Hilary Clinton Enforces Foreign Policy on Gay Rights

You may remember I previously posted about Hilary Clinton’s speech before the United Nations on gay rights globally. In the speech, she commented on how she wanted to usher in an AIDS free generation and also called on all nations to treat gay individuals as equally as any other individual. In her speech, Clinton said, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished.”

Recently, she made good on her promise of support by “sending funds to gay-rights advocacy groups and local officials in problem nations like Honduras, Uganda, Malawi, Pakistan and Serbia,” as reported in Queerty. The purpose of these funds is to set up police task forces to investigate hate crimes based on an individual’s sexual orientation.

Josue Hernandez, who was interviewed by The Miami Herald, had this to say about life in Honduras as a gay man, “We are in a deplorable state. When we walk the streets, people shout insults at us and throw rocks. Parents move their children away.” In fact, Honduras reports over 60 homicides which have been directly linked to the victim’s sexuality.

Kudos to Clinton for using her clout and resources to affect positive global change. This is the lasting global impact all nation’s leaders should be emulating.

Rush Limbaugh: School Tolerance to Blame in Student Murder

The trial of Brian McInereny, the young man who shot and killed fellow middle school student Larry King in February 2008, has concluded. As reported on ThinkProgress, “McInerney will spend 21 years in prison, until he is 38 years old, and avoid a second trial.”

At the age of 14, McInereny pulled a handgun from his backpack and shot King in the back of his head because King allegedly acted flamboyantly in school. Now, at 17 years old, McInereny faces the next 21 years of his life in prison.

This story is beyond tragic. The lives of two young men have been ended because of hate and intolerance.

But, what makes this story even more tragic is Rush Limbaugh’s comments. Limbaugh believes that Oxnard Middle School, where both boys attended, shares responsibilities in King’s death “because school authorities were interested in promoting a homosexual agenda and had not done enough to dissuade King from dressing in women’s accessories, wearing makeup, and flirting with male students.”

This is ridiculous because Limbaugh’s idiocy sound too much like blaming the victim. I remember arguments a few decades ago blaming a woman for being raped if she wore suggestive clothing. So since King acted too much like a girl, he was simply asking to be assaulted? Give me a break!

Limbaugh needs to not blame the victim or the school for an individual’s choices. No one forced McInereny to pack a gun for school that day. No one made him pull the gun out and pull the trigger. Those actions were McInereny’s alone, no matter how disheartening that is.

 

 

 

Pastor Who Assaulted Son in TN Is Also A Thief

A few days ago, I posted about the Pastor, Jeremy Pittman, Sr., from Grace Fellowship Church in Tennessee, who assaulted his son and his boyfriend for trying to attend church. Click here to read the full post.

New information, first discovered on Queerty, has surfaced regarding additional charges being brought against the holier-than-thou pastor. According to WBBJ, the local ABC affiliate, the pastor’s criminal activity extends to “charges of stealing from a local business.” The business in question is owned by the elder Pittman’s estranged wife, where he is accused of stealing more than $1,000 in materials which were later sold by Pittman, Sr., for scrap.

It seems the pastor has a penchant for pilfering as well physical and psychological battery.

But wait…there’s more!

Closer inspection of Pastor Pilferer’s criminal record reveals that “This actually is not the first time Pittman has been arrested. Police said he was arrested back in 2006 for a simple assault charge” involving his daughter’s boyfriend.

Apparently, the pastor has a hate-on for anyone in or associated with his family. This is exactly the type of man who should be pastor of a church!

Honestly, I used to fear what the conservative Christians who preach hate and intolerance might do if they ever gained true power in this country. But as shown by Pittman, Sr. and many others in the news, they will ultimately self-destruct. Anyone who hates others so vehemently struggles with dangerous inner demons that will eventually see the light of day. All we need to do is wait and watch!

In Tennessee: Two Gay Men Assaulted For Trying to Attend Church Services

If you’re like me, you were raised to believe that God is good, and that His church, His places of worship, (no matter what religious denomination it might be) are where all are welcome—the believers and the sinners, the members of society and those castaway from it, the rich and the poor, and the healthy and the sick.

Churches are safe havens. It’s where we as members of a flock can find solace and unconditional love in times of great distress. After all, God loves every single one of us, and those of us who are Christians believe He sent His only son to us as a gift—to show us what true love really means. That love, that acceptance begins at God’s house—his church.

Apparently, that might no longer be true.

Pittman, Jr and Lee after assault

Pittman, Jr and Lee after assault

Last Wednesday, in an appalling scene at Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland, Tennessee, two gay men were attacked for simply trying to enter a church to worship.

Jeremy Pittman, Jr. and his boyfriend, Dustin Lee, were barred entry from the church by church leaders. Pittman and Lee were then verbally and physically assaulted by the pastor and deacons. To make matters worse, two of the offenders were Pittman’s father, Jeremy Pittman, Sr. (pastor of Grace Fellowship Church) and Pittman’s uncle, who was one of the deacons. The attack took place in front of the church, where several church goers witnessed the attack and did nothing to help Pittman, Jr. or Lee.

According to WBBJ, the local CBS affiliate, Pittman, Jr. told reporters: “My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad’s request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn’t help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back,” said Pittman. He also stated the deacon yelled derogatory homosexual slurs, even after officers arrived, and the officers never attempted to stop the deacons’ verbal assaults.

Even though, the responding deputy reportedly did not allow Pittman, Jr. or Lee to press charges or file a complaint at the time of the assault, all parties are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

This story boggles my mind!

How could church leaders—a pastor and three deacons—think in any way that God would have wanted them to not only prevent individuals from worshipping but to assault them? And to do so in His name?  How could these men think God would have wanted them to physically assault a member of their own family?

What infuriates me the most is that these are the same Christian extremists who claim homosexuality destroys the family and causes irreparable damage to God’s children!

Are they really talking about homosexuals or themselves?

The pastor and the deacons at Grace Fellowship Church, and others like them in the nation and the world, are the ones behind these types of attacks, not the homosexuals!

I have yet to hear one story of a group of homosexuals converging on an unsuspecting Christian and beating him or preventing him from entering a Neiman Marcus. I have yet to hear a story of a straight teen committing suicide because a horde of homosexuals taunted him by calling him a breeder. I have yet to hear of a congregation at a Metropolitan Community Church (a church run by and for spiritual homosexuals) banning straight people from attending services or beating them on church grounds.

Homosexuals aren’t the ones creating the violence. We aren’t even responding to violence with violence. In fact, we keep turning the other cheek, we try to show love even when met with violence, and we follow the laws of the land to incite change. We don’t attack others, and we don’t turn our backs on family, even if they turn their backs on us.

This only makes me wonder: just who is following God’s laws again?

Story originally found via Towleroad