GLBTQ: Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

"Ryan Pacifico is suing Calyon in the Americas, charging that his one-time boss at the French financial firm presided over a testosterone-fueled trading desk, where he was mocked for avoiding meat and wearing snug-fitting shorts during triathlons. "A trading floor is certainly a manly man's world," Pacifico said. "I just never expected someone to think [...]

Oh, I know we could come up with a more clever line, but what else do you say to his Esquire profile where he equates gay marriage with bestiality? There are only so many times you can put on your nerd glasses and rationally say, "Yo, sheep are not capable of consensual, loving relationship, you [...]

"Pro-gay priest, Reverend John Makokha may face an axe from the United Methodist Church (UMC) following his positive stance on homosexuality, which is said to contravene the social principles of the UMC. Makokha confirmed this explaining that he is likely to be released from his duties during the next annual conference in April 2009 in [...]

What a blast from the past; I thought this former major league POS went back under a rock for eternity. When John Rocker pitched for the Atlanta Braves, the bigot eruptions were fast and furious. From 1999, remember this classic, commenting on what a ride on the subway to Shea Stadium is like from his perspective:

"Imagine having to take the No. 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you're [riding] through Beirut, next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids."

Well he retired from baseball, but he hasn't mellowed one freaking bit. (SoVo):

Former Atlanta Brave John Rocker used anti-gay slurs and anti-Semitic statements against local radio host Steak Shapiro during an altercation at the W Buckhead hotel's grand opening last week.
News of Rocker being tossed from the glitzy Jan. 22 party was reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The newspaper stated Rocker used ethnic slurs against Shapiro, who hosts a sports talk show on AM station 790 The Zone, and in later stories reported that Rocker kept calling Shapiro a "Jew."
The AJC did not report that Rocker used the word "faggot." However, Shapiro, who is not gay, confirmed to Southern Voice on Jan. 27 that Rocker used the slur against him.
"It [faggot] is one of his favorite terms and he used it multiple times," Shapiro said. "His exact words at least three times [were], 'You Jew faggot.' He is a pathetic guy."

Outsports.com's Cyd Zeigler was interviewed for the article, and hits the nail on the head.

"He has no self-esteem and picks on minorities to take out his frustrations," he said.
The fact the AJC did not report Rocker used the word "faggot" is bad journalism, he added. "Given his track record, I don't know why they didn't print it unless they were trying to protect him," Zeigler said. "'Faggot' is an epithet, 'faggot' is the story."

Is this fair or wise?

As recently reported, the Domestic Partnership Enhancement Bill of 2009 was filed this week in Olympia, Washington. The bill is touted as making Registered Domestic Partnerships equal to civil marriage in all but name.

But there's a catch. Numerous sections of the bill that involve retirement benefits for civil servants, taxes and other items won't go into effect until January, 2012 or August 2012. (See the last page of the bill for the list of sections of concern, and cross reference with this website to understand to which statutes they refer.)

According to the Seattle PI, the delay in the effective date of these sections is in response to the bad economic situation in the State of Washington. But doesn't encoding a delay set a bad precedent that it's ok to continue to withhold civil rights from minorities if the state is hard up? Presumably, any heterosexual couple getting married today or on the day the DP legislation is signed would be eligible for these benefits immediately. And there are a lot more married heteros than there ever will be DP'd LGBTs burdening the system.

So, I ask again. Is this delay fair or wise? I haven't yet had a chance to call my reps or senator to ask their thoughts.

Peter LaBarbera has a few articles up on Americans For Truth About Homosexuality that discuss homophobia and transphobia. In one piece on homophobia that LaBarbera posted on his website:

Hate has a pretty bad name in the world today. No one wants to be called a hater, especially Christians, which is probably why we get accused of it all the time by our opponents. Homosexuals are especially fond of calling people haters. They even invented the word homophobia, which means hate and fear of homosexuals, envisaged as a mental illness (a phobia is an anxiety disorder).
I hate being called a homophobe. It has such an ugly connotation. Its especially unpleasant because, as a Christian, I'm supposed to have a reputation for loving people, not hating them. So I've worked really hard over the years to try to get the homosexuals to stop calling me a homophobe...

Interestingly, Peter LaBarbera personally wrote this in his piece about the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality being accused of transphobia (Friday, February 8th, 2008):

Just remember that an ideology that relies on name-calling, propagandistic distortions, and psychological intimidation is as bankrupt as the twisted semantics on which it relies to prop up its own myths.

So, with these thoughts in mind, this is what Peter LaBarbera of American's For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) wrote in his AFTAH piece ACLU & Sexual Amputees Sue Illinois ():

The Chicago Tribune ran this photo of Kari Rothkopf (left) and Victoria "Tori" Kirk, Illinois residents who had horrific, emasculating "sex change" operations in Thailand and are now suing the State of Illinois to switch the gender on their birth certificates from male to female. Not one to miss out on a politically correct opportunity to promote gender confusion and the GLBT agenda, the Tribune refers to these men with a female pronoun and calls them "women." Pray for these terribly confused men, who have already successfully changed the sex identifier on their driver's licenses, passports and Social Security cards. (Click to enlarge photo, by Tribune photographer Kuni Takahashi)

I believe Peter LaBarbera is engaging in name-calling in his recent piece to make his point about post-operative trans people -- calling post-operative trans people "amputees" -- as well as engaging in twisted semantics by characterizing genital reconstruction surgery as "horrific" and "emasculating 'sex change' operations."

And, of course, LaBarbera objects to the Chicago Tribune adhering to the the Associated Press Styleguide's standard of "us[ing] the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly." And, of course, LaBarbera uses defamatory refereces to the natal sex of the post-operative women by calling them "terribly confused men" in his objection to the styleguide standard for how to refer the gender of individuals.

I guess that means that in accordance with LaBarbera's own words, LaBarbera's beliefs are "as bankrupt as the twisted semantics on which [he] relies to prop up [his] own myths."

Can one be opposed to the ideas of transsexuality or transgenderism and not be transphobic? Sure -- labeling someone a transphobic depends entirely on whether the language that a person uses to articulate his or her opposition to transsexuality (or transgenderism) is offensive and/or defamatory. It's clear that the language Peter LaBarbera used to describe trans people in his recent piece was specifically intended to be provocative, offensive, and defamatory towards trans people.

So, in my opinion, the terms hater, bigot and transphobic accurately describe LaBarbera. And, my opinion is based on the language LaBarbera uses to make his points -- especially when contrasted with his own thoughts regarding name-calling and bankrupt, twisted semantics.

And, given LaBarbera's own words on name-calling and bankrupt, twisted semantics, I have a additional word for LaBarbera to ponder as a descriptor of himself: Hypocrite.

Another update from the Creating Change National LGBT movement conference in Denver. Rae Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force rocked the r update from the Creating Change National LGBT movement conference in Denver. Rae Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force rocked the house in her "state of the movement" speech this afternoon.

Dolores Huerta: Si se puede! The 21st National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change got off to a rousing start tonight in Denver, Colo., when legendary social justice and labor leader Dolores Huerta gave a powerful call for justice for all in the openlo., when legendary social justice and labor leader Dolores Huerta gave a powerful call for justice for all in the opening plenary. Huerta, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers [...]

We're here in Denver, Colorado at the annual Creating Change conference... posting updates and news from the national LGBT equality movement.