Every weekend we bring you a round up of either the best LGBT moments from the week before -- our Something To Celebrate series -- or, as you'll see below, the worst anti-LGBT stories from the last seven days in our Know Thine Enemy feature.
You can think of Know Thine Enemy as a primer filled with the anti-LGBT rhetoric being leveled against us, as a reminder of how far we still have to go, and maybe even as a chance to have a laugh (because let's be honest, some of this stuff is so ridiculous it's pretty hilarious).
Check out 9 of the stories we covered this week below -- all in one convenient slideshow -- and let us know who you think the biggest enemy of the LGBT community was in the comments section.
Moscow Upholds Gay Pride Ban For 100 Years
International LGBT rights advocates are crying foul after a top court ruled to uphold a ban on Pride marches in Moscow for the next 100 years. According to the ruling, the earliest that a Pride march, rally or celebration can take place in May 2112. As the BBC reports, the ruling came after Russia's best-known LGBT rights activist, Nikolai Alexeyev, had sought to overturn the city council's ban on Pride festivities. . <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/russia-moscow-gay-pride-ban-100-years_n_1797012.html" target="_hplink">You can read the full story here</a>.
Westboro Baptist Church Plans GaymerCon Protest For 2013
After years of picketing the funerals of celebrities as well as U.S. servicemen, the Westboro Baptist Church now has its sights set on GaymerCon. Rebekah Phelps-Roper, the niece of the notoriously anti-gay church's founder Fred Phelps, took to Twitter this week to condemn the event, which has been deemed the "first gaming and geek lifestyle convention with a focus on LGBT culture," Techday reported. Her tweet also links to video of a news report, in which Westboro Baptist Church member Charles Hockenbarger condemns the event as "a fag-focused gaming convention" and "yet another area of life where fag filth is intentionally called out and crammed down our throats." <a href="www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/westboro-baptist-church-gaymercon-protest-gaming-convention_n_1791848.html" target="_hplink"> You can read the full story here</a>.
Anti-Gay Pundit Calls For 'Graphic' Photos Depicting 'Consequences' Of Gay Sex
The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer fired off at the gay community once again on Twitter, this time with a particularly unusual request regarding man-on-man sex. Pointing to an Associated Press article which talks about an Australian court's decision prohibiting tobacco brands from displaying logos on packs -- where images of "cancer-riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children" are instead required to be displayed, according to the article -- the prominent anti-gay pundit called for similar imagery to be produced for the gay community. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/bryan-fischer-american-family-association-gay-sex-imagery_n_1784341.html" target="_hplink"> You can read the full story here</a>.
Lady Gaga Song Deemed 'Demonic' And 'An Utter Perversion'
Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" has certainly endured its share of criticism from a number of high-profile figures since its 2011 release. Now, however, one right-wing pundit has gone even further, slamming the pop diva's hit single as "demonic" and an "utter perversion." As Right Wing Watch reported, Linda Harvey of Mission America attacked the singer on her radio show. "The [song's] theme is not just about a deviant view of gender and sexuality, but it is occult in spirituality," Harvey said. "There's all these gruesome birth scenes which [are] a complete and utter perversion and really a demonic caricature, frankly, of God's creation, yet she dares to use words like 'brave' and so on." Harvey continues, "Of course she has the usual distortion, including that homosexuality and gender confusion that they're similar to race or ethnicity, and that's another big lie -- the thing is just full of lies." <a href="www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/14/lady-gaga-born-this-way-mission-america-linda-harvey_n_1776997.html" target="_hplink">You can read the full story here</a>.
'Gay-Friendly' Church Bans Drag Queens From Premises
A gay-friendly Catholic church in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood is feeling the heat after allegedly banning all forms of drag on its premises. According to <em>The Bay Area Reporter</em>, the Castro Country Club (which the paper deems a "gay recovery group") was notified by officials at the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church that they would not be allowed to host their annual "Harvest Feast" fundraiser if drag queens were scheduled to participate. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/most-holy-redeemer-san-francisco-drag-queen-ban_n_1773544.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009" target="_hplink">You can read the full story here</a>.
Pastor Convicted Of Helping 'Ex-Gay' Woman Kidnap Daughter
A pastor from Virginia was convicted Tuesday of helping a woman flee the country three years ago, when she was on the brink of having to turn custody of her young daughter over to the woman who was once her partner in a Vermont civil union. The jury issued its verdict against the Rev. Kenneth Miller after several hours of deliberations in the case, which has drawn broad attention because of the legal and religious questions it raised about same-sex unions and child custody, and because the whereabouts of mother and daughter remain unknown. Miller, 46, a Mennonite from Stuarts Draft, Va., was charged with aiding in international kidnapping for helping Lisa Miller and her daughter, Isabella, leave the country in September 2009, a month after a judge indicated he would turn custody of the girl over to Janet Jenkins, of Fair Haven, Vt., if she continued to defy a series of visitation orders. <a href="www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/14/janet-jenkins-vermont-lesbian-mom-civil-lawsuit_n_1777259.html" target="_hplink">View the full Associated Press story here</a>.
Family Research Council Shooting
The man who allegedly shot a security guard at the Washington, D.C., offices of the conservative Family Research Council, a group that opposes same-sex marriage and gay rights generally, appears to be yet another troubled individual (the Washington Post describes him as "secretive and somewhat odd") who had easy access to semiautomatic weapons when he should not have. Whatever the man's motives, they are utterly unacceptable, and the shooting should send a chill through everyone on all sides of these debates. Security guard Leo Johnson, who took a bullet -- and luckily did not lose his life, and is currently in stable condition -- is a hero who saved others from being shot. There have been reports that the alleged shooter, Floyd Lee Corkins of Herndon, Va., recently volunteered at the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community and had Chick-fil-A materials in his backpack. There are unconfirmed reports that he was angry with the Family Research Council's position on same-sex marriage, and that he made comments against the group's position as he attempted to enter. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/a-shooting-at-family-rese_b_1789256.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009" target="_hplink"> Read the full story here</a>.
Anti-Gay Evangelist Plans Lawsuit For 'Hate Group' Label
A prominent evangelist is threatening to sue the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) after it labeled his Internet-based ministry a "hate group." According to a press release, Bill Keller -- deemed "the world's leading Internet evangelist" and the founder of LivePrayer.com -- is planning a $100 million defamation lawsuit against the SPLC. "The sad shooting the other day at the Family Research Council by a man who supports the radical homosexual agenda, was clearly fueled by the left wing group, the Southern Poverty Law Center," Keller is quoted by ThinkProgress as saying. "I receive at least 4-5 death threats a month for taking a Biblical stand on issues like homosexuality, the false religion of Islam and other cults, and the fact life begins at conception and choosing to end that life is nothing more than legalized infanticide." Read the full story here. <a href="www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/bill-keller-southern-poverty-law-center-hate-group-lawsuit_n_1799536.html" target="_hplink">Read the full story here</a>
Russian Anti-Gay Groups Sue Madonna For $10 Million
Anti-gay groups in Russia have sued Madonna for more than $10 million for "moral damage suffered by St. Petersburg residents" during a recent concert in the city, according to Reuters and a report from Ria Novosti, Russia's state news agency. Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing one of the suing parties, told Ria Novosti that attendees of the concert and those who have seen videos of her performance have suffered "psychological stress and emotional shock" because of her "promotion of homosexuality." Pochuyev also said that the pop star "trampled down" an Orthodox cross. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/18/madonna-sued-russia-st-petersburg-concert_n_1803061.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay Voices" target="_hplink">Read the full story here</a>.
Posted: 08/18/2012 11:43 am Updated: 08/18/2012 7:32 pm