Video: It Could Happen to You

Take the time to see this video. It is heartbreaking and had me choking back tears... both of sadness and outrage. That people can be so monstrously bigoted. And that we still have to argue about whether it's right or wrong to discriminate against others if you don't like them.

If Thy Child is Gay, Beat It Out of Them

Second Good as You link for the day, and this is excruciatingly disgusting. A video of Sean Harris, the Senior Pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Here's the transcript:

So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.
Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”
You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”
Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that.

It's what Jesus would want...

Jon Stewart on Obama and Tony Perkins

Via Good as You. A definite mus, especially Cam 3!

The United Dominion of Christian Clarity Is Upon Us

Yay for things getting called with their real names! Not that it's a surprise to anyone.

You are cordially invited to:

The First National Convention

of The Christian Party of America ® (CPA)

Dates and Times: April 20 from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.,

April 21, 2012 from 8:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. and 7 P.M. until close

Location: The Hilton of Raleigh/Durham Airport, North Carolina

Please make plans to attend this exciting event, the first quadrennial convention of the Christian Party of America, at which we will introduce our party to the nation. The list of speakers includes Michael Peroutka (former Presidential candidate), Dr. Patrick L. Wooden, Sr. (Pastor of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ), Tami Fitzgerald (Director of Vote for Marriage NC), Jeff Lewis (Co-Director of the Patriot Coalition), Don Watson (CPA National Vice-Chairman), and Clell M. Drumheller, II (CPA National Chairman). Also, there will be various activities for all in attendance. Besides, you will have the opportunity to tour the beautiful eastern North Carolina area.

Hear the good news and rejoice! And you might notice who is leading the prayer - Pastor Patrick "Gay Men Wear Diapers" Wooden, who I'm sure will have many and more delightful insights on gay men physiology...

If nothing else, this scareshow might give the GOP a chance to cleanse itself of the talibangelicals. If we put all the crazies in their own party, we can finally see how big the loud Christian Cabal of Evil actually is...

#tomyunbornchild

n early March, the hashtag "#tomyunbornchild" became a worldwide trend on Twitter. By and large, these tweets were loving, hopeful messages to the next generation -- but many people saw it as an opportunity to express hate speech towards LGBT children: http://storify.com/homophobes/100-homophobes-who-would-kill-their-gay-child

Reading their bile, the only thing I could think was: how would we feel if we heard actual parents saying this to actual children?

I got the idea on a Thursday. By Sunday, we -- me, my boyfriend, and whatever friends we could find to help us -- had it filmed.

It's easy to dehumanize hate speech online because we've gotten so used to seeing it. We tell ourselves that it's the product of trolls, of random, anonymous strangers.

Except they're not. They're real people. Many of them will be parents. And some of their children will be gay.

But what can we DO about it? I don't think there are any easy answers.

Whenever you believe life begins, I hope we can all agree: life is essential, and rare, and precious. We can't stop anyone from having kids. But we can resolve to stop this toxic cycle. We can wish better for our own children. And we can support the kids who weren't so lucky.

Tyler Clementi - The Story of a Suicide

In September, 2010, Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, after his roommate used a webcam to spy on his hook up with an older man. The tragedy became national news, and an example of cyber bullying to be made symbol of. Recently, the roommate Dharun Ravi was found guilty of most charges, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation (hate crime). His verdict is due in May, but in the mean time, opinions vary as to what part of this is justice, and what - making an example. That bullying is a horrifying problem in the US is undeniable, and that cyber bullying is largely ignored by the law is a sad fact as well. However, many details of this particular case were misrepresented by the media, trying to paint Ravi as a bloodthirsty gay-basher who posted Tyler's sex-tape online thus ousting him. In fact, there was no sex-tape, no sex even, it was never "posted" anywhere, and Tyler was already out. However, even if many facts were not entirely clear, one was undeniable - a gay teenager ended his life after a gross invasion of his privacy.

I was recently made aware of this wonderful article from the New Yorker:

The Story of a Suicide

It is very long, and detailed, but if you want to have as comprehensive an account of the events as possible, I think it is invaluable. It is a horrible tale of ignorance and stupid mistakes born of careless arrogance and insecurity. And as a member of JUB (which is mentioned here), I can't help but be reminded that there might be other Tylers, right now, posting topics asking for advice, reaching out for help. And I ask myself if I have in me the words to prevent another tragedy...

Your Values Are Killing Children

I am constantly fascinated by the blind zeal with which bigots defend their bigotry. I am sure I will sooner or later post something on the whole "choice" issue, as well as the other code words like "protecting marriage" and "religious freedom", but now I want to just go to the very core of why sexual intolerance is wrong.

I recently read Rolling Stone's article One Town's War on Gay Teens. Through tears. And I was reminded of 2010 and another wave of teen suicides. And my mind just couldn't compute what goes on in the heads of the people who led those children to that edge, where the only possible way out they could see was to jump from it. At this point, when a 13-year old girl shoots herself with a shotgun in the bathtub, when a 19-year old boy jumps off a bridge after his personal life has being broadcast online for people's entertainment, IT SIMPLY DOESN'T MATTER WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS WRONG!

Even if you think it's a choice, even if your morals and what passes for conscience allow for calling an innocent child "an abomination" and "Satan", do you not realize that your actions are actively killing those children? You give yourselves names like "One Million Moms", and call what you're doing "protecting" this or that, yet you pass policies that forbid discussion of homosexuality in schools (as is the case in the Anoka High School from the article) and prevent teachers from stopping physical abuse?

Any half-wit could easily see this for what it is. Those kids did not kill themselves. They were murdered.