Monday, July 30, 2012

Why do the Log Cabin Republicans think that gays should do nothing when being disrespected?

In the African-American community, there is a comical phrase which denotes extreme anger. It is called "being pissed off to the highest levels of pissivity."

That is how I feel right now and there is nothing funny about it. What angers me are the words from Log Cabin Republican head R. Clarke Cooper over the gay community's anger at Chick-Fil-A. He didn't exactly defend us. Instead he attacked us in a piece.

Part of it reads a follow:
Turning a chicken sandwich into Public Gay Enemy Number One makes LGBT people look superficial, vindictive and juvenile — everything that we as a community have worked hard to overcome. Remember, employers don’t want drama queens on the payroll, military service is serious business, and marriage is not a right society grants to spoiled children. While in a perfect world our equality should not depend on our good behavior, in a world where our rights too often hinge on political reality, the way our movement conducts itself matters.

In the past, while I may have disagreed with the Log Cabin Republicans (a group of gay Republicans for those who are not aware), I have always respected the organization, even to the point of defending it when others in the community have attacked it as an "Uncle Tom" organization.

But right now, I simply can't. And I will tell you why.

Last week, I received a letter from a young man thanking me for this blog. He told me that what he reads here is the first piece of positive information he has read about the gay community. All other times, he said, he has been bombarded by negative information; information such as gays are evil, gays are sinners or things like us being called vile, intolerant, and pawns of the Devil:



or folks expressing wishes that our "behavior" be criminalized:



What's significant about these two statements is that both are coming from the Family Research Council, a group which has received donations from Chick-Fil-A. That is the main reason why so many of us are angry.

And it leads me to ask is Mr. Cooper clueless or does he just not give a damn. The above tripe from the Family Research is what he is defending. The destruction of the self-esteem of our lgbtq youth is what he is defending.

I could see if he voiced a problem with the way some of us in the community may express our anger but he didn't do that.

Cooper seems to think that gays shouldn't express anger at all over any of Chick-Fil-A's actions. That somehow if we are slapped and don't respond in any form or fashion, the so-called movable middle will respect us.

Well for one thing, I have no idea what this movable middle is and if the gay community should sacrifice our dignity and self-respect to get their approval, then maybe they are not a group we need to reach.

I'm serious about how Cooper's words bother me. He has been given a platform which many in our community don't have, especially our children. And he is using this platform in a hideous manner

He does not call out the folks who seek to hinder gay equality and positive self esteem (especially the self-esteem of our gay children) through lies but rather those of us who seek to put a stop to these lies.

It is a very sad entity - be it a singular person or an organization - who attacks their own people for demanding dignity and respect.



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'Tax-payer funded school discriminates against same-sex family' and other Monday midday news briefs

Video: Accepting Uncle Sam's cash, barring his gay-parent-having nephew - If you are taking MY tax dollars, you will not discriminate against me nor my people. Point blank.  

Lawmaker To Catholic Church: Prove Your Claims Gay People Die Early - Awesome. Now watch how the Catholic Church will lie.  

Cheney Supported Marriage Equality In 2000, Kept Silent To Help Bush - What privilege brings you - chickenshit behavior.  

The Tragedy of the Isabella Miller-Jenkins Abduction - I haven't forgotten about this sad case about a lesbian mother denied access to her daughter. And now it takes a really sad turn.

  Religious Right Leaders Pray for 'Healing for Those who Struggle with Same-Sex Attraction' - With the way these folks lie, they need to pray for themselves before praying for me. 

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What Chick-Fil-A's money supports - a video montage of homophobia

Again I say that we must make it clear why we are angry at Chick-Fil-A. There are religious right organizations and talking heads (and unfortunately mainstream journalists) who are attempting to make it solely a religious issue.

They claim that Chick-Fil-A doesn't have an anti-gay agenda and that supposedly us "radical homosexuals" are demonstrating intolerance.

Let's remind them what it's all about.

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A donated nearly $2 million to groups who make it their mission to attack the gay community through lies and distortions. These groups push several false notions from homosexuality is connected to pedophilia to the idea that gays can change their orientation - an idea frowned on by the legitimate scientific community.

According to Equality Matters, the Family Research Council is one of these groups:

The Family Research Council has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for its propagation of known falsehoods about the LGBT community. For example, president Tony Perkins has a long history of false and inflammatory attacks, such as claiming that pedophilia is a "homosexual problem." [Washington Times11/24/10; SPLC, accessed 6/27/12]

The Family Research Council employs Peter Sprigg, who once said that gays should be exported out of the United States:



and that "homosexual behavior" should be criminalized:



And let's not forget FRC's head, Tony Perkins, who has called gays vile, intolerant, and pawns of the Devil:



That is when he is not making ugly comments about gay youth (beginning at 3:10):



Let me be clear - there have been several elected officials attempting to use the power of their office against Chick-Fil-A. I am not in favor of this.

However, I am equally bothered by the need of so-called Christians to deliberately sugarcoat the issue to the point of omitting several facts about the groups that Chick-Fil-A supports.

Chick-Fil-A's money supports hate and lies and the last time I checked, hate and lies are hardly Christian principles:



Related posts -

Simple answers to the questions about the Chick-Fil-A boycott


Fake Christians are lying about Chick-Fil-A


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