Queer Talk: The good, the bad and the unctuous

Joyce L. Arnold, Liberally Independent, Queer Talk, equality activist, writer.

I know, it’s simplistic to devise neat little categories like good, bad and unctuous. And at one point, I had to expand my story selections, because so many of them were ending up in the unctuous and oily section. There’s something about “the homosexuals” and the responses by some of the “religious right” that just seems to lean toward the groveling, “See, I’m as anti-homosexual as a good Christian should be” direction.

I’ll start with the Good, because it really does show the direction the nation is going. There are still many steps to take; many that are being taken are of the two steps forward, one step back variety. But the direction is clear, and it isn’t going in the Right direction.

From Think Progress:

Jill Biden Speaks Out Against Anti-Gay Bullying: ‘No Child Should Be Subjected To That’

Second Lady Jill Biden spoke out against anti-gay bullying at the Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays’ (PFLAG) national convention this afternoon (Nov. 4), and congratulated the organization for ‘shining a light” on LGBT equality in ‘places where yours is the only voice of support and acceptance.

Also at Think Progress, Zach Ford writes, New Study Confirms Overwhelming Support For LGBT Workplace Protections:

Results from the 2010 Out & Equal Workplace Survey show this week that 78 percent of heterosexual adults agree that employees should be evaluated for their job performance, not their sexual orientation. In addition, 62 percent support providing equal benefits for all employees’ partners or spouses.

And regarding employment, Chris Johnson at Washington Blade writes:

A new group has formed to push for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and its leaders hope to disband after achieving their primary legislative goal in just two years.

The organization, called Freedom to Work … .

Turning to the Bad, this from Dallas Voice:

3 arrested in assault on gay man in Reno

The victim of a brutal assault last weekend in East Texas said he’s relieved three suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, which he believes was an anti-gay hate crime.

But it remained unclear this week whether the case is being investigated as an anti-gay hate crime by police and whether it will be prosecuted as one by the Lamar County District Attorney’s Office.

Burke Burnett, 26, said he was jumped by several men at a Halloween party early Sunday in Reno — a tiny town just east of Paris and about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. Burnett’s attackers yelled anti-gay slurs as they stabbed him repeatedly with a broken beer bottle and threw him onto a fire.

He needed more than 30 stitches and suffered second-degree burns.

Not to pick on Dallas, but another story getting national attention comes through Change.org, posted by Jessica Gerson:

‘When I heard my name called, ‘Esther,’ I got up and walked toward the voice of the woman, who barely looked at me, and called me ‘Sir.’ I followed her into her office and before I sat down, politely said, ‘Actually, it’s Ma’am…. My name is Esther.’ She sat down and looked at me, and her first question was, ‘Are you a Lesbian?’ Her second question to me was, ‘Have you asked God into your heart? Have you been saved by Jesus Christ?’ This is when I realized that I was no longer a United States veteran in her eyes, I was just a homosexual.’

Written above are the exact words that my friend Esther Garatie used to describe her recent visit to the Dallas VA Medical Center. Esther is a Marine veteran, wounded in service to her country and Honorably Discharged from the Marines as a result. She walked into a mental health clinic at the Dallas VA Medical Center on October 12, 2011 and was seen by a nurse practitioner named Lincy T. Pandithurai. Nurse Pandithurai subjected Esther to a vitriolic, hateful rant that lasted THREE hours … on the topic of Esther’s sexual orientation. Ms. Pandithurai told Esther that the only reason she’s depressed is because she’s gay.

When Esther broke into tears, Ms. Pandithurai announced that her tears were clearly a manifestation of guilt over her sexual orientation … . She further stated that ‘homosexuality used to be a diagnosis until recently, but they changed it because of Obama.’ (In point of fact, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973. President Obama was 11 at the time.)

Actually, Esther’s experience at the VA, like the story that follows, are in the Unctuous category. Via Chicago Go Pride:

Columbus, Ohio — Former hospital executive Linda Harvey is warning parents that having a gay or lesbian doctor take care of a child might be hazardous to the child’s health.

Harvey is a former executive at Ohio State University Hospitals. She founded a group called Mission: America, which considers itself a ‘Christian’ and ‘pro-family organization.’

And for the sleazy and oily, no one does it better than the National Organization for Marriage, NOM. From Equality Matters:

Classy: NOM Pokes Fun At Transgender 7-Year-Old For Joining Girl Scouts

… In an October 27 blog post, NOM’s Ruth Institute mocked a transgender 7-year-old girl who was initially denied but eventually granted access into the Girl Scouts.

Okay, this isn’t fair, that I’m using only “Christian” related stories; there are Christians who are progressive and liberal, who actively support queer rights. But, there are these others who are Unctuous and proud of it. Or that’s how it looks to me. And to some important extent, their proud condemnations of all things “homosexual” are related to the Bad, but unable to stop the Good.

(Esther Garatie photo via Change.org)

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