Hate groups, fake proms. bad interviews and other Tuesday afternoon news briefs

Matt Barber: I Know You Are But What Am I? - Americans for Truth is an officially designated hate site. Deal with it, Matt Barber. It really couldn't have accomplished that without you. 

VIDEO: CNN’s Kyra Phillips’ Awful Interview with Richard Cohen - What the hell is this hot mess? Richard Cohen getting taken seriously? 

He who 'sins us' vs. sense as it pertains to us - Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council claims that counting gay couples in the census adds up to false data. Well they would know about false data, wouldn't they? 

McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom - Coldhearted, hateful mess.

Religious right groups can't make up their minds when lying about ENDA

Fast on the heels of the Traditional Value Coalition claiming that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act  (ENDA) would "force" children to be held hostage in classrooms by "drag queen" teachers comes this email from the Family Research Council:

ENDA should be called The Discrimination Against Christian Workers Act. Why? Just ask ...

Jon and Elaine Huguenin, who were saddled with legal costs that could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars because they politely declined to take "commitment ceremony" photos of two lesbians.

Rolf Szabo, who was fired by Kodak after 23 years of faithful service because he declined to participate in the company's "Coming Out Day" celebration of bisexual, and transgender (cross-dresser) employees.

The Christian employees at Sandia National Laboratories, who were ordered to take down their family photos when homosexual co-workers complained that "traditional family" images were demeaning.

If the federal ENDA law passes, what happened to the Huguenins ... and Rolf Szabo ... and the Christians at Sandia Laboratories . . . could happen to any Christian or person of moral conviction, anywhere. Working together, we can protect your religious liberty.

ENDA will give Washington liberals virtually unlimited power to force every business with more than 15 employees to embrace immoral sexual behavior as normal and worthy of celebration . . . or face harsh federal sanctions.

Yes, Even Churches!

So which is it? A "cross-dressing teachers bill?" or the "Discrimination Against Christians Act?"

ENDA is neither. While the Family Research Council pulls out anecdotes claiming to show how ENDA could potentially discriminate against Christians, the organization fails to mention that the religious exemption of the 2009 version of ENDA (Section 6) is the same as the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

This Act shall not apply to a corporation, association, educational institution, or society that is exempt from the religious discrimination provisions of title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 pursuant to section 702(a) or 703(e)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e-1(a); 2000e-2(e)(2)).

And of course the anecdotes the FRC pushes gives only one side of the story. For example Szabo's letter was not THAT polite:

"Please do not send this type of information to me anymore, as I find it disgusting and offensive.

"Thank you,

"Rolf Szabo."

To make matters worse, Szabo sent this email out to ALL employees. The company deemed that his email was unnecessary and offensive to its lgbt employees and fired him, just like it would probably do if he had sent an email out that the company would deem to be offensive towards African-Americans, or women, or yes even Christians.

While someone who calls himself a Christian has a right to not participate in an event he deems as a sin, he has NO right to demean other employees and that's why Szabo was fired.

FRC's email is another example of fear tactics used by religious right groups to claim that gays and lesbians want to either harm children or silence Christians.

And it proves yet again the similarity between racism and homophobia - they both involve fear, stereotypes, and ignorance.

Related posts:

No wonder the Traditional Values Coalition is considered a hate group

Family Research Council exploiting Amanda Simpson's appointment to stop ENDA
  
Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA

Bathrooms, Church Exemptions, and Lies: Five ways the religious right misrepresents ENDA

American College of Pediatricians trying to work anti-gay web site into the schools

Last night I wrote what I call an "emergency post" on a new web page (Facts About Youth) by the phony medical organization, the American College of Pediatricians.

This web page repackages standard anti-gay junk science as legitimate research.

This morning, I've learned, according to the Family Research Council, that 14,800 school district superintendents in the country were sent a letter by the American College of Pediatricians introducing them to the site and encouraging them to peruse it.

That's 14,800 school district superintendents encouraged to read and pass along information such as:

1. Gay men are disease ridden animals who enjoy playing with feces,

2. Lesbians are equally diseased and irresponsible,

3. and that there is proof that homosexuality is just a changeable condition.

And we wonder why it was so easy for Constance McMillen's school to treat her the way it did.

And we wonder why it's so hard for lgbt youth to accept their God-given sexual orientations. It's bad enough when wanton homophobes such as Peter LaBarbera tell lies about the lgbt community.

But when people who purport to be medical professionals pass along these lies, it should be criminal.