Apr 27
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Hate Crime Laws, Hate Speech, Lies |
Cross posted at Replace the Lies With Truth
A man named, Aaron Hall (pictured) was found beaten and murdered and his body found wrapped in a tarp in his garage. The victim had been kicked with a pair of boot over 75 times. Hall was killed, admittedly by the assailants, because they thought he was gay. In reality, he was not.
The report from WTHR in Indianapolis says:
Police say on April 12th, Hall and the three suspects were drinking at Gray’s house. The suspects told police Hall grabbed Coleman King and questioned his sexuality. That set off the deadly beating.
“And they’re saying that’s why they killed him. Because he was gay. And he wasn’t gay,” said Thomas Hall. “I don’t know any crime on the planet that deserves that type of punishment.”
Court papers show Gray and King brutally attacked, then photographed Hall. King hit him with his boots at least 75 times. The suspects told police they dragged Hall down the steps, loaded him into Robert Hendricks’ truck, and dumped his body in a ditch. They say they went back two days later, and found Hall in a nearby field. That’s when they tell police they wrapped the body in a tarp and hid it in Gray’s garage.
To be beaten and kicked 75 times just because someone thinks you are gay is horrible. What a terrifying way to die. Studies indicate that hate crimes tend to be far more violent and brutal than non-biased crimes. That is certainly why we need punishments that fit the crime. Current sentencing guidelines are just not enough to speak to the brutality of hate crimes.
Here is some FACTS, not FICTION about hate crimes:
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Apr 15
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: American Family Association, Americans for "Truth", Cross-Posted, Exodus International, Family Research Council, Hate Speech, Lies, Peter LaBarbera |
Crossed posted at Replace the Lies with Truth
A 1933 article published in a German magazine made one of the first calls for the extermination of the Jews. It should have been the first sign for people to be wary of the Nazi’s and what immoral things they were planning. Sadly, we know that over 6 million Jews, Homosexuals, Gypsies and others were in fact exterminated. The last part of the 1933 article states:
The Jewish people is the people of the Devil. It is a people of criminals and murderers. The Jewish people must be exterminated from the face of the earth.
Now here were are in the year 2007 making the same mistakes all over again. Anti-gay activists including Peter La Barbera, Exodus International, the American Family Association, and many others are touting the work of anti-gay propagandist, Paul Cameron. While I think it is great that pro-gay writers like Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin and RTLWT writer Kevin Kaatz have exposed the most recent study by Dr. Cameron for all its lies, flaws and propaganda like qualities, I can’t help fear that the greater and more alarming issue is that anti-gay activists, much like Nazi supporters of the early part of the 20th century are giving further platform to a scientist who has called for the extermination of gays and lesbians. Paul Cameron, speaking to a 1985 Political Action Conference made the following comments:
“Unless we get medically lucky, in three or four years, one of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals.”
Former US Surgeon General, C. Evert Koop, states that Dr. Paul Cameron has been suggesting the extermination of gays and lesbians since 1983, yet the machine known to us as the anti-gay industry has been using this man’s writings for years and continue to do so even after this has been made public. Aside from the fact Dr. Cameron’s work is flawed; Aside from the fact Dr. Cameron has misrepresented the place he has printed and presented this flawed work, one has to ask: Why is Peter La Barbera and the rest of this machine using the work of a man who is calling for a systematic genocide of gays and lesbians?
Mr. La Barbera has gone as far as to try and defend Dr. Cameron with this statement before printing Dr. Cameron’s latest research:
Homosexual activists reject out-of-hand any research that shows homosexual behavior, generally speaking, is unhealthy compared to normal sexuality.
Homosexual activists, as well as everyone on this planet should reject the work of Dr. Paul Cameron. After any man on this planet calls for the extermination of an entire group of people, we as a human race should reject anything they say further. Why this is past Mr. La Barbera and why he would defend the work of a man calling for murder is beyond my understanding. I would suggest to Mr. La Barbera to retract the statements he has made in support of Cameron’s work, and remove the article promoting the work of the evil scientist.
I would urge all to read the sources and references on any anti-gay science they read on the websites of Americans for Truth, the American Family Association, Stephen Bennett, Concerned Women for America, Matt Barber and others for the name Cameron and reject it. These are all people who have, at one point or another used or help to further through others, Dr. Cameron’s work to dehumanize and demonize gays and lesbians.
If any of them are curious why GLBT people call their speech hate, this is it! This is the reason!
Apr 12
2007
Punted| Category: Debate, Fundies, Good-As-You, Hate Crime Laws, Hate Speech, Lies, Threats, Video, Violence |
A big hand to Jeremy at Good As You for the hat tip on this one.
Old Lou-ser Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition created a really interesting video in which he makes the standard set of lies about the pending hate crimes legislation in Congress. Specifically, H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. But then he throws an easily fact checkable lie out there to further bait his audience into frantically calling their Reps and Senators to squash this bill Immediately.
Surf on over to Jeremy’s Pad to view the video for yourselves. Careful, it’s a doozy!
After the fold read the letter I sent to Lou. I’ll be sure to post a response should I get one! (more…)
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 09
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Americans for "Truth", Cross-Posted, Hate Speech, Peter LaBarbera, Uncategorized |
Paul Cameron, almost famous for distorted research, has once again put out some shady statistics on how married gays die younger. The conclusions reached in this latest study not only are absurd, they have been misrepresented to the Christian Press as way more legit than they are. This hasn’t stopped Americans for Truth and others from shouting from the rooftops how gays die younger and that homosexuality is worse than smoking.
Jim Burroway over at Boxturtle Bulletin has the details on the Cameron and Cameron study.
Jim writes:
In 1993, Paul Cameron, of the Family Research Institute, began touting a paper he said he presented at the Eastern Psychological Association entitled, “The lifespan of homosexuals.” Using obituaries from various gay newspapers around the country, Cameron claimed that the average lifespan for gay men was a mere 42 years. For lesbians, the average was 44.
While that study was roundly criticized for its ridiculous methodology, those statistics have persisted as a sort of macabre urban legend among some anti-gay activists. Among them include Christopher Rosik, a California psychologist who cites Cameron’s lifespan figure as justification for sexual orientation conversion therapy.
Well, Cameron’s at it again, hijacking the Eastern Psychological Association’s reputation once again to claim that gays and lesbians in registered partnerships in Denmark and Norway experience a lifespan up to 24 years shorter than their heterosexual counterparts. His latest claims are already being picked up by anti-gay activists, conservative news organizations, blogs, and pundits. Conservative columnist Armstrong Williams commented on Cameron’s claims and asked, “Considering these statistics, do you now believe that vulnerable children should be raised in such an unstable environment?” It’s only a matter of time before these statistics make their way into the mainstream media.
Cameron’s paper, “Federal Distortion of Homosexual Footprint,” is filled with all the strange and bogus statistics we’ve come to expect from him. I examined his methods and in my latest report, “Paul Cameron’s Footprint,” I show you why the claims he makes based on data from Denmark and Norway are completely worthless. My conclusions:
Yes, Cameron is up to his same old tricks again. You can bet that this won’t be the last time we hear from him. And no matter how ridiculous his methodologies may be, he will continue to provide statistical fodder for the anti-gay lobby. But with his latest paper on the “Homosexual Footprint,” he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. This time, as always, his “footprint” is planted firmly in his mouth.
You can read the whole report here.
Apr 06
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Hate Speech, Uncategorized |
Stacy Harp, now writing for Renew America, has an interesting opinion piece rolling around the web titled “Language does matter when it comes to homosexuals“. She writes this time about how gay advocates prefer the word “gay” over the word “Homosexual”. The basic argument she makes is that those with same sex attractions are homosexual, not gay. She touts over and over in the article about how gays and lesbian desires are all about “SEX”, but that view is pretty short sighted and superficial.
Stacy writes:
The bottom line is that the truth is that a person who has sexual attraction to a person of their same gender is a homosexual. It is about sexual desires and what the homosexual activists and media want to tell you is that it has nothing to do with sexual behavior or desires. Don’t fall for their language trap by using the word gay or lesbian. Because there is nothing “gay” about being homosexual. And a homosexual is a person who desires to have sexual relations with someone of their same gender.
The real issue here is that Stacy, like many people in the religious right, fail to see that homosexuality is not just about a desire for sex. It is about attractions, not just physical, but emotional attractions to members of the same sex. See, it is convenient to her argument to leave that very important part of the story out of it. She wants her readers to only see one small part of what homosexuality is about, sex. She figures if she can make it all about sex, it somehow makes gays and lesbians look just a little more evil. Also, by only focusing on the sex it removes any reference to what being gay is really about, love.
The real bottom line is that gays and lesbians are attracted to “people” of the same gender, not just for sex but emotional reasons. If it was all about sex, then gay relationships would just end in the morning after the sex, but that isn’t the case. GLBT folks don’t have just a desire for sex with someone of the same gender, but also a desire for companionship, family and love. Stacy, like many misinformed individuals in the religious right, don’t understand or just wish to ignore that gays and lesbians in committed, long term relationships are in it for love, not sex.
Another major point in this that Stacy left out is that this argument works both ways. Conservative anti-gay media outlets and anti-gay activists like Stacy prefer to use the term “homosexual” as opposed to “gay” for the same reasons that gay media does the reverse. They know they can shock and incite fear more effectively using the term “homosexual” which tends to have negative reactions, which is exactly what they want. Ms. Harp and those like her wouldn’t be as effective at invoking fear in others about homosexuality if they used the term “Gay” or “GLBT”.
Use of such terms becomes much like violence since the goal is to hurt others. If Stacy had written her article using terms like “gay” as opposed to homosexual, the same post would loose the edge of hate she is aiming it to have. The article has little to do with gay rights, she wasn’t reporting on any action or legislation, she is just picking out another thing she dislikes about gay people and writing about it so others will dislike that about gay people as well. That why I would call it hate speech rather than good writing. What other point is there to her article other than hate? What is the end purpose of her article other than having the reader have another bullet point they can use to hate gay people? Is she trying to educate people about gays? I wouldn’t think so or she would have been more accurate in her facts and given her readers the whole story. Is she really going to be so shallow as to think this is all about getting laid?
Next month, my partner and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary. It was seven years ago I was gay bashed outside a Providence, RI Club. It was my partner who took me to the hospital, stayed with me and later took me to his apartment so I wouldn’t have to go home alone with broken bones. I can honestly say our meeting, our friendship and our relationship is built in a solid diet of love, trust, companionship and fun not sex. Contrary to Stacy’s misinformation, we have a “gay” life and I mean gay in the happy way, not the homo way.
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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Mar 23
2007
Punted| Category: Americans for "Truth", Fundies, Hate Crime Laws, Hate Speech, Lies, Peter LaBarbera, Uncategorized |
It came to my attention today on the AFT home page that Peter Labarbera has started yet another misleading website/organization aimed at fighting the forces of good and equality in Illinois. His new organization that he’s “director” of is called “Real Civil Rights Illinois.”
From the “About” section:
Real Civil Rights Illinois is a statewide pro-marriage, pro-life organization founded for the purpose of defending real civil and human rights as opposed to the modern, counterfeit variety based on homosexuality, abortion and pornography usage. We reject the notion of expanding “civil rights” to include homosexual behavior (”sexual orientation”) - which tramples on the rights of people of faith to oppose homosexuality - and abortion, which destroys the God-given right of children in the womb to live. We oppose the idea that citizens have a “right” to view pornography in taxpayer-funded public libraries. Real Civil Rights Illinois is part of Americans For Truth Action, a national C-4 organization. Gifts to RCR-IL and Americans For Truth Action are not tax-deductible, allowing us greater freedom to lobby in defense of pro-family and pro-life values.
Peter LaBarbera, Director
630-717-7631
Send E-mail
Where to begin? Has Peter LaBarbera gone daffy? Discrimination and fomenting violence are not rights. Ensuring that a group of law-abiding, tax-paying, citizens remain second-class is not a right. Forcing people in a free society to live by the rules of someone’s God is not a right. Peter apparntly doesn’t know what a civil right is.
| civil right |
| noun |
| right or rights belonging to a person by reason of citizenship including especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments and subsequent acts of Congress including the right to legal and social and economic equality |
Poor, poor, Peter. He pulls out the religious persecution card again, saying equal civil rights would trample of the rights of people of faith to oppose homosexuality. How is this so? In the United States he and everyone else that is opposed to LGBT equality are and will be forever able to spout their anti-gay rhetoric. What is not acceptable and that we fight for unapologeticaly is the same fundamental rights that heterosexuals have. We want to know that if we’re attacked solely because of our real or percieved sexuality that law enforcement officials will not be able to turn a blind eye because of their personal bias agianst us. No one is going to take away Peter’s right to be a ‘Peter’ and disagree with us.
Besides, Peter, aren’t two anti-gay organizations enough? Now you need to inject a third dosage of poison into Naperville?
Mar 20
2007
Punted| Category: Action Alert!, American Family Association, Don Wildmon, Fundies, Hate Crime Laws, Hate Speech, Lies, Pride, Video |
Ole Don Wildmon cranks it out again with another “Action Alert!” He posts a vide which he calls “very offensive” because most of it doesn’t fit into his narrow, twisted-bible-view of the world. All this to drum up fear of the Hate Crimes bill being worked on in the Congress.
A new “hate crimes” bill further protecting homosexual activity has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would increase protection for the kind of activity shown on this video.
The bill is the first step toward silencing any opposition to the homosexual lifestyle. This video will show you the kind of activity this bill protects. The video was shot during an actual homosexual pride parade in Dallas.
If this “hate crimes” bill is passed, and you publicly protest, complain or oppose the type of activity in this video, your action could eventually be construed to be subject to prosecution for a criminal act.
Well there’s probably only one overtly sexual scene in the entire video and that’s the two “cowboys,” one giving another a bath, which sort-of looks like siimulated masturbation which the parade probably could have done without. But the main thing is the people that go to be in the parade and those who watch the parade know exactly what to expect.
You be the judge.
*Update: Video set to private by poster (good for him), so you’ll have to go by my description below.
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Mar 17
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Americans for "Truth", Hate Speech, Uncategorized |
While I was entertained when Peter La Barbera called me obsessed with Americans for Truth, I find that obsession much like most people’s obsession with American Idol. Peter on the other hand has proven he has a very unhealthy obsession with what gay men do in bed. His latest post is clearly evidence of this obsession.
Peter somehow has lost site of the facts of human sexuality. Simply, most people seem to void in their mind that nothing gay men do in the sack is any different from what heterosexuals do. Anal sex, oral sex, etc…all the same as what I see on any heterosexual porn site.
Peter writes in a very amusing article on his site for Americans for Truth:
“We should demand answers from the equivocating politicians and agnostic media: is it moral for men to engage in anal sodomy with one another? Is it moral for a man to stick his sex organ in the anus or mouth of another man? What about licking another man’s anus, as an act of pleasure? (Again, “rimming” … yuck…. no wonder “gay” advocates call this the “ick factor” and avoid publicly discussing actual homosexual behaviors like the plague.)”
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Mar 02
2007
JoeBrummer| Category: Americans for "Truth", Hate Speech, Peter LaBarbera, Uncategorized |
I have written before about the “big question.” Where do people like La Barbera see gays in the world when their mission is complete. What end goals are people like La Barbera working for? What happens to gays and lesbians who don’t subscribe to his insane notions? Are we in jail? Are we in camps waiting to be gassed? Does La Barbera really think his hate for us is stronger than our love for our partners? The answer is in.
La Barbera writes on his blog (bold print mine):
LaBarbera is encouraging conservatives and people of faith likewise to think long-term. “We must retain the goal of repealing all ’sexual orientation’ laws - in Illinois and across the nation - since they are incompatible with the basic American freedoms of religion, conscience, and association,” he says on his group’s website. “And we must act to protect marriage as between a man and a woman at the state and federal constitutional levels.”
Repeal of all “sexual orientation” laws? So in other words, he wants to reinstate Sodomy laws and make homosexuality illegal? He wants to roll back nondiscrimination laws so we can be fired from our jobs? He wants to bar us from seeing our partners in ER’s across the nation? No offense but this is the purest evil I have ever heard. It lacks any compassion that he has ever tried to convince us he has for “homosexuals”.
It appears that La Barbera failed science as well since he says:
“Greg Harris is the new homosexual rep representing ‘Boystown,’ which is the homosexual neighborhood in Chicago. He replaces another homosexual,” says LaBarbera. “He is HIV positive and even put … on his resume, publicly, that he has AIDS.” The Americans for Truth spokesman says he finds that both sad and ironic. “He’s bearing a disease that is caused by this lifestyle,” he notes, “and now he wants to take this lifestyle and say that it merits being called ‘marriage.”
Does he not know that HIV/AIDS is cause by a virus not a lifestyle? Is he unaware that most gays do not have AIDS? This type of language is so close to the propaganda of the Nazi’s is scares me. Gays are the source of disease. Gays are destroying marriage. Gays this and gays that. La Barbera is one misinformed man with evil works. He is saying that being gay is just a lifestyle, and that the lifestyle causes disease. Now lets look at the Nazi Propaganda again….
Insidious Jews spread disease like rats
“In this way, they (the rats) spread disease, plague, leprosy, typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, and so on. They are cunning, cowardly, and cruel, and are found mostly in large packs. Among the animals, they represent the rudiment of an insidious and underground destruction - just like the Jews among human beings.”- Nazi propaganda film, “The Eternal Jew,”
“Jews are like rats that spread disease”, is what the Nazi’s claimed to incite fear in others about the Jews. This is the same tactic La Barbera is using. We as a society should be deeply alarmed that this type of hate speech is surfacing again.
In an interview with “Republicans for Fair Media,” La Barbera makes some of the most outrageous claims yet. Someone should just give him a soapbox and let him speak since his words are more damaging to his mission than anything I could say to expose his lies. He shoots himself in the foot when he makes statements like:
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