The Anti-Gay Twist of the Balloon Boy Saga

Published October 19, 2009 @ 04:56AM PT

Balloon Boy

You know you have bad parents when they fool the the entire world into thinking that their six-year-old son is stuck in a balloon floating in the Colorado air. You know you have even worse parents when those same people allow their children to record a homophobic rap video, complete with lines like "I hate gay faggots, I hit 'em with a bat," and (possibly) "Faggot tried to pee on me."

Yup, it's official. The Balloon Boy saga has taken another turn for the absolute weird.

For those who have managed to escape the absurdity of this story, it all revolves around the Heene family in Colorado, and a set of parents, Richard and Mayumi, who have three children -- Falcon, Bradford and Ryo. The parents duped the world into believing that Falcon was caught in a balloon last week, while he was off either hanging in the rafters of the family's attic or down the street playing basketball (nobody knows where the hell he was -- it's just clear he wasn't in the balloon).

From there they did the world publicity tour, complete with Falcon throwing up on the Today Show after Meredith Vieira asked a question. That was followed by a weekend of police investigations, with a local Sheriff announcing that there's probable cause for the parents to be arrested for staging the balloon incident.

And now, to add even more dysfunction to this story, a homophobic rap video has taken the Twitter and YouTube worlds by storm, in which the three boys do a Beastie Boys-style rap to the tune of bashing gays, while the mother plays guitar and the father plays harmonica. Ah, nothing quite warms the soul like a group of six-to-ten year olds saying how much they want to throw rocks at faggots. It makes Buju Banton look like a Paul Anka concert.

Joe.My.God perhaps put it best when he said, "These children definitely need to be removed from the custody of their parents." You can watch the video below and make your own judgment. And the craziest news story of 2009 goes to... (I think we can end the competition early this year...I'm not sure I want to see the news story that tops this one).

One last point worth noting: isn't it scary that in Arkansas and Florida, gay people can't adopt. But the Heene family could? *shudder*

(Photo from the NY Daily News)

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Comments (18)

Any airtime that this family has received has been a waste of space.

Your last point isn't scary, it's criminal. People with an ounce of common sense would agree. I'm sick of parents that get away with abuse. Hate-breeders are offenders.

Posted by Christine Winsor on 10/19/2009 @ 06:05AM PT
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This video is offensive in several areas, gays, women, family values, and on and on..........hyper-machismo and the dumbing down of American males.............horrid insecurity, dysfunctional family...........there are so many of them in the old USA. Can't even consider removing them from their parents as that would set a precedent to remove half of the rest of the countries kids from their families! YouTube is full of them !!! All the wanna-be's...................

Posted by Deborah H on 10/19/2009 @ 07:06AM PT
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I have to agree, I don't want to see the news article that beats this in weirdness. Or in intolerance for that matter.

These children should be taken away from their parents. And then their parents should be spayed like dogs that are unfit to breed. Because that is what they are.

People like this should not be given attention.

Posted by Paul Hockhousen on 10/19/2009 @ 08:34AM PT
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Hope you dont mind mr. hock housen but Im having to put my comment here because the comment box at the bottom of the page isnt showing up...

As for that video...For the most part, I couldnt understand a word those kids were saying BUT I did catch the word "fag" and the implication did seem that they were using the teddy bear to represent a homosexual...So yeah...That plus the overall childishness of that video doesnt speak at all highly of the parents who helped them to make it...

Miss h is right...Some folks just wasnt meant to be parents.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 10/19/2009 @ 09:29AM PT
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Shocking and disturbing! These children really don't even understand how terrible this is. Yes, this is child abuse. No, these two people should not have custody of these children. Parental rights need to be taken away -- IMMEDIATELY! If not, how much more damaged can these children become? Maybe there is still hope that the children can have a positive future in a healthy and happy environment.

Posted by Judy Mayo on 10/19/2009 @ 09:36AM PT
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The boys' video is offensive in so many ways. Videos/outlooks like this actually hurt child advocacy workers too because they continue a stereotype that just isn't representative of the threat children in this country face from assault.

Not all people who hit their children are uneducated, or have low income problems or uncontrolled rage problems. Violence is in every segment of the population. A study was recently done that revealed that HALF of all U.S. children have experienced some level of assault in the last year. HALF!

So unless half of the country is like Richard Heene, about whom many unkind things may be said, that violence is happening at every educational level, income level, and geographical area.

Try telling that to lawmakers though. I recently sat in on a closed door meeting among attorneys participating in a review of our state child laws, during which one of the attorneys said that "Only poor people and desperate people hit their children." Totally untrue. But that bias contributes to the belief that child abuse definitions are sufficient when that just isn't the case, especially if HALF the nation's children are still being assaulted.

I agree with those here who say that parenting isn't for everyone too.

Posted by Christine Clarke on 10/19/2009 @ 10:06AM PT
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Thanks for the article Michael! Thank you for your continual work for Equality. I'm posting your story to my Facebook news feed.

Madison Reed

Posted by Madison Reed on 10/19/2009 @ 10:09AM PT
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While the gay-bashing, parent supported rap video doesn't cross the line so much as paratrooper the entire family into hate-mongering territory deep enough the 'line' has little meaning, it is still premature to assume guilt and call what happened a hoax.

I am in NO WAY defending these parents (the children I just feel sorry for). I still believe that innocence is presumed until the evidence is in and the trial is over. At this point, there's no arguing that their perpetuation of intolerance is a throw back to the inquisition. However, passing judgement on them without a fair trial is a good way to see that things never change.

Posted by Fred Frankenberg on 10/19/2009 @ 10:31AM PT
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You can still see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vfqvgGap0

and I downloaded it to my hard drive if any needs a copy.

Posted by Scott Wooledge on 10/19/2009 @ 11:09AM PT
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It's a shame people can't be seen as people. Hate in any form is horrible. Don't hate the offender, Pray for them. If you play this video you only feed the drama. I say no more drama!

Posted by Sam More on 10/19/2009 @ 11:44AM PT
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You cant hide oppression no matter how tasty and beautiful the chocolate sugar coating is. The reality of oppression but be brought to the surface and bioled over to such a point it can no longer be ignored and people start taking responsibility for either opressing people or staying slient in the face of such oppression.

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -MLK Jr.

Posted by Chris Marshall on 10/21/2009 @ 10:09AM PT
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The second I saw the second video the Heene's released, I knew it was a scam, and said so (not just a way for the republicans to thwart the multi-media conspiracies' coverage to a non-story, weapon of mass-distraction, WMD) :) Bad acting aside. No basket or box below, which they asserted he was in, no video or witness accounts, of the boy, entering the balloon, not even possible that he did and it stayed afloat, for, if he entered an airtight balloon flap or door, then it would be open and he, if the balloon could even take off with a 50 lb. boy in it, would immediately be a bottom weight and all the helium would go out the flap or door before it got to 50 feet; therefore, since it went to thousands of feet, he couldn't be in it. reality

Posted by james m nordlund on 10/19/2009 @ 11:55AM PT
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The song in which the boys perform contain homophobic lyrics, the lines which say that a gay person was in a tree and where the boys attack that person. It's unfortunate that the boys have bad parents in which they make headlines for saying that one the boys was in a balloon, which turned out to be a hoax. With the homophobic video and the hoax, Joe.My.God is correct in that the police must take custody of the children so that they live better lives.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 10/19/2009 @ 02:20PM PT
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I fell out of my chair when I saw the video! I don't know if the kids should be removed because the alternatives for kids in foster care are not always great BUT these parents need to be supervised, someone needs to step in and get the mom and dad under control.

Posted by Michelle Lamar on 10/19/2009 @ 05:04PM PT
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I am so sick of this story and frustrated at the so-called news outlets that give these idiots with lowest-common-denominator appeal exactly what they're begging for with their bumbling and illegal antics—gobs of airtime (and instant "celebutard" status). THIS is why other countries hate us...or at least it's the sort of thing that makes me want to flea to another country. Anti-gay-hate laws are important, but I think we'd do better weeding out our undesirable demographic and getting straight to the point by passing anti-stupid laws.

Posted by Emily Michel on 10/20/2009 @ 01:04AM PT
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Those parents are teaching those children bad things. No way should they be allowed to raise those kids. Now they are teaching them hatred in addition to lying.

Posted by Martin Martinez on 10/24/2009 @ 04:12PM PT
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Please don't take this out on the kids. They can't be blamed for what their parents made them do and what they saw on TV/Youtube. Yes, they need to get out of their abusive parents' claws so they have a chance to learn. But they will only have that chance if public opinion will leave them alone. I was like that before puberty and now I'm a more or less happy feminist queer.

Btw I'm not sure about the lyrics. They do contain homophobia and sexism, but that line could as well be "I hate kid Falcon, I kick him in the butt". And all that shit and cock stuff could just be pseudoanarchic kids' humour. It's hard to tell.

Posted by bo boa on 10/28/2009 @ 01:22PM PT
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Apparently your not reading the comments very well...

It aint the kids we have a problem with...

Its the parents themselves which is exactly why we all think those kids need to be taken away from them...Before those evil people totaly corrupt those kid's spirits.

Posted by Reverend Boony on 10/31/2009 @ 10:09AM PT
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