The Washington Post is Pathetic, Tony Perkins is an Asshole

So last Monday was National Coming-Out Day. I didn't know there was such a day, but it seems like a good idea. Apparently, the Washington Post doesn't share that view, because their guest columnist for that day was the truly egregious Tony Perkins of the horrible Family Research Council.

There has been a rash of suicides in the news lately. We hear these horrible stories about young people being tormented to the point of ending their own lives simply because their classmates hate them for being gay. Truly horrible. So the Washington Post gets notorious gay-hater Tony Perkins to comment. What the fuck?

Here's the explanation they provided to GLAAD:

GLAAD's initial tweet:
The @WashingtonPost Gives Platform to Anti-Gay Activist http://bit.ly/crX6q5 #LGBT #gay

Washington Post reply:
Hi @glaad, we're working to cover both sides. Earlier, we hosted Dan Savage of It Gets Better in a live chat. http://wapo.st/aA8SXX

Yeah. They think that there are two sides to this story. The story about suicide. They had anti-suicide columnist Dan Savage (who is awesome, by the way) so now you have to have, what, a pro-suicide column for "balance?"

I'm not sure when this started, this insistence on "balance." I assume it's a byproduct of the 40+ year right wing assault on the media. Media outlets are so terrified of being labeled "left-leaning" or "liberal-biased" that they bend over backwards and forwards to give the appearance of objectivity to every story. That's why a large percentage of people believe that the "jury is still out" on global warming, because any time there's a story about rising sea levels or melting icecaps the media fell the need to include some Exxon-funded hack scientist proclaiming that up is down, hot is cold, and the icecaps are growing. It's bullshit, of course, but apparently enough people are buying it to make it worth the industry's while to keep funding the bullshit stream.

But this sinks to a new level of disgusting. Take a look:

Christian compassion requires the truth about harms of homosexuality

By Tony Perkins

The media has recently been filled with reports of several recent suicides by teenagers who are reported to have been victims of "anti-gay" bullying. Some homosexual activist groups lay blame at the feet of conservative Christians who teach that homosexual conduct is wrong, as well as pro-family groups such as Family Research Council which oppose elements of the homosexual political agenda, such as same-sex "marriage."

So right away, here comes the "oh, it's not our fault. Just because we teach people to hate doesn't mean we're responsible for their hatred!"

The Christians and pro-family leaders I know are unanimous in believing that no person, especially a child, should be subjected to verbal or physical harassment or violence--whether because of their sexuality, their religious beliefs, or for any other reason. Such bullying violates the Christian's obligation to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and receives no support from the pro-family political movement.

Except for the verbal harassment they get from the pulpit.

Where bullying has occurred, the blame should be placed on the bullies themselves--not on organizations within society who clearly oppose bullying. I suspect that few, if any, such bullies are people who regularly attend church

Riiiiight. No one who attends church would be hateful towards the gay kids. Also, none of the Klansmen I know would ever be mean to black folks.
Look, I grew up in one of these conservative churches, and I know the contempt in which they hold gay people. And they're not shy about admitting it. They really seem to have this idea that people say to themselves "hmm, I'm evil, but I feel like I could be eviler. What could I do to really show my hatred for God and all that is good. . . I know, I'll be gay!"

Religious faith and a return to traditional family values are more likely to be a solution to the problem of bullying than a cause.

See, if you gays weren't destroying the family, maybe you wouldn't be getting bullied. So really, it's your fault!

However, homosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family.

Exploiting these tragedies? Trying to prevent future such tragedies is not exploiting these tragedies, you asshole! How do you see a group of people that are trying to keep young folks from despairing to the point of suicide and think "how can I discredit these people?" What kind of horrible person thinks like that?

There is an abundance of evidence that homosexuals experience higher rates of mental health problems in general, including depression. However, there is no empirical evidence to link this with society's general disapproval of homosexual conduct.

Now I don't know why he included that link, because here is what it links to:

The results of several breakthrough studies are offering new insights on gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. Among the key findings:

• Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals, although not to the level of a serious pathology. Discrimination may help fuel these higher rates.

• A study found lesbians reported equally strong levels of mental health as their heterosexual sisters and higher self-esteem.

• A new study of gay and lesbian youth finds that they are only slightly more likely than heterosexual youth to attempt suicide, refuting previous research that suggested much higher rates.

So the article he links to actually seems to be saying the opposite of what he is saying.

And it includes this quote from Susan Cochran, PhD, an epidemiologist in the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health, who authored or co-authored many of the studies.

"these are certainly not levels of morbidity consistent with models that say homosexuality is inherently pathological." For another, the data simply don't prove either pro- or anti-gay arguments on the subject, whether it's that the inherent biology of homosexuality causes mental illness or that social stigma provokes mental illness in LGB people, she says.

You know, if you're going to lie, you really shouldn't link to a page that shows that you're lying.

Within the homosexual population, such mental health problems are higher among those who "come out of the closet" at an earlier age. Yet GLSEN's approach is to encourage teens to "come out" when younger and younger--thus likely exacerbating the very problem they claim they want to solve.

This time, he doesn't even bother trying to back up this claim with any sort of evidence.

This next paragraph might be the most disgusting:

Some homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal--yet they have been told by the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment, that they are "born gay" and can never change. This--and not society's disapproval--may create a sense of despair that can lead to suicide.

So, one group of people tell you that you're an affront to God and you have to change a large part of who you are in order to be acceptable. A second group tells you you're fine the way you are, and don't bother trying to change because even if it were a good idea, it doesn't work anyway. And you're going to sit there and tell me it's the second group that causes despair?

The most important thing that Christians can offer to homosexuals is hope--hope that their sins, just like the sins of anyone else, can be forgiven and their lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.

Translation: brainwash them into thinking that they can and should pray the gay away. Tell them that being the person that they are is inherently a "sin" and that they need to change into a different person or they'll burn in hell. That's considered hope? Hope because you're going to lie to them and say that this kind of change is possible?

I knew a guy years ago who was trying to do this. He was trying to force himself to be hetero, he dated at least one girl that I know of. And he was miserable. And when he would call my friend "Joe" asking him to come to a gay bar and pick him up because he was too drunk to drive home, some people I knew said he was "just confused." I didn't know this guy very well, he was sort of a friend-of-a-friend or whatever, but I'm pretty sure his family disowned him. He had Christian bumper stickers all over his car and talked a lot about God, but no amount of religion was going to turn him into a breeder. I wish I had been more sure of myself back then. I could have taken him aside and at least tried to give him some support. I don't know where he is now, I don't even remember his name. I barely knew him, as I said. I just hope he's come to grips with himself and embraced his identity.

Anyway, Perkins' disgusting bullshit screed goes on in this vein for a while longer, I can't stand to even look at it. The article is here, if you want to read it. It's not a fun read, but it's a pretty good insight into how these people think. Also, at the end, the Post is kind enough to provide a link to the FRC, in case anyone reading this article would like a second dose of ugly hatred.