Monday, April 12, 2010

Religious right head admits to not being able to prove 'men invading women's bathrooms' fear story

In attacking anti-discrimination laws and ordinances which would give lgbts equal protection in instances of housing and employment, religious right groups are quick to use the claim that such laws would endanger the safety of women and children.

The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) already published various inaccurate pieces including one claiming that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would lead to students being "forced" to be taught by drag queen teachers.

It's just a simple a matter of time before TVC and other religious right group pull out the "ace card" in opposing all non-discrimination ordinances in general, i.e. the claim that such laws would lead "male predators" dressing  as women and invading women's bathrooms and locker rooms in order to assault prospective victims.

However before any right-wing religious group makes this claim, they would do well to read the words of Concerned Women of America's president, Wendy Wright.

Concerned Women for America is another religious right group which opposes any and all pro-lgbt non-discrimination ordinances and the organization does like to use the "men in women's bathrooms" claim. But Wright, while defending the usage of this claim in an article with the Missoulian (while attacking a pro-lgbt ordinance in Missoula), demonstrated a degree of candor in her comments about this claim:

Even one of the most staunch opponents of those laws can't point to increases in frivolous lawsuits or sexual predation. Still, Concerned Women for America president Wendy Wright said such ordinances lead the country down the wrong track.

"We have a constitutional protection for religious freedom in our First Amendment," Wright said. "There is not a constitutional protection for sexual orientation, and yet judges and city councils and others are acting as if sexual orientation trumps religious freedom."

. . . Wright couldn't point to places that have counted increases in sexual offenses because of such laws, but she said such data is beside the point.

"It doesn't go back to numbers," Wright said. "It goes back to the issue that people will have legal rights that will trump other people's rights. The right of a woman or a girl to feel safe in a fitting room, a locker, a restroom, their rights will be trumped by a person who is claiming their sexual orientation right has legal protection."

While there should be some appreciation of Wright's admittance that the "men in womens bathrooms" argument is without proof, she shouldn't be able to get away with claiming that the lack of proof  is beside the point, mainly because the lack of proof  is the point.

In the next sentence after she admits the inaccuracy of the "men in women's bathrooms" claim, she says that that the right of women or girls to feel safe would be trumped by pro-lgbt laws.

But Wright's concern leaves me scratching my head. Didn't she just admit that she doesn't know of any example in which the safety of women and girls would be threatened?

Wright further admits why CWA opposes pro-lgbt non-discrimination ordinances and of course it has nothing to do with "safety issues."

Wright said one big reason Concerned Women opposes such laws is because the group does not want local ordinances to be used as stepping stones toward making gay marriage legal and teaching it in the public schools.

In other words, lgbts having the right to be free from discrimination is just another way to "force gay marriage."

Oh the horror!

It's sad that Wright and the CWA sees so many blissfully wedded lgbt boogeymen that they have to stoop to fear tactics which they freely admit aren't rooted in reality.

It's not very Christian, is it?

Hat tip to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch.



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R.I.P. Dixie Carter and other Monday midday news briefs

Conservative Dixie Carter on her gay fans - Much has been said about the late actress Dixie Carter's conservative beliefs and how they were opposite to the beliefs of her character Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women. But were the two women really that different? I like them both. Julia was the Terminator, plain and simple. But Carter was the essence of the best part of the South and Christianity. She is up front about her trepidation regarding marriage equality but at the same time, she recognized lgbts as people capable and giving and receiving love. No talking points, no semantic games of crying victimhood. In general, no phoniness. She had her beliefs but also had enough humility to recognize love when she saw it.

PFLAG is to 'hate group' as peeing on a flag is to patriotic - PFLAG a hate group? Talk about overreaching cries of victimhood. 

HRC's Cuc Vu: Why we need to build a cadre of LGBT organizers and leaders of color - I totally agree.

Vehicle of Bigotry: Lies of the Truth Truck - Another reason why it's good to let some on the opposing side talk freely. They tend to show their true hateful color. 

Boyfriends Chase and Jordan get to go to their proms!! WOOHOO! - The reason why mothers are so cool


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Even dead gay men aren't safe in some African countries

I read this article with a huge amount of shock and sadness:

Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more.

Madieye Diallo's body had only been in the ground for a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.

The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals.

. . . In the last year alone, gay men have been arrested in Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. In Uganda, lawmakers are considering a bill that would sentence homosexuals to life in prison and include capital punishment for 'repeat offenders.' And in South Africa, the only country that recognizes gay rights, gangs have carried out so-called "corrective" rapes on lesbians.

And according to the article, Diallo is the fifth man to be done this way:

In the past two years, at least four men suspected of being gay have been exhumed by angry mobs in cemeteries in Senegal. The violence is especially shocking because Senegal, unlike other countries in the region, is considered a model of tolerance.

Supposedly, increased visibility of Senegal's gay community is leading to a backlash in Islamic communities.

It has been said that a backlash is a sign of progress. To some, it means that a community who have been on the outs of society has the powers-that-be so scared that they act irrationally.

I guess it's something to remember if you attempt to pull a positive out of this situation. But I don't think that notion should make anyone feel better right now.

There is a certain degree of hatred which goes into abusing the body of a dead man. I've read how some Haitians dug up the body of their late leader "Papa Doc" Duvalier and how some Italians viciously abused the body of the late leader Mussolini after he was executed.

In those cases, these folks were acting out on the hatred they felt after being abused and victimized by the corrupt governments of Mussolini and Duvalier.

Maybe someone can tell me what exactly have gays done to be treated like hateful dictators.

Related posts:

African gays and lesbians becoming victims of 'corrective rape'

Lesbians in South Africa getting raped as a corrective measure? What the hell?

'I would kill a gay son'

Martin Ssempa claims to be misunderstood







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