Saturday, August 11, 2007
An Arlington congregation, High Point Church, volunteered to host a funeral Thursday, then
reneged on the invitation when it became clear the dead soldiers homosexuality would be identified in the service.
High Point is a nondenominational mega-congregation led by the Rev. Gary Simons.Let's be clear, this is not a "church" but a hate house bereft of morals, integrity, decency or respect for the US military or regard for the victim's family. Basically, they maliciously kicked his family in the scrotum at a low point in their lives. They spit on his grave in the name of Jesus, of all people.
The pastor said that he could imagine a similar situation involving a different sin. Perhaps a mother who is a member of the church loses a son who is a thief or murderer, Mr. Simons said. The church would surely volunteer to hold a service, he said.
"But I don't think the mother would submit photos of her son murdering someone," he said. "That's a red light going off."
Any person who would still attend this heinous church is a despicable human being and spiritually corrupted. What a bunch of sad, sick extremist individuals. What a batch of lowlife, vomit-worthy,
back-stabbing, heartless freaks. Have I made my opinion known?
Mr. Sinclair, 46, died Monday. He was a native of Fort Worth, a Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm helping rescuers find downed pilots, and a singer in the Turtle Creek Chorale, said his mother, Eva Bowers.
He and his family were good people who clearly deserved better. But, the most laughable part of this whole drama is that after the pastor complicated and humiliated life for a suffering family in need, he pretended to be loving."Some of our people will be there at the memorial service," Mr. Simons said. "We tried to do the very best of our ability to express the love of Christ."
Has there ever been a group of people in world history who have so bastardized the word "love"? Has there ever been such a gaggle of transparent phonies?
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Friday, August 10, 2007
Gov. Bill Richardson Forced To Clarify Issue Today After Troubling Answer
NEW YORK - Truth Wins Out praised rock star Melissa Etheridge today for asking former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson during last night's Human Rights Campaign presidential forum on Logo Television whether he thought homosexuality was a choice. The organization was gratified that this crucial issue was addressed, but was disappointed with Richardson's answer.
"Richardson stumbled and bumbled his way through what should have been a no-brainer," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. "While we praise his record as governor, Richardson needs to lift his game if he wants to become president. On this key question, he really missed a key opportunity to impress the GLBT Community."
Etheridge, who sat on a distinguished panel of questioners, asked the governor whether he considered homosexuality "innate" or a choice.
"It's a choice," he replied, to audible groans in the live audience.
Figuring that Richardson had misheard her query, Etheridge rephrased her question, asking if 'a homosexual is born that way, or do you think that around seventh grade, we go, 'Ooo, I want to be gay.'"
Richardson seemed oddly perplexed.
"It's, it's, it, you know, I don't see this as an issue of science or definition," he said. "I see gays and lesbians as people, as a matter of human decency. I see it as a matter of love and companionship and people loving each other. You know, I don't like to categorize people. I don't like to answer definitions like that, that you know perhaps are grounded in science or something else that I don't understand."
Today, Richardson's campaign issued a much-appreciated clarifying statement.
"Let me be clear -- I do not believe that sexual orientation or gender identity happen by choice," Richardson said in the statement printed by the Voice. "But I'm not a scientist and the point I was trying to make is that no matter how it happens, we are all equal and should be treated that way under the law."
This question is critical because right wing organizations have spent millions of dollars to trick Americans into believing that homosexuality is a casual lifestyle choice or a dysfunction that can be treated through prayer and therapy. The reason they have taken such an interest in this issue is because poll after poll shows that when people believe that homosexuality is inborn, a dramatic and undeniable shift towards full acceptance occurs.
** A November 2004 Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates poll shows that 79 percent of people who think homosexuality is inborn support civil unions or marriage equality. Among those who believe sexual orientation is a choice, only 22 percent support civil unions or marriage rights.
** In a May 2000 Associated Press poll, 59 percent of people who believe gays are born with a homosexual orientation support same-sex marriage, while 69 percent of people who believe gays choose their sexual orientation are opposed to these marriages.
** A May 2007 Gallup Poll showed that 42 percent of Americans say homosexuality is inborn, compared with 13 percent in 1977. This seismic shift is a key reason support for gay rights legislation has increased in recent years.
Additionally, Truth Wins Out praised the Human Rights Campaign for hosting the monumental gathering and making sure GLBT concerns play a role in the presidential selection process.
"The gay community should be proud of this historic debate," said Besen. "We expect our Washington lobby groups to exert influence and the Human Rights Campaign's Executive Director Joe Solmonese has delivered and created a terrific way to gauge the candidates stances' on gay and lesbian issues. It is a great day to be a gay American."
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
To read "Gay Shame Parade" Onion parody CLICK HERE
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The Young Republican National Federation quickly scrubbed any mention of their recently elected leader
Glenn Murphy from their websites, according to DailyKos, after several Indiana websites broke the news that Murphy, a "rising star" in the Indiana GOP and the leader of the Clark County Republicans, had stepped down after police charged him with, a class B felony, for sexually assaulting another man following a Young Republicans party.
Apparently, Murphy went down of a fellow young Republican while the unsuspecting fellatio victim was sleeping in a drunken stupor. If the charges are true, it is just one more reason why conservative Republicans literally suck.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
(Weekly Column) This week, the Democratic presidential aspirants will appear at a gay forum in Los Angeles sponsored by The Human Rights Campaign and broadcast on Logo television. While I am interested in where the candidates stand on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, what I really want is an ENDA-this-campaign.
Iraqi Parliament members have taken heat this month for vacationing to escape the Baghdad heat. However, after watching the tedious, never ending presidential race in America, I think they might be on to something. Our presidential candidates could desperately use a vacation as much as we need an extended holiday from them. Even a political junkie, like myself, is afraid of an overdose.
I propose we declare August, "National Freedom From Politicians Month," and carve out a forced respite. With a little R&R, maybe the campaigners can remember that their spouses and children are people, not props, to be trotted on-stage for photo ops.
Don't get me wrong, we should be engaged on the issues. But, this sure feels like a marriage with all the candidates sharing only one position: In my face. Election season has become a soap opera, and the candidates dominate the Days of Our Lives. Indeed, this week several candidates announced they will be on The Daily Show, but it is hard to get excited when I have to see these campaigners daily.
Let's step away from my political pouting momentarily to applaud the Human Rights Campaign for arranging this historic debate. The gay community should be proud that we have enough clout to make the candidates, of at least one party, walk on eggshells for two hours. We expect our Washington lobby groups to exert influence and HRC's Executive Director Joe Solmonese has created a terrific way to gauge the candidates stances' on gay and lesbian issues. At the very least, we can watch otherwise articulate contenders squirm and stammer like George W. Bush while they claim they are for equality, while opposing equal marriage rights.
Whatever the Democrats' shortcomings, at least they agreed to appear in front of a gay audience. Thanks to the right wing's histrionic overreaction to the marriage issue, everything short of the M-word now seems like a moderate position, including the once third-rail of Civil Unions.
America's recent tolerance of gay people and relative support for basic rights - such as the right to hold a job - make Republican fears of addressing gay issues head on seem out of touch. Likewise, the aversion of many GOP candidates to a YouTube debate makes them appear stodgy and retro. Even Bob Dole's flaccid campaign seemed spry next to the current crop of crackers.
I am going to go out on a limb and make the early prediction that a Democrat will win the presidency unless the Republicans miraculously change the Constitution so Arnold Schwarzenegger can run. (Yes, he would win because the terrorism card still has power, and too many "Security Moms" would feel "safe" having the Terminator as president.)
While the YouTube debacle and the rejection of all things gay seems small, they are symbolic of an ossified Republican field that is change averse. And, after eight years of Bush, Americans desperately want a fresh start. Yet, Republicans seem tone deaf and don't quite understand that voters are suffering war fatigue, while the GOP candidates are debating how to call up more soldiers in combat fatigues. This is a sure way to commit political suicide, as things will never stabilize in Iraq in time for the elections.
Yes, the candidates are beginning to work my nerves, as they work the rope line, yet one more time. If I am exhausted watching this rat race I can only imagine how taxing this must be on the actual candidates. It is time the parties cut a deal to give the candidates a break, so they can give us a break from watching them. Heck, even the never-ending sport of baseball has a season where the players actually go home.
While Inauguration Day will feel more like Graduation Day, where it is time for the supposedly "new," yet tired, president to be moving on, at least a Democrat will be likely be moving into the White House.
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(PFOX Therapy, Left)FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Capitulation Wrongly and Recklessly Puts The Health of GLBT Students At Risk, Says TWO WASHINGTON - Truth Wins Out today called a
lawsuit settlement between Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and Arlington County, Virginia schools a capitulation that puts the health and well being of students at risk. The agreement allows
PFOX to hand out pseudoscientific fliers at middle schools that will urge students to visit a website that refers them to a troubled counselor who was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association.
"Arlington County failed in its responsibility to protect students and ensure that they are not harmed by disreputable therapists or dangerous practices," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "The content provided by PFOX is medically reckless and morally reprehensible and no school system should have a hand in its distribution."
Truth Wins Out contends that by focusing on the phony question of equal access, Arlington County missed an opportunity to win this case by pointing out that PFOX is a discredited group that is driven by Richard Cohen, a bizarre therapist who was permanently expelled by the American Counseling Association. Cohen's peculiar brand of therapy includes banging a tennis racket while yelling a parent's name, caressing clients who sit on his lap and blaming the angry spirits of dead relatives for causing homosexuality.
"It is clear that if the methods practiced by Cohen had been made central to this legal battle, PFOX would have been railroaded out of court," said Besen. "Even conservatives would have recoiled when they saw Cohen's methods as displayed on national television. Arlington County could have made a strong case that they have a duty to protect vulnerable children from the predatory therapies promoted by PFOX."
Cohen displayed some of his bizarre "therapy" earlier this year on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN Now with Paula Zahn and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. After his appearance on The Daily Show in March, right wing groups distanced themselves from Cohen, including PFOX. However, a Truth Wins Out investigation revealed that Cohen is still a primary PFOX referral.
Every
major medical and mental health organization also warns that attempts to change sexual orientation may be counterproductive and even dangerous. In a 1998 position statement, the American Psychiatric Association said,"potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient."
"It is astounding that Arlington County would allow children to take home fliers that promote a therapy that the leading experts have warned may cause 'depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior,'" said Besen. "Equal access does not apply to ex-gay therapy any more than it applies to other harmful vices such as the promotion of drinking or smoking. It is like saying if you allow fliers for orange juice, that Jack Daniels must hand out information as a matter of fairness. This is patently absurd and Arlington County ought to be ashamed for not defending its right to shield students from this clear and present danger."
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
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Monday, August 06, 2007
The Pentagon has
lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.
I know I have misplaced a cellphone and lose about three umbrellas a year - so I am not one to point the finger. But, this does seem a bit irresponsible, especially because these loose weapons can kill quite a few American soldiers.
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