Category Archives: Social Commentary

May 6, 2010 · 11:12 pm

“The Temperamentals”: My Personal Thoughts on the Play and the Gay Journey

I saw the play “The Temperamentals” off Broadway in New York last Thursday night. I’ve needed a little time to digest it before posting and commenting.

The title of the play is drawn from a time when one could not even say “gay” or “homosexual” in public.  There had to be code words and phrases such as:  “Is he temperamental?” ” Is she a friend of Dorothy?” or “Is he musical?” to  ponder someone’s sexuality in public.

As a piece of theatre, it is a great play. It educates while entertaining. I don’t know what more you can ask. The entire cast is brilliant. It is the kind of theatre I most enjoy: It has a story, the characters develop and change, it has a heart and it has a message.

The show deals with the founding of the Mattachine Society in California in the early 1950’s. This was one of the first Gay Rights groups ever founded and the first Gay organization to stand up to the blatant persecution of Gays by the police and the Establishment.

For context, in my mind there are four key periods in Gay History:

  1. The Mattachine Society’s founding and open challenge to the establishment with the Jennings Trial in the early 1950’s.  This was the first time Gay people publicly admitted they were gay and fought back in the Courts.
  2. The Stonewall Riots of 1969 when Gays- and Drag Queens- fought back against Police harassment at the Stonewall Bar in Greenwich Village.
  3. The AIDS epidemic and founding of ACT UP in the 1980’s.  This tragically blew open the closet door, not by choice, but also forced us to fight to be treated, legally and medically, like everyone else.  We would never be invisible again.
  4. The success of “Will and Grace” that mainstreamed Gay Men as the sexless pet’s of straight women, but made them socially visible for the first time to mass culture.  Unfortunately, this also led to “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and the infliction of Carson Kressley on America.

“The Temperamentals”, as a play, is important on many levels.  First of all, it delivers a history lesson with compelling characters.  One of my chief concerns for both Gay people and African-Americans is that we/they are forgetting our history and how far we have had to climb.  Fifty years ago, Black people in the South could be murdered for “sassing” a white person and Gay people could be arrested for just touching the shoulder of another person of the same gender.  This is so foreign to the younger generations.  They forget and can’t seem to comprehend this.

Secondly, “The Temperamentals” is just plain good theatre:  A well written and performed play.  Unfortunately, that is becoming increasingly rare also.

People now forget how scary it once was to realize you were Gay and what that meant to your life.  The choices the characters in “The Temperamentals” make vividly illustrate this challenge.  People forget most Gay people once had to make the choice to either marry and “pass” for straight and/or live their lives in the shadows.  They had to give up any chance at a career and financial success if they wanted to be true to themselves and, thus, didn’t fit the societal norms of the era.  For some, this is still the case– look at Alabama, Mississippi and even in some small towns in North Carolina and Virginia.

This theme in the play resonated with me.  I am old enough to remember when one had to make this choice.  This is a choice I had to make.  Thankfully, I live in an era and in a city and work for a Company that made the choice so easy.  I live in a very accepting bubble.  One of the main reasons I consider Danville, VA, my home town, a horrible little town is that it was made very clear to me that I could not be out and successful there.  There was and is not a place for me there.  And I’m very okay with that.  But, people still have to make this choice and not everyone has the options I had.  We forget this…and thank God I had the ability to choose to leave and build a life in a freer climate that my predecessors made possible.

I live the happy, fulfilling life I do because I stand on the shoulders of the brave Gay men and women who preceded me.  Thanks to “The Temperamentals” and the  Mattachine Society fighting back for the first time in the 1950’s and to the other milestones noted above, it is now relatively easy for me to be a happy, out Gay man in Greensboro, NC.

We, as Gay people, still don’t have an easy ride.  Legally, we can still be fired just for being Gay.  We can be denied housing just for being Gay.  We can’t serve openly in the Military if we admit we are Gay.  Our relationships are not legally recognized.  We don’t have legal hospital visitation or inheritance rights–without lots of expensive legal documentation.  We are demonized and used politically by the Religious Right just for asking for equal– not special– rights.

But we have come so far from the days of the “The Temperamentals.”  We have to be thankful for this…

We just have to help our friends remember where we came from…And that we still have a long way yet to go…

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May 3, 2010 · 10:30 pm

The Unquiet Spirits of New York

I am blessed to be able to go to New York at least 3 or 4 times a year- for either business or pleasure.  I can say, with no shame, guilt or qualification that I love New York.  As I have said before, I’ve had my love affairs with London and Paris, but I always come home to New York as my favorite city.  It is the most alive place I have ever been.

I know people go to New York to escape where they are from or who they may have been before.  That’s part of the magic.  Nothing is as it really seems.  From Broadway to the Bronx, you create your own reality in New York.  But it is always alive and you can’t hide from life in New York.  At least not easily.

In other parts of the country, you can isolate yourself.  You can’t do that in New York.  You can only have so much delivered.  You have to go out.  And when you go out, life smacks you in the face.

See, one of the reasons New York is both so Democratic and democratic is that you can’t help but interact with people who are different from you.  You are all in it–life in New York– together wether you like it or not.  You run into a multitude of diversity on the subway.  Walking down the block to the bodega on the corner.  Sure, each neighborhood is a unique little space, but you still aren’t isolated from the bigger space.  This makes you think and understand the people are both different, but the same, and that you need to work together to make life better for all of us.

One of the reasons the South other parts of the country can be so inbred and ignorant of diversity is that it’s so easy in those places to only socialize with “people like you”.   That type of isolation can only happen in New York if you are very, very rich.  And even then, with the influx of so much New Money, it’s still more diverse than it once was…

That’s why September 11th will always haunt that city.  It was a flash point that is still real and raw.  New York always goes on and goes forward.   Nothing stops New York.  But this last trip to New York, I was more aware of how September 11th still haunts the city than I had been in some time.

See, the last few years, when have been in New York on business, I usually stay at the Embassy Suites at the World Financial Center.  It looks out over the river and is a rather peaceful hotel.  This time, it was full, so I had to stay elsewhere.

This time,  I was staying in a hotel that barely survived that horrible day 9 years ago.  I was at the Millenium Hilton, which is right across the street from the World Trade Center site.  It was heavily damaged that day and it was questionable if it would ever re-open.  It did, about a year and a half later, after being stripped to the  concrete and steel frame and being completely redone.  I read almost 90% of the former Hotel employees returned to work there when it reopened.  This week I was amazed to hear some of the less than sensitive guests-usually European tourists- trying to quiz them in the dining room.  They all claimed to have been off that day….It’s scary to think people now just see this all as a tourist attraction.

My room, this week at the Millenium Hilton, looked directly down on the World Trade Center site.  Looking down on the site brought a lot of new thoughts and perspective to me.  I’ve been walking past the World Trade Center site for 9 years now and it just seemed a big construction site.  A curiosity.  It had been there so long it had become impersonal.

I’ve always been thrown, geographically speaking, since 9-11, when going back to the Financial District.  I still can’t get my bearings without the Trade Centers.  They were such a defining part of my journey when I first started going to New York.

When I first started going to New York on business, I always stayed at the Marriott World Trade Center.  I would leave my room to walk through the lobby into the South Tower of the Trade Center and walk across the Sky Bridge over West End Avenue into the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center.  From there, I could easily go to my company Headquarters.

It was kind of heady stuff for a little boy from Danville, VA and I never lost my sense of awe of the Trade Centers and being a little part of the Financial District and this amazing part of New York.  I loved staying at the Marriott World Trade Center and going to the Mall under the Trade center to pick up things I might have forgotten, or to just waste time,  or to catch the Subway there uptown to Broadway shows.  It was all so self contained and safe.  And in retrospect, very un-New York.  It was safe, but sterile.  We all know now, that was an illusion.

This week for the first time, I faced the ruins of all that.  Literally.  My room at the Hilton Millenium looked down on the World Trade Center site and the construction there.  I was happy to see that, for the first time in years, progress was being made on rebuilding the site.  But as I looked more closely and I became more disturbed.

When I checked in, the front desk said to try my room, but they would move me if it was disturbing.  I quickly saw why they said that.

I went to my room and opened the drapes.  Looking down from the 38th Floor of the Hilton, I could clearly see the footprints of the North and South Towers of the Trade Center.  I could see where the Marriott had been.   I had last stayed at the Marriott two months before it all came down.  For the first time, I could see what had been.  My geographic disorientation was gone and I was re-oriented to the way it had been.  It all came back to me.  And it all become more real than it had been for years…

I didn’t sleep well this trip.  Looking down on that site, I could not help but feel the presence of unquiet spirits.  I knew almost 3000 people, from waiters to stock brokers, from maids to Masters of the Universe, from Firemen to bellhops had died at the space I was looking down on from my, theoretically, safe luxury hotel.  I felt their spirits and their energy still in the air.  It has not settled yet.  I wonder if it ever will.

But New York is not a settled town.  It’s an old town built on top of layers of loss.  It’s rare to see so much space exposed-especially in the old part of New York downtown.  Maybe that is where the energy comes from.  The wound that is still open and not yet glossed over.  The evidence and the knowledge is still exposed that life is fast and fragile and we are all, no matter our social station, in it together.  And we ultimately need each other to make it all work.  I think that’s why I really love that town…

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April 24, 2010 · 4:29 pm

In Praise of Hot Dogs

I may not be a connoisseur of fine wines, but I am a connoisseur of fine Hot Dogs.  Hot Dogs are the perfect food and I will freely admit,if I could, I would live on them. And I wonder why I haven’t lost more weight after two years at the gym.

One of the many reasons I choose to live in Greensboro, NC is that I have found the best Hot Dogs in the world, so far, at Yum Yum’s Ice Cream, less than 5 minutes from my house, across from UNC-G.  They are perfection.  Their chili is the best I have ever had and combined with onions, mustard and slaw, it is Hot Dog Heaven.  I haven’t look much farther in Greensboro–like any good relationship, when you have found perfection, why keep looking?  But I will say the ones at Stamey’s Barbeque with hot barbeque slaw, mustard, onions and chili are definitely acceptable.

Most of you know, I grew up in Danville, Virginia.  Not a culinary hot spot.  There is still Short Sugars Barbeque and the Danview Restaurant, but not much else remains of the  memorable local restaurant scene.  Today, the only culinary reason for that horrible little town to exist is for Mid-Town Market’s Chicken Salad.  But Danville is where I developed my fondness for really good Hot Dogs.  The Quickie Shop there had the best slaw I ever had.  If they had not gone out of business, they would be in the running for best in the world.  Mama Possum’s Drive In also had good Hot Dogs, but their cheeseburgers with mustard, chili, onions and slaw were really their specialty.  Ben’s Place, also sadly gone now, was also very good in the Hot Dog department.  Some people liked the Hot Dogs at Schoolfield Lunch, but I thought they were definitely second tier.

When I traveled Virginia working for political campaigns, I could tell you where to get the best Dogs anywhere in Southern Virginia.  There was a little country store on Route 29 between Lynchburg and Charlottesville that I still recall fondly.  There were also some great Hot Dogs at another little country store between Richmond and South Boston on Route 360.

Hot Dogs are also the perfect food in that they go with any occasion.  Before Steve and I attended the Tony Awards in New York a few years ago, our pre-ceremony dinner was a couple of Hot Dogs from a street vendor.  We were short on time, so stopped at a pushcart and we ate them using a covered trash can on Fifth Avenue as our table.  We were dressed in Tuxedos eating them in front of Radio City Music Hall.  I wish there were pictures.  It was definitely a memorable moment.  And those were damn good hot dogs!  I love the ones from the pushcarts in New York, but they are very different from Southern cuisine, so not comparable in a competition.

I’ve also discovered Hot Dogs can be relatively healthy if done properly at home.  I have done a lot of research on this subject.  If you use 97% Fat Free Hebrew National All Beef Franks and Pepperidge Farms rolls– and are sparing on the condiments– you can have a two Hot Dog meal for less than 600 calories.  I try to do them with my homemade pepper relish, mustard and ketchup to avoid the calories of slaw and chili.  They are quite good.

So you see, Hot Dogs are really the perfect food.  You can make them relatively healthy, eat them on the run and they fit any occasion.  What more could you ask for?

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April 23, 2010 · 10:13 pm

How “Great Rooms” Have Undermined Western Civilization

Great Rooms have undermined the very fabric of civilization.  When I made my list of people going to hell, I can’t believe I forgot to include the person who invented “Great Rooms”.

For generations, we understood that one behaves in certain ways in certain places and scenarios.  In other words, there are walls that define social interaction.  I believe that good walls, like good fences, make good neighbors.  One behaves a certain way in a formal dining room or in a living/drawing room.  Or in a restaurant or other communal public space.  This behavior differs from how one may behave in a “den”.   Most of my generation grew up with living rooms that were only used to receive guests.  We learned our manners in the dining room.  We understood place-specific behavior.

Great Rooms destroyed this differentiation.  They have led to the collapse of manners, decorum, style and etiquette in American Society.  Now people just wallow around in front of their televisions dressed in sweat pants in their Great Rooms all the time.  As a result of this, they think one behaves this way all the time in every place.  Since “Great Rooms” removed the walls, people now seem to think that how one behaves in one’s “den” is the default behavior.   Today people think how one behaves in one’s “Great Room”  is now how one behaves in public.

This should not be the case.  Call me uptight or old-fashioned, I don’t care…

People used to understand that one behaves one way in private and another way in public.  This created a much more pleasant and civilized social interaction.  I’m sure this idea seems somewhat quaint to the younger generation, most of whom I frequently, affectionately call SJI’s (Slack Jawed Idiots) due to their lack of social skills.  It’s not really their fault.  The fault belongs to their parents who worshiped at the alter of informality so they could be their children’s “friend” instead of doing the hard work of preparing them for adulthood and public life.

See, people forget that how one dresses and behaves impacts the focus of their attention and how they relate to a situation– or do their job.

I’m sorry, but it’s understandable if people dressed in shorts, T-Shirts and flip-flops have difficulty behaving professionally or understanding the concept of “professionalism”.  They think, “If I can talk, dress and act this way in the den, then what’s the big deal?”  That’s become their only point of reference.

If people spent more time studying etiquette than watching “Jerry Springer” on their “Great Room” sofas, we would live in a better world.

The downsides of “Great Rooms” are vast.  Now people think they can put their hooves on the back of chairs in movie theatres, by my head,  instead of on the floor where they belong.  People share the most personal secrets while speaking on their cell phones in public.  People don’t dress differently for work, a night on the town, church or the theatre than they do for washing the car.  This is all the result of “Great Rooms”.  They have undermined society as I knew it and I firmly believe it should be.

People used to understand  the importance of these “walls”, be they real or societal.  Walls led to a sense of privacy and decorum.  People understood that some things could be said in public and others only in private.  This  produced an understanding that one did not need to share the fact that they were trying to hire a Private Detective to watch their paramour while they were out of town with everyone in the break room.  Or talk to their son’s bail bondsmen at full volume in the grocery store.  Or reveal their sexual escapades of the previous evening to everyone in Target.  The combination of cell phones and Great Room behavior has really been deadly.

My generation may have been the last one taught to always present our best selves to the public.  Only our lovers, family and close friends got to know who we really were.  This not only made for a more pleasant social interaction, but allowed us to purvey a sense of mystery in our public lives that was intriguing.

Without walls and a sense of public vs private, you can’t have secrets.  Let’s face it, secrets can be fun.  If you spill it all on your cell phone in the Great Room of life, you lose the magic.

And that may be the root of my concern.  To paraphrase one of Tennessee William’s great characters, I never wanted to present realism or ask for realism in public.  I wanted magic.  Or intrigue.  Or mystery.  I wanted to pick who I took the journey of getting to really know and appreciate the fact that them sharing their secrets and revealing their true selves was a gift given to me by choice.

With “Great Room” behavior ,the magic disappears and you are left with realism.  It isn’t always pretty.  Or appropriate.  And now, you don’t always recognize magic when you see it…

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April 18, 2010 · 11:56 am

Airline Fees: What’s Next

Great video from MADtv satirizing all the fees the airlines are charging now for things we used to get as part of our ticket price.   It’s not far from the truth!

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April 18, 2010 · 10:24 am

Welcome to Confederate History Month-Frank Rich

I’ve said many times, one of the favorite parts of my Sunday morning is reading Frank Rich’s column in the New York Times.  He’s always dead on in his analysis.  He is also an incisive and clear-eyed observer of the political and social dialogue in this country.  Here is an excerpt from today’s Frank Rich column and a link to the full column at the Times:

It’s Not About Race” declared a headline on a typical column defending over-the-top “Obamacare” opponents from critics like me, who had the nerve to suggest a possible racial motive in the rage aimed at the likes of Lewis and Cleaver — neither of whom were major players in the Democrats’ health care campaign. It’s also mistaken, it seems, for anyone to posit that race might be animating anti-Obama hotheads like those who packed assault weapons at presidential town hall meetings on health care last summer. And surely it is outrageous for anyone to argue that conservative leaders are enabling such extremism by remaining silent or egging it on with cries of “Reload!” to pander to the Tea Party-Glenn Beck base. AsBeck has said, it’s Obama who is the real racist.

I would be more than happy to stand corrected. But the story of race and the right did not, alas, end with the health care bill. Hardly had we been told that all that ugliness was a fantasy than we learned back in the material world that the new Republican governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell, had issued a state proclamation celebrating April as Confederate History Month.

In doing so, he was resuscitating a dormant practice that had been initiated in 1997 by George Allen, the Virginia governor whose political career would implode in 2006 when he was caught on camera calling an Indian-American constituent “macaca.” McDonnell had been widely hailed by his party as a refreshing new “big tent” conservative star when he took office in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, in January. So perhaps his Dixiecrat proclamation, if not a dream, might have been a staff-driven gaffe rather than a deliberate act of racial provocation.

That hope evaporated once McDonnell was asked to explain why there was no mention of slavery in his declaration honoring “the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens.” After acknowledging that slavery was among “any number of aspects to that conflict between the states,” the governor went on to say that he had focused on the issues “I thought were most significant for Virginia.” Only when some of his own black supporters joined editorialists in observing that slavery was significant to some Virginians too — a fifth of the state’s population is black — did he beat a retreat and apologize.

I encourage you to follow the link, below, to the entire column and it’s linkage to Pat Robertson & Company….

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April 11, 2010 · 9:25 pm

Dixie Carter: Goodnight to Moonlight and Magnolias

Dixie Carter, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker on “Designing Women”, died yesterday.  Her passing made me sad for many reasons.

I have long struggled with my Southern Heritage–how to keep the good and throw out the bad.  Her portrayal of Julia really helped me with that journey.

All the ugliness coming out of Virginia this week, where the Governor failed to recognize the importance of Slavery as part of “Confederate History Month”, made me address that struggle again.  Dixie Carter and “Designing Women” helped put this in perspective and I thought of them more than once.

We all need to let go of the myth of the Old South.  God knows I have and so had Julia Sugarbaker.  Dixie Carter’s Julia knew we needed to keep the good, but recognize and address the bad.

All Southerners need to face the fact that Slavery was the cause of the Civil War.  I can’t believe I still have to say this 150 years after that horrible war.  States’ Rights and the other catch phrases were merely propaganda terms used to entice the poor Southerners to fight to protect the socio-economic needs of the few rich Southerners.  A myth of the Old South grew from this that some of us are still trying to dispel 150 years later.  The war wasn’t about States’ Rights.  It was about one group of people owning another group of people and making their life hell for their own benefit.  Let’s finally put that to rest.

However, I never wanted to throw out the baby with the bath water.  There are certain Southern characteristics we need to keep.  Our justifiable reputation for hospitality and casual elegance.  Our concern for our family, friends and neighbors.  Our appreciation of honesty and a sense of personal honor.  We need to keep these parts of our heritage–whether we are black or white.  Or Hispanic.  Or Asian.  There are many kinds of Southerners now.

We do need to lose our traditions that held down and held back women.  Julia Sugarbaker and Dixie Carter knew this.  There was no Southern Belle Simple for these women.  No pretending to be dumber than they were.  They were educated, forthright and honest.  They were straight shooters, not manipulative Southern Belles.  They were Southern Women– not girls–as my friend Robin made me aware last week.  Dixie Carter put Scarlette O’Hara, or more precisely her sister Suellen,  in her place– as part of historical fiction, not modern fact.

Dixie Carter’s Julia Sugarbaker gave a new face to the Southern woman.  And it was one face, not two.

Steve and I had the privilege to meet Ms. Carter briefly once.  In person, she was exactly what you would expect.  She was beautiful, smart, gracious and classy.  She was a modern Southern Lady.

I’ve been privileged to know a few other women like her of her generation.  My friend Shakey’s mom, Betty, welcomed a house full of W&L boys- and we were boys then, not men- into her home for every dance weekend at Sweet Briar.  I can’t imagine how different my college life might have been had I not known this Great Lady.  She made us welcome, fed us-both food and bourbon- and entertained us in the most gracious manner imaginable.  I’ll never forget visiting her in college right after she had cancer surgery.  She received us with a grace and sense of humor that only a Southern Lady could have after such an ordeal.  My friend Deane’s mother, Nancy, always welcomed us into her home in Danville and we spent many entertaining evenings in her company. These women always seemed, at least, to be thrilled to see us and made us comfortable, amused and enchanted by their company.

Dixie Carter’s Julia Sugarbaker made these women visable to the rest of the country.  She demystified the South and showed us how Southern Women really were and should be seen.  She knew we needed to keep the Magnolias, but lose a little of the Moonlight.  She showed how great these women could be in the light of day- when the Klan didn’t march, lynchings didn’t happen and lesser women weren’t focused on manipulating their men.

Dixie Carter will be missed.  The world is a sadder, less elegant place without her.  Just as it would be without the women she personified and publicized.

Thankfully, I see the Southern Women-by birth and by choice- of my generation carrying on her example.

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April 9, 2010 · 11:44 pm

The Following People Are Going to Hell

Now I don’t even believe in Hell, but I do find the idea comforting at times.

I like to think there is some sort of devine retribution for those who commit truly heinous acts against their fellowman- or their tastes and sensibilites.

I used to make mental lists of people I wanted to be in First Class on the first intergalactic, passenger carrying, nuclear missle, but I couldn’t think of anyone I hated enough to seat them next to Kathy Lee Gifford.  Instead, I’ve gone back to the simple idea that these people will spend eternity burning in hell.  Please note:  All these people are supposedly still living, therefore there  is time for them to atone for their sins.

  1. The person who invented Crocs.
  2. Adults who wear Crocs who aren’t gardening or have a medical excuse
  3. The person who invented paper napkins that dispense like toilet paper on a roll.
  4. Every0ne at Fox News
  5. George W Bush
  6. The entire Senior Management Team at USAirways
  7. Dick Cheney
  8. The people who started the trend of wearing flip flops outside one’s own home or at the beach.
  9. People who wear shorts and/or halter tops- male or female- on airplanes and complain about being cold.
  10. Sarah Palin
  11. John Edwards
  12. The person who invented double knit polyester pants.
  13. Pat Robertson-who will meet his friend Jerry Falwell there
  14. Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia
  15. Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia
  16. The people who build off site Rental Car Centers that require you to drag your luggage onto a bus to get there
  17. People who text while driving
  18. People who talk on their cell phones while driving instead of paying attention to the road and those around them.  In other words, most of them…
  19. Everyone who is cruel to animals
  20. Phyllis Schlafly and all the men at “Concerned Women for America”
  21. Ann Coulter
  22. Those who are so sure they are going to heaven and everyone else is not
  23. Bobby Brown-for ruining Whitney Houston’s life and career
  24. Whitney Houston for marrying Bobby Brown and doing that reality show
  25. Everyone involved with any reality TV series–especially Jon and Kate Goslin, whoever they may be
  26. Lindsay Lohan
  27. Robbie Williams- for being so talented but so unfocused, inconsistent and insecure
  28. All people who wear the same clothes to work they would wear to wash the car or mow the grass
  29. Helicopter Parents
  30. The TV Executive at CBS who cancelled “Moonlight”

This is a living list….more to come.

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April 9, 2010 · 6:38 pm

Westboro Baptist protests come to an end in Blacksburg – Roanoke.com

After all the negative publicity this week about the Governor’s Confederate History Month Proclamation ignoring slavery, it’s nice to see folks in my home state doing something to make it look good and positive again.  Standing upt to this hateful group, who pickets soldier’s funerals among other things, makes me proud.  Especially the classy way the Blacksburg folks did it.

They make me proud to be a native Virginian again.

Here is an excerpt from the Roanoke Times article at Roanoke.com and a link to the full story.

BLACKSBURG — Six protesters from Westboro Baptist Church — three adults and three children — spent about 30 minutes at their final stop outside Blacksburg Middle School and then left town.

At their first two protests in downtown Blacksburg — outside the Jewish Community Center and the National Bank — the Westboro Baptist group was flanked by about two dozen police officers and a crowd of nearly 350 counter-protesters. Among them were about 100 Virginia Tech students, who marched from their gathering on campus to join in.

Another 250 counter-protesters filled the sidewalks on Prices Fork Road outside the middle school. Their presence was supported by motorists navigating Prices Fork Road who honked their horns and made rude gestures toward the Westboro Baptist group.

The church is an anti-Semitic group founded by the Rev. Fred Phelps held three 30-minute demonstrations, carrying signs that read, “No peace for the wicked,” among other things.

Shirley Phelps-Roper said was happy to see all the counter-protesters in Blacksburg. “It makes a wonderful backdrop to our message,” she said.

The message? That that God has doomed America for its growing tolerance of gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities. “Their destruction is emminent,” Phelps-Roper said.

“Virginia Tech is just such a sweet spot in our hillbilly culture, and I will just not put up with this,” said Karen Carr, who drove from Galax to Blacksburg this morning. “I’m so proud of the Hokies for putting on a class act.”

More than 100 Virginia Tech students grouped together at Tech’s Graduate Life Center and divided into lines to walk the handful of blocks to downtown, where the Westboro protesters were gathered. The line grew as the students began their walk from campus and some estimates were that the crowd grew into hundreds.

The counter-protesters yelled “Hokies” and held signs that spoke of love and tolerance — such as “Love thy neighbor,” “Virginia Tech is about respect” and “God loves everyone” — to those with a more humorous message, such as “Free hugs.”
Student Johnathan Cace, who led one of the groups walking downtown, said the effort was all student-led and not affiliated with any one group on campus.

The effort was meant to show “Hokie pride” and spread a positive message to counteract the one coming from the Westboro group, which students said was one of hate.

Link:  Westboro Baptist protests come to an end in Blacksburg – Roanoke.com.

Thanks to my friend Kirk for making me aware of this!

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April 8, 2010 · 9:53 pm

Va Gov Bob McDonnell Apologizes For Slavery Omission In ‘Confederate History Month’ Proclamation

It seems Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has finally realized slavery was a “significant” issue during the Civil War.

The good news is that, after this, if he runs for President, he can only carry South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

Of course this is not really his fault.  He was educated at Pat Robertson University, aka Regent University, so it’s not surprise his education is lacking….

Here’s a link to the full story:

Bob McDonnell Apologizes For Slavery Omission In ‘Confederate History Month’ Proclamation.

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