Rev. William Owens, Romney endorsing anti-gay group trying to manipulate blacks against gays

Rev. Owens is working hard to divide blacks and gays

I predicted it earlier today, and it is happening.

From CNN:

A group of conservative black pastors are responding to President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage with what they say will be a national campaign aimed at rallying black Americans to rethink their overwhelming support of the President, though the group’s leader is offering few specifics about the effort.

The Rev. Williams Owens, who is president and founder of the Coalition of African-Americans Pastors and the leader of the campaign, has highlighted opposition to same-sex marriage among African-Americans. He calls this campaign “an effort to save the family.”

“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be that want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women,” said Owens, in an interview Tuesday after the launch event at the National Press Club. “I am ashamed that the first black president chose this road, a disgraceful road.”

CNN deserves kudos for telling the entire story about Owens and his fake group, including talking about comments which Owens made linking gays to pedophilia:

Owens has long been an opponent of gay marriage and consults with the National Organization for Marriage as a liaison to the black churches.

At the press conference, Owens said that Obama’s support of same-sex marriage tantamount to supporting child molestation.

“If you watch the men who have been caught having sex with little boys, you will note that all of them will say that they were molested as a child…” Owens said. “For the president to condone this type of thing is irresponsible.”

Owens later walked about those comments back, saying he didn’t think the president was condoning molestation.

CNN also did make mention of NOM's wedge strategy, i.e. the group's plan to play gay and black America against each other on the subject of marriage equality.

'Business would rather fail before serving gay couples' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Jack Phillips, Denver Baker Who Refused Wedding Cake To Gay Couple, Defends His Stance - Phillips says he would rather lose his business before making a cake for a gay couple. It's good for us to know who NOT to give our business to. However, it goes beyond that. If businesses are allowed to discriminate against gay couples on the basis of their religious beliefs, then where is that line drawn? Today it's gays. Tomorrow it may be people of a different faith, be it Jewish or Catholic. And then there is the case of racial ethnicities.  

Report: marriage equality plank added to Dem platform draft - Celebrate but also keep in mind and be ready for those who will seek to exploit this against President Obama.  

On death penalties, fast food, and the suspect tastiness of felt puppets - Some supporters of Chick-Fil-A are just dumb as hell. 

Liberty Counsel Jumps on the Boycott Hypocrisy Bandwagon - One good thing about this Chick-Fil-A is how it exposes the hypocrites. Wasn't Matt Barber - a defender of Chick-Fil-A - one of the folks who organized a failed boycott of McDonalds a while back?  

NOM’s dumps are flattening out - Meanwhile, the National Organization for Marriage's anti-gay protests are fizzling hard. 

Simple answers to the questions about the Chick-Fil-A boycott

 An online buddy of mine, Rusty McMann, has assembled some simple answers to the questions about the gay community's anger at Chick-Fil-A, as well as why we are boycotting the restaurant.

This is necessary because while there have been so many television stations, newspapers, pundits, and columnists who have weighed in on the controversy, very few are trying to get the full story:

Simple answers to difficult questions about the Chick-Fil-A boycott

Q.  Why are the gays making such a big deal out of this?  Aren’t we all entitled to our own opinions?

A.  Well the first thing you need to know is that there is no "the gays."  Gay Americans don’t speak in a unified voice any more than all straight Americans, or all African-Americans, or all left-handed Americans.

Q.  OK  fine.  So what’s the big deal and why are *so many* of gays so upset that Dan Cathy is against gay marriage?

A.  Dan Cathy is perfectly entitled to his opinion about marriage equality or anything else.  That’s not what has so many people upset.  The reason we are boycotting Chick-fil-A is because the CFA Corporation, through its charitable arm The WinShape Foundation, has donated almost 4 million dollars to organizations and causes that are dedicated to doing harm to gay men and lesbians – not just here in the US, but around the world.

Q.  Oh, come on.  The WinShape foundation is about leadership training and strengthening families.

A.  While it is true that the WinShape foundation has a number of admirable programs for at-risk youth, it would also appear that WinShape believes that “curing” homosexuality (a concept that is roundly rejected by the scientific community) and preventing same-sex couples from being legally married is something that trains leaders and makes families stronger – because they give A LOT of money to foundations and advocacy groups that are hostile to the LBGT people.

In the year 2010 alone, WinShape donated nearly 2 million dollars to groups with anti-gay agendas:

$1,188,380 to the Marriage & Family Foundation (founded by Bubba Cathy (Dan’s Brother) the MFA provides funding to organizations that preach that the American family is threatened by the proliferation of same-sex couples )  

$480,000 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (dedicated to “curing” gay athletes);

$247,500 to the National Christian Foundation (is a grant-making foundation that has provides money to anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family, Family Life, and the Family Research Council);

$54,000 to the New Mexico Christian Foundation (the New Mexico branch of the NCF);

$1,000 to the Family Research Council (which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of the provable falsehoods it spreads about gay men and lesbians);

$2,500 to the Georgia Research Council (which lobbies against marriage equality, both in Georgia and around the US); and

$1,000 to Exodus International, an organization dedicated to “curing homosexuality” and whose board member  Don Schmierer had a hand in the creation of  a bill in Uganda that could "punish homosexuality" with death .

So every chicken sandwich and waffle fry you purchase helps to fund one of those organizations.  

Why do the Log Cabin Republicans think that gays should do nothing when being disrespected?

In the African-American community, there is a comical phrase which denotes extreme anger. It is called "being pissed off to the highest levels of pissivity."

That is how I feel right now and there is nothing funny about it. What angers me are the words from Log Cabin Republican head R. Clarke Cooper over the gay community's anger at Chick-Fil-A. He didn't exactly defend us. Instead he attacked us in a piece.

Part of it reads a follow:

Turning a chicken sandwich into Public Gay Enemy Number One makes LGBT people look superficial, vindictive and juvenile — everything that we as a community have worked hard to overcome. Remember, employers don’t want drama queens on the payroll, military service is serious business, and marriage is not a right society grants to spoiled children. While in a perfect world our equality should not depend on our good behavior, in a world where our rights too often hinge on political reality, the way our movement conducts itself matters.

In the past, while I may have disagreed with the Log Cabin Republicans (a group of gay Republicans for those who are not aware), I have always respected the organization, even to the point of defending it when others in the community have attacked it as an "Uncle Tom" organization.

But right now, I simply can't. And I will tell you why.

Last week, I received a letter from a young man thanking me for this blog. He told me that what he reads here is the first piece of positive information he has read about the gay community. All other times, he said, he has been bombarded by negative information; information such as gays are evil, gays are sinners or things like us being called vile, intolerant, and pawns of the Devil:



or folks expressing wishes that our "behavior" be criminalized:



What's significant about these two statements is that both are coming from the Family Research Council, a group which has received donations from Chick-Fil-A. That is the main reason why so many of us are angry.

And it leads me to ask is Mr. Cooper clueless or does he just not give a damn. The above tripe from the Family Research is what he is defending. The destruction of the self-esteem of our lgbtq youth is what he is defending.

I could see if he voiced a problem with the way some of us in the community may express our anger but he didn't do that.

Cooper seems to think that gays shouldn't express anger at all over any of Chick-Fil-A's actions. That somehow if we are slapped and don't respond in any form or fashion, the so-called movable middle will respect us.

Well for one thing, I have no idea what this movable middle is and if the gay community should sacrifice our dignity and self-respect to get their approval, then maybe they are not a group we need to reach.

I'm serious about how Cooper's words bother me. He has been given a platform which many in our community don't have, especially our children. And he is using this platform in a hideous manner

He does not call out the folks who seek to hinder gay equality and positive self esteem (especially the self-esteem of our gay children) through lies but rather those of us who seek to put a stop to these lies.

It is a very sad entity - be it a singular person or an organization - who attacks their own people for demanding dignity and respect.

'Tax-payer funded school discriminates against same-sex family' and other Monday midday news briefs

Video: Accepting Uncle Sam's cash, barring his gay-parent-having nephew - If you are taking MY tax dollars, you will not discriminate against me nor my people. Point blank.  

Lawmaker To Catholic Church: Prove Your Claims Gay People Die Early - Awesome. Now watch how the Catholic Church will lie.  

Cheney Supported Marriage Equality In 2000, Kept Silent To Help Bush - What privilege brings you - chickenshit behavior.  

The Tragedy of the Isabella Miller-Jenkins Abduction - I haven't forgotten about this sad case about a lesbian mother denied access to her daughter. And now it takes a really sad turn.

  Religious Right Leaders Pray for 'Healing for Those who Struggle with Same-Sex Attraction' - With the way these folks lie, they need to pray for themselves before praying for me. 

What Chick-Fil-A's money supports - a video montage of homophobia

Again I say that we must make it clear why we are angry at Chick-Fil-A. There are religious right organizations and talking heads (and unfortunately mainstream journalists) who are attempting to make it solely a religious issue.

They claim that Chick-Fil-A doesn't have an anti-gay agenda and that supposedly us "radical homosexuals" are demonstrating intolerance.

Let's remind them what it's all about.

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A donated nearly $2 million to groups who make it their mission to attack the gay community through lies and distortions. These groups push several false notions from homosexuality is connected to pedophilia to the idea that gays can change their orientation - an idea frowned on by the legitimate scientific community.

According to Equality Matters, the Family Research Council is one of these groups:

The Family Research Council has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for its propagation of known falsehoods about the LGBT community. For example, president Tony Perkins has a long history of false and inflammatory attacks, such as claiming that pedophilia is a "homosexual problem." [Washington Times, 11/24/10; SPLC, accessed 6/27/12]

The Family Research Council employs Peter Sprigg, who once said that gays should be exported out of the United States:



and that "homosexual behavior" should be criminalized:



And let's not forget FRC's head, Tony Perkins, who has called gays vile, intolerant, and pawns of the Devil:



That is when he is not making ugly comments about gay youth (beginning at 3:10):



Let me be clear - there have been several elected officials attempting to use the power of their office against Chick-Fil-A. I am not in favor of this.

However, I am equally bothered by the need of so-called Christians to deliberately sugarcoat the issue to the point of omitting several facts about the groups that Chick-Fil-A supports.

Chick-Fil-A's money supports hate and lies and the last time I checked, hate and lies are hardly Christian principles:



Related posts -

Simple answers to the questions about the Chick-Fil-A boycott


Fake Christians are lying about Chick-Fil-A

Fake Christians are lying about Chick-Fil-A

I have to admit that I am not totally in tune to the Chick-Fil-A controversy as much as my fellow blogging colleagues and the rest of my lgbtq brothers and sisters.

But what I do see of it does bother me a bit.

It's not the boycott per se more than how folks who claim to support Chick-Fil-A in accordance to their "Christian values" are deliberately distorting the reasons why the lgbtq community are angry at Chick-Fil-A.

Folks like Mike Huckabee and organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association are attempting to force a false narrative that the gay community is angry at Chick-Fil-A simply because its owner, Dan Cathy, made an ugly comment about not supporting marriage equality.

They are attempting to make it seem that Chick-Fil-A is a victim of "alleged gay intolerance" because its president supports the "traditionally Biblical definition of marriage."

And they are not being truthful.

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A donated nearly $2 million to groups who make it their mission to attack the gay community through lies and distortions. These groups push several false notions from homosexuality is connected to pedophilia to the idea that gays can change their orientation - an idea frowned on by the legitimate scientific community.

DeMint succeeds in getting pro-gay ad pulled from SC television station

Unbelievable:

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint’s attorney has succeeded in getting one Charleston media outlet to pull an ad that attacked DeMint’s eight-year-old position against gays teaching in public schools.

Warren Redman-Gress, executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, said the story has received national attention in the gay and lesbian community since it first was reported this week.

“People just can’t believe one person can stop an advocacy campaign just because he doesn’t like the fact he was quoted in it,” he said.

The ad begins: “What if you saw this headline: Senator Jim DeMint: Jews Should Not Teach Public School. You wouldn’t tolerate such blatant prejudice and persecution. Substitute the word ‘gay’ and the reality is, you do.”

DeMint’s Washington attorney, Cleta Mitchell, had asked Charleston area televisions stations to pull the ad.

WCBD Channel 2 had asked the alliance to edit the ad by including a disclaimer clarifying that the first headline with the word “Jews” in it was not a real headline. A similar disclaimer appears under the second headline clarifying that it’s real.

WCBD station manager Rick Lipps said he made the request to eliminate any confusion, not in reaction to political pressure.

AFFA declined to edit the ad, so WCBD pulled it. In response, AFFA declined to let the station air its two less controversial ads.

In an email from Mitchell to a local television station, Mitchell claimed the ad portrayed DeMint, R-S.C., as anti-Semitic, though Charleston’s Jewish community has raised no concerns along that line.

Mitchell declined to comment, saying, “I just can’t talk about the work I do for my clients.” DeMint’s staff also declined comment, but Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said he found the ad “incredibly offensive and unfair to Senator DeMint.”

Brooks called DeMint “a great friend of the Jewish community.”

During his 2004 Senate bid, DeMint said he didn’t think gays should teach in public school — a remark reportedly widely around the state, and the ad was designed to show how the public still accepts discrimination against gays and lesbians, Redman-Gress said.

It's ridiculous to even ponder the notion that anyone looking at the ad would think that DeMint was anti-Semitic.

Seems to me that the claim the DeMint people are making is bogus. And in the case of one station, the bogus complaint has succeeded:

You can view all of the ads at  www.affa-sc.org/imagine
 
You can also donate to AFFA at http://www.affa-sc.org/affa/donate.htm

Know Your LGBT History - The Jeffersons (a repeat)

This week, I was saddened to learn that one of my favorite actors, Sherman Hemsley, passed away. Hemsley will be remembered for his role as George Jefferson in the groundbreaking comedy The Jeffersons. However, many are not aware of the fact that for years, there were rumors about his sexual orientation. He had neither a wife nor children and most likely we won't ever find out whether or not he was gay, seeing that he was a private person.

In tribute, I am repeating the first episode of my Know Your LGBT History series. It focused on a 1977 episode of The Jeffersons entitled Once A Friend.

The episode was the first time I had ever heard or saw anything about the transgender community.

I say that it still holds up as a good episode after all of these years. A transgendered woman did not play George's friend but I still loved her performance. While she was definitely wanting to keep George's friendship, she did not take any disrespect.

If there is anything that can be seen as offensive in this episode, it would have to be the sequence where George tries to pass off a male employee as his friend. However, I don't think the sequence was making fun of the transgender community, but people's ignorance of the community:







Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

'Anti-gay parenting study blasted in audit' and other Friday midday news briefs

Controversial Gay-Parenting Study Is Severely Flawed, Journal’s Audit Finds - This is HUGE. When an auditor calls a study "bullsh@!," you just KNOW there is a problem.

 FRC now targeting public universities; trying to nix UL's LGBT studies program - It's not enough for the Family Research Council to speak against homosexuality. Now the organization wants to alter the curriculum of colleges in regards to gays.  

Around the country, students demand removal of Chick-Fil-A from campuses - Say what you will about Chick-Fil-A, you can't deny that this situation is heating up.  

Catholic Church Blatantly Discriminates Against Gay Couple In Property Sale - Religious liberty my tush! 

VICTORY! Florida Lt. Governor Apologizes For Comments About Black Women and Lesbians - BAM! 

Kirk Cameron refuses to meet with lgbt youth

Kirk Cameron

This week, there has been some buzz on whether or not former child star and "born again Christian" Kirk Cameron will meet with a group of lgbt teens in New Jersey.

According to Pam's House Blend, 17-year-old Corey Bernstein, Co-Chair Garden State Equality Youth Caucus, sent him a letter asking for the meeting:

I am Corey Bernstein, age 17, a resident of New Jersey and co-chair of the Youth Caucus at Garden State Equality, the state’s organization for LGBT civil rights. I endured brutal bullying at my former school because I am gay.

Mr. Cameron, I understand you are visiting Ocean Grove, New Jersey from Friday, July 27 through Sunday, July 29 to speak to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. When you are in town that weekend, I would like to extend this invitation for you to join me and other members of Garden State Equality’s Youth Caucus – many of whom are also teenagers who have been bullied because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In fact, I would like to invite you to meet us for lunch at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 28th in Ocean Grove, along with leaders from the local organization Ocean Grove United and from Garden State Equality. The lunch would be at the home of the co-chairs of Ocean Grove United.

In a kind, respectful and constructive way, we’d like to talk to you about the pain your words about being LGBT have personally caused me and other LGBT youth. If you can’t join us for lunch that Saturday – when we youth will be meeting regardless – but can meet us at another time that weekend, we will do everything to make the timing convenient for you.

Mr. Cameron, words casting negative judgments about LGBT people not only perpetuate prejudice in our wider society, but also hurt LGBT youth in particular. Some of your public comments about being LGBT have devastated us LGBT youth. We yearn to grow up in a world that provides us dignity and safety. That is our simple, most heartfelt dream.

Cameron has not only publicly opposed marriage equality but has also voiced some strong negative opinions about the gay community. Earlier this year on the Piers Morgan talk show, he called homosexuality “unnatural… detrimental, and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.” While Cameron claimed that he was not speaking out of hatred, Bernstein's letter illustrates the simple fact that his words were hurtful to gay children.

And now Cameron has sent a message back via his manager saying that he will not honor a request for a meeting.

Via the site Democratic Underground:

Hi Corey,

My name is Mark Craig and I am Kirk's manager. His schedule is quite hectic with his movie "Monumental" and working on a new one at the same time, as well as his Love Worth Fighting For events.

He usually flies in the day of the event and after the event is actually traveling to the next one. Because of this intense schedule, there is not time to set up extra meetings like you are suggesting. That being said I would normally just write a simple reply, "Thanks for your invitation, however Kirk's schedule will not permit," but because you have taken some time to share some of your feelings, Kirk asked me to personally thank you on his behalf for your kind invitation and is very sorry he can not attend because of the schedule that weekend. I also want to thank you for taking the time to write and share your heart in your letter.

For this reason, I want to share this thought with you, from someone who sees and works with Kirk almost everyday of the year - I promise you his goal is not one of trying to hurt people in any way, in fact it is just the opposite. He has a concern for their well being - not only now, but eternally. He goes out to share a positive message through events like this weekend and I assure you he will only be presenting a positive/ inspiring message.

I would like to suggest if you really are interested in Kirk's thoughts on the matter, you can listen online to the interviews and comments Kirk has shared where he was given ample time to communicate his heart and thoughts. I hope you can attend the event and see for yourself.

In the big ado that Cameron caused a while back, there were a lot of things said for and against his words but for the most part, we all forgot who his words hurt the most.

Our children.

Many of them don't have the survival skills that many of us have attained through painful years of being bullied. Many of them have not yet acquired the internal coping mechanisms to deal with the constant barrage of negativity which flows from individuals like Cameron.

 When hearing of Cameron's attacks, we gays who are adults reacted with annoyance and anger because we have been trained through years of practice. But to a gay child, Cameron's words are like a push in an empty grave and a shovel-full of dirt thrown in their faces.

It's sad that Cameron can make ugly comments about gays on a talk show, team up with an organization and claim to be a free speech victim (he is a spokesman of the National Organization for Marriage), but will not meet with the most powerless victims of his ugly words.

That's not being Christian. That's wanton cowardice.

Editor's note - Congressman Frank Pallone will meet with the teens and has written Cameron a letter asking him to reconsider.

Your religion WILL NOT protect you from criticism

When it comes to people who hide behind their religion while attacking us gays, we need to be clear about something.

First check this out from Religious Right Watch:

Jack Hakimian is a Florida pastor who is turning into something of a Religious Right martyr after the North Miami public schools rebuked him for delivering anti-gay screeds on school property. Today, Hakimian took his case to American Family Radio, where he complained of “censorship” by gay groups. He said gay rights advocates “know that if we keep debating from biology, from theology and from sociology that homosexuality is not a healthy lifestyle, it’s not God’s plan, we will persuade people’s minds,” and so those advocates “want to destroy our presence.”

The thing which is sadder than Hakimian's ridiculous screed is that if we as a community cried foul, he, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon, and other members of the religious right would call US the bullies.

No matter how these folks push the false notion that they are "talking about the lifestyle," the fact remains that they are talking about us as people.

We haven't called them out. They've called us out.

The late lesbian poet Audre Lorde once said "your silence will not protect you." Allow me to paraphrase her words when speaking to people like Hakimian and other denizens of the religious right:

Your religion will not protect you from criticism.  You don't know us and based upon your words, you do not care to know us.

That's fine. Lgbtqs don't exist to get in your so-called good graces. Nor do we seek "tolerance" from you like some pet who has urinated on your favorite rug.

You can believe what you want and you can say what you want.  But when you start talking about us, don't expect us to sit in a corner and cry. And above all, don't expect us to take your abuse with the pitiful good nature of a battered spouse.

We are not "things" nor are we "trapped in a lifestyle." We are human beings and we will not settle for less than being treated like human beings. Your religion does not entitle you to take verbal potshots at us without the courtesy of a highly angry response nor does it entitle you to freely lie about who we are without the courtesy of a stern correction. Our lives will not be dictated by your fevered imaginations of what we allegedly do in the bedrooms. Nor will you restrict every aspect of our lives to those fevered imaginations.

I don't care if you speak in tongues, can heal the sick, or raise the dead. You don't have rights and privileges above us. You never have and you never will.

Basically, it comes down to this - if you can't handle our response, don't call us out in the first place.

'Is NOM distorting another photo?' and other Thursday midday news briefs

NOM photos suggest packed [trucks in front of the Chick-fil-A one] - For a supposedly Christian organization, the National Organization seems to have a problem with being truthful about photos. Check out the link and tell me what you think.  

10-Year-Old Delivers Marriage Equality Speech To New York City Council - Outstanding!  

Will Anti-Gay Actor Kirk Cameron Say Yes To A Lunch Invitation From Bullied LGBT Youth In New Jersey? -If Cameron doesn't meet with these teens, don't be surprised. Folks like Cameron only TALK about their Christianity.  

John Kirkwood on Gay Judges: 'We Were Better Off When the Mafia Ran Illinois' - I'm guessing he means it would give new meaning to the phrase "stick em up!"

 The 20 Openly Gay Athletes Of The 2012 Olympics - During the 1984 Olympics, there were rumors of one gay athlete on the American team (which I knew was Greg Louganis). My, have we come a long way!

Matt Barber - 'How dare Hilary Clinton not talk about gay sex!'

Matt Barber

Editor's note - Today is one of my two post mornings. After reading this piece about the stupidity and homophobia of Matt Barber, pan down for a good laugh with the post NOM's Ruth Institute quietly acknowledges how dumb it is

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton recently addressed the International AIDS Conference in Washington where she said that the United States is committed to creating an AIDS-free generation.

But leave it to Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel to get angry at Clinton because she didn't use her speech to talk about gay sex:

 "Shame on Hillary Clinton in choosing to ignore the reality that, in the United States, people are primarily infected with AIDS through deviant homosexual behavior," Barber offers. "She has essentially postured with a false air of resolve while cowardly refusing to address the real cause of AIDS in the U.S., and that's homosexual behavior."

He points to the fact that even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been forced to admit that reality.

Of course Barber omits that the CDC actually said

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

Barber is angry that Clinton didn't do the very thing that the CDC has outlined as a leading factor of HIV/AIDS infections, i.e. the stigmatizing of gay men.

I say good for her.

NOM's Ruth Institute quietly acknowledges how dumb it is

The National Organization for Marriage's Ruth Institute does have a degree of shame.

Yesterday, I wrote a post on how a Facebook group I help to moderate was accused by the organization using Sesame Street characters Ernie and Bert to "recruit" children:

The claim by the Ruth Institute was nonsense and those in the Facebook group got a good laugh over it. As a matter of fact, it was so hilarious that some of us felt that we needed to go to the Ruth Institute Facebook post which made the claim to tell the organization how we appreciate the laugh.

Apparently our thank you's (none of which were threatening or obscene) wasn't appreciated because the post has been taken down.

Shucks. Oh well at least I will have the memories. I am very proud in particular of the message which I left:

"As one of the moderators of the Facebook site you have accused of using Bert and Ernie to seduce children, I have one thing to say to the Ruth Institute - 'y'all stupid.' In addition, if you pardon my French - Y'all need Jesus."

NOM's Ruth Institute - Facebook group using 'Bert and Ernie' to seduce children!!

This is hilarious! The National Organization's Ruth Institute just told a lie on a Facebook group and guess what?

It's a group in which I am one of the moderators.

The Facebook group in question is called I bet this turkey can get more fans than NOM. It is a place where folks post articles and photos regarding the lgbtq community. Many times, the photos are comical views at the religious right and their nonsensical claims.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the following via Equality Matters:

The photo was clearly created to poke fun at the controversy between Chick-Fil-A and Jim Henson's Muppets over comments made by the restaurant's owner in regards to the gay community.

But according to Equality Matters, the Ruth Institute seems to claim that this photo has a more sinister design:

In a July 25 Facebook post, the Ruth Institute linked to an image created by a pro-equality group in response to the recent controversy surrounding The Muppets and Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay politics. The image, which depicts Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie as a same-sex couple, seemed to anger the Ruth Institute, which sarcastically added “Oh, no we don’t want to seduce your kids! You’re so paranoid and uptight!”

And it gets funnier:

This has to be one of the single most ridiculous things I have EVER read in my life.

Again, the Bert and Ernie graphic had NOTHING to do with any attempt to seduce children and anyone in their right mind would know this.

But then again we are talking about the National Organization for Marriage and its supporters, so those with common sense need not apply.

To my fellow moderators, please don't post any pictures of Batman and Robin nor any pictures of Bugs Bunny in drag.

And please, no pictures of Popeye and Bluto

I cringe to think what we would be accused of next.

'Hate group wants $35 million to 'restore' America' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

NOM’s Ruth Institute Peddles Conspiracy Theories About “Gay Agenda” - Who keeps telling the religious right our secret plans for overthrowing America and having Judy Garland's birthday declared a national holiday? Our secret fearless leaders (the one stroking his Persian cat) will be angry. Just who will he feed to the sharks due to the failure to keep our agenda secret?  

Read: FRC's $35 million plan to 'go on the offense to advance the Christian worldview' - The Family Research Council wants $35 million to 'restore America.' Aw hell, I can do that for low, low price of $19.95. 

Sen. Inhofe: Military Uniforms Inappropriate Because Pride Parades Are ‘Political, Partisan’ - Oh whine, whine, whine!

 One Million Moms Protests Gay-Themed Show It Hasn’t Even Seen Yet - Move along, folks. Crazy religious right group. Nothing to see here, except for the show they are protesting. It sounds promising. 

Chick-Fil-A Recalling Jim Henson Kids' Meal Toys As Partnership Severed Over Anti-Gay Donations - I smell a rat on the part of Chick-Fil-A.  

Conservative Media Attack The Muppets For Founding Company's Chick-Fil-A Rebuke - Keep it up. Don't be surprised if Miss Piggy karates you. I hear she is a black belt. 

Defender of anti-gay parenting study makes HUGE error

Professor Christian Smith makes sad defense of flawed study.

You simply have to hand it to the folks attempting to defend Mark Regnerus' flawed study on gay parenting.

Not necessarily for truth, mind you, but for chutzpah. Regardless of how many times the study has been called out for its faults, these folks continue to hang in there in their attempts to defend it.

But in doing so, they cause more criticism to rain down on it.

Christian Smith, professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society and the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame, recently wrote a piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education defending Regnerus' work.

In the article, An Academic Auto-da-Fé, Smith claims that Regnerus and his work are being unjustly attacked by progressives:

Whoever said inquisitions and witch hunts were things of the past? A big one is going on now. The sociologist Mark Regnerus, at the University of Texas at Austin, is being smeared in the media and subjected to an inquiry by his university over allegations of scientific misconduct.

Regnerus's offense? His article in the July 2012 issue of Social Science Research reported that adult children of parents who had same-sex romantic relationships, including same-sex couples as parents, have more emotional and social problems than do adult children of heterosexual parents with intact marriages. That's it. Regnerus published ideologically unpopular research results on the contentious matter of same-sex relationships. And now he is being made to pay.

In today's political climate, and particularly in the discipline of sociology—dominated as it is by a progressive orthodoxy—what Regnerus did is unacceptable. It makes him a heretic, a traitor—and so he must be thrown under the bus.

. . . Regnerus has been attacked by sociologists all around the country, including some from his own department. He has been vilified by journalists who obviously (based on what they write) understand little about social-science research. And the journal in which Regnerus published his article has been the target of a pressure campaign.

It's an interesting piece with two flaws - one relatively minor and one which can be seen as major.

Mike Huckabee's 'moral values' include lies about gay community

Huckabee has no problem lying about gays.

As you all know, former Arkansas governor and current radio show host Mike Huckabee has called for a "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" to blunt the criticism the restaurant has been receiving for its negative view of lgbtq equality.

One part of Huckabee's statement announcing this day struck me as odd:

Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we're considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant.

So Huckabee claims that folks like him are "affirming traditional values."

If we were to take a look at Huckabee's past statements he made about the lgbtq community, we would see that apparently his idea of 'affirming traditional values" is to attack the gay community with lies.

Huckabee has made so many ugly and false statements about the gay community that Media Matters for America was able to catalogue them. Here are just a few:

Huckabee Made Virulent Anti-Gay Comments As A Public Official

As A Public Official, Huckabee Called Homosexuality An "Aberration" And Condemned The Government For Supporting It Along With Pedophilia, Sadomasochism, And Necrophilia. In a 2007 appearance on Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Huckabee about his assertion in a 1998 book claiming "it is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations -- from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia." Huckabee responded that "all of these are deviations from what has been considered the traditional concept of sexual behavior." Russert also asked Huckabee about his assertion in 1992 that "I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle." Huckabee responded that "all of us are sinners." [Towelroad.com, 1/2/08]

Huckabee Claimed That Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Is Like Legalizing Drug Use, Incest, And Polygamy. 

From an April 9, 2010 article concerning an interview Huckabee gave to the College of New Jersey's magazine The Perspective:

He continues to oppose any government recognition of same-sex relationships. Even civil unions are "not necessary," Huckabee said. "I think there's been a real level of being disingenuous on the part of the gay and lesbian community with their goal of civil unions," he alleged, referring to LGBT activists who first claimed that their goal in several states was to enact civil unions, but subsequently launched efforts to implement full marriage rights.

Huckabee went on to draw parallels between homosexuality and other lifestyles that are considered by some to be morally aberrant. "You don't go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal," he said of same-sex marriage. "That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them." [The Perspective, 4/9/10]

Huckabee Said He Opposes Same-Sex Marriage, In Part, Because Of The "Ick Factor." 

From a June 28, 2010 New Yorker article:

One afternoon in Jerusalem, while Huckabee was eating a chocolate croissant in the lounge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, I asked him to explain his rationale for opposing gay rights. "I do believe that God created male and female and intended for marriage to be the relationship of the two opposite sexes," he said. "Male and female are biologically compatible to have a relationship. We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn't work the same."

I asked him if he had any arguments that didn't have to do with God or ickiness. "There are some pretty startling studies that show if you want to end poverty it's not education and race, it's monogamous marriage," he said. "Many studies show that children who grow up in a healthy environment where they have both a mother and a father figure have both a healthier outlook and a different perspective from kids who don't have the presence of both." [New Yorker, 6/28/10]

And let's not forget the recent segment of his radio show in which he, while talking to a victim of child molestation, falsely connected homosexuality with pedophilia in an attempt to defend the Boy Scouts' decision to keep gays out.

Seems to me that if bearing false witness is a "value" which Huckabee affirms, then he has bigger problems than gay folks.

And if Chick-Fil-A teams with him, then the restaurant deserves all of the bad press it receives.

'Is organization using gay porn in attempt to 'cure' gays?' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Evidence that NARTH Founder Uses Porn to Treat Ex-Gays - Oh this is good!

 A Leader of Washington’s Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign Has Been Found Guilty on Gun Charge - Shame, shame, shame! 

 Chick-fil-A defenders won't (can't?) defend what Dan Cathy actually said (NOM edition)- NOM seems to have the "Mike Huckabee disease."  

First Female U.S. Astronaut, Sally Ride, Comes Out In Obituary - R.I.P. Sally Ride - a woman who never let ignorance keep her from reaching the stars.

  U.S. religious right presses anti-gay laws in Africa - Simply disgusting!

Mike Huckabee is not necessarily a good ally for Chick-Fil-A

Mike Huckabee

Chick-Fil-A has a new ally in the controversy regarding the gay community.

Former Arkansas governor and current radio show host Mike Huckabee is announcing a “Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day."

Huckabee is calling for folks to eat at Chick-Fil-A on August 1 to support the company from what he calls “vitriolic assaults":

I have been incensed at the vitriolic assaults on the Chick Fil-A company because the CEO [sic], Dan Cathy, made comments recently in which he affirmed his view that the Biblical view of marriage should be upheld. The Cathy family, let by Chick Fil-A founder Truett Cathy, are a wonderful Christian family who are committed to operating the company with Biblical principles and whose story is the true American success story… I ask you to join me in speaking out on Wednesday, August 1 “Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day.” No one is being asked to make signs, speeches, or openly demonstrate. The goal is simple: Let’s affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1.

As Huckabee rushes to the defense of Chick-Fil-A, he conveniently omits the reason as to why the gay community is angry at the company. He conveniently does not mention how Chick-Fil-A donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay hate groups and ex-gay groups in 2010 .

And he omits any specific mention of the viciously anti-gay comments of Chick-Fil-A's president, Dan Cathy, who claimed that gays are helping to invite "God's judgement" on the country.

Huckabee's failure to mention these things could be seen as merely an accidental slight on his part.
But not necessarily.

He committed the same willful distortion in 2010.

Sen. Jim DeMint doesn't like being called out for his homophobia

Sen. Jim DeMint

It's about time.

Looks like some fun has come down my way and wouldn't you know it, Sen. Jim DeMint is involved.

From the Charleston Post and Courier:

Supporters of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint have contacted Charleston area television stations urging them to pull the plug on an ad featuring a comment DeMint made about homosexuals teaching in public schools, according to the group that produced the ad.

The local stations have continued to air the 30-second piece, said Warren Redman-Gress, director of the Charleston-based Alliance for Full Acceptance.

“We are really thankful the TV stations see the value in what we’re doing, and, in that first salvo, have stood by us,” he said.

The ad begins with a hypothetical question: “What if you saw this headline? ‘Senator Jim DeMint: Jews Should Not Teach Public School,’” and then swaps the word “Gay” for “Jews” in the headline.

DeMint supporters argued the ad falsely portrays DeMint as anti Semitic.

The ad refers to a controversial 2004 remark that DeMint made about a state GOP platform item saying gays should not teach in public schools. Asked about that platform during a televised debate, DeMint said, “I don’t think they should,” adding that government should not endorse particular behaviors. “We need the folks that are teaching in schools to represent our values.”

Sen. DeMint's whine is so pitiful that I doubt anyone is falling for it. But here is the ad so you can judge for yourself:




Personally, I think that no one watching the ad would mistake Sen DeMint for being anti-Semitic. A serious homophobe, yes. But anti-Semitic? No.

Of course reasonable people should ask what's the difference between being anti-Semitic and homophobic?

Neither are things one should aspire to be, particularly if one is a United States senator.

Regardless of color, shape, or form, bigotry is bigotry.

Please help AFFA keep all 3 of their ads on local TV

you can view them at 

www.affa-sc.org/imagine

http://www.affa-sc.org/affa/donate.htm

'NOM trotting out old claim of gay parental abuse' and other Monday midday news briefs

A picture that you can all enjoy and send to your friends!

Muppets Abandon Chick-fil-A Because Of Its Anti-Gay Policies - If there was any justice, Miss Piggy would karate Brian Brown.

 A new, nakedly hostile NOM era has 'Dawned' - I've written many times of this woman's claims of abuse by her gay father . But now with NOM, refuting this woman's generalizations will take on new urgency. 

 Related post on Dawn Stefanowicz -  Attack on lgbt parenting ignores the bigger issue 

  Gay in Cameroon: after beatings in prison, rejection at home - We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Cameroon.  

AIDS 2012: “Keep the Promise” march draws more than 2,000 - A successful march pinpoints an important issue.

Hat tip to one of my Facebook buddies for the Brian Brown pic.

NOM wants you to 'Eat Mor Chikin'

Brian Brown want you to 'Eat Mor Chikin'

Say what you will about the National Organization for Marriage, the organization deserves some type of an award for brazen audacity. NOM has gone from demanding that businesses stay neutral in the fight over marriage equality to inviting its followers to support a business because said business is in line with its views against marriage equality. I read the following on its blog:

Thanks to your recent efforts at DumpStarbucks.com and DumpGeneralMills.com, we've shown the cultural elite, the gay millionaires who fund anti-marriage initiatives, and the biased media that the defenders of marriage are willing to put our money where our mouth is.

Well, this Wednesday, we have a chance to do it again—and this time even more literally—by coming out in support of National Eat at Chick-fil-A Day.

Imagine if folks all across the country united together in support of heroes like Dan and Truett Cathy that stand for strengthening marriage and family!

Imagine the potential impact of the message that companies favoring the radical redefinition of marriage risk fallout with their customers—combined with the message that heroes who stand for marriage and family cannot be silenced!

Imagine how clearly that message would be heard across the nation if Chick-fil-A reported record sales this Wednesday!

Well, let's not just imagine it—let's make it happen.

On his radio show this week, Mike Huckabee called on his listeners to support the principled stand of the Cathy family by making this coming Wednesday (July 25th) "National Eat at Chick-fil-A Day."

Please join me this Wednesday in supporting this courageous company, while at the same time sending a powerful message of support to every individual and every company with the courage to stand for marriage.

Visit your local Chick-fil-A restaurant for lunch or dinner on Wednesday. Better yet— stop and tell the manager that you're there to honor and respect the integrity, faith and courage of Dan Cathy and the Cathy family.

Show your support! Eat Mor Chikin!

A commentator on the same blog post put the issue in an eloquent perspective:

This discussion shouldn't be about the positions of Starbucks, General Mills and Chick-fil-A. The discussion should be about NOM and the double standard they seem to applaud. If NOM had never mentioned the "neutral stance" this discussion wouldn't even take place. But since they shook their finger at Starbucks and Gen. Mills for speaking out and supporting marriage equality, NOM has effectively said: "even though Chick-fil-A is not neutral, we are going to break our own principles and applaud them for not staying neutral on the subject." So the question is, why would we take NOM's principles seriously if they don't seem to do themselves?

How Chick-Fil-A screwed up and ignited a firestorm

Dan Cathy of Chick-Fil-A switches from chicken to crow.

Well no more lemonade and waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A for me because of the company's insulting of the gay community.

For those who haven't been keeping up, please get your head out of that cave, take those fingers out of your ears, and check out this lovely piece by Forbes magazine on how Chick-Fil-A flunked crisis management BIG TIME:

It’s no secret that fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A donates to anti-gay Christian charities — the chain has been getting flak from gay-rights groups for a while now on that. But this week, the company flunked crisis PR 101 and spawned a social-media firestorm with its inept handling of the issue. If there was a gay person — or supporter — left in the U.S.A. with a Facebook account who didn’t know about the boycott of Chick-Fil-A, there isn’t now.

The flames were re-ignited Tuesday when company president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press he is “guilty as charged” of donating to anti-gay charities. Then the company tried to fix the problem with an announcement on Chick-Fil-A’s Facebook page that sent the whole controversy massively viral. Here’s the exact verbiage:

“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

“Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.

“Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Translation: “We’d like to close our eyes now, count to ten, and you should forget all about our fervently avowed political views — which we won’t be changing — and go back to eating our chicken a lot.”

Which didn’t work.

This non-response didn’t answer the questions on many people’s minds: Will the company stop donating to groups that are actively opposing gay-marriage laws, and controversial “gay-curing” groups such as Exodus International? Also, how are gay employees treated at the company given the corporate culture?

By essentially refusing to address the issues its founder raised, Chick-Fil-A just made a lot of people madder.

You can say that again.

Click here for the rest of the Forbes magazine article.

Let us fight for the right to love, not to destroy

I'm sorry but I can't post any news briefs today.

My heart and prayers go out to all of those caught up in that awful madness in Aurora, CO. I simply can't comprehend why someone would take it upon himself to do what this man did. Did he think that his cause was so righteous that it was perfectly okay to attack a bunch of innocent people?

I know I am not alone with my puzzlement or my prayers for those caught up in this tragedy. And I hope I am not alone in my soul-searching.

We all must learn something from this, particularly those of us who fight for lgbtq equality. There are times when we (myself included) personalize our fight against certain individuals due to their nasty comments and lies. While we are perfectly justified in pointing out hypocrisies, let's never personalize our fight so much that we lose perspective in what exactly are we fighting against and for.

Our struggle for equality is not against any person or religion. Our struggle for equality is against fear and ignorance. It's against entitlement and thoughts of supremacy which deceives people into thinking that they own the patent on the words "morality," "love," "values," and "family." We fight not to destroy nor to hate but for the right to love.

Because it is our right.

The following video is dedicated to us all, but especially the victims of the recent tragedy. Remember that we are ALL pulling for you: