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08/31/2007
Sean's daily stripping turns on Peter
So over the past year or so, we have tracked the borderline homophobic/ downright anti-gay cartoons that have been put out by the NY Post's Sean Delonas. Here is an example of one of the most egregious, which was issued around the time of the NJ Supreme Court's gay marriage decision:
Cute, right? Because gay marriage = sheep-f***ing: Now that's sharp comedy!
Well, we've always felt you can tell a lot about an artist by his or her fans. And judging by a new entry he has posted on his Americans For Truth site, Mr. Delonas has a fan in one of our nation's most rabidly anti-gay voices, Peter LaBarbera. In said entry, Pete criticizes GLAAD for speaking out against Sean's cartoons, and encourages his "pro-family" readership to write to both Delonas and the Post to condemn GLAAD/support Sean. Peter has even posted the email that he personally sent out:
Okay, first off, Peter is working the flawed angle that by raging against perceived injustice, gay activists are trying to shut anyone down. There is a big difference between saying "YOU CAN'T SAY THIS!" (which GLAAD is not saying) and YOU SHOULDN'T BE SAYING THIS! (which they are). Protest is not the same thing as censorship!
Also, Peter is working that convenient angle that gay activists smear any and everything as "haters" and "homophobes." That is a gross oversimplification that ignores the nuance and levels of antipathy that GLAAD and others show in regards to individual situations. No gay activist uses such broad swaths to react to different levels of gay-unfriendliness. But it's far more convenient for Peter to paint gays as humorless, hypocritical folks on the extreme defensive rather than human beings who will stand up against injustice, both minor and major.
And finally, Peter completely overlooks the issue with Sean's cartoons. In regards to the one to which he refers in the above email, Peter says:
Very bad behavior by public officials is rightfully the butt of jokes in a free society. Take former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey (D), a married father with children who resigned in 2004 after admitting to homosexual adultery.
...New York Post cartoonist Sean Delonis [sic] uses the time-honored tradition of exaggeration to lampoon McGreevey, whose disgrace was softened by a sympathetic media that hyped his “coming out” — McGreevey announced that he was “gay” as he resigned – as if somehow he was as much a victim as his suffering wife and children.
Homosexual activists are always on the offensive, and these days that often means attacking anything or anyone critical of “gay” behavior or homosexuals themselves. Apparently in the minds of humorless “gay” zealots, even jokes about disgraced politicians caught in homosexually-oriented sex scandals are off-limits.
But have a look at the cartoon in question:
The issue GLAAD has with the piece has nothing to do with whether or not its funny! And its not about the right to make fun of "disgraced politicans! The issue (whether you agree its a real issue or not), is that because of the mere fact that he is a gay man, Delonas has taken the intellectual leap of painting him as a bathing suit, tiara-earing, wanna be-woman. If Peter wants to gun for GLAAD and their reactions, then he needs to address the points to which they are reacting!
Alright, so this piece has become far too long. So in conclusion, we would just like to say: Peter LaBarbera's applause is not something we would wish to receive if we cared at all about respecting gay people! It's sort of like the writer of the Cathy comic strip being applauded by those who wish to keep modern women viewed as stereotypically harried and foible-filled!
Humorless GLAAD Targets Sean Delonis Cartoons at New York Post [AFT]
***We should note that Delonas puts out many, many cartoons a year, with loads that are in no way offensive. However, when any gay issue is portrayed, he has been offensive time and time again. We gay activists are far from the only ones who have taken notice.