'Paris Hilton on tape saying extremely hateful things about gay men' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Paris Hilton Makes Homophobic Comments, Proclaims Most Gay Men 'Probably Have AIDS' - Paris Hilton is on tape saying some NASTY things about gay men in general. Let this be a lesson to our community. Stop falling over vapid celebrities and anointing them as our heroes just because they may pretend to support our causes. Our heroes should be everyday people from our community who rarely get the due they deserve. It is THESE people who deserve the spotlight.

 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' One-Year Repeal Anniversary: 25 Amazing Moments - Remember what the religious right said would happen if DADT was repealed? It's not hard to remember. They said the same things would happen if lgbt-inclusive hate crimes protection was passed. And now they are 0 for 2. The problem is that we have not brought it to anyone's attention. Lesson two for the gay community - when egg is face of the religious right, please broadcast it for the world to know.  

Televangelist Joel Osteen Did Not Choose To Be Straight, But Still Says Homosexuality Is A Choice - Televangelist Joel Osteen caught in a contradiction. Will he pray about it? Doubtful.

 Blackwell: Obama Administration 'An Active Participant' in Labeling Conservatives 'As Haters and Bigots' - I PERSONALLY resent that seeing that I have been an active participant in labeling some conservatives as "bigots and haters." Hey, if the shoe fits.

 Broward County Schools in South Florida First in Nation to Recognize LGBT History Month - Awesome news! 

FRC's Tony Perkins should keep talking about the 'hate group' label

The way Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is milking that shooting at his organization's headquarters, pretty soon those who are gripped more by paranoia than good sense are going to start to believe that FRC itself was actually behind it.

Ever since the awful incident, Perkins has been exploiting it to attack the Southern Poverty Law Center as supposedly the reason why that demented young man tried to shoot down FRC employees.

Perkins' latest bit of nonsense comes at the right place for such trash, Fox News' online site. The following is a snippet:

 . . . a gay-rights activist entered the building of our organization, Family Research Council (FRC), where he told our operations manager that he objected to our politics and opened fire with a handgun. Our political beliefs reflect our Christian faith. This comes in the context of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designating FRC a “certified hate group” because of our biblically-based beliefs regarding marriage and human sexuality. We encourage love and respect for all people including those seeking to redefine marriage, and we have made clear we abhor and reject all violence directed against anyone for their sexual behavior.

 . . . This war of words launched by the SPLC as cover for its allied organizations on the left has led to an open assault upon those with whom they disagree. This type of demonizing must stop. FRC’s belief in marriage has prevailed in 32 states where the voters have spoken, is the official position of the Republican Party, and until three months ago was Mr. Obama’s position. If the religious foundation of our convictions makes us a “hate group,” then every other Christian ministry or historically orthodox church could be likewise designated. SPLC’s tactics are intended to intimidate and ultimately silence. Nothing could be more threatening to the future of our republic.

So now FRC is labeling that young man as a "gay rights activist," which is a deliberate attempt to connect his deplorable actions to the gay community at large.

But more importantly - and I don't want to sound gleeful here - Perkins continues to mess himself up. As has been stated numerous times, SPLC did not label FRC as a hate group because of the organization's supposed Christian beliefs or because it does not agree with marriage equality.

FRC is a hate group because it deliberately demonizes and spreads untrue propaganda about gays in order to create an image that the gay community is a detrimental harm to American society.  The way Perkins is messing himself up is thusly - every time he comes out in public with his lies, every time he speaks or publishes an op-ed which misstates the truth about FRC's hate group designation, enterprising bloggers (like yours truly)  produces footage which exposes him to be a liar, like such:



So as much as I hate to say this, keep talking, Tony. And we will keep pumping out the videos.

Maryland online store exploits African-Americans, babies, and slavery to promote homophobia

Remember the tactics of those who defeated the marriage equality bill in Maine in 2009? In case you forget, remember this snippet of the documentary Question 1. It features Marc Mutty, the head of the campaign to stop marriage equality in Maine talking about how the dishonest fear tactics regarding children that his side used:

:

 I bring up this point because there is now a fight regarding a law allowing marriage equality in Maryland. It's up for referendum in November and the folks fighting it are using the same tactics, but with a twist with attention to the Maryland's African-American population:

 According to Jeremy Hooper, this lovely snippet comes from an online store, Jump the Broom for Marriage, which sells all of the anti-marriage equality in Maryland apparel one would need.

Jeremy posted two examples on his blog but I refused to post them on mine. Ugly mess.

One could easily guess that the postcard above is a combination of the National Organization for Marriage's two plans of driving a wedge between the gay and African-American community on the subject of marriage equality and exploiting fear about children and gays espoused by the organization's strategist Frank Schubert (spoiler alert - who has a sister raising a child in a same-sex household).

And it gets worse. In using the name "Jump the Broom," this site also exploits African-American tradition. In the days of slavery, African-Americans could not legally marry so they would have a ceremony in which the couple would signify their commitment to each other.

How much do you want to bet that NOM is behind this online store?

'Chick-Fil-A retreating from anti-gay position, 'girly-men' in the White House?' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

PRESS RELEASE - Chick-fil-A Ceases Anti-gay Donations, Clarifies Stance on Gay Customers & Employees - When this was first pointed out to me, I said that I don't believe it. But looks legit (FOR NOW), plus NOM seems to be backtracking a bit from its support of Chick-Fil-A.  

GOP Congressional Candidate Says Mideast Turmoil Is Because Of ‘Girly Men’ In The White House - Excuse the %^$!@#! out of me!

What Do Student Attendees Have To Say About NOM’s Anti-Gay Summer Conference? - Interesting fallout from Carlos Maza's expose on NOM's anti-gay conference.

 Washington DC 'Transgender And Gender Identity Respect' Campaign Launched - Awesome and groundbreaking!

George Will doesn't know the difference between gay sex and a gay relationship

George Will

George Will, the esteemed Pulitzer Prize winning conservative columnist, has been lauded for his prose on several subjects.

However, in the case of gay equality, he is woefully ignorant.

In a recent piece, he recounts the story of the New Mexico photographer who refused to take pictures of a same-sex wedding. Vanessa Willock successfully sued Elane Photography for refusing to photograph her same-sex wedding.

Now this case has caused a lot of controversy with even some gay advocates thinking that Elane Photography should be allowed to refuse customers.

Naturally, Will is in the corner of Elane Photography and that doesn't bother me. It is this portion near the end of his piece which disturbed me:

The Huguenin case demonstrates how advocates of tolerance become tyrannical. First, a disputed behavior, such as sexual activities between people of the same sex, is declared so personal and intimate that government should have no jurisdiction over it. Then, having won recognition of what Louis Brandeis, a pioneer of the privacy right, called “the right to be let alone,” some who have benefited from this achievement assert a right not to let other people alone. It is the right to coerce anyone who disapproves of the now-protected behavior into acting as though they approve of it, or at least into not acting on their disapproval. So, in the name of tolerance, government declares intolerable individuals such as the Huguenins, who disapprove of a certain behavior but ask only to be let alone in their quiet disapproval. Perhaps advocates of gay rights should begin to restrain the bullies in their ranks. 

So to Will, this case is about Willock "forcing" Elane Photography to recognize her "sexual behavior." It's a conclusion which left me scratching my head and wondering just when did we start talking about sexual intercourse rather than taking pictures of a wedding? As far as I am concerned, that's a huge problem.

 And it's not the only problem. Will epitomizes two concept that so many folks have when it comes to gay equality - concepts that drive me batty:

1. Gays are like whimpering dogs begging heterosexuals to tolerate us or leave us alone. People like Will batter the gay community with that "tolerance" semantic constantly. "You people are always talking about tolerance," they say, "but you can't tolerate that others don't like your lifestyle."  Tolerance is something you give to your dog after he accidentally urinates on the rug because he is your pet and therefore is dependent on you.

Too many folks think of gays as pets, i.e. that our lives are dependent on getting them to accept us. Not necessarily. Our lives are consumed with ordinary things - working, paying taxes, taking care of our families. We just don't want people like Will interrupting our normal flow based upon their ignorance. Nor do we want them to interpret the law in a way which would diminish our rights as Americans.

2. Which brings me to my second point.Why do people like Will conflate so many parts of our lives to a sex act. Willock wanted pictures taken of her wedding, not intercourse with her partner. Will's belief that this is all about "sexual activities" is the heart of so much ignorance about our lives.

Will is a married man so I know that he wouldn't appreciate someone diminishing the relationship between he and his wife to what they may or may not do in the bedroom. But yet, he sees no problem with doing that to gay couples.

I think at the heart this controversy is the fact that the lives of lgbtqs are about more than sex acts. We are talking about relationships and love, the raising of families, and the caring of our loved ones.

The irony is that while folks like Will claim that we can't move past the physical aspects of being gay, it is obvious that they neither can or want to.

Religious right continues to attack murdered ambassador

There seems to be this idea amongst religious right evangelicals that their religious freedoms are in danger. It's a lie, of course.

However, there is a huge number of people who have a serious problem with Christianity and it doesn't have a thing to do with their personal beliefs, i.e. atheism, but rather the actions of some people who call themselves Christians or those who consider themselves spokespeople of the evangelical right.

While they call themselves "Christians" and claim to stand for God, their actions are extremely unsavory.

Yesterday, I blogged about how some conservatives and religious right members were spreading ugly lies about Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was recently murdered due to an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

They were saying that he was openly gay, deliberately sent to Libya by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and that his corpse was sodomized.

Michelangelo Signorile refuted these lies, but leave it to Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association to repeat them:



The saddest part about Fischer's lie is no matter how many times it will be refuted, he will continue to repeat it.

'House Republican wants to reinstate DADT' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Top House Republican Supports Reinstating ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ If GOP Wins In November - The repeal has been incredibly successful but Rep. Jordan wants to turn it back. Oh sure, he isn't homophobic. Not at all.  

Focus On The Family: There Are ‘A Variety Of Roads Into Homosexuality’ - Any chance that I can steer Nate Torrence, Dov Tiefenbach, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rainn Wilson, Noel Fischer, Rob Kardashian, or Jackie Earle Haley on any of those roads?

 Star Parker Warns Republicans to Speak Out Against Gay Rights or Lose God's Blessing - Forget not giving people good healthcare, not solving our problem with the homeless or hunger in America. Accepting marriage equality will be THE THING which will make God ever so pissed at this country.  

Yunel Escobar Homophobic Eye-Black Message: MLB Investigates Blue Jays SS For Gay Slur (PHOTO) - Oh Good Lord!

  Conversations I Don't Want to Have With My Son - Extremely poignant piece from a supportive mother. 

One News Now manufactures a problem with the DADT repeal

Recently, the Pentagon reported that the repeal of DADT has gone smoothly without any problems to morale, recruitment or readiness.

However, that message seems to have been lost on the American Family Association's One News Now.

The fake news source recently published a piece which claimed that there have been a number of problems with the DADT repeal, but folks are afraid to speak out:

Retired Army Brigadier General Douglas Lee, board president of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, says troops who oppose openly homosexual military service don't dare say so.

 "Everywhere you look in the military, I think it'd be safe to say there's simply pressure to not rock the boat on this," he offers.

Lee says those who supported DADT have been effectively silenced. "There's no vehicle or way for them to express what they're thinking about these subjects -- they have to suck it up, as they say," continues the retired Army officer.

"There are people now who live in what I call a culture of fear and don't want to speak out about it.

"We get emails and letters and our chaplains get comments in their private sessions with people. There's a lot of discontent out there and concern about this issue." 

And that is the reason why I called One News Now a fake news source.

If there had been a legitimate problem with DADT that the military is not aware of, an actual publication would have conducted some type of investigation, making sure the public was aware of the contents of said "emails," "letters," and "comments."

Note that I said  "if there had been a legitimate problem."  For the most part, this "article" is nothing but hearsay pushed by an organization consumed with its sour grapes.

Right-wing blogs spread ugly rumors about murdered ambassador

Last week, this country suffered an awful tragedy when several Americans were killed due to an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Amongst the people murdered was Ambassador Chris Stevens.

And unfortunately, according to Salon, Mitt Romney isn't the only person who has grossly capitalized on this incident:

Amid the questions about Stevens’ last minutes, there is another rather vile peripheral debate occurring in the right-wing blogosphere. Michelangelo Signorile from the Huffington Post sums up the various rumors:

1) Ambassador Christopher Stevens was gay; 2) that the Obama administration is responsible for his death because it had the supposedly terrible judgment to send a gay man to an Islamic country, or even did it as an intentional provocation, and; 3) that Stevens’ corpse was dragged outside and sodomized by an angry mob because that’s what Muslims do — they have sex with the dead bodies of gay men.

The gay rumors seem to have originated on Hillbuzz.com, the website of Kevin DuJan, who also believes that President Obama is gay. DuJan uses the very, very shaky sourcing of a “Serbian consulate employee [who] identified himself to me as ‘Dino’ and wouldn’t give me any more of a name than that, but told me it was no secret that Chris Stevens was gay and that ‘it was stupid to send him to Libya as the ambassador when he was a known homosexual.’”

The story was picked up by a number of right-wing blogs, including Breitbart.com, which offers this explanation for why Stevens being gay would be at all relevant: “It just seems like one more way the Obama administration needlessly enraged the passions of protesters in that part of the world.” A blogger for the Examiner even speculates that Stevens was sent by Hillary Clinton as an “intentional provocation” to Libya.

As for the claim that Stevens was raped, that seems to have originated from a story  on the Lebanese news outlet Tayyar.org that erroneously cites the AFP, and that was picked up by the Washington Times. The AFP told TWT that the “report falsely quoted our news agency and has no truth whatsover to it.”

What the hell is wrong with these people?

'Boy Scouts helped molesters cover tracks' and other Monday midday news briefs

Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show - This is not gloating. This is just sad. Remember how folks like Mike Huckabee were hailing the Boy Scouts for continuing its discriminatory anti-gay policy. I bet they will be silent, that is unless they blame this mess on gays. In reality,it's a matter of the Scouts kicking Little Red Riding Hood out in the forest (by keeping gays out), but giving the Big Bad Wolf (pedophiles) free reign of their house.  

So, should President Obama be concerned about black voters staying home on election day? - My blogging buddy - and one of my mentors - Pam Spaulding nails the point home here. This question is more of a laziness of the media in pushing conflict rather looking into the complexity of the issue. My take on this stupid question is hell no. The need of the black community to exercise our right to vote in this election has been pushed hard from day one. Also, the idea that black folks would be so angry at Obama supporting marriage equality that we would withhold our votes from him is a sad fantasy from the deep recesses of the minds of the ignorant. Especially in churches like mine where the victory of Obamacare in the Supreme Court was hailed as (verbatim words used) "an act of God." Long story short - black folks know what's at stake in this election and we aren't looking at it lightly.  

Rick Warren continues to divide America, alienate gays (as Jesus would)- Rick Warren, the hypocrite. He talks about not being ashamed of voting "in line with the Bible." That's nice but as for me, I remember how long it took him to speak out against that awful anti-gay bill in Uganda. Whatever miniscule respect I had for him then was lost.  

Local Catholics Voice Their Opposition to Marriage Amendment - Good for the Catholics in Minnesota!

GetEqual protests 'Values Voters' Summit

Apparently, on Saturday, the Family Research Council's annual Values Voters Summit got paid a visit from the activist group GetEqual.

According to the blog Back2Stonewall:

Activists walked into the conference carrying a simulated coffin, draped in a rainbow American flag, while reading anti-LGBT quotes from Tony Perkins (head of the Family Research Council, the main organizer of the event)

The private security firm that was hired by the Family Research Council treated the protesters roughly and with no respect — literally pushing and in some cases physically dragging them out of the hotel while protesters chanted “Your values are killing us.!” — many Values Voters attendees shouted at them and some even physically abused the protesters with punches, elbows and kicks and they were being dragged out.

The comments of the attendee were definitely present in the first video as one can hear them referring to AIDS, etc.

According to Charles Butler of  GetEqual, picketers began protesting Friday night on the outside. He said they were also able to interact with attendees of the Value Voters Summit.

Butler claimed this interaction was successful because some were not aware of the level of homophobia embraced by the Family Research Council. Allegedly, many folks attending had a focus on abortion.

Butler also said the group went inside the raise the level of interaction.

As the video demonstrates, GetEqual's attempt was successful. Not only that, but according to a reporter at Talking Points Memo, one of the attendees of the Values Voters Summit, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center allegedly said the following:

Now some may go gung-ho for what GetEqual did, while others may criticize the group for the strident manner of its protest, especially in the view of the recent shooting at the Family Research Council headquarters.

Personally, I'm leaning towards GetEqual on this one. While I've never been one for what looks like extreme direct action, I have a serious problem with the desensitized attitude folks, particularly members of the media, have when it comes to the Family Research Council and the attendees of their faux values voters summits. True, they are expressing their opinion, but it's fair to note how decrepit and dangerous their opinions are. The following is a cacophony of vicious slander, lies, and innuendo wrapped up in a Christian veneer about not only gays but a host of other issues. And it leaves one to ask why is GetEqual the only ones angry at this:

Know Your LGBT History - Gladys Bentley

She was a huge part of lgbt history who has been unfortunately forgotten. But during her time, very few could outdo Gladys Bentley:

Gladys Bentley was born on August 12, 1907. She was the eldest of 4 children born to a Trinidad born mother, Mary Mote (Bentley) and an American born father, George L. Bentley. Gladys left home at 16 years old. Like many African Americans of her generation she ended up in New York City's Harlem, the capital of "The New Negro ". For Gladys, her lesbianism made her need to strike out on her own all the more urgent. As she would recall many years later in an Ebony Magazine Article, "It seems I was born different. At least, I always thought so....From the time I can remember anything, even as I was toddling, I never wanted a man to touch me...Soon I began to feel more comfortable in boys clothes than in dresses".

Bentley left Pennsylvania at 16 to be part of the Harlem Renaissance and come out as a bulldagger. She began singing at rent parties and buffet flats and moved on to speakeasies and nightclubs. later she would headline the popular speakeasy the Clam House as well as the Ubangi Club.

She wowed audiences with her powerful voice and obscene parodies of blues standards and show tunes and was famous for her glamorous girlfriends. Very open about her sexuality, Bentley also performed at lesbian bars and once told a gossip columnist she had married a white woman while in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In the 1920s a large part of the elegant town houses and apartment buildings in both Harlem and downtown in Greenwich Village had been converted into cheap rooming flats. In both neighborhoods, artists and intellectuals flocked to this cheap housing in beautiful surroundings. In both neighborhoods, amongst all this creative talent, there was a large Homosexual population. In Harlem this great creative outpouring was also a celebration of optimism about the future of Black America. This era would later be known as The "Harlem Renaissance". The list of gay men, lesbians or bisexuals amongst the "Harlem Renaissance" is more or less a guide to many of the most talented people of the era. Langston Hughs, Countee Cullen, Wallace Thurman, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Moms Mabely just to name a few. Audiences of the prohibition era were always craving something new. There was a "Vogue of the Negro" , accompanied by a curiosity for "Pansy Acts" and "Hot Mama" lebian or bisexual singers.

'Milbank calls out Romney, Ryan for kissing up to Family Research Council' and other Friday midday news briefs

‘Values’ voters Romney and Ryan don’t need - Perhaps Washington Post writer Dana Milbank realizes that his defense of the Family Research Council from the designation of "hate group" sent the wrong message because today, he not only rebukes them but also Romney and Ryan for kissing up to them.

 #VVS12 live tweets - For your bulimic edification, Jeremy Hooper is tweeting from the Family Research Council's awful "Values Voters" summit. So far, Michelle Bachmann came very close to calling President Obama a traitor and Jim DeMint called teachers "thugs." And you just know they are going to have "interesting things to say about the lgbtq community.  

NOM didn't have a good night in NY (despite what the spin machine might sputter forth) - According to reports, NOM wasted a rather pretty penny last night in its unsuccessful long strategy of destroying marriage equality in New York.  

Jesse And Terry Ventura Come Out Against Minnesota Marriage Inequality Amendment - Way to go, Jesse and Terry Ventura! 

Gay man thanks Obama for repealing DADT

Sometimes pictures say more than words could ever convey. These two pictures from an Obama rally in Colorado are a prime example:

The pictures came from AfterElton.com, which also says:

Ricky Watson of Littleton, Colorado wipes tears from his eyes after he thanked President Barack Obama for repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at a campaign rally in Golden, Colorado, September 13. Watson was kicked out of the Air Force 25 years ago for being gay.

Hate group leader advises parents to reject their lgbt children

Tony Perkins

In a speech today, Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins performed a verbal contradiction:

A prominent social conservative leader compared homosexuality to drug use on Wednesday while urging parents not to “condone and enable” a child being gay.

Tony Perkins, president of the anti-gay Family Research Council, made the remarks while speaking at the National Press Club luncheon after being asked if he would disown one of his children if they came out as gay.

Perkins, the father of five children, replied that he wouldn’t “disown my children for anything,” but advised parents they should express disapproval if their children make such an announcement.

Perkins claims that he is not advising parents to disown their gay children, but he certainly is implying it.

What exactly does he think would happen should parents follow his advice when their children come out to them? Just what is his definition of "expressing disapproval" which does not involve disowning a child or acting in a manner which implies great unhappiness which can be construed to a child as a parent disowning them?

We will never know because Perkins did not go into more detail. And we shouldn't be surprised about that. Perkins is a fraud offering artificial solutions to complex problems which do nothing but exacerbate the problems.

Dan Savage had the following to say about Perkins in a tweet:

Hostile parents double gay kids already quadrupled suicide risk. Perkins literally urging parents 2 kill their kids.

While I wouldn't make the statement so succinctly as Savage, I will say this:

Perkins has no degree in psychology, psychiatry, or pediatrics. Those who do - and therefore KNOW what they are talking about - say the following:

1. Parents who are intolerant of their lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) teens may increase the risk that their kids will suffer health problems in young adulthood, such as an increased risk of suicide, depression, drug abuse, and unsafe sex, according to a new report.

Researchers interviewed 53 families with gay teens to identify certain parental behaviors as "accepting" or "rejecting," then surveyed 224 young-adult white and Latino gays and lesbians (ages 21 to 25) to see which of these behaviors they'd experienced during adolescence.

The results? Higher rates of family rejection were strongly associated with poorer health outcomes. Among respondents who had high levels of family rejection:

more than two-thirds said they had tried to kill themselves (vs. about 20% among those who reported the lowest rates of rejection)

many reported high rates of depression, illegal drug use, and substance abuse

46% said they'd had unprotected sex with a casual partner in the past 6 months (nearly twice the rate of those in the least-rejected group) - "Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults," Pediatrics, Jan. 2009.

2. I have heard too many LGBT youths tell horrifying stories of violent abuse and rejection from their parents. The teenage boy from upstate New York, who, when his father learned he was gay, he beat him to a pulp, then threw him out of the house and told him that if he tried to come back, he would kill his son and bury him in the backyard. Or the boy from Florida whose father put a gun to his head and said "You are no longer my son. Leave the house now." The 17-year-old transgender child whose mother attacked him when she learned of his male identity, ripping out a piece of his scalp, and screaming homophobic abuse as her child fled. Or the 15-year-old boy who came out to his family at a picnic in rural Delaware. His father, a Christian minister, jumped on him and tried to strangle him. That evening he gathered his belongings into a few garbage bags and banished his son from his home. Or the family that drove their daughter out into the backwoods of New Jersey and tossed her from the car for being a lesbian. This is clearly not something to joke about

Research now documents the terrible scope of this crisis. Approximately 50% of LGBT youth whose sexual orientations and gender identities become known to their families experience some degree of family rejection. A recent report published by the Center for American Progress estimates that there are over 100,000 homeless LGBT youth on the streets of our nation, and that LGBT youth make up to 40% of our nation's homeless youth population. - Carl Siciliano, Family Rejection of LGBT Youth Is No Joke

Of course Perkins will claim that he was telling parents to reject the "lifestyle" and not the child, but don't fall for the false semantics. 
 
If you pardon my candor, when it comes to gay children and their families, Tony Perkins doesn't know his ass from his elbow.

'Hate group leader Tony Perkins wallows in hypocrisy' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Tony Perkins Kicks Off Values Voters Summit By Comparing Homosexuality To Drug Abuse - Right after comparing homosexuality to drug abuse, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins reportedly said “It’s time to dial down your demonization of those who differ with you.” Oh brother! 

 NARTH Posts Article Comparing Homosexuality To Rape - Phony medical group reprints phony article. 

Hundreds rally for gay marriage in Portland, Maine - Good for them because the article also says that NOM is spending $500,000 on the fight. Ugh.  

What Marylanders should know about equality's cynical opposition - And in Maryland, Marylanders for Marriage Equality issued an incredible memo to the media. Let's hope they pick up on it.  

Jesse Jackson Urges Maryland Voters to Support Gay Marriage - Jesse Jackson lays the smack down about marriage equality. 

Barney Frank refuses to apologize for comments made about Log Cabin Republicans

Last week, Congressman Barney Frank caused a huge controversy when he called the Log Cabin Republicans "Uncle Toms."

Many mainstream lgbt organizations distanced themselves from his words.

Yesterday, in a piece published by the Huffington Post, Frank made it clear that he was not apologizing or backing down:

 . . . my use of "Uncle Tom" was based not simply on the awful fact that they have chosen to be actively on the wrong side of an election that will have an enormous impact on our right to equality, both in fact and in the public perception of the popularity of that cause. If the Log Cabin Republicans -- or their even more outlandish cousins, the oddly-named GOProud -- were honestly to acknowledge that they let their own economic interests, or their opposition to strong environmental policies, or their belief that we need to be spending far more on the military or some other reason ahead of any commitment to LGBT equality, and on that ground have decided to prefer the anti-LGBT candidate to the supportive one, I would disagree with the values expressed, but would have no complaint about their logic.

The damaging aspect of the Log Cabin argument, to repeat the most important point, is that they may mislead people who do not share their view that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important than LGBT rights into thinking that they are somehow helping the latter by supporting Mitt Romney and his Rick Santorum platform.

It is a good thing for Republicans to try to influence other Republicans to be supportive of LGBT rights. The problem is when they pretend to be successful when they haven't been, and urge people to join them in rewarding the Republicans when they have, in fact, continued their anti-LGBT stance. I have been hearing the Log Cabin Republicans proclaim for years that they were improving the view of that party towards our legal equality. In fact, over the past 20 years, things have gotten worse, not better.

. . . Some have complained that in comparing the Log Cabin Republicans to Uncle Tom, I was ignoring the fact that they are nice. I accept the fact that many of them are nice -- so was Uncle Tom -- but in both cases, they've been nice to the wrong people.

Teabagger - Obama secretly a gay slut who likes bathhouses

Sometimes you something so bizarre that it makes you speechless. The following counts as at least 20 of those times.

From the Huffington Post:

The right wing Tea Party author and conspiracy theorist who last month suggested that Obama might be secretly gay is at it again, this time citing both a Chicago-based ex-gossip columnist and an investigative journalist who are making similar claims about the president.

Jerome Corsi, who, despite his books sales is not a credible author, spoke with Kevin DuJan in a new article for WND. DuJan, who reportedly worked as a gossip columnist in Chicago during Obama's years as a community organizer and an Illinois senator, alleges that the president was actively involved in the city's gay bar and bathhouse scene.

"It was preposterous to the people I knew then to think Obama was going to keep his gay life secret,” DuJan, who describes himself as "conservative, Christian gay man" on his website, is quoted as saying.

Suggesting that the president's closeted life "would have to come out just like John Edwards’ secrets came out," DuJan says that Obama is "homosexual" as opposed to bisexual, and went on to note: "If you just hang out at these bars, the older guys who have been frequenting these gay bars for 25 years will tell you these stories. Obama used to go to the gay bars during the week, most often on Wednesday, and they said he was very much into older white guys."

You can read Corsi's full article here. 

Now before you start laughing, I am going to tell you something which may depress you:

For his lies, someone is paying Corsi more than a lot of us make in a year . . . combined.

It's like that old say - God sometimes demonstrates what he thinks of money by who He chooses to give a lot of it to.

'Romney wasn't aware that same-sex families existed' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Mitt Romney's Reported Interactions With Massachusetts Same-Sex Couples Detailed - According to this article, Romney reportedly said to same-sex couples meeting with him, “I didn’t know you had families." Ugh!

Reminder: Terry Jones is also *INCREDIBLY* anti-gay - That Islamophobic SOB who got our Libyan ambassador murdered is also a homophobe. Forms of hatred usually travel in packs.

 The First “Approve Referendum 74″ TV Ad Airs Statewide in Washington - Sweet!Let's get marriage equality in Washington state!

  New National Strategy For Suicide Prevention Calls For More Data On LGBT Communities - YES! 

Uh oh! Controversy brewing with Ann Romney and Family Research Council?

Earlier reports said that his Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, would be speaking at the Family Research Council's annual Values Voters Summit, or as I like to call it - "God loves us better than the rest of you heathens and he has designated US to save America" summit. You can clearly see that she is listed in the guide below:

Since it was announced that she would be there, there was controversy about her appearing with an anti-gay hate group.

Now it seems that there has been a 360 180 degree turn. According to BuzzFeed:

Despite a program advertising her attendance at this weekend's Value Voters Summit, Ann Romney never planned to attend the social conservative conference, the campaign told BuzzFeed.

"Mrs. Romney is not scheduled to attend VVS this weekend. To my knowledge, it has not been on our schedule," said Sarah Haley, a campaign spokesperson.

As of Tuesday evening, the online schedule for the conference, which is hosted by the Family Research Council (FRC), still had Mrs. Romney attending the Friday morning plenary session, from 8:40 a.m. to noon.

 . . . Sending (VP candidate Pau) Ryan to court the summit is one thing, but Mrs. Romney could risk jeopardizing her role as the soft, humanizing face of the campaign if she's perceived as engaging in divisive culture war issues. It's something she apparently realizes: Last week she repeatedly declined to answer an interviewer's questions about same-sex marriage, saying she wouldn't engage in "hot-button" issues.

Also, according to BuzzFeed, FRC gave a statement about Mrs. Romney not attending:

FRC spokesperson Darin Miller told BuzzFeed that the "people listed on the online program were those both invited and confirmed. Only the ones with an asterisk next to their names were confirmed — and Mrs. Romney never had an asterisks."

I suppose that's a reasonable explanation if you looked at the full schedule of events. The only question I have is why in the heck did FRC put her name in the program in the first place?