When I was a child, I was taught that certain words were bad, that you don’t use them. For example, I was taught that the word “shit” was a bad word; therefore, I was barred from saying it and instead had to say, “dodo.”

I haven’t done a “Stupid Things People Say About Gays” in a while. Lots has been happening, but there’s certainly no shortage of stupid things people are saying. Here’s the latest from the AFA (American [heterosexual only] Family Association):

Congress is set to give legally protected status to 30 sexual orientations, including incest. Because of pressure from homosexual groups, Congress has refused to define what is meant by sexual orientation in H.R. 1913, the “Hate Crimes” bill. This means that the 30 different sexual orientations will be federally protected classes.

It’s never really mattered if you are gay or not, just the perception of homosexuality has been enough to cause peers to harass and bully you for your “faggot-ness.” The unfortunate and untimely deaths of Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11 year old 6th grader in Massachusetts, and Jaheem Herrera, and 11 year old 5th grader in Georgia, have brought to the media’s attention what LGBT activist have been saying for years, “We must protect our children.”

One of the blogs I follows, itisalwaystoday.blogspot.com, is written by a molecular biologist, self proclaimed hippy, heterosexual gay-activist that I’ve come to admire and respect very deeply. Recently, she discussed the potential for science to find a “gay” gene in her blog post, “Is Being Gay A Birth Defect? What if We Could Treat It?”

If you missed Closet Talk last night you missed a great story from MJ (as well as some technical distractions from yours truly at the beginning of the show). MJ eloquently told her story of life before and after the closet, weaving us through her fears and feelings of loneliness but always leading us right back to where we should be, hopeful.

Perhaps as if in response to the poll and post yesterday on jaysays and discussions during the 2009 Twitter Town Hall Meeting for LGBT Activists, the HRC released an action alert today which states…

So, a user-generated video – surely our community can come up with some fabUloUs ideas.  According to gays.com:
Check it out: http://gays.com/idaho
The Idaho Challenge is a community project by Gays.com to produce a user-generated video to be released 17 May 2009, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). While 67 countries have signed the new United Nations statement to decriminalise homosexuality worldwide, anti-gay discrimination remains a reality in many parts of the world. This year, with your help, we want to create a video that sends out the message that …

According to Mike (name changed to protect the innocent), a 17 year old senior at Grandfield High School, Ms. Taylor had been teaching The Laramie Project for about a month without incident. In fact, prior to teaching the story, Ms. Taylor was required to obtain approval for the play, and approval was given.

In “their” latest video, anti-gay folks are declaring that they are coming together in love to protect marriage… wait, no. Anti-Gay Christians are Satanists.

“I Do.” Who knew that two words consisting of three characters could result in such intense debate? Who knew that those two words would result in countless tears, not of joy, but of sorrow?