Bigots fail in California! Anti-gay referendum doesn't get enough signatures

All of the religious right's lies and all of the religious right's men won't be able to put gays in the closet again.

From the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News:

Today was the deadline for signatures to qualify a new referendum for inclusion on the November 2012 ballot.

As EQCA announced yesterday, the anti-equality advocates were unable to get the specified number of signatures to get their discriminatory policies back in the hands of the voters.

They were seeking a referendum to overturn the recent FAIR Education Act (SB48), which ensures classrooms are including LGBT, minority and handicapped individuals in the teaching of history.

At many public locations where the group attempted to gather signatures, it was reported they were misleading the public about what the law was about, even linking it in some cases to pedophilia.

After a last minute rally in an attempt to uncover or gather more signatures, today the group sent out an email to all their supporters, entitled, "We Fought the Law and the Law Won."

In the email, they shared their disappointment with losing their attempt at overturning the "very bad law" and thanked their supporters.

They also offered guidance on what to expect of their referndum's "opponents," avowed to not give up the fight for the sake of the children and identified the state politicians that stood with them in the attempt to overturn the FAIR Education Act.

The communication also gives insight into to their discriminatory tactics, from the school board level, up.

Unfortunately we did not collect enough signatures to qualify the referendum to overturn SB48. That law will be in place in our schools at the first of next year.

We thank all of you that worked so hard to provide the hundreds of thousands of signatures received. In the end, 90 days was too short a time to accomplish such a large task.

In the coming days you will see the celebration of our opponents. We know this because it has already started in social media and other places. And some of the rhetoric will be harsh. Remember, despite what they say about us, we opposed SB 48 simply because we do not believe that children should be exposed to an intentionally one-sided argument about lifestyles and values we do not hold.

And you will have to face some of those who said from the beginning that our referendum effort was a waste of time. They said we did not have enough money, the commitment of enough groups, or enough days. Ultimately they were right. And in private perhaps they will ask if the effort they withheld would have made the critical difference.

In the end, everybody that dedicated time and effort to qualifying this referendum should hold their heads high. The children in California schools and their parents owe a debt of gratitude to each of you for attempting such a huge task.

We hope that you will be there for the next battle.

While we did not overturn this very bad law, we built a small army of dedicated volunteers that collected an incredible amount of signatures. There will be a next battle. Despite the overuse of the term "tolerance," there is little tolerance for those who do not endorse the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyles. And there will be more laws passed that advocate for these and attempt to silence any opposition.

What tripe. They pass themselves off as so noble. Of course they omit the depths they stooped to in trying to get signatures for the petition such as telling basic lies about what the petition was about and then trying to push the following mess in area churches:

I didn't post this yesterday in spite of the fact that several pro-gay blogs did simply because I wanted concrete confirmation. Having dealt with religious right tactics, I was very wary of a Trojan Horse tactic. But there is no need to be wary any more.

These folks and all of their lies about "indoctrinating children" lost and lost hard. And that includes the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage.

Let this be a lesson to us all. There are times when all of the money, influence, and connections in the world can't make lies true. And if those of us who are fighting these lies hold fast to our principles and never stop fighting, we win.

For true information about the Fair Education Act, go here.

'Chaplains have no problem with Pentagon's same-sex marriage rules' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Jeffress Denounces Gays As Promiscuous, Manipulative And Abnormal - Rick Perry - that's YOUR pastor. And by the way, HUGE PROPS to Right Wing Watch for refuting this man's lies.

Wanda Sykes Says Motherhood Encouraged Her To Come Out - I love me some Wanda Sykes.

Tracy Morgan Offers Non-Apology on Letterman for Homophobic Remarks - Just sad. I blue humor but Morgan's routine was simply not funny.

Chaplains: Pentagon’s Same-Sex Marriage Rules Don’t Bother Us - Something you won't hear from the religious right when they attack DADT.

Southern Poverty Law Center and Truth Wins Out Launch Campaign Targeting Destructive Conversion Therapy - Good for them!

Tell The Media To Stop Using Tony Perkins And Hate Group Spokespeople As Guest Commentators - Not censorship. Simply basic decency. Would you agree with David Duke being called upon to give commentary on racial issues?

Why the hell is Tony Perkins being given media legitimacy?

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council seems to be given some degree of legitimacy in regards to the 2012 elections:

On October 10, CNN host Carol Costello invited Tony Perkins – president of the Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council (FRC) – to discuss the impact of his group’s recent Values Voter Summit.

And apparently CNN is one of many news media outlets giving Perkins some sort of legitimacy:

In the past few months – and aside from publishing an op-ed in The Washington Times – Perkins has been invited to appear on Fox News, Fox Business Network, MSNBC, and CNN to discuss the GOP primary and the 2012 election.

These appearances have typically followed the same pattern:

• The host fails to acknowledge Perkins as the leader of an anti-gay hate group
• Perkins is allowed to speak generally about what social conservatives want from a candidate
• Perkins attempts to link same-sex marriage to the bad economy
• The host asks Perkins which candidate his group will endorse
• Perkins pitches his Values Voter Summit (three times in less than ten minutes during a recent Hannity segment)

Giving Perkins any type of media legitimacy is wrong, period.

And the reason why is simple.

The issue is not about censorship.

It's about consistency.

It's about basic decency.

And mostly it's about integrity.

Would David Duke be allowed to espouse about 2012 election  as an "expert" by the media even though they know his history of passing along venomously inaccurate information about African-Americans and Jewish people?

Or how about someone equally Anti-Semitic or racist?

Of course not.

When the Rev. Robert Jeffress recently called Mitt Romney's religion a "cult," no one looked the other way. And no one invited him on their news program as an "election authority."

But somehow simply because Tony Perkins wraps his homophobia, his organization's history of intentionally passing along inaccurate information about gays behind the veneer of Christian values, those of us who are the victims of his slander are supposed to look the other way while the media gives him the red carpet treatment?

Allow me to be a little more succinct.

David Duke believes that African-Americans are inferior to whites. He believes that Jewish people are taking over (or are have taken over) the government.

Tony Perkins runs an organization featuring spokespeople who say they want gays deported out of the United States.

Tony Perkins runs an organization who routinely passes along junk science which accuses gay men of molesting children at a high rate.

Tony Perkins runs an organization which passes along  information by a discredited researcher who claims, amongst other things, that gay men stuff gerbils up their rectums.

Tony Perkins runs an organization which spreads the inaccurate belief that gays have short lifespans over 10 years after this belief was proven to be false.

What's the difference between Perkins and Duke? I'm sure that if you give him time, Duke could pull out a Bible and point to verses which justify his beliefs just as quickly as Perkins.

What really grinds me is how the issue seems to always be cast as a competition between those with "personally held religious beliefs against homosexuality" and the gay community itself.

This issue is not about "personally religious beliefs about homosexuality" because when people like Perkins pass along this bad information, they prove that they can't even abide by the religion they are supposed to profess faith in.

Or did that commandment about bearing false witness get thrown out?

I am intensely disturbed by this con game that the gay community has to deal with on a daily basis; that somehow people can say and claim some of the most nastiest, totally inaccurate (easily provably inaccurate at that) things about us  and get away with it if they can manipulate a talking point that these things are said in love and because of "deeply held religious beliefs."

And what's more, these folks are not called out, but rather patted on the back by those whose very livelihood are supposed to be invested in seeking the truth.
 
There is absolutely no reason, no justifiable explanation for any legitimate news network to make a charlatan who trades in character assassinations of innocent groups of people via the spreading of junk science (even if it is done in the name of God) as a legitimate source of information.

Edward R. Murrow has to be spinning in his grave. What's more, I cringe to think what would happen if Joseph McCarthy were alive today.

He would probably be given his own show.


Related post:

16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group

Family Research Council tries to cast Rick Santorum's idiocy as an attribute

This is one of those I just can't resist posts. The following came from a Family Research Council email:

 . . . the media seems intent on making Sen. Rick Santorum the punching bag for being the most outspoken about keeping the military focused on its mission to fight and win wars. But if Chris Wallace and others honestly think they can get the Senator to blink on his beliefs, then they don't know Rick Santorum. His position, which mirrors that of our military service chiefs, is that "The Army is not a sociological laboratory. Experimenting with Army policy, especially in a time of war, would pose a danger to efficiency, discipline, and morale, and would result in ultimate defeat." In a heated exchange with Wallace, who tried to catch Rick with some "gotcha" questioning, Santorum didn't back down. "...I know the whole gay community is trying to make this the new civil rights act. It's not... You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual by... the color of your skin... It is behavioral." Wallace tried to turn the tables by suggesting that Sen. Santorum wa s questioning the homosexual soldiers' service. "They're all volunteers," Wallace said, "defending our... country." "That's exactly the point, Chris," Santorum fired back. "They are all volunteers, and they don't have to join in a place where they don't feel comfortable serving with people because of that issue." 

Now I've heard of attempting to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but what FRC attempts to do here is pitiful.  For the record, the organization is talking about the recent disastrous appearance Santorum made on Fox News Sunday where host Chris Wallace not only grilled him (yeah I can't believe journalistic integrity was in Wallace either), but actually demonstrated the ignorance that some folks have concerning gays serving openly in the military is comparable to the ignorance that some had concerning Truman's desegregation of the Armed Forces.

Conveniently, FRC talks about Santorum's answer to Wallace's grilling in order to make it seem that he was standing firm. However the entire exchange demonstrates that Wallace left Santorum with egg on his face:

Wallace then read a quote that seemingly was in line with everything Santorum had been arguing previously.

“The army is not a sociological laboratory. Experimenting with policy, especially in a time of war, would pose a danger to efficiency, discipline and morale and would result in ultimate defeat.”

Wallace attributed the quote to a World War II general arguing against racial integration of the military. Santorum suggested there is a big difference between race and sexuality, because one involves “activities” of a different nature as opposed to just being different. Wallace went down the line of Santorum’s talking points and said the general’s comments over a half-century ago were exactly in line with them. Santorum insisted on a clear distinction between the social climate then and now, and claimed that unlike race, sexuality is a choice.

And of course FRC omitted this interesting eyebrow-raising exchange from the interview:

"The problem is that sexual activity with people who you are in close quarters with who happen to be of the same sex is different than being open about your sexuality," Santorum said on "Fox News Sunday."

Fox host Chris Wallace pushed back, asking Santorum if he was suggesting gay soldiers would "go after" their colleagues.

"They're in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people," Santorum said, saying the presence of gay soldiers could have an adverse "effect on retention and recruitment."

All in all, the interview exposed Santorum to be a nut who justifies homophobia with nonsense and obviously worries about showering with gays too much. That comment he made about heterosexual soldiers not being comfortable around gay soldiers is inaccurate. According to Think Progress:

The extensive Pentagon study found that servicemembers don’t care about serving next to gay soldiers, so unit cohesion would not be impacted.

Santorum is hardly an upstanding hero for morality in my book. But of course I'm not wearing Family Research Council-colored glasses.

Letting the religious right speak for itself does wonders for the gay community

It always amazes me how some members of the religious right will pretend to push nobility and rationality, but then will drop their masks when they think no one is looking.

From Think Progress:

Recently, two contributors to the Friendly Atheist blog attended a Marriage Symposium organized by the Illinois Family Institute (an American Family Association affiliate) and reported back what they heard. The panel included Austin Nimocks from the Alliance Defense Fund and Linda Jernigan, a self-identified ex-gay. Here are some insights into the thinking and strategies of those opposed to LGBT equality:

• Anti-bullying programs are meant to silence anti-gay beliefs.

• Do not use the term “sexual orientation” because it implies “biological determinism.”

• Do not use the term “gay” because it normalizes and empowers people who are gay.

• Same-sex couples are “sterile” by design and cannot provide for children what an opposite-sex couple can.

• Marriage is a “pre-political” institution, and therefore not a civil right.

• Anti-gay advocates should “reach out and resist,” framing resistance to equality efforts as compassion for those who are gay.

• People in Sudan and Malaysia who have sex with farm animals demonstrate how marriage can deteriorate.

• “The end goal of gay activism is an assault on gender” — in other words, at the heart of sexual orientation discrimination is gender discrimination and a desire to maintain gender norms.

• Same-sex couples are “greedy” for trying to deprive a child of a mother or a father, and they will negatively impact how children are gendered.

Think Progress suggests that you check out the full report and I also suggest the same. There are two things worth knowing though.

Austin Nimocks was the person who helped anti-gay legislators in NC craft that awful amendment which the state will be voting on next year.

The Illinois Family Council was called out last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its homophobia:

Over the years, the group also has occasionally embraced the groundless propaganda of Paul Cameron (see Family Research Institute, above). Until 2009, it carried an article on Cameron — “New Study Shows that Homosexuals Live 20 Fewer Years” — preceded by a full-throated endorsement LaBarbera. “Paul Cameron’s work has been targeted for ridicule by homosexual activists, and he’s been demonized by the left,” LaBarbera wrote in his introduction, “but that should not discount his findings.” IFI also posted a video attacking school anti-bullying programs that claimed, based on Cameron, that gay men’s median age of death is 42. Both were removed in response to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s 2009 listing of IFI as a hate group, which was largely based on its use of Cameron.

 . . .In 2009, Higgins compared homosexuality to Nazism, likening the German Evangelical Church’s weak response to fascism to the “American church’s failure to respond appropriately to the spread of radical, heretical, destructive views of homosexuality.” Elsewhere, Higgins has pined for the days when gays were in the closet. “There was something profoundly good for society about the prior stigmatization of homosexual practice… . [W]hen homosexuals were ‘in the closet,’ (along with fornicators, polyamorists, cross-dressers, and ‘transexuals’), they weren’t acquiring and raising children.” She’s also said that McDonald’s, because it ran a gay-friendly TV ad, is “hell bent on using its resources to promote subversive moral, social, and political views about homosexuality to our children.”

Former 'ex-gay' renounces lies and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Former Ex-Gay Head Now Says Change In Orientation Is Impossible And Change In Relationships Are Unnecessary - Well I could have him that.

Romney: ‘I’m Very Reluctant To Borrow Lots More Money’ To Fund Global AIDS Prevention Programs - Because apparently true leaders don't do what they can to stop a global epidemic. Don't worry. He will change his position in probably the next few days.

Liberty Counsel attorney calls gay adoption 'unconscionable'; Countless able scions 'un' his con - Matt Barber is picking on same-sex households again. 

NYC Drag Ball Project in Development at Showtime - I am DEFINITELY all for this. It's about time that this community get some spotlight rather than that A-List mess on LOGO.

Barton, Kern Stoke Fears That Gays And Lesbians Threaten Lives Of Critics - That's right. Sally Kern felt so threatened that she has trolled from religious right site to religious right site to whine about it and about her silly book.

Eddie Long wants his money back

Forget The Young and the Restless because this Eddie Long scandal is becoming more twisted than any soap opera.

The latest news? Long wants to recoup the settlement money he gave three of the five men accusing him of sexual coercion. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Attorneys representing Eddie Long's church have informed three of the five young men who accused the pastor of sexual coercion that they intend to recover nearly $1 million from their financial settlement, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.

The letter, sent this week by the Atlanta law firm Drew Eckl & Farnham, alleges that Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp violated terms of a confidentiality agreement outlined in the settlement with Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The firm is seeking at least $900,000 already paid the three accusers, according to people involved in the settlement but not authorized to speak publicly. That figure is a portion of the total settlement with the three men.

Financial terms of that settlement have not been disclosed but, based on the letter and the fact each of the young men were paid equitably, the total comes to at least $1.5 million.

The letter outlines the plaintiffs' "demand for arbitration" though no legal documents have yet been filed.

The letter could simply be a threat, said Atlanta litigator Hayden Pace.

"No one's going to turn over the money just simply because you've asked for it," Pace said. "You're going to have to earn it back by establishing your right to it in the courts."

Parris and LeGrande, who broke their silence in an interview with the AJC last month, said at the time they were aware of the risk.

“I’m going to tell the world – money does not buy happiness,” LeGrande said in August. “When you sleep at night, the problems are still there. The money stuff, who cares about the number.”

“I feel like burning [the money],” he said.

Oh brother. Something tells me that we have only just begun with this in spite of all that's happened over the past year.

Related posts: 

Eddie Long's accusers speak out even after settlement

Anti-gay pastor Eddie Long's fifth accuser in lawsuit

Eddie Long scandal underscores failure of the black church

Eddie Long scandal - Chronology of what has happened and where we are now  
 

NOM's 'defense alliance' backfiring

The National Organization for Marriage recently began what it calls the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance (Marriage ADA), which is a campaign to supposedly spotlight incidents of "Christians" being "intimidated" or  "persecuted" for standing up for the so-called traditional view of marriage (i.e. one man + one woman).

Marriage ADA features video testimonies of supposed "victims" of said intimidation.

But Equality Matters has raised a very interesting question which echoes something which has been trolling about in my mind the day the second "victim" - Jerry Buell - came out.

Is this thing backfiring on NOM?

Equality Matters took a clear look at the five examples NOM has featured demonstrating so-called "gay intimidation" and found them to be proving the opposite - i.e. these folks are not being victimized and NOM is demanding special privileges for those stand against marriage equality, even to the point of not being accurate about their stories:

Since its inception, Marriage ADA has posted five such videos. And so far, not a single one has actually demonstrated someone having their rights or dignity denied. 

The first video posted tells the story of Frank Turek, a corporate consultant who claims to have been fired from Cisco Systems “for being somebody who has a traditional marriage viewpoint.”  

In reality, Turek is far more than your average “traditional marriage” supporter. As Right Wing Watch has documented, Turek has a history of making outrageous anti-gay comments, including asserting that gay rights advocates and Islamic extremists are “in concert together” because they both hate Western civilization. He’s also compared homosexuality to alcoholism and pedophilia, calling it a “road to destruction.” It’s Turek’s views on gay people, not gay marriage, that got him in trouble. His contract with Cisco – and later with Bank of America – was terminated after employees complained about anti-gay remarks Turek was on the record as having made.

In other words, the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance’s first horror story was neither about marriage nor defamation. 

The second story promoted by Marriage ADA was that of Jerry Buell, a Florida high school public school teacher who was temporarily suspended from his position after posting anti-gay comments to his Facebook account:

On July 25, Buell posted on his Facebook page, "I'm watching the news, eating dinner, when the story about New York okaying same sex unions came on and I almost threw up."

"If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don't insult a man and woman's marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool as same-sex whatever! God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable???," Buell added.

Buell was suspended while school officials investigated to determine if Buell had violated the school’s ethics code or social media guidelines. Ironically, even organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, which strongly opposed Buell’s comments, still came to his defense. Buell admits as much in NOM’s video:

What I like about it is the people who were opposed to what I said and said “I totally disagree with your stand, but doggone it I’ll stand next to you because you had the right to say it.”

Within days, Buell was allowed to return to the classroom. No further disciplinary action was taken.

NOM’s final three videos tell the stories of Rose Marie Belforti, Ruth Sheldon, and Laura Fotusky – three New York clerks who have either resigned or may be asked to resign from their positions due to their unwillingness to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Although Laura claims to have received “negative comments” after filing her resignation, none of the three women reported facing “threats to their person, property, or livelihood,” as NOM claims at the end of each video. They voluntarily resigned from their jobs after recognizing that upholding the laws of the state of New York would require them to violate their personal beliefs about marriage. 

So let’s recap NOM’s alleged victims of “defamation”:

• a man whose contract was terminated after employees complained about his anti-gay history
• a man whose temporary suspension ended after he was supported by a pro-gay group
• several woman who decided to resign once they realized their jobs as government employees would require them to violate their religious beliefs

None of NOM’s videos demonstrate how opponents of marriage equality are having their “rights and dignity” denied. None of NOM’s videos are even examples of “defamation.”  If you look past NOM’s ominous background music, these videos really just tell the story of how the LGBT community and opponents of same-sex marriage are learning to find an acceptable middle ground, even as gays and lesbians begin to experience greater acceptance and equality in the law.

I am making a wild guess here but I think I know who NOM's sixth "victim" will be.

If it's who I think it is, then NOM will be digging itself deeper in a hole.

And I just happen to have a heavy shovel and a sturdy back.

'Final score: Bryan Fischer - 1, Mitt Romney - 0' and other Monday midday news briefs

Mitt Romney Mildly Scolds Bryan Fischer - Bryan Fischer attacks Mitt Romney's religion and Romney answers back with this? What a wimp!

Fischer Says Romney "Insulted" Values Voters Crowd - Meanwhile, Fischer gives Romney a swift kick in the "you know what."

To those making the Romney fracas all about Mormonism - And here to provide the post-game wrap up - Jeremy Hooper.

Values Voter Bigotry Fest Erupts In War of Words Over Romney's Faith - Poor Romney. He is like a rabbit trying to appeal to a bunch of hungry crocodiles.

Ugandan Party: Coincidence or Conspiracy? - Officials from a gay-bashing country (Kill the Gays bill)attending an American conference put on by gay-bashing American groups. Coincidence my tuckus.

One Values Voter poll, two #FAILs - The gay community makes a quiet, yet effective strike at the Values Voters summit.

SPLC's report on anti-gay hate groups needs wider audience. Provide it.

Tony Perkins

The Southern Poverty Law Center has come out with a stunning report on the anti-gay stances of the Family Research Council and the American Family Assocation. Part of it reads as follows:

 The Family Research Council -

The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as “the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power,” but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians. The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

To make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society, FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. Its research fellows and leaders often testify before Congress and appear in the mainstream media. It also works at the grassroots level, conducting outreach to pastors in an effort to “transform the culture.”

In Its Own Words
“Gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement.”
— Robert Knight, FRC director of cultural studies, and Frank York, 1999

“[Homosexuality] … embodies a deep-seated hatred against true religion.”
— Steven Schwalm, FRC senior writer and analyst, in “Desecrating Corpus Christi,” 1999

“One of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the ‘prophets of a new sexual order.’”
--1999 FRC pamphlet, Homosexual Activists Work to Normalize Sex with Boys.

“[T]he evidence indicates that disproportionate numbers of gay men seek adolescent males or boys as sexual partners.”
— Timothy Dailey, senior research fellow, “Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse,” 2002

“While activists like to claim that pedophilia is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two. … It is a homosexual problem.”
— FRC President Tony Perkins, FRC website, 2010

Bryan Fischer

The American Family Association -

Initially founded as the National Federation for Decency, the American Family Association (AFA) originally focused on what it considered indecent television programming and pornography. The AFA says it promotes "traditional moral values" in media. A large part of that work involves "combating the homosexual agenda" through various means, including publicizing companies that have pro-gay policies and organizing boycotts against them. The AFA has a variety of outlets to disseminate its message, including American Family Radio Network, its online One News Now and the monthly AFA Journal. In early 2011, the AFA claimed more than 2 million online supporters and 180,000 subscribers to its Journal.

In Its Own Words
"[T]he homosexual lifestyle is characterized by anonymous sexual encounters and celebration of sexual obsession and perversion unparalleled in any other social group."
– Richard Howe, "Homosexuality in America," AFA publication, 1994

"As with smoking, homosexual behavior's ‘second hand' effects threaten public health… .Thus, individuals who choose to engage in homosexual behavior threaten not only their own lives, but the lives of the general population."
– Gary Glenn, president of Michigan chapter of AFA, 2001

"Homosexuality is not only harmful to homosexuals themselves, but also to children and to society."
– Stephen Bennett, AFA writer, 2004

"If President Obama, Congressional Democrats, and homosexual activists get their wish, your son or daughter may be forced to share military showers and barracks with active and open homosexuals who may very well view them with sexual interest."
– AFA press release, February 2010

"The homosexual movement is a progressive outgrowth of the sexual revolution of the past 40 years and will lead to the normalization of even more deviant behavior."
– Don Wildmon, AFA website, 1999 (still posted as of 2011).

"Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews."
– Bryan Fischer, AFA director of issue analysis for government and public policy, 2010

It would be in the gay community's best interest if more folks read this report and referred it to their friends and neighbors.

In a weekend in which we saw Republican presidential candidates flock to these two groups like they pushing manna and a leader of one of these groups (Tony Perkins of FRC) presented as a legitimate election analyst,  this report needs to be pushed hard.

And we need to be the ones who push it. It's simply not enough to say that SPLC has named these organizations as hate groups. We need to provide a copy of this report to everyone we can.

A copy of the full SPLC report is here (PDF).

Hat tip to LGBTQ Nation.

Phony Christian event turns into free range gay bashing and hypocrisy

Thanks to this weekend's "Values Voters" Summit, I am learning that I am not an ordinary gay American.

Apparently I am Darth Vader.

So far the speakers of the supposed Christian rally have said that gays are evil. We are out to destroy America. We are threats to public health.

And we are very, very very unhappy.

Don't worry. By next week they will attempt to temper their rhetoric by lying about someone who was supposedly discriminated against for furthering the belief that gays are evil, out to destroy America, and are public health threats.

Only these charlatans will claim that said fake martyr is being "persecuted" for expressing his/her Christian faith.

This conference is  nothing unusual for the gay community. We have come to expect the rhetoric from these folks so at this point, I find the homophobia slightly annoying.

But it's not just the gay bashing that I find annoying, but the constant strain of doomsayer rhetoric:

"America is at it's decline." "We are heading towards the abyss." "God is going to turn away from us."

Isn't that what these losers said last year and the year before that and the year before that?

At what point do we get the simple fact that these folks are not interested in the salvation or preservation of America, but rather the salvation of their status and the preservation of their bank accounts?

They don't offers solutions and they don't give hope.

These so-called Christians push lies. They peddle in fear and deceptive talking points all done under the shadow of a supposedly approving deity. Never mind that junk about benevolence and integrity. The God these "Values Voters" serve is a cross between J. R. Ewing from Dallas and Alexis Carrington Colby from Dynasty. Power and the spreading of lies to increase that power rules the day.

They seem to think that Christianity is a capitalist design and that the chapters in the Bible where Jesus told the rich man to sell all of his possessions and follow Him and where Jesus drove the moneylenders out of the Temple were later added via a liberal conspiracy.

In the world of these "Values Voters," Jesus actually said "pick up your cross and follow me and I will give you a nice car, a nice house 2.5 kids and a Republican in the White House every four years." And somehow the empty jargonistic theory of  "American exceptionalism" - a bland version of the Master Race theory but still nonetheless nauseating in its audacity - can be reconciled with Jesus's decree to show love and humility. Or even worse, rationalized so much that guillible folks will think that the empty jargonistic theory of "American exceptionalism" is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he said show love and humility.

Seems to me that if God hasn't let loose with a huge thunderbolt on America for allowing these characters to soil His good name, then maybe this country has nothing to worry about when it comes to His judgement.

But that's not necessarily a good thing. I have a feeling that we will be hearing the same messages of doom from these cast of characters next year which would prove that maybe God has a strange sense of humor.

Know Your LGBT History - 'The Fabulous Gays' of Steambath

Steambath was a 1970 Off-Broadway play written by Bruce Jay Friedman which tells the story of a man who dies and discovers that the afterlife is in fact a steamroom.

In 1973, PBS aired a production of this play which featured the late Bill Bixby and Valerie Perrine. That production is famous because Perrine became the first female to have her breasts displayed intentionally on network television.

Perrine's nudity was such a hallmark that the inclusion of two gay characters (played by Neil J. Schwartz and Patrick Spohn) seem to be an afterthought.

 That's a real shame . . .  or maybe not as you can see by this clip of their high-stepping performance of "Let Me Entertain You."

Of course I don't consider this clip offensive. I don't necessarily consider it positive either. It's just there.

And it is a performance that I bet you will never see done on Glee. (Editor's note - proceed with caution because there is male nudity):

 

Past Know Your LGBT Posts:

'Bigot makes fool of himself during religious right conference' and other Friday midday news briefs

Well today is the start of the religious right's "Values Voter" Summit and as predicted, it is a cornucopia of homophobia, pandering, and downright idiocy supposedly in the name of God. To get a good view of how inane it is - check out this very short twitter war between the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer and the Southern Poverty Law Center in regards to SPLC's press conference denouncing the lies of the groups sponsoring this monstrosity. Bryan lost by the way:

In the future, Bryan, if you are going to gloat, make sure you have something to gloat about. For all-day updates on this hot mess, go here.


Southern Poverty Law Center Reminds GOP Of The Hate Groups Behind Values Voter Summit - And speaking of the SPLC, the group ran an ass-kicking ad in the Washington Post this morning.

PFOX "Ex-Gays" Denounce Anti-Bullying Bills At FRC's Hate Conference - And we are surprised because?

NOM at Values Voters Summit - Look what crawled its way into the "Values Voter" Summit. Anyone packed the RAID?

Opponents Of FAIR Education Act Smear LGBT Community To Misrepresent Effect Of Law - And look what the organizers of this mess is trying to do in CA.

Punching, Burning, Electrocuting And Stabbing Your Gay Son Will Probably Not Make Him Straight - Awful story.

Paula Ettelbrick, Veteran LGBT Leader, Dies - Thank you for your services and your footsteps for us to walk in. You rest now. We will take it from here ;p.

Tony Perkins comments on SPLC press conference

Today is the beginning of the dreary religious right "Values Voters" conference which will see - amongst other things - GOP presidential candidates mingling with folks who seem to think that God gave them the patent on the words "morality," "family," and "values."

In anticipation of this, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Truth Wins Out will be holding a press conference today highlighting the venomous anti-gay rhetoric of two groups involved in this conference - the Family Association and the American Family Association.

The press conference is the latest salvo in very public fight between SPLC and various "values" organizations designated as hate groups by the organization because of their tendency to demonize the gay community through propaganda, inaccurate rhetoric, or junk science.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council weighed in on the SPLC's press conference:

Perkins said the SPLC news conference reflected an attempt to prevent free discussion of ideas and noted that he doesn’t show up at SPLC events to protest the civil rights organization’s beliefs.

“Southern Poverty Law Center is obviously desperate to try to shut down public debate,” he said.

Perkins is again casting FRC and AFA as the victims, which is what he and others affiliated with these groups have been doing since last year when the controversy began. However, SPLC is not seeking to shut down anyone. If anything, the organization wants to have a conversation as to why the FRC uses junk science - such as the work of the discredited researcher Paul Cameron (a man who claims that gays stuff gerbils up their rears) - to demonize the gay community.

Or why the organization has made the following other inaccurate claims:

• Homosexuals molest children at far higher rates than heterosexuals.

• Same-sex parents harm children.

• Homosexuals don’t live nearly as long as heterosexuals.

It would be in FRC's best interest to answer these charges. However  there will be no conversation as long as FRC double down on the "we are being attacked because of our faith" and "SPLC is trying to shut down the debate" whines.

The organization has YET to come out with a detailed response to SPLC's charges even after claiming earlier this year that it would.

SPLC, Truth Wins Out preparing to take on anti-gay hate groups

From the press release:

Apreill Hartsfield
334.956.8458
apreill.hartsfield@splcenter.org

Southern Poverty Law Center to Hold Press Conference Outside Values Voter Summit

The Southern Poverty Law Center will hold a press conference this Friday, Oct. 7, to release a report on the Family Research Council (FRC) and American Family Association (AFA), two groups that spread false propaganda that demonizes the LGBT community. The FRC is hosting the annual Values Voter Summit this weekend Washington, where many prominent public officials will be speaking. The AFA is a major co-sponsor.

WHO: Mark Potok, Director, Intelligence Project, Southern Poverty Law Center
Wayne Besen, Truth Wins Out

WHEN: Friday, October 7
8 a.m. (EDT)

WHERE: Omni Shoreham
2500 Calvert Street NW (at Connecticut Ave.)
Washington, DC

###

The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more information, see www.splcenter.org.

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

Meanwhile,  Bryan Fischer from the American Family Association is doubling down on his hate:

Transcript:

The New York Times piece goes on to say “The conference, from Friday to Sunday in Washington, is sponsored by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association” that would be us, “and other evangelical Christian groups. It aims to energize social conservatives and test the fidelity of the candidates.” All true. “The conference planners have obliged Mr. Romney, scheduling him to speak right before Bryan Fischer, who is chief spokesman for the family association and is known for his strident remarks on homosexuality, gay rights, Muslims and Mormons.” Now again, when you just tell the truth, that’s all I’ve done, I’ve done nothing but tell the truth about homosexuality, about gay rights, about Muslims and Mormons. That’s all I’ve done. I didn’t make anything up; I have just told the truth. You tell the truth as far as the left is concerned, that makes you strident. In fact my comments, my speech, is gonna be followed by a panel of same-sex marriage opponents. And then the New York Times guy talks about People For the American Way calling on especially Mr. Romney to publicly disassociate themselves from Mr. Fischer and his quote “unmitigated bigotry.” So once again, tell the truth, as far as the left concerns, “unmitigated bigotry.”

Meanwhile, little ole me awaits the entire thing like a ravenous individual on Thanksgiving.

Or better yet, a bloodthirsty warrior who is running low on his "kill quota."

Related posts:

16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group

The reason why the American Family Association is a hate group

Reasons why NOM should be named as a hate group 

'Hate group attacks Chaz Bono in attempt to stop pro-gay law' and other Thursday midday news briefs

As many of you know, the religious right have been trying to stop a law in California - SB48 (The Fair Education Act) - which revised an existing law and adds the gay community to a list of under-represented cultural and ethnic groups that are covered in textbooks and other instructional materials in schools.

These folks seek to repeal this law via referendum and they have also been stooping to nasty levels, such a allegedly lying to get signatures.

But the following graphic takes the cake. It is a part of  a Powerpoint presentation - which according to the anti-gay group the Family Research Council - should be shown in churches:

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper


And in other news (if that graphic hasn't made you sick already):

Minnesota Catholic Conference: ‘What If A Bisexual Wants A Partner Of Each Kind?’ - Tacky, tacky.

One Way To Tell That Trans People Are On The Religious Right’s/Social Conservative’s Radar - It will get worse before it gets better.

Major News Outlets Still Relying On Hate Group Leader For 2012 Commentary - I personally think that this is good news. A good target is one which has a big red mark on its back. I mean that in a strictly figurative "let's not waste good opportunities to show the world that the Family Research Council is a hate group" type of way.

Religious right cause celebre sacrificing integrity of her name for case?

The case of Julea Ward demonstrates how not only money can push against truth but also how the religious right exploits potential cause celebres.

Last year, a federal judge, the Honorable George Caram Steeh, dismissed a case brought by grad student Julea Ward against Eastern Michigan University. The college expelled her from its graduate program for refusing to counsel a gay client:

"The university had a rational basis for adopting the ACA Code of Ethics into its counseling program, not the least of which was the desire to offer an accredited program," Steeh said in a 48-page opinion.

"Furthermore, the university had a rational basis for requiring its students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values.

"In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs -- including homosexual relationships."

The judge said Ward's "refusal to attempt learning to counsel all clients within their own value systems is a failure to complete an academic requirement of the program."

Backed up with religious right money and pull (in this case the Alliance Defense Fund),  Ward is now appealing the decision.

Personally I am of the belief that if Ward wants to receive certification from Eastern Michigan University, she needs to follow the university's program. If she doesn't want to counsel gay patients, perhaps it would be better for her to seek a college which would accommodate her.

But something about this entire thing bothers me. It's a seemingly small thing but it sticks in my mind. Her name is Julea Ward. It is how she was referred to in past court documents and the media.

However, in this re-pushing of her case, several religious right sources - one being the National Organization for Marriage - are referring to her as Julie.

To some people, that difference may seem trite, but to me - a member of an ethnic group who has seen and had to deal with folks coming in trying to convert things about our heritage in a poor excuse to gain appeal to a wider base - the name change is bothersome.

Could it be that the folks handling Ms. Ward's case decided that eliminating the ethnicity in her name would help widen her appeal?

If this is so, perhaps Ms. Ward should stop worrying about Eastern Michigan University and start worrying about those claiming to be her friends.

Meet the folks trying to 'save America' for Jesus

People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch has compiled the best - or rather the worst - comments coming from the key sponsors and speakers at this weekend's Values Voters Summit.

Please bear in mind that these folks make their money by claiming that America is on a "moral decline" and it's up to them to pull the country back.

You tell me what's worse - the fact that there are some people who actually believe that mess or the fact that several Republican presidential candidates will be in attendance:



What would Jesus do indeed? Would He actually be proud to have these characters using His name for their madness? I think not.

Related post:

Who’s Who at the Values Voter Summit - Hold your nose and take a gander at a complete listing of who the GOP candidates will be kissing up to.

SPLC calls out those associating with anti-gay hate groups - The Southern Poverty Law Center is doubling down on exposing these charlatans.

See the commercial which scares the religious right

The following is a simple commercial from San Francisco mayoral candidate Bevan Duffy. You've probably seen it before but it bears repeating in its proper context:



So why does this commercial scare Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins and the rest of the religious right? Simple. Because it shows truth. It shows that the loving and raising of children is not something strictly owned by the heterosexual community or a stereotypical nuclear family.

And it proves that all of the money, lies, and propaganda can't hide basic truth regarding the gay community.

Isn't true an awesome thing?

'NOM's Minnesota partner wanted to imprison gays' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Before banning gay marriage, criminalizing homosexuality was Family Council’s cause celebre - Are we really surprised about the Minnesota Family Council? And just like in the case when this group was caught spreading information accusing gays of  bestiality, pedophilia, and consuming bodily wastes, the National Organization for Marriage - its partner in trying to stop marriage equality in MN - will convenient ignore this fact while pushing the false notion that those who believe like this group are the "real victims."

Anti-gay marriage groups say they won’t follow new campaign finance guidelines - And speaking of NOM . . .

Mounting violence haunts South Africa’s gays and mobilizes activists - We need to pray and do all we can for our brothers and sisters facing violence - such as "corrective rape" - for merely being gay.

Gay judicial nominee sails through confirmation hearing - Sweet!

DNC open to funding fight against anti-gay amendments in the states - Excellent news! And I've got two places where DNC can send money.

N.C. Senator Forrester’s office sends unprofessional, fact-challenged e-mail defending his anti-gay views - Watch a homophobe dig himself deeper in a hole.