The rabidly anti-gay Westboro Baptist “God Hates Fags” hate group spent Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery, spreading the word of hate and intolerance.

Right wing blogs and the tabloid press have come to the defense of Medhat Mohamed, the homophobic New York cab driver who threw a gay couple out of his cab for hugging.

Mohamed lost his job and faces losing his cab driver license after he became enraged at the sight of his male passengers embracing in the backseat of his cab.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quotd as saying, “I thought the taxi driver’s behavior — if it is as reported — was a disgrace.”

Today, a columnist for the New York Post came to Mohamed’s defense and accused one of the victims of being “media savvy” in an opinion editorial that features a photo of Mohamed looking very sad (above). Since she works for Rupert Murdoch’s sleezy tabloid newspaper, columnist, Andrea Peyser could also be condemned for media savvy. Using her logic, she simply can’t be trusted because her experience in the news business automatically makes her suspect.

THIS man does not deserve to be treated like a criminal.

Cabby Medhat Mohamed is the new poster boy for sexual intolerance in this libertine city. He’s been branded by Council Speaker Christine Quinn as potentially the biggest bigot ever to scar the populace. Mayor Bloomberg labeled the distressed driver a “disgrace.”

[…]

But Medhat Mohamed is no bigot, and he’s not a disgrace.

He’s also not a prude, a gay basher, a homophobe or the more colorful invective that’s been lobbed in his direction by a chorus of yuppies with a large bone to pick.

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Judge Judy has a saying, “If something doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true.”

It simply doesn’t make sense that two men would single this cab driver out and make up a lie about him. What would motivate them to do such a thing? There are plenty of corporations with deep pockets to go after if this were a scam.

One thing I have learned about South Park fans over the last few years is that they can be as crude and insensitive as the show itself. It makes sense that people who are devoted to a program that “ridicules everyone” would not react well to GLAAD’s objection to an episide focused on the primary anti-gay slur. The sad thing is that many of the fans who jumped to South Park’s defense are gay and lesbian.

Many gay and lesbian fans of the show were quick to condemn GLAAD, calling the organization “thin skinned” and “overly PC” for speaking out about the issue. Ironically, those are the same words often used by those who use slurs and other forms of hate speech to defend themselves.

Rather than try to understand why GLAAD objected to the program, many gay and lesbian people seemed all to eager to throw them under the bus for simply doing their job and ensuring that LGBT people are not defamed in the media. Many LGBT people do not know what GLAAD has been able to accomplish over the last two decades. They are the reason why journalist no longer use terms like “admitted homosexual” to refer to gay and lesbian people. They are the reason why being gay, lesbian and bisexual is not referred to a being a “lifestyle choice” by legitimate newspapers and magazines.

The statement from GLAAD reads in part:

Though this seems to represent a well-intentioned effort by the creators of South Park to delegitimize a vulgar anti-gay slur, the fact is that the word is and remains a hateful slur that is often part of the harassment, bullying and violence that gay people, and gay youth in particular, experience on a daily basis in this country. It is an epithet that has real consequences for real people’s lives. Just this year, an 11-year-old Massachusetts student named Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, unable to endure the unrelenting anti-gay bullying and name-calling he experienced at school, committed suicide.

The creators of South Park are right on one important point: more and more people are using the F-word as an all-purpose insult. However, it is irresponsible and wrong to suggest that it is a benign insult or that promoting its use has no consequences for those who are the targets of anti-gay bullying and violence. This is a slur whose meaning remains rooted in homophobia. And while many South Park viewers will understand the sophisticated satire and critique in last night’s episode, others won’t - and if even a small number of those take from this a message that using the “F-word” is OK, it worsens the hostile climate that many in our community continue to face.

Anyone who has been involved in raising children over the last 10 years can tell you that many of those who watch South Park and lack the ability to understand satire are children.

The day after every new episode of South Park aired, my nieces and nephew came home quoting lines from the show. They were not allowed to watch it at home, yet it was the talk of the elementary school playground. Kids repeat everything they hear on the show like little parrots and share it with their classmates.

So, you can be certain that the words “fag” and “faggot” were spoken in record numbers in U.S. schools on November 6, the day after the F-word episode of South Park aired. One can only assume that those boys who are perceived to by gay did not have a good day in school.

GLAAD issued a thoughtful, well-reasoned statement about their concerns regarding this issue. It is disappointing that so many LGBT people are so devoted to a cartoon show that they would attack GLAAD for doing what is an invaluable service.

Apparently, they’re not satisfied with trying to frighten people with the omen of a deadly storm of gay lightning. They want to try their had at putting the fear of losing a primary into the hearts and minds of seasoned politicians. Let’s see how that works out for them.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE SENDS A MESSAGE TO NEW YORK STATE GOP LEGISLATORS:
“Vote for Gay Marriage and We Will Fund a Primary Challenge.”

WASHINGTON - Following up on its successful campaign to defeat Dede Scozzafava in NY-23, The National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Executive Director Brian Brown announced plans to build a $500,000 war chest to fund a primary challenge to any Republican senator who votes for gay marriage - regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s vote in the State Senate.

“There is no Republican Senate district in New York where the majority of people support gay marriage. Maine has made that very clear,” said Brian Brown. “The GOP should learn from Dede Scozzafava’s experience: voting for gay marriage does not pay.”

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Of course, NOMs actions could result in Democratic candidates being elected rather than those who are traditionally more conservative. Then, there is the fact that most politicians don’t appreciate being threatened by bigoted nutjobs. Eventually, politicians quit backing down to the KKK and the John Birch Society. What makes NOM think they’re any different?