thomascwaters.com

Very worthwhile read!

Alameda Sun – The Homosexual Agenda Revealed!.

Research: ‘Hate Crimes’ prelude to incest, polygamy

This is the type of article that really gets my blood pressure up. It is easy to dismiss, on the one hand as scare tactics with no merit, but the reality is, it is the type of false propaganda that works to draw out the opposition. There is a perceived legitimization since the woman being discussed is a “PhD researcher and scholar.” and the message is tweaked – just enough- that it isn’t really false. But it isn’t true either. In earlier versions of this attack, pedophilia was called a sexual orientation, but that fallacy was confronted, and so now in this version of the attack, the fear tactic is “no limits on homosexuals, lesbians, pedophiles and others who pursue various “philias” or “isms.”" Which is utter hogwash. The Ryan Write Act provides nothing that can be misconstrued as this. But they don’t really claim that it does, they suggest that passage of the protection will lead to a world with no limits.

What do you need to do?

1) Call your Senator’s office and ask him/her to support S 909, Hate Crimes legislation. Even better than a phone call, however is a letter sent via snail mail. Or do both.

2) Confront these type of attacks where you see them. If there is a letter to the editor, or a post to a blog, reply. Make sure the reply is factual and doesn’t add to the attack. Confront the text of what is said, not the person saying it.

3) Fact check and confront anything misleading. for example Rep Alcee Hastings is quoted in this article. Did she really say this? Call her office to ask, and point her communications director to the quote. The last time I saw something like this and alerted the elected official, the official contacted the blog and demanded the quote be fixed to what the person really said.

4) Know the facts! Here is a place to follow the directions in the article. Know what is happening in Washington and your state capitol when it comes to legislation that can impact your life and well being.

Research: ‘Hate Crimes’ prelude to incest, polygamy.

I’m not going to write too much about this, except to say, this is a good read for anyone interested i a progressive view of gay rights. The linked blog comment is attached to an actual blog entry which attempts to paint a secular case against Marriage Equality. I don’t think very successfully, but it is a helpful step in understanding a conservative position. An appreciation of “conservatism” is useful, as the Republican Party continues it implosion/redefinition. Part of the argument against a re-branding of the Republican Party can be traced t these same ideas. Don’t mess with the status quo, while the other perspective is just one of trying to force the party more to the religious right and keep the party from moving towards a moderation which really supports a big tent mentality.

Conservatism, and the Radical Religious Right, are not one in the same, although the conservative movement has been run by those on the religious right for long enough, it can be hard to see a dividing line. So, in the case of the associated blog linked below, the argument that same-sex marriage is “against nature” is one illustration how these two are so well intermingled, while the argument that since heterosexual marriage has been the norm for a long time, it shouldn’t be messed with is more purely conservative, and quite secular.

A secular case against homosexual marriage?.

We saw this same type of reporting following the Prop 8 vote. I wanted to voice my opinion on this issue.

Signing a petition is a form of free speech. A person adds their name and address to a public document. As free speech, one loses the right to hide one’s identity surrounding that speech given that the document is a public document. Each person must be accountable for what they say.  Anyone who sees the petition, as it is handed from person to person to sign can see the other signatures/names. These names have never been private before. They have always been available for anyone to see. The petitions are, but definition, public information. The internet simply changes the ease at which the quantity of people can see the names.

Signatures captured on petitions are almost always scrutinized to make sure that the petition has enough signers, and that the signers are registered voters. This process is  another example of the way a signer’s identity is not held privately but is already (and has always been) scrutinized by others.

Signing a petition is a separate issue than the issue that is the subject of the ballot initiative itself. I sign a petition to get an issue onto a ballot for general vote. I personally may be very willing to sign a petition to put a ballot initiative on the ballot concerning an assault weapons ban. That I believe it belongs on the ballot is one thing. Will I definitely vote “yes” for it? Maybe, but maybe not. I can believe that something belongs on the ballot but not be in favor of it.

Voting is a very different process. It is a private process. We may chose to vote for or against something totally irrelevant of the fact that we may have signed or not signed a petition to get that issue on the ballot.

like most of the conservative press coverage of GLBTQ activism, the story as presented is more spin than fact and designed to evoke fear. This issue is no different. Consider the headline alone:

Homosexual activists target, expose pro-family voters

The group responsible here is a KnowThyNeighbor which was started in 2005 by 2 men, 1 gay married and 1 straight married. The petition in question deals with a ban on gay adoption. In other words, efforts to interfere with the creation of gay families. Importantly, signing a petition does not in any way communicate how a person votes. Only that they may be for or against an issue.

Now this gay group out of Massachusetts…

In reality, KnowThyNeighbor has chapters in 3 states including Arkansas. This is no more “out of state” than the way the American Family Association (AFA), National Organization of Marriage (NOM) or other national conservative groups pump money and resources into state and local initiatives. The Arkansas News story is a little better, although it’s focus is a bit different.

Homosexual activists target, expose pro-family voters (OneNewsNow.com) .

http://arkansasnews.com/2009/04/28/group-discloses-adoption-ban-petition-signers-online/

I have paid some attention to this story since it broke last week, but haven’t found it yet worth writing about until today.  If you haven’t been following it, Dana White, president of the UFC used the word, “faggot” in a pergorative way while verbally trashing a reporter, and it has raised a stir. He then apologized, but the story hasn’t really died, yet.

Here is some text from his apology:

“I chose some words that offended and hurt some people,” he said. “Anybody who knows me knows that I would never, ever maliciously attack somebody who wasn’t attacking me, and as far as the gay and lesbian community, my comments were not directed towards them.”

“I have no problem with the gay and lesbian community; I’m actually a supporter of many of their issues. The last thing that I would ever want anybody to think about me or think is cool is to go out and attack somebody because of their sexual orientation. That was not my intention, that’s not the way I said it, and I apologize for anybody that I offended or hurt.”

The remark for which he is apologizing was to label an anonymous source for Loretta Hunt a fucking faggot and a pussy and a liar. In addition to calling her retarded, a moron, and dumb.

So here is what I want to say about this. Our culture, even “good guys” who support gays and lesbians need to step back and think about the images and words used in the name of testosterone to put down other people. There is a real disconnect between thinking it is OK to belittle someone by calling them a fucking faggot, and not recognizing how this can encourage others to dismiss, belittle and mistreat real faggots.

White says, after talking about use of the word “n*gger”:

If that’s the direction society wants to go with “f*ggot” and its equivalents, wonderful.  I’ll sign any petition or rally behind any tangible effort, even though I tend to agree with the other side of the argument i.e. the only way to make a word go away is to rob it of its significance by pretending it doesn’t have any until it doesn’t.

And there lies the rub. How is it that the word Faggot is robbed of it’s significance as a mob of guys bloodies and beats a young man to a pulp because he is gay, as they scream “faggot at him? How is it that the word is liberated as a group of men kidnap and rape a young lesbian?

It isn’t that there is a direct relationship. Every time someone utters the word “faggot” violence happens. But the degree to which words like Faggot are used pergoratively and as vicious attack weapons, accompanied or not by physical attack demonstrates an underlying lack of respect for all people.

Often this gets labeled as homophobia or bigotry. I’m not sure it is either. Dana White is neither a bigot or homophobic in my eyes. He is however a straight white male acting unaware of how his actions, words and underlying intentions display a lack of true respect for the people he claims to be a supporter. It is the inherent underlying bigotry that operates below the surface- and one of the reason it is so successful at continuing to keep GLBTQ people as second class citizens and the recipients of sexual orientation- related violence.

Sticks And Stones Break Your Bones—Words Are More Dangerous in the UFC | Bleacher Report.

One problem with blogging, is the felt need to publish EVERYDAY- more and more stuff. and today, I think I need a day off. But this is really worth reading! It gives me energy and renews my ability to do what I do, so please follow the link below for the full story. Thank you D. Allan Kerr for your writing! A few exerpts that are especially poignant:

If we stand by while friends and neighbors are denied a basic human right, I don’t know how we would be any different from good German citizens who looked the other way while Nazi thugs persecuted those who didn’t fit the ideal of a “master race.” We would be no less ignoble than those who stood by while black citizens were denied the dignity allotted to their white neighbors, or those who remained silent while individuals suspected of supporting a Communist ideology were deprived of their livelihoods.

They will try to convince me that two women marrying each other will somehow destroy or undermine what my wife and I have built. I value the institution of the family above all else, and will defend it with word, pen, fist or stone. So what I say now I don’t say lightly – if my household cannot withstand the legal marriage of two people belonging to the same sex, it deserves to crumble.

I lack the scientific background to assert whether the gay lifestyle is a matter of personal choice or genetic construction, and I don’t really care. The actions of consenting adults who do not seek to harm others in any way should be of no concern to anyone else.

Seacoastonline.com: A battle hymn for equality.