GLSEN issues cease-and-desist letter to Family Research Council

This morning, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) issued a cease-and-desist letter via its attorneys to the Family Research Council "demanding that FRC cease distribution and publication of a video clip containing false and defamatory statements about GLSEN, as well as any other similar false and defamatory statements that may be contained in a longer video associated with that video clip."

 The cease-and-desist letter has to do with the video below in which Tony Perkins, head of FRC, and Brian Camenker, head of the Massachusetts anti-gay group Mass Resistance claimed that GLSEN and the Massachusetts Public Schools distributed an explicit safe-sex guide called The Little Black Book to fifth to ninth graders at a conference in 2005:



But this claim has been debunked several times. Most specifically, the group Media Matters conducted a detailed debunking of this claim in December 2009.

In a May 19, 2005, article, The Boston Globe reported:

Fenway Community Health officials yesterday said they left about 10 copies of the ''Little Black Book" on an informational table they rented at a conference sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network of Boston. The annual event, held on April 30 at Brookline High School, was aimed at high school students, educators, counselors, administrators, and parents. The ''Little Black Book," produced by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, is targeted at 18-and-older gay men, according to the committee. The book uses vivid descriptions and colloquial terms to describe the ways HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented and spread.

A Fenway Community Health employee brought the pamphlets along with other materials and put them on the table by mistake, said Chris Viveiros, a spokesman for Fenway Community Health.

''Fenway Community Health regrets accidentally making available a small number of copies of the Little Black Book, an HIV-prevention publication for gay and bisexual men over the age of 18, at an event where young people were present," said Dr. Stephen Boswell, Fenway Community Health's president and CEO.

Furthermore:

 From the Globe article:

Sean Haley, executive director of the education network (GLSEN), which sponsored the conference, added: ''We have very clear policies that sexually explicit material of any kind will not be made available at the conference. Had I seen the book, I would have asked them to put it away."

At the start of the event, Haley said, network officials scanned each of the 10 tables it had rented, for $35 apiece, to outside groups. He said nobody saw the pamphlet at the time. ''We're just going to have to be more rigorous in our review of materials," he said.

Haley said that about 500 people attended the conference, roughly half of them students. He said only ''a handful" were younger than high-school aged.

On May 18, 2005, WHDH 7News Boston's Sean Hennessey reported that Brookline Superintendent of Schools William H. Lupini says that "none of his students, he believes, took the [Fenway] book home."

In its cease-and-desist letter, GLSEN said the following:

The false statements in the FRC video can do real and lasting harm to our work. FRC has made those false and defamatory statements in an obvious effort to raise money, undermine GLSEN’s work and maintain the status quo: school systems where LGBT students face unacceptable levels of harassment and violence and where anti-LGBT bias is a weapon of choice for bullies. We must respond forcefully and aggressively to defend our ability to fulfill our mission, and to protect ourselves and our partners in this critical work – the countless people in school communities across the country who work with GLSEN and our chapters to ensure safe and affirming schools for all students, utilizing our resources, attending our trainings, advocating with us for urgently needed change to make a positive difference in schools.

Both the FRC and Mass Resistance have been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-gay hate groups due to what SPLC calls an intentional spreading of demonizing propaganda against the gay community and pro-gay organizations.

Deadbeat dad Congressman puts down same-sex households

Sorry but this one is too good to ignore.

According to ThinkProgress, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) had some negative things to say about same-sex households. Apparently during a recent town hall meeting in Crystal Lake, IL, Walsh retreaded the same religious right junk about children "having a right to a home with a mother and a father:

Walsh is a supporter of traditional marriage between a man and a woman for economic reasons. He also stated that studies have shown it is more beneficial for a child to be raised in a home where a mother and father are present rather than in same-sex households. The congressman, however, said he was open to further information and research that might disprove that. 

How nice it is for Walsh to give us the caveat of  "he might change his mind if further research disproved his opinion." I would suggest that he get to reading because there is a plethora of information out there which contradicts his beliefs on same-sex households.

But it would be nicer if Walsh wasn't late with his child support payments. You all will remember that Walsh is the same Congressman who, in a video (starting at 2:30), said that he owed it to his children not to vote to raise the debt ceiling. At the same time, however, he was being sued by his ex-wife for $117,437 in child support payments for his three children.

Just in case you are wondering about Walsh's monetary situation, he loaned his own campaign $35,000 and paying himself back $14,200 for the loans.

Mr. Walsh, in this case, silence is definitely golden. Maybe it would have been better if you had pretended not to hear the question. Anything would have been much better than making a hypocritical ass of yourself.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to PAY YOUR DAMN CHILD SUPPORT before you start creating caste systems against loving families simply because they may contain parents of the same-sex.

One more thing:  National Organization for Marriage, I absolutely DARE you to write a blog post on Walsh's comments.  Please, please, please do it.

Marcus Bachmann continues to lie about 'ex-gay therapy' and other Monday midday news briefs

The militant homosexual savage attack on the religious freedom of little old lady affidavit signers - Box Turtle Bulletin gives a definitive breakdown on phony religious right cause celebres.

Marcus Bachmann Backtracks: Denies Using ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy, Claims He Never Called Gays ‘Barbarians’ - Sorry Marcus but we all know that you are lying.

CDC Official Discusses Impact Of Stigma On New HIV Infections - Let's not forget that we are still fighting this disease.

GHANA: Christians March Against Gays - Pray for our brothers and sisters in Ghana.

Staver: Under Obama, The US Is "One Of The World's Immoral Leaders" - Mat Staver and Matt Barber would know about immorality - particularly the immorality of lying and bearing false witness.

Over 900 demand that Congress reject fraudulent anti-gay testimony

Over 900 members of the gay community and their allies sent a message to Congress demanding that it take a hard look at the people and groups called to testify against gay rights during its hearings.

These individuals all signed a petition through Change.org asking that Congressional leaders scrutinize the testimony given by religious right spokespeople and groups because the testimony could contain inaccurate and fraudulent information.

The petition is the brainchild of Alvin McEwen, blogmaster of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters and a contributing writer on such sites as The Huffington Post, Alternet.org, Pam's House Blend, and LGBTQ Nation.

According to McEwen, the idea for the petition sprang from the July hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) when Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) called out Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery for distorting a government study to claim that heterosexual households are better at raising children than same-sex households.

While the blogsphere was abuzz about this incident, McEwen said he was concerned mostly about the times when religious right witnesses testifying in front of Congress were not called out on their distortions.

The petition points to two incidents. One was when Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage committed the same error as Minnery in an earlier Congressional hearing on DOMA this year.

The other incident took place in 2009 when Family Research Council head Tony Perkins cited information in front of Congress from pro-gay health sites to contend that homosexuality is a "deadly lifestyle." In doing this, Perkins omitted the fact that none of the sites implied that homosexuality was a "deadly lifestyle,"but rather that homophobia leads some gays into unhealthy behaviors.

"And unfortunately," McEwen said, "both Gallagher and Perkins got away with these distortions."

McEwen says that more attention should be paid to how religious right groups either rely on junk science or the distortion of legitimate science to back up their claims that homosexuality is somehow dangerous.

As further proof of this, McEwen points to at least 11 instances where legitimate researchers and physicians have complained about how religious right groups have distorted their work to make this case.

"The methods these organizations use against the gay community is highly skilled," McEwen said. "Usually they anoint 'policy experts' with no expertise other than the ability to repeat their false talking points. And these points are geared to exploit people's religious beliefs against homosexuality. It's common sense that if you believe homosexuality to be a sin, then it doesn't take much persuasion to make you believe that promiscuity, disease, drug abuse, pedophilia, and all sorts of negative behaviors are indicative of the homosexual orientation."

McEwen also points to several questionable techniques used by religious right groups, such as continuously changing the alleged number of sexual partners of gay men, referring to convenience sample studies which cannot be used to generalize about the entire gay community (such as the number of clients in STD clinics), citing books and studies about the gay community which were published over 10 to 30 years ago, and referring to negative health statistics about the gay community while omitting what is said about how homophobia plays a role in creating these negative health statistics.

For the longest time blogs, such as McEwen's, have been complaining about what the religious right does to the gay community through its distortion of science. Finally last year, there began to be some mainstream attention when the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization geared to fighting racism, homophobia, and other inequalities, called out several of these groups for spreading propaganda about the gay community.

However, for McEwen, it's not nearly enough. He said that groups like the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage, and Focus on the Family still have influence in the minds of some Congressional leaders. And he hopes that the petition will attract attention to how religious right groups lie about the gay community.

"Congressional leaders need to be aware of the actions of these groups they count on for credible negative information about the gay community," he said. "These groups and their affiliate organizations have been getting away with this sort of thing for years. I think it is probably one of the most missed stories in the history of journalism."

"It's extremely hypocritical for religious right groups to make a so-called Christian stance against homosexuality and then stoop to un-Christian methods to further that stance. Lies in the name of God are still lies."

Sign the petition here.

The dangers of not challenging false anti-gay testimony are numerous

This is the last of  a series of posts highlighting the need for Congress to scrutinize misleading religious right testimony during its hearings. The first post today showed of Maggie Gallagher gave misleading testimony  during an earlier DOMA hearing this year. The second post showed how Tony Perkins gave misleading testimony during a Congressional hearing on ENDA in 2009. Now this post demonstrates just how dangerous it is to allow testimony like this to go unchallenged.

To put it simply, via ThinkProgress, when lies about the lgbtq community go unchallenged during Congressional hearings, you will find Congressional leaders repeating these lies as reasons to vote against gay equality.

The following words are during a 1996 debate on DOMA. While you view this footage, ask yourself just how much of it have you heard coming from the mouths of Tony Perkins, Peter Sprigg, and the rest of that bunch:




Sign the petition to keep injustices like this from happening.

Family Research Council head gave misleading testimony on ENDA in 2009

This post is Part 2 in a series highlighting the need for Congress to scrutinize misleading religious right testimony during its hearings. This repost has to do with 2009 testimony which Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins gave in front of Congress to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Just like Maggie Gallagher's testimony earlier this year (which was highlighted in today's earlier post), Perkins's testimony was misleading. And the two unfortunate things about it were that he was not called out for his errors and in 2010, he was allowed to give testimony opposing the confirmation of now Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

October 1, 2009 

Recently, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins submitted testimony to Congress in opposition of Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The bulk of his testimony were anecdotes of supposedly how ENDA would hurt free speech.

As Goodasyou.org pointed out, at least one of his anecdotes was a distortion of the facts. Perkins claimed that the person in the case was able to sue because he was merely perceived as gay.

Perkins was making the point that the lawsuit in that case was frivilous.

But Jeremy Hooper from Goodasyou.org showed that the person in the case was not only perceived as gay, but also harassed and fired because of that perception.

And I think I found another sly distortion from Perkins regarding ENDA. The part I want to address is in bold:

The principle at stake is whether personal disapproval of these chosen and harmful behaviors (homosexual conduct and sex changes) should be officially stigmatized under law as a form of bigotry that is equivalent to racism. Since such disapproval is the dominant viewpoint in the American public,explicitly taught by leading religions,and empirically supported by the negative health consequences of those behaviors

Perkins is pushing the "homosexuality has negative consequences" factoid that has served the religious right well for so many years.

The endnotes of his testimony say:

Evidence for the negative health consequences of homosexual conduct is available even from pro-homosexual sources such as the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. See their "Top Ten Issues to Discuss with Your Healthcare Provider" online at: http://www.glma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=586&parentID=533&nodeID=1

To echo Jeremy Hooper in his denunciation of Perkins, it's a matter of perception.

Perkins is pushing the notion that "if people engage in same-sex intercourse, they face negative consequences."

Maggie Gallagher gave misleading testimony during April 15 DOMA hearing

Editor's note - As you all know, I have begun a petition asking Congress to scrutinize and call out misleading testimony given by religious right figures during its hearings. Part of the reason for this petition is the blowback Sen. Al Franken received when he called out Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery for his misleading testimony during a recent hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Another reason is to highlight the times in which religious right figures were able to get away with misleading testimony. Today, I will be reposting various pieces highlighting those incidents. This is the first and it took place at an earlier DOMA hearing in April of this year. Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage gave the same type of misleading testimony which Tom Minnery was called out for. The only difference is that no Congressional leader called her out. The site Equality Matters did call her out, but that was after the hearing was over.

April 25, 2011

According to Equality Matters, the witnesses speaking for DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) during the April 15 Congressional hearing gave incorrect testimony on several occasions. I invite everyone to take a look at the section, but the one which stands out for me is a statement made by the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher.

She claimed that social science proves that the best place to raise children are in homes with biological, married parents as opposed to same-sex households:

Transcript:

GALLAGHER: From what we know from the social science evidence, marriage protects children to the extent that it increases the likelihood they are born to and raised by their own mother and father in a low-conflict, enduring relationship. We know this because, frankly, children do not do better under remarried parents than they do with solo mothers on average, which means that it is not simply a set of legal benefits that we can transform. It is the extent and way to which marriage as a legal and public institution helps to protect a particular kind of family that it helps to protect children or fails to protect children.

However, according to Equality Matters, in her written testimony, Gallagher cited a study on heterosexual single parents:

We know this from the social science evidence showing that children do no better, on average, in remarried families than they do living with single mothers. 1 Marriage protects children to the extent that it helps increase the likelihood that children will be raised by their mother and father.

[…]

1 See Sara McLanahan & Gary Sandefur, Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Harvard U. Press 1994) (“In general, compared with children living with both their parents, young people from disrupted families are more likely to drop out of high school, and young women from one-parent families are more likely to become teen mothers, irrespective of the conditions under which they began to live with single mothers and irrespective of whether their mothers remarry or experience subsequent disruptions.”). [Statement of Maggie Gallagher, Hearing on “Defending Marriage,” 4/15/11]

Equality Matters went on to use the words of Judith Stacey, Professor of Sociology and Professor of Gender and Sexuality at New York University to call out Gallagher and others on the right who inaccurately use studies on the heterosexual family dynamic to demonize same-sex parenting, and by proxy, marriage equality:

According to the child protection discourse that Professor Wardle, Maggie Gallagher, and others deploy, social science research demonstrates that legalizing same-sex marriage poses dangers to children and families… In particular, claims that research establishes the superiority of the married heterosexual-couple family and that children need a mother and a father conflate and confuse research findings on four distinct variables - the sexual orientation, gender, number, and the marital status of parents… Unfortunately, opponents of same-sex marriage, like Maggie Gallagher and Professor Wardle, and even some advocates, draw selectively, indiscriminately, and inappropriately from research findings about all four variables to address questions the studies were not designed to, and are not able, to illuminate.

[…]

Opponents of same-sex marriage draw on a third body of literature in which researchers have achieved an unusual degree of consensus. Most family researchers agree that, all other things being equal (which, of course, is almost never the case), two parents are better than one. Research indicates that children raised in single-parent families are at greater risk of various negative outcomes (e.g., dropping out of school, delinquency, unwed teen pregnancy, substance abuse, etc.) than children raised in comparable two-parent families. All of this research, however, as Maggie Gallagher acknowledged, has been conducted on heterosexual-parent families. Moreover, this research generally compares children in married-couple and single-parent families, thereby confounding the effects of the number and the legal status of parents. None of the research cited to demonstrate the importance of fathers (or mothers) examines the adjustment of children raised by same-sex couples. Moreover, this research does not indicate that it is the gender or the sexual orientation of the absent parent that is responsible for the different outcomes of children raised in single versus two-parent families. Rather, most researchers conclude that the number and economic resources of parents as well as the disruptive effects that parental desertion or divorce can inflict on children's lives account for these differential risks. N12 [University School of Quinnipiac Law Review, via Lexis, emphasis added, 2004]

Gallagher has done this sort of thing before. In in January of last year, she distorted a study on child abuse to make the case that children in married biological homes do better to protect children from abuse than children in same-sex households.

The distortion comes because the study in question - the one she cited - didn't even look at children in same-sex households. We know this because Gallagher even admitted at the time that same-sex households wasn't a category in the study:

All the other family structures studied (which does not include same-sex parent families probably because these are such a small part of the population), but does include solo parents, other married parents (remarried primarily), single parents living with a partner, cohabiting parents, and no parents.

Please bear in mind that at that same April 15 Congressional hearing,  Gallagher said it was unfortunate that people misinterpret things she says as a condemnation of "gay people" and "their parenting skills."

If Gallagher wants people to not think that she is condemning "gay people" and "their parenting skills," then maybe she should stop being so deceptive in her testimony.

Sign the petition to keep Gallagher and company from getting away with deceptions like this.

Know Your LGBT History - Bachelor Party

Very few actors who are considered legendary entered the industry in a prestige picture (okay, Meryl Streep did but it was one speaking line in the Oscar winning movie Julia) and Tom Hanks is no different.

Before he became known as the two-time Academy Award winning and Emmy-award winning 21st century version of Gary Cooper, Hanks did his time in lowbrow comedies, such as Bachelor Party (1984).

Bachelor Party had a simple plot. Hanks is a common bus driver engaged to heiress Tawny Kitaen whose family despises him. His even more low brow friends plan a bachelor party for him with hookers, drugs, a live band - the whole nine yards.

Meanwhile, there are forces, i.e. Kitaen's former boyfriend and her father, who are conspiring to break up the soon-to-be married couple.

Like I said, this comedy is lowbrow, very lowbrow with coarse humor and nudity all over.

That's not to say that I don't care for lowbrow. Some of it can be hilarious.

But a lot of it can be offensive.

That's not to say that Bachelor Party didn't have its moments. The late actress Wendie Jo Sperber stole the movie in certain places - especially at the end when she discovered that her husband cheated on her with a hooker.

And the movie also included a performance by one of my favorite new wave band of the 80s, the Waitresses.

Now for the lowbrow stuff.. I will omit the hot dog scene in the male strip club and scene where the donkey dies of a drug overdose during a strip act. But for the purpose of this site, I want to feature two very different scenes. One is totally offensive and I am conflicted by the other.

First let's look at the offensive scene. One of Hanks's buddies just finished having intercourse with a female he met at the bachelor party. However, after it's over, he discovers something about her. You know where this is going:

Gary's Dream "Girl"




Bachelor Party

— MOVIECLIPS.com

All I can about this monstrosity of a scene is that is demonstrates just how far the lgbtq community has come. When this movie came out, no one made any noise about the scene. Do you think we would be silent if some mess like this came out today?

And another thing. There have been many fights about pro-gay non-discrimination ordinances mostly because the religious right refers to them as "bathroom bills." The above image is what they want to convey to folks in order to scare them.

Now the second scene has me conflicted because I think it's funny. Here is the scenario - the villain of the piece, Kitaen's ex-boyfriend, sends some "entertainment" that was supposed to go to Hanks's bachelor party to Kitaen's bridal shower. The entertainment is two women "putting on a show." Why do I think this is funny? Simply because of how the actresses portraying the women shocked at what they are seeing behaved. We don't see anything graphic but their reactions are priceless. I hope I am not offending my lesbian sisters by saying this. Well judge for yourselves:

Bachelor Party Classic Scene : Shower Scene - The best video clips are right here

Past Know Your LGBT Posts: 

Anti-gay state rep caught wanting some gay 'nookie' and other Friday midday news briefs

All The Anti-Gay Rhetoric From The GOP Presidential Debate…In Under 2 Minutes - From ThinkProgress comes a new way to get nauseous:




Anti-Gay Marriage State Rep. Accused Of Offering Young Male Money 'For A Really Good Time' - Why oh why doesn't something like this ever happen to Rick Santorum or Peter Sprigg or Brian Brown or Tony Perkins?

How Do You Handle A Huffy Town Clerk That Doesn’t Wanna Sign Gay Marriage Licenses? - You fire the person for not doing her job. End of story.

Barber: Gays Are Targeting Your Kids In Order To Plant "Poison In Their Impressionable Little Minds" - Personally I don't give a crap about the Bert and Ernie thing but I wonder what Matt Barber's opinions are on The Smurfs? Come on now - a village with over 100 male smurfs and one female smurfs. I mean was Smurfettte the world's biggest "fag hag" or what? Well we know that at least one of the smurfs wasn't gay.  Don't you think that it's odd that Smurfette showed up in season one and then all of the sudden Baby Smurf showed up in season three?

Lead with Love - a documentary which should be required viewing

As much as I would absolutely love to skewer the religious right today, I want to focus on something a bit more positive. From Think Progress:

A new documentary called Lead With Love looks at four families responding to learning that their child is gay. The 35-minute film can be watched online. Here’s the trailer:

A documentary as wonderful as this needs as much attention and support as we can give it.

NOM slapped down by the courts while its bus tour is flopping hard

It hasn't been a good day for the National Organization for Marriage. According to ThinkProgress:

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has again ruled against the National Organization for Marriage’s attempts to challenge the “constitutionality of a Rhode Island election law requiring the reporting of so-called ‘independent expenditures.’”  NOM has been actively challenging financial disclosure laws across the country to protect the names of its few but generous donors. The Court borrowed largely from its own decision against NOM’s challenge to Maine’s laws. Read the full decision.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network goes into more detail about NOM's loss:

NOM, which was the major funder behind the effort to overturn Maine's same sex marriage law two years ago, had had challenged the constitutionality of Maine's election law, claiming that its reporting requirements for political action committties are vague and over-broad.

District Court Judge Brock Hornby ruled against NOM on most of its challenge, and now the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has also weighed in, siding with the state of Maine.

"That's correct, NOM had made 'vagueness' claims and First Amendement claims, and the 1st Circuit rejected all of them," says Tom Knowlton, an assistant state attorney general who serves as counsel for the Maine Ethics Commission. "The 1st Circuit has upheld the constitutionality of Maine's laws that require the disclosure of contributions and expenditures in candidate elections by PACs and by independent groups."

And as if NOM's court loss isn't bad enough, according to Equality Matters, the organization's "Values Bus" tour is an unmitigated flop:

On Tuesday, NOM -- along with the anti-gay Family Research Council and anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List -- began its 2011 “Values Bus Tour,” which plans to stop at 22 Iowa cities and energize ‘value voters’ to participate in the Ames Straw Poll on August 13 (the day the tour ends). 

So far, tour stops have included appearances from GOP presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Tim Pawlenty, with others expected to show up before the week ends.

Not making appearances so far? Actual voters.

So far, looking over the scant news coverage the tour has received, it appears that few of NOM loyal followers bothered coming out to show their support.

And Equality Matters is definitely twisting the screws into NOM's wounds by going into detail as to where NOM stops on its tour and just how many people are not showing up. 

I know I shouldn't enjoy Equality Matters's breakdown of NOM's flopping tour but I am.

Sometimes you gotta say what the hell and do things for your own personal enjoyment.

Poll - New Yorkers like marriage equality law and other Thursday midday news briefs

The petition asking Congress to scrutinize anti-gay testimony at its hearings is slowly but surely closing in on 1,000 signatures. Check out a news brief below as to why it is important. And sign it if you haven't already!

  Poll: New Yorkers Pleased With Marriage Equality Law - In your FACE, NOM!

Starbucks' Howard Schultz Won't Speak At Church That Once Supported 'Ex-Gay' Therapy - Starbucks strikes a blow for truth.

“I Want To Be With My Family, In My Country.” - I LOVE me some Obama, but this here is a consummate disgrace and tragedy.
 
Boehner’s DOMA lawyers want to cite Maggie Gallagher, but avoid cross-examination - THIS is why the petition is important.

Bachmann's Mentor Says Gay Rights Will Doom America - Okay, just who told our plans. I swear gay folks are such blabbermouths!

Hate group leader doesn't want gays to serve on juries

Brian Camenker

If you give the members of the religious right enough rope, they tend to hang themselves.

That's why I am a huge proponent of letting them talk freely because sooner or later, they always wind up with their foot in their mouths. You can set your watch to it.

A perfect example would be Brian Camenker, the leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center declared hate group Mass Resistance.

Mass Resistance has that title of a hate group for the following reasons:

In 2006-2007, Mass-Resistance pushed for an amendment of the 1996 statute that would have required that parents be notified of any discussion of gay or lesbian issues in the schools. The group proposed language that lumped sexual orientation (which includes heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality) in with criminal behaviors like bestiality and polygamy. During legislative testimony supporting the amendment, Camenker falsely claimed that no homosexuals died in the Holocaust and that the pink triangle the Nazis forced imprisoned gays to wear actually signified Catholic priests. The amendment did not pass.

Camenker, who has long focused on the purported “homosexual agenda” in the schools and frequently claimed gays are dangerous to kids, has repeatedly cited discredited claims from organizations like the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality that link homosexuality and pedophilia.  

Allow me include that additionally, Camenker and a local parent David Parker orchestrated a two-year long moral panic by first falsely claiming that Parker was arrested for merely wanting his son to be opted out of classroom discussions of homosexuality and then claiming that his son was physically assaulted by the children of lgbt household for his father's stance.

In 2008, another person affiliated with the organization, Michael Olivio, was arrested after he was caught taking pictures of children at a local middle school school. He and Camenker claimed that he meant to take pictures of students at a high school because the state Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgendered Youth had held a meeting there (taking pictures of gay students is another sideline of Mass Resistance).

And last but not least, it was Mass Resistance behind repeated smears of Obama appointee Kevin Jennings, including the phony "fistgate" scandal.

As hard as it is to believe, the subject of today's post, Camenker goes around yet another bend of homophobia. He was being interviewed by the phony news service One News Now on the possibility of gay jurors. According to One News Now, here is the scenario:

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has heard arguments that challenge a prosecutor's decision to remove a lesbian juror from a case involving Daniel Osazuwa, a homosexual Nigerian immigrant convicted of assaulting a guard when he hugged him. When the guard reacted, he fell to the ground, and Osazuwa toppled on top of him. Osazuwa contends that this greeting is a friendly gesture in Nigeria.

And the following is what Camenker said:

"There are a million reasons why someone might want to not include someone who is a practicing homosexual from a jury, especially [from a case] that has to do with homosexuality," the MassResistance spokesman points out. "This is very dangerous, I think."

Camenker goes on to warn that the Ninth Circuit's decision in this case will set precedence for future similar cases. And he contends that if the court rules in favor of the lesbian juror, it would secure special protection for homosexuals.

Camenker is right. Why if gays are allowed to serve on juries, particularly in cases involving gay issues, the next thing you know, they will get uppity and want to be treated like regular human beings.

Group hosts pride event for Minnesota teens

After all of the junk we hear about divisions and the debt ceiling, the following story, courtesy of Think Progress, is needed. It's proof that kindness is still present in the world:

Anoka-Hennepin Students, Parents Hold Pride Event: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

The controversy over the Anoka-Hennepin School District’s neutrality policy — which prohibits staff from teaching about homosexuality — has sparked both a lawsuit and an investigation by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education following claims that the ban enables an anti-gay culture of harassment and bullying. The district, which has 38,000 students and is Minnesota’s fourth largest, lies within presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district, who has yet to comment on the nine teenagers have committed suicide over the last two years. State public health officials have “labeled the area a ‘suicide contagion area‘ because of the unusually high death rate.”

Yesterday, teens, parents, and organizations hosted a pride event for LGBT students, showing them that it’s “Ok to be gay.”

NOM's bus tour flopping and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Opponents of abortion, same-sex marriage kick off Iowa tour to sparse crowd - Could it be that NOM's "Values Bus" tour is stinking worse than five day old tuna?

Burt Prelutsky, I live for this kind of thing. *Bring. It.* - It's time like this when I get really jealous of Jeremy Hooper. How come the nuts get to bother him? Aren't I a radical gay activist trying to overturn American values too? LOL

AFL-CIO votes unanimously to oppose anti-gay marriage amendment - Way to go Minnesota AFL-CIO!

Santorum: Marriage Is Like Water, Not Beer - A day in which Rick Santorum doesn't make an ass of himself is like a day without sunshine (sorry, Anita Bryant)

If Ann Coulter is a 'gay icon,' then I am a busty white woman with a good tan

Thank you everyone for signing and passing along the petition. We got over 500 signatures in one day. Now 2,000 more to go! The petition is on right of the blog for those who haven't signed it already.

(Matt) Barber also comments on the spiritually, physically, and emotionally destructive homosexual lifestyle. "There is nothing conservative about the radical homosexual activist agenda which seeks to impose, under penalty of law, sexual anarchy," he states.

Ronald Reagan said it best - "there he goes again." The Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber is yet again conjuring up depraved fantasies about the gay community. He can't help it. It's what he does and to be honest, it has gotten him paid much money.

Barber no doubts probably thinks that the position he is in - a dean at a college - albeit a piss poor one, a radio show host, a nice column on several conservative sites - is proof that God is shining on him.

If you will forgive me for being presumptous, based on Barber's comments and exploits, such as making the following comment about gay relationships:

“one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love."

I think it's proof that God has a strange sense of humor.

In this particular case, Barber is whining about the conservative gay group GoProud, appointing the loudmouth firebrand Ann Coulter to its advisory board and naming her "Honorary Chair and Gay Icon."

Apparently GoProud, which has a much deserved reputation of being the Uncle Toms of the gay rights movement, didn't get enough of Coulter's insults Homocon, when she insulted the idea of marriage equality.

What's up guys? Wasn't Michele Bachmann available. And I don't mean that as a joke. As I understand it, in spite of her long history of homophobia, GoProud was going to try and "reach out to her."

That would have made things very interesting because it would have been the first time I would have seen an elephant reaching its trunk out to a hungry alligator.

Personally I am more concerned with the anointing of Coulter as a "gay icon." That bothers the hell out of me. Gay icons are people - usually women - with indomitable spirit who perseveres in spite of the odds and opposition by haters trying to keep them down.

Since when did gays start anointing the "haters" as icons.

If there is any justice in this world, true gay icons such as Judy Garland, Bette Davis, and Joan Crawford would come back to life and take Ms. Coulter for a "private conversation" in the ladies room.

But since this is real life, I can only hope that this madness between GoProud, Coulter, and folks like Barber will lead to a three-way spontaneous combustion.

The world would definitely be a much better place because of it.

NOM continues to fight Maine campaign finance laws

I would like to thank everyone who helped me pass along the petition today. We got over 300 signatures. Now 2200 more to go. And until we reach that point, the petition will be posted on my blog for anyone wishing to add their signature.

Don't be fooled by the National Organization for Marriage's constant hype that its winning. Behind the scenes, the noose of truth is slowly but surely tightening around its neck.

According to the Washington Independent, NOM is continuing to fight a disclosure lawsuit it lost in Maine in 2009:

Anti-marriage-equality advocates have a spotless record when it comes to helping prevent voter approval of state laws allowing same-sex marriage: 31 out of 31. Two years ago, Maine had the opportunity to become the first state to break this trend, but voters repealed the Legislature’s May 2009 law in a People’s Veto by a small margin (53 percent vs. 47 percent).

Fast-forward to today, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is still involved in an ongoing-but-stalled investigation and lawsuit with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Practices over whether or not the group broke state law when it contributed money to the 2009 “Yes on 1” campaign run largely by the Stand for Marriage Maine Political Action Committee (SMM).

Thanks to 2012 GOP presidential contender Fred Karger, NOM found itself embroiled in a battle with the state with possible violations of Maine campaign laws.   The Washington Independent article is highly thorough as to the hoops NOM has jumped through in order to skirt these laws. It is an excellent read.

One thing is clear - NOM can run as long as it wants, but it can't hide. If there is any evidence of lawbreaking on behalf of the organization, it will be discovered.

And you can count on this blog - as well as countless others - to trumpet the discovery on hilltops

Should gays be banned from teaching? and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Please sign the petition asking Congress to question/scrutinize anti-gay testimony at its hearings.

Now on to news briefs:

PHOTOS: Anti-LGBT Literature Widely Distributed At Right-Wing ALEC Conference - A perfect reason why religious right groups are liars and why it is so hard to refute them. They push the refutation aside. What it will take is a huge public embarrassment to get them to reform - something that I am very much for.

Related post - And wouldn't you know it, one of the pieces of literature is filled with errors.

Harvey: Gays And Lesbians Should Be Banned From Teaching - As nauseating as she is, Linda Harvey is actually an accidental ally of our community. She is naked homophobia defined. None of that "love the sinner but hate the sin" jazz for her. She HATES gay people.

Photo: First glimpse of 'Values Bus', crude views that are driving it - The motley cast of characters from NOM's 'Values Bus' tour.

First Openly Gay Black Major League Baseball Player’s Story Premieres Nationwide - Glenn Burke's story needs to be told.

Sign the Petition and get Congress to call out false anti-gay testimony

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

In June of this year during a Congressional hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Al Franken exposed Focus on the Family’s Tom Minnery's attempt to inaccurately cite a study to defame same-sex households.

Earlier this year during another Congressional hearing on DOMA, National Organization for Marriage’s Maggie Gallagher committed the same distortion – i.e. inaccurately citing a study to defame same-sex households. Gallagher’s group (NOM) has also been called out twice by the Pulitzer Prize winning site Politifact for inaccurate negative statements it has made about the gay community.

The Family Research Council was declared as an official anti-gay hate group last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its tendency to spread propaganda about the gay community such as gays molest children at a high level and same-sex households harm children.

However, the head of the Family Research Council - Tony Perkins - is frequently called as a Congressional witness on many occasions from discussing issues of gay equality to the selection of Supreme Court judges.

In addition, there are at least 11 incidents of legitimate researchers and physicians complaining that morality groups such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council have specifically and intentionally distorted their work to demonize the gay community.

While there is a need for levity and  a desire for all sides of issues involving the gay community to be heard, the constant calling upon of these “morality groups” for Congressional testimony in spite of their irregularities mentioned does present a problem in terms resolving the issues of the gay community in a fair manner.

Therefore we, the undersigned, ask that if ever these groups are called before Congress again, their testimony be given the highest level of scrutiny because said testimony could fraudulent.

I decided to forgo a press release and let what I've written speak for itself. But allow me to elucidate further. Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center broke down the lies of the religious right and how they demonize the gay community. Before SPLC's expose, the last time there was a thorough article about the religious right was in 1999 by Rolling Stone magazine. Both exposes (Rolling Stone's and SPLC's) featured almost the same cast of characters and the same accusations of lies. That means that in over 10 years time, the religious right has not altered the lies it tells about the gay community. And this is simply because the gay community has not confronted these so-called morality groups on the level that we should. The purpose of this petition is to garner attention and start a much needed confrontation with religious right groups. Their lies permeate so many aspects of our lives, from our right to marry, to our right to raise families, to our right to freely live with dignity and self-esteem.

Tony Perkins demonstrates the lie of Rick Perry's prayer rally

Watch this video attack on the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) by the Family Research Council. And then allow me to tell you the full story:



Sounds shocking, don't it? Well it's a damn lie. From Media Matters comes the real story:

In a May 19, 2005, article, The Boston Globe reported:

Fenway Community Health officials yesterday said they left about 10 copies of the ''Little Black Book" on an informational table they rented at a conference sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network of Boston. The annual event, held on April 30 at Brookline High School, was aimed at high school students, educators, counselors, administrators, and parents.
The ''Little Black Book," produced by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, is targeted at 18-and-older gay men, according to the committee. The book uses vivid descriptions and colloquial terms to describe the ways HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented and spread.

A Fenway Community Health employee brought the pamphlets along with other materials and put them on the table by mistake, said Chris Viveiros, a spokesman for Fenway Community Health.

''Fenway Community Health regrets accidentally making available a small number of copies of the Little Black Book, an HIV-prevention publication for gay and bisexual men over the age of 18, at an event where young people were present," said Dr. Stephen Boswell, Fenway Community Health's president and CEO.

Furthermore:

 From the Globe article:

Sean Haley, executive director of the education network (GLSEN), which sponsored the conference, added: ''We have very clear policies that sexually explicit material of any kind will not be made available at the conference. Had I seen the book, I would have asked them to put it away."

At the start of the event, Haley said, network officials scanned each of the 10 tables it had rented, for $35 apiece, to outside groups. He said nobody saw the pamphlet at the time. ''We're just going to have to be more rigorous in our review of materials," he said.

Haley said that about 500 people attended the conference, roughly half of them students. He said only ''a handful" were younger than high-school aged.

On May 18, 2005, WHDH 7News Boston's Sean Hennessey reported that Brookline Superintendent of Schools William H. Lupini says that "none of his students, he believes, took the [Fenway] book home."

So why is this important? Because 1:08 of the following footage in which Perkins is praying for America's repentance:



Seems to me that a man who will bear false witness has no call to pray for anyone else's repentance but his own.

NOM accidentally demonstrates how it manipulates polls and other Monday midday news briefs

Santorum Compares Marriage Equality To Slavery, Confuses Stephen Douglas And Frederick Douglass - Wow! Rick Santorum is a dumb ass.

Bachmann Attended Anti-Gay Sermon, Watched Ex-Gay Video - You simply HAVE to see the video she watched. I can't help but to wonder whether or not it was satire.

Perkins Tries And Fails To Downplay The Extreme Views Of 'The Response' Organizers - Pull up a chair and grab a bowl of popcorn before reading this one.

Poll: Tiny number of New Jerseyans support NOM's true agenda - This is hilarious. NOM accidentally demonstrates how it manipulates the spin against marriage equality.

Marriage is much more stable in states that legalize same-sex relationships - Well I knew that. lol

The two things you shouldn't like about Michele Bachmann - her face

U.S. Representative and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann seems to be "stomping with the big dogs" these days. Recently, she had cover story featured on her in Newsweek magazine. Between you and me though, I think she and her followers are going to be angry at the photo. What is she looking at?

But now Bachmann seems to be tempering off on certain issues. Several sources report that she is allegedly sliding away from the subject of gay marriage, which is strange seeing that her opposition to it helped propel her in the spotlight:

From the Concord Monitor:

“Bachmann cut off an interview last week as she was being asked a question about gay marriage and emphasized that she is focused on rebuilding the economy and repealing federal health care reform.

“I’m not involved in light, frivolous matters,” she said. “I’m not involved in fringe or side issues. I’m involved in serious issues.”

If Bachmann thinks the subject of gay marriage is so frivolous then why did she sign two anti-gay marriage pledges - the recent one being from the National Organization for Marriage.

And why is she participating in a bus tour with NOM across Iowa?

And I haven't even touched her audacity to declare her husband's fraudulent "ex-gay" clinic to be off-limits. Bachmann based this on the notion that "she, and not her husband, is running for president."

It's funny that this notion  of "family members being off limits" didn't keep her from slamming First Lady Michele Obama during the 2008 campaign

There is no other way to put it.

Bachmann is a lying, manipulative individual whose behavior reflects the worse of American politics. Throughout history, America has been lucky to have statesmen and women represent us in the White House and Congress. Folks like Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, Ted Kennedy, Bella Abzug,  Jack Kemp, Shirley Chisolm, and Barbara Jordan.

And then we've also had loudmouth, egocentric demagogues not caring who they hurt or what levels of hypocrisy they've stooped to. We've had individuals feeding off of anger and fear  and shoveling resentment into the minds of voters with the expediency of a laborer shoveling coal into a furnace to stave off the chill of a wintery day.We've had folks who will lie in our faces while aware of the fact that we know that they are lying, but hoping that the phony sincerity in their voices or their eyes will mesmerize us from the truth.

Michele Bachmann not only fits the latter category, but she sets new heights.

Or rather, lower depths.

Bachmann is a colossal joke, but if the American people continue to propel her career forward, the joke will be on us.

Rick Perry's prayer rally a failed hot mess of hypocrisy

Luckily I was away at a family reunion - celebrating actual love - so I missed Perry's hot mess of a rally. But according Right Wing Watch made videos of certain scenes. And they just kill me. How in the world can some of these people dare to pray to God for deliverance for the nation while ignoring their own sins?

People like Tony Perkins of the hate group the Family Research Council, pseudo historian David Barton who had made a career out of not only verbally bashing the gay community but also manipulating history to suit his beliefs, and Don Wildmon, head of another anti-gay hate group the American Family Association.

If you ever want to get an idea as to why Christianity is getting a bad reputation in this country, these folks are the culprits:



But there is some good news coming out of this. Box Turtle Bulletin says that rally was a failure in three regards:

Houston’s Reliant Stadium hold 71,000 people, but according to officials with Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s “The Response” prayer rally, about 30,000 people showed up. That should mean that the stadium would be half full. Doesn’t look like it to me. Failure #1.


Perry also sent invitations to every governor in the nation to attend his rally. The only one to show up was Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida made a video that was played in the stadium. Only two others out of at least forty-nine — that’s failure #2.

The American Family Association’s Tim Wildmon addressed criticisms of the wholesale obliteration of the lines between church and state as represented by a religious revival organized by a political executive by saying “no political candidates will be speaking.” Candidate, perhaps not — although please, does anyone not believe Perry is running for president — but the criticism stems from two current, elected governors speaking from the stage with another one phoning it in. These aren’t just candidates. They are current office-holders sworn to uphold the Constitution. Failure #3.

Who's going to protect America from Rick Perry's 'prayer warriors'

The main thing about Rick Perry's prayer rally today, it definitely proves the adage that sometimes "up is down" and "black is white." This is a partial list which I got from Right-Wing Watch highlighting the participants of the rally. To put it mildly, these folks are a grotesque hodgepodge of demagogues and ultra religious maniacs so fanatical that they would probably turn the legendary anti-Semite and Islamophobe Tomas de Torquemada into an aetheist. And it definitely makes one want to ask the question -  why are these folks concerned with our souls when they definitely don't care for their own:

The American Family Association

The American Family Association is the driving force behind The Response. Founded by the Rev. Don Wildmon in 1977, the organization is based is best known for its various boycott campaigns, promotion of art censorship, and political advocacy against women’s rights and LGBT equality. The organization also controls the vast American Family Radio and an online news service, in addition to sponsoring various conferences frequented by Republican leaders, including the Values Voter Summit and Rediscovering God in America. The AFA today is led by Tim Wildmon, Don’s son, and its chief spokesperson is Bryan Fischer, the Director of Issues Analysis for Government and Public Policy and host of its flagship radio show Focal Point. Fischer routinely expresses support for some of the most bigoted and shocking ideas found in the Religious Right today. He has:

• held gays responsible for the Holocaust and likened them to domestic terrorists and Nazis who are intent on committing “virtual genocide” against the military, and asserts that “homosexuals should be disqualified from public office”;
• said “we have feminized the Medal of Honor” by awarding it to a soldier who saved his fellow combatants rather than killing enemies;
• demanded all immigrants “convert to Christianity” and renounce their religions;
• asserted that Muslims have “no fundamental First Amendment claims” and should be banned from building mosques and deported from the US, adding that Muslims are inherently stupid as a result of inbreeding;

International House of Prayer

The Response’s leadership team includes five senior staff members of the International House of Prayer (IHOP), a large, highly political Pentecostal organization built on preparing participants for the return of Jesus Christ. In a recent video, IHOP encouraged supporters to pray for Jews to convert to Christianity in order to bring about the Second Coming. IHOP is closely associated with Lou Engle, a Religious Right leader whose anti-gay, anti-choice extremism hasn’t stopped him from hobnobbing with Republican leaders including Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee.
Engle has a long history of pushing extreme right-wing views and advocating for a conservative theocracy in America. Engle:

• is a proponent of “Seven Mountains” dominionism, a movement that seeks to have Christians take control of all aspects of American life, including government, business, entertainment and the media;supports the criminalization of homosexuality;
• claimed that universities with LGBT anti-discrimination measures are teaching students to “accept the mark of the beast”;

FRC's Tony Perkins reduced to an unconvincing grin on Hardball

Last night, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins debated Barry Lynn of the Americans for Separation of Church & State last night on Hardball and got hammered. The two were debating Texas Governor Rick Perry's prayer event (happening today) and its strange cast of characters.

The last time  Perkins was on Hardball, he was debating the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok on being named as an anti-gay hate group. Some of us got angry because we felt Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball, was too concillatory to Perkins.

I personally didn't believe that. I felt Matthews was overcompensating because he had covertly showed a degree of contempt to Perkins during the interview.

It wasn't the case this time as Matthews actually checked Perkins for trying to take the role of moderator away from him. Lynn, meanwhile, caught Perkins in a host of inconsistencies. Perkins tried the same modus operandi on Lynn that he attempted on Potok (i.e. accusing Lynn of "not doing his homework" and playing the victim.) Lynn, however, wasn't having any of it. By the time the debate was over, all Perkins could do was grin in that too familiar phony manner which many of us have come to expect from him.

All in all, it was an excellent segment.

Related post - Perry's prayer event will put Christianity's worst on display

Hat tip to Back 2 Stonewall.