Queers: Allen West Is A Better Minority Than You

A frequent comparison is that of the LGBT civil rights struggle with that of African-Americans (do people still say African-Americans?  Or are we back to just saying black?  I dunno).  We have a lot in common, one of the glaring commonalities being our fight for marriage, with anti-miscegenation laws being a hallmark of the oppression facing racial minorities in the US.

Some aren't so happy about it, with Allen "Shut The Heck Up" West being particularly incensed that his ethnicity might be in any way associated with the LGBT movement.  From NCRM:

"Rep. Allen West (R-FL), discussing homosexuality, said, 'you cannot compare me and my race to a behavior. Sexuality is a behavior.' The conversation appears in this video, which was filmed in a sit-down interview with the Sun-Sentinel’s editorial board on Tuesday. In the video, Rep. Allen West again repeated his offensive claim, that gays can change their behavior, but 'I can not change my color.'

"'Everyone has the same basic rights and no one is telling people in the gay community that they don’t have, you know, the same basic rights that any America [sic] has.'  [Note from the editor: Except for you, jackass.]

"'I like chocolate chip ice cream, and I will continue to like chocolate chip ice cream,' West said. 'So there’s no worry about me changing to vanilla. I like to, you know, ride my motorcycle. What do you want me to do? You want me to change my behavior and ride a scooter? I’m not into that.'"

What?  What does that even mean?  Your preferences in ice cream and conveyances can certainly change. However, I've been gay as hell since I was 3 years old, as far as I can remember, and while I fooled around with ladies in high school (I was experimenting, cut me some slack!) my sexual orientation is in no way mutable.  

Just shut the heck up.

Dan Choi: "Tell HRC To Abandon White Privilege"

Dan Choi and I got really angry yesterday and decided to make some noise about it.

This week, on the 20th, Congress will be holding hearings to get testimony on the possible repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.  While this is a great occasion and the beginning of the process to bring marriage equality to every LGBT American, Dan noted on his Twitter that all the folks providing testimony (to include Joe Solmonese) are uniformly white.

We felt that the exclusion of gay people of color and binational couples was an outrage, and we feel that the fact that HRC's leadership is racially homogeneous (rich white gay men) tends to promote that image and give white members of our community an advantage.  The fact that binational couples (who are hugely impacted by the lack of marriage equality in our country) are not present in testimony is insane.  If Joe Solmonese, for instance, were to give up his spot to a binational couple that had a powerful story to tell, the case for marriage equality would be made in simple terms of an appeal to common sense and decency.

Instead, he's going to join Maggie Gallagher in his photo op.

So we started a Facebook page and a Change.org petition telling HRC to abandon white privilege and promote the true image of our community: a rich, diverse group of people from all ethnicities and nations.

I've already gotten some flack for my small efforts.  Some detractors (who are also friends) argue that HRC doesn't deserve our ire-- after all, they don't schedule who speaks at congressional hearings, congresspeople do!  However, consider this: is the leadership in our community really doing the best they can to include every facet of our various backgrounds?

HRC is very much responsible for how much of Congress and the straight world view us.  Like it or not, they are the most visible organization to everyone else, and I for one will urge them to use that visibility positively and abandon racism to include all Americans in this discussion.

Will you join me?  Like our Facebook page and sign this petition.  Tell HRC that our rainbow includes every color possible, and we would like people to know and understand that.

Crazy Eyes Should Probably Just Abandon All Slavery References Forever and Ever, Amen

When I got over my outrage that Michele Bachmann wanted to take away my right to view gay-for-pay, I (and everyone else) noticed that the preamble to the Family Leader's pledge for marriage contained a controversial reference to slavery.  Basically, the preamble asserted that life was better back in the good ol' days of slavery for black kids, because at least then they had more of a chance of being raised by a father and mother.

I mean sure, they were exposed to rape, lashings, deplorable living conditions, disease, insufficient food, and 18 hour days, but at least they had a mommy and a daddy.


Rick Santorum also signed the pledge, and he at least had the smarts to say that he was glad the reference was removed in response to universal outrage on the verbage.  Michele Bachmann's campaign?  Not so much.  They countered the controversy with yet another nonsensical slavery reference:

"Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart, who confirmed the Minnesota congresswoman signed the pledge, said Sunday 'In no uncertain terms, Congresswoman Bachmann believe[s] that slavery was horrible and economic enslavement is also horrible.'"

Um, if there were a situation in modern America today that remotely approached slavery, I think that more people than whackjob Michele Bachmann would be pointing it out.  We fought the bloodiest war in American history over slavery, and the continued use of that terminology is so freaking offensive I would put it up there with Holocaust references.  Bitch, STFU.

White Supremacist Picks A Fight, Gets A Beat-Down

Word of advice: if you're a drunk out-of-town racist, you probably shouldn't pick fights with black men you don't know.  Because that black man?  Might turn out to be the local Boxing Club Champion.

In Bayview, Idaho (wtf?  What bays are there in Idaho to have views of?), this idiot from elsewhere got drunk in a local bar and decided to pick a fight with a local.  Darren C. Abbey, pictured below, allegedly told Marlon L. Baker that he would stab him and that blacks weren't welcome in Bayview and then attacked him outside the bar.  He got a broken nose for his efforts, and Baker wasn't even injured.

"Not wanting a confrontation, Baker left the bar and walked toward a marina on Lake Pend Oreille about 9 p.m. Sunday to watch an Independence Day 'boat parade' on the waterfront, said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Major Ben Wolfinger. 'He didn’t want trouble, so he walked away,' Wolfinger said.

"But the racist skinhead followed Baker out of the bar, confronting him again with racial slurs before finally pushing him with witnesses watching, the sheriff’s official said.

"Fearing for his own safety at that point, Baker took one punch, striking the skinhead in the face and knocking him to the ground, unconscious, Wolfinger said. There were several witnesses who saw the incident and verified Baker’s version of events, according to reports by deputies."

What an asshat.

Are You Serious, Rick Perry?

Riddle me this: if you were trying to court Hispanic votes, would you get up in front of a huge Latino crowd and then crack jokes about a politician whose name sounds like Jose Cuervo?

Yeah, dude, you're pretty much dumb. Just FYI.

Rick Perry would! From the NYT:

"Gov. Rick Perry received a tepid response when he addressed the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on Thursday, joking about the pronunciation of a Hispanic appointee's last name and frequently staring blankly at the audience when they failed to respond to his conservative applause lines.

"In his defense, Hispanic politicians had earlier spoken passionately against his policies, deriding them as hurtful to Hispanics. Perry chose to ignore those topics and instead touted his appointments of the first Hispanic women to serve as secretary of state and to both of the state's highest courts.

"But a joke about how perfect it was to appoint Jose Cuevas to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission because his name sounds like Jose Cuervo — a brand of tequila — fell flat. Perry struggled to regain his confidence as he described Texas as a land of opportunity."

It's almost as if he wants to lose. Congratulations, Rick Perry! Your attempts at race-based humor have earned you the title of OneAngryQueer's "Comedian of the Week!"

GOP Rep Demands Racial Profiling In Airports

US Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) went on Fox News Sunday to complain about political correctness in airports, saying the TSA needed to start racial profiling more in order to stop terrorists.

His proof?  He went to an airport once and saw the TSA pat down an elderly white man while allowing an "Arabian" man pass through security without inspection.  Clear evidence that the terrorists are winning.

Broun is white, and should pass through security un-groped.  That's just for brown people!

"'We have to stop this inane political correctness that’s going on,' Broun said. 'Political correctness won’t save any lives, but focusing on those that will harm us will.'"


Maybe, Paul, just maybe it's really not necessary to assume that certain individuals are going to harm us based on their attire or skin color.  Cuz, uh, we've done a lot of work to defeat racism in this country and you just might be suggesting setting back that work by harassing innocent travelers due to racial bias.  Just sayin'.


[TheRawStory]