DOMA ruled unconstitutional . . . as I knew it would be

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) just got a swift kick in the ass:

Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protections clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.” White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. Read the full opinion here. (HT: GinnyLaRoe)

What happens next is anyone's guess. One thing is clear though. Ever since the Obama Administration announced that it would no longer defend DOMA in the courts and Speaker of the House John Boehner (at the behest of several religious right groups) announced that Congress would defend the law, a blind man unconscious from toxic fumes could have predicted this outcome.

And while I'm not a blind man (Thank God) who inhaled toxic fumes (double Thank God), I broke stories on the fact that the defense of DOMA was shoddy.

Boehner's team is defending DOMA against Edie Windsor, an 81-year-old woman suing the federal government for not recognizing her union with her late partner.  Back in August of last year, I broke the story that the lawyer hired to defend DOMA, Paul Clement, was relying on junk science, including studies from discredited researchers Paul Cameron, George Rekers, and Walter Schumm. 

If that wasn't bad enough, one of the researchers cited by Clement for his defense of DOMA, Lisa Diamond, complained that her work was being distorted.

 And to think that for all of this, we the taxpayers paid over $1 million.

I am happy that DOMA has been declared unconstitutional, but I want to know where in the hell do I go to get my money back.

There will be more details forthcoming.

For more background on the case, see Lambda Legal.

'NOM having problems with campaign finance laws AGAIN!' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

AFA Tries to Link JC Penney Credit Rating Drop to Ellen DeGeneres - After all, lying is what the American Family Association does best.

NOM EXPOSED: Minnesota has become the Wild, Wild West of campaign disclosure this cycle - For a "Christian" group, the National Organization for Marriage seems to have lots of trouble with following laws on campaign finance disclosure.

How To Bully Gay Kids - Nasty bit of business coming from Focus on the Family.

Tennessee Activists Hold Anti-Gay Lawmaker Accountable - I LOVE it when they realize that lgbtqs vote. It scares the heck out of some folks.

Gays compared to pedophilies, necrophiliacs (again?)

It's a two-post morning again. Mercy! After retching over this one, pan down to read  Catholic Charities exploiting children in fight against marriage equality

From an online buddy of mine comes this monstrosity of yet another member of that awful religious right group Concerned Women for America maligning our community again:

Testimony on Feb. 21, in the subcommittee of the Georgia House Judiciary Committee on House Bill 630 (State Fair Employment Practices Act) included comments from Tanya Ditty, state director for the anti-gay Concerned Women of America. Ditty asked committee members to oppose the bill because she believes the bill, among other things, would allow such things as necrophilia, zoophilia and pedophilia:

Ditty is no different than another member of Concerned Women for America, Janice Crouse who last year created a video making all sorts of ugly accusations about the lgbt community.

No doubt folks like Ditty and Crouse will swear that they say these things because they love us.

I can do very fine without love like that. In fact, we all can.

Catholic Charities exploiting children in fight against marriage equality

Think Progress has pointed out something very interest when it comes to the Catholic Church's very pronounced opposition to marriage equality.

An argument of those who oppose marriage equality is that it would force religious entities to violate their personal beliefs. One of these entities is the Catholic Charities, which works to place children in adoptivehomes. According to the National Organization for Marriage and others who oppose marriage equality, allowing same-sex couples to wed would force Catholic Charities to choose between abandoning children who need to be adopted or going against the Catholic Church's beliefs against homosexuality.

However, as  Zack Ford from Think Progress points out, the situation in Colorado involving the possibility of civil unions reveals that this argument may not be true and Catholic Charities could be using children as pawns to stop marriage equality:

During last week’s hearing before the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee, a spokesperson from Catholic Charities testified that if the state legally recognized same-sex civil unions, the organization would halt all adoption and foster care services in the state, as they have in states like Illinois. Senators Pat Steadman (D) and Ellen Roberts (R) pointed out that — unlike in other states’ laws — the proposed bill clearly says that adoption agencies will not be required to place children with gay and lesbian couples, but Catholic Charities threatened to end its services nontheless:

CATHOLIC CHARITIES: We would not be able to adopt to same-sex couples.

STEADMAN: And the bill doesn’t ask you to.

ROBERTS: I just have one clarification as to whether you think the bill would prohibit those services or if you think, under a state of law, you would choose not to provide those services?

CATHOLIC CHARITIES: Under the state of law, Catholic Charities would have to discontinue our service in adoption and foster care. We would discontinue our service.

You see that? Even when informed that they are excluded from the Colorado civil union law, the Catholic Charities are volunteering to place children in jeopardy of not being placed in adoptive homes.

It's a sad thing to think that stopping marriage equality is a zero sum game to the Catholic Church and if children are to be used as pawns then so be it.

Maryland black pastor gives excellent defense of marriage equality

Rev. Delman Coates

As marriage equality moves closer to becoming a reality in Maryland, it's important to remember something.

The National Organization for Marriage is playing the divide and conquer game between the gay and black community to the hilt and will continue to play this game with the help of some of the area's black pastors.

But not all black pastors are participating in this mockery. From NPR:

Reverend Delman Coates is a pastor at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, located in Prince George's County, Maryland, where skepticism about gay marriage is high. He talks to us about his evolution of thought on this issue.

From Truth Wins Out comes portions of this excellent interview:

The opening moments of the interview feature a short excerpt from one of Reverend Coates’ sermons; it’s delivered in that intense rhetorical style traditionally favored by fire-and-brimstone preachers, except that he’s using this voice to scold his flock for religion-based bigotry. It makes for remarkable listening, and the interview that follows will put heart into LGBT activists who have despaired of other Christian leaders’ position on civil rights. If he’s a political conservative (and he declines to discuss his personal views on homosexuality), then he’s a rational, intellectually honest one of a type we seldom hear from these days.

“My support for the Civil Marriage Protection Act,” says Reverend Coates, “is rooted in my heartfelt sense that in America, we have to protect public policy from personal and private theology and personal belief.

“I think the principles of our country are founded upon the ideals of our Constitution which protect religious freedom and institutional autonomy, yet at the same time preserve individual liberty as well. I’m really concerned about the way in which in many of our public-policy conversations…people are using theology as a basis for public policy. I think that’s a dangerous precedent.

“Governments fund things that are against people’s religious beliefs, personal theology and doctrine, all the time. Right now, local governments and municipalities allow for alcohol establishments, liquor stores in communities, gambling, and yet at the same time religious institutions teach their parishioners not to engage in these activities.

“There’s a difference between our public policy imperatives and our theological imperatives. Our challenge is to live in our faith…not to legislate it.

“We want foreign policy decisions as Americans to be based on sound intelligence. We want it to be based on credible threats. We don’t want foreign policy decisions for example, to be based on the theology of a particular religious tradition….

“We know that there could come a point in the future when the majority now is no longer the majority…I want to make sure that, 200 years from now, if my local church and those who worship in the local church, are no longer the majority in the local and national community, that our rights are preserved from the theological musings and understandings of whomever might be in the majority at that time. So I think it’s critically important for us to figure out a way to segregate and to separate public policy from theology.”

'NC anti-gay amendment organizer says even maggots wouldn't have a gay relationship' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Top @Vote4MarriageNC ally on gays: 'I don't even think maggots would do that' - First "diaper pastor" Patrick Wooden and now this guy, Ron Baity:



According to Jeremy Hooper:

Ron Baity is such a big part of the campaign to put a gay marriage ban into North Carolina's constitution that the Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal, and a number of local news stations have used the pastor as a commentator in the past month alone. He's also the guy who organized that big rally last May, at which prominent figure like Tony Perkins showed up to speak.

You gotta love those allies the National Organization for Marriage is counting on for a "respectful conversations" about marriage equality in North Carolina.

 In other news:

Gay ceremony at ag museum nixed - Because apparently lgbtqs don't pay taxes in Mississippi (snark).

Indiana Lawmaker: Girl Scouts ‘Radicalized Organization' Promoting 'Homosexual Lifestyle' - I knew there was something strange about those "thin mints."

Update: El Paso Mayor John Cook wins recall appeal - I love it when homophobic actions backfire.

My problem with GoProud - where is the pride?

Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron of GoProud

The Republican gay group GoProud has been given a lot of negative names by many in the lgbtq community from "quislings" to "sell-outs" to "Uncle Toms."

While I'm not as descriptive of my displeasure of GoProud, believe me when I say that it's there.

I'm not a fan of GoProud for many reasons.

Now I could go on about how it is representative of the bourgeois myth of the gay male that I found so offensive when it was trotted out by Showtime network via that abysmal show Queer As Folk.

And I could make a point to mention how I have yet to see any gay men of color in the group (although I have been assured that black gay men are members).

But my single problem with GoProud is not necessarily what the organization represents, but what it hasn't done.

There is a consistent degree of immaturity with GoProud which I find annoying. Spokespeople of the group, Chris Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia, seem to go on and on about the so-called intolerance of the "gay left" and how they are "pariahs" because they are conservative Republicans.

They seem to take some sort of demented pleasure in this whining.

Meanwhile . . .

Tony Perkins of the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council is still looked upon by members of the Republican Party (and members of the media) as a legitimate conservative leader.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council is still being called to be an "expert witness" in front of state legislative committees, when he is not creating phony social studies on the the lgbtq community.

Republican speaker of the House John Boehner is still wasting taxpayer dollars defending DOMA via abysmal junk science.

Republican state legislative bodies are attempting to pass all sorts of mean-spirited anti-gay laws, such as the "Don't Say Gay" bill in Tennessee.

And the National Organization for Marriage is trying to wreak havoc on marriage equality nationwide while simultaneously sitting on its haunches and waiting for the Republican primaries to end so it can attach itself to the winner like a fungus.

It's not the "gay left" behind these endeavors, but conservatives and the Republican party.  However, to my knowledge, GoProud has commented on very few - if any - of these anti-gay actions within the enclave it claims to be a member of.

And therein lies the problem I have with GoProud.

I may not agree with its philosophy as a Republican group, but I would respect the organization more if it spent as much time calling out the Republican party  and the religious right for their attacks on the lgbtq community as it does whining about the "gay left."

Pointing the finger at the supposed monsters on the other side of the fence while ignoring the fire breathing dragons in your court makes you look rather hypocritical.

Does GoProud have any gumption? Does it have any guts to challenge the disgusting status quo within the Republican party - the status quo which rewards you in terms of how anti-gay your position is or how many ways you can show your homophobia without shouting the dreaded "f" word.

I doubt it.  Instead, GoProud seems to be going hardcore with the martyr act, thereby devoting too much time and energy to splitting the lgbtq community into opposite and divisive camps.

I sincerely hope that this is not an intentional goal of GoProud. It leaves one wondering just who is really pulling the strings of the organization.

'Porno Pete' LaBarbera wants you to know what 'anal warts' look like

Over the years, I have joked about and done my best to expose the wanton homophobia of "Porno Pete" LaBarbera, head of the hate group Americans for Truth.

And my best ally in that matter has been him. But today, I think he stooped to a level which even shocks me.

Today, he has decided to post on his site a picture of an STD - anal warts - close up.

Accompanying that morbid picture, he features a guest post from Lara Melton, a woman who has allegedly spent 20 years typing acute care medical record.

Melton proceeds to make the following claims:

Because of privacy issues, I cannot cite the specific contents of the actual medical reports I have transcribed – but the following are some general examples of what they reveal [Editor’s note: AFTAH has added web links giving further information about these maladies]:

Gay-on-Gay Assaults are at the hands of their same-sex domestic partners (not “hate crimes”) and are repetitive. (Reading details of the beatings is highly disturbing.);

Besides the many patients with HIV/AIDS, extremely common conditions are patients with penile lesions, testicle swelling and epididymitis*, anal warts, anal lesions, anal tearing, anal scarring, perirectal fistulas, external hemorrhoids with recurrent bleeding and anal abscesses, requiring surgeries such as colectomy, colostomy and colorectal surgery.

Some have rectal cancer (anal cancer). [See Cancer.org; UCSF;

Many have substance abuse problems and the resultant psychiatric disorders, depression, suicidality.

Anal Laxity: From my work I have learned that repeated sodomy (or anal sex) results in a condition called anal laxity (looseness) that requires surgery or a colostomy bag in order for the bowels to function properly.

Research tells us that when lgbtqs suffer problems of substance abuse, depression, etc, it's generally because the effects of homophobia. Also, that fear of homophobia plays a serious role in gays not going to or trusting their doctors and thereby missing basic health instruction.

No study or research has ever blamed the lgbtq orientation for medical problems.

As for the other stuff Melton alleges, I have a problem its truthfulness, particularly the parts regarding "anal laxity." It's no secret that LaBarbera seems to be on this kick about gay men and "loose bowels" ever since that awful five-part interview with homophobic diaper pastor Patrick Wooden. During the interview, Wooden claimed that gay men have so much sex that they require surgery and diapers. He also claimed that gay men use gerbils and cell phones as sexual instruments.

However, it seems that perhaps LaBarbera is garnering negative attention from his obsession with this mess, hence the need to refer to a "mysteriously anonymous" typist of medical reports.

And also because of his need to post a close-up picture of anal warts.

Now we may shudder in disgust when looking at LaBarbera's page or laugh at his psychological need to go off the deep end when attacking the lgbtq community, but let's not forget one thing.

LaBabera is a living, breathing embodiment of homophobia. He puts stuff like this on his page to demonize us, to make us look like monsters in the eyes of others.But his stridency backfires and he ends up looking like the monster.

But there are others out there who can temper themselves (i.e. the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, Peter Sprigg) and push a better balance between stigmatizing the lgbtq community and pretending to be concerned experts.

Watch them. They are the real dangers.

Maryland vote for marriage equality especially sweet for this black gay man

I'm not from Maryland but Friday's vote advancing marriage equality coming from the House of Delegates there was a sweet victory for me because of what happened last year.

Last year, they didn't even call a vote, particularly because some African-American delegates attacked not only the notion of marriage equality, but lgbtq equality in general:

Delegate Emmett Burns: The Fight For Marriage Equality Is Not Akin To The 1960's Civil Rights Movement Because "Those Who Are Gay Can Disguise Their Propensity": 

If same-sex marriage is to be equated with the movement that I know, then, if you will, show me your Birmingham, Alabama where high-pressure water hoses were turned on us so powerful that it knocked the bark off trees just because we wanted our right. If you want to compare same-sex marriage with civil rights as I know it, show me those who had their homes invaded by the Ku Klux Klan at night and burned down their homes and businesses and churches and lit firey crosses on your lawns because of same-sex marriage.
[...]
I am a black man, an African American. I cannot choose my color, nor do I wish to do so. Those who are gay can disguise their propensity. [emphasis added]

While these comments were vicious on their own, I wasn't naive to not know who encouraged those delegates to say these things - the National Organization for Marriage.

Playing the black and gay community against one another is a tactic the organization has mastered in many places from Maryland to New York to North Carolina. Taking the guise of the character Iago in the play Othello, NOM does a venomous whispering game in the ears of black leaders, claiming that gays are trying to piggyback on the struggles of African-Americans.

Last year, I remember how NOM bragged about these statements made by those delegates, like an arsonist who sets a fire and then dances in the middle of his chaos. I also remember how angry and hurt I felt. Not particularly as a gay man, but as a black gay man. The games NOM played in Maryland last year makes it difficult for lgbtqs of color to come out to our own community. But does NOM care? Of course not.

The vote to pass marriage equality by the same Maryland body who rejected it last year was blessed proof that evil only triumphs for a season but good has a way of coming back.

Unfortunately, Maryland still has a long way to go to fully pass marriage equality and I am sure that NOM will play that game it did last year to impeded the progress.

So in anticipation, I am reposting what I wrote after last year's defeat in hopes that someone - anyone - particularly African-Americans living in Maryland will read this and not allow themselves to be played by an organization who doesn't give a damn about them:

From one black man to the black community - stop the homophobic madness!

March 14, 2011

During last week’s legislative session in Maryland when lawmakers were pondering the idea of gay marriage, a few black lawmakers took the time to not only criticize gay marriage but also the notion of lgbt equality in general.

We’ve all heard the hurtful sayings before - “you can’t compare gay rights to black civil rights because you can hide being gay,” “gays and lesbians were never oppressed in the same manner in which blacks were oppressed,” etc., etc.

It would be an awful generalization to say that all in the African-American community have these beliefs. In Maryland many African-Americans, including Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, publicly supported marriage equality.

However, statements voiced by some Maryland lawmakers unfortunately stand out and not in a good way. In answer to these comments, I could go on about the many lives either crippled and lost at the hands of gay bashers like that of Matthew Shepard, or the wholesale genocide of lgbts by the Nazis in German, or the suicides of lgbt youth such as Tyler Clementi, or the present day usage of junk science by religious right groups to demonize the lgbt community.

But why bother. I’ve reached the point where I hate having to do it.

It’s sad how no one ever talks about how this tug of war between the African-American and lgbt community over equality can negatively affect us lgbts of color. For me personally, it’s an awful psychological rending, a forced dividing of myself into two halves which have no business separating in the first place.

And as a gay man, I especially hate it. I hate the idea of us lgbts having to put the history of our oppression on some sort of display. I hate the notion that lgbts are put on a witness stand where we have to list how many times we have been beaten, disrespected, or denied our basic humanity in order to somehow prove our “worthiness.”

It always leaves me wondering are the scars of the lgbt community deep enough? Is our humiliation painful enough? Have we shed enough blood to suit those who would judge on us on those things?

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for understanding the aesthetic differences between the African-American struggle and lgbt struggle for equality. But there comes a time when we must recognize the folly of this constant struggle over whether the two are similar.

And that time is now.

It distresses me to no end that on the subject of lgbt equality, some African-Americans are taking on the guise of those who oppress them.

Those who oppressed (and continue to oppress) African-Americans have the belief that somehow blacks are inferior and will never measure up. Therefore they figure that black people are not deserving of certain basic rights. What’s more awful is how they use the Bible to justify their discrimination.

Now, it seems that some African-Americans have told members of the lgbt community that their suffering is inferior and will never measure up. And therefore, the lgbt community are not deserving of certain basic rights. And guess what? They too use the Bible to justify their discrimination .

It’s a nasty, stupid game. And those who choose to play it should know better.

Being oppressed is not a status symbol. Being oppressed is not a mark of achievement. It should never be used as a pedestal to somehow judge whether or not a group of people are “worthy” of being treated like basic human beings.

Not that it will make a difference in the minds of the people who choose to play this game, but some of those same lgbt scars belong to African Americans. Some of that lgbt pain and humiliation comes from African-American hearts. And some of that lgbt blood shed at the hands of homophobic monsters come from African-American bodies.

And that is the saddest thing about the entire mess. When some African-American leaders rag against lgbt equality, they fool themselves into thinking that they are speaking against hedonistic upper class white gay men sipping fancy cocktails in a ritzy bars.

But that notion is so far from the truth.

African-American leaders who speak against lgbt equality are stabbing their own people in the back - the young black lesbian kicked out of her home for “acting like a man,” the effeminate black gay boy constantly picked on by bullies, the older African-Americans lgbts left adrift and rendered invisible by their own black community, and all of the other assorted black lgbt brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, and close friends not given the courtesy of simple public acknowledgement.

And while these self-righteous black leaders may claim that they don’t mean treat their own people in this manner, their pathetic mea culpa don’t mean a drop of water in the bucket to those like myself who have to deal with such things on a constant basis.

Through their barrage of hurtful comments, these black leaders foster a rejection of African-American lgbts like myself, thereby telling us that we are not a genuine part of the black community.

And that hurts.

Whether folks want to admit it or not, the African-American community is linked to the lgbt community, and not just by those who us who belong to both groups. Our oppression is sometimes similar and the folks behind it are sometimes the same entities.

The majority white-led and populated religious right groups who exploit this tug of war between the African-American and lgbt communities are quick to be the so-called protectors of the civil right movement's legacy but render themselves conveniently invisible when issues like socio-economic inequalities in minority health and education pop up.

And that's not by accident.

However, we don’t recognize this because we forget to treat each other with dignity and respect. And because some of us become victims of inaccurate assumptions - be they religious, racial, or otherwise - which deceives us into thinking that the scars we bear due to hate are badges of honor and exclusivity instead of reminders of what we must never become.

Some African-Americans need to be forewarned. Ultimately this battle over lgbt equality will become less about gay rights and more about the soul of the black America.

At the very least, it poses a basic question - have over 400 years of oppression taught black America nothing about dehumanization, being exploited, and having to “prove” worthiness?

Marriage Equality: Victory in Maryland, Veto in New Jersey

It's been a wild day for marriage equality.

Just as he promised to do, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the marriage equality bill passed by the New Jersey legislature:

The veto came a day after the state Assembly passed the bill. The state Senate had passed it on Monday. Christie, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage, had vowed "very swift action" once the measure reached his desk.

In returning the bill to the Legislature, Christie reaffirmed his view that voters should decide whether to change the definition of marriage in New Jersey. His veto also proposed creating an ombudsman to oversee compliance with the state's civil union law, which same-sex couples have said is flawed and promotes discrimination.

 . . . "I have been just as adamant that same-sex couples in a civil union deserve the very same rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples – as well as the strict enforcement of those rights and benefits," said Christie's statement. "Discrimination should not be tolerated and any complaint alleging a violation of a citizen's right should be investigated and, if appropriate, remedied. To that end, I include in my conditional veto the creation of a strong Ombudsman for Civil Unions to carry on New Jersey's strong tradition of tolerance and fairness."

Oh blah, blah, blah. New Jersey legislators have two years to overturn Christie's veto and from what I hear they are primed and ready.

Meanwhile, in Maryland after a contentious debate, the Maryland House of Delegates passed that state's marriage equality bill:

After two days of contentious debate and the consideration of several amendments, the Maryland House of Delegates has passed marriage equality legislation with a vote of 71-67. One of the amendments passed delayed the date of enactment from October to January. Another created a non-severability clause, such that if the religious protections are overturned by the courts, the entire law would have to be deemed invalid. The measure still has to advance through the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and full Senate, and even then, it is likely to be challenged by a referendum.

It's like I said yesterday. The momentum is clearly on our side and no matter what happens next, we won't stop. All the money in the world, nor horror stories or lies will stop us from getting security for ourselves and our loved ones.

We got a taste of success and we want more. We will get more, no matter how long it takes.

'Is Dick Cheney lobbying for marriage equality?' and other Friday midday news briefs

Dick Cheney is lobbying for marriage in Maryland? - Holy @!^! Is Emperor Palpatine on our side on this one?

Media Research Center Intensifies Campaign Against Glee - For pete's sake! I keep telling people that Glee does not figure in the gay plan for world take over. It's the Smurfs. I mean think about it - a village without over 100 men and only three women.

HOUSTON: Wingnut Radio Host Michael Berry Found On Gay Bar Security Videos - This is RICH! Draw your own conclusions, folks.

Photog to NOM's WA site: We don't support or enjoy your work - NOM gets rebuke from owner of photos it uses.

Prop 8 Defenders Call For 'National Day to Pray for Marriage' - Yet NONE of these folks testified during the trial.

Happy same-sex families make the religious right ill

Glenn T. Stanton of the right-wing Focus on the Family is maligning same-sex families again. According to Religious Right Watch, during an episode of the radio show Truth that Transforms with John Rabe, he called into question the idea that same-sex families are healthy and attacked research proving this point:

Rabe: Glenn, it’s always very interesting to me because we Christians are portrayed as being often anti-science and anti-progress and so forth yet when you talk about the issue of marriage and family it’s interesting how the other side very quickly becomes the sentimentalists in the group, suddenly all the empirical data, all the scientific stuff, is completely ignored and you hear statements about ‘people who just love each other should be able to marry and define that for themselves.’ From an empirical perspective there’s not even any argument about how beneficial a traditional man-woman marriage and family is as opposed to other models, is there?

Stanton: You said it exactly right. It’s remarkable how those folks on the other side being the ‘reasonable ones,’ the ones who unlike us don’t believe in sentimentality and myth and things like that, they become very, very unscientific.

Stanton should really be careful as to how he claims to know science. It got him figuratively spanked in 2008 by the American Anthropological Association.

How sad that he hasn't learned his lesson. But as William Shakespeare said in the play King Lear:

To wilful men, the injuries that they themselves procure must be their schoolmasters

Right Wing Watch took the time to systematically dismantle Stanton's claim:

The American Psychological Association’s review of mainstream scientific literature has debunked claims that children of same-sex couples would have more mental and emotional problems. In addition, studies consistently find that children raised by same-sex parents are just as well-adjusted those raised in households with opposite-sex parents.

A University of Amsterdam study [pdf] on the “quality of life (QoL) of adolescents in planned lesbian families” found that their quality of life is no different from their peers.

Researchers from the University of Virginia similarly found that “adolescents with same-sex parents did not differ significantly from a matched group of adolescents living with opposite-sex parents”

Now when faced with these studies, religious right spokespeople and phony experts will quickly find fault with them:

 "The sample size is too small,"
"the researchers were biased,"
 "there were methodological flaws."

And there lies the rub. When studies show that same-sex parenting isn't necessarily a bad thing, the religious right will bash these studies because they can't refute this work with studies of their own.

How can they? Very few of these folks on the right talking about "families" have any expertise  when it comes to researching these families. And Stanton is no different. According to his bio:

Glenn T. Stanton is the director for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs and a research fellow at the Institute of Marriage and Family in Ottawa. He debates and lectures extensively on the issues of gender, sexuality, marriage and parenting at universities and churches around the country. He served the George W. Bush administration for many years as a consultant on increasing fatherhood involvement in the Head Start program.

Stanton is the author of five books and a contributor to nine others, including Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society (1997), My Crazy, Imperfect Christian Family (NavPress, 2004) and Marriage on Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting (InterVarsity Press, 2004), which was featured on C-SPAN BookTV.

His latest book, The Ring Makes All the Difference (Moody Publishers, September 2011), explains the latest research findings, as well as biblical wisdom, on why cohabitation is not a smart idea for couples and their children. Stanton's previous book, Secure Daughters, Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children Into Authentic Masculinity and Femininity (Multnomah, 2011), explored how mothers and fathers raise girls and boys to be strong, healthy women and men.

You'll notice that the one thing he has never published are studies on same-sex families. I wouldn't necessarily call him an out-and-out fraud, but I will say that he has no standing to criticize any studies in regards to same-sex parenting, since he hasn't done any himself.

Stanton is clearly applying old adage of "faking it until he makes it."

But Glenn, you aren't making it. Not by a long shot.

We win in New Jersey in spite of veto threat

By a vote of 42-33 the New Jersey legislature has passed a marriage equality bill. That's the good news. The bad news is that Gov. Chris Christie has promised to swiftly veto the bill.

But it doesn't end there in terms of good news. The legislature has until the end of 2014 to overturn the veto.

In spite of the confusion, I consider today to be a huge victory. You see, I was around when the subject of marriage equality first came big on the scene in 2004. Back then, the opponents rode a tsunami of energized opposition. It was an ugly time because it reminded us lgbtqs just how some folks felt about us. There was so much ignorance about the subject.

But now, over eight years later, we are riding the tsunami. As people began to become educated about the subject of marriage equality, it became a simple fact to them that all the lgbtq community wants is safety and commitment for our loved ones. Public support is on our side, as well a few legislative bodies. These are two things that I thought I would never see as a possibility.

Gov. Christie will probably veto the bill and folks will work like hell to get the votes to overturn it and that's how it should be. It's indicative of the fight over marriage equality. It's not going to be a cakewalk, but a long slog; a battle of attrition.

And personally, that's fine by me. You see, the opposition isn't advancing like they were in 2004. We are. Sure they may hold us off in some places. They may convince a legislative body in one  area to not vote on marriage equality and they may successfully push a referendum in another. But all of their actions are merely to beat back growing momentum. And their attempts won't be successful because they are not gaining ground. They are either losing ground or fighting like hell to hold on to the ground that they already have.

Meanwhile, we are doing the gaining  and doing it quite well.

What our opponents fail to realize is that all of their attempts are mere postponements of the inevitable. You can only postpone the inevitable, but you can never stop it.

And marriage equality is an inevitability.

'More proof that Maggie Gallagher lied about NOM's support of 'ex-gay' therapy' and other Thursday midday news briefs

NOM prez in '05: Gay 'change' can 'prevent your child from embracing this destructive way of life' - More proof on Maggie Gallagher's lie about NOM and "ex-gay" therapy. Yeah, I know many of you will say "big deal. NOM always lies." But the point is the battering. We win when we constantly batter the message that NOM is an organization of liars into the heads of Americans. And that is something we should do insistently, unceasingly, and without apology.

Prominent Santorum Backer: Gay Movement Seeks To Recruit ‘Questioning’ Youth Into Homosexuality - Vander Plaats again. Ugh.

Clay Cane And Janet Mock Discuss Being Black And LGBT, Homophobia, Transphobia, And More - A HIGHLY pertinent conversation.

Tennessee's 'Don't Say Gay' Bill Advances In House Despite Protests - This is the most ridiculous crap I've ever heard.

O'Reilly under fire for defending Ellen DeGeneres

I don't like Bill O'Reilly. He isn't a good journalist but rather a loudmouth bully.

But the one time he makes sense, he gets attacked by members of the religious right.

O'Reilly recent defended popular lesbian celebrity Ellen DeGeneres and the department store JC Penny from attacks by the One Million Moms, a group pushed by the American Family Association. One Million Moms is angry that JC Penny chose DeGeneres as its spokesperson and is demanding that the company reverse the decision.O'Reilly said the following:

“If you remember with the McCarthy era of the 1950s, they were trying to hunt down communist sympathizers and not let them work and put them on a blacklist… What is the difference between the McCarthy era communist blacklist in the ‘50s and the Million Moms saying, ‘Hey, J.C. Penney and all you other stores, don’t you hire any gay people. Don’t you dare.’ What is the difference? . . . The essential question is that a conservative group in this country is asking a private company to fire an American citizen based upon her lifestyle. I don’t think that’s correct.”

Uh oh. He shouldn't have said that. Through its phony news publication One News Now, the American Family Association calls itself striking back via a column by one Michael Brown.

You'll probably be hearing more about Brown in the future, but for now here is the skinny. He is a huckster, a phony, a charlatan. He saw how much press religious right figures are getting by bashing the gay community and decided to join the publicity train to get his piece of the pie.

Anyway, this is part of what he wrote about O'Reilly's comments:

Simply stated, in a media culture where out and proud lesbians like Ellen, Rachel Maddow, and Suzie Orman are as American as apple pie, O'Reilly's reference to the McCarthyism of the 1950s "that banished perceived leftwing job seekers from employment in the entertainment industry" could hardly be more irrelevant.

But that is really secondary to the larger issue -- namely the reason for the Moms' opposition to Ellen as a spokesperson for JC Penney. O'Reilly notes that "DeGeneres is an American citizen," adding that, "She has committed no crime. If she wants to promote equality for gays or gay marriage, that is her constitutional right. She should not be dismissed from anything."

Of course, that is her constitutional right; and of course, she has committed no crime -- but that is not the point. In fact, O'Reilly began his article expressing his sympathies for people who "oppose the in-your-face tactics of some homosexuals" at public events like parades in New York City. "They simply want to be left alone. They don't want to see explicit displays in public that offend their moral or religious point of view."

And that is precisely the issue here. Ellen is the poster-girl par excellence for gay and lesbian causes, and her 2008 "marriage" to Portia DeRossi was celebrated on the front cover of People Magazine. Her 1997 TV announcement that she was gay made television history, and she is an ever-present, always winsome, spokesperson for gay activism.

The gist of Brown's nonsense is that it is perfectly fine to demand that JC Penny fire Ellen because it's not that she is a lesbian, but that she is an out lesbian celebrity who is popular in the public eye.

Perhaps Brown would have wanted JC Penny to find a timid, self-hating in-the-closet lesbians who, in the middle of advertising for JC Penny, would burst into tears and talk about how she hates herself and her life.

I mean how dare DeGeneres conducts herself like she isn't ashamed. Why if that were allowed to happen, people would see lgbtqs as normal. And worse than that, young lgbtqs may feel less isolated and depressed.

And we can't have that happening.

The irony is that Brown makes O'Reilly's point. To target someone not because of any alleged harm they have done, but because who they are is McCarthy-like tactics. And it doesn't matter how you try to pretty up the targeting.  Pouring a ton of sugar on manure doesn't make it edible and disguising a campaign of hate under the guise of family values doesn't make it palpable either.


Editor's note - If you have high blood pressure, avoid the comments section of the Brown's piece. It is filled with idiots citing convenience sample studies on the "so-called dangers of lesbianism." Apparently religious right tactics regarding distorting research have been picked up by their supporters.

Our efforts to expose the religious right lies needs a lot of work

From Faith in Public Life:

On Feb. 14th in New York, Faithful America members and faith leaders including Bishop Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, gathered at MSNBC studios to deliver 20,000 signatures calling on the network to stop inviting hate group leader Tony Perkins onto their news programming.

MSNBC sent down representatives to accept the petitions but remained non-committal about their willingness to change their policy.

The above video is of their delivery combined with footage of Perkins on MSNBC.

 I like what these folks did and I salute their efforts.

But I'm also going to be honest.

I feel a little reticent about news networks banning Tony Perkins on their shows. I hate for him to play the martyr. "Oh they are banning me because they don't want any discussion on homosexuality," Perkins would say. "Oh those intolerant homosexuals."

It is a sad truth that the news media treats Perkins like a legitimate source, regardless of the myriad of things his organization, the Family Research Council, has done to denigrate the lgbtq community. FRC has relied on junk science, cherry-picked studies, or out-and-out lies to demonize us. It is also a sad truth that very few in the media have questioned him on these things

When they do address it, they ask him general questions and allow him to go on a monologue about his supposed Christian values.

What we need is a 60 Minutes type investigation or a huge magazine expose on the Family Research Council and other groups like it. There needs to be a huge amount of detail as to  how these groups pick their so-called experts, how they cherry-pick studies, and their tendency to rely on junk science. There also needs to be some exposure as to how deeply affiliated some members of Congress are to these groups.

And I have said this more than once - I can't believe that the lgbtq community have several magazines and our own network, but none of these entities, at least to my knowledge, have decided to undertake this initiative.

No matter how many petitions we hand in or how loud we gripe, FRC and groups like it will continue to get away with their phony veneer or respectability until WE rip it away.

And frankly we have not begun to do it yet.

Related post: 16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group

'NOM lies about Maggie Gallagher's disastrous MSNBC interview' and other Wednesday middday news briefs

 Video: Maggie Gallagher Debates Entire MSNBC Panel! - So NOM finally posts the clip of Maggie Gallagher's disastrous interview on MSNBC and naturally declares her the winner. Apparently NOM was watching an interview from an alternate universe. Those who aren't barred from posting should feel free to remind the organization of this.
 
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: NOM's Maggie Gallagher Discusses "Ex-Gay" Therapy At CPAC - Despite her insistence that she doesn't support reparative (ex-gay) therapy, a recent interview at CPAC, NOM's Maggie Gallagher seems to be slyly endorsing the inaccurate tenets behind reparative therapy. Draw your own conclusions.

Dangerous game: Vander Plaats says protecting LGBT kids from bullying is like playing in street - They certainly love the hyperbolic language.

EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Pelosi Supports 2012 Democratic Party Platform Including Marriage Equality - Way to go, Nancy Pelosi!

Oklahoma elects first openly gay state senator - Kick ass!

First Gay Group Forms On U.S. Military Base - Awesome!

Victoria Jackson embarrasses herself in debate with lesbian author

Former Saturday Night Live member Victoria Jackson has made a name for herself these days by being a controversial conservative Christian who is very public about her beliefs that President Obama is a communist, Glenn Beck is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that the television show Glee is part of a plot to "indoctrinate" children into homosexuality.

But that damn voice of hers is annoying. She reminds me of the legendary comedian Gracie Allen on helium with cramps and an eternal bad attitude.

But to some folks, she is a hero for her stances and her willingness to engage those who disagree with her point of view (in an attempt to refute their arguments and make them look foolish, no doubt.)

In the video above, Jackson was at the conservative CPAC and she takes on Ellen Ratkin, lesbian and author of  The Other Side of the Family: A Book for Recovery from Abuse, Incest and Neglect (1990). The two were debating the nature of God.

Personally, I thought Jackson was way out of her league. But you decide who came out on top.

Black Love - The Quest for Marriage Equality

In an earlier post, I mentioned that when it comes to marriage equality and the African-American community, there is a tendency to ignore the certain complexities of the issue and paint all blacks with a homophobic brush. One of those complexities is basically simple - those of us in the black community who benefit from marriage equality and support marriage equality can't get a word in edgewise in the discussion because of the loud bleating of the black folk who don't support the issue, the white-dominated religious right eager to exploit these voices, and the media too damn lazy to not allow themselves to be bamboozled by a false narrative.

The following video previews demonstrate my point. From youtube:

"Black Love: The Quest for Marriage Equality" follows four gay and lesbian couples on their quest to marry and demonstrates how their commitment to love impacted their lives. The film examines the special rewards and challenges of same-gender relationships, how marriage equality can be a part of the solution to the structural and economic issues faced by many Black families, and the strategies that are needed to bring full acceptance of gay and lesbian people to the Black community. In this video, Rev. Dr. Christine Wiley and her husband, Rev. Dr. Dennis Wiley, co-pastors of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, discuss the risks they took to become an inclusive and affirming church. They were among the first Black clergy in DC to support marriage equality.

And then there is this clip - Ivan Walker and Wymond Satterwhite were married on August 27, 2011. In this clip they discuss the joys of raising their kids and being a family.




There are a LOT of African-Americans who support marriage equality. We just have to elbow our way to the microphones.

'Jon Stewart skewers 'war on religion' lie' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

This Jon Stewart clip about the so-called war on religious liberties have to do with objections to President Obama's compromise on contraception. However, it's so exceptional that you can put it to any situation, particularly when the religious right pulls out the "war on religion" card against the lgbtq community:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

In other news:


Anoka-Hennepin Gender-Neutral School Policy: Minnesota School Board Ends Policy Blamed For Bullying - I hope the new policy is much better than that awful one they had before pertaining to our lgbtq kids.

Clause by Clause With Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill: Anyone Can Be “Liable To Suffer Death” - That nasty bill still haunts us. It needs to die.

Valentine's Day 2012: Best Gay And Lesbian Kisses From Movies, Stage And Around The World (PHOTOS) - Happy Valentine's Day, folks.