UPDATE:  Local restaurant review site, The Urban Spoon, took down a slew of LGBTQ written comments about this business yesterday.  I complained to the site managers and was told the comments "probably" contained Terms of Service violations, but no specifics (even on my own removed comment).  I asked The Urban Spoon specifically about the relevance of branding practices and to comment on targeting LGBTQ comments.  No response. 

The "approval" rating for this business sunk from over 70% to near 40% in the span of about 12 hours yesterday. It was hovering near 45% last night and has spiked back up to 70% this morning.  As you can tell from the comments below, the donutters are aware of the criticism.  Backlash is also hitting other bloggers covering this topic

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Hey gang, a new donut shop opened up in the Strip District.  It is called Peace, Love and Little Donuts and the owners have trademarked the phrase "Feed Your Inner Hippie"  Sounds cute, eh?

Well, owner Ron Razete has also claimed a place in the blogosphere with the phrase "As I Was Saying" where he shares his anger, vitriole and bitterness. 

This crowd will not rest until Homosexuality is mainstream; until the Second Amendment is done away with; until abortion on demand is as common and accepted as going to the dentist; until sexual images and strip clubs line our streets and suburbs; until government education is started in the womb; until disagreement with their political party is "hate speech" and becomes a crime; until they pass the Fairness Doctrine and rid the county of Conservative talk radio; until they transfer our sovriegnty to the UN, etc. etc. etc.

When you capitalize Homosexuality, you know you've put created a very big divide between US and THEM.  Even abortion didn't get that shout out.

There's more.

... so here are just a few of the major issues I have with the "tannest" President of the United States in history.

First, I find it unsettling and overwhelmingly racist to make a big deal about the color of a man's skin. It is either a reason to vote for him or not. A reason to be "happy" or not. A reason to expect big things from him or not. But I'm confused... isn't President Obama half white? Why that makes him a Black President and not a White President is what gets me. I am sick of seeing a microphone stuck in everyone's face asking about the "historic" day when Americans elected a Black President.

As I was reading through his pages, I didn't find myself angy -- just sad.  He pours so much of himself into the writing and seems to live such an empty, self-righteous life.  So judgmental of everyone --- Ledcat would kill me if I wrote about her various shortcomings and asked you to pray for her to be a better wife. 

Who can write this with a straight face?

People are wicked and without the Holy Spirit to express Himself through our lives, I'm sure I would be saying the same things as these sad souls.

I don't have a lot of expectations of my donutter, but some sort of general belief in the decency of humanity would probably be on the list.

This all came to light on a local LGBT email list. Folks are pissed and perplexed.  How do you go from "People are wicked and without the Holy Spirit" to a hippie/dippie sales spin?  It is that sort of willingness to do whatever it takes in the marketplace to earn a living that really undermines the credibility of wingnuts.  And it almost worked.  I would have seen the name and assumed it might be cool.  But someone noticed the anti-gay comment and shared it ...

Lesbians are rumoring to be staging a kiss-in, a kiss-out, a make-out and all sorts of things.  Most of them probably just won't got to the donut shop in the strip district. 

That's probably the best idea.  I mean, people are entitled to a personal opinion.  But we don't have to finance it with pink dollars.

What happens when you mix a hard-drinking cougar with a crowd filled with lesbians?  Bedazzle.

Last night, an artist looked into my soul and shared my life with the world.  It was like she took all my blog posts and read each one aloud.  Strumming my life on her ukelele. 

Ledcat and I stopped in Your Inner Vagabond for a cup of java and some baklava.  We came away with our entire reality reinterpreted and a new blueprint for our future.  Together.  United against all the odds.  In a cold world that fails to provide health insurance for a sequin stitcher temporarily blinded by her work. 

Just her and I.

Toss in a little sunshine next to that cougar and you get Dicey Stewart and Paprika LaRue who kept us glued to our cushions at YIV last night with a spellbinding performance fusing the Love Boat showcase lounge with $1 martini night at the local karaoke bar.  Bedazzle.

This is an act worth driving through a dark and stormy night to watch.  I am not exaggerating that the line snaked around the corner.  Well, it would have IF they had made all the folks wait outside.  Instead, we paced the spacious exterior room as the new owners of YIV worked feverishly to accomodate the crowd with coffees, Middle Eastern delicacies and baklava (on the house, baby!).  The new owners of YIV own the Istanbul Grill downtown so they know their way around some baklava.  I was very impressed with their composure under such pressure their second night in business. 

When "Babycakes" the doorwoman let us through, an explosion of middle aged fans raced for seating with backs, ironically leaving the slow and infirm to cast themselves onto the pillows.  Thanks to my lesbian connections, I maneuvered Ledcat back to a decent seat.  Hey, I don't feel guilty.  I gave up my hard-won pillows to ease the lesbians on the floor.  Cause I'm a giver.

The Post-Gazette take heed - the majority of the attendee conversations upon which I was able to eavesdrop said they came because of your article. You may not be on the cutting edge of new social media, but you can still motivate the entertainment choices of the middle-aged suburbanites.  The room was PACKED with grandpa jackets AND lesbians.  Because Dicey and Paprika unite people. 

The show opened with Tracy Drach who mistakenly covered a Karen Carpenter song and essentially voided her contract with D&P who also planned to cover the Carpenters, but she bravely forged onward in tune, on key and with proper pitch.  This didn't set the tone for the rest of the evening, but Tracy can work hard and one day incorporate the mating cry of a white wing dove into her own act.  I have faith in her.  Being a singer-songwriter doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to singing, Tracy.  Find your inner trumpet.

I can't describe Paprika and Dicey.  Paprika is the cougar that lived down the street in the house where your mother wouldn't let you play, even while she sent you to her studio for dance lessons.  Those lessons could explain why you are single and reading this blog in search of lesbian hangouts where you might meet that special person.  Dicey and Paprika won't be performing at that place because all eyes are on them, leaving little chance for sparks to fly among the audience.

Dicey is the bedazzle of the duo.  You also weren't allowed to play at her house because your parents believed children shouldn't be used to mass produce flowing crowns of tissue paper that they couldn't keep.  Those flowing crowns of tissue paper might explain why you think it is okay to take off your shoes in a coffeehouse and tuck your feet up on a sofa cushion upon which I might sit one day. So not okay, by the way. What if I drop my baklava on that cushion and follow the 3-second rule? Ewww.

This duo is like the elusive well-covered Karen Carpenter song.  Their busy cruise ship schedule keeps them on the high seas so be sure to keep your ears to the ground for the next Pittsburgh performance.  Bring your best bedazzled grandpa jacket and you'll fit right in. 

ps:  Ledcat has informed me that if I don't stop reproducing the white winged dove mating cries, I am being sent to Hoi Polloi for the rest of the day while she basks in the Dicey and Paprika afterglow.  Check out her fan pic with Paprika on my Facebook page.

In an earlier post, I mention the possibility of a Northside church hosting an ex-gay ministry. It caught my attention for two reasons.

First, these ministries are horrificly damaging, condemned by the American Psychological Association and prey upon very vulnerable people who need support sorting out their identy, not coercion.  Pam's House Blend has a timely story about a 16 year old child who was "exorcised" of his homosexuality and recently appeared on The Tyra Banks Show to discuss it.  Watch the video and question the ongoing damage every minute of the show wreaks on this kid.  Question also parents who allow their child to be exorcised and appear on national television to lie about it.  Sheesh. 

Even Tyra believes this poor young man is deluded.  So sad. 

This is the logo for the national ex-gay movement, Exodus International.  Click on the photo to visit their website.

Freedom from being gay. Nice.

Second, ACAC is much renowned on the Northside for being a catalyst for so much social justice outreach.  Friends who belong love it.  I'm pretty suspicious of anything faith based, but I try to keep an open-mind.  Emphasis on try.  It is really hard to do so when you are welcomed with half-opened arms and very rigid hearts.

Anyway, ACAC has been closely tied with for-profit ventures, creating an sense that supporting these businesses will support the church ministries.  That's fine if they are feeding the hungry and providing afterschool activities, but if they are healing gay kids --- we gotta draw a line. So I started urging local LGBTQ persons and allies to reconsider their spending.

ACAC has not confirmed or denied such a ministry.  Members/former-members have told me various stories, but I notice that people are very careful to say "I'm not aware of any such ministry, but i focus on XYZ unrelated issue" which is not the same thing as "no." Clearly, it will take some real digging to get to the truth.  I've also been informed their are other "discreet" ex-gay ministries affiliated with some pretty large congregations in Pittsburgh

Some of that digging brought up another interesting thread --- a local business which has been very closely tied to ACAC in media interviews and the ACAC website, Bistro to Go, says there is no formal affiliation or partnership and that she is very gay-friendly.  Bistro to Go Owner, Nikki, has repeatedly tried to get ACAC to remove the links from the website because of the inaccuate suggestion that they are community partners.  ACAC has thus far refused her requests.  Do you think my post might move that along?  I've saved the screen shots just in case.

This is a little troubling as ACAC is becoming an economic force to be reckoned with here on the Northside ... they have a check cashing business, helped launch a for-profit Christian daycare, and are in the process of buying a local bar on East Ohio Street to turn a nuisance into a more appropriate business.  Existing businesses in the Northside are named and those potential connections are troubling if the church is appealing to local gay money to support ex-gay ministries, as well as if they are not being truthful about their real relationships with the businesses a la Bistro to Go.

I've wandered into a minefield.  Clearly, most gay folks won't want to spend their money to support reprogramming efforts.  But this blurring of for-profit with the coffers of the churches is very tough to tease out into a simple "Don't shop at X, Y or Z business." 

There's also the underground element of the ex-gay ministries themselves.  Do they exist in Pittsburgh?  Yes, I believe they do if for no other reason than the "deer in the headlights" looks I'm getting when I ask people who attend some of the megachurches.  Can I prove it?  Probably not without going undercover which is what the national folks working on these issues do.  I don't think I can pull it off.  Rest assured, I have no ethical qualms -- people use undercover agents all the time to ferret out discrimination a la fair housing testing.  If it would help save someone from the damage of being "healed" and "freed," I'd do it in a heartbeat.  Do some googling and you'll see what I mean -- lots of inferred connections, but very little "We want to heal the gays" listings. 

How we pick the businesses we support is fraught with contradiction, hypocrisy and simple lack of information.  As the G-20 teaches us, we are all hypocrites trying to varying degrees to do better. 

I think businesses affiliating with ex-gay ministries can do better. I also think well-intentioned church members who put money in the coffers of said ministries and then go out to dinner with their gay friends ... well, like I said, a minefield. 

I'd like to see more information come to light so maybe we have to rattle the trees a bit? 

I think today is Bisexuality Awareness Day.   Check out the GLAAD posts about this topic.  I have multiple friends who are bisexual.  Sadly, I have multiple acquaintances who 1) don't believe in bisexuality or 2) have no compunction mocking bisexual people as "not really gay."  There's also the whole contingent that believe all bisexual people are either indecisive or in denial.  So much education to do.  I will admit that more than one of my bisexual friends are hooked up with incredibly homophobic men.  That doesn't help matters.

After lunch, I stopped by the Seeds of Peace location on the Northside and had a nice chat with some of the group members, as well as the neighbors who had also stopped by.  You would barely notice they are there; just assume it was a parked church bus and keep on driving.  They told me that donations, while not necessary, are appreciated so stop by and chat with these great folks performing a ministry, really.  It would be so great if the neighbors along Buena Vista would stop wasting City resources by calling 911.  One neighbor pointed out that they are in fact doing a community service by keeping the usual car thieves and vandals away for a few days.  Nicely put.

I wrote to the Pittsburgh Marathon folks about people urinating in Manchester. They said they would help out this year.  Stay tuned.

My peeps tell me that a well-known local faith community, Allegheny Center Alliance Church, which is renowned for social justice ministry may in fact have an ex-gay ministry.  The church will not respond to my inquiries which looks shady.  If you don't have one, of course you would deny it.  If you do, shouldn't you be proud of it? 

This is their statement on homosexuality.  Note the last sentence.

The New Testament further states

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).

But the same passage of Scripture strongly affirms the liberating power of the Christian gospel from all former sinful patterns of life, including homosexual behavior and inclinations:

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

This came to our attention when people noted that the Church is providing sanctuary for the police, not the protestors.  That's an interesting place to be.

The sad thing is that this Church is involved in a lot of good work around the Northside. Ledcat and I are disappointed that we can't in good conscience now patronize Bistro to Go which is a fundraising project for the Church. I almost used them to cater my grandmother's funeral, who would not approve of someone thinking I needed to be cured. 

Caught The Good Wife on CBS last night.  It wasn't as strong as I hoped, but I haven't watched a character driven legal drama in a long time.  Still, Jay Leno at 10 PM is just too much for me.  So unfunny.

Well, I'm off to dinner and the rest.  Poor Ledcat is working another really long day.  More later ...

Oh, the drama.  Everywhere.  Helicopters buzzing in the skies.  Mysterious white cargo vans with big blue letters cruising the streets.  Police takeovers of coffee houses.  Soup kitchens being chased all over town.  Pit bulls!  Gay men.  Churches.  Table ladies. 

My, oh my.  I can't begin to keep up. 

Check with Bram for coverage of the actual G-20.

Check my FB page for the fastest postings on G-20 protest ridiculousness.

Our plans for the week?  Ledcat has to clock another 12 hour day tomorrow thanks to Luke's folly.  I'm working from home which is also ridiculous and a pain in the ass.  I am planning to enjoy some midweek pancakes at Hoi Polloi, stop by to lend my support Seeds of Peace, and maybe take a walk up to the rally at East Park on Friday.  Maybe. 

I did stock up on pumpkin cookies. 

Can't wait for the weekend.  I'm hoping to do some door knocking for Tom Michalow.  Ledcat might attend an Equality Summit in Harrisburg.  Definitely a movie (our new favorite weekend date).  Sunday could be a trip to the in-laws to pick up stuff. 

Can't wait for vacation.