Anti-gay bigotry

The World Congress of Families, an anti-equality group, is mad that Australian venues keep cancelling on them:

The World Congress of Families is a purveyor of ideologies so right-wing they weren’t even popular a century ago. A certified anti-gay hate group,  the WCF exists to “affirm that the natural human family is established by the Creator and essential to good society.” They say their “purpose” is to “defend the family and to guide public policy and cultural norms” on all of these issues: “divorce, devaluation of parenting, declining family time, morally relativistic public education, confusions over sexual identity, promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, poverty, human trafficking, violence against women, child abuse, isolation of the elderly, excessive taxation and below-replacement fertility.”

Clearly, they’re very busy people.

In short, they’re an Illinois based anti-gay, anti-women hate group that recently has applauded Vladimir Putin’s war on gay people.

One of their international conferences starts this weekend, and the WCF’s leaders are even busier than usual. 

On top of finding solutions to “confusions over sexual identity” and other “problems,” they are now scrambling to find a venue in Australia that won’t cancel on them. 

Three already have.

“After two venue changes so far, the Conference is now scheduled to happen at Brunswick’s Aurora Receptions,” Same Same reports.

And, unfortunately for the World Congress of Families, Brunswick’s Aurora Receptions just canceled on them too.

Oh dear, the World Congress of Families-an Illinois based misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, anti-education, reality challenged organization-is mad that venues in Australia don’t want their bigoted asses around. Whatever shall I do?

Oh I know.

Woo Hoo!

Jumping for joy.

Applause!

I mean, that’s the response *I* have when bigots are denied a venue to spout their bigotry. They’re not happy with the cancellations.  In an open letter to the people of Australia, they state:

In the name of fairness, and in response to unremitting and grossly misleading attacks
on an August 30 conference in Melbourne, the undersigned pro-family leaders
worldwide wish to bring the following to your attention:

 The Life, Family and Freedom Conference is sponsored by Endeavour Forum, an
Australian organization supporting life and the natural family, and has been
designated a World Congress of Families Regional Event.

 Since 1997, World Congress of Families has held seven Congresses, in Prague,
Geneva, Mexico City, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Madrid and our last in Sydney in
2013. These Congresses are gatherings of distinguished scholars, elected officials,
prominent religious figures and leaders and activists concerned with the health of
the natural family.

 Sexual radicals have launched a smear campaign to discredit the Melbourne
conference, which misrepresents the international pro-family movement and the
positions of the World Congress of Families.

 Specifically, it is alleged that advocacy of the natural (or normative) family is
somehow unfair to other families and that we “shame” single-parent families,
homosexual “couples” and the divorced.

 Yet social science data shows clearly and unequivocally that children do best in
families with a mother and father.

 It’s equally true that divorce harms children and society. This is not to say that we
shouldn’t have compassion for divorcees or children growing up in single-parent
households.

 Similarly, the observation that marriage is a social good is not meant to stigmatize
or shame unmarried adults.

 The natural-family philosophy was set forth in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, which observes that “men
and women of full age… have the right to marry and found a family” and that the
family is “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” and, as such, is
“entitled to protection by society and the state.” This language is repeated in the
constitutions of more than 100 nations.

 Despite the repeated attempts of certain misguided governments, the definition of
“family” contained in the UDHR has never been changed.

 For the past 3,000 years, in every culture, this definition of the family (a man and
women united by faith and tradition, raising their children in a loving
environment) has been considered beyond dispute. Only in the past few decades
have competing “models” of the family been offered as the new norm. The
natural family is also affirmed by every major religion.

 Attacks on the Melbourne conference and the international pro-family movement
generally are an attempt at intimidation – a weapon used to stigmatize family
advocates, stifle dissent and foreclose a debate.

 The goal of sexual radicals is to deconstruct marriage and marginalize the family,
and thus to transform society into something unrecognizable to generations past.
Like all social experiments that attempt to create a “new man,” these are doomed
to failure.

 Rather than accepting the charges against us at face value, we hope you’ll take the
time to learn about the international pro-family movement at
www.worldcongress.org, or on the websites of any of the signers

 

I really don’t need to check out that website to dislike this organization.  This letter contains all that’s needed to condemn this group.  They tell outright lies and spread misinformation, just like all anti-equality groups.  Oh, and they support Putin’s actions with regard to homosexuality in Russia.  That’s all I need to know.  Of course, they got a few of Americas greatest bigots to sign their open letter, including:

Former GOP Governor of Arkansas and Fox News host Mike Huckabee.

Also, National Organization For Marriage President Brian Brown.

Barbwire founder Matt Barber.

Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman, of the anti-gay hate group, Liberty Counsel.

Tom Delay, former Republican Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives. 

 

(for more on this story, see BuzzFeed)


I love that this group has received such a backlash to their presence.  Their views are harmful and abhorrent, and it’s a sign of the times changing that they’re having a hard time finding a place that will host their conference.  The latest venue to cancel on the World Congress of Families is Brunswick’s Aurora Rec
eptions
.  They were scheduled to host their conference on Saturday, August 30.  A series of protests was scheduled for that day*:

A protest by the Coalition to Beat Back The Right will begin at 8am on Saturday morning (find details here), the marriage equality crusaders ofEqual Love will take over at 11am, and a light-hearted rainbow family-friendly event called the Block Party Against Hate will happen outside the Conference venue from 12:30pm.

 

*this awesome image can be found at the link:


Does the US governments Common Core program “turn students gay”?  According to the Tea Party of Louisiana, the answer is yes, but that’s because they took a satirical article on the website brokenworldnews.com for really realz.  

Florida State Rep. Charles Van Zant (R) is beginning to look like an oracle, as his warnings about Common Core standardized testing are proving to be true.  Thousands of children across the nation who participated in Common Core during the past school year are coming out as bright young homosexuals.

Earlier this year, Van Zant told the Operation Education Conference in Orlando that Common Core was promoting a gay lifestyle to the nation’s children.  But nobody listened.

“People said I was a quack,” Van Zant says, “They called me a right wing nut job.  Who’s laughing now?  Hollywood and Barney Frank, that’s who.”

Initial estimates suggest that as many as 60% of students who participated in Common Core have gone gay, many overnight.  But experts fear that some are just transitioning a little slower.

“Some kids are a little more decisive than others,” says Raymond Johnson of Biblical Concepts Ministries, “Choosing one’s sexual orientation can be a difficult decision.  I know it was for me.  But the materials in Common Core are coercing students in the direction of homosexuality.”

Johnson says the difficulty of the Common Core tests is the primary culprit in promoting the gay agenda, calling it “common knowledge that the smartest kids in school are usually the gay kids.”  Johnson believes the increased studying time students must devote in order to pass the Common Core standards is leading them down a lifelong path of debauchery.

“The Common Core standards are tough,” says Johnson, “Tough enough to turn a straight kid gay.  The next thing you know, we’re going to see gay kids playing football.”

 

Yeah, I can completely see how a right wing group of fuckwits would look at the above and think it was serious.   We already know they don’t understand sexuality (hint:  schools aren’t trying to turn people gay, and you can’t “teach people to be gay”, but you can teach people how to be understanding of gay people-bet they oppose that), so it’s no surprise they would be freaked out by this.  Seriously though, do they not know how to vet information before they go on to make hair-brained statements like this:

(via thenewcivilrightsmovement)

The image is from Google cache because when Louisiana Tea Party found out their “source” was a satirical website, they were understandably embarrassed and had to scrub their original article.  Hey, I’ve been there. I was once fooled by an article from the Onion about a right wing group doing something horrible.  Of course, right wing groups actually DO a lot of horrible things, which is why it wasn’t a stretch to believe the article. Contrast that with the purpose of the Common Core:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is an educational initiative in the United States that details what K-12 students should know in English language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and seeks to establish consistent educational standards across the states as well as ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit-bearing courses at two- or four-year college programs or to enter the workforce.

Anyone who takes the time to Google ‘Common Core’ will find that it has no goal of turning heterosexuals into homosexuals.  I guess educating themselves on the topic they’re going to discuss is a bit too much for the Louisiana Tea Party. 



10 years hard labor for being gay?

That’s the proposed constitutional amendment from the conservative Christian Pastor Michael V. Williams.  David Edward of Raw Story reports:

“Whereas homosexuality used to be a felony in every state — referred to as sodomy — it has now been decriminalized, and homosexuality is allowed to be openly expressed in public,” he notes. “While Christians are becoming increasingly tolerant of homosexuals, homosexuals are becoming increasingly intolerant of us.”

“It’s time for Christians to resume obeying God and his word, and to re-criminalize homosexuality, outlaw it again,” the pastor continues. “The only way to do this and keep it beyond the reach of activist judges and unaccountable bureaucrats is to create a constitutional amendment.”

Once again, a douchebag right wing Christian fundamentalist wants the United States to become a Christian theocracy where all citizens are bound by biblical rules (I’m sure no ‘picking & choosing’ of the laws would occur).  This is one of the things that makes me so sad about religious belief.  It can make a mess of one’s ability to use logic and reason to reach an informed opinion.  Aside from the ridiculousness of using the Bible as a justification for morality (kill your child, rape all the virgins, drown the planet–that’s a deity to admire), there also the teensy, tiny fact that as I’ve said before there is no moral component to homosexuality.  Morals enter the picture when we’re discussing the interactions between people.  Homosexuality is about the sexual orientation of an individual and has nothing to do with interacting with others.  There is no “is this good” or “is this bad” to being lesbian, bisexual, or gay*. It’s about who one is sexually, psychologically, and emotionally attracted to.

* while the reaction of others with regard to those who are LGB can have a moral component, the act of being gay, lesbian, or bisexual does not impact others and is
not, in itself, an issue of morality.  


Northern Territory* politician Dave Tollner has resigned after using anti-gay slurs:

The senior Northern Territory MP under fire after calling the gay son of fellow Country Liberals Party politician a “pillow biter” and “shirt lifter”, has resigned his position and now heads to his party’s backbench.

Deputy Chief Minister Dave Tollner had apologised to Gary Higgins’ son for the comments, which were condemned by Chief Minister Adam Giles as “inappropriate” and “not acceptable.” He later defended himself saying he had no problem with gay people, adding that his own mother had come out as gay.

The NT News now reports that Giles has accepted Tollner’s resignation.

“This issue got at levels where public confidence was being eroded in this area,” Giles explained in a press conference yesterday.

“Perceptions become reality in politics and I want to make sure that Territorians know they have a Government who stands for all, and will provide leadership on what those community expectations are.”

 

Can we please import this attitude to the states?  Far too many politicians revel in their homophobia (and that’s not the only issue they piss all over), and still keep their jobs.  


 

 


 

 

Coming out after 40

(excerpt)

Coming out later in life has its consequences. All those years of rejecting and hiding mean that the psyche may not accept, deep down, the person they are now presenting as. This can lead to a degree of self-loathing and the formation of an adaptive self rather than the authentic self. Knowing who you are and accepting it is a much safer place to be in your psyche.

I don’t think the 40+ guys are alone with this damaged psyche stuff and many of us who have been out for so many years that we can’t remember anything else, are still a little damaged and lack about total acceptance, if we are truly honest.

So what can be done to improve your acceptance of yourself? Start with a bit of self-appreciation in accepting the man inside who has been struggling to come out for years. Give him a big hug and congratulate him for finally making the move to come out. Writing it all down will do wonders for the psyche.

The next stage is telling people you can trust. By not telling anyone, the psyche is still in denial. The more people you tell who accept your sexuality, the more likely you too will accept it as normal as well. Self-stigmatisation by not telling people or still denying your true sexuality is very damaging. You will be surprised how many people always knew and were waiting for you to say something… and then there are the others who are so busy with their lives that they don’t care in the least.

 

Coming out of the closet-telling people around you-can often be a scary thing.  Whether it’s socio-cultural pushback, religious pushback, adherence to tradition, or straight up homophobia borne of having not met a gay person (or, more accurately, thinking you’ve never met a gay person-we’re everywhere), LGB individuals wrestle with the decision to reveal to the world their sexuality.  It’s a difficult decision for many of us (my hat is off to those for whom it is not so hard), and some people never choose to exist the closet (which is their choice, and it pisses me off when anyone make demands of others to come out of the closet-not your life, not your choice).  The decision to come out of the closet was rough for me.  The first time I realized I had gay thoughts was in 1987.  I came out gradually over the course of my high school years, telling my heterosexual best friend Sean (I wish I knew how to contact him), my GM at my first job, Wendy, and later on my parents (they were last).  I held off telling my parents until last because they were the ones I was most horrified of telling.  

 

See that last sentence there?  No child should fear rejection from their parents for revealing an important facet of who they are.

It’s not like I said “Hi mom/dad. I like to dissect cats and dogs while they’re still alive”

or

“Hey, parental units, I just wanted to tell you I was planning to embark on a career as a bank robber.”

But the reaction they both gave was pretty much what I dreaded. I felt rejected, and unloved.  Here I was baring my soul, and telling them something that was so fundamental to me…something I never chose…something I didn’t want, but couldn’t deny any longer.  It was simply who I was.  Being gay is not about having sex.  You can still have children if you’re gay.  Being gay-for me-is about having a psychological, sexual, and emotional attraction to members of the same sex.  I just don’t have the same attraction to women (but I love me some women; most of my best friends have been and continue to be women).  That’s nothing to be sorry about.  That’s nothing to regret.  That’s not something to make me feel guilty of.  Following my parents rejection (I’d already told my sister, and she was loving and accepting), for a very short period of time I was suicidal.  I remember driving my truck and thinking I could just end my pain by driving straight into a telephone poll.  I was hurting that much.  I pulled myself out of that by thinking of how my death would affect others around me, especially my sister (to this day, I credit her with saving my life).  

I don’t say any of this because I’m angry at my parents. In fact, I’m not.  Yes, I was hurt.  For years. Relations between my mother and I warmed in the years after I came out, but it took longer for my father and I to patch things up.  It also took time for me to realize that my parents, like all other people in our culture, were raised in a society that’s swimming in homophobia (along with sexism, transphobia, misogyny, and so many other social problems).  It took time for them to get past the prejudices and biases one develops as a result of being raised in a culture such as the US, but the point is-they did overcome those biases and prejudices.  I forgave them long ago (and I hope they forgave themselves). Today, my parents love me and I love them*.  They accept who I am.  They realize this is my life and the decisions I make with regard to whom I choose to be in a relationship with are borne out of uncontrollable attractions that are part of who I am.  To deny that I’m gay would be like trying to deny that I’m black.  It is that fundamental. 

I can’t imagine what it would be like to come out of the closet after 40.  Especially if I had a wife and kids.  It’s likely a different sort of difficult than what I had to deal with.  I only hope that for those who choose to come out, whether it is someone in their 40s, or a 19 year old kid just out of high school, that they’ll be accepted and loved by their family and friends.  

*these days, in my opinion, my relationship with my parents is the best it has been in my adult life, and quite possibly even most of my teen years.  That’s in no small part due to me growing up and maturing and coming to understand many of the lessons they tried to impart on me (that I was far too pig headed to listen to when I was younger).  I feel that even though they’re my parents, I can interact with them as near equals-peers if you will (not literally, as there will always be a parent-chi
ld dynamic there, but overall my point should be clear).


 

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In case anyone is wondering, just because I live in the United States doesn’t mean everything I talk about will be US-centric. There are other countries in the world where important stuff happens too

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Anti-gay bigotry
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