Hall of Shameless
Paul Cameron - The forefather and high priest of anti-gay "research."
According to Cameron, when gays and lesbians aren't stuffing gerbils up their rears or eating feces and blood, they are dying at a higher rate than heterosexuals. Of course no legitimate researcher cites Cameron’s work.
Also, he was kicked out the American Psychological Association in 1984 for misusing other researchers’ work. But still he presses on. Terry McMillan should write a novel about him. If I had a trophy for best bad anti-gay research, I would award it to Cameron. Then I would let him have it
Robert Knight - There are so many reasons why Robert Knight is well deserving of the designation of the second inductee. From his time with the Family Research Council to his tenure with Concerned Women for America, Knight seems to think of himself as the angel with the flaming sword out to bar all gays out of the Garden of Eden. Even though I didn’t get the memo, apparently we gays are very very bad people (please say with your best Elmer Fudd voice): "Knight feels the festival organizers' excuse that the kids' films were being shown in a separate part of the theater is not good enough. He says there is a cavalier attitude on the part of pro-homosexual advocates, who believe there is nothing wrong with homosexual sex, and therefore, if the kids happen to get exposed to it, their response is ‘So what? Maybe some of them might be gay, and maybe this will inspire them.’" -Parents Warned Against ‘Family-unfriendly’ Film Festivals - Agape Press - December 13, 2004
Oh by the way, he also tells blatant lies on gays: "gay marriage will " encourage children to experiment with homosexuality. This will put more kids at risk for HIV, hepatitis A, B and C, "gay bowel syndrome," human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases." - Gay Marriage is not only wrong, it’s socially destructive
D .L. Foster - Foster (black guy in the middle) is a minister who claims that he was delivered from the "gay lifestyle." And as with the case of all of "ex-gays," he speaks of being gay in terms of quick sex, loud nightclubs and gay stereotypes with one hand on their hips and taking a drag from a cigarette in the other hand. Silly boy, he missed the Joan Crawford shoulder pad making contests. What makes Foster a candidate for induction is his recent barring from a webpage that monitors the supposed ex-gay movement. His words on the webpage were usually cruel and condescending, like the following:
"whatsa matter timmy, can’t take any of your own medicine? LOL ‘XGWers’ sit around like a bunch of gossiping sissies, oops queers, disparaging people and their lives, wetting your pink panties laughing at the death of good men . . . BUT once u get an ounce of xlax, you fall apart. Typical for a hen house."
Apparently being a "new creature of God" does not translate with keeping venom from your tongue.
Donnie McClurkin - The first person who came to mind when this hall was founded. McClurkin is a popular gospel singer who has gone on record claiming that God delivered him from the "gay lifestyle." He even wrote a book about this. McClurkin's induction is due to the fact that he speaks out both sides of his mouth. Read on, then you decide:
"What influenced me is seeing people, young people especially, who are being totally decimated in their sexuality. It's amazing how we turn a blind eye to the fact that our children are directly influenced by what they see and what society portrays as normal living. Homosexuality has really ravished our children. It started in my generation. I was touched by it and I struggled with it and all that for years and there was nobody to deal with it. I started dealing with it in my sermons and even when we do our concerts." -http://www.familychristian.com/music/interviews/donnie_mcclurkin.asp
"What I say in the book is simply this: If you're gay, and you're happy, if you don't think you need to change, stay just how you are. But there are some people who are in the gay and bisexual lifestyle that are broken . . ." - Donnie McClurkin puts the focus back on traditional gospel - in secular music, The Associated Press, 2005
Don’t be too angry at Donnie. He is obviously concerned with more vital pursuits; like which fur coat and jewelry to wear at the next Stellar Awards.
Rod Parsley -Yet another minister who wants a little political power. The 2004 election led him to write the book Silent No More, in which he says that Christians will stand up for what they believe in. And what does Parsley believe about the gay community? Apparently accompanying Texas Governor Rick Perry at a bill signing event, Parsley let us know that he and Paul Cameron are cut from the same flimsy cloth:
"Gay sex is a veritable breeding ground for disease. Only one percent of the homosexual population in America will die of old age. The average life expectancy for a homosexual in the United States discounting AIDS is forty-two years of age . . . A lesbian can only expect to live to be forty-five years of age." Perry schmoozes with gay bashers, Austin Chronicle, June 10, 2005
Rod, it is good that you won’t be silent. By all means take advantage of the American right to speak your mind. But maybe you wouldn’t look like such a self righteous demagogue if when the next time before you open your mouth, you do a little research.
Alveda King- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s niece has set another milestone. She is the first African-American woman to be inducted in the hall. She feels so strongly about speaking against gay rights that she has traveled to other states in order to tell legislative bodies that they should not have laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination. She has also led rallies in her own state of Georgia. What I want to know is how well did she know Dr. King? Did they have thoughtful intellectual discussions on human rights even though he was a grown man and she was a child?
Don’t get me wrong though. I applaud her entrepreneurial spirit. If I found out that I was even Dr. King’s cousin’s sister’s mama’s baby daddy’s nephew, I would be figuring out ways to get paid for it.
Peter LaBarbera - Ah Peter, Peter, innuendo bleater. Peter prides himself on "tracking" the gay agenda. Among other things, he has taken it upon himself to attend gay subcultural events (such as leather conventions) and report on the supposed dirty, filthy disgusting things that took place there. At this time, it is not known whether or not he attends heterosexual bondage and leather events.
Now Peter is not an pediatrician, a podiatrist, a researcher or anything resembling a medical man, but that does not stop him from making such untrue comments:
"If he's (a man) into molesting boys, that's homosexual behavior. It's academic nonsense to talk about these people as heterosexuals." Peter LaBarbera, Homosexuals more likely to molest kids, study reports, BP News, May 30, 2001
Too many leather conventions have affected your brain, Peter. No credible researcher has ever agreed with your point of view.
James Kennedy - head of the Center for Reclaiming America, he gets an induction for his consistency of making life hell for the gay community. However, if there is one shining moment of his "career" in which he truly earned his induction, it has to be because of a 2005 sermon in which he castigated gay marriage:
"Well, what does a homosexual marriage look like? Well the longest term that we have to take a look at it is in the Netherlands. And one sociologist made a study of that and found out that the average marriage between two men lasts 1.5 years. Furthermore, they don’t even believe really in monogamous marriages. On average, the average married homosexual man has 8 other sexual partners per year."
The study had nothing to do with married gays. It collected data (solely from gay men) between the years of 1984 and 2000. Same sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands in 2001. Nice going James. You truly deserve this honor
Willie Wilson - Every now and then, you run across something that leaves you absolutely speechless. Brothers and sisters, I give you Rev. Willie Wilson, a leader in Washington, D.C.'s black community:
"I ain’t homophobic, because everybody in here got something wrong with him. Whoever you point at, you can point at your own self. You got something wrong with your life. But when you get down to this thing, women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something, it ain’t real. That thing ain’t got no feeling in it. It ain’t natural. Any time somebody got to slap some grease on your behind, and stick something in you, it’s something wrong with that. Your butt ain’t made for that."
Mr. Wilson (I am not calling you a reverend) you may not be homophobic (obviously you give our sex lives a lot of thought) but to put it in "Martin Lawrence" talk - you stupid.
Linda Harvey - Linda Harvey earns the honor of being the second woman inducted into the Hall of Shameless. She is the president of Mission America, yet another one of those tiresome "we are going to reclaim America for Jesus" groups. And of course central to this "reclaiming of America" are lies put out about the gay community. With a smile on her face, Harvey can say such unsubstantiated tripe like the following:
"When people have views supporting homosexuality they should not be involved with youth in any way, period. Because they:
will provide inaccurate, misleading information to kids;
may limit a student’s opportunity to hear warnings about the behavior;
may advocate or model inappropriate behavior;
may be directly involved in the molestation of kids themselves; or
may be in a position to allow others to do so" - Fairy Tales Don’t Come True, February 13, 2006
Bernice King - Alveda and Bernice (Dr Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter) share a record as being the only relatives who jointly make the Hall of Shameless. Last year, Bernice led a march in Georgia against marriage equality. She was quoted as saying:
“I know deep down in my sanctified soul that he [Dr. King] did not take a bullet for same-sex unions.”
Now just in the case of Alveda, how in the world does Bernice know what her father felt in that matter? A famous Pulitzer Prize winning photo clearly shows her as a toddler in her mother's arms at his funeral. Bernice's comment and Alveda's shenanigans are just examples of people trying to cash in to their close proximities to famous people. It is a shame that no one asked Bernice about Bayard Rustin and his close relation to her father and the civil rights movement. Rustin, a proud out gay black man (pay attention all of you downlow brothas) was instrumental in King's embracing of nonviolence. In addition, he was the planner of the March on Washington in 1963. It would not have happened without him.
I was conflicted with this one. Coretta Scott King was a tireless advocate for gay rights who had more poise, grace, and class than any of these black ministers willing to sell out their gay brothers and sisters for 30 pieces of religious right silver. I was worried that spotlighting her daughter's ignorance would be an insult to her. But then I realized that Mrs. King's goodness will stand the test of time. I also realized that comments like Bernice's had led to the isolation and spiritual death of so many innocent African-American gay and lesbian youth. In addition, her comments are an insult to Rustin's memory. It would more of an insult to her mother and her father if they went unchallenged.
Voddie Baucham - Mr. Baucham's award is actually a group award but he will be the representative of it. Last year, he helped formulate a Southern Baptist Convention Resolution that tells parents to investigate how the so-called "gay agenda" has infiltrated their childrens' schools. Now save your "that is so stupid" comments until I finish because it gets better. A portion of the resolution reads:
"Whereas, there is evidence that the homosexual lifestyle reduces life expectancy more than smoking;"
For the benefit of those who do not know, that passage is referring to a study published last year by our friend and bad researcher Paul Cameron, the first inductee to our hall of shameless. The Centers for Disease Control has denounced the study as untrue.
And of course, the Southern Baptist Convention approved the resolution, so this "honor" goes out to Baucham for writing such a ridiculous, untrue resolution and the Southern Baptist Convention for forgetting the 8th commandment - Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.
David Parker - Last year in Massachusetts, Parker's son brought home a "diversity bookbag" which contained a book daring to show a same-sex family. Parker complained to the principal of Eastabrook Elementary regarding this. After receiving assurances that the so-called teaching of homosexuality is not a part of kindergarten curriculum, Parker upped the ante and demanded that teachers automatically take his son out of class if discussions of homosexuality would come up, even if those discussions were by accident and by students talking about their families (Eastabrook has a large number of children from same sex families). Parker was claiming that he had this right because of a law that would allow parents to opt children out of discussions involving human sexuality.
School officials assured Parker at a meeting that talking about same sex families is not the same thing as talking about human sexuality. In addition, he was also told that teachers could not control what students talked about in the classroom. Parker then took it upon himself to not leave the school. He was arrested.
Now those who supported his point of view "just happened" to be outside during the incident and took pictures of him being led away in handcuffs. Those pictures were then posted on a Massachusetts religious right webpage. Coincidence? I am not saying a word.
Since his arrest Parker has been some sort of bastardized poster boy of the religious right, traveling about the country with this photo of him in handcuffs. He even spoke out against an anti-discrimination ordinance in Maine. What the ordinance in Maine have to do with his situation in Massachusetts is unknown. Parker proves that not only bovines are adept at creating bull . . . well you know.
Jesse Lee Peterson - Mr. Peterson is included in the hall not for so much what he has said regarding gays but as a symbol of possible things to come. Peterson, head of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny) has made a name for himself criticizing black leadership. He hasn't exactly been a friend of the gay community either.
President Bush won re-election by pitting the African-American community against the gay community. The question is when gays can no longer be seen as scapegoats, who will take their place. Mr. Peterson's comments in a column gives a good indication:
"When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results. . . .
About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder"
