All I can say to this article I ran across is... "PUH-LEEEEZE!!" Whoever wrote this needs to go find something else to do. What I got from this article was a sense that the writer believed all lesbians were predatory, pussy-seeking vultures poised to prey upon unsuspecting, vulnerable, fragile straight women. I mean really. Go home. Just had to share this because of the ridiculosity and closed-mindedness on display in this article is mind-boggling to me.
Of course lesbians want to help battered women. Lesbians care about women.
**Side note: Carrie and I are in Texas in a Ramada, as our home is currently uninhabitable after the wrath of Gustav. More blogging with a storyline of pictures is soon to come.**
The article. Enjoy. Or respond and rip them a new one. heh...
Peace and fleas with wobbly knees...
Nic
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Right Wing Alleges Women's Shelters Are Lesbian Predator Hotbeds
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Sep 4, 2008
A right-wing blogger claims that shelters for battered women not only originated with lesbian activists, but now serve as places where lesbians prey upon the vulnerable.
Carey Roberts, the author of a book linking Marxism and feminism (and, according to his bio at Renew America, where the story appeared, someone who is cited by Rush Limbaugh), claims that shelters for battered women are being used by lesbian predators as "happy hunting grounds" where unsuspecting women might be seduced or even recruited into lesbianism.
In his article, Roberts cites a four-year-old article that appeared in the newspaper The Oregonian, in which Bonnie Tinker, a lesbian community leader, said that women's shelters began with "a small group of lesbians from Portland who were at the forefront of a national movement to provide safe havens for women," and adds, "We knew that foundations were not going to fund a house for a bunch of homeless bar dykes."
The Tinker quote continues, "We realized the language that would be understood was the language of battered women."
Roberts reports in his article that a woman named Maria who turned to Falls Church, VA, shelter Bethany House was coerced by a male lawyer whose services were supposed to be free, but which turned out to have a price in terms of sexual favors.
Roberts also wrote that two managers for Bethany House resigned after accusations that they had made passes at women seeking shelter there.
Roberts also claims that in an unidentified shelter, a woman who had come with their children seeking refuge complained about sexual conduct taking place in the shelter, only to have her concerns dismissed by the manager; at the same unidentified shelter, Roberts wrote, a minor was being taken by an older lesbian into a closed room. When a worker at the shelter expressed concern, the same manager told the worker that she was being "prejudiced."
Roberts also claimed that the director of an organization called the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence came onto at least one woman who had begin to come to a support group's sessions. When the woman told the director that she was not interested, Roberts wrote, she was subsequently treated as a pariah.
Roberts reported on a woman who had been a resident at two shelters and who said that, "many workers in shelters are lesbians." One sure sign: when a shelter worker rubs the palm of a battered woman's hand. It's not just because the shelter worker is empathizing or offering soothing touch, implies the article.
Added the woman, "If you become her girlfriend, you will be treated very good."
The unidentified woman's evidence for the cl.. "I was 100% sure."
Roberts also cited an incident that allegedly took place in a Florida shelter, in which a nine-year-old and a five-year-old were discovered by a shelter worker as having been engaged in a sexual situation. Roberts cites the incident as a "digital rape."
The story on how women's shelters are a hotbed of lesbian seduction also included one account of a Houston shelter arranging for holiday parties in which residents and professional men from the area could mix; a pregnancy resulted in the wake of one such holiday mixer, Roberts wrote.
Roberts then cited an individual identified as Bobbi Bacha, "of Blue Moon Investigations," who expressed concern that such mixers might be a means of preparing shelter residents to become street walkers.
Writes Roberts near the end of the piece, "For the record, many women who work in abuse shelters believe same-sex marriages should be legalized, so who can fault these ladies for wanting to practice what they preach?"
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
