Category: LGBTQ

Questions that Need to be Asked

No Comments

Is Every Right-Wing, Anti-Gay Christian Bigot Sucking Off Rent Boys?

I think that the answer is, “Yes”:

That man was George Alan Rekers, of North Miami—the callboy’s client and, as it happens, one of America’s most prominent anti-gay activists. Rekers, a Baptist minister who is a leading scholar for the Christian right, left the terminal with his gay escort, looking a bit discomfited when a picture of the two was snapped with a hot-pink digital camera.

Reached by New Times before a trip to Bermuda, Rekers said he learned Lucien was a prostitute only midway through their vacation. “I had surgery,” Rekers said, “and I can’t lift luggage. That’s why I hired him.” (Though medical problems didn’t stop him from pushing the tottering baggage cart through MIA.) Yet Rekers wouldn’t deny he met his slender, blond escort at Rentboy.com—which features homepage images of men in bondage and grainy videos of crotch-rubbing twinks—and Lucien confirmed it.

Stephen Colbert Answers the Question

1 Comment

The W0rd is: Straight to Video

You see, the teabaggers are accusing of Lindsey Graham of making nice with the Democrats because he is being blackmailed because he’s gay.

Colbert’s solution, Lindsey Graham needs to release a heterosexual sex tape.

It’s a reasonable suggestion, but I’m not sure that making such a tape is even remotely possible.

Obama Finally Does Something for Gay Civil Rights

No Comments

He has issued an order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to mandate that hospitals extend visitation rights to gay partners, as well as requiring hospitals to recognize power of attorney for same sex couples.

Of course, the actual rule is still months away, but my guess is that John Aravosis’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Give donor boycott has finally developed critical mass, and the fund raisers are beginning to notice.

So, now we know, that, if absolutely backed into a corner, Barack Obama is willing to take the most timid steps for LGBT civil rights.

3 cheers.

Apoligies Do Not Make One a Gentleman

No Comments

And while retired Marine Corps General John Sheehan is clearly an officer, notwithstanding his apology for lying about being told that it was “te gay” in the Dutch that resulted in the Srebrenica massacre, he is no gentleman, because it is clear that consciously and deliberately lied before Congress in his testimony:

A retired American general has apologized for a remark to the U.S. Senate suggesting that gay Dutch soldiers were partly to blame for the Srebrenica massacre by Serb soldiers in Bosnia, according to the Defense Ministry.

…………

Sheehan had cited Van den Breemen, the Dutch military’s chief of staff at the time of the massacre, as his source when he told the Senate committee Dutch army chiefs had believed gays were “part of the problem” in the fall of Srebrenica.

“I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military,” Sheehan wrote to Van den Breemen.

What happened here is clear: He lied, and he figured that it would not go beyond the committee room.

Well, it did, and I would hope that any entity which wishes to hire him as a military consultant understands this.

My earlier post.

The Face of the Opposition to Repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

No Comments

Former NATO SACEUR, John Sheehan, has mad the claim that The Srebrenica massacre happened because the Dutch allow gays to serve openly to the Senate Armed Services Community:

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende attacked on Friday claims by a retired U.S. general that Dutch forces were overrun in Srebrenica in 1995 because of the presence of gay soldiers.

At a U.S. congressional hearing on Thursday on allowing gay soldiers to serve openly in the military, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan said there was a causal link between having homosexuals in the Dutch forces and the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian war.

“The remarks were outrageous, wrong and beneath contempt,” Balkenende told a news conference.

So is retired General John Sheehan.

He apparently cites the general who was fired for the deaths of civilians, something that does not happen in today’s US military.

It should be noted that there was a far simpler reason, that there were only 450 troops, armed with light weapons, deployed to protect the city, and the man he quotes denies every saying this:

Dutch television reported that when he was pressed to name a source in the Dutch military, General Sheehan said that he was basing his remarks on what someone named “Hankman Berman” had told him. The Dutch Defense Ministry guessed that this was a reference to Gen. Henk van den Breemen, the country’s former chief of defense staff. On Friday the ministry issued a statement saying that General van den Breemen, now retired, called this “absolute nonsense,” since he did not believe that the presence of gay troops had anything to do with what happened at Srebrenica and had never said any such thing.

The problem here is that, beginning with Bill Clinton’s capitulation to Colin Powell’s insubordination on gays in the military in 1992 and 1993, Democratic presidents have allowed insubordination, particularly on this issue, from the military, and so now we have an increasingly radicalized culture in the military.

Hiram Monserrate Loses Election Bid

No Comments

As you may recall Mr. Monseratte was expelled from the New York Senate after assaulting his girl friend, and now he has lost the election bid to José Peralta in a special election in which he took gay baiting to very ugly places.

Monseratte was running as an independent, because there was no way that the Democratic party would put him on the ticket after he was one of the two State Senators who switched to the Republicans, flipping the chamber briefly, and I’m wondering if it was over gay marriage now.

Hopefully, this is the end of his political career.

OK, Eric Massa is Nuts

No Comments

OK, look at the video, and it’s clear that this guy has some very real problems.


That being said, Massa’s vote against the House healthcare bill was from the left, he felt that it was too weak, and so the idea that the Obama administration in general, and Rahm Emanuel in particular, might have a personal interest in taking him down.

There is nothing more than Rahm likes than cock punching DFH’s,* and so I am reasonably certain that he’s high-fiving over this development, but the talk of a conspiracy I is premature.

I can see how Rahm might be inclined to do this, I just don’t think that he did.

As I have said before, I think that too many Dems remember the Mark Foley, and when this came up, the Democratic leadership did the smart thing.

*Dirty F%$#ing Hippies.

This is a Change………

No Comments

Last week, I wrote about California State Senator Roy Ashburn, who was caught driving drunk as he left a gay bar.

Well, in what is a refreshing change for Republicans,* he has admitted that he is gay:

“I’m gay,” State Senator Roy Ashburn told a radio host from his central California district in an interview this morning. “Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.”

Ashburn, a divorced father of four, said that his many votes against gay rights were efforts to represent the conservative views of his constituents.

This is the most evil bit of nastiness that I’ve heard in a while.

We all harbor our own prejudices, and the best that one can hope for is to recognize them for what they are, understand that they are wrong, and not act on them.

While I understand how people can hate for irrational reasons, it’s worse to hate for a rational reason.

This man did not have an irrational hatred and fear of gays, but he led anti-gay rallies.

He did so for the most prosaic of reasons: He wanted to hold elected office.

*But not outed Democrats, see McGreevy, James.

Republican Family Values

No Comments

California State Senator Roy Ashburn (R-18th district) was cited for DUI after leaving a gay bar:

An anti-gay California state senator was placed under arrest for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar. A male passenger was in the vehicle along with the lawmaker was not arrested, reported Sacramento CBS affiliate Channel 13.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at about 2:00 a.m. on March 3 when his state-issued vehicle was observed being driven erratically. The driver, identified as Ashburn, was taken in and charged for driving under the influence. Channel 13 reported that unidentified sources said the senator had been at Faces, a popular gay nightspot, prior to his arrest.

According to TPM, this guy was big into banning gay marriage.

Big Surprise, Old Dominion Governor Rolls Back Protections for Gay Workers

No Comments

Yes, now that Bob McDonnell is now Virginia governor, he repealed the protections instituted by his predecessor for gay and lesbian state workers:

McDonnell (R) on Feb. 5 signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities,” as well as veterans.

It rescinds the order that Gov. Tim Kaine signed Jan. 14, 2006 as one of his first actions. After promising a “fair and inclusive” administration in his inaugural address, Kaine (D) added veterans to the non-discrimination policy – and sexual orientation.

It’s because they need someone to hate, or they would have nothing to campaign on.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Proposing Budget Prohibition on Enforcing DADT

No Comments

Moving to prohibit the military from spending money to enforce DADT is a good idea.

Among other things, it is a non-filibusterable measure, and when the usual crowd of Republicans start screaming, it’s an opportunity to show them up as hypocrites, since they are now ignoring the military leadership and the budget and HR needs of the military.

It also raises a question about Senator Gillibrand (D-BY).

She was, when she was the Congresswoman from New York’s 20th district a very conservative lawmaker, but now, that she’s in the Senate, far more liberal in her record.

The 20th is a conservative district, R+2 according to the Wiki, and it is understandable how a politician might find it in their best interest to represent the needs and wants of their district.

On the other hand, since being appointed by Governor Paterson to replace Hillary Clinton, she has also faced the prospect of viable primary challengers from the liberal wing of the party,* and her positioning may simply be an attempt to forestall any challengers, much in the same way that Arlen Spector is doing in Pennsylvania.

There is nothing wrong with her attempting to represent the views of her constituency, and her constituency has changed, and become significantly more liberal with the change in office.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know if this is driven by a constituent considerations, or if it is driven by primary election considerations.

If it’s the former, she should be a decent Senator. If it’s the latter, then come November, we’ll have another wanker in the Senate, at least for the next year or so, until she positions herself for the regularly scheduled election for that Senate seat.

*We’ll ignore the Harold Ford, corporatist DLC puke “candidacy” right now, because I’m not sure if it’s a serious candidacy, an attempt at extortion, or an exercise in masturbatory ego stroking.

Even Dick Cheney Supports Ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

No Comments

Another sign of the apocalypse:

KARL: OK, “don’t ask/don’t tell” — you’re a former defense secretary — should this policy be repealed?

CHENEY: Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of “don’t ask/don’t tell,” when I was secretary of defense. I think things have changed significantly since then. I see that Don Mullen — or Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has indicated his belief that we ought to support a change in the policy. So I think — my guess is the policy will be changed.

KARL: And do you think that’s a good thing? I mean, is it time to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military?

CHENEY: I think the society has moved on. I think it’s partly a generational question. I say, I’m reluctant to second-guess the military in this regard, because they’re the ones that have got to make the judgment about how these policies affect the military capability of our — of our units, and that first requirement that you have to look at all the time is whether or not they’re still capable of achieving their mission, and does the policy change, i.e., putting gays in the force, affect their ability to perform their mission?

Garden State Equality Will No Longer Give to the New Jersey Democratic Party

No Comments

I guess that they are sick and tired of supporting Democrats who don’t deliver on their promises:

The largest gay-rights advocacy group in New Jersey has announced it will no longer give money to the Democratic Party.

The move follows the state legislature’s failure last month to legalize gay marriage and amid growing signs that the effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is already faltering.

“No political party has a record good enough on LGBT civil rights that it can rightfully claim to be entitled to our money on a party-wide basis,” said the chairman of Garden State Equality, Steven Goldstein, as quoted at PolitickerNJ.com.

“No longer will we let any political party take our money and volunteers with one hand, and slap us in the face with the other when we seek full equality,” Goldstein added.

It’s mirrors on a state level John Aravosis’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Give,” donor boycott, and quite honestly, considering how the Democratic Party acts as a party, you just don’t see vigorous party whips on gay rights issues, this may be the only way to get results.

Have I Mentioned that I Love Alan Grayson*

No Comments

He lays into Pat Robertson’s comment on Haiti and the devil, and further notes that the religious right, and particularly Pat Robertson’s supporters have achieved none of their goals, specifically a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and a ban of abortion, and he asks, “What about your own pact with the Devil? How’s that worked out for you?” (3:07)

I don’t think that everyone should be like Alan Grayson, but I think that it’s essential that the Democrats have a few of these sorts of firebrands to describe the wrong that the Republicans do in stark and moralistic terms.

*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.

Obama Goes to “National Prayer Breakfast”

No Comments

So, he showed up to the little bit of Christian Dominionism run by “The Family”, though he did condemn the “kill the gays” bill in Uganda.

I have no word yet on whether the Ugandan genocidal manics David Bahati, author of the Ugandan “Kill the Gays” bill, and Ugandan Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo, one of its chief supporters, were in attendance, though they had intended to until this entire thing blew up.

I also think that any politician who associates with “The Family” to any degree is doing this country a great harm.

Why I Hate the World

No Comments

It makes te Gay, or so it seems

Because the folks at Christwire have put out a blistering screed against the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls” titled, “How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals.” (Their server is slow, so you may have to wait)

It makes me hate the world.

Why does it make me hate the world?

Well, it’s because, highlight the rest for my answer……………

It’s satire, only it took me a couple of hours to confirm this.

It’s what bothers me about The Onion. The parody is spot on, and should be funny, only all to often, I cannot tell the difference between satire and the real world.

The problem is that the real world is just too perverse and weird to be parodied. Truth is indeed stranger than the fiction of satirists.

We live in Bizarro World.

H/t Atrios.