Michigan, Mark Regnerus, and John Boehner prove that the going rate for homophobia is over $4 million

Regnerus

University of Texas (Austin)  professor Mark Regnerus and all of the other so-called experts called by the state of Michigan to defend its ban on marriage equality was humiliated during the judicial overturning of that law but I wouldn't worry about their feelings.

As it turns out, they were all well compensated. According to LGBTQNation:

The state of Michigan says it has spent $40,000 on witnesses who testified as experts at a recent trial on same-sex marriage. The state has paid $39,478.75 to experts, and some additional bills “have not yet been sent in,” Joy Yearout, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette, told The Associated Press.

Let's put Michigan's waste of $40,000 in a larger perspective.

Regnerus had already received $90,000 from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and $695,000 from the Witherspoon Institute to fund his now discredited study on gay parenting.  The study was an attempt to sway the Supreme Court in the DOMA and Prop 8 cases and it failed miserably.

Regnerus continued to say that his work was objective, but according to the Huffington Post and the American Independent:

 . . . documents, recently obtained through public-records requests by The American Independent and published in collaboration with The Huffington Post, show that the Witherspoon Institute recruited a professor from a major university to carry out a study that was designed to manipulate public policy. In communicating with donors about the research project, Witherspoon’s president clearly expected results unfavorable to the gay-marriage movement. The think tank’s efforts paid off. The New Family Structures Study came out just in time for opponents of gay marriage to cite it in multiple federal cases involving marriage equality – including two cases soon to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Speaking of which, Speaker of the House John Boehner spent $2.3 million of taxpayers' money in the failed attempt to defend DOMA. Of course this is the same man who won't help pass a bill giving unemployment benefits to Americans out of work, but that's another "pot of potatoes."

'Anti-gay right turns on Chick-Fil-A' and other Monday midday news briefs

With the news that Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy claiming that his company has stepped back from the argument over marriage equality, anti-gay right groups and personalities are turning on him HARD:

Also:

Scott Lively: The Mark Of The Beast Now Looks Like A Chick-Fil-A Sandwich - Well if anyone would know about the "mark of the beast," it's that devil, Scott Lively.

 In other news:

 Read This One Document To Understand What The Christian Right Hopes To Gain From Hobby Lobby - A case you would think has nothing to do with lgbt equality does in fact have something to do with lgbt equality.  

Karen Adell Scot, California Teacher, Comes Out As Transgender - In past cases in which I have seen, having a transgender teacher does not harm children. But the parents freak out like it's the end of the world. I say keep the teacher and let's work on the parents.  

Obama Administration To Take Action In Response To Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law - And hopefully it's an action which will send a message that persecution of any stripe will not be tolerated.

Family Research Council desperate to smear Southern Poverty Law Center

Tony Perkins of FRC

In the midst of the happy news involving Michigan, I would it would be remiss of me to lose myself in the reverie that I forget what's going on in other places.

Most specifically, the Family Research Council - and an ally in Hawaii - is stepping up its program of revenge against the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 In 2010, SPLC named FRC as an anti-gay hate group for consistenly and deliberately launching inaccurate attacks against the lgbt community. Since then, FRC has been bouncing around several ways to answer the charges from claiming that pride to be called a hate group, to complaining that SPLC is attempting to censor them for their so-called Christian values and belief that "marriage is between a man a woman," to falsely linking the group to an awful near massacre at FRC headquarters(in which a deranged young man, Floyd Corkins, attempted to force his way in, shoot FRC employees, and stuff Chick-Fil-A sandwiches down their throats.

Now it would seem that FRC has settled down to one direct path - good old fashioned revenge.

Earlier this month, FRC began pushing a false story that supposedly SPLC was bribing Hawaii's teachers to participate in its Teaching Tolerance workshop. Initially, FRC complained about a stipend given to teachers who participated in the workshop.   However that complaint died when it was discovered that teachers were paid this stipend ($159) because the second day of the workshop was on a Saturday, when they would normally not be at work.

Judge hands Michigan lgbt community a HUGE victory on marriage and against junk science

Regnerus

In striking down the Michigan law against marriage equality, US District Judge Bernard Freeman actually handed the lgbt community two victories. First, from ABC News:

Michigan's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, a federal judge said Friday as he struck down a law that was widely embraced by voters a decade ago — the latest in a recent series of decisions overturning similar prohibitions across the country.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman released his 31-page ruling exactly two weeks after a rare trial that mostly focused on the impact of same-sex parenting on children.

He noted that supporters of same-sex marriage believe the Michigan ban was at least partly the result of animosity toward gays and lesbians.

"Many Michigan residents have religious convictions whose principles govern the conduct of their daily lives and inform their own viewpoints about marriage," Friedman said. "Nonetheless, these views cannot strip other citizens of the guarantees of equal protection under the law."

The decision was filed shortly after 5 p.m. in Detroit, when most county clerk offices were closed. Clerks issue marriage licenses in Michigan.

Attorney General Bill Schuette said he would immediately ask a federal appeals court to freeze Friedman's decision and prevent same-sex couples from marrying while he appeals the case.

Now comes the part which has us wonky lgbts doing the "tootsie roll" while reading our twitter feeds. You will remember that during this trial, University of Texas (Austin) professor Mark Regnerus served as an "expert witness" for the state of Michigan.

'Anti-gay groups want to censor gay families off of television' and other Friday midday news briefs

Check out these three articles (particularly the last one from that vile Matt Barber site BarbWire) to see how anti-gay groups want to censor same-sex families off of television. Honey Maid Crackers shows a commercial featuring a same-sex family and these losers see only sexual intercourse:

Janet Mefferd Upset Honey Maid's Graham Crackers Push 'The Gay Propaganda Machine' 

 AFA's One Million Moms Joins Graham Cracker Boycott  

Video: See What Nabisco Finds ‘Wholesome’ – Hint: It Ain’t Graham Crackers - This particular article is pathetically hilarious because of the following opening passage:

Nabisco is the latest formerly family-friendly company to fall under the curse of moral relativism. In a new commercial for Honey Maid products the company not-so-subtly suggests that 1) sexually immoral male-on-male sodomy, and 2) selfish “gay” men intentionally depriving children of a mother are both somehow “wholesome.” How far America has fallen.

In other news:  

When Black Lesbians Are Killed by Black Men - Easily one of the most poignant and saddest articles you will read in a while.  

Poll Shows Transgender Rights Bill Has Wide Support, While Lawmaker Fears 'Guy In A Dress' (UPDATED) - Oh Good Lord! 

Is there any advocate more disingenuous than a professional 'ex-gay'? - Particularly when that professional "ex-gay" will deliberately cherry-pick scientific information? No.

Show love to Fred Phelps's family instead of hatred

Self-described enemy of the lgbt community, Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church died last night. Naturally, his passing has elicited many opinions in the lgbt community. A good online buddy of mine, Erica Cook, has a  good suggestion as a way to mark his passing and preserve the dignity of the lgbt community.  I personally like what she has to say:

I’m sending this message to you in hopes that you may send it on. I hope that as in other times a cooler mind may win out before others make a choice we, the LGBT community, won’t be able to take back. It has been reported today that Fred Phelps has died. It is safe to say that, given his attitude and his devotion to hate, those of us within, and around, the LGBT community will not mourn his end. He caused many families pain at a time when they were already hurting from the death of loved ones. However, this is his legacy, not ours.

The very post I saw his death reported also had a call to picket his funeral as he has done to so many. This was by a friend who has seen his hate, and understandably wants to exact revenge. But if the actions of his life have shown anything it is that the funeral is no place for revenge or the spirit of hate. We may not feel sorrow at his death. It may even be a day of relief. But this is the time to show why he was wrong to protest the funerals of our family.

This is the chance to show the world how we are better people. We aren’t people who make the death of a man the reason to celebrate, no matter who that man is. We are the better people. And no matter who he is to us, he was someone’s father, grandfather, brother, and uncle. We may still be fighting against them, but today they need the respect they didn’t have the capacity to give when it was us. If we act in any way other than respectful we become no better than them. In stooping to that we relinquish the right to call what they do wrong.

'15 experts TOTALLY destroy anti-transgender myths about bathrooms' and other Thursday midday news briefs

15 Experts Debunk Right-Wing Transgender Bathroom Myth - The headline alone is gold for the lgbt community. The article is an awesome rundown which should be repeated continuously. 

Debunking The Big Myth About Transgender-Inclusive Bathrooms - Equality Matters goes into more detail and it includes a incredible graphic which the organization should make as a stand alone graphic (hint, hint, hint).

Fred Phelps, former head of Westboro Baptist Church, died, family member says - R.I.P. to a very hateful man. He has to answer to God now for his behavior. And unlike some in the lgbt community, I refuse to give this mess more attention than it deserves. Our fight for equality goes on.  

Could Austin Ruse’s Violent Rhetoric Endanger C-FAM’s Status with the UN? - It's spooky to think how much pull this anti-gay group could have had in the UN had not Austin Ruse opened his big mouth.

Teacher Suspended For Comparing Gay-Straight Alliance To Drug-Users Club - Tacky comment from a teacher causes deserved suspension.