Violence against Gays up in 2007

Violence against the GLBT community rose 24 percent in 2007, increasing from a total of 1954 victims reporting incidents to 2430 victims incidents. . By the same token the number of reported incidents rose by 23 percent from 1486 to 1833. The statistics come from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and more than thirty of its members. In a 78 page report the group concludes that hate-based violence against Gays, Lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders had increased by 24 percent.

Regrettably incidents of harassment have also increased. Now why, you might be wondering would incidents of harassment and violence be on the rise? oh Jeez, I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with the hate speech and reactionary rhetoric of the far right as it attempts to undermine civil unions and gay marriage.. In its determination to promote straight marriage the far right has opted to demonize gays and lesbians. Instead of promoting straight marriage the far right has equated gays and lesbians with everything from incest and bestiality to child molestation. I don’t know about you but the last I knew most people, gay or straight alike, don’t want to marry their brothers, sisters, or parents. The vast majority of people be they gay or straight, don’t want to marry their Dobermans and German Shepherds. And only the sickest of individuals want to have sex with children.

But what the homophobes ignore is the fact that homosexuality is perfectly normal expression of human sexuality. It occurs in all cultures and within all religions. Indeed, as we recently learned, very often those who condemn homosexuality the loudest are in fact trying to deny their own gay tendencies. That said psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, view homosexuality as falling within the normal range of human behavior. Granted, there are always a few exceptions to the rules, but for the most part it is not viewed upon abnormally.

But tell that to the Christian Right which dismisses social science in favor of a literal translation of the body. For this crew a few choice writings from Leviticus and the Book of Romans mean more than research and social science. Having dismissed the facts the far right operates on platitudes from the Bronze Age, making it easier for them to dehumanize their would be victims . The Radical Christian Right has obsessed over gays and sexually transmitted diseases. Referring to Mein Kampf, Hitler rants for page after turgid page about the evils of syphilis. Along with Judaism, Communism, and rabid German Nationalism, it’s a topic that obsessed Adolf Hitler to no end. Smearing your intended victims as somehow diseased or deserving of disease is a classic, hate mongering tactic, and the fascist mindset of the extreme elements of the Republican Party displays the same kind of sick preoccupation with venereal disease whenever it attempts to discuss the topics of gay marriage, civil unions, and gay rights in general.

Not that the rhetoric they employ is always consistent. On one hand the far right argues that marriage and monogamy are good things because (in addition to providing a stable framework in which to raise children) marriage and monogamy also prevent the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. But then, the Radical Christian Right reveals a truly genocidal nature and does everything in its power to deny gays and lesbians their rights, and by extension, protections which come through marriage. In many ways this is a continuation of the attitude (problem) which prevailed during the 1980s when the Reagen Administration seemed confused and irritated by frequent demands for funding increases for AIDS research. The attitude at the time (and now) was that AIDS was a punishment from God; it was killing the right kinds of people (gays, blacks, and drug addicts), so why ruin a good thing?

In Nazi Germany Jews were frequently condemned because of their alleged financial success and higher levels of education. Today the fanatical core of the Republican Party (which seems to have a phobic reaction when it comes to funding higher education) complains bitterly because gays and lesbians are highly educated and make decent livings. Ironically, this argument comes from the same Social Darwinists who routinely condemn the idea of class warfare, but who, in their rabid attempts to demonize the people they love to hate, have adopted the very class warfare rhetoric which they so stridently and hypocritically condemn. Go figure.

Early on, the German Nazis frequently claimed that the Jews not only controlled the banks, but the German media as well. Now fast forward to the year 2005. Today the Radical Christian Right tells us that in addition to Jews, gays and lesbians are in full control of Hollywood, radio, and television. Unless of course you’re listening to Christian broadcasting or the AM, Rush Limbaugh hate band–in which case you’re confronted with a nonstop flow of anal retentive drivel which sounds as it were penned by the likes of Paul Josef Goebbels.

During the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, German Nazis routinely condemned all Jews as “Christ-killers.” Some things never change. The Radical Christian Right is still virulently anti-Semitic, but it also spews paranoid drivel about the alleged role that Gays and Lesbians are playing in a New Age Satanic plot designed to corrupt our youth, destroy our schools, and take over the world. Never mind the obvious self judgment on the part of the Radical Christian Right, the truth of the matter is that many gays and lesbians (present company no longer included) have accepted the Bible as the inspired word of God and are seeking a closer relationship with their maker: not to mention and open, accepting atmosphere in which to peacefully worship without fear of harassment or the threat of physical abuse.

Nazi propaganda often referred to Jews as rats and vermin. Today delusional clergy men and vociferous hate groups denigrate gays and lesbians as “rats” and “evolutionary mistakes.”

German Nazis were genocidal in the extreme. Their blood soaked atrocities are a well known part of the historical record. Few, however, are familiar with the insane ranting of Paul Cameron, who, in 1983 had advocated the extermination of homosexuals. Two years later, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Cameron attempted to put his remarks in a more acceptable context: “Unless we get lucky in the next three or four years one of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals,” said Cameron. In subsequent years Cameron was thoroughly discredited, his so-called research debunked, but yet the Radical Christian Right continues to use his deluded drivel to further its incredibly oppressive agenda.

Homosexuals are frequently accused of wanting to persecute or harass Christians, or of wanting to give AIDS to Christians. This type of rhetoric is highly similar to the kind of twaddle that the German Nazis spread about their Jewish victims, but if you want to take a look at who the real culprit here you only have to look at the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas, and its moronic leader, the “Reverend” Fred Phelps, who travel around the country attending public events such as funerals and graduations where they spew anti gay slogans. Their latest tactic–attending the funerals of young American Soldiers who were killed in Iraq, because Phelps and his merry band of borderline psychotics are convinced that young soldiers are being killed because America has embraced a pro-homosexual agenda. Yeah. Right. And to make the situation even more bewildering, Cameron once considered himself a (conservative) Democrat–that despite the fact that his foolish attitudes on everyone from Gays and Jews to Mister Rogers put him squarely in the Republican Religious Right. Go figure.

I’m sure that the Radical Right “Christians” who are reading this will, as usual, attempt to claim that this is an attack on their religion, when, in fact it is not. I am merely condemning those who would wrap a fascist agenda in a cloak of Christian hypocrisy and call it Americanism. Moreover,I’m sure my little effort here will be countered with half-baked conspiracy theories and cooked social research from just about every wing nut out there ,

This may come as a shock and a revelation to some, but the GLBT community goes to work, pays taxes and generally wants the same things that heterosexuals want. We want nice places to live, significant others,familids–the American dream if you will