News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America, by Mel White
The Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right by Didi Herman
Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality, by Simon LeVay
Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, by Wayne Besen
Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement, by Tanya ErzenLaBarbera Award: Perennial AZ Candidate Joe Sweeney’s “Genital Drives” and Mexican Whorehouses
Jim Burroway
July 18th, 2008
It’s time to give Oklahoma a bit of a rest. Today’s LaBarbera Award winner comes from my own back yard, right here in Tucson, Arizona. And there is no better recipient than our very own 13-time candidate and zero-time winner for Congress, Republican Joe Sweeney.
Arizona has a non-presidential primary coming up on September 9, and Republican candidates Joe Sweeney and Gene Chewning are running for Congressman Raul Grijalva’s congressional seat. Sweeney and Chewning sat down with reporters from the Tucson Citizen for a videotaped interview. This was Sweeney response when he was asked to give his position on the proposed anti-marriage amendment:
Sweeney: Yeah, I wouldn’t have a problem supporting that. I think you just can’t have two generations that are so confused about their genital drive or sexuality that they don’t know whether they’re coming or going. You can’t just add to that. It’s like pouring gasoline on a fire when you let this kind of nonsense going on and on.
And it goes back all the way to Sodomite statutes they had over in England back in the 1530’s. It was a felony. They’d put you in prison for a year if you conducted that kind of behavior.
Q: Was that good?
Sweeney: Yeah. Sure, they needed to do that. Otherwise you’d have even more chaos. People get addicted to these strange ways of exercising their genital drives. Once it becomes addictive, you’ve got a real problem, social problem.
Actually, when England enacted it’s anti-sodomy statutes in the 1500’s the penalty was death. Just so you know.
But that’s not the only lunacy coming from Sweeney’s mouth. It seems that when he thinks of homosexuals, he thinks of “genital drives” and whorehouses in Mexico. I really don’t know how anyone except Sweeney himself can make any sense of this, so I’ll just leave you with this video excerpt and relevant transcript without comment. Unfortunately , the video ends before the good part about whorehouses, but you can see the full video on the Tucson Citizen’s web site.
Sweeney: Yeah, you know, this Sodomite behavior is not marriage. It’s just, you can’t go with that, I mean, we’ve got a society that was founded on the principles of Christian doctrine, and that’s what you’ve got to go with. That’s what made this country, an ideology worth repeating.
Q: Actually, the country was founded on deist principles.
Sweeney: Well, it’s a deism that’s supported by some sense of revelations. Some sense that, that well over there was witched. That’s a sense of revelation. Do you see what I’m trying to say? We’ve got dogmatic theology and theistic theology and all that, but we also have the primacy of revelation theology that a lot of times is neglected by what I call “low church,” people that don’t understand the elevation of revelation theology.
Q: So, again I’m going to ask the same question I asked Mr. Chewning. Basically, a secular reason why two consenting adults of the same sexual orientation should not be married or allowed to be married.
Sweeney: Well because it’s addictive and it creates social chaos, social problems.
Q: Just out of curiosity, what would you base that on?
Sweeney: Well I would base that on the fact that people come together with their genital drives, and they either bridle their genital drives — and that’s what a marriage contract is supposed to be about — or they just go around acting like they can go whoring down in Nogales or prostituting anywhere they want, they can do whatever they want with their bodies. They don’t have any higher responsibility other than their own gratification. [Note: The video snippet above ends here; the full video continues with the following] Hedonism, which is maximizing pleasure over pain. And that’s what happens at Nogales every night when they go down there whoring and causing all the social strife. Now they got those kids in the whorehouses in Nogales coming up here to Tucson to be anchor babies. You know I’ve witnessed that stuff.
Q: Okay, so there’s another question following that. You guys both have said marriage should be between a man and a woman. What about a transgender person who used to be a man, now became a woman and wants to marry a man.
Sweeney: Well, I’ve got a friend like that. And… you know… That’s what he wants to do with his social activity and his life, his social functioning, that’s up to him, you know? But to say that we have to validate that, the rest of society has to validate that kind of behavior, you know, let him conduct his behavior the way that he’s going to conduct his behavior. You know, I don’t agree with prostitution in Mexico, but they have laws that say it’s a way of functioning, socially functional society five feet the other side of the border that allows that to happen. We think the repercussions of that totally outweigh the responsibilities.
Q: Just out of curiosity, what do you think that homosexuals have to do with whorehouses in Mexico?
Sweeney: Oh, I don’t know. We’ve got the only Southwest weekly newspaper, we’ve got more homosexuals down here than we’ve got a lot of other kinds of people.
Q: Again, what does that got to do with whorehouses in Mexico?
Sweeney: Well, what happens is you get what I call a hedonistic attractiveness to do anything and everything with your genital drive . ….
Q: Again, are the homosexuals frequenting the whorehouses?
Sweeney: I wouldn’t be surprised. Anything can happen around this town. We’ve got gay bars down on Fourth Avenue …
Sweeney ran for Congress twelve times before as a Democrat, a Republican, a Democrat, a New Alliance Party member and then Republican again, and he’s lost every time. Last year he captured the Republican nomination and the local party did everything they could to distance themselves from this gadfly. He’s just one of those people you can always count on around here to give the local elections a bit of, ah, color.
Chewning, believe it or not, may lose the primary to Sweeney this year on Sweeney’s name recognition alone. Not that Chewning is any kind of a political rocket scientist himself, if this video is any indication. Something about marrying first cousins or German Shepherds. At least Sweeney is creative.
Fortunately, the 7th is a very safe district for Rep. Grijalva.
All of you Oklahomans out there — feel better now?
LaBarbera Award: This Guy
Jim Burroway
June 17th, 2008
We’ve never given the LaBarbera Award to an un-named person before, but we don’t know the name of this particular anti-gay protester in front of San Francisco City Hall yesterday. All we have is this photo, and this lovely example of a “Christian” witness.
“God killed him for loving fags!!”
According to Storm Bear (yes, that’s his name) at the Bilerico Project, a marriage supporter was playing a guitar when he “suddenly dropped like a tree” of an apparent heart attack or cardiac arrest. Police immediately swooped in and began administering CPR.
And while that was going on, one of the “loving” Christian protesters was chanting, “Satan Got You!” and “What is the Devil whispering in your ear about now?”
Storm Bear takes it from there
I yelled at the guy, “If you are such a Christian, why aren’t you praying for the guy dying on the concrete?” The protester replied, “God killed him for loving fags!!” The cops even stepped in and told the guy to shut his mouth.
I have no idea what the ultimate fate of the guitar player is. I have high hopes he will live to sing another day.
We are still waiting to hear whether the guitar player is okay. We hope and pray that he is. (Update: We have learned that the man did suffer a cardiac arrest and he is in guarded condition at St. Mary’s hospital.)
I have no idea whether this anonymous “Christian” (and I’m using quotes here deliberately to distinguish this “gentleman” from real Christians) is a fan of Peter LaBarbera’s or vice versa. But we do know that LaBarbera is a huge proponent of confrontational forms of “witnessing,” and he’s accused this web site of “anti-Christian bigotry” when we call him on it. But we’ve challenged him to find a single post anywhere in which, even by the stretch of his wild imagination, we’ve engaged in the practice. Unsurprisingly, he hasn’t taken us up on the challenge.
And I think there’s a reason for that. We well understand that the confrontational, emotional, hyperventilating, panic-inducing style of “witnessing” that people like LaBarbera and this anonymous “loving Christian” perform is deeply embarrassing to millions of truly loving Christians the world over. This is why these extremists remain on the lunatic fringe. They see their failed efforts being eclipsed by the forward march of reason and sanity.
We recognize that those who think this sort of “witnessing” is constructive are not a reflection of Christianity. It’s only reflective of its lunatic fringe. It’s not anti-Christian bigotry or Christian bashing to say that. In fact, we can’t even come close to bashing Christians as badly as those who hijack the faith to serve their own perverted brand of self-described ”love.”
Update: We have a name. It’s Kevin Farrer.
[Hat tip for the name: Scott H.]
LaBarbera Award: Judge Bill Graves
Jim Burroway
June 5th, 2008
We’ve got another winner. It has recently come to light that Oklahoma Judge Bill Graves objected to proposed changes to the state Code of Judicial Conduct regarding sexual orientation.
In an April 8 letter to the Oklahoma Bar Association, Graves objects that the new code would prohibit him from refusing to award custody and adoption cases if a parent were gay. Graves also objecsd to the gender and ethnicity clauses as well, leaving us to wonder exactly which century he’s living in.
But this is Judge Graves’ award-winning argument against the homosexuals:
“Sexual orientation” would protect pedophiles, polygamists and homosexuals who practice anal sodomy, defined in state law as “the detestable and abominable crime against nature,” the judge wrote.
That’s right. Judge Graves is spreading the same old tired, disproved canard that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia. That, coupled with his refusal to consider gay parents fit to raise their own children, leaves us wondering about his capacity to dispense justice.
The long-suffering citizens of Oklahoma have another embarrassing wingnut on their hands again, and we have another LaBarbera Award winner. Sadly, it’s beginning to appear as if the two go hand in hand. Congratulations Judge Graves.
LaBarbera Award: Pastor John Hagee
Jim Burroway
June 2nd, 2008
I don’t know how we managed to overlook John Hagee when handing out LaBarbera Awards. He’s uttered so many doozies in the past, so much so that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain was finally forced to distance himself from the man whose support he once courted.
But this latest discovery looks like it’s about as good a reason as any to recognize some of the lunacy which runs rampant among anti-gay extremists:
On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States’ invasion of Iraq, Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, “The Final Dictator,”Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with “fierce features.” He will be “a blasphemer and a homosexual,” the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, “There’s a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx.”
You see? Fred Phelp’s Westboro Baptists aren’t a complete aberration. You can get the full effect here:
Now you see, that’s how you win the LaBarbera Award.
By the way, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) still says he’s going to deliver the keynote address at Hagee’s Christians United For Israel (CUFI) summit. Also scheduled to attend is Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY). No word yet on whether Engel has reconsidered given this latest outburst.
LaBarbera rants on like… well, LaBarbera
Timothy Kincaid
May 13th, 2008
In response to our criticism of his alliance with racists, Peter LaBarbera has lashed out in his usual way, ranting and frothing and void of all reason or accuracy.
Pete doesn’t rebuke his allies David Duke and Ted Pike for their racism and anti-Semitism. He doesn’t admit that he is fearful of the story that might come out in court if VanAdslen is prosecuted. He doesn’t allow that “the homosexual”, the witnesses, and the police just might be telling the truth. He doesn’t acknowledge that his language contrasting Velasquez with the “strapping, clean-cut, All-American looking young man” lends itself to racism.
Ah, but if he did any of that, he wouldn’t be Peter LaBarbera.
No, instead Pete identifies me as “the Left”, accuses me of hate, and calls me an anti-Christian bigot like Barney Frank (I don’t know why he brings up Barney Frank, but I’m guessing it’s because he’s Jewish and we know what Pete’s allies think about those radical homosexual Jews).
Oh, and to prove that LaBarbera is not a racist he posts a picture of a Black ex-lesbian (yes, he capitalizes “black”). If it wasn’t so tragic it would be funny.
OK. Sure I question the theology of exclusion and condemnation. Yeah I point out when conservatives twist Scripture, logic, and truth to fit their anti-gay agenda.
But “the Left”?
Anti-Christian?
Now that’s what I call irony.
So we have a challenge for LaBarbera: Hey, Pete, give us an example of how our writings here at Box Turtle Bulletin show that we hate Christians. Provide us an example of the anti-Christian bigotry that you think is so prevalent on this site.
Peter Sprigg Apologizes
Jim Burroway
March 27th, 2008
Current immigration laws deny the foreign partners of gay Americans the ability to immigrate to the U.S, unlike their heterosexually-married counterparts. A bill is stalled in Congress which would address this problem. Last week, we awarded the LaBarbera Award to the Family “Research” Council’s Peter Sprigg for suggesting that instead of uniting gays and lesbians with their partners, we should export gays instead:
I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society.
Today, Peter Sprigg issued an apology:
In response to a question regarding bi-national same-sex couples who are separated by an international border, I used language that trivialized the seriousness of the issue and did not communicate respect for the essential dignity of every human being as a person created in the image of God. I apologize for speaking in a way that did not reflect the standards which the Family Research Council and I embrace.
Of course, the Family “Research” Council’s standards still allow him to cite the discredited “research” of holocaust revisionist Paul Cameron. No apology or retraction for that. Nevertheless, a start is a start.
LaBarbera Award: Peter Sprigg
Jim Burroway
March 20th, 2008
These awards have been coming fast and furious lately. It must be spring fever or something. Or Sprigg fever.
Current immigration laws which deny the foreign partners of gay Americans the ability to immigrate to the U.S. A bill is stalled in Congress which would address this problem which forces families apart. The Family “Research” Council’s Peter Sprigg was asked about it and said this:
I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society.
This “kick them out” kind of sentiment is definitely worthy of the LaBarbera Award. And today, we get a two-fer. Spriggs is also a Certified Cameronite for citing Holocaust revisionist Paul Cameron’s discredited research in his and Timothy Dailey’s 2004 book, Getting it Straight: What the Research Shows About Homosexuality.
See also:
Family Impact Summit: A Lesbian Shows Peter Sprigg How To Debate
Sally Kerns Exaggerates Death Threats
Jim Burroway
March 13th, 2008
Oklahoma state rep. Sally Kern’s homophobic rant earned her several thousand emails and phone calls, most of which I’m sure aren’t very civil. Tuesday, Kern alluded to some of them containing death threats, prompting an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations. What did they find?
[OSBI spokeswoman Jessica] Brown said Tuesday, “There are a lot of e-mails to the representative that say, ‘You ought to die,’ rather than, ‘I am going to kill you.’
“I wouldn’t characterize them as death threats,” she said.
A LaBarbera Award winner exaggerating? Who’da thunk?
Update: Never mind what law enforcement officials say. Our friends from Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink are undeterred. It’s like they just can’t help it.
See also:
Sally Kern’s Meeting with PFLAG on Tape
Exodus’ Local Ministry Aligns with Sally Kern
Certified Cameronite: Sally Kern
Kern Speaks to College Republicans
Sally Kern: Out of Context? The Complete Transcript
We Be Jammin’
Muslims and Gays United
OK State Rep. Sally Kern’s Son is “Straight and Not Gay”
Sally Kern Exaggerates Death Threats
A Letter to Sally Kern
LaBarbera Award: Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern
Uppity Gays
Jim Burroway
March 11th, 2008
Earlier this week, we awarded Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern the LaBarbara Award for her ludicrously malevolent statements recorded at a meeting when she thought nobody was listening. Since then, she’s been trying to explain how what she said wasn’t hateful, but were edited and taken out of context. While her remarks may well have been edited, it’s hard to imagine any “context” which could render them innocuous.
Kern also tried to explain that she aimed her remarks to the “homosexual activists” — you know, the ones with the agenda — and not the ordinary gays and lesbians who are just minding their own business:
I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will.
You can almost hear the word “uppity” there, can’t you?
But what about that “agenda”? Well this is where Kern refers local television reporters to the madcap duo of Matt Barber and Peter LaBarbera who are appalled — appalled! — that gays would dare to exercise their constitutional rights. That “gay agenda” they’re all worried about? It ain’t nuttin’ but the First Amendment:
Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Hat tip: Alvin McEwen for the Barber and LaBarbera cites.
LaBarbera Award: Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern
Jim Burroway
March 8th, 2008
Have you ever wonder what anti-gay extremists say to each other behind closed doors? I have. That’s why I went to the Family Impact Summit last September in Tampa, Florida. It’s amazing how people you think you know will say the wildest things when they believe nobody is listening.
Well, it turns out there was another similar meeting recently with about fifty people when Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern went off on the “biggest threat our nation has.” Guess what that threat is? That’s right, it’s the dreaded “homosexual agenda,” which she considers a bigger threat than terrorism or Islam. And that’s not all. Her paranoid tirade has all the necessary elements of anti-gay lunacy: Cameronesque lifespan claims, threats to our children (”as young as two years of age!”), “infiltrating city councils” — and someone was there to capture it all on audio:
Here’s the transcript:
As a matter of fact, studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death knell for this country. I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat.
Because what’s happening now, they’re going after, in schools, two year olds! Do you know what they’re trying to get into early childhood education? They want to give our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them. I taught school for close to twenty years. And we’re not teaching facts and knowledge anymore folks. We’re teaching indoctrination, okay? And their going after our young children, as young as two years of age to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.
You know, gays are infiltrating city councils. Did you know, Eureka Springs, anybody been there, the passion play? Okay, have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? Okay? There are some others, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tacoma, Maryland; Kensington, Maryland; in Vermont, Oregon, West Palm Beach, Florida; in a lot of other places in Florida. What’s happening? They are winning elections.
One of the things I deal with in our legislature, I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents, schools had to let parents know what clubs their students were involved in. And the reason I did that bill primarily was this: We have the gay-straight alliance coming into our schools. Kids are getting involved in these groups, their lives are being ruined, their parents don’t know about it. So I introduced a bill, you have to notify all clubs and things.
And one of my colleagues said you know, we don’t have a gay problem in my county, that’s why I voted against that bill. Well you know what? To me that is so dumb. If you got cancer or something in your little toe, do you say, you know, I’m just going to forget about it because the rest of me’s fine. It spreads, okay? And this stuff, it’s deadly and it’s spreading and it will destroy our young people, it will destroy this nation.
Congratulations, Rep. Kern. You’re today’s LaBarbera Award winner.
See also:
Sally Kern’s Meeting with PFLAG on Tape
Exodus’ Local Ministry Aligns with Sally Kern
Certified Cameronite: Sally Kern
Kern Speaks to College Republicans
Sally Kern: Out of Context? The Complete Transcript
We Be Jammin’
Muslims and Gays United
OK State Rep. Sally Kern’s Son is “Straight and Not Gay”
Sally Kern Exaggerates Death Threats
A Letter to Sally Kern
LaBarbera Award: Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern
John Gibson Update
Jim Burroway
January 24th, 2008
John Gibson continued to heap more insults on yesterday’s radio broadcast. But today, his tune has changed considerably for the better. “I’m sorry that some took my comments as anti-gay and insensitive. … Once again, to anyone offended by my comments, I’m sorry. But I’m also sorry that Heath Ledger is no longer alive and with us.”
We gave John Gibson the LaBarbera Award this morning for his comments mocking actor Heath Ledger’s untimely death. But now, even with this half-hearted non-apology “apology,” it looks like John Gibson has demonstrated himself to be a much bigger man than Peter LaBarbera, in whose honor the award was christened. I don’t think I’ve evern seen LaBarbera actually apologize — not even half-heartedly — for much of anything.
Update, 1/26: Now that it’s a nice Saturday morning, I’ve had time to re-read this post and agree with the commenters. This isn’t much of an apology. I’ve updated the post accordingly as shown in italics.
LaBarbera Award: John Gibson
Jim Burroway
January 24th, 2008
Whenever misfortune befalls anyone in the gay community, there is a small band of anti-gay extremists we can count on to exploit that news to make cheap political points. When tragic news comes around, we know we will be hearing from these demagogues in very short order. It’s not a matter of if, but when. They’ve shown themselves to be pretty reliable that way. No “Oh gee, we’re sorry” or “How can I help?” but a parade of press releases and media appearances saying “A-ha!” while friends and families grieve.
As Timothy Kincaid observed in a recent comment, it’s hard to imagine a better definition of evil than finding joy in other people’s suffering. And on seeing the behavior of some people over the years, it’s hard to believe that deep in their hearts that they did’t experience a moment of abject glee upon hearing the news.
If there is a smidgen of a silver lining, it’s that most of these demagogues remain on the fringe and their yawps are often nothing more than pathetic attempts to draw attention to themselves. But not yesterday. Yesterday, we heard a major media figure, John Gibson, whose programs appear on radio and television coast-to-coast, find glee in the death of a young actor and devoted father.
On Tuesday, Fox News host John Gibson opened his radio show with funeral music, followed by callous jokes about the death of actor Heath Ledger, who played the role of Ennis Del Mar in the landmark 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain. Gibson played an audio clip of Ledger’s famous line from a pivotal scene, “I wish I knew how to quit you,” and replied, “Well, we found out how to quit you.” He laughed then played another clip of Ledger saying “We’re dead,” followed by his own mocking “We’re dead,” followed by Ledger’s clip again. (Think Progress has the audio.)
What fun he must have had making fun of dead gays — no, not dead gays, but dead straight actors who portray gay characters. You see, the level of discourse in this country has plummeted so badly that you don’t even have to be gay to be targeted. The sad fact is that LGBT’s can be treated this way and too often the outrage doesn’t go much beyond the LGBT community. But today, you don’t even have to be gay to be singled out for abuse.
We all should be outraged when someone mocks another person’s suffering, no matter who’s suffering. But if our greater society cannot find a way to be outraged over the abuse heaped upon the grieving family, friends and the young daughter of a straight man, then we’re far worse off than anybody has wanted to admit publicly so far.
You can register your outrage at Fox News. Let’s hope they listen.
Update: John Gibson continued to heap more insults on yesterday’s radio broadcast. But today, his tune has changed considerably for the better. “I’m sorry that some took my comments as anti-gay and insensitive. … Once again, to anyone offended by my comments, I’m sorry. But I’m also sorry that Heath Ledger is no longer alive and with us.”
LaBarbera Award: Mike Huckabee
Jim Burroway
December 19th, 2007
We reported earlier on former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s 1992 remarks on AIDS, in which he called for the “isolation” (thus avoiding the “q” word) of “AIDS carriers” — presumably all 253,448 people with AIDS known to exist in 1992. When asked about those remarks last week, Huckabee refused to back down. That storm barely had time to blow over before other outrageous anti-gay comments began to emerge. Some of these comments border on the harmlessly ill-informed, like this one from the New York Times:
The governor regards 1968 as the dawning of ‘‘the age of the birth-control pill, free love, gay sex, the drug culture and reckless disregard for standards.’’ The Rolling Stones album ‘‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’’ provided the soundtrack for that annus terribilis. But Mike Huckabee wanted me to know that he believes in the separation of church and stage.
But others, like his AIDS comment earlier, have a ring of menace to them. David Corn at Mother Jones found this gem in Huckabee’s 1998 book, Kids Who Kill:
In lamenting the “cultural conflicts” besetting the country, he wrote, “Abortion, environmentalism, AIDS, pornography, drug abuse, and homosexual activism have fragmented and polarized our communities.”
Why was he lumping environmentalism with activities he considered sinful? He did not explain further. A few pages later, Huckabee complained, “It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations—from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia.”
Institutionally supported pedophilia and sadomasochism? Institutionally suppored necrophilia? What “institional support” could he possibly be talking about?
Huckabee said his views on AIDS haven’t changed much since 1992. What about his lumping homosexuality with pedephilia and necrophilia? Joe Carter, Huckabee’s director of research, tried to clarify Huckabee’s remarks:
“He’s not equating homosexuality with necrophilia,” Carter told us. “He’s saying there’s a range of aberrant behavior. He considers homosexuality aberrant, but that’s at one end of the spectrum. Necrophilia is at the other end.”
So homosexuality is in the same class as necrophilia, but we’re just not as bad. As with his AIDS comment, Huckabee stands by this one too. And for that, Gov. Mike Huckabee is today’s LaBarbera Award winner.
The LaBarbera Award: Tony Perkins
Jim Burroway
December 10th, 2007
Good Lord, what should we make of this? I received an FRC Action E-mail from Tony Perkins, as I often do. There’s an article praising Mike Huckabee, there’s another one chastising Congress, and then at the bottom, Perkins says this:
An Assault On Faith
It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.
It looks like Perkins has been chomping at the bit to pin the blame for the Colorado shootings on somebody he doesn’t like. When it comes to culture wars, nobody is safe, and no tragedy is off-limits for exploitation. Here he chose the old familiar bogeyman, “the secular media.” We’re lucky I guess. It could have just as easily been anyone else.
I’m not sure how Perkins found it so easy to “draw a line” between the secular media and Matthew Murray, the Christian-raised guy who actually did the shooting. Unlike the FRC, we won’t imagine any lines where none exist. (Update: The most direct line so far may be mental illness.) And we call on the Family “Research” Council to live up to its name and do a little research before releasing statements that are so patently moronic. Why, they’re beginning to sound like someone else we know…
Here is a screenshot of the E-mail. Click on it to see the full-size version.
See also:
Colorado Gunman Scared Co-Workers, Heard Voices
The LaBarbera Award: Tony Perkins
Prayers and Condolences for Arvada and Colorado Springs
Four Shot At New Life Church
Two Christian Missionaries Killed, Two Injured Near Denver
Why We Have A LaBarbera Award
Jim Burroway
December 5th, 2007
Peter LaBarbera invited the world to attend a news conference at the National Press Club today to premiere his documentary on the Folsom Street fair. Fewer than ten people showed up, and most of them appeared to know LaBarbera or Concerned Woman Matt Barber. There were maybe two journalists, one of whom was the Washington Blade’s Rebecca Armendariz. Amazingly, Rebecca lived to tell about it. This part was my favorite:
And Peter REALLY hates the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who were a prevalent force at Folsom Street. …LaBarbera, though, said that even though the Sisters do charity work, “We wouldn’t tolerate a Nazi charity fund.” NEWSFLASH: The Nazis killed millions of people. This gay rights organization raises money for AIDS research, breast cancer and the arts, among countless other charities. When he made that comparison, my mouth dropped.
You see, statements like that are why we have a LaBarbera Award. There are many imitators and pretenders, but Peter’s the real deal.
LaBarbera Award: PFOX’s Gabriel Espinosa
Jim Burroway
November 7th, 2007
It’s been a long time since I gave one of these out. I almost thought I’d have to retire it. What was I thinking?
Another PFOX member is the latest proud recipient of the LaBarbera Award. This time, it goes to Gabriel Espinosa, who is PFOX President Reginna Grigg’s right hand woman and PFOX webmaster.
The Montgomery County (Maryland) Council is considering a new gender identity nondiscrimination bill, which has generated a lot of heated debate. JimK at TeachTheFacts.org has published a couple of letters from the far-right fringe in opposition to the proposed measure. The sticking point is over men’s and women’s restrooms — who should be allowed to go into which one. Gabriel joined in with her cahrming little note, reportedly done up in about a 40-point font. Please exuse the French:
Bill 23-07
Allowing men who think they’re women into women’s bathrooms and locker rooms?
ARE YOU PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MINDS?
Hopefully, it will be one of your daughters who gets raped first!
Sincerely Yours,
Gabriel Espinosa
President
Furryllama Media Productions
Congratulations to PFOX’s Gabriel Espinosa, today’s LaBarbera Award winner!
The LaBarbera Award: PFOX’s Regina Griggs
Jim Burroway
September 5th, 2007
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) Executive Director Regina Griggs has long co-opted the status of a persecuted minority by describing a strange parallel universe where homosexuality is perfectly accepted and it’s the ex-gays who experience “discrimination.” Her organization works aggressively against gays and lesbian families at all levels, but if anyone expresses any opposition to her efforts they are labeled as engaging in “discrimination against the ex-gay community.” She’s even positioned “ex-gay” as another kind of orientation. To support this line of argument, Griggs has a long history of blowing criticisms out of proportion to prop up the idea that the so-called “ex-gay community” is a persecuted minority under constant siege.
In her most recent example, Griggs claimed that members of her PFOX organization were “attacked” at the Arlington, Va County Fair:
As happens every year, gay activists disrupted our booth activities. They screamed obscenities, threw our materials from the exhibit table to the ground, insisted we recognize their same-sex “spouses,” demanded that PFOX leave, and hit a PFOX volunteer because he is ex-gay.
…
One gay man went so far as to hit our ex-gay volunteer because he refused to recant his ex-gay testimony. We summoned a police officer, who ejected the gay man off of the fairgrounds. Our ex-gay volunteer decided not to press assault charges against the gay man because he wanted to turn the other check as Jesus had done.This is not the first year that PFOX has had to summon the police for protection from gay activists.
This story was picked up all around the anti-gay circuit, including Focus on the Family’s Citizenlink webzine and Family News In Focus radio program. But it appears that this incident didn’t really happen. Ex-Gay Watch’s David Roberts did some digging and has the story:
Since PFOX stated that the police were “summoned” and that they “ejected the gay man off the fairgrounds” we decided to check with the Arlington County Police Department…
We contacted the Arlington PD and ended up speaking with John Lisle of the Media Relations/Legislative Affairs Office. He had no initial knowledge of such an incident. After checking briefly, he again said that no one was aware of such an incident. So we sent a copy of the PFOX statement to him at which time he agreed to check more thoroughly. After over two days of research, there was nothing he could add to his statement; no report exists and no one recalls such an incident.
David Roberts also learned that Arlington County Fair officials hadn’t heard of any problems either. In a follow-up story, he reported:
Yesterday, we spoke with Jackie Abrams, Vice Chair of the Arlington County Fair. According to Abrams, no physical altercation occurred, police were never called and no one was ejected from the fairgrounds - she was emphatic and certain. “I was in radio contact with the other board members during the Fair, and definitely would have known if the police had been summoned. It did not happen [her emphasis],” said Abrams. She added that her calls to PFOX, and specifically to PFOX president Regina Griggs, had gone unanswered.
David Roberts also spoke with two eyewitnesses who worked at nearby booths. Each reported an incident of a heated discussion, but neither of them saw anything physical — no shoving, no hitting, no police or fair officials escorting anyone off the property.
In other words, there is no shred of evidence that anything happened the way Griggs describe it. In fact, all evidence suggests that this is just another one of her many attention-grabbing stunts.
This isn’t the first time Griggs has claimed victimhood status for ex-gays. It’s been a long-running theme of hers, and she’s been very diligent in coopting the experience and the language of the gay rights movement. One of her best examples can be found in this letter she sent to the APA last March:
The ex-gay movement is a civil rights movement to ensure the inclusion of former homosexuals in all realms of society and to support the ex-gay community’s equal access to schools on the same level as gays currently enjoy. Ex-gays and their supporters should not have to be closeted for fear of other’s negative reactions or disapproval. They do not think something is wrong with them because they decided to fulfill their heterosexual potential. Nor do they believe others should condemn them for the personal decision they have made for their lives. Because of the abuse heaped upon them by society, former homosexuals experience discrimination at every level.
The PFOX website’s “About” page has more examples where the “ex-gay community” experiences “abuse heaped upon them by society.” And in the most amazing turn of logic, they go so far as to claim that anti-discrimination and hate crime laws which identify sexual orientation as a factor for protection somehow “legitimize intolerance against former homosexuals” — a notion that is both ludicrous and blatantly false. The fact is, these laws protect everyone regardless of sexual orientation — including non-gays of all stripes, ex-gays among them.
But it’s the last point which makes Grigg’s hysterical notions of “discrimination at every level” so particularly outrageous. Terrance Heath recently began a huge undertaking with the LGBT Hate Crimes Project, and if Grigg’s really wanted to understand the face of intolerance, she should look at a few of these examples:
• Michelle Abdill and Rhonda Ellis of Medford, Oregon were shot execution style on December 4, 1995 by Robert Acremant, who wrote a letter to his hometown newspaper saying that it was easier to kill them knowing they were lesbians.
• Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder of Redding, California were murdered on July 1, 1999 by white supremacist brothers Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams, who confessed to killing the couple because they were gay.
• Author Warren, a developmentally disabled gay man from Grant Town, West Virginia, was murdered on July 3, 2000 by two teenagers. After kicking and beating him, they drove him to the edge of town ran over him four times to disguise his death as a hit-and-run.
• Guin “Richie” Phillips disappeared on June 17, 2003. His body was found on June 25, 2003, stuffed in a suitcase in Rough River Lake. During Joshua Cottrell’s trial, Cottrell’s aunt and cousin testified that he planned to kill Phillips because he was gay.
• Michael Sandy died on October 13, 2006 after being hit by a car while trying to escape four attackers. His attackers later said they targeted Sandy because they were seeking gays to attack and rob.
Griggs might do well to consider that a little bit of perspective is in order. There were 1,171 hate crime incidents in 2005 based on sexual orientation. Twenty-three of those crimes were anti-heterosexual. It’s quite possible that a few ex-gays might be caught up in that mix. If so, those crimes are every bit as deplorable as the other 1,148. But to try to compare the “ex-gay community’s” experience with the very real discrimination and harassment that gays and lesbians experience across the country is beyond offensive.
If the “ex-gay community” has experienced abuse and discrimination “at every level,” where are the ex-gays who were kicked out of the military for being ex-gay? Where are the ex-gays who have been fired from their jobs because they were ex-gay? Where is their answer to Daniel Fetty?
The “ex-gay community” should consider themselves blessed that they have no such answer.
But Regina Griggs isn’t interested in counting blessings. Instead, she’d rather count something else. Notice how she ends her rant about the Arlington County Fair:
… Almost every day we are on the front lines suffering harassment and injustices merely because we demand our equal rights.
The public eats up our information because they have never been exposed to factual truth about same-sex attractions. Teens especially are eager for our educational literature. But our brochures and flyers cost money to print. We also have to pay for exhibit fees and travel. If you would like to help with costs, please make a tax deductible donation to …
Nice. Milking a non-event using hysterical hyperbole to raise money. The LaBarbera Award was created to highlight “the most outrageous, offensive, malevolent, crazy, or excessive statement or claim.” Regina Griggs more than earned the award just on her latest drama-queen antics alone. Capping them with a fundraising appeal is just the rhetorical equivalent of running up the score. Congratulations, Regina. You’ll be a hard act to follow.
PFOX is an Exodus member ministry.
LaBarbera Award: Alan Stang (With a Little Help From Paul Cameron)
Jim Burroway
August 1st, 2007
Ronald Reagan was our first “homosexual” president, and the Republican Party is a “sodomite organization” — according to Alan Stang, our latest LaBarbera Award winner.
Who is Alan Stang?
When I was in high school, a local AM radio station in my hometown used to carry a five-minute program called the “Alan Stang Report” produced by the John Birch Society. The program began with Alan Stang’s menacing voice announcing “This is Alan Stang… Stick Around!” before going to a brief commercial for the local sponsor (a candy and tobacco distributor). And he’d always end his report with “This is Alan Stang… Think about it!” In between, you’d hear another revelation from the strangest collection of conspiracy theories imaginable.
According to Alan Stang, Gerald Ford was a communist. So was his vice president, Nelson Rockefeller. Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale were communists too. By the time Ronald Reagan was in office, I was in college so I never found out whether he was a communist or not.
But it doesn’t matter. Now I know something even juicier. Alan Stang’s latest book, Not Holier Than Thou: How Queer Is Bush? spills the beans. And you can trust it because Paul Cameron wrote the foreword.
Not Holier is not a squeamish dance around the issue. It exposes the homosexual ring in the Reagan and both Bush White Houses. It names names and tells who is in bed with whom: “If Clinton is our first ‘black’ President, Ronald Reagan is our first ‘homosexual’ President. . . . For the record, Bush strategist Karl Rove’s late father, Louis Rove, was a homosexual, which could be the reason Karl’s mother committed suicide.” [Ellipses in the original.]
That’s right. Ronald Reagan is our first “homosexual” president. I think I’ve heard just about everything. But it doesn’t end there. According to Alan Stang’s latest book:
“So, George Bush and Karl Rove have always used homosexuality as a weapon, have righteously opposed it and have routinely accused people of it, knowing that those people were normal, while all along they have colluded to make the Republican Party a sodomite organization from the top down.”
That’s the theme of the latest, incendiary book by Alan Stang, who says Republican leaders are using homosexuality to terrify critics into silence, so they can bring the United States to its knees. The foreword by Paul Cameron, Ph.D., chairman of the Family Research Institute, reinforces that theme.
I can’t wait to find out how Cameron reinforces Stang’s discovery of a “homosexual ring.” But after having had a glimpse into Cameron’s fascination with how the Nazis dealt with homosexuality, one might argue that the John Birch Society is actually a step in the right direction.
Well, one might argue it but it wouldn’t be worth the effort.
Hat tip: Jonathan Rowe. Graphic courtesy of Daimeon Pilcher.
LaBarbera Award Winner: Rick Scarborough
Jim Burroway
July 19th, 2007
I think I’ll inaugurate a new award, called the LaBarbera Award. It will be awarded on an as-earned basis for the most outrageous, offensive, malevolent, crazy, excessive — you get the picture — statement or claim. (Paul Cameron is ineligible; otherwise nobody else would ever get a chance to win.) I thought about naming it for Fred Phelps, but he’s in a class all by himself.
So to kick it off, I’m pleased to give the first LaBarbera Award to none other than Rick Scarborough for saying that your failure to oppose hate crimes legislation will leave the “blood of martyrs” on your hands:
Mark this down; the day that this law becomes federal statute, the open persecution of major conservative broadcast ministries like Focus on the Family and D. James Kennedy will begin, and it will not end until it arrives at a church near you. If you want to avoid having the blood of martyrs on your hands, then join tens of thousands of other Americans who still hold to the truths of God’s Word and click here to send a message to your senators and President Bush that you do not want this legislation. Finally, please click here and make the largest contribution you can to Vision America Action, our 501C4, to assist us in fighting this battle. [Emphasis mine, hyperlinks removed.]
He not only won the first LaBarbera award, Scarborough earned bonus points for recruiting martyrs for a fundraising appeal. Classy.
