THIS is what happens when you allow anti-gay folks to speak their minds . . .

The below video accentuates what I've always said. Sometimes you should let those who profess anti-gay beliefs to get all their feelings out. It's good for us all:



According to my buddies at the GLAAD Award-winning The New Civil Rights Movement and Ed Brayton of Free Thought Blogs :

 The self-proclaimed leader of what he claims is a group called the Vanguard of Christ the King spent seven and a half minutes last week yelling to the Sterling Heights, Michigan city council about why he opposes a non-discrimination ordinance. The elderly man, who identified himself as Don Lobsinger, appeared angry as he delivered his diatribe against equality for LGBT people, or, as he calls them, people who have "the gay condition" and exhibit "gay behavior."

Lobsinger proceeded to make a complete ass of himself during his testimony so much so that he was escorted out by law officials. By the way, the non-discrimination ordinance passed unanimously.

'Jail & concentration camps - anti-gay folks turning up rhetorical heat' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

Texas Values' Jonathan Saenz: Gay Activists Are Trying To "Put People In Jail" - And in the middle of this discussion, another "Christian" host pulled the "concentration camp" card. Between these people and Tony Perkins claiming that gays want to start an 'anti-Christian Holocaust," I'm just a little overwhelmed with the hyperbolic rhetoric. 

Ben Carson Unveils Grand Compromise On Marriage: Gay People Can't Get Married - Ben Carson has the dishiest compromise to the marriage equality argument. First, gays can't get married. That's it. Oh and we shouldn't accuse people of bigotry.

 Liberty Counsel head: LGBT advocates are doing 'bidding of the devil' - Okay which one of you gossipy queens let the cat out of the bag on this one? I swear THIS is why we can't get nice things. Someone is always blabbing our secret plans!  

Mayors Take Stand Against Their States' Anti-Gay Policies - Good for them! 

 Top Conservative Links Gay Marriage Opposition To Slavery - And guess what? He is supposedly lobbying on Capitol Hill for MSNBC. . . pick yourself off of the floor and get someone you trust to fan you as you attempt to recover.

Anti-gay group pulling the ' won't someone think of the children' card against ENDA

Recently, an article in the Huffington Post said that President Obama has quietly been making progress pushing for the rights of the transgender community. Now add this to the news that he will soon be pushing an executive order keeping companies who do business with the federal government from discriminating against lgbts.

Separately, the two items enough to get the anti-gay groups upset. Combine the two bits of news together, and you will receive evil nonsense like this from the Liberty Counsel, home of Congressional misleader Mat Staver and the increasingly unhinged Matt Barber:

A mother calls Liberty Counsel after her six-year-old little girl is assaulted by a gender-confused, adult male exposing himself in the swim team locker room. Another child cries that she doesn’t want to go back to school because she doesn’t like sharing the bathroom with a gender-confused boy. A teacher calls after her freshmen girls’ soccer team complains of a boy in the locker room.

These are the faces of ENDA-like legislation that is sweeping the country.  Disguised under the term “employment nondiscrimination,” ENDA singles out and targets childhood innocence. No one wants discrimination, least of all against children.

Now, President Obama is reportedly going to sign an executive order to add ENDA protection to employees of federal contractors.

Liberty Counsel is encouraging its members to speak up and debunk the ENDA myth. Tell your family and neighbors that ENDA hurts children. Encourage members of Congress to speak up on this issue. Thank House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for standing steadfast against the assault on childhood.

Exemptions for religious people are not broad enough. They do not protect children from gender-confused adults.

I seriously question the truthiness of these two anecdotes. What's happening is always what happens when any thoughts of ENDA rolls around - religious right groups and spokespeople begin spinning lies about children being exposed to "burly men with five o'clock shadow in short skirts," or even worse:

 

Like always, these so-called Christians, marketing propaganda, spin needless fear of ENDA. It's an old tactic but we shouldn't be surprised.

Anti-gay groups are totally devoid of any credibility or new ideas. That's the reason why they are losing the fight against marriage equality. And it will be the reason why they will lose the fight against ENDA.

'Family Research Council caught distorting pro-gay poll' & other Monday midday news briefs

FRC is an extremely deceitful org: Example #1,234,234,921 - At this point, catching the Family Research spinning distortions against the lgbt community is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. However, as long as the group has credibility in D.C. as a "traditional values" group, let's continue to hit those fish.  
FRC Claims Majority Oppose LGBT Workplace Protections, Cites A Poll That Says The Opposite - More about that FRC deception. 

Republican Senator Says Republicans Must Abandon Same-Sex Marriage Issue To Win Elections - Good luck with that one. How long will it be before we get a harangue from those talking about "standing up for principles and values at the cost of elections" even with those "principles and values" have no grounding in fairness or integrity.  

Obama Administration Sanctions Uganda for Anti-Gay Legislation - Well it's about time. No money for nations who will persecute my people.

 AFA Wants Libraries To Dump 'Sexually Perverse' Gay Children's Book - No surprise that the book is not "sexually perverse." I wonder how Brown feels about the story about one little girl living in a forest with seven "questionable" little men or a girl who haven't had a haircut since she was born getting pregnant by a prince who visits her tower, or two children abandoned in the forest by their parents and nearly become cannibalized by a witch. And I won't EVEN MENTION what the prince did in the original version of 'Sleeping Beauty;' a version which is in some libraries.

Sorry guys, you are anti-gay bigots. Own up to your righfully called name

I am not sure what type of publication the Daily Signal is, but one thing is clear about it.

It's definitely not an accurate one. The National Organization for Marriage is using it to deflect from the piss poor march it held last week:

There's little doubt that the mainstream media is complicit in the effort to redefine marriage, one only has to sit through prime time television or subscribe to an internet news service to have same-sex marriage messages bombard your senses. But when several thousand American's descend upon our nation's capital to defend and march for true marriage and every child's right to experience the love and nurture of both a mother and a father, the media is deaf and dumb. Daily Signal reporter Kelsey Harkness, writes, "Yet, as thousands gathered in the sun today on Capitol Hill to rally behind the historic and tradition views of marriage — as the union of one man and one woman – relatively few reporters were in sight. The advance of same-sex marriage, in contrast, has been much in the media spotlight." She then asked three prominent speakers for their opinion of this issue. 

Obviously, Harkness is either lying or she doesn't know how to count. At the very best, march had 2,000 participants and at the very least, 1,500. It's hardly the throng she makes it sound.

But her interviews with the three speakers, particularly Mike Huckabee, because they represent a talking point which the lgbt community must recognize and overcome:



Huckabee obviously spoke at a different march. In truth, he is applying a diversionary tactic, i.e. whining so loudly about being falsely labeled as a bigot, folks are distracted as to why such designations are appropriate.  And he is not the only one. NOM has built its entire movement on this distraction. Also, when the Southern Poverty Law Center declared the Family Research Council and other anti-gay organizations to be hate groups, they whined extensively about folks not wanting to debate them on lgbt issues, making sure that the volume of their whine drowned out those who did want to debate their tactics with regards to lgbt issues.

Unfortunately to Huckabee, we all aren't as deliberately oblivious as he wants us to be. I would love for him to defend the following signs from NOM supporters during the march as examples of tradition:

 

No matter how Huckabee attempts to spin it, very few people are stupid enough to fall for his whine. Maybe it's just my traditional values, but I believe that if you attend a march with signs talking about how "gay sex leads to adult diapers," how "gay marriage is Satanic," and other signs about "sodomy," that makes you either a bigot, a very, very money conscious vendor, or maybe a very persistent Jehovah's witness. And somehow I doubt Huckabee and company fall under those last two categories.

Thank you Right Wing Watch and Bilerico Project for the pictures.

'Flop marches, rude signs, & adult diapers? What a week in GAY AMERICA!'

Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg Advises Mother To Pursue 'Ex-Gay' Organizations For Daughter Who Came Out - Uh that's the SAME Peter Sprigg seen in the video below saying that the United States should export gays:

 

And just think. The head of Sprigg's group, Tony Perkins, recently claimed that THEY are in danger of being victimized and persecuted by lgbts.

Photos: Animus at #March4Marriage - Now the folks at NOM's flop march yesterday claimed that they don't hate gays. So the explanation here has to be someone obviously hypnotized them and put these signs in their hands.  

Inside NOM’s Second Failed “March For Marriage” - And it gets funnier . . . or scarier . . .  

Crucifixes, Gorillas, and Adult Diapers: My March Against Gay Marriage - Let me do one more about the march. A Daily Beast attended and let participants speak for themselves about why they were there. Mercy, it was good!  

Nation’s Largest Presbyterian Denomination Embraces Same-Sex Marriage - EXCELLENT! 

 Obama To Extend Family Leave Rights Of Married Same-Sex Couples - Even better! But always more work needing to be done to protect our families.

 12 Kick-Ass Gay Women In Comics And Graphic Novels - And now for some mindless frivolity because I like comic books and graphic novels and I've been too serious this week.

NOM's 'March 4 Marriage' a big fat HONKING flop

After MONTHS of hype, planning, and preparation, the National Organization for Marriage held its March 4 Marriage rally in Washington.

And it was a big fat HONKING failure.  Generous estimates put the crowd at 2,000 attendees, but other sources have said that it was barely 1,5000. Many sources said that many in the crowd were bussed in from New York via the help of state senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. who advertised a "free sight seeing" trip to DC. Diaz received criticism for not telling potentially interested parties that they would also be attending an anti-gay rally.

This sentence from a sponsor of the march, the Family Research Council, says it all:

More than 150 buses, filled with the marriage supporters the media insists do not exist, cheered through the passionate speeches of Republicans and Democrats, blacks and Hispanics, and the young and old -- all united in the belief that marriage is “our very nature. 

When a march sponsor brags about the number of buses rather than the number of attendees on the buses, you know there was a problem.

NOM meant to show via the march that there was large number of Americans still wanting to fight for what they call the "traditional definition of marriage." However, it seems that their march showed the opposite.

But don't just take my word for it.  Check out the video from a NOM ally, the Catholic News Service. Even they can't put enough icing on this mess to make it palpable:

Five Acts of Anti-Gay Bigotry NOM Wants You to Forget

NOM president Brian Brown

Today is the day in which the National Organization for Marriage tries to turn a page on a thus far disastrous year for the organization and get back to its original goal of denying gays the right to marry while pretending to be the "victims" of "lgbt oppression."

In Washington, NOM will be holding its March4Marriage, a sure-to-be astroturfed event in which anti-gay spokespeople, such as Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum will attempt to trick Americans into believing that marriage is in danger from "the gays."

All of those involved in this monstrosity will also claim that they are not bigoted for wanting to deny the gay community the right to marry and that their opposition to marriage equality isn't fueled by a personal animus of the lgbt community.

It's going to take a lot of chutzpah on their part as well as a hope that we will forget the homophobic acts which NOM has committed over the years to supposedly save the "sacred union between a man and a woman."

Good luck on that last one, particularly as I present Five Acts of Anti-Gay Bigotry NOM Wants You to Forget:

5. NOM has attempted to create 'fake victims' of marriage equality -  On several occasions, NOM has tried to create a narrative that marriage equality will lead to the unfair demonization of those opposing it, only to have the narrative blow up in its face.  In 2011, NOM began what it called the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance  This was an attempt to spotlight Americans who had their religious liberties and rights threatened simply for opposing marriage equality.  It failed badly. Equality Matters, in 2012, had this to say about the spotlighted examples:

 . . . out of NOM’s nine Marriage ADA stories, three weren’t about marriage, three were from a different country, and zero demonstrated an instance of actual “defamation.” It should come as no surprise that NOM had such a difficult time finding any compelling evidence that opponents of marriage equality were having their “rights and dignity” threatened and denied. NOM’s “gays as bullies” narrative has already been exposed and rejected by a number of judges and courts across the country.

In addition, in 2013, the site Politifact gave NOM's Rhode Island branch a "pants on fire" (which means basically you are lying out of your ass) rating for a claim it trotted out that religious groups have been forced to hold same-sex marriages in their facilities. 

4. NOM has implied that gays want to use marriage equality to "indoctrinate" children - No anti-gay group's arsenal is complete without the claim that gays want to "recruit" or "indoctrinate" children. And NOM is no different:

Prelude to NOM's anti-gay march & 'Five acts of anti-gay bigotry NOM wants you to forget'

Today will be a very short post because I am presently working on a piece to commemorate the National Organization for Marriage's anti-gay march.

It's called 'Five Acts of Anti-Gay Bigotry NOM Wants You To Forget.'  I'm not going to reveal the list until tomorrow morning (and I implore you to read, share, and comment), but I encourage you to guess which five did I pick from all of the acts of homophobia NOM has engaged in over the years.

I will give you a little clue. The following graphic will be included. Guess which number it comes in at:

'Anti-gay group's key figures planning more anti-gay mischief' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Exclusive: Key NOM figures scheming behind the scenes ‘action plan’; called The Princeton Group - In an exclusive by Jeremy Hooper, we find out that key figures behind NOM are planning an 'action plan.' Read this, folks. Read, study, wait. Patience is the key. Let's not get caught unawares again. 

Why Is Allen West Angry At 'Liberal Progressive Socialists And Radical Gay Lefties' This Time? - Allen West thinks that Obama overturned DADT through an executive order. Uh no. Congress voted to repeal it. I loath homophobes but I CANNOT STAND dumb ones.

 Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, Texas Gay Fathers, Denied Legal Parenthood Of Twin Sons - This story will break your heart and hopefully motivate you. 

 Obama: Keep Pressure On Congress To Pass ENDA - You better believe it.

NOM's anti-gay march gains equally anti-gay media sponsor

As the National Organization for Marriage's anti-gay march draws nearer, the organization has gained an "official media sponsor" - the right-wing Washington Times.

Apparently the Times can actually deviate from its busy schedule of  publishing racist junk from Ted Nugent, writing vicious screeds about immigrants, Hilary Clinton, the transgender community, and the lgbt community in general to not only host a live stream of NOM's march but also publish a "commemorative issue" the day after.. One can receive this "commemorative issue" by subscribing to the Times.

How convenient.

And, hanks to an email I received from a facebook buddy who is on NOM's mailing list, take a look at the organization's latest beg for funds (click on letter to read):

The letter claims that the Supreme Court will be watching the march. I seriously doubt it. And I know I won't be, either.

Certainly there will be many of my colleagues watching the live stream and reporting about the nonsense. I will be doing some reporting and posting myself, but as for watching any live stream, it's times like this when I am glad that I have a regular job to attend to.

Religious right 'persecution' deception slammed in new report

Todd Starnes

The most prolific manufacturer and promoter of apocryphal stories of American Christian persecution working today is Fox News reporter Todd Starnes. If a story emerges about a service member punished for his or her Christian beliefs or a schoolchild banned from talking about Christmas, it most likely originated with or was promoted by Starnes. And there’s a good chance the facts have been either severely distorted or completely fabricated.

For an example of how the Starnes myth machine works, take the story of Air Force Sgt. Phillip Monk, “relieved of his duties,” according to Starnes, “after he disagreed with his openly gay commander when she wanted to severely punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality.”

“Christians have to go into the closet,” Monk told Starnes. “We are being robbed of our dignity and respect. We can’t be who we are.” Starnes added: “[I]n essence, Christians are trading places with homosexuals.”

It appears that Monk’s story was being shopped around by his attorneys at Liberty Institute, one of several Christian Right legal groups that devote themselves to digging up and publicizing alleged cases of persecution. The Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice have played a similar role, cheered on by allies in groups such as the Family Research Council (FRC) and the American Family Association (AFA).

The Monk story hit a nerve in a movement still reeling from the 2010 repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning openly gay service members.

After Starnes reported Monk’s tale in August 2013, the story spread like wildfire in the Religious Right. Liberty University official Shawn Akers cited the story to claim that Christians were now the victims of a new “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The AFA’s Bryan Fischer pointed to Monk’s commander to claim that “homosexuals that are in the military” could now “get away with absolutely anything.” Monk was invited to share his tale at a Values Voter Summit panel on the alleged trend of anti-Christian persecution. The Family Research Council produced a tearful video in which Monk told of how he was “reassigned by his commander because of his belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.”

But Monk’s story just wasn’t true. In Starnes’ very first report on Monk, he quoted an Air Force spokesman who explained that Monk hadn’t been punished but had simply come to the end of his assignment. A subsequent Air Force investigation found, according to the Military Times, that “Monk was not removed from his position, but rather moved, as scheduled, to another Lackland unit, an assignment he was notified of in April.”

taken from The Persecution Complex: The Religious Right’s Deceptive Rallying Cry by People for the American Way. The entire report is a must read for those concern with how the religious right is exploiting the ideas of "persecution" and "religious liberty."

'Things the media (and YOU) should look for in NOM's anti-gay march' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

What The Media Should Know About This Week's Anti-Gay "March For Marriage" - Equality Matters comes out with this short, handy guide of what the media (and YOU) should know about NOM's anti-gay march. Let's summarize to wet your appetite to read: 

NOM Grossly Overestimating Attendance 

Church Groups Bussed In To "Visit The Monuments!" 

Anti-Gay Race Baiting 

 Extreme Anti-Gay Speakers 

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Defends His Plans To Speak At Anti-Gay Rally - Speaking of the march, the archbishop claims to be speaking there because of "love." His letter is a hoot. 

 Video: Archbishop Cordileone says gay people should ‘avoid harmful effects’ of homosexuality - Particularly because he seems to forget a little thing called a "paper trail."  

BarbWire Editor Calls Gay Rights Movement A 'Malignant Cancer' Destroying America - Matt Barber and his BarbWire magazine: almost singlehandedly making the case for lgbt equality.

Republicans Remain Silent As Obama Plans To Extend LGBT Employment Protections - They are waiting for their orders from the religious right.

NOM's anti-marriage equality march a serious 'weapon of mass distraction'

As we get closer to the National Organization for Marriage's ridiculous "March 4 Ignoring That We Can't Think of Any Reason To Oppose Marriage Equality in the Courts" on Thursday,  I want folks to remember something.

In spite of all of the flowery words and phrases about "standing for marriage," "religious liberty," and opposing tyranny." In spite of all of the spin from Rick Santorum (when he is not busy trying to "bang the President") or Mike Huckabee, or any of the rest about "children having a right to a mother and a father" (while of course ignoring children in orphanages.) In spite of all you hear, see, and process, I want you to remember one thing:

We are still talking about an organization which peddles lies in order to stop marriage equality; lies which cannot be used in court. Hence the reason for their recent losses and the reason why they are putting on this march to distract.

But don't take my word for it. Remember the words of Marc Mutty, head of the 2009 effort to repeal marriage equality in Maine (an effort which unfortunately succeeded, but was thankfully overturned by the voters in 2012):



Transcript:

We use a lot of hyperbole and I think that's always dangerous," says Mutty during a Yes on 1 strategy session, at the time on leave from his job as public affairs director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine.

"You know, we say things like 'Teachers will be forced to (teach same-sex marriage in schools)!' " he continues. "Well, that's not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn't, you know?"

"No," interjects a woman off-camera. "We don't say that."

"Let's look back at our ads and see what we say," Mutty persists. "And I think we use hyperbole to the point where, you know, it's like 'Geez!' "

NOM funded $2 million of the $3 million raised by Mutty's group. It's one of the things which caused the Maine Ethics Commission to fine the organization $250,000.

Yet another thing the organization will want you not to remember on Thursday.

Psssst! Here is the new lie the anti-gay right will spin about marriage equality

Matt Barber lies about gays (again.)

Arch-homophobe and wannabe mogul of an online "Christian publication" (BarbWire, which can be best described as an extension of his vile psyche) Matt Barber has a column out predicting that churches in America will soon be forced to marry gay couples.

Never mind reading the entire thing because its his usual psycho wannabe John The Baptist babble. However, the first sentence caught my attention and should catch yours:

Churches in Denmark are now compelled, by law, to host same-sex "weddings."

Even on a technical basis, Barber is wrong. I recognized that sentence from an earlier article I posted in my news briefs. At the time, it was Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association spinning this lie:

According to the London Telegraph, a new law passed by the Danish parliament "make(s) it mandatory for all churches to conduct gay marriages." No options, no exceptions, no choice. Homosexuals are to be married wherever they want, regardless of whose conscience is trampled and whose sanctuary is defiled in the process. 

Sarah Jones for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State refuted Fischer:

 While it is certainly true that in Denmark, same-sex couples have a legal right to be married in a church in some cases, Fischer neglects to mention the reason why that is so: Denmark has a state church. The law applies quite specifically to that state church.

“With the legalization of gay marriage, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark [which is the state church], is required to allow same-sex couples to marry in churches,” the Pew Research Center notes in a 2013 explainer on same-sex marriage laws around the world.It’s hardly a blanket rule: Pew goes on to state that other religious groups are exempt from the law.

Catholic churches, for example, aren’t required to host same-sex marriage ceremonies, a fact the Vatican noted just this week. “For the moment we [the Catholic Church] are not worried,” Niels Messerschmidt, a representative of the Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen, told Vatican Radio.

Fischer omitted this crucial fact in his fear mongering, as did Matt Barber.

And how much do you want to bet that if any speaker at the National Organization for Marriage's silly march later this week brings up this law (because they probably will), the truth behind the meme they will spin about "churches are being forced to marry gay couples in Denmark will magically elude them?

The sad part about the entire lie is that in the comments section of One News Now where Barber's mess is published, the true story is pointed out. However it still doesn't dissuade the notion from some folks that gays are plotting to force churches to marry them.

On that note, the entire blame for this lie can't be shouldered by Fischer or Barber.

When you have people so willing to scared in spite of being told that their fears are groundless,  who can blame Barber, Fischer, or any anti-gay spokesperson for taking advantage of their stupidity?

'Obama to sign executive order protecting lgbt employees of federal contractors' & other Monday midday news briefs

President Obama To Sign Executive Order Protecting LGBT Employees Of Federal Contractors - This came in! About time.

 CNBC Anchor Confronts Rick Perry About Remark Comparing Gays To Alcoholics - Proving yet again that those who make anti-gay statements just can't handle it when questioned on their comments. 

Ingraham: I Don't Know How Courts Could Possibly Allow Gay Marriage Without Allowing Polyamorous Marriage - Someone should ask her does she feel that way about her gay brother's relationship?

  'Old school prude' AFA president calls Michael Sam kiss 'gross,' 'immoral, unhealthy and unnatural' - Good grief, is the American Family Association's Tim Wildmon still mad at the Michael Sam kiss? One wonders if he is just upset that no one ever kissed him like that.

 Regnerus Study Backer Acknowledges That Marriage Equality Creates Family Stability - I love my lgbt brothers and sisters but I hate it when we let gold plate items like this pass without comment.  

Federal Employees’ Insurance Will No Longer Be Required To Exclude Transgender Coverage - Nice! 

 Transgender Activist Joanna Blackhart Recalls The Challenges Of Coming Out In College - An excellent article.

Anti-gay group's 'March 4 Confusing the Issue' is this Thursday

I am so looking forward to the National Organization for Marriage's upcoming March for Marriage this Thursday.

And I say that with tongue placed firmly in cheek and with a huge amount of sarcasm.

NOM has been decimated with a string of embarrassing public losses lately with regards to anti-marriage equality amendments being struck down in a number of states as well as losing lawsuits against the IRS and being made to paid for breaking Maine's nondisclosure law.

The organization is hoping that the march will give it some momentum. From the American Family Association's phony news source, One News Now:

The National Organization for Marriage's second annual March for Marriage is set for Thursday, June 19, in D.C. Given the climate in the country over the past months, spokesman Chris Plante tells OneNewsNow this year's march is all the more important. “It will be a huge statement to the U.S. Supreme Court, to the Congress and to the mainstream media that Americans still stand for marriage as one man and one woman and that every child deserves both a mother and a father,” he says. Thousands of marriage supporters from throughout the country will take to the streets after a rally where they will hear from noted speakers such as Senator Santorum, Governor Huckabee and many others. “It will be a day in which America actually takes a stand and tries to turn the clock back on marriage and turn back the tide of judicial activism that has been occurring where individual justices are imposing their own individual wills on entire states in redefining marriage,” he explains. For those who can't attend, National Organization for Marriage is conducting a virtual march on the event’s website. People can hold local marriage rallies or at state capitals to make it clear that they also stand for traditional marriage. 

 Virtual marches? Does that mean if I log onto the event's webpage even if I don't support their efforts, NOM will count me as one of its supporters?

Seriously though, I have a few predictions.

1. The march will be spun as a huge success. 

2. It will gain a good degree of media attention, particularly because - and this is my personal opinion - NOM will officially call for and begin working towards a constitutional amendment outlawing marriage equality.

3. But in the long run, it won't change a thing with regards to NOM's losses or the momentum swing towards marriage equality. That reason is simple. We are in the court phase of marriage equality. By attempting to push a constitutional amendment, NOM no doubt hopes to push this argument back to the phase where people will be voting after being influenced by horror stories of gays recruiting children, etc. It ain't going to happen. NOM obviously did not prepare for the court phase of the marriage equality fight, where coherent arguments always take the place over horror stories, unproven anecdotes, and mindbogglingly stupid arguments about marriage "uniting the two halfs of mankind."

It reminds me of a story I heard about when Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier teamed up to make the movie Marathon Man.  Apparently, Hoffman had stayed up all night because he was supposed to be do a scene in which his character looked tired and worn out. When Olivier heard about it, he simply told Hoffman, "you should try acting, dear boy. It's much easier."

Of course the story isn't true, but it speaks to the heart of NOM's folly with regards to this march. If the organization had any coherent arguments it could supply in the courtroom, this upcoming public ceremony of mass flagellation wouldn't have been necessary in the first place.

Know Your LGBT History - Lawrence vs. Texas - Sodomy laws overturned

It was the case which overturned the sodomy laws - laws which were used to persecute lgbts or keep us in check - and opened the floodgates. If someone writes a proper notation of American lgbt history, they would point to Lawrence vs. Texas as the case which led to many other fights, particularly the one over marriage equality:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts: 

'First lgbts were 'Nazis,' now we are 'demonic'" & other Friday midday news briefs

BarbWire's Gina Miller Says The Push For Gay Rights Is Repulsive, 'Demonic,' And 'Born Of Hell' - Earlier this week, the anti-gay folks were labeling us as Nazis. Now we are "demonic." People get so angry when anti-gay talking heads say stuff like this. I think those who do aren't aware of their uses. I would love to see the writers and editors of the right-wing BarbWire testifying in front of a Congressional hearing. If anything, it would be a paaaarty! 

New Bill Calls For Creation Of First U.S. Special Envoy For LGBT Rights - I'm all for it. 

 LGBT activist wins Nevada house nomination - Sweet! If she wins the election, she would be Nevada's first transgender elected official. And she is Republican too. Not the scary kind. 

 US embassy in Tel Aviv faces internet backlash for raising pride flag - The brave generally face criticism from the ignorant.  

Hallmark Releases Gay Father's Day ECard - Not bad, not bad at all!

Mat Staver continues ugly rhetoric days after misleading Congress

Mat Staver

Definition of the phrase "totally devoid of shame" - lying to Congress and then returning to your radio program to repeat the rhetoric which led you to lie in the first place, complete with analogies to Hitler murdering Jewish people.

Or to save time, why not put a picture of Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver next to the phrase.
'
From Right Wing Watch:

On today's "Faith and Freedom" radio broadcast, Mat Staver and Matt Barber discussed the situation involving the baker in Colorado who is vowing to go to jail rather than comply with an order to stop discriminating against gay customers by refusing to provide them with wedding cakes, saying that forcing him to bake gay wedding cakes would be like forcing Jesus to build a bed for an adulterer or a gallows for Hitler upon which to hang Jews:

Transcript: 

 Barber: So, to make that comparison would be like saying the adulteress goes to Jesus and says 'you're a carpenter, I want you to make a frame for my adultery bed, for me and then men I'm committing adultery with to commit our sinful acts.' And it would be like some tribunal coming to Jesus and saying you're a carpenter, you don't have a right to refuse to make this bed for the adulteress because you make beds for people who are actually married ...

Staver: It's like a carpenter who [is told] you can build this house for this person or you can build this gallows for Hitler. And you can use your talents, we're going to force you to use the talents to build the gallows for Hitler and we're going to hang Jews on the gallows.

'Archbishop attending NOM rally, wants constitutional amendment' & other Thursday afternoon news briefs

Lawmakers ask S.F. archbishop not to attend anti-gay marriage rally - Not only is Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone attending and probably speaking at NOM's rally but he also wants a constitutional amendment outlawing marriage equality. Pay attention folks because this is where NOM is headed. There is probably no other option for the organization. Don't take it lightly until we beat them back. 

Rick Perry's Comparison Of Homosexuality To Alcoholism Is Nothing New From The Anti-Gay Right - In case you didn't hear, Rick Perry compared homosexuality to alcoholism. These folks know nothing about originality.

 Rotten In Denmark?: AFA’s Fischer Distorts Danish Same-Sex Marriage Law To Scare U.S. Fundamentalists - Bryan Fischer would like about his ethnicity even if he couldn't get away with it. 

Watch: Anderson Cooper Holds Texas GOP Lawmaker Accountable For Supporting ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy - Whip his ass, Anderson! 

 Wisconsin AG Threatens to Prosecute County Clerks Over Same Sex Marriage Licenses - It's an empty threat.

Anti-gay right has disturbing fetish for labeling lgbts as Nazis

 An ugly comparison of gays and Nazis from the right.

Editor's note - today's news briefs may either be canceled or come later due to personal business. I encourage folks, after reading this post, to check out the post Did anti-gay spokesman Mat Staver lie to Congressional committee?

Yesterday, I posted how the Anti-Defamation League condemned the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins for implying that gays want to start a "Holocaust" against Christians.

The ADL's president, Abraham Foxman, demanded that Perkins apologize for trivializing the Holocaust. However, as Right Wing Watch tacitly pointed out, if Perkins were to recognize his error and apologize, he wouldn't be the only one who had to.

I've noticed that lately, there has been a lot of anti-gay groups and spokespeople who have compared lgbts to Nazis and conjured up visions of how they will harm Christians if given the chance. Thanks to Right Wing Watch, here are just a few:

Alan Keyes Warns Gay Marriage Leads To A 'Totalitarian' Nazi-Like Government 

Right-Wing Pundits Call Gay Rights Advocates 'Rainbowshirts,' 'Terrorists' And 'The New Nazis' 

Rick Wiles Warns Adolf Hitler's 'Race Of Super Gay Male Soldiers' Is Taking Over America

 ". . . it’s getting harder every day to tell our modern homo-fascists from the Nazis of the 1930s and 40s. “Gay”-stapo or Gestapo, could somebody please tell me the difference?" - Jeff Allen, editor of the right-wing BarbWire

 "In Hollywood’s recent theatrical release of The Monuments Men, the storyline follows an Army unit that was guided by a group of seven museum directors, curators, and art historians as they engaged in a gripping search to recover priceless pieces of art before they were destroyed by the Nazis. Likewise, the hostile homosexual goose-steppers are seeking to destroy marriage, the masterpiece of God’s handiwork. As dedicated Christians, we too must metaphorically endeavor to recover and restore this infinitely valuable work of art before it’s been marred beyond recognition by the “gay”-stapo."" - Jeff Allen of BarbWire (again)

Did anti-gay spokesman Mat Staver lie to Congressional committee?

Mat Staver

This was just brought to my attention and you bet your sweet bippies that I am going to push it.

It seems that Liberty University's Mat Staver's recent testimony in front of a Congressional committee has become more than he bargained for.  The online publication Raw Story is now asking did he tell the committee a lie:

At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the head of a conservative legal group may have misled the committee when he said that he does not support the implementation of Russian-style antigay laws in the United States.

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on “The State of Religious Liberty in the United States” to study the rise of “religious freedom” laws in some U.S. states, under which people of faith cannot be compelled to perform their jobs or provide goods and services if to do so would conflict with their personal beliefs.

 . . .  Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) asked Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, “There are certain antigay laws they have in Russia. You, I believe, have advocated for something similar to that, have you not? Do you support the Russian antigay laws?”

Staver replied, ”What I am concerned about is having people of Christian, uh, Judeo-Christian beliefs be forced to participate in a ceremony or an event that celebrates something that is contrary to their religious beliefs.”

FRC's Tony Perkins comes under fire for implying that gays want to start a 'Holocaust' against Christians

FRC's Tony Perkins

Thank you Anti-Defamation League and Abraham Foxman for doing what should be done on more occasions - calling out Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council for their odious comparisons of gays to Nazis.

From Equality Matters:

On June 6, Perkins blasted a Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruling finding that a baker had violated the state's anti-discrimination law by refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple,  asking on his radio program Washington Watch,  "I'm beginning to think, are re-education camps next? When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?" Perkins' remarks echoed his statement in April that the LGBT movement "reminds me of Nazi Germany."

In a June 10 statement, ADL President Abraham Foxman denounced Perkins' comments, calling them "offensive and inappropriate":

Tony Perkins' invocation of the Holocaust in his statement referring to a judge's finding that a baker unlawfully discriminated against gay customers is offensive and inappropriate.

There is no comparison between contemporary American political issues and the actions of Hitler's regime during the Holocaust. Such inappropriate analogies only serve to trivialize the Holocaust and are deeply offensive to Jews and other survivors, as well as those Americans who fought valiantly against the Nazis in World War II. We urge Perkins to apologize and to refrain from using Holocaust imagery to make his point.

Don't count on Perkins to apologize. In his version of the Bible, humility and the admittance of wrongdoing have probably been crossed out. No matter. Tune in to this blog tomorrow morning because I'm working on something special with regards to Perkins, the religious right, and their love of comparing lgbts to Nazis.

'Anti-gay talking head's Congressional testimony faces more negative scrutiny' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

House Committee Invites Witness To Go On Anti-Gay Rant, Because Religious Freedom - The Huffington Post invites more scrutiny on Liberty University's Mat Staver's ridiculous testimony on 'religious liberty.' You know it used to be that anti-gay talking heads would get away with spouting distortions in front of Congress. Not anymore. But here is the sad thing. Will the lgbt community stop fighting itself to take advantage of this or will it be up to the bloggers (again) to raise awareness and sound the call? 

Beck: "Thought Police" Prevent Me From Saying 'Fag The New Nigger' - Oh my heart bleeds for that phony.

Oklahoma Candidate Says Gays Should Be Stoned - Uh say whaaaaat?!  

New Southern Baptist Convention pres. claims homosexuality is Satan's con job - And here we go again . . .  

Myrtle Beach passes far-reaching LGBT protections - I was saving the best news for last. THAT'S Myrtle Beach, SOUTH CAROLINA!!

NOM isn't happy over marriage equality in Wisconsin

To say the National Organization for Marriage isn't happy that marriage equality has come to Wisconsin is an understatement. From its president, Brian Brown:

"Again, an individual, activist judge is legislating from the bench and trampling on the sovereign will of the people of Wisconsin.This has got to stop, and the only way it will is for the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and protect the democratic process and the rights of the tens of millions of voters who have declared that they want their state's social policy to define marriage as it has been known for millennia — the union of one man and one woman." 

Oh stop whining, Brian. It's not anyone's fault that the horror stories and fake homilies you all used to pass these laws can't stand up in a court of law.

Anti-gay lies about 'threats to religious freedom' exposed in front of Congress

This post is dedicated to the intelligent but misguided colleagues of mine who complain when anti-gay spokespeople are given a platform to spread their homophobic lies.

You cannot stop lies by covering the mouth of those who tell them. You only give them power through pity. As the following post, courtesy of Right Wing Watch proves, by all means, give anti-gay spokespeople a platform to spread their lies. But not a platform which offers no challenge. Let people like Tony Perkins, or in this case, Mat Staver, speak. But make sure they are challenged by someone who knows their stuff such as Rep. Jerry Nadler:

Testifying before a House committee today about supposed threats to religious freedom in the U.S., Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver struggled to defend his support for allowing businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

 New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler grilled Staver about his view that it would be wrong for a wedding photographer to discriminate against a Jewish couple because of a religious objection, but that the photographer is free to discriminate against a same-sex couple.

 First, Staver tried to avoid the question by saying a photographer wouldn’t refuse to work for a Jewish wedding, but ultimately agreed that such anti-Jewish discrimination is in fact a violation of the law.

 “I don’t see any difference at all” between refusing a Jewish couple and a gay couple, Nadler said.

He continued: “I’m holding out myself in commerce and my religious belief is that I don’t want black people or Jewish people or gay people in my restaurant and the federal government says that is discrimination, is that a violation of the freedom of religion?”

 “No,” Staver conceded.

Public condemnations are messy, but in the case of anti-gay groups and spokespeople, it is something which is very necessary. You see, even when their anti-gay propaganda is refuted on paper,  they tend to repeat it as if nothing happened. They tend to get away with this a lot.

Public condemnation and exposure is one of the only few actions which they have a difficult time ignoring. It not only exposes flimsiness of their arguments but also their lack of integrity. Don't think so? Ask Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family about the 2011 incident in which Sen. Al Franken called him out during his testimony for distorting a study.

I doubt he will want to talk about it.

'NOM supporter caught trying to deceive about upcoming march' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

NY state senator filling #March4Marriage buses without actually mentioning march itself - So a NOM supporter, State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., is pulling a fraud to get participation in its upcoming march. Not surprising but I seriously have to give props to the blogs who have been on top of this. The work that lgbt blogs have put in to expose anti-gay distortions should never be forgotten in the annals of lgbt history. 

Brace Yourselves: Marriage Equality’s Going To Have A Rougher Ride In The Courts From Here On Out - Bring it on. The fight for equality isn't supposed to be easy.  

New Jersey Judge: Ex-Gay Therapists May Be Liable For Damages To Former Clients - While the Texas Republican Party put support of ex-gay therapy in its plank, New Jersey could tear its playhouse down.  

Dispelling Myths, Misconceptions and Lies About Gender-Nonconforming Children - A very appropriate article and an excellent push back to anti-gay propaganda on the issue.

FRC's Tony Perkins exploits Bergdahl controversy to make tacky attack on judges

I've heard of throwing tantrums, but what the Family Research Council president Tony Perkins recently said about Wisconsin judge Barbara Crabb (the justice ruling against Wisconsin's anti-marriage equality law) was just plain nasty:

Tony Perkins

While Americans are glued to the story of one high-profile deserter, the courts seem packed with them -- lawless judges eager to walk away from the Constitution and the oath they swore to uphold it. Unfortunately, the country is all too familiar with one of those activists, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, who's been tied to the National Day of Prayer, which she tried -- unsuccessfully -- to strike it down. Obviously, Crabb hasn't learned anything since her rogue days in 2010, when a higher court rebuked the ideologue for her obvious political agenda. Now, the Wisconsin judge is back to her old ways, ruling late Friday afternoon that natural marriage belongs in the same garbage pile as public prayer. Like her past outrages, this ruling makes a case for same-sex "marriage" absolutely devoid of religious or legal authority.

To make matters worse, we don't even know all of the facts behind the situation of the person Perkins compares Crabb to, i.e. Bowe Bergdahl.  To call Bergdahl a deserter without knowing all of the facts is vile and totally un-Christian. Clearly Perkins is exploiting a hot controversy in a pitiful attempt to smear Crabb.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Perkins and company, the case in Wisconsin is no different from the other cases in which anti-marriage equality laws have been struck down. It was easy for them to get people to vote for these laws by spreading vicious lies about lgbt or useless homilies such as "every child has a right to a mother and a father." However, none of these arguments can be used as a defense in the courts.

So when they lose in court cases, Perkins and company throw extreme tantrums, making sure to call the ruling judges everything BUT a "child of God" in a sad effort to obscure how empty their arguments against marriage equality were in the first place.

Even though it's enjoyable when fake Christians like Perkins show their true faces when things don't go their way, this act of feigned shock and outrage they put on when they lose marriage equality cases is beginning to become tiresome and redundant. And extremely offensive.

Take a look at the 'Christians' who support NOM and its upcoming march

With the National Organization for Marriage planning its big march (March4Marriage) and taking the guise of a group whose followers "supports marriage between a man and a woman," the flyer below, comprised by the site NOManiacs, shows otherwise.

'How NOM doomed itself to collapse' & other Friday midday news briefs

How the National Organization for Marriage Doomed Itself to Collapse - According to Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern, the National Organization for Marriage is imploding before us all for a simple reason which has nothing to do with homophobia. While I don't like to pronounce the end of any anti-lgbt equality group before they are in the grave, Stern makes an excellent point. However, I have to disagree with him on this point:

After its success in California, the group took its tactics on the road, successfully batting away marriage equality in Maine and North Carolina while exacting revenge on judges who dared to uphold legal equality. Through these campaigns, NOM rewrote the modern anti-gay playbook, demeaning the LGBTQ community as promiscuous, predatory, diseased, and disordered. 

That's simply not true. NOM merely followed the same playbook that Anita Bryant and others did when attempting to defeat pro-lgbt laws and such. It's an old playbook and I wish the community would get serious about analyzing it in a manner which can broken down in simple terms. Wait a minute. Some of us have.

In other news

  Seriously? What Marriage Equality Opponents Are Saying - Another reason why anti-marriage equality groups are losing is because you simply can't introduce these arguments in a court of law.

Tony Perkins Says Gay Rights Advocates Want Anti-Christian Holocaust, Will 'Start Rolling Out The Boxcars' - Have you ever heard of something so stupid that it refutes itself? Say hello to THIS argument.  

Edie Windsor Now Plans To Focus Her Efforts On Homeless LGBT Youth - The more I hear about Edie Windsor, the more I absolutely LOVE THAT WOMAN!

'Professional ex-gay industry' to hold 2nd 'awareness month'

Remember that lovely big flop of an event last year - 'Ex-Gay Awareness Month - which got canceled because of a lack of interest, and then rescheduled with the same disastrous results?

Guess what? It's back:

Say what you want, but with a line-up like this, I don't think they will have a lot of success, but lawd, the speeches will be  . . . . something

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper.

Video demonstrates why anti-gay activist is called 'Porno Pete'

If anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera hates it when we call him "Porno Pete" then why does he give us such juicy reasons such as what he said in the following video courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

'NOM loses suit against IRS' & other Thursday midday news briefs

US District Court judge essentially ends NOM's ridiculous IRS lawsuit - And I almost forgot. NOM also lost its lawsuit against the IRS. You will remember that the group accused the IRS of leaking its financial information. That's two losses in two days for NOM.

Another view of NOM's loss courtesy of The New Civil Rights Movement

Texas Republican Party Drafts New Platform Advocating For Ex-Gay Therapy - Next they will be supporting lobotomies.  

High School Principal Comes Out As Gay While At Pride Event With Students - Good for him! Now in terms of being truthful in the face of nonsense, this man is a role model. 

 Fox's Hasselbeck On Court Order To End Anti-Gay Discrimination: "Is That Freedom?" - Uh yesssssss.

 Audio: Richard Land equates serving a gay couple with serving a KKK induction ceremony - I won't say that I've heard everything because give these folks one minute and they always manage to top their present verbal nonsense with a new humdinger.

Anti-gay article refutes its own claim about pride parade

On the American Family Association's fake news site, One News Now, there is a story alleging about "immoral activities" during a gay pride parade.

The headline is provocative:

Where were police during vulgar 'gay pride' parade? In it, of course

The charge - that the police were present while gays during a pride parade were supposedly being vulgar but did nothing about it - is also there:

A traditional values leader in Ohio found out where the police are when immoral activities are happening in homosexual pride parades. At issue are homosexual pride parades in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio although they happen nationwide. Phil Burress, who heads Citizens for Community Values, tells OneNewsNow that what occurs in the parades shouldn't be described, and certainly children shouldn't be exposed to it, he says. "You have women and men parading around in their underwear, and in Cincinnati it's not near as bad as it is in Columbus," he says. "In Columbus, women have actually gone topless before, and the signs and things are just totally inappropriate."

And the article actually includes a video of a Cincinnati gay pride parade . . . and that's where everything goes south for the article in rapid fashion. The video doesn't show any supposed vulgarities during the gay pride parade. In fact, the video contradicts the claims.

After all, who would walk around in their underwear in the rain:



I live for refuting religious right lies about lgbts. But there is a special joy which comes when they do the job for me.

Supreme Court torpedoes NOM's Oregon marriage stay request

This just in from Buzzfeed:

The U.S. Supreme Court has given NOM's Brian Brown a new reason to cry

The Supreme Court denied the National Organization for Marriage’s attempt to stop same-sex couples from marrying in Oregon.

NOM has appealed the trial judge’s decision not to let the group, which is opposed to same-sex couples’ marriage rights, to intervene in the lawsuit challenging Oregon’s ban on such marriages.

The appeal of the intervention denial now continues at the 9th Circuit, but same-sex couples will continue to be able to marry during the time that is happening.

The 9th Circuit, which is hearing that appeal, denied NOM’s request to stop the trial court decision striking down the ban from going into effect during the appeal. NOM then went to Justice Anthony Kennedy to ask him to stop the marriages while that appeal is pending before the 9th Circuit.

Kennedy, who hears procedural matters brought to the court from the 9th Circuit, referred the request to the full court, which denied the request without comment on Tuesday. NOM’s appeal of the denial to intervene is the only matter left pending in the case because Oregon state officials had not fought the lawsuit, having agreed with the plaintiffs that the ban is unconstitutional. They had said that they would not appeal the decision if U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane struck down the ban.

''Christian' writer picking on transgender child' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

BarbWire Pundit Says Transgender Boy Is Possessed By Demons - Because the "Christian" thing to do is always pick on the transgender child.  

Um, not sure I'd use the phrase 'drive a wedge' when defending a NOM event - NOM's fake black civil rights group is getting serious pushback on its video comparing marriage equality to slavery and segregation. Good. 

Top Christian Activist: Gay Rights Transforming US Into ‘Totalitarianism’ Of Hitler’s Germany - Oh yeah. You can just see it by the way folks like Tony Perkins are free to make such evil comparisons. After all, the Nazis were always one for NOT viciously stamping out those who complain about them.  

Southern Baptist Minister Explains Why He Changed His Mind On Homosexuality - Progress! Sweet, sweet progress! 

 On Fox, The Gay Marriage Revolution Has Not Been Televised - Ignore marriage equality victories, but if Fox News can push a false story of gays supposedly "persecuting" folks, stand back!