Apr 20
2007
Punted| Category: Ex-Gay Issues, Exodus International, Fundies, Hate Crime Laws, Lies |
This week according to Baptist Press, professional “ex-gay”-for-pay Alan Chambers and about 50 “others” from Exodus International visited and met with members of the House and Senate to express their opposition of adding “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the existing hate crimes legislation as well as giving the FBI the tools to assist local law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting offenders of all bias related crimes.
“[R]eally what we’re saying is this legislation is unfair, because it means that I was more valuable as a homosexual than I am today as a former homosexual,” Chambers told reporters before he began visiting on Capitol Hill April 17. “You know, this law would give special protection to those who are gay and lesbian, yet it doesn’t give any protection to those who are children. That’s saying that a gay man is more valuable than a child, is more valuable than a grandmother, is more valuable than the majority of Americans. That’s just not fair.”
The bill is “primarily being pushed by those in the homosexual activist community, really as a reinforcement that homosexuality is valid, that they need protection, and that’s just not the case,” said Chambers, who left homosexuality 15 years ago and has been married for more than nine years. “[Homosexuals are] protected as much as I am protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The first and most important part, is that Alan Chambers, “formerly” gay himself, asserts that we are invalid! What? I’m not valid? As I live, breath, love, read, work, pay taxes, I can assure you that I and countless other people in America and throughout the planet are very valid and very real. The fact that most “pro-family” organizations put scare quotes around the word gay and homosexual as though we do not exist is very telling, but to outright say it is well that’s just what we want. Yes, we want Exodus International, and all of the other right wing organizations to relegate themselves into obscurity by showing just how truly hateful they are.
Secondly, Alan, who obviously “left” the homosexual “lifestyle” because he was tired of being a second class citizen, has now said that he thinks it’s unfair for him because it will somehow make him less valuable now than if he had “stayed” a homosexual. Newsflash for Alan, the legislation will make our lives equally valuable to his currently superior RELIGIOUS protection. Children and the elderly already enjoy a higher degree of protection than the rest of us! How do I know? Watch the news. How many stories a day are about children and how they’re treated? How many stories are there about the elderly and how they’re treated? Society will always hold special protection for children and the elderly because THEY ARE THE DEFENSELESS or as Christ would call them “the meak.”
A few questions for Alan. Is your life somehow less valuable to a black person because you are not a racial minority? Oh wait, ALL racial qualities are protected from race related hate crimes. Is your life somehow less valuable because you were born American and not in a foreign country? Nope, because national origin also includes the United States from origin related crimes based in bias. Are you somehow less valuable as a Christian than as a Jew, or a Muslim? Nope, because Religion is also a protected class. So what you’re really saying is that you would oppose all hate crimes legislation if and only if “sexual orientation and gender identity” were added as a protected class. Until this bill passes and is signed into law, the lives of gays and lesbians will continue to be worth less than that of heterosexuals.
Alan Chambers, don’t be afraid to say what you really mean. We already know it, but say it for all of those that don’t.
h/t to Reality Cubed
Apr 09
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Cross-Posted, Ex-Gay Issues, Exodus International, Hate Speech, Peter LaBarbera, Uncategorized |
Daniel Gonzales wrote a great video piece on the “Day of Truth”. It has been release by “Truth Wins Out“. Dan examines the lies and misinformation behind the “Day of Truth” and shows you how their is sadly, little truth in the day of truth or the anti-gay industry behind it!
Apr 03
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Ex-Gay Issues, Hate Speech, Peter LaBarbera, Stephen Bennett |
A coalition of anti-gay advocates led by Stephen Bennett, have banded together to urge parents to pull their kids from school on April 18th as a protest of the protest, a “Day of Silence“. I have been pondering this protest of the protest and think it is great! Good for them and good for the protest.
Here are the reasons why:
To start with the only kids left in the schools will be kids who are silent. I suspect, the numbers of kids who will stay home won’t be that big since the youth of today are far more accepting of gays, according to national surveys. The show of solidarity will be a very supportive thing for gay youth to see. The show of silence from more kids will send a stronger message to school officials of the problem at hand. (Read the latest reports on kids being bullied for their perceived sexual orientation, also read what mental health advocates say about the damage that does to youth)
Gay youth will see who their friends are and so will everyone else. Much like the Children’s March of 1963, the world will be watching this one. For one of the first times, many will see who supports violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians and who doesn’t. The community will see the number that support the violence, discrimination the gay youth face is smaller than those who are opposed to the violence. The Day of Silence is a protest for those who can no longer speak since their voices have been silenced by violence. Without the kids who will not participate the percent of kids who will participate will be greater. Rather than 20% of the kids present taking part in the protest 80% will be. This sends a clear message to administrators that lots of kids support the day of silence since the only kids they see will be silent ones.
The best way to be silent, is to not be there at all. So even though the intention is to not participate in the Day of Silence, these kids pulled from school are participating. The absence is their silence whether they know it or not. I guess I should send Stephen Bennett a thank you note for making the Day of Silence more successful by taking the problems out of it, the bullies.
Day of silence is about kids being bullied by other kids who misunderstand, have been mis-educated by their parents and have misguided by their churches. If you are curious who is bullying the gay youth, it will be the absent youth on April 18th. Remember that hate is not born into people. Hate is taught to children by their parents. This action will help identify those kids who are being taught to hate by their parents. At least teachers will finally know who to watch out for!
Again I reminded myself that all tyranny falls. Even Stephen Bennett, one day I feel assured people will look back at him and say what they do about George Wallace or Senator Theodore Bilbo now.
Mar 26
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Cross-Posted, Ex-Gay Issues, Hate Speech, Lies, Stephen Bennett, Uncategorized |
Cross posted from “Replace the Lies With Truth“
I often see anti-gay advocates make tragedies even more tragic when they turn them into hate speech against gays. Ex-gay minister, Stephen Bennett is very good at this. In his latest blog post, he carefully, and skillfully chooses words that try to link homosexuality to child molestation. What is tragic for all of us is the misinformation puts more kids at risk. What is tragic is that this type of distortion perpetuates the myth that gay men are more often child molesters than straight men. It is nothing more than taking a sad and tragic event and making it even more tragic by using it as hate speech.
Stephen Bennett writes on his site:
“Read the story and weep. Weep for the young, innocent little boy whose life was taken in the most heinous of ways, because of two demented and evil homosexuals, a father and son, and a perverted wife and mother. The two homosexual men took turns brutally molesting and sodomizing the child before choking the little boy to death.”
The distortion us subtle, but it is there. Stephen is turning the focus of this tragic story to something that doesn’t even exist in the story. There is no evidence these men were homosexual, in fact the evidence points to them being heterosexual. This older man did not identify as a homosexual man. He was married to the women in this story. It is also not clear from this story if the younger man identified as homosexual. Stephen is calling them “homosexual” men because it fits with his distortion that gay men molest at a higher rate. The distortion gets worse when we realize that when a man molests a little girl, Stephen does not refer to them as heterosexual molesters. Men who are attracted to children are just that, attracted to children. Studies show that those who are attracted to children tend not to care as much about the gender of the child but the availability of the child. It all comes down to the language.
Dr. Gregory Herek explains:
“Another problem related to terminology arises because sexual abuse of male children by adult men2 is often referred to as “homosexual molestation.” The adjective “homosexual” (or “heterosexual” when a man abuses a female child) refers to the victim’s gender in relation to that of the perpetrator. Unfortunately, people sometimes mistakenly interpret it as referring to the perpetrator’s sexual orientation.”
Stephen Bennett continues this distortion by changing the wording in the Fox News Story. Again, the changes are subtle but just enough for the reader to make a false link to homosexuality and child molestation.
The original wording of the story said:
The indictment charges all three family members with murder and child molestation in the slaying of Christopher, whose body was found March 15 inside a trash bag dumped by a roadside.
Stephen changed the wording to read:
The indictment charges all three family members with murder and homosexual child molestation in the slaying of Christopher, whose body was found March 15 inside a trash bag dumped by a roadside.
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Jan 28
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Americans for "Truth", Ex-Gay Issues, Exodus International, Hate Crime Laws, Janet Folger, Lies, Peter LaBarbera, Sonja Dalton, Uncategorized |
Reposted from “Replace the Lies with Truth“, my daily blog.
While bullying and violence continue to be a problem in this country for all youth, anti-gay forces have done zilch to solve this problem. 365gay.com is reporting today that two states, Florida and Iowa have anti-bullying laws on the table that are moving forward with protections for students perceived to be gay or lesbian. It doesn’t really matter if the students are or are not gay, it is about how people perceive them. Just so the anti-gay forces don’t try to claim this is a special rights thing, it covers all students, even if those students claim the ex-gay identity.
A father whose son was badly beaten in school by other students told the school board:
“For 22 minutes of my life I had to sit there and watch that clock tick by, and I had to contemplate I was going to have to go home and tell my wife we didn’t have a son no more”
It is proven by the science, over and over again that kids are bullied based on sexual orientation. Many of these kids are not even gay, but seen as gay by their peers. Anti-bullying laws would send a message that this violent behavior towards fellow students is wrong, yet anti-gay groups are against any form of anti-violence, anti-hate crime, or other that would reduce, stop or prevent violence against GLBT students, and even adults.
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Jan 23
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Ex-Gay Issues, Uncategorized |
I can’t say I think this is real, but I am going to email this guy and find out.
Pam at the Blend and Box Turtle Bulletin are reporting on this “maybe” real or maybe satire group. I am not sure what my thoughts are other than curious. Remember the phrase from my friend Janice…..GET CURIOUS, NOT FURIOUS!
This guys website is just too campy to be real, but I am working on the truth….will update you all later……watch the video, it is disturbing if is for real and insensitive to ex-gays if it is not.
Jan 16
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Ex-Gay Issues, Exodus International, Hate Crime Laws, Uncategorized |
(This was cross posted at Replace the Lies With Truth)
Again in the news, today, Exodus International sent out a press release to invoke more fear in Christians about gay and lesbians folks. The email urges people to fight Hate Crime Legislation.
The email starts right off by saying:
“Today, as the nation celebrates Religious Freedom Day, Exodus International, the world’s largest ministry to those desiring freedom from unwanted homosexuality, joins pro-family groups around the nation in urging Congress to stop a hate crimes bill that would penalize those with faith-based beliefs about homosexuality.”
There is no language in the proposed legislation that limits free speech or religious freedom, so right off the top, Exodus is lying to you to invoke fear against GLBT folks. This is shameful on the part of Exodus. No law can be passed that will limit religious expression or free speech as long as we have the Constitution.
We have had hate crime enhancements federally for years covering race, gender, age, religion, disability and nationality. It has not stopped anti-semitic websites or KKK rallies from thriving. It has not stopped white supremacist groups from marching, spewing hate speech, protesting, testifying on legislation or holding anti-black, anti-semitic demonstrations. Exactly how will adding gays limit religious freedom if adding religion or race did nothing to stop this stuff? Hate Crime Laws didn’t stop these cute little blonde haired, blue eyed twins from singing “White Power” music, so how will hate crime laws stop anyone from preaching against gays? It won’t because Exodus is lying to invoke their own brand of hate dressed in cute clothes and holy looks. They are outwardly trying to invoke fear in others about gays. GUESS WHAT, that is protected by the constitution too! It is not protected by the court of public opinion.
The press release continues (emphasis mine):
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