In a response to the still hot-post about the Blankenhorn and Rauch NYT op-ed, "A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage," he had an objection to this observation that I made:
Sorry to say, our opponents are acting in bad faith. They attempt to sway positions with outright lies, such as conflating homosexuality with bestiality, thus leading to, say, man-goat nuptials, something that has nothing to do with any sane religious conviction, btw. That's extremism and intellectually bankrupt fear-mongering.Douglas went on to make this fantabulously mind-blowing statement:
Actually, Pam Spaulding imputes things to the traditionalist side that are virtually unheard of outside of the radical left's fever swamps? Bestiality? I've been blogging about this issue for months, and I can't recall the word ever being used by conservatives, or anything close to it. Not only that, where Blankenhorn and Rauch eschew taking sides, Spaulding adopts the stance of victimology. But Indeed, those "misunderstandings" on definition of marriage are found among gay rights advocates on the left, not of traditionalists, so her point's evasive, if not dishonest.BZZZZT. Wrong answer. I was about to compile a nice set of educational materials for Mr. Douglas, but repsac3 @ What'd I Say? beat me to it, posted it to Donald Douglas's blog as a comment and -- poof -- it was deleted -- gasp -- what a surprise. But you can the examples he passed on below the fold.
Um, Donald... You need to pay more attention to the things your conservative brethren are saying. There's 2 former Republican presidential candidates among the rightwing folks using that very analogy:You are the weakest link, Donald....goodbye.
From Homosexual Marriage to Bestiality: "U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) touched off a media firestorm in 2003, when, in an interview with an AP reporter, he suggested that allowing same-sex marriage was a strategic descent down the slippery slope toward acceptance of other perversions, such as incest, pederasty, and bestiality."
Huckabee: Gay Marriage Could Lead To Pedophilia, Bestiality, Polygamy: "Well, I don't think that's a radical view to say we're going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we're going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what's been historic."
Audio: We'll compare you to anything we want. And if you call us out on it, we'll compare you to "spinners": "Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. makes the gay/brother-loving/sheep-schtupping connection, and Matt Barber defends it/ denounces anyone who would dare be offended by it:"
California Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage, Polygamy, Polyamory, Man-Boy Love, Bestiality, Necrophilia . . . (The Virtual Abbey)
Kathyrn Jean Lopez: Gay Sex Is Like Bestiality | Oliver Willis: "National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez has a Rick Santorum moment and says the reason a bestiality case happened in Massachusetts is because of gay marriage. Conservatism and bigotry, their status as synonyms just hasn't been officially recognized yet. By the way, Lopez is Mitt Romney's biggest supporter at National Review, any surprise"
Race for Governor marred by bestiality comparisons: "The contest to become Governor of Colorado has been rocked by comments from a Republican candidate comparing gay marriage to bestiality."
States to Vote on Incest and Bestiality | Up My Own Ass
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Jose Antonio Vargas of the Washington Post. He was doing a piece about gay bloggers and what's in store post-election as the political landscape shifts, kind of an exploration of where do we go from here in the age of citizen journalism, commentary and new media - and what bloggers' relationship might be with the MSM, LGBT advocacy orgs, etc. The Post sent a photographer down to snap some shots (you never know if they will actually be used, particularly if you're one of several interviewees).
Lo and behold I received an email from Jose giving me a heads up that the story was going to run today, and looking at my inbox this AM, it must have hit the web last night some time since folks are congratulating me for it. I'm actually just taking a look at it now -- "Gay Bloggers' Voices Rise in Chorus of Growing Political Influence." A photo runs with the article in the print edition (it's not on the web edition), so I have no idea how it came out. Ah, vanity.
Also interviewed for the article were Joe Solmonese, Andrew Sullivan and Steve Hildebrand (who is gay and served as deputy campaign manager on the Obama campaign). A snippet:
Pam's House Blend is an influential voice in the gay political blogosphere, must-reads that include the Bilerico Project, Towleroad and AMERICAblog, each attracting a few hundred to a few thousand hits a day. Just as the liberal Net-roots and the conservative "rightroots" movements have affected traditional party structures, the still relatively small gay political presence online is rebooting the gay rights movement in a decentralized, spontaneous, bottom-up way. It's spreading news via blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Online, a story about two 16-year-old girls in a Lutheran private school in California being expelled for "conducting themselves in a manner consistent with being lesbians" -- as the school's lawyer describes it -- goes viral. And hits nerves.The piece itself is fair, even complimentary -- bloggers frequently aren't portrayed in a fair or accurate light by the MSM --- the whole "incendiary blogger sitting in a basement at the computer in Cheetos-stained PJs" stereotype was rampant there for a while. I can't say that I've had a bad experience so far in that what I said wasn't accurately portrayed in the end product or that I come across as a wild-eyed crazy extremist. (Some links to prior press can be found on the About Pam page.)"Those two girls live in California. California! Imagine what's happening in, say, Alabama. Or Mississippi," Spaulding says in an interview.
In the past, someone like Spaulding would have been relegated to the sidelines. She doesn't work for national gay rights organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign or the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. She lives with her partner, Kate, an audiologist, in Durham, far from San Francisco, New York or Washington, where gay activism has been historically based. But now she's helping shape the agenda, one voice in a chorus of sometimes dissonant, sometimes harmonious, often in-your-face voices that is pushing established gay groups and redefining the meaning of grass-roots action in this new media age.
Anyway, take a look and share what you think about the Post's take on the gay blogosphere and its influence.
That's why you have to click over to read QNotes editor Matt Comer's lengthy piece, "What you didn't know about the Human Rights Campaign: An inside look at the organization everyone knows, but not really." I spoke with Matt as he was working on the article (some of my comments made the cut), and I thought it was an ambitious project to write a primer on HRC. There's only so much space that can be devoted to it. Also, it's bound to ruffle feathers a bit, but largely it's written to give some context that will result in a more informed and less emotional discussion about what HRC can or should be for the LGBT community.
The Human Rights Campaign is known to almost every member of the LGBT community, even if only in the slightest of ways. It's branding and name recognition reach further than almost any other LGBT advocacy group. It's iconic blue and yellow equal sign logo has become one of the nation's most ubiquitous symbols of equality for LGBT people, seen everywhere from car bumpers, storefront windows, atop flagpoles in Manhattan or the front porches of the South, the tops of notebook computers and on high school and college students' three-ring binders.Also interviewed for the piece is longtime activist, fellow Durham resident and former member of HRC's board of directors, Mandy Carter, who served in the wake of the tumultuous effort to unseat Jesse Helms back in 1990 (his opponent was the mayor of Charlotte at the time Harvey Gantt, who is black). Her comments and more are below the fold.But ask an average LGBT community member how HRC operates or who actually runs it and you're likely to get a blank stare and silence for a response. Ask someone if they know who Joe Solmonese is and some might might ask, "Who's that?" Board of Governors? Board of Directors? Steering Committee? What?
...Young queer folks first coming out of the closet quickly learn about HRC. Their presence is large enough to reach even the smallest hamlet, despite the lack of any sort of local gay advocacy there. There's no doubt HRC has earned its keep in national politics and a place in queer history.
Mandy Carter:
"I told them, 'There's not a penny I can give to you or raise,'" she says. "My being on the board was completely about my perspective as a black lesbian from the South."I share Mandy's concern that more cooperative projects with organizations like the National Black Justice Coalition would give the organization more credibility and perspective on mounting successful outreach in that respect. It could also play a more proactive and less competitive role with local LGBT organizations. For instance, HRC recently held its Carolinas dinner (Matt's piece was slated to publish in time for the event). This dinner raises thousands of dollars. How much of that goes into HRC's coffers versus local organizations that are often run on a relative shoestring? The advocacy in state legislature is vitally important in moving the ball forward locally, and since HRC only represents our interests on Capitol Hill, it's beneficial, when you're the big money machine and have the infrastructure, to find common ground and help grow those local orgs. Ryan Wilson, president of the South Carolina Pride Movement:Carter says she'll never regret the experiences and opportunities she was given while on HRC's board and later as a staff member. Nonetheless, Carter says she's often been frustrated by the organization's attempts to reach out to people of color.
"My main frustration was hearing a continual commitment to diversity but then not seeing it happen," she says. "That not just true for HRC, but also for lots of other groups. HRC certainly isn't the only one, but when you hear it and don't start to actually see it, that's a concern."
Wilson says HRC has nothing to lose and everything to gain from reinvesting the money they raise from local communities and from dinners like the HRC Carolinas Gala. "What would a few hundred or thousand dollars do if reinvested in the communities they take them from," he asked. "If you send staffers to the ground more often and do the trainings to build the volunteers, that will naturally build more money and membership."I urge you to surf over to QNotes and read the whole piece. Matt covers a wide range of topics, including HRC history, the organization's structure and its program expenses. I look forward to reading your comments.
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