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An explosive new book accusing the Mormon Church's leading scholar of sexually abusing his daughter has the Church reeling. In "Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith", Dr. Martha Beck claims her father, Dr. Hugh Nibley, professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, molested her when she was a young child.
Additionally, the New York Times reports that Dr. Beck had once written a Mormon "ex-gay" book with her husband, John C. Beck. The two are now divorced and openly gay. Another astonishing blow to the embarrassingly bogus ex-gay myth!
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In a much-needed effort to educate America, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) launched its groundbreaking "Stay Close" advertising campaign, which debuted in New York and Washington. The ads emphasize family values by showing heterosexual celebrities and politicians warmly embracing their gay relatives.
In Sunday's New York Times, we learn that Trinity Broadcasting Network's scandalized founder Paul Crouch is working with big shot PR guru Ronn Torossian to spruce up his badly damaged reputation.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Crouch reached a $425,000 settlement in 1998 with a former male employee and sought to silence him from going public with allegations of a sexual tryst.
Instead of public relations, Torossian should help Crouch appropriately deal his private relations, or at least what he does with his privates. We can only hope Torossian, who refers to himself as a "strategic communications counselor", considers that the best move for his client might be to come out of the closet - provided the unseemly allegations against him are true.
If the role of the PR counselor is to cover-up wrong-doing and construct a new closet for Crouch, he is doing a grave disservice and should instead consider bringing his client to a gay bar, where he might be happier. And Torossian might even get a free drink out of it.
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As I have endlessly and tirelessly pointed out, Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney is a phony who is stumping for president at the expense of his blue state constituents.
While speaking to a rabidly conservative crowd in South Carolina, Romney flat-out lied about his own stance on gay marriage - erroneously claiming that he has opposed civil unions "from day one". According to an article in the Boston Herald, Mendacious Mitt has for months backed a constitutional amendment which would ban same-sex marriage while allowing Vermont-like civil unions.
Mit, if you are going to fib, it is wise not to not do it about something that is part of the public record. Believe it or not, Mitt, they have real reporters and the actual Internet in South Carolina too. You cannot simply change your tune because you travel south of the Mason Dixon.
It seems as though Romney thinks if he strenuously gay bashes, conservatives in South Carolina will miraculously forget he is a Mormon. Having been to many right wing conferences in the South, I can say first hand that Mormons are generally lumped in with homosexuals as "sinners"and his religion is often called a "cult".
It is a damn shame that we live in a society where Romney's religion matters. But if he thinks a Mormon can win over conservatives in South Carolina, he's dreaming. I personally believe a Jew could win South Carolina before a Mormon.
The point is, Mitt is wasting a lot of time pretending to be a right wing Southern Baptist and gay baiting. He would do better to tell the truth, support equality and serve voters in the Bay State, instead of going on junkets to bolster far right support.
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If you have lived long enough, you have probably been betrayed by someone you considered a friend. So, it is easy to empathize with President George W. Bush, who was backstabbed by his "buddy" Doug Wead.
Wead surreptitiously taped private conversations with Bush before his first term. They ended up in the hands of the media right in time for Wead's exciting, new book to hit the shelves.
Bush came across as looking sympathetic, if not somewhat vulnerable and flawed, in those taped conversations. He gets credit for his honorable commitment not to "kick gays" as many on the far right wanted him to do. However, by supporting a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage and calling gay people "sinners", Bush has done more kicking than a soccer team. Nonetheless, he certainly is a step above the Tom DeLay crowd who use gay people as scapegoats. For this, Bush deserves some credit.
As far as the drug issue? I hope the media will give it a rest. I don't really care what he did in the past. The only reason it matters is the hypocrisy of a president who may have used drugs, who then supports harsh sentences for young people who did exactly what he may have done. But the trashy media has missed the policy point, and instead obsessively focuses on whether Bush had fun while he was younger.
Bush comes across as a bad judge of character. Just as Bush mistakenly thought Vladimir Putin was a good man, he said he thought John Ashcroft would be a superb pick for the Supreme Court. Bush has consistently blundered when he has trusted his heart. In the second term, it is time he starts using his head. He can start by severing his ties to Doug Wead, a despicable rat who sold his friend down the river.
As Clinton might say, "Bush, I feel your pain".
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Conservative Internet site Worldnet Dailytoday carped about gay activists' role in the scandal of the pseudo-reporter with the pseudonym, Jim Guckert (aka Jeff Gannon). They also whined about the recent avalanche of outings of leading figures in the supposedly conservative GOP.
Worldnet's Joseph Farah conveniently forgot to mention that bloggers such as Mike Rogers and John Byrne have previously outed major, homophobic GOP leaders, such as Reps. Ed Schrock, R-Va., and David Drier, R-Calif., and these scandals have so-far withstood scrutiny. Why should we doubt their word on other right wing figures? Worldnet Daily certainly failed to give us a reason to doubt the latest outings.
The larger story not mentioned by Worldnet Daily is the elitism of a Washington GOP that secretly embraces well-connected homosexuals, while publicly bashing less-connected gays in the hinterlands. As more GOP leaders get outed, it appears that publicly denouncing gay people is only a cynical political tactic, not a heart-felt belief by many party leaders.
The truth be told, cultural conservatives such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Lou Sheldon and Jerry Falwell are getting used by the GOP for votes and money. While these preachers pray and prey on gay people, their increasingly amoral party leaders - gay and straight - only worship power. They will use gay bashing as a tactic to win. They will also string along conservative leaders, without offering them substance.
It would all be very funny if so many people were not being hurt by an unnecessary cultural war that only benefits those in power.
Meanwhile, Gannon tells Newsweek he is now thinking of suing the bloggers, "liberal interest groups" and others for the "political assassination" that drove him from his White House gig at TalonNews.
Aside from Gannon not understanding free speech, such a trial would be delicious. Put aside the graphic court-graphics of his reported secret Internet lifestyle. Forget the titillating, tawdry tales that might come from such an event, including the bizarre, shadowy, "conservative" characters slithering in and out of the courtroom. The main event would be hauling into court major GOP officials to finally get to the bottom of who sanctioned this circus act to get White House press passes.
For all the bravado from Gannon/Guckert/Whoever the hell he really is - we have yet to hear an honest account of who is responsible for letting him in the White House briefing room. Who is his connection? How do they know each other? Exactly what is their relationship?
Let us hope we get such answers. It would help if conservative media outlets like Worldnet Daily would spend as much time finding answers to such pertinent questions as focusing on gay activists. After all, it is their conservative base that is getting hosed by this administration.
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