Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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.



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'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?


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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



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