Boy Scouts' Internal Files Equated Gay Leaders With Pedophiles

A newly posted database shows in disturbing detail how the Boy Scouts of America has regularly equated gay people with pedophiles — a false equivalence sometimes made by those that argue gays are rightly barred from the group.

The so-called "Perversion Files" were made public by Seattle attorney Tim Kosnoff, who used the BSA's confidential "Ineligible Volunteers" list to track down those scoutmasters accused of sexually assaulting minors and bring them to justice in court.

According to a statement issued to The Seattle Times, the BSA believed that the confidential list was the best way to protect Scouts from sexual abuse, since an accused volunteer couldn't simply move on to another troop after allegations of abuse.

But among more than 1,200 names of those accused of pedophilia, the "Perversion Files" also list several Scout volunteers who were barred solely for being gay, not for sexually assaulting children. The BSA recently reaffirmed its ban on openly gay Scouts and volunteers, saying the ban was "absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts."

That the list makes no distinction between pedophiles and volunteers declared ineligible solely because of their sexual orientation shows the Scouts perpetuated the stereotype that gay people are compulsive pedophiles. That assertion is plainly false, but it hasn't stopped conservative pundits from also feeding the lie as reason to back a gay ban in Scouting. In July, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee told a caller to his radio show who had been abused by a scoutmaster that, "You make us understand why the Boy Scouts made a decision that at least I think was the right one."

The spreadsheet, which lists the date and location of offense, name and troop number of the accused, and comments surrounding the accusation, lists several volunteers declared ineligible after they "Confessed to [a] gay lifestyle." One such case, from 1985 in New York, blacklists a volunteer who was "Jailed for larceny. Confessed to gay lifestyle."

Another volunteer was added to the list in 1989, and the only comment about his suspension reads "Originally suspended in 1960 due to homosexuality."

In 1991 a Massachusetts volunteer was blacklisted with a simple, two-word reason: "Confessed homosexual."

A Maryland volunteer in 1983 was disavowed after he was "accused of homosexual acts."

While some of the instances of assault occurred between people of the same sex, several male volunteers were convicted of assault against women and girls, according to the document.

According to another attorney who used the list to prosecute criminal pedophiles, making the names public allows victims to discover whether their assailant was ever reprimanded. "The stories in those files are real little boys and real stories of abuse," Oregon attorney Kelly Clark told The Seattle Times. "And when the public sees these stories in black and white, I think the level of understanding and frustration about sexual abuse in Scouting is going to be significantly elevated."

Bill O'Reilly Confused by the Difference Between Gays and Child Molesters

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News seemed confused in an interview when told there's no basis for saying pedophilia is more of a gay problem than a straight one.
ThinkProgress points out that O'Reilly Monday night interviewed the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok, who leads its decision-making on which organizations should be labeled as "hate groups." SPLC had been the target of complaining by right-wing groups that the "hate group" moniker leads to attacks like a recent shooting at the Family Research Council.
Potok tried to explain to O'Reilly that FRC has a long history of distributing "flat-out lies" and "demonizing" information about LGBT people, including its regular conflation of gay people with child molesters.
"So they are pointing out that in this area, there is a higher percentage of gay pedophilia, homosexual pedophilia, than heterosexual pedophilia," O'Reilly said, as if he were citing a fact. "Are they a hate group for pointing that out?"
"But Bill, they’re not pointing something out that’s true," Potok said. "They’re making a false allegation."

Nurse Falsely Outs Gay Man as HIV-Positive to Patients

A gay man has received an apology after a nurse announced that he was HIV-positive in front of a crowded waiting room of other patients, as well as the man's boss.

Liam Taylor, of Christchurch, New Zealand, said that he had gone to his dentist's office for a root canal earlier this year, and during the procedure, a dental assistant pricked herself with a needle. According to The Dominion Post, Taylor was asked to take a blood test to ensure that he had not transmitted HIV or another blood-based illness to the dental assistant

When he arrived at St. George's Hospital for testing, Taylor went to a nurse supervising the desk to clarify the details on the incident report.

"I took it back up to the desk and the nurse said I had filled out the wrong section of the form," he said in the article. "She said I needed to fill out the 'source' section, not the 'recipient' section because I was 'the source of the HIV or AIDS.' I was just totally shocked when she said that."

Taylor's boss accompanied him to the clinic, and overheard the nurse's statement. "The nurse then said, 'sorry, I mean the potential source of HIV or AIDS.' I was so embarassed, All these people were in the waiting room, and she said it loudly...and the first thing that came to my mind was, 'is she just assuming that I have diseased because I'm gay?'

Taylor tested negative for HIV.

After he told the dental office what happened, they reduced his bill by $150. A staff person at the lab also called Taylor to apologize for the incident.

Arizona Student Paper Apologizes for Violent, Homophobic Cartoon !

The editors of the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the student newspaper for the University of Arizona, have formally apologized for publishing a cartoon that seems to advocate violence against gay people. The apology says, "The Wildcat staff made a serious error in judgment in printing a cartoon that some readers felt was homophobic and inappropriate."

The four-panel comic, written by UA student D.C. Parsons and published Tuesday, features a father telling his young son, "If you ever tell me you're gay ... I will shoot you with my shotgun, roll you up in a carpet and throw you off of a bridge."

"Well I guess that's what they call a Fruit Roll-Up!" the child responds, before the two characters are seen laughing hysterically.

Reader response was harsh and swift, including the creation of a petition on Change.org calling for the cartoonist, editor in chief, and copy editor to be fired. The petition has more than 3,000 signatures. 

The student cartoonist also publicly apologized, stopping short of a full mea culpa.

"I would like to formally apologize to anyone who I may have offended in my comic 'etc.' on Tuesday. The comic was not intended to offend," wrote Parsons in a response posted on the Wildcat's website. "It was based on an experience from my childhood. My father is a devout conservative from a previous generation, and I believe he was simply distraught from the fact that I had learned (from The Simpsons) what homosexuality was at such a young age. I have always used humor as a coping mechanism, much like society does when addressing social taboos. … I do sincerely apologize and sympathize with anyone who may be offended by my comics (I am often similarly offended by 'Ralph and Chuck'), but keep in mind it is only a joke, and what's worse than a joke is a society that selectively ignores its problems."

Several commenters pointed out that what's actually worse than a vastly unfunny joke is a society that condemns LGBT people for who they are and makes light of the fact that they are so often victims of murder, suicide, and assault.

                                          -Thoughts from Celeste-                                     

Sometimes stories will come across my desk and I think "There is no way this has happened,how could some thing so shocking and bizarre be real" Well this is one of those times !  The disturbing comic was printed in a student paper at the University of Arizona. The comic was written by a student,however I do believe that all submissions to the paper has to be approved by the editor before being published. In my opinion the editor failed horribly. In the apology that was issued by the paper stated "The Wildcat staff made a serious error in judgment in printing a cartoon that some readers felt was homophobic and inappropriate."

Error in judgement,WOW.....that's an understatement ! As an institution of higher learning did they honestly not think people would be upset.The apologies issued seamed to be very cold and even less sincere. I urge readers to visit Change.org and sign the petition, this simply can not be allowed to happen and the University of Arizona needs to take responsibility and action !

Over Half of Native Trans People Have Attempted Suicide

As Native Americans celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day last week (the reclaiming of Columbus Day that's taken root in recent years), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality released the fourth and final piece in a series of reports designed to specifically shine a light on the experiences of transgender people of color. Injustice at Every Turn: A Look at American Indian and Alaskan Native Respondents in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey measured transgender people's experiences of discrimination and showed that the combination of anti-transgender with structural and individual racism meant that transgender people of color experience particularly devastating levels of discrimination.
Among the startling results:
• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people often live in extreme poverty with 23% reporting a household income of less than $10,000 a year. This compares to a rate of 15% for transgender people of all races. It is about three times the general American Indian and Alaskan Native population rate (8%), and nearly six times the general U.S. population rate (4%).
• American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender and gender non-conforming people were affected by HIV in devastating numbers: 3.24% reported being HIV positive and an additional 8.53% reported that they did not know their status. This compares to rates of 2.64% for transgender respondents of all races, and 0.60% of the general U.S. population.

• Fifty-six percent (56%) of American Indian and Alaskan Native transgender respondents reported having attempted suicide compared to 41% of all study respondents.

California Republican Supports Marriage Equality

Gary DeLong, a Republican running for Congress in a new California district, has joined the ranks of those willing to go against the party platform on LGBT rights, ThinkProgress reports.
At a recent League of Women Voters forum, DeLong said, “There’s a number of things I disagree with the Republican Party on. I’m pro-choice. They’re pro-life. I support gay marriage. They don’t.”
DeLong and Democrat Alan Lowenthal, also a marriage equality supporter, are vying to represent the 47th congressional district, created by remapping due to population shifts. It encompasses parts of Los Angeles County, including a portion of traditionally liberal, LGBT-friendly Long Beach, and Orange County, which is historically conservative but has been becoming more diverse and liberal in recent years. It is considered a swing district, ThinkProgress notes.

Physician Fails To Inform Transgender Man of Cancer Diagnosis

Transgender man Jay Kallio is shining a light on LGBT discrimination in the medical community -- after his own physician failed to inform him of a cancer diagnosis.
When Kallio, 56, underwent a medical exam at a major New York hospital, he claims that the surgeon appeared bewildered by his patient's body. Though the doctor ordered a mammogram, he failed to inform Kallio that the lump on his breast had tested positive for cancer.
Kallio, who transitioned from female to male six years ago, learned of his condition "accidentally" when a lab techician called to inquire about the diagnosis. "Which diagnosis?" Kallio asked, bewildered as well.
"I kept hitting this stone wall of non-acceptance," Kallio told the New York Daily News. "It's a systemic problem. It was at all levels of providers, from doctors to housekeeping to the nursing staff. People need to be aware that this discrimination will not be tolerated."
Although the doctor later apologized, Kallio told the Daily News that the time spent to find new physicians has put his health in greater danger.
"It delayed my care past the therapeutic window for chemotherapy," said Kallio. "You should have chemotherapy within three months of cancer therapy. Because I had to change providers and kept encountering discrimination, it delayed the care. So much of cancer care has to do with early treatment."
The Affordable Care Act, passed by President Obama in 2010, prohibits physicians from discriminating against LGBT patients. But according to activists, many medical centers are unaware of their lawful obligations.
"Our community needs medical providers to know what their obligations are and passing a law is the strongest and clearest way to do that," said Mara Keisling, director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, to ABC News.
"It's incredibly important to me that this not happen to other transgender people," said Kallio. "To have all this added stress and rejection and to be denied care from providers was daunting - it was awful."

Which Jersey Shore Cast Member Opposes Marriage Equality?

Thursday's vice presidential debates were not the only contest of wills this week. Jersey Shore’s Angelina Pivarnick had an internet face-off with openly gay entertainer Adam Barta on a hot-button political issue: should same-sex marriage be legalized?
“I love gay people,” the reality star prefaced on deeyon.com, a forum for digital debates. “I have a lot of friends that are gay. If you want to date each other, fine. We’ll see how it works. But in the end, they should really go and marry the other type.”
“I pay my taxes, and I’m a citizen,” countered Barta, whose single "Standing in the Rain" was named a favorite Jersey Shore "fist-pumping beat" by Z100. “Why wouldn’t I have that right?”
Angelina Pivarnick was a founding member of MTV’s hit reality show, Jersey Shore, in which she referred to herself as the “Kim Kardashian of Staten Island.” Her unvarnished opinions and confrontational demeanor were perennial sources of conflict with her cast mates, who shared close quarters in Seaside Heights, NJ. She was replaced by Deena Nicole Cortese in season 3.
Pivarnick, a practicing Catholic, added that “God did not intend people to be gay.” She also admitted that she has “kissed girls before…in clubs,” but has no intention of carrying these relationships any further.

Pocatello to Ban Discrimination Against Gays

Pocatello, Idaho, the city made famous by Judy Garland's "Born in a Trunk" from her 1954 musical A Star is Born, may become the second city in the sate to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation, according to NPR.
The lack of statewide protections has impacted the LGBT citizens of the largely conservative and heavily Mormon city. Susan Matsuura, director of the city’s Human Relations Advisory Committee, told NPR that she's heard stories of people who've had to take extraordinary caution to keep their housing.
“People who are doing their best to hide their living situation, and who brought in extra furniture and made it look like they were just roommates,” Matsuura said. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to have my comings and goings scrutinized by my neighbors.”
Jessica Robinson reported that the city council voted unanimously to draft the anti-discrimination ordinance, and, so far, it faces little opposition.