Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (June 19, 2009)

A TOTALLY SERIOUS, IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ABSOLUTELY ALL THE NEWS THIS WEEK
If soy makes you gay, why isn't Asia overrun with homos? Gay guys yell "G-o-o-o-al!" and score some as well. Gay friends are legally okay in Georgia, Merlin's hoyay, gay pride isn't in China, and are Mormons simply misunderstood?

It's not a week without a wingnut making some outrageous claim about gay people, whether it be our bringing the wrath of God via Mother Nature down on poor hapless coastal cities or letting gays marry leading to man/goat nuptials. This week's wingnut inanity comes from one Jim Rutz who penned a column for WorldNutDaily insisting that soy is making kids gay.

How exactly? Because soy (from which tofu is made) contains estrogen which is feminizing and is more popular than ever. Hence, according to Rutz, the "rise in homosexuality." Hmm, I guess Michelangelo, Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman and umpteen Romans, Greeks and Spartans must have been chowing down on soy over the past two millennium. (What accounts for rampant lesbianism, Mr. Rutz? Letting women wear slacks and play sports?)

In absolutely shocking news, studies by non-winguts show soy is perfectly safe and non-gay. Oh, and if soy made me gay, then the Bible made Rutz a moron.  

This week the Georgia Supreme Court overturned a lower court's blanket ruling that a divorced father must not let his children meet his gay and lesbian friends. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said the lower court's decision:

...assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact,” Benham wrote. But there is no evidence that any member of the gay and lesbian community has engaged in inappropriate conduct in the presence of the children or that the children would be adversely affected by being exposed to members of that community.

The attorney for the gay man's ex-wife said she doesn't plan to appeal.

The current issue of Time includes an article on whether Mormons are misunderstood when it comes to gay marriage. It's not a bad piece overall, but I couldn't help but help but laugh after reading Mormon church member Alaina Stewart's lament about life after Prop 8 passed: 

"I don't feel quite the same way about our community." She felt frozen out of conversations among other parents. "You think, This will go away. But it doesn't seem to. I think about my kids in school," she says. "I want them to be accepted, to feel it's O.K. to be different."

The article's writer then adds this wry comment:

Of course, this is precisely the sentiment motivating the gay-marriage movement.

The Mormon's "we're misunderstood" argument boils down to the fact they don't like being told they are intolerant and not nice people just because they want the special privilege of having their religious beliefs translated into civil law that controls our lives.

I'm sure the vast majority of Mormons are very nice people and do much good work around the world (which the article goes out of the way to document). But there is no misunderstanding about the official Mormon church — they are against gay rights, are our enemies, and only one side can get to have their way. And it's not going to be them. 

This weekend marks the finals of the The International Gay & Lesbian Football Association 2009 Gay Soccer World Championship being held in Washington, D.C. and hosted by the Federal Triangle Soccer Club. 529 players representing twenty-three teams from twelve different countries started play this week in hopes of replacing the reigning champions who hail from London. Countries represented this year include the U.S., Australia, Canada, and England. The championship is being held this Sunday and fans of hot sweaty men who happen to live near D.C. should go cheer them on!  

Next page! Yay or nay to the hoyay in Merlin?