This is just wrong, if it's true. If the only reason that this woman was turned away from the shelter was because she is a lesbian, well, the shelter is wrong. While the facts are being sorted out, and make no mistake, it's literally "he said, she said," it is interesting to watch so many people just assume that the Christian pastor is and his organization discriminated. If they did, then shame on them. If they did not, then shame on everyone for assuming guilt before guilt is proven.
The ACLU has filed city and state discrimination complaints on for Wang and will file a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court as well. In other words, this is still being investigated. But a lot of people are already tying hangman's knots, gittin' ready for public hangin'. Hey! Gonna hang ourselves a Christian!!!
Alex Blaze at the Bilerico web site wrote:
Michelle Wang, a Chicago lesbian originally from Indianapolis, says that she was turned away from a homeless shelter because of her sexuality.
This comes on the heels of the Task Force study that found that 20-40% of homeless youth are LGBT and the NY Times story on discrimination against queer youth in homeless shelters and indication that homeless advocacy groups won't ask for federal funding for diversity training or LGBT-focused programs because they fear that the Religious Right will retaliate by taking away funding from homeless shelters.
Again, if she was discriminated against, that is wrong. But it's equally wrong to assume that Ogle or his organization are guilty of that. The legal investigation is only beginning. Hey, folks, remember the Duke lacrosse "rape" case? Slow down, okay?
Alex Blaze finished with this: "So is this Falwell's legacy?"
Blaze is obviously not aware that Reverend Bud Ogle, "a Presbyterian pastor who co-founded the Christian ministry that runs the New Life shelter in the North Howard Street area," is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the same group that defend the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group of men who are devoted to sex with underaged boys.
Rev. Bud Ogle, a Presbyterian pastor who co-founded the Christian ministry that runs the New Life shelter in the North Howard Street area, was apologetic for Wang's troubles but said he believes an inadvertent clerical error was at fault and not any intentional discrimination. Ogle, who described himself as a lifelong ACLU member, said the shelter's program manager had committed the last two beds to a family but failed to note that in a bed-count record. FULL STORY at Chicago Tribune...
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Gonna Hang Ourselves a Christian!
This is just wrong, if it's true. If the only reason that this woman was turned away from the shelter was because she is a lesbian, well, the shelter is wrong. While the facts are being sorted out, and make no mistake, it's literally "he said, she said," it is interesting to watch so many people just assume that the Christian pastor is and his organization discriminated. If they did, then shame on them. If they did not, then shame on everyone for assuming guilt before guilt is proven.
The ACLU has filed city and state discrimination complaints on for Wang and will file a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court as well. In other words, this is still being investigated. But a lot of people are already tying hangman's knots, gittin' ready for public hangin'. Hey! Gonna hang ourselves a Christian!!!
Alex Blaze at the Bilerico web site wrote:
Michelle Wang, a Chicago lesbian originally from Indianapolis, says that she was turned away from a homeless shelter because of her sexuality.
This comes on the heels of the Task Force study that found that 20-40% of homeless youth are LGBT and the NY Times story on discrimination against queer youth in homeless shelters and indication that homeless advocacy groups won't ask for federal funding for diversity training or LGBT-focused programs because they fear that the Religious Right will retaliate by taking away funding from homeless shelters.
Again, if she was discriminated against, that is wrong. But it's equally wrong to assume that Ogle or his organization are guilty of that. The legal investigation is only beginning. Hey, folks, remember the Duke lacrosse "rape" case? Slow down, okay?
Alex Blaze finished with this: "So is this Falwell's legacy?"
Blaze is obviously not aware that Reverend Bud Ogle, "a Presbyterian pastor who co-founded the Christian ministry that runs the New Life shelter in the North Howard Street area," is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the same group that defend the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group of men who are devoted to sex with underaged boys.
Rev. Bud Ogle, a Presbyterian pastor who co-founded the Christian ministry that runs the New Life shelter in the North Howard Street area, was apologetic for Wang's troubles but said he believes an inadvertent clerical error was at fault and not any intentional discrimination. Ogle, who described himself as a lifelong ACLU member, said the shelter's program manager had committed the last two beds to a family but failed to note that in a bed-count record. FULL STORY at Chicago Tribune...
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Wow. Way to grossly misrepresent what I said. I can't see any reason for this but to build a certain worldview that's just not true. If you follow Bilerico at all, you would already know that I'm very pro-Jesus and pro-religion. In fact, I'm working on getting two new cocontributors, a protestant reverend and a former Jesuit priest, on the blog to work with us.
ReplyDeleteI didn't take a shot at Ogle (if I came off as criticizing anyone it was the staffer there who turned Wang away). I said that this was a suit and presented blockquotes from both sides. I even said in the quote you took from Bilerico that she "says" she was discriminated against, not that she was.
And I did know that Ogle said he was a member of the ACLU, the organization that's representing Wang in her suit. But being a member of a group that's defended Nazis, the Westboro Baptist Church, and countless others doesn't mean that someone in his staff couldn't have discriminated against a lesbian. And it doesn't change the fact that the Religious Right has opposed the funding of LGBT-focused homeless shelters or at least nondiscrimination policies for homeless shelters that receive public funds. And it doesn't alleviate the epidemic of homelessness among LGBT people, which you don't seem all that concerned with....