Black pastors, marriage equality, and NOM's money

A 2005 article on now disgraced Atlanta pastor Eddie Long highlights a disturbing perspective to this issue of the National Organization for Marriage utilizing the black church and leaders against marriage equality that very few people are openly talking about.

The article theorizes that there was a tie between Long's 2005 anti-marriage equality march held in Atlanta and a $1 million grant he received from the faith-based initiatives of the Bush Administration. The article also theorizes that other black pastors were rewarded like so for making public positions against marriage equality.

When I read the recent disgusting comments of  Pastor Patrick Wooden and several other black ministers and leaders assembled by the NOM to combat marriage equality, I can't help wondering if we are seeing a retread of this theory.

While I'm certainly not making pointed accusations, I have been amazed at how quickly and convenient these coalitions between NOM and several black pastors and leaders have come together  I have also been alarmed by the rhetoric. There seems to be a degree of unrestrained glee and vindictive pleasure in not only attacking marriage equality, dehumanizing the gay community, and also - particularly in Wooden's case - going on a tangent about alleged gay sex acts.
 
And they do this even though they know personally members of the gay community either by family relationships or as members of their congregations.

These folks come across like well-paid hired guns.  Their tone betray a certain eagerness, like that of customers attempting to advantage of an exclusive sale at the mall or prospectors who just discovered a mountain of gold for the taking.

And in this case,  we may be talking about NOM's  mysterious funds. Remember, the organization has fought tooth and nail to conceal not only how much it has, but also just who is footing the bill. Yet NOM spends that money like water, brazenly committing  large sums of money to stop marriage equality in states like New Hampshire and Washington.

Also, I would be remiss not to mention that former NOM head Maggie Gallagher is used to receiving possibly inappropriate largesse for her "opinion." According to Media Matters, Gallagher:

received $21,500 from the Department of Health and Human Services in 2002 to conduct a briefing and write brochures and a Crisis magazine article that promoted the Bush administration's $300 million marriage initiative. She received an additional $20,000 in 2002 and 2003 to write a report ("Can Government Strengthen Marriage?") for the National Fatherhood Initiative. 

In addition, Gallagher promoted  Bush administration policies in several of her independent columns. She also testified in front of Congress in favor of  "healthy marriage programs." And she did all of this without disclosing the payments she was receiving.

So Gallagher is used to such questionable practices. The question is did she bring these practices to NOM. It's not farfetched to wonder whether or not any  honorariums have been used to "motivate" prominent black ministers and leaders.

 I am not the only lgbtq of color to have voiced this opinion. In the lgbtq of color community, there has been much talk and opinion-forming that these ministers and leaders who step out publicly to not only vilify marriage equality but verbally crucify the gay community in general aren't exactly doing it solely on spiritual terms.

Again, I am merely speculating. However, if, when it's all said and done, we find out that money has in fact been greasing some brown, very well manicured palms,  lgbtqs of color won't be surprised and we won't be shocked.

But we will say "we told you so."

It's a phrase we have learned to use a lot.  Usually when it's discovered that a homophobic black pastor is actually a closeted gay.

Gov. Christie accidentally proves a basic point of marriage equality

Today, in explaining just why he would veto marriage equality legislation and also why he felt it was an issue which should be decided by the voters, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the following:

"The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."

If this fool for real? In his ignorance, Christie seems to forget that one of those rights back then was the right to vote.

Needless to say that black lawmakers aren't very happy with Christie's comment:

The comment outraged many African-American leaders in the state, who pointed out that such a referendum never would have passed in the south during the 60s — and that many black people were also disenfranchised at the time.

“People were fighting and dying in the streets of the South for a reason,” Oliver said. “They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It look legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans.”

“The governor’s comment is an insult to those who had no choice but to fight and die in the streets for equal rights,” she added.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) had a similar take. “Dear God, we should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote, to be subject to the sentiments, the passions of the day. No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and the sentiments of the majority. This is the fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for.”

Jerome Harris, chairman of the New Jersey Black Issues Convention, told the Star-Ledger: “The 1965 Voting Rights act was enacted to overcome the systemic, intentional racial suppression of the black vote. It’s certainly a lack of historical understanding about how the expanding definition of who ‘We the People’ are has happened.”

And State Assemblyman John Wisniewksi (D) added: “Rosa Parks didn’t get to the front of the bus through a ballot question and Jim Crow laws weren’t repealed by public referendum.”

I guess we should be thankful to Christie's stupidity though. Regardless of how the gay community or the black community feels about marriage equality, they both agree that no one's rights should be voted on.

'NOM still trying steal marriage equality away from New York' and other Thursday midday news briefs

NOM will take away NY marriage licenses; driver and voter registrations apparently in clear (for now) - NOM is still trying to take away the fairly won right of marriage equality from New York couples.

Targeting Hollywood with Spiritual Warfare - Another prayer group? Oh goody.

Same-Sex Marriage Question To Appear On Maine Ballot - Round two and this time, it's our turn to win.

Harrisville becomes 14th Utah locale to ban anti-gay bias - Way to go, Harrisville!

Coalition at historically black North Carolina Central University opposes marriage discrimination amendment - Take that, Patrick Wooden!

National Gay Straight Alliance Day Seeks To Unite Organizations Nationwide - And we certainly can't forget about this.

Homophobic radio ad gets a pictorial retouch

A very appropriate retooling of a radio ad:

NC pastor - gay men molest gerbils, baseball bats, and cell phones

If the National Organization for Marriage and Vote for Marriage NC - the organization it helped to create to push for an anti-marriage equality referendum in the state - truly want to have a meaningful  and dignified discussion on the amendment as they have claimed, then someone from either group needs to muzzle Raleigh pastor Patrick Wooden.

Wooden will be doing outreach in the African-American community for the amendment.

Last week, he claimed that gay men have so much sex that they require surgery and diapers.

Today he just topped it in the second part of an interview with anti-gay activist aptly named "Porno" Pete LaBarbera:



Wooden: I do not back off or back down from my statements at all. I was giving anecdotal examples that I am personally aware of that have happened as a result of men who have given themselves over to this lifestyle. One man past away, a friend of mine shared this information with me, that where what used to be his anus had become a gaping hole and he literally died in diapers, he literally lost control of himself. There are examples of men who have stretched their anuses, their sphincter muscles so that they could fit objects into themselves that once the sphincter muscle is stretched too much it will not contract. Because the truth is, despite the anger of the homosexual community, the anus is not a vagina. A vagina, a woman can give birth, God so designed it, the hips release can give birth to babies and things return back to normal. The anus doesn’t work that way; this is one of the reasons why many male homosexuals place larger and larger objects in their rectums.

. . . I know of a case where in a hospital a homosexual male had a cellphone lodged in his anus and as they were operating on him the phone went off, the phone started ringing! There’ve been instances where men have put bats, baseball bats, in their rectums!

. . . Even the homosexual lobby knows, those who are pro-homosexual, they know that they cannot win the argument describing what it is that these people actually do to each other, the objects, the animals in certain cases, the little gerbils; thank God I’m a human being! Because if you talk about what it is that these people actually do, they can’t win the argument.

One has to wonder three things. First, was Wooden on any medication which he may have abused before that interview? Secondly how the heck does one put a cell phone up one's behind and thirdly, does it ring if lodged up there?

Wooden is obviously lying and not just about the cell phone. The "gays have dangerous sex" lie is as old as the hills. Take a gander at this 1985 comic (endorsed by anti-gay group Concerned Women for America) called Deathstyle:

It's almost comical until you realize that Wooden will most likely be repeating that mess to get African-Americans to vote for the amendment.

And of course neither NOM nor  Vote for Marriage NC will comment on Wooden's words, even though they will be in full use of his services. And their silence will emphasize the fact yet again that those who seek to stop marriage equality are willing to do it by any mean necessary even while they whine about being "unfairly" labeled as bigots.

Of course the grand irony of the entire thing is that Wooden was one of the pastors who took part LaBarbera's  recent silly protest against Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC claims that certain anti-gay groups - including LaBarbera's -  are actually hate groups because they spread hurtful propaganda about the gay community.

I would say conducting an interview with a pastor who claims that gay men wear diapers because they molest brooms, gerbils, and cell phones makes LaBarbera into a first class hypocrite.

Don't you?

Editor's note - On his webpage, LaBarbera prefaces the interview with the following:

LaBarbera references a Wikipedia entry on “fecal incontinence” that cites this 1993 study on the ill effects of anal sex. They talk about the SPLC’s racist-tinged release on the AFTAH protest. And when Wooden brings up the heinous “gay” sex practice of “fisting,” LaBarbera recalls the 2000 Massachusetts “Fistgate” scandal at a conference sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network – in which homosexual youth were given verbal “how-to” instructions by adults on “fisting” (hand-arm-rectal “sex”). LaBarbera notes that GLSEN never issued a sincere, strong apology for the incident — and the media double standard that excuses and ignores scandals on the Left.

Of course LaBarbera never lets anyone know that the study in question was a convenience sample study which looked at gay AND heterosexual men. He also doesn't give the entire story of the phony Fistgate controversy. For that, read 'Fistgate' and President Obama - religious right pushes a pitiful attempt of guilt by association

'Gays take over homophobic twitter hashtag' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Pastor Ken Hutcherson: “The only way to make your enemy a friend is to defeat them or kill them” - Apparently anti-gay pastor Ken Hutcherson doesn't believe in that thing Jesus said about loving your enemies.

Tammy Baldwin’s Anti-Gay Opponent Attacks Her Pro-LGBT Record - Of course cause we don't want no lesbians in Senate. Why they may think that they are Americans too.

#LGBTFacts - Long story short - some fool started posting some homophobic crap on twitter with this hashtag. But WE have taken it over. Come and join the fun.

Chris Christie Gay Marriage Stance: Would Veto Bill Legalizing Same-Sex Unions, Supports Ballot Measure - Now THERE is the Chris Christie that I know and despise.

Gingrich Tells CBN He Will Fight the 'War Against Religion' - ESPECIALLY that religion which says you can't cheat on your wife. Okay he didn't say that, but you know he wanted to.

Hate groups make fools out of themselves at press conference

Video footage is coming in of that disastrous press conference held by "Porno" Pete LaBarbera and his crew of assorted nuts against the Southern Poverty Law Center. The press conference was held to protest SPLC calling so-called pro-family groups out for their deliberate inaccurate rhetoric about the gay community.

And it was just as everyone suspected - it was a colossal bomb. But the most interesting portion is the following. Rochelle Conner, a representative of Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries (an SPLC designated hate group), read a statement from Lively calling for “God himself to destroy” the SPLC:




Transcript - My prayer as one who really does hate irrational prejudice is that the Lord by His sovereign power will remove this dangerous, hate-spreading organization from our nation and its leaders and its members cause them to repent of their wickedness. Finally, to prevent the Southern Poverty Law Center from using my prayer as part of its perpetual fundraising campaign, I want to make clear that I am asking God himself to destroy their organization and I am asking that it be by His miraculous hand and not by human beings just so as with Sodom and Gomorrah, they will know that God will get the glory, and not man.

By the way, you will notice that standing next to LaBarbera - who is the only white male in the small group for those who have never seen him - is "diaper pastor" Patrick Wooden. I heard that they were filming their own press conference, so of course Wooden just had to position himself to be at the forefront of the camera.

My guess - and forgive if I am being sacrilegious here - is that the only reason why God didn't strike these folks down for their lies is because he was laughing so hard.

The press conference was so pitiful that it's not even worth getting angry about. However, I will say one thing.

I love girlfriend's hat. And those boots? Smoking!

NC anti-marriage equality group has already begun lying

According to Think Progress, those pushing that awful anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina have wasted no time in pushing lies in order to scare up votes:

Conservatives supporting North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment banning recognition of all same-sex relationships have launched a new website called Vote For Marriage NC. The site describes same-sex marriage as a “threat” and  a “new legal orthodoxy” that would “redefine” marriage as “genderless” for all couples, and those who do not agree “will be treated under the law just like racists and bigots, and will be punished for their beliefs.” Unsurprisingly, none of the claims made stand up to scrutiny.

My fellow blogger, Zack Ford who work at Think Progress, breaks it down  He does such an excellent job that it needs to be passed around to as many North Carolinians as possible:

 CLAIM - “Religious groups who have refused to make their facilities available for same-sex couples have lost their state tax exemption.”

 REALITY - The only example conservatives ever cite is a New Jersey Methodist pavilion, and that pavilion did not actually have a religious exemption.

 CLAIM - “Religious groups like Catholic Charities in Boston and Washington DC have had to choose between fulfilling their social mission based on their religious beliefs, or acquiescing to this new definition of marriage.”

REALITY -  Catholic Charities have never been obligated to shut down their services, but have done so voluntarily when they are no longer subsidized by the state because they discriminate.

CLAIM -  “Nonprofit groups are faced with abandoning their historic mission principles in order to maintain governmental contracts (for things like low-income housing, health clinics, etc.).”

REALITY -  Again, no group has been forced to close, though some may lose state funding. In one case, the Maine Catholic Diocese shuttered a homeless support agency as punishment for supporting marriage equality.

Read more of Zack's spectacular break down of the lies here.

Related posts - Marriage Equality - Simple answers to NOM's complicated lies

PROTECTNCFAMILIES.ORG

'Glitter-bombing is counterproductive nonsense' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Dan savaged by glitter before Vancouver talk - Dan Savage got glitter-bombed again, this time in Vancouver. For whatever reason this time confuses me. You just have to read the article.

But allow me to give a little editorial comment on this practice of glitter-bombing.

I don't care who is the victim of it, the practice of glitter-bombing is a cheap, unfocused psychological stunt. It's a petty rush for an attention addict who has deceive him or herself into thinking that they are doing something substantial for the community rather than providing fodder for the opposition on how the lgbtq community is supposedly pushy and will resort to pettiness if it doesn't get it's way.

Glitter-bombing isn't merely stupid; it's the sad sign of a people who are showing themselves not ready for their roles in the important struggle for equality. You see with that role comes structure and planning for acquiring and securing equal rights. With that role comes patience and the knowledge that you are not doing things merely for yourself and what you want at the present, but also how your actions will improve the lives of those who will come up after you.

And let's face it. Throwing colorful bits of confetti at people who offend you is not a suitable substitute for structure and planning.

Also what's with this desperate need for publicity anyway? The opposition gets publicity, but in all honesty, it doesn't need it. You see they are carefully plotting and planning behind the scenes and away from the cameras to achieve their goals.

Now imagine what we could do if we employed that type of discipline for a change.

And in other news (if I haven't sufficiently gotten you angry):

Ironically, it's NOM that's hiding gender here - Jeremy Hooper (the Arn Anderson to my Tully Blanchard) catches the National Organization for Marriage in ANOTHER deception.

Romney’s Foundation Donated To Anti-Gay Marriage Group - Surprising no one with a pulse.

Hate Groups Are Pissed At Christie - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie obviously doesn't want to be vice president.

Family Research Council Launches Boycott of Girl Scout Cookies - I will be buying my Girl Scout Cookies. Hopefully you will be, too.

One News Now distorts controversy, insults gay parents

 Editor's note - Today is a first on my blog. I usually write one post in the morning but two things happened which deserves comment. After finishing this piece about how One News Now distorted a controversy to insult gay parenting, pan down to the second post and read about the American Family Association admitting that its boycott against Home Depot has NOT been successful.


If you want a good reason why the American Family Association's phony news source, One News Now, is a detriment to truth rather than an asset, then take a look at the following piece entitled School: Let him who 'screams loudest' get his way.

The piece is about how a column in a Wisconsin school newspaper about the gay community raised a huge controversy.

However, take a look at how One News Now phrases what happened as opposed to how the Green Bay Press Gazette tells the story:

One News Now:

Officials of a Wisconsin school have censored a student's editorial column printed in the city paper and "sincerely" apologized for his words in support of natural mother-father adoptions.

Both sides of the adoption issue were presented in separate articles, each written by students. But Shawano High School officials pulled the article written by a 15-year-old student who used scripture to support his argument. He wrote: "If one is a practicing Christian, Jesus states in the Bible that homosexuality is [a] detestable act and sin, which makes adopting wrong for homosexuals because you would be raising the child in a sin-filled environment."

The superintendent apologized, calling the editorial a form of bullying. But Steve Crampton of the Liberty Counsel thinks the school's action is reprehensible.

Green Bay Press Gazette:

A gay couple with school-age children is outraged over a Shawano High School newspaper column that cites Bible passages and calls homosexuality a sin punishable by death.

The column ran on the editorial page of Shawano High School's Hawks Post recently as part of an opinion package about gay families who adopt children. The other side said sexual orientation does not determine a person's ability to raise kids.

"This is why kids commit suicide," said Nick Uttecht, who is raising four children with his partner, Michael McNelly.

Home Depot feeds the American Family Association a big plate of crow

Last week, the American Family Association claimed that its boycott against Home Depot was successful.

AFA was boycotting the company because Home Depot has been very supportive of the lgbtq community, even publicly supporting pride events and providing booths for children during those events.

AFA claimed the following:

AFA spokesman, Randy Sharp says “We’re seeing some movement. It appears that the Home Depot is pulling back from their support of homosexual activism. Over the course of the last three years, we’ve seen a reduction in the number of gay pride events that they’re sponsoring and participating in. However, we want to be cautious.”

However, Samantha F. DeVaney, a representative of Home Depot, said that this was not true:

We have never changed our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all people, and we have no intention of doing so. Nor have we changed our apron policy or the guidelines for our Foundation?s charitable giving.

So today, AFA is now admitting that it was wrong about its Home Depot boycott:

American Family Association, which heads up a boycott against Home Depot, reported earlier this month that the national retailer appeared to be pulling back its support of homosexual activists, noting the home improvement chain participated in just four "gay pride" events in 2011 -- down from at least 16 such events in 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, AFA reported that Home Depot ordered its employees to stop wearing their orange aprons to homosexual-themed events.

But AFA's director of special projects, Randy Sharp, now says his organization spoke too soon. "Once we brought that to light, Home Depot made a public statement to everyone who contacted them and said [essentially] 'No, we haven't changed any policies. When it comes to homosexuality, homosexual marriage in our culture, we will continue to support it financially.

I hope that fried crow tastes good, Mr. Sharp

Washington State close to getting marriage equality, religious right getting fits

By now, everyone has heard the good news:

Washington's Legislature has enough votes to legalize gay marriage with a statement from Democratic Senator Mary Margaret Haugen Monday who said she will support the measure, becoming the 25th vote needed to pass the bill out of the Senate. The House already has enough support, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has endorsed the plan.

Haugen's announcement came has hundreds of people filled the capitol to advocate for and against gay marriage. State senators began considering the bill during a morning committee hearing.

In a statement, Haugen said, "I know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, the vote that ensures passage. That's neither here nor there. If I were the first or the seventh or the 28th vote, my position would not be any different. I happen to be the 25th because I insisted on taking this much time to hear from my constituents and to sort it out for myself, to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy."

And if and when this vote goes through, we know what will happen next. The National Organization for Marriage will push a referendum. And my guess is that the man in the following video will receive a star role:



That's Pastor Ken Hutcherson. And yes his testimony stank. And it was muted too. Based on past experiences, I was expecting more. Earlier this week, he compared the governor of Washington state to John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Abraham Lincoln, simply because she publicly supports marriage equality.


For many of us, Hutcherson will live in infamy due to a following comment during a sermon in 2008 castigating men he termed as "weak" or "effeminate:"

"God hates soft men" and "God hates effeminate men . . . If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I'd rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end." 

He later claimed that this is a joke, proving that his sense of humor is as lacking as his testimony in the video above.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the process in Washington state ends in our favor. And also that not one of us holds the door open for Hutcherson.

'Wingnut claims that license plates can make children gay' and other Monday midday news briefs

MD police official: Transgender rights bill did not lead to rapes, assaults in public restrooms - Confirming something we all knew.

Ken Hutcherson likens Gov. Gregoire to President Lincoln’s Assassin - Great. One black pastor claims that gay men wears diapers, while another one is comparing a governor to Abraham Lincoln's assassin because she supports marriage equality. I swear if it weren't for the sexual coercion charges and the hypocrisy, Eddie Long would look like a saint compared to these two.
  
Gov. Christie Nominates Openly Gay Justice - I generally loathe Gov. Chris Christie, but sometimes he has a good head on his shoulders.

Indiana Wingnut Worried License Plate Will Make Kids Gay, Give Them AIDS - Oh for the love of . . . By the way, for you edification, the "wingnut" in question, Micah Clark, once bragged about citing the discredited work of junk scientist Paul Cameron during a hearing and sidestepping a legislator who quizzed him on it.
  
Ask NOM about its partnership with 'diaper pastor' Patrick Wooden - Lastly - and yes this is important - if you have not emailed or tweeted the National Organization for Marriage's cultural director Thomas Peters on why the organization is allying with the "diaper pastor" Patrick Wooden, please do so. The link gives an overview of the story and both his email and twitter address.

Ask NOM about its partnership with 'diaper pastor' Patrick Wooden

 Last week, North Carolina pastor Patrick Wooden shocked a lot of people with his blatantly inaccurate comments that gay men have so much sex that they require surgery and diapers.

But while folks either laughed, rolled their eyes, or gagged in disgust, it's important that we all don't miss an important connection here.

Wooden is one of the pastors who is teaming up with the National Organization for Marriage to pass that awful anti-family, anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina.

According to Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch:

. . . Wooden is no fringe figure, and is actually one of the major spokesmen for the campaign to pass an amendment to North Carolina’s constitution outlawing same-sex marriage.

Wooden was “the main speaker for the rally organized by the conservative North Carolina Family Policy Council where he shared the stage with National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown and Randy Wilson, the Family Research Council’s National Field Director. He also spoke at a press conference alongside Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Dale Folwell and Kevin Daniels of the right-wing Frederick Douglass Foundation in support of the bill, and Wooden is spearheading outreach to African American voters on behalf of Vote for Marriage NC the umbrella group led by NOM, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, NC Values Coalition and the Christian Action League.

Wooden is not NOM's only questionable alliance. Presently the organization is teaming up with the Minnesota Family Council in that state to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment. MFC was discovered to have material on its webpage accusing the gay community of pedophilia, bestiality, and the consuming of bodily wastes.

NOM did not issue a comment about this controversy, yet the organization is always quick to claim that those who share its beliefs are being unfairly labeled as bigots.

So one wonders where does NOM stand on Wooden's words regarding gay men and diapers.

I sent the following letter to Thomas Peters, NOM's cultural director. It reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Peters,

Your organization, the National Organization for Marriage, claims that it simply wants to protect marriage and that those who share your view that "marriage is the union between one man and one woman" are in danger of being unfairly labeled as "bigots."

However, one has to ask the question that if you do not want the label of  "bigot," then why does your organization team up with those who slander the gay community, such as Patrick Wooden of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, NC. In a recent interview, Mr. Wooden said the following about gay men:

The God of the Bible made the human sperm, the God of the Bible designed it and it was not designed to be emptied into an area that is filled with feces, there is nothing for it to germinate with, it will most certainly mean the extinction of the human race. My belief is that if the medical community would just step forward and just would share with the American people what happens to the male anus, the problems that homosexuals have with their rectums, the damage that is done, the operations that are needed to sew up their bodies if you will, and how many of the men don’t even give these stitches time to heal before they are back out there practicing that wicked behavior. Some are bleeders, men who are not turned off by ingesting the feces of other men.

Now while Mr. Wooden does assert that it is his personal opinion, as I understand it, he is teaming up with your organization in an effort to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina. Furthermore, he did share the stage at a rally last year with NOM's president, Brian Brown and he is spearheading outreach to African American voters on behalf of Vote for Marriage NC the umbrella group led by your organization, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, NC Values Coalition and the Christian Action League.

My question is where does NOM stand on Mr. Wooden's comments. Do you reject them and will you continue to work with him in your campaign to pass this amendment?

Respectfully yours,

Alvin McEwen
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
charlekenghis@aol.com

Mr. Peters' email address is tpeters@nationformarriage.org and you can twitter him on @AmericanPapist

Please feel free to email him and ask him where does NOM stand on Wooden's comments. And above all, DO NOT BE RUDE. Regardless of how you feel about NOM, this is a serious issue and should not be approached with frivolity or anger.

If you twitter him, simply ask "Where does NOM stand on P. Wooden's diaper comments?"

Feel free to share whatever email or twitter message you may have sent.

NOM wants Newt to 'save' marriage? Hilarity ensues

Of all the stories spinning about Newt Gingrich's victory in the SC Republican primary, the strangest has to be the congratulations he received from the National Organization for Marriage. From the NOM president Brian Brown, courtesy of the organization's blog:

It is now clear that the Republican Party will nominate a candidate who is strongly committed to preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman," Brown said. "We have succeeded in making the preservation of marriage a key issue in this race, and we will continue to do so throughout the primary season, and into the general election against President Obama."

NOM is dancing in the streets because Gingrich was one of the candidates to sign it's silly "Marriage Pledge."

However, NOM seems to omit the simple fact  that Newt Gingrich is a man with sordid history of marriage rivaling that of Henry VIII of England.

In all honesty, it is not known whether or not NOM has commented on Gingrich's three marriages or the interesting stories coming from those three marriages such as:

He cheated on his first wife with his then second wife.

He cheated on his second wife with his now third wife. And this was going on while he was pursuing the impeachment of Bill Clinton chiefly because of indiscretions with Monica Lewinsky?

He also allegedly wanted an open marriage with his second wife because he felt that there was " more than enough Newt" to go around.

And I won't even mention the ugliness about the divorce proceedings during the cancer of his first wife.

The fact that NOM wraps its homophobic talons around Gingrich regardless of his controversial marital history speaks to the further lack of integrity of the organization's message. And makes one wonder does NOM really want to preserve marriage or keep it away from those allegedly "dirty homosexuals" regardless of assurances by former NOM head Maggie Gallagher that NOM is not interested in being anti-gay?

I mean come on. Are gays and lesbians really putting marriage in danger or does the danger truly lie with the fact that some folks - one who shall remain nameless - can't keep it in their pants.

It's obvious that if Gingrich is interested in, as NOM claims, preserving marriage as the union between one man and one woman, he seems to think that he is exempt from the rule.

And it's even more obvious that NOM's silence regarding his, shall we say, indiscretions is signalling that the organization is turning a blind eye to his past behavior.

I knew NOM was fake, highly hypocritical, and full of empty platitudes but DAMN!

Know Your LGBT History - Barbara Jordan

It's been said that had former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) not become ill, former president Bill Clinton would have picked her to serve on the United States Supreme Court.


It would have been one hell of a pick:





Jordan was born in Houston’s Fifth Ward to Rev. Benjamin M. Jordan and Arlyne (Patton) Jordan.

Jordan attended Wheatley High School Houston, where one of the nation’s few African-American female attorneys, Edith S. Sampson, spoke and inspired Jordan to become a lawyer. This was a difficult ambition at the time, because only one law school in Texas admitted African-Americans.With the support of her father, Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 and from Boston University Law School in 1959. She passed the bar exams in Massachusetts and Texas before returning to Houston to open a law practice, only the third African-American woman to be licensed in Texas.

Jordan campaigned for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964.Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president pro tem of the state senate and served for one day as acting governor of Texas in 1972.

In 1972, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. She received extensive support from former President Lyndon Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she made an influential, televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

'Bigot says that gay men have lots and lots and LOTS of sex' and other Friday midday news briefs

Fischer: 'Poppers' and Promiscuity Cause AIDS - Don't let the headline fool you. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association is saying that gay men have thousands of sexual partners. He claims that we admit this "in our own literature," but of course he doesn't say which literature. Now before you get angry - and you should - we should look at Fischer's claim scientifically. Now according to people like him, we are only one to three percent of the population. But yet also according to people like Fischer, we have thousands of sexual partners. Now there are only 365 days in a year which means that according to Fischer, a gay men has sex over three times a day with a different partner. It leaves me to ask the question where in the heck do we find the time to "indoctrinate children," "imprison Christians," and plot the general downfall of America? Answer - Bryan Fischer needs Jesus.

Jumping Beyond The Broom: Policy Priorities Outside Of Marriage Equality - A piece we ALLL need to read AND take into account. LGBTQs of color need more than marriage equality.

More Than 70 American Mayors Announce Coalition to Support Marriage Equality: FULL LIST, Statement - This is truly awesome.

Tony Perkins: Social Conservatives Are ‘Not Judgmental’ - And in other news, Elizabeth Taylor left me all of her diamonds in her will.

Lincy Pandithurai, Texas Nurse Practitioner Who Harassed Lesbian Veteran, Removed From Job - Sorry honey but you have to go. And I DARE anyone to defend what she did.

Viki Knox deserves to be fired

The American Family Association's One News Now is all upset over the fact that a New Jersey teacher may be fired for comments she made about a diversity display at her school.

Since this is an old story and I really haven't talked about it, allow me to give a short recap:

Last year, Knox posted comments on her public Facebook page criticizing a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month display at Union High School, her place of employment. She later went on to describe homosexuality as a "perverted spirit" and a "sin which breeds like cancer."

Her full comments are the following:

"Homosexuality is a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation. The word of God refers to it often. That's if you believe the Word to be truly God's intended blueprint for his people. I have friends and loved ones who are practicing/ living as homosexuals. Yes I love can care about them. We hug and exchange gifts. We have family dinners. But how they live and their actions, behaviors -CHOICES are against the nature and character of God! Do I tell me so? Yes, of course. Do I treat them bad? If course not! Jesus never did that to ANYONE he meant. He spoke to them of their situation and offered them life eternal. He didn't say it was okay but we've all sinned and come short if God's will for us daily. That's why we Christians true followers pray, repent, and spend time with Christ daily. The Word of God instructs us to die daily to our flesh-meaning our will. What we want; what feels good to us; what we like; what we can rationalize and justify. I do not pretend to know ALL things. Nor do I pretend not to have biases, failings and faults. But I know sin and it breeds like cancer!"

Naturally this caused a furor and the school district put her on paid leave. Now it looks like it is taking steps to dismiss her.

Now, as to be expected in this situation, those on the right are claiming that Knox is being silenced because she "merely" expressed a view about homosexuality.

Meanwhile, others have rallied to Knox's defense in the name of "free speech."

And both of these parties are full of it.

Let's be clear here. This is not a free speech issue. This is an issue about an employee who should have kept her mouth shut about situations regarding her job.  She made pointed comments about her place of employment in an inappropriate arena. If I was to spout off on Facebook about things regarding my place of employment, I would probably get fired.

And I would deserve it too.

That's the technical aspect of why Knox should stop whining about being a victim.  Let's address her comments.

Allegedly, she has a 20-year tenure as a teacher and one in special education at that. She should know the devastation of words on young minds, particularly nowadays with young impressionable lgbtqs.

Also, I am so tired of people saying that she merely "expressed a religious view."  What is with this attempt to disguise vulgar hatred as religious views?

Earlier this week, a pastor from a North Carolina church claimed that gay men have so much sex that they need surgery and diapers. No doubt if questioned on it, he would probably claim that he is being persecuted for supposedly expressing a mere religious view.

This idea that you can say any hateful and vindictive thing about gays and hide your nastiness behind the facade of supposedly expressing religious belief has got to stop.

If the display was about religion or another ethnic group and Knox made her vindictive comments, we would not be having this discussion.

And in this case, we shouldn't be having that discussion here. Whether some folks like it or not, homosexuality is not an abstract idea.. LGBTQs are real people who deserve the same amount of respect as any other group of people. When comments like Knox's are made, she is not talking about a theory or an hypothetical idea. She is slandering people.

Knox is not a victim. I prefer to think of the young lgbtqs - some who probably traveled through her classroom -  who heard her words as the potential victims here.

She is supposed to lead and guide them. How can she do such if she thinks of them as "cancers?"

Tony Perkins joins 'diaper pastor' and AFA in an interview of lies.

According to Right Wing Watch:

On Today’s Issues, American Family Association president Tim Wildmon and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins hosted and praised North Carolina pastor and anti-gay activist Patrick Wooden, the very same pastor who said that gay men “have to wear a diaper or a butt plug just to be able to contain their bowels,” to condemn the Southern Poverty Law Center’s work against anti-gay organizations. Wooden has not only focused on “what happens to the male anus” but also said homosexuality is “wicked, deviant, immoral, self-destructive, anti-human” and should make people “literally gag.”

During the show, Wooden claimed that SPLC, which he recently protested alongside Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber, was “hijacked” and “infiltrated” by gay rights advocates, and called homosexuality “deviant” and a “death style,” and even claimed that the LGBT community discriminates against African American males.

Perkins accused the SPLC of trying to “silence the debate” over gay rights and Wildmon asserted that the SPLC “switched over” to covering LGBT issues because racism is in “rearview mirror here in our country and we moved beyond that and they had to have something to do,” and labeled the AFA and FRC anti-gay hate groups simply because the two organization “stands for traditional marriage and against homosexual marriage.” However, their stance on marriage equality was not part of the SPLC’s criteria as “not one of them was listed because of their position on same-sex marriage.”

The very fact that Tony Perkins and Tim Wildmon would join with a man who falsely claims that gay men have to wear diapers is enough to prove SPLC's point about their organizations (American Family Association and the Family Research Council) being hate groups a million times over. And Wooden just happens to be one of the leaders in the effort to push awful anti-family, anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina.


But don't think that this would stop Perkins any. Apparently he is still popular on MSNBC and CNN.

Honestly, doesn't the media have any standards. If they are going to have Perkins on their shows, the very least they can do is grill him on his comments and his partnerships.

Related post: 16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group

'Gingrich a defender of marriage except his own' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Fox News Hires Gay Rights Activist Sally Kohn As Contributor - Why do I want to act like the Amityville Horror House when speaking to Ms. Kohn - "GET OUT NOW!"

Kickoff of Protect All NC Families campaign to defeat Amendment One (updated) - North Carolina hits the ground running to defeat that awful anti-family, anti-gay amendment.

Despite Publicly Backing One Man-One Woman Marriage, Newt Asked Ex-Wife To ‘Share Me’ With Other Women - If his ex-wife's claim is true, there are SOOOO many things wrong with this, chiefly who in the hell else would want to have sex with Newt Gingrich.

GLAAD Media Awards 2012: Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, 'Glee,' And 'Dancing With The Stars' Among Nominees - Congratulations to all of the GLAAD award nominees.

Elementary School Climate, Anti-Gay Bullying Examined In New Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network Report - Excellent report by GLSEN.

NC anti-family amendment - just who is ruled by fear and hatred?

In May, North Carolina will be voting on one of those dreary anti-marriage equality amendments (Amendment One).

Those pushing it say that they are not ruled by hate or animus against the gay community. They claim that they merely want to "protect marriage."

Judge for yourself just who is in the right here.

In other words, this (North Carolina pastor Patrick Wooden, one of the chief organizers for the North Carolina amendment to ban same-sex marriage):




vs. this (the families in the middle of this amendment fight):



The choice is yours, North Carolina.

Editor's note - As of now, no supporters of the amendment have made any comment about Wooden's words.

Gay and in a Black Church - another view

I just found this clip and it is hilarious! This is openly gay comedian Sampson performing his show "Don't Make Me Take Off My Earrings" at The DC Arts Center. It's nice to see a gay black man talk about the issue in such a manner. And Sampson isn't lying either:

'Mitt Romney's flip-flops on gay equality' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Maryland Anti-LGBT Groups Object To Transgender Protections As ‘Dangerous’ - You know what they are saying. It's what they always talk about when defaming our transgender brothers and sisters, i.e. bathrooms.

Romney’s meandering voyage on gay rights - In all honesty, Mitt Romney has flipped-flopped on everything else. If he didn't flip-flop on lgbtq equality, I would have felt left out.

COLORADO: Catholic Church Hands Out Pledge Cards Against Civil Unions - The Catholic Church is dooming only itself in this fight.

Chuck Colson's Latest Pathetic Claim that LGBT Rights is Undermining Religious Freedom - Whine, whine, whine!

Create a fun caption for 'Porno Pete's ' bigoted press conference

Today is my birthday, so let's have some fun this morning. The following pictures are from yesterday's ridiculous press conference held by "Porno" Pete LaBarbera and his homophobic merry men at the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

As you can tell, the press conference was a colossal bomb, attracting attention only by those of us who live to refute the lies put out by LaBarbera and company.

What I want you to do is put on your thinking caps and create a funny caption for either or both of the pictures.

Don't be too mean or too nasty.

But then again . . .

NC anti-gay marriage amendment supporter claims that gay men need diapers

Reports are coming in that today's press conference by Peter LaBarbera and his merry band of homophobes at the Southern Poverty Law Center headquarters was a bomb.

Which surprises no one.

However, Right Wing Watch uncovered something a bit nauseating but also very telling at the same time. At his press conference, LaBarbera included a bunch of black pastors and was pushing the phony notion that "gay are trying to piggyback off of the civil rights movement."

They were also trying to push the phony notion that SPLC was attacking groups like LaBarbera's because they supposedly stand up for "Christian principles."

Now I ask you, are the following comments by North Carolina pastor Patrick Wooden an example of "Christian principles?" Wooden not only participated in the press conference but also is one of the folks trying to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina.

The comments come from an interview he conducted with LaBarbera before the failed press conference:

Wooden: The God of the Bible made the human sperm, the God of the Bible designed it and it was not designed to be emptied into an area that is filled with feces, there is nothing for it to germinate with, it will most certainly mean the extinction of the human race. My belief is that if the medical community would just step forward and just would share with the American people what happens to the male anus, the problems that homosexuals have with their rectums, the damage that is done, the operations that are needed to sew up their bodies if you will, and how many of the men don’t even give these stitches time to heal before they are back out there practicing that wicked behavior. Some are bleeders, men who are not turned off by ingesting the feces of other men.

. . . If the truth was told, people would literally gag and no one would want to be in a lifestyle like that. Who wants to practice anything that is going to ultimately lead a grown man to about the time he’s in his 40s or 50s, or what not, having to wear a diaper or a butt plug just to be able to contain their bowels?

If you ask me, I don't think SPLC needed to issue a response to LaBarbera's failed press conference. All they have to do is replay Wooden's words. Call them what you want, but to me they epitomize hate. They epitomize ignorance. It's the same type of hate and ignorance which racists used to claim that integration was merely a way for the black man to have his way with white women.

Someone should tell Wooden that lies and exploitation of ignorance are not "Christian principles."

'SPLC smacks down hate group press conference' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Anti-Gay Haters Plan Press Conference Today at SPLC - The Southern Poverty Law Center responds to the anti-gay hate group press conference held today. And the response is a doozy!

The amazing public turnaround of Bernice King on LGBT rights - It's the beginning of something good. And I hope more good comes out of it.
 
Three South Carolina Gay Couples To Protest Marriage Ban - Those are MY PEOPLE who are doing that! I love my lgbtq brothers and sisters from my state.

While Santorum wins Religious Right Support, No Signs of 'Strong Consensus' - Can't these dipsticks decide who dislikes gays more?

Black pastors demean Dr. King's legacy by teaming up with anti-gay hate groups

Peter LaBarbera

It saddens me to report that a group of black pastors have learned nothing from Martin Luther King Jr's message of love.

How else can one explain what a group of them are doing today?

Today, these pastors are teaming up with resident homophobes Peter LaBarbera, Linda Harvey, Matt Barber, and others  to hold a press conference at noon outside the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center to  protest the fact that several religious right groups, including LaBarbera's Americans for Truth, were named by SPLC as hate groups.

According to SPLC:

the SPLC’s listings of these groups is based on their propagation of known falsehoods — claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities — and repeated, groundless name-calling. Viewing homosexuality as unbiblical does not qualify organizations for listing as hate groups.

But of course LaBarbera and company will push the false idea that these groups are being attacked because of their supposed Christian beliefs. This is what he had to say about the press conference:

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth, which is sponsoring the press event, recently interviewed Pastor Wooden, who said that the SPLC’s gambit of labeling mainstream pro-family groups that oppose homosexual activism as “hate groups” is seriously damaging the SPLC’s credibility. Wooden also debunked the “civil rights” analogy used by “gay” activists, saying it is wrong to compare “my beautiful blackness” with homosexual perversion.

LaBarbera said the SPLC is engaged in a thinly-veiled, one-sided campaign to demonize adherents of traditional Judeo-Christian morality.

Patrick Wooden

How sad. LaBarbera gets a bunch of black pastors who are desperate for publicity to accompany him.  I don't recognize these black pastors, except for one - Dr. Patrick Wooden, pastor, Upper Room Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Raleigh, NC.

This is the same Wooden who said the following in 2004:

"We have to block the use of euphemisms when we talk about homosexuals. They are not gay. We've got to use terms like 'deviant' and 'abomination.' "

 Maybe these pastors are so desperate for publicity that they are not aware of who they are teaming up with, so allow me to give a short overview of their "friends:"

Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel  who defends countries that persecute lgbts, compares lgbts and progressives in general to idol worshippers and child sacrificers of Biblical times, and made the following ugly comment about gays being allowed to serve openly in the military:

And above all, let's not forget the following comment he made about same-sex relationships:

There is nothing “conservative” about “one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it 'love'”

Bayard Rustin - Gay man in the Civil Rights Movement

Today is the national holiday celebrating the birthday of the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While he definitely embodied the civil rights movement and the promise this country made about equality better than anyone I ever know, let's not forget those who aided him along the way, particularly the architect and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington as well as one of his personal aides, Bayard Rustin. Rustin was a genius, a man before his time whose gay orientation stood in the way of him getting the recognition he deserved. That is until now.

Of course the irony is that even if Rustin had gotten the recognition he deserved before he died, he probably wouldn't have cared. He was a man devoted to fighting injustice anywhere he saw it:

'LGBTQs of color reflect on MLK Day' and other Monday midday news briefs

NOM's reliably reductive Frank Turek claims = FALSE - To me, it's not just the fact that NOM repeats lies here which is depressing, it's where the organization is repeating the lies. Forbes magazine is highly regarded and highly read. We need to understand that sometimes truth means nothing if you can't get it in an arena to be heard.

Habemus Santorum! - In case you haven't heard, the religious right have picked Rick Santorum as their candidate. Whoop te do.

MLK Day Reflection for LGBTQ Justice in the Black Church - Awesome piece by Rev. Irene Monroe.

Why We Cannot Wait: NBJC Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Another awesome piece by Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks, Executive Director and CEO, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)

Gay Straight Alliance Taking Hold In Earlier Grades: Report - This is excellent news!

Faith leaders deliberately mislead about marriage equality

It's bad when religious leaders spread deliberate lies. From the Kansas City Star:

A coalition of almost 40 religious leaders has published an open letter that seeks to recast the battle against same-sex marriage as a fight on behalf of religious freedom.

The religious leaders, predominantly from conservative Christian churches and Orthodox Judaism, say their concern is not that legalizing gay marriage will force their ministers to perform same-sex weddings; they say they doubt that will happen.

Rather, they wrote Thursday, allowing same-sex couples to marry would wind up “forcing or pressuring both individuals and religious organizations — throughout their operations, well beyond religious ceremonies — to treat same-sex sexual conduct as the moral equivalent of marital sexual conduct.”

“There is no doubt that the many people and groups whose moral and religious convictions forbid same-sex sexual conduct will resist the compulsion of the law, and church-state conflicts will result,” they warn in the letter, titled “Marriage and Religious Freedom: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together.”

The leaders include Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and H. David Burton, presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The signers note that religious adoption agencies already have been required to place children with same-sex couples, and religious institutions are being told to provide insurance benefits to gay partners.

So they have abandoned the phony claim of being "forced to officiate over same-sex weddings." That's good I am not familiar with the idea of religious institutions being told to provide insurance benefit for gay partners.

However, I am very familiar - as no doubt many of you are - with the false claim that religious adoption agencies would be required to place children with same-sex couples.

It's always interesting to me that when folks make these claims, they deliberately omit the fact that these religious institutions are receiving tax dollars (which come from gays and lesbians as well as heterosexuals) to provide their services. These religious institutions seem to want the money but don't want to abide by the rules which come with this money.

If these groups want to discriminate with adoption services, then why can't they do it with private funds. As a gay man, I think I have every right to cry foul when my tax dollars are going to an institution who don't think that there is anything wrong with using my money to discriminate against me.

Don't be fooled by this letter. As the article says:

The thrust of the letter is to frame opposition to gay marriage in terms of a battle for religious freedom, an argument that many religious groups believe could gain some traction with the American public, even as Americans increasingly — and perhaps inexorably — grow more accepting of same-sex relationships.

It's not going to work, guys.