Love Is All You Need?

A powerful little film about a world where straight is gay, and gay is straight:

In the Life: Beyond the Rhetoric

An interesting couple of reports on gay Republicans and school bullying in Minnesota from In the Life, which will produce its last video this December.




The Associated Press reports that a record number of gay candidates are running for Congress this year. What is it with gay Republicans? Do you know one? Would you date one? Would you vote for one?

Body Without Soul

What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?

A story that needs no commentary from me, only deep sympathy for a lamb strayed from the fold.



From Sunday's New York Times:  The Life and Death of the Therapist Bob Bergeron, by journalist Jacob Bernstein, gay son of famed authors Carl Bernstein and Nora Ephron.

Lord, have mercy.  Grant to him and to all the departed eternal rest, and let light perpetual shine upon them.

Tyler Clementi's Brother Speaks Out

In an interview on Anderson Cooper's AC360:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

My God, how the world has changed in my lifetime.  Videos like this would have made a profound impression on me as a lonely gay teenager - this one is by staffers at White House - the White House, for God's sake:



And gay university presidents?  With their spouses?  Unthinkable back then, but yup:



And who could ever have imagined a gay softball team - in Austin, Texas?  A great message from the Gay World Series champs, who can beat the straight boys at their own game and make 'em like it:



Ditto from the San Francisco Track and Field Club:



At the other end of the scale, international drag queens have a fabulous message too:



An Eagle Scout says you can be true to your oath and be true to yourself too:



Adobe Systems employees say it got a lot better for them:



So do Etsy employees:



Asian-American kids catch a lot of flack from the parents but say don't let that hold you down:



Even way over on the other side of the world, it gets better in Singapore, too:



And even with ultra-conservative Catholic Republican parents, Chris Kelly says stick it out, it only gets better:




And to top it all off, this is not an IGB video, but you gotta hear this story from Hank Chen, which made your Head Trucker spew coffee all over the keyboard:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

EA employees:



D.C. Gay Flag Football League:



Lonely Planet employees:



TELUS employees:



Dow employees:



Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice:



And for all you Whos out there in Whoville:

It Gets Better: More Gay Jocks

Awesome video from the Atlanta Bucks Rugby Football Club:



The Kansas City Carnivores:



The San Francisco Fog:



Front Runners New York:



And a couple weeks ago, I posted an It Gets Better video from the Boston FLAG flag football league, but here's one that shows off their, um, dance moves. Gotta love it:

It Gets Better - This Week's Faves

Thomas Roberts, MSNBC:



The University of Southern California:



Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.:



Tammy from rural Canada:



Cher and the cast of Burlesque:



Feather Boa Fathers:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

Not blogging much this week.  Just not in a mood to write.  There've been been several stories from Texas and around the country and the world that in a different mood I might have something to say about - but the holidays are not something I enjoy at this late age, for several good reasons.  And I just don't have the heart right now to blog about the various unhappy or hurtful or hateful things people have said or done.  I reckon you guys are keeping up with all that via the newsy blogs I link to in the side column, if you want to.

Mainly I'm just puttering around the house here, working on one little project or another, nothing worth mentioning.  No turkey day for me this week.  But the ex-roommate and I are going to get together next week for our monthly dinner, and he's a good cook so that will be nice.

Meanwhile, about all I can come up with to post are some well-done or noteworthy videos from the It Gets Better Project.  Times have changed, are changing, will change for the better - eventually.  Not sure how much more change I'll see in my lifetime, but here's my tiny contribution to hope.  All I can do for now.


The Honorable Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States:



The leader of Her Majesty's Government, the Right Honourable David Cameron:



Lance Corporal James Wharton of the British Army:



Specialist Drury, United States Army, Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan:



Scott Zumwalt, of an illustrious American military family:



Boston's FLAG Flag Football League:



Employees of Pixar Animation Studios:



Andy and Jason, from Chicago:



Micah Jesse was bullied starting in preschool:



Students at Princeton University:



Sally Field and friends:




And finally, the Pop Luck Club proves that the impossible is . . . very possible after all:

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

Your Head Trucker shares some of the best videos he found at the It Gets Better Project this week.


Michael Ignatieff, Liberal Party leader and perhaps the next Prime Minister of Canada:



Will grew up near Tallahassee, Florida:



Kevin and William in Chicago:



University of Michigan Law School students:



"A bunch of fun lesbians":



Orthodox Jews:



Barbara Gaines, a producer for the Letterman show:



University of Alabama students:



Pennsylvania:



Staff of the Human Rights Campaign:



The NOH8 Campaign:



The Colorado theater community:



The Yale School of Drama:



And finally, B.D. has something to show you - but you have to be very, very quiet:

It Gets Better - This Week's Faves

First up, for my Canadian truckbuddies, some names and faces that should be familiar to you:



And here's Mike Chalut, Toronto radio/TV personality and president of ManCrunch, talking about how hard it was coming out to his very religious parents:



Mary, a straight mother of three, makes a very important point about the courage it takes to be gay:



Adam Lambert:



Suze Orman:



New York lawyers testify that it gets better:



Gap employees say it gets better:



Anthony in Mobile, Alabama, draws a picture of the happy gay life he's determined to have:



When David came out to his missionary parents, they tried to cast the demons out of him:



Excellent video from many members of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS:



Jean, a transsexual lesbian from Maine, shares an amazing story of courage and triumph:




And finally, the pièce de résistance:  Ten years later, Herman met up with his high-school bully again - and girlfriend, you just have to hear him tell it:

It Gets Better: Gay Jocks

The Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League:



The Seattle Quake Rugby Football Club:





A Seattle rowing club:

It Gets Better: Boy on a Bridge

A very moving story:

McCance Resigns, Arkansas Apologizes

Clint McCance, vice-president of the Midland School Board in Independence County, Arkansas, whose horrific anti-gay death rant last week provoked outrage around the world, submitted his resignation this morning, which was duly approved by the school board in a formal vote.

In yesterday's Little Rock Arkansas News, columnist John Brummett wrote:

Today’s column begins with a memorandum I presume to send to the world in behalf of Arkansas.

Dear World:

You need to understand that we in Arkansas remain mostly a sparsely populated rural culture. While there are lifestyle advantages to that, we also confront certain stagnant pressures that are matters of politics and heritage. One result is that we maintain too many school districts of small size.

This situation dissipates our already limited talent pool of people to run for and get elected to all these little local school boards.

But be assured that we have a court ruling that says the education of our children is ultimately the state government’s responsibility.

So, speaking as the state, we are sorry about those ghastly and evil ravings of that person who tragically sat on the board of one of our small rural districts. But please understand three things:

(1) He got duly elected by the local patrons, which means the rest of us in the state had nothing to do with that.

(2) He did not actually run anything and was but one vote on that little local board.

(3) But if you get right down to it, he was, and is, the entire state’s responsibility and problem, and we want you to know that, as a state, we do not hate homosexual children, nor do we want homosexual children dead, and we will do what it takes to make sure that these unspeakably ignorant and hate-filled pronouncements are forever condemned, isolated and discredited.

Sincerely in our regret,

Arkansas

Update:  Honk to Joe.My.God. for posting a link to McCance's resignation letter (pdf).

Dr. Phil Slams McCance's Apology

What I Say:  My stars, I have lived to see the day that one old straight boy slams another one for being homophobic, and in no uncertain terms. Kinda hard for your Head Trucker to get his mind around that.

But while I think Dr. Phil's observations are pretty much true, as I said yesterday, it takes time for a big, hard lesson to sink in - for you and for me, as well as for any ignorant redneck.

My religion teaches me that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Yes, McCance did a truly wicked thing, and has had his nose rubbed into it really hard.  Now let the better angels of his nature go to work.

Give him some time to process it. That's what you and I would need, too - you know you would.

Who knows - down the road, he just might turn out to be a wonderful, outspoken advocate for gay youth.

If Fox News and the Christianists don't turn him into another Joe the Plumber with a truckload of cash first. But we'll see. Give it time.

It Gets Better: This Week's Faves

Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, father of six, grandfather of four:



Rabbi David Bauer in his thoughtful message says God loves you for being queer, and your sexuality is a blessing:



First Lady Michelle Obama discusses the problem of bullying with Ellen, beginning about the 7:15 mark:



Staff at the Democratic National Committee share their stories:



Google employees spread the message:



Facebook employees tell their experiences:



Drag entertainer Craig in Calgary, Alberta, tells how he survived boarding-school hell, and has heard apologies from some of the bullies:



Summer says after she left Louisiana and her Southern Baptist family, she found the peace, acceptance, and love she needed:



Randy and Cosmo say things got exponentially better after they got away from the bullies and Bible-thumpers:



Some of our wise gay elders share their refreshing point of view:



And I think everybody would love to adopt Harry and Wayne as their gay grandpas:



The cast and crew of the Jersey Boys national tour speak out:




And to end this post on a beautiful note, the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles shows their True Colors :

Clint McCance Apologizes, Admits Ignorance, Plans Resignation

A great big bouquet of props to Anderson Cooper who last night not only held McCance's feet to the fire, but roasted him up one side and down the other, not letting him off lightly.  GOOD WORK, I say; a mindless, arrogant bully like McCance ought to be made to feel, at least once in his life, what it is like to be publicly humiliated and beaten up - metaphorically, if no other way. 

Like the old joke about the farmer who hit his stubborn mule over the head with a two by four, it takes a really big knock to get the attention of someone like this, and McCance has gotten it right in the face:



Part II includes a moving interview with David and Amy Truong, the parents of Asher Brown:



Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times has a further report on the story here, including this statement from HRC president Joe Solmonese:

Clint McCance's decision to resign from the school board is a step forward for the community he represents. We are hopeful the wounds that were inflicted will soon be healed.  What remains troubling is that Mr. McCance focused his regret on particular word choices not the animus behind those words. We hope he will take this time to reflect not only on the language he used but on what he can do to make the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people better.

What I Say:  We should not expect anyone to be completely healed and changed overnight; you know from your own experience, guys, that big lessons take time to sink in.

But it's a wonderful thing that McCance has been befriended by the father of a child lost to suicide. This is a learning moment for McCance, steeped so deeply in the dark, unreasoning, unreflecting prejudices of his culture. We should all pray, or at least earnestly wish, that he will by steps and degrees continue the journey he has now begun, unwillingly, towards light and knowledge and repentance, and thereby convert many like him.

That, on our part is the truly civilized, humane response; it is also the truly Christian and Jewish one:

As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. -- Ezekiel 33:11.

Believer or atheist, repentance and forgiveness are what it's all about, fellas. Otherwise, human society is no more than a collection of wild beasts endlessly tearing at and devouring one another.

Think about it.

It Gets Better: Oral Roberts' Gay Grandson

Randy has also written an article about growing up in Tulsa with his evangelical family: "Something Good Is Going to Happen to You."


And here's a clip of Oral talking about homosex, from a post I made last year, which should tell you all you need to know about Ronnie's and Randy's struggles as gay teens and men in that family:

Joel Burns, Anderson Cooper slam Arkansas Bully Clint McCance

Clint McCance and his buttboy friend

Last night, Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns responded to Clint McCance's abominable "I-wish-all-the-fags-would-die" rant:

Hate and violence born of ignorance must not be allowed to harm the youth of Midland, Arkansas or anywhere in America. Two weeks ago I shared at our Fort Worth City Council meeting that the words and attitudes expressed by those like Midland School Trustee Clint McCance result in misery and even death for America’s youth. At that council meeting and in the days since, I have asked people in communities across the nation to take responsibility and stand up to these hateful bullies. I encourage adults to tell our children they are whole, perfect, and complete. And I try to remind those bullied youth that things will get better and that they will make a lifetime of happy memories. I can assure you that changing the course of just one potentially lost life is worth our standing up to the bullies like Clint McCance. Trustee McCance is a failure as a responsible adult, an embarrassment to the good citizens of Midland, and he has betrayed his community’s trust.

Also last night, Anderson Cooper aired a sharply critical report about McCance, including an interview with Anthony Turner, the local resident who first brought McCance's remarks to the notice of the media:



In other developments, the Arkansas Times reports that the Midland School Board - most of whose members are avoiding the press - has disassociated itself from McCance's remarks; and the head of the Arkansas Department of Education has strongly condemned the statements, suggesting that McCance resign from the school board.

Also, a gay and lesbian group in Little Rock plans to protest at the Midland School District this morning.

Twisting the Knife: School Board Member Gloats over "Fag" Suicides

This big-mouthed motherfucker - the one on the left, I mean - is Clint McCance, a sitting member of the Midland School Board in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas (about 80 miles northeast of Little Rock).

He left these evil comments on his Facebook page last week:

Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE.

No because being a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. It you get easily offended by being caleld a fag then don’t tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I don’t care how people decide to live their lives. They don’t bother me if they keep it thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make special purple fag day for them. I like that fags can’t procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other AIDS and die. If you aren’t against it, you might as well be for it.

I would disown my kids if they were gay. They will not be welcome at my home or in my vicinity. I will absolutely run them off. Of course my kids will know better. My kids will have solid christian beliefs. See it infect everyone.

Human Rights Campaign has posted a PDF of the Facebook page here.   HRC's Joe Solmonese says:

Clint McCance has put a face on the hate that devastates our young people. McCance and his hate shouldn’t be allowed near children, let alone managing their education. We call for his immediate resignation from the school board.

A Facebook page called "Fire Clint McCance" has been set up here.

Queerty has published the name of the bigot's business and says:

Without question, this man must lose his board seat. It is not a matter of his First Amendment rights. Let this guy spew all the bile he wants on his own free time (and Facebook page). It is the matter of what's in the best interest of children — and it is certainly not a man who thinks gay youth should kill themselves. This man just wrote himself into history as a human stain.

The Advocate reports:

It's not clear if McCance has taken down the thread, since his Facebook page is private — the messages were made available to The Advocate via a forwarded screen capture. The superintendent of the Midland school district was unavailable and a phone call to the principal of the Midland High School was not returned. There was no response to e-mails to the superintendent and to the secretary of the Midland school board.

Joe Jervis says:

It looks like the Midland School District has wiped the names of its board members from its website, but Midland Superintendent Dean Stanley can be reached at dstanley@midlandschools.org. Be polite, yet forceful.

What I Say:  Oh no.  We are not going to take this lying down.  It's 2010 and it's a new day, boys - we are not going to let an elected official get away with this filthy talk and still keep his job.  In backwoods Arkansas or anywhere else.  Oh no.

Oh hell no.


Update:  Wayne Besen over at Truth Wins Out has dug up this very revealing photo of Clint - apparently posted by Clint himself at this site - presented as a public service by your Head Trucker:

Clint is the one with his, um, finger poking through his pants.

Discuss.

Update 2:  Max Brantley, editor of the Arkansas Times, is interviewed by openly gay newsman Thomas Roberts of MSNBC:



Read Brantley's report of his conversation with McCance here.