Walter Brasch: If there was a Pathfinder merit badge, the Scout leadership would be unable to earn it—they’ve been wandering the wrong trail for many years.
Gay Marriage: The Tide Has Turned and There’s No Going Back
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Peter Dreier: Although no one can be sure how the current Supreme Court justices will vote, the American public has already made up its mind. Public support for gay marriage has hit a new high.
Oscars Show Takes Prize for Sexism, Homophobia, Anti-Semitism, Racism
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Peter Dreier: There were no hooded sheets, burning crosses, N-words, or “fag” jokes. But bigotry comes in various shades. Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony was ugly and unfunny.
Associated Press’ Discouraging “Homophobia” Is Discouraging
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Rev. Irene Monroe: To suggest the press eliminate the word can not only diminish the scope of people understanding homophobia’s wide range, but it can also diminish our scope of LGBTQ activists in our continued efforts to effect change.
Gays Unite with Blacks to Fight ‘Stop-and-Frisk’
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David Love: Meanwhile, a coalition of groups including the Human Rights Campaign and Empire State Pride Agenda are joining forces with NAACP’s Ben Jealous and Rev. Al Sharpton for a June 17 march to protest stop and frisk.
Is Gay Bashing a Partisan Issue?
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Steve Hochstadt: Romney defenders trivialize his gay bashing with a variety of excuses: people did not use the word “gay” in the mid-1960s; homosexuality was not a big issue then; boys will be boys, especially at prep schools.
Friday Feedback: LAPD’s Changing Culture
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Steve Lamb comments on Dick & Sharon’s “Changing Culture at the LAPD,” which discusses the department’s ground-breaking work with the city’s LGBY community.
Historic Roots of Homophobia in Black America
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David Love: Another reason for the rift between blacks and the LGBT community has been the historic lack of synergy and inclusion regarding blacks and the gay rights movement.
Where’s the Sacrifice?
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Madeline Janis: Imagine if our government sponsored ads now likening riding alone in a car to taking a big old diesel engine, and dropping it onto the Alaskan wilderness, or a child’s face?
It’s What — Not Who — Killed Whitney Houston
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Rev. Irene Monroe: We may never know all the demons that took this internationally renown pop star diva down a torturous and troubling road of self destruction, but one demon not mentioned is homophobia.
Why “Narrow” Prop 8 Decision is Good for Marriage Equality
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Paul Hogarth: While it would have been great to have the Court rule sexual orientation a “suspect class” and put Prop 8 under a strict scrutiny test, that would have made the decision far more likely to be reversed.
Homophobe Tim Hardaway’s Change of Words
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Rev. Irene Monroe: Hardaway’s homophobia is shaped by a particular type of black masculinity that no longer has to break through this country’s color barrier to represent the race and prove athletic prowess or manhood in sports.
Gays, Nazis, and the GOP
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Jonathan Zimmerman: It’s one thing to oppose same-sex marriage; it is quite another to claim that gay people launched the Nazi Party in Germany. The former is a policy opinion, while the latter is a factual lie. Republican presidential candidates to distinguish between opinions and lies and to denounce those supporters who have made the gay-Nazi claim.
Out Gays Barred from Rick Perry’s Mega Prayerfest
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Rev. Irene Monroe: To have moral authority, Rick Perry cannot as a governor call Americans to a Christian rally that by its invitation and sponsors exclude LGBT people, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, and many others. And he cannot impose his religious views into the fabric of American democracy.
Glenn Beck Is Not the Voice of America
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Berry Craig: Beck will doubtless keep on spewing hate into his microphone. But he couldn’t get elected dog catcher, and he knows it. I trust the citizens of Norway know it, too.
Walter M. Plumbs the Depths of Homophobia
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Adam Eran: Intolerance is costly in other ways, too. The U.S. doesn’t get the cheaper, more effective single-payer health care now because racist Dixiecrats in Congress were concerned that federally-sponsored health care would mix the races in Southern hospitals.
Tracy Morgan’s Homophobic Rant Is About Black Manhood
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Rev. Irene Monroe: While I will continue to argue that the African American community doesn’t have a patent on homophobia, it does, however, have a problem with it. And Tracy Morgan, comedian and actor on NBC’s “30 Rock,” is another glaring example of the malady.
New York Victory Re-Ignites Momentum for Marriage Equality
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Paul Hogarth: Inevitably, we will have to go back to the ballot – especially in states where there has been a concerted effort to learn from past mistakes, and help change hearts and minds.
American Family Values, Invisible Lives
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Sikivu Hutchinson: The numbers of LGBT families of color are increasing, especially in traditionally conservative regions like the South, which has seen a new black “re-migration” due to the massive ripple effect of job losses, foreclosures and gentrification in northern urban black communities.
Pride Celebrations? Haven’t We Assimilated?
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Rev. Irene Monroe: Cultural acceptance is just one of a few things LGBTQ communities of color still do not experience from larger Pride events, instead at times experiencing social exclusion and invisibility.
In the Closet at CNN
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Irene Monroe: One of the motivating reasons for Lemon, 45, now revealing his sexual orientation is because of the suicide of 18-year-old Rutgers University freshman, Tyler Clementi.
Using Blacks For Saving America from Gay Marriage
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Irene Monroe: As African Americans, we continue to experience the harm that religion-based bigotry causes, especially concerning the civil rights issue of same-sex marriage.
The Pro-Bullying Lobby
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Lee Fang: Despite a growing number of LGBT suicides, conservatives are claiming “that anti-bullying measures are nothing more than insidious tools of the ‘homosexual agenda.’”
Focus on the Family: Bully Pulpit Christianity
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Carl Matthes: A schoolyard bully is someone who intimidates, is overbearing and tyrannical. Who better fits that description than someone who uses a Christian pulpit to turn the all-encompassing Love of God upside down and then uses it to bully God’s children?
Department of Defense Should Provide Diversity Training
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Tracy Emblem and Lisa Kove: Historically, the DoD has had an unwritten policy/rule that excludes LGBT diversity training from its diversity educational program.
The Politics of Hate—and Hate Speech
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Walter Brasch: While most Tea Partiers are White, middle-aged or senior citizens who are angry but not violent, whenever there is violence, whenever there is racism, discrimination, or homophobia, there are Tea Party sympathizers present.
Don’t Discriminate
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Steve Hochstadt: Ending discrimination will not be achieved through a new military policy nor by new laws. Such political acts reflect an evolving popular understanding that America can prosper by defending equality.
Be the Peace You Want to See on Earth
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David Swanson: I’ve never found any opponent of war who didn’t believe there was evil in the world. After all, we oppose war because it is evil. Did Martin Luther King, Jr., stand idle in the face of threats? Are you serious?
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Friday Feedback: Same-Sex Marriage Ban Bigotry
This week, Reggie Brown comments on Sheria Reid’s article, “Same-Sex Marriage Ban: Bigotry Isn’t Only a Southern Brew” which addresses the banning of same-sex marriage in 31 states.