“Yes, I have purchased numerous gay magazine subscriptions and books over the years as part of my efforts to research the movement–just like some gay researchers peruse the writings of the Family Research Council or Dr. James Dobson. (Should we accuse “Ex-Gay Watch” of secretly supporting Christian conservatives because they spend a lot of time and energy researching them?)”
==Petey Labarbera.
Yes, and many men claim to read Playboy for the articles. What’s odd about Petey’s protestations is that you’d think he’d learn that this sort of thing only keeps the joke going. I’m also pretty sure that if straight men could pick up women in a bathhouse, there’d be a hell of a lot of bathhouses.
Fun context at Wayne Besen’s in a couple places.
Here’s the full text:
Subject: FOR RAY DELGADO…Ray, before you reported that I “earned” Wayne’s nasty nickname…
… (“Porno Pete”), why didn’t you contact me first? Or do you always run with the most vicious smears just because a prominent gay activist uses them? Usually I get fair treatment in the gay press; not this time.
Yes, I once researched gay events, and still do occasionally, by attending them to get firsthand info. I sometimes went undercover so as not to get kicked out by “tolerant” gay activists (what are they trying to hide?), but other times I went openly, such as at the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Ass’n, where I once spoke at a panel debate opposite gay journalists dealing with whether the media has a pro-gay bias.
No, I do not “collect” porn–never have–and I am not interested in or enjoy gay pornography. Frankly, it’s pretty sick stuff, in my view. And no, I am not a homosexual nor did I ever struggle with those desires. (Isn’t it funny how gay activists accuse their opponents of being homosexual as if that’s the biggest slur they can come up with?)
Wayne Besen relied on the false testimony of a former “ex-gay,” Wade Richards, who worked a while for Americans for Truth before we (foolishly) urged him to speak at a press conference. Besen attended the event and apparently helped to recruit young Wade back into the gay life. Wade knew full well that my interests were as a critical researcher, but he wanted to strike back at me, so he accused me of collecting gay “porn.”
Yes, I have purchased numerous gay magazine subscriptions and books over the years as part of my efforts to research the movement–just like some gay researchers peruse the writings of the Family Research Council or Dr. James Dobson. (Should we accuse “Ex-Gay Watch” of secretly supporting Christian conservatives because they spend a lot of time and energy researching them?)
But, no, I don’t “collect” gay porn. Wade lied to smear me, and Wayne never bothered to check his new recruit’s “facts” because that would have gotten in the way of him slamming a right-winger, I suppose.
The fact is, porn is a prominent part of the gay male world, and some magazines I collected had pornographic content (surprise!). (Most were simply gay publications like the Washington Blade.) On my side of the issue, we think porn use/addiction is a big problem; hopefully some gays will agree with us, but regardless, the endless effort to portray ME as a gay perv because I try to expose the wrongs of your movement makes about as much sense as saying GLAAD supports the Federal Marriage Amendment because they write about it a lot.
I’ll cc this to Wayne Besen for publication (full letter only, Wayne), but I’m quite sure it won’t deter him from spreading lies about me in his crusade to nail the “religious right.”
Best–Peter LaBarbera
It’s all research you see.
“If any one needs me, I’ll be in my room… researching.”
“Don’t bother daddy… he’s doing research.”
“Thanks to the internet, research is much easier today.”
“Now that my wife has left me, I have more time for my research.”
“Things are progressing much more quickly, now that I’ve hired a research assistant.”
Many kudos to Petey the sweetey.
I was looking at his photo gallery. I didn’t even know what the black and blue flag was. Leather Pride, it seems.
Who knew?
Seriously, good for him. Standing all day at that hot, sweaty parade is probably a lot for him to swallow. He could stay for a short time and get the thrust of it. But not him — no sir.
He may be the butt of all of our laughter. The scorn probably chaps his behind. He probably doesn’t even stop in at one of the bars to get lubed up before he comes out to the parade.
OK, I’ll stop. His repressed homosexuality would be sad, if he wasn’t such an @sshole.
Not that I don’t have the same IMPULSE, but has Petey ever been around a frat with the level of straight P*rnograpy present?
Dude, if straight men could get laid in a bathhouse, you don’t think they wouldn’t be?
Not that I don’t have the same IMPULSE, but has Petey ever been around a frat with the level of straight P*rnograpy present?
Dude, if straight men could get laid in a bathhouse, you don’t think they wouldn’t be?
Yes, I have purchased numerous gay magazine subscriptions and books over the years as part of my efforts to research the movement–just like some gay researchers peruse the writings of the Family Research Council or Dr. James Dobson.
Am I reading Petey’s comments correctly? He believes that Focus on the Family (Rev. Dobson) and Family Research Council are the Christian Right’s equivalent of gay porn?
Petey: for once I agree with you.
Larry, alias Archpundit: sorry but the joke’s on you. Why aren’t you and other gay activists concerned about bathhouses like Steamworks that encourage reckless behavior? After all, the hyper-promiscuity facilitated by the bathhouses, coupled with inherently unsafe homosexual practices, is what helped spawn the AIDS crisis in the first place (Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On).
The sad thing is that you appear to care more about bashing me than helping to save men from contracting HIV and other life-shortening STDs and diseases. Go ahead, keep taking your shots at me (how about another middle finger graphic–that was a particularly high moment in the history of punditry) but that does nothing to alleviate the problem of men getting very sick and dying young because they engage in reckless behaviors that are tolerated/encouraged by the “gay” movement and politically correct city leaders.
For more info on the health risks of homosexual behavior, try Dr. John Diggs paper at http://www.corporateresourcecouncil.org/white_papers/Health_Risks.pdf.
Okay Peter,
Could you tell me how the religious right’s campaign against condom use helps reduce the risks of STIs?
Could you tell me how your prurient interest in describing gay festivals and activities in somewhat graphic detail (often embellished, btw, if you think the photos of the Pride parade you posted require a warning!) leads to a reduction in HIV transmission?
Throughout the 1980s, a time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic could have been contained, your ilk ignored the disease. Now, you and your ilk decide to use HIV/AIDS as a symbol of your compassion.
Please, no more compassion from the “family values” crowd. If you want to try something effective to prevent STIs and STDs, you should be:
– promoting monogamy in all relationships, by, e.g., supporting gay marriage and civil unions;
– promoting the use of condoms in sexual relationships;
– supporting the cervical cancer (anti-HPV) vaccine;
– engaging in honest discussion about sexual relationships, rather than spreading lies about safer sex.
By the way, none of this suggests that talking about abstinence is bad. But talking about abstinence in a way that leads teens to make riskier choices — such as believing that oral sex isn’t “sex” — is just plain dangerous.
By the further way, I have not once seen Larry promote Steamworks or any other sexually oriented business. You, on the other hand, have done more to inform us about where to solicit anonymous gay sex than pretty much any other source on this blog.
Congrats!!
===sorry but the joke’s on you. Why aren’t you and other gay activists concerned about bathhouses like Steamworks that encourage reckless behavior?
I’m not a gay activist. Hell, I’m not gay. I’m 35 year old husband and father of two who happens to follow politics closely and write about it. I actually was asked to write the column for the Vital Voice largely because I don’t focus on gay and lesbian issues, but given the tourettes syndrome the Republican Party has on gay issues, it’s hard not to write about it.
Your odd obsession with aspects of gay culture are quite hilarious however. Heterosexual men do all sorts of unsafe things and have all sorts of p*rnography. So do many women, but while you give lip service to them, you go out of your way to find the most unrepresentative examples of a sub-group possible and then observe it as closely as possible.
In short, you are a walking, talking parody. Don’t stop–it’s way to much fun to watch the trainwreck.
roblee1@f2s.com