Never Again!!!

   Back in my younger days, I thought I knew  a lot about Gay history, the names, the contributions to society, etc.  I one day realized all I knew was what was allowed (most of that I now know was distorted and twisted), and maybe some of what escaped through the cracks in societies dark little hiding places.      There is such a rich history, filled with great joys, wonderous Peoples, and ugliness beyond comprehension.  Titling my blog was easy….I felt I must acknowledge and remember those that have fallen.

  This will by no means be a complete or comprehensive telling of our history, but rather a brief look into one of the most horrendous periods in recent Gay or Straight history.

The Holocaust:

The death of nearly six million souls is by anyone’s measure horrible beyond words.   The list of the men, women, and children from all walks of life who were tortured and killed is exhaustive.  I had always been taught that the holocaust was all about the Jews and a few smaller groups,  but upon visiting the United States Holocaust Museum in April 1993 my eyes were opened wide.  

  I knew the pink and black triangles were  symbols used by the Nazis to signify gay men and women, but I had no idea that over 50,000 had lost their lives in the camps.  Men and women who were shunned, brutalized, tortured, and killed for no reason other than who they loved.  The abuse was not just by the Nazis in the camps, but also by the other prisoners.  These Gay men and lesbians had no one to cling to, no one to lean on, no one to gain strength from.  They are reported to have endured truly horrible conditions at the hands of their captors and fellow prisoners.

Even after the Allied troops liberated the death camps, homosexual men were often rearrested and their torture continued for months and years.  Gay Holocaust survivors could be re-imprisoned for “repeat offences,” and were kept on the modern lists of “sex offenders.” Under the Allied Military Government of Germany, some homosexuals were forced to serve out their terms of imprisonment, regardless of the time spent in concentration camps.

(below is taken from www.pink-triangles.org)

Paragraph 175 and other sexual deviance laws

Criminal prosecution of gay men in Germany dates to the early middle ages. A national prohibition, Paragraph 175, was added to the Reich Penal Code in 1871. it read:

An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex or by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights might also be imposed.

When the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, they put a halt to efforts seeking reform of this law. In 1935, after the murder of Ernst Roem, the NSDAP amended the Paragraph 175 to close what were seen as loopholes in the current law.

The new law had three parts:

Paragraph 175: A male who commits a sex offense with another male or allows himself to be used by another male for a sex offense shall be punished with imprisonment.: An unnatural sex act committed by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights might also be imposed. 175bParagraph

Where a party was not yet twenty-one years of age at the time of the act, the court may in especially minor cases refrain from punishment.

Paragraph 175a: Penal servitude up to 10 years or, where there are mitigating circumstances, imprisonment of not less than three months shall apply to: (1) a male who, with violence or the threat of violence to body and soul or life, compels another male to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (2) a male who, by abusing a relationship of dependence based upon service, employment or subordination, induces another male to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (3) a male over 21 years of age who seduces a male person under twenty-one years to commit a sex offense with him or to allow himself to be abused for a sex offense; (4) a male who publicly commits a sex offense with males or allows himself to be abused by males for a sex offense or offers himself for the same.

**********************************************************************

The Nazis’ anti-gay policies and their destruction of the early gay-rights movement were generally not considered suitable subject matter for Holocaust historians and educators. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s that there was some mainstream exploration of the theme, with Holocaust survivors writing their memories, plays such as “Bent“, and more historical research and documentaries being published about the Nazis’ homophobia and their destruction of the German gay-rights movement.

*****************************************************************************
Pictured below are many of the symbols used to label and dehumanize the people arrested and imprisoned for no crime other than being themselves.

May we never forget the truly horrible things that occurred prior to and during WWII.  But let us also not ignore the similarities that exist in our own world today.  The political and religious organizations that exist and in whom we see the same hatred and dehumanization of Gays and Lesbians.

Memorial to Gay Victims of the Holocaust in Berlin. Its inscription reads: Totgeschlagen – Totgeschwiegen (Struck Dead – Hushed-Up).

****************************************************************************

We delude ourselves into believing that our world is more enlightened, less fearful, less ignorant…but than we look to countries like Uganda and see the same evil, the same hatred, the same enemy.  We must be ever vigilant in our fight for equality, for if we are not history can so easily be repeated.

Never Again!!!  Never Forget!!!

This is why I chose the title of my blog.  I want to never forget the suffering of tens of thousands of men and women who’s only ‘crime’ was to have been born Gay/Lesbian.

I love the rainbow flag for its symbol of diversity, but take the pink triangle to heart for its historical value. 

I wear one on my lapel, and I wear it with PRIDE!

Gay men and Lesbians of the past. 

Many of these men and women were most likely bisexual rather than Gay, but since we can no longer ask them directly we must go with what we know or are seeing in the evidence.

Alexander the Great
     *Macedonian Ruler, 300 B.C.
 Socrates
     *Greek Philosopher, 400 B.C.
 Sappho
     *Greek Woman Poet, 600 B.C.
 Hadrian
     *Roman Emperor, 1st-2nd c.
 Richard the Lionhearted
     *English King, 12th c.
 Saladin
     *Sultan of Egypt and Syria
 Desiderius Erasmus
     *Dutch Monk, Philosopher
 Francis Bacon
     *English statesman, author
 Frederick the Great
     *King of Prussia
 Lord Byron
     *English poet, 18th c.
 Walt Whitman
     *U.S. poet, author, 19th c.
 Oscar Wilde (?)
     *Irish author, 19th c.
 Marcel Proust
     *French author, 20th c.
 Colette
     *French author, 20th c.
 Gertrude Stein
     *U.S. poet, author, 20th c.
 Alice B. Toklas
     *U.S. author, 20th c.
 Federico Garcia Lorca
     *Spanish author, 20th c.
 Cole Porter
     *U.S. composer, 20th c.
 Virginia Woolf
     *English author, 20th c.
Leonard Bernstein
     *U.S. composer, 20th c.
 Pope Julius III
     *1550-1555
 Jean Cocteau
     *French writer, director, 20th c.
 Charles Laughton
     *English actor, 20th c.
 Marguerite Yourcenar
     *Belgian author, 20th c.
 Tennessee Williams
     *U.S. Playwright, 20th c.
 James Baldwin
     *U.S. author, 20th c.
 Andy Warhol
     *U.S. artist, 20th c.
 Michelangelo
     *Italian artist, 15th c.
 Leonardo Da Vinci
     *Ital. Artist, scientist, 15th c.
 Christopher Marlowe
     *Eng. Playwright, 16th c.
 Herman Melville
     *U.S. author, 19th c.
 Horatio Alger, Jr.
     *U.S. author, 19th c.
 Tchaikovsky
     *Russian composer, 19th c.
Willa Cather
     *U.S. author, 19th c.
 Amy Lowell
     *U.S. author, 19th & 20th c.
 E.M. Forster
     *English author, 20th c.
 John M. Keynes
     *English economist, 20th c.
 Ludwig Wittgenstein
     *Australian mathematician, 20th c.
 Bessie Smith
     *U.S. singer, 20th c.
 Noel Coward
     *English playwright, 20th c.
 Christopher Isherwood
     *English author, 20th c.
 Pier Paolo Pasolini
     *Italian film director, 20th c.
 Yukio Mishima
     *Japanese author, 20th c.
 Eleanor Roosevelt
     *U.S. stateswoman, 20th c.
  Augustus Caesar
     *Roman Emperor
 Harvey Milk
     *U.S. politician, 20th c.
 Bayard Rustin
     *U.S. Civil Rights activist, 20th c.
 James I
     *English King, 16th-17th c.
 Queen Anne
     *English Queen, 18th c.
 Marie Antoinette
     *French Empress, 18th c.
 Melissa Etheridge
     *U.S. Rock Star, 20th c.
 Pope Benedict IX
     *1032-1044
 May Sarton
     *U.S. author, (1912 – 1995)
 Edna Ferber
     *U.S. author, 20th c.
 Elton John
     *English Rock Star, 20th c.
 Margaret Fuller
     *U.S. writer, educator, 20th c.
 Montezuma II
     *Aztec ruler, 16th c.
 Peter the Great
     *Russian Czar, 17th-18th c.
 Langston Hughes
     *U.S. author, 20th c.
 Pope John XII
     *955-964
 Madame de Stael
     *French writer, 17th-18th c.
 Martina Navratilova
     *U.S. tennis star, 20th c.
 Greg Louganis
     *U.S. Olympic swimmer, 20th c.
 Billie Jean King
     *U.S. tennis star, 20th c.
 Roberta Achtenburg
     *U.S. politician, 20th c.
 Barney Frank
     *U.S. Congressman, 20th c.
 Gerry Studds
     *U.S. Congressman, 20th c.
 Hans Christian Andersen
     *Danish author, 19th c.
 Tom Dooley
     *U.S. M.D. missionary, 20th c.
 J. Edgar Hoover
     *U.S. director of the FBI., 20th c.
 Frida Kahlo
     *Mexican artist, 20th c.
 Suleiman the Magnificent
     *Ottoman ruler, 15th c.
 Rock Hudson
     *U.S. actor, 20th c.
 Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
     *Mexican author, 16th c.
 Ralph Waldo Emerson
     *U.S. author, 19th c.
 Candace Gingrich
     *Gay Rights activist, 20th c.
 Margarethe Cammermeyer
     *U.S. Army Colonel, 20th c.
 Tom Waddel
     *U.S. M.D., Olympic star, 20th c.
 Kate Millet
     *U.S. author, 20th c.
 Janis Joplin
     *U.S. singer, 20th c.
 Rudolf Nuryev
     *Russian dancer, 20th c.
 Waslaw Nijinsky
     *Russian dancer, 20th c.
 Ernst Röhm
     *German Nazi leader, 20th c.
 Dag Hammerskjold
     *Swedish UN Secretary, 209th c.
 Aristotle
     *Greek philosopher, 384-322 B.C.
 Paula Gunn Allen
     *Native American author, 20th c.
 Angela Davis
     *U.S. political activist, 20th c.
 June Jordan
     *U.S. author, activist, 20th c.
 Rainer Maria Rilke
     *German poet, 20th c.
 James Dean
     *U.S. actor, 20th c.
 Montgomery Clift
     *U.S. actor, 20th c.
 Baron VonSteuben
     *German General, Valley Forge
 Edward II
     *English King, 14th c.

This list was compiled from many different sources.  There are many names that were new to me,  not just the ones we’ve all heard before.  I must admit I was a tad surprised by a couple of them.

My point in showing this list was simply to point out that gays and lesbians have existed in all cultures dating back as far as recorded history allows us to look.

Additional information:

http://remember.org/educate/elman.html

http://www.uvm.edu/~lgbtqa/?Page=symbols.html&SM=generalmenu.html

http://www.pink-triangle.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals_in_Nazi_Germany_and_the_Holocaust

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/maidanek.htm

Banging my head against the wall…………

Banging my head against the wall…………

I can’t help but feel the need to bang my head against the wall every now an again, usually after reading some horribly twisted lie filled blog by some Anti-Gay group. I read these things and my head just fills up with all this hatred, ignorance, and fear…the only way to clear it out is to start banging my head on the wall. Makes about as much sense as the crap ’they’ spew.

I do feel pity for many of the followers of these hate filled discriminatory organizations. They follow because they truly believe it’s the right thing to do. They follow because they have faith in their leaders…”Why would a man/woman of God lie?” “Not possible!” “They only have mine and the countries best interests at heart.”
These people must be pitied…..Grammy always taught me to pity the mentally challenged.

I mean REALLY! Do these poor misguided people not have a frickin working brain cell?
Can they not see the disconnect in what they are being told and what is actually right before their very eyes? All they need do is ask one simple question of their ‘leaders’…. ”Why?”
With this simple question, this one word, they could open a whole new world of possibilities for themselves and the rest of the world. When one questions one learns, and when one learns one grows.
“WHY do our beliefs matter more than those of others?”
“WHY would their marriage affect mine?”
“WHY is this issue so important to the church?”
“WHY is the church spending so much time and money on this issue, when so much more could be done with these resources to help those in need.”
These are just a few of the many questions that come to mind.

I actually believe many of these people, these mindless followers already fully embrace the error of their ways, but are far to invested to stop now. Money, power, and control, the three most motivating reasons behind such groups as:
Alliance Defense Fund
American Family Association
American Vision*
Chalcedon Foundation*
Christian Action Network
Concerned Women for America
Coral Ridge Ministries/Center for Reclaiming America
Family Research Council
Family Research Institute*
Focus on the Family
National Organization for Marriage
Protect Marriage
Summit Ministries
Traditional Values Coalition
There are a great many more but these are some of the worst of the worst.
Let’s take a look at my personal ‘favorite’ as of late, NOM, The National Organization for Marriage. These people are a true piece of work.
Brian S. Brown, Executive Director
Brian S. Brown serves as executive director of the National Organization for Marriage. Prior to coming to NOM, Brian was the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut. During the five years he was with the Family Institute, he developed it into one of the largest statewide pro-family organizations in the Northeast.

Pro-family?   Really???    How can any organization claim to be pro anything while working to deny millions of others the very thing they claim to be for?
My family doesn’t need the likes of NOM to be FOR us, what we need is for them to step back and stop being AGAINST us!

Brian Brown claims to be Christian, and motivated by love. Yet at every turn he proves just how non-Christian he really is.

Christians do not lie
Brian S. Brown says…..
“If courts rule that same-sex marriage is a civil right, then, people like you and me who believe children need moms and dads will be treated like bigots and racists.”

“Religious groups like Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army may lose their tax exemptions, or be denied the use of parks and other public facilities, unless they endorse gay marriage.”

“Public schools will teach young children that two men being intimate are just the same as a husband and wife, even when it comes to raising kids.”

“When the idea that children need moms and dads get legally stigmatized as bigotry, the job of parents and faith communities trying to transmit a marriage culture to their kids is going to get a lot harder.”

Christians do not hate
Brian S. Brown says…..
“Every man and woman who marries is capable of giving any child they create (or adopt) a mother and a father. No same-sex couple can do this. It’s apples and oranges.”

Christians do not bear false witness
Brian S. Brown says…..
“They’ve come to our peaceful marriage rallies in city after city to harass and intimidate us. We’ve seen men harass a nursing mother, refusing her request to feed her children in private and instead stare at her and block her ability to watch our rally from a safe distance. We’ve seen protestors draped in the rainbow flag storm the stage and scream, red-faced into the microphone to prevent our speakers from talking. We’ve seen them bait a five year old child, asking her if she’s being raised by her mother to be a bigot. We’ve even heard a gay marriage supporter threaten to kidnap a child in attendance at a rally.”

Christians do not steal
Brian S. Brown says…..
“Help us continue to shake up the judges, the politicians, and change the course of American history. This is the year when everything could change, and you can make it happen! Just $25 will allow us to reach more than 1000 Americans in key places across the country, telling them the truth the mainstream media won’t!
And when the truth comes out, marriage wins!”

Maggie Gallagher, President
In addition to serving as President of the National Organization for Marriage, Maggie Gallagher is also president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (www.iMAPP.org), a nonprofit organization whose unique mission is research and public education on ways that law and public policy can strengthen marriage as a social institution.
Maggie is a graduate of Yale (class of ’82). She lives with her (second) husband and two children in Westchester, New York.

There is so much one could say about Maggie G., but it’s pretty much all summed up in one quote by her.
“It’s not discrimination to treat different things differently”

UGH!!!!!!

I simply can not fathom how such hateful, dimwitted, arrogant, transparent people can rise to positions of authority and power over others. I have always prided myself on being a free thinker, an intelligent man, well read, and curious, but this escapes me.

Where did we go wrong with them?
When did society fail them?
When did they lose their way and begin down this destructive path?

The thing that keeps me awake nights is knowing there are dozens of such organizations like NOM out there. Countless Brians and Maggies…..Plotting, scheming, and actively working to limit, remove, and deny LGBT people their civil rights. All in the name of religious freedom, and the name of God.

A couple months ago I coined a nickname for the members of NOM.  I call them NOMBIES.  Nombies are very similar to zombies in that they have no real intelligent thought and absolutely NO fashion sense…….  but they differ too.

Zombie eat brains, Nombies are brainless

Zombies can’t speak, Nombies won’t shut up

Zombies are primal, Nombies are just hateful

Zombie videos are fun to watch, Nombie videos make me sick to my stomach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NEqPWxnAIs

Let the head banging begin………………