The Bilerico Project

Regarding the Perez Hilton - Miss California Controversy

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:30:00 -0500

Note from Scott: This was originally written by me elsewhere on the web for a primarily straight audience.

I'm a gay man, but Perez Hilton is an idiot. He doesn't speak for me nor does he speak for the gay community at large. He's just someone who happens to be gay and became famous by gossiping and making nasty comments about celebrities. As far as I'm concerned, he can go back to the rock he crawled out from under.

I believe in being tolerant of other people's beliefs. Miss California Carrie Prejean has a right to believe gay marriage is wrong if she so chooses. I disagree with her of course and think her views are bigoted and ignorant, but she is entitled to them. As long as her beliefs don't violate my civil rights, she can believe what she wants. I reserve the right to try to educate her about why I feel gay marriage should be allowed, but in the end I will not demand she adopts my point of view.

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New Twists in the Amazon Story

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Yesterday I posted an article about Amazon.com's alleged snub of the LGBT community. I suggested that calls of boycott against Amazon were premature as Amazon had up until now been a very gay-friendly company and perhaps this really was a glitch.

Well, last night news was breaking of a blogger who is claiming responsibility for getting the LGBT books delisted from Amazon. Apparently the blogger (with possibly the help of his friends) registered hundreds of accounts on Amazon and then flagged LGBT as "inappropriate" using Amazon's reporting tool. Since different accounts were reporting books as inappropriate rather that just one account, it didn't set off any alarms in Amazon's systems and allowed the hack attack to continue. If this is true, this makes Amazon's claim of a "glitch" causing the problem completely plausible.

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Hold Your Horses: Don't Boycott Amazon Yet

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:30:00 -0500

[YET ANOTHER UPDATE: See below] Ok, the Twitterverse and LGBT blogosphere are in an absolute snit over a recent change at Amazon.com classifying most LGBT fiction as "adult content" thereby excluding the material from sales rankings, etc.

Worst yet, when author Mark Probst wrote Amazon about the policy change, he supposedly received the following response from Ashlyn D in Amazon.com Advantage Member Services: "In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature."

This is a pretty major transgression against the LGBT community. I have an author friend who just released a work of gay fiction earlier this month, and this new policy could seriously jeopardize the sales and success of his book. The LGBT community should immediately band together and boycott Amazon. Take action! Spread the word!

Hold. Your. Horses.

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Portia de Rossi shines in 'Better Off Ted' so why aren't you watching it yet?

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:30:00 -0500

In any discussion of openly gay celebrities who are helping pioneer the way for others, Ellen DeGeneres' name is bound to come up. Often overshadowed by her spouse's fame though is Ellen's own talented partner Portia de Rossi who also took significant career risks in coming out. That's why I'm so happy to see de Rossi in the new ABC comedy Better Off Ted.

I first took notice of Portia de Rossi in the dearly-departed show Arrested Development although de Rossi had already had significant roles in shows such as Ally McBeal by that time. Personally I think comedy suits de Rossi well. She can deliver a line with a deadpan earnestness that few other actors can match.

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Let's Define Our Terms: Bashing

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:00:00 -0500

This has been making the rounds for a while, but that's ok because it deserves and needs the widest possible audience. If you haven't seen this yet, please take a moment to watch.

The most effective thing you can do against groups like Christian Anti-Defamation League and their lies? Spread this video far and wide! Send it to your friends (particularly your straight friends) and post it on your own blogs. Only then people might begin to realize what we're up against.

Mary J. Brenny: More Important Than The Gay

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:00:00 -0500

The following is from a blog post that was forwarded to me by my partner. It was written by JC Christian of the blog Jesus' General. The post illustrates well the absurdity of gay politicians voting against gay issues. I thought it deserved a wider audience, so I contacted the author and received his permission to re-post it here.

Sen. Paul Koering
Minnesota State Senate

Dear Sen. Koering,

I never thought I'd be writing the gay, even a Republican the gay like yourself, but you did something this week that deserves my heartfelt thanks. You announced you would uphold one of our nation's most cherished segregationist traditions and vote to deny yourself the right to marry the one you love. Certainly, it's that kind of self-hating toadyism that earned you a Republican Hero Award from the Log Cabin Republicans (what a fine, "real American" name--they must be true patriots of the Heartland, perhaps even lumberjacks.)

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Social Commentary or Socially Irresponsible: You Decide

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:00:00 -0500

So the popular online store T-Shirt Hell is shutting down, and it's not because of the bad economy. Rather it's because the owner "Sunshine Megatron" (formerly Aaron Landau Schwarz) could no longer handle the flak he was receiving over some of his t-shirt slogans such as:

"It's not gay if you beat them up afterwards"

"Slavery gets shit done"

"Arrest Black Babies Before They Become Criminals"

"What About All The Good Things Hitler Did?"

Obviously some people were offended by the above t-shirts and let T-Shirt Hell know it. Mr. Megatron however claims that he should not have to "explain the irony or the social commentary of the slogan because anyone with half a brain should be able to handle that on their own."

While I get the "social commentary" Mr. Megatron claims his company is making, when does it cross the line and become offensive and/or socially irresponsible?

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Much Ado About Nothing

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:30:00 -0500

A lot of fuss is being made over two little words that President Obama said recently:

"I won."

President Obama used the above two words in reference to the November election as reason why his ideas regarding a stimulus package tax credit would prevail over the Republicans' opposing views.

Republicans all over the Internet and media are using these two words as evidence that Obama sees himself as a king. They're claiming that this proves that Obama isn't interested in the bipartisanship he promised and is being mean-spirited about it. The problem is that the words are being taken completely out of context.

Unfortunately they're not the only ones doing it. I've read several of my fellow liberal-minded bloggers using these words to slap the Republicans in the face. It's no more mature than the "ha ha" taunt more commonly heard on a playground.

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Make Your Voice Heard About Rick Warren

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:00:00 -0500

As a gay American who supported, campaigned, and voted for Barack Obama, I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointed and hurt I feel by the choice of anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren to lead the inaugural invocation. Although I respect differences of opinion on social issues such as gay marriage, choosing Warren sends a strong message that the GLBT community is not being welcomed by the new administration with the same respect being given to the conservative right.

I know many of you are upset as well, so what can we do? Fortunately a Facebook group has posted some steps you can take to make your voice heard.

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Why Prop 8's Passage Could Be A Good Thing

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:30:00 -0500

Yes, Prop. 8 passed in California as we're all aware, and the sky is falling. Gay marriages have been outlawed in the state in a blatant display of homophobia infecting politics. This is the worst possible thing to happen to the equal rights movement for gays and lesbians in at least ten years or more.

Or is it?

Sure, there are a lot of reasons of to be upset Prop. 8 passed in California. I do not need to spell them all out for you here. Many of you are already aware of the consequences of writing discrimination into the state constitution because it has already happened in your state. But while on the surface it looks like we were dealt a setback in our quest for marriage equality, I am beginning to realize that Prop. 8 may yet turn out to be a good thing. Before you think I'm some self-loathing homophobe myself, let me explain.

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It's Not The Size That Matters

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:30:00 -0500

I would like to thank everyone who participated in yesterday's rallies for marriage equality across the nation. The protests were a top news story all over the Internet and on many television stations. It could not be dismissed or ignored. My partner and I were not able to make it to the rally here in Phoenix because of a prior commitment, but we appreciate that those that did and realize the importance of their efforts.

While reading about the Phoenix event on a local news station's website, I saw someone comment that the crowd of about 2,000 was not very large in comparison to the area's overall population. The commenter deduced that the Phoenix-area LGBT community must be a very small minority. He implied that somehow the size of the crowd was important to our quest for equality.

My response to that person is this: As long as there even one person that must protest or petition the government for their rights, it is of importance. We should all be equal in the eyes of the law. If even one person's rights are trampled on, justice has been subverted and none of us are free.

This is one case where size truly does not matter.

Obama Win Causes Obsessed Backers To See How Empty Lives Are

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:00:00 -0500

iPhone users: Click to watch

The revelation that Obama's candidacy was the only thing that gave their lives any meaning has caused many supporters to wander aimlessly, unsure of what to do with themselves.

Kerry Outperformed Obama Among LGBT Voters: Why?

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:30:00 -0500

While surfing the web tonight for information about the remaining undecided races from the election, I ran across a little tidbit over on the widely-respected and accurate site FiveThirtyEight.com that shocked me:

John Kerry received a larger percentage (77%) of the gay/lesbian vote in 2004 than Barack Obama did in this election (70%).

[Update: As Kathryn points out in the comments, transgendered people were not included in this exit polling data.]

Wha-wha-what?!?

Now I am usually the first person to point out that the LGBT community is a very large and diverse group. We aren't all Democrats by a long shot nor should we be. I also realize that we gays and lesbians are not just single-issue voters (contrary to popular belief). But honestly, I am left scratching my head over this statistic. Obama outperformed Kerry in virtually all of the other demographic groups (age 65+ voters being the only other exception), so why were we the anomaly?

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Unite Our Country Again: Put Up a Flag

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:00:00 -0500

Last night in his acceptance speech, Obama said:

"Americans ... sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."

Remember how united the country felt after 9/11? Suddenly there were no red or blue states. We were one people, saddened by tragedy, but united as a country. What happened to that?

Yesterday history was made. Our country overcame racism and elected our first African-American President. We elected hope and showed that we believe in a better America.

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Why Must We Be Just Plain Petty?

scott@bilerico.com (Scott Kaiser) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:30:00 -0500

This is what really bothers me about the gay community.

Apple today came out publicly opposing Prop. 8 in California (the anti-gay marriage amendment). They also donated $100,000 to the "No on Prop. 8" cause. Given what a controversial issue it is, it was a bold thing for them to do. Regardless of whether Prop. 8 is right or wrong, there are people on both sides of the issue who feel very passionately about it. By taking a stance, Apple risks alienating part of their customer base and losing sales (in effect costing them more than the $100k donation).

Despite this, some of my fellow members of the LGBT community are chiding Apple for not giving more than $100k. WTF? Apple supports us, and then we criticize them for it? How much do you really think that will inspire Apple or other companies to give to our causes in the future?

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