Maggie Gallagher, NOM eyeing new fake victim of the gay community?

Maggie Gallagher

Last night, a Facebook source of mine indicated that the National Organization for Marriage may be eyeing another supposed victim of the alleged gay agenda for its failed Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance project:

This guy posted his blog post on Maggie Gallagher's wall and she asked him to message him with more info. Its about someone in Australia on the EOC allegedly having to resign because he supports 1 man 1 woman marriage. In case any of the bloggers in here want to follow up with the real story, since Mags may be writing about it eventually. Or maybe someone from Australia in here knows the true story?

The piece in question is entitled Equal Opportunities Are Only For Some written by a man named Bill Muehlenberg. Muehlenberg runs a blog entitled CultureWatch.

The piece makes the accusation that member of Victoria's Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), Professor Kuruvilla George was forced to resign because he was one of 150 doctors who wrote a letter to a Senate inquiry opposing marriage equality. Muehlenberg's piece is filled with innuendo and ad hominem attacks against the gay community:

As one news item reports: “A member of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission board has resigned after stirring controversy by signing a petition opposing gay marriage. Professor Kuruvilla George is also Victoria’s deputy chief psychiatrist and one of a group of 150 doctors who wrote to a Senate inquiry on marriage equality.

“The doctors’ submission argued children with a mother and father were healthier than children with same-sex parents. The petition has drawn criticism from other doctors and families of same-sex couples and yesterday prompted Victoria’s chief psychiatrist to issue a statement defending Professor George.”

The Greens, the homosexual lobbies, and other militants all demanded his blood, and they have got what they wanted. As but one example, the former head of the AMA, lesbian activist Kerryn Phelps said the doctors should “hang their heads in shame” and that an immediate review of Prof George’s position on the board should be undertaken.

So now he is gone, barely 24 hours after the furor erupted. Yep, another scalp for the gaystapo and their intolerant colleagues in arms. This is yet another example of the pink mafia in action, with yet another good and honourable man forced out of his job.

So no doubt when Muehlenberg placed his post on Gallagher's Facebook wall, one could almost picture her salivating of the chance of pushing false claim yet again of how marriage equality could damage someone's religious liberty and freedom of speech.

Wipe your mouth, Ms. Gallagher. Don't even think about attempting to push this piece.

Like all of the times in the past that NOM has made specious claims about the alleged gay menace, there are extenuating circumstances which refutes the charge.

According to an interview conducted with the World Today, the chairman of the Human Rights Commission, John Searle, said that Professor George was thinking of resigning long before this controversy took place. Searle also defended George's right to sign the letter:

JOHN SEARLE: Today Professor Kuruvilla George has tendered his resignation by way of letter to the Governor. His resignation from the board is something that has been weighing on his mind for some months and indeed he first discussed it with me toward the end of last year because he has time constraints and personal issues that he was dealing with and today he has decided is the appropriate time to tender his resignation.

ALISON CALDWELL: He has only been in the job since June last year.

JOHN SEARLE: I think that's correct and perhaps he didn't quite realise what the time commitment involved was - that is something that you'd need to take up with him - but as I said, he did raise concerns about the time commitments and personal issues with me towards the end of last year.

ALISON CALDWELL: Speaking of timing, the timing of his announcement is rather coincidental given the controversy regarding him signing that letter in the submission from Doctors for the Family about same sex marriage.

JOHN SEARLE: Well, of course he signed that letter in a personal capacity and people are entitled to have their personal views and their private views and the views that he expressed in that letter are obviously not the views of the commission, neither are they the views of the board. But I think the timing has been brought to his attention and the need for him to consider his position on the board. He felt this was the right time to do so.

ALISON CALDWELL: Do you think he has resigned because of the controversy? I mean, it was in the newspapers, it was on the news.

JOHN SEARLE: Oh look, I suspect the controversy helped focus his mind on his issues in remaining on the board, the issues that had been around for some period of time and this was therefore a focusing point that allowed him to come to a conclusion.

ALISON CALDWELL: Yesterday the State Government actually said that he had no case to answer.

JOHN SEARLE: Well, look as I said, he has expressed his personal views, he has expressed his private views and he is entitled to do that.

So basically Professor George was not forced to resign after signing that letter and should NOM attempt to push this idea, we have proof of it beforehand.

This is what you call slaying the dragon before it has a chance to breath fire. And the lgbtq community do this more often.


Editor's note - And to make matters worse, the letter in question is fraudulent, using studies which have nothing to do with same-sex couples raising children (i.e. HIV statistics) and also citing information from Mass Resistance, a known anti-gay hate group in Massachusetts.

Related post - Doctors for the Family – Debunked

Discredited anti-gay researcher Paul Cameron reveals alleged past attraction to men

Paul Cameron

A day after his awesome interview with anti-gay spokesman Michael Brown, radio host David Pakman sat down with another figure from the anti-gay industry, Paul Cameron.

Cameron can be called the religious right's dirty little secret. It was he who in the 80s came up with the idea of aggressively using science to prove that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle." The problem is to do this, Cameron attained a reputation for either distorting legitimate science or distorting his own work to gain the conclusions he wanted from his "studies." He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.

Of course the religious right still cites his work, but are very careful not to mention him by name. Of course there are some, such as Peter LaBarbera, who will deliberately cite Cameron's work, even though he knows that the work is flawed.

And there are others, like the National Organization for Marriage who, when caught citing Cameron, will turn backflips in order to distance themselves from him.

Cameron found himself in the news recently for comments he made regarding President Obama's recently announced support of marriage equality. During an interview with Christian radio station, Cameron asserted that Obama was gay. He also said that one of the prime goals of the gay rights movement was to introduce homosexual sex acts to children.

Naturally, Pakman pressed him on these claims, revealing an interview which is was at times pathetic, infuriating, and sad.  Cameron, in an offhand and flippant manner, reveals a terrible childhood incident which most likely put him on the road to destroying so many lives in the lgbtq community with his lies. And although the interview did not delve into the specificity of these lies in a manner which I would have liked to, it is still an excellent job by Pakman at deconstructing the sad mind of a man consumed with reducing the gay community to wanton sex acts.

I came out of it feeling a twinge of pity for Cameron, but not enough pity to ignore the damage he has done to the lgbtq community over the years:

'Anti-gay group sues to give false information to children' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

PFOX Complains to School Board - Imagine that. Suing a school district so that you can peddle inaccurate and negative information about the gay community to children.

 Video: Pastor treats local sewer to tasty Starbucks - Rule One about boycotting a company - you don't buy the company's product to demonstrate that you are boycotting against it. 

 Talk Honestly to Black Opponents of Gay Marriage - Excellent piece by Keith Boykin. And remember that not every black opponent of marriage equality is a Harry Jackson or Patrick Wooden.

 Obama Confronts GOP’s Anti-Gay Agenda, Threatens Veto Of ‘License To Bully’ Bill - Good for him. The bill needs to include same-sex couples.

 Congressman Maintains It Should Be Legal To Fire Someone For Being Gay, Attacks ThinkProgress - Think Progress got him dead to rights and yet he still says he was unfairly attacked. And now he says he is being threatened. Blah, blah, blah. Bear in mind that I am not trying to trivialize any threats but come on now. That's always the defense of homophobes. - i.e. that they are being attacked for beings "Christians" and then "someone" is threatening them. 

Homophobic Maine group may help cause of marriage equality

From Equality Matters:

Earlier this month, the Portland Press Herald announced the creation of a third anti-gay group fighting this November’s voter initiative to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine – the Maine Marriage Allies PAC, which will be a project of the ironically named Maine Equal Rights Center (MERC). On its Facebook page, MERC is described as a “grass roots campaign to educate voters on same sex marriage.”

Equality Matters also points out that while this group is fighting marriage equality, its presence may actually help the cause of marriage equality because of the information it is trotting out to smear the lgbtq community:

MERC’s website, however, is a deluge of misinformation, confused political analyses, and some truly cringe-worthy writing.

The website is organized into a number of tabs meant to provide visitors with information about the proposed marriage initiative. Each tab varies wildly in content and tone; some inexplicably focus on criticizing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) while another includes an image of President Obama riding a unicorn.

That would be this picture:

Equality Matters also points out that the founder of this group, Erik Bennett, is a failed politician with a penchant for bizarre youtube ads and vicious homophobic slurs:



One wonders what the National Organization for Marriage thinks about Bennett. All in all, it promises to be a very interesting time in Maine.

Anti-gay spokesman can't handle the pressure of serious questions

Chalk another one up for radio host David Pakman.

Pakman, who has interviewed such  anti-gay "luminaries as Peter LaBarbera, Paul Cameron,  Bryan Fischer, and Gordon Klingenschmitt, today interviewed Truth4Time member and wannabe anti-gay activist Michael Brown.

Apparently Brown thought he could boggart the interview, thereby turning it into a monologue of his anti-gay views.

Truth Wins Out breaks it down:

As usual, David’s done his homework, calmly citing, among other things, the oeuvre of prominent Yale historian John Boswell, who wrote prolifically about the intersection of LGBT issues and religion. Brown’s only response is to dismiss Boswell completely, because after all (as Brown says), he “practically died of AIDS.”

And it only goes downhill from there. When Pakman challenges Brown’s tired (and totally discredited) talking point about the immutability of the historical definition of marriage, Brown resorts to condescension. Check out the video below — he tries to lecture Pakman on how to prepare for an interview, seizing the opportunity to hawk his self-published book (which, apparently, must be a respectable source, despite the fact that no publishing house — reputable or otherwise — would print it, because it includes “1500+ endnotes and massive research.” (Hmmmm, overcompensating much?) When Pakman presses Brown further to cite the specific sources he drew upon to formulate his exclusionary “historical definition of marriage,” he suddenly chickens out remembers that he has something else to do, saying that he didn’t realize this wasn’t a “serious interview” and mischaracterizing Pakman as a ‘gotcha’ journalist out to “[set] people up for quotes.” Then, after essentially telling Pakman again to read his book before he interviews him again, Brown hangs up.

It just goes to show that when religious right figures are asked serious questions about their claims, they can't handle the pressure

'Virginia rejects judicial nominee because he is gay' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Video: How far-right figures like Harry Jackson try to have it both ways - An old nauseating song with the same verses. Religious right figures are all sweet and polite on news programs, but amongst their own followers, they let their real feelings about the lgbtq community be known.

  Virginia House Rejects Judge Because He Is Gay - Why just last week, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) said this thing doesn't happen. I guess he was wrong. 

 Brian Brown and Ex-Con Jahnmaud Lane Celebrate Taking Rights Away From North Carolinians - This is what happens when you take pictures with just anybody, Brian Brown. It always comes back to bite you in the tuckus.

The increasingly obvious danger in mag-bombing black barbershops - Oh look. Matt Barber thinks he knows the black community. Sorry guy, but don't let folks like Harry Jackson fool you. Our beliefs are nuanced and an interloper like yourself will have no bearing on how we vote.

 Gay teen expelled in stun gun school case attacked at Circle Centre, IMPD says - A 34-year-old man has no business wanting "words" with a 17-year-old child.

 Y-Love is Ready for Love - Awesome! A hip-hop artist comes out the closet.

Chris Matthews points out Tony Perkins' errors on the gay community

Right after he and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) practically teamed up to annihilate the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins on Hardball, Chris Matthews joined MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell to further call attention to Perkins' inaccuracies concerning families and the lgbtq community:

Discredited researcher - Gays want children to bend over and try it

Apparently Obama's support of marriage equality is pulling all of the homophobes out of the closet, so to speak, including this one:

Transcript:

Well, the timing is I think miserable for his reelection. I would have expected him, as you did, to wait until he was the new president and say, “Guess what? I’ve changed my mind,” or, “I’ve evolved.” But homosexuality is the one sin, or the one habit, that is 24/7. It is homosexuality all the time. And actually, while I’m not sure about the claims by the various people who have reported that Obama has at least participated at times with them in homosexual acts, this certainly lends some credence.

. . . Mark my words clearly; the long term goal of the homosexual movement is to get every little boy to grab his ankles and every little girl to give it a try. They will not rest until every one of our children at least gets to try, has the opportunity and maybe is forced to at least once experience homosexual acts. There is no retreating from that, they made it very clear earlier on—now they don’t take about it—but that’s what they want, they will not be happy until they get it, marriage is just a step along the way.

Those who are regular followers of my blog know this man. He is Paul Cameron, a man whom I consider to be the grand daddy of all religious right distortions involving the lgbtq community. At one time, he was the go-to guy for all anti-gay distortions used by the religious right. He is the man is responsible for pushing the following myths about the gay community:

Lesbians are more likely to die in car wrecks,

Gay men molest children at a high rate and are more likely to be serial killers,

Gay men stuff gerbils up their rectums,

Gays and lesbians in the military are more likely to rape their heterosexual counterparts.

 It was Cameron who in the 80s came up with the idea of aggressively using science to prove that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle." The problem is to do this, Cameron attained a reputation for either distorting legitimate science or distorting his own work to gain the conclusions he wanted from his "studies." He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.

Of course the religious right still cites his work, but are very careful not to mention him by name. Of course there are some, such as Peter LaBarbera, who will deliberately cite Cameron's work, even though he knows that the work is flawed.

And there are othesr, like the National Organization for Marriage, who, when caught citing Cameron, will turn backflips in order to distance themselves from him (sorry Maggie Gallagher, but a link is in fact an endorsement).

For me, Paul Cameron is old news. He doesn't even shock me anymore.

If you want to talk about shock, consider this - Cameron has been kicking around for over 20 years and organizations such as the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and the American Family Association have used his work during that entire time.

But not one time, at least to my knowledge, have any of these groups ever been questioned regarding their usage of Cameron's work on any news program.

Getting Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, or Peter Sprigg to answer questions regarding the usage of Cameron's work on a program such as Hardball sounds like a new project to me.

Who wants to undertake it?

From Box Turtle Bulletin comes a list of almost every religious right spokesperson or group who has ever used Paul Cameron's discredited research.

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch for the scoop and some of the links.

'Black, Latino clergy support Obama on marriage equality' and other Monday midday news briefs

Clay Aiken Talks Gay Marriage, Amendment One On CBS's 'Face The Nation' - I like Clay Aiken but what in the hell was he doing debating Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council on Face The Nation? Wasn't anyone else available? 

  Iowa Supreme Court Justice: I Won't Let The Hate Groups Bully Me - Good for him!  

State lawmaker challenges gay judge nominee - And yes it is because he is gay.

  African American And Latino Clergy On Obama's Gay Marriage Support - I am so glad about this. People like Harry Jackson, Patrick Wooden and Ken Hutcherson are always boggarting the conversation. 

  GOP Rep. Lankford Explains Why It Should Be Legal To Fire Someone For Being Gay: ‘It’s A Choice Issue’- Being gay is not a choice but that is irrelevant. It's like saying since religion is a choice, people should be fired for their religious beliefs.

 After Years Of Race-Baiting, NOM Attacks Obama For Focusing On “Identity Politics” - The hypocrites at NOM strike again. 

 Anti-Gay Activists Slam Obama for 'Doing the Devil's Work' on Marriage Equality - Aw hell, who told them! LOL 

New York Times accidentally sanitizes bigoted pastor

 Editor's note - Those who are my friends on facebook are advised to de-friend me as Alvin McEwen. That address has been hacked (do not click on the picture of the shoes!). Please friend me at Charle King.

Patrick Wooden

Those who are against marriage equality are constantly pushing this "victim complex," i.e. claiming that they are being unfairly vilified for their opposition to marriage equality.

This is a lie. It's not their opposition to marriage equality, per se, but the distortions they engage in to fight marriage equality.

And unfortunately, often times, the media is their ally in how it frames the argument.

A perfect example of this sad fact is a recent New York Times article, Churches split over gay marriage. All in all, it is an excellent article which makes a good point in showing that the fight of marriage equality is not necessarily a fight which pits the gay community on one side and the religious community on the other. The article demonstrates that religious beliefs dictates both sides of the issue.

However, it also sugarcoats the reputation of a certain North Carolina minister:

At a black Pentecostal church in Raleigh, N.C., the Rev. Patrick Wooden entered the sanctuary on Sunday to a standing ovation, exulting that God’s “high hand” had led voters last week to pass a statewide amendment banning same-sex marriage. He took to the pulpit and denounced President Obama for taking a stand “in support of sin,” and “in opposition to the biblical model of marriage.”

. . .On Sunday, after Pastor Wooden quieted the standing ovation in his sanctuary in Raleigh, a sea of pink hats and dresses in honor of Mother’s Day, he went into a sermon that portrayed the fight for the same-sex marriage amendment as a divinely ordained cause.

Quoting from Exodus, he said God had led people to the polls with a “high hand,” just as God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Mr. Obama went “against God,” the pastor said. He invoked the New Testament passage from Romans in which men turn away from women and burn in their lust, “men with men.”

Pastor Wooden’s 3,000-member congregation, the Upper Room Church of God in Christ, is part of an African-American denomination that declared in 2004 that it would “never allow” or bless same-sex unions. The declaration cited passages from Scripture: that God created “the woman for the man,” (I Corinthians 11:9), and that “marriage is honorable” (Hebrews 13:4).

Pastor Wooden was in the forefront of the political fight over the marriage amendment in North Carolina, serving on the executive committee for the campaign and voicing radio advertisements heard around the state. He said that he had been raised by a single mother, and that he believed children needed both a mother and a father.

Those of us who know Wooden know that this isn't the only thing he said in regards to the gay community. He has made deliberately untrue comments regarding gay men and sex:







To omit - and I think this was by accident by the writer - Wooden's history of demonizing the gay community via slander and the bearing of false witness is serious mistake on two accounts. For one, it sanitizes Wooden as a simple pastor rather than exposing the entirety his homophobic animus and the article misses a chance to delve into a key complaint by the lgbtq community in regards to those who oppose marriage equality, i.e.  that they are quick to vilify us amongst each other, but in front of the press, they act innocent as lambs.

What the media needs to remember about the Family Research Council

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council have been hitting different spots in the media in response to President Obama's announced support of marriage equality. Though Perkins has been having a rough go at it - and it's  about time too - the following video montage is the basic reason why we need to constantly remind the media to continue to ask Perkins and representatives of FRC tough questions whenever they appear:




Related posts:

Barney Frank vs. Tony Perkins on Hardball. It was good! 

Finally! A journalist challenges Tony Perkins rather than kissing up to him

Proof that homophobia rots your brain

You have probably seen this video already. But if not, God help you for watching it.

The following is not a joke. It is testimony at a Lincoln Nebraska City Council hearing this week to review a proposed LGBT protection ordinance. There is nothing I can say which will prepare you for this, but I will say that sometimes homophobia is so bad that it's funny:



Hat tip to AKSARBENT 

Editor's note - Reportedly the woman on this video has mental health issues, something which was not known at the time of  its posting. This piece of knowledge should cause further discussions when it comes to mental health, but in all honesty, how many times has the lgbtq community heard these statements - albeit in a more coherent fashion - from religious right organizations and figures? Us laughing at this woman's testimony should be not be seen as insensitivity on our part. For one thing, we didn't know she mentally ill when the video was originally posted.  For another, many of us saw her statements as "here they go again."

Know Your LGBT History - Clara Ward and Willie 'Little Axe' Broadnax

For all of the talk about the division between homosexuality and the Black church, no one talks about how much gays and lesbians have influenced gospel music.

Let's look at two:

Clara Ward (Apr. 29, 1924 - Jul. 2, 1973)




Gospel performer and singer who is widely acclaimed among the greatest soloists in gospel history. Clara Mae Ward, daughter of evangelist Gertrude Ward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April of 1924. Like so many of her contemporaries, she gained her first musical experience singing in the church. As gospel music began to reach a wider audience in the first half of the twentieth century,Ward started singing professionally with her mother and her sister Willa with the Ward Trio (1934-1937). Later as the group enlarged its membership and became the Ward Singers, the Clara Ward Specials and finally the Clara Ward Singers which became very popular. The group included such outstanding individuals such as gospel great Marion Williams and appealed to audiences both sacred and secular. In the 1950s, the group was at the height of its power, appearing at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival and other prestigious venues. Under Ward's direction the group later broadened its appeal and became very show biz oriented which caused her to be shunned by some gospel singers for obvious religious reasons.

From Wikipedia:

Despite her career success, Ward's life was an unhappy one. Financial hardships caused her and her family to move 19 times before her adulthood. Sexually abused in childhood by a cousin and relentlessly driven as prime breadwinner by her mother throughout her life, Clara's life was one of constant work and little joy. According to her sister Willa, Gertrude Ward recognized Clara's exceptional musical ability when Clara was a child and controlled and manipulated her throughout her life. In her biography of Clara, Willa attests that Gertrude worked to prevent Clara from forming any romantic attachments. Although Clara eloped as a teenager (at age 17 in 1941), her mother forced her to tour and the strain caused the always frail Clara to have a miscarriage. Her marriage ended after only one year. Willa describes Clara as explaining her occasional lesbian encounters as the sexual expression likely to escape her mother's notice. Her only real happiness seems to have come from her longtime romance with Rev. C. L. Franklin (with whom the Ward groups extensively toured), the famous Detroit-based preacher and father of the legendary Aretha Franklin.


Wilbur 'Little Axe' Broadnax (December 28, 1916 – 1994)



Also known as "Little Axe," "Wilbur," "Willie," and "Wilmer," was an African-American hard gospel quartet singer. A tiny man with glasses and a high, powerful tenor voice, he worked and recorded with many of the most famous and influential groups of his day.

Broadnax was born in Houston in 1916. After moving to Southern California in the mid-40s, he and his brother, William, joined the Southern Gospel Singers, a group which performed primarily on weekends. The Broadnax brothers soon formed their own quartet, the Golden Echoes. William eventually left for Atlanta, where he joined the Five Trumpets, but Willmer stayed on as lead singer. In 1949 the group, augmented by future Soul Stirrer Paul Foster, recorded a single of "When the Saints Go Marching In" for Specialty Records. Label chief Art Rupe decided to drop them before they could record a follow-up, and shortly thereafter the Golden Echoes disbanded.

In 1950, Broadnax joined the Spirit of Memphis Quartet. Along with Broadnax, the group featured two other leads -- Jethro "Jet" Bledsoe, a bluesy crooner, and Silas Steele, an overpowering baritone. This was one of the most impressive line-ups in quartet history. The Spirit of Memphis Quartet recorded for King Records, and Broadnax appeared on their releases at least until 1952. Shortly after that, however, he moved on, working with the Fairfield Four, and, in the beginning of the 60s, as one of the replacements for Archie Brownlee in the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. Until 1965 he headed a quartet called "Little Axe and the Golden Echoes," which released some singles on Peacock Records. By then, quartet singing was fading as a commercial phenomenon, and Broadnax retired from touring, though he did continue to record occasionally with the Blind Boys into the 70s and 80s.

Upon his death in 1994, it was discovered that Broadnax was female assigned at birth.

Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

'Tony Perkins' lies get destroyed again' and other Friday midday news briefs

And the buttwhipping of Tony Perkins continues. It does my heart good to see a phony finally get scrutiny. 

GLAAD’s Graddick: CNN Has Its Own ‘Evolving’ to Do on Marriage Coverage - BUT Perkins and the rest of the religious right need some more scrutiny for me to be satisfied.

 Rep. Allen West Claims LGBT Workplace Discrimination ‘Don’t Happen’ And Doesn’t ‘See That As Being A Big Issue’ - Apparently he isn't looking hard enough.

 Pastor: We suffer more under marriage equality 'than we would have under segregation' - Introducing the single most ignorant comment in regards to marriage equality by a black pastor this year. Yeah I said. Forget the lgbtq community, my heterosexual black brothers and sisters need to get mad at the predominantly white wannabe Christian publications which provide a forum for black pastors to make fools of themselves.

 On Marriage, African Americans Aren't a Monolithic Voting Bloc - Here is a MORE INTELLIGENT view of the situation. 

Why some people cannot talk about gay issues

Queer Theologian & Comic Peterson Thomas Toscano reveals the hilarious reason that distracts some folks from effective conversation about LGBT issues & lives:



Now was this any surprise?

Barney Frank vs. Tony Perkins on Hardball. It was good!

The following video is openly gay Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) debating Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council on Hardball about Obama's support of marriage equality.

It was good:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Maggie Gallagher evades question about NOM's 'race-baiting' during interview

Maggie Gallagher

President Obama's announced support of marriage equality yesterday seems have the media running towards everyone who considers themselves an expert on marriage.

The Huffington Post just published an interview with National Organization for Marriage founder Maggie Gallagher in which she claimed that Obama's position on marriage equality would help his opponent, Mitt Romney.

It's to be expected that she would say that. But what she didn't talk about, or rather choose to evade, during the interview is something which caught my eye.

Lila Shapiro, the Huffington Post reporter, asked Gallagher directly about the scandal which erupted when it was discovered that NOM had planned to exploit the difference of opinion between blacks and gays on the subject of marriage equality:

Shapiro: Were you involved in drafting the National Organization for Marriage's internal documents recently unsealed in the court case in Maine? Do you think that the president's announcement will effect the "wedge" strategy laid out in the section "Not a civil right project"?

Gallagher: I think African-American church leaders will continue to teach Christian understanding of sex and marriage to their flocks. African-Americans in their flocks may well continue to vote for Pres. Obama and also oppose gay marriage. NOM did not create these divisions. I'm happy to apologize for the aggressive sounding tone of that long-ago memo, but not for the project which involves white, suburban, Republican girls like me reaching out to people of all races, creeds and colors on the marriage issue. Marriage truly forges a unique political coalition.

Gallagher did not really answer the question. If her explanation sounds rehearsed then trust me when I say that it is not your imagination. This is what she said when the controversy broke in March:

"The documents used language which I would call 'inapt' - - in part because it's tremendously vain to think that I or NOM or any other white Christian conservative can manipulate black and latino church leaders. I don't think so. They speak out of their own convictions and become subject to tremendous vituperative for doing so."

So in March, Gallagher said the language was inapt. Now she is saying that sounded too aggressive.  The language is as follows:

The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks - two key democratic constituencies. We aim to find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage; to develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; and to provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots. No politician wants to take up and push an issue that splits the base of the party.

And Gallagher continues to miss the point, deliberately no doubt. It doesn't matter that NOM did not create the division between the black and gay communities over the subject of marriage equality. It matter that NOM is trying to exploit the division.

Finally! A journalist challenges Tony Perkins rather than kissing up to him

For a long time, many on my side of the spectrum have been raising holy hell at news organizations like MSNBC and CNN for giving the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins a platform even though his organization is an SPLC-declared hate group for the way it demonizes gays through lies and cherry-picked research.

I differed with those on my side who didn't want to see Perkins being interviewed at all. For me, it wasn't the fact that he was interviewed, it was the fact that he was not challenged on his views or the behavior of his organization.

Journalists treated Perkins like a pundit or an expert when he is neither.

But finally, one journalist, Soledad O'Brien of CNN did what other journalists have not done - she neither let Perkins soft pedal his way through, nor did she let him go on a monologue. O'Brien asked him the tough questions and challenged some of his assertions.

THIS is journalism, folks. Enjoy:



From Mediaite comes a portion of the interview:

The two discussed whether allowing same-sex couples to marry would ultimately redefine the institution of marriage.

“When government takes a policy position on marriage, it has an effect,” Perkins said.

O’Brien pressed him over what the consequences would be for gay marriage. Perkins said it went back to the 1960s with no-fault divorce and adoption.

“We’ve seen the consequences of that and have over 40% of children being born out of wedlock. We have a decline in marriage, the rise in cohabitation. The social costs of that are tremendous,” he said.

“When government took a position, let’s say, against the ban on interracial marriage it had an effect too, right? It brought legal marriage to blacks and whites,” O’Brien noted.

Perkins disputed the basis of O’Brien’s question.

“You’re talking about redefinition,” Perkins said. “There is no rational reason to keep people of different races that were of opposite sex to marry. They met the qualifications of the definition of marriage. What we’re talking about here is a further redefinition of marriage…”

“But hasn’t marriage been redefined and redefined?” O’Brien interjected.

'Daily Show blasts Amendment One vote' and other Thursday midday news briefs

The Daily Show
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Nuff said

In other news:

Anti-Gay Activists Say Obama's Marriage Equality Stance Seals his Defeat - So the right is very, very, very angry with President Obama. And in other news you already knew, it's Thursday.

NOM's Hypocrisy on Civility - I just had to run this post about how NOM tries to keep its hands clean while allowing its allies to do the "dirty work."

House Responds To Obama’s Marriage Endorsement By Reinforcing Discrimination - I take it that they aren't on board with Obama's announcement.

Log Cabin And GOProud: WTF? - To paraphrase Ms. Joan Crawford, "there is a word to describe the Log Cabin Republicans and GoProud right now, but it isn't used in high society, outside of a kennel.

For Christians, President Obama Said Much More Than You Think He Said - Finally, a good friend of mine gives us something to think about.

Family Research Council pushing another video of anti-gay lies

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President Obama and the useful idiots of NOM

Today, Barack Obama became the first president to speak in support of marriage equality while in office. Everyone is reeling over this and with good reason because it is a major and much needed endorsement. And the effects of it is going to be felt of a long time.

For me, however, it proves a notion I have had in regards to the National Organization for Marriage.

Have you ever noticed that every time NOM receives a major victory over marriage equality, it comes back to bite the organization in the ass?

In 2008, it led the charge to pass Proposition 8 and in part galvanized the gay community. That loss led to a lot of new gay activists and just as many recharged ones.

In 2009, NOM again led the charge, this time overturning marriage equality laws in Maine. But in the wake of that victory, organization lost court case after court case in its attempt to fight that state's disclosure laws, finally leading up to a very public smackdown by the Supreme Court, causing many people to ask the question just what is NOM hiding. Maine's victory also gave America embarrassing peak into NOM's inner workings when court documents revealed that the organization was deliberately attempting to pit the gay and black community against one another.

And now this. Fresh off of an ugly victory in North Carolina, the organization finds itself slapped down by none other than the leader of the free world. What worse insult is there than having the President of the United States stand against your efforts?

It would seem to me that when it's all said and done, history will point out that while NOM's goal was the stop marriage equality, all the organization did was hasten it.

Certainly this is not to praise NOM.

NOM is like a predatory virus going from community to community, exploiting people's beliefs, fears, and prejudice until every thing reaches a fever pitch. When it's all over, NOM feeds off of the results and leaves the community in turmoil while it searches for its next victim.

But like I said earlier, today proved something to me.

The gay community is not only on the right side of this but maybe some of those folks like NOM who claim to be speaking for God got their circuits mixed up. 

Maybe God's trying to tell them something.

Fall out from Amendment One vote - the good, bad, and very ugly

You are not seeing things. Pan down for the story on this sign.

TODAY: Obama Interview On Marriage - This is starting to get interesting. It promises to be one of those historical moments that defines a presidency.

 The next step: WE DO Campaign couples will request marriage licenses in 8 NC locations - Meanwhile the fight in North Carolina has just begun.

(At least) one NC County Commissioner already trying to dismantle DP benefits - Remember what we said about the dangers of Amendment One that our opponents called mere scare tactics? Well guess what . . . 

Despite sign, voters at church vote against amendment - Now about that sign . . .

North Carolina's Vote to Ban Gay Marriage Is a Warning to Obama - Has it ever occurred to anyone that NOM's plan to drive a wedge between African-Americans and gays on the subject of marriage equality may have suggested to the organization? I'm beginning to think someone advised the organization to do this for means other than stopping marriage equality. I smell Karl Rover's hands all over this.

There will be another day for us to win

Calm it down, folks. No one on our side is happy with what happened in North Carolina last night. Nothing I can say can alleviate the bitterness and disappointment that some of us have. Nor can it assuage the ugly pangs we feel when we see and hear people like Patrick Wooden, Brian Brown, or NOM crow like roosters.

All I can say is that it comes with losing. In New York when NOM lost the fight there, we blistered the organization, making sure to draw attention to the picture of Brown sitting in the gallery supposedly crying over the vote.

So the pendulum of life swings, as it always does, on Brown and NOM's side now.

But just remember that there will be another day. Whenever Brown and company talk about how the "voters decided," always remember the words of Prop 8 lawyer David Boies starting at 2:51:



Boies:

"It's easy to sit around and debate and throw around opinions that appeal to people's fear and prejudice, [and] cite studies that either don't exist or don't say what you say they do.

"In a court of law you've got to come in and you've got to support those opinions, you've got to stand up under oath and cross-examination. And what we saw at trial is that it's very easy for the people who want to deprive gay and lesbian citizens of the right to vote [sic] to make all sorts of statements and campaign literature, or in debates where they can't be cross-examined.

"But when they come into court and they have to support those opinions and they have to defend those opinions under oath and cross-examination, those opinions just melt away. And that's what happened here. There simply wasn't any evidence, there weren't any of those studies. There weren't any empirical studies. That's just made up. That's junk science. It's easy to say that on television. But a witness stand is a lonely place to lie. And when you come into court you can't do that.

"That's what we proved: We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost."

The diapers and lies won in North Carolina

NC Amendment One, State’s Same Sex Marriage Ban, Passes By Wide Margin


It happened. Grieve and mourn for only a second, but then come up and fight like hell. This is no time for self-pitying and slack jawing.

Good interview about Amendment One this morning on MSNBC

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It's been said that if Amendment One passes today, it will be because supporters confused voters. I think a lot of them are confused themselves. This morning on MSNBC, Pastor Mark Harris, and Amendment One supporter debated Jeremy Kennedy, the campaign manager for the Coalition to Protect All NC Families. While being questioned by Thomas Roberts, watch how Harris jumps and dodges.

Hat tip to Pam's House Blend.

'Black media calling attention to NOM's black/gay wedge strategy' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

The Root on Amendment One and the bigotry of the black-gay wedge strategy - Awesome piece in The Root featuring my blogging buddy Pam Spaulding. Now we need pieces in Ebony and various other African-American publications.

 Hate-Filled Pastor Says Anti-Gay Amendment Would Protect Marriage ‘In The Garden Of Eden’- Because apparently there was such a thing as "Adam and Steve."

New Research Meta-Analysis Makes Compelling Case For Nondiscrimination Protections - Read and learn.

Ken Hutcherson, Anti-Gay Washington Pastor, Wants To Take Back 'Gay' From The LGBT Community - Dude! You are a black pastor. The black church community wouldn't exist if in part it wasn't for gay men. I don't think you will steal anything from us, but certain labels will be attached to you.

Anti-Gay Activist Calls Bill Limiting Reparative Therapy 'Hateful Toward Children' - Apparently forcing children to go through ex-gay therapy (which generally fails and causes psychological scars) is really love.

A few words of encouragement to my North Carolina brothers and sisters

In the end, those who fight injustice never lose. Those who fight injustice embody the spirit which makes not only this country, but this world what it should be.

Never give up. Never give in. Never allow yourself to be seduced by the orgy of ego if victorious. And if at any time you lose, never give that loss any more power than it deserves, if any at all. Never allow yourself to succumb to the deceptive warmness of the pool of self-pity, discouragement, and hate.

Remember you have been picked to pave a road so that others can easily walk to where they need to be. Every stony place that makes you stumble causing you to skin your knee, every rock caught in your shoe, and every blister on your foot will be one less obstacle for those who come behind you; those who will walk on the highway paved by your tears, your worry, your work. Take comfort in their ability to reach their destination.

And always remember that they can get to where they are going because you not only pointed out the way, but also led the initial journey and drew up the maps.

Keep those fists up, brothers and sisters.

Good luck in North Carolina, folks. I still say that in spite of it all, you won:

The sadness of the Amendment One fight expressed by a three-year-old

The following passage is from a piece in the Huffington Post entitled My Family Was Harassed at the North Carolina Polls. It is written by Aly Windsor, a mother, partner, and writer. It describes what happened when she and her partner - accompanied by their two young children - went to vote early against Amendment One:

Inside the polling location, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different. Everyone we encountered was respectful and kind. One poll worker cooed over our youngest and tickled his feet. We didn't have to wait at all to vote, and the whole process from start to finish took fewer than five minutes.

As we walked toward the exit, we could see the crowd again through the glass doors. The anti-amendment supporters argued with the pro-amendment campaigners. I felt an intense flush of gratitude that these young guys were willing to stand out in the hot sun, unwaveringly weathering the anger of our opponents, to fight for our family's rights and the rights of many others like us.

I hoped we'd be left alone as we walked to our cars, because no amount of shouting was going to change what we'd already done. But no, we reentered the chaos as we exited the building. Again, I thanked the young men for their presence. As we passed the crowd, a woman who looked to be the same age as my mother shouted after us, "Children are already suffering! Vote for!" Her voice was shrill and angry, and she clearly meant to harm us with her words.

Unfortunately, in the moment, she succeeded. Tears pricked my eyes, but I held it together until we got to our cars. Still within view of the crowd and the malevolent woman, my partner and I carefully put our children in their car seats and then hugged before before driving off separately. As I drove away, my tears spilled out. My 3-year-old asked where we were going, and I replied that I didn't know yet. He asked me why I was sad. I told him that the woman who shouted at us hurt my feelings. He told me she wasn't very nice.

I told him he was right. I knew that the woman was wrong not only in how she spoke to us but in what she said. Our children are not suffering. One need only spend a day with us to realize that our children are thriving, happy, and well-loved. They're fortunate to not only have two adoring parents but an assortment of doting grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

It reminds me of  that line at the end of the movie Bridge on the River Kwai uttered by a character who was fortunate enough to live past the scenes of war the movie conveyed, but also unfortunately had front row view of it all:


"Madness...Madness."

WOW! Associated Press nails report on Amendment One vote!

This report on Amendment One from the Associated Press is excellent. And I know everyone is going to be talking about the elderly man in the beginning of the clip. What he says is astoundingly ignorant but so indicative of the other side and also the reason why we will win when it's all said and done:

'Olympic hopeful comes out' and other Monday midday news briefs

Josh Dixon, Olympics Gymnastics Hopeful, Comes Out As Gay - Look at this. A black, gay Olympic hopeful gymnast comes out and . . . you get to choose between the wolf howls or the crickets. And I'm not talking about just the black community. Now  I didn't say this, but someone else made the comment to me that if little Mr. Dixon were of a, shall we say, lighter shade, he would be getting a lot more attention. Discuss while I duck. LOL

Bryan Fischer's Last Stand Against The Gays -  This Buzzfeed piece reminds me of a Bugs Bunny cartoon I saw where Bugs Bunny led Elmer Fudd onstage, allowed him to make a fool of himself, and then supplied the audience with tomatoes to throw at him.  We need to follow that model. Let Bryan Fischer speak, then point out to everyone just how ignorant he is.

AFA Stands By Their Man: Fischer Says 'Things that A Lot of People on the Conservative Side of Things Think but They Won't Say' - And while we are at it, let him drag down the religious right too.


Richard Grenell's Resignation Shows Mitt Romney's Unfit To Be President: Anti-Gay Pundit Bryan Fischer - Also, speaking of crazy Bryan Fischer, pay attention to a bit of history here - probably the only time he and I will agree on anything.

Will Obama Push Biden’s Support For Marriage Equality Back Into The Closet? - You know the controversy. Start reading and talking about it. 

Finally . . .

The Daily Agenda for Monday, May 7 - The Daily Agenda is a regular segment from the blog Box Turtle Bulletin and I recommend that every lgbtq read it on a regular basis for education and inspiration. You see things are happening now which are bothering me a bit. Tomorrow is the Amendment One vote and it may or may not pass. But what thing that cannot be denied is the simple fact that those fighting Amendment One is putting a hell of a fight in educating people about how harmful this amendment can be to same-sex families and the rest of NC's population.  And also that alliances are being formed because of this fight. But if you read some of the messages I have read on Facebook and other places, you wouldn't know that. Some folks are already criticizing the campaign for this or that. Folks need perspective on things. Folks need to be reminded as to where the lgbtq community was then, where we are now, and where we are headed. And they need to ask themselves are they going to be the ones with the discipline for the long fight or are they going be standing on the sides with the crying towels or talking about street protests . . . that is until the next trendy thing catches their fancy. Are they going to be the ones so constantly angry because they are not equal in the eyes of the law yet. Or are they going to spend more time changing the law and not simply for themselves and their relationships, but also for the next generation.

Some of us are so wrapped up in our pity parties that we forget that every move we make affects the next generation.  The kids are watching us, folks. They see what we say and we do and trust me when I say that they are taking mental notes. And I rather have my actions and words motivate future leaders into action rather than making them think that things are hopeless. Nothing is hopeless for those who are willing to fight, fight hard, and fight intelligently. 

Video: North Carolina rises up against Amendment One!!

One thing which must never be forgotten about the Amendment One fight in North Carolina is how those who oppose that awful thing have fought with both cylinders.



From Pam's House Blend (I highlighted something to remember about the fight):

(There have been) hundreds of faith leaders against (Amendment One) as well, ones who understand why faith and matters of civil law must remain separate in order to protect religious freedom. (Yesterday) there was an event in Greensboro sponsored from the NAACP featuring over 100 clergy from large congregations including Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and ministers speaking out against the amendment. The NAACP has sponsored mailers and radio spots against the amendment as well. It’s notable that the NAACP, LGBT and progressive communities have been working together in ways that will continue beyond election day.

Some statistics from the latest phone call with the Protect All NC Families team:

• The campaign to fight Amendment One resulted in 11,000 donors with 70% of the money coming from inside NC, and $2.5 million raised
• 22% of targeted GOTV population has early voted
• An incredible 507K NC residents have early voted in this primary versus 486K that early voted in 2008
• Black voter turnout is down in this primary: 16% Af-Am voted this time, versus the unprecedented turnout of 40% in 2008 when Barack Obama ran for President
• Half-a-million robocalls went out today across the state broadcasting the anti-Amendment message from Bill Clinton.