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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Ever want to just stick it to your boss? A part-time radio host in Mobile, Alabama did just that... quit her job LIVE on the air after 6 years with the station. During her shift on Saturday, August 12th, Inetta the Mood Setta announced she would be quitting the market-leading WBLX.
Listen to this, it's pretty funny. The "Mood Setta" is my new idol.
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Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews.
This critical group of swing voters -- who are an especially significant factor in many of the most competitive suburban districts on which control of Congress will hinge -- is more inclined to vote Democratic than at any point since Sept. 11, 2001, according to data compiled for The Washington Post by the Pew Research Center. (Washington Post)
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Today's Washington Blade had one of the most irrational op-eds I have ever witnessed. It was an outrageous and incoherent attack on GLBT marriage by Monica Helms, that was more befitting of former Sen. Jesse Helms. The simplistic logic is best displayed with this juvenile gem:
"People can live without marriage, but not without food. How much simpler can it get?"
So, gay people should be without the most basic of rights (that even prisoners on death row have) until every person has a loaf of bread? Interestingly, Helms expects such sacrifice only from GLBT people and does not call on heterosexuals to give up their marriages to the alter of the utopian pipe dream.
I believe this is a symptom of deep self-loathing in the guise of altruism. Some gay people have been beaten down so much and made to feel so unworthy, that they have a difficult time grabbing onto the mantle of equality. Instead, they put themselves at the back of the line and fight for everyone else. "Here, take your loaf of bread," they say, "for I am only worthy of the breadcrumbs."
Helms also engages in demagoguery, accusing GLBT people who want to protect their families though marriage of killing their brothers and sisters.
"While same-sex marriage may take several decades to be fully accepted throughout this country, our people will continue to die everyday because the rich gay Americans focus their efforts elsewhere. A piece of paper called a marriage certificate has become more important than the lives of this community."
This is patently absurd. The single greatest way to save the lives of future generations of GLBT people is to gain access to marriage. This will allow our children to grow up in a society where they are fully equal, leading to a dramatic rise in self-esteem and self-worth - and a drop in depression and suicide. Furthermore, this "piece of paper" is not an empty document and comes with thousands of rights needed to protect families.
Instead of addressing the substance of our ills by eliminating state sanctioned discrimination - Helms and the "Breadcrumb Movement" would rather us perpetually focus on treating the symptoms of this inequality. Sorry, but I make no apologies for my desire to shed centuries of second-class citizenship.
Finally, it was wrong for Helms to take a divisive cheap shot at gay white men over the marriage issue.
"For the most part on the pro-gay marriage side, the debate is being blindly driven by rich, white gay men with the biggest bully pulpits in the GLBT community, along with gay politicians and gay advocacy organizations."
Last time I checked our movement wasn't fighting for "white gay marriage," and that people of all races would be able to share in this freedom. The fight for the freedom to marry is comprised of Americans of all races, ethnicities, religions and creeds. To suggest that this a Caucasian struggle is false and not supported by the facts.
Marriage is as important to GLBT people as it is to any other group in our nation. While the "Breadcrumb Crowd" prefers a "high-minded" surrender of equality - I will continue to fight for fairness. Our movement should work to end all laws where there is a "gay exception." Only by gaining full equality will we end much of the collateral damage that occurs as a result of such dangerous indignities.
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Apparently bored with the big tent of "pro-family" issues, "Porno Pete" LaBarbera is slithering away from the Illinois Family Institute to pursue anti-gay activism full time. There is speculation that he got canned, because under his leadership Illinois saw the largest expansion of gay rights since ancient Greece.
LaBarbera's return to full-time anti-gay activism is a wonderful event. He is a virtual farm team for creating ex-ex-gay spokspeople and failed ex-gay leaders, as the man behind John Paulk, Wade Richards and Michael Johnston.
"I can only wonder what former ex-gay spokesperson LaBarbera will bring me next," said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen.
I will be on KABC-AM Los Angeles' Al Rantel Show this evening at 8pm Pacific Time. I will be debating some kooky reverend about the Don't Ask/Don't Tell Policy.
I have long endorsed the political strategy of supporting both GLBT friendly Democrats and Republicans. For pragmatic reasons, it made sense not to put all of our eggs in one basket. However, that was before the GOP leadership was hijacked by right wing basket cases. Sadly, I think it is time for the GLBT movement to reassess the political landscape and consider saying goodbye to bipartisanship.
The defenders of the status quo will claim that loyalty is an important commodity in politics and this is why we must continue to back friendly Republicans. How can we abandon those who voted with us, they ask?
This circular reasoning reminds me of the "cut and run" argument for keeping our troops in Iraq. In essence, we should continue to adhere to a failed plan and bleed because we have promised loyalty to a situation that might not be salvageable. And, in my estimation, the Republican Party's hostility towards gay people is not something that can easily be fixed. The entire party will have to collapse and remake itself into an entity that does not exploit fear and prejudice before GLBT people can return.
While most Republicans are not anti-gay, the party is still the undeniable home for most haters and homophobes. Whether it is placing anti-marriage measures on the ballot, the Southern Strategy that fanned the flames of racial dissension or igniting fear of immigrants, the GOP has long pandered to bigots and theocrats and still considers them important constituencies. Fear is the commodity in which the Republican Party profits and until they are soundly crushed, they will win elections on the backs of GLBT families.
For those that say we must be loyal to supportive Republicans, I must question how loyal these officials are to us. These "friendly" candidates get our checks as we put out our necks for their reelection. Our reward for such allegiance is the continued reign of Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate majority Leader Bill Frist. I'm no salesman, but this doesn't sound like a good deal.
Republican members of Congress in Blue states ought to be strongly urged to become Democrats or at least Independents if they want the support of GLBT organizations. Environmental and Pro-Choice groups ought to take the same principled stand, unless they think oil executives setting our energy policy and the ascension of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court have helped their respective causes.
I want to be clear that I still feel that bipartisanship is the best long-term plan. There is no substitute for broad based support that ensures less volatility with each election cycle. However, such a cross-aisle coalition is a fantasy until the GOP becomes a mainstream party that does not prosper by sowing the sulfur seeds of division. When Republicans finally leave the thrall of Neo Puritan preachers, the GLBT community can again responsibly resume bipartisanship.
Moderate Republicans have more to gain than anyone by temporarily abandoning the GOP. The quicker the Pat Robertson/James Dobson crowd is expunged and sent back into the woodwork, the sooner moderates can step-in to reclaim their party.
Indeed, the old saw for bipartisanship was that the crusty old fashioned Congressional members of the GOP just needed to meet gay people and be educated on our issues. Once this occurred, they would abandon their hostility and vote for equality.
Well, guess what? Gay people have been visible now for more than thirty years. These conservatives have had ample opportunity to meet and greet gay lobbyists in their Capitol Hill offices. Yes, they have seen us in our finely tailored suits and geeky bow ties, yet they still cynically tie us to a radical agenda. This can no longer be excused as ignorance, nor explained as anything but malice.
The enlightenment our community had banked on did not occur. The only epiphany GOP leaders had upon hearing our heartfelt personal stories was that they could win elections by demonizing us. They care not how many families are destroyed or how many gay youth commit suicide because of their dehumanizing rhetoric.
Bipartisanship looks good on paper, but the disastrous consequences that have come from this strategy cannot be papered over. If we help give Republicans a slim majority by endorsing and helping to reelect our so-called friends, the reception to our agenda on Capitol Hill will continue to be quite unfriendly.
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The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have joined together to circulate a petition to protect the First Amendment. I urge my readers to sign it:
"The founders of our nation believed that all Americans should have the right to worship according to their own beliefs, or not to worship at all. So strong was their commitment to religious freedom that they enshrined it in the first sentence of the Bill of Rights.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
This constitutional guarantee is often known as the "first freedom."
Religion is a deeply personal matter. Americans must be free to practice their religion without coercion. Government exists to provide for the general well-being of all people, and its workings must be independent of specific religious doctrines. Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state.
If we do not stand together as a nation, we stand to lose this fundamental freedom.
Focus on the Family is feeling the repercussions from morphing into a narrow, special interest hate group. There used to be a time when they actually tried to help real families. These days, however, James Dobson is fixated on abortion and gay people, at the expense of many other important issues.
As a result,The Atlanta Braves told his group to take a hike during "Faith Day" at the ballpark. Focus was banned after sponsoring the first such event at Turner Field last month. Dobson's simplistic, wrathful, vigilante version of God is offensive and would have alienated many people at the game. This was a smart move by the Braves.
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New York Times columnist David Brooks had an interesting column that discussed how certain cultures lead to corruption. According to his column:
"Between 1997 and 2002, the U.N. Mission of Kuwait picked up 246 parking violations per diplomat. Diplomats from Egypt, Chad, Sudan Mozambique, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Syria also committed huge numbers of violations. Meanwhile, not a single parking violation by a Swedish diplomat was recorded. Nor were there any by diplomats from Denmark, Japan, Israel, Norway or Canada."
Notice the countries that have the most parking violations also violate human rights - especially those of gay people. Just like with parking tickets, the success of nations can be determined by the way gay citizens are treated. For those that say the acceptance of homosexuality brings down civilizations, all evidence indicates that the opposite is true.
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