Wednesday, December 16, 2009

'Porno Petey' writes a dirty headline and other Wednesday evening news briefs

Due to my having to address Peter LaBarbera's absolutely hilarious "calling out," I had to push back today's news briefs until now:

New York gov extends protections to transgender New Yorkers - Good news out of New York. NOM will just plotz!

NC: largest county - Mecklenburg - approves domestic partner benefits for workers
- Don't celebrate just yet. In the middle of the hearing regarding the vote, not only did the opposition try to push a phony report, but a commissioner said something nasty to another commissioner regarding her deceased son who died of AIDS. Par the course.

Liberty Counsel May Lead Pullout of CPAC if Homosexual Group GOProud Remains as Co-Sponsor - I rarely link to LaBarbera during my news briefs but the story not only shows the singleminded nastiness of folks on his side, but the headline is hilarious. What can one expect from Porno Petey?

Updated: Christian registrar Lillian Ladele loses appeal
- Do the job you were paid to do or quit. It's that simple.

Oklahoma City school board passes protection for gay pupils - Good news from the land of Sally Kern.


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Uh oh! Peter LaBarbera and Americans for Truth tries to call out my blog

Mark your calendars because it has finally happened!

Peter LaBarbera actually mentioned me by name in one of his silly anti-lgbt hit pieces. The piece is about Fox News's article on the smears against Kevin Jennings. Apparently LaBarbera didn't like my comments in it:

The fact that Fox reporter Maxim Lott had to go to homosexual activist Alvin McEwen of “Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters” blog — definitely a B-teamer among homosexual activists — is perhaps an indication of Jennings’ declining position. (McEwen is obsessed with bashing AFTAH — he smears us as the equivalent of racists — and he even denies the obvious connection between homosexual behavior and HIV, even as other homosexual militants admit, “HIV is a gay disease.”)

Well I'm honored that he calls me a "B-teamer" because I've never thought of myself as being so high. I'm just a young black gay male from the South with a part-time blog in which I try to expose lies of the religious right.

And Lord knows there are so many of them (and if you want to read about some really bad religious right distortions, check out the Best of links located on the right side of my blog).

I find it ironic that LaBarbera calls attention to my supposed ranking seeing that he is sinking down the religious right food chain faster than the Lusitania after it was hit by the torpedo.

Honestly speaking, if the Southern Poverty Law Center ever labeled LaBarbera's organization (Americans for Truth) as a hate group, it would be an act of charity.

But to answer LaBarbera's charges, I do think of AFTAH and him the same way one would think of racists mostly because of LaBarbera's attempt to smear the lgbt community in general.

Look at what he has written:

(McEwen is obsessed with bashing AFTAH — he smears us as the equivalent of racists — and he even denies the obvious connection between homosexual behavior and HIV, even as other homosexual militants admit, “HIV is a gay disease.”)

LaBarbera's claim about me denying the obvious connection between homosexual behavior and HIV, even as other homosexual militants admit, “HIV is a gay disease" stems from an email argument I had with him regarding a speech he and other religious right members exploited.

Last year, former Gay and Lesbian Task Force head Matt Foreman gave a speech in which he called HIV/AIDS a "gay disease."

However, what Foreman was doing was challenging the lgbt community to do more to fight the spread of the disease, much like noted African-Americans Phil Wilson and Julian Bond challenged the black community to do when they called "HIV/AIDS" "a black disease."

My post on that is here.

I was making the point that LaBarbera and others who used Foreman's words to stigmatize the lgbt community are no different than racists who would use Wilson and Bond's words to smear the black community.

And I want to make it clear that any problem I have with Americans For Truth has nothing to do with the religious beliefs of its founder (i.e. LaBarbera).

My problem lies with LaBarbera's need to rely on stigmatization, junk science (much like this piece in which LaBarbera actually defends the work of the discredited researcher Paul Cameron), and the exploitation of current events to make the lgbt community seem like the bad guy.

Or in other words,  my problem lies with the fact that LaBarbera is a liar. He relies on fear and distortions to make life harder for lgbts (myself included). And then he wraps himself up in the piety of Christian virtue, as if claiming that he is wearing a halo should obsure the fact that he actually has horns and is wielding a pitchfork.

And then he wants to be paid for it via "donations."

He labels what I write about him to be an "obsession," but I call it looking out for my interests and also for the interests of my lgbt brothers and sisters who either are not aware of what's going on or don't have the platform to let everyone know what's going on regarding LaBarbera and the rest of the so-called religious right.

I may be a "B-teamer," but at least I have never had to lie or rely on bad studies to defend myself, the lgbt community, or my personal religious beliefs.

Now I could go on about why LaBarbera has the nickname of "Porno Petey" in the lgbt community but I would rather leave you with an online discussion that I had with him.

It speaks for itself regarding his mindset Notice how LaBarbera sidesteps when asked point blank about negative religious right tactics AND their use of junk science::

Nice try Peter LaBarbera, but you are no hero

Seriously though, seeing who LaBarbera has attacked in the past (i.e. Jeremy Hooper from Goodasyou.org Wayne Besen, Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, and so many others) I am honored to be in such company of such "radical gay activists."


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Lgbts catching hell in Rwanda

Things are ugly in Uganda and look awful in South Africa for lgbts.

According to Box Turtle Bulletin, it's not exactly cool in Rwanda:

BTB has just learned that the Rwandan Parliament is scheduled to take up consideration of a change to Rwanda’s penal code which would criminalize homosexuality with a punishment of five to ten years. It would also ban counselling and advocacy that could be interpreted as “encouraging or sensitizing” people to enter into same-sex relationships.

The problematic section in the penal code is article 217 which states that:

Any person who practices, encourages or sensitizes people of the same sex, to sexual relation or any sexual practice, shall be liable for a term of imprisonment ranging from five (5) to ten (10) years and fine ranging from Two Hundred thousand Rwanda Francs (200.000 RwF) to one million (1,000,000)Rwanda francs.”

The fines range from US$350 to US$1750. The average annual income is just US$370.

One key phrase of the proposed penal code, “encourages or sensitizes,” would have the effect of criminalizing advocacy on behalf of LGBT people. It would also severely impact the ability to deliver health services to LGBT people.

The Horizon Community Association of Rwanda (HOCA) and the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) have denounced the bill (PDF: 56KB/3 pages), saying that Rwandan citizens still experience gross violations of human rights. “Our country and our people refuse to recognize the fact that we exist,” said Naomi Ruzindana, President of HOCA.

We need to start thinking of lgbt equality as more of a global issue. Whether or not we get full rights and privileges that we deserve in this country, let's not forget about our lgbt brothers and sisters catching hell around the world.



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