Comments on: Watch Out LaBarbera, You’ve Got Competition.

By: Hyhybt

Hyhybt — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:16:04 +0000

…
We so often hear people and think “she’s crazy” without considering that they might actually BE mentally ill.

By: Regan DuCasse

Regan DuCasse — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:20:19 +0000

I had a suspicion because she was all over the place and rather scatter gun with her delivery.
However, as the aforementioned posts have stated: we’ve seen VERY similar screeds, rants and assertions from men and women holding public office, who are deans of universities, who head religious media and who are heavily invested in political influence.

And when you read any given anti gay WEEKLY article in TownHall, the articles themselves and the comment threads that follow, are also clear indicators that their are members of the general public who AGREE with this woman, they just have a more sane (if not agreeable) way of saying.
But the paranoia, lack of facts are no less than this.
And these people CAN and DO have the right to vote and are encouraged to.

And it must be noted, that however the anti gay like to ascribed homosexuality to mental illness, the fact remains that even those who are bi -polar, schizophrenic and are at high risk of post partum psychosis can ALL get married.
As long as consent has been mutual and non coercive.
Not even mental illness or a history of violence (incarcerated murderers) are a barrier to the RIGHT TO MARRY.

How mentally ill is THAT?!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:22:15 +0000

Haven’t read the entire thread. Just wanted to give you props for removing the video.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:58:48 +0000

You’re right, Tampa Zeke. There’s very little difference between what this woman said and blaming natural disasters on gay people. That’s why people were so quick to jump on this. People like LaBarbera and Fisher and Bachmann and Santorum say close to the same thing. I agree with ebholman that it was her scattered delivery that was the dead giveaway. That, and the fact that I have a schizophrenic uncle who talks the exact same way, but about the government and space aliens instead of gays.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:46:36 +0000

The really sad thing is that her rantings are only slightly more crazy than what the Christian Right routinely says in mainstream media.

It’s also a really bad reflection on American politics when someone like her can be a registered lobbyist and be allowed to testify anywhere

By: TampaZeke

TampaZeke — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:46:23 +0000

I agree with Richard. In a sane world one might have recognized her condition right away. But in a world where the likes of Peter LaBarbara, Matt Staver, Tony Perkins, Bill Donahue, Sally Kerns and other (mostly Republican) politicians are not only respected for their, only slightly less, offensive anti-gay comments and called on to give their opinions on national news and pundit shows, the line between mental illness and hate filled ignorance is often hard to distinguish.

Ryan, if there weren’t so many rabidly anti-gay RIGHTIES, the gay a lefty blogs might have been more likely to recognize this woman’s mental illness. But if you’ve ever been to one of these hearing you know that what she said was actually not all that unusual. I’ve heard EQUALLY as ignorant and EQUALLY as offensive testimony spoken by respected “leaders” in the community at council meetings here in Tampa. And as far as I know, NONE of them were considered by anyone to be mentally ill.

I sincerely hope that this woman gets the help she needs.

If the City Council and the woman’s family and the institution that looks after her are ALL aware that this woman is schizophrenic, and don’t want her to be mocked by people who don’t know her condition, then they should protect her and not allow her to speak at these public hearings.

By: Priya Lynn

Priya Lynn — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:46:48 +0000

You got that right, Richard. She sounded coherent enough I was surprised to find out she is schizophrenic.

By: Richard Rush

Richard Rush — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:35:28 +0000

Jim,

I’m rather ashamed of myself that it didn’t occur to me that Svoboda was mentally ill.

Don’t feel ashamed. With all the deranged ranting you/we hear on a daily basis from people such as Scott Lively, Laurie Higgins, Bryan Fischer, Linda Harvey, Lou Engle, and Peter LaBarbera, to name just a few notables, how could anyone be expected to spot the presence of mental illness in Svoboda?

It seems as though we need another law comparable to Poe’s Law. It might read, “Without a written psychiatric diagnosis, it is impossible to differentiate people diagnosed as mentally ill from virulent anti-gay bigots.”

By: ebohlman

ebohlman — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:04:36 +0000

Ryan: When I saw the video, my first thought was that yes, she was mentally ill (based on how she was saying it). And my second thought was that maybe someone put her up to doing this, taking advantage of her mental state to give her a script that she wouldn’t understand. My third thought was that if my second thought was true, it’s the sort of thing Willard R. Money would have done as a teenager: it really reminded me of the bit about leading the nearly-blind teacher into a closed door.

By: Jim Burroway

Jim Burroway — Sun, 13 May 2012 01:40:10 +0000

I just got back home and saw the news item describing the woman as suffering from schizophrenia. Because of that, I’ve removed the video and apologize for not catching that earlier. Please see the main post for a fuller explanation.