Sia honors victims of Orlando Massacre in wonderful video

Recording artist Sia honors the victims of the Orlando Massacre with this powerful video to her song, 'The Greatest.' 

The clip starts on a black screen with the words #WEAREYOURCHILDREN printed across. Then, we see a crying Ziegler wiping paint under her eyes, as if crying rainbow tears, or perhaps applying warpaint for battle. A large group of kids lies on the ground below her, motionless, and she begins screaming (though we don’t hear her), urging the kids to get up.

Once the music starts, the group begins moving in unison, with Maddie leading the charge. Attitude reports that the children represent the victims killed in the deadliest mass shooting in America’s history ― “49 dancers for 49 lives lost,” as the magazine put it. With lyrics like, “Don’t give up, I won’t give up / Don’t give up, no no no” and “Running out of breath but I / oh I I got stamina,” it’s hard not to draw those parallels.

The kids dance through an old house, eventually coming together as one group. They jump up and down, moving together as a single entity (much like individuals would at a club as music blares through the speakers) before collapsing to the ground, leaving behind the haunting visual of bodies on the floor.

How low will NC Gov. Pat McCrory sink to get a second term?

Behind in the polls, NC Gov Pat McCrory is relying on the old religious right tactic of fear to get folks to vote for him.

Never mind that the ad targets transgender children by implying that they are predators in defense of that awful HB2 law he passed, i.e. the same law which is probably the reason why he has a strong chance of being a one-term governor.

First his re-election campaign exploits a victim of child molestation to attack the transgender community  and now this. With at least two more months left, I'm scared to think how low can McCrory sink:




Hat tip to The New Civil Rights Movement.

Trump a featured speaker at upcoming summit of extreme anti-lgbt groups

Trump to put on the mantle of morality this weekend?

Those who continue to claim that Trump is a friend to the lgbt community deserves a swift kick.  Trump will be a featured speaker at the Family Research Council's "Values Voter Summit," which will be held this weekend.

The organization hosting the program, anti-lgbt hate group the Family Research Council, bragged earlier last month about attaining Trump as a speaker:

 The organizations gathering together for this mess have always claimed that they have been unfairly attacked for their "personal Christian beliefs" rather than the untrue and ugly claims they have made about the lgbt community. According to Right Wing Watch, this is a lie:

It's always about fear with the anti-lgbt right

In the 10 years I have been blogging, the religious right have decreased its reliance on junk and cherry-picked science to denigrate the lgbt community, but the central exploitation of fear still remains.

Case in point - a bill in Pennsylvania, which has a good chance of passing, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the already existing state nondiscrimination ordinance law. It sounds simple, but the American Family Association fake new site, One News Now, is spinning the bill into a spooky "bathroom bondoogle" attack against the transgender community. It also is claiming that the law has negative consequence for churches, even while admitting that the law has a religious exemption

It even has a poll question, which further exploits this notion:

Junk science or no junk science, with the religious right, it's always about fear.

'That time Mike Pence spread lies about 'gay sex' . . .' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Mike Pence and gay sex . . .

Journal by Pence-helmed foundation described gay sex in graphic detail - See, children. If you spread lies about gay sex, there are no repercussions. You too can go on to be elected to Congress, serve as governor, and be a vice presidential candidate. THAT is the main reason why more needs to be done to not only refute anti-lgbt propaganda but also hold those who spread it in the present and past accountable.  

You Must Read This Amazingly Graphic Gay Sex Article Mike Pence’s Journal Once Published - More about the article.

Hobby Lobby Redux: Transgender Discrimination in Michigan - Here we go again.  

The 'Black, Queer, Feminist' Legal Trailblazer You've Never Heard Of - It's sad to think about all of the folks lgbt history tends to leave out. We can't all be flashy entertainers.  

Phyllis Schlafly, One of History's Worst Homophobes, Dies at 92 - Let's forget this woman's true legacy. 

 Jehovah’s Witnesses new tactic in spreading ‘anti gay’ message - In London but still a drag.

Wacky reactions to SCOTUS marriage equality ruling revisited (in honor of Phyllis)

Anti-lgbt and all-around conservative hagstorm Phyllis Schlafly passed away yesterday at 92. I won't crack any jokes about her age, her life, or the fact that even though she had a gay son, she bent over backwards to be nasty to us. I will just revisit the wackiest reactions to last year's SCOTUS ruling for marriage equality just as a way of demonstrating how yet again the lgbt community has survived and thrived whilst another enemy of our equality is gone:

And then there is my personal favorite:

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters celebrates 10th year

Happy 10th year anniversary to this blog!!

Tuesday, September 6 will mark the 10th anniversary of this blog. It's come a long way since being than an idea I had to pump up knowledge of a book I was self-publishing. 

For the record, the book was somewhat of a disaster, but this blog has existed on its own to break barriers, get a bit of acclaim and a few awards, as well as put a great spotlight on a issue we've long needed to discuss - how the religious right and morality groups use junk science, cherry-picked science, and outright lies to create a pattern of deceit against the lgbt community. This pattern is then used to manufacture reasons to deny us equality under the law. 

I like to think that I've done well to expose these lies and the entities who tell them. I also like to think that I've made history in my own little way as one of the many tireless lgbt activists and independent news figures. We've all  come a long way from 2006 and have gotten so many victories because of our efforts.

 I've certainly learned a lot about my community and myself. And it will be something I hope to continue  the next 10 years.  

The following is the first post I published here and reading it always pleases me. It reminds me of where this blog is now in comparison to where it began. It also reminds me that anyone willing to work and sacrifice for the better of his or her community will always succeed in their goals.

 There are a bunch of organizations in this country who thrive on ignorance, fear, and a sense of entitlement.

They refer to themselves as "pro family" and even members of the gay community regard them as the religious right


With all due respect, I don't see them as that. They are an anti-gay industry who seeks to gain political power by building on the religious beliefs and ignorance of people of faith. And they have been pretty successful.

Central to this success are their so-called studies on the gay community. In order to prove that gays and lesbians should not have any protection of laws, they have created a written and oral pattern of deception that is not only blatant in its attempts but shameful in its audacity. In their zeal to prove the worst about the gay community, the anti-gay industry runs roughshod over science and truth. They have created a houses of pseudo-scientific studies based on distortions, lies, headless monsters, and legitimate studies taken out of context , which are then pushed by fake experts, Ph.D.s, conservative columnists and bloggers, and ignorant people of faith all willing to sacrifice their integrity on the altar of an alleged higher calling.

We know the claims these studies make:

gays have a short life span
gays molest children at a higher level than heterosexuals
lesbians abuse their partners at a high level
gays are more violent and are prone to crimes
gays are promiscuous and cannot handle the concept of marriage.

For two years, I have studied the methodologies of so-called "pro family" groups (i.e. Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, the Traditional Values Coalition, etc) and am glad to say that their claims are rooted in lies, outright deceptions, and legitimate studies with portions cherry picked out.

In 2007, I will publish my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, detailing just what how the anti-gay industry propagandizes about the gay community. Through this blog, I will publish some of my findings and update everyone as to the progress of my book. I will update this blog on a weekly basis.

Now I must emphasis that I am not attacking anyone's religion. I respect a Christian's right to believe that homosexuality is an abomination. I also respect the right of the Boys Scouts of America to prohibit gays from serving as members. Of course I also believe that if the organization had any integrity at all, it should refuse any form of public monies because some of this money is derived from gay sources via taxes. And isn't accepting money from those who you feel will not conform to your moral code just as bad as allowing them in your group.

But I digress.

What I am saying through my book and my blog is that distortions and lies in the name of God are still distortions and lies. And anyone who knowingly uses them and can still refer to themselves as a person of faith needs to examine themselves. 

Editor's note - I will be celebrating my blog's 10th anniversary with a September 17th party. Pictures will be posted.

New anti-lgbt 'study' latest in religious right habit of cherry-picking science

The anti-gay right has terrible habit of cherry-picking science

Recently, I've written several posts about a supposed new study which disputes the idea that people are born gay or transgender. The supposed study, published by Drs. Lawrence Mayer and Paul McHugh, has been pushed by members of the anti-lgbt industry as a supposed breakthrough and a new development with regards to the lgbt orientation.

However,  others were quick to point out how its credibility is damaged by the motivations its publishers and authors. Last month, The Daily Beast published an article detailing the extensive anti-lgbt bias of one of the authors, McHugh.

On Monday, Dean Hamer, Ph.D. and scientist emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, blasted the report in an issue of The Advocate:

The article claims to be “a careful summary and an up-to-date explanation of research — from the biological, psychological, and social sciences — related to sexual orientation and gender identity.” It claims to show sexual orienation is chosen and not fixed, and that gay people are not "born gay." In truth, it is a selective and outdated collection of references and arguments aimed at confusing rather than clarifying our understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity.

 . . . The authors' review of the role of genes in sexual orientation, the area of my own research, is revealing of their methodology. Of the six studies using proper probability sampling methods that have been published in the peer-reviewed literature in the past 16 years, they include only one — and it just so happens to be the one with the lowest estimate of genetic influence of the entire set.

They then discuss, at great length, an obscure study of 7th- to 12th-graders, published in a sociology journal, that doesn't even measure sexual orientation, instead relying on a single question about “romantic attraction.” It's an odd choice of articles to review given Mayer and McHugh's emphasis on proper trait measurement; perhaps they were driven by the fact that it failed to find any heritability, thus supporting their claim that nobody is “born gay.” A very different conclusion was reached by a careful meta-analysis of all the available twin data, recently published in a large review that Mayer and McHugh fail to even mention.

Hamer's accusations isn't the first time that various members of anti-lgbt and conservative groups have been called out for scientific cherry-picking when making their case against lgbt equality.  Over the years, I've catalogued a few incidents:

In 2012, Seton Hall professor Dr. Theodora Sirota complained that Rick Fitzgibbons of  the NARTH (the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) misused her work to make the case that children in same sex households are not raised better than children "in stable homes with a mother and a father."

In 2011, Tom Minnery, a spokesman from Focus on the Family, was dressed down by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) during a Congressional hearing for deliberately misrepresenting a study. Minnery initially used the study to claim, as Fitzgibbons did in his misrepresentation, that same-sex households are inferior to two parent mother/father households.

In 2010, John Horgan, a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, also cried foul about how his work was being distorted.

Other incidents:

Black pastor interviewing Trump involved in controversial video

In his sloppy pursuit of the White House, GOP candidate Donald Trump is getting so many groups angry at him.

You can now add black Republicans to the list. According to Buzzfeed, Trump actually has them enraged regarding an interview he will be having with a black pastor. Initially this was spun as Trump coming to a predominantly black church in a bid to reach African-American voters. But then, it turned into a simple interview. Now, it has become something absolutely comical:

On Saturday, Donald Trump will sit down for an interview with Wayne T. Jackson, a pastor in Michigan as part of his tentative black outreach efforts — and black Republicans are fuming.

For one thing, they say, Jackson isn’t conservative and doesn’t support Trump. But Jackson also presided over a ordination ritual some time ago that became a source of viral controversy.

The video published in 2013 shows Jackson mounting two male bishops on the ground as part of an “consecration” ceremony; the video drew scrutiny, with some criticizing it as sexual, and others saying it wasn’t sexual, but had no place in the church.

That would be this video below:

In the ceremony, Jackson tells the men, “You got to be buried… you got to die.” With the contemporary gospel song “I Give Myself Away” playing in the background, the men first laid face down on the ground. In the video depicting the ritual, Jackson circles them a number of times, appearing to grab their ankles. When the two men were covered, face down, in white sheets, Jackson then covered them in another red sheet, and promptly laid on top of each of them, one at a time, to the audience’s approval. After being helped up, Jackson removed the sheets.

Jackson defended the act to Fox 2 Detroit as nonsexual, saying the bishops were being consecrated under his authority. “For somebody to take that and try to use that, you know, in a perverted way, we pray for them. We walk in love,” he said in an interview with Fox 2 Detroit. He lambasted detractors, saying, “if you’re ignorant about something, you need to shut up.”

The black Republicans quoted in the Buzzfeed article saying that Trump choosing to be interviewed by Jackson, in light of the fact that the pastor does not support Trump and the controversial video, shows that the GOP candidate is not taking them seriously.

If they feel that way about Trump, they need to take a number and get in line.

'Woman using law Mike Pence pushed as a defense against child abuse charge' & other Thur. midday news briefs

Woman arrested for child abuse citing Pence's religious freedom law as a defense.

Woman charged with child abuse uses Indiana Religious Freedom Law as defense - Another case of an anti-lgbt law having consequences far beyond what some folks think. And no, this woman was not simply "disciplining" her child. She put 37 bruises on the body of this seven-year-old using a coat hanger and then cited the Bible. Bang up job pushing that law, Mike Pence! 

New children’s song explains bathrooms and bigots in best possible way - I LOVE it!! 

 Texas Attorney General Jumps Into Lawsuits Over North Carolina’s Anti-Transgender Law - Apparently someone needs to send a copy of the above song to THIS guy.

 Trump’s Sales Pitch To LGBT Community: Islamophobia And T-Shirts - Please! We want more than a t-shirt, jerk! 

 Clinton pushed LGBT rights, despite foundation’s anti-gay donors - And she got criticized for it, no doubt. That's all they do.

This is transgender

NC Gov. Pat McCrory and Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick like to play dumb with regards their verbal and legislative attacks on the transgender community. Both have gone on record claiming that there is no clear definition of a transgender person. They should educate themselves by watching this short video created by the Human Rights Campaign:

'Matt Bomer to play transgender woman and people aren't happy' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Matt Bomer

Again with the transface, Hollywood? Matt Bomer booed for ‘playing’ trans - Though this seems like a negative controversy, it's actually a good thing. As groups of people become more visible, they are quick to demand their due and respect. I'm all for it. And the concerns are valid.  

A New Sense of Pride: Feeling the Heat: New Name Declares SC Pride’s Importance to Columbia - South Carolina is having its 27th's Pride Celebration. What should I wear?  

Groups encourage more gay couples to adopt children, be foster parents - I love this. Same-sex households are wonderful places to raise children. 

Tony Perkins: Obama's Attacks On Religious Liberty 'Just As Dangerous' As Terrorism - Blah blah blah, hyperbole, religious liberty, Obama is evil, Christians good, all "homosexuals" are evil, send money, blah blah blah.

Media Matters creates guide for reporting on anti-bullying & nondiscrimination protections for lgbt students

Media Matters nails it again with this handy guide on The Do's And Don’ts On Reporting On Anti-Bullying And Nondiscrimination Protections For LGBT Students.

If you want to read about these items in more detail, Media Matters breaks it down very nicely:

'VA school district wants SCOTUS to hear case on bathroom policy' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Do the right thing for our transgender children.

Supreme Court asked to hear Gavin Grimm case - When it comes to lgbt equality, particularly our transgender community, our opponents are determined to go as far as they can. They just want to do it the hard way.  

Determining whether or not an LGBT athlete is 'publicly out' isn't always simple - If only anything was simple with regards being out.  

Campus Pride releases Shame List of worst colleges for LGBT students - Take this list to heart.  

Australian Opposition to Push for Gay Marriage Law Reform - Get with the program and do the right thing, Australia. 

Texas LGBT Students Say They Don’t Feel Safe Now That People Can Carry Guns On Campus - I don't blame them. I wouldn't feel all that safe, either.

Family Research Council faces comment backlash after promoting bogus study

On its blog, the Family Research Council recently promoted a report which came out last week. The report, which was falsely called a "study" claimed that the no one was born gay or transgender. FRC's promotion of this tripe was to be expected. 

What was not expected was the backlash of comments FRC received. There was a small, but consistent, outpouring on the organization's blog calling out the report's errors and calling out FRC in general. One comment caught my eye because of its poignancy:

Vast Majority? Show me the stats? EVERY Trans person I know is happy. We can argue biblical view on the subject, but this is not a Christian nation. I am a Christian, but It is a secular nation, built on a combination of the view of diests, but also on people who observed human behavior over all time. Let the church lead people to the Savior, and also allow people to live according to the conscience. Yes, Christians have the right to freely practice their faith in public and private office, but they are constrained by the constitution against creating laws simply to prevent behavior they consider sin. Laws should be limited to allowing for free commerce, and the protection of the innocent, unwilling, and vulnerable. As a Christian, I live my life as a witness to compel others to ask about Jesus, whom I freely share. But there are things I cannot answer. And I am certain that people were born certain ways. When you have people like Ravi Zacharias saying that some people will always have the urge, yet they need to refrain from acting on it, it confirms that some people cannot be changed in ways of their sexuality or gender identification, only to abstain from the feelings. I think that is a cruel state of being, and I wait til Heaven to get an explanation. Meantime, I will not be an activist against those people. . All I know is that I will resist any organization that uses the coercion of law to prevent behavior that harms nobody other than the individual making the choice. The FRC is not different than those seeking sharia law, save that their message is different. They are a public policy organization. Not the church. God changes people. Government or people do not. Progressivism and neoconservatism are different sides of the same coin, and the antithesis of freedom. No gay marriage ever threatened the sanctity of your marriage. No trans person ever threatened your masculinity or femininity. God will not condemn you for baking a cake. As far as their twisted goals. Their goals are to be able to live as they wish. Your twisted goal is to prevent them from doing so. I find your twisted goal more offensive in a secular constitutional republic.

'LGBT youth & the criminal justice system - a real problem' & other Mon. midday news briefs

Why are there so many queer and trans kids in the criminal justice system? - And we have a problem. A SERIOUS one. 

Bea Arthur's shelter for homeless LGBTI youth to open early 2017 - One celebrity who put her money to good us. 

These Two Dads Almost Lost Their Son In A Bizarre Surrogacy Case - Uh THIS case involves an actual "activist judge." 

 Brian Brown: 'Normalizing Pedophilia' Goal Of Obama Administration And 'Secular Left'- Yep, Brian Brown is still here. He's not going away any time soon, unfortunately.

Gay Muslims deserve love and support of lgbt community

Though this video is two years old, it accentuates a point we should all remember.

In spite of the opinions of some folks, gay Muslims exist. Rather than generalizing and attacking their religion, the lgbt community needs to give them love and support:

'Phony study on lgbt community called out again' & other Fri. midday news briefs

The Truth About The Massive New Study That Has Captivated Anti-LGBT Groups - Zack Ford of Think Progress provides more proof that the recent "study"/report attacking the lgbt community is yet another anti-lgbt industry fraud. But we all need to start paying attention to the fact that it probably won't be the end of fake studies coming from Catholic universities and right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation with the goal of exploiting science to smear us. In the past, anti-lgbt groups such as the Family Research Council manufacture their own in-house "studies." Now they seem to be relying on these new, albeit, still fraudulent entities. Don't just insult it. Call it out. 

Texas AG to schools: Disregard fed’l guidance for trans students - Because those fraudulent studies will be used in court to justify actions like what the Texas AG did in this article. Our lgbt children are at risk. 

 Where in the Bible does it say you can’t be transgender? Nowhere. - I LOVE this column for so many reasons. It's intelligently written, challenges lazy notions of Biblical beliefs, and the comments section is practically on fire.  

Bryan Fischer Decries Name-Calling, One Day After Calling LGBT Activists 'Bigots' And 'Haters' - Poor Bryan Fischer. A hater AND a hypocrite.

'Why Does God Hate Me?' a wonderful film on self-acceptance

What do you do when your parents want you to join them in protesting at a gay pride parade, but you are secretly gay yourself?

That's the plight of a young man in this powerful, 16 minute movie, Why Does God Hate Me? 

'NC Gov runs ad implying that transgender people are predators' & other Thur. midday news briefs

NC Gov. McCrory goes low: Misleading new campaign ad says trans people want to molest children - WOW! My nominee for the lowest campaign ad of 2016. Behind in the polls to challenger Roy Cooper, NC Gov. Pat McCrory exploits a child molestation victim to imply that transgender men and women are predators in ad seen above.

 North Carolina Agrees 'Bathroom Bill' Is Hurting The State's Reputation - The ad exists probably because of McCrory's stubbornness. Oh well. It's his election career's funeral.  

Police refuse to arrest homophobic attacker despite witnessing assault - This is a mess.

 Tony Perkins: I never said God causes disasters, but He can and does - Even when hate group leader Tony Perkins lies, he can't even do THAT right.