FIFA's Blatter Comments on Qatar 2022

Qatar, known for its criminalization of homosexual behavior, has recently been selected as the location of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Now, stereotypically speaking, sports has never been an area of interest for gay men. Realistically speaking, there are great numbers of gay sports fans - myself included (WhoDat!). In fact, the FIFA World Cup is one of the few sporting events I watch regularly. So, naturally, I was genuinely hurt by Blatter's complete disregard for his gay fan base:



There are still twelve years(!) of progress to be made in civil rights before then, and if means more openly gay athletes and more openly gay fans, then this promises to be quite an interesting football season.

Peter LaBarbera is "Homo-Nauseated" and Proud to Hate

In a recent interview of Barbara Anderson (Minnesota Family Council) by Peter LaBarbera (President of "Americans for Truth About Homosexuality"), the pair discussed how the Southern Poverty Law Center recently declared LaBarbera's organization as an anti-gay hate group. Both were heard in the interview as saying that this new label was a good thing, a "badge of honor". Interviewee Anderson even went so far as to say that any anti-gay group that was not on the list was not doing enough to have its voice heard.

LaBarbera - Anti-Gay and Anti-Equality Activist

In my research for this article, I found that neither Peter LaBarbera nor his association have wikipedia articles, which in my opinion makes the idea of his striving for "truth" a bit suspect.

The thing that struck me the most about the program was their quoting Ronald Reagan with the famous line "City on a Hill". It irked me mostly because it insinuated that Reagan was the first to use this in reference to the United States. He wasn't. In fact, he wasn't even the first president to famously quote the Bible verse/Winthrop Sermon. Reagan might not have used the phrase were it not (ironically enough) for President-Elect John F Kennedy who returned the phrase to its current prominence. Moving on...

I'm always confusing these guys...

Among other hateful things, LaBarbera states that he doesn't "feel like a homophobe." He feels "homo-nauseated."

When I discussed this interview with some friends, someone said they couldn't conceive the amount of vitriol these people spew. She said it must be so hard to hate that much all the time. I at first agreed with her, but I remembered one of my philosophical stewings from a few weeks ago. I came to the conclusion that it's not difficult to hate. It's actually probably the easiest of human emotions alongside anger.

Savage - Sex Columnist and GLBT Activist

When hearing LaBarbara's words, it is easy to fume and rant and rave, to get up in arms, to send them angry e-mails and to dismiss them as hate groups. In fact, this was one of a few valid points discussed in the interview. Many GLBT activists (namely Dan Savage, LaBarbara's main example) are very quick to add to the anger and hate flying across the aisle. In the interview they ask rhetorically why Savage and many of his comrades haven't been labeled as anti-Christian haters. I hate to admit it, but he has a valid point. No matter the side, no matter the argument, hateful speech remains exactly what it is.

Newton - Father of Physics

Isaac Newton taught us that every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction. Again, I state that anger is easy. It takes no effort to return the vitriol and blindness that these people give out. What is our challenge as humans and humanitarians is to feel the anger (we cannot avoid the anger or shut it out), and release it to the universe in order to keep our heads.

King - Father of the Civil Rights Movement

Think of it this way: it took Martin Luther King to really advance the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-60s. Why was he so successful? Because he realized what many of us have forgotten- that fighting fire with fire achieves nothing more than creating a larger fire. Neither did try to fight fire with water. He decided instead to build a ditch to contain the fire and sit and wait and watch the fire slowly burn out. This is the difficult decision. This is the hardest choice to make. Why? Because the as the fire realizes it's losing the fight, it will heat up and lash out, spitting sparks and thickening the smoke. Those who sat in at lunch counters were taunted, beaten, humiliated without letting the anger take them over.

A sit-in in Jackson, MS, 1963

I really believe it might just take another MLK to win this war that began at the Stonewall Inn. As long as we give into anger and lash out, we feed their cause and show their supporters that they are right. As a movement we need to take a page out of the book of Sanity and learn to let go...


The 'Mo in the Mask
The Gay Advice Fairy

Sources
Joe My God
Right Wing Watch

Soul Force - What the Bible Says

I've just stumbled upon this eloquent, articulate article on Homosexuality and Christianity. The "religious" debate over whether or not being gay is a sin has always been fraught with harsh words and a general lack of decency. This brings a little something different to the table. It ulimately speaks for itself, so here it is:

What the Bible Says - Rev. Dr. Mel White

First Post and Video - It Gets Better

This is my first video - a little something to get the blog jump-started while I finish my next video. It gets better!