Pope Francis/Kim Davis meeting is now officially a full-blown juicy scandal made worse by new Liberty Counsel lies

Vatican: Pope's Meeting With Kim Davis 'Not A Form Of Support' - When it comes to news stories, I don't like to follow the huge crowd in repeating one, but this is the BIG story of the time right now. The Vatican is scrambling to downplay the Pope's meeting with Kim Davis. Is you ask me, they should have been scrambling a bit quicker instead of coming out with this explanation days later.

Charles Pierce nailed it: The Vatican confirms Pope Francis was “ratf*cked” into meeting Kim Davis - Well I think that puts it about right . . .

Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver Calls Out Lying Media: We Never Said Pope Francis Supports Kim Davis - And Mat Staver is backtracking. Of course he would be marginally successful except for the following press release issued by the Liberty Counsel on Sept. 29. This is only a partial jpeg of the release. Click on the link to read it entirely. One wonders if the Liberty Counsel will either edit or do away with it:

The Vatican Contradicts Liberty Counsel's Claims About Kim Davis' Meeting With Pope Francis - And let's wrap this up with a concise breakdown by Right Wing Watch.


I think it's safe to assume that we are now at the level of a full-blown scandal here. That being the case, let's take a look at the BIG LOSERS of the debacle

Pope Francis - One short meeting has totally wrecked any good will he hoped to garner by visiting the United States.

The Vatican - A scandal is only made worse when there is no quick and complete push back. If Pope Francis is looking like a horse's ass here, it is only because the Vatican failed him tremendously.

Kim Davis - She doesn't garner any "cool points" here. She gets no boost from the visit. Instead, I think the little credibility she had has been diminished.

The Liberty Counsel - Speaking of an entity with very little credibility. Everyone is probably completely pissed at this group. I mean we are talking "pissed to the highest levels of pissivity" - The Vatican, Pope Francis, the folks supporting Pope Francis's visit, the lgbt community (who have already been justifiably angry at the antics of this group.) Fresh off of being caught passing along a phony story of a Peruvian prayer rally for Davis, this group and its leader, Mat Staver, has just demonstrated that there is no level too low for them to stoop and no spin too outrageous enough for them to push. They have helped to wreck Pope Francis' credibility and their own argument of  'religious liberty.' And the lgbt community barely lifted a finger for this to happen.

As an lgbt activist, I should be angry. But as a child of the South weaned on afternoon soap operas with dishy plots,  I am so loving this. God help me, I am soooo loving this.

Apology for 'gays are a health hazard' comment brings up much needed chance for conversation

A university president's apology for anti-gay comments made over 30 years ago brings up a painful, but much needed "blast from the past" for the lgbt community:

University of Akron President Scott L. Scarborough apologized Wednesday for anti-gay comments he made as a student government president in 1985.

As head of the Students' Association at the University of Texas at Austin, Scarborough protested against a resolution that urged the school's regents to enact a policy barring discrimination against lesbian and gay individuals. In his objection, he suggested gay men contracted AIDS from contact with "fecal matter" and warned that hiring anyone who was gay was a "potential health hazard," according to newly unearthed newspaper articles from the time.

"Like many people, my views have evolved over the last 30 years," Scarborough told The Huffington Post in a statement Wednesday. "We all have learned much since those days and, if I knew then what I know now, I would not have taken the steps that I did or said what I did as a student in the 1980s. I sincerely regret any offense or concern those past actions or statements have caused."

The 30-year-old newspaper clippings from the Daily Texan were published Wednesday by anonymous university activists calling themselves Graduates Over Greed. Additional microfilm clips, located by HuffPost, are reproduced below. Two witnesses from the time corroborated the newspaper accounts.

As comical as it may seem now, Scarborough's mindset  about lgbts was prevalent and in the mainstream. They were repeated continuously by many, including Sean Hannity, about our community, particularly during the AIDS crisis. The pictures below from a 1980s comic book endorsed by anti-gay group Concerned Women for America, and a U.S. Congressman William Dannemeyer emphasizes this point. It was all a part of the "homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle" talking point which was very popular back then. And very inaccurate:

The irony is that many of the group pushing this talking point have abandoned it and have focused on the "protecting religious liberty" racket. Nevertheless, it continues to be repeated by those of an extremely homophobic nature.

But Scarborough's apology brings much needed attention on this ugly part of the war against lgbt equality. The historical demonization of the lgbt community is nothing to laugh at by anyone,  no matter how far we have come.

 Just as the historical demonization of the African-American and Jewish community have been examined with all seriousness, the same must be done to the past claims and images which served to stigmatize lgbts