'Michigan's 'expert witness' against marriage equality says gays are going to hell' and other Friday midday news briefs.

Gay People Are Going To Hell, Says Expert Witness In Michigan Gay Marriage Trial - Michigan's attempt to defend its law against marriage equality and second parent adoption is a black comedy of errors. It's first "expert witness" is barred from testifying by the judge because he wasn't that much of an expert. It's second "expert witness" is lambasted by his own university and the media for his discredited study while he was testifying about how said study proves same-sex parenting harms children. And now this. THIS "expert witness" said that lgbts are going to hell. Then he claimed that he wasn't biased. 

Liberty Counsel/Liberty University's Matt Barber has gay sex on the mind (again. typically. oddly.) - Matt Barber is talking about "gay sex" again, y'all. I say the next time he does it, we present him with an award. 

 Oliver North: GOP Must Oppose Marriage Equality Like It Fought Slavery - This is Oliver North. Lawbreaker in the Iran-Contra scandal. Passing negative judgement on marriage equality and talking about morality. DAMN!!  

Democrats Demand Administration Act On LGBT Workers’ Rights - Love me some President Obama but even he needs some pointing to the right direction.

 U.S. Evangelicals Forced On The Defensive Following Uganda's Anti-Gay Laws - They had better be.

NOM looks downright pitiful during conservative conference CPAC

This weekend, conservatives will be gathering for CPAC, or the Conservative Political Action Conference. It's a time where they all get together to make outrageous statements and talk about how Obama is the devil and lgbts are his handmaidens. Oh they also make some ridiculous comments about "American Exceptionalism" and how conservatism is the supposedly the "way, truth, and the light."

It's a bunch of nonsense, but you would think that at such a conference, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) would be popular. Guess again:

Sad anti-marriage equality booth at #CPA2014. Only reporters have stopped by in past 10 mins. pic.twitter.com/HAcG4q3hAe
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 6, 2014

Prepare to lose THIS battle, Bryan Fischer

Poor Bryan Fischer. The lgbt community is obviously driving him insane. He tries to sound like General George Patton rallying the troops here but he comes across as a crazy old man who really needs to either stop obsessing so much about lgbts or address desires he has possibly deep inside his psyche (Editor's note - I'm not implying that Fischer is gay, but if he was, his case would be the only time I would support reparative therapy.)

'Fox News personality tries to connect drag show to military sexual assaults' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Laura Ingraham Wonders If Drag Show Is Linked To Military Sexual Assault - Uh no. Of course she offers no proof but since when does a Fox News pundit offer any proof or rational arguments? 

Inspired By Debate Over Anti-LGBT Bill, Arizona State Senator Comes Out As Gay - This is pretty cool. An act of homophobia creates a new hero
.

Gene Therapy Seems Safe, May Help Control HIV - It's too early but a good sign. 

 Poll Tracks Dramatic Rise In Support for Gay Marriage - Just in case you haven't heard . . .  

Ugandan Lesbian Evicted, Landlord Cites 'Jail the Gays' Law - This is what anti-gay groups want for us in this country.

All of the 'evil and dirty' things that the gays do

Phil Burress

Yesterday, courtesy of People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, I read Ohio anti-gay activist Phil Burress make a claim that gay men have "as many as 200 sex partners."

A day later, Burress' outrageous claim continues to haunt me not only for its inanity but because it brings to focus something which has been dwelling in my mind for a long time in little bits and pieces.

I've read and heard so accusations against the lgbt community by the religious right that I've now come to the conclusion that these folks are just sloppy with what they say. Seriously, it's as if they don't care that eventually, someone will demonstrate just how incoherent their claims are.

So with that in mind, bear with me here. The following are the claims made about the lgbt community over the years by religious right and anti-gay activists:

Gays are sick people:

 Their [gay] minds are perverted, they’re frankly sick people psychologically, mentally, and emotionally.” – Bishop EW Jackson 

 Yet almost all gays make lots of money:

 “You know, I saw yesterday how much -- how much money the homosexual community has. I mean, good gracious, the average homosexual makes four times more than I do . . . I mean, they're not -- these people are not in poverty or hurting or denied or anything else.” – Donald Wildmon, American Family Association 

Gays are only a small part of the population: 

“Relying on three large data sets: the General Social Survey, the National Health and Social Life Survey, and the U.S. census, a recent study in Demography estimates the number of exclusive male homosexuals in the general population at 2.5 percent and exclusive lesbians at 1.4 percent.” – Family Research Council in its inaccurate brief “Homosexuality and Child Abuse” 

 Yet gays “control” the culture: 

“Homosexual activists in many ways, drive our culture, they decide what’s going to be in a movie, we see all the portrayals, homosexuals are the most positively portrayed in the movies and on television.” – Peter LaBarbera, Americans for Truth 

 Gays “bully” all of those who oppose them: 

“Instead, what we have is the gay Gestapo who go out and try to intimidate morally, economically, professionally, and personally anyone who speaks out against the homosexual agenda.” – Jeffrey Kuhner, The Washington Times 

Gays “Recruit” children:

 “. . . Folks who cannot reproduce want to recruit your children. What we are facing is a radical force of people who want to change what America looks for the next twenty years . . .” – Bishop Harry Jackson 

And are plotting to either destroy or change America and “silence” Christians:

 “Those special gay rights would require Christians not to speak against –would require us Christians not to speak against homosexual rights . . . because if we did, we could be charged with bullying or censored for it.” – Buster Wilson, American Family Association 

“Through a carefully crafted, decades-old propaganda campaign, homosexuals have successful cast homosexuals - many of whom enjoy positions of influence and affluence - as a disadvantage minority” – Matt Barber, Unmasking the “Gay” Agenda 

And while generating all of this mayhem, gays still manage to find time to have all sorts of mind-boggling wild sex with multiple partners:

“One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population.” – Matt Barber, The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values, December 12, 2004 

“Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?“ – a question on Dr. James Dobson's web page. Dobson is the former head of Focus on the Family.

Allow me to surmise.  According to the religious right, the lgbt community is comprised of sad and sick individuals who make a lot of money, who are only a very small of the population but yet control the culture, bully those who oppose us, recruit children, and work to silence Christians and alter America while finding the time to have lots and lots and lots of sex.

Wow! How do we find time to do all of that? How do we find time to be all of that? But what boggles my mind even more is the claim by Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel that we have been engaging in a "propaganda campaign" for decades. Barber is neither the first nor the only anti-gay activist claiming that the lgbt community has been engaging in a long-term Machiavellian plan to control America and supposedly cast ourselves as victims.

How come this is the first time I've heard of such a plan?

Seriously, who's in charge of this thing? Is it the Gay Mafia or, as some anti-gay activists call us, "Big Gay?" How do I become a member? And if I do, can I be given a super cool alter-ego.

No joke. I've always imagined myself as sort of a James Bond villain with a alter-ego name like "Coochie Everlasting" or "Baron von Superbitch." I can just see myself leading an army of killer drag queens who wear razor blade studded wigs like actress Pam Grier wore in Coffy. Or better yet, they can convert their stiletto heels into miniature machines guns and shoot heat seeking missiles from their false brassieres.

It could totally work.

In all seriousness, while it is fun to laugh at the ridiculous lies anti-gay activists say about us, let's not forget that  there are people who take these claims as fact. And unfortunately, as we have seen in places like Russia and Uganda, these people generally act upon that ignorance.

So let's not spend so much time laughing that we forget to call out anti-gay propaganda  for the lies that they are.

Editor's note - My list of anti-gay comments is a semi-brief rehashing from a larger list in How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America.

'Drag show, gays blamed for Putin's invasion of Ukraine' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

AFA's McCullough: Putin Invaded Crimea As A Result Of Military Drag Show, US 'Sissification' - We've been blamed for floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and 9/11. Is it any surprise that we are invaded for this? 

Anti-gay pastor makes false claim about GLAAD's CAP - Those defending Michigan's law against marriage equality is having a seriously rough time at it. First their "expert witness" is totally humiliated and now their "religious leader" is totally dogged online. Guys, you don't tangle with my friend Jeremy Hooper without back up and even then you are still outgunned.

The Washington Times Is Concerned About The "Sexual Proclivities" Of Wedding Cakes - Because apparently the first thing on our minds when getting married is getting folks to create obscene wedding cakes.

Illinois Attorney General: Marriage Equality Can Begin In All Counties - Well it's about time. 

Editor's note - This evening, if all goes well, I am going to be posting a very interesting but logical piece tentatively called All of the 'evil and dirty' things that the gays do.   Look for it. You will enjoy it.

I almost feel sorry for discredited professor Mark Regnerus. Almost but not quite

Regnerus

To say that things don't look good for discredited University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus would be an understatement. Apparently the paradox of  your own university denouncing your work while at the same time you are testifying in a trial as an "expert witness" seems to be an angle which has the media humming.

That's all folks have been talking about and no doubt attorneys for the state of Michigan - who called Regnerus to testify in defense of  the state ban on marriage equality and second parent adoption - cannot be pleased.

The press coverage has been more ugly than those pictures of celebrities without their make up. And naturally because I don't like the machinations of anti-gay groups or their supporters, allow me to feature snippets from two of the most brutal articles.

The first is from Brad Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press. The headline, Defense of Michigan's same-sex marriage ban rests on scholar scorned by peers, should give one an indication of the article's direction:

Academics have been running from Regnerus since 2012, when he reported that a broad-based population survey he had conducted at the behest of the conservative Witherspoon Institute supported the institute’s contention that children are more successful when they grow up “with their married mother and father.”

Opponents of same-sex marriage immediately began citing Regnerus’ study as scientific proof that laws banning such unions were justified by concern for the welfare of children raised in same-sex households.

But fellow academics have taken issue with everything from the origins of Regnerus’ study (two conservative groups that oppose gay marriage paid the associate professor $785,000 to commission it) to his population sample (which was limited to children born long before same-sex marriages became legal anywhere in the U.S.).

The most damning criticism centers on Regnerus’ admission that he deliberately structured his study to compare children whose parents had a same-sex relationship with those who grew up in opposite-sex households undisturbed by separation or divorce.

Discredited researcher Mark Regnerus has rough cross-examination

Regnerus

Today, University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus was crossed examined by the lawyers seeking to overturn Michigan's law against marriage equality and second-parent adoption.

Regnerus is the author of the discredited study which claimed that same-sex parenting harms children.  Even though the study has been denounced by several sources, including Regnerus' own university, the state of Michigan called him as an expert witness.

Yesterday, he was questioned by the lawyers for the state of Michigan. If you ask me, I think he burned himself big time:

 The Human Rights Campaign linked to tweets by Tresa Baldas, a staff writer for the Detroit Free Press, who noted that Regnerus admitted that he is “not a fan” of same-sex marriage and that adoption and foster-parenting are “not the ideal” and that he is “not a fan” of in vitro fertilization because in his view, it “reduces kinship.” Baldas also tweeted that Regnerus denied creating the study to derail same-sex marriage but said that a group that funded it wanted to use it before the Supreme Court.

For now, there isn't a lot of information about how he did in today's cross examination from the media because much of the attention seems to be focused on the paradox of a professor's own university AND his own department in the university - sociology - denouncing his research.

 However, if the following tweets hold true, it can be assumed that Regnerus had a rough time at it.

'Fox News personality - lgbts are 'sore winners'' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

George Will, Fox News Contributor, Claims LGBT People Are 'Sore Winners' - I've read this article twice and I STILL don't know what this man is talking about.

Mark Regnerus, Disputed Gay Parenting Study Author, Testifies On Same-Sex Marriage - Eh. I'm not impressed with his testimony. BUT he gets cross-examined today. Sock it to HIM! 

 Mark Regnerus’ Own Sociology Department Calls His Anti-Gay Conclusions ‘Fundamentally Flawed’ - Meanwhile . . .

 Pastor leading Michigan's anti-equality fight: Homosexuality is 'bondage' that 'leads to destruction and death' - And why do our opposition rely on discredited studies? Because I don't think stuff like this would fly in court.  

Washington Times Columnist: Liberals Using Michael Sam To Distract From Benghazi - Aw hell! Who told him? I swear some of us simply can't keep our mouths shut.

Anti-gay groups and their supporters have a disturbing history of distorting scientific research

Mark Regnerus

This so-called culture war over lgbt equality is so immersed in the religious angle and the "personal story" angle that there is scarcely attention paid to how anti-gay groups make attempts at either distorting scientific research or relying on junk science in order to denigrate the lgbt community.

An incident - reported last week by Science Insider and brought to my attention via Truth Wins Out - should give us an idea of how dangerous it is for the lgbt to not bring attention to this aspect:

On 24 February, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, signed a draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, after 2 months of declining to do so. Science, he says, changed his mind—in particular, the findings of a special scientific committee his Health Ministry had appointed earlier in the month. “Their unanimous conclusion was that homosexuality, contrary to my earlier thinking, was behavioural and not genetic,” Museveni wrote to President Barack Obama on 18 February, in response to Obama’s pleas that he not sign the bill. “It was learnt and could be unlearnt.”
But some scientists on the committee are crying foul, saying that Museveni and his ruling party—Uganda’s National Resistance Movement (NRM)—misrepresented their findings. “They misquoted our report,” says Paul Bangirana, a clinical psychologist at Makerere University in Kampala. “The report does not state anywhere that homosexuality is not genetic, and we did not say that it could be unlearnt.” Two other committee members have now resigned to protest the use of their report to justify the harsh legislation . . .

What seems like a deliberate attempt by Museveni to distort science in order to justify that awful bill puts him in a wide company of folks guilty of the same offense, i.e. distorting science to justify anti-gay persecution or stances against lgbt equality. For over two years, bloggers and activists in the lgbt community and the scientific community in general have been waging a war against a bogus study created by University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus.

'Judge refuses to allow marriage equality opponent to testify in Michigan case' and other Monday midday news briefs

Michigan's witness in gay-marriage trial barred - A short article details a huge embarrassment for those defending Michigan's ban on marriage equality. It's really their own fault though. The judge rules that a doctoral candidate isn't necessarily an expert witness yet and therefore cannot testify in support of the ban

Star Parker: Gays Forcing Christians 'Into The Closet' - Star Parker is the epitome of the perfect black conservative spokesperson. She leads an organization with probably herself as the only member and she doesn't do anything worthwhile but collect money and prestige for being the black face whenever conservatives and the religious right want to exploit the black community.

Watch This Fox News Host's Heartfelt Apology To The Intersex Community - Yes. Hell froze over. 

Here’s The Anti-Gay ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill Arizona Lawmakers Are Still Considering - It's really never over with these folks.

Liberty Counsel, Mission America among seven groups now designated by SPLC as anti-gay hate groups

This ugly tweet, no doubt, is probably one of the reasons the Liberty Counsel is now an SPLC-designated anti-gay hate group

The Southern Poverty Law Center has added seven more anti-gay organizations to its list of anti-gay hate groups.

No doubt the standard whine of these groups will be the same one offered up by the Family Research Council when SPLC named it as a hate group a while back, i.e. "we are being attacked because we don't believe in gay marriage, we are trying to preserve Christian morality, we are being silenced."

That whine was a lie then and is still a lie. SPLC makes it clear that religious beliefs are not a reason why they call out these groups:

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

So allow me - with the help of other sources such as Truth Wins Out, People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch and GLAAD's Commentator Accountability  Project - to list just a few reasons why some of these groups were named as anti-gay hate groups


Pacific Justice Institute - This CA organization is  by Brad Dacus. Dacus has:

 defended a pastor who said gay people are abmoinations who deserve to be stoned to death

claimed that by fighting for a marriage system that discriminates against same-sex couples, he is "fighting for the soul of Western civilization"

But I think the main thing which may have caught SPLC's attention was PJI's recent actions in a failed attempt to defeat a law which would protect transgender students. The organization  fabricated a story about a transgender teenager harassing other students; when story broke, Dacus accused those challenging his organization's version of events of "trying to supress the truth"  The student whom PJI attacked was put on suicide watch.

The Pray in Jesus Name Project  - This organization, as far as I am aware, is comprised of one person - Gordon Klingenschmitt.

Klingenschmitt has said that any judge ruling for marriage equality should be considered as a domestic enemy

He has also claimed that gay soldiers undermine the military because they have to stop in the middle of combat situations in order to change their diapers.

Klingenschmitt also said that people who are not going to heaven (i.e. lgbts) don't deserve equal protection under the law.

Mission America - another organization which is comprised of one person, Linda Harvey. Harvey is a former advertising executive who supposedly found religion.  The filth coming out of her mouth includes the following:

claimed that same-sex couples use their kids as "props": "The kids are essentially props to be trotted out, sadly, at events like "pride" parades"

claims that gay/straight alliances in schools promote diseases.

expressed support for the anti-gay laws in Russia

advised parents to not take their children to gay doctors

 Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). According to Truth Wins Out:

Both the World Congress of Families and C-Fam have been vocally supportive of Russia’s anti-gay laws, with the WCF expressing support in a press release not long after the Duma’s final vote on the “propaganda” law. The World Congress also held a roundtable in US House of Representatives office space recently in order to teach American “pro-family” activists how to export their hate around the world. Austin Ruse, president of C-Fam, expressed regret that the United States wouldn’t be able to start the sort of pogrom against LGBT people that Russia has, as he praised Russia in their efforts. It’s likely that the international activities of these groups contributed heavily to the SPLC’s decision to label them hate groups.

The Liberty Counsel - If one wanted to pinpoint a single reason why the Liberty Counsel is on this list, they could point to Matt Barber, a member of the organization who attacks the lgbt community with extreme animus while at the same time, blending his homophobia with "homilies" of his faith.  In the past, Barber:

has said that gay male relationships constitute "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love’”

said gay people "purchase kids" and treat them "like having little pets or something"

pushed idea that same-sex parenting is tantamout to child abuse

and is responsible for pushing that vile tweet posted at the top of this article; the tweet which implies that gays want to molest Boy Scouts.

All in all, these groups have earned their designation as anti-gay hate groups. But let's not mistake what needs to be done. Kudos should be given to the Southern Poverty Law Center for calling these organizations out and pinpointing their deceptions and hatred of the lgbt community.

Now it is the job of the lgbt community to raise hell about it. In other words, let's not waste time complaining about who didn't get the designation of being an official anti-gay hate groups. Let's use what we have been given to educate and to break the connection between religion and homophobia.

The two have no business being connected.
'

Know Your LGBT History - Olivia Newton John's 'Physical' video

The video for Olivia Newton John's smash hit 'Physical' was one of a kind and very daring in 1981 . Not only was it homoerotic but the ending highly controversial. According to Wikipedia:

MTV frequently cut the ending when it aired the video, and the sometimes sensuous nature of the video also led to it being banned outright by some broadcasters in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The controversy didn't hurt the song at all. It ended up as the number one song of the decade.

Some may view the ending as either insulting to gay men (the ending was played off like a big joke) or very misogynistic. Others may view it as empowering. But I think us gay men who were growing up as youngsters back then would agree on my last point.

We didn't give a flip.

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'White homosexual demons,' refuting religious liberty talking points' & other midday news briefs

This video just upsets me so. If President Obama is unleashing white gay men on black men then where the heck are mine!!?? Oh wait a minute, I'm one of the black gay men President Obama is unleashing on white men.  Wait a minute . . . maybe I shouldn't have told you that. Oh God. Michelle Obama is going to drop me in the piranha tank now.

 In other news: 

Dismantling The ‘Religious Liberty’ Talking Points Used To Justify Anti-LGBT Discrimination - Am loving this concise and to-the-point post by Zach Ford of Think Progress.

From "Subhuman Mongrel" To "Jim Crow" Laws: Conservatives Can't Stop Fighting Lost Cultural Battles - But don't dance yet. One trick ponies have a way of developing new tricks even if they are one at a time. 

United States, EU, Australian Diplomats Issue Joint Denunciation of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Law - Excellent!  

Lively: Gays To Fault For Modern Divorce Rate, Gay Marriage Will Lead to Legalized Pedophilia In Five Years - Scott Lively used to get me mad (what he helped to cause in Uganda and Russia still gets me mad), but now I figure if this man wants to dig his own hole, who am I to stop him. Hell, I will give him better tools.  

This Is What Discrimination Feels Like - The potential REAL victims who need protection, especially against these "religious liberty" laws.

Jon Stewart nails Fox News for hypocrisy over AZ's failed anti-gay segregation bill

Jon Stewart rightfully takes Fox News to task for its fear mongering regarding supposed attacks on religion and its 180 degree turn on the now failed Arizona anti-gay segregation bill which one could say partly resulted from that fear mongering

Comic gives stunning description of Scott Lively's full damage to Uganda's lgbt community

If you need a simplified way to explain the impact of Scott Lively's homophobia in Uganda as well as the case against him, then this comic  from  Andy Warner at the Center for Constitutional Rights explains it more than adequately. Below are just a few images:

I'm just blown away by it. To read the entire comic, go here.

'Scott Lively gets extremely morbid about stopping lgbt equality' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Lively: Anti-Gay 'Revolution' Needed To Stop Demonic 'Conspiracy' To 'Homosexualize The World' - Scott Lively is getting just a little bit morbid about the need to stop lgbt equality. Saying that anti-gay activists must be ready to “give up our lives if necessary" is a bit much. And it's gets really spooky when you realize that if some folks would be willing to die, others will take it to the other extreme and will be willing to kill if given the right encouragement. 

CNN hosts Peter Sprigg twice in as many hours - Unfortunately CNN demonstrates that anti-gay figures aren't challenged as they should be by the media about their anti-gay statements and slurs.

Watch Bill Donohue's Anti-Gay Demagoguery Fall Apart Under Scrutiny - However when the media does it's job, for one brief shining moment, it becomes Camelot. 

 Mississippi Scraps Discriminatory ‘Religious Freedom’ Provisions Following Backlash In Arizona - This happened in Mississippi? Hot damn! 

 When ‘Religious Liberty’ Was Used To Justify Racism Instead Of Homophobia - This is an awesome article that I highly recommend you read, pass along, AND reference.

Anti-gay pastor: We're going to jail because of marriage equality

This video of Southern Baptist Robert Jeffress, flanked by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at a National Religious Broadcasters convention press conference underlines a point I made earlier this week about the religious right fetish for being persecuted.

Not only is Jeffress' comments totally ridiculous but they take on a special degree of inanity when one realizes that anti-gay pastors, spokespeople, and organizations threw out the SAME horror stories when lgbt-inclusive hate crimes legislation was passed. And to date, no pastor has been arrested in America for speaking out against homosexuality in the pulpit. The sad thing is that people like Jeffress will continue to spin the same false predictions and gullible folks will continue to believe them.