Gay Bullying
Please leave comment on Sidetrack’s official page and ask them about hypocrisy of hosting a Ben Cohen anti-bullying event just two weeks after Sidetrack aired the Only@Brunch video bullying Trig Palin
Here is Sidetrack’s official event page for the “Ben Cohen Standup Foundation” anti-bullying event they have scheduled for August 30th, 2011. “Anti-bullying” in this sense is actually the gay community claiming it is bullied by conservative and Christian people…when in fact Sidetrack the Video bar here in Chicago routinely shows videos that aggressively bully conservatives, Christians, women, and children with special needs. The “victims” are actually the victimizers at Sidetrack.
Please leave a comment on this page telling Sidetrack’s owners what you think of the hypocrisy of this bar hosting an “anti-bullying” event on August 30th, when on August 16th, 2011 Sidetrack screened the “Only@Brunch” talk show that featured a tasteless and unjustifiable bullying attack on Trig Palin…in addition to bullying attacks on Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (five minutes of pure hatred directed at the Congresswoman because of her looks, on top of an attack on Trig because of how he was born).
For the complete story, click here.
Please also note how you feel about Bradley Thomas Balof being the MC for an “anti-bullying” event, after being one of the co-hosts of “Only@Brunch” featured prominently laughing while co-host Jesse Budlong made the bullying attack on a toddler with Down Syndrome.
The hypocrisy is too much to stand…so I ask you with all my heart to stand up for special needs children against the gay bullies of Sidetrack, who chose to air this “Only@Brunch” video and now want to host an “anti-bullying” event where the gay community will complain about being victimized by conservatives.
Sidetrack cannot have it both ways. Please tell them so by leaving a comment on this event here.
I have been told the Ben Cohen Standup Foundation is convening a special emergency board meeting to decide what to do about this, so I know your comments on this Facebook page will be viewed by them.
Please comment, and also write to the Board directly here.
Together we can standup against hypocrisy and the gay bars who bully people with special needs, small children, conservatives, Christians, and women.
Do not let Sidetrack the Video Bar get away with this hypocrisy!
UPDATE: Here are the screengrabs of comments Sidetrack has received as of 600pm CST 8/23/11
HYPOCRISY ALERT! Ben Cohen to hold anti-bullying event August 30, 2011 at Sidetrack the Video Bar in Boystown, which is a bar that airs videos bullying special needs children, conservatives, Christians, and women
On Tuesday August 30th, Ben Cohen is making an appearance at Sidetrack the Video Bar here in Chicago to promote his “Ben Cohen Standup Foundation”, which claims to work against bullying of gay people. Cohen is a straight rugby player who started this foundation to assist various gay charities that support gay youth who are bullied growing up.
It’s a noble cause, but quite hypocritical of Cohen to hold the event at Sidetrack the Video Bar, because this same venue aired a high-profile bullying attack on Trig Palin on August 16, 2011 in the premiere episode of the gay talk show “Only@Brunch”. Because of national criticism of this bullying, The Jared Hall Company and Downtown Cupid Productions edited the attack on Trig out of the current video they’ve posted on YouTube (while deleting all comments calling their bullying out for the tasteless and unjustifiable attack that it was). Sidetrack the Video Bar, owned by Art Johnston and Jose Pepin “Pepe” Pena (and managed by Chuck Hyde), approved the original “Only@Brunch” video complete with the vile attack on Trig Palin and aired it in the most high-profile and prominent part of the bar.
As I’ve covered this week, “Only@Brunch” features Sidetrack bartender Bradley Thomas Balof as one of its co-hosts. Balof did nothing to stop the bullying of Trig Palin that aired in the “Only@Brunch” pilot. In fact, he sat there and laughed along with Jared Hall, Terrence Chappell, Craig Rathwell, and Brian Felder when co-host Jesse Budlong bullied Trig Palin.
Balof is scheduled to be the MC for Ben Cohen’s anti-bullying event at Sidetrack, despite appearing in a video mocking a toddler with Down Syndrome just two weeks before.
(Click to embiggen)
Sidetrack stands to make a large sum of money on August 30th, as Ben Cohen is quite the beefcake pinup in Chicago’s gay community; he’s guaranteed to bring in huge crowds to see his handsome face and athletic build, and to listen to his Foundation’s speeches about how bad bullying is.
Sidetrack enticed a large crowd on August 16th to view the attack on Trig Palin contained in the “Only@Brunch” premiere episode, by dispensing free mimosas to those who came to Sidetrack and watched a video not only bullying a special needs child, but also attacking his mother and other conservatives and Christians with malicious zeal.
The hypocrisy in the gay community is obvious and endemic.
So, this morning I sent the below email to the Ben Cohen Foundation asking them for comment on the appropriateness of hosting an anti-bullying event in a Boystown venue that encourages the bullying of children with special needs.
We have a clear situation here where leaders of the gay community claim gays need to be protected from bullying because of the way they were born…when the very same gay leaders encourage the bullying of children with Down Syndrome because of the way they were born. On top of that, the gay leaders who scold conservatives and Christians for not accepting them are the very same men who revel in attacks directed against women who are conservative and Christian.
Someone has to standup to this hypocrisy.
Since Ben Cohen’s foundation is actually named “The Standup Foundation”, perhaps he can show some leadership and address these matters with Art Johnston at Sidetrack so attacks on special needs children, conservatives, Christians, and women are no longer prominently made in Sidetrack the Video Bar.
Please email the staff at Ben Cohen’s Foundation either a link to this open letter or your own personal letter asking these people to “Standup to Hypocrisy!” and reconsider the appropriateness of hosting an event at Sidetrack the Video Bar, where the “Only@Brunch” attack on a toddler with Down Syndrome originally aired.
CONTACTS:
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An Open Letter to Art Johnston Owner of Sidetrack the Video Bar Asking Why Hatred Towards Special Needs Children is Allowed to Play on His Screens
Art Johnston, Owner
Sidetrack the Video Bar
3349 North Halsted
Chicago, IL 60657
info@SidetrackChicago.com
CC: Chuck@SidetrackChicago.com
Dear Mr. Johnston,
On Tuesday August 16th at 730pm, Sidetrack screened the pilot episode of a talk show named “Only@Brunch”, which is produced by Jared Hall’s DowntownCupid Productions and features Jared Hall, Jesse Budlong, Bradley Thomas Balof, Terrence Chappell, Craig Rathwell, and Brian Felder as hosts. At the 1:37 mark of the original broadcast of this program, Budlong made a tasteless, unjustifiable, and cruel attack on Trig Palin, the son of Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd. As you well know, Trig Palin is a 3 year-old toddler with Down Syndrome who was mocked on “Only@Brunch” for his physical appearance and because of the condition of his birth.
As you also know, Bradley Thomas Balof is a longtime employee of yours, working as a Sidetrack bartender and the M.C. for both your Thursday “Laugh Track” comedy nights and your various special events. The “Only@Brunch” premiere was a Sidetrack-sponsored event, with Sidetrack’s logo emblazoned on the advertisements for the talk show (see image below) and Sidetrack providing FREE mimosas to entice members of the Chicago LGBTQ community to come to Sidetrack to view “Only@Brunch”. The pilot episode for this show was prominently endorsed by Sidetrack by being projected on the giant screen in your Main Bar, the largest screen on which Sidetrack could have possibly shown “Only@Brunch” (see below photos from the event). It is rare for any group to be afforded these privileges at Sidetrack, as this treatment is reserved strictly for causes and projects you personally endorse.
Because this attack on a special needs child was made at your establishment Sidetrack, the most prominent gay venue in Chicago, and was apparently so enthusiastically endorsed by you and your staff, the gay community may think mocking children with Down Syndrome is acceptable behavior. You clearly gave your personal seal of approval to “Only@Brunch” and its content, which includes the bullying of special needs Americans and vicious attacks on conservative and Christian women. What are young gay men supposed to think when you promote yourself as their community leader and a show like this airs in your bar?
Sidetrack chose to promote and air the “Only@Brunch” pilot, complete with the attack on Trig Palin, despite it containing cruel bullying on the part of the show’s hosts, including Sidetrack employee Balof, who sat there on screen saying nothing to Budlong after he attacked a toddler with Down Syndrome. None of the co-hosts, in fact, said on camera that this sort of bullying is wrong.
Jared Hall and Downtown Cupid productions could have easily edited out the attack on Trig Palin before the show aired; in fact, they’ve subsequently edited this part out of the current YouTube video they have posted (live since 8/21/11) as “Only@Brunch” has received great national criticism for encouraging gay men to bully children (just because they don’t agree with their mothers’ politics).
Jared Hall and Downtown Cupid productions should have cut tape and reshot that original opening segment before finalizing the episode for broadcast. Since this attack on Trig Palin happened just 1:37 into the show, that would not have been difficult for them to do. Instead, they chose to let Budlong’s bullying stand.
Sidetrack then chose to screen this bullying before a live audience drawn to the event by Sidetrack’s encouragement of free alcohol.
Mr. Johnston, Sidetrack has a longstanding habit of airing videos that bully and degrade conservatives and Christians, especially females on the Republican side of the political spectrum. I have personally written to you on previous occasions and have spoken directly to your partner, Jose Pepin “Pepe” Pena, about the shamefully sexist and misogynistic attacks Sidetrack screens on conservative and Christian women such as columnist Ann Coulter, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Governor Jan Brewer, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and most especially, Governor Sarah Palin. I have been told on several occasions, in person, that you and your partner think these videos are funny and that you will continue to play “whatever you want, whenever you want” because it is your bar.
Your partner Pena was manning the VJ booth on Thursday January 12th, 2011 (just four days after the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona) and played an almost 12-minute long assault on Governor Palin that included videos depicting Kate Gosselin and her family picking up automatic rifles and executing the Governor, her husband Todd, and her children in the wilderness like they were the Romanovs. The video was gory, and was followed by a series of clips from famous horror movies depicting people being chopped up and bloodily abused, with a graphic Sidetrack inserted at the end to the effect of “Wouldn’t you want to see this happen to Sarah Palin?”. Up in the video booth, I saw Pena laughing, so proud of himself for getting this violent and hateful message against Governor Palin out there.
Until the “Only@Brunch” attack on Trig Palin aired August 16th, that January 12th montage Pena played in your bar was the most disgusting and reprehensible video I’ve ever seen endorsed by those who claim to be part of “The Tolerant Left” and actively engage in accusing conservatives and Christians of bullying gays.
No, Mr. Johnston, you have this dead wrong. YOU and your establishment, Sidetrack, are the ones that are spreading hatred in the community and encouraging bullying and violence towards those who do not agree with you politically. While you may claim to be “Chicago’s Harvey Milk”, as I have personally heard you refer to yourself in public at events Sidetrack has held, you default any status as a “leader for equal rights” by allowing your business to be such a broadcaster of hatred against others.
You, Art Johnston, and your partner Pepe Pena, are the kings of all gay bullies — and you have proven it yet again with this “Only@Brunch” endorsement.
There are no other bars in Boystown that devote time on their video screens to savaging Governor Palin, Congresswoman Bachmann, and other conservative and Christian women the way Sidetrack does.
There are no other bars in Boystown that allow videos mocking and bullying children with special needs to air on their screens.
This is only happening at Sidetrack, and it needs to stop because you are encouraging a whole generation of young gay men, who don’t know any better, to revel in this hatred and accept sexism, misogyny, and the brutalization of the innocent as appropriate political discourse.
They see you do it. They see you encourage it. So it’s no surprise when they start doing it too.
I am anxiously awaiting an explanation from you as to why Sidetrack endorsed the “Only@Brunch” pilot and allowed its content to air so prominently on Sidetrack’s massive Main Bar screen, complete with Sidetrack-provided FREE mimosas to encourage a large crowd of viewers.
How can you on one hand keep insisting gay people are victims, when you and Sidetrack encourage young gay people to bully and victimize conservatives and Christians (and their families)?
Please explain yourself and the conduct of your business.
Sincerely,
Kevin DuJan
Concerned Citizen
Sunday Action Item: Can you please leave a comment on the YouTube video of the Chicago gay talk show that’s mocking Trig Palin? UPDATE: Video removed by Only@Brunch, but all comments screengrabbed and preserved in this thread.
UPDATE 8/21/11: Jared Hall at Downtown Cupid Productions edited out the horrible attack on Trig on Sunday afternoon 8/21/11 and is now trying to pretend none of this ever happened. Just like the Left to try to flush things down the Memory Hole when they get caught. The new, edited video retains the “Only@Brunch” attacks on Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, however. You can comment on the new, edited video here: Only@Brunch pilot episode.
Another thing Jared Hall at Downtown Cupid Productions is doing is trying to curry sympathy by claiming someone called him “Hitler” in comments left on his YouTube site, which is the excuse he gave in the video you’ll find below regarding why he deleted all comments.
Well, Jared, we screengrabbed all the comments left for you on YouTube before you deleted them. There is no reference to Hitler anywhere but your own imagination, sister mister. Read all the comments left for you, and you will see that for yourself. I managed to grab all of them before you deleted them at 2:27pm 8/21/11 when you attempted to erase everything related to Jesse Budlong’s hatefully cruel attack on Trig Palin on your pilot episode of “Only@Brunch”.
How about your next episode focus on Jesse Budlong explaining why he thinks it’s funny to mock people with special needs, and why you as a producer allowed this mocking of a toddler with Down Syndrome to be broadcast in the first place? If there’s time on your show, further explain why you’re now in DELETE, DELETE, DELETE mode — even though everything you and your co-hosts have done is saved on multiple hard drives coast to coast.
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Here in Boystown, the gay talk show “Only@Brunch” recently mocked special needs, Down Syndrome toddler Trig Palin in the pilot episode of the latest “Downtown Cupid” production from Jared Hall.
Because of the attention HillBuzz.org shined on this attack on a special needs child by catty gay men, Hall has released a statement agreeing the mocking of Trig Palin on “Only@Brunch” was indeed tasteless and unjustified.
I, however, don’t feel Hall has explained himself well enough, because it remains a mystery why he chose to air this episode with the inclusion of the attack on Trig Palin. When taping anything like the “Only@Brunch” show, there is always the ability to stop, in the middle of the segment, and start again if something as atrocious as the jab at a Down Syndrome toddler happens. This was not a live broadcast, but a production that was filmed, edited, and approved for broadcast by Jared Hall and Downtown Cupid Productions.
At the very least, Hall should have, on camera, scolded co-host Jesse Budlong for mocking Trig Palin.
But, Hall, and fellow cast members Bradley Thomas Balof, Terrence Chappell, Craig Rathwell, and Brian Felder laughed along with Budlong and didn’t seize the opportunity to tell him that his comment was inappropriate and had really crossed a line.
What’s caught on tape in this “Only@Brunch” clip is something the media never shows you, but something that’s very real and present every day here in Boystown: the ease in which urban, gay men conjure true evil and aim it at conservatives and Christians (and their special needs children).
Budlong was so quick to take a hit at little Trig because he and his friends most likely do this sort of thing all the time. It comes so naturally for these guys to be this cruel, because cruelty towards others is a part of their daily lives. There is a whole generation of gay men typified by the “Only@Brunch” bullies who came of age taking their cues from Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert, and the monsters who write on The Daily Kos and Democratic Underground.”Comedians” like Kathy Griffin, Sandra Bernhardt, Margaret Cho, Bill Maher, and others further stoke this hate and encourage gay people to viciously attack conservatives and Christians whenever possible.
Here’s something you can do today to help put an end to this behavior.
Please ask your friends, especially those with special needs people in their lives, to do the same.
Be professional and mature in your remarks, but please let Jared Hall, Jesse Budlong, Bradley Thomas Balof, Terrence Chappell, Craig Rathwell, and Brian Felder know their behavior is unacceptable and their decision to go ahead and air a pilot containing the mocking of Trig Palin was reprehensible.
Not only did none of these people stop Budlong’s remark while cameras were rolling, but none of them called for a reshooting of that segment minus the hatred directed at a toddler.
As a gay man living here in Boystown, I demand better of this from the gay community.
And I ask your help in getting this message across to the “Only@Brunch” bullies.
Please voice your comment here, and post on this thread what you said when you’ve done it.
Thank you, on a very personal level, as someone who just can’t stand to see people with special needs abused by gay bullies.
HORRIFYING: Cast of Chicago gay talk show caught on tape making fun of Trig Palin during bullying attacks on conservatives and Christians
Note: If you are not familiar with the long history of gay men like those on “Only@Brunch” mocking people with special needs and directing catty cruelty at conservatives and Christians (especially at female Republicans), please read here to get a fuller picture of what’s going on that the media never shows you…and why someone like Jesse Budlong in the clip above is so quick to attack Trig Palin at the 1:37 mark…while his co-hosts neither stop him nor cut tape and choose to try the segment again, but this time without mocking a special needs child. It speaks volumes on the character of all involved in this production that this opening segment was not refilmed minus Budlong’s cruelty directed at a toddler with Down Syndrome. These guys saw nothing wrong with Budlong’s remark, they thought it was funny, and are so used to hearing other gay guys mock people with special needs that they still probably can’t see how evil their behavior really and truly is. These guys are honestly the reason that so many people in the world have negative feelings towards gay people, because they see gays like the “Only@Brunch” bullies and assume everyone who’s gay is like this. I am here to tell you we most certainly are not…and this group has really brought shame to the gay community with this show.
Here in Boystown, the biggest bar on the Halsted nightclub strip is Sidetrack — owned by Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame inductees Art Johnston and Jose Pepin “Pepe” Pena, who together fund much of the activities of Equality Illinois (an organization that professes to pursue equal rights for all residents of the state and is supposedly against hatred and discrimination in any form).
One of Sidetrack’s bartenders is Bradley Thomas Balof, seen in the above video (third from the Left, in the blue shirt), who also serves as Sidetrack’s M.C. for special events and business promotions.
Bradley, together with (from Left), Jared Hall, Jesse Budlong, Terrence Chappell, Craig Alexander Rathwell, and Brian Felder premiered their new talk show (clearly modeled on “The View”, but with five shallow gay dudes instead of untrained circus animals) at Sidetrack on Tuesday August 16th, with free mimosas sponsored by Sidetrack owners Johnston and Pena (who have clearly endorsed this project fully, since Sidetrack’s website and Facebook account were used to publicize this “premiere”, with this pilot episode of Only@Brunch shown prominently on Sidetrack’s large video screens).
Research Needed: Can you help identify people, groups, or other entities who have been attacked by gay groups in Illinois…especially by Equality Illinois?
We need some help with research that will be used to expose the hypocrisy rife in the gay community, particularly the one here in Boystown, Chicago.
The Left uses and exploits gays in much the same way the Left uses and exploits blacks. Whenever Democrats need to slander and otherwise malign Republicans, they turn to gays to call religiously affiliated Republicans bigots and accuse them of all manner of discrimination…much like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Henry Gates, or Barack Obama taking to the TV to rile black people up by claiming some person, company, or even cat or dog is RAAACIST. It’s oft-staged and predictable theater the media loves, so this has obviously been going on for decades now.
The thing is, no matter how much the gay community claims to be victimized by religious people — or by Republicans, whenever it’s close to an election year and Democrats need to damage the opposition by falsely claiming they are bigots — it’s actually gays who invest more time and effort into attacking people who have religious beliefs…most especially Christians.
Do gay activist groups like Equality Illinois condemn discrimination when it’s gays that are doing the discriminating?
Please checkout Equality Illinois’ website, in particular the “Our Mission” section where Equality Illinois condemns discrimination supposedly against everyone in the state of Illinois.
In the past, Equality Illinois has energetically participated in and supported various efforts here in Boystown to attack Republican political figures and Christian family groups as bigots — alleging these people discriminate against gays in the state of Illinois.
Bill Brady, 2010 Republican candidate for Governor, was attacked in this way, with no proof ever offered that he’s a bigot, as Equality Illinois and other gay attackers alleged. Of course as soon as the election was over and Pat Quinn (Democrat) was elected, the crusade against Brady ended. If this man was really a dangerous bigot on the loose in the state, it’s ponderous that Equality Illinois decided to never say another word about the man or his role in Illinois politics.
