Step 3) The fight goes viral. And I mean this in the worst sense of the word. By 'viral,' I mean to invoke a conceptual stew of: the Plague, Twitter and Stupid People (the following video gets this across quite nicely).
Step 4) Perez threatens to sue will.I.am.
Step 5) Perez pledges to give any money he might obtain in this lawsuit to the Matthew Shepard foundation. Yes; Matthew Shepard. The boy who likely died while his killers hurled homophobic epithets.
CNN just interviewed Patricia McKinney, pastor of Connecticut's Manifested Glory Ministries Church. From the looks of her, she could stand to lose a few demons of her own.
By now, everyone has heard of the "gay exorcism" that went down at Manifested Glory Ministries. The video shows a teen rolling around while people yell things that...well...you'd expect them to yell at a gay exorcism. Portions of the video can be found here.
Outrageous? Yes.
There is, however, a silver lining. As Stephen Colbert pointed out tonight, there is now a gay demon on the loose. A "poltergayst" (sp?) on the prowl...
Mike Gallagher - the syndicated, conservative, talk-show host - offered his airtime to Fred Phelps in exchange for Phelps' agreement not to protest the funerals of slain Virginia Tech Students.
"I am proud when a radio show like mine can actually do something good for people. Most times, those of us with a radio show or newspaper column can just talk about issues. Once in awhile, we can literally stop a horrible event in its tracks. This is one of those times. And whether you agree or disagree with me, I just wanted you to know -- from me -- why we're doing this."
The wisdom of giving Phelps airtime notwithstanding, it amazes us how these conservatives are willing to compromise their convictions when fag-hating is involved.
If intolerant conservatives want to compromise their values and "do something good for people," here's an idea: HOW ABOUT NOT BEING SO HOMOPHOBIC?!?!
The Oregon Senate passed hate crime legislation today that the Governor is expected to sign. A more widely publicized bill - providing for domestic partnerships - awaits a Senate vote. That bill is also expected to pass.
We at the Opus Gay have known for some time that these bills would pass. This is the reason Oregon is colored a dark Blue in the Rightswatch infographic at the top left of the page.
If you want to get a good sense of how gay rights is progressing in the various states (but don't want to take the time to read a whole lot), just take a gander at the Opus Gay's Rightswatch Graphic. Red means bad, blue means good, and grey means nothing. The darker the blue or red, the better or worse things are. Got it? Good.
Graph from a study called Love Thy Neighbor: How Much Bigotry Is There In Western Countries?, available in pdfhere Did that wake you up - the fact that 22.9% of Americans don't want a gay neighbor?
Well...it didn't surprise us either. In fact, if anything, we're pleasantly surprised with being roughly half as popular as Muslims...
Last night, we posted a partial transcript of a Daily Show segment on former Largo city manager Steve Stanton - who was fired because of his plans to undergo a MTF sex change.
Last night, The Daily Show did an unbelievably entertaining piece on the firing of Steve Stanton - the former Largo City Manager who was dismissed after a local newspaper revealed his plans to undergo a MTF sex change.
Mr. Stanton's firing was nothing more than a witch-hunt, and The Daily Show definitely captured the homophobic flavor of the affair.
Here is a partial transcript (although we recommend that you watch the re-run tomorrow morning/night):
Rob Riggle (correspondent): When 'Steve' announced that he was going to become 'Susan,' 'Steve' found himself out of a job.
Steve Stanton: I was fired because I'm a...uh...transgendered individual.
Rob Riggle: That's a charge Largo city leaders strongly deny.
Robert E. Jackson (Fmr. Largo City Mayor): You see, Steve was fired because people lost the trust in him. Transgendered had nuthin' to do with it.
Rob Riggle: Okay. If Steve Stanton walked into your office in a dress, and said: 'I wanna be your city manager, P.S: I'm cutting my penis off?'
Robert E. Jackson: ...I would say, 'please give me your resignation today. I don't think...that behavior - of cross-dressing - is in the best interest of the City of Largo.'
Rob Riggle: After fourteen years of service, positive feedback, multiple raises, and good reviews, you gotta go?
Robert E. Jackson: You better believe it.
Rob Riggle: Well what if he wore a pantsuit? Look at Hillary: it's working for her!
Robert E. Jackson: No! I don't wanna know what goes on in your bedroom, or wherever it is they get together...I guess the bathroom or the parks or something...
Rob Riggle: You heard it from the Mayor: if you like anonymous sex, come to the bathroom in the Largo City Park.
I received an email a few minutes ago suggesting that Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church are planning on protesting the funerals of the students who died yesterday.
Seems odd that God would choose a conservative Virginia university to make his point...
Fred Phelps' God's view notwithstanding: my condolences.
UPDATE:
Here is a quote from the church's website:
"WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror -- yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is 'horrified' by it all. You know nothing of horror -- yet. Your true horror is coming. 'They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads' (Eze. 7:18).
Why did this happen, you ask? It's simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants."
FLASHBACK:
A 'Savage' Attack : Though Phelps is undoubtedly an outlier, he's not the only one who has blamed school shootings on the GLBT community. A couple of weeks ago, Michael Savage - the nationally-syndicated, conservative, talk-show host - did the same thing.
A GLBT Hate Crimes bill was introduced in the Senate yesterday. It's basically identical to the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007" that was introduced in the House three weeks ago.
This time around (many similar bills have been introduced over the last decade), the bill's supporters are doing a better job of marketing. They plan to name it after Matthew Shepard (pictured). Second choice: "The Flags for Orphans Bill." (Simpsons reference...sorry.)
Anyways, I give the bill about a 90% chance of passing.
Turns out there was this crazy old coot in the gallery during the committee vote who wanted to read an article entitled "Homosexuality More Dangerous Than Smoking." Well that, of course caught my attention.
The article in question summarizes a "scientific" study done by the highly-regarded "Family Research Institute." Forthcoming studies include "Gay People Eat Children" and "Gay People Throw Feces at Each Other." Ugh....does anyone take these people seriously?!?!
Here's an article by Dennis Prager from HumanEvents.com that is bound to make your blood boil. The thesis is that the 'outing' of gay conservatives demonstrates how the gay rights movement is morally and ethically unappealing. Such 'outings' have no defensible justification, Prager argues, and 'outing' someone betrays the sinister way that gay rights advocates (and liberals in general) go about their advocacy.
Prager writes,
It is difficult to identify a more morally repellent act -- outside of violence -- than "outing" a gay person for political gain. Yet, those who "out" gay conservatives defend their actions -- and they do so by blaming their victims.
Of course, the premise required to pull off this "remarkable" argument is that being gay is indeed horrible. Hardly surprising - yet it is rare to see conservative blatherings that are so transparently reliant on a disapproval of homosexuality.
This is also a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Karl Rove is notorious for questioning the sexuality of political adversaries. Remember the Bush administration's efforts to discredit Joseph Wilson (Valerie Plame's husband) by portraying him as a flamboyant, girly-man?
At least when gay rights advocates or liberals "out" political opponents, it is not with a belief that they are accusing those opponents of something horrible.
On last night's edition of MSNBC'sCountdown, Michael Savage - the right-wing, nationally-syndicated talk show host - won a silver medal in Keith Olbermann's nightly "Worst Person in the World" contest. It seems that Savage blamed the 1999 Columbine shootings on the proximity of a Colorado gender-reassignment facility.
Silly Savage. Transgedered people are Fierce, not Murderous.
Anyone remember the story of Andrew Anthos' death?
A 72-year old activist in Detroit who was beaten in what preliminarily appeared to be a homophobic attack, his subsequent death increased political support for including GLBT protections in federal hate crime legislation.
Well, the big story in gay news outlets today is that the relevant medical examiner has ruled that Anthos' death was unrelated to any alleged attack.
But, as the Detroit Free Press asks, "Does it matter how he died?" Does anyone really doubt that gay people sometimes endure harassment or physical violence because they are gay? There are plenty of potential poster children for LGBT hate crimes. Let's move on.
The NYT ran a great article today about historically African-American churches whose leaders have come out in favor of gay rights. While it's hardly news that some of these leaders have come under fire for such views, the magnitude of the effect in terms of lost parishioners is - to say the least - dispiriting. Indeed, one such pastor lost almost his entire flock when he voted to support the blessing of same-sex unions.
Of course, it's no secret that racial and sexual minorities have had an uneasy relationship. I wonder though: does this reflect a specific aspect of how black people are inclined to think about gays (think hip-hop culture, sexism, etc.)? or is this a reflection of the religiosity and other characteristics of the African-American population as a whole (think income levels, geographic distribution, etc.)? Most theories focus on species of the former explanation, while I am inclined to believe the latter.
It is worth noting that many Caucasian gay people have some negative feelings towards black people that definitely can not be explained away by referring to the demographics of the gay community as a whole. Given all the recent attention that has surrounded homophobic statements by prominent black men (Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington and former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway) , I think it's important to remember that this phenomenon - whatever the explanations behind it - is a two-way street. Furthermore, Caucasian gays may be even more culpable.
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