'American Family Association overlooks adultery and supports Gingrich' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Same chestnuts, same fire: NH's new anti-equality head gears up to roast equal rights - Pay special attention to this link. The leader of New Hampshire's Cornerstone Policy Research - Wendy Warcholik - is claiming that out-of-towners forced gay marriage in New Hampshire. Then she says the following:

Put succinctly, “Gays and Lesbians have a right to live as they choose, they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for all of us."

Now we all from which out-of-town group that phrase comes from. And of course Warcholik conveniently omits how this same group stole photos from Obama rallies to fake support for its phony efforts to repeal marriage equality in NH. Meanwhile, other members of  the anti-marriage equality crowd are attacking same-sex families. It's ugly.

And in other news:

Newt Gingrich Secures Endorsement Of Anti-Gay ‘Family’ Group He Helped Fund - Apparently the American Family Association is overlooking that "adultery thing."

Homeless for the Holidays: Portraits of New York City's Homeless LGBT Youth (PHOTOS) - When lying, sanctimonious talking heads and phony pro-family groups dominate the airwaves, critical stories like this tend to get lost in the shuffle.

He Just Makes Stuff Up - You mean a religious right "expert" actually makes thinks up? Gasp and swoon!

Anti-Gay Marriage Leaders Endorse Rick Santorum - Irrelevancy embraces irrelevancy.

NOM accused of distorting controversy in Canada

Looks like the National Organization for Marriage may have just made a major boo-boo in Canada. From CTV News in Canada:

The head of Vancouver's School Board and a city councillor claim two other school board trustees used the U.S. group National Organization for Marriage to attack the board's anti-homophobia policies.

Board chair Patti Bacchus and Councillor Tim Stevenson say they want an apology after two disturbing videos recently surfaced, raising questions about the conduct of trustees Ken Denike and Sophia Woo.

Denike agrees he spoke out about the booklet because parents should be concerned, but said he was misled about the interview and had no idea it would be featured on the group's website.

Deinke also said that he is consulting with lawyers to get the video removed. But it appears that Deinke - and Woo - are in a huge amount of trouble over this

Anti-gay lawsuit loses on appeal

Blame Chuck Norris for me not getting this out yesterday.

The following is an excellent piece of news. It wasn't unexpected, but it is still  news worthy of dancing from the rooftops:

 A federal appeals court has upheld the right of Augusta State University to enforce standards of its counseling graduate program -- even when a religious student objects to requirements to treat gay people in a nondiscriminatory manner.

 . . . The student, Jennifer Keeton, argues that her religiously motivated beliefs are being challenged by Augusta State's policies -- and that a public university may not do so. Keeton was expelled when she declined to participate in the remediation plan, and she asked a federal district court and the appeals court to order her reinstatement in the program.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that Augusta State had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons to enforce its rules. The counseling program's accreditation depended in part on adhering to a code of conduct, and faculty members believed it was their responsibility to train students to work with a wide range of clients, the court found. The decision placed the counseling department's actions at Augusta State in the broader context of faculty members training professionals who must pay attention to the ethics of various fields.

Keeton has initially sued the university last year and lost.  In ruling for that decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals was very direct in speaking against Keeton's efforts.

Chuck Norris - the fraud who won't stand up to real injustice

Chuck Norris is an action movie star - and a bad one. But he should stay that way. His forays into politics reveal his basic ignorance.

He has penned a piece for the American Family Association whining about how the Obama Administration has declared war on religion. Personally I don't think he wrote it. I think someone else wrote it and he attached his name to it because it reads like the usual religious right hogwash.

But two items on his supposed list of grievances caught my eye:

• The Pentagon releases new regulations, forcing chaplains to perform same-sex "weddings" despite their religious objections (September 2011).

• Secretary Hillary Clinton demonizes other countries' religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights (December 2011).

Here is why the two items caught my eye. The first item is a basic lie. And that can be easily be proven by the link contained in the item. The Washington Post article which it links to clearly says:

The Pentagon will permit military chaplains to perform same-sex marriage as long as such ceremonies are not prohibited in the states where they reside, it said Friday.

Defense Department guidance issued to military chaplains said they may participate in ceremonies on or off military bases in states that recognize gay unions. Chaplains are not required to officiate at same-sex weddings if doing so is counter to their religious or personal beliefs, the guidance said.

The second claim I illuminated is important because it illustrates the fraud that Chuck Norris is exposing himself to be:

• Secretary Hillary Clinton demonizes other countries' religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights (December 2011).

Secretary Clinton was not demonizing religious beliefs. She was calling attention to the fact that in some foreign countries, lgbtqs persecuted by ways of beatings, vicious murders, forced rapes, and forced reparative therapy:

Today, I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm.

Chuck Norris considers himself an action hero. He has starred in many motion pictures and a television show (Walker, Texas Ranger) portraying himself as someone who fights against injustice. As such, Norris has been shown fictionally preventing innocent people from beaten, killed, or generally terrorized.

How is it that this man who has made a career out of being a hero to the persecuted in motion pictures and television can conveniently ignore actual cases of people being persecuted simply because these people are gay?

The answer is clear. Chuck Norris is a liar and a fraud. His persona is nothing much than  phony macho bravado.

Chuck Norris can't stand up to injustice because he simply doesn't know what real injustice is.  The only type of injustice he knows belongs on a soundstage. It begins when the director says "action" and ends when the same director yells "cut."

Somehow, because of all of the years in this phony world, Norris sees himself as an actual heroic figure.

A little advice, Chuck. Stay in the land of make-believe. In real-life, you just don't measure up to your image.

Hat tip to Goodasyou.org

'Marcus Bachmann backs down on threat' and other Monday midday news briefs

True LGBTQ Stories: 'Your Son Is Straight Now' - Naturally that turned out to not be true.

Marcus Bachmann Backs Down and Caves on Bogus $150 ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy Bill - So on top of everything else, Marcus Bachmann is a chickenshit.

Study confirms Maggie Gallagher’s claim - Don't get spooked. It's not what you think.

Video: Oh *please* let NOM make this guy their next 'Anti-Defamation' star. Pretty please. - And speaking of NOM.

Student files lawsuit claiming 'homosexual indoctrination'

Here we go again. Another student is suing another school claiming that his religious beliefs were violated.

From The Dallas Voice:

This week, the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative Christian legal foundation, filed suit in federal court on behalf of Sandra Glowacki, a Catholic, who claims that the Howell Public School District in Howell, Mich., and teacher Johnson “Jay” McDowell violated the constitutional rights of her son, 16-year-old Daniel Glowacki, when McDowell kicked him out of class on Oct. 20, 2010 — when the school district was observing anti-bullying day and Spirit Day — because Daniel Glowacki told McDowell that as a Catholic, his religion prevented him from supporting gay rights.

The lawsuit claims that McDowell wore a “Tyler’s Army” T-shirt that day in memory of gay college student Tyler Clementi, who had committed suicide after being bullied, and that McDowell had used his class all day to “promote homosexuality.” The lawsuit says McDowell had told a female student to remove a Confederate flag belt buckle because he was offended by it. Then when Daniel Glowacki asked why it was OK to display a rainbow flag promoting LGBT rights, McDowell asked whether Glowacki supported gay rights. When Glowacki said his religion prohibited him from doing so, McDowell made him and another student with similar views leave the class.

McDowell was suspended for violating school district policy, but the suspension was later lifted to settle the grievance complaint Johnson filed.

The Dallas Voice is quick to point out the resemblance of this case to the one of Dakota Ary. A few months ago, a student in a Texas school, Dakota Ary, claimed that he was suspended for merely saying that homosexuality was a sin. However, after the unfortunate media blitz done by Ary's mother and the Liberty Counsel - the group hired by her, it was discovered that perhaps Ary's version of the story was not necessarily true. There were questions whether Ary and a few students were harassing the teacher long before the incident.

Based upon that case and so many other incidents in which religious right groups haven't been forthcoming on details, I reserve the right to not necessarily believe this young man's version of the story. And I have a few questions:

1. What were the exact words said in the conversation which led Glowacki to be kicked out of class.

2.Why was the other student kicked out of class with Glowacki?

3. The teacher was reprimanded for kicked Glowacki out of class, but the reprimand was lifted.  Why? He was  also suspended for one day because of the incident, but was reimbursed for those wages. Again, why?

And here is something that's interesting. This is what the lawsuit says:

The lawsuit also alleges that the Howell district, in cooperation with teacher unions, “indoctrinates students to believe that homosexuality is normal and … that religious opposition … is harassment, bullying, hate speech and homophobic.” 

It sounds like to me that the Thomas More Center is exploiting this one incident to attack  and maybe eliminate whatever "gay-friendly" policy this school may have.

Whatever the case may be, count on seeing another right-wing media blitz. Only this time, I hope people reserve judgement until the entire story comes out.

Know Your LGBT History - Brother to Brother

Something sorely lacking in today's gay cinema - a movie about black gay men



From the youtube description:

When young black gay artist Perry (Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker) is discovered in an intimate sexual encounter with another young man, he is promptly thrown out of his house. With the added confusion of a potential love interest from his white classmate, Perry is at a loss. Things change when a chance encounter with famous poet Bruce Nugent introduces Perry to a historical journey into the gay and lesbian subcultures of the Harlem Renaissance and 'Niggeratti Manor', the creative centre for rebellious black artists Zora Neale Hurston (Aunjanue Ellis, Ray) and Langston Hughes (Daniel Sunjata, TV's Rescue Me). As Perry learns more about the past struggles experienced by those of a different colour and sexuality, he comes to respect what makes him different, and embrace a history that is rarely told.

Past Know Your LGBT History posts: