NOM exploiting FRC shooting to raise money, AFA forgets Bryan Fischer

It is extremely telling how religious right groups are exploiting last week's shooting at the Family Research Council in order to either raise money or paint a false image of piety for itself.

According to Think Progress, the National Organization for Marriage used the shooting to fundraise:

We must fight back and condemn violence against anyone. It has no place in civil society.

But we must also fight back against the violent and hateful tactics of intimidation being pursued every day by gay “marriage” thugs and activists. They will do whatever it takes to intimidate Christians and marriage supporters including harassing people at home and work.

The National Organization for Marriage is fighting back to defend marriage from gay activist bullies but I need your immediate contribution of $50, $100, or as much as you can give right now to fight back. [...]

P.S. We’re not going to allow gay activists to get away with attempted murder. And we’re not going to shut up so they can go about the business of redefining marriage. We’re going to fight, and we’re going to win. But we can only do this if you stand with us today. That’s why we need your immediate contribution of $50, $100, or as much as you can give right now to fight back for marriage.

I bet none of the money raised will go to the security guard wounded in the shooting.

Meanwhile, the American Family Association is exploiting the shooting to claim that the Southern Poverty Law Center caused it by supposedly "unfairly" branding the organization as a hate group.

Tony Perkins falsely claims the press ignored Family Research Council shooting

The way Tony Perkins is exploiting last week's shooting at the Family Research Council is getting pathetic.

First he blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for correctly calling FRC a hate group.

Then he blamed President Obama for supposedly creating an anti-religious climate which allegedly contributed to the shooting.

And now . . . Perkins is claiming that the media "ignored" the shooting.

According to Politico, Perkins made the following comments on Fox News (after all, who else would allow him to spout without challenge):

“It was stunning that most of the coverage, with the exceptions of just a few reports I saw over the weekend, were from Fox,” Tony Perkins said on “Fox and Friends,” noting that he reviewed a study of media coverage on the subject. “The others … ignored it.”

Last Wednesday, Floyd Lee Corkins II of Virginia allegedly walked into the downtown D.C. building, told a security guard there, “I don’t like your politics,” and shot the guard in the arm before being taken into custody.

“I think the reason [for the lack of coverage] is, it doesn’t fit the story line,” Perkins said. “You know, it’s supposed to be conservatives who are angry, who are filled with hate. And that’s not the case.”

It boggles my mind that Perkins actually thinks that he can get away with this claim. Rather than verbally refute it, I think I will use a visual:

You see this picture? The man in the middle is Tony Perkins. All of those people around him are from television and newspapers, i.e. the press, i.e. the MEDIA!

This picture took place the day after the shooting.  It was at a PRESS CONFERENCE called by Tony Perkins.

As you can see, the shooting generated a lot of press, from a ridiculous column claiming that FRC isn't a hate group (by folks who should know better) to a very entertaining segment on CNN which left an FRC defender sounding like Porky Pig.

I think that Perkins is a bit sore that not every one in the media allowed him to spout off on a self-pitying monologue like Megyn Kelly did in that monstrous interview.

But to say the media ignored the shooting is a lie that even Perkins can't quantify. But the fact that he had the audacity to push this lie should tell us a lot about Perkins and FRC.
 

'Are Greenville, SC police entrapping and illegally arresting gay men?' and other Monday midday news briefs

South Carolina county sheriffs warned over illegal entrapment of gay men - Screwed up mess happening in my state. Read the article before making judgments. Reportedly even when the gay men decline the come ons thrown at them by undercover officers, they are still being arrested.

Nevada Same-Sex Couple Denied Hospital Visitation Despite Domestic Partnership - When organizations like NOM claim to want a conversation on things like this, they are lying.  

Why no one trusts anything the Family Research Council says—Frank Turek edition - The Family Research Council and the Liberty Council have come out with a "report" claiming to chart many cases of "religious discrimination. Naturally it's bogus.

Barber: Pro-Gay Donors & Activists Have 'Poisoned' the GOP and Must Be 'Rooted Out' - Part of the Liberty Counsel's 'Truth In Love' no doubt.  

'Gay Cure' Ban Heads For Vote In California - Yes! Ban it! 

Stop milking the shooting, Tony. The Family Research Council is still a hate group

Tony Perkins

Tony Perkins on Friday -  "I am grateful that over two dozen homosexual activist organizations released a joint statement expressing concern for Leo (the guard who was shot) and condemning the attack, agreeing that such violence is unacceptable. I would ask them to take the next appropriate step and call on the SPLC to end the words and actions which foster the environment that breeds brutality like we saw on Wednesday morning. I also ask any who repeat SPLC's false "hate group" label to stop."

Me on Monday - "Fat chance, Tony."


What bothers me about the debate on whether or not the Family Research Council is a hate group (in the wake of Wednesday's shooting at FRC's headquarters) is what I see as an effort to bend over backwards in order to minimize the power of words fueled to exploit fear and rage.

I think some folks are too spooked to call out FRC's past homophobic language for fear that they may be accused to giving a green light to the type of violence which occurred on Wednesday.

Nonsense. Simply calling out homophobic language is in no way giving a license to violence

But there is a problem with ignoring just how such language has contributed to the aura of hate and violence.

With that in mind, while I abhor what happened Wednesday, I have no plans on slacking up on continuing to call out FRC for their anti-gay lies and homophobia.

In 2010 FRC launched a Start Debating, Stop Hating campaign designed to make it seem that SPLC is unfairly targeting the organization and other religious right groups for their stances against gay marriage.

On its webpage, FRC has a statement announcing the campaign. The organization is also inviting folks to sign its petition.

FRC's statement was nice but I felt that it needed work, therefore I made a few minor additions that I think puts proper perspective not only on FRC but the other organizations which were either named as hate groups or profiled.

Parts of FRC's statement are in bold and my "tweaking" is below each statement:

The surest sign one is losing a debate is to resort to character assassination.

" . . . hatred for men, which is very typical of a lesbian experience" - Kristi Hamrick,  October 16, 1996, Family Research Council web site.

"Homosexuals say they don't want the children, but boy they put a lot of energy into going after them." - Robert Knight of the Family Research Council writing in a Focus on the Family newsletter, quoted by People for the American Way, "Hostile Climate," 1997, p.15

"The homosexual rights movement has tried to distance itself from pedophilia, but only for public relations purposes." - "Homosexual Activists Work to Normalize Sex With Boys," FRC publication, July 1999

The group, which was once known for combating racial bigotry, is now attacking several groups that uphold Judeo-Christian moral views, including marriage as the union of a man and a woman. How does the SPLC attack? By labeling its opponents “hate groups.” No discussion. No consideration of the issues. No engagement. No debate.

"Militant homosexuality is fundamentally opposed to religion, family, and anything that presupposes a natural moral order, a transcendent God, or something else higher than ourselves. The activist homosexual agenda and worldview are fundamentally incompatible with Christianity or any form of true religion, because homosexuality is ultimately narcissism" - THE ASSAULT ON CHRISTIANS BY THE MILITANT HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT, Steven A. Schwalm, Family Research Council.

"In fact, most mothers are more concerned with protecting their children from homosexual activists, who insist on their supposed 'right' to propagandize young schoolchildren." -  Americans for Truth About Homosexuality  press release, July 12, 1998

"Judge Walker has already decided this issue for himself, and has no business putting himself in a place where his own personal value judgments could be substituted for the express will of the people of California. He is Exhibit A as to why homosexuals should be disqualified from public office. Character is an important qualification for public service, and what an individual does in his private sexual life is a critical component of character. A man who ignores time-honored standards of sexual behavior simply cannot be trusted with the power of public office." - American Family Association's Bryan Fischer, August, 2010

This is intolerance pure and simple. Elements of the radical Left are trying to shut down informed discussion of policy issues that are being considered by Congress, legislatures, and the courts.

Christian homophobes have misused my writings on the biology of homosexuality, particularly "Gay Genes, Revisited," published in Scientific American in November 1995. -John Horgan, a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, August  2010

" . . .our research is being used by select groups in US and Finland to suggest that gay and bisexual men live an unhealthy lifestyle that is destructive to themselves and to others. These homophobic groups appear more interested in restricting the human rights of gay and bisexuals rather than promoting their health and well being. " - Robert S Hogg, Steffanie A Strathdee, Kevin JP Craib, Michael V O'shaughnessy, Julio Montaner, and Martin T Schechter,  International Journal of Epidemiology, December 2001

Our debates can and must remain civil - but they must never be suppressed through personal assaults that aim only to malign an opponents character.

"How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn. […] American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die." - National Organization for Marriage board member Orson Scott Card, April 2009

"You've got these Mujaheddin on the battlefield setting out these syringes with the HIV virus in it as a way to carry out terrorism.This is exactly what happens when two males have sex with one another. If one of them is HIV Positive, then it's just like injecting his partner with a needle with HIV. That's domestic terrorism. I don't know what else you'd call it." - American Family Association's Bryan Fischer, September, 2010

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with


Family Research Council  - “(Gays) are luring kids into a homosexual behavior. There is a strong undercurrent of pedophilia in the homosexual subculture.” - Robert Knight, Family Research Council, Rolling Stone, March 18, 1999

American Family Association  - "Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough to carry out his orders, but that homosexual solders basically had no limits and the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict on whomever Hitler sent them after."- American Family Association's Bryan Fisher, May 2010

Concerned Women of America - "Do you believe school children as young as 13 should be exposed to explicit, detailed discussions and instructions on homosexual practices (including sodomy) as are being conducted by homosexual teachers and activists right now?" - March 2009

National Organization for Marriage  - For a time, NOM’s name was used by a bus driver named Louis Marinelli, who drove a van for NOM’s “Summer for Marriage Tour” this year. Marinelli called himself a “NOM strategist” and sent out electronic messages under the NOM logo that repeated falsehoods about homosexuals being pedophiles and gay men having extremely short lifespans. In homemade videos posted on his own YouTube page, he said same-sex marriage would lead to “prostitution, pedophilia and polygamy.” But this July, NOM said it was not associated with Marinelli. - Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Winter 2010.

Liberty Counsel - “one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love.’" - Liberty Counsel member Matt Barber describing gay relationships.

and other pro-family organizations

These groups include:

Traditional Values Coalition - "Reverend Louis Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition has come out in favor of quarantining AIDS patients in what he calls 'cities of refuge.' " - Mark E. Pietrzyk, News-Telegraph, March 10, 1995

Family Research Institute - “Untrammeled homosexuality can take over and destroy a social system. If you isolate sexuality as something solely for one’s own personal amusement, and all you want is the most satisfying orgasm you can get- and that is what homosexuality seems to be-then homosexuality seems too powerful to resist. The evidence is that men do a better job on men and women on women, if all you are looking for is orgasm.” - Family Research Institute head Paul Cameron, Rolling Stone, March 18, 1999

Addendum about Paul Cameron:

"Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism" - American Sociological Association, 1985

"The Canadian Psychological Association takes the position that Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism." - The Canadian Psychological Association, 1996

Faithful Baptist Church - "I do hate homosexuals and if hating homosexuals makes our church a hate group then that's what we are." - Steven Anderson, pastor at Faithful Baptist Church, December 2010.

Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment - " . . .while having separate barracks for homosexuals and heterosexuals would help solve the problem of homosexuals ogling or sexually harassing heterosexuals, it would probably exacerbate the problem of homosexuals ogling or sexually harassing each other since they are sexually attracted to each other and they would be confined in close quarters. Oddly enough, in order to ameliorate that problem it would make some sense to mix male homosexuals with lesbians in the same barracks because they do not sexually attract each other. This mixing would reduce the amount of sexual desire or tension in homosexual barracks. " - statement on the group's web page

that are working to protect and promote natural marriage and family. We support the vigorous but responsible exercise of the First Amendment rights of free speech and religious liberty that are the birthright of all Americans.

Perhaps instead Stop Hating, Start Debating, FRC should name its campaign We can't stop trying because we are afraid to admit that we have been lying.

(The statements from FRC and other religious right groups have been taken from various web pages, including my blog and I stand by each statement.)

Tony Perkins now blaming President Obama for FRC shooting

Sorry for folks who get offended by what I am about to say but the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins is treating Wednesday's shooting at FRC like he won a lottery.

First he and his organization tries to blame the Southern Poverty Law Center and now he is blaming President Obama. In interview with Rick Santorum on Friday, this is what he said:

Perkins: What I would call an attack on religious freedom is trickling down in our country. It’s not just isolated to the administration but it’s as if the President and his administration’s indifference towards religious freedom has really created an open season all across this country. In fact next week down in Tampa as the Republican National Committee begins its work on its platform we’ll be working with Liberty Institute and we’ll be releasing a study that shows this increased hostility towards religious freedom in this country and I believe Rick in large part it’s driven in large part by the policies of this administration.

Santorum: When you look at what happened with the whole Chick-fil-A incident and across the country you see government officials, mayors of large cities, wanting to use the power of the government to force, to drive out Dan Cathy and the folks at Chick-fil-A from their cities. This is really unprecedented and you’re right it creates an atmosphere that when the government now is saying you folks are so evil that we can deny you access to participate in business within our city it leads to a lot of things that are going to not just constrict religious liberty but I think threaten a lot of other areas of our lives.

Perkins: Well I think as we witnessed this past week at the Family Research Council, clearly linked to that same atmosphere of hostility that’s created by the public policies of an administration that’s indifferent or hostile to religious freedom and groups like as I mentioned the Southern Poverty Law Center that recklessly throws around labels giving people like this gunman who came into our building a license to take innocent life.

God forbid that Perkins would actually do some soul searching and take some responsibility for pushing rhetoric like the following:

NOM's Brian Brown has trouble defending Family Research Council lies

There is no question that the National Organization for Marriage is milking the outcry over Wednesday's shooting at the Family Research Council in a sad attempt to attack the Southern Poverty Law Center.

However, watch what happens when Brown is confronted during an interview on CNN with statements made by the Family Research Council in regards to comparing gays to pedophiles. He gets a little tongue-tied.

The good stuff starts at 2:20:




Hat tip to The New Civil Rights Movement.

Homophobia and racism - why is one called hate but the other is 'merely offensive?'

In his piece yesterday, Dana Milbank of The Washington Post (in his zeal to call out the Southern Poverty Law Center over labeling the Family Research Council a "hate group") seemed to be implying that the power of words should not be taken into account, even if these words can foster hatred against a group of people and could potentially lead to violent action.

I say let's put that to a test:


Video Number One:



Video Number Two:




The question here should not be which one is hatred. The answer to that is obvious.

The question is just why is one video (number one) considered to be hatred while the other can be considered as merely offensive or a "defense of Christian values?"

I think that the shooting Wednesday has revealed something sad about this country when it comes to gay equality.

Lies told about the gay community don't seem to judged on the same scale as lies told about any other group of people.

Know Your LGBT History - Jack Fertig (Sister Boom Boom)

A short while ago, we lost an icon in the gay community:

Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer who became famous as Sister Boom Boom, one of the early members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, during San Francisco's gay scene of the 1980s, died Sunday at his San Francisco home.

Mr. Fertig, who was 57, was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2011, said Elias Trevino, his partner of 18 years. He had been in hospice care and returned home only the day before he died.

In his persona as Sister Boom Boom, he was the best known and most flamboyant of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of mostly gay activists whose spoof of Roman Catholic religious women delighted - and outraged - thousands of people in the early flowering of the Castro District as a gay mecca.

In 1982, running as Sister Boom Boom and listing his occupation as "nun of the above," Mr. Fertig got 23,124 votes as a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He came in eighth; the first five were elected. The Sisters said Sister Boom Boom ran "a uniquely San Francisco campaign of radical politics and nun drag."

Sister Boom Boom also tried to run for mayor against Dianne Feinstein, but the supervisors passed an ordinance prohibiting candidates from using assumed names.

Mr. Fertig joined the Sisters not long after they were formed in 1979 and soon became the group's public face. He wore stiletto heels, foam breasts and a fake nun's habit. His name appeared in Herb Caen's Chronicle column regularly, and he was often seen on television. He performed an "exorcism" in Union Square during the 1984 Democratic convention to purge anti-gay elements from the party.

He saw the Sisters as a way "to promulgate joy and expiate guilt," according to Jok Church, who knew him for more than 30 years.

Read more here.

Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

Washington Post columnist's illogical attack on 'hate group' label and other Friday midday news briefs

Dana Milbank: Hateful speech on hate groups - Dana Milbank of the Washington Post writes an unbelievably bad argument for taking the "hate group" label away from the Family Research Council. His piece can be epitomized by the following passage:

I disagree with the Family Research Council’s views on gays and lesbians. But it’s absurd to put the group, as the law center does, in the same category as Aryan Nations, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront and the Westboro Baptist Church. The center says the FRC “often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science.” Exhibit A in its dossier is a quote by an FRC official from 1999 (!) saying that “gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement.” Offensive, certainly. But in the same category as the KKK? 

Excuse me? How is it that Milbank, a writer, refuses to recognize the power of words? He seems to be saying that simply because FRC doesn't use derogatory terms in its language or violence, that it's wrong to call this language hate, even though it is clearly geared to inflame the fear and hatred of others. I wonder how Milbank feels about the language of the Klan when it claims that black men are obsessed with raping white women.Words are power because they can inflame hatred and fear. And we all know that violence is always the next step after hatred and fear. Milbank's lazy column is indicative of the fact that the gay community has to combat not only religious right lies but a media so lazy and complacent that they are willing to play down how these lies affect the gay community.


What the Right Gets Wrong About the FRC Shooting - Adam Serwer of Mother Jones gets it:

. . .  if an organization were putting forth papers arguing that blacks, Latinos or Jews were inherently prone to committing certain crimes and recommended laws specifically tailored to restricting their behavior, would we call them a hate group? At the very least, the SPLC has evidence for its decision beyond simply disliking FRC's politics.

 Audio: Tony Perkins claiming heinous Uganda bill 'upholds moral conduct' - Remember that awful bill to imprison gays in Uganda? Here is what FRC said about it before scrubbing it from their website.

NOM Will Use FRC Shooting To Its Advantage - Surprising no one of course.

 Jury Orders Gay-Bashing Former Assistant AG Andrew Shirvell To Pay $4.5 Million To Victim - The man needs mental care.

Press conference reveals Family Research Council deception

Tony Perkins

During his press conference yesterday in which the Family Research Council's head Tony Perkins blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for the shooting at his organization's headquarters, there was a certain irony which needs to be noted.

On Wednesday, a 28-year-old man came into the group's office pretending to be an intern. After allegedly saying that he didn't agree with FRC's anti-gay policies, he pulled a gun and fought a security guard. The guard was able to take the gun away from him after sustaining a wound in his arm.

During yesterday's press conference and on Fox News, Perkins blamed the Southern Poverty Law Center for incident. In 2010, SPLC labeled FRC as a hate group because of how it spreads lies, distortions, and propaganda against the gay community.

Perkins said the following at the press conference:

Perkins said “reckless rhetoric” helped lead to a man shooting firearms in the office. He “was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center,” Perkins said.

For its part, SPLC refused to back down, calling Perkins' claims outrageous. The organization denounced the young man's violence but stood firm in its reasoning for declaring FRC to be a hate group. SPLC's Mark Potok said the following:

The FRC is listed as a hate group because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about gay and lesbian people and “not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage.”

During his media excursion, Perkins was careful not to go into detail as to the claims his group has made in the past about the gay community. During an interview on Fox News, he said that his organization was merely "defending the family."

However, the publication Metro Weekly discovered something during Perkins' press conference:

Perkins claims that FRC was designated a "hate group" for its political stance against marriage equality, even though SPLC and others have long documented the organization's stances and statements on homosexuality, including the consistent linking of gays to pedophilia. Metro Weekly captured the entire press conference on video. Despite some audio issues, what really stands out is, just over Perkins's right shoulder, a man wearing a priest collar and a t-shirt for emblazon with www.tearsforchildren.org, along with quotes about Sodom &Gommorrah and stickers promoting the National Organization for Marriage.

Metro Weekly goes on to say:

On its website, Tears for Children -- led by Maryland's "Minister Leroy" -- lists the Family Research Council as one of its partners, along with other anti-gay groups such as the American Family Association. From the website's home page: "I weep because of sadness in the world. I can not look into the eyes of a child and tell them that they have a choice of being a heterosexual or homosexual. My heart weeps when I think about the wolves and snakes who seek to manipulate innocent minds to believe that sin should be celebrated. We must speak truth in spite of evil and wickedness."

Reverend Leroy is Leroy Swailes, a man who gave what was described as "unhinged" testimony in front of the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics in 2009 about a referendum which would have overturned the law recognizing marriage equality in that area. During his testimony, Swailes connected homosexuality with pedophilia, bestiality, the Anti-Christ, Satanism, and the destruction of humanity:




And there lies the grand irony. If Perkins wants to call out "reckless rhetoric, maybe he should start with FRC's alleged partners.That is if he feels the need to talk about it during his tour of martyrdom.

Related post - Family Research Council exploits shooting to cover up its homophobia

Family Research Council exploits shooting to cover up its homophobia

Just as I thought he would, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins has exploited the shooting at the organization's headquarters to attack the Southern Poverty Law Center:



Perkins claims that FRC is merely defending the family. Let's see how FRC defends the family:











If this isn't enough for you, then consider the following statements and actions by Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council:

- Says many gays have an "emptiness within them" (:55) because they are "operating outside of nature" (1:09)

- Says that gay young people “have a higher propensity to depression or suicide because of that internal conflict; homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal.”

- Despite what health experts have said, insists that pedophilia is “a homosexual problem.”

- The Family Research Council has distributed a pamphlet that erroneously depicts gay men and lesbians as physically and mentally ill pedophiles who can be cured.

- The Family Research Council has distributed a pamphlet that begins by likening the logic behind same-sex marriage to the logic behind man-horse marriage (complete with horse graphic)

- Compares gay people to terrorists (at 0:31 mark): “[B]ack in the 80s and early 90s, I worked with the State Department in anti-terrorism and we trained about 50 different countries in defending against terrorism, and it’s, at its base, what terrorism is, it's a strike against the general populace simply to spread fear and intimidation so that they can disrupt and destabilize the system of government. That's what the homosexuals are doing here to the legal system.”

- “The truth is that we cannot redefine marriage without opening the door to all manner of moral and social evil.”

- Called the It Gets Better project "disgusting," claiming it tells children "that it's okay to be immoral" and constitutes a "concerted effort to persuade kids that homosexuality is okay and actually to recruit them into that lifestyle."

If Megyn Kelly was any type of true journalist, she would have asked about these things. But we all know that her aim was not to gain truth or start discussion but to give alibis.

The Southern Poverty Law Center called the Family Research Council a hate group because the organization spreads lies and propaganda about the gay community.

 The Family Research Council also deliberately distorts science and legitimate research in its further aim to demonize gays.

SPLC had absolutely nothing to do with the shooting. It's ugly to point this out but I think that Perkins and FRC are exploiting the situation to gain points.

Certainly no one is advocating violence and no one condones what that young man did, but it would be a huge mistake to allow Perkins and the Family Research Council to exploit this near tragedy to get some type of exoneration for its history of propaganda and lies against the gay community.

It's not right and it's not Christian. And no matter how many times Perkins tries to cover up on friendly interviews on Fox News, nothing will change this fact.

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

'Hate group leader wants photographs showing graphic consequences' of gay sex' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Bryan Fischer Of American Family Association Calls For Photos Showing 'Graphic' Consequences Of Gay Sex To Deter 'Immoral' Act - Just in case folks forget what this debate is all about, Bryan Fischer thankfully reminds us. He wants photographic evidence of the supposed "graphic consequences of gay sex" to be shown.

'Oh, and Tony Perkins and Pete Sprigg are friends'— Erick Erickson demonstrates everything wrong with this debate - Expect to see more of this. "Influential" (which really doesn't give a positive view of the word in this case) Erik Erickson pretends in his tweets not to know why the Family Research Council was declared a hate group.

Understanding ‘Hate’ In The Wake Of The Family Research Council Shooting - Zack Ford of Think Progress lays down what it's all about.

Linda Harvey Attacks Teachers' Unions for Promoting 'Destructive' Gay Rights - And let's not leave out little Linda Harvey.

FRC shooting - LGBT groups show class while NOM tries to score points

Yesterday's violence at the Family Research Council headquarters has garnered many reactions.

 I present to you two of them.

A joint statement by 25 LGBT organizations condemning the violence:

We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers.

The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident.


Michael Adams
Executive Director, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)

Tico Almeida
President, Freedom to Work

Katie Belanger
Executive Director, Fair Wisconsin

Wayne Besen
Founding Executive Director, Truth Wins Out

A.J. Bockelman
Executive Director, PROMO

Sharon Brackett
Board Chair, Gender Rights Maryland

Carly Burton
Deputy Director, MassEquality

Dr. Eliza Byard
Executive Director, Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

Jennifer Chrisler
Executive Director, Family Equality Council

Brad Clark
Executive Director, One Colorado

R. Clarke Cooper
Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans

Dwayne Crenshaw
Executive Director, San Diego LGBT Pride

Heather Cronk
Managing Director, GetEQUAL

Jerame Davis
Executive Director, National Stonewall Democrats

Emily Dievendorf
Director of Policy, Equality Michigan

James Esseks
Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project

Lynn A. Faria
Interim Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda

Jenna Frazzini
Executive Director, Basic Rights Oregon

Joshua A. Friedes
Spokesperson, Equal Rights Washington

Herndon Graddick
President, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

Chad Griffin
President, Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

Jody M. Huckaby
Executive Director, PFLAG National (Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays)

Mara Keisling
Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality

Kate Kendell
Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)

Abbe Land
Executive Director & CEO, The Trevor Project

Gregory Lewis
Executive Director, True Colors Fund

Eileen Ma
Executive Director, API Equality-LA

David Mariner
Executive Director, The DC Center for the LGBT Community

Ineke Mushovic
Executive Director, Movement Advancement Project

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

Darlene Nipper
Deputy Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Donna Red Wing
Executive Director, One Iowa

Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.
President, Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC)

Aubrey Sarvis
Executive Director, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

Josh Seefried
Co-Director, OutServe

Peggy Shorey
Executive Director, Pride at Work

Brian Silva
Executive Director, Marriage Equality USA

Lee Swislow
Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

Rachel B. Tiven, Esq.
Executive Director, Immigration Equality

Shane Windmeyer
Executive Director, Campus Pride

Chuck Wolfe
President & CEO, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute

Evan Wolfson
President, Freedom to Marry


Meanwhile, Brian Brown from the National Organization for Marriage attempted to score points:

"Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as 'hateful' must end," said Brian Brown, President of NOM. "The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the Family Research Council a 'hate group' for its pro-marriage views, and less than a day ago the Human Rights Campaign issued a statement calling FRC a 'hate group'—they even specified that FRC hosts events in Washington, DC, where today's attack took place."

For now, we are learning that FRC's anti-gay actions was the reason why the young man committed the act. While the violence of his actions should be condemned (all violent actions should be condemned), let's not sugarcoat the fact that FRC is a hate group whose sole reason for existing is to denigrate the gay community through lies and distortions.

That being said, the actions of the lgbt groups was classy and appropriate. And unfortunately, Brown's comments is the main reason why we shouldn't let FRC off the hook on this one.

 Related post - Shooting at the Family Research Council - ALL violence (physical and spiritual) must be condemned

Shooting at the Family Research Council - ALL violence (physical and spiritual) must be condemned

By now, you have probably heard what happened today at the headquarters of the Family Research Council.

Earlier today, a 28-year-old man came in pretending to be an intern. On his person, he had two guns. The security guard fought him and kept him from fully using these guns, at the expense of getting wounded.

According to reports, the young man committed this act because he disagreed with the Family Research Council's anti-gay stance.

First of all, let me say that I totally condemn what this young man did. Violence is never the answer. The security guard, who is in stable condition, is also in my prayers. He is a hero for what he did. Finally, I am glad that the situation did not get worse.

However, let me also say that while I condemn physical violence, I also condemn spiritual violence.

And in that respect, something must be said about the Family Research Council.

For years, many have said that stances and the language used by organizations like the Family Research Council against the gay community to defend these stances had the danger of empowering violent anti-gay behavior from those on the fringes of the right.

Now comes this new dynamic. It can also empower violent behavior from the fringes of the other side too.

The Family Research Council will have people to believe that it is an organization which simply stands up for family and morality. But we all know not to be true.

Somehow, consistently comparing gays to pedophiles or terrorists, claiming that gays in the military will molest their fellow officers, expressing a desire to deport gays or put them in jail, distorting studies to demonize gays, and all around falsely branding members of the gay community as the "dreaded other" which must be kept away from doesn't strike me as standing up for morality and truth.

Yet, these are the things which the Family Research Council has done. And it is also why the Southern Poverty Law Center called them an anti-gay hate group.

Of course now in the conservative circles, there seems to be a call for SPLC to rescind this designation.

I have to ask why.

Will the Family Research Council do some soul searching after what happened today? Will it publicly apologize for all the lies it has told on the gay community? Will leaders of the organization realize that their tone does more to inflame hatred from all sides rather than spread respect and understanding? Will they realize that maybe they should stop using junk science or distorting legitimate science against the gay community?

I doubt it. And it is for that reason that while I will freely pray for the organization after this awful incident, I will not give the Family Research Council  the satisfaction of me forgetting all of the things it has said and done to unfairly demonize me and my brothers and sisters in the name of its God.

As far as I am concerned, the Family Research Council is still a hate group. And that won't change in my mind unless the organization changes.

'Lesbian Mother sues religious right, Cheerios arsonists dies' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Minister Found Guilty of Aiding Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping - A tiny bit of closure for Janet Jenkins because of the kidnapping of her daughter, Isabel. Of course a larger degree of closure would be for Jenkins to be reunited with her child. Let's pray that this happens.  

Lesbian Mom Of Kidnapped Daughter Files Organized Crime Suit Against Multiple Christian Organizations - And in the meantime, stick it to those SOBs who caused you so many problems, Ms. Jenkins. They had no right. The Liberty Counsel is one of these groups and check out what Matt Barber tweets. Matt, my dear, you are NOT being persecuted in the name of God.

 Fiery protester outside General Mills dies days later on family errand - THIS is a shock. The Cheerios arsonist has died. My prayers are with his family as he meets the Lord face to face.

 David Barton: Warren Throckmorton's moral compass like that of an adulterous congressman - David Barton - "I lied like a rug but since Warren Throckmorton likes them homosexuals, HE is the one without a moral compass." Okay. 

 Paul Ryan Refuses To Address Questions On Employment Nondiscrimination - It's YOUR move, Log Cabin Republicans. 

NOM turns to chicken instead of facing the truth about its lies

Maggie Gallagher of NOM

Far be it from me to brand the National Organization for Marriage as an organization willing to exploit every perceived advantage to make a new dig against marriage equality (oh who am I kidding), but there is something bizarre about certain items on its blog:

Announcing Chick-fil-A Wednesdays!

Austin Ruse on Why Chick-fil-A is Important for the Pro-Marriage Revolution

Video: Gay Liberation Network Taunts Priest Praying Rosary Outside Chick-fil-A Inbox

Baptist Press: Chick-fil-A May Influence Gay Marriage Votes This Fall

Video: Chicago Chick-fil-A Kiss-In Protesters "Chalk" & Harass Homeless Person

Jerry Newcombe on Chick-fil-A and Orwellian Times

It's been over a week since the "Chick-Fil-A Chronicles," yet NOM seems to continue harping on the situation as if somehow it is seminal moment in American - nay - world history.

Meanwhile, that group of African-American pastors (the Coalition of African-American Pastors) it secretly underwrites (in a plan to sabotage Obama's African-American support) is catching HELL over the lie that it is non-partisan and how its president (William Owens) may have lied about his civil rights leader pedigree.

Also, the anti-gay parenting study it helped to promote continues to catch hell because of bias and new revelations that continues to call its author's credibility into question.

If I was involved with NOM, I would stick to the chicken, too.

It definitely beats facing the truth.

Will Victoria Jackson continue to play the victim after her attack on gay families?

Victoria Jackson

It is very rare that I pay former SNL comedian Victoria Jackson any attention when she goes off on her rants.

Her claims about President Obama being a communist is more than enough for me to figure out that girlfriend is a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal.

But her newest rant deserves some attention, not because of who she is, but partly because of what she said and the role she likes to play.

Those who read this blog probably know that the one thing which sets me off is when someone attacks gay families.

Well Victoria just set me off:

Suddenly, the gym CNN is blasting a story of how a homosexual man is helping other homosexuals adopt children. He speaks about the personal, passionate sacrifice of his time for this cause as if he were Mother Theresa. I’m appalled. Homosexuals-adopting-children is child abuse. No, it’s pedophilia and sexual molestation. Teaching a young mind, a clean slate, an innocent soul that homosexuality is a natural, normal and moral lifestyle is evil. How is gay adoption different from the recently jailed Penn State Jerry Sandusky, child molester case?

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20

Since sistah girl likes to repeat Bible verses, I've got one for her:

Thou shalt no bear false witness.

I know some folks will say "who cares," but follow my thinking.

Jackson has in the past whined that people like her, who supposedly stand up for "values" and "morality" are supposedly unfairly labeled as bigots.

In my world - which is the real world - when you falsely attack gays and accuse them of being pedophiles, that is bigotry. When you attack innocent same-sex families, that is bigotry.

She is so indicative of what bothers me about religious right groups, spokespeople, and those who profess to be evangelical right-wing Christian. It's as if they actually expect the gay community to be quiet when they dehumanize us and insult our families.

However, if we respond,  we are the bad guys. We are the intolerant ones.

It's as if they think that the gay community should sit there and allow ourselves to be disrespected and allow our families to be attacked.

People like Victoria Jackson seem to think that their religious beliefs is a gateway for them to say anything about gay community without the courtesy of a reprisal.

Girlfriend had better get a grip because this gay guy has always believed in the maxim of "if you don't want trouble, don't start trouble."

I've already given her my opinion of her words. Feel free if you want to.

Editor's note - there is a link to her column in this post. Feel free to respond. But remember any profanity or insults will be used by Jackson to make herself seem like the victim.

'NOM: Gays want to get rid of biological parenthood' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Scott Lively: Moral Relativist - This is funny. Glenn Beck's favorite phony historian David Barton has been caught in a huge controversy over his book about Thomas Jefferson. Trust me when I say it doesn't look good for him. And who is the blame? Why the gay community. I don't what bothers me the most - that we are again falsely accused or the fact that we actually DIDN'T have anything to do with this nice turn of events.  

NOM's Ruth Institute: Marriage equality supporters 'oppose your right as a biological parent' - You know there are scare tactics and then there are scare tactics that just don't make any sense at all.
 
 Tammy Baldwin Gets Lesbian Super PAC's First Endorsement - Not bad! Go Tammy! 

 Ask Ryan if he still supports ENDA gay rights law he voted for in 07 - That's a good question to ask Paul Ryan, which of course means that it won't be asked. 

Racist using 'religious liberty' argument in lawsuit

Religious right groups are always whining about how gay equality will violate their "religious liberties" to the point that they have actually built a groundswell of support for laws protecting this idea. However, the following demonstrates what their deliberate vagueness about "religious liberties" can lead to - a racist using the religious liberty argument in a lawsuit:

A Hawkins man is claiming his civil rights and religious freedom were violated earlier this year when a black man sacked his groceries and a Big Sandy grocery store owner banned the customer from the business.

DeWitt R. Thomas filed a federal lawsuit in July against Keith Langston, owner of Two Rivers Grocery & Market.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tyler, Thomas entered the market on March 5 to buy food.

He stated in a nine-page, hand-written lawsuit that he told the grocery sacker, a black man, “Wait a minute, don’t touch my groceries. I can’t have someone negroidal touch my food. It’s against my creed.”

Thomas claimed the cashier was “perplexed” by his request and yelled at him to take his items and leave.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Thomas said, “It’s pretty simple. They treated me really bad because I told them it was against my creed.”

According to the lawsuit, Thomas went on to explain he meant a black person when he used the term “negroidal.”

. . . When Thomas returned two days later, he noticed the same black man would be sacking his groceries, so he again requested the “Negro” not handle his groceries, according to the lawsuit.

This time, Langston was there. He called police to serve Thomas a criminal trespass warning. While waiting for the police, an employee locked the doors, and the lawsuit claims Thomas was “unlawfully restrained.”

Thomas said Langston broke the law the night he locked him in the store.

“We were closing, and I don’t know of a business that doesn’t lock their doors when they close. It keeps more people from coming in,” Langston said.

Thomas said he doesn’t understand why he had to deal with the same situation twice.

“My question is, why after I told them how I felt and that it was against my creed did this negroid try to impress himself upon me and try to handle my groceries again.” Thomas said.

Thomas said his religious beliefs are based on Vedism, which he said encompasses Hinduism.

“Vedism translates into knowledge. I am not this way because I am ignorant. Ignorance is the enemy,” he said.

Thomas said he has not broken any laws and was exercising his religious freedom and the rights he has been

More here at the News Journal in Longview, TX.

'Porno Pete' LaBarbera getting hot and bothered over upcoming street fair

Oh mercy, it's that time again.

Time for your friend and mine, Porno Pete LaBarbera to fake shock and outrage over Folsom Street Fair.

And of course he doesn't disappoint:

Deviance and Folly of Liberal ‘Tolerance’

Nothing screams “Perversion!” like the annual Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, America’s first homosexual Mecca — where mostly homosexual men (and some “straights,” using that term loosely) party in the city’s streets — many in near- or total nudity. AFTAH has documented the unprecedented public perversions and nudity of this bizarre outdoor “fair,” as police stand idly by.  [See our photo-reports: Folsom 008 (part one); Folsom 2008 (part two); "Slavery Makes a Comeback" (Folsom 2008); "Up Your Ally" fair 2008; Folsom 2010 and  Folsom 2007.] Here is the link to the Folsom Street Fair website (warning: offensive material). Below is the 2012 poster for this well-attended sadomasochism and “sexual freedom” celebration, which demonstrates that for the liberal minded, there are few if any limits to “tolerance.” THIS is the depraved end game of the Sexual Revolution. (Click on image to enlarge.) – Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

I find it interesting how he attacks gays for this street fair while at the same time acknowledging that heterosexuals also attend and participate.

Oh well, I look at it as progress. In writings about past Folsom Street Fairs, LaBarbera was very reluctant to acknowledge heterosexual appearances there.

At any rate, I will say what I always say when Porno Pete starts on his fake outrage (which is extremely Freudian, seeing that he provides links to past "street reports" which he and his supporters "forced themselves" to view and talking about in lovingly long details):

I have never attended one of these nor do I have any desire to. So to generalize about the gay community because of those who attend this thing is like generalizing about heterosexuals because of  the straight men and women who attend the fair.

Although between you and me, if it was discovered that the committee behind Folsom was paying LaBarbera under the table to publicize this event, I wouldn't be shocked.

Video superbly refutes lies about marriage equality

Want a simple way to refute the lies about marriage equality? Check out this video from the Australian Marriage Equality Campaign. Send it to your friends and especially your favorite homophobes


Hat tip to ThinkProgress and Goodasyou.

'AFA:' Big gay' activists are going to hell' and other Monday midday news briefs

Buster Wilson Warns 'Big Gay' Activists That They Are Destined for Hell - First of all, what in the world is a "big gay" activist? Secondly, who designated a guy named "Buster" to send people to hell? I don't remember that verse in the Bible.

In other news: 

Woman Becomes First Openly Gay General - THIS is a pretty darned big deal! 

Paul Ryan Has Acted On Every Anti-Gay Belief Mitt Romney Has - Translation: the religious right will love Paul Ryan.

Anti-Gay Groups Officially Launch Campaign To Remove Pro-Equality Iowa Justice - Nothing says fairness like voting out a judge simply because you don't agree with his or her opinion.

Regnerus was approached to do anti-gay parenting study by Witherspoon Institute

Regnerus

A new article about the anti-gay parenting study created by University of Texas Mark Regnerus gave some new details about how the study came to being.

And these details should lead to more questions.

First, a little background

Earlier this year, Regnerus published a study which claimed that children in same-sex households face several problems. Conservatives and the religious right quickly lauded this study. But many others pointed out errors in the study's conclusion and methodology. In fact, over 200 professors and researchers signed a letter condemning it.

A chief complaint has been where Regnerus received his funding.  According to Wayne Besen of the group Truth Wins Out, the head of the study, Mark Regnerus, received a $695,000 grant from the Witherspoon Institute for the study

The Witherspoon Foundation is affiliated with Princeton professor Robert George. At the Witherspoon Foundation, he is a Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow  George is also a founder and chairman emeritus of the National Organization for Marriage, an organization whose goal is to stop marriage equality.

Since Regnerus's study was published, NOM and the Witherspoon Institute has been pushing it steadily.  According to the Huffington Post, Maggie Gallagher, the former president of NOM and other groups associated with the organization have widely publicizing Regnerus' work:

Gallagher has been especially active in promoting the study, writing three posts about it on the website of the conservative National Review.  She penned a column for the conservative Town Hall under the headline, "The Gay Murphy Brown Effect."

Gallagher's Culture War Victory Fund, which was incubated at the American Principles Project, a group founded by Robert George in 2009, promoted the same articles that NOM did on its blog.

Another NOM-connected group, the Love and Fidelity Network, also promoted the study.

The Love and Fidelity Network shares an office with the Witherspoon Institute. Gallagher and George, the founders of NOM, are on the Network's advisory board. Luis Tellez, who founded the Witherspoon Institute with George, is also on the advisory board of the Love and Fidelity Network.

For its part, the Witherspoon Institute wrote a lengthy analysis of Regnerus' study under the headline, "The Kids Aren't All Right: New Family Structures and the 'No Differences' Claim."

The Witherspoon Institute also launched a website featuring Regnerus' data.

Regnerus has insisted that the study's funders had nothing to do with its outcome.  But this is where the new information comes in from The Statesman newspaper in Texas.

According to an article which appeared on Thursday, Regnerus was approached to do the study by a member of the Witherspoon Institute. This is noted at least two times in the article:

1. The Witherspoon Institute approached Regnerus, a sociologist, about doing a study on gay parenting and contributed about $700,000 to his project, according to Regnerus and Luis Tellez, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based institute. The Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, supplied $90,000 for the work, according to Regnerus. The Bradley Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.

The grant — the largest the Witherspoon Institute has ever given for faculty research — came with no strings attached and no pressure for a particular outcome, Tellez says.

2. In the case of the Regnerus study, Witherspoon solicited Regnerus for the work, according to Tellez, the institute's president. Tellez said he sought money to help pay for the study from liberal philanthropists as well as Witherspoon's mostly socially conservative contributors. But no liberal individuals or groups gave money for the project, he said.

Regnerus, in an email to the Statesman, said, "the plan for the particular study that was carried out was generated by me, with the help of a variety of consultants."

Tellez said he approached Regnerus for the study because he had met the scholar at events sponsored by Witherspoon and found him to be "a darn good scholar, a careful scholar, (and) easy to work with."

"We knew that (the study) would probably, one way or the other, be a disappointment to some people. It would disappoint us, or donors, or people on our left," Tellez said, later adding, "We let the chips fall where they may."

Sorry but I have a hard time believing, in spite of the assurances, that the Witherspoon Institute, a conservative organization with a specific agenda, would approach someone to do a study and freely give what it calls "the largest grant given to faculty research" if it didn't have expectations of what it would be receiving.

Certain questions need to be asked of the parties involved in the creation of this study - specifically why did the Witherspoon Institute want to create such a study and what did it hope to accomplish?