96
Popular Culture Review
According to a transcript of the program, Swaggart said “I’m
trying to find the correct name for i t . . . this utter absolute,
asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying m en.. . . I’ve never
seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I’m gonna be
blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that. I’m gonna
kill him and tell God he died.”
The remarks were met with
congregation. . . . (italics mine)
applause
from
his
That the discredited, “I have sinned” televangelist would make such a
statement is not that surprising. What’s terrifying is that his “remarks were met
with applause from his congregation” of evangelical “Christians.”
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime and the Federal
Bureau of Investigations, violence against gays and lesbians increased 8 percent
between 1999 and 2000. Of the 1,317 violent incidents attributed to the victim’s
sexual orientation, 69 percent were against boys or men perceived to be gay
(www.ncvc.org; www.fbi.gov). And, according to a U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services report, as many as 30 percent of completed youth suicides
each year “are performed by gays and lesbians” (www.hhs.gov). The Christian
Right’s attacks on GLSEN and GSA groups in public schools—^places where all
students should feel safe and supported—are also having an effect:
“We’re alarmed by a noticeable increase in gay youth facing
discrimination or hostility in just the last month since the
[2004] election. While we’ve just been through a very
contentious national election that focused a great deal on the
rights of gay couples, that can’t be allowed to threaten the well
established rights of gay youth to be out, safe and respected in
schools,” said Michael Adams, Director of Education and
Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “The rights of gay youth are
very clear, and they’re not up for public debate. We see an
urgent need to get this message out in communities where gay
youth have experienced problems since the election, and that’s
exactly what we’re doing.” (www.lambdalegal.org)
A 2005 GLSEN survey of schools nationwide showed that four out of
five gay and lesbian students reported being verbally, sexually and/or physically
harassed at school because of their sexual orientation (www.glsen.org). The
prevalence of violence against gay youth is documented daily, but most reports
never make mainstream media news. From a 365Gay.com news story (January
21, 2005) about a gay teen in Cleburne, Texas: