Don’t you just love it when someone makes broad generalizations about a community based upon the actions of a few? I had hoped Ron Paul would prove better than that, even though I knew better. Perhaps it’s his recent rise in the polls, with only a few points separating him from Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, but it seems Paul is falling in step with bad mouthing the gay community just like his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls.
Sigh.
(story via Towleroad)
This year, the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago was rerouted, and the new route happens to pass in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. This has caused much consternation for the church who fears that they will not be able to have mass that Sunday because the parade will interfere with their services.
The pastor expressed his concern to Catholic Cardinal Francis George, who made the following comments, as reported by ThinkProgress:
Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”
Cardinal George has just shown what an idiot he is. To compare a celebration of gay pride to a Klu Klux Klan parade is not only revolting but maddening. The KKK is a bigoted, hate mongering group who used to revel in their parade of men dressed in white sheets. Their parades were about lynching minorities. Their parades were designed to instill fear and spread hate. Their parades included violence and cross burning.
Gay pride parades are about celebration, about being accepted for who you are, and about not being afraid to celebrate being gay. I see no comparison between a gay pride parade and the KKK.
Cardinal George apparently doesn’t agree. Either that, or he just doesn’t get it. The Chicago Gay Pride Parade isn’t a march against Catholicism. In fact, when Chicago’s LGBT community learned about the pastor’s concerns, they met with him and arranged to start the parade at a later time to give the congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel the time they needed to worship. If the parade was truly some secret march against Catholicism, they wouldn’t have done that.
Of course, the Holy Cardinal is trying to eat his words now saying, “Obviously, it’s absurd to say the gay and lesbian community are the Ku Klux Klan, but if you organize a parade that looks like parades that we’ve had in our past because it stops us from worshipping God, well then that’s the comparison, but it’s not with people and people — it’s parade-parade.”
Sorry, Cardinal George, you can’t take back your hateful words, and your attempt is weak at best.
And there are some out there who are calling for action. Change.org, an online organization that mobilizes petitions for change, is calling for George’s resignation. Also Equally Blessed, a pro-LGBT rights Catholic organization, stated that George “has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office. In suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has reason to fear LGBT people in the same way that blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities had reason to fear the murderous nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, he has insulted the memory of the victims of the Klan’s violence and brutality.”
Thankfully, George is facing the consequences of his actions. Perhaps, the good Cardinal needs to learn a lesson in prudence. I’m sure the Bible has something to teach about that.
In England, a British woman was caught on video spouting racial hatred to a trainload full of people. During her tirade, she insulted anyone who wasn’t white or British, demanding that they get off the bus and out of her country.
Thanks to the video, however, she was arrested for “racially aggravated offense,” as reported on Unicorn Booty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i47HoiM0Au8Obviously, this woman will be in the running for the next Mother of the Year Award!
Rick Perry continues to be a shining beacon for all Texans. While he has already given us several gems of his ignorance, such as not knowing the century of the American Revolution, Perry added a new flaming hot mess to his pile as reported on Joe.My.God.
During a speech Perry was giving at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, Perry made the following comments to the audience:
Those of you that will be 21 by Nov. 12th, I ask for your support and your vote. Those of you who won’t be — just work hard — because you are going to inherit this and you’re counting on us to get this right. The idea that you’re looking at a $15-trillion debt, that you’re looking at entitlement programs that will not be there for you if we continue on this path, is not fair to you and it’s not right.”
Apparently, Perry thinks the voting age and the legal drinking age are both 21. I hope to God that Perry continues to slip in the polls because this man is simply too stupid for prime time!
In what can only be described as a cowardly political move, the Republican controlled Michigan Senate passed SB 137, which basically sanctions bullying.
ThinkProgress reports that the bill “not only neglects to protect students based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but creates a special exception for bullies who have a ‘sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.’”
Basically, a student in Michigan schools can be bullied if another student, teacher, or administrator has strong moral reasons for tormenting a child. You have got to be kidding me?!?!
Are there adults elected to office in Michigan? Do they really believe that anyone’s religious beliefs give them sanction to physically or emotionally assault another individual? How is this any different than the Taliban or a jihad? Yet those individuals are terrorists and a jihad is a terrorist attack!
But according to Republican senators in Michigan (which passed SB 137 in a 26-11 vote), assaulting a child in school based on “religious or moral conviction” is A-OK! I guess as long as those beliefs are Christian based then it’s alright.
Do these people understand that a group of students in Michigan can form a Holy Crusade and beat the crap out of some gay kid, which according to SB 137, would be perfectly within their right? Those students would never be held accountable for their actions because they were simply following their “moral” convictions.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer refused to take the bill’s passage lying down. In a passionate speech, she made the following statement:
So this might solve a political problem that Republicans have. but be clear: You are papering over the problem that is a reality faced by hundreds of kids in Michigan schools every day. In fact, not only does this not protect kids who are bullied, it further endangers them by legitimizing excuses for tormenting a student. And the saddest and sickest irony of this whole thing is that it’s called ‘Matt’s Safe School Law’. And after the way that you’ve gutted it, it wouldn’t have done a damn thing to save Matt!
This is worse than doing nothing! It’s a Republican license to bully.”
Here’s her full speech if you would like to hear her lambast the Republicans.
Once again, Rick Santorum opens his mouth and crap comes spewing out. His toilet must be jealous of the waste it’s not collecting!
ThinkProgress reports that in an interview on a conservative radio show Santorum said, “he still opposes the Supreme Court’s landmark 2003 Lawrence decision, which struck down … legislation” that criminalized sodomy.
He continued to add more steaming hot pies to his pile, when he said, “We can’t do this, we can’t have a constitutional right to consensual sexual activity, no matter what it is.”
Are you kidding me? Does he even know what he’s saying?
He is basically spouting that there should be no rights to consensual sex. Does that mean all sex between two consenting adults should be criminalized? Will straight people getting their freak on now be in danger of being sent to prison in Santorum’s America? After all, there’s no right “to consensual sexual activity.”
Obviously, this man makes no sense, and he wants to be President? Please!
This man needs to just stop talking and go away.
The Trevor Project is a national organization providing crisis intervention for gay youth. At a time when more and more young Americans are ending their lives in part due to their sexuality, such an organization should be finding supporters from every corner of the country. After all, no child should contemplate ending his or her life even before it has a chance to truly begin. No parent wants that, whether they are pro- or anti-gay supporters.
Apparently, two family groups–The American Family Association and the Florida Family Association–disagree. As reported by ThinkProgress, the AFA and the FFA believe “that the Trevor Project is ‘recruiting teens and children to become gay’ through its suicide prevention hotline.”
Can you believe this?
The Trevor Project’s sole purpose is to provide a lifeline for the youth who are contemplating killing themselves. This organization and its volunteers have no hidden agenda other than preventing needless deaths. They offer a sympathetic ear for troubled teens. They aren’t looking to fulfill some recruitment quota like armed forces recruiters.
Still, the FFA is incensed that an advertisement for The Trevor Project is aired during a Teen Nick program called “Degrassi,” which features a transgendered teen, and they are angry at Target for sponsoring the ad.
Since the show’s focus group are teens, it makes sense for the ad to appear during this slot. The ad doesn’t advocate homosexuality; it offers hope to a struggling teen who might be watching the show and who might be contemplating suicide. And Target shouldn’t be boycotted for this, as the FFA is calling for in its form letter.
Target should be on the receiving end of praise not criticism.
Trying to prevent a child from ending his or her life should be the primary focus here, but once again, hate and ignorance reign supreme.
ThinkProgress reported that in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN Presidential Republican front runner Herman Cain still believes that homosexuality is both a sin and a choice. In fact, during the interview Cain once again reiterated that he has seen no science to disprove his belief, despite the fact that the American Psychological Association says that it is not. They have many studies (AKA science) to back them up.
In fact, “when Morgan pushed him that race and sexual orientation were comparable, Cain explained that race is different because it ‘doesn’t wash off.'”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve taken many showers and not once have I emerged as a heterosexual (even when I tried to force it before coming out). Cain continues to reside quite happily in his ignorance and prejudice and is unwilling to accept the many documented studies by an august medical association, such as the APA. To claim that a section of the American public, whom he wants to govern, can simply change their sexual orientation by showering is preposterous.
Just as taking a shower won’t cleanse Cain of his prejudice, a good scrub won’t make me (or any other gay individual) straight.
Here’s the interview if you want to see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkRWKAdGuk4As mentioned on Unicorn Booty, Rick Santorum, Republican Presidential hopeful, equated his fight against gay marriage to Abraham Lincoln’s stance against slavery.
Apparently incensed by fellow candidate Herman Cain’s refusal to support a national ban on gay marriage, Santorum issued the following response:
I have been a long-time advocate for states’ rights. However, I believe as Abraham Lincoln did – that states don’t have the rights to legalize moral wrongs…Mr. Cain, Congresswoman (Michele) Bachmann and Governor (Rick) Perry all believe 50 different definitions of marriage is fine, I strongly disagree and will continue fighting for traditional marriage between one man and woman.
It appears Santorum has a skewed perception of reality and himself!
Abraham Lincoln refused to let the nation be torn apart by prejudice and hate. Yes, the south wanted to continue slavery, and the slave states fought to keep the right to own human beings as property. Lincoln knew better. Owning another person was just plain wrong. He wouldn’t allow the atrocity to continue, and he wasn’t about to let his country be torn apart by those who thought they knew better.
Santorum is no Abraham Lincoln. His fight against gay marriage doesn’t side him with Lincoln (whose statue would rise from the Lincoln Memorial to squash him like a bug if it could). If Santorum wants to make comparisons to the issues that helped bring about Civil War in America, then his stance would align him with the slave states, not with Lincoln!
Like the slave states of Lincoln’s time, Santorum (and others like him) wish to continue to deprive a segment of the American population of their civil rights. Like the slave states, Santorum sanctions the creation of second class citizens. Like the slave states viewed Africans brought to this country against their will, Santorum views homosexuals as unclean and immoral.
And, since history has a way of repeating itself, like the slave states, Santorum will fall!
Apparently, not only does Sally Kern think gays are a bigger threat than terrorists (as I posted about awhile back), but she (and her husband) are afraid that the gays are coming to get her!
In an interview on a conservative news radio program, as reported by The Advocate, Kern stated that “’fear gripped my whole body’ when she realized she was receiving angry emails from gay people after a video of her remarks about gays and terrorists was posted online in March 2008.”
This woman needs to be checked out by a good psychiatrist for paranoid schizophrenia.
Homosexuals aren’t the ones committing the hate crimes. If she reads or watches the news, she should know that gays are the ones who are killed by people like her. How many times have you heard of a gay man or woman attacking someone and killing them for being straight or spouting hate? Now, count how many times you’ve heard of a straight person killing a homosexual for simply being homosexual.
So, Kern needs to not worry. No one is plotting her doom, not even the Gay Mafia. While they aren’t amused about her speaking ill of homosexuals, they are more displeased by her hairdo. I mean, really? Who thinks various shades of grey that descend into poo-brown highlights is en vogue? Even though she screams for an extreme (and I do mean extreme) makeover, the Gay Mafia hasn’t ordered the hit. Yet.