Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
It doesn't amaze me how those who are against marriage equality continues to bring up the same lie time and time again - i.e. that marriage equality will endanger children. Such scare tactics generally work.
This video is being run the so-called "Protect Marriage" group in Maine. The state will be voting on marriage equality next month:
If you recognize the video and the family involved in it - The Parkers - then you know that anti-marriage equality forces used the same video in the Prop 8 fight. They claim that the father, David Parker, was arrested for merely voicing a disagreement to his son supposedly being taught about marriage equality in Massachusetts schools.
It is a lie. The entire situation was a fraud perpetrated by David Parker and a Massachusetts anti-gay group, Mass Resistance. Mass Resistance, by the way, has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of the myraid of deliberate inaccurate things it does to propagandize against the gay community, such as the Parker controversy.
The Parker video should remind one of what Marc Mutty, the head of the campaign which defeated marriage equality in 2009, said about the false claim regarding children and marriage equality in a recently release documentary about the fight, Question 1 :
When the entire incident took place in 2005, I covered it and found out several things that neither the Parkers nor Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council - who is hosting the video - will tell you:
Distortion - David Parker objected to his child being exposed to homosexuality because it was an issue of sexuality and Joseph Estabrook Elementary refused to accommodate him
Truth - In a January 17, 2005 email to the school, Parker said: “There is a book included entitled, Who’s in a Family (with pictures) that include lesbian and homosexual couples with children—implicitly equating this family structure as a morally equal alternative to other family constructs. We stand firmly against this book or any other subject matter pertaining to homosexuality ever being indoctrinated to our child, discussed in school, or sent home. We don’t believe gay parents constitute a spiritually healthy family and should not be celebrated.”
Joseph Estabrook Elementary principal, Joni Jay, wrote Parker an email clearly saying homosexuality is not a part of the kindergarten curriculum. She also said she cannot control what students say to one another and that many children attending Joseph Estabrook Elementary live in same-sex households.
Point of fact: The entire controversy began because Parker’s son brought home a “diversity bookbag” with several items in it. Among them was a book showing certain types of families, including same-sex families. It was the only book in the packet that talked about anything of a homosexual nature.
When the media talks about the small group of black pastors attempting to sabotage President Obama's African-American support, there is something that I think they should give first mention.
It yanks my nerves when folks jump into the discussion about this non-controversy regarding black pators angry over Obama's support of marriage equality WITHOUT expressing the point first of all that these pastors are bought and paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, who has endorsed Obama's opponent, Mitt Romney.
So the following quote from Bill Owens from a September article in the Washington Blade should bring it home to those confused - whether willfully or not - about the situation:
In the wake of internal documents from NOM leaked earlier this year, Owens was asked by CNN’s Dan Merica about having a connection with the anti-gay group. The pastor confirmed the anti-gay group compensates him.
“They pay my salary,” Owens said. “My wife … has an earned doctorate from Vanderbilt University and I have three degrees, we make a combined salary of $20,000 a year because they were kind enough to pick us up, because we did not have funds, and they said we can put you in the budget for $20,000. So we are in relationship with them and I’m very proud of it.”
Owens, by the way, is one of the ring leaders of the nonsense. He is the leader of CAAP (Coalition of African-American Pastors), the organization which began the plan to sabotage Obama's African-American support.
NOM siphoned $80,000 to Jackson
He is also a member of God Said, another group of African-American pastors seeking to siphon 25% of the African-American vote from Obama.
My opinion is that CAAP and God Said are comprised of the same members.
