Mormon Church trying to overturn marriage equality in Maryland

From the Huffington Post comes this unfortunate bit of news:

Mormons are gathering signatures to bring a referendum on Maryland's marriage equality law to the ballot in November, as the state's pro-gay marriage coalition hires a new leader and a recent poll shows more support in Maryland for the law.

The Washington Blade reports that Mormon Church members are actively working to overturn the law legalizing same-sex marriage that was signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley in March, making Maryland the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. Maryland's law will go into effect in January 2013, if the state's voters don't repeal the law in November.

The Blade published an email sent to Mormons in D.C. and southern Maryland, asking for help gathering 200,000 signatures to bring a referendum on the law to Maryland voters in November -- here is an excerpt from the email:

As you have probably heard, the Maryland legislature passed a same sex marriage bill last February. A coalition of inter-denominational churches throughout Maryland has joined together to try to get a referendum on the November ballot that would allow the residents of Maryland to vote on this bill before it becomes law. Martha Schaerr, who is a member of the LDS Church, is organizing signature collection within Montgomery County and within the LDS Church. We need to collect approximately 200,000 signatures by the end of May. We are looking for people to gather signatures within the LDS community. If you are willing to help with this important effort please contact Martha Schaerr as soon as possible at martha.schaerr@gmail.com or Teressa Wallace at wallacemail@juno.com.

And what's more, when pressed about its possible involvement, the Mormon Church denies it. However, it is difficult to believe this denial:

Mormon Church officials told The Blade that it is not involved with the referendum effort -- but The Blade finds parallels between the Maryland effort and the Church of Latter-day Saints' efforts in California:

Dale Jones, an LDS spokesperson, said the church has no direct involvement in the effort to overturn the marriage law in Maryland. 

“While the Church’s position in support of traditional marriage is well established, the effort in Maryland is not being organized through the Church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City,” Jones said. “Members, of course, will make their own decisions regarding their involvement in local issues.”

But the message recalls the Mormon Church’s lead role in passage of Proposition 8 in California in 2008. The First Presidency of the Church, or its governing body, publicly backed the initiative and reportedly encouraged members during church services to take an active role in contributing money and get-out-the-vote efforts to support the ban’s passage.

Read the entire article here.

'Gays compared to iceberg which sank Titanic' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Father Ryan Refuses Anti-Gay Petitions, Calling Them "Hurtful and Seriously Divisive" - A Catholic priest REFUSES to push anti-gay petitions on his congregations. This is a much needed story to remind folks that it's not the Catholic community which is attempting to undermine lgbtq equality. The leadership is.

Religious Right Marks Anniversary of Titanic's Sinking by Exposing the 'Iceberg' of the 'Radical Homosexual Agenda' - Because apparently gays sank the Titanic. I wonder how these folks celebrate Bastille Day.

Meet Romney’s Pro-Marriage Equality Donors - Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council will probably "love" this.


Maggie’s double-speak on same-sex adoption - Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage is being two-faced about gay adoption? Is there any lgbtq issue that this woman is NOT hypocritical about?

Michele And Marcus Bachmann's 'Ex-Gay' Clinic's Practices Described By Undercover Lesbian Filmmaker - Guess who got caught again?

10-year-old produces awesome anti-bullying videos

This is so good that it needs to go viral. From Think Progress:

California 10-year-old Gerry Orz (“G”) has produced a series of anti-bullying videos based on his own experiences growing up with two moms in advance of next week’s GLSEN's Day of Silence:

Family Research Council itching to be humiliated again

The annual GLSEN's Day of Silence is coming up next week and religious right groups are just chomping at the bit to disrupt it.

To the uninitiated, the Day of Silence is an annual event in which students across the country vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.

Since this event and the organization behind it, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) deals with the plight of lgbt students, they both have been in the crosshairs of religious right groups who claim that Day of Silence is simply another way to supposedly "indoctrinate" students into homosexuality.

Every year, we can always count on religious right groups and spokespeople pushing hysterically false tales of alleged "homosexual indoctrination. And unfortunately, this year will be no different.

The Family Research Council just published the following:

 . .  for Connecticut Pastor James Loomer, protecting students wasn't on his school district's agenda. This week, at a meeting of the Milford School Board, members denied his request to stop the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's (GLSEN) national "Day of Silence." At past events, GLSEN was caught distributing pamphlets that promote everything from child sex to pornography. "If parents [knew] the inappropriateness of the materials, they'd be enraged," Pastor Loomer said. Still, the Board wouldn't budge. They insist on moving forward with the event on April 20 in the name of "tolerance."

For the record, GLSEN  has never been caught distributing pamphlets promoting child sex or pornography because GLSEN has never distributed any pamphlets promoting these things.

And if anyone should be aware of this, it is the Family Research Council.

Last year,  the Family Research Council pushed a video falsely accusing GLSEN of distributing an explicit safe-sex guide to children. GLSEN, through its lawyers, sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that FRC remove the video. Subsequently the Family Research Council was forced to change the video to this:



Although FRC did not acknowledge that it had to make changes, the conclusion that the organization had pushed a false claim against GLSEN and then was forced to retreat with its tail between its legs was abundantly clear.

And yet it seems that FRC has not learned a thing from last year's humiliation because the organization is obviously looking to be embarrassed again.

Is Chris Matthews changing his mind about hate group leader appearing on his show?

It seems that Faithful America may be getting through to Chris Matthews in regards to hate group leader Tony Perkins appearing on his show Hardball:



From Faithful America:

Last month, some Faithful America members caught up with Chris Matthews at a book signing and asked him directly about their campaign asking MSNBC to stop booking hate group leader Tony Perkins on their network.

In that interview, Matthews initially protested but ultimately admitted that “you may be right. I may agree with you, but not right now.”

Yesterday, Matthews was asked again about the problem, and he expanded on those concessions:

MATTHEWS: Why don’t you think I should have him on my show?

Q: You said that you wouldn’t have Franklin Graham on your show earlier this year because he tells hateful lies and I was wondering if you thought that was a different standard.

MATTHEWS: Well you got to make your case, you know. I talked about this with my producers last night and we’re trying to decide how to deal with it. My view is I don’t like censoring opinion and Tony Perkins has been on this show and he hasn’t said something like that on my show, he doesn’t talk like that on Hardball.*

Q: Do you think it gives him credibility when he’s on Hardball though, for what he says off Hardball?

MATTHEWS: You know I think that’s an argument — that’s a good argument. I’m thinking about it. You’re doing the right thing, you’re doing the right thing keep it up. You know where I stand on the issues that I care about, you know. And I’m probably with you on these issues but I got to think it through.

In what will likely come as a disappointment to the right-wing activists who have been celebrating Matthews’s comments as an endorsement of their “right” to spread lies on TV, Mathews clearly indicates that he’s taking these concerns seriously, doesn’t have a good answer, and has already begun conversations with his producers about it.

Faithful America, GLAAD and the other organizations and individuals who are working to educate the media about the problems with hosting spokespeople who tell hateful lies should take this as a sign that they’re making real progress and should keep up their efforts.

*As before, Matthews seems to have forgotten about his November 2010 show in which Perkins specifically cited debunked research to claim that gay men are more likely to molest children.

The religious right's no-good, all around bad day continues

The hacking of NOM's social network only scratches the surface when it comes the abysmal day religious right organizations are having. Several other incidents happened today which left these phony morality groups staggering. Let's look at some of them, shall we:

National Organization For Marriage Website Hacked On Same Day Group Endorses Mitt Romney - First there is the big story. The National Organization for Marriage's social network was hacked big time. You just know that they are going to blame us for it.

Denunciation of ex-gay study:

Researcher Robert Spitzer Retracts Landmark Ex-Gay Study - A major study which the religious right have thrown in the face of the lgbtq community as proof that gays can change their orientation as been retracted by its author. Knowing the religious right, watch how they will conveniently omit this new information while continuing to use the study.

Being abandoned by allies:

HUGE – pro-Proposition 8 witness comes out against NC’s Amendment One in N&O op-ed - How is this for a kick in the face. A witness who testified for Proposition 8 - the California law banning marriage equality - has denounced the effort by religious right groups in North Carolina to pass a similar law in that state. Good for you, David Blankenhorn.

Infighting with regards to Presidential candidates:

Perkins Accuses Romney Of Supporting ‘Special Employment Rights Based Upon Sexual Behavior’- Uh oh. On the day in which NOM endorses Mitt Romney for president, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council throws a monkey wrench into religious right support for Romney.

Ugly faux pas:

FRC quietly scrubs pro-Santorum 'math murder' post - See what happens when you push hyperbole.

NOM was hacked! See the post below this one to see the damage!