Also — John and I with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow!

Dealing with a dog who Feels Under The Weather [perhaps knocking down the trash can and treating the mess as a buffet is not smart?], so here are the other things I haven’t blogged about:

1. The first marriage equality case is hitting Chile’s highest court.  Gay activists are calling it a historic moment.  [Link goes to "lifesitenews," so get ready for some hilarious Christian scare quotes.]

2.  Fred Karger, the gay Republican presidential candidate [unicorn chimera from space...] is not being allowed to participate in one of the earliest Iowa Republican debates.

3.  This story isn’t funny, but the headline is:  “Woman alleges Gophers fired her because she’s gay.”

4.  Finally, Rachel Maddow interviewed the amazing Daniel Hernandez last night.

David Bahati is an evil monster and should be treated accordingly if his genocidal “Kill the Gays” bill passes. The moment it becomes law, we must document the atrocities so we can prosecute Bahati for crimes against humanity. Uganda must be turned into a pariah state.

Mr. Bahati, if you are reading this, I want to make it clear that you are going to lose. This will not end well for you. If you are going to behave like a genocidal tyrant, you will most likely suffer the fate of most genocidal tyrants.

As for the Americans in The Family, you will be held accountable and considered accomplices for such crimes. Your lives will never be the same and you will become defined and dogged by this controversy. If this passes, I serious doubt The Family will survive the negative publicity and the National Prayer Breakfast will be on borrowed time.

The choice is yours. Act like blood thirsty genocidal murderers and get treated as such by the international community and all civilized nations and people.

People who haven’t dissected a pig since high school won’t want to miss MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s dissection tonight of Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati, whose support for antigay genocide in that country has won him financial and political support from U.S. Republicans and evangelicals.

Part one of the interview:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Alternate video link via YouTube)

Part two:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Alternate video link via YouTube)

Background and primer on the Uganda-U.S. antigay genocide campaign:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dr. Warren Throckmorton reports that David Bahati, author of Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, was denied entry to an economic summit in Washington, DC.

He arrived mid morning and was informed of the decision. It turns out that we didn’t have his proper e-mail address for his phone. There was a frank but calm discussion and Mr. Bahati was not able to enter the building.

There is heavy speculation that Bahati used the economic meeting as a front to coordinate his anti-gay eliminationist campaign with prominent evangelicals — such as the C Street Family.

If you are in DC or New York City and happen to see this madman, do not hesitate to confront him. He is our Hitler and should be treated accordingly. Make it very clear to him that we will not willingly walk into his prisons or death chambers without a fight.

Bahati will be on the Rachel Maddow show this evening to discuss his psychotic fixation with LGBT people — who are innocent and have done nothing to harm him. Yet, he wants us imprisoned or dead.

In my view, Bahati’s visa should be denied and he should immediately be arrested and deported. The United States and other civilized nations should make Bahati and anyone connected to the Kill the Gays bill international pariahs. If the bill passes, he should be arrested for crimes against humanity.

This video is an example of what this atrocious monster has done to peoples’ lives.

Rachel Maddow is just amazing.The Democratic Party can learn how to fight by watching her show.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010

Contact: Wayne Besen, TWO Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org

TWO Pledges To Help Educate The World Bank About PFOX’s Record of Hate and Harm

NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out today praised the World Bank’s plan to eliminate matching funds for the “ex-gay” hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), and called it a “positive step in the right direction.” The bank took this extraordinary step after learning more about PFOX’s reprehensible record and strong objections from staff who were upset PFOX had been included on the World Bank’s list of approved charities.

“We are grateful that the World Bank ensured that taxpayers will not be subsidizing PFOX’s anti-gay campaign,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We pledge to continue educating the World Bank on this vital issue. The more they learn about PFOX’s history of hate and harm, the less likely they will consider PFOX a legitimate charity.”

Last week, Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner discovered that a small number of anti-gay staff-members at the World Bank had recommended PFOX as a charity for this year’s Community Connections Campaign. World Bank matching funds were to be given to the chosen charities. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.

Truth Wins Out and Change.org launched an online petition to drop PFOX from the list of charities. World Bank staff  also made a persuasive case against using taxpayer funds to assist PFOX. The World Bank decided to take another look at PFOX and elected to change their guidelines. According to the new rules:

Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year’s campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15, 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.

Truth Wins Out preferred that PFOX be completely dropped from the list this year, but is satisfied with this interim measure that starves the hate group of taxpayer funds. In 2011, TWO will disseminate key information to World Bank staff and management to ensure they are aware of PFOX’s dubious record.

“It is a shame that other first time charitable organizations will have to suffer because of PFOX’s unseemly presence,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Sadly, the PFOX baby is so toxic that the bathwater had to be flushed to avoid contaminating the entire program’s reputation.”

In August, two key members of PFOX spoke at the “Truth Academy”. The conference was hosted by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s founder Peter LaBarbera, whose website was listed as an official “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

At the Truth Academy, PFOX Board President Greg Quinlan raised eyebrows with an offensive speech. Quinlan explained how he allegedly went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church that accepted him because he allegedly was not effeminate.

“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”

At the same conference, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the convicted Wall Street thief who runs PFOX’s speakers bureau, demonstrated PFOX’s unscientific use of stereotypes.

“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Abba Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”

“PFOX is a dangerous organization that traffics in ugly slurs and crass stereotypes,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Given PFOX’s level of vitriol, it would seem reckless and irresponsible to give this group charitable status in the future.”

PFOX’s former board President is Richard Cohen, who still serves as the “therapy” guru of the organization. Cohen runs the International Healing Foundation and sent his protégé, Caleb Lee Brundidge, to Uganda. The result of his visit was the introduction of the deadly and draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association on March 23, 2002 for multiple ethics violations.

PFOX is an anti-gay political organization founded in 1998 by Anthony Falzarano with the help of an $80,000 Family Research Council grant. Falzarano once called University of Wyoming hate crime victim Matthew Shepard a “predator to heterosexual men.” He also said on CBS News that, “AIDS comes directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.”

“PFOX likes to claim that they ‘love’ LGBT people,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “But their syrupy rhetoric does not match their record, nor reality. From the moment this organization was founded, it showed open hostility and extreme animus towards LGBT people.”

There are also lingering questions as to whether PFOX should have been listed as a charity, given that to be included in the World Bank’s Community Outreach Program, an organization is required to have, “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.”

PFOX fails to fulfill the criteria. The organization is based in Reedville, VA — placing PFOX 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. PFOX also does not list any legitimate chapters in DC or Virginia. The only “contact” e-mail listed in DC or VA is that of the national organization based in Reedville.

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.

Greg Quinlan audio of Truth Academy speech:

Arthur Abba Goldberg’s Truth Academy Speech:

Richard Cohen’s Odd Behavior:

PFOX Endorsed Therapy

This is why we love Rachel Maddow.

I’ve plugged Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny before, but I’m going to do it again, because this week, they have made the bold decision to drop the shackles of corporate support and go off on their own.  Jamie and Allison are a married couple, and their Citizen Radio is one of the few sources out there that blends comedy and real news and analysis without either side suffering.

And this week, they interviewed Rachel Maddow!

Last night, Jamie sent me an e-mail that described the phenomenon they’ve created:

The show has gotten millions of kids who were not politically active and made them politically active. It really is radio for outcasts, and the emails we get would bring you to tears. The live shows sell out and have comedy kids listening to people like Matt Taibbi and Jeremy Scahill, while audience members like Amy Goodman laugh at us and Janeane Garofalo.

That, kids, is pretty awesome.

So, go check them out, and continue to do so until I tell you otherwise.

Cutting out a bit early today, so here’s your Weekly Round-up and your Late Friday Random Ten.

Let us remember the week that was, together:  First off, Wayne was on Rachel Maddow last Friday night!  It went great.  On a smaller scale, I was randomly on David Pakman’s Midweek Politics with David Pakman, and it also went great.  I sounded gay.

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.

Bishop Eddie Long:  gay sex scandal.  John Boehner:  maybe straight sex scandal.  Who knows?  It would be nice if he or the alleged mistress would answer “yes” or “no.”

DADTFail 2010:  Lady Gaga tried to help, Peter Sprigg grunted and moaned about it a lot, then Thers and I laughed at him.  Bryan Fischer also grunted and moaned.  Laughed at him, too.  Susan Collins sucked, as did almost everybody else in the Senate, and in the end it was a big serving of fail all around.  After the vote, John McCain lost his marbles, thanks to a good serving of the old “Eleveld,” which is the new word for “journalist.”  Wayne recapped it here, and we looked at Leonard Matlovich’s tombstone, poignant as it is.

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”

(Read More)