The American Family Association today sent out an e-mail “Action Alert” with the oh-so-alarming subject line, “Obama’s new military: Gays showering with straights.” It included a strident call for the AFA faithful to inundate their representatives in Congress with demands not to repeal the military’s anti-gay “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Here’s how it starts out: “Gays showering with straights? Absolutely. If President Obama, congressional Democrats, and homosexual activists get their wish, your son or daughter may be forced to share military showers and barracks with active and open homosexuals who may very well view them with sexual interest. Talk about creating a hostile work environment for people who practice normative sexuality!”
It goes on then to quote Gen. Colin Powell, who back in 1993 was against “integrating gays and lesbians” into the military. (He has long since changed his mind — AFA calls it bowing to political correctness — and now speaks in favor of repealing DADT.
Read the whole e-mail after the jump.
“Dear Friend:
“Gays showering with straights? Absolutely.
“If President Obama, congressional Democrats, and homosexual activists get their wish, your son or daughter may be forced to share military showers and barracks with active and open homosexuals who may very well view them with sexual interest.
“Talk about creating a hostile work environment for people who practice normative sexuality!
“As former General Colin Powell observed in 1993 (before bowing to pressures of political correctness), “…it would be prejudicial to good order and discipline to try to integrate gays and lesbians in the current military structure.”
“He compellingly argued against the completely bogus comparison between race and sexual preference: ‘Skin color is a benign, nonbehavioral characteristic. Sexual orientation is perhaps the most profound of human behavioral characteristics. Comparison of the two is a convenient but invalid argument.’
“Here are some important facts:
“Both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (which includes four million vets) have come out strongly against overturning the ban, with the VFW calling it a ‘new social-engineering project.’
“More than 1,160 retired admirals and generals strongly oppose the change, saying that overturning the ban would ‘undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all levels, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughter to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force.’
“Richard H. Black, the former chief of the U.S. Army’s criminal law division, citing numerous ‘criminal reports document[ing] serious offenses being committed frequently by homosexual GIs,’ calls the ban ‘an essential element of military discipline’ which ‘must be retained.’
“Overturning the ban will likely preclude advancement and promotions for officers and chaplains who do not publicly affirm homosexual behavior, essentially ending their military careers.
“If we do not insist that the ban on homosexual military service be retained, our military will no longer be the place America’s families want to send their best and brightest young men and women.
“Take Action. Email your representative and senators urging them to oppose the repeal of the ban on homosexuals in the military.
“Additional resource: AFA has established a dedicated webpage with extensive resources to help you understand and debate this issue.”
So there you have it: Proof positive that the anti-gay right-wingers will stoop to any low, engage in even the most outlandish and unbelievable scare tactics and not just distort the facts but lie outright to promote their hateful agenda.
26 Comments
You know, I have to wonder how these people answer the problem of why is it that most homosexual civilians can seem to get through life with out raping and assaulting people, but those in the military supposedly have no self-control.
the same “showering” argument was brought up to me recently by a person who served in the military. i responded with “if you think for a moment that you haven’t already showered with a homosexual in the military, you are sadly mistaken. the only difference repealing dadt will make is allowing that person to serve openly with dignity and honor.”
What is it with heterosexuals always thinking that gay people want them sexually?
Have y’all straights LOOKED in a freakin’ MIRROR lately, fat asses???
Seriously, why on earth would a gay person want a straight person sexually, when we’re so much hotter than them???
Straight brains must be stored in their asses or something.
What complete and total idiots. Stupid, ignorant morons.
ALL the issues in the United States, and the world, an THIS is what gets so much time and energy??
Get your fkn priorities in line all you conservative dumb asses. Who you shower with is about 9,265,638,822,986,476,115,491 on the list of things we need to be even THINKING about.
If it makes them feel better I won’t be joining anytime soon. Although their description of hot and steamy man-on-man shower scenes certainly make the military sound much more tempting than it did.
Why do I even bother looking at gay porn when the AFA is so good at articulating and describing my hottest fantasies. God bless these people and their fascination with sex.
# Matt Dominguez Says:
February 9th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
You know, I have to wonder how these people answer the problem of why is it that most homosexual civilians can seem to get through life with out raping and assaulting people, but those in the military supposedly have no self-control.
===============
I also never seem to be amazed at the number of people who go through life being completely ignorant of who is doing violence to whom.
The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project reports estimates of one in four homosexual men suffering domestic violence. And it’s not the only one to report very high numbers of dysfunctional, violent homosexuals. Do the research and then post something intelligent on the subject of violence.
https://www.gmdvp.org/
Oh, and let us take the opportunity to do another very interesting comparison.
In total numbers, who commits more violent crimes against homosexuals?
a) Christians (or anybody else) as a result of so-called “hate” crimes based on sexual orientation
b) other homosexuals
The answer is B) OTHER HOMOSEXUALS, BY WALLOPING MARGINS.
The total reported number of hate crimes for male sexual orientation is less than 1500 for recent years.
The total estimated domestic violence perpetrators for male homosexuals is around 750 000 (if we use an *extremely* conservative percentage of 2% homosexuals of the total population. I actually think it’s much higher).
1500 compared to 750 000 — that’s all. And that’s using conservative estimates.
Brian,
Don’t you dare go and apply logic.
Their tiny little brains aren’t equipped for it.
Meanwhile, what do I have to do to get some of those army boys in MY shower? It’s lonely in there.
Alessandra, why are you comparing hate crime statistics with domestic violence statistics? They don’t relate. Unless there are just a large number of self-hating professed homosexuals beating up people because they’re gay. That’s what a hate crime is. What you should be comparing is domestic violence in homosexual households to those in heterosexual households. Or the number of Christians (or anybody else) that are attacked by homosexuals for being christians with the number of hate crimes committed against homosexuals.
You can’t just take statistics studying 2 completely different types of crimes and line them up as though they were the same thing.
A new study by the Anti-Violence Coalition shows that the rate of domestic violence in gay or lesbians home is exactly the same – not higher or lower – than domestic violence among the heterosexual population.
Hate crime statistics show that ALL hate crimes against gays and lesbians are committed by the group Alessandra tries to defend and there are NO reports of hate crimes by the LGBT community against the heterosexual community. None.
Don’t ya just hate it when they compare one thing to another to prove something else? The topic was DADT.
For a fuller report on intimate partner and hate violence, see my article in this Friday’s Dallas Voice.
Now I’m beginning to think she was a hilariously well constructed segway into reading your upcoming article.
Hey, I’m the king (maybe queen) of segues … and thank you for noticing. And speaking of noticing … I hope you noticed our Black History Month series. I’m have fun talking to a number of people in the community.
# Matt Dominguez Says:
February 9th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
You know, I have to wonder how these people answer the problem of why is it that most homosexual civilians can seem to get through life with out raping and assaulting people, but those in the military supposedly have no self-control.
======================
I was just addressing this completely ignorant statement that you wrote:
MOST HOMOSEXUAL CIVILIANS CAN SEEM TO GET THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT RAPING AND ASSAULTING PEOPLE
The total estimated domestic violence perpetrators for male homosexuals is around 750 000 (if we use an *extremely* conservative percentage of 2% homosexuals of the total population. I actually think it’s much higher).
I just added the comparison with hate crimes, seeing how ignorant so many people are on these issues. It was pre-emptive. Before people would reply it’s others who do a lot of violence TO homosexuals, society at large is simply ignorant of how violent homosexuals are to themselves. And this is not counting how violent they are to other people, which, as far as know, is not computed in crime stats. A very unfortunate lack of data.
Once again your statement makes no sense. In order to negate what I’m saying you need to prove that most homosexuals do rape and assault people. That would be the exact opposite of the statement. All you’ve done is come up with domestic violence statistics which, as David has pointed out, are pretty much the same compared to domestic violence in heterosexual households and have nothing to do with over all violence by homosexuals. If what your trying to prove is that most violence against homosexuals is caused by homosexuals thats not that incredible to believe. Violent acts tend to occur between people who know one another. You’d probably get the same result if you compared violence in Black communities, Asian, hispanic, etc.
Dear Allessandra: We are used to seeing the kind of nonsense and “statistics taken out of context” that you are using here from people trying to find some excuse — no matter how twisted and even outright false — to justify their own prejudices. But just so you know, you should not expect this kind of “scare tactic” crap to work on an LGBT audience, which is what you are addressing on this blog.
I’m less offended by her assertions about gays and lesbians than I am by her outright ignorance. Alessandra, before you go pulling out statistics, no matter how good they may be, you need apply a little critical thinking. You seem to have no real concept of context. You’ve just taken a bunch of disparate stats and leapt to a conclusion that gays and lesbians are one giant muderous gang. The reality is that the only thing you’ve “proven” is that gays, or at least gay men bc I don’t see anything about lesbians, commit domestic violence at about the same rate as their hetero conterparts.
Matt Dominguez Says:
February 10th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Once again your statement makes no sense. In order to negate what I’m saying you need to prove that most homosexuals do rape and assault people. That would be the exact opposite of the statement.
========================
I don’t need to prove that your statement is false and misleading by presenting the exact opposite.
One in four is a very significant number of any group. Imagine if we were talking about how many people killed their own children. If we had one in four Americans killing their own children, would you agree that someone who says “most American are very nice and don’t murder anyone” as giving a balanced picture of the situation? I’d call it blatant lying by omission and over-generalization.
# Tammye Nash Says:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Dear Allessandra: We are used to seeing the kind of nonsense and “statistics taken out of context” that you are using here from people trying to find some excuse — no matter how twisted and even outright false — to justify their own prejudices. But just so you know, you should not expect this kind of “scare tactic” crap to work on an LGBT audience, which is what you are addressing on this blog.
===============
You have a problem with these statistics? Which stats do you know about? Please post all the stats you can find, the sources, discuss and debate. You wouldn’t be completely ignorant on the issue, would you?
Is lying about every single case of harassment or violence perpetrated by any homosexual how you go through life? Society has a lot to fear from you then.
A new study by the Anti-Violence Coalition shows that the rate of domestic violence in gay or lesbians home is exactly the same – not higher or lower – than domestic violence among the heterosexual population.
=========================
I’m happy that they have been able to calculate the exact number of homosexuals in the country. How much is it? Did they put the bisexuals in a third category? Or they grouped them together with the heterosexuals? Do you have a link to the study?
David Taffet Says:
February 10th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Hate crime statistics show that ALL hate crimes against gays and lesbians are committed by the group Alessandra tries to defend and there are NO reports of hate crimes by the LGBT community against the heterosexual community. None.
=======================
The group Alessandra tries to defend? Defend where? Defend regarding what?
And what exactly do so-called hate crime statistics tell us about all the perpetrators?
https://edition.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/06/military.obesity/index.html
Paul Crane said he lost everything when he was kicked out of the Army after 15 years — for being 8 pounds overweight.
Every year, between 3,000 and 5,000 service members such as Crane are forced to leave the military for being too fat.
——
Although there’s a difference between someone who sits behind a desk all day and someone whose work involves physical activity, it’s completely discriminatory to discharge someone with a sedentary job because they ate a few more Twinkies.
I don’t see pro-homos crying about how unjust it is that good men and women who had a few more chocolate bars were expelled from the military, if they were in sedentary jobs. Additionally, they don’t harass other people in the showers because of their overweight condition, and fat men don’t get military women pregnant because of their preference for two large fries.
There were a lot more chunky people that were discharged than DADT cases, but are liberals wailing and putting on their drama queen shows about it? Are they clamoring for their savior President to dismantle this horrible discriminatory practice?
No, they can care less.
Could someone please tell the bitter hag that keeps posting here to go find someone who gives a fuck what she has to blather on about?
It’s a complete waste of electrons.
OK, I’m going to partly agree with Alessandra on something. There are lots of jobs in the military that don’t require people to be particularly fit. Kicking them out because of weight is another waste of talent. But far be it from me to say that lots of things the military does is stupid. She just proves my point. I won’t argue that you CAN lose weight but CAN’T lose your sexual orientation because weight, for some people, is part of whom they are.
The statistics show that the perpetrators of hate crimes are NOT gay. Some may have internalized homophobia, in other words people who are gay but have suppressed who they are because of religious teachings or bigoted family backgrounds. But gay people do NOT commit hate crimes. That’s what statistics show. Hope that’s clearer for you.
And Alessandra, the way you use the term “pro-homos,” you don’t mind f I call you a fucking bitch, do you? It shows the same amount of respect and is not the way I talk to people who disagree with me when they show similar respect.
“I don’t need to prove that your statement is false and misleading by presenting the exact opposite. ”
Actually Alessandra you do thats how it works. My statement was basically saying that most gays and lesbians are not violent and so far all you’ve managed to come up with was that SOME gays (2% I believe was you number) are violent. These are not the same argument. Maybe 2% of 10% is a significant number to you personally but mathematically its not even close to what you’re trying to prove Until you come at me with some statistics showing that the majority of gays and lesbians are violent thugs then my statement stands.
And Alessandra, just because I haven’t copy and pasted a bunch of statistics from Google doesn’t mean that I’m being the ignoramus in this argument. I’m simply applying Occam’s razor and making reasonable assumptions based on the limited amount of evidence that we have, ie most gays aren’t violent because most PEOPLE aren’t violent. If you had proved me wrong, which you haven’t, then I would admit it. I’m gay but my favorite past time is science and I understand the importance of evolving your viewpoint based on the examination of evidence. You’re making irrational conclusions based on studies which don’t really have anything to do with what you’re saying. Incredible statements like Most gays (and again you’ve said nothing about lesbians) are violent require overwhelming evidence. Some domestic violence numbers ( which, again, are statistically the same as heterosexual households) doesn’t even come close to proving your point. All it proves is that gay men have just as much potential for violence as straight, which is about what any rational minded person would expect.
Alessandra, I just want to say I don’t care if you agree or disagree with my sex life. You obviously have an opinion and you are certainly entitled to it. However, it’s very obvious to anyone who’s ever dealt in critical thinking to see that you could use a little bit yourself. Statistics alone, numbers on a paper, stories in the media don’t constitute a well thought argument. They’re simply one piece of an argument. Critical thinking, examination of said evidence, and a cautious aversion to incredible conclusions through the application of Occam’s razor is the only real way to form an argument.
Also just a couple of more points. The fact that we’re not on here arguing for the rights of the overweight doesn’t mean that no one cares. This is a GAY newspaper, in case you didn’t notice, Alessandra so it only makes sense we would be talking about DADT and not something else. Doesn’t mean I don’t care, its just not the right forum.
Also, concerning this statement:
One in four is a very significant number of any group. Imagine if we were talking about how many people killed their own children. If we had one in four Americans killing their own children, would you agree that someone who says “most American are very nice and don’t murder anyone” as giving a balanced picture of the situation? I’d call it blatant lying by omission and over-generalization.
My use of the word most is not an unbalanced, over-generalization. If I had said ALL then yes you would be correct in criticizing me. However the word “most”, which is defined
1. in the greatest quantity, amount, measure, degree, or number: to win the most votes.
2. in the majority of instances: Most operations are successful.
3. greatest, as in size or extent: the most talent.
perfectly fits the argument. And, frankly, your statistics of 2% out of 10% only support strengthen my conclusion.
GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA