Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyDecember 18th, 2008
The Inaugural Committee has sent out talking points on why selecting Rick Warren’s and his message equating gays to pedophiles for the Inaugural Invocation is “inclusive”. They concluded with what they must think is their stongest point:
And for the very first time, there will be a group representing the interests of LGBT Americans participating in the Inaugural Parade.
Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, how exciting. I’ll have a representative there at the inauguration representing my interests.
Oh my goodness, who could it be? Perhaps a gay politician, or the leader of a gay rights group, or even someone who has stepped up to speak out against institutionalized inequality in the wake of Proposition 8?
Nope. My representatives to the President-Elect are these guys:
Yes, the representation that gay people will have at the inauguration will be a gay marching band included among the couple dozen bands that will march down Pennsylvania Avenue after the swearing in ceremony.
Well, that’s doesn’t sound very effective. But perhaps they are stellar representatives of my “interests”. So let’s take a look at the goals of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association:
LGBA remains dedicated to its original goals of providing a network of lesbian and gay bands at all stages of development, promoting music as a medium of communication among people, improving the quality of artistic and organizational aspects of member bands, and stimulating public interest in the unique art form of community band music in our culture.
Un-huh.
Don’t get me wrong. I love marching bands. And I think it’s wonderful that amoung the dozens of bands participating will be one whose members are recruited from the gay community.
But frankly, I find it offensive that the Inaugural Committee is so incredibly condescending as to think that this group will be “representing the interests of LGBT Americans” just because they happen to be gay.
If this is any indication of the inclusion that gay people will have in the Obama Administration, we can look forward to (at least) four years of patronizing and dismissive gestures. We should all sit up and be thankful that we can march in the band. And maybe if we’re really appreciative maybe we can also do Michelle’s hair and make-up.
That isn’t inclusion. That’s a slap in the face.
I am hoping that this is an aberration, that the Obama administration will be dedicated not only to the reversal of discriminatory policy but also to the inclusion of gay men and women at all levels of government, selected for their abilities to contribute to their nation. But I do not consider the appointments to date or the administration’s response to the Rick Warren controversy to be promising.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Southern Decency
December 18th, 2008
The gay marching band is just as inconsequential to gay interests as Rick Warren’s invocation is to evangelical interests. This controversy is a tempest in a teapot.
Jim Burroway
December 18th, 2008
But, but, but… They’ll be playing “It’s Raining Men”!
Don’t you see?
Pomo
December 18th, 2008
But all gay people have to be Democrats. To not be is to be a traitor to the cause…
This marching band being our representatives pisses me off alot more than Obama inviting Warren. That doesn’t bother me but insulting me by saying some band in short shorts is my representative… that gets me mad!
Ben in Oakland
December 18th, 2008
maybe they can march with the hairdressers, florists, actors, and butch car repair people. i know i’ll be represented that way.
Mark F.
December 18th, 2008
Don’t blame me–I voted 3rd party.
Rick
December 18th, 2008
If this is how Obabma is sensitive to gays I guess I can forget about him getting rid of DOMA or enacting ENDA. For someone who claims to support civil unions for gays this is a profoundly wrong-headed choice.
(And Pomo, really. Those particular shorts are knee-length. Look at the photo. It’s also highly unlikely they wouldn’t be wearing something much more formal, anyway.)
rusty
December 18th, 2008
after giving some more thought. . .
I find it quite amusing that BHO selected ‘the man behind the curtain’ for now lots of folk will be paying a tad bit more attention to Brother Warren, as he continues to build his faith fortresses(4th largest church in america-wikipedia). And, with Warren as the BHO pick, Prop 8 hit the radar again on a national level.
Bringing together folk is what BHO is all about, and sometimes that is like inviting the relatives from the distant side of the family to the wedding, christining (sp), bar mitzvah, etc. that no one really wants to invite or even see. But after they all get together, well, sometimes more fireworks.
I have only seen Brother Warren in two video clips, like his charisma and admire him not only as a very effective spokesperson, but for his ability to keep his ‘cool’.
But all this aside, before true conversations and dialogues to develop h, folk must be around the table. This is OHB’s hope and tactic for change.
But then again The Godfather once said, ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.’
David C.
December 18th, 2008
Here is a scenario to consider:
Rick Warren does in fact appear in his assigned role in the Inauguration. Now, because of this increase in visibility, evangelism as a whole gets more visibility. Following this, more scrutiny begins to fall upon the whole Evangelical Industry so clearly on display in mega-churches and the political clout that obtains from the very effective organization the Evangelism Industry enables. Main Street USA starts to get a little nervous.
Next, people begin to flash-back to the atrocities of the Bush Administration and its way-to-close affiliation with way too many of the right-wing religious ideologues. Mainstream americans and those that actually voted for Obama because they were trying to install a progressive leader in the White House then take notice and actually start to advocate for laws that will protect all citizens from the advancing theocracy. Calls begin to be made for examination of tax-exempt status for some of the evangelical mega-churches that are run more like businesses than churches and are blatantly pushing the envelope or testing the law where it comes to political activism.
The backlash against evangelicals trying to enshrine their iron-age beliefs into law becomes pronounced enough that all members of congress and the President distance themselves from the rabidly right-wing evangelicals. Two slots open on the US Supreme Court and Obama nominates two very moderate justices that are handily confirmed by Congress. Shortly thereafter, the decisive battle in the Culture War takes place when homosexuals are granted full protection and Roe V. Wade is actually strengthened by striking down most state restrictions on abortion and state laws that attempt to exclude homosexuals from marrying or adopting children.
Game over for RIck Warren and his ilk.
Yeah, I know, dream on.
SuzyQ
December 18th, 2008
Don’t blame me. I not only supported Hillary but pointed out that Obama was kissing up to queer haters like the closet queen Donnie McKlerkin. That he was a neo-lib and the most right wing of all the Democratic Party candidates.
cd
December 18th, 2008
But all this aside, before true conversations and dialogues to develop, folk must be around the table. This is OHB’s hope and tactic for change.
Any serious review of Culture War issues shows that this never works. The leaders talk, they disagree, they repeat themselves, they decide it‘s useless to talk any more. Events and resulting defections decide things.
Peace
December 19th, 2008
Why isn’t that good enough? I thought you people liked parades!
AdrianT
December 19th, 2008
Spot on Timothy. And I hope LGBT Americans make their disgust known dusing the ceremony quite frankly.
JT
December 19th, 2008
@ David C.: It could work the other way. Obama has an anti-gay man as part of his inauguration ceremony, and the anti-gay idiots (perhaps even the violent ones) are emboldened and step up their obnoxious and dangerous behaviors. Sigh.
I’d love to see the LGBT marching band march silently in protest. I do not think we are overreacting to this issue. Including a pinch of poison in a recipe does not make it “inclusive”, rather it ruins everything.
MR Bill
December 19th, 2008
I, for one, hate a parade.
Anytime I see a bunch of people marching in one direction, I have the urge to go the other way.
And if they are running, panicked, I leave tangent to their path..
The choice of Warren hurt. But then, if give Obama cover to actually do something positive for the GLBT community, I guess I can suck it up one more time..
But I ain’t happy.
And what(besides the emails I’ve sent) can we do here? Organize, yeah, but this is being spread in the media “those nasty gays don’t want ‘America’s Preacher’ (registered trademark) to be at Obama’s love in. Warren’s odious conduct in the Prop 8 debacle is just not getting much play.
We’re loosing the public relations war if we play this way it’s been going.
thomas
December 19th, 2008
I think God is sick of Warren’s hate filled life.
Dennis Veite
December 19th, 2008
Hi true colors are showing through brightly!
Dennis Veite
December 19th, 2008
@Mark F: Me too. I vote for Hillary in the primaries and there was no way in hell I was voting for Obama. He’s a sleazeball just like McCain.
ObamaSupporterNoMore
December 19th, 2008
The Obama team is now using this gay marching band to rationalize their false inclusiveness. In light of Obama promoting Warren internationally through the inauguration, this band should pull out of the inauguration. Obama is throwing us under the bus with the calculation that gay voters have nowhere to go. I donated, supported, and voted for Obama. I’m fed up with this Democrats-as-usual treatment of GLBT voters. Monday I switch my affiliation to Independent and urge every GLBT voter, abortion rights voter, etc. to do the same.
AJD
December 19th, 2008
My main reason for voting for Obama was that I didn’t want an extension of the Bush Administration. I sort of anticipated that Obama would pull this kind of crap, but it’s still disappointed. Anyway, I’ve been a registered independent since I registered to vote at age 18.
Attmay
December 20th, 2008
We were already under the bus as soon as he had Donnie McClurkin sing at his rally in South Carolina. You didn’t know that?
Leave A Comment