'What folks need to remember about the anti-gay right' & other Friday midday news briefs

Three Days In Nashville Talking To Southern Baptists About Homosexuality - Zack Ford is a better man than me. I understand that these conversations have to take place but geez! 

What most people aren't getting about the fake non-troversies of the anti-gay right - Jeremy Hooper NAILS a point which has constantly been driving me crazy for years (and that is not an exaggeration). We are going to HAVE TO DO BETTER than simply calling the anti-gay right bigots and making jokes about how they are secretly gay. It's like tossing tennis balls at tanks because we are talking about people and groups with intricate, long-term goals to mess us over.

Idaho Governor Vows To Keep Fighting Supreme Court Ruling Allowing Same-Sex Marriage - Hell, Butch (that is his real name), if you want to waste money, you could always cut me a big check.

Tony Perkins: Gay Rights Part Of Population Control Agenda - I just can't with this man . . .

Anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera becomes victim to his double standard

LaBarbera

By now, no doubt, you all are aware that anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera has been detained again in Canada. Earlier this year, he was detained, released, and then arrested for distributing anti-gay and anti- abortion material at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan and not leaving when asked to by campus security.

LaBarebera was returning to Canada for the trial based upon the above incident. This time when he was detained, his computer, laptop, and other materials were searched thoroughly. According to LaBarbera, Calgary Border Service agents confiscated a DVD of a Russian anti-gay documentary entitled Sodom on the grounds that it could be hate propaganda, which is in violation of Canadian law.

Naturally, LaBarbera is milking the incident. In a press release, he raged about the supposed lack of free speech in Canada:

In Canada and across the Western world, laws based on homosexuality-based ‘rights’ have ushered in tyranny against people of faith who affirm historic, Judeo-Christian morality and man-woman marriage. It is outrageous for a major public university to ban opposition speech on this issue in the name of ‘protecting’ students—who should be allowed to hear ALL sides of this, or any, debate. “Today we will see if Canada upholds its professed Charter commitment to free speech and religious freedom. But this much is clear: the Western world’s war against faith and biblical morals in the name of homosexuality and gender confusion (transgenderism) is not a model that many nations across the world want to follow.”

Poor Peter.  I would feel sorry for him, except for a couple of things. One - he pushes some of the most vicious anti-gay lies. Two - he is a hypocrite.

LaBarbera feels that Canada shouldn't have the autonomy to decide its own laws when it comes to free speech. However, he also feels that countries such as Uganda and Jamaica should have the autonomy to persecute lgbts.  In June of this year, he defended these countries and actually spoke against the United States' attempt to stand against anti-lgbt persecution.

According to Right Wing Watch:

VCY America’s flagship radio show “Crosstalk,” Peter LaBarbera expressed outrage over Joe Biden’s recent remarks in support of LGBT rights, accusing the vice president of “neo-imperialism.” LaBarbera, the head of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, defended draconian anti-gay laws in Uganda and Jamaica: “The American government has embraced a neo-imperialism where we arrogantly override the beliefs of countries like Jamaica and Uganda and other countries with the idea that we, America, know what’s best for the world.” 

I'm sure that if he is ever questioned on his lack of consistency with regards to foreign laws, LaBarbera will think up a good excuse to explain away his double standard. In his mind, at least.

But the bottom line is all about that old adage of "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."

If LaBarbera is all about defending the autonomy of foreign countries to persecute their own gay citizens, then he should show that same support of foreign countries deciding their own laws regarding free speech. Even if the latter demands that he is to be punished for violation of those laws.

Fox News is the propaganda arm of anti-gay right in Houston controversy

Todd Starnes began the lies about Houston subpoenas

I made a prediction a while back about Fox News becoming the network where anti-gay spokespeople can repeat their lies without courtesy of correction. However, based upon the recent pseudo controversy involving subpoenas in Houston, the situation is worse than I could ever imagine. Several personalities on the network are exploiting their roles as news figures to become part of the story by not being accurate and then directing audience members to courses of action.

According to Carlos Maza at  Media Matters:

Fox News helped turn a bogus story about subpoenas sent to a handful of Houston pastors into a national rallying cry for religious liberty. Now the network is helping promote an event that will pit some of the country's most extreme anti-LGBT voices against the city's nondiscrimination ordinance.

In May, the city of Houston made history by enacting the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a measure that prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and several other categories. The ordinance was championed by the city's first openly gay mayor, Democrat Annise Parker.

Opponents of HERO -- led by the Houston Area Pastor Council -- responded by launching an effort to put a repeal of the ordinance on the ballot in November. Their campaign peddled the myth that HERO would allow men and sexual predators to enter women's restrooms -- a myth that was widely circulated by local media. Though opponents submitted the required number of signatures to put the repeal on the ballot, City Attorney Dave Feldman determined that many of the signatures were collected improperly, and the city announced that not enough valid signatures had been collected.

Opponents quickly filed a lawsuit to have the signatures reviewed, prompting the city to respond by issuing subpoenas to five local pastors for a broad range of documents -- including sermons and personal communications -- related to their opposition to HERO.

On October 14, Fox News reporter and serial misinformer Todd Starnes broke the news of the subpoenas, misleadingly characterizing them as an "attempt to deconstruct religious liberty" and describing HERO as a "bathroom bill." Starnes' report relied heavily on spin from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the extreme right-wing legal group representing the pastors in their effort to quash the subpoenas. ADF attorney Christina Holcomb called the subpoenas "an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of [the city's] actions."

Before long, Starnes' report made the jump to Fox News' airwaves. On October 15, Starnes appeared on The Kelly File to discuss the story, describing HERO as a measure that would let "men who identify as women" to use women's restrooms.

 Starnes' appearance was followed by a barrage of misleading segments about the story, all of which depicted the subpoenas as an attack on religious liberty. Multiple Fox personalities incorrectly described the subpoenas as part of the enforcement of HERO, suggesting that the ordinance might criminalize anti-gay speech. Others repeated Starnes' lie that HERO would allow men to use women's restrooms. By the end of the week, in just three days of coverage, Fox had spent nearly thirty minutes of airtime peddling its Houston horror story

Fox's panicked coverage was grossly misleading and left out crucial details about the anti-HERO lawsuit. But it worked perfectly as a right-wing horror story about Christians being victimized by a city's attempt to protect LGBT people.

Soon, Houston had become -- as one Fox anchor put it -- "ground zero for religious liberty." Conservative media outlets quickly regurgitated the victimization spin from Starnes and ADF. Conservative groups -- led by the notorious anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council (FRC) -- began organizing "I Stand Sunday," a November 2 rally in Houston to support the pastors who had been "unduly intimidated by the city's Mayor."

In a press conference on October 15, Parker clarified that she had not seen the subpoenas before they were filed, explaining that they were drafted by outside counsel. She also agreed that the language of the subpoenas -- which asked for any materials relating to the pastors' teaching on homosexuality and gender identity -- was overly broad. Days later, the city narrowed the scope of the subpoenas to only materials directly related to the anti-HERO effort.

Huckabee exploited the lie to raise his profile.

But it was too late to stop the tidal wave of conservative outrage birthed by Fox's misleading coverage. Starnes immediately decried the amended subpoenas. During the October 20 edition of his Fox News program, long-time HERO opponent Mike Huckabee urged his audience to bombard Parker's office with Bibles and copies of sermons. The address for Parker's office was displayed on screen, and hundreds of his supporters obeyed his request.

  . . . Later that afternoon, Parker announced that the city had withdrawn its subpoenas of the five pastors. At a press conference, Parker explained that she wanted to avoid having a "national debate about freedom of religion"

 . . .  The move hasn't appeased HERO's Fox News critics. In a report on the subpoenas' withdrawal, Starnes urged his readers to still attend the "I Stand Sunday" rally and advocated for a public vote to repeal the ordinance. During the October 30 edition of Fox & Friends, Huckabee took credit for Parker's reversal and once again took aim at HERO -- which co-host Anna Kooiman described as allowing "40-year-old men to share restrooms with a fourth-grade girl"

You can go to the Media Matters site to read the rest of the story as well as see video footage. But the main thing is that the lgbt community should be forewarned. Fox News did not present this story as a debate between two sides. This was a full-fledged campaign of lies and deceptions buoyed by folks who don't have a problem with lying in God's name and helped by their employer - a network with no accountability or ethics.

If they can raise this much hell and tell these many lies involving this situation, just imagine what Huckabee, Starnes, and the rest can do in any other lgbt equality fight.

We got an enemy in Fox News and the lgbt community had better not take it lightly.

'Poll - Most Americans oppose religious exemptions in hiring practices ' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Most Americans Say Employers Should Never Discriminate, Even on Religious Grounds, According to Latest Harris/Out & Equal Poll - How long will it be before the religious right whine about a "skewed survey?" Or maybe they will just ignore it. Let's not let them ignore it. 
 
 Apple CEO Tim Cook comes out: “I’m proud to be gay” - By the way, THIS happened.  

Russian Official Says Apple CEO Should Be Banned From Russia After Saying He Is Gay - And Russia is ever so pissed about it. 
 

Turek: States Should Defend The Institution Of Marriage Just Like The South Defended Slavery - Why not? Slavery is now seen as a hideous blight in American history. And hopefully soon, marriage discrimination will follow that path. 
 
Woman's Day Magazine Features Groundbreaking Article About Transgender Family - Niiiice!!!!

 It's About Time Someone Other Than Straight White Males Got To Be Superheroes - Ya damn skippy!

Gay marriage will soon lead to adult-child marriage?

You want to know one of the reasons why the anti-gay right is losing the battle over marriage equality. They can't formulate new arguments. It's the same crap over and over again. This time its Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Action on Voice of Christian Youth America’s “In Focus” talk show with host Jim Schneider. Imagine saying this junk in a courtroom:

 Editor's note - this post initially has the wrong video spotlighted. It has been corrected.

Houston mayor withdraws subpoenas, anti-gay groups will carry on with false victim rally

Parlker

Houston mayor Annise Parker just took the wind out of the religious right boat  S.S. We Are Being Persecuted.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker announced Wednesday the city is withdrawing subpoenas sent to pastors who led opposition to the city’s Equal Rights Ordinance.

Attorneys for the city came under fire from right-wing groups after they subpoenaed the pastors’ sermons as part the city’s defense of a lawsuit aimed at repealing the ordinance.

In response to the backlash, Parker directed the attorneys to remove the reference to “sermons” from the subpoenas. But on Wednesday, the mayor went a step further, withdrawing the subpoenas entirely. Parker said she made the decision to withdraw the subpoenas after meeting with two groups of pastors on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

“It is extremely important to me to protect our equal rights ordinance from repeal,” Parker said at a press conference Wednesday. “We believe we can vigorously defend the city of Houston in this petition and that we can do it without the subpoenas.”

Parker was not aware of the original subpoenas but bore the brunt of the backlash. Amongst other things, including ugly references to her lesbian sexual orientation,  her office was inundated with 100 to 500 Bibles.  Parker said she will donate the Bibles.

Unfortunately, I doubt this move will stop any momentum the religious right is hoping to milk from the fracas. Several groups, led by the Family Research Council, will be holding a rally on Sunday entitled I Stand Sunday.

But just like Parker intends to make the most of the Bibles sent to her,  I plan to make the most of the rally by conveniently highjacking the twitter tag #IStandSunday to post some truths about the religious right, especially the link to my booklet, How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America.

'Porno Pete LaBarbera detained in Canada for hate propaganda (again)' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

CANADA: Porno Pete Detained Again - Oh looky. Porno Pete LaBarbera went to Canada again and got detained again for hate propaganda. No doubt he whines about not having free speech in Canada. How ironic that he thinks that the United States shouldn't meddle in the affairs of countries which have vicious anti-gay laws.  

No Masks Allowed: Dating When Your Teen Is Transgender - Awesome post 

What the heck is 'NOM Victory Fund'? - NOM is spending money again. .

Lewiston becomes 9th Idaho city to approve LGBT protections - Sweet! Way to go, Lewiston!

Stephen Colbert rips Rep. Louie Gohmert for homophobic comments about gays in the military

Recently, Congressman Louie Gohmert made an absolutely stupid comment that gays shouldn't serve in the military because massages would make them susceptible to terrorists. I really wish I was making that up. Anyway, comedian Stephen Colbert gives Gohmert the verbal skewering he deserves for making such an inane comment:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

'Southern Baptist Convention practice its homophobic schizophrenia in public' & other Tuesday afternoon news briefs

Even as I speak, probably the one of the most schizophrenic event in American Christiandom is taking place - the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is having a conference. This is when Southern Baptists get together and proclaim "we have been too mean to homosexuals even though they are sinners who can change but will go to hell if they don't,"

This means you will see positive things like this:

Another evangelical leader comes out against so-called reparative therapy

coupled with awful mess like this:

 Watch This ADF Attorney Call Matthew Shepard’s Murder A Hate Crime Hoax

Now if you want to read the lowdown on the first day of this hot mess of an event, check out Jeremy Hooper's post:

 Looking at Day One of the Southern Baptist's anti-LGBT conference

In other news:

 Apple CEO Tim Cook challenges home state of Alabama on LGBT rights - Good for him!

 Report: Conservative Who Called For Secession, New Anti-Gay Country Named Reagan Gets Fired - Nelson Muntz from 'The Simpsons' says it best: "HA! HA!"

Robert Oscar Lopez: Gay Parents Put Kids At Risk By Encouraging Them To 'Dabble In That World' - This is the SAME Robert Oscar Lopez who throws a bitchy tantrum when we call him out for saying junk like this.

SC anti-gay activist acknowledges that marriage equality will come to the Palmetto State

Oran Smith of the Palmetto Family Council (center) celebrates in 2004 with SC state legislators when the state legislature introduced anti-marriage equality bill which was passed two years later via referendum. Smith is singing a sadder tune now.

It's hard to believe but in my eight years of blogging, I don't think I have ever written a lot of posts on the anti-gay religious right group in my state of South Carolina, the Palmetto Family Council.

This is probably because the council is a low-key, ineffective organization which takes for granted the fact that it is located in a Bible Belt state.

The lgbt community and the Palmetto Family Council generally don't grapple over equality issues, except for in 2006 when the organization successfully led the charge to pass a statewide anti-marriage equality amendment.

However, this success was not necessarily due to anything done by the Palmetto Family Council, but the momentum against marriage equality back then. And as that momentum shifts in the favor of marriage equality, it turns out that the Palmetto Family Council is already accepting the inevitable outcome that marriage equality will come to the Palmetto State.

In a recent interview with the fake news site, One News Now, Palmetto Family Council president Oran Smith acknowledged this:

"[Alan Wilson] asked the state Supreme Court to rule on whether that was proper for two or three probate judges to be giving out these marriage licenses or taking applications, and the court responded to him that no -- it was not appropriate," Smith reports. "We don't have a final decision from the federal courts, so they were restrained from doing that and stopped issuing the licenses and the applications."

South Carolina is in the fourth federal Court of Appeals district to invalidate marriage amendments, so the final ruling is expected soon.

"I think South Carolina, like all the rest, will bow to that decision," the family advocate laments. "And we're then probably stuck with gay marriage in South Carolina until we have some other further progress in some other way," such as federal court decisions in Louisiana and Puerto Rico upholding one man/one woman marriage in the cases that are making their way through the circuit courts to the Supreme Court. That is, if the nation's high court decides to hear those cases.

Sorry Oran, but I think you've lost this one. Get over it.

Photo taken from the Palmetto Family Council's webpage. Take a gander at the link to see the arguments the organization used against marriage equality. And try not to bash yourself over the head while repeatedly muttering, "I can't believe they got this through the legislature with those slack-assed arguments.

'Incident underscores need for talk about homophobia in black community' & other Monday midday news briefs

How the Morehouse Football Team ruined Dear White People and proved its point - From the author of this piece - 

"I want you to imagine yourself in a dark room with a hundred physically fit men rooting for a hate crime to be perpetrated against a gay man. It was terrifying. It was horrifying. It was depressing. Can you imagine what a kid on that team who was gay would have felt?" 

And what's worse, the gay guy was black and the guy punching him was a white racist. In the words of Samuel Jackson: "this here is some repugnant @#&!" 

Audio: Brian Brown advocates on behalf of pro-equality Democrat, destruction of his own party - Definite sign of the Second Coming of Jesus.  

Top Methodist Court Officially Reinstates Pastor Defrocked For Officiating Son’s Gay Wedding - Awesome news!  

Westboro Baptist Church Files Federal Motion To Defend Anti-Gay Marriage Ban - Oh yeah. THAT will help their case.

Anti-gay activist Robert Oscar Lopez is furious to be called out on his homophobic statements

Lopez

How do you know that you've gotten the religious right's attention?

When they publicly lie about you.

Unfortunately I am not the subject of that riddle.

 Robert Oscar Lopez is a foul individuals who claims to have been raised in a same-sex household. But he spends so much time denigrating that household and other same-sex households in such ugly fashion that he has caught a lot of attention from folks on our side of the spectrum.

Needless to say, he is not happy over it. In a piece published on the anti-gay BarbWire, he takes specific attack at lgbt groups which he claims distorts his point of view:

Read this about Paul Singer. He gave millions to the Human Rights Campaign to launch their global media initiative. The HRC then used the money to pay character assassins, formed on the mold of Jeremy Hooper (mastermind of GLAAD’s infamous Orwellian Commentator Accountability Project). The HRC had people working full-time scouring everything I’ve written or said, in order to smear me. Why? Because Paul Singer’s son is gay and I am a bisexual son of lesbians with a story that undermines the consensus on same-sex parenting, which in turn undermines the case for same-sex marriage.

So I must be destroyed by Paul Singer, with the help of the horrible Human Rights Campaign. Unsuccessful at finding real dirt on me, the HRC, Jeremy Hooper, and GLAAD had to resort to filthy slander. First, financing an artist to draw a sketch of me, caricaturing my face as a wanted criminal. Then, they resorted to lifting endless quotations from my blog that were so out-of-context, they were essentially slanderous misquotes.

Pathetic. First of all, Lopez has GLAAD's Commentator Accountability Project mixed up with Human Rights Campaign's The Export of Hate report.  The purpose of both projects is not to silence or intimidate folks but to educate on statements made by anti-gay activists

And both are accurate. 

The anti-gay religious right has been running a bad con game on America

The idea forged by religious right groups that this so-called cultural war is an onslaught on Christian values by an aggressive gay community is a big lie. But it has always had traction because of the aggressive pushing by these groups and the laziness of the American media.

All one has to do is remember history in order to refute the charges of religious right groups that gays hate Christians or gays are pushing to force people to accept their supposed"lifestyle."

If anything, gays have been fighting to keep from being thrown off the proverbial cliff by the onslaught of homophobic propaganda and junk science hurled at them for over two and a half decades.

Junk like these images were perpetuated in the 80s with the help of discredited science:

The irony is that many of these images mirror the ones put out today by religious right groups:

 And far be it from me to forget religious right "social science" about the gay community which claims that homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle fraught with disease, despair, and untimely death. Religious right groups repeat it ad naseum and many take it as fact. That's only because they are not aware of the hoops religious right groups jump through to create these "social science facts," i.e. the history of rebukes and complaints they have received from the scientific community such as:

National Institute of Health director Francis Collins, who called out religious right groups for falsely claiming that he stated sexual orientation is not hardwired by DNA.

Six researchers of a 1997 Canadian study (Robert S. Hogg, Stefan A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael V. Shaughnessy, Julio Montaner, and Martin T. Schehter), who complained in 2001 that religious right groups were distorting their work to claim that gay men have a short life span.

The authors of the book Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States (Professors Richard J. Wolitski, Ron Stall, and Ronald O. Valdiserri), who complained that their work was being distorted by Focus on the Family.

University College London professor Michael King, who complained that the American Family Association was distorting his work on depression and suicide in LGBT individuals.

University of Utah professor Lisa Diamond, who complained that religious right groups distorted her research on sexual orientation.

Dr. Kyle Pruett, Ph.D., a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, who has also complained that Focus on the Family distorted his work.

Dr. Robert Spitzer, Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, who has consistently complained that religious right groups distorted his study to claim that the LGBT orientation is easily changeable. In 2012, Spitzer apologized to the gay community for the original study which religious right groups were distorting.

 Judith Stacey, Professor of Sociology at New York University, who has had to, on more than one occasion, cry foul over how religious right groups distorted her work on LGBT families.

Greg Remafedi, Professor  at the University of Minnesota, who has complained several times about how religious right groups have distorted his work.

Here is the serious problem I have - while the media goes gaga and the lgbt community plays defense over the latest phony moral outrage that religious right groups have drudged up, the truths of this entire so-called culture war have been obscured for an obscenely numerous number of years.

And the main truth is this - the lgbt community have never sought to harm Christians or supposed traditional values. Heck, some of us embrace the Christian religion.  It  has been religious right groups (not lgbts and definitely not any individuals who embrace the Christian religion)  who have been doing the aggressive defaming, demonizing, and humiliating for all of these years.

Religious right groups claim to act against lgbt equality because of their belief in traditional morality. But apparently this "morality" includes lying, bearing false witness, and cherry-picking social science at their leisure.

But here is the saddest truth of them all - they are rarely called out for it on a scale so large that it would make them acknowledge the evil they have done.

And I doubt that they ever will be.

Related:

How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America - the webpage

How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America- the Scribd site

'Idaho wedding chapel false panic backfires on anti-gay groups' & other Friday midday news briefs

Coeur d'Alene Says Hitching Post Is Exempt From Gay Rights Law - And this controversy is over. In their attempt to create a false panic about owners of a wedding chapel being sent to jail for not marrying same-sex couples. the anti-gay Alliance Defending Freedom actually sabotaged their own efforts from the get-go. It was the ADF which helped the chapel create the "news business model" the article alludes to. However the organization did so in an attempt to create a test case on "religious liberty" vs. lgbt equality. 

 
North Carolina Lawmakers Consider ‘License To Discriminate’ For State Marriage Officiants - Batten down the hatches. As we gain the right to marry in more states, this sort of thing is going to gain traction. ESPECIALLY if Republicans gain control of the Senate.  

Eugene Delgaudio: Gays Will Make It Legal To 'Rape And Murder Young Boys' - Delgaudio doesn't really believe this crap. He only does it to raise money, which makes the entire thing a bit more insidious and nauseating.  

Utah Supreme Court Lifts Hold On Same-Sex Adoptions - Another wall falls.

MSNBC host calls out anti-gay right, Sen Ted Cruz for false fear mongering in Houston

The problem with a lot of televised journalism today is that there is no discernment, too much usage of the false equivalency concept, and the inability to get past visuals and dig into the heart of a story.

With that in mind, I must commend MSNBC's Alex Wagner for calling out anti-gay hysteria over the situation regarding the Houston ordinance and especially giving hell to Senator Ted Cruz over his exploitation and grandstanding of the situation. It's nice to know that there still some true journalists out there on television:


Hat tip to Media Matters who provides more background on the pseudo controversy:

Another Fox News Lie About The Subpoenas Of Houston's Anti-Gay Pastors

No, The City Of Houston Isn't Bullying Anti-Gay Pastors - This Is Basic Lawyering

Lgbts should embrace, study negative parts of gay history

A serious pet peeve I have with my lgbt community is how we don't embrace our history as much as we should. Let's be honest, and this is going to get some of you upset at me. but sometimes when we talk about Stonewall or Harvey Milk, it's because it's the trendy thing to do in our community.

But I'm talking all aspects of lgbt history, particularly the negative parts. A lot of times, we take in such things, I wish we wouldn't laugh in an attempt to take it lightly. As an African-American, I don't take any parts of my history of oppression lightly. I don't make fun of scenes of Strom Thurmond spouting racist dialogue or George Wallace standing in the door way of the University of Alabama in a sad effort to stop desegregation.

So why do the lgbt community make fun of old clips of Anita Bryant or Jerry Falwell or the clip I am about to show below. Why is there such an effort on our part to make light of the negative parts of our history, i.e. the ugly words, the distortions of science, the efforts to make us seem predatory. Why can't we take these images and videos in an effort to educate ourselves as to what we are facing today because in actuality, the things said and done against us are no different than they were back then:

'Anti-gay pastors make empty threats about going to jail' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Anti-Gay Pastors Say They Are 'Ready To Go To Jail' In Defiance Of Nondiscrimination Act - Oh please. The only place those drama queens are going is to the NEXT event where they will say the same thing. And so on and so on. 

5 Years After Passage Of Hate Crimes Law, Religious Right's Dire Predictions Still Haven't Come True - I reiterate  the point that we REALLY need to keep track of all of the anti-gay group predictions which never come true.  

Steve King Doesn’t Expect To Find Gay People When He Gets To Heaven - Honey, you think any self-respecting lgbt wants to be stuck with crazy Rep. Steve King for all eternity? Now where that place may be, only God can decide. 

 Reagan Aide Wants The South To Secede And Form Anti-Gay 'Reagan' Nation - Puleaze! The South is my home and this queen is going NOWHERE. 

 3 States Refuse Gay Unions Despite Court Rulings - Yes South Carolina happens to be one, but marriage equality WILL happen here. As long as it takes.

Anti-gay activist mixes and mingles HIV, Ebola, & bathhouses

For the longest time, 'Porno' Pete LaBarbera has complained that mainstream news programs haven't invited him to talk about the supposed "gay agenda." After viewing just a little of this online show hosted by equally anti-gay Cliff Kincaid, one understands the reasons why no legitimate news program will invite LaBarbera.

This isn't just an appearance. It's bizarre free-form tangent of homophobic venom, which mixes HIV, Ebola, and bathouses; amongst other things.

The interview is rather long but viewing even a small portion is enough. Trust me.

Here is proof that lgbts are not trying to silence anti-gay evangelicals

Editor's note - The computers in the library today were unable to access the internet so there were no midday news briefs.

The idea that lgbts are attempting to silence anti-gay evangelicals is patently false. Why would we want to silence folks like Rep. Louie Gohmert. Every time he opens his mouth, like below when he explains why gays serving openly in the military is a bad idea, lgbts look better and better in the eyes of the public:




When told of Gohmert's comments, President Obama reportedly expressed disbelief:

In reality, President Obama did no such thing but don't you feel like doing the following after hearing Gohmert?

Anti-gay group defending Idaho wedding chapel blocking truth from its site

The anti-gay group handling this case banned the above graphic from its site

I don't like to make myself the subject of the story (as any good journalist doesn't), but I feel this time that it is necessary to demonstrate a point.

Recently, there has been a controversy regarding a for-profit wedding chapel in Idaho which was allegedly told by the city of Coeur d’Alene that the owners would be arrested and fined if they did not perform same-sex weddings.

The entire thing is a huge lie propagated by anti-gay groups, most specifically the group called the Alliance Defending Freedom. The main thing you should know is that no city officials ever threatened the owners of the wedding chapel with arrest or fines.

However, anti-gay groups and their cohorts, particularly Todd Starnes of Fox News, have continued to push this lie.  Also, the owners of the wedding chapel, Donald and Evelyn Knapp, filed a lawsuit with the help of the anti-gay Alliance Defending Freedom.

I noticed that there were links to my site coming from comments section of the Alliance Defending Freedom's  blog post about the controversy. Seeing that folks were already mentioning me, I went there and posted comments saying that the ADF was lying to readers and also a link to a short post which featured the above graphic.

I received  a large number of readers who came from the ADF's blog post to read my post and many of them copied the graphic.

That is until this morning. ADF has removed my comment and banned me from posting on its site.

I can't say that I am surprised.  Don't get me wrong. The blog belongs to the Alliance Defending Freedom and the organization has every right to ban whomever it pleases.

However, my comment was neither rude nor profane. It merely told the truth of the incident.

It's very telling that the ADF doesn't want that truth  - that the organization is propagating a serious lie in the name of God - to be relayed to the public.

SC GOP distancing itself from anti-gay Congressional candidate after campy, homophobic video

Culler

Will wonders ever cease? The SC GOP is distancing itself from a Congressional candidate because they find him too homophobic.

From The State:

The S.C. Republican party's chairman said a GOP congressional candidate's comments comparing same-sex marriage supporters with the destructive creatures from the movie "Gremlins" does not represent values of the state.

State GOP boss Matt Moore clarified earlier comments and said the party is not actively supporting Anthony Culler's bid to unseat 21-year Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of Columbia.

Culler called gay-marriage supporter "bullies" and "Gremlins that will only destroy our way of life" in a Facebook post last week. The Kingstree resident repeated the "Gremlins" comparison in a video posted Monday.

That earned a rebuke from Moore, the state's Republican leader.

"Most people learned in kindergarten not to call other people names," Moore said. "Our party believes in the conservative definition of marriage, but we also believe in loving our neighbors and treating them with respect. Mr. Culler's desperate attention seeking in no way represents the good, decent South Carolinians across our state."

For his comments, Culler no longer has a chance of receiving active support from the state GOP, even though he won a contested party primary in June. The party has not been providing support for Culler, who is trying to win in a heavily Democratic district, Moore said.

So that's probably the rub of the entire thing. Culler has absolutely no chance in defeating Clyburn, so the SC GOP may be looking for a reason to desert him.

Cheat sheet for Idaho wedding chapel fake controversy

I've talked a lot today about how the anti-gay right attempted to manipulate a controversy against marriage equality with the help of an Idaho wedding chapel. Rather than rehash it, I thought I would rely on Scott Wooledge of Memeographs, who supplied this awesome graphic cheat sheet. Copy and paste wherever u like:

'Idaho wedding chapel controversy is anti-gay contrived fraud' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

Legal hitch at Hitching Post - According to this article, which I received by way of Joe Jervis, the controversy about the Idaho wedding chapel being penalized for not marrying a same-sex couple is looking more and more like a religious right contrived fraud. According to city officials, they have not received ANY formal complaint against the Knapps, the owners of the wedding chapel. And this being the case, the Knapps were never threatened with fines or jail time, in spite of religious right propaganda to the contrary. 

How San Francisco Is Forcing Its Gay Population Onto The Streets - Come on folks. This is NOT good.  

GOPer Doubles Down On Gays: 'These Creatures... Are So Destructive' - So a desperate Congressional candidate in my district is exploiting gays by calling us Gremlins to defeat Rep. Jim Clyburn. Well THIS gremlin votes, bitch. And while I have always voted for Clyburn, this time will be especially sweet. 

 A New York Times Columnist Spoke At A Fundraiser For A Group Working To Criminalize Gay Sex - One would think that a New York Times columnist would have better taste. Another myth shot to pieces.

How anti-gay groups created false story of anti-Christian persecution involving Idaho wedding chapel

There is a lot of controversy and questions about the Idaho for-profit wedding chapel which has supposedly gotten into trouble for not marrying same-sex couples.

Anti-gay groups are playing the case up big time by claiming it proves what they have been saying all along - that marriage equality will force Christian ministers to marry same-sex couples under the penalty of law.

Or in the words of the Family Research Council:

If homosexuals get their way, Pastor Donald Knapp won’t be behind the pulpit -- he’ll be behind bars. That’s the stunning development in Idaho, where the day liberals promised would never come is already here. Two ministers -- a husband and wife team -- have been told by their city government that refusing to “marry” a same-sex couple will send them straight to jail.

After 25 years of owning The Hitching Post wedding chapel, Donald and Evelyn are being faced with a situation neither of them thought possible: being imprisoned for their faith. Like the flood of state amendments steamrolled by activist judges, Idaho’s fell earlier this month. And with it, religious liberty. Fearing the worst, the Knapps reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom, concerned that their chapel would be targeted. Less than a week later, the battle was at their front door.

For Donald and Evelyn, there was never any question what the duo would do. Unapologetically Christian, the husband-and-wife team is overtly religious, marrying couples with faith-driven vows, and even offering marriage sermons on CD to newlyweds. That doesn’t matter to city officials, who had this marriage message for The Hitching Post: Conform or be punished. And not just any punishment, but 180 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines for every day the ministers refuse to perform the ceremony.

However, once you get past the hysteria and the hyperbole generated by the Family Research Council, their cohorts at Fox News (particularly propaganda artist Todd Starnes), the Heritage Foundation,  and their vast connection of folks on twitter and right-wing blogs willing to push this story, you get a bit alarmed at the deception taking place here.

According to Zack Ford from Think Progress:

Back in May, when a federal judge first overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage, the Hitching Post Chapel in Coeur d’Alene expressed concern about the possibility of having to marry same-sex couples. The wedding chapel located just across the street from the Kootenai County Courthouse recognized that it would be subject to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance, which requires that public accommodations (like businesses) offer service equally regardless of sexual orientation. Now that marriage equality is the law in Idaho, the Hitching Post owners Donald and Evelyn Knapp have filed a federal lawsuit for the right to discriminate.

At the time, Coeur d’Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson explained, “If you turn away a gay couple, refuse to provide services for them, then in theory you violated our code and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation.” Wilson clarified that religious entities are exempt under the city ordinance, but apparently told Mr. Knapp at the time that the Hitching Post was not exempt because it is a business, not a religious corporation like a church. As same-sex couples began marrying last week, the Hitching Post did apparently turn away a same-sex couple.

And just who was this same-sex couple? We don't know.

Advice for those attending a same-sex wedding . . .

I know that we are all in a serious battle over marriage equality and the anti-gay groups are pulling lies out of their collected asses, but let's take a moment for a little levity as to gay wedding advice from the comedy team of Key & Peele:

'Anti-gay right exploiting 'for-profit' ministers to create moral panic' & other Monday midday news briefs

Caught ya: Far-right's latest marriage 'victim' edited website to make more solid legal case - A false headline about ministers going to jail here, a crucial webpage change there, add a few more hyperbolic headlines and tweets and boom - you have a phony case of ministers (albeit for-profit, which the anti-gay right won't tell you) allegedly being threatened with jail time for not performing gay weddings. What's worse? The idea that the religious right are actually attempting to create this false moral panic or the fact that they are so sloppily transparent. Whatever to the good old days when villainy had a certain style and mystery?

President Obama Says There's A Constitutional Right to Nationwide Marriage Equality - Religious right major freak out in 5 . . 4 . . 3 . .  

Pelosi endorses openly trans military service - Good for her!

 Flip Benham Crashes Gay Weddings In North Carolina - I feel sorry for this fool if he ever tried to crash my wedding. The thought of what my mother alone would do to him scares the heck out of me.  

GOP Attorney General Says It Is ‘Unethical’ To Keep Fighting Marriage Equality In Court - Like I say, "give it up, turn it loose."

Family Research Council's attack on Politifact backfires

Sprigg

A week ago, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins had a terrible debate performance on Fox News. He was debating former Solicitor General Ted Olson and was reduced to repeating jaded talking points about how the "best place to raise a child is in a home with a mother and a father."

On that same day, Politifact rebuked Perkins for this claim, rating it as false.

Naturally, you really don't think that FRC would take that lying down? Recently, another FRC spokesman, Peter Sprigg posted a piece on the organization's webpage which supposedly calls into question Politifact's claim. In doing so, he cites a bunch of study which supposedly back up Perkins' claim:

Within hours, the “fact-checking” website PolitiFact posted an analysis of the statement—and rated it “False.”

Unfortunately, the PolitiFact article itself gets a failing grade.

That is, unless they think the non-partisan, non-profit research group Child Trends was also telling a “falsehood” when they reported, “An extensive body of research tells us that children do best when they grow up with both biological parents in a low-conflict marriage.”

Sprigg is being deceptive about the Child Trends study, just as he was in 2011 when he cited it to make the same point. I know this for a fact because back then, I pointed out:

The Child Trends study - was published in 2002.  And it never even addressed same-sex households.

Sprigg cites a lot of other studies, but based on the deception he uses with regards to the Child Trends study, one has to wonder if those citations are accurate.

Then he really steps into the puddle of inaccuracy:

 . . . the New Family Structures Study spearheaded by sociologist Mark Regnerus resulted in dramatic (and statistically powerful) results demonstrating the strong advantage held by the “intact biological family” over numerous other family forms. However—as Regnerus made clear from the beginning—even his comparison with “gay fathers” or “lesbian mothers” was only based on the adult respondents having said that at some point between birth and age 18, their father or mother had a same-sex romantic relationship. It was not a comparison with children raised by same-sex couples living and raising the children together (of which very few could be found, even in Regnerus’ large sample).

A key illustration of how the PolitiFact article lacked objectivity is that its description of the Regnerus research sounds as though it were simply cut and pasted from the talking points of “gay” bloggers. It is true that his research was sharply criticized in a variety of quarters—that is to be expected, given that academia is now dominated by liberal elites who are unwilling to tolerate the slightest dissent from the pro-homosexual orthodoxy. It is also true that among his fellow sociologists who distanced themselves from the study were members of the sociology department at his own university, the University of Texas.

To put it more accurately than Sprigg, Regnerus' study was rebuked by over 200 researchers, the sociology department of his own university, and finally a Michigan federal judge, Bernard Friedman. Earlier this year, Friedman not only struck down a law barring marriage equality in Michigan, but he was especially brutal to Regnerus's study and to Regnerus himself:

"The Court finds Regnerus's testimony entirely unbelievable and not worthy of serious consideration. The evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that his 2012 'study' was hastily concocted at the behest of a third-party funder, which found it 'essential that the necessary data be gathered to settle the question in the forum of public debate about what kinds of family arrangement are best for society' and which 'was confident that the traditional understanding of marriage will be vindicated by this study.' ... While Regnerus maintained that the funding source did not affect his impartiality as a researcher, the Court finds this testimony unbelievable. The funder clearly wanted a certain result, and Regnerus obliged."

If you ask me, Sprigg and FRC should have left well enough alone. Not only have they reminded folks of Perkins' sad debate performance, but their pathetic attempt to refute Politifact underscores just how they are willing to go to deceive . . . and all in the name of God.

The Erasure of 'Gay' From Black History & the Black Community Must Stop

Editor's note - The following post was initially exclusive to The Huffington Post, where it received much support and attention. I am now posting it here:

Your blogmaster hard at work.

As a gay African-American, I've heard the argument about how "you can't compare the gay civil rights movement to the African-American civil rights movement" more times than I care to count.

The constant so-called moral outrage of some African-American heterosexuals when the topic is mentioned has gotten me to the point where my mind automatically tunes out the monotonous drones of how supposed sinful homosexuals are "high jacking" the civil rights movement or how gays "can't compare their sin with black skin."

As such, I almost missed the epiphany which occurred over two weeks ago.

I was vaguely scanning comments on a conservative site by an anonymous African-American female as she went on and on about how gays were never subjected to slavery, segregation or declared three fifths a person. While the logical side of my mind was gathering up the customary argument of how wrong it was for disadvantaged people of any stripe to play the "Oppression Olympics," the emotional side of my mind struck immediately.

"This is the most ignorant crap I've ever heard," I thought. "Just where in the hell does she think gay black people were during slavery and segregation? On a spaceship orbiting the Earth? "

I was instantly struck by oddity of what I had thought. Not that my outrage wasn't coming from a place of truth, mind you, but how the simple fact never entered my mind that yes, gay people were subjected to slavery, segregation and racism because of our skin. Just as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of color exist now, we existed back then. Then it suddenly struck me again that I've never recalled any acknowledgement of this fact during the myriad of discussions, I've read, listened to or seen regarding comparisons between the gay and civil rights movements.

And why is that?

There have been numerous debates, articles, columns, movies and documentaries about how the legacy of racism has had a negative effect on so many aspects of African-American community, from our families to the way we interact with each other. It stands to reason that the legacy of racism didn't leave LGBT people of color unscathed. But information about what LGBT people of color did during those awful times in our history or what effect it has had on us is practically nonexistent.

It is a subject hardly ever mentioned. No one talks about it in the black community and that includes leaders, intellectuals, journalists, authors or any other person with some type of platform.

And this leaves me feeling as if the events of black history, which are supposed to be a part of my heritage, are nothing more than hand-me-downs donated to me out of charity because there are very few, if any, events which are specific to me as an LGBT person of color.

Or at least that's what I am led to believe by the black community at large.