NOM now attacking candidate it supported

The National Organization for Marriage is finally commenting on its embarrassing loss last night in the Iowa state senatorial election. From NOM Cultural Director Thomas Peters comes a tweet which should be remembered.

After spending over $30,000 on Cindy Golding's unsuccessful campaign, NOM is now dissing her as a weak candidate.

Just a reminder to folks running for public office. NOM doesn't give a damn about you or what you are trying to accomplish. If the organization can use you, count on getting the money.

And if it can't use you, count on being disposed of like used tissue.

There is one other thing about that tweet which may be, as C.S. Lewis once said, something worth knowing. A comment on NOM's blog uses the same type of verbiage. However, it doesn't list Peters as the author:

M. Jones
Posted November 9, 2011 at 3:58 pm | Permalink

Unfortunately the Iowa GOP proffered a very weak candidate. We should have known better. Next year will be a different kettle of fish with stronger GOP candidates and a GOP landslide dumping SS*m* to the dustbin of history.

This gives some credibility to the opinion of some that members of NOM's staff sometimes publishes comments on its blog to give an appearance of having a lot of reader support.

Certainly that's not what I am saying, but based on past experiences involving certain photos, the idea wouldn't be farfetched to consider.

'High-schoolers stage sit-in to protest bullying' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Vermont High School Organizes Anti-Gay Bullying Sit-In To Honor Bisexual Freshman - Good for them!

Tennessee Religious Group Used State Senator As Puppet to Pass Discrimination Law - THIS should surprise NO ONE.

Color Us Invisible: In the Shadows of Communities Black and Gay, Black Lesbians Forge Lives, Loves, And Family - I know, girlfriend. Some straight black folks don't like to be reminded that lgbtqs of color exist, period.

Hung Up on Our Bullies: Internalized Transphobia - A fascinating but unfortunately truthful point.

VICTORY! Gay and lesbian candidates sweep into public office

Annise Parker won re-election as Houston's mayor

In addition to the embarrassment suffered last night by the National Organization for Marriage, there is also more excellent news to report.

A large number of gay candidates were elected to public office last night. According to the Victory Fund:

Houston - Houston voters have returned Mayor Annise Parker to office without a runoff election, giving her nearly 51% of the vote in a general election tonight that featured five opponents. Parker, an out lesbian, was first elected in 2009 and will be able to run for one more 2-year term in 2013. Voters in the new city council District J chose Mike Laster to represent them. Laster becomes the first openly gay man elected to the Houston City Council.

Montana - Caitlin Copple, an out lesbian who was endorsed by the Victory Fund, has won her race for the Missoula, Montana, city council, defeating an incumbent who voted against an LGBT non-discrimination ordinance.

Cincinnati - Chris Seelbach has won his race for the Cincinnati, Ohio City Council. He becomes the first openly LGBT council member in the city’s history.

Mayfield

North Carolina - LaWana Mayfield won her race for Charlotte, N.C., City Council, becoming that city’s first openly LGBT elected official. She was heavily favored after ousting the incumbent Democrat in the primary earlier this year.

New Jersey - Bruce Harris was elected mayor of Chatham Borough, N.J. He’s likely the nation’s first openly gay, African American, Republican mayor. Mayor Tim Eustace of Maywood, N.J., has been elected to the New Jersey Assembly tonight, becoming the first openly gay non-incumbent to win a seat in the legislature. Eustace will join Assemblymember Reed Gusciora, who won his reelection bid, as New Jersey’s only openly gay state lawmakers.

Minnesota - Mary Doran has been elected to the School Board in St. Paul, Minn.

Connecticut - Pedro Segarra easily retains his post as mayor of Hartford, Conn. His main opponents dropped out of the race earlier this year.

Morse

Massachusetts - Alex Morse, a 22-year-old graduate of Brown University, has just been elected mayor of Holyoke, Mass., a city of nearly 40,000 residents near Springfield.

Indiana - Zach Adamson has won his race for city council in Indianapolis, giving the city its first openly LGBT city council member.

Florida - An incumbent on the Largo, Fla., City Commission who attacked her openly gay opponent over his sexual orientation has lost her reelection bid to him tonight. Michael Smith defeated Mary Gray Black, who has a history of anti-gay and anti-trans activism on the commission.

In addition, word has come that Daniel Hernandez, the intern whose actions saved Congresswoman Gabby Gifford after that awful shooting earlier this year, won a seat on Arizona's Sunnyside Unified School District governing board, with 61.8 percent of the vote.

Of course none of these candidates won because of their sexual orientation and it would be insulting to think of them as solely "the gay candidates."

But to ignore what their victories mean to the community and the nation at large would be even more insulting.

They prove that while the lgbtq community still has a hard road to trod, we are walking it rather nicely and all of the lies, slander, and hate done under the guise of religious beliefs can't stop us if we don't let it.

The world is changing, regardless of how some folks on the right feel about it. Lgbtqs are no longer hypothetical. We are no longer being seen as abstract pieces in religious arguments. We are real people who lead families, pay taxes, have normal lives, and - as seen by last night - are elected to public office.

Deal with it. And if you can't, that's YOUR problem.

BREAKING - NOM wastes over $30,000 in embarrassing Iowa loss

The National Organization for Marriage just suffered an embarrassing loss in an Iowa special election which would have allowed the organization to challenge marriage equality in the state had its candidate won.

According to the Iowa Independent, NOM spent over $30,000 pushing Republican candidate Cindy Golding in a special election for a state senatorial seat.

But it wasn't enough because Golding came up short against Liz Mathis - 44% to 56% of the vote.

NOM sought to make the election a referendum about marriage equality, a strategy which may have backfired on the group.

It's too early to tell why Golding lost - even though Mathis was leading in the polls - but when it's all said and done, this election was probably decided by a mysterious robocall which all but sank Golding's chances:



No one knows who the group is behind the robocall but at press time, NOM is already whining about the call being a dirty trick which served to undermine Golding.

Had Golding won, state Republicans would have had enough votes to send a referendum on marriage equality to the voters.  In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court made a ruling which legalized gay marriage in the state.

This is an ongoing story and there will be more details in later posts.

Family Research Council pushes another flawed study against gay couples

One of the biggest lies pushed by the Family Research Council and other like-minded groups is that gays and lesbians are too promiscuous to worry about settling down and getting married.

FRC in particular pushes this lie through inaccurate studies, such as the one the group cited today via an email:

"Rights and benefits" are exactly what homosexual activists are aggressively pursuing in the courts. In addition, empirical evidence shows that homosexuals are less likely to commit to a partner, remain sexually faithful, or remain committed for a lifetime than heterosexuals.

It used to be that when FRC talked about "empirical evidence"  and provided links to this evidence, alarms would sound off in my head.

Now, however, the alarms have been replaced with a type of mental salivation which comes with knowing that I am going to be able to produce another blog post which demonstrates yet again how FRC lies about the gay community.

Today is no different. You see the "empirical evidence" which FRC links to a proof of so-called gay promiscuity is a study it published a while back, Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples.

Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples is so bad, so flawed that one wonders just what was FRC thinking in citing it. For one, the study is irrelevant because at the time it was published, gay and lesbian couples could not marry in the United States.

And that's just one of the myriad of errors.

The others include:

- A citation of the book Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women by Alan Bell and Martin Weinberg as a correct generalization of lgbt sexual habits despite the fact that it was written in 1978 and was not meant by the authors to be a correct assessment of the lgbt community in general.

A passage from Homosexualities clearly says:

“. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator will ever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”

- A citation of the book The Male Couple: How Relationships Develop by David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison despite the fact that the book was written 1984 and was not meant to be a correct assessment of the lgbt community in general.

'O'Donnell calls out Family Research Council for hypocrisy' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC, who once used an article I wrote in the Huffington Post to rip apart right-wing phony historian David Barton, is at it again as he absolutely destroys the Family Research Council for its hypocrisy in giving Rep. Joe Walsh a "pro-family" award even though he allegedly owes over $100,000 in child support:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And in other news:

NOM Bullies Corporations Into Hiring And Protecting Anti-Gay Demonizers - I personally think NOM is full of it here but this story isn't dead yet.

Update - Discrimination Inc. takes stock of corporate practices; sells cheaply - Jeremy Hooper breaks it down rather nicely.

Minnesota Poll: Marriage amendment divide is deep - And we haven't even started having fun about the issue YET.

Golding/Mathis race gets even more homo-hostile - Cause it's all about the gay sex.

Judge: Prop. 8 donors have no right to anonymity - A written opinion to accompany last month's ruling and it ain't pretty for the pro-Prop 8 side.

Has NOM's leaders gone AWOL in the public arena?

Is it just me or have the spokespersons and leaders of the National Organization for Marriage decided to go into hiding?

NOM's president Brian Brown has gone AWOL when it comes to public speaking. Not that he was a good one in the first place. As seen on one of his last appearances - on Fox News believe it or not - talking points uttered in a robotic tone doesn't exactly endear you to the audience.

But it's not only Brown who has embraced silence. We have yet to hear the organization's new chairman, John Eastman, on any type of news program.

It's a far cry from when Maggie Gallagher was chairwoman. The gay community couldn't get past a day without seeing her or hearing her comments on various programs, reciting the same lies about "being falsely labeled as a bigot" and how "marriage is the joining of two halves."

But now that Gallagher is no longer chairwoman,  NOM seems to have taken a shadowy pose.

Granted, the organization is still a force, but its allowing its money to do the job by pumping obscene amounts into statewide campaigns.

But generally NOM seems to have abandoned the idea of even trying to maintain a public image.

And I think it's because the folks behind NOM figure that the organization has enough money and influence not to maintain the game played by other organizations such as the Family Research Council or the American Family Association.

Or it could be that the organization realized that very few are buying what it was selling. It's hard to maintain an image of a morality group when you constantly having to fight laws regarding the disclosure of your donors.

Also, let's face facts regarding Maggie Gallagher. She - and Brown for that matter - were not good spokespeople. While Brown seemed to be badly repeating dictated talking points, Gallagher was a slow but constant disaster.

She had an awful television presence in that she was combative and evasive. She did well in front of audiences who agreed with her opinions regarding marriage, but on televised debates when faced with someone from the Human Rights Campaign or any other lgbtq group, Gallagher came across as phony. She tended to talk over folks, shout a bit, and if all else failed, pretended to be personally offended when someone actually called her out on her lies.

NOM's success is all about the money. The gay community knows this and so does NOM's people.


But what the gay community already knows  - and what NOM's people will soon find out - is that money can only get you so far when you aren't playing truthfully.

A reminder - Why NOM keeps losing in the courts

Jennifer Roback Morse

From my online blogging buddy Jeremy Hooper comes the following comments by Jennifer Roback Morse of the National Organization for Marriage's Ruth Institute on why folks on her side of the spectrum win at the ballot box but lose in the court when it comes to marriage equality:

"If you look at elections, we're winning the war on marriage. No doubt about it. We're winning the war at the ballot box. Anytime marriage goes up on a straight up-or-down vote, it wins.

Where we keep losing is in the courts, and the reason has to do with the way the elites of our society view marriage. The people who go to the top law schools, who teach at the top universities, the advertising departments of many of the major corporations – those people have already decided that marriage has nothing particularly to do with children and is really just about how adults feel with one another … and if that's all that marriage is, well, then, of course two same-sex people should be allowed to get married.

Of course Ms. Morse is full of it. The reason why NOM wins at the ballot box is because, as Equality Matters puts it, an explosion of  inaccurate information backed by lots and lots of money:

 . . . these referendums very rarely end up actually reflecting the will of the voters.

Instead, they tend to be co-opted by well-financed special interest groups like NOM that flood voters with misleading and outright false information in order to inflate public opinion against minority groups (in this case, the LGBT community). As law professor Paula Abrams wrote in 2008:

One can readily conclude that lawmaking by initiative, the manifestation of unchecked majority will, carries a high risk of producing bad laws. The “bad law” risk posed by the initiative is not simply that of generic poor policy. The absence of the deliberative process can leave the voters with profoundly inaccurate information. False information may be an unintended byproduct of the public campaign, or it may be deliberately disseminated for political advantage. Deliberate dissemination of false information can be a particularly potent and harmful strategy to agitate the majority against minority groups. Immune from legislative or executive review, initiative campaigns may rely on appeals to voter prejudice. [Oregon Law Review, Vol. 87, 1025, emphasis added, 2008]

By false information, Abrams means things like the following:

Now the reason why NOM - and other groups like it - have lost in the courts has less to do with some garbage about elites, but rather a simple thing called truth, or as lawyer David Boies told Family Research Council head Tony Perkins in a now famous scolding on CBS's Face The Nation last year:

"In a court of law you've got to come in and you've got to support those opinions, you've got to stand up under oath and cross-examination," Boies said. "And what we saw at trial is that it's very easy for the people who want to deprive gay and lesbian citizens of the right to vote [sic] to make all sorts of statements and campaign literature, or in debates where they can't be cross-examined.

"But when they come into court and they have to support those opinions and they have to defend those opinions under oath and cross-examination, those opinions just melt away. And that's what happened here. There simply wasn't any evidence, there weren't any of those studies. There weren't any empirical studies. That's just made up. That's junk science. It's easy to say that on television. But a witness stand is a lonely place to lie. And when you come into court you can't do that.

"That's what we proved: We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost," Boies said. 

In other words, NOM and its allies keep losing in the courts because the facts simply aren't on their side. Truth isn't on their side.

And all of the money in the world or spin by folks like Morse can ever change that.

'More lies about gays, pedophilia, and AIDS' & other Monday midday news briefs

Flier In Virginia State Senate Race Accuses Gays Of Molesting Children, Spreading AIDS - The "good lies" never die.

FRC endorses Cindy Golding; Married gay Iowans brace for more dead Osama comparisons - Oh joy! Rapture!

Parker expected to win re-election in Houston - And I hear that some folks are all broken up about it. Good.

The unholy trio of anti-LGBT groups pushing NC marriage amendment - It gives new meaning to the term "axis of evil"

Activist - Lesbian couple, students to blame for threats to school

A lesbian couple wins homecoming king and queen at a high school and are subjected to nasty threats.

Who do you blame?

Why the students for electing the couple of course. That is if you are the American Family Association's phony news service One News Now and right-wing activist Barbara Decker:

When students at Patrick Henry High School selected a lesbian couple as the homecoming king and queen, it sparked an outpouring of e-mails and phone calls from the community. But San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bob Kowba issued a statement to congratulate the two, and he criticizes those who argue the nomination of Rebecca Arellano and Haileigh Adams to the homecoming court, calling the concerned individuals "adult bullies" and saying they are demonstrating "a lack of tolerance and are presenting such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments."

"I'm stunned that the schools are even allowing this," says Barbara Decker of Eagle Forum San Diego. "If we don't set a benchmark of what is supposed to be a male and a female, what's going to happen to the family?"

She argues that school officials acted irresponsibly in allowing children to nominate a lesbian couple.

"If you let the children run the house, then the children aren't going to make the correct decisions," Decker contends. "They need to have the role model of the parents, and the firmness of the parents, and the guidelines of the parents and the schools."

It's fascinating that Decker did not say a word of condemnation about the emails and letters, even though some of those comments were threats - a fact which Becky Yeh (the person who wrote the One News Now article) also conveniently omitted.

Conveniently, but probably not accidentally.

The irony is that while this week One News Now runs articles attacking students' right to pick the homecoming candidate in a fair election, last week the phony news service ran an article defending a teacher (Viki Knox) who verbally attacked a pro-gay display at her school.

So apparently when you called homosexuality a "cancer" even when pertaining to your job, it's free speech and expression. But when students pick a homecoming candidate of their choice and that candidate happens to be a lesbian, it's time to "reign  in" free speech and expression.

Give One News Now credit for something - its homophobia is consistent.

Kim Kardashian is not the real enemy of marriage equality

A lot has been said about Kim Kardashian's 72 day wedding and how it refutes any notion that allowing gays to marry is a danger to the institution of marriage.

A lot does need to be said. But what doesn't need to happen is that folks mistake Kardashian for a real enemy of marriage equality.

She is merely a prop in this case - proof that if the institution of marriage is truly in danger, the danger certainly isn't coming from allowing two gays and lesbians to marry.

Let's not forget that Kardashian isn't the one who has been leading a misleading fight against marriage equality complete with lies, deception, and horror stories about gays "corrupting children."

That would be the National Organization for Marriage.

And Kardashian isn't the one who said that they would die while fighting marriage equality.

That would wannabe presidential nominee Rick Santorum.

So with apologies to BuzzFeed which recently came out with an excellent piece entitled 20 Couples That Put Kim Kardashian's Marriage To Shame, I want to re-title the piece 20 Couples Who The Right Claim Want To Destroy Marriage.

Here are just a few of these supposed marriage destroyers:

Chris Williams and Juan McCoy have been together for 13 years and are from Maryland. They met at work and still work together and their relationship is as strong as ever. Juan says of Chris, “He brings balance to my life. Whenever I'm agitated he always calms me down. I think I balance him out too.” Recalling Chris' recent birthday, Juan adds, “I love him beyond what I can actually express. We're whole separately, but we're something even better when we're together.”

Ed Watson is 78 years old and has Alzheimer's. He's worried that by the time the court finally rules on Prop 8, he won't be able to recognize Derence, his partner of over 40 years.

Erica and Tevonda have been together for over 4 years. They're raising their 3-month old son, Teverico, in North Plainfield, NJ and were forced to get a second-parent adoption to ensure legal protection of their son because of civil unions' unequal status.

Johanna Bender and Sherri Kokx of Seattle have been together for nine years and are the parents of five-year-old Zachary and one-year-old Quintin. Johanna is a middle school science teacher and Sherri is an attorney. 

Lee & Bert have been together for over 25 years. They live in Illinois. Recently, Bert had a heart attack and Lee and wasn't allowed in the emergency room because they weren't married. Lee had to tell the nurse his marital status was single even though he had been with his partner for 25 years.


So while we point out the irony behind Kardashian's marriage, let's not forget to devote more effort to pointing out and refuting the real enemies of marriage equality. If not for ourselves, but these couples who deserve the right to marry just like heterosexuals have.

Related post:

Marriage Equality - Simple answers to NOM's complicated lies

Walsh responds to receiving 'pro-family' award, doesn't talk about owed child support

By now, we all know the last mess coming from the Family Research Council - how the organization awarded Congressman Joe Walsh an award for supposedly fighting for "family values" even though Walsh owes over $100,000 in child support.

Of course the ugly irony is that earlier this week, FRC publicly prayed that God would keep gays from adopting children. So apparently being gay father or a lesbian mother is a bad thing, but not paying your child support is a virtue.

But what gets me is Walsh's response in receiving the award:

“I am proud and honored to be recognized by the Family Research Council as the only member from Illinois with a 100 percent pro-family voting record,” he said in a press release. “Defending American values have always been one of my top priorities, and this reward reaffirms my dedication to that fight.”

Yes, I know. Apparently paying for your children's care isn't an American value in Walsh's book. Now allow me to tell you what will probably happen next.

The Family Research Council will either ignore this incredible faux pas on its part or respond much later after formulating some type of battle plan to explain away what it did.

Count on this battle plan to include one-sided articles in phony "pro-family" publications such as the American Family Association's One News Now and appearances on "friendly" areas such as Fox News.

But above all, this battle plan will not include anything remotely looking like an apology or any type of acknowledgement that the organization goofed.

After all, the Family Research Council works for Jesus. And those who work for Jesus never makes goofs.

Know Your LGBT History - The Best Way To Walk

The Best Way to Walk (1976) or La Meilleure Façon de Marcher, as it is known in France is a motion picture which is screaming for an American remake.

It's a complex story about closets, intimidation, and possible secret wanting.

Patrick Bouchitey portrays a summer camp counselor who is caught one night by another counselor (my dreamboat, Patrick Dewaere) wearing make up and in drag.

Dewaere does not tell the other counselors but for some reason - which is not known to the viewer, but we can guess - decides to subtlely humiliate Bouchitey on several occasions via anti-gay jokes, intimidating actions, and even flashing himself (in a very, very open scene involving frontal male nudity) in front of Boutchitey.

Finally, at the end of the movie, Bouchitey decides to turn the tables on Dewaere during a costume ball.

While a very vanguard movie for its time, The Best Way To Walk, was also very guarded. At no time do either of the characters say that they are gay. But there is an underlying tension that is just fascinating. Dewaere - whom I was very upset to learn committed suicide decades before I discovered him - gives a performance which should be watched, memorized, and copied by any actors. Especially the full frontal scene.



Past Know Your LGBT Posts: .

'Family Research Council gives 'pro-family' honor to deadbeat dad' and other Friday midday news briefs

Anyone who thinks that the Family Research Council is either a Christian or "pro-family" group obviously has not done their homework on the group.

The group just anointed Congressman Joe Walsh as a pro-family leader in spite of the fact that he allegedly owes over $100,000 in child support:

“Congressman Walsh and other ‘True Blue Members’ have voted to repeal Obamacare, de-fund Planned Parenthood, end government funding for abortion within the health care law, uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, and continue support for school choice. I applaud their commitment to uphold the institutions of marriage and family.”

At the same time, FRC has been saying ugly things to say about the following same-sex wedding officiated by Conan O'Brien on his show:



And the biggest irony? The praise of Walsh comes days after FRC publicly prayed that God stop gays from adopting children.

Pro-family? My tuckus! Christian? Forget about it!

In other news:

Senate panel advances gay judicial nominee - Excellent news!

Transgender, victimized and black - An issue which deserves a lot of attention.

You can't shake a marriage amendment without hitting an 'ex-gay' advocate (NC edition)- And speaking of FRC, resident junk scientist and spokesperson Peter Sprigg is attending a huge convention of the anti-gay group NARTH. That's the live bunch in which George Rekers used to be a member. I told him not to allow Rekers to lift his luggage should HE show up.

Family Research Council has a quiz for you

Information is from Family Research Council's team of "Capitol Hill experts" 

1. Due to religious exemptions, same-sex “marriage” would not harm the rights of parents, schools, churches, or religious ministries.

2. Science indicates that homosexuality is likely inborn and unchangeable.

3. Homosexual activists have grossly overstated the number of homosexuals in the population as being 10%, when surveys actually show it is only half that number, at about 5%!

4. Members of Congress from both parties support a pro-homosexual law that could force Christians to remove family photos from their workplace.

5. The proposed federal ENDA law would force all employers to hire transsexuals, cross-dressers, and “drag queens” and “drag kings” for any job—including customer service jobs and ones with children, such as teachers and day care workers.

Now if you really loved that quiz, you can send for a copy of the Family Research Council's ridiculously inaccurate booklet, The Top Ten Harms of Same-Sex Marriage.
Written by FRC spokesman and resident junk science specialist Peter Sprigg, this booklet containing the following errors:

1. distorts the work of Harvard professor Dr. Kyle Pruett and Judith Stacey. Both have complained on more than one occasion about how folks like Sprigg distort their work.

2. In page 10 and 11 of the pamphlet, Sprigg cites a study done by Maria Xiridou as proof that marriage will not stop alleged promiscuity amongst gay couples.

However, none of the couples in Xiridou's study were married. Her study did not look at gay marriage but was designed to "access the relative contribution of steady and casual partnerships to the incidence of HIV infection among homosexual men in Amsterdam and to determine the effect of increasing sexually risky behaviours among both types of partnerships in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy."
 
For this study, Dr. Xiridou received her information from the Amsterdam Cohort Study of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and AIDS Among Homosexual Men. To gain this information, researchers studied 1,800 gay men between the years of 1984- 2000.

Same sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands in 2001, thus making the information irrelevant to points about gay marriage. Information for the Amsterdam Cohort Study is found here.

Furthermore, lesbians were not included in the study

3. Sprigg recounts the story of Massachusetts parent David Parker who was arrested for trespassing for not leaving his son's school after a meeting with school officials. Parker claimed that the school would not "allow him to opt his child out of discussions about homosexuality."  Supposedly the school was breaking state law that said parents have a right to opt out their child when it comes to discussions of human sexuality.

Of course Sprigg inaccurately condensed the story. The school had already assured Parker that discussions of human sexuality were not a part of his child's curriculum, but - and they checked with district policy on this - discussions about differing families was not a human sexuality issue AND  since several students in the school came from same sex households, they couldn't control these students talking amongst themselves about their families.

Sprigg also omitted the fact that the entire Parker controversy was conjured up by Parker and a Massachusetts anti-gay group Mass Resistance, i.e. Parker's goal was to be arrested in order to create  controversy.

By the way, Mass Resistance is also designated as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I'm sure Sprigg and FRC are aware of these errors, but what's a few distortions when you are fighting in God's name?

Lesbian couple humiliated at the Florida DMV

The religious right would have us to jump through hoops just to get simple validation of our relationships. As this story proves, those hoops don't mean a thing:

'This just in - Satan did not create gays' and other Thursday midday news briefs

House GOP Continues To Misuse Research Of Pro-Gay Rights Psychologist To Argue That Gay Is A Choice - Apparently Republicans are learning from folks in the religious right. Who cares if a researcher complains. Distort the research anyway.

Senate passes ‘license to bully’ legislation - You smell the religious right's smelly hand in this travesty, you would be right. Ain't that so, Gary Glenn?

BREAKING: Bishops’ “Marriage Guy” Retracts Statement That Homosexuality Comes From Satan - Well that's a relief, I guess.

Minnesota For Marriage solicits votes with tantalizing gift card offer - Now I've heard of everything!

NOM hires controversial attorney to fight disclosure laws

Cleta Mitchell

The following just came in from the Minnesota Independent:

The National Organization for Marriage has tapped tea party attorney Cleta Mitchell as the organization’s Minnesota lobbyist during the state’s contentious 2012 battle over a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Mitchell’s expertise is in campaign finance law and Minnesota for Marriage—of which NOM is a member—has already announced plans to challenge Minnesota’s finance law surrounding ballot initiatives.

Mitchell registered as a lobbyist with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board last Wednesday, according to board records. She’s the only lobbyist that NOM has currently registered in Minnesota, although NOM President Brian Brown was registered for a month earlier this year.

Mitchell is a rising star in conservative politics, mainly for her efforts in opposing campaign finance laws and helping candidates and groups exploit loopholes in existing laws. She’s represented a slew of tea party candidates including Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O’Donnell in Delaware, Joe Miller in Alaska, Sen. Jim DeMint in South Carolina, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio in Florida and Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire.

However, even with all of that expertise, Mitchell is repeating the same claptrap which NOM unsuccessfully repeated in California and Washington State:

Mitchell was the author of a letter to the campaign finance board in protest of the state’s disclosure guidelines. In it, she reiterated the complaints offered by NOM, claiming that members of the LGBT community will attack donors if they’re publicly disclosed.

“The board’s sudden attempt to change the law in order to subject the source(s) of NOM funds used to support the Marriage Referendum puts a bullseye squarely on the forehead of every NOM donor, supporter and member if disclosed and any alleged ‘informational interest’ is purely artificial,” wrote Mitchell. “In sum, this newly concocted disclosure and regulatory scheme is unlawful, is not constitutionally sound, threatens NOM members, donors and supporters with personal injury and harm and the Board should cease immediately its efforts to rewrite Minnesota law to achieve this unlawful purpose.”

NOM continues to lose court cases because the organization has yet to show proof of these threats. And no matter how well-connected Mitchell is, she can't make the proof appear out of thin air.

Speaking of which, Mitchell's appearance is yet another reason for NOM's finances to be disclosed. High-powered attorneys never come cheap.

Also, according to a webpage of an NRA (National Rifle Assocation ) watchdog group, Mitchell's past actions will ensure that she fits in well with NOM:

Mitchell led opposition to a decision by the American Conservative Union (ACU) to allow GOProud, a gay conservative group, to participate in the 2011 CPAC conference. GOProud Board Chairman Chris Barron called Mitchell a “nasty bigot” in response to her efforts to shut out his organization.

Mitchell served as an “attack attorney” for many Tea Party Congressional candidates during the 2010 elections, including Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell and Joe Miller. She has suggested that the Democratic Party’s “tricks” include widespread engagement in voter fraud. Mitchell famously wrote a fundraising letter on behalf of Angle where she accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of attempting to steal the election. Mitchell also accused the Democratic party of stealing the 2002 South Dakota senate election, where Senator Tim Johnson was victorious over Senator John Thune. Both Angle and Miller have been involved in high-profile controversies surrounding guns and the Second Amendment.

In 2009, Mitchell spearheaded an initiative to overturn the legalization of gay marriage in the District of Columbia.

Mitchell served as the attorney for the American Issues Project, a group that ran a television ad falsely accusing President Barack Obama of having a close personal relationship with former-Weather Underground member Bill Ayers in the months prior to the 2008 presidential election. Because AIP’s tax-exempt status makes it illegal for the organization to have a mission that is primarily political, the legality of the ad was questioned by elections experts. Laura MacCleery, Deputy Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, called the ad a “clear abuse of federal election law.” Fox News declined to air the spot.

In May 2005, Mitchell served as the Master of Ceremonies at an ACU event honoring U.S. Representative Tom Delay (R-TX), who was embroiled in ethics investigations (and has since been convicted of money laundering). After telling those in attendance that she and other conservatives “love” DeLay, Mitchell claimed he was under investigation only because he is “effective.” She also declared, “The tribute is a statement to him: You're not alone. We'll stand by you. And it's to say to people in this town: If you pick a fight with him, you've got us to contend with.”

Family Research Council wants God to stop gay adoptions

Over the years, I have blogged about many several nasty, underhanded, and mean-spirited things done by the Family Research Council in the name of God.

But the following prayer by the group simply has to take the proverbial cake:

Homosexual Adoption -- Building upon Congress' passage of a pro-homosexual federal hate crimes law, the overturn of the law against homosexuality in the military, and the legalization of homosexual marriage in her home state, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has introduced the Every Child Deserves A Family Act. The Act would end all federal funding for adoption agencies that refuse to place children in LGBT "families." It will punish public and private agencies that act on their view that traditionally married couples are the best candidates to adopt. It will trounce on adoption agencies in the 31 states that have passed marriage amendments. It will put some Christian groups that take federal funds out of business altogether. Moreover, it will subject foster and adoptive children to the homosexual indoctrination and behavior of LGBT "parents"

• May God intervene and stir Americans to resist and stop this effort to advance the radical homosexual agenda and literally to possess our nation's children. May God open our eyes! (Gen 1:26-28; 2:21-24; Lev 18:22-30; Dt 26:7-8; Pr 28:4; Lk 17:1-2; Acts 5:29; Eph 5:31-6:4)

Bear in mind that FRC never even bothered to ask God that children in need of adoption be placed in good homes. The organization didn't even push the phony talking point of "all children need a mother and a father."

It's all about keeping children away from "The GAYS."

There is no other way to put it. That's some coldhearted shit.

And it underscores something vital which very few have ever mentioned. In all of the years in which FRC has attacked same-sex households or gay adoption, the organization has never pushed, suggested, or even slightly initiated any type of  plan encouraging folks in what it claims to be "perfect family units," i.e. heterosexual mother/father households into adopting children.

Again, it's all about keeping children away from "The GAYS."

To FRC, it's all about "The GAYS."  Children are merely collateral damage in its attempts to stamp out lgbtq equality.

And now through virtue of the organization's prayer, God has become collateral damage.

What do you all think? Should this be considered as the 17th reason why the Family Research Council is a hate group?

'NOM's latest victim is another fraud' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Archbishop Dolan Wields Victim Card: Church Should Not Be Criticized For Opposing LGBT Equality - The smallest violin in the world is playing for them.

NOM's latest 'Anti-Defamation' star: Previously Focus on the Family's star, for completely other 'issue' - NOM's latest "victim of the supposed gay menace" is a fraud. Surprise, surprise.

Dan Savage Gets Glitterbombed By Trans Activist During MTV Taping - Sorry but this glittering thing has become stupid. Has become? It was dumb from the beginning. It devotes lots of undeserved attention to frivolous shit. Furthermore it trivializes the lgbtq equality movement as a bunch of kooks doing anything to gain attention.
  
Stop SB 48 campaign: “We’re working on an initiative” - For Pete's sake, guys . . .

CWA: Same-Sex Parents Use Children As "Guinea Pigs" - As offensive as it is, I think it's good when the anti-gay industry shows its animus for same-sex families. Such hatred cannot be hidden behind the guise of "upholding Christian principles."

I get VERY frustrated with the gay community - Apparently the rant I wrote this morning has attained a degree of popularity. Because of such, I am running it again.