Mightyfag's Open Salon Blog

Gay Bar Raid on the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:06:11 -0400

40 years ago, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NYC (a gay bar) was raided by police to arrest gay men. These types of raids were common in the 60's, but that night, the police brutality against the gay community was not going to tolerated. The patrons lashed out and fought back, led primarily by the drag queens present, and resulted in a police stand off including hurled bricks, violent demonstrations and more. Most consider "Stonewall" to be the birth of the modern gay civil rights struggle against institutionalized persecution against the LGBTQI community.

Fast-forward 40 years and the police department conducts a raid on a the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, Texas on the evening of June 28th, 2009. With a paddy-wagon out in the parking lot, and the excuse that they were conducting regular checks for liquor license compliance, the police raided the bar, took away 18 arrested patrons (for public intoxication IN A BAR) and even hurled one customer so violently to the floor, that it resulted in traumatic brain injury, a drifting blood clot in his brain, and he remains in the ICU today. You tell your self this could never happen in today's America - you are flat out wrong. The truth is that institutionalized homophobia exists in full strength in this country even in major metropolitan cities.

CNN Video Report of the Raid

How in the name of all that is good in this world, can police still be sanctioned to perform this type of activity? Raids on gay bars? Attacking the LGBTQI community on their own territory where they are just having a drink and hanging out with friends? Where is the outrage? Where are the drag queens throwing bricks?

This situation is symptomatic of two major things wrong in our community. The first being that the LGBTQI community has been classified as second-class citizens, undeserving of equal rights or protections under the law. If you treat us like subhuman things, then you can justify your violence against us all day long. This is why laws like the Matthew Shepard Act need to be passed, the DOMA needs to be repealed and DODT needs to be done away with. These archaic laws and institutionlized hatred against a minority and they MUST not stand. Any justifications for doing so rooted in religion or tradition are only indicative of the tyrrany, bile and hatred that makes up the very fiber of said religions or traditions.

Secondly, I'm going to turn the magnifying lens back at the gay community. We have become soft over the years. We settled for trying to get folks to understand that we are "no different than they are" and that we can live mainstream lives too. We've always been "mr. nice gays" and worked within the law and what have we gotten for it? TV shows mocking us as prancing nelly queens, constitutional amendments that eliminate our rights, being beaten and strung up on a fence left to die, and now police raids in what used to be our safe zones! While these events are certainly starting to rile up the LGBTQI community to speak out, act up and protest against the injustice we still show the majority of the populace time and time again that we are passive, harmless and conventiently out of sight.

The time has come for us to embrace the spirit of that first drag queen who picked up a brick, said "NO MORE!" and hurled it at institutionlized bigotry dressed up in a police uniform. I'm not condoning violence, but I am condoning purposeful civil disobedience. We need to show the majority that this minority is a force to be reckoned with. We need to show that we can shut down a city, crippling its roads with blocked intersections full of protestors. We need to show how we can shut down entire corporations by blocking access to their supply chains. We need to demonstrate the power of our money by donating to causes that support our best interests, and boycotting products like Rockstar Energy Drink, companies like Walmart, and churches like the Catholic and LDS churches (all institutions that have put their money toward anti-gay interests and legislation).

The American public needs to realize that this is the era of LGBTQI civil rights. We will not rest. We will not be silenced. We will not leave our trans friends behind, and we will not settle for segregationist laws. No civil rights struggle has ever failed; sometimes it is a case of waiting until the old guard dies off in enough numbers until the new generation with more open minds can replace them. In any case, we will win this. There has been, and will continue to be lots of backlash from the fear-drunk conservative right. We need to stay strong and speak out. Reach out to our families and friends especially the ones who don't understand the issue or "don't know anyone gay." By turning minds and hearts and through large public acts of civil disobedience demonstrating our power we will turn the tide.

Church Abuses Teenager in Gay Exorcism

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:06:24 -0400

A 16 year old teenage gay boy was subjected to a "Gay Exorcism" at Manifested Glory Ministries in Connecticut, last year. (The photo above depicts The McKinneys - Pastors/Prophets of the Manifested Glory Ministries who conducted the exorcism) The video just released shows the poor boy writhing on the floor clearly in pain, at times vomiting, while church members hold him up and subject him to shouting, screaming, praying, and a howling organ playing the entire time.

What is so unbelievably insane about this story is that these people actually thought they were helping this child. What they did was plant scars so deep within him, that he'll be lucky if he doesn't end up falling through the cracks of society, another teenage victim of the abuses of Christianity and its followers.

This act was not something of faith. It certainly wasn't an act of charity and definitely not anything having to do with compassion. This was an all out assault on an innocent child, causing deep psychological scars by equating his natural state of loving with demonic possession. I'm all for freedom of religion, but no one has the right to abuse a child in the name of God or any other belief system. Who would Jesus exorcise?

This is just another example of how Christian churches out there spread misinformation and hatred to persecute and ostracize the LGBTQI community. It has become an all out war. From irrational congress people claiming that the Matthew Shepard murder was a lie, to the tyranny of the majority with Prop 8 in California, to the church regularly going after gays and lesbians through their political arms, and now this.

Don't fall for the horse manure they peddle about "loving the sinner and hating the sin". They don't give a damn about gay people because they do not even view us as people. They see us as deviants on the same level as murderers or child molesters. They seek to exorcise us, or heal us, or at worst, kill us off. Their holy book even commands that we be killed. If someone kills a gay person in the name of religion, will the state stay out of it?

Then there's this: When questioned by the media, pastor and "prophet" Patricia McKinney commented:

"I have gay friends that I grew up with."

"As for me being a pastor, I live by the word of God," she said. "I don't hate them. We love them. We just don't agree with their lifestyle."

Hmmmm... kinda sounds like "I have black friends, so that means I'm not a racist!" (Note, Patricia McKinney is black.) The hypocrisy here is blindingly obvious and the abuse of that child is clear. Hold this "church" accountable for its hate crimes against an innocent kid and strip their leadership of their mantle immediately!

Choice Doesn't Matter in the Gay Rights Debate

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:06:13 -0400

All too often, the religious right in this country falls back on the "choice" argument when it comes to ensuring the rights of gay people in this country. While the LGBTQI community argues that "We the People" covers everyone in this country regardless of age, sex, national origin, or sexual orientation, the conservatives out there argue that being gay is a choice, and therefore is not something that should be protected by law or given any "special rights" under the law. Never mind that the LGBTQI community isn't asking for any special rights, just the same rights that straight people everywhere enjoy.

All that aside, since when has choice been a justification for denying someone rights? In fact, wasn't our country founded on the idea that we are all free - able to choose for ourselves as we see fit - and that freedom is an inherent right granted to us by God? It's my perception that some of our most basic rights are founded on choice itself and yet these are not seen as optional.

While I KNOW that being gay isn't a choice any more than being straight is, my argument is "why does it matter?!" Why do I have to prove that I had no choice in the matter in order to gain the same rights as everyone else has? My argument is that the government and other private citizens have no right to get into my personal business be it a choice or not, and that the whole "choice versus nature" argument is meaningless when it comes to rights - because rights are all about preserving the sanctity of freedom of choice.

Let's take a look at some of the rights that we hold dear to our hearts encapsulated in the Bill of Rights - and decide whether they are based on choice or something you have to be "born a certain way" to claim.

Freedom of Speech - You CHOOSE whether to speak or not, and yet it is preseved as our most precious of rights.

The Right to Assemble - You can get together with people of like mind to demonstrate, speak out, etc. You aren't born needing to speak out against injustice - but you choose to.

Freedom of Religion - You aren't born a certain religion, you choose it. And you have the right to choose it, no matter how violent or despicable its history is, and no matter how much hate speech it dishes out into the public. Ironic that it's the religions who are the most outspoken against gay people when the only choice between the two is religion, not sexual orientation.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms - You aren't born with a gun, you choose to own one.

The Right to Privacy - You choose to be private. No one is born private, in fact we are born naked to the world with multiple people all around us.

All of these rights are CHOSEN rights, but I as a gay man have to somehow prove that my "condition" is not my choice in order to gain the same rights as my fellow citizens: the right to marriage, the right to equal protection under the law, the right to be protected from descrimination and hatred, the right to merge property with my lover, the right to inheritance laws, the right to tax breaks, the right to custody of children, the right to power of attorney for my lover, etc. All of these things are naturally bestowed upon married straight couples - but I don't get them because my manner of loving isn't what the majority thinks is acceptable.

My point is that choice or nature doesn't matter in this. As long as I am a citizen, I have the right to the same protections and treatment under the law as my straight friends.

The sad truth of the matter is that the majority follow what the churches tell them, and the churches have never cared for what science has to prove in life. Scientific data are demonstrating time and time again that homosexuality is inherent, natural and not a choice, but the churches just don't care. Frankly, even Jesus could come down and say that he doesn't care about gay people and they still wouldn't believe him because they are drunk on their own judgmental attitudes and a human-written "holy book" that is cherry-picked to justify their bigotry.

We won't see any reform in this country until the American public wakes up, applies a little logic and reason and steps away from the death-grip the churches have on their minds and their wallets. In the mean time, I will continue to support their right to CHOOSE their religion. If only they would see the irony in that.

Obama, DOMA and DADT

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:06:59 -0400

I hate to say it, but President Obama rode my people to victory and then tossed us aside once he got into office. I remember the Democratic Primary when Obama's campaign website touted equal rights for LGBTQI people as one of its top priorities. He spoke avidly against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and against Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) as unamerican and even promised he would repeal DOMA.

Well the first suit to be filed in Federal courts by a married gay couple from California asking for its marriage to be recognized by other states who have constitutional amendments prohibiting or outlawing same-sex marriage - a direct challenge against DOMA - has been dismissed by the Obama administration. So much for standing behind your campaign promises.

Then again, perhaps this is another crafty political move by Obama. He is known for making deals that appear to screw over his supporters and then turn around and get us exactly what we want in the end. Perhaps the lawsuit was just not properly phrased or challenged the wrong laws and wouldn't stand up in court - or might even set judicial precedent that would end up harming us in the long run? Or, perhaps he's promising to avoid repealing DOMA in exchange for Republican support to pass his Health Care plan? Who knows? But in the mean time, score one for bashing the gays yet another time.

Then there's Don't Ask, Don't Tell - the ridiculous military policy that was Bill Clinton's darkest moment in the white house (if you ask me). You can be gay in the military, just don't tell anyone you're gay and while we're not SUPPOSED to ask you if you're gay, if we happen to find out we'll kick your ass out anyway. How does that make any sense? Well it's the law in the military, and thanks to it, we've lost dozens of Arabic translators who would have been critical in dealing with terrorism.

Then there's Lt. Dan Choi - a gay arabic translator who was recently dismissed under DADT. Pleads and demonstrations across our country to prevent his dismissal fell on our President's deaf ears. Score one for securing the homeland right? Because apparently gays are a greater threat to national security than arabic-speaking terrorists.

Then again if you ask Republican State Representative Sally Kern, she would say:

"Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death knell of this country. I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat… If you got cancer or something in your little toe, do you say, well, you know, I’m just going to forget about it because the rest of me is fine? It spreads. OK? And this stuff is deadly, and it’s spreading, and it will destroy our young people, it will destroy this nation.”

If you ask me, ridiculous public policy and laws crafted on old Jewish faery tales are the biggest threat to our country. They spread hate, discrimination, and fear. They craft apartheid political structures and repress good, tax-paying citizens because they don't love according to the rules of the majority.

Obama, shame on you, and shame on your caving to the whims of the majority. Stop trying to be a "make everyone happy" centrist because in the process you're just pissing everyone off.

Oh, and if he manages to botch the National Health Care plan, I'll be writing a nice long article on that one too.

A Queen De-throned

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:06:01 -0400

So it looks like Miss California, Carrie Prejean, has lost her title and her crown - for breaking her contract with the Miss California pageant. Basically, she was too busy spouting her crap about traditional marriage to show up to appearances as obliged to by her contract.

Frankly, I think this faux-mammaried sham has received way too much exposure in the media (then again, here I am talking about here). But I think it's important to point out why. It's not that she's from the most pro-gay state in the union (behind Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa...) and is blatantly against marriage equality. It's not that she voiced her honest opinion in the pageant. It's not the fact that she jabbed her stilletos right in the hearts of all the gay men that helped make her into the glamor-bomb she is.

It's the fact that she CLAIMED to be exercising her freedom of speech by joining the National Organization for Marriage (NOM NOM nom nom) and made it a political agenda ... and then got all butt-hurt when others spoke out against her. She, among many other right-wing hypocrites, seems to think that freedom of speech means that she can spout her crap and everyone has to listen.

Baby... it's freedom of speech, not obligation of listening. And that means I have the right to speak out against your babble just as loudly as you spout it.

So here's to Miss Malibu - the first runner up - taking the crown for Miss California. And here's to the REAL QUEENS holding their crown in the Golden State!