Duggars and Sex Abuse Reports

I’ve rarely posted about these Duggar people on the blog because I always found them strange. And for other reasons that didn’t actually go as far as the latest development with them. Most recently, Josh Duggar, who heads one of the most anti-gay marriage firms in the world, was linked to sex abuse.

Duggar is one of the members of the evangelical Christian family that stars in the TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting. He is one of the 19 children of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and a married father of three himself.

‘Twelve years ago, as a young teenager I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret,’ Duggar said in a statement. ‘I hurt others, including my family and close friends.’ … I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions.’

You can read the rest here. If nothing else, aside from how sorry I feel for those innocent people who were abused, this will at least be an example to use the next time a far right Christian points the finger at gay people.

Let’s Give Ian Reisner a Break

I’m starting to feel bad for this dude. I’m not joking around either. He’s taken a lot of heat for having a dinner “event” in his multimillion dollar NY home for none other than Ted Cruz.  At first, Reisner made an unusual apology, then he insulted everyone, then he made a few more odd comments, and now he’s donating money to Fire Island.

Here’s part of a long letter he recently penned:

Now let me state unequivocally that I made mistakes. While my initial intention was bi-partisan dialogue about National & Israeli security, I’ve come to learn that intentions and outcomes are different things. The outcomes of my actions are that I’ve deeply hurt our community – and I am truly sorry.

In order to help build a stronger community I am taking the following steps:

– I am renewing and redoubling my commitment as an ardent supporter of LGBT causes.

– I will continue to invest my resources in the Pines, its cultural programs and activities that celebrate the diversity and acceptance of its community members, so that it always holds its rightful place in LGBT history.

– To this end, today I made a donation to the ‘FIPPOA-PAC’ — matching All funds raised in its last active year — which supports politicians committed to the Pines and to LGBT issues.

You know, it’s not often in life you see someone continue to try to change something he did. And I find Reisner to be working harder than most would work to rectify his situation. You can read the rest of his letter here. Maybe it’s time to give him a break. He’s an openly gay man trying to survive in a world where that alone is still a novelty.

Give Sam Kalidi a Break, Too

Sam Kalidi created a meme for Memorial Day and some people in the comments of this next link didn’t seem to get it. I’ve looked at it over and over and I honestly can’t seem to find anything wrong, nor did I see anything disrespectful. It looks as if Kalidi is paying respect to the gay men and women who have served, who have served and died, and to those who are still serving.

Seriously. I didn’t see anything glib about it.

Editor’s note: We’ve asked online comedian, voice actor and chest hair model Sam Kalidi to create a new meme each week for Queerty readers. This week he proves once again that gays and lesbians have a rich history of serving in the military. 

You can see it all here.

I think most of my readers know that I’m usually the first one to open my big mouth about something I thought was wrong…or in poor taste, especially when it comes to something as serious as Memorial Day. But this time I can’t for the life of me find anything wrong with what Kalidi did…in spite of the way people commented.

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