Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 55

Connecticut Anti-D Bill Receives A Favorable Report...

The Connecticut anti-discrimination bill HB6599 received a favorable report from the Office of Fisical Analysis and is given a House Calendar Number.

Equality Day (Lobbying Day) is next Thursday April 28 from 10 to 1 in the old Judiciacy Committee room in the Capitol.

http://www.ctequality.com/equality-day-2011/

Please come to Equality Day or contact your legislators and tell them to vote for HB6599 with no amendments,

NOM tells blatant lie about encounter with GetEqual

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monster

Part of the National Organization for Marriage's game plan is to exploit the "gays are angry bullies who are threatening Christians" angle. Go to their blog (if your stomach can take it) and you will see this angle consistently repeated.

Or better yet, listen to a speech or read something written by NOM chairperson Maggie Gallagher and count how many times the word "bigot" comes up. Or "racism." Or "hatred."

You can almost make a drinking game out of it.

It is a deliberate attempt by Gallagher and NOM to shift attention away from the same-sex families who are discriminated against because they aren't allowed to marry.

And it's like I said in another piece - when you can paint your opponent in less than flattering light, it helps you win the battle.

The thing about the lgbt community is that those who oppose our equality make it easy for us by their words and actions to paint them in a less than flattering light (even though sometimes we don't take advantage of it.)

However, it's not that easy for NOM to do the same to us since - even though a lot of us are angry at the basic dishonest of the group and its tactics - the lgbt community doesn't tend to go off the deep end like a Peter LaBarbera or Matt Barber.

So NOM has to lie, just like it did regarding the encounter Gallagher had with a member of GetEqual before last week's Congressional hearing on DOMA.

To hear the story from Brian Brown, NOM's President, Gallagher faced the equivalent of a rabid wolf (I took the liberty of highlighting the pertinent phrases below):

Just before testifying . . . Maggie was accosted by a similarly angry gay marriage advocate who wanted to get an "ambush" interview and engage in a little fire and brimstone moral condemnation of Maggie for standing up for marriage.

Now, folks don't usually publish "ambush videos" made by the other side on their own website or newsletter, but I think Maggie did such a wonderful, graceful job of responding to this one angry dude that I want you to see it and judge for yourself.

The video Brown is speaking about is Get Equal's Michael Dixon presenting Gallagher with the "Anita Bryant" award for her part in trying to stop marriage equality.

But as Brown says, look at the video:

Vicious, just vicious. Dixon looks like he is ready to hit Gallagher with a pair of brass knuckles. And by saying that, I am being highly sarcastic.

Angry dude? I don't think so. Seems to me that the only person who got angry on that tape was Gallagher.

Granted, I'm not one for a tactic like this. However in this case, it was very useful not only unnerving Gallagher (she was forced to republish an old piece on lgbt teen suicides as a way of diverting the conversation from what Dixon asked her about), but also in showcasing the absolute phoniness of NOM's game plan.

Painting Dixon as an "angry dude" is not only a stretch, it's a blatant lie. But for NOM, it's par for the course.

Related post:

NOM wants to paint LGBT ‘crazy’ (I can prove it) - According to former NOM member Louis J. Marinelli, the attempt to paint the lgbt community as angry people is a standard NOM tactic. Marinelli says Brown specifically asks for pictures showing lgbts in a negative light.

Hat tip to Goodasyou.org

Marriage Equality In New York: Game On!

Wednesday, The New York Times ran what can only be described as an encouraging article on the movement to push the marriage equality bill forward in Albany. It appears, with the full support of our deliriously popular Governor, forces are convening to create a real multi-pronged effort.

Governor Cuomo's office seems to be taking real ownership of the bill and that's a good thing. It describes efforts to form a coaltion of four major LGBT rights groups, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry and Marriage Equality New York, to coordinate actions and strategies. The group is called “New Yorkers United for Marriage.” Special emphasis on outreach will be made to labor, clergy and people of color.

Thursday news arrived a fifth group had signed on, Log Cabin Republicans. This is good news, as absent GOP votes in the Senate the effort is dead. It really is better those Senators hear from people with a sincere desire to vote and support them, wouldn't you say?

Meawhile the Advocate took a less encouraging look at the forces in play to stop it, saying "Game On."

I've assembled some contact information and some hopefully helpful talking points after the fold.

“In This Economy...” In fact, LGBT New Yorkers have access to marriage equality of sorts. The state of New York recognizes LGBT unions performed in other jurisdictions. Governor Paterson directed his agencies to do that back in 2008. So, it's important to note that. It's more of an evolution, than a revolution. New Yorkers are surrounded already by happily (and not so happily) legally married LGBT couples. Viewed in that light, the state's inability to actually perform these ceremonies is just pure foolishness. In my social circle alone, I knew of two couples that dropped a bundle in Connecticut to get hitched there. Provincetown, Boston, New Hampshire, Washington DC, these are just some of the other attractive options that just a short trip away.

In this economy, it seems very foolish of the state to deprive our own local industries, including venues, caterers, florists, photographers, the opportunity to compete for those wedding dollars. And I'm rather sure we'd see a surge in the 6-12 months post-passage of long-term couples that decided, "now's the time." It could give a substantial bump in the wedding industry. I certainly hope the industry lobbyists are, shall we say, engaged in this fight.

It Isn’t 2009 anymore. There has been a lot of water under the marriage equality bridge since the vote failed in 2009. We have seen California's Proposition 8 get struck down in Federal Court as unconstitutional. We have seen the Defense of Marriage Act get struck down in Federal Court as unconstitutional. And in the time since, the Obama administration's Department of Justice has agreed, denying marital equity is unconstitutional.

The denial of LGBT's right to marry has turned a very sharp corner in the last 2 years in the public view. The Vice-President of the United States has called marriage equality "inevitable." Polling guru Nate Silver examines the polling and finds four credible national polls showing an outright majority of Americans in favor of gay marriage. These polls are only going upward. Every Senator that votes has the opportunity to be remembered fondly or in infamy by history.

It Isn’t Just The City. Those polls, it isn't just the city. The latest poll showed 58% of New York state residents support marriage equality and merely 36% opposed. (Siena College, PDF) They didn't break out the City stats this time, but I noticed last time, New York City residents, actually polled 1% lower than the state average. What this tells us is the idea of marriage equality is not just the fanciful flight of some Starbuck's swilling Upper West Side liberals, but a mainstream view, held across the state, including Long Island and Upstate. We shamefully don't have any Long Island Senators on record yet, and that should really not be the case.

Senate Democrats We'll have to shore up the Democrats. We need their votes and we don't need Republicans using Democrats as political cover again this time. Senators who voted no in 2009 and have announced no position change include:

Joseph Addabbo
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2322 District Phone: (718) 738-1111
District 15 (Queens, NYC)

Shirley Huntley
Albany Phone: (518) 455-3531  District Phone: (718) 523-3069
District 10 (Queens, NYC)

Carl Kruger
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2460 District Phone: (718) 743-8610
District 27 (Brooklyn, NYC)
• Impress on him the importance of LGBT citizens having the privilege of spousal immunity in court. He'll be feel sympathetic to that. I snark. Please, don't say that.

Of course there's also the good Reverend Ruben Diaz, but he seems determined to be remembered as a 21st Century George Wallace on this issue. You can call to give him the raspberries, I wouldn't hold out much hope of seeing a turnaround on him. I doubt he'd listen to Jesus Christ himself if he came down from the clouds and told him to vote yes.

Senate Republicans This ain't going nowhere without at least 3 GOP votes in the Senate. It isn't as unlikely as it may sound, we did get five GOP votes in the Assembly in 2009. And it is said, there were GOP Senators ready to vote yes in 2009, but didn't when the Democratic caucus whiffed. Based on the website photos a number of these Senators appear rather young (by political standards), so it's likely their concerns are more political than personal.

I have assembled some names of some Republican Senators. It has been said by some sources that these folks may be persuadable. And if it's true they are persuadable, it would do well for activists not to write them off, but rather, engage them as fully as possible. Let's remember, they represent the whole district, not just their Republican supporters.

One of them is Andrew Lanza in Staten Island. I remember in 2009, when his colleague from Staten Island Diane Savino drew national attention for her marriage equality speech.

Savino literally captivated people across the country. (How many State Senators have a YouTube video with a half a million hits?) It's hilarious and 100% New York City-style straight-talk. I remember reading even on progressive blogs people saying Staten Island voters would make her pay for her liberal views and vote. I had an occasion recently to ask her if the issue came up in her last election, and she, quite literally, laughed in my face. Savino ran unopposed in 2010. Again and again we see, the sky--electoral or otherwise--stubbornly refusing to fall on this issue.

James Alesi
District 55 (Rochester area)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2015 District Phone: (585) 223-1800
• Alesi was speculated as a yes vote in 2009. Someone posted a video on YouTube that purports to show the Senator "agonizing" as he to casts a no vote in 2009. He really doesn't seem to be very happy about it.

Greg Ball
District 40 Westchester (Putnam Valley area)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-3215 District Phone: (718) 984-4073
• Capitol Confidential, May 2009: Greg Ball assails 'Don't ask, don't tell.' The veteran called for a moratorium on DADT discharges.

John Flanagan
District 2 Smithtown (Long Island)
Albany Phone: 518-455-2071 District Phone: 631-361-2154
• In 2006, Flanagan helped the LGBT community secure a $60,000 grant for the Anti-Violence Project, to address gay hate crime.

Patrick Gallivan
District 59 upstate (Buffalo area)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2909 District Phone: (585) 225-3650
• I've seen Gallivan described as a "Tea Party" candidate. Hmmm... Perhaps the fiscal variety?

Mark Grisanti
District 60 (Buffalo, Niagara Falls)
Albany Phone: 518-455-3240 District Phone: 716-854-8705
•Expressed support for civil unions but unfortunately, Grisanti seems confused about the difference between marriage as a religious sacrament and a civil contract. This could be a very good bill for the local economy of his district. Currently, LGBT couples can cross the border to Niagara Falls, Canada and get a marriage license to bring home to NY. And I'm sure many do. How many would prefer to be wed in the state and country they call home? How can he not want his own constituents to get paid instead of those darn Canadians taking our gay dollars?

On the hit TV show "The Office," Jim and Pam got married at Niagara Falls, NY. Jim and Sam can't do that.

Andrew Lanza
District 24 (Staten Island)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2909 District Phone: (585) 225-3650
• Ask Diane Savino, she'll tell you the electoral water is just fine in Staten Island.

Kenneth Lavalle
Albany Phone: (518) 455-3121 District Phone: (631) 696-6900
District 1 (Long Island, Hamptons)
• How can a "no" vote come from the fabulous Hamptons? Paging Martha Stewart! Gay marriage, it's a Good Thing™. How about a dinner party? Light on the béarnaise, heavy on the arm twisting. Calvin Klein? Can you do something useful for your fellow gays just this once? I'll tell Michael Musto to leave you alone.

Jack Martins
District 7 (Long Island)
Albany Phone: 518-455-3265 District Phone: 516-746-5924
• Seriously, Long Island. You disappoint me. How about you guys just tease your own hair for a while? You can do better.

Roy McDonald
District 43 (Albany area)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2381 District Phone: (518) 274-4616
• A speculative yes last time, McDonald wouldn't rule out a "yes" vote the night before.

Thomas O'Mara
District 53, upstate
Albany Phone: 518-455-2091 District Phone: 607-735-9671
• New face. Voted no in the Assembly in 2009. Probably not a hot prospect.

Joseph Robach
District 56, upstate (Rochester area)
Albany Phone: (518) 455-2909 District Phone: (585) 225-3650
• 2009: "I support civil unions. Have for 10 years." Let's talk about evolution. Civil marriage is a civil union (hint: your Church can still say no).

If I didn't include your Senator's information, the main Senate site is here. It can direct you to your Senator if you don't know who that is (it's fine).

Don't forget your Assembly person. It's passed three times, but we don't need a repeat of Maryland. The Assembly site is here.

A day to rally in Albany for equality and justice is scheduled for May 9. It will be the coordinated effort by many groups. New York Civil Liberties Union is sponsoring a bus, info here. Marriage Equality New York will also arrange bus transportation. MENY also has a gala fundraiser coming up on May 19. But lest you fret this group is only interested in sipping Chardonnay and nibbling brie, I'd direct you to their action page and calendar page which is chocked full of local grassroots voter-engagement events around the state.

 

 

Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigns - Senate ethics committee probes corruption/sex scandal

Ah, yes, another GOP hypocrite bites the dust. (Raw Story):

Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R) announced Thursday he will resign his seat on May 3, due to a Senate ethics committee investigation over his extramarital affair with a former campaign aide.

The senator, who has served since January 2001, was a rising star in the party when he admitted to an extramarital affair in 2009. His parents reportedly wrote a $96,000 check to his former mistress and her family, leading to an investigation by the Federal Election Commission, which was later dismissed.

...He said he and his wife, Darlene, had reconciled thanks to marital counseling and that his marriage is "stronger than ever."

"While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings," Ensign said. "For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great."

I guess Mrs. Ensign is standing by her man. I wonder what his mistress thinks about this; eh, she's got the $97K.

The Visual Guide To The Business Model of Copyright Troll Righthaven, LLC

Today I was on the former Air America Radio host Nicole Sandler's show Radio Or Not . The podcast is here . I discussed the Righthaven predatory business practices and the disturbing lack of coverage in the blogosphere or mainstream media about it. Thanks, Nicole, for having the spine to allow me to get this story out.

I recently blogged about bottom feeding legal outfit and copyright troller Righthaven, LLC. Its March lawsuit against me has put the Blend's existence in jeopardy - and not just this virtual political coffeehouse, but many others blogs whose proprietors who were forced to settle rather than go through a lengthy trial. (Thank you, by the way, for the kind tips in the jar over the last couple of days.)

Righthaven is suing, in a random and sloppy way, activist bloggers, non-profits and personal bloggers for violation of copyright. This includes retroactive lawsuits prior to Righthaven's alleged holding of copyright.

The strategy of Righthaven is to sue thousands of these websites and counts on the fact that many are unfunded and will be forced to settle out of court. Most cases are being filed in a Nevada Federal Court and must be fought in this jurisdiction.

The earlier post went into great detail about Righthaven's rise (and likely soon-to-be-fall after some rulings and revealed agreements went public last week). Even with all this news in the wind, there has been nearly utter silence about this topic - unbelievably scandalous, as this affects the relationship between blogs and traditional media, as well as U.S. Copyright Law.

I've received comments and emails about the possible reasons for this silence, including the hoary "it's too complicated." Jesus, it's not that complicated and I'm no attorney. So to take that tired excuse off the table, I've constructed a visual guide to the relationships involved in Righthaven's business model. Take a look.

Click to enlarge.

At its core, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Denver Post are the intere$ted parties that have worked to profit and keep their hands clean of legal efforts that, among other things, involved suing an autistic man on fixed income for thousands of dollars for publishing a widely-circulated photo of a TSA agent feeling up a passenger's thigh. (That's the same one I was slapped for, along with the The Drudge Report and Raw Story).

The good news (not for me, though) is that the Electronic Frontier Foundation's work on the cases involving Stephens Media, LLC, the jig is up.

7.2 Despite any such Copyright Assignment, Stephens Media shall retain (and is hereby granted by Righthaven) an exclusive license to Exploit the Stephens Media Assigned Copyrights for any lawful purpose whatsoever and Righthaven shall have no right or license to Exploit or participate in the receipt of royalties from the Exploitation of the Stephens Media Assigned Copyrights other than the right to proceeds in association with a Recovery.

We'll keep you posted on whether a similar arrangement was made with Media News Group is unsealed. Other than legal blogs or Righthaven Victims, it may be the only place you'll learn anything.

The Secret White House Trans Meeting That Should Come Out Of The Closet

The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they're being made, and whether their interests are being well served.

...Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.

~President Barack Obama, as quoted in Talking Points Memo's Remarks By The President Welcoming Senior Staff And Cabinet Secretaries (January 9, 2009)

I've heard it from multiple sources this week that there is a scheduled meeting between leaders in transgender community and the Obama Administration. I've heard it from multiple sources this week that this scheduled meeting is scheduled to be a "listening" meeting (where the White House listens to a constituent group), and not designed as an "action" meeting.

That meeting is currently scheduled to occur a week from this Friday -- on April 29, 2011. It isn't just an inference to say that the White House wants this meeting to be to be secret and off the record -- there currently are no plans for a photo op or for reporting from the meeting.

Our whole philosophy is one of transparency.

~White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett

I believe it's often responsible behavior to meet behind closed doors to discuss issues with constituent groups. But that said, it isn't appropriate for the White House to keep the actual existence of a meeting with transgender leaders in non-profit organizations secret and completely off the record. And just as GetEQUAL highlighted by protest that the Common Purpose meetings are secret and behind closed doors, I'm highlighting in this blog post that a secret meeting is scheduled that the transgender subcommunity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community should care is going to take place.

Transgender people are a public, minority population within the LGBT community; we need to be publicly acknowledged by President Obama and his administration as a minority population that needs ordinary equality -- including antidiscrimination protections. Meeting in secret with transgender leaders of non-profit organizations isn't public acknowledgement of transgender community members and their real civil rights needs.

If the way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable, and the way to make government accountable is make it transparent, then the Obama Administration needs to start publicly acting on what the President stated he believes about transparency. If the President truly believes transgender people are human beings that deserve ordinary equality, then he needs to act on it, then he needs to be transparent about it in a way where his administration and he can be held publicly accountable for it.

The transgendered community has to be protected. I just don't have any tolerance for that sort of intolerance. And I think we need to legislate aggressively to protect them.

~Then Senator Barack Obama

So if the White House cancels this scheduled meeting because of the publicity, that will tell us a lot about what they think about the humanity of transgender people in particular, the rights of minority populations in the United States in the broad sense, and what they actually believe about transparency in the philosophical sense.

And if the Obama Administration cancels this scheduled meeting because of the publicity, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community needs to take notice how Obama Administration treats its smallest and most vulnerable subcommunity -- and what that says about how the Obama Administration will also treat the LGB portion of LGBT community in the upcoming two years of his presidency.

To quote Martin Luther King Jr. from the Speech at the Great March on Detroit:

I know we have heard a lot of cries saying, "Slow up and cool off." We still hear these cries. They are telling us over and over again that you're pushing things too fast, and so they're saying, "Cool off." Well, the only answer that we can give to that is that we've cooled off all too long, and that is the danger. There's always the danger if you cool off too much that you will end up in a deep freeze. "Well," they're saying, "you need to put on brakes." The only answer that we can give to that is that the motor's now cranked up and we're moving up the highway of freedom toward the city of equality, and we can't afford to stop now because our nation has a date with destiny. We must keep moving.

...And so this social revolution taking place can be summarized in three little words. They are not big words. One does not need an extensive vocabulary to understand them. They are the words "all," "here," and "now." We want all of our rights, we want them here, and we want them now.

[Below the fold: making asks of the Obama Administration relating to this scheduled meeting.]
I wasn't invited to this scheduled meeting, but If I was invited to that meeting, I would have some "action" asks to include these:

There are currently a number of regulatory changes that are currently bottled up within the White House. For example, there are policy changes that will affect transgender federal employees and transgender veterans. The Obama Administration must unbottle the regulations regarding  transgender federal employees and transgender veterans on or before the White House Pride celebration.





Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community members would benefit from a regulatory change that adds an antidiscrimination policy requirement to federal contractors. If one wants to be a federal contractor, then one would have to have an antidiscrimination policy that includes protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. This would increase employment opportunities for LGBT community members across the country.

Those are changes that can be done by presidential prerogative -- those changes don't need action by Congress to become federal policy. In other words, these are actions that the Obama Administration on its own could do today, if so inclined. I believe they need to be so inclined.

Another ask regarding legislation through Congress:

Diego Sanchez -- Rep. Barney Frank's Legislative Aide -- said this about why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act didn't pass through congress last year:

Number one, the thing that breaks my heart the most is that we did have the votes this time. ENDA didn't come up because of two things, primarily. One is Healthcare, which took so much longer, and number two is the Don't Ask, Don't Tell - the thinking that it needed to go up on the Defense Bill, and so that when it came up, it went.

...[B]oth Congressman Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin do believe - and we know, because we counted - we believe we had the votes this last congress. And, we ran out of time. So the short answer is the calendar.

But this time we had the votes, even with some Republican surprises to pass a fully inclusive ENDA bill.

The President needs to state that he's committing himself to working with congress to do whatever it takes to get the votes needed for ENDA so that happened last congress to ENDA will never happen again. It is not enough to support ENDA -- he must take action and push ENDA; he must commit to doing whatever it takes to get the bill passed into law.

Lastly, I'd ask for symbolism.

The President must mention the word "transgender" at the White House's Pride Month celebration this June. And, he needs to use the term "transgender" without just using it in the phrase lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.





The President must take credit at that White House's Pride Month celebration for the regulatory changes that have specifically benefited transgender community members -- such as the change of policy for passports.





The President must identify some of the transgender people attending that White House's Pride Month celebration, using the word "transgender" to publicly identify those publicly transgender people at the celebration.





The Obama Administration needs to hire many more transgender people. And, not just in low level and/or entry level jobs, but as senior management, senior advisors, and possibly a cabinet level position. Transgender people need to be visible in the Obama Administration.

Feel free, in the comment thread for this post, to add your own asks of President Obama and his administration for the scheduled meeting.

The transgender subcommunity of the LGBT community is a minority population of human beings that deserves to have its civil rights needs acknowledged by President Obama and his administration. This needs to be publicly and transparently done, and President Obama and his administration have an opportunity to do this a week from Friday. Let us all watch and see what they actually do.

.

Dharun Ravi Faces Possible 5 Year Sentence On Charges Related To Tyler Clementi Suicide

 

One of the students involved in the cyber-spying that culminated in Rutger's University student Tyler Clementi committing suicide has been has been indicted on 15 counts by a Middlesex County grand jury .

From the New York Daily News:

Dharun Ravi, 19, of Plainsboro, N.J., could face up to 5 years in prison if convicted of the top charges in the 15-count indictment announced by Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

Ravi was charged by a grand jury with bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and witness and evidence tampering for using a webcam to spy on Tyler Clementi's dorm room date with another man.

Clementi's family released this statement through an attorney:

"The grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate. If these facts are true, as they appear to be, then it is important for our criminal justice system to establish clear accountability under law," they wrote.

"We are eager to move forward for justice in this case and to reinforce the standards of acceptable conduct in this society."

The other student involved in the event, Molly Wei, may still face indictment, but charges were not presented "at this time."

Wei, 19, is already facing a charge of invasion of privacy. [Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce] Kaplan did not explain why she was not included in the indictment.

'Glee is demonic' . . . or why do the lgbt community waste such good material?

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

I get beleagured at members of the lgbt community who say that we should ignore the ramblings of various religious right figures. That mentality of "if you ignore it, then it will go away" contradicts so many realities.

No matter how much the lgbt community ignores them, the religious right isn't going away. They have been at their lies for over 30 years. And it was because we didn't built up a suitable countermeasure to their "homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle" lie during the heydays of the 1980s and early 90s (and the heydays of discredited researcher Paul Cameron) that we find ourselves bending over backwards to beat back that line of thinking.

What some of us fail to realize, or rather will not realize, is that the lgbt community is in the middle of a war and we have to approach it as such. Granted, I am not talking about one of violent conflict, but that of charged rhetoric designed to either appeal to people's common sense or exploit their ignorance and fears.

And so far, the religious right have scored significantly in their lying rhetoric that the lgbt community is "trying to force acceptance of our supposed lifestyle while at the same time recruit children."

The truth is that these folks knowningly lie about legitimate science or produce some of the most outlandish statements which can be seen as Freudian slips or windows into their homophobic  minds.

Take for example this recent exchange between Peter LaBarbera of the anti-gay Americans for Truth and Linda Harvey of the equally anti-gay Mission America. To make a long story short, in this exchange, they accuse the lgbt community and the popular television show Glee of using "demonic manipulation" to create gay children:

Harvey: These people are masters at demonic manipulation; I mean I have to put it that way, because that is what the homosexual agenda directed to that age group does. Kids don’t know what they’re going to turn out to be, kids can be secretly wondering and doubting if they are homosexual without a parent ever knowing. Because of A) what they get in schools, and B) what they get on the Internet.

LaBarbera: And then Hollywood, I talked about at our conference about this Glee kiss which is just, as I said at the conference, it shocked my soul. This romantic Glee kiss between two teenage boys depicted on the show, popular characters, one of the most popular if not the most popular TV show that young people watch, and here they had a romantic kiss between two teenage boys, I thought, what, how many young men and boys decided right there that they’re gay?

When I read stuff like that, I say don't ignore it. Put on page one of every lgbt blog. Send it to your friends and the lgbt press.

 

By all means, don't ignore  Maggie Gallagher and her ridiculous fumblings at Congressional hearings. Don't forget the Family Research Council and its clumsy attempts to deflect the Southern Poverty Law Center's correct charge of it being a hate group.

But LaBarbera and Harvey represent the true homophobic face of the religious right which should be given equal focus -  that face is self-righteous, claiming to speak for God but underneath it all bearing craziness that doesn't come from knowing God but succumbing to stupidity.

The most important part of a rhetorical war is the ability to paint your enemies as irrational. So why should the lgbt community ignore it when those who oppose us gives us so much good material.

So with that in mind, I want to spotlight several posts of some of the nastiest, crudest, most outrageous things said about the lgbt community from members of the religious right:

Religious right having gay sex fantasies even during Obama's SOTU address - During President Obama's recent State of the Union address, the only thing a certain religious right spokesman could think about was a gay soldier "rubbing his back."

Peter LaBarbera - the self-destruction of an anti-gay activist - And how can any denunciation of the religious right be complete without the complete story of "Porno" Pete LaBarbera

Something Guaranteed To Piss You Off , Something guaranteed to piss you off - The sequel - In the 1980s, a man named Dick Hafer published a comic book called "Death Style" which supposedly showed actual depictions of just how nasty, raunchy, and filthy lgbts are. As you look at it now, you will either be shocked or laugh. But remember this - on the back page of that comic book are individuals who vouched for the veracity of that hot mess, including a former Congressman (who was in office at the time) and the Concerned Women for America (who as far as I know never renounced what it said at the time)

The 'Complete' Words of love? A reminder of what some people really think about the lgbt community - And one of my magnum opuses - Some of the most ridiculous, homophobic things ever said about the lgbt community featuring Jesse Helms, Donnie McClurkin, and that black minister who said that if the Klan opposed gay marriage, he would ride with them. His name doesn't deserve to be repeated.

Hat tip to People for the American Way's Right-Wing Watch

The Massachusetts Family Institute Calling The "Bathroom Bill" Meme What It Is: A Brand

From the Massachusetts Family Institute's Bathroom Bill (emphasis added):

After being sent to study during the 2007-2008 legislative session, the Bathroom Bill came back in early 2009-and supporters garnered over 100 sponsors, by misleading legislators about the bill. According to some, they even implied it would not impact bathrooms.

But HB 1728, the Bathroom Bill, impacts all places of public accommodation. Designed to help gender-confused individuals, HB 1728 would add the vague category of "gender identity or expression" to the state ban on discrimination. Among the negative consequences of this law are: a) school children would be taught that they can change their gender if they want and b) women and children would be put at risk since access to sensitive areas such as single-sex bathrooms, locker rooms, and c) women-only fitness facilities would be open to anyone, regardless of biological sex, and d) anyone speaking out against it could be charged with a "hate crime."

...In the past two years, Massachusetts Family Institute and our allied organizations have done the following to stop the bill:

• Run radio ads to brand it the "Bathroom Bill" ...

If you want to take a read at what the religious right's "bathroom bill" meme political strategy actually is, this article is the "smoking gun" document for the public strategy.

Lyndon Evans: God Help Me ... today I have hit rock bottom!

Blogger/journalist Lyndon Evans has written a diary that many of us can relate to. I've had to deal with multiple major operations (one that led to a life-threatening staph infection in my abdomen that required another surgery), and now financial crisis related to the blood-sucking Righthaven LLC, Media News Group and The Denver Post debacle. It's time when we are in the most despair that we that reflect on life, loss - and our medical system. I'll keep my chin up if you will, Lyndon! 

Some of you may know, thanks to the Pam, that I was involved in a car accident back in March. Through the fustration of one unsuccessful hip operation and having and being re-admitted to Yale last Thursday, this past Saturday I underwent an entire hip replacement and just came home several hours ago.

Aside from that frustration and the crappy access (I now deal with using ATT wireless instead of ATT U-verse), my constant look nto a financial abyss, I have now hit a new low as I'm sitting here crying like a baby because I can not get my pants off because I can't reach down to get the pants leg off and over my shoe on my bad leg.

How in God's name am I going to survive all this ... when now with what would be just a silly thing is making crumble into a complete and blithering idiot. To the point where I can't concentrate enough to write this and wonder how and when I'll ever get back to blogging full-time.

Please someone tell me it will get better and these bouts with depression will come and go and will just be part of my life until all is right with the world again.

This isn't a "call for help", I haven't hit that pit yet, I just need some encouragement from someone, anyone, who has gone through that which I am now.

Major surgery, financial ruin and being afraid of what tomorrow will bring.

Update - Thursday April, 21, 9 AM

Now that I have had several hours to reflect on what I wrote above many things were lost on me yesterday, first and foermost it was a day of triumph being released from Yale-New Haven Hospital after the newest hip surgery. A surgery which I found out took much longer that planned and caused me to have two blood transfusions Saturday evening because of the blood loss I suffered during the operation.

What was lost were the simple things which transpired over the last eight days and were not notcied until coming out on the sunporch this morning.

The multitude of Spring flowers around our house and neighbor's homes are in full bloom, trees have a gazzillion blossoms on them waiting to burst all at the same time. My two four-legged friends next door are out playing and looking over at me waiting and wondering when I'll be out with their cookies.

And life has continued on in spite of myself. It's not easy to see three weeks of hardwork being scrapped because the first operation didn't achieve its wanted goal, but this is the ugly truth and to continue to dwell on it will do nothing to again move forward and get back on the road to a full recovery no matter the challenges and time it takes.

I can now with all honesty see how some folks just give up when in medical dire straights, when it seems all that is happening is you are being kicked and shoved to the ground time after time after time and they curl up in a ball, say give me my meds and leave me alone.

Something which was not lost on this writer last evening when ABC News did a special report on the over-medication of America.

Just when I had began weaning myself off of percocet, here I am again needing its pain relief for the time being. But this will change too.

I refuse to succumb and be paralyzed to a drug no matter its best intentions when prescribed. It is up to me and no one else to one day say, enough is enough.

Yes in the long run yesterday was a good day.

Sometimes you just need to be pushed down hard enough to get back up and realize there are more pluses in the day than negatives.

And I have cut off my hospital label from my wrist. I'm no longer there.

I'm home.