Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
An appeals court on Tuesday upheld the state's campaign disclosure law that requires a national anti-gay-marriage group to release its donor list, but the group plans to take the fight to shield the list to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision pertains to ballot question committees in Maine and represents a second defeat for the National Organization for Marriage, which previously lost a challenge to the state's political action committee laws and laws governing independent expenditures and advertising attribution and disclaimers.
The latest appeal focused on part of the law that says groups that raise or spend more than $5,000 to influence elections must register and disclose their donors.
The NOM, which says it was founded in 2007 in response to the "growing need for an organized opposition to same-sex marriage in state legislatures," donated $1.9 million to a political action committee that helped repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law. It said it believes that releasing the donor list would stymie free speech.
"We already know that the homosexual lobby has launched a national campaign of harassment and intimidation against supporters of traditional marriage, so there's a good reason to keep these names confidential," said Indiana lawyer James Bopp Jr., who's representing the NOM.
Mary Bonauto, an attorney with Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, said Bopp's claims are an attempt to divert attention from NOM's failure to follow Maine disclosure rules.
NOM has promised to take this case to the Supreme Court. The organization certainly has the money for the process. The problem is it doesn't want to tell anyone where that money is coming from.
FRC's Peter Sprigg again gives misleading testimony
Today, the Maryland legislature listened to testimony on a bill which would allow marriage equality in the state.
Of course, Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council offered up testimony against the bill. A printed copy of his testimony is on FRC's webpage.
Basically Sprigg said that marriage equality would harm children based on the following points:
Fewer children would be raised by a married mother and father.
More children would grow up fatherless.
Birth rates would fall.
We would teach that adult desires, not the interests of society or the needs of children, should drive the drive the definition of marriage.
I won't refute Sprigg's testimony because he did it himself. Check out the endnotes - i.e. research he used to reach his points:
[1] Cynthia C. Harper and Sara S. McLanahan, "Father Absence and Youth Incarceration," Journal of Research on Adolescence 14(3), 2004, p. 388.
[2] Bruce J. Ellis, John E. Bates, Kenneth A. Dodge, David M. Fergusson, L. John Horwood, Gregory S. Pettit, Lianne Woodward, "Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?" Child Development Vol. 74, Issue 3, May 2003; abstract online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8624.00569/abstract.
[3] David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem (New York: BasicBooks, 1995), p. 45.
[4] Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, Paul D. Sutton, Stephanie J. Ventura, T. J. Mathews, Sharon Kirmeyer, and Michell J. K. Osteman, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, "Births: Final Data for 2007," National Vital Statistics Reports Vol. 58, No. 24, August, 2010, Table 11. Rankings calculated by the author.
Have you figure it out yet? Hardly any of those studies have anything to do with marriage equality. Sprigg only uses one - the last study - the make the following claim:
There is already evidence of at least a correlation between low birth rates and the legalization of same-sex "marriage." Four of the first five states to permit same-sex "marriage" rank within the bottom eight out of all fifty states in both birth rate and fertility rate
But based on how he distorts the other three, there should be a serious lack of credibility in terms of if he is being accurate here.
In other words, Sprigg claims that marriage equality will have a negative effect on children by citing studies having nothing to do with marriage equality.
Misrepresenting research is not a new thing for Sprigg. In February of last year, he made the claim that same-sex households are inferior to two-parent heterosexual households by using studies which have nothing to do with same-sex households.
And FRC continues to push his pamphlet, The Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality,which not only repeats discredited anti-lgbt accuracies but exposes a bit of trickery on Sprigg's part. He cites only part of pro-lgbt information which talks about diseases and negative behaviors but omits the information which talks about how homophobia plays a part in these diseases and negative behaviors.
It's almost depressing. As long as no one challenges Sprigg on his indiscretions, he will continue to be pushed as an "expert" and will continue to give misleading testimony at legislative hearings like he did today in Maryland.
Today the American College of Pediatricians sent a letter to the Shawano School District Superintendent, Todd Carlson, cautioning him to not react adversely to 15-year-old student Brandon Wegner based on political pressure.
Superintendent Carlson called Brandon ignorant for his views on homosexual adoption presented in an op-ed, point-counter-point article for a student-run newspaper. Brandon, the author of the censored article, was punished and bullied for expressing his support of natural, mother-father adoption. The American College for Pediatricians sent a letter to the superintendent, advising him to “consider all the evidence.” It also included three articles concerning homosexual adoption and bullying.
The letter proceeds to direct the school system to FactsAboutYouth.com, a pro-"ex-gay" site that has been so resoundingly criticized, even groups like the Family Research Council have backed off from pushing it.
I wrote about FactsAboutYouth two years ago in the Huffington Post outlining the myriad of errors contained in it, such the following claim it makes about gay men:
Some gay men sexualize human waste, including the medically dangerous practice of coprophilia, which means sexual contact with highly infectious fecal wastes
Despite Disclosure Lawsuits, NOM Will Pour Money Into Maine - So in spite of the fact that they lose court cases regarding disclosure laws in Maine, the National Organization for Marriage is going back to spending a buttload of money in the state.
This portion of an email sent by the Family Research Council underlines the organization's hypocrisy and audacity when it comes to issues of the lgbtq community:
Apart from the Church itself, no institution has a bigger bulls-eye on its back than the U.S. military. "These installations exist to carry out the national defense of our nation," said Congressman (Tim) Huelskamp, "not to facilitate a narrow social agenda." To keep the troops from being distracted by the President's radical social agenda, Rep. Huelskamp has introduced a bill that stops the administration from sneaking around U.S. marriage law and giving its blessing to homosexual unions in the military. His legislation would keep a promise that the administration made but has not kept. Under this bill, military bases would not operate as same-sex "wedding" chapels. "A military installation or other property owned, rented, or otherwise under the jurisdiction or control of the Department of Defense shall not be used to officiate, solemnize, or perform a marriage or marriage-like ceremony involving anything other than the union of one man with one woman."
Also, chaplains, who have been under extraordinary pressure to oversee these ceremonies, would not be "directed, ordered, or required to perform" any service that is contrary to his faith or his church's faith. It's a shame that we have to pass laws like these to protect values that were once considered common place. But the White House leaves us no choice. So help Rep. Huelskamp fight for the troops who are busy fighting for us. Contact your House member and ask him or her to sign on to the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act.
First of all, no chaplain has been under "extraordinary pressure" to officiate over a same-sex wedding ceremony. As near as I can tell, there has never been any article about any chaplains complaining about facing this "problem." The only thing we have heard is hysteria from the Family Research Council and like-minded groups that this sort of thing could happen.
But it couldn't. According to an article in the Washington Post in September of last year:
The Pentagon will permit military chaplains to perform same-sex marriage as long as such ceremonies are not prohibited in the states where they reside, it said Friday.
Defense Department guidance issued to military chaplains said they may participate in ceremonies on or off military bases in states that recognize gay unions. Chaplains are not required to officiate at same-sex weddings if doing so is counter to their religious or personal beliefs, the guidance said.
But what if a chaplain wanted to officiate a same-sex wedding? Well the FRC can't stop that (and I am sure that the organization probably wants to) but it seeks to make this option more difficult by pushing for a law saying that these weddings can't take place on a military base.
In other words, at the same time FRC is defending the right of military chaplains to not have to officiate same-sex weddings, the organization is undermining the rights of military chaplains to do want to officiate these weddings by making it difficult for them to do it on base.
What's more, the organization is bragging about both of these efforts in the same email.
In a recent interview with Michelangelo Signorile, he gave an expository about gloryholes, fisting, and other things he termed as gay sex. I'm not making any accusations. You draw the conclusions yourself.
In talking about the interview, Signorile was quick to point out that Wooden contradicted himself several times:
Speaking with me on my radio program on Sirius XM OutQ, Wooden, who's been described by some LGBT critics as having an "obsession" with anal sex, went into great detail about gay sexual activity, discussing "glory holes" and "fisting all way up to the armpit." Contradicting himself, he actually defended oral sex and anal sex for heterosexuals -- even though he'd previously said, in speaking about gays, that God "made the human sperm, the God of the Bible designed it, and it was not designed to be emptied into an area that is filled with feces."
The exchange in question is as follows:
Do you believe men and women should have oral sex? Of course. I believe the Bible says that marriage is honorable in all and the bed is undefiled.
So oral sex is okay? If a woman performs oral sex on a man?
Any sexual activity as long as the two persons as far as I'm concerned are in agreement, are married and they are born of the oppose sex.
But sir, you said said sperm is not meant to go in the anus. It's not meant to go in the mouth -- You said sperm, when it goes in the anus, it's wasted, that is God's seed wasted. When a woman is drinking your sperm, isn't she wasting it?
No, the difference is, they are of the opposite sex.
According to the Bible you're only supposed to be having missionary sex with your wife...Oral sex is considered sodomy.
This pastor is telling you without apology that the Bible allows a husband and a wife to enjoy each other --
Including anal sex? including anal sex?
I guess so, if that's something that they agree to.
But you said that that place is the place for feces.
Well, do you disagree with that?
I don't understand why you're saying that's okay for heterosexuals but not for homosexuals.
Yes, you do. I don’t believe two homosexuals should kiss on the mouth.
But you said that anal sex will lead to death. So why can heterosexuals do it?
No, no. If everyone practiced anal sex it would lead to that. Have you ever heard of any man getting pregnant through anal sex.I believe sexual activity is for persons of the opposite sex.
So even if they're putting objects in, that's fine?
Most men -- I guess my way of thinking is that the object my wife wants in her is me. I can't expound on the sexual proclivities of everyone. But what I am saying and i want to be perfectly clear, and I don't apologize for it, it doesn't make me a bigot. I don't have an unreasonable fear of homosexuals -- I believe marriage is between a man and woman.
New Hampshire Republicans May Lack Votes To Override Governor’s Veto Of Marriage Repeal Bill - New Hampshire may pass a bill repealing marriage equality in the state this week. However Governor John Lynch said that he would veto the bill and its looking like the legislature may not have the votes to override the veto should it come to that. A empty victory for NOM and its allies if it all comes to pass.
Restaurant Refuses To Serve Anti-Gay GOP State Senator Stacey Campbell Because Of His Hateful Agenda - If the religious right tries to make a fuss of this situation, then they would be hypocrites. You see in opposing pro-gay laws in terms of employment and such, they argue that business owners should be allowed to make decisions based upon their "deeply held personal beliefs." And in this case, it may be that a business owner had a "deeply held personal belief" that he/she wouldn't serve homophobes. Not so strange how discrimination springs back against those who would allow its practice. U.N. Secretary-General Defends LGBT Rights In Africa - Good for him!
His homophobic animus gives me so much to work with. I personally think that next to Peter LaBarbera and Linda Harvey, Barber is one of the lgbtq's best weapons in exposing the lies of these phony "traditional values groups."
Take for example his speech at LaBarbera's recent flop of a press conference at the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Now LaBarbera, Barber, and several attention-starved black pastors in attendance claimed to be making a stand because the SPLC told the truth about several phony "traditional values groups," i.e. they market lies, junk science, and propaganda against the lgbtq community. Barber claimed in the speech below at the press conference that it was "inexplicable" that SPLC was "slandering mainstream Christian organizations" by calling them hate groups simply because they supposedly "embrace the traditional Judeo-Christian sexual ethic."
Of course Barber is lying. SPLC has said that it is the lies and propaganda spread by Barber and company about the lgbtq community which is the problem. You know, like claiming that gays want to advance pedophilia, such as what Barber did in September of last year:
Or implying that same-sex families are reprehensible and unnatural:
Or claiming that same-sex families is propaganda to support sexual anarchy:
Or saying that gay children are inclined to commit suicide because "they know" that being gay is "unnatural and immoral"
And there more videos of Barber attacking the lgbtq community with lies. You could string them together and make a feature film.
The fact of the matter is that when Barber claims that he does not understand why SPLC is labeling some religious right organizations as hate groups, he is lying through his teeth. Barber knows this but apparently he thinks that the lgbtq community is too stupid to youtube his name.
With his stark audacity here, Barber becomes the symbol of religious right hypocrisy - holding a Bible with the hand which they are showing to the public while hiding the other hand used to throw figurative rocks at the lgbtq community behind their backs.
Here is the thing though - slowly but surely people are getting interested in the hand these phony "morality groups" are hiding. People are getting interested in seeing whether or not these groups are worthy to hold the Bible in the hands they are showing to the American public.
The irony is that his group, the Liberty Counsel, was not named as a hate group by SPLC, even though it was called out for its use of homophobic lies and propaganda. Who knows. Maybe Barber is jealous that the Liberty Counsel didn't achieve full status.
Lastly, here is something else interesting about Barber's speech. He laid out a challenge to Mark Potok, editor of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report to debate the charges, particularly the falsehoods Barber and others of his ilk spread about the lgbtq community. In doing so, he makes a clever distortion. He cited studies allegedly from the Center for Disease Control regarding gay men and STDs. Barber's point was that religious right groups aren't doing anything wrong because supposedly they are merely citing credible scientific information to claim that homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle.
But the CDC has never said that homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle. The CDC has never used their studies to vilify and dehumanize the gay community. Generally when the CDC cites studies regarding gays and STDs, the organization also points to outside factors, such as homophobia, racism, and poverty as fueling these problems in the gay community. The following is what the CDC said when it comes to HIV/AIDS amongst gay men:
Stigma and homophobia may have a profound impact on the lives of MSM, especially their mental and sexual health. Internalized homophobia may impact men’s ability to make healthy choices, including decisions around sex and substance use. Stigma and homophobia may limit the willingness of MSM to access HIV prevention and care, isolate them from family and community support, and create cultural barriers that inhibit integration into social networks.
Racism, poverty, and lack of access to health care are barriers to HIV prevention services, particularly for MSM from racial or ethnic minority communities. A recent CDC study found a strong link between socioeconomic status and HIV among MSM: prevalence increased as education and income decreased, and awareness of HIV status was higher among MSM with greater education and income
When Barber, LaBarbera, and the rest of that crowd cite CDC studies, they deliberately omit or downplay information such as this.
Therein lies the difference and the deception. The CDC puts out information to combat health problems in the lgbtq community. Barber, LaBarbera and company puts out information to exploit health problems in the lgbtq community.
But I am interested in seeing the debate between Potok and Barber. Personally I think Barber was just showing bravado and in reality, he doesn't have the guts to answer for his lies. Time will tell and I intend to be there to let folks know if and when Barber wimps out.
Last week, I asked that readers of this blog contact National Organization for Marriage cultural director Thomas Peters and ask him why is the organization allying itself with Raleigh, NC Pastor Patrick Wooden.
NOM hopes to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment in NC this year and Wooden is doing outreach in black churches in order to get support for the amendment.
Now the pushers of this amendment - Vote for Marriage NC, the umbrella group led by NOM, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, NC Values Coalition and the Christian Action League - have said that they want a dignified and fair discussion on marriage equality.
However, Wooden seems to have not gotten the memo. Two weeks ago during an interview, he claimed that gay men have so much anal sex that they require surgery and wear diapers to control their bowel movements.
Last week, he claimed that gay men use gerbils, baseball bats, and cell phones for sexual thrills.
In between those two interviews while I encouraged folks to write to Peters or tweet him, I myself emailed Peters inquiring about Wooden.
Not surprisingly, I received no answer.
So yesterday, I read the following from a post on Goodasyou.org from Peters:
That motivated me to send him three messages on twitter:
@AmericanPapist We aren't trolls. We just want NOM to make a statement about 'diaper pastor' Patrick Wooden.
@AmericanPapist If you want a nice discussion on marriage equality, then why is NOM using this services of this awful man?
@AmericanPapist Patrick Wooden says gay men wear diapers and "use" gerbils but NOM using his help in North Carolina. Please explain why.
You can guess what happened next.
No answer.
Of course I can hear folks say "well what the heck did you expect" and they are right.
NOM likes to whine about being labeled as "bigots" but then none of the organization's people will say a word when it comes to calling out its allies for their homophobic behavior. It's the typical hypocritical behavior we have come to expect from the organization.
You knew his voice even if you didn't know his name:
Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American television, film, and stage actor. He carved out a diverse career in film, television, theater and voiceovers by taking ground breaking roles at a time when African-American actors were rarely cast. His first major feature film role was in the 1969 film, The Lost Man starring Sidney Poitier. Winfield first became well-known to television audiences when he appeared for several years opposite Diahann Carroll on the groundbreaking television series Julia. Filmed during a high point of racial tensions in the United States, the show was unique in featuring an African-American female as the central character. He also starred as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1978 miniseries King.
In 1973, Winfield was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1972 film Sounder, and his co-star in that film, Cicely Tyson, was nominated for Best Actress. Prior to their nominations, only three other African Americans - Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier and James Earl Jones - had ever been nominated for a leading role. He also appeared, in a different role, in the 2003 Disney-produced television remake of Sounder, which was directed by Kevin Hooks, his co-star from the original. Winfield played the part of “Jim the Slave” in Huckleberry Finn (1974) which was a musical based on the novel by Mark Twain. Winfield would recall late in his career that as a young actor he had played one of the two leads in Of Mice and Men in local repertory, made up in whiteface, since a black actor playing it would have been unthinkable. Winfield also starred in the miniseries, including Scarlett, and two based on the works of novelist Alex Haley: Roots: The Next Generations and Queen: The Story of an American Family.
Winfield gained a new segment of fans for his brief but memorable roles in several science fiction TV programs and movies. He portrayed Starfleet Captain Clark Terrell of the U.S.S. Reliant, an unwilling minion of Khan Noonien Singh, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Lt. Traxler, a friendly but crusty cop partnered with Lance Henriksen in The Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1996 he was part of the 'name' ensemble cast in Tim Burton's comic homage to 1950's science fiction Mars Attacks!, playing the complacently self-satisfied Lt-Gen. Casey. On the small screen Star Trek franchise, he appeared as an alien captain who communicates in metaphor in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok". He also appeared in the second season Babylon 5 episode "Gropos" as General Richard Franklin, the father of regular character Dr. Stephen Franklin and on the fairy tale sitcom "The Charmings" as The Evil Queen's wise-cracking Magic Mirror.
FRC: 'Rebel Fleet Surrenders to Gay Empire' - So now Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council are attacking Star Wars over gay relationships. You know, I'm beginning to think that these folks are a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal. Newt Gingrich Compares Gay Marriage To Paganism - Oh Lord, it's just too easy to post a response. What the hell . . . this from a man who cheated on two wives with mistresses, one who he is know presently married to is accusing someone else of being a pagan? I think lightning has given up trying to strike Gingrich when he says stuff like that because he seems to do it all of the time.
A 2005 article on now disgraced Atlanta pastor Eddie Long highlights a disturbing perspective to this issue of the National Organization for Marriage utilizing the black church and leaders against marriage equality that very few people are openly talking about.
The article theorizes that there was a tie between Long's 2005 anti-marriage equality march held in Atlanta and a $1 million grant he received from the faith-based initiatives of the Bush Administration. The article also theorizes that other black pastors were rewarded like so for making public positions against marriage equality.
When I read the recent disgusting comments of Pastor Patrick Wooden and several other black ministers and leaders assembled by the NOM to combat marriage equality, I can't help wondering if we are seeing a retread of this theory.
While I'm certainly not making pointed accusations, I have been amazed at how quickly and convenient these coalitions between NOM and several black pastors and leaders have come together I have also been alarmed by the rhetoric. There seems to be a degree of unrestrained glee and vindictive pleasure in not only attacking marriage equality, dehumanizing the gay community, and also - particularly in Wooden's case - going on a tangent about alleged gay sex acts.
And they do this even though they know personally members of the gay community either by family relationships or as members of their congregations.
These folks come across like well-paid hired guns. Their tone betray a certain eagerness, like that of customers attempting to advantage of an exclusive sale at the mall or prospectors who just discovered a mountain of gold for the taking.
Also, I would be remiss not to mention that former NOM head Maggie Gallagher is used to receiving possibly inappropriate largesse for her "opinion." According to Media Matters, Gallagher:
received $21,500 from the Department of Health and Human Services in 2002 to conduct a briefing and write brochures and a Crisis magazine article that promoted the Bush administration's $300 million marriage initiative. She received an additional $20,000 in 2002 and 2003 to write a report ("Can Government Strengthen Marriage?") for the National Fatherhood Initiative.
In addition, Gallagher promoted Bush administration policies in several of her independent columns. She also testified in front of Congress in favor of "healthy marriage programs." And she did all of this without disclosing the payments she was receiving.
So Gallagher is used to such questionable practices. The question is did she bring these practices to NOM. It's not farfetched to wonder whether or not any honorariums have been used to "motivate" prominent black ministers and leaders.
I am not the only lgbtq of color to have voiced this opinion. In the lgbtq of color community, there has been much talk and opinion-forming that these ministers and leaders who step out publicly to not only vilify marriage equality but verbally crucify the gay community in general aren't exactly doing it solely on spiritual terms.
Again, I am merely speculating. However, if, when it's all said and done, we find out that money has in fact been greasing some brown, very well manicured palms, lgbtqs of color won't be surprised and we won't be shocked.
But we will say "we told you so."
It's a phrase we have learned to use a lot. Usually when it's discovered that a homophobic black pastor is actually a closeted gay.
Today, in explaining just why he would veto marriage equality legislation and also why he felt it was an issue which should be decided by the voters, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the following:
"The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South."
If this fool for real? In his ignorance, Christie seems to forget that one of those rights back then was the right to vote.
The comment outraged many African-American leaders in the state, who pointed out that such a referendum never would have passed in the south during the 60s — and that many black people were also disenfranchised at the time.
“People were fighting and dying in the streets of the South for a reason,” Oliver said. “They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It look legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans.”
“The governor’s comment is an insult to those who had no choice but to fight and die in the streets for equal rights,” she added.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) had a similar take. “Dear God, we should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote, to be subject to the sentiments, the passions of the day. No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and the sentiments of the majority. This is the fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for.”
Jerome Harris, chairman of the New Jersey Black Issues Convention, told the Star-Ledger: “The 1965 Voting Rights act was enacted to overcome the systemic, intentional racial suppression of the black vote. It’s certainly a lack of historical understanding about how the expanding definition of who ‘We the People’ are has happened.”
And State Assemblyman John Wisniewksi (D) added: “Rosa Parks didn’t get to the front of the bus through a ballot question and Jim Crow laws weren’t repealed by public referendum.”
I guess we should be thankful to Christie's stupidity though. Regardless of how the gay community or the black community feels about marriage equality, they both agree that no one's rights should be voted on.
If the National Organization for Marriage and Vote for Marriage NC - the organization it helped to create to push for an anti-marriage equality referendum in the state - truly want to have a meaningful and dignified discussion on the amendment as they have claimed, then someone from either group needs to muzzle Raleigh pastor Patrick Wooden.
Wooden: I do not back off or back down from my statements at all. I was giving anecdotal examples that I am personally aware of that have happened as a result of men who have given themselves over to this lifestyle. One man past away, a friend of mine shared this information with me, that where what used to be his anus had become a gaping hole and he literally died in diapers, he literally lost control of himself. There are examples of men who have stretched their anuses, their sphincter muscles so that they could fit objects into themselves that once the sphincter muscle is stretched too much it will not contract. Because the truth is, despite the anger of the homosexual community, the anus is not a vagina. A vagina, a woman can give birth, God so designed it, the hips release can give birth to babies and things return back to normal. The anus doesn’t work that way; this is one of the reasons why many male homosexuals place larger and larger objects in their rectums.
. . . I know of a case where in a hospital a homosexual male had a cellphone lodged in his anus and as they were operating on him the phone went off, the phone started ringing! There’ve been instances where men have put bats, baseball bats, in their rectums!
. . . Even the homosexual lobby knows, those who are pro-homosexual, they know that they cannot win the argument describing what it is that these people actually do to each other, the objects, the animals in certain cases, the little gerbils; thank God I’m a human being! Because if you talk about what it is that these people actually do, they can’t win the argument.
One has to wonder three things. First, was Wooden on any medication which he may have abused before that interview? Secondly how the heck does one put a cell phone up one's behind and thirdly, does it ring if lodged up there?
Wooden is obviously lying and not just about the cell phone. The "gays have dangerous sex" lie is as old as the hills. Take a gander at this 1985 comic (endorsed by anti-gay group Concerned Women for America) called Deathstyle:
It's almost comical until you realize that Wooden will most likely be repeating that mess to get African-Americans to vote for the amendment.
And of course neither NOM nor Vote for Marriage NC will comment on Wooden's words, even though they will be in full use of his services. And their silence will emphasize the fact yet again that those who seek to stop marriage equality are willing to do it by any mean necessary even while they whine about being "unfairly" labeled as bigots.
Of course the grand irony of the entire thing is that Wooden was one of the pastors who took part LaBarbera's recent silly protest against Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC claims that certain anti-gay groups - including LaBarbera's - are actually hate groups because they spread hurtful propaganda about the gay community.
I would say conducting an interview with a pastor who claims that gay men wear diapers because they molest brooms, gerbils, and cell phones makes LaBarbera into a first class hypocrite.
Don't you?
Editor's note - On his webpage, LaBarbera prefaces the interview with the following:
LaBarbera references a Wikipedia entry on “fecal incontinence” that cites this 1993 study on the ill effects of anal sex. They talk about the SPLC’s racist-tinged release on the AFTAH protest. And when Wooden brings up the heinous “gay” sex practice of “fisting,” LaBarbera recalls the 2000 Massachusetts “Fistgate” scandal at a conference sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network – in which homosexual youth were given verbal “how-to” instructions by adults on “fisting” (hand-arm-rectal “sex”). LaBarbera notes that GLSEN never issued a sincere, strong apology for the incident — and the media double standard that excuses and ignores scandals on the Left.
#LGBTFacts - Long story short - some fool started posting some homophobic crap on twitter with this hashtag. But WE have taken it over. Come and join the fun.
And it was just as everyone suspected - it was a colossal bomb. But the most interesting portion is the following. Rochelle Conner, a representative of Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries (an SPLC designated hate group), read a statement from Lively calling for “God himself to destroy” the SPLC:
Transcript - My prayer as one who really does hate irrational prejudice is that the Lord by His sovereign power will remove this dangerous, hate-spreading organization from our nation and its leaders and its members cause them to repent of their wickedness. Finally, to prevent the Southern Poverty Law Center from using my prayer as part of its perpetual fundraising campaign, I want to make clear that I am asking God himself to destroy their organization and I am asking that it be by His miraculous hand and not by human beings just so as with Sodom and Gomorrah, they will know that God will get the glory, and not man.
By the way, you will notice that standing next to LaBarbera - who is the only white male in the small group for those who have never seen him - is "diaper pastor" Patrick Wooden. I heard that they were filming their own press conference, so of course Wooden just had to position himself to be at the forefront of the camera.
My guess - and forgive if I am being sacrilegious here - is that the only reason why God didn't strike these folks down for their lies is because he was laughing so hard.
The press conference was so pitiful that it's not even worth getting angry about. However, I will say one thing.
I love girlfriend's hat. And those boots? Smoking!
According to Think Progress, those pushing that awful anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina have wasted no time in pushing lies in order to scare up votes:
Conservatives supporting North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment banning recognition of all same-sex relationships have launched a new website called Vote For Marriage NC. The site describes same-sex marriage as a “threat” and a “new legal orthodoxy” that would “redefine” marriage as “genderless” for all couples, and those who do not agree “will be treated under the law just like racists and bigots, and will be punished for their beliefs.” Unsurprisingly, none of the claims made stand up to scrutiny.
My fellow blogger, Zack Ford who work at Think Progress, breaks it down He does such an excellent job that it needs to be passed around to as many North Carolinians as possible:
CLAIM - “Religious groups who have refused to make their facilities available for same-sex couples have lost their state tax exemption.”
REALITY - The only example conservatives ever cite is a New Jersey Methodist pavilion, and that pavilion did not actually have a religious exemption.
CLAIM - “Religious groups like Catholic Charities in Boston and Washington DC have had to choose between fulfilling their social mission based on their religious beliefs, or acquiescing to this new definition of marriage.”
REALITY - Catholic Charities have never been obligated to shut down their services, but have done so voluntarily when they are no longer subsidized by the state because they discriminate.
CLAIM - “Nonprofit groups are faced with abandoning their historic mission principles in order to maintain governmental contracts (for things like low-income housing, health clinics, etc.).”
REALITY - Again, no group has been forced to close, though some may lose state funding. In one case, the Maine Catholic Diocese shuttered a homeless support agency as punishment for supporting marriage equality.
Dan savaged by glitter before Vancouver talk- Dan Savage got glitter-bombed again, this time in Vancouver. For whatever reason this time confuses me. You just have to read the article.
But allow me to give a little editorial comment on this practice of glitter-bombing.
I don't care who is the victim of it, the practice of glitter-bombing is a cheap, unfocused psychological stunt. It's a petty rush for an attention addict who has deceive him or herself into thinking that they are doing something substantial for the community rather than providing fodder for the opposition on how the lgbtq community is supposedly pushy and will resort to pettiness if it doesn't get it's way.
Glitter-bombing isn't merely stupid; it's the sad sign of a people who are showing themselves not ready for their roles in the important struggle for equality. You see with that role comes structure and planning for acquiring and securing equal rights. With that role comes patience and the knowledge that you are not doing things merely for yourself and what you want at the present, but also how your actions will improve the lives of those who will come up after you.
And let's face it. Throwing colorful bits of confetti at people who offend you is not a suitable substitute for structure and planning.
Also what's with this desperate need for publicity anyway? The opposition gets publicity, but in all honesty, it doesn't need it. You see they are carefully plotting and planning behind the scenes and away from the cameras to achieve their goals.
Now imagine what we could do if we employed that type of discipline for a change.
And in other news (if I haven't sufficiently gotten you angry):
If you want a good reason why the American Family Association's phony news source, One News Now, is a detriment to truth rather than an asset, then take a look at the following piece entitled School: Let him who 'screams loudest' get his way.
The piece is about how a column in a Wisconsin school newspaper about the gay community raised a huge controversy.
However, take a look at how One News Now phrases what happened as opposed to how the Green Bay Press Gazette tells the story:
One News Now:
Officials of a Wisconsin school have censored a student's editorial column printed in the city paper and "sincerely" apologized for his words in support of natural mother-father adoptions.
Both sides of the adoption issue were presented in separate articles, each written by students. But Shawano High School officials pulled the article written by a 15-year-old student who used scripture to support his argument. He wrote: "If one is a practicing Christian, Jesus states in the Bible that homosexuality is [a] detestable act and sin, which makes adopting wrong for homosexuals because you would be raising the child in a sin-filled environment."
The superintendent apologized, calling the editorial a form of bullying. But Steve Crampton of the Liberty Counsel thinks the school's action is reprehensible.
Green Bay Press Gazette:
A gay couple with school-age children is outraged over a Shawano High School newspaper column that cites Bible passages and calls homosexuality a sin punishable by death.
The column ran on the editorial page of Shawano High School's Hawks Post recently as part of an opinion package about gay families who adopt children. The other side said sexual orientation does not determine a person's ability to raise kids.
"This is why kids commit suicide," said Nick Uttecht, who is raising four children with his partner, Michael McNelly.
AFA spokesman, Randy Sharp says “We’re seeing some movement. It appears that the Home Depot is pulling back from their support of homosexual activism. Over the course of the last three years, we’ve seen a reduction in the number of gay pride events that they’re sponsoring and participating in. However, we want to be cautious.”
However, Samantha F. DeVaney, a representative of Home Depot, said that this was not true:
We have never changed our commitment to diversity and inclusion of all people, and we have no intention of doing so. Nor have we changed our apron policy or the guidelines for our Foundation?s charitable giving.
So today, AFA is now admitting that it was wrong about its Home Depot boycott:
American Family Association, which heads up a boycott against Home Depot, reported earlier this month that the national retailer appeared to be pulling back its support of homosexual activists, noting the home improvement chain participated in just four "gay pride" events in 2011 -- down from at least 16 such events in 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, AFA reported that Home Depot ordered its employees to stop wearing their orange aprons to homosexual-themed events.
But AFA's director of special projects, Randy Sharp, now says his organization spoke too soon. "Once we brought that to light, Home Depot made a public statement to everyone who contacted them and said [essentially] 'No, we haven't changed any policies. When it comes to homosexuality, homosexual marriage in our culture, we will continue to support it financially.
Washington's Legislature has enough votes to legalize gay marriage with a statement from Democratic Senator Mary Margaret Haugen Monday who said she will support the measure, becoming the 25th vote needed to pass the bill out of the Senate. The House already has enough support, and Gov. Chris Gregoire has endorsed the plan.
Haugen's announcement came has hundreds of people filled the capitol to advocate for and against gay marriage. State senators began considering the bill during a morning committee hearing.
In a statement, Haugen said, "I know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, the vote that ensures passage. That's neither here nor there. If I were the first or the seventh or the 28th vote, my position would not be any different. I happen to be the 25th because I insisted on taking this much time to hear from my constituents and to sort it out for myself, to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy."
And if and when this vote goes through, we know what will happen next. The National Organization for Marriage will push a referendum. And my guess is that the man in the following video will receive a star role:
That's Pastor Ken Hutcherson. And yes his testimony stank. And it was muted too. Based on past experiences, I was expecting more. Earlier this week, he compared the governor of Washington state to John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Abraham Lincoln, simply because she publicly supports marriage equality.
For many of us, Hutcherson will live in infamy due to a following commentduring a sermon in 2008 castigating men he termed as "weak" or "effeminate:"
"God hates soft men" and "God hates effeminate men . . . If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I'd rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end."
He later claimed that this is a joke, proving that his sense of humor is as lacking as his testimony in the video above.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the process in Washington state ends in our favor. And also that not one of us holds the door open for Hutcherson.
But while folks either laughed, rolled their eyes, or gagged in disgust, it's important that we all don't miss an important connection here.
Wooden is one of the pastors who is teaming up with the National Organization for Marriage to pass that awful anti-family, anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina.
. . . Wooden is no fringe figure, and is actually one of the major spokesmen for the campaign to pass an amendment to North Carolina’s constitution outlawing same-sex marriage.
Wooden was “the main speaker for the rally organized by the conservative North Carolina Family Policy Council where he shared the stage with National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown and Randy Wilson, the Family Research Council’s National Field Director. He also spoke at a press conference alongside Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Dale Folwell and Kevin Daniels of the right-wing Frederick Douglass Foundation in support of the bill, and Wooden is spearheading outreach to African American voters on behalf of Vote for Marriage NC the umbrella group led by NOM, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, NC Values Coalition and the Christian Action League.
NOM did not issue a comment about this controversy, yet the organization is always quick to claim that those who share its beliefs are being unfairly labeled as bigots.
So one wonders where does NOM stand on Wooden's words regarding gay men and diapers.
I sent the following letter to Thomas Peters, NOM's cultural director. It reads as follows:
Dear Mr. Peters,
Your organization, the National Organization for Marriage, claims that it simply wants to protect marriage and that those who share your view that "marriage is the union between one man and one woman" are in danger of being unfairly labeled as "bigots."
However, one has to ask the question that if you do not want the label of "bigot," then why does your organization team up with those who slander the gay community, such as Patrick Wooden of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, NC. In a recent interview, Mr. Wooden said the following about gay men:
The God of the Bible made the human sperm, the God of the Bible designed it and it was not designed to be emptied into an area that is filled with feces, there is nothing for it to germinate with, it will most certainly mean the extinction of the human race. My belief is that if the medical community would just step forward and just would share with the American people what happens to the male anus, the problems that homosexuals have with their rectums, the damage that is done, the operations that are needed to sew up their bodies if you will, and how many of the men don’t even give these stitches time to heal before they are back out there practicing that wicked behavior. Some are bleeders, men who are not turned off by ingesting the feces of other men.
Now while Mr. Wooden does assert that it is his personal opinion, as I understand it, he is teaming up with your organization in an effort to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina. Furthermore, he did share the stage at a rally last year with NOM's president, Brian Brown and he is spearheading outreach to African American voters on behalf of Vote for Marriage NC the umbrella group led by your organization, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, NC Values Coalition and the Christian Action League.
My question is where does NOM stand on Mr. Wooden's comments. Do you reject them and will you continue to work with him in your campaign to pass this amendment?
Respectfully yours,
Alvin McEwen
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
charlekenghis@aol.com
Mr. Peters' email address is tpeters@nationformarriage.org and you can twitter him on @AmericanPapist
Please feel free to email him and ask him where does NOM stand on Wooden's comments. And above all, DO NOT BE RUDE. Regardless of how you feel about NOM, this is a serious issue and should not be approached with frivolity or anger.
If you twitter him, simply ask "Where does NOM stand on P. Wooden's diaper comments?"
Feel free to share whatever email or twitter message you may have sent.
