I've made it to the initial round for favorite progressive blogger in the Air America Cruise Contest. I have to stay in the Top 5 before the second voting round begins, so your vote is appreciated! First voting round:
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.
Jeremy does the hard work so you don't have to. He's taken a surf through the spruced-up site for the coalition of hate and has noticed some similarities to "product" churned out by NOM. A couple of his observations:
(1) The National Organization For Marriage's fingerprints are all over this thing! Some of the copy is lifted directly from past NOM press releases, and most every bit of information (and stock phrases like "whether we like it or not") are pulled right out of the Maggie Gallagher playbook. So make no bones about it: There's all kinds of out-of-state influence here.
(2) Some of the claims are unbelievable, even for the reliably deceptive 'pro-marriage' movement. Like, for instance, the claim that the Roman Catholic Church has "historically fought hard for the dignity of homosexuals" because they have "worked to improve AIDS funding and provide hospice and health care for gays and lesbians in need." Apparently Stand For Marriage Maine has forgotten that the Roman Catholic Church and its head Pope dude refer to homosexuality with words like "intrinsic moral evil" and "objective disorder." If that's "dignity," then we would hate to see disrespect!
That's just two out of 10 interesting items. Go surf and read the rest.
For your entertainment, here's what's going to happen if marriage equality remains the law in Maine...smell the BS
Examples of the legal conflicts that will be created include:
* The refusal of a religious school to offer housing to married same sex couples could be sued or forced to stop offering housing to all married couples;
* A religious organization that refuses to hire or retain an employee in a same sex relationship could be sued;
* A religious individual who owns a business such as a photographer, florist or inn keeper who refuses to participate in a same sex wedding could be sued or fined;
* A religious-based social service organization could lose government funding for refusing to provide same-sex couples with spousal benefits; and
* Professionals like doctors, psychologists, counselors and others who conscientiously object to same-sex marriage can have their licenses revoked.
You can always contact them (info@standformarriagemaine.com) and let them know what you think of the site. :)
This is what you do when the times get tight in bigot world -- you join forces as to ride out the recession and regime change to keep the social conservative agenda viable until a return to power. Of course they are going to lose the war, but they are going to do everything in their power to slow the advancement of anything remotely resembling equality. The groups are holding a press conference today at the National Press Club. Take a look at this who's who list of A-Z list winger orgs:
The Freedom Federation is a new and unique federation of some of the largest multi-ethnic and transgenerational faith-based organizations in the country committed to plan, strategize, and work together on common interests within the Judeo-Christian tradition to mobilize their grassroots constituencies and to communicate faith and values to the religious, social, cultural, and policymaking institutions.
WHO:
-- American Association of Christian Counselors - its mission is to "equip clinical, pastoral, and lay care-givers with Biblical truth and psycho-social insights"
-- American Family Association - here at the Blend we already know about Don and Tim Wildmon's Tupelo, MS-based hate brigade
-- Americans for Prosperity -- free market, small tax crowd
-- Exodus International - ruining LGBTQI lives daily.
-- Faith and Action - Rob Schenck, who anoints Senate Judicial hearing rooms with oil, says his org is "America's only Christian outreach across the street from the United States Supreme Court"
-- Family Research Council - Tony Perkins den of bigotry in the name of "family."
-- Liberty Alliance Action - the successor org to Falwell's Moral Majority. Very LGBT-obsessed.
-- Liberty Counsel - Bam Bam Barber's and Mat Staver's lair.
-- Liberty University - more Falwell-based "education"
-- Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN) - a group of Indiana homeschooling families from Bloomington and Monroe County
-- Marc Nuttle - author of a tome called Moment of Truth, "a clarion call for conservative America to take a stand today for the future the country."
-- Morning Star Ministries - Rick and Julie Joyner's ministry's goal is to "provide the household of faith with the highest quality spiritual food that is timely, or "meat in due season."
-- National Clergy Council - Rob Schenck, AGAIN
-- National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference - willlead the Hispanic born-again community in America for the purpose of transforming our culture, preserving our Judeo Christian Value System and building the spiritual, intellectual and social/political capital within the Hispanic American Community.
-- Renewing American Leadership - I have no idea what this is, but it has a dormant web site. Right Wing Watch says this is Newt Gingrich's new parking space.
-- Strang Communications - it's "a multi-media communications company focused on spreading the name and fame of Jesus throughout the world through the mass media."
-- Teen Mania - Ron Luce's organization; his call to action is to retake America from the "virtue terrorists" (gays, pro-choice supporters, etc.) is "Battle Cry."
-- The Call to Action - not sure about this oneKyle at RWW says this is Lou Engle's new hole-in-the-wall.
-- Traditional Values Coalition - possibly the most hateful anti-LGBT organization out there, Lou Sheldon sets a new standard for peddling fear-based ignorance.
Wow - did they put this coalition together by going through our list of right-wing organizations and simply inviting all the groups and individuals we write about most frequently to join? Sorry, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission - if only we had written about you a few more times, maybe you would have been deemed worthy of inclusion in this ground-breaking new effort by the Religious Right ... to do whatever it is this new organization is going to do.
Honestly, what purpose can this possibly serve? Are the Council for National Policy and the Arlington Group somehow lacking and so these groups decided that what they really needed was yet another coalition to carry out the same work?
Ex Gay Watch's David Roberts managed to get a quote from Alan Chambers of Exodus on the project. Read it below the fold.
It's nice to see such strong and direct action from one portion of the administration. (NYT):
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis issued a warning letter to departmental employees late last week, after posters celebrating Gay Pride Month hanging in 35 department elevators since June 22 have been either defaced or removed altogether.
In an e-mail message sent to the entire department, Ms. Solis, who helped found the House of Representative's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus when she was in Congress, said she was outraged by the behavior.
"It appears, however, that some members of the Labor Department team have a different view, as it has come to my attention that most of the posters have been continually defaced or removed," Ms. Solis wrote. "On several occasions, even the poster frames have been torn completely off the elevator walls."
The defaced and stolen posters will be replaced. One friend noted to me that "In his speech yesterday, the President was right to acknowledge that there are some who still feel that LGBT citizens don't deserve equal treatment. He probably didn't count on the fact that they work for him."
What is it in the bible that leads you to believe stopping gay marriage should top your political priority list? Was there some extra-special **emphasis**, italics, bold or bold italics in your bible that called your attention to one aspect of god's law to be the thing you should contact your elected representative about? Or did God himself point you to gay marriage as the issue that should be your tip-top, number one political concern?
So begins WA state Rep. Geoff Simpson's response to an email he and many other representatives received today from a Sammamish, WA woman named Barbara, who began
Washington State Legislators
You have the authority to stop this abomination of same sex marriage. I am asking God to give you the wisdom to vote "NO" on SB5688. God definitely declared this wrong when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. If you vote for this, God will surely judge you personally. For the love of God, please don't bring down His condemnation on our State. We will all suffer for it. Honor Him and He will honor you! Disobey Him and you will be judged for all eternity.
The rest of the emails are below the fold. Enjoy, knowing that there are some lawmakers out there who are willing to call haters on their religious bluff. :)
The incredibly shrinking profile of the laughable anti-gay outfit MassResistance has poor Brian Camenker railing to himself his readers about the non-existent destruction of the Bay State by the homos. In his latest rant, he is charging the state government with bowing to the incredible power of the homosexual movement during a budget crisis.
Millions of dollars for programs and services are being cut. But the state's top elected officials refuse to budge on the $700,000 of your money that's going to homosexual programs in the public schools. (In October it was lowered slightly from $850,000. That's still obscenely high -- ANY amount is too much -- and a huge weapon for homosexual activists in schools. And we hear they're getting the rest of the money from another government source.)
...MassResistance called the Senate President's office to ask if that included the funding for homosexual programs in the schools. We left a few messages with the Senate President's budget staffer. They seemed to figure out who we were. A bit later got a call back from a staffer named "Rick" (no last name). Rick told us that the Senate President supported the homosexual programs, but that it was the governor's office that instituted the budget cuts, and that we need to contact his office. We asked Rick if the Senate President would sit down and talk to us about the homosexual agenda in the schools, since she works so closely with homosexual lobbyists. He said he'd call us right back. (So far, the phone hasn't rung -- not surprising.)
Brian, I think the reason you didn't get a call back is that the staffer knew you were representing the looney-tunes POV. They have better things to do.
Undaunted, the face of MassResistance picked up the phone and called the Governor Deval Patrick's office and this was Brian's interpretation of the conversation.
After several days trying to get a real person to speak to us, we spoke to a staffer who told us (rather impatiently) that although anything is possible, the Governor supports the homosexual programs, and she (the staffer) personally supports them. Another staffer who called us back told us that the budget decisions seem to be made jointly, with legislative leaders having a fair amount of input. Maybe we should try to influence the Governor's 2010 budget, she said, the first draft of which comes out next month. In other words, don't hold your breath.
One common denominator was the attitude everyone in these offices had as soon as they found out that we opposed the homosexual programs in the schools. They became passive-aggressive to varying degrees, and seemed mostly interested in getting us off the phone.
I guess we're all "aberrant-sex activists" now. Here's another name check from Peter LaBarbera to add to the left sidebar, folks.
The prince of undercover gay male sex investigations and best buddy of Bam Bam "progressives = child sacrificers" Barber was a little late out of the gate on the Rick Warren dustup, but this entry was worth the wait. He and Matt must be smoking/snorting/imbibing strong stuff these days as their fourth-tier organizations scramble to do their end-of-year pickpocketing of wallets of elderly garden-variety "Christians" and brainwashed re-closeted homosexuals.
...Porno Pete? As veteran AFTAH readers know, one of the favorite, ongoing “queer” lies against me is that I am a secret homosexual or, worse, a covert aficionado of (unspeakably evil and revolting) homosexual S&M and pornography. Hence the nasty slam against me concocted by homosexual spinmeister Wayne Besen: “Porno Pete.” (I suppose if you use the logic of ‘Wayne’s World,’ someone who exposes abortionists secretly yearns to slaughter innocents in the womb — and Wayne himself, who monitors and exposes allegedly fraudulent “ex-gays” through his comically named Truth Wins Out — is a closeted fundamentalist Christian who TiVos every episode of “The 700 Club” while pretending to fight for Queer Liberation.) Yep, aside from the murderous Islamic jihadists, it seems nobody hates (or lies) like the Left, and nobody on the Left hates like the homosexual militants. If you doubt me on this, take a detour into Loony Liberal Land for a few minutes and read the comments responding to one of Besen’s attacks on me and Americans For Truth.
OMG. This is a riot. Take a look at this photo over at Mike Signorile's blog The Gist:
Sally Kern was on the floor of the GOP convention and Mike sauntered up, introduced himself by name (she's been on the show) and clearly she didn't get it. Gay Cooties for you, Sally - party on!
She even mentioned at the end of our interview, while I took a picture with her, that she had a bad experience on Sirius, with "whatshisname, Michael Siganorelli or something like that."
Mike IM'd me to say that he asked Sally "if gays caused Bristol Palin to become pregnant." She went on a long bible-beating tirade that you will have to check out - he will have the interview up later.
He also got a big scoop on McCain's 96-year-old mom Roberta, who has been gagged by the McCain campaign lest she say something to rock the political boat.
I introduced myself, and she smiled graciously and seemed eager to speak as I asked her what the week was like for her. But then she spotted one of her handlers coming through, and looked at me sheepishly, and said, "They won't let me be interviewed." Her facial expressed became pained: "They won't let me talk." One of the handlers, a blonde woman with a Sarah Palin hairstyle and glasses (very popular here now), then pulled her away, along with a male secret service guy, and Roberta McCain looked into my eyes, helplessly, pleadingly, and repeated, "They won't let me talk!"
Over 120 blogs have been credentialed as members of the media for the Democratic National Convention; those who have received credentials are allowed to cover the Convention at the Pepsi Center. While most of them offer legitimate commentary, some do not.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue is protesting two of the blogs:
“The list of credentialed blogs include radical sites like The Daily Kos. Worse are blogs that feature anti-Catholic and obscene material. The two most offensive are Bitch Ph.D. and Towleroad.
“On the home page of Bitch Ph.D. there is a picture of two children: one of them is shown flashing his middle finger. Today’s lead post, which was written August 17, is called ‘Jesus Christ.’ It begins with, ‘I’m a really crappy Catholic who hasn’t been to mass in ages because most parishes around here ‘will’ insist on being aggressively anti-abortion….’ The writer then objects to some children’s toys on the grounds that they are more offensive than desecrating the Eucharist. The toys are actually balloons that have been made to depict Jesus in various poses, including a crucified Christ; one of these images shows Jesus with a penis. Several who commented on this image made patently obscene comments.
“Towleroad describes itself as ‘A Site with Homosexual Tendencies.’ Accordingly, it shows men in jock straps and underwear. It also has a post on Pope Benedict XVI that takes him to task for wearing a cape with ermine. Some of those who commented on this described the pope in a vile and profane way.
“Both of these blogs should be cut immediately from the list of credentialed sites. Neither functions as a responsible media outlet and both offend Catholics, as well as others. To allow them access to the Democratic National Convention sends a message to Catholics they will not forget. We look for Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Convention, to nix them ASAP.”
Susan A. FaniDirector of CommunicationsCatholic League for Religious and Civil Rightscatalyst@catholicleague.orgNew York, NY 10123212-371-3191212-371-3394 (fax)
"If Donohue is so focused on sex," Towleroad's Andy Towle responded on Monday, "his time would be better focused on healing the epidemic of sexual abuse against children by clergy in the Catholic church, and considering the facts on the use of condoms, which the Church has said have no effect on the prevention of AIDS, rather than attempting to influence American politics by limiting the Democratic ideals of free speech, inclusion and tolerance."
I forgot to post this hilarity up -- the fundies at MASSResistance provided unique coverage of the Massachusetts House repeal of the "1913 law" last week that enables same-sex couples from other states to travel to the Bay State to marry.
Poor head of MassResistance Brian Camenker -- he was probably frothing at the mouth while he was typing this.
Yesterday afternoon, despite widespread internal dissention and overwhelming negative outpouring from the public, the House leadership kept their promises to the homosexual lobby and forced a vote to repeal the "1913 Law".
Blenders up there in Massachusetts -- was there "overwhelming negative outpouring" anywhere in sight over this?
The leadership of both houses had publicly promised the homosexual lobby to repeal this before the end of the session, July 31. But after the Senate passed it with a cowardly voice vote on July 15, public outrage erupted. It's generally agreed that outpouring against the bill came in at a 6-1 ratio. Newspaper reports indicated that lot of reps were very uncomfortable (we promised to remember their vote this November).
Thousands of members of the international media will have to walk past it when they land at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul at the end of the summer.
Many will feel obligated to stop and file a story. For the party that bills itself as stronger on family values than the Democrats, it likely will prove an unwelcome distraction.
Craig responded that he just had a "wide stance," was "not gay" and only pleaded guilty to avoid a spectacle that would spread from Minneapolis to Idaho. Craig tried to withdraw his guilty plea, but an appeals court turned him down. The Senate's ethics panel reprimanded Craig for his conduct and said it did not believe his denials.
It will be great to see a nice MSM roundup of the tinderbox of GOP sexual hypocrite scandals that blew up in the party's face, particularly since Mr. Toe-Tapper and Mr. Pampers are co-sponsors of Craig/Vitter Marriage Protection Amendment.
And the problem with being a lesbian is...? I am so sick of these Cro-Magnons pontificating on the air. (Media Matters):
SULLIVAN: Two things. One, it's important to clear up that he [Wright] did not say "The Jews are going to get you" in some conspiratorial, classic anti-Semitic fashion. I think that's just --
HITCHENS: He [Wright] thinks only Jews are going to object to [Rev. Louis] Farrakhan and [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi. Excuse me?
SULLIVAN: No, he didn't say "only."
HITCHENS: No, but --
SULLIVAN: Again, you keep playing with that quote. We're happy to have it on the record. And now you've made me forget my second point, which is --
HITCHENS: Oh, well, don't be such a lesbian. Get on with it.
SULLIVAN: I'm sorry, I've forgotten my second point. But I do think that's important. And I don't think Wright is Farrakhan. And I don't think Obama, in any conceivable way, represents anything but racial inclusion and integration. And anybody that looks at any part of his career and can be in any doubt about that is beyond me.
The reason he went to that church, clearly, if you read his biography, is he wanted to understand what it was to be black in America. He didn't understand. He's a very polyglot person. He grew up in Hawaii, he had some time in Indonesia.
I'm serious -- I don't know what the f*ck Hitchens is talking about here. Are lesbians slow to make a point? Foot-draggers? Jesus. It's nice to know he can combine misogyny and homophobia in one fell swoop. Admirable multitasking.
Perhaps Hitchens knows how many lesbians it takes to screw in a light bulb, or where the stock of conversion toasters are stashed. Inquiring minds want to know. Andrew Sullivan didn't even bother to counter this crap. Sigh.
I've received a few emails about the latest chapter in the "gays and Obama" saga, as it was learned that Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a local leader in Houston's black community, Bush supporter, and senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, will be campaigning in support of Barack Obama.
Caldwell said Saturday that he's endorsing Obama's presidential campaign because of the senator's "character, confidence and courage." He emphasized that his support is personal and not tied to his job as pastor of the large United Methodist church.
Metanoia Ministry We are pleased to announce the creation of “ The Way, The Truth and The Life”, a program created to provide Christ Centered instruction for those seeking freedom from homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution, sex addiction and other habitual sins
...Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, men and women throughout the ages have attempted to fulfill these deep emotional needs outside a relationship with God. In doing this, sinful patterns of living were developed, preventing the fulfillment of these needs as God intended. If you desire to learn to live life as God designed it, you are invited to join “The Way, The Truth and The Life” program.
The goal of the program is to provide:
1. Christian Coaching.
2. Support groups for ex-gays and those in the process of coming out of homosexuality.
3. Educational workshops.
4. Information for parents, family and friends.
The objective of the program is to assist participants in understanding that change is possible. In doing this, a safe, nurturing and accepting environment will be created whereby participants will be able to deal with issues without fear of judgment or rejection. Participants will be encouraged to exercise their faith in the saving, healing and delivering power of God through Jesus Christ, and to see themselves as God sees them.
OK. What does this look like to you -- A. Another example of the Obama campaign hypocrisy toward the gay community; B. Triangulation with LGBTs to keep and gain socially conservative black votes; C. A necessary evil to reach a large segment of a community that has been allowed to foment homophobia in its ranks; D. Progress -- proof that Obama's public challenge the black community about its homophobia is wrong has not prevented pray-away-the-gay folks like Caldwell from endorsing and campaigning for him. E. All of the above.
Today Barack Obama zeroed in on equal opportunity bigotry -- and why everyone should strive to not only elevate the political discourse, but to be honest about the base instincts, words and deeds that divide, not unite.
He delivered this message at the house of worship where Dr. Martin Luther King preached, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. It was a pointed statement to black parishioners in the pews -- people well-aware of racial politics being played in this political cycle -- but who are also are part of a faith community that has long had a blind spot toward other oppressed groups. He did not hold back:
For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.
And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.
We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.
Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
These words are so necessary, but you can best believe he is the only candidate delivering speeches in honor of Dr. King who is willing to say it directly to members of the black community. This topic has always been a perceived as a third rail topic for the other leading Dem candidates, Clinton or Edwards -- they are, like many whites, particularly if they see themselves as allies, dread being seen as pointing out the evils and hypocrisy of such bigotry in the black faith community, even as wrong and tragic as it is on its face.
I am of two minds of this -- I am grateful that Barack Obama, whose campaign has needed to atone for the triangulation strategy of courting blacks by tossing gays under the bus with the appearance of homophobic "ex-gay" advocate Donnie McClurkin at a gospel concert. He has made public statements distancing himself from this flap and reiterated support for LGBT equality (sans full marriage equality, of course, something none of the top tier have supported).
However, I am disheartened by the burden Obama has been saddled with, as a person of color, to be the sole party delivering today's message. Addressing bigotry in any community that has suffered oppression at the hands of the majority can, and must be done, particularly in a year where we have both a woman and a black man with a credible chance of winning the nomination and making it to the White House.
That we cannot discuss the matter of homophobia or anti-Semitism in the black community bluntly is everyone's problem. This burden and legacy of fomenting bigotry out of fear and ignorance is borne by all of us. If no one takes responsibility, we all fail. And we're failing -- look at how easily gender bias and racial overtones have surfaced over and over in the campaign so far. It's almost reflexive to "go there," the toxicity and effectiveness of stirring those sentiments has been part of the political process by both parties for so long that they are addicted to it.
In fact, I'm sure that the GOP is concerned about the prospect of how far it can go in attacking Obama if he is the nominee, in terms of hitting the third rail too overtly. Similarly, I have no doubt, for instance, if Clinton is the nominee, that while they may wonder how far they can go in dropping the misogyny card. However, the fact that she is a reviled Clinton only adds to her problems in the general election. If anyone can unite the GOP's tattered and frustrated voters, she can.
I have no doubt the baiting will continue, but it doesn't mean that we cannot keep pointing bias out when it raises its ugly head in any community. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Obama:
So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others - all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face - war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.
Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.
***
Clinton, btw, picked up the endorsement of another pastor in the political black-go-to crowd today, Reverend Dr. Calvin Butts of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church.
In endorsing Clinton, Butts read a long statement emphasizing his strong relationship with Clinton and his high regard for her experience. ("I, too, join countless Americans in a collective desire for change, and I do so with a vital recognition that change and experience are not mutually exclusive," Butts said.)
...Earlier, in a speech from the altar, Butts seemed to echo a key Clinton criticism of her opponent, that Obama's talent for inspirational speech was not enough to qualify him for president. ("You don't just say, 'save the hospital,'" Butts said. "You've got to work with senators and assembly persons, Chairs of Ways and Means. You've got to put this thing together in such a way because we live in the United States of America. One brother said that if you don't understand that, then maybe you need to live somewhere else.").
Lane points us to a piece by LGBT ally Rev. Bennie Colclough, pastor of Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church in Kingstree. The South Carolina Pride site lists the many accomplishments of the pastor, a graduate of the Yale University Divinity School who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years in Vietnam, and is a member on the General Board of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Married for 35 years, he and his wife are deeply involved in the social justice movement, and believes that an injustice to one is an injustice to all.
Below is a snippet of his challenge to Barack Obama, who has sought to court black voters in SC, enticing them away from Hillary Clinton by, among other things, inviting "former homosexual" and gospel singer Donnie McClurkin to headline an infamous concert last fall that took many in the community aback (see my posts here). Reverend Colclough is a contributing writer for Faith in America.
The African-American faith community must defend the human dignity of all people as distinguished leaders in our community are calling us to this task.
Consider Coretta Scott King's remarks in a 1998 address in which she said that "Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood."
...The African-American faith community must recognize the perpetrators and injustice, and bring about an end to the hurt that has been caused to so many.
Discrimination is morally wrong and un-Christian. Let me repeat this: Discrimination is morally wrong and un-Christian.
Sen. Barack Obama has said that he strongly disagrees with the views of people like gospel singer Donnie McKlurkin and others who use religion to attack members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Those of us who are missionaries for justice and equality are hopeful that Senator Barack Obama will be true to his platform for change, and speak out against religious bigotry coming from a select group of African-American evangelical leaders.
His appearance Monday night at a presidential debate in Myrtle Beach would be a good opportunity for him to do just that.
While Senator Obama's candidacy for president of the United States offers hope, let us not forget a facet of society that has had little hope for change the last 20 years. The purpose of our government, first and foremost, is equality under the law, respect for human rights, and protection of all our citizens, whether they are white, black, male, female, disabled, Christian, or gay. We must be about the business of building a beloved community with a foundation of compassion and justice for all.
An update on anti-gayNew England organization from MassResistance Watch's Bud, who reports that Contrada and Camenker haven't been on the air on their radio show since October, and hasn't updated its site since November 14. (See Contrada's horrible treatment of her daughter here):
People that I've been talking with have been saying that the whole "Laramie Project" at the Acton/Boxborough High School pretty much did them in. Then the icing on the cake was when Amy Contrada, who allowed her daughter to participate in the high school play, abruptly pulled her from the play and school the week before the final performances cutting the student off from her closest support group and then posting [intimate] details of the young woman's life on their websites. This last act was surely the act of disturbed individuals and has appeared to make the family outcasts in the community.
I can't imagine that many people are donating to their brand of hate lately either especially after they spread those personal details about Amy daughter around the web. Ironically, other than MassResistance, no other anti-gay group has picked up this story. It reeked of desperation. That AFA/Focus on the Family groups are probably also disturbed at how low the MassResistance "staffers" have sunk this time.
Talk about raging ego trips. You have to read this drivel over at WingNutDaily by Faith2Action's Janet Folger. The author of "The Criminalization of Christianity," Janet's fantasy/nightmare of what would happen if Democrats, specifically Hillary Clinton, are in charge.
She believes that she and the rest of the bible-beating crowd will be imprisoned for their beliefs. It's the end of the world as Janet knows it -- among other things, the U.S. will be overrun with homosexualists and abortionists, and home schoolers will be under attack by the state.
Nov. 20, 2010
To the Resistance:
I'm writing this letter from prison, where I've been since the beginning of 2010. Since Hillary was elected in '08, Christian persecution in America has gotten even worse than we predicted.
When the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" was signed into law, my radio program was yanked off the air along with all the others that dared discuss moral issues on Christian radio. The networks just couldn't bring themselves to air a pro-abortion program or one that advocates the homosexual agenda for the government mandated "balance" because broadcasting lies went against their basic beliefs - I don't blame them.
We knew "Thought Crimes" was in danger of becoming law back when it passed Congress in 2007, but thankfully, President Bush kept his promise to veto it. But, tragically, Hillary signed that most dangerous bill in America - ushering in the criminalization of Christianity. And now, even my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," has been banned as "hate speech" just as I predicted when I wrote it back in 2005.
When the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" ("Thought Crimes" for the Workplace) became law, businesses and ministries were targeted by homosexual activists and were forced to close when they wouldn't comply with a law forcing them to hire those opposed to their beliefs on moral issues.
When they canceled my program, banned my book and targeted my ministry, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd be forced into "prison ministry" against my will. Unfortunately for our nation, that ministry is growing fast. A homeschooling mom was assigned the cell next to me. I try to comfort her, but she cries constantly at the thought of her kids being raised in government foster care.
Folger goes on to assail her fellow "Christians" for not seeing the warning signs -- that Daddy D and the rest of the professional pious set wasted precious energy picking from the fakers in the clown car -- Mitt and Rudy -- instead of backing Huck -- who would preserve their rights.
There was a tier-one candidate that stood for our goals of life and marriage - that man was Gov. Mike Huckabee. Had we nominated Huckabee to run against Hillary, the stark difference between the two would have brought voters out in droves. And we never would have seen the Supreme Court appointments of Charles Schumer and Diane Feinstein. If only there were a way to go back in time to change ... I've gotta go. The guard spotted me writing again.
Yeah, like we'd be happy with those two on SCOTUS.
I just received an email from David Phillips, who you may know from his notoriety for disclosing the horrible exploitative encounter he had with Senator Larry Craig back in the 80s.
He also made the news for the absurd treatment he received from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles when it recalled his license plates for "obscenity." Somehow "POOFTER" must have become obscene overnight as Phillips has had the plates for 11 years before it hit the DMV radar.
The commonwealth of Virginia is not amused. It gave Phillips his vanity plates in error, Carolyn Easley, coordinator of the special license plates office, wrote in a recent letter. "You may have grown fond of your personalized plates," but they are "socially, racially or ethnically offensive or disparaging" and "you must return them."
Well someone reversed that thinking because David won the right to keep them:
This morning the Virginia DMV notified me by phone that I can keep my POOFTER plates. This after I returned directly to the head of the DMV the generic plates supplied with their hate letter, along with correspondence indicating my dedication to my First Amendment rights to self-identify in terms that meets no reasonable test for obscenity. I look forward to receiving the DMV's written apology for this incident.
And why was a statement like this not passed out at the McClurkin gay-bashing concert on Sunday -- and was absent from Obama's video welcome at the event?
The concert was to be the highlight of this outreach and while the crowd left excited, it was clear the campaign still regarded the controversy as complicated. Aides gave reporters a three-page memo detailing McClurkin's and Obama's views on gay rights that noted in capital letters "MCCLURKIN DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE GAYS AND LESBIANS WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR LIVES AND HAS CRITICIZED CHURCH LEADERS WHO DEMONIZE HOMOSEXUALS," with quotes detailing those statements from the singer.
The next paragraph then stated "OBAMA DOES NOT AGREE WITH MCCLURKIN'S VIEWS ON GAYS."
Why? Because his campaign feels that any support of the LGBT community must remain on the DL with religious black gays in the South. It's all about the numbers game.
With 90 percent in most elections voting for Democrats, African-Americans are one of the most loyal parts of the Democratic base. At the same time, they differ from the rest of the party in terms of church attendance (more) and support for gay rights (less). Exit polling from the 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary, which John Edwards won, showed 72 percent of blacks who voted attend church weekly, compared to 55 percent of all South Carolina Democrats and 37 percent of Democrats nationally who voted in the general election. According to Washington Post-ABC News national surveys this year, 43 percent of white Democrats support gay marriage, compared to 22 percent of blacks. Around half of blacks, 52 percent, don't support civil unions or gay marriage for gay couples, compared to only 26 percent of whites.
And a sad note about demographics of the vigil, which was no surprise to me.
A vigil that was planned to protest outside of the concert included only about 20 people, almost all white, who held signs like "We are Here, We are Queer, we are voting next year," while across the street long lines of African-Americans, who seemed still dressed for church, waited to go into the event that started at 6 p.m.
The fact that black gays and lesbians were not well-represented in the vigil crowd is telling on two points: 1) not enough of them are out of the closet and political enough to confront their community, and 2) the vigil's composition, along with the presence of openly gay pastor Rev. Sidden, reinforced the idea that gay=white.
[UPDATE: check out this coverage of the event. Rev. Sidden, the white gay pastor recruited to go before the crowd, didn't address the issue at hand: "Sidden's appearance was notably brief and anti-climactic: He said a short prayer to the auditorium at the very beginning of the program, when the arena was only about half full, and then he left." McClurkin also dodged comment on the anti-gay statements he's made in the past, or allegations that he's not exactly "ex-gay" any more. Even worse, in a NYT article, Obama gave a video welcome at the concert, where he declared McClurkin one of his favorite singers and said nothing about homophobia in the religious black community. Way to go.]
There were a couple of dozen gay and lesbians carrying rainbow flags in protest of the appearance of recloseted/decloseted, Grammy-winning anti-gay singer Donnie McClurkin on Sunday at a Barack Obama campaign-sponsored gospel concert in Columbia, South Carolina. The show went on and he was welcomed by the crowd with cheers. (AP):
"We're here," Donnie McClurkin told a cheering crowd. "We're here and we're glad we're here."
McClurkin, who has angered gay rights groups by saying homosexuality is a choice, told the crowd the musical acts were there "in the name of unity" and "in the name of change."
...Obama did not attend the event, but in a video played for more than 2,000 at the Township Auditorium he called the evening's acts "inspirational talent" that were among his favorites.
The people in the crowd agreed with their feet, standing and waving and clapping hands to the blaring music, regularly joining in to sing.
A couple of hours ago, I took part in the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement's vigil that was held outside Columbia's Township Auditorium.
...I am pleased with what happened. We had a small but determined group who used dignity and order to get our message out. It is interesting as to the spin that may be put out by the anti-gay industry, as well as the media, about the controversy.
No matter how many times it was emphasized that none of us care about McClurkin's personal decisions regarding his orientation, folks have continued to claim that we are angry at McClurkin's belief that he is "ex-gay" rather than his statements against the lgbt community.
Despite all of the controversy over the last week about this, the problem at its core is that Alvin watched closeted black gay men file into this concert as a black woman hurled anti-gay comments at those participating in the vigil. More after the jump.
In the neighboring state to the north, the District 39 race in Virginia is getting ugly, thanks to Republican State Senator James J. "Jay" O'Brien Jr. In a desperate bid to pander to the wingnut vote, he decided that sending out a flyer that says, among other things, that his Democratic opponent
"George Barker wants to take time away from core academic subjects like math, science, and reading to teach children to accept the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Lifestyle (GLBT)."
It's no surprise that this flyer (PDF) was paid for by the Republican Party of Virginia.
It's clear that the right wing is ratcheting up the homo-hate as Barker has received the endorsement of the Washington Post.
Republican Sen. James J. "Jay" O'Brien Jr. is an affable incumbent, but his scant command of policy and legislative issues has failed to impress. His Democratic rival, George L. Barker, a health-care planner, would make a far more able, detail-oriented and effective senator in this district straddling the Fairfax-Prince William line.
Barker also has strong support from educators (I'm sure O'Brien feels they are part of the Homosexual Agenda anyway).
More from the heinous mailer -- he certainly telegraphs his priorities:
George Barker went on to say that he would vote for legislation that would teach Virginia students about the "GLBT" lifestyle during school hours -- regardless of their family's own beliefs. Barker also said he would "guarantee" his support for "GLBT" clubs in public schools.
...George Barker worked very hard in terms of opposing the marriage amendment, and be strongly in favor of gay rights, be [sic] he shouldn't impose his values on elementary school children.
A question for O'Brien - I suppose that kids in your state don't need to know about tolerance and families that are different, you know -- like that of little Samuel Cheney, a resident of Virginia and son of loyal Republican Mary Cheney.
Virginia Delegate Adam Ebbin (D-49 - Arlington County, Alexandria City and Fairfax County) is the only openly gay member of the General Assembly. He has a call out to help George Barker "take out the trash."
O'Brien began his career by touting anti-gay legislation to keep gays and lesbians from serving in the Virginia National Guard. We can not and must not let Virginia Republicans continue to get away with these George Allen/Ollie North/Karl Rove style tactics. Times have changed, and though anti-gay extremism may have helped O'Brien win election in 1993, let's show Virginia that anti-gay extremism can end his career now.
Please help my Virginia Progress Fund PAC combat such hateful tactics by donating on our special web page. I would like the Progress Fund to be able to present George Barker with a large contribution to help defeat extremist O'Brien. Please click here to help.
It's nice to see such strong and direct action from one portion of the administration. (
The incredibly shrinking profile of the laughable anti-gay outfit 
I guess we're all "aberrant-sex activists" now. Here's another name check from Peter LaBarbera to add to the left sidebar, folks.
Also - Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen gets The Peeping Peter hot under the collar as well. Take a look at 
I forgot to post this hilarity up -- the fundies at 
Thousands of members of the international media will have to walk past it when they land at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul at the end of the summer.
The African-American faith community must defend the human dignity of all people as distinguished leaders in our community are calling us to this task.
I just received an email from David Phillips, who you may know from his notoriety for disclosing the horrible 
"We're here," Donnie McClurkin told a cheering crowd. "We're here and we're glad we're here."
In the neighboring state to the north, the District 39 race in Virginia is getting ugly, thanks to 
Virginia Delegate 
