The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
An Online Magazine in the Reality-Based Community.
NC U.S. Senatorial Candidate Forum, Durham, NC. (Cunningham, Lewis, Marshall) You can review the Tweets from the event: @PamsHouseBlend. My wrap and video are here.
Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, along with Join the Impact MA and other activists, are are rallying today outside of Park Street Station in Boston at noon, ET to protest yet another ridiculous and damaging ex-gay conference put on by ex-gay ministry Exodus, that proclaims:
Exodus affirms reorientation of same sex attraction is possible. This is a process, which begins with motivation to, and self-determination to change based upon a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We facilitate resources for this process through our member ministries, other established networks and the Church. The key outcome of this is measured by a growing capacity to turn away from temptations, a reconciling of ones identity with Jesus Christ, being transformed into His image. This enables growth towards Godly heterosexuality.
Utter garbage. Wayne:
"We thank Join the Impact MA for coordinating an effective response to the damaging misinformation Exodus International peddles to vulnerable people," said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. "Speaking up and educating the public is the first step in exposing the ex-gay myth. I am honored to be part of this bold action."
Speakers at the protest will include: Arline Isaacson of The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Stewart Landers, Scott Gortikov of MassEquality, Tom Lang of KnowThyNeighbor.org, Paul Sousa of Join the Impact MA, and keynote speaker Wayne Besen, founder of TruthWinsOut.org.
Join the Impact adds:
As they reach out to gay people who are down on themselves, Exodus wears a mask of compassion. But they are shedding crocodile tears for suffering their own compatriots have set out to exacerbate. Exodus International is supported by the religious right in America, and fits into a multi-pronged offensive to suppress LGBT visibility and equality. On various fronts, the religious right runs interference in the pursuit of happiness by LGBT people who are simply trying to live and let live. In a most egregious example, right-wing activists oppose anti-bullying best practices which address the link to homophobia, which contributed to the recent suicide of an 11-year old boy in Springfield, MA. Anti-gay zealots would rather leave bullying unchecked, on the tenth anniversary of the Columbine Massacre, than allow LGBT-inclusive school safety strategies. Some right-wing extremists see bullying as a useful mechanism for discouraging homosexuality and gender non-conformity among adolescents.
Wayne will also give a lecture on the danger of the ex-gay movement at MIT at 7 PM. To illustrate the "success" of this fradulent movement, watch this interview of Exodus co-founder Michael Bussee by Dan Gonzales of Box Turtle Bulletin.
After co-founding Exodus Bussee fell in love with another "ex-gay" Gary Cooper. As expected Bussee and Cooper lost their entire church social network and remained silent about the "exgay" issue for many years. Cooper contracted HIV and shortly thereafter saw the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition claiming Exodus was "tremendously successful" to justify his war on the civil rights of gay people. Bussee and Cooper felt they could no longer remain silent and came out in the media as "ex-ex-gay" declaring conversion therapy as ineffective.
Journalist Rex Wockner's commentary on the post-Prop 8 movement known as Stonewall 2.0 is worth a click. He discusses the chatter out in the blogosphere (he cites Peter Staley and Dan Savage) that the followup events to the November 15th demonstrations have shown that the grassroots organizing efforts are weak. Rex disagrees:
Stonewall 2.0 isn't fizzling...
That's because Stonewall 2.0 already happened. Stonewall itself lasted three nights in 1969, but it set the stage for much that came after it. Stonewall 2.0 lasted, at minimum, 11 days -- and, I suggest, set the stage for much that will come after it.
...Stonewall 2.0 may or may not be inextricably wed to Join The Impact, the viral entity that coordinated the massive, 300-city, 50-state demos on Nov. 15, but what happened from Nov. 5 to Nov. 15 in California and across the country indisputably fired up a new generation of activists and lit a fire under complacent, comfortable older generations. It was a 2.0 moment -- different from the gay marches on Washington, the AB 101 riots, the White Night Riots and other post-Stonewall historical moments precisely because it took place from coast to coast and border to border, and because the method by which it was organized (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, e-mail, text-messaging) can be reactivated in minutes whenever the moment strikes.
We all had a collective feeling we'd had enough of this crap and it was time to reclaim something that had been taken from us.
This past Saturday evening I met up with Kelly Moyer (San Diego Equality Campaign Community Relations Chair), her partner Gabriel Mason, and about 75 others at San Diego's University Town Center (UTC) for one of the five Light Up The Night For Equality events in San Diego -- five local events at five shopping malls in conjunction with a other similar events across the United States.
The UTC candlelight vigil was loosely organized (like the other four San Diego events) by the grassroots San Diego Equality Campaign. Some photos from the UTC event:
I really paid a personal cost for attending. I had a cold before that Saturday night out in the chilly outdoors (mid-forties Fahrenheit for an outside temp in San Diego!), and I ended up feeling so ill I slept 12 hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning, then spent the day in bed. Not too much better today...Ugh.
"The Yes on 8 Campaign said they wanted to protect marriage and families, yet now they are trying to force the divorce of 18,000 families. How could this possibly protect anyone?" Asks Amy Balliett, co-founder of JoinTheImpact.com. "Today we shed light on this hypocrisy while also educating the masses about our struggle. Tonight's vigils helped to show the honest side of the LGBTQ community and the truth of our struggle."
Vigil in Chicago.
With huge success, hundreds of cities held vigils in heavy trafficked shopping areas with the goal of reaching 1 million people with the message of equality during the holiday season. Members of Join The Impact created "5 Rights Holiday Cards" that shed light on just five of the many rights that the LGBTQ Community do not receive. Along with passing out these cards, attendees wore shirts and signs declaring "2nd Class Citizen," which is the symbolic status that many community members feel exists, resulting from the lack of equal rights.
Like the November 15th National Day of protest that Join The Impact orchestrated, Light up the Night was an opportunity to turn the negative affects of Proposition 8 into something positive. "This movement will not end until full equality is achieved," Balliett says. "Proposition 8 awoke a sleeping beast. Our community is more united than ever as our base and allies continue to grow."
Saturday, November 15th, like many of you I participated in the Join The Impact protests here in DC. I didn't bring my camera because I had a feeling the weather wasn't going to be great, but I brought my trusty iPhone and snapped a couple of pictures and did a little citizen photojournalism.
I estimated there had to be somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 people that marched from the Capital to the White House. Kellan Baker, a young queer activist was the organizer. I'm truly in awe as to what this young man put together in less than a week.
I'll let Kellan answer the questions in his own words.
Daimeon Pilcher:How old are you?
Kellan Baker: I'm 26 (and 1/2). I've been told I'm on the cusp of Aries and Taurus and that this means something very deep about me, but I don't believe it.
DP:What do you do outside of activism?
KB:I'm a graduate student in global public health (MPH degree) and international development studies (MA degree) at George Washington. Before that I studied astrophysics and Russian and spent 3 1/2 years in Moscow working as an editor and translator and one year studying German and economics in Vienna, Austria. I'm totally not an activist at all, actually. I just know how to seize the opportunity to wield a megaphone.
(The rest and a powerful poem by another protester below the fold)
After the recent successful action to bring the issue of marriage inequality to the streets in peaceful protest, the grassroots movement called Join the Impact has begun to lay out plans for keeping the issue front and center in a productive, proactive manner.
It's always been a concern that this loosely knit group of activists might have trouble sustaining the enthusiasm and energy of new people drawn in to the initial marches and redirecting some of it into on-the-ground traditional activism. Take a look at the plans ahead, after the jump.
#1: The Peter wasn't undercover, but he was doing "research" on The Homosexual Agenda.
There was an infestation of The Peter and Matt "Bam Bam" Barber at the Join the Impact Chicago on Saturday and Blender Naperville Mom was there to capture the special moment -- Barber doing media whoring, and The Peter engaging in his usual investigation of homo-festivities.
Naperville Mom said "I was hoping catch a glimpse of Peter picking a wedgie out of ass or something equally amusing, but no such luck. BTW, they had a whopping total of six in their group today."
There was coverage of Saturday's Join the Impact Raleigh rally. I have a couple of videos, and a snippet of a report by the N&O (video of organizers Tom Greene and Will Elliott by Blender whoastatusquo):
Organizers estimate about 1,400 attended the rally, which was part of similar efforts across the country protesting the passage last week of California's Proposition 8, which amended that state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage there.
...Jimmy Creech, a former Methodist minister who lost his ministerial credentials after marrying two men, went so far as to describe Proposition 8 as an act of violence.
"It was saying to lesbian and gay couples who love each other and [are] committed to each other, who have created families, that they are not worthy," he told the crowd. "That they are second-class citizens."
...The group made its way to the Governor's Mansion, where participants chanted for about 20 minutes. Someone hoisted a rainbow flag -- a gay pride symbol -- onto a flagpole in front of the mansion gates.
There was no counterprotest, and no hecklers.
Tom Greene, 23, of Chapel Hill, a rally organizer who led most of the chants, said Saturday's event was only the beginning. "This is a grass-roots movement," he said. "We are initiating the next civil rights movement. Our goal is equality in North Carolina, and we're going to achieve it. The time is now."
In fact, there is now a call to hold regular rallies -- a new Facebook group has been set up, Impact America - National Bi-Monthly Protests with the next one scheduled for January 10.
Various figures reported. The Register says 150 in attendance; KCCI TV says about 100. After a nap, I've been having fun relying to some of the comments at the paper's website--usual religious bigotry and homophobia present, but not in overwhelming proportions. Thanks to a Catholic education, I can quote Scripture to defend the cause. Also threw in the old chant: "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it."
At City Hall, I held a sign for one woman named Robbie Adelman who brought two and was also trying to juggle a camera. (She appears in the Register's gallery of the event.) The one she gave me said, "Make History Again: Let Gays Marry." I think it's in One Iowa's office now.
A good variety of speakers, including a local Unitarian pastor, the head of Iowa's ACLU chapter, nearly everybody from One Iowa, an openly gay state senator, Iowa's only married same-sex couple, and Ed Fallon! I was really pleased to see him there, and he was quite rousing in the teeth of the gale (I'm on Fallon's email list, and he solicited ideas, so I replied with the info about today's events--he should be careful what he wishes for. He may get it.)
Added poll results below, though I realize the respondents are self-selecting. The numbers are heartening.
This is very much related to Pam's How the well-oiled Mormon machine helped pass Prop 8. Her's was the "how" Mormons helped the Yes On Prop 8 Campaign -- this post, in part, is part of the "what" of what the Mormon leadership told their members.
~~Autumn~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all should keep in mind exactly what the LDS First Presidency (The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints Prophet Thomas S. Monson and two counselors) said regarding LDS membership participation in the Yes On Prop 8 Campaign. Remember the deceitful ads linking a No On Prop 8 vote to harming California's Children? ...
The LDS First Presidency said to support that campaign. Looking at what the LDS First Presidency said in their press release should be mandatory for LGBT Californians; The LDS Church told all their members that they should "do all [they] can" to support Prop 8. From the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day SaintsAugust 8, 2008 press release:
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that same-sex marriage was legal in California. Recognizing the importance of marriage to society, the Church accepted an invitation to participate in ProtectMarriage, a coalition of churches, organizations, and individuals sponsoring a November ballot measure, Proposition 8, that would amend the California state constitution to ensure that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be legally recognized. (Information about the coalition can be found at http://www.protectmarriage.com/).
On June 20, 2008, the First Presidency of the Church distributed a letter about "Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families," announcing the Church's participation with the coalition. The letter, which was read in Latter-day Saints' church services in California, asked that Church members "do all [they] can to support the proposed constitutional amendment."
And in their October 8, 2008 press release, the LDS Church encouraged their Californian members to make phone calls on behalf of the Yes On Prop 8 Campaign:
This was not an uninvolved Church that deserves to have it's politics left unquestioned. The LDS Prophet -- their Prophet -- heavily promoted the deceitful campaign that had a "win at all costs" attitude. The LDS Church itself -- at the aboslute highest level of their Prophet -- emersed themselves into the campaign. They don't have clean hands. They should have been prepared for the backlash of having supported such a deceitful campaign that removed a segment of the California populace of fundamental civil rights.
In the end, Protect Marriage estimates, as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised on behalf of the measure was contributed by Mormons.
That was the statement confirming the extent of the financial involvement of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to pass Prop 8. That is mind-blowing.
The extent to which this church felt the need to involve itself, not only with cash from its faithful, but by marshalling an army of Mormon volunteers to participate in phone banking, canvassing and disseminating propaganda and lies to remove a civil right from a group of citizens in California is beyond disturbing.
In the NYT article, "Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage," the details emerge about the win-at-all-costs strategy that seems less about pure belief and faith than political activism and bullying.
First approached by the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco a few weeks after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in May, the Mormons were the last major religious group to join the campaign, and the final spice in an unusual stew that included Catholics, evangelical Christians, conservative black and Latino pastors, and myriad smaller ethnic groups with strong religious ties.
And the bottom line is that the full-frontal assault by Yes on 8 came down to the fact that the Mormons were willing to go door to door in a systematic manner-- to make the difference. See how they did it below the fold.
I was interviewed about Prop 8, NC Against Hate (the name of Raleigh's the Join the Impact rally) and the Equality NC conference on WUNC's The State of Things with Frank Stasio today. Appearing with me was rally organizer Will Elliott:
Last Tuesday's historic election wasn't all good news for progressive politics. In California, voters passed Proposition 8, which created a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Its passage has ignited activism for equal rights across the country, including right here in North Carolina. A grassroots group called NC Against H8 is organizing a rally for equal rights in downtown Raleigh on Saturday. Organizer Will Elliott and blogger Pam Spaulding, editor of pamshouseblend.com, discuss why what's happening in California matters to everyone.
I married my sweetheart. You should be able to marry yours, too. So say no to hate and yes to equal rights. Keep up the fight...Be loud, be proud and stand up for your rights.
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NOTE: I've created a Flickr album where Blenders can post photos and video of tomorrow's events:
