After the House Judiciary Committee approved the Matthew Shepard Act — otherwise known as the trans-inclusive Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act — for what feels like the 900th time (okay, the second), the full Congress may vote on the bill TOMORROW.
Enter organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, which is urging you to ring up your representative. (You’ll recall HRC now supports trans-inclusive legislation.)
Relays CQ Politics: “Under the bill, crimes of violence using fire, a gun or a bomb that are motivated by gender or sexual orientation would be punishable by a fine and up to 10 years in prison. Federal prosecutors would have to show a link to interstate commerce and get permission from the attorney general or another senior Justice Department official before bringing such a case. For several such offenses, including kidnapping and murder, the bill would provide for up to a life sentence in prison.”
jbw
I called my congressman. Have you?
Lee
AND the New Hampshire senate votes on marriage equality, so it’s URGENT that everyone who have written how much good the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do IMMEDIATELY e-mail everyone in the US House and NH Senate their favorite Sisters video.
paulied
I have called and e-mailed Congressman Cao’s office. Please do the same to your representative.
echelon
National Call-In Campaign! Let’s make this happen.
http://www.echelonmagazine.com/index.php?id=843
Coffee&Chicory
CALL YOUR REPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dabq
Everyone call, call, and get your friends and family to call as well!
TANK
@HeteroDefenseLeague:
WIll someone shoot this asshole? Please….
Captain Freedom
@HeteroDefenseLeague: You are an Evangelical Nazi. You worship the Confederate Flag and suck the dick of David Duke while letting him blast in your face.
GO BURN ANOTHER CROSS YOU ILLITERATE BIBLE THUMPING BOOK BURNING AMERICAN-AL QAEDA PIECE OF CONFEDERATE SHIT! GO KILL YOURSELF!
HeteroDefenseLeague
Oh, look at the hate mongering homosexual bigots, one homosexual terrorist (Tank) of which is soliciting my murder? Now do you see why we need a hate crimes law that protects us heterosexual conservatives from hate mongering murderous heterobashing homosexual ignorant bigoted thugs like Tank?
Oh, and now queerty is “moderating” my posts? It was only a matter of time before the homosexual bigoted agenda of intolerance finally decided to engage in political cleansing. What took you hate mongering fascist bigots so long?
sal
@TANK: @Captain Freedom: my friends ignore him as a friend of mine once said if you see a donkey in the road,do you talk to it?no cause you will look crazy….let the donkey be
ive learnt that this isnt a guy ready 4 anything other than hate
Dennis
@HeteroDefenseLeague:
Matthew Shepard was murdered in cold blood by a gay bashing bigot like you…you have so much blood on your hands and your karma that you should be reincarnated 1000 times as a dung beetle spending your life feeding on and living in shit! Oh, why did violence take innocent Matthew from us, and leave pieces of shit like you still breathing…sometimes there’s no justice.
Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, Ok, maybe you’ll get run over by a bus, or struck dead by lightening, or be the first American casualty of swine flu. Ok, now I feel better. Die motherfucker, die! I’ll join Tank in dancing on your grave, and then take a dump on it for good measure. You deserve no less…
Dennis
@HeteroDefenseLeague:
You twisted fuck, I know you just shot in your hand masturbating while getting off on my rage…I’ll have to learn to ignore you, as you no pleasure of any kind in this lifetime.
sal
@TANK: @Captain Freedom: at the end of the day the diff between us and him is that we have no problem in living ,working SIDE BY SIDE with our straight brothers and sisters but he ,like sexists and racists wanna be superior ALWAYS…..and they try to sell us that that would be the “perfect world” YIKES
Dennis
@Dennis:
“you deserve no pleasure in this lifetime”…it’s hard to type correctly when dealing with Satan incarnate…
sal
@Dennis: gosh pal dont work ya self up over a lost cause
Dennis
@sal:
I know, I know… Matthew Shepard’s death is kind of a personal cause for me… I didn’t know him while he was alive, but I did act/participate in a production of the Laramie Project, and it was one of the most moving experiences of my life…also travelled to Laramie Wy. and saw the bar where Matthew was last seen alive, and saw the fence where he was beaten bloody and left to freeze to death on a cold Wyoming night. It just makes me bat-shit crazy that scum like HDL exist, and take such pleasure in spreading their misery…have to learn to ignore it and move on…
vernonvanderbilt
@Dennis: Just remember that HDL’s only reason for living is to try to upset wonderful folks like us. He’ll get his in due time. The Universe abhors such disruption.
sal
@Dennis: and thats why even more we should ignore him,something this important should not be put down to his level.let us keep our eye on the prize and not on the poop on the ground
Dennis
@vernonvanderbilt:
Thank you, feeling better now…and will feel even better when the Hate Crimes Legislation is passed, finally bringing some justice to such a terribly sad loss.
Captain Freedom
@sal: Normally Sal I would agree with you but this donkey/ass just stormed into my community center and must be chased out. If it doesn’t leave, perhaps we should exercise our second-amendment rights. After all, I’ve always said gays are the last people who should be anti-gun rights.
vernonvanderbilt
@Dennis: Amen to that. We’re a little overdue for some victory, and I believe we’ll have one later today.
Captain Freedom
@HeteroDefenseLeague: Hey question, did you ever mix your white sheets and hood with your pink underwear? Because if you did, that would dye them white therefore making you a FAG just like the rest of us.
vernonvanderbilt
@sal: No need to ignore him. It’s more fun to belittle him and let him be our own personal punchline. As long as you’re not taking him seriously, all is well.
Captain Freedom
@Captain Freedom: I’m sorry, I meant it will dye them PINK therefore making you a FAG just like the rest of us.
sal
@Captain Freedom: man some days i sooo understand that frustration,that anger,hell i might be that tomorrow so you do what you do but he feeds off of it,he needs your anger which equals your attention …when he has no one to notice him (and that “broken recorder” messages he leaves)what he will do??either he will escalate the hate or leave.both sound good to me……….
vernonvanderbilt
@sal: You hit the nail on the head, buddy. If he’s not someone’s semi-clever joke, and he’s actually serious about the things he posts, then he’s a psychic vampire of sorts, feeding on the negativity he spurs. If you feed him, he continues to grow. If you starve him, he withers and dies. It’s a beautiful thing, really. The only power he has over you is the power you give to him.
sal
@vernonvanderbilt: well i kinda agree,his comments are ridiculous so respond if ya must ridiculously to him lol
Captain Freedom
@sal: Sal, everything you just mentioned is completely true and valid. STILL…. I just can’t resist. It’s like alcohol. When you quit and then go back it’s not called a relapse, ITS A COMEBACK!
You’re right though. I gotta back off. It’s just way too liberating to say how I really feel on this board when I could never say those things in public.
Plus its way late and I’m not tired enough to sleep.
sal
@vernonvanderbilt: lol well i grew up with someone like that…and she was a homophobe too lol
vernonvanderbilt
@sal: Trust me…I know where you’re coming from. Homophobia is pretty much the default mode in my neck of the woods.
sal
@Captain Freedom: lmao, a comeback huh lol
sal
@vernonvanderbilt: well thats the beauty this forum,we all come together as a community to debate issues that at the end of the day affect us all (being gay) and we often disagree cause we are individuals in other ways(yes to some straight people ,we are capable of being individuals lol) but thanks to the jerks like this tool here we naturally come together in our disgust ,which shows us we ARE one at the end of the day (sorry if i went all cheezy,but i mean it lol)
Dennis
@ everyone
Have to sign off for beddy-bye, but just wanted to send out another thanks for supportive people on the site…sometimes Queerty should be re-named “Bitchfight” (lmao), but there’s also true community on this site.
I was actually fighting back tears (and losing) when I thought about Matthew’s death…man, I was there, right there in that “podunk” town, right there at the fence where it all happened…beaten bloody and unconsious, dumped over a fence, and left for dead on a cold night..and I think of all the other victims of anti-gay, and anti-trans violence, and it can get overwhelming…
But you know, I think the best way to serve their memory is to be the “best gays” we can, the most joy-filled, the most creatively expressed, the most compassionate, the ones who aren’t silent in the face of bullshit. As they say, “living well is the best revenge”, and I think any of our commrades who have left us too soon would want us to live that way.
sal
well im out for da night,have fun y’all
sal
@Dennis: 🙂
vernonvanderbilt
@Everyone: I’m following suit. I’m getting sleepy, my foot needs its nightly elevation, and there’s a new DVD of Tokyo Zombie with my name on it. Have a beautiful rest, peeps.
anderson cooper is my future husband
@vernonvanderbilt: You are adorable:)
Bill Perdue
This is exactly the same bill the Democrats passed in both Houses of Congress in 2007, but then quietly scuttled it with eager Republican support so they could pander to straight christer bigots like anderson cooper is my future husband.
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.
anderson cooper is my future husband
I am an agnostic fag but hey OLD Bill can call me whatever he wants:)
Bill Perdue
@anderson cooper is my future husband: acimfh is straight and a christer. We know because out of the blue he began attacking gay atheists with outrageous lies;
blockquote> @Charles J. Mueller: As someone who does a lot of traveling to south east asia I know exactly the kind of traveler you are. For those of you who have never been to the Philippines it is infested with pervy old western men who go there because there are a lot of people who live in poverty who will form relationships with these old men out of sheer desperation. I have seen these men they go to these countries pay young men and women to have sex with them (often underage people) and delude themselves that “asians are not hung up on age” or “their sense of morality is different than ours” not taking into account crushing poverty and hunger for some people becomes so unbearable that sharing a bed with someone, anyone western is a ticket out of a very hard life. These relationships are always based on money.We met men like this there with their “boyfriends” they are essentially johns but pathetically don’t know it they genuinely think these people they pay for sex and eventually to live with them actually love them. No wonder you are not disgusted by this kid who blackmailed kids into sex acts you probably haven’t had uncoerced (free) sex in years.
http://www.queerty.com/wisconsin-boy-uses-facebook-to-sexually-assault-classmates-20090206/
Mueller ‘s companion is in his forties, hardly a boy so your arrogant description of a Philippine man as a boy reveals an ugly racism on top of your straight christer hated of gay men. 99.99% of you comments are similarly disgusting attacks on gay men who are atheists. You’re a disgusting breeder and a christer troll. Who else would invent such garbage?
Bill Perdue
The hate crimes bill is vital. Beginning in 2007 the combined attacks on us by straight christers like Dobson of the FOF and the incredible betrayal of Obama’s “gawd’s in the mix” led to a huge increase in violence according to the NCAVP. Even their figures are probably an understatement because they’re based on FBI figures.
Many beatings go unreported because of fear or because of police hostility go GLBT folks. If the hate crimes bill passes it’ll improve reporting and probably have a modest effect on crime but it won’t end bigotry or violence. Nevertheless it deserves our full support.
The real solution to bigotry and violence awaits fundamental changes in thinking by working people and minorities. As Obama’s recession gets closer to becoming Obama’s depression and as he continues his attacks on Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to steal oil the situation will continue to deteriorate.
When it gets bad enough, when working people have had enough, that’ll create the opening to form a government to end the rule of the looter rich and their christer enablers. That kind of government can almost immediately and take real steps to end bigotry by suppressing it’s source – religion.
vernonvanderbilt
@anderson cooper is my future husband: I haven’t gotten an adorable in a very long time. I’ll take that as a compliment, and thank you graciously. 🙂
@Bill Perdue: I agree, this is a very important piece of legislation for us, and I hope beyond hope that it passes. I, too, am in favour of a working-class revolt, though I think that unless we have some strong, eloquent leaders it will probably not go as smoothly as we’d like. When poor folks get riled up, they tend to go after each other rather than their oppressors. We need to train people to choose appropriate targets before letting them loose in the streets. I’d go into more detail on what I’ve been thinking, but I’m probably on a list somewhere as it is, so a public forum likely isn’t the place.
One thing I should point out, though, is that religion is a highly effective way to influence the masses. I would argue that the solution isn’t necessarily to abolish religion, but to introduce a new one altogether, one which embodies a better vision of the future. And yes, I’m working on that.
Nickadoo
Ugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iinqe_4O9bM
Bill Perdue
@vernonvanderbilt: Revolutions develop at a very uneven pace, reflecting differences in the understanding of people. The Boston merchants (smugglers to be precise) who wanted to tar and feather the royal tax men in 1775 were in danger of being tarred and feathered themselves a few years later.
Fundamental social changes like those of 1775 to 1783 and from 1860 to 1865 were characterized by periods of large scale mobilizations, defeats and demoralization, and the development of steel-hardened revolutionary instruments like the Continental Army and the Union Army. You can follow the first process precisely by reading Tom Paine’s pamphlets and the second by following the works of Frederick Douglass.
Terrorism has no part in that process and is usually a desperation tactic of those who’ve been defeated.
As for religion, I don’t think it can be entirely suppressed, but we can kick it till it’s down and keep it there. I’m not much interested in religion except for it use as a vehicle to promote anti-GLBT bigotry, woman hating or racism. That part of religion has to be suppressed with a heavy hand.
For instance, any decent government would have put the man who said this in jail:
That was pentecostal minister Jimmy Swaggart in 2004. Obama’s Minister of Pandering Joshua Dubois, who now heads the faith based bribery effort, is also an ordained pentecostal minister. So is Leah Daughtry, head of the Democratic (sic) National Committee. Like Swaggart, they’re pigheaded opponents of same sex marriage. As is Obama.
anderson cooper is my future husband
@vernonvanderbilt: It was adorable! And despite what my own personal troll says I’m an agnostic fag.
anderson cooper is my future husband
@Bill Perdue: Just calling bullshit on the bullies on the site and I don’t care who they are I don’t intimidate!
Bill Perdue
@anderson cooper is my future husband: @anderson cooper is my future husband: I wouldn’t bother intimidating you any more than I’d try to intimidate a slug. I’d just calmly pour salt on it. Here’s your daily dose of salt.
Mueller’s companion is in his forties.
Turn off the waterworks, christer. You Dobson, getreal and Pat Robertson all accuse gay men of pedophilia to take the spotlight off the real pedophiles – christer priests and pastors.
vernonvanderbilt
@Bill Perdue: So the question I would pose to you, Bill, is when exactly does revolutionary action become terrorism? Just interested in your opinion on that.
Bill Perdue
@vernonvanderbilt: It doesn’t.
Rightwing coups d’état and putsches are characterized by terrorism. They’re the efforts of a minority to impose it will.
It also occurs in anti-colonialist conflicts by nationalists to counter colonialist military terrorism. The fights in English occupied northern Ireland and in Palestine are good examples. And it’s used by misguided leftist groups when they feel desperate, as in the Weatherman bombings of the seventies. For an eye-opening look at the differences between terrormism and revolutionary mass action rent the film “The Battle of Algiers” where you’ll see well meaning Algerians battle French military terrorism and get rubbed out. The final scene shows the real Algerian Revolution begin when tens of thousands of women storm into the streets. Not unlike the march on Versailles or the women’s marches in May 1917 in Petrograd.
Revolutions are never won by terrorism but by the organized left leading working people, farmers and minority groups in mass actions.
vernonvanderbilt
@Bill Perdue: Good answer, and I will totally look for the film you mentioned. It sounds like something I’d enjoy, and manage to learn something from as well. I’d love to engage in further discussion on the subject, but I have an early day tomorrow so I should be getting to bed. Thanks for your input, though. It is much appreciated. Have a great night.