Tuesday afternoon news briefs

This is going to be a wild week!

NOM's and Harry Jackson's Stand4Marriage Rally flops; Marion Barry joins the anti-gays - Definition of irony defined by the above picture - "Christians" teaming up with a crack smoker to defeat gay marriage. You see this is what I'm talking about when it comes to what lgbts of color have to deal with. In the black community, you can be a thief, murderer, or drug addict. Just as long as you aren't gay or lesbian.

Franks and Gohmert Team Up With the Religious Right - A perfect example of what I've been talking about regarding Miss California. Why would Congressmen team up with hate groups? And just in time for tomorrow's vote on hate crimes legislation. Call your Congressman - I've already called mine.

Resisting fellows who get in bed with fellows makes strange, hate-certified bedfellows - Another view of the press conference courtesy of Jeremy from Goodasyou.org

Social Security Administration to Provide Benefits in Lambda Legal Case Representing Gay Father’s Children - Step by step, our families are winning this fight.

Arlen Specter--Republican Shrinkage Continues - The story that everyone is talking about so I figure what the heck.

One more thing - according to Goodasyou.org, Carrie Prejean will be appearing on a radio show with our favorite anti-gay spokespeople Matt Barber and Matt Staver. I guess we can expect to hear more self-righteous rhetoric. I bet they won't ask about her church's beliefs regarding pedophilia and homosexuality.

Why the Miss California/Rock Church story is important

With my post about Miss California's church now exploding on the blogs, I really would like to clarify what this issue is about.

It's not about faith or the supression of faith. And to a degree, it's not even about Perez Hilton and Carrie Prejean.

It's about lies and ugly tactics being enhanced by egos and Biblical verses.

It's about people who are so blinded by what they think is God's view of homosexuality that they are willing to break his other commandments to further this view - particularly the one about bearing false witness.

Google the name "Paul Cameron" and count how many supposed "pro-family" and "traditional values" organizations use his research even after its been continuously discredited.

Better yet, get on the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, or the Traditional Values Coalition webpages and read how they lie about hate crimes legislation. Read their lies about how the law will lead to pastors being jailed for speaking against homosexuality in the pulpit. They know that this is not true.

Watch religious right spokespeople get on talk shows and bring up anecdotal incidents about Christians supposedly being discriminated against because of the alleged "gay agenda." Then research said incident and discover that these spokespeople weren't exactly honest and left out many details that presents a totally different view of the incident.

The fact of the matter is that there continues to be a plethora of bad information put out about the lgbt community and the propagators of this bad information are by those who claim to be Christians.

Paul Cameron's bad studies only scratches the surface.

Just how many folks like Prejean have been taken in by this stuff and convinced that their lgbt neighbors are not deserving of basic rights under the law?

That's the real story here.

And lastly, would someone answer a question for me?

I hear so many of my heterosexual African-American brothers and sisters claim that this isn't an issue of civil rights. I would like to know if some of these folks can tell me just what is the difference between what is being done to the lgbt community by the propagators of these inaccurate fear tactics and the lies that stigmatizes black men as overly criminal and black women as sluts?

When you can answer that question, I will be in your corner.

But it's not going to happen because I know you can't.