Friday, January 30, 2009

Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

"I’d like to see Obama naked. I think great leaders, charismatic leaders and men who are so confident and who have achieved so much, usually have big penises. I think there’s a correlation between the level of confidence, the level of the way a man can hold a room and the way he conducts himself [...]
After Yes on 8 donors filed an injunction asking the State of California to withhold the names of last-minute donors to their campaign, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the public has a right to know who donated to their ballot measures. The names will be released Monday. The plaintiffs argued that Yes on 8 [...]
All week long, Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe has been answering questions about his sexuality from Australia's newspapers, who seemed to have just discovered now that the diver has lived with his Brazilian housemate, Daniel Mendes, for the last three years and was photographed with him while the two vacationed together in Brazil, as friends do [...]
Last night on Larry King Live as Ted and Gayle Haggard appeared to promote the HBO documentary (it premiered last night) and to answer some candid questions about Ted's judgment and to explain why she is with him after all his travails. The whole thing was quite bizarre and creepy. The entire transcript is up now. Also, Anderson Cooper did a bang-up job of breaking this case down in a serious manner with a psychiatrist on AC360; I discuss that below the fold.

But on to the lunacy -- what a gift of ESP Mrs. Haggard has! The wife of the fallen New Life pastor explains to Larry how heterosexual her husband really is. BTW, one of their son appeared on the show in a later segment. Bleh, that's way TMI for a kid to hear.


KING: You had to be doubly shocked, Gail?

G. HAGGARD: Doubly shocked. However, I do think that our sexuality is complex. But I don't like is when we put labels on each other, because I am here to say that 99 percent of Ted's sexual experiences were with me. So I'm not willing to deny that. But I am willing to explore, why is he having these other feelings?

My questions -- is this delusional thinking? Is she making an educated guess? Or did he do a full run-down of acts for her and she ran the numbers through Excel?

Anyway, Ted did not refute the allegations of church volunteer Grant Haas. More below the fold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAAS: I came back from the bathroom -- back from the bathroom and got in the bed with Ted, ready to go to sleep. And he pretty much asked me if it was OK if he masturbated in front of me or masturbated in the bed next to me. And so I told him no, that would make me really uncomfortable.

But, you know, he grabbed a bottle of lotion and he started masturbating. And at that point, I was just -- I was frozen. I couldn't really believe that this was happening, that this man was doing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: True?

T. HAGGARD: Fundamentally true. The specifics aren't quite right, but it doesn't matter.

What matters is that -- that is an indicator of the compulsive behavior that was going on in my life during that time period.

KING: How long ago was this?

T. HAGGARD: Over two years ago. Since that time, I met with him and one of the church overseers and Gayle and asked for his forgiveness. And all of our children -- when he decided to come out and talk about that -- as our kids came in the other night, I said Grant Haas is going to go public. And every one of them knew about it. And they said oh, really -- and went on about their evening.

And about Mike Jones, Haggard said this:
KING: What do you think of Mr. Jones?

T. HAGGARD: I think he rescued me. I'm very grateful to him.

KING: Don't hate him?

T. HAGGARD: Not at all, nor have I ever. And, actually, I -- I think he's paid quite a price and was brave to stand up and...

KING: Ever talk to him?

T. HAGGARD: I have not talked to him since. And -- but I have communicated with him my apology to him and my apology to the gay community. I was never an avid -- I was never a rabid anti-gay preacher or anything like that. I never did that type of thing.

I just always thought that the way we get instruction in life is from the bible. And so that's the way I would approach it. But I always tried to be kind.

But I must say, I'm much more kind now. I'm much more gentle now. I'm much more understanding now. I listen a lot more than I used to.

***

I also want to note the fantastic job Anderson Cooper did last night breaking down this interview after it aired. On AC360 he nicely shredded the cloak of denial going on with psychiatrist Dr. Paul Dobransky, who outlined just how messed up Ted is. Haggard's a bonanza for therapists.

I'm curious, Doctor, as you watched Ted Haggard speak, what do you think -- what came to your mind?

DR. PAUL DOBRANSKY, PSYCHIATRIST: The first thing that came to mind is that I feel bad for the situation he's in. He's very conflicted. You'll notice that the word choice he uses, I've not heard that phrase, "having homosexual attachments."

COOPER: He said one therapist called him heterosexual with homosexual attachments and then another one said he's heterosexual with complications.

DOBRANSKY: Yes, I think the bottom line is the conflict that this guy is in is that he has a belief system that he needs to maintain for his constituents, his fans, and certainly for his own spiritual beliefs. He needs to keep that part up. But when we talk about gender identity and sexual identity and sexual orientation, we're talking about something that's biological, not something that you choose. There's plenty of research about that.

COOPER: It also seems sad because his belief system, I mean there are plenty of gay Christians --

DOBRANSKY: Yes.

COOPER: -- who are happily gay and happily Christian and have fulfilling lives. They're not mutually exclusive?

DOBRANSKY: Absolutely, absolutely. We are, in this country, entitled to our opinions, we're entitled to voice them. And at the same time, we all have an animal nature inside. We have an unconscious; we have a sexual identity inside. And it's OK to have both.

COOPER: Every -- we have had a number of people on the show who say they have been cured of homosexuality, that they went through, whatever, reversion therapy or -- but every one of them basically admits that they still are attracted to a member of the same sex, they're just forcing themselves to repress those feelings.

DOBRANSKY: Yes.

COOPER: That can't be a healthy thing.

For all the talk about Cooper and glass closets, the man knows how to fearlessly report on LGBT issues and hypocrites like Haggard, to put the issues into proper perspective, gay-positive while journalistically boring down into the matter in a way that is accessible to a general audience. He let Dobransky do the heavy lifting on this one; after all, Haggard has heavily invested his recovery by turning over his "issue" to therapists. One has to question the advice of the two he cited, both of whom deemed him heterosexual, either "with issues" or "complications." I don't know WTF that means.

Do these therapists not understand the concepts of bisexuality or closeted homosexuality to help Ted out with less accusatory framing? Whoever is helping the former megapastor out seems hell-bent on giving him the framework to hold onto the label "heterosexual" at all costs. For a couple so obsessed with avoiding labels, that's one label they cling to with all the strength they can muster. They make it sound like his same-sex activity is some sort of "condition" that must be treated, rather than a part of him that he (and his wife) needs to accept in order to move on whether he chooses to act upon his SSAs or not.

BONUS: A graphic from Jesus' General, who also wrote a letter to New Life Pastor Brady Boyd, noting: "Pastor Haggard had it right all along. Over and over again, he's stated that he's just another heterosexual who likes to put other men's little soldiers in his mouth. You know...like Larry Craig."

H/t, NG.

WTF? Did we not see Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bleating the party line and defending the former Dear Leader every step of the way during his eight-year reign of terror? Now the catty claws come out as Miss Mitch has to find a way to rewrite the history that has sent his party and the nation's economy into the toilet.  This is rich.

Q: How does this party turn itself around?

   McCONNELL: Well, I was a strong supporter of the President, but presidential unpopularity is bad for the president's party. We suffered losses in 06 and 08. We wish President Bush well. But frankly, we will not have to be carrying that sort of political burden that we carried the last two elections.


I guess even the GOP thought this *ssclown was radioactive. (Think Progress):
CQ reports that Chip Saltsman - who became notorious for mailing out the "Barack the Magic Negro" CD as a Christmas present to friends - will not be on the ballot for chair of the Republican National Committee because he was "unable to cobble together the six supporters necessary for nomination. The deadline for Saltsman to come up with two nominators from each of three states was 5 p.m."
While we're on the topic of Rush Limbaugh's "Negro" entertainment, Republican sage Rep. Mike Pence's (R-IN), went on MSNBC to say that Limbaugh, the new figurative head of his party, doesn't have a racist bone in his body. Check this out -- oddly, Norah O'Donnell doesn't question the propriety of OxyCowboy's buttsecks-phobic statement:
Host Norah O'Donnell asked Pence whether he agrees with Limbaugh's statement that the country is being forced to "bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever" because Obama's "father was black, because this is the first black president." Pence refused to condemn Limbaugh, chastising O'Donnell for implying that Limbaugh is "racist":
O'DONNELL: On that specific thing, that we have to bend over because this is the first black president, why don't you feel that you could denounce something like that? Are you so beholden to someone like Rush Limbaugh that you can't say -

PENCE: Oh gosh, Norah -

O'DONNELL: - that's not the type of rhetoric when America is trying to come together to do something for the unemployment rate - in your state of Indiana it's 8.2 percent - is that the rhetoric we need?

PENCE: I don't believe Rush Limbaugh has a racist bone in his body. If you're suggesting that his statement had a racist element in it, I commend you to a greater understanding of the positions he's taken. He's a man about opportunity of all Americans, regardless of race, creed, or color. That's why he's so admired and appreciated across America.

Related:
* Candidate to run RNC distributes CD with 'Barack the Magic Negro'
* Ken Blackwell defends Saltsman's Barack the Magic Negro CD
We're here in Denver, Colorado at the annual Creating Change conference... posting updates and news from the national LGBT equality movement.re in Denver, Colorado at the annual Creating Change conference... posting updates and news from the national LGBT equality movement.
It looks like our neighbors to the north are planning to expand their Domestic Partnership program, while keeping up their campaign for marriage equality.  Read the news at the Seattle Times website.
I decided that it was time to see what Sam Sparro has been up to lately. Turns out, he’s been nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Dance Recording’ category for Black & Gold (which I’ve previously featured) And, Sam’s also got a new video out: ’21st Century Life’ — Check it Out.
NEW YORK, NY (PRNewswire-USNewswire) — Though it’s not widely known, psychoanalysts as a professional group are proactive on a number of social issues including homosexuality. During the organization’s Winter 2009 Meeting held January 14 - 18 in New York, the American Psychoanalytic Associatisociation (APsaA) approved a position statement regarding homosexuals and bisexuals serving in the [...]
According to a press release issued this week by Wiley-Blackwell / BJU International and one UK researcher by the name of Dr Polyxeni Dimitropoulou: ‘Frequent sex and mastnd masturbation in 20s and 30s linked to higher prostate cancer risk — But study also shows that risks diminish with age, particularly in a man’s 50s’ — I [...]

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