Brody's Scribbles... Adam Lambert Kisses Keyboard Player: Tim Trent Fires Back

By Tim Trent (Bracknell, UK) Nov 30 | Look, I have no real idea who Adam Lambert is, but the tone of Jennifer Vanasco's article making a guest appearance here at Brody's Notes and Scribbles says that he is 'A Bad Thing'. He kissed another man, on the lips at a big awards do. And it was seen ~gasp~ on TV. And, according to Vanasco, this flamboyant act was wrong. To read the article you would think that Lambert had set the Black Power Movement back to asking politely if their chain might be removed because the slave chained next to them had died.

I think Vanasco is wrong. I wrote such a long comment under it that it turned into an article, so here that article is:

I come from a different culture. I come from England. You know, the land of the stiff upper lip, that land that has sex quietly, and in secret, the land that invented the missionary position.

I'm not criticising the author's stance in the USA. For the USA it may be correct. I don't know, I'm not there, nor do I want to be. It feels like a nation of so many small minded bigots, not the Land of the Free.

I'm just going to say that here, in England, whatever tabloid press might say afterwards, and they like any sensation, this would not be a big deal.

We have pretty much got to the point where it is Thursday here.

What do I mean?

I even forget where I saw it, but someone said "If a man walks a unicorn in the park today it's big news. If loads of people walk unicorns in the park people will say "Unicorn? Ah it must be Thursday'." I expect I've misquoted.

From my experience here, in England, the home of Boy George, Elton John, Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, Alan Turing, George Michael, a whole slew of gay Members of Parliament, Michael Barrymore (unpleasant scandal, but his homosexuality is irrelevant), Kenneth Williams, John Inman, Larry Grayson, Julian Clary, Kenny Everett and so many more celebrity and ordinary gay figures, we understand homosexuality far better than the alleged Land of the Free.

So he kissed a keyboard player. So what? Or is the idea to make a big fuss about it?

Heck, the USA was once full of some Jackson woman's teat! It was only a teat! Or don't American woman have those things?

Why are people backing away from gays, Jennifer?

That gay marriage thing, for one. The campaign went badly wrong all by itself. LGBT folk tried to claim a hallowed word. Now the damage will take years to put right.

And way back, back in the beginning? Well, we were stupid over here, too. We had our gay movement shanghaied into adding the Paedophile Information Exchange into its number. You got NAMBLA. Folk don't forget that we and you appeared to promote having sex with kids. Heck even South Park pilloried NAMBLA.

So, from my admittedly ignorant perspective over here, I disagree roundly with the entire thrust of your article.

LGBT folk have extroverts in the same way that Good Ol' Boys have extroverts. I like extroverts, mostly. I'm sure I like some rednecks, too, and I dislike some LGBT people.

What I want it to be is Thursday.

And to make it Thursday? How do we make it Thursday?

We hope that more, many more Adam Lamberts will kiss many more keyboard players. We hope many more people will walk hand in hand with their same sex partner. We hope that more of your elected officials will come out as gay, gay, gay. We hope your captains of industry will come out as gay. If Kinsey was even close, 10% are anyway.

Flamboyant folk have helped hugely in the gay rights arena.They always have and they always will. Yes, even "I'm not queer and I'll sue anyone who says I am" Liberace.

It's silence that sets gay rights back, not flamboyant stage and TV appearances. 

Ah, so I am criticising the author's stance, then. Obviously I got that wrong up there at the top. I guess i opened my mouth and there was a bit more inside than I expected.

Tim Trent is a Data & Privacy expert as well as an independent freelance marketing consultant based in Bracknell, UK. He is one of Europe's leading experts in compliance with data privacy regulations, and is in the forefront of implementing Permission Based Marketing. He publishes regular articles on Data Protection.
A regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles, more of Tim's opinions can be found at his website, Marketing by Permission. [Linked Here]   

Brody's Scribbles... Jennifer Vanasco: Lambert’s antics at the AMAs hurt us all

If gay American Idol runner-up doesn’t want to ‘lead the fucking way for the civil rights movement,’ he should at least get out of it

Adam Lambert, left, kisses the keyboard player as he performs during the closing act of the 37th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 22, in Los Angeles. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)

 By Jennifer Vanasco (New York, New York) Nov 29 | Yes, Adam Lambert, you’re right: Hip-hop artists and women get away with salacious performances all the time without an uproar. Of course, there was that famous Madonna-and-Britney kiss that caused a stir, but that was likely because the artists were, well, Madonna and Britney. And yes, Adam Lambert, your performance on ABC’s American Music Awards this week was not really all that raunchy. A kiss is a kiss, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I could have done without you sticking a guy’s head in your crotch spontaneously, but it happened so quickly and in the midst of so many other things that if the dancer didn’t mind, I’m not sure “offensive” is what I’d call it. What I’d call it instead is misguided.
Here’s my problem:
You told Out magazine that you didn’t make a big deal out of your sexual orientation during “American Idol” once pictures of you kissing a man had been exposed because, 

“I don’t understand why it has to be about my sexuality. I’m just not going to talk about it one way or another. … And then when those pictures came out, I was like, you know what? I thought maybe I’ll just own it and say, ‘Yeah, I’m gay.’ But I didn’t want to label myself.”

That’s interesting, Adam Lambert.
When you were worried about winning a contest, you didn’t want to openly attest to being gay. (And, in fact, your people were worried that you would seem “too gay” on Out’s cover.) But when you wanted to make a splash in public, when you wanted to get noticed, suddenly you were all about gay sexuality. And so my problem is with the timing.
You see, Adam Lambert, you may say, “I’m not trying to lead the fucking way for the civil rights movement that we’re in right now.” But the fact is that we are in a struggle for our civil rights, and you are a pop culture figure (thanks in no small part to the support of gays and gay allies.)
We are in a dangerous moment. Our political allies are quickly backing away from us, thanks to losses on gay marriage in California and Maine and the Democratic loss of the governorship in New Jersey.

Whereas just over a year ago it seemed like gay marriage was an inevitable wave sweeping the country — and a tsunami in New England, New Jersey and New York — now it feels like the tide has turned.

The hate crimes bill victory was followed by a vicious hate crime in Puerto Rico. We have hearings on ENDA, which could go either way. We have “Don’t ask, don’t tell” hearings that are being put off until 2010. We have a president who isn’t sure he is our friend.

And what is the mainstream most worried about, Adam Lambert? Why are they afraid of our partnerships, our service to our country, our working lives, our families?

They are worried because they think gay life is exactly what you portrayed on the American Music Awards: focused on the kind of sex that turns people into animals (almost literally, in this case, with crawling dancers leading you on leashes), geared toward enticing children (ABC is a network owned by Disney, for heaven’s sake), degrading, rapacious, empty.

This is why mainstream America votes against gays, Adam Lambert. Not because of people who have families and jobs and bills and weddings. Because of people like you, who use sexuality thoughtlessly in order to advance your own agenda, instead of thinking about the very real consequences your actions will have on others’ civil rights.
If you were a private citizen, this wouldn’t matter. But you are not. You are able to be openly gay thanks to people who did, in fact, make it their life’s work to “lead the fucking way for the civil rights movement.”
You dishonor them — and you hurt us — by pretending otherwise.

Jennifer Vanasco is a freelance columnist who lives in New York. She can be reached at jennifer.vanasco@gmail.com.

Brody's Scribbles... I LOVE Pam's House Blend Crew & Lurleen's Latest Column Is Especially Brilliant

By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) Nov 28 | I am sitting in a coffee shop here in Bethesda with a good friend and colleague discussing the most recent posts over on Pam's House Blend by Lurleen. One of the issues that drives me nuts is the blatant hypocrisy of the American Christian movement. I love the fact that the House Blend Crew, especially Lurleen, has no problem taking them to task for it. It's bad enough that in the past 29 years, more so than prior time periods,  they have intensely tried to impose their beliefs as public policy on their fellow citizens, oh and they also have this nasty habit of attacking and defiling anyone who disagrees with them in a quite public fashion often branding those unfortunate to cross them as sinners or bound for hell etc.

I wasn't aware that Christmas retailers were being rated until I read this piece, well better yet, here is Lurleen's take on yet another ludicrous attempt to Christianize the holiday past the point of acceptability. 

Even Talibangicals can't agree which retailers are "Christmas-friendly"

By Lurleen (Pams's House Blend) Nov 28 | An email from Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery has introduced me to StandForChristmas.com.  This new Focus on the Faggot website invites enablers of Christmas profiteering
Real Christians^TM to rate retailers based on their level of "Christmas-friendliness."  In Tom's words

Christmas is not only a memorable family time, it is the season in which we celebrate God's greatest gift to man. Christ is the centerpiece of our holiday season. Help us encourage the many retailers who are doing it well and urge those who censor the word "Christmas" to change their approach!

If Jesus really is "the reason for the season", you'd think that rather than encourage crass commercialization of His birthday by helping define a list of "friendly" retailers, FOTF would be counseling its members to forget about buying stuff and simply celebrate the birth of the Lord. But I must confess it's more fun that their minds are on the merchandise; this allows them to prove that although they raise a ruckus about stores that don't stroke their fragile religious identities, not even Talibangicals can agree on which retailers are "Christmas-friendly".

Here are a few comments on Dillards, a department store.  I particularly enjoyed the comment from Nov 25 2009 8:41 AM.  If the real meaning of Christmas doesn't involve retail (= making money), then why does the commenter demand a Christmas message from the retailer?  The self-deception is astounding.

So, there you have it. I love the lucid and sarcastic manner that Pam & her crew present the reality of life as it happens. As we sit here watching the crowds of holiday shoppers walk by, my friend and I are getting ready to whip out our reporters notebooks and follow Lurleen's lead by asking a few passersby who they think is Xmas friendly. This ought to be interesting...

Brody's Scribbles... Black Friday Musings

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 27 | What to post? What to write about? Is it worth blogging? Daily, I struggle with those three questions as I sit down to contribute to my little corner of the blogosphere. Today on the other hand was a fairly simple choice. Given that there are thousands out shopping and cavorting merrily in retail establishments all over the greater D.C. area, and I am most definitely not one of them. I had plenty of time since I am not working today to browse around looking for something that was off beat, yet interesting for my readers. 

I also wanted to stay away from the one subject that has official Washington all atwitter, literally, that Virginia society couple that crashed the President's State Dinner the other night. It never ceases to amaze me what this town considers "hard" news at the top of the news food chain. In any event, pressing on...

I found the following at my favorite British LGBT news site and am seriously thinking about ordering one. Of course, my youngest son will only too gladly point out that Pops has no clue about this subject... yeah, well, I remember saying things similar about my Da. 

Video: Game features secret gay sex scene

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk (London, UK) Nov 26 | A scene in new video game Dragon Age: Orgins features a secret gay sex scene between a man an a elf.

The new game, which has received high ratings, allows players to access the scenes by using the correct combination of chat-up lines on warrior elf Zevran.

Footage then turns to a romantic fireside embrace.

Although developer BioWare has been criticised by many fans, GayGamer.net welcomed the scene, describing it as "deliberate and respectful".

The website said: "With this bare-chested and unflinching portrayal, it feels as if the depiction of gay sex in video games has reached a new level of equal treatment.

"This is more than just a mincing gay pirate or an evasive fade-to-black: there's choreography, tenderness, humour and even an element of sexual politics to Zevran's post-coital conversation.

"Kudos to BioWare for adding a bit of a gay storyline to their game and for dealing with gay romance as even-handedly as they do the heterosexual options."

Brody's Scribbles... Thanksgiving Wishes For My Readers

As millions of Americans, and a few transplants from elsewhere like myself, prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, I'd like to take a few minutes and give my thanks for those things in my life I hold precious.

I want to first give thanks to the thousands of American, Canadian, and British troops fighting overseas in defence of the freedoms that all of us hold dear.

I want to give thanks for organisations that work so hard to fight for equality for LGBT persons everywhere, both large and small. For the dedication of their staffs and their members in furthering civil rights and better acceptance for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgendered folk.

I also offer special thanks for the work of the late United States Senator Ted Kennedy, (D) Massachusetts for pushing hard for the compromise that allowed the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Bill to finally be signed into law after ten long years. Many heartfelt thanks to Judy Shepard for her tireless and selfless advocacy of the law named for her murdered oldest child.

Finally, I am extremely thankful for my loving family, particularly my sons and for all those friends and acquaintances who enrich the fabric of my life daily.

I sincerely hope that all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday and that your journey to your loved ones and back is not marred in any way. Enjoy the holiday everyone!

Warmest Regards, 


Brody Levesque

Brody's Scribbles... Is This Good or Bad?

By Tim Trent (Bracknell, UK) Nov 24  | I was shown an article, today, on the USA's Family Research Council and their reaction to nominees for the Supreme Court of the United States. And this is, naturally, none of my business. So, always the nosy parker, I decided to take a look.

I took a look at what the FRC is, too. This from their web site:

Family Research Council (FRC) was founded in 1983 as an organization dedicated to the promotion of marriage and family and the sanctity of human life in national policy. Through books, pamphlets, media appearances, public events, debates and testimony, FRC's team of experienced policy experts review data and analyze proposals that impact family law and policy in Congress and the executive branch.FRC also strives to assure that the unique attributes of the family are recognized and respected through the decisions of the courts and regulatory bodies.

I'm a reasonable bloke and that looks reasonable to me. Stated like that I can see no-one who could possibly argue against them, just like no-one can possibly argue against the US PATRIOT Act. Both have great names. I expect that's why Jeep has a Patriot model today, too. Great names inspire great loyalty. I like their mission statement, too:
Family Research Council (FRC) champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. Believing that God is the author of life, liberty, and the family, FRC promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society.
Well, not all of it. The Judeo-Christian thing looks ominous. But so far it looks like an organisation that I, as a dad, would support, probably consider joining and donating cash to. Anything that supports good old family values must be good, eh?
I'm a good dad. She Who Must Be Obeyed is a good mum. And we raised a fine son who accepts and celebrates difference. We love him unconditionally. We raised him to be moral, tolerant, and non judgmental. And we knew that, should he have the mixed fortune to be gay, like his dad, we would still love him and support him and welcome his partner into our home, too. And we told him so when he was twelve years old. He's lucky. He happens to be heterosexual. But, had he not been, he woudl still be part of our family.
So imagine my distaste when I turned to the FRC's page about homosexuality:

Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects. While the origins of same-sex attractions may be complex, there is no convincing evidence that a homosexual identity is ever something genetic or inborn. We oppose the vigorous efforts of homosexual activists to demand that homosexuality be accepted as equivalent to heterosexuality in law, in the media, and in schools. Attempts to join two men or two women in "marriage" constitute a radical redefinition and falsification of the institution, and FRC supports state and federal constitutional amendments to prevent such redefinition by courts or legislatures. Sympathy must be extended to those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions, and every effort should be made to assist such persons to overcome those attractions, as many already have.

Whoa! Just another bunch of "Fry the Fag" lobbyists, and ones who want to crucify the poor gay kid and turn him straight - something the doctors acknowledge is impossible. Now I view them as unwholesome. I have resigned my unbought membership and want nothing to do with this bunch of sickos. They sound like the source of teenage suicide, and kids turned out of their homes to live on the streets the second their parents find out they are gay.
The sweet smell of violets conceals a cesspool after all. That sounds a bit like The PATRIOT Act, too. I've no idea about the Jeep.
So that brought me down to earth with a not unsuspected bump. And I read about their opinion on the appointment of eligible folk to serve on SCOTUS. They say (as quoted by Greg Sargent):

"We don’t think that the process of selecting a Supreme Court justice should include asking questions about a person’s personal sex life," Peter Sprigg, senior fellow at the Family Research Council, told me moments ago."But if a person does publicly identify as gay or lesbian, or particularly if a person has been involved with homosexual rights activism at any level, then there would have to be serious questions asked about whether he or she would impose a pro-gay ideology on the court."Sprigg added that homosexuality in and of itself would not be a "determinant" against the acceptability of the nominee.

Interesting.
Now change a couple of words in that:

"We don’t think that the process of selecting a Supreme Court justice should include asking questions about a person’s race," Peter Sprigg, senior fellow at the Family Research Council, told me moments ago."But if a person is black, or particularly if a person has been involved with black rights activism at any level, then there would have to be serious questions asked about whether he or she would impose a pro-black ideology on the court."Sprigg added that race in and of itself would not be a "determinant" against the acceptability of the nominee.

Interesting what just changing from one group to another does, isn't it?
Somehow I doubt that rabble rousing and lobbying against black folk is lawful in the USA nowadays. It certainly isn't lawful here in the UK.
Seems to be lawful to lobby against gay folks, though, over there.
Nasty people, all dressed up in fine robes.
Just like the Ku Klux Klan.

Tim Trent is a Data & Privacy expert as well as an independent freelance marketing consultant based in Bracknell, UK. He is one of Europe's leading experts in compliance with data privacy regulations, and is in the forefront of implementing Permission Based Marketing. He publishes regular articles on Data Protection.
A regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles, more of Tim's opinions can be found at his website, Marketing by Permission. [Linked Here]  

Brody's Notes... Lady Gaga Sits Down With Fuse's "On The Record"

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 23 | Tonight recording industry diva Lady Gaga gets up close and personal on Fuse's new one-on-one interview series: On The Record with Fuse.

Viewers can catch Lady Gaga on the show at 9pm ET: 8 CT, as she sits down with Fuse host Touré to chat about her upcoming tour, her fans and androgyny in women.

Taking yet another opportunity to speak out against homophobia, Lady Gaga talked with Fuse TV about anti-gay hate speech in hip-hop and throughout the music industry.

"When I hear one of the most famous rappers in the world say something homophobic on the radio, I want people to yell at him," she said.

Brody's Scribbles... A Penetrating Look At Religion & Politics

By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) Nov 23 | I spotted this at Andy Towle's Towleroad, its funny as hell:

Brody's Notes... Thousands Attend Vigil in New York City In Memory Of Murdered Jorge Steven Lopez-Mercado

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 23 | Last night in New York City thousands of people gathered to attend a vigil in memory of the murdered Gay Puerto Rican college student held at Pier 46 on Christopher Street in the West Village. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an out lesbian, said: 

"The attack against any American because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is unacceptable, and will be prosecuted to the highest and fullest extent of the law."

Her call for justice was joined by other community leaders including Jarrett Barrios of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,  who called for the murder to be prosecuted as an anti-gay hate crime under the recently passed Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Act.

 

Brody's Notes... Vigils To Be Held For Slain Gay Puerto Rican Youth Today

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 22 | On the night of Friday, November 13, 2009, 26-year-old Juan Martinez Matos picked up 19-year-old Jorge Steven López in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and drove him to the nearby town of Cidra, PR. After discovering that Mercado, who was dressed as a female, was a man, Matos, in a whirlwind of rage, not only murdered Mercado, but beheaded and dismembered his body. Its remains were partially set on fire. Mercado’s body was discovered in the nearby town of Cayey, PR.

Matos was apprehended, has confessed, and is imprisoned with bail set at four million dollars. Initial reports seem to indicate that the line of defense will be invoking “gay panic,” a strategy used commonly in recent times with varying degrees of success. In a troubling interview with Univisión, police investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón is on record as saying (as translated into English), 

“These types of people, when they enter this lifestyle and go out into the streets know that this could happen.” 

In response to sudden and widespread outrage due to the murder, thousands of New Yorkers will gather at Manhattan’s Pier 45 (at Christopher Street) on Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 5:00 PM for a vigil ceremony

The Manhattan vigil will occur in conjunction with satellite Sunday vigils in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Durham, and other American cities

Photo Courtesy of the Mercado Family

“When my son told me he was gay, I told him, ‘Now, I love you more.’ I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone …could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.”

— Miriam Mercado, mother of Jorge Lopez Mercado.

Brody's Scribbles... A Guest Editorial from Dr. Marty Klein: Gay Priests? No, Confused Priests

By Dr. Marty Klein (Palo Alto, California) Nov 21 | Researchers at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice have been researching the causes of the Catholic Church’s modern tradition of priests sexualizing boys. In releasing their initial findings, they said they can’t attribute it to gay priests or seminaries for teenagers.

“We do not have data to support those assertions,” said Karen Terry, lead researcher for the $2 million study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. She believes that the priests had sex primarily with boys mainly because they had access to boys. “Even though there was sexual abuse of many boys, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the [priest] had a homosexual identity,” she said.

Correct.

After all, male soccer coaches who have sex with teen girls, and step-fathers who have sex with their step-daughters don’t do it because of “heterosexuality.” Such adult sexual behavior is caused by internal torment about sexuality, a collapse of boundaries, lack of empathy, a breakdown of ethics, and confusion about power…just like priests sexually exploiting boys.

The question of what defines a person as gay is interesting, and relevant to people of every persuasion, including straights. Many male public figures who have been caught being interested in other men have loudly denied they’re gay. Some are (understandably) frightened liars, but many others, such as Senator Larry Craig, are clearly telling the truth.

As Alfred Kinsey first showed Americans a half-century ago, same-gender fantasies, curiosity, desire, and the occasional fling, do not alone define someone as gay. And if an adult has sex with children who happen to be the same gender, that doesn’t define him (or her) as gay, either. It defines him (or her) as interested in children, which is its own orientation (permanent or otherwise).

The Church has more than a bad-apple-gay-priest problem. It has a who-becomes-a-supposedly-celibate-priest-anyway problem. Like the French Foreign Legion, the job description itself cannot possibly attract enough psychologically healthy people. And given the Church’s tortured, inhumane attitude about sexuality, it’s hardly the institution to heal any sexual problems revealed or developed by its shepherds (much less its flock).

What Dr. Terry’s project is almost certain to find is that the priests who sexually exploited children are a heterogeneous lot—some of them gay, most of them straight, some of them angry (some surely angry at their god), many of them lonely, and some developmentally primitive. That last sub-group will have experienced their sex with kids as a peer activity. Psychologically (although not biologically, ethically, or legally), that would be accurate.

Astonishingly, many so-called morality groups used the revelations of 2002 and beyond as an opportunity to demonize homosexuality—blithely overlooking the Church setting that was the dominant feature of every one of these exploitative interactions. Talk about chutzpah. That’s like discussing car accidents without discussing cars, or alcoholism without discussing alcohol.

People don’t do bad things because they’re gay. People do bad things because of who they are. Some of those people are blond, some are left-handed, and some are gay. Many of them lack empathy—the ability to truly understand the experience (including the pain) of others. That’s the place to start cleaning up the Church.

At the top, by the way.

Dr. Marty Klein is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Certified Sex Therapist, and sociologist with a special interest in public policy and sexuality. He has written 6 books and over 100 articles about sexuality. Each year he trains thousands of professionals in North America and abroad in clinical skills, human sexuality, and policy issues.

Marty sees men, women, and couples in his Palo Alto office for psychotherapy, couples counseling, and sex therapy.

Each month Marty publishes the electronic newsletter Sexual Intelligence,^TM which examines the sexual implications of current events, politics, technology, popular culture, and the media. For an archive of his original articles, lots of Q/A about sexuality, and other material, see www.SexEd.org.

Brody's Notes & Scribbles... DC Agenda Publishes First Edition & Website Goes Live

Photo By Brody Levesque

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) | It was a bright, sunny, and windy Friday today in Washington with temperatures in the mid sixties. However, for the LGBT folk of Washington D. C., it was very sunny indeed in the Dupont Circle area as the executive staff of the former Washington Blade Newspaper delivered the very first edition of the new venture, DC Agenda, to Lambda Rising books & other selected outlets.

Not unlike its direct ancestor of 40 years ago, The Gay Blade, which was published on a mimeograph machine, stapled and then handed out, the DC Agenda's debut was hardly auspicious. But, for the hundreds upon thousands of loyal readers of The Washington Blade, the fact that the paper arose again like the mythological Phoenix bird, was warmly received.

As the staff of the old Blade and now the new venture's, accompanied by a Washington Post reporter handed out the first edition, on-line the website experienced a surge of hits and the followers on Twitter stood at nearly 4,000 by the middle of the afternoon. The following is the first editorial column from Editor Kevin Naff:

Our Mission Continues

Photo By DC Agenda

By Kevin Naff (Washington DC) Nov 20 | Don't judge us too harshly- the edition of DC Agenda you're holding is a modest, early iteration of what we hope to achieve in the wake of the Washington Blade's sudden closing this week.

The news that parent company Window Media was shuttering and liquidating its newspapers came as a shock to the staff, some of whom devoted their careers to the paper that became an institution. We were ushered out the doors of our offices with no severance, canceled paychecks and more questions than answers about why this was allowed to happen.

The former staff of the Washington Blade remains united and DC Agenda represents our effort at continuing the important mission and work of the Blade. It will grow and evolve to include a much larger and more diverse group of voices, but the core of the Blade's work remains unchanged. We will cover Congress, the White House, the LGBT rights movement, the D. C. marriage fight, local hate crimes and other political issues important to the LGBT residents of the city of Washington D. C.

It's been a tough week for us, but we are buoyed by the outpouring of support from people all over the city and beyond. We welcome and need your help and will respond to each offer as soon as possible.

Thank you to all who have pledged to stick with us, especially our advertisers. Please visit savetheblade.com for updated information on DC Agenda or to make a gift to support the new venture.

The strength of the Washington Blade did not lie in its brand name- it came from the spirit of those who worked passionately to serve and inform our community.

Those people are still here.

Our work continues.

Please Note: If you'd like to contribute financially to assist this valuable asset to Washington's LGBT community, you can do so at savetheblade.com.

The staff is currently working on a volunteer basis and financial assistance is needed to cover printing, distribution, and website expenses.  For more information, also visit DCAgenda.com.

Brody's Notes... Statement from Judy Shepard on the Murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado

Dennis and I, and the entire board and staff of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, stand with all who are grieving the loss of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in one of the most shockingly brutal hate crimes in Puerto Rico’s history.

While we are grateful to the local law enforcement officials for their swift work to apprehend the suspect in this terrible crime, we remain deeply saddened that yet another family should have to suffer the pain of such a tragedy, and that such breathtaking violence continues to be directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people who are simply trying to live their lives honestly and openly.

For another young person to lose their life and be taken from their family and community due to fear, prejudice and hatred is simply unacceptable. Each of us who believe in freedom and equality must remain vocal, active, and unrelenting in calling for justice.

Our thoughts are with Mr. Lopez, all who knew and loved him, the members of his community and the millions worldwide who have been touched by his senseless death. Our family and the Foundation will continue to work to prevent similar tragedies in any way we can.

Brody's Scribbles... Matt Akersten : Getting the sex you want, avoiding the sex you don't

Matt Akersten      Photo By GayNZ.com

By Matt Akersten (Auckland, NZ) Nov 20 | LGBT students were the first to try out a new programme for young people in Wellington which is aimed at reducing sexual violence - including coerced sex - and increasing pleasure.  
The Youth 2000 report which interviewed 10,000 secondary school students showed that one in three non-heterosexual young people said they had had "unwanted sexual contact" from someone else.

 The Wellington Sexual Abuse Network's Sex & Ethicsprogramme addresses how we as queer people negotiate ethical sex - sex both people desire.
Sexual Violence Prevention Co-ordinator Sandra Dickson says she's been working with UniQ groups at Victoria University and Massey, in maybe the first LGBT targeted sexual violence prevention programme in the world.

"Most sexual violence prevention has targeted male violence against women, because overwhelmingly that's how most sexual violence happens. But unwanted, pressured sex in the queer community, let alone forced sex or violent assault? It's pretty brave to even start talking about it," she tells GayNZ.com.

Sex & Ethics, written by Australian academic Moira Carmody from the University of Western Sydney, highlights skills which can be useful in sexual decision-making – about the "grey areas" of relating, rather than our bodies and "plumbing", says Dickson, "and it does it in a non-judgmental way."

LGBT EXPERIENCES OF SEX 

Ten young LGBT people finished the recent six-week Sex & Ethics programme in Wellington, learning how to use the 'ethical framework' to make decisions about sex.  

"This has nothing to do with telling young people how often they can have sex, or who they can have sex with, or even what behaviour they want to try – it is to do with working out how to have mutual, ethical sexual encounters – whether casual or more long-term," Dickson explains. Having a queer only programme was important to explore some of the issues important for the queer community. For example, there is a perceived pressure for young queer men to be always up for sex - so saying 'no' can be really difficult - or the fact that alcohol and drugs are a big part of how young queer people party and hook up, maybe even bigger than for the heterosexual community."

Dickson gives examples from young people she has met:

"One young man wanted to hang out in a gay bar for a drink, but people approached him assuming he was there for sex - it's sad, as he said he just wanted to be in a safe queer space. Another young guy in a local queer bar asked me to mind his drink because some of his friends had had drinks spiked there. I've also heard of one bad situation where someone tried to intervene when a very drunk young man - who could hardly stand - was taken out of a club. Stopping sexual violence in our community – including our queer community – means checking out with other people if they're OK. Helping that drunk person get home safely, instead of being steered away into a cab with someone they've just met."

Sex & Ethics looks at the different values that influence how we think about sex, how we talk about sex and alcohol and drugs, improving non-verbal communication skills, working out what 'ethical consent' looks like, what we do when relationships aren't working for us, and how we help people around us in sexually unsafe situations.

Activities include talking about how we hook-up in a club and know you're both going home for the same kind of sex. Or being in a relationship with someone you really like – but when you have sex it's pretty ordinary – how do you talk about that, improve it, have the great sex we want to be having? It can be tricky saying to someone 'I really like you, but I don't like the way we're having sex'.

"The programme is fun, and the UniQ group had plenty of laughs," says Dickson. "Because actually Sex & Ethics is all about having better sex, sex that looks after you, sex that cares about the other person/people, sex that is mutual. Ethical sex in which it's not even possible to imagine force or pressure being part of the equation."

SEXUAL DECISION-MAKING TIPS

The Sexual Ethics Framework is a tool to help sexual decision-making, says Dickson. Here's a few ideas which may be useful when thinking about your next sexual encounter:

Caring for myself. This means considering my own needs. Am I doing what I really want to do? What is the best and worst thing that can happen if I do this? Have I done something like this before and felt okay or bad afterwards? Am I safe emotionally, physically, does anyone know where I am and who I'm with? How do I know the other person will treat me with respect and concern? Have I thought about safe sex?

Being aware of the other person. Just because I feel or want something doesn't mean I can assume the other person wants it too. They may want to be close, but not necessarily have sex in the way I am imagining it in my mind. I need to know what they are imagining also. I need to be aware that sometimes we start to go along with something and then we are unsure and don't know how to stop. I need to be on the lookout for these signs and take responsibility for getting more information to know if the other person feels okay with what is happening. Am I okay with it too? This involves being aware of non-verbal as well as verbal communication.

Negotiating and 'asking'. This means working out what you BOTH want, not just one person. 'Asking' can be non-verbal as well as verbal. It means being aware of what is going on for yourself and the other person.

Reflection. Consider the situation at the time or afterwards. What am I doing or what did I do or not do, and what was the response? How does who I am in terms of age, gender and culture impact on how I understand things? Is there another way of thinking about what is happening or happened? 

UPCOMING PROGRAMMES  

The Sex & Ethics sexual violence prevention programme is conducted by the Wellington Sexual Abuse Network, a collaboration of Wellington Rape Crisis, Wellington Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation and WellStop.

"We have two years funding from the Ministry of Justice to run eight pilots of Sex & Ethics in New Zealand," says Dickson. "The programme runs weekly for two hours over six weeks. We have just finished the first four pilots – all of which had same and both-sex attracted young people, and one which was just for LGBT."

For more information about future Sex & Ethics programmes, contact Sandra Dickson via email at wsanprevention@xtra.co.nz. 

Brody's Notes... Government Information & Political Science Librarian At Purdue Under Attack For Blog Post

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 20 |  Purdue University's student newspaper, The Exponent ,has published numerous letters by students & alumni calling for the termination of Bert Chapman, the university's government information and political science librarian, after he posted comments online urging discussion on what he called the economic cost to society of homosexuality on his personal blog.

University officials said they would not discipline Bert Chapman, who is the university's government information and political science librarian and does not have a classroom teaching assignment.

Chapman wrote last month on the townhall.com Web site that money spent on AIDS would be better used for other health initiatives, such as cancer or heart disease research, and that the current health care debate needed to address "an economic case against homosexuality."

Purdue senior Kevin Casimer on Wednesday started a petition urging the university to take action against Chapman, saying his comments were embarrassing and detrimental to the school's reputation.

"People have confused what we are doing as attacking free speech," Casimer said. "But freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences."

Chapman, who has worked at Purdue for 15 years and has written three books about the military, describes himself on the blog as a conservative Christian. He says he started the blog two years to express his views.

The student newspaper has published several letters urging the university to fire him. Chapman said he was surprised at the backlash.

"It is sad we live in a time when truly free and open debate on controversial issues is characterized by such virulence," he said. "If gay rights opponents advocate removing First Amendment rights of gay rights proponents, there would be justifiable outrage over attempts to abridge their constitutional rights."

Purdue history professor Yvonne Pitts, who is a lesbian, said she totally disagreed with everything Chapman wrote, but that if the university disciplined him for his views it could chill others in the academic community.

"I would be disturbed if he lost his job because I would fear that my job could be in jeopardy for my activism," she said. "It is really good for students to be having this debate. But you can't call for his job."

University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said Chapman acted within university policy by including a disclaimer on his blog that his viewpoints do not necessarily reflect those of the institution.

"There are many things on the Internet that would be offensive to many but that are protected by the First Amendment," Norberg said. "The best response is to speak up, which is exactly what our students and some faculty are doing."

Brody's Notes... Juan "Casper" Martinez Matos- Alleged Murderer Of Gay Student Jailed On $4 million Bail

Juan Martinez-Matos is escorted to Bail Hearing by Police Detectives.  Photo By Tony Zayas The Associated Press

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Nov 19 | The dismembered body of 19-year-old college student Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was discovered November 14th alongside a road near the interior town of Cayey. Lopez was widely known as a volunteer for organisations advocating HIV prevention and gay rights, and activists are planning remembrance vigils for him in cities including San Juan, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

The suspect, 26-year-old Juan Martinez-Matos, was arrested earlier this week and allegedly confessed to killing Lopez and mutilating his body. He was charged with first-degree murder and weapons violations and was admitted last night to jail in The Spoons, in Ponce, Puerto Rico after failure to pay a bail bond of $ 4 million that was imposed by judge Madeline Guayama.
Martinez-Matos met Lopez while looking for women Thursday night in an area known for prostitution according to prosecutor Jose Bermudez Santos. He said the case was submitted to Judge Guayama since the victim's body was found in Cayey located in that region of the judiciary. However, during the course of the investigation, it emerged that the murder occurred in Cidra, thus it was decided to move the case to the regional judicial circuit court of Caguas and the preliminary hearing will be held on December 7 at the judicial center there.

Santos said the suspect confessed to stabbing Lopez, who was dressed as a woman, after discovering he was a man. According to the prosecutor, what is also claimed by Martínez-Matos, is that they went to a room in his parents' house in the neighborhood Beatriz de Cidra, used cocaine and upon termination of the drug, Steven George demanded money for sex. "That's the version he (Martinez), stressed, " said Santos, "There is not a shred of evidence to support a claim of self defense."

Martínez-Matos, who is married with children, confessed to killing the victim with a stab wound to the neck. He then beheaded, dismembered him, and dumped the body in a spot where he tried to burn it .

"He has a deep-seated rage," Santos said in remarks reported by the local newspaper El Nuia.

LGBT Activists on the island are outraged that prosecutors have not yet decided whether or not to prosecute Martinez-Matos under the newly enacted Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Law passed by Congress & signed by President Obama last month.

"All the information we have is very clear that this is indeed a hate crime," said Pedro Julio Serrano, a Puerto Rico native who is a spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "A 2002 hate crime law in this Puerto Rico has not been applied to any cases involving sexual orientation or gender identity despite calls to use it more aggressively," he remarked.

A suspect convicted of a hate crime offence as defined by the 2002 law, as part of another crime , automatically faces the maximum penalty for the underlying crime. For murder, that would be life in prison.

Brody's Scribbles... Roman Catholic Blame Based Marketing Comes Unstuck

By Tim Trent (Bracknell, UK) Nov 18 | Back in September I ran an opinion piece on The Marketing of Blame. I headlined it thus:
I was heartily disgusted to read the Guardian article entitled 'Sex abuse rife in other religions, says Vatican'. The attempt to divert attention from the industrial scale abuse of boys and girls by Roman Catholic priests and nuns is odious, and the language they are quoted as using to try to do so is appalling.

When you read the Guardian article you will see that the hypocritical bunch tried to lay the blame firmly at the door of homosexuals in the priesthood. But not so, says a report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a $2,000,000 report, according to the Associated Press article that was commissioned by, yes, The Roman Catholic Church. 

The bishops had commissioned the $2 million study as part of widespread reforms they enacted at the height of the abuse crisis. The scandal erupted in 2002 with the case of one predator priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, then spread to every U.S. diocese and beyond.

Nearly 14,000 molestation claims have been filed against Catholic clergy since 1950, according to tallies the bishops have released in recent years. Abuse-related costs have reached at least $2.3 billion in the same period.

At the meeting Tuesday, Bishop Edward Braxton, of the Diocese of Belleville, Ill., asked the researchers whether their study indicated that homosexuality should be considered when evaluating a candidate for the priesthood. In 2005, the Vatican issued a policy statement that men with "deep-seated" attraction to other men should be barred from the priesthood.

Smith said: "If that exclusion were based on the fact that that person would be more probable than any other candidate to abuse, we do not find that at this time."

The latest findings affirmed previous reports that the rate of clergy abuse has declined steeply since the mid 1980s. Researchers found that the abuse rate peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of the claims being made now involve allegations from decades ago.

I like that line: "Most of the claims being made now involve allegations from decades ago." That looks, when you read it first, as though the problem today has become trivial. But think about it with greater clarity.
Of course most of the claims are from decades ago. If we live for three score years and ten, and we look back, say, 60 of those 70 years, we have 60 years worth of abused kids to come forward. Even if only 100 kids a year were abused that means 60 lots of 100 kids - 6,000 - in the past versus this year's 100 kids. So that's just journalese, spin doctoring.

But let's stick this myth that gay men are said by the Roman Catholics to be the biggest population of abusers firmly in its coffin and bury it for ever, now. The report, albeit an interim report - and interim reports are not contradicted by later findings - says clearly

"What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse," said Margaret Smith of John Jay College, in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now."

Or, to put that in plain words, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Heterosexual people are as likely or as unlikely to abuse our kids as any other group in society. And you know what? I'm going with unlikely.

I was not abused as a kid (though I was groped by a sad maths teacher, but that was just pointless, silly and an irrelevance), nor was my son, nor was my wife, nor my mother, nor her family, nor my father nor his family. I have no schoolfrineds that were abused, though I know of one music teacher who propositioned an allegedly attractive but rather plain treble in the school choir. Abuse in the normal world doesn't happen. The Scout Movement is not a haven for abusers, nor the teaching profession, nor youth club workers, sports instructors nor any similar organisations. I'm not saying that men and women - do not forget that a penis is not required when you abuse a child - with those tendencies do not enter roles where abuse might be possible, but abuse them they do not. Mainly.

Where abuse starts and continues is with positions of power and control.

If you control a child, either with the physical constraints present in a place like Haut de la Garenne where abuse has yet to be proven but is strongly suspected, or in a religion where absolute obedience to the clergy is a requirement, like the Roman Catholic Church, then you have the environment for abuse can allow it to flourish, unhindered by the normal conventions and laws of society. And where the head of the organisation, God's Vicar on Earth, protects the abusive members of his priesthood, and even moves them to new parishes with more kids, more yet to be abused kids, then that abuse is seen to be sanctioned at the highest level.

But the wheels have come off the Catholic Mantra of "It's those gays, guv, honest!" This report has seen to that. It's not gay folk at all. Or rather we gay folk abuse in the same ratio that straight folk abuse. A very small number of human beings abuse children. We are, contrary to Roman Catholic belief, human beings.

Why are boys more abused than girls?
I think it is more about paedophilia than true sexual orientation.
Paedophilia is the sexual attraction to the biologically juvenile form of the human being. This is not the 'legal child', but is the 'biological child' Paedophilia is often used to mean the sexual attraction to a person under the age of consent, but that age varies worldwide, 13 in some places and 18 in others.
It is a given that some men abuse people who are under the age of consent. It is also a given that some women do the same thing. These are, generally, people who abuse their position of power, and the outcome is a satisfaction of misdirected sexual urges.
If one is talking about a post-pubertal child then the misdirection is social, not paedophilic. If one talks of a per-pubertal child then it is paedophilic.
Paedophilia is common enough to be a 'normal' sexual response, but is a wholly unacceptable one for many reasons, including but not limited to

* Physical damage to the child  

* emotional damage to the child  

* reinforcement in the abuser that such acts are acceptable  

* socially, the desires are misplaced

However, as we can see from Bonobos and their behaviour, paedophilia and indeed rape is a natural part of that creature's sexual behaviour.

Probably the problem is that the human is unique in being able to voice complaint about the behaviour of others, and is able to discriminate sufficiently to moralise and to do something about it.
But sexual abuse is not, usually, about sex per se, even with Bonobos. It is either to do with power and dominance (see the Bonobos again), or it is to do with giving pleasure.
To consider that pleasure giving first, I think none of us will deny that sexual stimulation is pleasurable. There is no age before which it is not pleasurable. If it were socially acceptable to give sexual pleasure to a child, and to do so selflessly, then this would be deemed to be a good behaviour. It is when, as so easily can be seen to happen, this behaviour becomes selfish, that abuse takes over. Indeed, it is abuse in many ways to take a child and to awaken sexual pleasure in it, primarily because that is usually done in order that the child wishes for more of the same. It is, after all, fun!
But it is socially unacceptable.
We have chosen to create laws and ethical codes that render it to be considered to be a bad and punishable act. And that is fine.

With some men and women sex is always a power trip. And that leads us on to consider the way they can twist things such that they will always be in the driving seat. That is easiest with a smaller, weaker, and more easily cowed person as the other party. Those are children. Children are smaller, weaker, and can be browbeaten more easily than adults.
So an attraction to a child can be created because that child has all the characteristics that the power person requires. It may also be an attraction based on many things about childhood that would take far to long to even scratch the surface of here.
Below the age of puberty a boy and a girl are physically remarkably similar. They are hairless, similarly shaped, and with immature and pretty irrelevant genitals. The child is almost androgynous. Only after puberty starts does the child become recognisably male or female. Faces alter, genitals develop, and sexual orientation demonstrates its arrival.
Men and women who abuse children under the age of puberty often, but not always, choose boys and girls with sufficient variety for the choice to be almost random. Over the age of puberty their choice tends towards but is not always congruent with their own sexual orientation. But, and this is key, in almost every case the act of sexually abusing a child is a power trip, and nothing to do with sexuality per se. Sex is involved, but not the driving force.
Now that was a lengthy preamble to answering the question "Are gays the problem?"
No.
The problem is that the clergy is in a unique position with unfettered access to young boys and girls. A priest (in any religion at all) may easily have an excuse to closet himself or herself alone with a child and may coerce that child with seemingly reasonable requests to shed clothing and to perform sexual acts.
A poor priest perceives a positon of privilege and power, and has a very real temptation to abuse the children in his or her care. Robbie Garner in his book "Nobody Came" - Sacre Coeur, a Jersey orphanage and Haut de la Garenne - describes nuns who rubbed his 5, 6, 7 year old little penis with fervour in the orphanage where he was sent. This appears to have been some sort of ritual at bath time.

Couple that temptation with the undeniable fact that children flirt, even though they have no idea what outcome may be generated by flirting, and you see that a weak priest may fall into the trap of saying that the child initiated the acts, thus attempting to absolve the adult of blame and responsibility.

Children enjoy sex. I know I did at 11 or so, but that sex was a solo experience. An abuser might have seduced me had he or she known I could be seduced, but no-one attempted it. That's good. But a priest might have achieved seduction and subsequent abuse by invoking the name of a deity and showing me how this was god's design for me.

So no, the problem is not gays. Nor will removing gay priests solve the problem. Nor, I suspect, will removing celibacy from Roman Catholic priests remove the problem.
What will solve it is an acknowledgment of the problem by the management of the religious organisations and the offering up of the abusers for prosecution.

It is time that The Pope stopped protecting and hiding the paedophiles in his organisation.

Tim Trent is a Data & Privacy expert as well as an independent freelance marketing consultant based in Bracknell, UK. He is one of Europe's leading experts in compliance with data privacy regulations, and is in the forefront of implementing Permission Based Marketing. He publishes regular articles on Data Protection.
A regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles, more of Tim's opinions can be found at his website, Marketing by Permission. [Linked Here]