Photo: Homophobes protest Ricky Martin and Univision in Miami

Today, even as the US Congress FINALLY voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and paved the way for allowing gays to openly serve in the military, I got this reminder that full-on prejudice remains very much alive in the United States (and I'm not even talking about Senator John McCain's desperate last ditch attacks against the law's repeal on the Senate floor today).

As my Twitter friend @RachelLapp alerted me on Thursday, members of a Hispanic evangelical church in Miami were organizing a protest against national Spanish-language television network Univision claiming they had aired "pornographic, indecent or obscene" content when they ran a November 2 special on pop singer Ricky Martin.

I'm not sure what sort of coverage it will get today, even in Miami, but Rachel, once again, alerted me to this photo posted by Venezuelan actress Maria Elena Heredia on Twitpic (and re-posted here by permission). She apparently wasn't aware of the protest until she drove by it and wrote, in Spanish, "Miami protest against Ricky Martin for his confession!!! UNHEARD OF! Such backwardness #NOH8".

The turn out looks like a healthy number. By this pic alone, it seems there were, at least, 200 people or so. The signs seem to have been printed by the same person and distributed to participants. They are all in Spanish and the ones that I can read say "UNIVISION, CHANGE YOUR WAYS", "U.S.: Return to God and he who blessed you" and "RICKY: You mess up our children's heads".

Hm, I have a feeling that the ones with the messed up heads are pretty visible in this picture.

As I said my previous post, I thought twice about posting the information about the protest because I didn't want to give these loony-tunes more attention than they deserved.  I even kept from providing a direct link to the organizer's website.

My good friends at the GREAT gossip site Guanabee, instead, decided to poke around.  Their reason? I love this Cindy Casares quote in taking up the organizers' assertions that Latinos culture is inherently homophobic: "We hate nothing more than when another Latino presumes to speak for us in the name of some blanket generalization."

Readers commenting on a Joe.My.God. blog post also pointed out something else: Ricky Martin's interview with Maria Elena Salinas, as it ran in "Aqui y Ahora", was in no way pornographic, indecent or obscene.  What has these Miami homobigots all in a tizzy is the fact that someone like Ricky Martin dared to speak up - as a huge figure in Latin America - and say that being gay and coming out has made him a much happier man.  From "Jack": "The complaint is not that a gay person was interviewed but that the interview showed a successful and (now) happy gay person. Miserable, decrepit, poor, suicidal gay people are beautiful. Happy, successful gay people are obscene."

In that regard, see this as what it is in the annals of history: These are the John McCains of the Hispanic community in the United States. They are losing their shit because they know they are grasping at straws and keep slipping into oblivion.

Not that their homophobic hate should be taken lightly: It has and will continue to elicit violence against queers and, in this case, specifically, in the Latino community they purport to represent.

But, ultimately, it speaks to these changing times - and the importance in the Latino community of someone like Ricky Martin saying "Yes, I am".

Related:

• Jamie Taete's internet roundup: World's most hilarious protest uncovered (Vice)

...and I quote:

I understand their frustration. It must be hard seeing gays riding their “sport motorcycles” to their $10 million houses while the best straight role models you can offer your kids are people willing to give up their weekends to protest against the guy who sang “She Bangs”. I certainly know which sexuality I’d choose.

Hispanic homophobic bigots ask the FCC to fine Univision for interviewing Ricky Martin

[UPDATE #1: This is out there already so I've changed my mind. Here is the direct link to the Spanish language call for a protest at the Miami affiliate of Univision. Also, thanks for AfterElton and Towleroad for picking up on this post as well as Joe.My.God. It's worth going over to Joe's and read the many comments the story has elicited from his readers].

[UPDATE #2: A photo of the  12/18 protest here]

[h/t: Ricky Martin fan @RachelLapp ] Did you catch pop singer Ricky Martin having explicit gay sex with a very gay man on a very gay "Aqui y Ahora" special that aired on Univision - the leading Spanish language network in the United States?  You didn't?

You know, the November 2nd "Aqui y Ahora" special in which he couldn't stop having shockingly ultra-gay sex in front of the cameras even as respected journalist Maria Elena Salinas tried to ask him if he was comfortable with his new status as an out gay man? No?

Well, apparently everyone in the United States and Latin America saw the censored version except for the members of a tiny Hispanic evangelical church in South Florida who seem to have watched a whole different show than the one I saw.

They are rallying outside the studios of a local Miami Univision affiliate on Saturday to protest the airing of the show and to call upon the the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fine the network based on it's "pornographic, indecent or obscene" content.

Translated from the religious homobigots' Spanish language press release:

On November 2nd, 2010, Univision broadcast a program called: Ricky Martin... Without Secrets, in which he spoke of having his first sexual encounter when he was 15 years of age and that, after having slept with women, he had relations with men. Afterward he felt confused until one day when he was being interviewed he felt attracted to the reporter who was interviewing him. To the point of falling in love with that man. Presenting himself as being ultra-successful, showing images of his 10 million dollar house, riding a sport motorcycle through the streets, walking through the beach and then, showing images of his concert, in front of thousands of young folk, he presents himself as the role model to follow for the children who watched the program at the child friendly hour of 7 to 8 pm.

As people who value the principles that gave birth to this nation, we have decided to say 'enough' with these shows that violate the innocence of our kids and promote confusion at a time in which our youth are developing.

Univision's complicity in transmitting this message deserves, on our side, our complaints before the FCC - the entity that regulates media in the Unites States - which says that any pornographic, indecent or obscene content can be reported as a complaint.

That's what they write online. In a downloadeable pdf document available from their website purporting to be a partial transcript of what was said in the show they lie and say that Ricky Martin mentioned singer Alejandra Guzmán by name as a woman who drove him wild in his past (the singer has been careful not to name any names from his past in his many recent interviews as well as his recently released autobiography).

In addition, at the end, they call him the perfect "paladin" to promote the "homosexual agenda" and that, in his concerts, he always promotes homosexuality by shouting "Long live la vida loca!".

Pornographic, indecent or obscene.  I swear that's what they say!  Good luck with that! What I saw was a man who was finally ready to stop lying and to come to terms with his truth, a man who was as proud of raising his children as anyone else out there and a man who, in some ways, continues to hold most of his private life private, even bristling at some of the questions that Maria Elena Salinas asked about his romantic life.  Pornographic, indecent or obscene, it wasn't, unless the feed I watched was missing scenes from the version these homobigots saw.

I shudder to think what they will read into the title of Ricky Martin's new album "Musica, Alma, Sexo" which seems like a title ripped off from - err - I mean, a take on Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" album title than anything else.

And then, a conundrum: This being Thursday and the religious homobigot protest being Saturday, I realize that writing about it on this blog might end up bringing it more attention than they even deserve.  So, perhaps for the first time since I began writing this blog, I've decided not to point out or link up to any of the original sources until the protest is all said an done. I don't want to give them more credit than they should have when their intent is to spread homophobia in my community.

I could post the homobigots' televised call for a Ricky Martin protest - which is out there. Instead, I'll leave you with this live Spanish-language version of his beautiful new single "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tu" from his upcoming album...

Related:

• Hispanic Televangelists To Protest Ricky Martin Univision Special (Guanabee)
• Ricky Martin interview incites church protest (Perez Hilton)

Update: Kissimmee commissioners vote against changing city's logo

Last night, Kissimmee, Florida, commissioners voted against adding the words "In God We Trust" to the city's logo. An excerpt from today's The Orlando Sentinel:

The suggestion to revamp the logo caused an uproar last week after City Commissioner Art Otero, who proposed it, was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel calling the Obama administration "socialist" and knocking homosexuality, abortion and legalized marijuana.

At Tuesday night's commission meeting, Mayor Jim Swan read a statement criticizing Otero's comments as "irresponsible" and said they had brought Kissimmee "criticism, ridicule and sensationalism." The mayor tonight said he answered 60 citizen e-mails, half complaining that the proposal would violate the separation of church and state and the other half from people "incensed by the bigoted remarks."

Commissioners voted 4-1 to nix the logo change. Otero was in the minority.

Commissioner Cheryl Grieb tonight said she was concerned that people had threatened to boycott the city because they were offended by Otero's remarks. She also said the good of residents should come before commissioners' personal feelings.

"The city of Kissimmee doesn't want to be seen as anti-anything," Grieb said. "We're such a melting pot."

Otero, who said that his comments were taken out of context by the Orlando Sentinel reporter who first reported on his proposal, refused to talk to the paper saying that he didn't trust the media. He also offered prayers for the reporter.

It's good to know that common sense prevailed.

Previously:

• Kissimmee commissioner thinks changing the city's logo will do away with the gay (July 28, 2009)

Kissimmee Commissioner thinks changing city's logo will do away with the gay

A Puerto Rican-born former business leader who was elected in November to the Kissimee City Commission has introduced a measure to change the Florida city's logo to incorporate the words "In God We Trust".

Art Otero (left), whose past credits include stints at the Florida Housing Commissioner for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Vice-Presidency at the Ronald Reagan Republican Assembly of Osceola County, had campaigned on his record as a business leader and on promises to expand the local airport as a means to bring jobs to Kissimmee.

Representatives from the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have said that the move blurs the lines between the separation of church and state, even as they admit that courts have allowed the use of the specific phrase in other areas (it remains on our dollar bills, for example).

Otero, himself, says that his resolution is based on patriotism rather than religious belief. But other statements he made last week to The Orlando Sentinel are putting that into question. From Wednesday's paper ("Kissimmee wants 'God' in its city logo"):

Commissioner Art Otero, who proposed the addition, said he was prompted to suggest the change because he doesn't agree with the direction the country is going under the Obama administration, which he referred to as "socialist." He said his initiative was not based on faith but on patriotism.

"This nation has been moving toward more liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana,"Otero said. "I'm against that way of thinking. Those are not the values upon which this nation was founded. I think we need to fight for the values we're losing."

Sigh.

Patriotism, I believe, refers to a love of nation and not to a desire to use legislation to invade the privacy of your own country's citizens. And, while having the words "In God We Trust" on a city logo wouldn't necessarily impact my personal life one way or the other, it's Otero's obvious religious-based rationalization that irks those of us who think it indicates he might go further if allowed.

As for those campaign promises to work to improve the city's economy? The Sentinel reports that changing all city logos on on city vehicles, decals and official stationery would cost the city upwards of $200,000 from taxpayer's money. Chump-change to some, but go tell that to some of the local community service organizations that have seen their budgets cut during the current economic downturn or to people who have lost their job in Kissimee.

Unfortunately, the Commission is said to be agreeable to adopting the measure and Carlos Irizarry, the one Commissioner who raised issues about it during the initial presentation, later changed his mind and said he would support it because it was important "to support Christianity and faith".

At least he is upfront about crossing that line between church and state while he is at it. Shame on Otero and the other Commissioners for going for the measure in the name of fake Patriotism.


UPDATE: An update of sorts (since the article was written back on the 23rd but I just found out about it). Watermark, an LGBT publication covering areas of Florida, including Orlando, has been covering the issue ("Kissimmee commissioner comes out as anti-gay"). Their article includes interviews and reactions from Kissimmee Mayor Jim Swan, openly gay city commissioner Cheryl Grieb who says she refused an apology by Otero, and Florida resident Vicki Nantz who says she e-mailed a complaint to the Kissimmee City Commission only to get back an automated message that read "The following email message was blocked due to offensive or sexual content." She was finally able to send the message on a third try when she changed the word 'gay' in her message to 'LGBT' (thanks for the heads-up!).

Also, in the above local FOX News clip from July 24, Mayor Swan says that he initially backed Otero's measure but has since backed off:

Sounded to me like it was, ah, 'I don't like anybody with an alternative lifestyle, and that's why I'm doing it' by one of my Commissioners, and, ah, I mean that's, that wasn't my motivation. And, ah, ah - so, you know, with that out there in the community now, I don't feel it's appropriate for us to change anything.

UPDATE 2: Great OpEd piece from Daryl E. Owens in the July 25th issue of the Orlando Sentinel ("Politicos take liberty with the Lord's name").

UPDATE 3 (7/29/09): Kissimmee commissioners have voted 4-1 against changing the city's logo. The only vote in favor was Otero's

Peru: Gays step in to help those affected by the massive earthquake

With over 500 deaths and thousands hurt (numbers that are unfortunately rising by the minute) two gay-rights organizations, one in Peru and the other in Miami, are stepping up to the plate to provide relief to those affected by the August 15th disaster.

Today and tomorrow in Miami the Unity Coalition is joining forces with other local organizations to collect donations for victims of the earthquake. The organizations are asking for "canned and non-perishable food, blankets, bottled water and financial support for the victims."

Donations are being collected at the Immigrant Orientation Center's office at 45 NW 27th Avenue In Miami from 9am to 6pm. For more information you can call the Unity Coalition at 786-356-1665.

In the meantime the oldest LGBT-rights organization in Peru, the 25 year old Homosexual Movement of Lima (MHoL), has also launched a "solidarity campaign" calling on the LGBT community of Peru to join forces in an effort to help victims.

Much like the organizations on Miami, MHoL is also requesting "non-perishible food items, clothing, basic first aid medicine and bottled water" as Diario de Lima Gay reports but they say that they will focus their assistance on affected LGBT communities. Their office in Lima is located at Mariscal Miller 828 of the Jesus Maria neighborhood and they will be open from 9am to 7pm during the few following weeks.

If you would like to make a donation through MHoL, contact Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes at chavez@mhol.org.pe for more information.

Latino gay life in Southern Florida

Window Media's Florida publication Express Gay News has an article this week on what life is like for Latino gays and lesbians living in South Florida.

In the article, Phil LaPadula interviews "more than half a dozen" Latino gays and lesbians living in the area (including Roberto Romero, pictured) and talks to them about whether they feel accepted, whether they are openly gay or not (some of the men decline to give their last names not because they are not socially out but because their families back in Latin America do not know that they are gay), the rise of Latino-themed bar and club nights in the area, and perceptions about family and love.

LaPadula also interviews the great Herb Sosa and Ron Brenesky of Miami's Unity Coalition about their work doing outreach and providing services to the community as well as about efforts to fill the void left by the closing of the only national Latino LGBT organization, LLEGO, back in 2004.

As a snap-shot of a culture, the article is extensive and provides interesting information. Unfortunately the article is marred by presenting the experiences of six people as representative of the community as a whole and, furthermore, by delving into the complex dynamics of dating between gay Latino men and white gay men by noting that a common link among the men interviewed for this article was that - while complaining that white gay men "don't show their emotions much," are "aloof," and "are cold and not family oriented" - most accepted, when asked, that they were exclusively dating or seeking to date white men.

Research has begun to explore the tricky relations between immigration, degree of acculturation, class status and racism that infuses the dynamics of dating when a Latino gay man enters what might be recognized as a larger urban gay community. It's a sometimes dangerous mixture that can lead to increased risk taking during sexual encounters, a decreasing sense of self-worth and, in some extreme cases, to rejection of one's ethnic identity for the sake of being accepted into a desired group.

That would have been an interesting angle to explore but LaPadula only seems to raise the issue to prove a point that if Anglos have stereotypes of Latinos, so do Latinos of Anglos, when reality is a bit more complex than that.

By the way, I assume that the guys at Unity Coalition referred LaPadula to me and I also spoke a bit about the national picture though the interview came on deadline and I'm afraid some of the points I wanted to make got lost. For example, I spoke of the work we had done in monitoring media in the past while urging LaPadula to talk to Monica Taher at GLAAD but the article gives the appearance that there are no other projects out there monitoring Spanish-language media. I also spoke of some of the funding we have been able to provide some of the local (NY) Latino LGBT grassroots organizations and, when asked about Jovenes Latinos en Accion, I erred in saying that we had provided funding to the program in the past, confusing it with Latino Gay Men of New York's VOCES youth institute program (we have funded VOCES in the past but not Jovenes Latinos en Accion, which is a program of the Hispanic AIDS Forum).