A sad example of why The Day of Silence is still necessary

As a follow up to our story on the attempted intimidation of (former) SB School Superintendent, Dr. Zimmerman, by Patrick Mangan (No Special Rights/CCV IN), we would like to point out why the Day of Silence is still necessary. Mr. Mangan believes that the greatest threat of violence against gays comes from other gays. Interestingly, the teen girl who was a victim was beaten simply for advocating for gay rights.

Hat tip to Indiana Equality for reporting on this.



From the Grand Rapids Press:

The cases will be handled in Allegan County Juvenile Court, where a hearing date will be set, he said. Each girl will face one count of aggravated assault, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in a juvenile detention center and a $1,000 fine.

Because the two alleged attackers are younger than 18, the FBI did not investigate potential hate crime violations.

The freshmen girls, who can be seen repeatedly punching the 14-year-old victim in a clip recorded on another student's digital camera Tuesday, said they did not agree with her advocacy for gay rights, police said.

I'd like to think that this is an isolated incident but you really have no idea how many straight people have expressed fear of supporting SBE because they fear possible repercussions.

The irony here is that we are often asked by straight people to protect them if they come out to support us. The fear and intimidation that people like Patrick Mangan use is a powerful tool and they make full use of it as often as they can.

Do as I say, not as I do....

Seems James Dobson of Focus on the Family is irked at Barak Obama. No surprise there. What's the problem this time? Obama gave a speech in June, 2006 to a liberal Christian group (yes, they do exist) in which he stated:

"Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?"

On Tuesday, Dobson responded to these 2 year old comments. According to CNN, Dobson said Obama should not be referencing antiquated dietary codes and passages from the Old Testament that are no longer relevant to the teachings of the New Testament.

"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology," Dobson said, adding that Obama is "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

But wait, aren't some of these passages the exact same ones that Focus on the Family and other evangelical groups cite to condemn homosexuals? You betcha.

Seems what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander.

(To read the entire article, "Evangilist accuses Obama of 'distorting' Bible," see: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/24/evangelical.vote/index.html)

Gay brain, straight brain?

In opposing civil rights for GLBT individuals, anti-gay activists make a point of stressing their belief that homosexuality is a choice. Most gays, on the other hand, have an innate sense that they were born with a same-sex attraction. Scientists have differing opinions on this nature versus nurture argument, just as they do over the origin of most human characteristics.

An article in this week's Time magazine entitled "What the Gay Brain looks like" once again tips the scale in favor of homosexuality being a biological, not chosen, orientation.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815538,00.html?cnn=yes

It seems that researchers studying brain scans of gay and straight men and women have found quite a few differences that lead them to believe that "gay" brains differ in many ways from "straight" brains. This specific study is based upon comparisons of the size of the two halves of the brain in different people. Obviously, the structure of one's brain is not a chosen attribute.

I find it quite interesting that the most vehement anti-gay activists who insist gays choose their orientation, when confronted, are hard-pressed to reveal when or why they "chose" to be straight. As more and more studies conclude that being gay is, in fact biological, and not a choice, these same anti-gay activists will have to find another tool in their bag of ignorance, fear, and bigotry to wield against GLBT persons, if they are to succeed in denying gays basic human rights.

Until that time comes, one thing I will take great comfort in is the thought that I am much better off with the size of my brain, than the size of theirs'.

Good work, if you can get it

How many of you know that Mr. Mangan's job is to uphold his view of morality? I mean, he apparently gets paid day in and day out, to judge people according to his view of what is right or wrong.

Mr. Mangan's current battle is in New Buffalo, opposing a "gentleman's club." Now, I'm not saying that a "gentleman's club" is necessarily good or bad, right or wrong. I'm just incredulous that this man travels around espousing his moral views for a living. Good work, if you can get it.

According to the South Bend Tribune, he is also collecting petitions. The thing is, he doesn't care where the petitions are from: "Mangan urged anyone at the meeting, no matter what their ZIP code, to fill out a petition as a statement to elected officials." (SBT 6/16/08)

This "take any signature you can get" tactic does not accurately express the views of the local population. It is the same tactic he and his "No Special Rights" group employed in South Bend in an effort to defeat the amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance. Mangan's group partnered with state and national groups to flood the Common Council with emails against the proposed change - this despite research by Indiana University that 79% of Hoosiers favor equal rights for gays.

I applaud those members of the South Bend Common Council who paid attention to the origin of their emails and letters. Sure, some council members used email statistics as an excuse for their "no" votes. But really, for all of their efforts, I don't think Mr. Mangan's group had any influence on the Council members' opinions. Minds were made up early and prejudices were revealed.

So, if someone like Mr. Sergio wants to pay Mr. Mangan to traverse Michiana spouting off like a geyser, I suppose he has a right to spend his money that way. Maybe they believe they are earning brownie points in heaven? As for me, I'm going to keep my day job.

Who, then, is the professional activist with an almighty agenda?