Mar

15

Critics Suggest Link Between Priest Celibacy and Sexual Abuse

Filed Under International, LGBTQ, homophobia, misogyny, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 13 Comments

Another round of allegations of sexual violence committed by Catholic priests has begun, this time centering in Germany. It is, of course, far from the first time that a culture of rape and silence within the Catholic Church has been exposed, though the problem rages on and denials as to the extent of the violence continue from officials at the top.

This time, though, they’re also denying an accusation about why there are so many sexual abuse cases within the Church:

The Vatican on Sunday denied that its celibacy requirement for priests was the root cause of the clerical sex abuse scandal convulsing the church in Europe and again defended the pope’s handling of the crisis.

Suggestions that the celibacy rule was in part responsible for the “deviant behavior” of sexually abusive priests have swirled in recent days, with opinion pieces in German newspapers blaming it for fueling abuse and even Italian commentators questioning the rule.

Much of the furor was spurred by comments from one of the pope’s closest advisers, Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who called this week for an honest examination of issues like celibacy and priestly education to root out the origins of sex abuse.

“Part of it is the question of celibacy, as well as the subject of character development. And part of it is a large portion of honesty, in the church but also in society,” he wrote in the online edition of his diocesan newsletter.

It’s not often that you’ll see me agree with anything the Catholic Church has to say with regards to rape within their ranks, so be sure to mark this date on your calenders.

The suggestion that priests may be raping children because they are required to take a vow of celibacy is both absurd and utterly enraging. I think the long-term and imposed suppression of any and all expressions human sexuality is generally going to be a very unhealthy thing, and for that reason as well as my disdain for portrayals of sexuality as dirty and morally wrong, support the repeal of the celibacy rule. But I can tell you right now that of all the damaging side effects of the demand that priests be celibate, inclination to rape is not one of them.

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Feb

17

Remedial Lessons in Respectful Language

Filed Under LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, discrimination, gender, homophobia, media, stereotypes, trans, transphobia and trans misogyny, work | 8 Comments

From a Topeka Capital-Journal article about a new bill in Kansas that would extend anti-discrimination laws to apply to both sexual orientation and gender identity:

The Kansas Act Against Discrimination bans discrimination involving public accommodations, housing and employment based on race, religion, ancestry, sex, color, disability and national origin.

Opponents of Senate Bill 169 testified that expanding protection for gays and lesbians in the act could tarnish the institution of marriage, open a floodgate of expensive litigation and encourage bestiality.

Judy Smith, state director of Concerned Women for America, told the committee homosexuality was a “changeable behavior” that shouldn’t be extended constitutional protection. She said the bill undermined marriage and demeaned “culture in general.”

Rep. Janice Pauls, a Hutchinson Democrat and a lawyer, said adding sexual orientation and gender identity would dilute the effectiveness of the state’s discrimination laws.

“My concern is this is so broad,” Pauls said. “It really makes our law unworkable.”

Thomas Witt, a lobbyist for the Kansas Equality Coalition, said states that passed the provision reported about 3 percent of discrimination complaints each year dealt with sexual orientation or sexual identity. If that number held in Kansas, he said, two dozen complaints would be submitted to the Kansas Human Rights Commission.

Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican and member of the committee, questioned whether the change might encourage homosexuals to have sex with animals.

“Would that protect bestiality if someone chose to practice that?” Pyle said.

Two things:

First of all, I’m really glad that opposition to this bill has nothing to do with bigotry on the part of those opposing it.  Aren’t you?

Secondly, this article is a gigantic mess.  It makes no attempt whatsoever to actually use correct LGBT terminology. And this type of shit is still way too common.

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Jan

30

Court Rules that Religious School Has Right to Expel “Suspected Lesbians”

Filed Under LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, courts, discrimination, education and schools, homophobia, patriarchy, religious fanaticism, sexual exploitation and harassment, social conservatives | 33 Comments

In 2006, two teenage girls were expelled from California Lutheran High School on suspicion of their being lesbians. That’s right — though expelling students because they actually were lesbians would have been a gross violation of civil rights, this took it a step further by expelling the two students merely on a guess.

Now, amazingly, the California  4th District Court of Appeals has ruled that the school had every right to do so.

In response to that suit, an appeals court decided this week that the private religious school was not a business and therefore did not have to comply with a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating. A lawyer for the girls said Tuesday that he would ask the California Supreme Court to overturn the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The appeals court called its decision “narrow,” but lawyers on both sides of the case said it would protect private religious schools across California from such discrimination suits.

Kirk D. Hanson, who represented the girls, said the “very troubling” ruling would permit private schools to discriminate against anyone, as long as the schools used their religious beliefs as justification.

“It is almost like it could roll back 20 to 30 years of progress we have made in this area,” said the San Diego attorney. “Basically, this decision gives private schools the license to discriminate.”

Yes, a license to discriminate.  That’s exactly what this ruling does.  As so often happens in this country, “freedom of religion” has been falsely interpreted to mean “the right to impose my religion on other people and use it as an excuse for my bigotry — even when I’m not following tenants as simple as the Golden Rule myself.”

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Jan

9

Arrests Made in Gang Rape Hate Crime

Filed Under LGBTQ, homophobia, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 8 Comments

For those who have not yet heard, there’s an update in the case of the lesbian woman who was gang-raped in a suspected hate crime in the San Francisco Bay area.  All four of the suspects in the case have been arrested.

Two men and two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while taunting her for being a lesbian, the police said. Those arrested were Humberto H. Salvador, 31; Josue Gonzalez, 21; and a 15- and a 16-year-old whose names were not released. Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker.

Though there’s definitely no such thing as “good news” in a case like this, it’s certainly what many of us were hoping for. The police at least care enough to have done a real investigation and to make some arrests. All we can hope for now is a successful prosecution.  That, along with our continued hopes for a safe physical and emotional recovery for the woman who survived the attack.

Dec

30

Campbell Soup Catches Teh Gay, Yet Somehow Doesn’t Mind

Filed Under LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, discrimination, homophobia, marketing, media, pop culture | 17 Comments

Swanson Broth ran an ad in The Advocate, a popular LG(bt) 1 publication that is in some trouble of its own right now.  Quite naturally, seeing the audience, the advertisement (pdf) featured a lesbian couple preparing a holiday meal with their young son.

All seems well, good, and uneventful . . . but that’s because you’re missing how this advertisement promotes The Gay Agenda.  And according to Amplify Your Voice, extreme right-wing and anti-gay organization the American Family Association sent out this email message to their supporters:

Send an email to Campbell Soup Company President Douglas Conant. Tell him you want his company to stop supporting the gay agenda.

In the December, 2008 and January, 2009 issues, Campbell Soup Company bought two, two-page advertisements in the latest issues of the nation’s largest homosexual magazine, “The Advocate.” The ads promote their Swanson line of broth.

In one of the December ads, the Campbell Soup Company highlighted the lives of two lesbians with their son. The others feature New York City chefs. See the ads here.

Campbell Soup Company has openly begun helping homosexual activists push their agenda. Not only did the ads cost Campbell’s a chunk of money, but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support. They also gave their approval to the entire homosexual agenda.

Well gee. How dare Campbell send a message that lesbians are people??? And that their family and child are worthy of public acceptance and support. Indeed, how dare they suggest that they are worthy of anything at all. After all, they have Teh Gay.

But thankfully, Campbell Soup is not caving into the hate-mongering:

“We support all types of families, regardless of how they’re defined, [and have done so] for more than 100 years,” Sanzio offers. “We advertise in a variety of different media outlets that appeal to a broad spectrum of society. That’s what we’re doing here, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Wow. There’s not even a small note of apology in there. I’m shocked and extremely pleased by it. No, “we’re sorry if anyone was offended” or “we didn’t intend to take a political stance.” Nothing like that at all. Just plain old standing by their completely inoffensive advertisement.

While we should of course be able to expect such a response to this kind of bigotry, the fact is that we currently can’t. And yet, Campbell is doing what’s right. Either they’ve decided to put principle above sales, or they’ve decided that LGBT people and their allies constitute a bigger and more worthwhile market than homophobes. And whichever the answer is — indeed, assuming with cynicism that it’s the latter — it’s excellent news and a significant step forward.

Amplify suggests that you buy a Campbell product and mail it to the American Family Association, telling them that you support Campbell and will continue buying thier products.  Interesting idea.  But personally, I say email Campbell directly, and tell them that you support their decision and support of LGBT families. Over all, I’d count on it having a larger impact.

  1. It’s my understanding that while The Advocate bills itself as an LGBT publication, they focus mainly on the L and G. ↩

Dec

29

Help For Hate Crime Victim

Filed Under LGBTQ, action alert, activism, homophobia, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 3 Comments

Last week, I blogged about a lesbian woman who was gang-raped in a hate crime due to her having a rainbow sticker on the back of her car. Thanks to Pizza Diavola in the comments, I now have information on a way that you can help the woman who was the victim of this horrific crime.

Planetransgender, along with Fight The Hate H8, Join The Impact and Dallas Transgender Advocates and Allies have set up a way for you to send cards and donations:

Event: Help A Sister Out
“Benefit for Hate Rape Victim”
What: Fundraiser
Host: Civil Rights Front
Start Time: Tuesday, December 22 at 5:00pm
End Time: Thursday, December 31 at 5:00pm
Where: From Your Heart

On December 13th, a twenty-eight-year-old California woman was brutally raped by four men because she is a lesbian and had a RAINBOW STICKER on her car.

The woman will need months to recover physically and years and years to recover psychologically. She needs our emotional and financial support.

If you would like to send a card, please mail it to:

Richmond Police Department
Attn: Sgt. Brian Dickerson
1701 Regatta Blvd.
Richmond, CA 94804

If you can send a financial contribution (even a few dollars) to help her pay her medical bills and other costs associated with her recovery, please mail a check payable to Community Violence Solutions to:

Community Violence Solutions
2101 Van Ness Ave.,
San Pablo, CA 94806
Attn: Mrs. Joanne Douglas

In the memo section of the check please write: Richmond Jane Doe

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
Help A Sister Out Facebook page

Not all of us are able to send a donation, but I hope that those of us who can will. All of us can at least send a card or quick note of well-wishes.  At a time like this, community and solidarity are extremely important.  Let’s show Jane that we are behind her in any way we can.

Dec

23

Woman Gang Raped in Homophobic Hate Crime

Filed Under LGBTQ, bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 12 Comments

Trigger Warning

Having just yesterday discussed the ways in which many depictions of rape uphold the violent act as an appropriate punishment for women who behave outside of patriarchal expectations, I couldn’t not post this story (h/t).

A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The men, who ranged from their late teens to their 30s, made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan.

“It just pushes it beyond fathomable,” he said. “The level of trauma — physical and emotional — this victim has suffered is extreme.”

Authorities are characterizing the attack as a hate crime but declined to reveal why they think the woman was singled out because of her sexual orientation. Gagan would say only that the victim lived openly with a female partner and had a rainbow flag sticker on her car.

I imagine that few would openly condone this attack and say that because the woman is a lesbian, she deserved to be raped. But clearly enough people do feel that way, enough for the crime to have been committed. This violence was enacted as an act of hate not just against an individual — which is far more than enough — but specifically against an entire community for the purpose of instilling fear (which is what makes it a hate crime).  It was committed against this victim because she is a lesbian, and therefore didn’t live up to our society’s bogus standards of womanhood which involve being perpetually sexually available to men.  And rape was the weapon of choice because it is seen as an appropriate way of punishing women.

How funny is Rapeman, now?

The story adds:

Gay rights advocates note that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased nationwide as of late. There were 1,415 such crimes in 2006 and 1,460 in 2007, both times making up about 16 percent of the total, according to the FBI.

Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted that gay, lesbian and transgender crime victims may be more reluctant than heterosexual victims to contact police.

“Assailants target LGBT people of all gender identities with sexual assault,” he said. “Such targeting is one of the most cruel, dehumanizing and violent forms of hate violence that our communities experience.”

Skolnik said the group plans to analyze hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida.

“Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks,” he said. “People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice.”

I bet that those who promote anti-LGBT initiatives are among the vast majority of people unlikely to openly condone this crime.  (Just more likely to argue that hate crimes don’t deserve “special” recognition.) But their behavior and actions create the social climate in which it can occur.  And it needs to end.

Nov

12

Olbermann Speaks Out on Prop 8

Filed Under 2008 election, LGBTQ, bigotry, discrimination, homophobia, media, politics | 8 Comments

Like Jill, I find that Keith Olbermann can really get on my nerves, but I also think that he sometimes deserves credit. This is one of those times. I particularly appreciate it because one of my biggest criticisms of Olbermann is that he’s one of those liberal white guys who thinks he’s super leftist, but doesn’t seem to care too much about those “identity politics” issues. Here, he takes the time to care and act like he means it. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.

I only wished he’d said something like this before the election.

Nov

5

The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Ugly

Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, LGBTQ, Republicans, abortion, anti-choice extremism, assholes, bigotry, discrimination, homophobia, human rights, legislation, politics, race and racism, reproductive justice, sex work, women’s health | 23 Comments

The Good

President Obama.  Of course.

The Democrats now have 56 seats in the Senate. Four seats are still undecided, according to CNN, but it looks like they’re all going to go Republican.  Our best shot to pick up one last seat is Al Franken in Minnesota — who, with supposedly 100% of the vote counted, is less than 600 votes behind.

The Democrats now have 252 seats in the House, which is a 16 seat gain.  Ten seats are still undecided.

Democrats have a majority in the NY State Senate for the first time since the New Deal. Wow.  Do you mean that we might actually get some shit done?

Kay Hagan got Elizabeth Dole out of office. Gotta love that.

The South Dakota abortion ban, Measure 11, was decisively knocked down by a 10 point margin. A huge congrats to all of my friends at SD Healthy Families!

Amendment 48, the so-called Human Life Amendment, was shot down by remarkable margins, with 73% voting No.

It looks like California has shot down Prop 4, the anti-abortion parental notification initiative, with 95% of the vote in and 52% voting No.

Michigan has voted to allow stem-cell research and possession of medical marijuana.

Anti-immigrant initiative Measure 58 was shot down in Oregon.

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Oct

28

Same-Sex Marriage: Violating Your Right to Free Speech

Filed Under 2008 election, LGBTQ, assholes, bigotry, discrimination, fun, homophobia, politics, religious fanaticism, sex and sexuality, social conservatives | 13 Comments

I was reading an article yesterday about the arguments being made by those on both sides of Prop 8 — the California ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage — and found this intelligent argument from those supporting the family-protecting legislation:

In television advertisements, rallies, highway billboards, sermons and phone banks, supporters of Proposition 8 are warning that if it does not pass, churches that refuse to marry same-sex couples will be sued and lose their tax-exempt status. Ministers will be jailed if they preach against homosexuality. Parents will have no right to prevent their children from being taught in school about same-sex marriage.

[. . .]

“When you have laws that make homosexual marriage a protected class, then the government has a compelling interest to normalize that and must declare anything in opposition to that hate speech,” said Mr. Garlow, who hosted both the recent simulcast and regular conference calls with as many as 2,000 pastors, to motivate the ranks.

Do you so-called “marriage equality” liberals even understand what you’re doing? You’re trying to take away the inalienable right of Good Christian Families ™ to preach openly about how much better they are than you! If this legislation passes, they might just have to accept that there is nothing morally superior about being straight. How dare you?

Now, I don’t agree with those supporting Prop 8 entirely. Oh, I think that gay marriage is wrong (WRONG!), but I don’t in fact think that straight marriage is superior. You see, I oppose all marriage — only, because it’s legal, I can’t tell you that! So, in order to show my support for Prop 8, and because I believe so strongly in the argument above, I’m going to put my own ass on the line to prove how very right Mr. Garlow is.

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