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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
The recent CNN special report Gary and Tony Have a Baby – about a gay couple seeking to adopt a child – is the subject of much discussion. While some in the lgbt community either praised it for showcasing lgbt families or criticized it for not enough diversity, some religious right leaders have been extremely negative with their comments.
Such as Family Research Council's Tony Perkins:
Equally tragic, one of the men said that no one has ever given him a reason why their lifestyle choice is harmful. Here’s one–they are deliberately and permanently depriving this child of a mother. CNN seems content to tug at the heartstrings rather than report the news. They imply that the “love” or affection that these men feel for each other and for the baby that they’ve manufactured is enough. Love is important, but it isn’t sufficient. Social science proves that children suffer from not having a married mom and dad, so why is CNN promoting two people who would deliberately put their baby in that situation?
Actually, Perkins continues to delude readers. He bastardizes the studies which compared two-parent heterosexual households to single parent heterosexual households to make a phony judgment on same-sex households.
He doesn't tell his readership that other studies, including the recent peer-reviewed one on lesbian households which Perkins and other religious right leaders have been attempting like mad to debunk, clearly shows that living in a same-sex household doesn't negatively affect a child.
But a recent horrific story of abuse highlights the intentional cluelessness of not only Perkins but others who rail against same-sex households while unfairly pushing up the “Ozzie and Harriet” model of family:
A California couple were charged with child abuse after police said they hit, starved and tied up the woman's two sons.Cheryl Ann Stuart and Mario Alberto Colin of Santa Ana, Ca, allegedly caused malnutrition and dehydration to the two boys, aged 2 ½ and 5. The younger of the two boys had lips so dry and cracked that they bled, and his head was severely bruised, the Associated Press reported.
“She tied the kids to their beds using bandages, shoelaces or chains to keep them from taking off while she slept,” Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, a spokesman for Santa Ana police told the AP. “She didn't feed the boys, especially the 2-year-old, because she was potty-training him” and was tired of changing his soiled sheets.
Stuart was giving the children two cups of water a day. She admitted to beating the two children, but said she didn't' think she was striking them excessively hard.
Colin is not the father of the two boys. He is married, with two children of his own. His wife did not even know of Colin's affair with Stuart.
If this had been a same-sex household, Perkins and company would be putting out press releases, being interviewed for either One News Now or Fox News, and sending out action alerts.
But since this is a heterosexual household, you won't be hearing anything from the FRC about it. And this is a shame. You see in this case, some neighbors were quoted as saying that they blame themselves for either not paying attention to what was going on or not getting involved when they suspected the abuse.
Will Perkins send out an action alert advising his readership to report anything they suspect as child abuse with as much fervor as he attacks a gay couple for daring to adopt a child?
Probably not.
For that matter, other than implying that same-sex households are dangerous for child, the Family Research Council, to my knowledge, never done anything in regards to fighting or speaking out against child abuse, domestic violence, or any other problems that would actually harm a child's home environment.
My mistake. There is an interesting report on the organization's web page which advocates spanking a child.
5 Comments
Well? What do you expect?Stories like the abuse case aren’t covered by these so-called “family” groups, because they don’t rake in the cash like stories like Gary and Tony’s!
Stories like theirs is like crack to the “family” groups, because that’s what they need to condemn us, then make those pleas for funds so they can oppose our “agenda”.
Remember… these type of groups and their perverted leaders at one time also used desegregation and interracial marriage to rake in the cash, then women going into occupations they once were either banned or discouraged from taking!
Once those stories became passe, and Jim Crow finally died, the religious reicht needed a new whipping boy, and we TLBGs were their convenient target.
They are too busyFundy groups like FRC are too busy whining about the sweet, well-adjusted 10 year old kid being the grand marshal (with his hetro Mom and Dad’s support/permission) of a family-oriented pride parade.
“Mendacious”One of my favorite words — I just love the way it rolls off the tongue, and I love the way it describes Tony Perkins and his colleagues — LaBarbera, Staver, Phelps, that whole crew. For those without a dictionary to hand, it means “dishonest.”
No, he’s not going to comment about incidents of heterosexuals abusing children, nor will he admit that over 98% of known child molesters identify as heterosexual. And yes, he will continue to lie about what social science “proves,” particularly since, insofar as research can prove anything, it’s proven exactly the opposite of what he says it does. (See “mendacious” above.) Doesn’t help his agenda or his fundraising.
Now that Dobson is more or less at least semi-retired, it seems that Perkins has become the most dishonest person in public discourse, give or take Limbaugh, Beck, and Coulter,, and they’re just venal and/or crazy. Hmm, well. . . .
Having beenabused as a child I know just how full of shit these people (FRC, etc) are. My nice Catholic mother never once cocked an eyebrow, raised a protest, sought help, or anything while her bastard of a second husband (she’s now on husband number 4) beat the holy hell out of my brother and me (from pre-kindergarten to third grade). None of my nice Catholic family members stepped in to put a stop to it. None of them cared.
Small wonder I used to go to bed at night and pray that I was adopted.
Tony Perkins = Menace to SocietyMr. Perkins vile rhetoric against the LGBT community is symptomatic of his obvious projection of his own psychological neuroses. This man must have been subjected to some sick shit as a child to grow up so hateful, crude, base, and just plain worthless.