Comments on: Timeline of the anti-gay movement

Timeline of the anti-gay movement

mediareport — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:27:22 -0800

The Thirty Years War: A timeline of the anti-gay movement. From "Holy War," the latest Intelligence Report to come out of the very lefty Southern Poverty Law Center. Includes an interview with former Falwell speechwriter Mel White, a look at 12 major groups in the "Mighty Army" and a slideshow of fascinating quotes from famous figures. [Previous Intelligence Reports: Easy Prey, Age of Rage.]

By: Mean Mr. Bucket

Mean Mr. Bucket — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:29:02 -0800

Nice post.

By: AlexReynolds

AlexReynolds — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:33:31 -0800

Thanks.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:34:54 -0800

thanks, media--it's so disgusting/sad that people still cite Cameron's "statistics" (even here the other day). How far we've come, and how far there is still to go. The SPLC is truly doing wonderful work in many areas, if anyone wants to donate.

By: AlexReynolds

AlexReynolds — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:40:14 -0800

Mel White: Skinheads and Klansmen I can recognize for the enemies that they are. But anti-gay Christians come in the disguise of love, and that disguise is a powerful weapon in itself. They demonize, but they don't see themselves as responsible for the violence their demonizing causes. I try to bring up examples like that terrible killing of a gay couple in California by the Williams brothers [Matthew and Tyler, in 1999]. When one of them was asked by his mother, "Why'd you do it?" he said, basically, "The Bible says the world would be better off without them." There are so many of these stories. What kind of smoking gun is more smoking than that?

By: trondant

trondant — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:44:46 -0800

SPLC's hate-groups map is almost worth a FPP by itself.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:55:39 -0800

I am fairly convinced that if it weren't for these loud public homophobes, gays would be far more accepted in our society. It's not like most people haven't encountered a homosexual, and most people have come to (grudgingly, in many cases) come to take it for granted. If it weren't for folks like Dobson, Phelps, Bryant etc, the road from acceptance to embrace would've been much quicker and smoother. Which is why we have to show them up as blowhard reactionaries every chance we get. The methods we use for that are certainly up for discussion, but we should still do it.

By: BuddhaInABucket

BuddhaInABucket — Mon, 16 May 2005 19:56:47 -0800

trondant: florida, california, georgia, and then texas in fourth? That's definitely not what I had in mind.

By: meddeviceengineer

meddeviceengineer — Mon, 16 May 2005 20:05:41 -0800

They have to have an enemy. It was easy for them to target gay people.

By: undule

undule — Mon, 16 May 2005 20:57:40 -0800

Hatewatch!?!? Pfft.

By: trondant

trondant — Mon, 16 May 2005 21:13:32 -0800

/me coughs

By: FlamingBore

FlamingBore — Mon, 16 May 2005 21:16:57 -0800

Woot! There is something that New Mexico comes in at the top: big fat Goose Egg for Hate Groups.

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Mon, 16 May 2005 22:50:39 -0800

reading the timeline, I'm pretty saddened that it looks like the knuckle draggers are winning. hopefully there's a turning point in store for us.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 16 May 2005 22:50:58 -0800

Thanks for the cool comments. I should mention, though, that I think the Report's take on anti-queer WWII holocaust revisionism is pretty misleading. Sure, it couldn't be more obvious that the far right's affection for certain gay members of the Third Reich is being used to minimize the murderous reality of Nazi anti-gay policy, but the SPLC article goes too far in the opposite direction by, well, denying outright any evidence of a "pink swatstika." Here's the key bit, in response to the extreme right claim that homosexuals had a "central role in Nazism": Historians agree that this "reality" is utterly false. But many anti-gay crusaders have used the "gay Nazi" myth as proof that gay people are immoral and destructive. Actually, "historians" agree on nothing of the sort. Thoughtful scholars have a far more nuanced opinion; there's plenty of evidence of gay members of the Nazi party, including *very* suggestive evidence that Hitler himself was a heavily closeted bi- or homosexual. This is hardly inconsistent with an anti-gay "final solution," of course, but the article seems oblivious to that fact. Even though evidence of queer Nazis is sure to be used by bigots as proof that "gay people are immoral and destructive," it's clear that a homosexual subculture within Nazism is undeniable. It's a real shame the SPLC article overlooks and oversimplifies that very complex element in the larger story. Just wanted to note that, before the thread spirals out of control when the Mefi homophobes wake up in the morning.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Tue, 17 May 2005 03:41:10 -0800

Thanks for this link. It's useful to know the history of this struggle.

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Tue, 17 May 2005 06:06:45 -0800

The state with the most groups documented is pretty much exactly the one you were thinking of. My humble home state finally is finally #1 in the nation in something.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Tue, 17 May 2005 15:24:47 -0800

They come to the door, and if your son answers and there is nobody there to stop it, they grab the son and run off with him. They steal him. They take him away and turn him into a homosexual. Four converts and they get a free toaster oven. Anything to get their hands on the HOT BUNS of our nation's youth.