Watch out for the big, gay storm

Karol Collymore

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

  • Richard (unverified)
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    I'm surprised you haven't got a thread going on the tea bagging redneck racists.

    Janeane Garafalo is pretty Blue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms45EzMR0f8

  • Watson (unverified)
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    That was SO gay.

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    Omgosh I have tears in my eyes I am laughing so hard. Thanks Karol.:)

  • LeLo (unverified)
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    Everyone knows real Oregonians don't use umbrellas. I guess the gays are REALLY going to get Oregon then.

  • MTB (unverified)
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    I'm not sure if my laughing is considered picking on the mentally challenged or not? This is hysterical, the sad part is that they are paid actors, and NOM who produced the video actually covered the cost of this with 1.5 million dollars to launch an anti-gay campaign.

    Says alot when a Christain Group comes together to spend more than a million dollars and not one hungry person was fed? Not one child was brought in from being homeless, and not one family facing economic hardship was helped. A loug and true christain message...

    The doctors who will have to choose between their beliefs and their jobs that killed me. Wonder if they had their fingers crossed while taking the hypocratic oath. LOL ...

  • Frank (unverified)
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    Is that big gay gathering storm headed for...

    O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O klahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet When the wind comes right behind the rain. Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

    We know we belong to the land And the land we belong to is grand! And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! We're only sayin' You're doin' fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma O.K. L - A - H - O - M - A OKLAHOMA!

    'cause ever'body knows a big gay gathering storm would be a musical!

  • Douglas K. (unverified)
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    A parody of that "storm" ad is kind of redundant. It almost mocks itself.

  • Murphy (unverified)
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    Throughout history, social conservative have never, ever, won a fight they've picked.

    Freeing the slaves, ✓ Woman's Suffrage, ✓. Union organization, ✓. Civil Rights, ✓.

    Gay Rights, (almost) ✓.

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    I liked Colbert's parody better.

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    These are genius. I liked that Jane Lynch and another actor from Chris Guest's troupe is in it, and also George Takei.

    I never knew I was supposed to be scared when someone said "It's raining MEN!" Shows how naive I am, I guess.

  • Captain Jack Harkness (unverified)
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    Catchin' up with the universe! I like it. Omnisexuals unite!

  • megatron (unverified)
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    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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    I was sitting in a hotel in Ontario, checking things at the end of the day, and I just fell off my chair from laughing. My leg hurts now, and I think the chair is broken.

  • AdmiralNaismith (unverified)
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    Murphy, don't forget the conservative push to throw Harry Potter out of our schools. It might encourage kids to use their imaginations, and that might make them....GAY!!!

  • Tom Civiletti (unverified)
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    There are several good parodies of the anti-gay ad on YouTube. As for the original Gathering Storm, it shows how dishonest, unreasonable, and divorced from reality the social conservative movement is.

  • Ten Bears (unverified)
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    I'm still chuckling over how my though not a "doctor" college educated half Choctaw Black Seminole beauty queen grandmother would have handled the "mulatto" thing.

    Copulating buffoons.

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    The ad was produced by the National Organization for Marriage, the fourth largest financial donor to the "Yes on Proposition 8" campaign, which amended the California state constitution to deny marriage rights to lesbians and gays...

    But the NUMBER ONE financial donor was (no surprise) - the Knights of Columbus, the political arm of Karol's Catholic Church.

    http://www.californiansagainsthate.com/dishonorRoll.html

    No surprise, of course, since the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland was also the number one financial backer of Oregon's shameful Measure 36. And they collected their money to selectively erase basic civil rights from the collection plate at Karol's lovely church.

    And until Karol and other Catholics stop donating, they will continue to back efforts - silly, perhaps, but also frighteningly successful - to deny my family and many others equality under the law.

    But we shall overcome..!

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    ...and WHAT shall we overcome?

    Try this story, from lovely progressive Oregon, now that Catholic/Mormon/Christian prejudice has been written into the state constitution (with help from Karol's church)...

    Why the word "marriage" matters by Mary Pitman Kitch, The Oregonian Tuesday April 21, 2009, 5:22 PM

    What, exactly, are registered domestic partners? I used to think I knew. And until last week, one Northeast Portland couple -- call them Luis and Patrick -- thought so, too.

    Luis is 37 and grew up in Texas. Patrick, 55, graduated from Wilson High and Portland State. Long ago, Patrick heard you should spend four seasons with someone to test love. So that's what they did. Spend summer, fall, winter and spring together. In June 2008, they registered their domestic partnership. "It's very comforting to make a commitment where you know someone wants to be with you for eternity,'' Patrick said Tuesday.

    And even more comforting if everyone else knows what a "domestic partnership" means, too. They were told it would convey legal protections under state law roughly equivalent to those of spouses. But gatekeepers actually get to define the term. In a moment of crisis, earth-shaking decisions can depend on what the gatekeepers know.

    Or think they know.

    Last week, a nurse in Oregon Health & Science University's intensive care unit shut the gate on Patrick. The nurse said he couldn't go into the intensive care unit to be with Luis, even though Luis at that moment was not expected to live. Luis has AIDS, but doesn't want his employer to know that. (For that reason, he asked that we not use his whole name or his partner's last name.) As a result of his disease, Luis has a compromised immune system. Recently, Luis developed a pneumonia-like condition in which his lungs were filling up, and he had difficulty breathing. He felt he was suffocating.

    Patrick took Luis to OHSU, and not only was he admitted to intensive care, Luis had to be placed on a ventilator. On Tuesday, April 14, things became very, very dicey. Luis was out of it. It was just at that moment that a nurse refused to let Patrick back into Luis's room. "We shouldn't have you in the room as his friend," the nurse told Patrick. "Do you know how I reach his next of kin?"

    "I'm his registered domestic partner,'' Patrick told her. "Same as husband and wife." But the nurse was insistent that only a family member could fill out the forms and make the decisions that needed to be made for Luis.

    Patrick had no idea what to do. Frantic, he grabbed a copy of the "Gay Yellow Pages" and started dialing attorneys' phone numbers. He finally connected to attorney Beth A. Allen.

    She called OHSU's legal department and eventually -- it wasn't long in clock time, but it felt like an eternity to Patrick -- got the nurse's decision reversed. The apologies from the nurse were profuse and, as it happens, Luis made a remarkable recovery (he is still in the hospital).

    On Tuesday, an OHSU representative said the nurse's apologies had been appropriate, because the nurse apparently didn't understand OHSU policy.

    Letting domestic partners into ICU? "We believe in that wholeheartedly,'' she said, adding that this mistake does not say anything about OHSU per se. I actually agree with her about that.

    Nevertheless, the fact that it was OHSU makes what happened even more shocking. If a nurse at one of the most progressive institutions in our state is confused about what a domestic partnership means, what does that say about the likelihood of confusion at other hospitals?

    And what does it say about the rough equivalence of domestic partnership and marriage?

    We know what one conveys. Among other things, instant access into an ICU.

    The other one, at a time when a relationship matters most, and life is most fragile, can crumble into a piece of paper no one really understands. It can lock the door.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/04/why_the_word_marriage_matters.html

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    Oregon Bill, Your attacks on my beliefs are tired and hateful. It is clear to anyone who has the power of reason that being Catholic doesn't mean you swallow whole all that the church serves up. If I was that naive, I'd believe that every gay man walks around in pink dancing to club beats and making out with everything that blinks. Oh and I forgot the naked pool parties...wait, that's real.

    So lay off - that precise religion taught me to turn the other cheek to insults like yours.

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    Karol - but you have to lay off my family first - by ending financial support for the organization that is largely responsible for erasing one of our basic civil rights.

    Your contributions to your Catholic church have backed successful efforts to disenfranchise your gay and lesbian neighbors, family, colleagues and friends, in Oregon and elsewhere.

    If you are serious about ending discrimination - stop funding it.

    Naked pool parties?! Where?

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    Oregon Bill - Last time I checked, I don't actually know you so how would you have any idea what I do with my contributions?

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    Try this: Let's say that I belonged to a church that used my money to run a political campaign that demonized Black women, and which managed to amend the Oregon constitution to selectively deny Black women the right to, say, assemble.

    I'll bet you would be less than thrilled about my church, and about my involvement there. And you would be justified: my contributions would have directly contributed to your lesser legal status under the law.

    And let's say I then proclaimed myself a firm public advocate of Black women's rights - but without changing my relationship with my church (e.g., stopping donations?), or even acknowledging its significant role in your selective loss of a basic civil protection.

    And when confronted, what if I blogged: hey, stop attacking my church. I don't have any responsibility here. There's nothing I can do. I'm not involved. Lay off ME. Jeez.

    Wouldn't you call me - a hypocrite?

    For the record, a church that actively campaigned to successfully erase your civil rights? I'd leave it. In a nanosecond. And I'd be very vocal in condemning continued church efforts to dehumanize my fellow neighbors, family, colleagues, friends...

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    Last time I checked, I don't actually know you so how would you have any idea what I do with my contributions?

    You mentioned your church in a former blog posting...

    And I have no idea what you actually do with your contributions. But if you add to a collection plate within the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, you contribute to the organization most active in opposing basic civil rights for gays and lesbians.

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    Oregon Bill - Believe me, I understand what you are saying. But besides mentioning that I was born and raised Catholic, what you DO know about me is that I'm a staunch advocate for the rights LGBT citizens. If you have a question, ask it, but don't attack me for things you don't actually know are true about my practice or non-practice of a religion of which I identify.

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    If you have a question, ask it

    1. Do you give any money to your Catholic church?

    2. Did you change your relationship with your Catholic church after the Archdiocese of Portland became the lead financial contributors to Measure 36?

    3. Have you taken steps to distance yourself from a church that continues to work hard and successfully to reduce the legal worth and value of my family?

    (And Karol - thanks, in advance...)

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    I go to church about three times a year. When the basket is passed, I pass it to the next person. I don't know that I have a "relationship" with a church. I check schedules on high holy days and try to make it to a location and time match my schedule. I do not distance myself from the church, but I obviously don't attend any regularly.

    It is because of the lessons I learned as a child about charity, justice and humanity in church that I feel the way I do about how we treat each other as human beings. It may not be what the nuns intended that I do with their teachings, but that's what happened.

    How I choose to connect spiritually does not limit my ability to loudly advocate for what I believe. I was almost expelled from Catholic school because I said I didn't think abortion was a sin. I clearly shout from all mountain tops that I support equal rights for all. None of this makes me less of a person or worthy of scathing posts.

  • rw (unverified)
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    Oy mamala. Oy. Heh. :)

  • rw (unverified)
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    Karol - I like what you say. In my circles, it can be quite fashionable to ventilate against all manner of Christians, as nearly ALL of the denominations took their piece out of the tribes [and vulnerable Others] in unforgivable ways. Even the best of them can be dreadful about forcing desperately needy people to sit through sermons and such before they may touch themselves some food or drink or medicine... but the people that I am with, they talk all the time in a way like yours. Prayer in the world is good, whoever is praying. And if you rant against this one that wounded you, you are as the one who made the wound. We have to stretch beyond that!

    In the end it is surely not all about where you got your Teachings, but what have you done with them, did you find the Sacred Heart therein. It seems to me that you have indeed, do indeed, keep it Holy in a most pragmatic fashion. I recognize the spirit of what you say. There are Blood of the Lamb Believers of my acquaintance who hear in MY "pagan" expression the Holy Spirit they reach to. And we are together in that understanding.

    I like how you are not afraid to walk as you wish and where you will in this wise. Oregon Bill - your hurt is blinding you to the presence of allies.

    As they say, Angels Hide in the Strangest of Places.

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    Oregon Bill - your hurt is blinding you to the presence of allies.

    I appreciate Karol's answers to these questions.

    • She does not give money to her Catholic Church *, so she does not financially support Catholic church efforts to cut my family off from basic civil rights.

    I applaud her - and I sincerely apologize for my assumptions about the extent of her involvement with a religious organization that has done my family harm (I'm very sorry Karol - I was under the mistaken impression that you were a regular contributor to the collection plate)

    Yet pointing out the link between actual financial support for Catholic and Mormon churches (and the Albina Ministerial Alliance, etc.) - and successful political efforts to deny lesbian and gay families marriage equality - is pretty effective.

    I've noticed more and more friends, family members, colleagues, etc. pointedly withdraw their financial support, write letters, and speak up in church. The Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, the Mormons, and other religious organizations that attack our families are finding lots of opposition, and declining contributions, amongst dwindling ranks.

    To clearly and publicly identify the source of this prejudice ultimately makes association with it less defensible, and less common - and ultimately it will be marginalized. When Karol declares that she does not donate, and Chip Shields actually leaves, it has a powerful effect.

    And when a critical number of Catholics and Mormons say enough, Oregon might finally catch up with Iowa...

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    When the basket is passed, I pass it to the next person.

    Thanks Karol. And major apologies! I mean it - I was wrong, and I appreciate your decision to keep your money out of the collection basket at your Catholic church...

    Now if other "progressive" Catholics would follow your example - we might diminish the financing of future (and inevitable) Archdiocese campaigns to defeat our efforts to undo the damage wrought by Measure 36...

    Mormons, too. And all of you donating to Albina Ministerial Alliance churches, and evangelical churches, and...

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    Oregon Bill, I appreciate it.

    Maybe now every time I blog about all things gay, you'll cut me some slack. And, maybe I'll invite you to the naked pool party.

  • Oregon Bill (unverified)
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    I'm there!

  • rw (unverified)
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    Oregon Bill - as an advocacy professional (and volunteer) for decades, a passionate advocacy worker, I did hesitate a moment in criticizing what you had to say, as you are absolutely correct in your premises viz financial support. However, if you do not have people walking in the midst of these ones who do not think about what their church is doing, people walking in their midst who give them an opportunity for direct personal contact that belies the falsehoods they are being fed, you miss one more avenue of working on the problem. Some of us must take the route of the absolute refusenik - and some of us may be compelled to walk in the midst of the ones that hurt us or the ones we love.

    I think I was troubled by the fact that you were becoming very personal in attacking Karol, AND that your tone was the one that causes the attacked class to close their ears to you so that you cannot even bring reason to them.

    THese issues have to be worked on in a thousand ways. THere is no single avenue to justice and conscience, and it requires more than one version of working on it to bring a change on the larger level. This is my experience... I like that maybe now you and Karol will share war stories together when these posts appear, instead of immediate and volatile misunderstandings and scuffles based in ..... nothing. You are allies!

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