Advertising Homophobia and Losing
March 25th, 2006
I saw this post on Boing Boing involving a blogger and free speech. Justin had posted the above image in response to this image:
source: imightbeinatree.com
which is/was a campaign by Exodus International, a group that disagrees with homosexuality and tries to “cure” it through the “love of Jesus Christ” amongst other methods.
Justin got a cease and desist letter from Exodus, got legal representation and contacted the ACLU. Here’s the ACLU response.
This story got picked up by USA Today. Result thus far: Exodus has backed off.
blurbomat 2¢: blurbomat believes that most gay people are born gay. Some might not be and make a choice to be gay, but we believe those individuals to be in the minority in the gay community. We also believe that any Christian group trying to un-gay somebody is hypocritical. We don’t believe that being homosexual is a sin. We think the cross to bear is not for those who are gay, but those who believe in crosses in the first place. o
March 26th, 2006 at 7:46 am
“We think the cross to bear is not for those who are gay, but those who believe in crosses in the first place.”
Bravo! I love that!
March 26th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Jon, I realize from time to time that I am spoiled living in the SF bay area, where there is such a large gay community that it’s much more accepted. This kind of thing horrifies me, but it is so good to know that there are people like you out there to help point out the people that are making a stand. Just wanted to say thanks for that.
March 26th, 2006 at 9:19 am
What defines a person is their capability for love, not the object of their love.
March 26th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Sort of off topic, but I can’t resist… I never quite understood this concept of “Saving the homosexuals and other sinners”. What are homosexuals being saved from? Hell? Let’s say for a second that Hell is a real concept, why do YOU care if I’M going to hell? Can’t people just be happy with their religion and their reserved place in heaven? Why would you care where I end up? I never understood this desire to convert those who have different beliefs. What if a homosexual group went out on missions and tried to convert religious people into being gay? Is that why the group with the billboard above is so upset? Do they actually think that if someone reads this sign, they’re going to suddenly be gay?
I guess it’d be different if people really began to understand that being gay isn’t something someone chooses, while I am sure that does occasionally happen, it’s not the norm. People are born gay, just as people are born straight. It’s not a sickness that needs to be cured.
People aren’t born religious. People aren’t born knowing what GOD is. God is taught. Heaven is taught. Hell is taught. The concept of right and wrong is taught. Attraction is not taught. Love is not taught. Pleasure is not taught. Pain is not taught.
What if I told a religious person that religion was a sickness, that loving God was a sickness and they needed to be cured?
March 26th, 2006 at 10:30 am
Mihow, when the movie Philadelphia first came out my aunt freaked out that her daughter and I went to see it. She was (and I’m not kidding) concerned that we would get “gay ideas”.
Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s a big stretch to think that people who say they want to “save homosexuals” might actually believe that there’s some kind of recruitment going on.
March 26th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Well, I guess when your life is filled with recruitment and brainwashing* other people, it really isn’t much of a surprise that you might believe a person can be convinced into a life of Gay.
*Forgive me, Father. For I have sinned.
March 26th, 2006 at 10:57 am
Actually, that was a shitty comment. Sorry. It probably should be deleted.
March 26th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Right on, Justin, and right on, blurb!!!! I totally agree and support both of you!
It always reinforces my bias against organized religion when they show their intolerance like this while preaching “love thy neighbor” at the same time.
March 26th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Re your two cents which any rational person would agree with, all the homophobes have to do is picture someone trying to “unstraighten” them. Would it work? NO! Homosexuality is hard-wiring…just as heterosexuality is.
March 26th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
“Stupid? Unhappy?”
March 26th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Excellent post, as always. I’m a Catholic, and I completely take your stand on homosexuals; I disagree with the church on this issue. (There are a LOT of things I disagree with Catholicism on, but that’s another time and place.)
I believe that if God tells us to “love one another as thyself”, it doesn’t come with exceptions. It’s not, “love your neighbor as yourself, EXCEPT WHEN…”
Homosexuals are PEOPLE, not some strange creatures that we should be against and try to “change”. As someone with many gay friends, I know how they feel about these billboards being put up around the area. There are several in the St. Louis area with the message, “Change is possible” on them, and I can’t imagine how I would feel driving by that if I were in their shoes. The billboards anger me enough, and I’m a heterosexual.
Thanks to Blurb for sharing his open mindedness with everyone, and for being willing to put his point of view out there for all to see, agree or disagree with him.
March 26th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
These billboards make me want to vomit. My husband and I passed one today and started talking about it. So much hate in the world.
March 27th, 2006 at 8:05 am
Thank you, Stacyb - sometimes I feel like the only other Christian on the internet who could care less who is sleeping with whom. All those people who use the Bible to justify hatred, intolerance and bigotry make me want to scream with frustration. I think God probably doesn’t care who you get in bed with as long as there is love in the relationship.
March 27th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Jon I have to say that I love your blog. You bring me hope that all straight people who live in Utah aren’t all complete idiots. Leta is lucky to have you as her father. oh and I couldn’t log onto Exodus.com to see what these morons are talking about(Damn you work internet filter!!!)Cheers… ROD
March 27th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Reminds me of Love in Action, a group with a similar goal (www.loveinaction.org, if you feel like vomiting). I heard a great piece on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook late last year, and it was incredibly enlightening, and really made the group look stupid. This poor woman who had “un-lesbianed” herself went on the show with the intention of defending the group and her personal choice to deny her sexual orientation but instead, she accidentally illustrated to the world exactly how unhappy she was with her forced life choice. It was so sad, but so enlightening, I think, for everyone to see exactly how harmful these groups are to all of us, but mostly to those who buy into them.
March 27th, 2006 at 10:38 am
“We think the cross to bear is not for those who are gay, but those who believe in crosses in the first place.”
bravo! i’m going to remember that line.
March 27th, 2006 at 10:45 am
Blurb,
Thank you agian for showing us all just why you are so awesome! I saw the original billboard and I was so upset by it and also upset because I did not have anyway to strike back. If only I had been so creative. I love the response billboard. Thanks agian!
Angela
March 27th, 2006 at 11:40 am
(puts hands together in applause) Well said Jon, couldn’t have put it better myself.
I’m an atheist and don’t believe in any god/deity/whatever, but if there is one then I firmly believe they wouldn’t want churches spreading all this hate. Why are they so hung up on trying to ‘fix’ what they see as ‘wrong’?? Can’t they channel that energy into helping the homeless and starving, people who need help?
March 27th, 2006 at 11:53 am
“ignorant? unhappy?”
“prejudice? unhappy?”
“selfrightous? unhappy?”
Yes, they are….why do people spend their lives, time and energy trying to make other people feel worthless and unloved by THEIR God. Who is this God? If their God is the right God than you can count me out, besides I am pretty sure they are confusing the message. In the Bible it makes reference to two sinners who were commiting the sin of “sodomy” but in real interpretation sodomy is anything other than the missinary possition…I think we are all sinners and if we aren’t,well, than we have better work on our sex skills!
March 27th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Amen, John. We have a friend that was “degayed” and now is getting married, my heart cringes for the both of them. Does “we” at blurbomat 2 cents mean you and Chuck? I wish “we” were all loving thy neighbor as thy self.
March 27th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
Oh. My. Word. Where were these billboards?
I need to move somewhere a bit more interesting than Dallas.
March 27th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Jes, you can move to Southwest Florida and not only see billboards like that, but a slew of terrifying anti-abortion billboards that scream, “ABORTION: the real weapon of mass destruction!”
Sigh.
March 27th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
That is a very clever response to a very homophobic view. After reading the bible last year in a more scholarly way,I am pagan, I realized Jesus would have totally not cared about gay people marrying gay people…I pity the Christians who don’t know that.
Also that guy lives in my city!! yeah there’s something in the air up here I tell you.
March 27th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Well, I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of months and many times have been compelled by what you’ve had to say.
After reading this entry, I had to comment but also needed to put my thoughts in order and really think this one over and put my thoughts together. This type of ignorance, prejudice, and bigotry angers me so much.
I grew up with my mom and step-father and when I was 15 years old, I tracked my birth father down. Before meeting him, I met his mother and the very first thing she said to me was “the first thing I want you to know is that he’s gay, in the event that this would make you not want to meet him.”
It absolutely floored me that she thought that his homosexuality would make me not want to know my father. Because of the way she phrased this, making it seem like she was protecting her son and his emotions, I assumed that she was accepting of his lifestyle.
The truth was that my fathers orientation was such an issue with his family that he was in his early 30’s before he came out and to avoid as much confrontation and judgement as possible, he had moved 3,000 miles away.
His christian family claims to be open and accepting of his orientation, but theres always the back handed comments about how the fear for his soul. Although he has been “out” for close to 20 years now, I am still the only member of the family to have ever met any of the men in his life because of his familys prejudice and judgement. To this day, he’s still ashamed when one of his nieces or nephews learns of his orientation.
He and I now have a great relationship and he regularly harasses me to provide him with grandchildren and I know that he will be an amazing grandfather. I certainly hope that whenever that does happen that he is secure in knowing that any children I have will be raised to not have these kinds of biggoted views and that he is never the least bit ashamed of who is he with his grandchild(ren).
March 28th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I was raised Catholic, and the God I know isn’t the wrathful, angry god that the bible thumpers seem to believe in - the God I know is loving and all-accepting of all His/Her children. Groups like Exodus scare me - they can do so much harm. Why can’t the homophobes see that love between two people is a good thing? When I see stories like this, I always remember that this great nation was founded by Puritans. I truly believe there is a good deal of Puritism still alive in many folks.
My partner and I are a few of the lucky ones - both of our families accept and love us both. A cute story - my mother-in-law/won’t/let/us/marry was from the old school - very involved in the Church, very devout. When my partner came out to her and explained that she was in love with a woman, MIL said, “yes, OK, dear, but is she Catholic?” Thank goodness we were able to reply “yes!”