The time when the religious right used to scare people with anti-gay ads . . .

Last weekend, various groups of the religious right gathered together for huge events and marches in Washington where they did the usual "God is going to punish America because it's disgusting how women can make their own healthcare choices and LGBTQ are all out in the open" rambling which so many of us have come to know them for.

This time though, it was different. According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, they included praise of Donald Trump:

Speakers lavished praise on Trump and thanked God for his presidency; Trump returned the favor, sending a supportive “presidential message” that was read from the stage to cheers from the crowd, which covered most of a two-block stretch of the National Mall. Trump’s message quoted a phrase from George Washington, a favorite of religious-right leaders, in which the first president said that the “propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” ​To that quote, Trump​ added, “As a country and a people, let us renew our commitment to these abiding and timeless principles.” 

Knowing what we know about Donald Trump and his many lies, assorted incompetence, and the basic fact that he is a generally hideous person, it's a miracle that the religious right's weekend Trumpalloza didn't end as one of those Biblical stories did. You know, the ones in which God gets so angry at a group's blatant hypocrisy or open sinning that he smites them with fire or causes the ground to collapse under their feet. Or at least at the very least, sends a disembodied hand to write a message on the wall in front of them basically saying "y'all getting on my nerves."

At any rate,  my point in bringing all of that up was because it reminded me of the time when things weren't so dramatic. When the religious right used to openly use television ads to scare people about us instead of  just solely fire and brimstone.

First there is this 2012 ad from the Campaign for American Values which attempted to attack Obama during his re-election campaign because he supported marriage equality. Gee, I wonder why it didn't work.

 

Then there was this ad below by former Texas Governor Rick Perry during the same political season of 2012. At the time, he was seeking the GOP nomination for president. He didn't get it. But a lot of folks got chuckles from this ad, which saw him bellyaching over gays serving openly in the military while - as he put it - children "can't pray in schools."

 

And last but certainly not least, the Gathering Storm ad which officially announced the National Organization for Marriage into American society. For those who can't remember, NOM was at one time one of the most powerful anti-LGBTQ groups in the country. In layman's terms, it was the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. to the LGBTQ community's James Bond before the SCOTUS pro-marriage equality ruling pretty much put it out of business. Although you wouldn't know how powerful NOM was by this ludicrous, full-of-lies, and much parodied ad.