Congressional leader dismantles 'religious liberty' talking point during hearing

The above video from Think Progress shows how easy it is to dismantle an anti-lgbt talking point IF one invests time in dismantling them. It happened today during a Congressional hearing about an awful bill which would allow folks to discriminate by pleading "religious liberty."

According to Think Progress

The bill, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) last year, and would provide special legal protections to individuals who oppose same-sex marriage and those who oppose extramarital sex.

Under the bill, the government cannot deny tax subsidies, grants, or benefits to individuals or religious organizations who harbor anti-LGBT views. While the bill’s authors and supporters on the panel attempted to frame the bill as a logical extension of the the First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause and claimed it was “not a discriminatory bill,” opponents countered that it would merely sanction taxpayer funded discrimination.

 . . .  At the hearing, the ranking Democrat on the committee Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland asked Franke a series of questions about whether the bill would preclude federal enforcement of civil rights laws and family leave protections to employees in same-sex relationships. After she indicated that it did, Cummings asked the full panel of witnesses to raise their hands if they believe it is acceptable for businesses to discriminate against people because of their race, gender, disability, or because they are in a same-sex relationship. None of the witnesses raised their hands, including the ones in favor of FADA.

Signorile blisters the 'LGBT for Trump' idea' & other Tue midday news briefs

Michelangelo Signorile

The Complete Moral Bankruptcy Of ‘LGBT For Trump’ - Michelangelo Signorile nails it as usual.

Openly Gay Delegate Makes Impassioned Plea To Soften GOP Stance On Gay Marriage - I'll give her credit for attempting to talk calm to the hurricane even though she got swept away.  

White House calls ‘religious freedom’ hearing ‘disturbing’ - This sham hearing is happening now even as I speak.  

Bryan Fischer: 'It's Not Okay For Christians To Have Diverse Opinions' - This is what we call a demagogue, folks.  

Christian Rock Singer Comes Out, An Ex-Gay Freakout Ensues - Oh this is lovely!

'Jesus is going to kill all of these sodomites'

In my nine and a half years as blogmaster of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, I have covered many elements of visceral homophobia whether it dealt with policy, lies, or statements.

But I don't think I will ever see or hear anything so nauseating. I'm only posting it because we need to be aware of it. I am not too familiar with this young man, Theodore Shoebat, because he is almost too comical to be real.

And I guess it would be easy to laugh at him and predict how long will it be before he gets "caught" in a homosexual orgy.  But there comes a time when you can't laugh because it's just too scary. And it's important to remember that behind almost every so-called respectable face of homophobia is the raging madness this young man spews.

From Right Wing Watch:

Last week, extremist anti-gay activist Theodore Shoebat posted a video in which he gloated that when Jesus Christ returns, he'll slaughter every single gay person in the world.

 . . ."In a biblical society," Shoebat stated, "every fag would be rounded up and killed. But that's not going to happen, but believe me, when Jesus comes back, Jesus is going to kill all these sodomites. You're going to be praying to be living under a Catholic society from the Middle Ages because when Jesus comes back, it's going to be a lot more brutal." "He's going to find all you bastards and he's going to slaughter every single one of you," said Shoebat with a smile on his face. "I can't wait for that day to come. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful world."