Category Archives: Civil Rights

Faith, hope and charity… Yeah, right!

If the ignorant were truly blessed, I swear this man, Charles L. Worley, Pastor of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, would be a living saint. He earned his fifteen minutes of infamy in 2012 when in addressing his flock he made the following comment:

I had a way, I’ve figured a way out. A way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers, but I couldn’t get it past the Congress. Build a great big large fence, 150 or 100 miles long, put all the lesbians in there, fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. And have that fence electrified till they can’t get out. Feed them. And you know what? In a few years they’ll die out. You know why? They can’t reproduce.

My immediate reaction upon coming across this story was a belly laugh. Is it really possible that someone could be so bloody ignorant? Beyond that, I was torn between feelings of hoping this man does humanity a favour in not reproducing and hoping if he does breed, one or more of his children are lesbian and homosexual. Seriously, I think it better that he not breed or at least that any progeny he has are heterosexual, because the thought of gay children having this man as their father is just too horrifying. Continue reading →

What I learned in the school of hard Knox

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Knox, a nondescript town located in the northwest corner of the state in Starke County, Indiana with a population of 3704 souls became the focal point in hard lesson of life for me. Knox is well represented with churches, primarily Protestant denominations including Pentecostal, Baptist and various semi-independent Evangelical sects. While Knox is well outside the Bible Belt, the religious culture is very much like that you will find there. This is particularly so with regard to attitudes toward homosexuality. Generally speaking, it is a religious culture in which homosexuality is neither accepted nor tolerated. You may be wondering how it is that I came to know about and am so interested in Knox, Indiana and its religious culture. The reason, in short, is that Knox is the birthplace of Thomas Lee Bridegroom, a young gay man whose life and untimely death I learned of in a youtube video published by his grieving partner Shane Bitney Crone. It could happen to you is the video Shane published in memory of his partner Thomas Lee Bridegroom. Continue reading →

Before Stonewall: The Challenge and Progress of Homosexual Law Reform

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In the past few weeks the British parliament passed legislation to move forward in allowing same sex couples to marry in England and Wales. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales received its first reading on 24 January 2013. On 5 February 2013, the House of Commons debated the bill, and later approved the legislation on second reading in a 400–175 vote. Hitherto, civil unions were allowed between same sex couples under the law since 2005. This is very welcome news indeed. Certainly English society has come a long way from when homosexual sex between consenting adults were decriminalized in 1967. Still, there is determined opposition to amending the law to allow same sex marriage, most notably from religious institutions. The Catholic Church in England and Wales together with the Church of England are campaigning against this legislation. The Muslim Council of Britain and the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue are also opposed. The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems. Continue reading →

“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” –George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

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Gavin Boby delivered his speech at the Ottawa Public Library last Monday night without incident it turns out, but there was a fuss raised locally from various politically correct prigs who obstinately accuse Mr. Boby of promoting hate against Muslims. Their objections, aside from the content of Mr. Boby’s public speaking, is that the Ottawa Public Library rented him space to speak. Thankfully, they refrained from coming out in force to shout him down as was the case when Ann Coulter came to Ottawa for a speaking engagement at the University of Ottawa in March of 2012. Strangely enough the people who shout down those whose thoughts and opinions they dislike deny this is censorship. On the contrary, they insist, it is about stopping the likes of Mr Boby from inciting hatred against vulnerable minority groups in our society. In the case of Mr. Boby’s speech, it seems that any criticism of Islam is viewed as hate speech by the politically correct. I chose not to go hear Mr. Boby speak, but Mika and I have since viewed the segments of his recent speeches on video which is published on the internet. On the basis of what we viewed, we are satisfied that this is not hate speech. Mr. Boby is not without his critics either. In his opening remarks, Mr. Boby shared with the audience some of the epithets he has received in the press back in England. He gets more than his share of unflattering commentary in the British press, to say the least. Continue reading →

Taking a chance on God

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Continuing their series of posts on Christianity and homosexuality, Geoffrey and Mika recently attended the screening of a documentary film, Taking a Chance on God: the Story of Pioneer Gay Priest John McNeill, at Saint Paul University here in Ottawa. This event was organized by Ewelina Frackowiak, who runs a local Catholic gay and lesbian group. The film maker, Brendan Fay, was on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience following the screening. It was a most interesting story related in the documentary, that of the faith, life and work of John J. McNeill. Continue reading →