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And the Award for the Most Homophobic Sport Goes to....?
If there was ever any doubt that homophobia was alive and well in the wide world of sports, just take a look at the past two weeks. In the NFL there was Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson berating a Twitter follower with anti-gay language. In the NBA, Dallas Mavericks center Drew Gooden allegedly blasted a Los Angeles fan with some homophobic rhetoric. And in hockey, a minor league player has taken the sport to task for fostering a culture that supports homophobia and an overall prejudice against LGBT people.
Sarah Palin and Barney Frank Walk Into a Dinner Gala
Published November 07, 2009 @ 08:42AM PT
Talk about an odd couple! Former Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be joining U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the longest serving openly LGBT member of Congress, as headliners for the Gridiron Club winter dinner. No word on whether they'll sing a version of "Endless Love" together.
The Gridiron Club's winter dinner is one of those inside-the-Beltway events where journalists cozy up to politicians for a night of self-deprecation. In year's past, Gov. Mitt Romney sang, President (then Senator) Barack Obama said he was more over-exposed than Paris Hilton, and late conservative columnist Robert Novak impersonated Dick Cheney while acting in a sketch spoofing the Scooter Libby investigation -- an investigation Novak essentially launched with a stroke of his pen.
What can you expect from Palin and Frank? Well, for Palin, it helps that the December dinner falls one month after the launch of her book, Going Rogue. Frank, too, has a book that he'll likely draw inspiration from: Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman. Judging from the titles, I think Barney Frank is going to hit more funny bones.
For the Gridiron Dinner, it's probably a safe bet that this is the first time an LGBT politician has served as a headliner. How interesting that it happens at the same time that Sarah Palin, who prides herself on harshing the mellow of gay rights activists, joins the festivities, too. Politics really does make for strange bedfellows.
Should South Park Get Away With Using the F-Word?
Published November 06, 2009 @ 10:07AM PT
This week's episode of South Park was an F-word extravaganza. No, not that F-word. The word "fag," the three-letter insult that has become a staple on playgrounds to tease kids, in locker rooms to ridicule teammates, and in the demonstrations of Rev. Fred Phelps and his church crew to wish LGBT people a one-way ticket to hell.
Generally speaking, it's a word that rivals the "N-word" in terms of vulgarity. Victims of hate crimes have had it scrawled on their body after being beaten or killed. So given it's reputation, is it OK for South Park to air an episode that uses the word so cavalierly?
A little context might help. The episode that ran this week had nothing to do with LGBT people. Instead, it had to do with the characters (kids in a Colorado town, for those who might not have watched it over the past twelve years) taking on a loud motorcycle gang. The kids decide that they want to reclaim the word "Fag," so that it's not considered an insult to LGBT people, but used to describe "inconsiderate douchebags" everywhere. Hence a 22-minute episode on the etymology of the word "faggot" and an effort to change the word's definition in the dictionary.
On its surface, it sounds kind of noble. But underneath the surface, the fact that South Park used the word so frequently this week likely means that more people are saying the word today than yesterday.
Pastor Joel Osteen's Sugar-Coated Homophobia
Published November 05, 2009 @ 02:23PM PT
Pastor Joel Osteen is one of the most popular preachers in the country, and the author of several best-selling books that help people achieve "their best life now" and teach people how to practice a Christianity rooted in making money.
He's long been seen as a friendlier version of televangelist, an upgrade from the fire and brimstone preachers from a few decades past. But what Pastor Joel Osteen doesn't really divulge is that for the most part, his interpretation of religious scripture is a candy-coated pill that leaves a sour taste of homophobia at its core.
To his credit, and perhaps it's to benefit his wallet, Pastor Joel Osteen largely stays above debates over social issues. The man has the aura of the richest used car salesman in the world, and that's exactly the persona he works: "Hey, come over here! I've got some of that old tyme religion that's way better than what the competitors are offering!"
But this week, in response to a question from Whoopi Goldberg on The View no less, Pastor Joel Osteen let his real feelings about LGBT people come to life.
"What I believe the scripture teaches is that homosexuality is not God's best," said Pastor Joel Osteen.
God's best is apparently straight beauty queens who make lewd sex tapes, or Republican politicians who cheat on their spouses and bill the government for intercontinental travel to hang out with the mistress.
People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Make Pornographic Sex Tapes
Published November 05, 2009 @ 08:58AM PT
Hypocrisy is a six-letter word today, and it's spelled: C-A-R-R-I-E. As in Carrie Prejean, the former Miss USA contestant who made a name for herself by barnstorming the country this year telling people that gay marriage was icky, and that "opposite marriage" was the ticket to salvation. Prejean was practically adopted by the conservative religious right this year, speaking to everyone from Young Republicans to evangelical Christians about how LGBT people were a threat to the family.
What Prejean didn't tell her conservative cadres is that while she was crisscrossing the country bashing gays and lesbians who wanted to get married, she was hiding the fact that she had a starring role in an extremely graphic sex tape. So much for those superior moral values, eh Carrie?
Prejean's star among the religious right grew like wildfire this year, with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) seducing her to star in commercials, and NOM's head, Maggie Gallagher, writing a puff piece for the National Review that touted Carrie Prejean's ability to ignite the Republican Party base on the issue of same-sex marriage. Does a sex tape end her career as the next Ann Coulter? Probably not. But does it knock her off her "heterosexuality is morally superior" soapbox? Here's hoping.
Prejean is just another in a long line of Republicans that say nasty things about LGBT people in the public circle, but then apparently say even nastier things in the bedroom. It's glaring that in 2009, some of the staunchest members of the "family values" crowd took serious hits to their reputation, from Mark Sanford to John Ensign, for getting their kink on. And of course, who can forget David Vitter and his penchant for sex with prostitutes.
Guess it's time to create a new political party and call it the "Do as I Say, Don't Do as I Do" crowd.
New Jersey's Window of Opportunity for Marriage Equality
Published November 05, 2009 @ 05:18AM PT
The marriage equality debate sure moves fast and furious these days. Just days after losing a heartbreaking vote in Maine over the issue, all eyes, ears and phone calls to legislators are heading to New Jersey, where the state has the tiniest window of opportunity to pass a marriage equality bill that will recognize full civil marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Why is that window so small? Because on Election Day, New Jersey voters gave the boot to their current governor, and marriage equality supporter, Jon Corzine. His replacement, Gov.-Elect Chris Christie, thinks that gay marriage is the devil.
So now there's just a two-month window while Gov. Corzine wraps up a lame duck legislative session for marriage equality to pass. And the state's leading LGBT rights organization, Garden State Equality, is coming out like gangbusters to make sure that over the next eight weeks, New Jersey legislators hear loud and clear that the state needs marriage equality legislation to truly value the equal rights for all of its citizens. That includes a wave of television advertisements that launched on Election night, describing how New Jersey same-sex couples lose out with no marriage rights.
The Bradley Effect on Gay Marriage Polls
Published November 04, 2009 @ 08:57AM PT
Polling same-sex marriage is always tricky. Many activists are feeling a little burned this morning after a stinging defeat in Maine that rescinded marriage rights for same-sex couples. In the lead up to the vote, polls showed everything from a tied race to marriage equality supporters leading. It's just a shame that the end results didn't match up with some of the pre-election polls.
Marriage equality lost in Maine by about four percent. As Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight writes, that final total is not reflective of where most activists thought the race was heading. Silver himself said that he thought there was only a 30 percent chance of marriage equality failing in Maine. So what went wrong?
We'll know more in the coming days, but at first glance it appears that there could be a Bradley Effect at play in the polling.
The Bradley Effect was a term coined after the 1982 California Governor's race where an African-American candidate named Tom Bradley lost to a white candidate, despite being ahead in most polls. It's a term that generally refers to the fact that in polling questions, people will typically answer how they think the pollster or society wants them to answer, rather than how they really feel (and more importantly, how they intend to vote).
President Obama is Not to Blame for Marriage Equality's Loss in Maine
Published November 04, 2009 @ 08:19AM PT
I knew this would happen: folks would blame President Obama for our loss in Maine last night. My response: it’s not his fault, it’s ours.
We were the people who came up with the commercials. We plotted the strategy. We met people on the ground, knocked on doors. So why, when we lose, do we blame someone who had nothing to do with our campaign?
If you’re angry that Obama didn’t support us, that’s one thing, but blaming him for our loss is another. That’s almost like saying then V.P. Al Gore would’ve won the 2000 presidential election had Ralph Nader not run; it just doesn’t make sense.
It’s time that the gay community started fighting the fight and not blaming others when we lose.
Garden State Equality’s decision to immediately run pro-marriage advertisements following the election of Republican Chris Christie is a great move. Get out first. Don’t wait and be reactive, on the defensive. Why should we be waiting until people challenge our rights in each state. Let’s get out there now and fight for our rights!
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