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Who helped me? You may be surprised at the answer.
It was the Christian right. More specifically, Dr. James Dobson, head honcho over at Focus on the Family.
See, he’s the man (and good friend to the current presidential administration) who thought SpongeBob SquarePants was a big gay.
I, and countless other scribes, chained like monkeys to our typewriters, then wrote a column about this ("So what if SpongeBob SquarePants is gay?") ridiculous, alleged phenomenon.
Dobson, a man with just the right amount of time on his hands, had a few reasons as how to determine why SpongeBob SquarePants is a big gay:
He holds hands with starfish sidekick Patrick; watches a cartoon show with two men in it; and, most damning of all, participated in a video with other cartoon characters devised to perpetuate tolerance toward gay teens.
This is where Dobson and I made our mistakes. And again, to be fair, Dobson went first, I simply followed his lead.
Dobson told the press (at a fancy black-tie dinner celebrating election results, including the barring of gay marriage, remember?) about SpongeBob’s animated participation in the video.
But there are two organizations with "We Are Family" ties.
Two different organizations. It deserves emphasis.
Because SpongeBob’s association with the We The Family organization that made the video? Is so not gay. Not even a little. Not even on weekends, not even for pay.
All joking aside, I made the exact same mistake Dr. Dobson did. I went to the wrong website.
The We Are Family group that made the video is www.wearefamilyfoundation.org.
The other We Are Family group, founded by Nile Rodgers who penned the catchy song, is www.wearefamily.org, or waf.org.
The latter site, a "voice of informed straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people who have chosen to love and support our relatives and friends" of did not have this disclaimer up last week, but does now: "WAF is not affiliated with We Are Family Foundation ... our scope of operation is to provide positive support, discussion, and counseling for young adults struggling with their sexuality, and the prejudices that are all too often associated with it."
The We Are Family foundation that produced the fun video has a simple mission statement, which says it "celebrates our common humanity and the vision of a global family by creating and supporting programs that inspire and educate individuals of all ages about diversity, understanding, respect and multiculturalism; and to support those who are victims of intolerance."
Got a problem with these two groups, Dobson? Or can you tolerate them?
Let’s hope so.
-- Alex Richmond is a columnist and staff writer for the Trentonian. Write her at arichmond@trentonian.com
