President Obama signs hate crimes legislation and the clock begins

As far as I am concerned, let's not be so quick to let this story regarding hate crimes legislation die just yet.

Religious right groups have claimed that adding sexual orientation and gender identity to existing hate crimes legislation would lead to pastors being arrested in the pulpit for simply preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

Let's test that theory. To the right of this page is a countdown clock.

Are religious right claims true? How long will it take before pastors are led away in handcuffs, like so:

Make no mistake about it, this claim about pastors being arrested is a lie - an blatant lie that has been refuted continously.

And now that they have lost this round, will the religious right try to put this lie on a shelf, close the door, and never bring it up again?

I think they will try. And I also think we must never let them get away with it.

Religious right group's entire campaign against lgbt equality have been built on junk science, anecdotes taken out of context, distortion of legitimate research . . .

and fear stories having no basis in reality.

I say we remind the nation about how wrong their fear stories are.

Anti-gay marriage side in Maine getting desperate, more on the FRC/Paul Cameron connection, and other Wednesday midday news briefs

MassResistance's Brian Camenker Joining PornoPete At Augusta Statehouse! - Anti-gay marriage side in Maine getting desperate. Good. When you get desperate, you get careless.

Peter, Paul, and anti-marry: 'No on 1' to challenge 'Yes on 1's' liability-in-waiting - And when those who call themselves your enemies get desperate, you take advantage.

Family Research Council: Obama program to help gay elderly is wasted since gays die young anyway. Is FRC again using "science" of known hate group? - I made a huge post out of this but failed to illustrate the Paul Cameron connection like it needed to be illustrated. Luckily Americablog Gay has my back.

Scholastic Reverses Decision: Will Include LGBT-Inclusive Book in Book Fairs - They had better have put it back in the book fair!

The Big Con: How Matt Barber Swindled Me Out of $30 - This just in: Matt Barber's book is a big fat fraud!

Endorsing hateful anti-gay comic books is a Christian virtue to Beverly LaHaye

When we talk about religious right groups , it's important that we don't allow that we don't allow them to whitewash their beliefs or activities.

A perfect example of someone trying to do this is Concerned Women for America founder Beverly LaHaye speaking at a recent event in Texas about the history of her group:

Beverly LaHaye remembers standing in her kitchen about 30 years ago when she heard a secular feminist declare on national television that they spoke for America's women.

The California preacher's wife shared virtually none of National Organization for Women founder Betty Friedan's beliefs, LaHaye told a crowd of at least 100 people Monday during a dinner at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

She realized Christian women were "in the majority, but we had no voice," LaHaye said. "We were silenced."


Three decades later, her nonprofit activist group, Concerned Women for America, included 500,000 members fighting for the return of conservative Christian values to American life, she said.


. . . LaHaye, the wife of the accomplished Christian leader the Rev. Tim LaHaye and the author of nine books about the importance of being an effective Christian wife and mother, urged the crowd attending the Southern Baptists of Texas annual convention to become more active in politics to defend those values.


She called for the reintroduction of God into the day-to-day functions of American politics, where she said the framers originally intended him to be as they created the country more than 200 years ago.


. . . She repeatedly encouraged the audience to "stand up against the wiles of the devil" and join their Christian faith and with activism.


"It's time for Christian men and women to stand up for righteousness," LaHaye said.

Now I could go on a tear about how her group, Concerned Women for America, is no different from all of the other religious right groups with its eagerness to demonize the lgbt community via Paul Cameron studies, junk science, and distorted science. I have in the past and most likely will do so in the future.

However, in this case, I think I will let the following comic do the talking.

This 1986 comic was created by a man named Dick Hafer and it is a vile representation of some of the most evil anti-gay lies out there.

This was the time when the AIDS crisis was in full bloom, ignorance was all around and Paul Cameron was a credible name.

If these images get you angry, then good.

They are supposed to:

You can click on the pictures to see them larger. If you want to see the entire comic (God help you) go here.

But what does Beverly LaHaye have to do with this vile comic book that stigmatizes the lgbt community? Why she endorses it (again click on the image to get a larger view of it):

Her endorsement is the second one and reads as follows:

America needs to wake up to the facts regarding the Homosexual movement. Dick Hafer exposes the depravity of their lives iin his book, Deathstyle. This is a book which needs to be read by all of those concerned about our society and our nation.

The comic was was printed over 20 years ago, but far as I know, LaHaye has never rescinded her or Concerned Women for America's endorsement of it.

And that's just one of the reasons why this comic must not be forgotten, particularly when one takes into account that Concerned Women for America continues to use some of the bad statistics housed in it (i.e. Paul Cameron's work).

Also, never mind what you may see on shows like Hannity and the O'Reilly Factor when CWA and other religious right spokespeople come aboard with their carefully versed, clipped speech about the so-called persecution of Christians.

This comic book is their true face. And we should bring it out for public viewing with as much vigor as LaHaye and company try to hide it.

Editor's note - The webpage featuring this comic is not anti-gay. It's a site that looks at "problem-based comics" from the past.

Maine's governor shows guts, endorses marriage equality

This is awesome:

Maine governor joins families in fight for marriage equality

Governor John E. Baldacci met with Bangor families at the home of Sally Dobres to discuss marriage equality for the state of Maine.


"In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions," the governor said before the small crowd. "I came to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage."

More here

With a little over a week left to go, the folks in Maine still need your help and prayers.

The following commercial says it all:

Anti-gay hot mess in Washington, D.C. and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Hot mess in Washington, D.C. - This is the testimony of one of those speaking against marriage equality in Washington, D.C.:



Speechless, I tell you. I'm just speechless

And in other Tuesday midday news briefs:

Seven Days, Folks- Seven Days. Lemme Ask: Do We Want A Win In Maine? - An excellent question with the vote seven days away. Keep working and keep praying.

Army Secretary: Repealling DADT Would Not Cause Major Turmoil - Shhhh! Don' tell Elaine Donnelly just yet. LOL

Video: Joe's hostility laid Behar - Uh Mr. Joe the Plumber, yes you have a right to your opinion. But no you don't have the right to voice that opinion and expect others who disagree with you to shut up.

Family Research Council's coldhearted attack on lgbt senior citizens

Religious right groups often place themselves on the pedestal of virtue and respectability. However if one assesses how they conduct business, one would wonder if they actually deserve to be knocked off that pedestal.

Last weekend, it was Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel actually defending countries who torture and execute lgbts

Yesterday, the Family Research Council spoke out against Obama Administration plans to create a national resource center for lgbt seniors:

HHS has no idea how many LGBT seniors exist. No one does! The movement is only a few decades old, and people who are 80- or 90-years-old didn't grow up in a culture where it was acceptable to identify with this lifestyle.

Of course, the real tragedy here--apart from the unnecessary spending--is that, given the risks of homosexual conduct, few of these people are likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America.

Only a few decades old? Who knew 20 or 30 years was such a short time?

What a crude and totally insensitive remark.

And totally untrue. Via that ugly statement, FRC tried to refute information supplied by the Obama Adminstration as to the number of lgbt seniors:

Experts estimate that as many as 1.5 to 4 million LGBT individuals are age 60 and older. Agencies that provide services to older individuals may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the needs of this group of individuals. The new Resource Center for LGBT Elders will provide information, assistance and resources for both LGBT organizations and mainstream aging services providers at the state and community level to assist them in the development and provision of culturally sensitive supports and services. The LGBT Center will also be available to educate the LGBT community about the importance of planning ahead for futurelong term care needs.

Also, according to a September 18, 2008 issue of Newsweek:

Over the next 25 years, persons in America who are 65 and older are expected to grow from about 12 to 20 percent of the total population, and various estimates indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals will comprise 7 to 10 percent of that senior population. Meanwhile, like the Baby Boomers of all stripes, aging gays and lesbians are radically redefining what it means to be a senior—and how they fit into the larger community. They're coming out of the closet, vocalizing their experiences and needs, and, most importantly, demanding public recognition. "If you go back 40 years, there were virtually no openly gay seniors," says Gary Gates, a senior research fellow and demographer at the Williams Institute. "But now you have a large enough group that people are paying attention."


It doesn't matter whether or not the specific number of elderly lgbts are known.

The point is finding out who they are and taking care of their needs, i.e. a perfect reason for the creation of this national resource center.

But we shouldn't be surprised that FRC feels the need to attack the idea.

Just noting the existence of lgbt seniors refutes the "gays have a short life span" and the "homosexuality poses a great health risk" lies that FRC and other so-called pro-values groups push.

In fact, it is their continued citings of discredited Paul Cameron data, reliance on outdated studies, and constant distortion of legtimate studies that have led these lies to take root in the minds of many people.

But the meanspirited way FRC went about attacking the idea of an lgbt senior resource center belies its claim to be a Christian organization.

Expressing a belief that homosexuality is a sin is one thing. Actively trying to throwing a monkey wrench into plans to help senior citizens simply because you do not agree with their sexual orientation is entirely  something else.

And part of FRC's reasoning for its opposition actually goes against the nature of Christianity.

In the Bible (Matthew 25:45), Jesus said " . . .whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." 

So now FRC,  which claims to espouse the values that Jesus taught, is implying that since the number of lgbt senior citizens are allegedly small, they shouldn't warrant any help from the government.
The organization must be reading that new Conservapedia version of the Bible everyone is talking about.

In its eagerness to espouse its version of "values," FRC seems to have abandoned basic Christian decency, as well as common human decency.

The organization forgets that some of these lgbt seniors could be someone's mother, someone's father, or a veteran.

And  isn't it moral to take care of our elderly citizens, period?

In the real world, the answer to this question would be yes. But in the bizarro world of pseudo Christian values that FRC populates, we know the answer is "only if they are not homosexuals."

Hat tip to www.Goodasyou.org

Related articles and posts:

Gay couples enter golden years with more risk

‘Invisible And Overlooked’

The Family Research Council continues to use 'outdated' work

How religious right groups distort legitimate research to demonize the gay community

Why we should care about Paul Cameron

U.N. official defends murder of lgbts and the religious right defends HIM

Obama to sign hate crimes bill Wednesday afternoon, my clock to go up Wednesday night

Finally on Wednesday afternoon at 4:45 p.m., a bit of justice will prevail:

President Obama will sign lgbt inclusive hate crimes legislation into law

President Obama intends to sign into law Wednesday a long-sought hate crimes protection measure as part of a major defense bill, according to an administration source.

The president plans to pen his name to the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill, which includes a provision known as the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The measure would make illegal hate crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories, and would allow the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of such crimes.


And in related news, my online countdown clock will go up Wednesday night.

For those not in the know, allow me to explain.

Religious right groups and their cohorts have been spreading the lie that this new law attacks free speech. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they say it will lead to such things as pastors not being able to say that homosexuality is a sin for fear of being arrested for hate crimes violation.

My clock will serve as a reminder of just how inaccurate this claim is.

It will show how long it takes from Obama signing the legislation to a pastor getting arrested for merely preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

Of course no pastor will ever be arrested for simply preaching that homosexuality is a sin and that's the point of my clock - to show the inaccuracy of this claim.

And on a larger scale, I want to demonstrate just how ugly and empty the tactics religious right groups use to scare people of faith.

Lastly, I hope to challenge the lgbt community to be more assertive in refuting religious right lies.

Just think - if they are wrong about this claim (and they are), just what else are they wrong about? What lies are they getting away with because we haven't been aggressive enough in challenging them?

The only problem I've run into is trying to find an html program of an online clock. I used to have the sites saved but can't seem to find them now.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.