Fox News gives misinformation on the First Amendment to smear lgbts

It's not that the folks on Fox News don't know what they are talking about. They know exactly what they are doing. If you ever look at Fox & Friends, take a look at how many times the hosts look down at the notes in front of them.

I would kill to know what those notes are telling them to say.

From Equality Matters:

On July 10, Fox News host Steve Doocy interviewed Jason and David Benham while an on-screen graphic declared they had been "fired for faith." Doocy argued, "You were fired for having an opinion. I mean, there's this thing called the First Amendment where people are entitled to their opinion and their Christian beliefs as well."

But the First Amendment does not protect individuals from being fired by private employers, as it does not limit the actions that private employers may take based on employees' speech. The First Amendment Center explained:

The First Amendment does not limit private employers. The Bill of Rights -- and the First Amendment -- limit only government actors, not private actors. This means that private employers can restrict employee speech in the workplace without running afoul of the First Amendment.

HGTV did not violate the First Amendment rights of the Benhams by dropping their show. As Columbia Law's Suzanne Goldberg pointed out in an interview with CNN, it was most likely a decision to protect the business' brand following widespread outcry against the Benhams' comments. Even David Benham told CNN that he does not hold a grudge against the network, telling Erin Burnett, "It was too much for them to bear and they had to make a business decision."

 

'Another judge destroys anti-marriage equality arguments' & other Thurs. midday news briefs

The one where Regnerus, most criticized researcher in recent memory, criticizes others' research - And the pathetic attempt to rehash Mark Regnerus and his discredited anti-gay study continues. 

5 Ways A Colorado Judge Destroyed Conservatives’ Arguments Against Marriage Equality - But the right will continue to push these points. The only thing we can do is continue to strengthen the brick wall they keep smashing themselves into.  

Is 'Orange is the New Black''s Laverne Cox the First Trans Person To Get an Emmy Nomination? - Just in case you didn't hear, Laverne Cox received an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy. Sweet!

  The Legacy of the Hobby Lobby Case: Protecting Anti-Gay Discrimination? - Bring it on, bitches.

 Police arrest five Ugandans, accuse them of trying to turn kids gay - What America has created . . . 
 
Obama’s Evangelical Gravy Train - . . . it can't kill. Why is the Obama Administration still funding overseas anti-gay groups and other organizations giving out inaccurate information on HIV and pregnancy.

Anti-gay group attempts to trick Pride attendees into 'converting'

During a recent pride event in Minnesota, an evangelical group attempted  to infiltrate in an attempt to "bring lgbts to Jesus:"



Like the video said, the group, Trinity Works, was bragging about its so-called victory on Facebook, claiming to have "converted" 80 people. While there is no way to verify this, according to Andy Birkey of The Colu.mn (a statewide lgbt publication), the group was engaging in some tactics which can be seen as highly un-Christian:

Trinity Works’ tactics were indeed deceptive. When TheColu.mn approached the evangelical outreach teams, they refused to acknowledge Trinity Works or the mission to encourage LGBT people to leave “the lifestyle.”

Some of the outreach workers posed as medics and evangelized to people who sought assistance. The Trinity Works group created fliers to mimic those being handed out by OutFront to warn the community about the groups efforts to evangelize.

Outfront also notes that Trinity Works’ outreach workers appeared to have started wearing coral colored shirts to mimic OutFront Minnesota support team members in an attempt to confuse Pride attendees.

Trinity Works held a corn feed at 11th Street and Hennepin Avenue along the Pride parade route. According to OutFront, the support team had to counsel dozens who mistakenly thought it was part of Pride activities.“Pride-goers who went in, assuming it was LGBTQ-friendly, were surrounded by Trinity works people who said they would burn in hell because of their sexual orientation,” OutFront’s Monica Meyer said in a statement.

Surprising? No. Outrageous? You better believe it.

How come I never get approached at Pride by folks like that? I got some choice words for them that I haven't used in YEARS.

'Family Research Council's persecution list is laughably pathetic' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Tony Perkins' Christian-Persecution Report Highlights Persecution of Tony Perkins - The Family Research Council not only embarrasses itself this time, but also minimizes the terrible practice of persecution via a silly report featuring anecdotes of what the organization deems is "the persecution of Christians in America." According to Miranda Blue of Right Wing Watch:

Some anecdotes highlighted in the report are troubling incidents that FRC admits were later rectified. Others are incidents that we might not all count as examples of religious hostility — for instance Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean being “mocked and ridiculed” for her answer to a question on same-sex marriage in 2009.

Still others are stories of dubious accuracy — for instance, the story of a girl in Florida supposedly punished for praying at school, who just so happened to be the daughter of the man in charge of promoting Todd Starnes’ book on Christian persecution.

And then there was this:

Minister’s Invitation to National Prayer Luncheon Revoked because of His Comments on Homosexuality in the Military – February 2010*

 An ordained minister and Marine Corps veteran was punished for speaking out on a topic unrelated to his planned comments at the National Prayer Luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C. The minister criticized President Obama’s call to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, resulting in his invitation to speak at the National Prayer Luncheon being rescinded. The minister criticized the action as “black-listing” to suppress unwanted viewpoints.

Who is this unnamed minister who was disinvited from the National Prayer Luncheon? He wasn’t just a minister who had criticized “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal. He was none other than the Family Research Council’s own president Tony Perkins.

OMG! Tony Perkins was "persecuted!" Let's make him a saint! Modesty and good taste keeps me from saying just of what. Personally, I wouldn't invite Perkins to give the eulogy at the funeral of my pet dog. But that's just me.

In other news:

Religious Right Denies Claim Evangelicals Embracing Same-Sex Marriage – With A Regnerus Study - Guys, the Regnerus study is DEAD. It is a rotting corpse. But if you insist on bringing it up, then the lgbt community will just have to remind everyone of why it died a deservedly nasty death. 

Six LGBT groups: No you can't refuse our cake and fire the gay baker too! - In which the religious right actually does us a favor. This version of ENDA was tainted from the start and thanks to Hobby Lobby, it is done for. 

 Russian MP: Naked Apollo on Banknote Threatens Children - Well now in Greek mythology, Apollo WAS a freak. It could have been worse though. His father, Zeus, could have been on the bank note and Zeus was a Super freak. Who do you think Rick James was talking about? The god messed with any and everything and loved to do so with disguises. A shower of gold, a bull, an ant, a cuckoo bird, a swan. . . .  Talk about your strange imaginations.

The anti-gay mind is a stupid mind

Of course we know that many anti-gay spokespeople freely lie and demonize the lgbt community, but have you ever heard their rationalization for their behavior?

Here are two examples, courtesy of Right Wing Watch. The first is from Robert Reilly, an author of a new anti-gay book (which I refuse to mention) on a radio show with Jesse Lee Peterson. They both agree that lgbts are so "full of guilt" that we act out:

For the record, as a gay man I haven't done anything I should feel "guilty" about in over a year. And I say that with the utmost sorrow. Now the second clip is the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver at a recent "celebrate America" event. Staver proceeds to explain how "sexual sin" is worse than other sins in a word salad so convoluted that Sarah Palin was calling him for tips:



It's a good thing that Staver doesn't feel the same about lying as he does about "sexual sin." Otherwise, he would be in enormous trouble.

Anti-gay groups chomping at the bit to limit lgbt equality after 'Hobby Lobby'

Well it's like I always say - never say a war is over until the other side totally and completely surrenders. It looks like the Hobby Lobby decision is giving the religious right encouragement to get crazy.  Let's get ready to fight and fight hard. These folks will go overboard. They always do.

From Talking Points Memo:

Religious leaders in Kansas view the U.S. Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision last week as an opportunity to revive legislation that would protect their "religious freedom" -- measures that gay rights advocates warn would legitimize discrimination against LGBT people.

The Associated Press reported this weekend that social conservatives believe they have an opening to bring the state's religious freedom bill back in 2015. The legislation failed this spring; it passed the House, but stalled in the Senate after significant backlash from business groups. It would have prevented businesses from being sued if they refused to serve LGBT people for religious reasons.

"We are not going to let it die. We are very committed," Rev. Terry Fox, a leading Southern Baptist minister, told the AP. "The Body of Christ is a powerful movement when it comes together."

 . . . Gay rights advocates don't seem to be fretting yet. First, they see the Hobby Lobby decision, and Kennedy in particular, on their side. Second, the forces that doomed the Arizona and Kansas bills -- namely, the business community -- are still in place. They aren't surprised by the renewed push in Kansas, but they don't believe it poses a danger to their cause.

 . . . 

'Conservatives trying to fix anti-gay study's credibility problem' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

Without his bad magic, there wouldn't have been a 'Mark Regnerus witch-hunt' - Family Research Council's sad attempt to rewrite history about Mark Regenerus's discredited study on same-sex families was just a prelude. According to Jeremy Hooper, right-wing big wig magazine National Review is getting in on the act. Both are pushing the same false theme, i.e. Regnerus was the victim of a "witch-hunt." Well they get points for audacity, that's for sure. But it would be best for the lgbt community to take this seriously instead of laughing this off. It's an insane plan for sure but the difference between insane plans and clever plans is the rate of success. We got the facts on our side (goodness knows I've stated them enough times) about the Regnerus study and since the opposition likes to use the metaphor of us "ramming things down their throats" (figuratively of course), let's indulge them with the facts about Regnerus's discredited study until they upchuck. 

No, JPMorgan Chase Doesn't Have An "LGBT Loyalty Test" For Employees - Speaking of which, this lie has been heavily pushed via right-wing circles. Thank you, Equality Matters for refuting it.  

Same-sex marriage in the UK: A look at how far we’ve come - Not bad. Not bad at all.  

Uganda On Their Anti-Gay Legislation: It Was All For The Children - Anita Bryant's lie will NEVER die it seems.

  Todd Starnes Warns Of Anti-Duck Dynasty Violence, Links Same-Sex Marriage To Healthy Food Initiatives - Todd Starnes -  just trying to "get paid."