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NC State Senator James Forrester, a retired physician, and the man who has been the perennial sponsor of a bill that would permanently make LGBT citizens in the state second-class citizens by public vote, is, to be charitable, a sick man with a terminal case of homophobia. In some cases politicians engage in political homophobia — meaning they professionally gay-bash for purported or perceived political gain, but socially aren’t uncomfortable socializing and working with LGBTs
In the case of Forrester, the latter is simply not possible. 
How else can you explain what occurred at his town hall last night in his district, along with fellow homophobic state elected officials Sen. Kathy Harrington, Rep. Kelly Hastings, Rep. John Torbett and Rep. Bill Current? (Gaston Gazette):
He said that he’s sponsored the bill for eight years and this year it’s time to see it get passed. Republicans now control the majority in the state Legislature and Forrester says that Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, cannot veto a constitutional amendment.
“It’s a new day in Raleigh. This could really make a mark on society as we know it,” he said. “Let the people vote on it. I think the people will overwhelmingly vote for marriage as one man, one woman.”
…Forrester, a physician, said the lifespan of homosexuals is decreased by at least 20 years due to the increased risk of developing AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.
“We need to reach out to them and get them to change their lifestyle back to the one we accept,” he said.
Wow. Just. Wow. Digest this foulitude:
“change their lifestyle back to the one we accept.”
The audience at the venue, Restoring Hope Foursquare Church, gave Forrester a standing ovation. I received this message from Robert John Kellogg, who was the only (out) LGBT member of the audience who had to listen to garbage like this from Forrester. He said:
Pam, I was the only LGBT individual there. The hate coming from Forrester was so evident I wanted to get sick. I did stand up and challenge all 5 lawmakers to meet with the local LGBT community, but none said they would.
Robert expanded his description in the comments of the article on the town hall:
After the Gazette staff left I spoke up as a gay man in Gaston County and asked lawmakers present if they would be willing to meet with a group of LGBT constituents just as they were with the church group that hosted the town hall meeting.
None directly answered my question and Rep. Torbett said, “is this not what we are doing now?” Somehow one voice in opposition to a church of supporters to the amendment is not my idea of a real town hall meeting where all voices are heard.
This was hardly a fair and balanced meeting. From the beginning all the rep’s stated their support for the bill and all of the questions where from members of the church who were preaching to the choir.
How about a real town hall meeting in a public place not affiliated with a biased group where real dialogue can be spoken.
Rep Torbett says that gays and lesbians are evil and there is no inbetween area just good and bad, right and wrong and LGBT members are evil.
Forrester’s statement, “We need to reach out to them and get them to change their lifestyle back to the one we accept,” sums up what this town hall was all about. It was not to have a reasonable discussion about LGBT individuals and a proposed constitutional amendment, it was about changing gays and lesbians to be more like them.
It was captured on video. Don’t lose your lunch:
And another comment about the idiocy and promotion of junk science by Forrester:
Forrester’s “live 20 years less” bullpucky has been discredited for a decade, and is based on blatant misuse of a study by a homophobic psychologist so unprincipled he was drummed out of several professional organizations. (And, with improved treatments, lifespans for people with HIV are much longer than when the study was done, 20 years ago.) Proves, I guess, that even an MD can be an ignoramus. Or a liar. Or both.
But let’s say the claim were true and health should be a consideration in marriage rights. Does that also mean that the morbidly obese and cigarette smokers shouldn’t be allowed to get hitched? How about morbidly obese smokers?
This guy is a DOCTOR? And he thinks people should be demonized for their diseases? Wow. Really compassionate. I’d love to be the nurse at his deathbed.
Like Maggie Gallagher of NOM, these people don’t like their views scrutized in a real open debate; they prefer this kind of flat-earth, closet-case, ex-gay-promoting, head-on hate to go unchallenged in small supportive groups.
Related:
* Slur spewing pastor taking center stage in North Carolina
* The gloves are off: Equality NC slams N.C. Reps. Stam, Folwell for misleading state lawmakers and the public about impact of pro-hate amendment
* Make this viral: anti-gay pastor Johnny “two locks” Hunter on the biology of protecting marriage
* The right’s persistent obsession with sex (NC Policy Watch)
* Pastor Donald “Faggot!” Fozard and Herald-Sun columnist rail about Council’s marriage equality vote
* The institutionalized homophobia that some lawmakers in NC want to see expanded
* NC: The Truth About the Discriminatory, Job-Killing, Harmful, Family-Unfriendly, Divisive, Anti-LGBT Marriage Amendment
10 Comments
“Change their lifestyle?”
So, should I resign from the Armada? That is the largest part of my current lifestyle/
Should I drop the pilot training that I am taking? Also part of my lifestyle.
No more old movies or reading in bed at night? Another part of my lifestyle, but reading leads to information and things like knowing that the good doctor is at least a decade plus behind on his medical journals.
For a state with Duke University in it, ignorance has firmly grasped the podium in North Carolina
We should challange this bull-ca-ca-doo-doo wherever we find it. Thanks for the info on the 20 year old study, Pam. I’m sure there are some HIV POZ people who have managed to outlive the study itself.
Kudos to Robert Kellogg for challanging the group to meet in a more diverse setting.
Whenever we are in some kind of setting such as this, we should challange the speakers. Challange them with knowledge like Pam provides as well as challanging their ides of normal, moral, evil, etc. How would Rep. Torbett have responded if a member of the GLBT community stood up and asked “Am I evil?” just to dare him to say it directly to someone he’s speaking blanketly about and to say infront of a crowd of onlookers. What minds might have been changed (or at least started to question their belief) had they known the study Sen. Forrester study was 20 years old. Don’t let biggotry lie (in the literal and figurative sense), prod it, poke it, move it toward tolerance and acceptance!
I think that he should become an atheist and change his lifestyle to one that I accept. Freedom is all about what I want, isn’t it?
Maybe someone needs to reach out to him and get him to change his lifestyle to one that we accept. Or maybe, just maybe he needs to realize that neither he nor his church friends are the final arbiters of what’s “acceptable” in a country where people are free to live their lives as they see fit. They also need to come down off their g**d****d high horse and quit trying to legislate their moral views into law for everyone else.
Perhaps North Carolignians should change their lifestyle to one that New Yorkers can accept; or Americans in general should change their lifestyles to one that Europeans can accept.
The statement that he has “gay patients” is an obvious lie. No self-respecting gay person would ever seek medical attention from a man who’s an obvious quack.
Question that I would like to hear asked when someone claims teh gayz can change: would you be okay with your daughter marrying a man who said he used to be gay but isn’t anymore? Yes or no? *crickets*
What about Christians who feign outrage at the treatment of LGBTs by fundamentalists but are against gay rights, gay marriage and don’t approve our “lifestyle”? They are lot more worse than this dude because in their delusional, fucked up worlds they believe they are not bigoted, not hypocritical and non-judgmental. They believe they genuinely care about us. They pathetically try so hard to distance themselves from the more radical right-wingers and religious zealots, hoping their hypocrisy and prejudices will go undetected and booster themselves as being tolerant and understanding, while “disagreeing” with our alleged life styles using the same crappy conservative talking points. They believe by saying sugar-coated and polite things and saying it in the nicest manner and language possible, no matter how nasty, vindictive and malicious it may seem, isn’t bigotry. When you challenge them, they come out with some BS about LGBTs being intolerant because we dare not let them put our livelihood up for something fucking public debate or cheesy philosophical issue. Don’t call them a bigot or hypocrite because if you do, you’re the real bigots and hypocrites for having the audacity to defend yourself and your livelihood. They patronize you and pride themselves on being “not like those Christians” when they too are the embodiment of religious bigotry, intolerance and the failings of their Christianity and religion except they, again, have deluded themselves into believing they are not hateful. Courtesy and kindness and politeness doesn’t necessarily mean people have respect for you. If someone told me they have nothing against gay people but have issue with the “lifestyle” or the idea of gay marriage, then presumably they are assholes. This is a subject I’m sick to death of people trying to find a grey area or compromise just. You should see what they say about Transsexuals and the “genetically, they will always be female (F to M) or male (M to F). They love us and yet the find us sinful. Disgusting and toxic.
They badmouth Atheists, those who are agnostic, non-religious people and other folks of faith and try to use the shortcomings of those religious ideologies to exempt Christianity out of criticism. The typical, cheesy “all religions have done bad things” or the cheap” *sniffle, sniffle* “There are good and bad people in all religions!” crap.
Sorry for the long rant but therm lifestyle strikes a nerve in me especially after reading some of the most infuriating crap. It makes me my blood boil when it coming from the mouths of religious asswipes (conservative, so-called moderates that distance themselves from politics but still share the conservative views, and even freaking LIBERALS) and even LGBTs to use the term. Back then, it was never spoken in such a icky context…..Now, it’s become weaponized.
Once again, I apologize for the lengthy comment. I find myself infuriated at the shit that comes out from religious folks, yes, including self-proclaimed Liberal Christians. It’s annoying to have people patronize you, claiming they don’t condemn you yet they feel the need to express some sort of disapproval, despite the fact nobody actually seems ask these jackasses about their personal opinions and beliefs on the subject matter. They act as if our livelihood or our rights should be determined on their petty beliefs, prejudices and bigotry and if you react negatively to their BS, they rationalize by insisting they’re just having a “disagreement”. It doesn’t help they treat you like some misguided heathen who needs to be shown the way.
Tell me about it. Then again the arrogance they indulge in is so vast it makes the pacific ocean seem like a playground puddle. These people are perfect examples of sociopaths. They lie consistently, have little to no guilt or remorse for the damages and deaths they cause, show little empathy for those who are different than them, put their needs and their desires for gain above that of life, they have a hard time holding stable relationships with rational people, etc. In psychology we see that abusers often state that there is only one correct way to living life and that is their way. These people are nothing more than vile, abusive troglodytes who are the ones that truly need psychological and psychiatric treatment to cure them of their disease of willful ignorance and delusions of grandeur.