The Gaytheist Agenda

The purveyors of lies, intolerance and inequality have done it. From Equality California:

They claim they did the unconscionable.

Extremist anti-LGBT organizations spent an unprecedented amount of money to pay people to collect signatures and are now saying that they succeeded in buying their way onto the November ballot.

The measure seeks to amend the California Constitution from being a document that protects all people to one that excludes us from equality.

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EQCA is a leading partner in the Equality for All Campaign that is made up of leadership from LGBT and allied organizations fighting this dangerous initiative.

We estimate that the opposition spent well over $1.5 million to gather signatures. This means they’re serious about spending millions more to pass the amendment. We need to prepare for what will likely be the most expensive LGBT rights ballot measure in our nation’s history. Here’s what you can do:

* Make a donation to Equality California Issues PAC. We have to match them dollar for dollar. EQCA Issues PAC is committed to fighting this and every attack on our families and our community and every dollar raised will be spent to defeat this measure.
* Tell your friends and family. Tell them why you are giving and ask them to make a donation as well.

In the coming months our community is going to be tested in ways it has not been tested before. So much hangs in the balance.

Granted, Governor Schwarzenegger stated that he is against a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. But we need to fight this hateful initiative tooth and nail nonetheless.

 

Kevin Alfred Strom will be a guest of the state for the next two years.

Kevin Alfred Strom plead guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in January and was sentenced to 23 months in prison yesterday morning. The judge rejected his claims that he “unwillingly” possessed the porn and his request that he be sentenced to time served.

Throughout Strom’s trial last year for enticement of a minor and witness intimidation— charges that were thrown out by Moon— the prolific writer, radio broadcaster, and founder of the white-rights National Alliance offshoot, the National Vanguard, has been silent in court, speaking only in January to denounce his portrayal in the media as a neo-Nazi and white supremacist.

“I’ve been in solitary confinement for 16 months,” says Strom. “I ask the court to grant me one minute for every month I’ve been in prison.”

During his statement, Strom said he’s been a good father to his three children, ages 15, 13 and 11, especially his severely autistic 13-year-old son, and that his predicament resulted from “false accusations” by his wife, Elisha Strom.

“I am not a pedophile,” says Strom. “I am the furthest thing from a sexual pervert.” He shared his disgust of pedophiles and child pornographers with the court, noting that he regarded sex as “holy,” and that in high school he was an “absolute straight arrow,” and was called a “prude.”
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He explained that the child porn photos found on his computer were fewer than 10 out of more than 100,000, and that they came from an online forum he’d visited that had been “flooded with spam,” including “sleazy, tragic” pictures of children that he deleted. “I possessed them unwillingly,” he told Moon, “but I did possess them.”

“Mr. Strom, this is an unusual case,” acknowledged Judge Moon. “But Mr. Strom, you pled guilty to charges that now you’re saying you’re innocent. I prefer people plead not guilty than put it on me.”
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Nonetheless, calling the child porn guilty plea “extremely serious,” Moon sentenced Strom to 23 months in prison and 15 years of supervised release. He did not prohibit Strom from associating with his minor children.

Afterward, Elisha Strom, who had contacted authorities and is the witness Kevin Strom was accused of intimidating, called the almost two-year sentence “a joke.”

During his October trial, she had testified against her husband, saying that she’d returned home to find him naked and aroused in front of the images of two young, white nationalist-movement singers whose heads had been superimposed onto two nude bodies. Moon ruled that was not illegal, and despite Elisha’s claims that Kevin had choked her to keep her quiet, he dismissed the witness intimidation charge.
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What a cockamamie excuse for having kiddie porn, but then aren’t they all? At least he’s off the street for 23 months, though that’s not long enough as far as I’m concerned.

Off the fence with regard to Brandon McInerney, who I’ve finally decided should be tried as an adult. I’ve discovered that his lawyer is trying to peddle a version of the gay panic defense to deflect blame from McInerney and place it on the victim and the school.

It’s a tragedy, McInerney’s defense attorney said in an interview, but one he believes might have been avoided if someone had stepped in to help beforehand. Senior Deputy Public Defender William Quest said E.O. Green’s administration knew about tension on the middle school campus and allowed the situation to fester — allegations the school district says are untrue.
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Issues between McInerney and King seemed to start after students and teachers returned from winter break.

They had both been at E.O. Green and even had a class together previously, but Quest said he’s not aware of any problems until they came back from vacation.

It was then that King began dressing differently, becoming a focus of conversations on campus, Quest said.

Students have said they witnessed confrontations between King and McInerney in the weeks or days before the shooting, including King’s teasing McInerney and telling him that he liked him.

McInerney perceived King’s treatment as harassment, Quest said. Quest, however, declined to discuss any specific confrontations or issues between the boys. He also declined to say if McInerney ever sought help from an adult to deal with the issue.

Quest said he believes school administrators supported one student expressing himself and his sexuality — King — and ignored how it affected other kids, despite complaints. Cross-dressing isn’t a normal thing in adult environments, he said, yet 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds were expected to just accept it and go on.
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Sorry, you don’t get to shoot somebody in the head twice–with premeditation–because you don’t like the way they dress or because they say they like you, or even if they tease you. It’s simply not acceptable, ever.

Imagine if, instead of dressing in high-heels, wearing makeup and expressing a romantic interest in another boy Lawrence King had been wearing a crucifix and asking Brandon McInerney to learn about the Gospel of Jesus. Would anybody even think of claiming that the way Lawrence dressed, or what he said and did led to Brandon McInerney’s reaction? No. We’d be hearing cries of “Christian Persecution” from every state in the nation and people would be screaming for McInerney’s head on a stake.

It is far past time that the Gay Panic Defense in all its forms be laid to rest forever.

It’s time for another edition of the Gaytheist Agenda Mailbag. My first submission comes from stebbytubbysenior who wrote regarding my good friend Sally Kern

this particular woman is a wart on the anus of the satan she so fervently believes in and that we atheists actually don’t….. mock her, fire her, shame her. Maybe then she’ll have the time to get to read and understand the constitution…..

I wouldn’t describe her as colorfully as you have, but Sally Kern is indeed a nasty character. She believes that certain people and beliefs are superior to others, and of course she and her beliefs belong in that superior category. Then she thinks it’s fine to relegate people she deems inferior to second (or lower) class status and provide them fewer rights and privileges based on her arbitrary notions of what is right and wrong. She claims it’s God’s Word, but like most of her ilk she’s not applying the Bible equally but rather cherry-picking. I wonder how many shellfish and pork dinners she’s eaten lately, how many blended fabrics and how much gold/pearl jewelry she wears, and why she thinks she has the right to teach males. (And that’s only the beginning, mind you.) Indeed, she thinks the Constitution only applies to people she deigns to allow it to apply to. I seem to recall it saying We the people, not We the fundamentalist Christians.

 
The next entry comes from Ebon regarding Rights Groups Ask that Teen Be Tried in Juvenile Court.

I could go either way on this. On the one hand, I’m ethically opposed to the whole concept of seeking “trial as an adult”. It seems to be something used not according to the individual maturity of the offender in question but as a symbol of especially emphatic disapproval which eliminates the whole point. If we’re going to say that people committing X crime should be judged in the same way regardless of age, then let’s just say that, not go through this charade of seeking special permission.

On the other hand, would McInerney be being tried as an adult if he had shot a straight kid?

I’m still conflicted on the matter myself. Part of me still wants to have him tried as a juvenile because he’s 14, and because he’ll have a greater chance to have rehabilitation rather than mere warehousing and punishment. The other part of me feels that despite him only being 14 he took a gun to school, with premeditation, and shot a boy in the head twice–in front of the whole class–because the boy was gay, so he should take his chances being tried as an adult.

Would McInerney be tried as an adult if he’d shot a straight kid? I really think he would considering he used a firearm ( in a classroom full of students no less). That’s a very serious offense which, if he’s actually tried as an adult, can add up to 25 years to his sentence. The hate-crime penalty only adds 1-3 years by contrast.

 
Entry #3 comes from yousuck at your.a.jew@***.com. I have no idea what s/he was commenting on but here’s what my new best friend had to say:

****ing christian

No, I am not a Christian (nor am I Jewish as your probably phony e-mail address seems to suggest). Though I was Christian for about 20 years I reverted back to my former state of atheism in my late 20s when I lost my faith. Of course I should think that would be obvious given that the name of this blog is The Gaytheist Agenda, and many of the posts focus on atheism. By the way, I sense a great deal of hostility in you. Have you ever considered volunteer work or meditation? They can work wonders.

That wraps up this edition of the Mailbag. Stay tuned until next time.

 

Take a high-school student who failed a state-mandated test. Add one mother desperate to get the girl into a private school, and a school administrator willing to prey on that desperation. Now you have the makings of a scandal.

It’s the middle of the day when a white pickup truck pulls into the back of a motel on 1960. Then it goes to the very back to park for a long while. We already know who the driver is. His name is LaVern Jordan and he runs Parkway Christian School.

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The woman getting in Jordan’s passenger seat is a parent who’s been trying to get her 18 year daughter enrolled in Jordan’s school.

“She hadn’t passed the TAKS test and she hasn’t got all her credits, that’s the reason we are going to that school,” the mother told us.

A fee to the school and some course work can get students a diploma without passing the required state test at Parkway Christian School, where the Web site boasts, “a program based on Christian character, morals, values and integrity.”

Dolcefino: “How long were you talking to him before sex came into it?”

Mother: “No longer than five or ten minutes.”

Dolcefino: “What were you thinking?”

Mother: “This man has got to be crazy.”

Now back to Jordan.

Dolcefino: “There’s no tape?”

Jordan: “Will you get out of my way please?”

Dolcefino: “There’s no tape of you and this woman?”

Jordan: “No. Wayne will you please move? No.”

Dolcefino: “Well, you’re going to hear it.”

And so are you.

Jordan on tape: “Do you have sexual relationships often anymore? Are you seeing a man now?”

Mother: “No. Nuh-uh.”

Jordan had already promised to waive the $300 school enrollment fee for a much different kind of payment.

Jordan: “For the uh, enrollment fee and stuff like that, maybe you and I can do something, you think?”

Mother: “Yeah, what, I mean what, what, you gonna wipe out all the fees?”

Jordan: “All the enrollment fees.”

Mother: “All the enrollment fees?”

Jordan: “Three hundred dollars.”

Mother: “So you gonna wipe everything if me and you get together?”

Jordan: “The enrollment fee, yeah.”

Mother: “Ok.”

Jordan: “If you and I get together.”

Mother: “What you mean? I mean, what?

Jordan: “Excuse me and I don’t mean to be so blunt but I am talking about f—— you.”

Mother: “You talking about what?”

Jordan: “F—— you.”

“I couldn’t believe someone was saying such things like that,” the mother told us. “I couldn’t believe it.”

And the tape shows Jordan wasn’t just talking about a one time thing.

Jordan: “For the $300 I would expect maybe we could get together several times, you think?”

Mother: “Several times, whatcha mean several times?”

Jordan: “Well I don’t know, you might like whatcha getting.”

Jordan was ready for action right then.

Jordan: “If you’re not in like just a great big hurry, I know uh, of a place not too far that we can go and I can just do that we can just do some play around a little bit. Would you like that?”

Jordan: “We could go and we could do some t–ty play.”

Jordan wanted to make sure no one else would know.

Jordan: “Nobody else will know nothing?”

Mother: “Nuh-uh.”

Jordan: “Can I touch you?”

But our parent will make Mr. Jordan wait for his sexual rendezvous and this time she’ll be carrying our hidden camera and microphone.

“I was meeting with him specifically for y’all to expose him to the world and to those parents sending their kids up there,” the mother told us.

Thursday at 10pm, the rendezvous we caught on tape. You won’t hear it anywhere else.

See the exclusive video here.

Where are the RRRW sex-monitors when you need them? Oh yes, they’re probably too busy running off propaganda pamphlets for the “Day of (un)Truth” to pay attention to something this inconsequential.

 

This young man asks a very powerful question in this video he posted on YouTube.

Now that’s food for thought.

 

A coalition of groups that advocate for LGBT rights have asked that Brandon McInerney, the 14-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed 15-year-old Lawrence King, be tried as a juvenile. This would ensure that should he be found guilty he would go to a juvenile facility and receive a shorter sentence. In particular he would not be subject to the hate-crime penalty which could add an additional 1-3 years and the up to 25 years for use of a firearm.

The coalition of lesbian, gay and other organizations, including Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center, announced Monday they have asked District Attorney Greg Totten to try McInerney as a juvenile.

“We are saddened and outraged by the murder of junior high school student Lawrence King,” the groups’ statement read. “At the same time, we call on prosecutors not to compound this tragedy with another wrong. We call on them to treat the suspect as a juvenile, not as an adult.”

The groups’ statement called for the suspect to “be held accountable for his actions. But we support the principles underlying our juvenile justice system that treat children differently than adults and provide greater hope and opportunity for rehabilitation.”

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Other groups that signed the statement include the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Equality California, Gay Straight Alliance Network, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

I have mulled this over in my head since reading the stories and have not been able to decide where I stand on this matter. Therefore I’m posting this as is, without commentary.

 

The video of our protest against the Love Won Out symposium is now up at YouTube and Wayne Besen’s site, and it looks fabulous!

State Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago), who previously engaged in a verbal attack against Atheist Rob Sherman, offered an apology on Wednesday.

Because of Davis’ rant, she was named Tuesday night as the “worst person in the world” –a dubious award doled out daily by news commentator Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s “Countdown” program.

Rep. Davis told atheist Rob Sherman that, “What you have to spew and spread is dangerous” and that “This is the land of Lincoln where people believe in God.”

But, after being on the receiving end of a week’s worth of public criticism, Davis called Sherman yesterday to apologize.

Sherman says Davis told him she “took out her frustrations and emotions on me and that she shouldn’t have done that.” Sherman says Davis’ explanation was “reasonable” and that he forgives her.

According to Sherman and State Rep. Jack Franks….Davis claims her outburst was triggered by learning shortly beforehand…that there’d been another Chicago Public School student killed.

State Rep. Jack Franks was chairing the hearing that day and says Davis’ outburst was uncharacteristic, adding “she was having a bad day.”

That was very noble of Representative Davis. I’ll be dropping her a message to let her know how much I appreciate her action.

 

And I invite you to do the same, whether or not you are gay. Here’s the story from My Gayest Look :

The word from Leno: “In talking about Ryan’s first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong. I certainly didn’t mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize.”

Fantastic. That takes some guts. But will it last until the next easy assumption comes along?

Until then, we’ll hold Jay’s feet to the fire. Our response these past few days has been overwhelming, but we will post each and every pic that was submitted.

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So, back to the site:

On Thursday, March 20, 2008, Jay Leno welcomed as his guest on The Tonight Show the actor Ryan Phillippe, who, early in his career, played a gay character on the daily soap One Life to Live. During the interview, Leno hounded Phillippe, telling him to look into the camera, pretend it was his “gay lover…Billy Bob,” who “has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming” (still milking the Brokeback jokes), and give it his “gayest look.”

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Jeff—who, in 2006, famously penned a letter to Jay Leno about his homophobic humor—completed another missive, in which he included a photographic sign-off (at left) of his “gayest look.” Melissa—who was similarly agitated in 2006—then offered up her “gayest look” (also at left), and soon her readers began to send in their gayest looks—and an avalanche began. Simultaneously, writer Dan Savage suggested to Jeff that he collect people’s “gayest looks,” and that, folks, is called synchronicity. Forces were joined.

And while we’re being a bit cheeky about all this, our message is dead serious: A 2005 study by GLSEN found that 90% of LGBTQ teens had been harassed or assaulted during the previous year. They were three times as likely as non-LGBTQ students to say that they do not feel safe at school and remain at increased risk for bullying, assault, and suicide. That doesn’t happen in a void. Gay jokes are not harmless; they contribute to a culture in which institutionalized homophobia has tragic consequences. We want Jay Leno to know that we, LGBTQ people and their allies, are not amused.

So now it’s your turn! Send us your “gayest look” for Jay
here .

And here is my Gayest Look for Jay Leno. I hope you’ll contribute yours, for it’s a very worthy cause.