Rick Santorum hates 'santorum' and other Thursday midday news briefs

TWO Calls On Rick Santorum to Stop Whine-Fest Regarding Google Search Results - A bit vicious and a bit more coarse than I would have done, but it couldn't have happened to a MORE DESERVING guy.

FRC Promises Referendum If Maryland Approves Gay Marriage - GREAT! More lies about lgbts indoctrinating children and "teaching kindergartners about gay marriage." Get yourselves together pro-equality forces in Maryland. You know what they are going to do.

Iowa grandmother speaks in favor of marriage equality - Our biggest allies are always our family members.

Hawaii lawmakers approve civil unions for gay couples - We're almost there in Hawaii!

George Washington Carver was gay. . . and other bits of lgbt black history you probably didn't know

As we all know, February is Black History Month.  With that in mind, let's not forget those lgbts of color excelled in entertaiment, science, and civil rights, such as the legendary scientist George Washington Carver.

Unfortunately so many in the African-American community want to overlook us and they are aided and abetted by those religious right figures and organizations who seek to drive a wedge between both the lgbt and black communities.

The following names, taken from BlackedOUT History should remind us that no wedge can eliminate truth.

Name	Date-of-Birth Date-of-Death	Profession	Quote
Alvin Ailey Jr.	Jan. 5, 1931 Dec. 1, 1989	Choreographer	“I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the quality of our work.”
John Amaechi	Nov. 26, 1970	Pro Basketball Player	“I am gay, black, British…and I am now asserting my activism.”
James Baldwin	Aug. 2, 1924 Nov. 30, 1987	Author	"I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."
Josephine Baker	June 3, 1906 Apr. 12, 1975	Singer and Dancer	“Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when understanding breeds love and brotherhood.”
Jean-Michel Basquiat	Dec. 22, 1960 Aug. 12, 1988	Graffiti Artist	"SAMO© as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics, and bogus philosophy"
Gladys Bentley	Aug. 12, 1907 Jan. 18, 1960	Blues Singer
Octavia Butler	June 22, 1947 Feb. 26, 2006	Author	"People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn't bother me. It's other people doing the calling that bothers me."
George Washington Carver	July 12, 1864 Jan. 5, 1943	Scientist	“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”
RuPaul Andre Charles	Nov. 17, 1960	Actor, Dancer and TV Show Host	“What other people think of me is not my business. What I do is what I do. How people see me doesn’t change what I decide to do. I don’t choose projects so people don’t see me as one thing or another. I choose projects that excite me. I think the problem is that people refuse to understand what drag is outside of their own belief system.”
Countee Cullen	May 30, 1903 Jan. 9, 1946	Poet	“My poetry, I think, has become the way of my giving out what music is within me.”
Lee Daniels	Dec. 24, 1959	Film Director
Angela Davis	Jan. 26, 1944	Civil Rights Activist	“Revolution is a serious thing, the most serious thing about a revolutionary's life. When one commits oneself to the struggle, it must be for a lifetime.”
Ruth Ellis	July 23, 1899   Oct. 5, 2000	Activist	“I never expected I’d be 100 years old. It didn’t even come to my mind.”
Sharon Farmer	June 10, 1951	White House Photographer	“Never turn down a chance to show what you can do.”
Peter Gomes	May 22, 1942	Theologian	“There can be no light without the darkness out of which it shines.”
Mabel Hampton	May 2, 1902 Oct. 26, 1989	Lesbian Pioneer	"I, Mabel Hampton, have been a lesbian all my life, for eighty-two years, and I am proud of myself and my people. I would like all my people to be free in this country and all over the world, my gay people and my black people."
Lorraine Hansberry	May 19, 1930 Jan. 12, 1965	Author and Playwright	“All real and lasting change starts first on the inside and works it way through to the outside. Politically speaking, each person being the change we wish to see in the world is the only stance that can make a lasting difference. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
E.Lynn Harris	June 20, 1955 July 23, 2009	Author	“I want people to know they don’t have to live their lives in a permanent ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ existence. Truth is a powerful tool.”
Sherry Harris	Feb. 27, 1965	Politician	“All real and lasting change starts first on the inside and works it way through to the outside. Politically speaking, each person being the change we wish to see in the world is the only stance that can make a lasting difference. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
Billie Holiday	Apr. 7, 1915 July 17, 1959	Singer	"A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted."
Langston Hughes	Feb. 1, 1902 May 22, 1967	Poet	“Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly, Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams go, Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow."
Zora Neale Hurston	Jan. 7, 1891 Jan. 28, 1960	Author and Folklorist	“Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at de sun.’ We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.”
Bill T. Jones	Feb. 15, 1952	Dancer and Choreographer	"Living and dying is not the big issue. The big issue is what you’re going to do with your time while you are here."
Representative Barbara Jordan (D-Texas)	Feb. 21, 1936 Jan. 17, 1996	Politician	"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."
Audre Lorde	Feb. 18, 1934 Nov. 17, 1992	Author	“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
Marsha P. Johnson	1945 July 6, 1992	Transgender Activist and co-founder of S.T.A.R.	When asked what the P stood for in her name, she replied "Pay it No Mind."
Miss Major	Unknown	Transgender, Public Health and Prison Activist
Gertrude "Ma" Rainey	Apr. 26, 1886 Dec. 22, 1939	Singer	"Went out last night with a crowd of my friends, They must have been women, 'cause I don't like no men. Wear my clothes just like a fan, Talk to gals just like any old man 'Cause they say I do it, ain't nobody caught me, Sure got to prove it on me."
Bayard Rustin	Mar. 17, 1910 Aug. 24, 1987	Civil Rights Activist	"We are all one. And if we don't know it, we will learn it the hard way."
Bessie Smith	Unknown July 1892 Sept. 26, 1937	Singer	“It's a long old road, but I know I'm gonna find the end.”
Sheryl Swoopes	Mar. 25, 1971	WNBA Player	"No matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back."
Wanda Sykes	Mar. 7, 1964	Comedian	"If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it."
André Leon Talley	Oct. 16,1949	Fashion Editor	“It's not about canceling shows, but initiating things on an individual level. When much is given to you, much is expected. If you're an honest American, you can't wake up and not be affected by the neglect of the government after Katrina. You can't be an honest American and not think about it every day.”
Alice Walker	Feb. 9, 1944	Author and Feminist	“The truest and most enduring impulse I have is simply to write.”
Phill Wilson	Apr. 29, 1956	AIDS Activist	"The price of the ticket for life is to leave the world in a different place than you found it, to leave the world a better place than you found it."
Jacqueline Woodson	Feb. 12, 1963	Author	“I think it's important that everyday we think about the work we need to do to make this world a better place. I mean, we should wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about tomorrow's tasks. There's an awful lot of change needing to be made around here.”

Related post: 

Black history and gay history are intertwined. Deal with it

Black history and gay history are intertwined. Deal with it

This post, courtesy of the excellent NoMoreDownLow.tv, is dedicated to all of those self-serving, self-righteous members of predominantly white religious right groups who claim that they want to preserve the integrity of the black community from the so-called evil clutches of the lgbt community but in reality don't give give a damn about either community.

Our histories are intertwined and nothing you can say or do will change that. Period:



If you want to see the full episode, go here.

Conservative marine stands up for gay brother and other Wednesday midday news briefs

NH: Conservative marine resists another kind of repeal - Words cannot convey how awesome this ad is.

Breaking: Prop 8 Ruling Today From California Supreme Court - This promises to be very interesting.

Gay alumni question policy of Christian college in Montecito - Speaking of another awesome letter. One day I am going to sit down and write mine.

Bryan Fischer's Genocide Apologetics - Just what dirt does Fischer have on the American Family Association that's allowing them to let him get away with this mess?

Gay-Straight Alliance wins peacemaker award - Enough of the sad press. Let's have some good news for a change!

Peter Sprigg won't address hate group charges but will lie about same-sex households

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council has yet to address the charges lodged against his group by the Southern Poverty Law Center regarding how they spread propaganda and junk science or misrepresent legitimate science to demonize the lgbt community.

But apparently he isn't too busy to continue misrepresenting legitimate science against the lgbt community.

Yesterday, a piece of his, Federal Report Confirms 'Nuclear Family' Best for Children's Health, was published in The Christian Post.

In this piece, Sprigg claims that nonpartisan groups support theories lodged by himself and FRC regarding the best households to raise children - i.e. the notion that two-parent heterosexual families are the best places to raise children as opposed to same-sex families:

During such debates, Family Research Council and other pro-family groups note social science evidence showing children raised by their own mother and father, who are committed to one another in a lifelong marriage, are happier (experience better mental health), healthier (have better physical health), and more prosperous (attain higher socioeconomic status) than children raised in any other household setting. For example, the non-partisan research group Child Trends summarized the evidence this way:

“Research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage.”

We point to this evidence in support of policies which would discourage divorce, cohabitation, and out-of-wedlock pregnancies, while encouraging sexual abstinence until marriage-as well as in opposing efforts to change the fundamental definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Yet more evidence along these lines can be found in a recently published federal study on “Family Structure and Children’s Health in the United States.” The report compares health outcomes on a variety of measures by family structure. Seven different categories of “families” are identified-“nuclear,” “single-parent,” “unmarried biological or adoptive,” “blended,” “cohabiting,” “extended,” and “other.”

Like with so many other times Sprigg refers to legitimate science to quantify his theories, there are several things wrong with his citations of these studies.

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

Anti-gay group distancing itself from viciously homophobic web page

Score one for the good guys:

A link to a seminar series that presents homosexuality and its “second-hand effects” as a public health threat has been removed from the website of The Family Leader.

Julie Summa, director of marketing and public outreach for The Family Leader, said the seminar series has not been offered for around two years. However, up until Tuesday, a link to the seminar’s website was made available to anyone who signed up for e-mail updates on the group’s 99-county “Capturing Momentum Tour.” The Family Leader’s phone number is listed as contact info for anyone interested in booking the seminar.

When asked by The Iowa Independent why, if the series has not been offered for two years, it continues to be advertised on The Family Leader’s website, Summa said it was a mistake.

“The Second Hand Effects link shouldn’t be on our ‘Capturing Momentum Tour’ web page, which was created from an old template,” she said. “We plan to remove it as you are correct, we do not currently offer the seminar and have not had a full seminar in about two years.”
The seminar series, which is advertised as exposing the “public health crisis of same-sex activity,” was first discovered by the “Good As You” blog, but garnered headlines when it was brought up by reporters at a press conference organized by The Family Leader with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The group’s CEO and president — Bob Vander Plaats — said the seminar hasn’t been offered since he came on board in November and vowed to look into the continued mention of the series on the group’s website.

I wrote a post about this site earlier this month, citing the many inaccuracies it contained including the fact that the page's name itself was an inference to the junk science of discredited researcher Paul Cameron.

It's nice to see what a little attention and focus can do.



Big hat tip to Goodasyou.org

Congressman continues to lie about the lgbt community and other Tuesday midday news briefs

If a Congressman 'bulldozes away' 'screaming, profane gays' and no one's there to film it... - Oh look. Congressman Steve King tells another lie about lgbts.

More anti-gay follies from King. I'm beginning to think that he doesn't really care for lgbts:
 
Why we must not ignore anti-gay hate groups - a visual demonstration

Congressman: if gays were more 'quiet,' they wouldn't have to worry about getting fired

Rep. King's office knew charges against Jennings were false BEFORE sending out letter

And apparently King don't really care for black people either:

Anti-gay Congressman attacks Obama for showing 'partiality' to African-Americans

And in other news briefs:

Just When Is Fischer Speaking For the AFA? - The American Family Association gives Bryan Fischer the auspices to say some of the most vicious, nasty, un-Christian statements, but apparently he isn't speaking for them. You can't have it both ways, guys.

Study: States with anti-gay adoption laws have more mental health issues - It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that.

Outer Banks gay festival stirs debate - Good. Keep at it!