Jerry Sandusky's Lawyer Gives Out Gay Sex Phone Number

Okay, I have to admit, I laughed out loud. In a story with very little opportunities for humor, this one got me. But on another level, I want to kick myself. The Penn State problem is not a "sex scandal," or a "gay scandal." It is a child rape scandal. There is an unwarranted conflation there. But still hits the funnybone, for bone-headed decisions.


[Excerpt]

Joseph Amendola, Jerry Sandusky's Lawyer, Gives Gay Sex Line Phone Number




To the chagrin of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocates everywhere, the Penn State child abuse scandal has been cited in several arguments made against gay parenting and adoption by various right-wing pundits. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

I'm a Triple Minority!

How could I say such a thing as a white man in America? This is a little post about a small realization I just had. I'm gay. I'm an atheist (yeah, I'm finally going to own it). And I'm a non-sports fan! I'm a triple minority!

Big deal, you might say. And to the gay thing, I'd agree. The folks that have a problem with that are dying out, and it really isn't much of an issue in my day-to-day life. But that's just the thing.

Imagine your life as a pie chart. Most people have a "work life" wedge. Most have a "home life" wedge, and if you're lucky it is subdivided into "alone time" and "relationship" wedges. That wedge also includes "family obligations", if we still have parents, or adult children. But I'm missing two wedges: religion and sports fandom.

This is why people are wrong (even people I'm fond of, like Thom Hartmann) when they try to say that atheism is a religion in itself. No it's not. It is the absence of religon. There is no section of my life devoted to atheism, besides the odd post here on the blog, or arguments online or in real life. I don't spend time in deep thought about it, there is no list of commandments, no contemplation about "spirituality." It is simply deleted from my pie.

The same goes for sports. I can watch a game, and even enjoy it, as long as I know who I'm supposed to root for. But following sports? Having allegiences and rivalries, and "hated" teams? It literally makes zero sense to me. My brother has similar feelings, though far more militant (yes, he's a militant anti-sportsist). So that sports-fandom wedge is also absent from my pie.

Maybe that's why I simply can't figure out why coaches carry any allegiance from people. I'm from Ohio, and I couldn't understand the over-the-top love for Woody Hayes. I can't even name a subsequent coach. My sister--a diehard Buckeye, but also an atheist--probably just rolls her eyes at that one. But what can explain the people enraged by the firing of the Penn State coach, Joe Paterno (believe it or not, I had to just look up his name)? The sports wedge seems to be a whole lot like the religion wedge.

All of this is not a declaration that I'm better than you, or have life figured out. I just find it interesting that folks have entire dedicated parts of their life that I don't share. The human experience isn't the same for everybody. I just seem to find myself on the minority side of several of the experiences.

WAIT! I have no children! I'm a quadruple minority!!!

Captain Obvious: Penn State Scandal Has Nothing to do with "The Gays"

When there is a pedophile scandal involving boys, gay people wince, for multiple reasons. Chief among them is the horror imposed on the little boys, against their will. Secondarily--and quite a bit down the concern meter, but still wrenching--is the false equivalence drawn by many (usually, conservatives) between pedophilia and homosexuality.
 
If you have any interest, you can find copious confirmation that some strong conservatives draw a parallel between teh gay and kid diddlers. Just go to FreeRepublic.com, and go to the ridiculously named "Homosexual Agenda" section. You'll find that the hardcore tea bagger crowd draws no distinction.  But there is one.

If you found out that there was a coach who molested a bunch of little girls, you wouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that there was a heterosexual problem. But when it is a coach and boys? Many minds go there. Even when there is no scandal to use as a touchstone, many conservative minds go there. "Gays can't reproduce, so they recruit," they'll say. Uhhhmmmm, no. Not necessary. Plenty of gays to go around. Most gays were molested, they'll say. But, then they'll also claim that lesbians were molested by men. So, which is it?

Most troubling with the uber-conservative equivalence between pedophilia and homosexuality, is the blindness to force vs. consent. If you dare read the commentary at conservative sites, you'd have to believe that gay people do not see that distinction. When in fact, it is more likely for sexual harassment and abuse claims to be leveled at heterosexuals.


Pedophilia, whether performed by ostensibly straights or gays is a vicious, nasty crime, performed against kids against their will. Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation. It is a sexual pathology. Performing sexual acts against minors (who are unable to legally give consent) or others against their will is always wrong. There is no evidence that pedophilia is any more prevalent amongst heterosexuals or homosexuals. In fact, I think it is--and should be--insulting toward gays or straights to claim that either is more likely to molest a child. I believe that molesters belong in their own category, and I believe they've got what's coming to them.

I'm insulted by the fact that the FreeRepublic site puts all of the Penn State stories under the banner of "Homosexual Agenda." But I'm not surprised. FR is a knee-jerk site, with very little thought, and a whole lot of emotion. From the whole Penn State story, I am of course most upset by the lives that have been damaged. But I'm also really pissed off that a bunch of knuckle-draggers are going to blame this on people like me.