'Equality Florida calls out Trump, Rubio for their homophobia' & other Thur. afternoon news briefs

Equality Florida rally calls out Trump, Rubio for anti-lgbt conference attendance.

Trump and Rubio Attend Florida Rally That Mocks LGBT Pain - Even though it may not be on the top of the news, the appearance of Trump and Rubio at an anti-lgbt conference in Orlando is causing people to stop and notice, as this piece in Time Magazine proves.

  WATCH: Equality Florida #ForThe49 Rally Protests Trump and Rubio Headlining an Anti-Gay Conference - And this rally generated lots of attention.

 ‘I’ll Go To My Grave With This’: Why Bi Men Still Fear Coming Out - We do need more of a focus on our bisexual brothers and sisters.

  This Is How Transgender Teenagers Get The Right To Medical Treatment - This is a wonderful tool.

Donald Trump no friend to lgbt community, Marco Rubio an unmitigated liar

Editor's note - There were no news briefs today because the public libary's internet was down. I simply have to get a tablet one of these days.

Thanks to profiles courtesy of Right Wing Watch of a few participants of Thursday's conference to be attended by both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, we have more proof of two things:

Donald Trump is NO friend of the lgbt community in spite of he and other folks,  such as Chris Barron and Milo Yiannopoulos, have said.

Trump comes under fire for anti-lgbt conference

How will Trump explain attending anti-lgbt conference?

Aside from his absolutely clueless comments yesterday implying that Hillary Clinton needs to be assassinated, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has also come under fire for a decision to attend an anti-lgbt conference in Orlando held tomorrow.

According to the Miami Herald:

Liberal and LGBT activists are condemning Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his former adversary, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, for planning to speak at an “anti-LGBTQ” conference of 700 conservative pastors and spouses later this week in Orlando — exactly two months after the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

Equality Florida and several other organizations will have a peaceful rally and press conference in protest of the conference. The organization put out the following statement:

On the two-month anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, we are outraged that Donald Trump and Senator Rubio have the audacity to headline an extremist anti-LGBTQ event in Orlando. In the midst of our grief, we demand an end to hatred and bigotry of all kinds, call for the passage of fully inclusive anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, and urge our elected officials to support common sense gun violence prevention measures to honor the 49 lives cut short by hatred.

Initially, it was Rubio who was being criticized for his decision to attend. But when it was learned that Trump would be there, the controversy increased. In a statement last week, Rubio defended the conference, claiming that it is merely a meeting of religious leaders:

“The event I will be speaking at in Orlando is a gathering of local pastors and faith leaders. Leave it to the media and liberal activists to label a gathering of faith leaders as an anti-LGBT event. It is nothing of the sort. It is a celebration of faith."

However, it should be pointed out that Rubio's statement was highly deceptive.  The conference is being sponsored by the American Renewal Project. According to People for the American Way's Right-Wing Watch:

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/gay-south-florida/article94716822.html#storylink=cpy

Self-described “political operative” David Lane founded the American Renewal Project as a way to mobilize conservative Christian voters and inspire right-wing pastors to run for elected office. He told (Jennifer) Jacobs (of Bloomberg News)  that he intends to quiz Trump on how he plans to fight “homosexual totalitarianism” and the gay rights “militants.” Lane, a vocal opponent of LGBT equality, has said that “homosexuals praying at the Inauguration” in 2012 would cause “car bombs in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Des Moines, Iowa” as a sign of God’s judgment and that the “pagan onslaught” of the LGBT rights movement will lead to the destruction of America.

In addition, the speakers at this conference will include:

Mat Staver, whose Liberty Counsel Action sent out the invitation to the event and who is scheduled to speak, has gained a national reputation by representing Kim Davis and Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore through the affiliated Liberty Counsel. Last month, Staver denounced memorial gatherings for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack as “homosexual love fests.” Staver has claimed that gay people are “demonic,” seek to abuse children and are similar to terrorists, and has warned that gay rights victories could lead to “forced homosexuality” and “another civil war.” At the same time, he has praised countries that outlaw same-sex relationships.

David Barton, a Republican Party activist who styles himself as a historian, thinks that God is justly preventing a cure for HIV/AIDS because it is a divine “penalty” for homosexuality, and has lamented that public schools try to “force” students “to be homosexual” when homosexuality really should be regulated by the government.

Maine pastor Ken Graves preaches against “militant homofascism” that he says “seeks to take over our land and make it Sodom” and argues that gay people cannot build happy families because they are “depressed.”

 Bill Federer, a Religious Right activist and conspiracy theorist, believes that gay rights are bringing about the Islamist takeover of America.  

 
 Trump's attendance contradicts his earlier statements that he is an lgbt ally.

'Trump to address anti-lgbt conference in Orlando' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Donald Trump To Address Extremist Anti-LGBT Summit In Orlando - It looks like Trump will addressing the same anti-lgbt event which has gotten Marco Rubio into trouble. Tell me again how he is better for the lgbt community, Caitlyn Jenner and Milo Yiannopulos. I bet you he won't be rebuking the lies told by attendees of this conference. 

Related post - This is a perfect time to remind folks about the Trump's "Evangelical Advisory Board" or as I call them, "The Legion of Homophobia" (please copy the graphic below and send it out to as many folks as you can, particularly those lgbts who are still thinking that Trump will be their best friend) 

 After Same-Sex Marriage Victory, Jim Obergefell Looks Ahead To Remaining LGBT Battles - Obergefell reminds us that attaining marriage equality is simply ONE victory in the battle for complete lgbt equality. 

 Landlord Allegedly Says She Shouldn’t Rent To ‘Faggots’ Before Evicting Tenants - This right here is a hot mess made worse by the fact that the landlord is a city council member. 

 Ugandan government defends Pride pageant raid - Just a nasty mess. How folks from America infected other countries with their homophobia and it still lingers.

'Bloodshed' & 'invading homosexuals' - Two reasons why Christianity is losing followers

Last year there was an ado about Christianity losing followers, particularly among younger folks.  A lot of reasons were given, but one reason has to be emphasized.

Perhaps a lot of the faces we see and the voices we hear seem to be less concerned with the tenets of Christian love for one's follow man and instead more concerned with figuratively raining fire and brimstone against the lgbt community. Even if that fire and brimstone is rooted in demonization and inaccurate smears.

Case in point are these two videos courtesy of Right Wing Watch which show ministers Flip Benham and Otis Kenner working themselves into a froth and throwing out absolutely inane opinions against the LGBT community. I continue to be amazed how people who claim to be of God get so rooted in lies and hate. They can claim not to hate lgbts all they want, but words like these only come from hate.

The point is how in the world can Christianity retain any credibility, particularly with the younger crowd, when some ministers spend more time picking on the lgbt community and less time on speaking about more important issues such as poverty and inequality?



In this video, Kenner actually attempts to cite research about lgbts. But the research is over 50 years old. Of course for the rest of his rambling sermon - the part involving "invading homosexuals" - he offers no citations

'Rubio defends attendance at anti-lgbt Orlando event' & other Mon. midday news briefs

Rubio is pushing the 'tolerance' con job again

Marco Rubio Defends Radical Anti-LGBT Orlando Event - Marco Rubio thinks that lgbts are the bad guys because we don't "tolerate" the opinions of those who would smear us as oversexed, diseased pedophiles who don't deserve equality. Oh I weep for his concern. 

Related post - Don't fall for Marco Rubio's phony fear of so-called 'intolerant' gays  

Many Americans Hear Politics From the Pulpit - Our equality continues to be a hot political issue, but we don't seem to have a good way to change the narrative.

 Restroom battle may head to the Texas Legislature - Case in point . . .  

Trans People Open Up About What It’s Like To Transition In The Workplace - I never really thought about this issue.

Misinformation & lies are what Trump and anti-lgbt right have in common

The press is making a huge issue how Donald Trump lies with impunity and his supporters don't seem to care. I'm glad that they are realizing this sort of thing, but it's not necessarily indicative of just Trump.

In the nine and a half plus years I've tracked the anti-lgbt right, I've seen the same thing happen continuously. Only hardly anyone in the mainstream seemed to have cared how so-called religious right groups distort science and truth to demonize lgbts and spread all sorts of bad information to their supporters and the public. Maybe this emphasis on Trump will bleed down to them. But I doubt it.

Case in point, this lovely "poll question" courtesy of the American Family Association's One News Now with regards to gender and sexual orientation. It makes no sense whatsoever, but I don't think One News Now cares about making sense or spreading truth: