work.
Maybe wingnuts should just stop watching the television.
Didn’t I just write this same piece about a lesser wingnut? So, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family doesn’t like that Lady Gaga song the kids are listening to, especially when they are listening to it on his lawn, which they need to get off of:
I am not inclined toward celebrity psycho-analysis, and, candidly, find it strange to even write the word “Gaga.” But when millions of young people download her music and watch her videos, parents are wise to take note of what the hype and hoopla is all about.
In Born This Way, the claim is made that you’re born heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgendered. Don’t fight it – simply accept and embrace it.
The problem is, researchers are not sure about what causes homosexuality. Many are concluding it is a complex combination of things, but it is not as clear cut as simply genetic material.
Yes, science is complex, science is confusing, yet no scientist has made any inroads in the “you should deny your sexual orientation” crusade advocated by bigots like Jim.
The pulse and pace of modern culture can usually be determined from its music and movies, not faith and reason. That a song advocating for a genetic determinative for homosexuality sits atop the charts is disconcerting, but not entirely shocking. From the outside looking in, two things strike me.
Can’t wait to hear what they are.
First, by Stefani Germanotta’s own admission, she’s built her entire persona and celebrity on a platform that’s anything but typical. She is playing a part, a role, and not living as she would outside the bright lights. Put another way, Lady Gaga was clearly not born this way.
Right, but she’s not claiming she was born wearing egg costumes, or meat dresses, or whatever it is that she does.
Second, and more importantly, the message found within the lyrics of Born This Way is in stark contrast to the message of the Gospel. All of us are born into sin, the Bible tells us, with desires and resulting actions that separate us from God and put us at odds with His blueprint for our lives. But the Good News is we’re not hopelessly trapped in our sin and failure. Despite the fact that we were “born this way,” each of us can be set free – from homosexuality, or heterosexual sex outside of marriage, or pornography, or greed, or gossip, or any other human shortcoming – to be the men and women God intended us to be.
Yes, but the Good News about homosexuality is a lie, so it fails. Lady Gaga: 1; Focus bigot: 0.
The new “kinder, gentler” Focus on the Family is just as lame as the pitchfork-fest led by Dobson. We can at least give Daly credit for one thing, though: he doesn’t abuse wiener dogs.
In a recently released song titled “Born This Way,” pop singer Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known to her fawning fans as Lady GaGa, promotes the cultural myth that aberrant sexual behavior is based in biology.
The most-oft repeated lyric in the tune is “I was born this way.” In the song Lady GaGa sings, “I’m beautiful in my way, ‘cause God makes no mistakes.” In later lyrics she makes it clear the intent of the song when she repeats, “Don’t be a drag – just be a queen.” The play on words is an obvious reference to homosexuality.
Good job, wingnut!
As the song progresses, Lady GaGa becomes more overt in asserting there is a genetic basis for homosexuality – really for all aberrant sexual behavior. The lyrics continue: “A different lover is not a sin,” and, “No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I’m on the right track baby. I was born to survive.” The song concludes by repeating the lyric, “I was born this way.”
As much as I hate to say it, Lady GaGa’s got a better grasp on the science than the Louisiana Baptist wingnut.
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic,” President John F. Kennedy once said. “Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
Sounds like a good description of fundamentalist Christian mythology.
Lady Gaga is hugely important and it is absurd when people dismiss her as “just a pop star”.
The fact is, politicians respond to public opinion. Lady Gaga influences public opinion, both short term on the DADT debate and long-term in attitude changes. She helps young gay kids come out and encourages support from friends of these youth. She brings a huge, resource-free spotlight to the issue. Thus, she has a significant impact that goes way beyond the simple and narrow confines of this week’s partisan politics.
If Lady Gaga were anti-gay, a modern Anita Bryant, no one would question the negative influence. So, why do some brush off and dismiss the positive affect of her laudable activism?
The idea that stars don’t have an impact in America is outlandish. Ten thousand slick lobbyists have come and gone in anonymity. Yet, college professors to truck drivers are still dissecting John Lennon’s lyrics and downloading Beatles songs on iTunes.
Pop culture, particularly music and icons, has long played a significant role and moves people emotionally in a way contrived and stale political talking points never will. More important than a simple vote, it shifts the culture. This leads to revolutionary changes in the way we live and experience life.
I’d take one Bono or Lady Gaga over 1,000 political operatives any day of the week for my campaign. (Heck, even a washed up Chuck Norris put Mike Huckabee on the map) So, can some people stop being so damn cynical and dismissive of Lady Gaga and the wonderful work she is doing ?
The Pentagon on Tuesday will release its long-anticipated report on how ending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gays from openly serving in uniform might impact troop readiness and morale. The comprehensive review — expected to number several hundred pages — will be closely scrutinized by members of the military and lawmakers eager to determine whether they should end the ban.
The report is expected to be released around midday, according to sources. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and the report’s co-authors, Defense Department General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson and Army Gen. Carter Ham, will meet with reporters shortly after its release.
Lookie there, you all get two Random Ten’s this week, because I didn’t have time on Friday afternoon. So it’s technically the end of the holiday weekend for many people, so here’s your music post! Let’s start with Nina Simone, just because she’s been coming up a lot lately, and also she’d be really kind of pissed off if she saw how far we really are from achieving Dr. Martin Luther King’s dreams and goals. “Lilac Wine?” Yes. Then we hit shuffle on the iTunes, see where things are ten songs later, blah blah blah. More videos after the jump!
