The Republic of T.

I'm probably get a little flack for this, but when I read why Andrea Yates drowned her children (or why she believed she had to, according to her doctor) I couldn't resist posting about it.

Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub because she thought she had ruined them so much that one would grow up to be a serial killer and another would become a mute gay prostitute, a forensic psychiatrist testified Wednesday.

Dr. Phillip Resnick, who evaluated Yates about three weeks after the June 2001 drownings, said she knew her actions were illegal but didn't know they were wrong because she was trying to save the children from going to hell.

"If she did not intervene and take their lives while they were still innocent, they would end up in hell," he said, testifying as a defense rebuttal witness. "Mrs. Yates knew what she was doing was right for her children."

I wonder if some of the conservative law 'n' order types who brushed aside Yates' post-partum depression and mental state earlier, while howling for her blood, will soften towards her now.

It’s been another strange week of high traffic to a rather odd post. I’m not sure what to make of it, though it seems to be a pattern around here (one that I might post about later). While I’m sorting that out, it’s time for another random ten.

Wanna play along?

1. Grab your iPod or MP3 player.
2. Shuffle the whole collection.
3. Show us you first ten.

Here’s mine.

1. This Charming Man from the album “Singles” by The Smiths
2. I’ll Rise (live) by Ben Harper
3. Lucky Star from the album “The Immaculate Collection” by Madonna
4. The Boys Of Summer from the album “Heaven” by DJ Sammy
5. Cruel Summer from the album “Summer in the City 2″ by Bananarama
6. Boo from the album “The Very Best of Macy Gray” by Macy Gray
7. Missing You from the album “Forever [Disc 3]” by Diana Ross
8. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy from the album “Mirrorball” by Sarah McLachlan
9. Beautiful Stranger (Calderone Club Mix) from the album “Beautiful Stranger” by Madonna
10. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (Noizetrip Mix) [iTunes Version] from the album “Motown Remixed (iTunes Version)” by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

What’d you get?

As I’ve written here before, I’m an avid reader. I almost never go anywhere without taking along a book to read in case I have some downtime. I generally have two books going at any one time. Only two because I’ve learned that’s as many as I can read at one time and still have a hope of finishing them.

Still, I pick up books that sound interesting to me, even if I’m reading a couple already. Because, like any addict, I keep a stash; a stack of books waiting to be read when I finished devouring the ones I’m currently reading. Likewise, I get nervous when my stash starts getting low. I sometimes fall back on Nancy Pearl’s books, Book Lust and More Book Lust. But that’s also when I start asking for recommendations, and asking questions like “What are you reading?”

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The Pew Research Center just published a new report on bloggers. Being a blogger, needless to say I was intrigued. (We tend like reading about ourselves almost as much as writing about ourselves.) I poured over 33-page PDF yesterday during my lunch break, and though it probably warrants further analysis there were a few points that caught my eye, and a couple more that need to be made in light of the data.

First, the size of the sample — 233 bloggers from previous surveys, who agreed to participate in a call-back survey) — is a red flag. It suggests that the results of the survey should be taken with a sizable grain of salt, since the number of participants is basically a scintilla of the 19.4 million bloggers still posting after their first three months according to Dave Sifry’s last state of the blogosphere report. And it’s only slightly larger percentage of the 3.9 million reported as posting on at least a weekly basis.

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As in sex and romance, afterglow can fade quickly in the realm of politics Things sometimes look a slightly less promising when seen in the cold light of the morning after. I’m beginning to wonder if former Christian Coalition president Ralph Reed’s primary defeat in Georgia isn’t on of those times. Granted, Reed’s failure to rouse sufficient voter support in a state as conservative as Georgia (one of the main reasons I don’t live there, and probably won’t ever again) is pretty significant. Dave Donnely, whose work with Campaign Money Watch helped bring about Reed’s defeat, offers a reasonable analysis of Reed’s defeat and its implications.

Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, has become the first political casualty of the Jack Abramoff lobbying and money scandals with his loss yesterday in Georgia’s lieutenant governor’s race to a previously unknown state Senator. Reed had nursed ambitions of someday running for high office, even the White House, but his defeat suggests otherwise.

His loss also suggests that other politicians may be vulnerable to voter anger, unless politicians repent for their big money ways.

…The voters’ judgment was also just. Reed’s electoral fate was delivered by the Christian conservative voters that make up a Republican primary electorate in a Deep South state like Georgia –- the same voters Reed was said to understand better than any other Republican operative. Reed’s downfall was due not just to the fact he did wrong. It’s that he did wrong, failed to repent, and betrayed the very voters he needed on Election Day.

That’s probably right. As I noted earlier, many Georgian’s share a deep and earnest religious faith that informs their conservatism. In other words, they really believe and are probably put off and insulted by politicians who pay lip service to those values while simultaneously acting in direct contradiction to them.

But not all of them abandoned Reed, nor did they need him to repent in order to support him. So either religion trumped conservatism for some voters or their loyalty as religious right foot soldiers has been overlooked, and may have implications beyond the apparent fall of their “general.”

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And it’s a beautiful thing.

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed conceded defeat about 9:50 p.m. in Georgia’s Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

“Tonight my candidacy for lieutenant governor comes to an end,” he said.

He promoied to work for the GOP ticket, including Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville), his rival in the lieutenant governor’s race.

… Reed left quickly but stopped to say he was pround of the race he ran. He said he had no plans to run for office again right now.

As I mentioned before, I have a connection to Ralph Reed.

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Taylor Marsh has a series of photos that just have to be seen to be believed. Crooks and Liars has the video. Keep in mind that the woman in the picture is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a fellow head of state, being groped by the president of the United States.

The Approach

The Grope

The Get-Away

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I would normally save this for the QueerlyKos round-up on Friday, but I didn’t want to wait four days to share this with anyone who hadn’t seen it already. I posted earlier about what happened to a friend of mine when his partner collapsed, and how he had to leave the hospital to drive home and get their legal papers to prove their relationship before he could see his his partner or even get any information. Later I posted about another gay couple in Connecticut — together for 30 years — who facing one partner’s inevitable decline and death from ALS, after which the surviving partner will almost certainly lose the home they have shared.

Well, gay activist, author and educator Eric Rofes died a heart attack earlier this month. He was survived by his partner of 16 years, Crispin Hollings. Daily Kos diarist dmuir has the story of what Hollings had to face in the midst of dealing with his partner’s death. As you might expect, it’s more of the same.

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Ever wonder how James Dobson got to be the way he is? File this on under ”That Explains It”.

Dobson writes, he learned at an early age to stay out of striking distance when he back-talked to his mother. One day he made the mistake of mouthing off when she was only four feet away and heard a 16-pound girdle whistling through the air. “The intended blow caught me across the chest, followed by a multitude of straps and buckles wrapping themselves around my midsection.” The girdle incident did not dampen his defiance, however. One evening, after Dobson’s mother forbid him from going to a dance, the recalcitrant teenager told her that he was going anyway; she picked up the telephone and called her husband. “I need you,” she said.

“What happened in the next few days shocked me down to my toes,” writes Dobson. His father canceled the next four years’ worth of speaking engagements, put the Oklahoma house up for sale, and took a pastor’s job in San Benito, Texas, a small town near the Mexican border. Dobson had two years of high school left, and when he started classes he found himself the target of a couple of bullies. Rather than turn the other cheek, Dobson wheeled around and threw his schoolbooks in the face of one annoying youth. “By the time he could see me again I was on top of him,” Dobson writes. Dobson also tried a little bullying himself, targeting a boy whom he sized up as a “sissy.” But the boy gave him such a thrashing that Dobson concluded bullying wasn’t for him.

Just a glimpse behind the curtain, but enough give you an idea how a guy gets twisted enough to suggest that showering with your son will keep him from turning queer, and find people twisted enough to actually listen to his advice. And if that doesn’t keep you awake at night, remember this is also the guy who practically picks our Supreme Court justices under this administration, or at least gives them his blessing.

It’s taken a while to see it, but I think I’m starting to notice a pattern. More and more I find I’m taking part in online campaigns in which a group of bloggers — whose cumulative page views and unique visits probably don’t add to a single day’s traffic for any one of the bloggers in Technorati’s top 100, the higher beings of the blogosphere ecosystem, or the Blogebrity a-list (note which list I’m on)— come together to amplify a story and mobilize people into action on a scale that probably none of us could have done on our own. And while I’m still not convinced that “there is no a-list” (something most often heard from those on that list), I’m beginning to think that when it comes using blogging to spread information and achieve results, the a-list may not be as important as many are inclined to think.

This most recent time, the pattern emerged again last Monday when I sat down to read my email and learned about the LIFEbeat concert featuring artists known for violently anti-gay lyrics. While still recovering from an AIDS organization promoting those artists, I got an email from Keith asking several black gay bloggers to join in doing something about it, and I did. Less than 48 hours later, LIFEbeat cancelled the concert and then apologized for the whole debacle. Though I was reeling from the speed at which everything had happened, I had a sense of deja vu and realized I’d experienced much the same thing a few times before.

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I haven’t blogged much about recent events in the Middle East, mainly because I’d probably find myself out of my depth pretty quickly, but this little tidbit about Bush’s reaction to recent news from that region jogged my memory a little.

U.S. President George W. Bush cursed Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel in private conversations with foreign leaders Monday that were picked up by a microphone.

Mr. Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this [expletive] and it’s over," Mr. Bush told Mr. Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll.

I guess I was amused because (a) Bush’s blue mouth is hardly news and (b) as Bush’s expletive-laden outbursts go, this one was actually quite mild. Maybe there’s a reason it’s news, but it’s no surprise. The real news is that his apparent desire for things in the Middle East to cool down a bit would seem to put him at odds with other conservatives.

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I’m working on a post summing up the LIFEbeat campaign and putting it in the context of the web’s organizing potential. In the meantime there are a couple of things that have been buzzing around my brain and I wanted to get some feedback on them here.

There’s been some discussion among some of us who were part of the LIFEbeat campaign on how to keep the momentum up and do something positive with it. Because the truth is stopping one concert doesn’t eliminate the core problem. Beenie Man, for example had another engagement in New York on Friday. And then there’s DMX.

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I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Literally. None. I sat down to check my email on Monday morning, and found in my inbox an email about LIFEbeat’s concert featuring two musical acts who advocated anti-gay violence and murder in their lyrics. By the time I digested that, I got an email from Keith asking me and other black gay bloggers to band together and do something about it. Needless to say, I was in.

The next 48 hours were a whirlwind. Frank has the definitive timeline. Basically, Keith, Bernie, Frank, Jasmyne, Pam, Donald, Clay, Steven and I were quickly joined boy countless others posting about the concert and the campaign. Along the way, the gay press picked up the story, then the mainstream press followed. Even progressive bloggerdom spoke up, with Kos, John, and Matt posting about it. Long story short, LIFEbeat first cancelled the concert and appeared to blame the bloggers’ campaign for their troubles, only to turn around a day later and apologize for the whole thing. Anyway, that was my week. In the midst of all that, there was lots more going on.

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It’s been a rather busy week. Time to unwind and lighten up with a music meme.

1. Ladies and gentlemen, grab your iPods (or MP3 player of choice)
2. Set your whole collection on random play
3. Post the first 10 songs that play

Here’s what I got.

1. The Breaks from the album “Kurtis Blow” by Kurtis Blow
2. Jesse James from the Album “We Shall Overcome — The Seeger Sessions” by Bruce Springsteen
3. She’s Leaving Home from the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles
4. Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here from the album “Fired Up!” by Deborah Cox
5. I’ll Remember from the album “Something to Remember” by Madonna
6. If You Asked Me To from the album “Greatest Hits” by Patti Labelle
7. Let’s Groove from the album “Greatest Hits” by Earth Wind & Fire
8. Lolita from the album “3121″ by Prince
9. Sinnerman (the Felix da Housecat Heavenly House Mix) from the album Verve Remixed 2 by Nina Simone
10. On Walks the Night from the album “Buddha Bar III” by Jesse Cook

Post ‘em if ya got ‘em, folks.

I can only imagine that LIFEbeat has continued to get feedback from the community after its statement yesterday canceling the concert featuring Beanie Man and TOK. First there was the previously mentioned article in the Gay City News. Now LIFEbeat has issued yet another statement.

LIFEbeat STATEMENT:

LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS, wants the Caribbean American, AIDS activist and gay communities to know that we remain deeply committed to utilizing the power of music and the music industry to fight AIDS and we have learned many lessons while organizing the Reggae Gold Live concert. “In our desire to do something positive within the Caribbean American community, we didn’t realize the depth of the hurt in the GLBT community around the lyrics of these artists,” commented John Cannelli, Executive Director of LIFEbeat. “Once we saw how deep and real it is, it became very clear that canceling the concert was the right thing to do. We want to extend a heartfelt apology to those we offended and thank the individuals who raised their voices and helped us to see a more effective way to realize our mission. We also want to clarify the concerns of violence we felt. Those concerns didn’t stem from any threats from activists or members of the Caribbean American community. They stemmed from threatening phone calls our office received from random individuals that led to concerns for the safety of our staff and others.”

Moving forward, the concert is cancelled but the issue still exists. * “We’re not giving up and are continuing our commitment to this community,” Cannelli adds. “The issues of homophobia, sexism, racism and poverty, key factors in the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS, need to be addressed openly. In looking at the bigger picture with the lessons we’ve learned, this concert wasn’t the right forum for this important topic. Over the next few weeks, we will be reaching out to key members of the Caribbean American community and to AIDS organizations to join together in creating an appropriate forum, where our individual strengths as activists and the power of coming together under one important cause can make a real difference in this community.”

* LIFEbeat will have no involvement in nor benefit from any attempted resurrection of the Reggae Gold Live concert by any parties.

The apology came a few hours after a press conference held by the New York State Black Gay Network.

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One of the most (among the many) irritating things about LIFEbeat’s statement concerning the cancellation of the concert featuring violently anti-gay artists was their claim that “threats of violence” were part of the reason for the cancellation. The language of the statement clearly implied that those “threats” came from the “select group of activists” who had the temerity to hold them accountable for their decisions.

Well, evidently James Cannelli decided to get honest about that claim and some other issues in this Gay City News article.

Cannelli acknowledged that the violent threats they claimed to have received were anonymous, not from the leaders protesting his inclusion of these artists. He said that he had no evidence that Beenie Man and TOK had made amends for their profiting from anti-gay songs, but said, “I feel that any artist that agrees to perform for free at an AIDS concert is making a statement.

So the threats of violence came from anonymous individuals. As for the rest, if Cannelli wanted evidence that the artists in question hadn’t “made amends” for advocating violence and murder against gays & lesbians, if he’d just asked — you know, like, engaged in a dialogue with the community before going off half-cocked — he might have learned more about that, and LIFEbeat might have avoided the controversy they claimed to have foreseen and given “careful consideration” before proceeding.

There is still a chance for LIFEbeat to turn this around. And if they reach out this time, they might just find a community willing to help them get it right and accomplish what they initially set out to do.

LIFEbeat just released the following statement.

LIFEBEAT STATEMENT:

LIFEbeat – The Music Industry Fights AIDS, has collectively decided to cancel its Reggae Gold Live concert, scheduled for Tuesday, July 18 at New York’s Webster Hall. While the organization’s staff and board believe very strongly in the positive purpose and intention of this event, the possibility of violence at the concert from the firestorm incited by a select group of activists makes canceling the event the only responsible action. Dialogue is important and LIFEbeat’s staff and board respect the opinions of those who came forward to make their feelings known. We have always and will continue to support the GLBT community.

It is very unfortunate, however, that the intended good that could result from bringing this community together around this potentially ground breaking event will not be realized. The Caribbean American community needs our help in bringing attention to this unspoken and often stigmatized illness. We hope in the wake of this decision that those who came forward and spoke out will now come forward again to do something positive for the Caribbean American community and help bring attention to the devastation this disease has wreaked in that community so awareness, prevention and healing can follow.

If you ask me, I think it’s a bit of a cop-out.

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Via Keith, here’s the most recent story of a black gay man getting bashed.

There was a possible hate crime over the weekend at the Jazzfest in downtown Salt Lake City. A man is seriously injured and witnesses say it’s because he’s gay.

Josh Shuck says he was tackled and his head slammed against the ground. He now has two crushed vertebrae. He doesn’t remember much from the fight but witnesses say it’s a hate crime.

… “These guys came by and they were pretty pretty drunk,” Shuck said.

Shuck says he didn’t know the guys but they sat down and the group talked briefly. Shuck says he didn’t like where the conversation was going and he and his friends made a move to leave. That’s when trouble started.

“One of them pushed me a little bit so I pushed him back.”

Then Shuck says he was blindsided.

“Out of nowhere another came and tackled me and threw me across the pavement,” he said.

Josh says the guy slammed his head against the ground. It’s what happened right before -the part Josh doesn’t quite remember- that most upset his friends who witnessed it.

“Before he shoved me and tackled me to the ground, he called me a fag,” Shuck said.

Josh Shuck is openly gay. His friends tell him the men made other slurs.

See the video for more details. Two crushed vertebra and a neck brace for six weeks. No big deal, though. Right? After all this kind of think has no direct connection to, say, a festering culture of anti-gay hatred, right? And since police are already on the case and know the individuals involved, all’s well. Right?

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The campaign to make LIFEbeat live up to its name, and stop promoting violent homophobic artists, continues. (Thanks, by the way, to John, Matt and Kos for their help in spreading awareness.) As Pam noted, yesterday LIFEbeat issued the following statement.

LIFEbeat Statement on Reggae Gold Live Event

We have received numerous calls of concern about LIFEbeat’s involvement in the upcoming Reggae Gold Live concert. In the interest of responding to any questions or concerns, what follows is a statement from the organization.

LIFEBEAT STATEMENT ON REGGAE GOLD LIVE

LIFEbeat’s mission is to utilize the power of music to raise awareness and educate in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Caribbean American community has been tremendously affected by the HIV/AIDS virus and has long kept silent about the epidemic’s effect on their community for fear of being stigmatized. When planning the upcoming Hearts & Voices Reggae Gold concert, LIFEbeat’s staff and board knew this event might raise concerns by some in the gay community and required careful consideration before proceeding. LIFEbeat’s staff and board do not condone anti-gay lyrics or violence against anyone; they are an organization dedicated to promoting life. The staff and board also strongly believe that dialogue opens doors, creating the opportunity for enlightenment, growth and change amongst all involved. We all have an opportunity to look to the future, not the past, and join together in solidarity to educate, enlighten, be a part of positive change and save lives.

Talk about a whole lot of noise, signifying nothing. Where to begin?

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The campaign around LIFEbeat’s anti-gay concert is heating up.

Pam makes an excellent point in her update post.

LIFEBeat’s executive director John Canelli actually told Keith Boykin that his "organization wanted to reach out to that segment of the community by using artists who could connect with them" and that it’s "not his job" to encourage artists to repudiate their homophobia. That makes it perfectly clear where LIFEBeat’s coming from, doesn’t it?

Here’s the thing. Cannelli says it’s his job to save lives. As I pointed out in my last post, New York has recently seen several acts of violence and murder against black LGBT people. There is an undeniable connection between that violence and music that celebrates shooting gays in the head, hanging them, or burning them alive.

These artists have not repudiated the violence in their lyrics. They have blood on their hands, and LIFEbeat has blood on its hands by association if they promote these artists and doesn’t use its influence to encourage the artist to repudiate the violence in their lyrics.

If it’s Mr. Cannelli’s job to save lives, then his job description ought to include saving the lives of black LGBT people from the kind of violence advocated and celebrated by the artists on his roster.

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