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Pen Points
Letters to Gay Today |
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Lynchburg Results: A Seasoned Journalist's Reflections
I absolutely was moved when Jerry apologized, but do I believe him? No way. I definitely see value in the friendships that were made, those forged between individual Soulforcers, and also the ones that blossomed between the "homosexuals" and members of Jerry's flock, who were primarily Liberty University students. They made lunch dates and shared addresses and phone numbers. If--and it's a pretty big if, I know--those relationships continue and prosper, perhaps we'll see some people soften toward gay and lesbian people. At the same time, some of the transgendered delegates were treated really badly. And some of the older Falwellians (Thomas Road Baptist Church bigwigs who were not there by choice) were very resistant; others were downright rude.
What irked me most was that the whole thing was portrayed as Jerry's show. The queer contingent appeared to be subservient to him (or as if they were 'kissing Jerry's ass,' as I complained to a colleague). That was hard to watch. And the very insult of the "dinner"--both sides went round and round on the issue of dinner. First, no dinner. Then it was on. Then no. Then it was a buffet--I heard that just before I left for Lynchburg and again during the first Soulforce gathering the night before the forum. But by the time we made it to Thomas Road's church gymnasium, dinner turned out to be a pint bottle of Poland Spring water and a tiny plastic cup half-filled with ice. In the end, Jerry still couldn't eat with sinners. And those he considered "sinners" went along with it. Some, gratefully. As a Christian pacifist, I can understand it. Turning the other cheek and loving one's enemies come right from the policy manual. Gandhi and King championed passive resistance. But as someone being called "sinner" for something that isn't a sin, I was angry. We shouldn't be bending in supplication to these clowns. We shouldn't place ourselves in a situation where we are seen as less than equal. So yeah, I suppose I did feel like Mencken appraising the creationists and evolutionists. Still, it was fascinating seeing two experienced media mavens at work. Strangely enough, despite the whole media hoo-hah, which will die down as everyone gets back to business as usual (i.e. that article by Jerry; didn't take him long), I think the one on one relationships between the gay and fundie rank-and-file will be the most positive thing that emerges from this whole affair. Well, that and I got to see some old friends and meet new ones, including Bob Kunst, and chat with wacky Fred Phelps. And I even got to stand in the middle of the church I've seen on the Old Time Gospel Hour,complete with the amazing choir and the orchestra. That was worth a weekend dodging CNN's and NBC's infernal cables.
a la lucha, Jerry, Please do Treat Me Like an Overeater!
Now, after meeting with Mel White's group, the reformed, kinder and gentler Rev. Falwell says that homosexuals are just people and people don't want to be told that they are wrong. But, he says, "Homosexuality is wrong, just like gluttony is wrong." Well, now, if we would be treated just like overeaters, I believe that most of us could be fairly satisfied with that. I haven't heard of gluttons being jailed for eating. Have you? Overeaters are not banned from getting married, are they? They are seldom beat up or killed for being too fat. In the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Law, persons are protected from discrimination on several counts, including "height and weight." I would like to see "sexual orientation" added to that list. Two little words could make a big difference. Yes, Rev. Falwell, if you would treat homosexuals equally with the overweight, I believe that I could be relatively satisfied. Henry Messer S.F's Bay Area Reporter Advertises Anti-Gay Scam In what has to be one of the weirdest attempts to achieve political correctness in recent memory, the Bay Area Reporter, a weekly GLBT paper in San Francisco this week published a paid advertisement for an upcoming seminar sponsored by Focus on the Family. Yes, that's right, the same group which stridently opposes equal rights for GLBT people, and funds attacks around the country against laws which protect our equal rights.
The ad, which ran without any nearby disclaimer, appears on page 24 of this week's issue of the paper. It proclaims "Love Won Out" in large letters, and in smaller type advises "find answers to your questions about homosexuality - attend this moving one-day conference in Sacramento" Then in tiny type under the phone number we are told "presented by Focus on the Family". There is nothing in the ad to indicate that it is being put on by "ex-gay" Jahn Paulk and "former lesbian" Jane Boyer. Readers who may have skipped the editorial, or a related page one article "Focus on the Closet" would have no way of knowing that it had been placed by an anti-gay group. To the folks at the Bay Area Reporter, before you decided to take that ad, were you not aware that the suicide rate among GLBT youth is three times as high as it is among their straight peers? What are you going to say to those kids who go to that conference, TRUSTING IT WAS OK BECAUSE IT WAS ADVERTISED ON YOUR PAGES? Before you took that ad, were you not aware that it would lend an unwarranted legitimacy to the whole morally bankrupt idea of reparative therapy? What are you going to say when Focus on the Family starts trumpeting the fact "Even the gay community is behind us - see they even take our ads". And finally looking to the future, what shall we expect to see? Ads by Kansas preacher Fred Phelps and his clan telling us that "Fags burn in Hell"? Recruitment ads for the KKK or the Aryian Nation? Just how much space will 30 pieces of silver buy on the pages of the Bay Area Reporter these days? Paul Barwick |
The Rev.Mel White: Extending an olive branch 
Jimmy Creech 
The Rev. Jerry Falwell: Attacking the hard hitting issues of the day 
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