Who Is to Blame for this Lie?

Posted on February 11, 2015 by wellsdc

I’m not in the habit of quoting the Daily Mail, but this headline caught my eye: “Former top presidential adviser says Obama LIED about his support for gay marriage for years so he could get elected.”

Gosh, the use of caps lock really drives the point home, doesn’t it?

Anyway, it’s an interesting allegation:

Longtime Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod writes in his new memoir that Barack Obama lied about his position on gay marriage so he could get elected president in 2008.

And documents reveal that Obama responded to a questionnaire in 1996 from the Chicago-based Outlines newspaper, as he was making his first run for the state Senate in Illinois, that he strongly favored legalizing same-sex unions.

‘I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,’ Obama wrote then.

Two years later, though, as his political future began to take shape, he told the same newspaper that he was ‘undecided.’

In 2008, under the glare of a presidential campaign and the weight of history, his public rhetoric swung to a position that America’s Bible belt could embrace – support for only a traditional definition of marriage.

But as president in 2010 he returned publicly to his original position 14 years after he first articulated it.

Oh, and if you’re thinking this is some sort of smear job against the president, Axelrod also apparently says it was at least partly his idea: Continue reading →

Fart Demons

Posted on February 10, 2015 by wellsdc

That’s really all I have to say on the topic. Fart demons.

Fart. Demons.

FART DEMONS.

Bert Farias, founder of Holy Fire Ministries, claims to know the “raw, naked truth” about why people are gay: They are possessed by “fart demons.” Yes, fart demons.

Oh, but it gets better.

Farias also claims that in choosing to be gay, a person chooses to engage in “unclean demonic practices.” Once that happens, they become possessed by “putrid-smelling” demons so stinky they can drive pigs to suicide.

(h/t Alice)

What I’m Reading, May 16, 2014

Posted on May 16, 2014 by wellsdc

How the Purity Myth Perpetuates Rape Culture, Miri, Brute Reason, May 13, 2014

The purity myth, as Jessica Valenti calls it in her book of the same name, includes several interlocking beliefs about women and sexuality that are enforced by many religions and ideologies and continue to inform many Americans’ views of sex–even those who consider themselves liberal or even progressive.

Some components of the purity myth include:

Continue reading →

Learning Not to Hate

Posted on March 16, 2014 by wellsdc

Per a friend ‘s Facebook post, there is a rumor that Fred Phelps is dying. It is surprisingly difficult to know how to feel about this, or whether I should even feel anything at all. I like the way my friend put it: “I’m not glad he’s dying. But I sure as hell ain’t sad.”

There is also a rumor, which the church will not confirm, that Phelps was excommunicated last summer, whatever that means.

How much real influence has Westboro Baptist Church really had? Has it really been a force for hate and/or evil in the world, or just sort of an oddity? It gave us a Supreme Court ruling that confirmed things we already knew about free speech. To an extent, though, WBC’s protests have galvanized opposition to their kind of hate.

You might say, however, that WBC has given cover to less ostentatious homophobes, who can truthfully say that whatever they may do to fight against marriage equality and LGBTQ rights, at least they never picket funerals. That said, WBC probably undercut its own mission by picketing military funerals, thereby driving away all those potential right-wing allies.

I would never celebrate anyone’s death (although I can’t say I’ve always held to that.) On a larger scale, Phelps’ death will mean that his particular brand of hatred is one step closer to dying out. On a smaller, more personal scale, it makes me sad that anyone goes to their grave with that much fear and hatred in them, and leaves that sort of legacy behind.

All I can really predict with any confidence is that Phelps and the WBC will be, at best, a footnote in the “miscellaneous” section of human history. Keith Brekhus said it quite well at PoliticusUSA:

As Fred Phelps approaches his final days, the temptation to attend his funeral, once he passes, with a “God hates Fred” sign, might be tough to resist. However, a stronger message would be to avoid his funeral altogether rather than answering hate with hate. Besides, if he was ex-communicated last year, it is almost a sure bet that the surviving members who have not yet left Westboro Baptist Church, will be picketing his funeral. Ironically they will be holding signs arguing that this bitter, hateful man was not hateful enough. If so, their hateful signs will serve as a tragically fitting reminder to the legacy Reverend Phelps will leave behind.

Believe it or not, Mr. Phelps, but I do not hate you. I also do not envy a life so full of anger and hatred like the one you seem to have led. I doubt much of anything can atone for that sort of life, but I do hope you find some kind of peace.

See also: this (h/t Sarah). Definitely see what George Takei said.

Texas Can’t Get Too Smug Over Russia

Posted on February 12, 2014 by wellsdc

In the midst of everyone’s rush to give Putin’s Russia (much deserved) grief over the country’s law banning “homosexual propaganda” or whatever, the Washington Post published an article identifying eight U.S. states with laws that, while nowhere near the Russian law in letter, might seem close to it in spirit. The U.S. state laws, commonly known as “no promo homo” laws, presumably by people who never expect to have to say that out loud, apply specifically to public education regarding teh gayz. Unlike Russia’s law, they do not include provisions for incarceration and whatnot.

The Texas statute is worth examining, provided that any such examination is followed by peals of derisive laughter and ruthless mockery at our backwards legislators. Texas Health & Safety Code § 163.002(8) provides as follows:

Course materials and instruction relating to sexual education or sexually transmitted diseases should include…emphasis, provided in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under Section 21.06, Penal Code.

I see four glaring problems here:

“Emphasis, provided in a factual manner.” The absurdity of this provision should become clear once it is demonstrated that nothing following it in the statute is in any way factual.
“From a public health perspective.” Similarly, this really does not apply to either of the assertions that follow.
“Homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.” This might have been sort of true in 1991, when the Legislature passed this particular statute, but times have undoubtedly changed and continue to change, and it was never really the public’s business anyway. What happened to liberty, Texas Legislature? I guess that only applies to things you don’t personally find icky, right?
“Homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under Section 21.06, Penal Code.” This was certainly true in 1991, but it hasn’t been true since 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that specific statute in Lawrence v. Texas. The fact that the Legislature hasn’t bothered to take it off the books in the subsequent decade is pretty embarrassing. Not as embarrassing, of course, as the law mandating that schools continue to teach kids that a statute ten years in its constitutional grave still has legal force.

EDIT (02/13/2014): Edited to correct a spelling error – “times have undoubtedly change” should say “times have undoubtedly changed.”

The Coming Class Action Lawsuit Against Big Gay

Posted on October 17, 2013 by wellsdc

Via southpark.wikia.com

Rick Scarborough thinks that the threat of homosexuality merits a class action lawsuit similar to those waged against the tobacco industry, according to Right Wing Watch. In a conversation with Peter LaBarbera, they reportedly said:

Scarborough: Peter, the whole issue of a class action lawsuit, you and I have talked about this a little bit. I just wonder if you’ve explored that, talked to anyone about it. Obviously, statistically now even the Centers for Disease Control verifies that homosexuality much more likely leads to AIDS than smoking leads to cancer. And yet the entire nation has rejected smoking, billions of dollars are put into a trust fund to help cancer victims and the tobacco industry was held accountable for that. Any thoughts on that kind of an approach?

LaBarbera: Yeah I think that’s great. I would love to see it. We always wanted to see one of the kid in high school who was counseled by the official school counselor to just be gay, then he comes down with HIV. But we never really got the client for that.

Are they talking about suing school counselors? Is Big Gay composed of people with bachelor’s degrees in social work who are employed by county-level school districts? As far as corporate conspiracies go, that’s pretty darn thin.

Seriously, though, whom does he intend to sue? You have to identify and serve a defendant to have a lawsuit. No matter how difficult obtaining service of process may be—even if you have to go through a back door—you can’t have a lawsuit without a defendant and adequate notice. Otherwise, who’s going to set up a trust fund for AIDS victims that’s analogous to the fund set up for cancer victims? I ask because it sure as shit isn’t going to be Rick Scarborough or Peter LaBarbera.

Signal Boost: A Teen’s Brave Response to “I’m Christian, Unless You’re Gay”

Posted on August 18, 2013 by wellsdc

Dan Pearce, who blogs at Single Dad Laughing, wrote an amazing post nearly two years ago entitled “I’m Christian, unless you’re gay.” The post talks about Pearce’s 27 year-old friend Jacob, who is gay, and who had lost any connection to almost all of his friends and family as a result.

“Every single person I’ve told has ditched me. They just disappear. They stop calling. They remove me on Facebook. They’re just gone,” he said. “They can’t handle knowing and being friends with a gay person.”

I didn’t know what to say. So I didn’t say anything.

“You don’t know what it’s like, man. You don’t know what it’s like to live here and be gay. You don’t know what it’s like to have freaking nobody. You don’t know what it’s like to have your own parents hate you and try and cover up your existence. I didn’t choose this. I didn’t want this. And I’m so tired of people hating me for it. I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t.”

How do you respond to that?

I wanted to tell him it was all in his head. I knew it wasn’t. I wanted to tell him it would get better and easier. The words would have been hollow and without conviction, and I knew it.

You see, I live in this community too. And I’ve heard the hate. I’ve heard the disgust. I’ve heard the disdain. I’ve heard the gossip. I’ve heard the distrust. I’ve heard the anger. I’ve heard it all, and I’ve heard it tucked and disguised neatly beneath a wrapper of self-righteousness and a blanket of “caring” or “religious” words. I’ve heard it more times than I care to number.

That was in November 2011. Several months later, in April 2012, he posted a follow-up, entitled “A Teen’s Brave Response to ‘I’m Christian, Unless You’re Gay,'” in which a mother described how her teenage son came out to her via Pearce’s original post: Continue reading →

Dear Chick-Fil-A: Would You Like a Cookie?

Posted on September 20, 2012 by wellsdc

Your waffle-fry powers are useless on me

Chick-Fil-A apparently announced this week that it will no longer give huge gobs of money to anti-gay groups, according to an advocacy group in Chicago.

Of course, it also turns out that the company’s, ahem, charitable foundation, the WinShape Foundation, promoted a fundraiser for an anti-gay group earlier this week, according to The Advocate (h/t Louren).

This reminds me of all the times I have sworn that the chili cheeseburger in my hand is my last one before I start my diet and exercise regimen. (I say that a lot.) Chick-Fil-A will stop funding anti-gay groups, but they’re just so damn tasty!!! (This is a fun metaphor.)

Allow me to give Chick-Fil-A the benefit of the doubt however, and presume that they really, really mean it this time, and they’re really, really going to stop giving money to those anti-gay groups, you know, after this event is over. (To be fair, The Advocate reported that WinShape asked donors not to send checks to them, but directly to the Marriage and Family Foundation. Because telling people where to send their money is completely different from collecting it yourself, amirite?)

So Chick-Fil-A will stop giving money to these groups. Congratulations, Chick-Fil-A, you have taken your first step towards basic human decency.

Do you want a cookie or something?

I’m serious. All you have done with this announcement is meet the baseline standard of common human decency. This does not make you a good company, nor does it make your leaders good people. I hesitate even to say it makes them “not-bad” people. Just as no one got major props for not clubbing baby seals anymore, all you get from me for this is a “well it’s about damn time.”

You’ve started to prove that you have the capacity to not be dicks (you’re not there yet, though.) Now impress us.

Photo credit: ‘Chick-Fil-A Fries’ by J. Reed (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

“Modern civilization requires tolerance and respect for different values,” he said without irony

Posted on August 21, 2012 by wellsdc

If last week’s Pussy Riot verdict didn’t clue you in, Russia is different from America in a number of key ways. For one thing, they are much more forthcoming about their efforts to suppress LGBT rights, enough to file a lawsuit against an American celebrity for daring to speak out:

MOSCOW (AP) — Some Russian activists have sued Madonna for millions of dollars, claiming they were offended by her support for gay rights during a recent concert in St. Petersburg.
Anti-gay sentiment is strong in Russia. In St. Petersburg, a law passed in February makes it illegal to promote homosexuality to minors, and the author of that law has pointed to the presence of children as young as 12 at Madonna’s concert on Aug. 9.

Russian news agencies quote Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing the nine activists, as saying the suit was filed Friday against Madonna, the organizer of her concert, and the hall where it was held, asking for damages totaling 333 million rubles, or nearly $10.5 million.

Responding to criticism that the plaintiffs were stuck in the Middle Ages, the lawyer said they were using civilized, modern methods to defend their rights. “No one is burning anyone at the stake or carrying out an Inquisition,” Pochuyev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. “Modern civilization requires tolerance and respect for different values.”

I have not seen any video of Mr. Pochuyev’s interview, but one could read that as an expression of downright disappointment that he can’t fire up a good old-fashioned pyre; or as a barely-concealed threat that, if litigation fails, inquisition is sure to follow.

I doubt he’ll accomplish much more than looking like a buffoon in front of the whole world, though.

Chick-Fil-A: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the WTF? – UPDATED x 2

Posted on July 27, 2012 by wellsdc

This is what everyone is so worked up about never eating again.

The Good: The Muppets (well, the Jim Henson Company), sever their ties to Chick-Fil-A.

The Bad: The mayor of Boston tells Chick-Fil-A to take a hike. So does the mayor of Chicago. As much as I may wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, this is not a good idea. Near as I can tell, Chick-Fil-A has not done anything illegal, per se. It would be one thing if the company could not meet some municipal requirements for fairness in hiring, or something similar, but this appears to be a rejection by city officials, in at least two major cities, based solely on the content of Chick-Fil-A’s speech. This has First Amendment problems written all over it, because as long as Chick-Fil-A isn’t breaking the law, it can say whatever dumb crap it wants. We, as consumers, exercise our free speech by criticizing the company, and we exercise our economic rights by eating nasty fried chicken sandwiches elsewhere. The government ought to stick to enforcing the law. Plus, this action potentially sets a dangerous precedent, giving free reign to a far less tolerant mayor of some other city to deny a corporation that supports same-sex equality. (NOTE: The mayor of Boston has withdrawn his threat to bar the company from setting up shop in town.)

The Ugly: Chick-Fil-A recalls its Muppet-themed toys, citing “safety” concerns. Specifically, it claims that, although “there have not been any cases in which a child has actually been injured, however there have been some reports of children getting their fingers stuck in the holes of the puppets.” People all over the world try not to giggle, and very few believe that this announcement is unrelated to contemporary events. (NOTE: If there haven’t been any actual safety concerns, someone could get in quite a bit of trouble for saying that there are.)

The WTF? Someone pretends to be a teenage girl on Facebook in order to lamely defend Chick-Fil-A. Nothing directly links several fake Facebook pages to Chick-Fil-A, so it is likely to be some rogue ally whose help Chick-Fil-A is better of without. The girl’s account promptly disappears from Facebook once “she” is called out. Wil Wheaton helpfully puts out this missing person report:

The entire world of social media shudders in dismay. Names like Abby Farle and Cordell Bunton may go down in obscure social media history.

Honorable Mention: Rick “Frothy” Santorum joins Mike “The Huck” Huckabee (he needs a better nickname) in standing up for Chick-Fil-A. So Chick-Fil-A traded the Muppets for these two? Ouch.

UPDATE: Based on my “dangerous precedent” argument above regarding the cities of Boston and Chicago, astute reader Kathleen points out that the precedent, in a sense, was already set nearly two decades ago, right in my own backyard. The commissioners of Williamson County, Texas decided not to give tax breaks to Apple because of Apple’s policy on benefits for same-sex partners. As the AP reported on December 1, 1993:

Commissioners of a Texas county on Tuesday refused to give a tax break to Apple Computer Inc., citing the company’s policy of granting the same health benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees that it does to heterosexual spouses.

Apple had sought $750,000 in tax abatements over seven years to build an $80-million, 700-employee complex in Williamson County, just north of Austin.

County commissioners rejected the tax abatements, 3-2.

“We’re very disappointed at this time,” Apple spokeswoman Lisa Byrne said. “We’re going to regroup and review our operations. It is unlikely we will locate in Williamson County.”

Debate on the tax break for several weeks centered on Apple’s domestic partner policy.

“I cannot in good conscience extend that benefit to them (Apple) because of the conviction I have that same-sex partners is wrong,” Commissioner Greg Boatwright had said earlier.

After the vote, Charlie Culpepper, the mayor of Round Rock, which is the largest town in Williamson County, said he disagreed with the commissioners.

“I don’t agree with the idea of same-sex marriages, but government needs to stay out of business. Families need jobs,” he said.

I note a couple of key difference between Williamson County’s decision and the mayors of Boston and Chicago, but the overall principle seems to be the same.

1. The mayors in Boston and Chicago seemed to be wanting to deny Chick-Fil-A the right to set up shop in their towns entirely. In Williamson County, it was a decision not to give them a tax break. It’s mostly a cosmetic difference, since such an enormous tax break would constitute most of the incentive for a company to locate in a particular place. At any rate, Apple seems to be doing just fine in Austin, thanks.

2. In Boston and Chicago, the decision was motivated by disagreement with statements made by the company’s owner, essentially ratified by the company’s history of donations. This is, first and foremost, disagreement with the content of the company’s speech. With Apple, the Williamson County commissioners did not disagree with any particular statement of the company, but rather its employment practices. My spin would be that the commissioners objected to the fact that Apple didn’t discriminate against its gay and lesbian employees. I’m not sure if this is any more defensible than a disagreement over speech, but it is a distinction worth noting.

UPDATE 2: The ACLU of Illinois seems to agree with me (h/t Consumerist):

Alderman Moreno’s single-handed actions are wrong and dangerous. The ACLU of Illinois strongly supports full recognition and fair treatment for LGBT persons in Chicago and across Illinois. Indeed, our strong support for the LGBT community led us in May to file a lawsuit challenging the state ban in Illinois on the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. At the same time, we oppose using the power and authority of government to retaliate against those who express messages that are controversial or averse to the views of current office holders. In this instance, the Alderman is using his governmental authority to exclude a business from opening its doors simply because the corporate leadership has expressed anti-LGBT views in the public. This use of government authority simply is not permissible under our Constitution.

We also are concerned how this practice might be applied in the future. If the government is permitted to deny entrance into a Chicago community to Chik-Fil-A based on statements about public policy, then government elsewhere will have the power to exclude the expanding number of businesses who support fairness for LGBT people. Over the longer term, such government censorship would undermine the growing success of the LGBT rights movement.

Photo credit: ‘Chick FilA Chicken Sandwich’ by J. Reed (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

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