Homophobe Rick Santorum having a deservedly bad time and other Thursday midday news briefs

Conservative politics, seasoned with pro-criminalization Sprigg - Let us not forget that the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg also expressed Bryan Fischer's wish about the "criminalization" of homosexuality.

Bigoted GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum gets mad at Piers Morgan for asking him about bigotry - My heart bleeds for the Santorum.

Penn State Students Grill Alum Rick Santorum On Marriage Views - Santorum also got grilled to the ground on his statements at Penn State. Watch how he tries to attack same-sex households. And watch how students won't accept this madness. The good part starts at 8:30.

Scott Lively: Gays Will Use Prop 8 Tapes To Intimidate Christian Witnesses - What witnesses? They were too chickenshit to testify because the cross examination would have revealed that they lied in many, if not all of their claims about marriage equality.

NOM Raises Pathetic Fraction Of $100K Fundraising Goal - I'm sure that those secret funders NOM fights like mad to hide will make up the difference.

The reason why the American Family Association is a hate group

 Due to the amazing success of a recent post - 16 Reasons Why The Family Research Council is a Hate Group, I rewrote and retitled this piece as a part of an ongoing series focusing on the language and lies of many of the groups named by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-gay hate groups


Last year when the Southern Poverty Law Center declared certain anti-gay organizations to be hate groups, they went apoplectic. They claimed that they were being "persecuted" for their faith and being picked on by so-called radical left-wing forces.

They even got members of Congress  to help them push that false notion, dodging the fact that their rhetoric, their intentional lying, and pushing of propaganda fueled SPLC's actions.

But one man took it upon himself to be so bullheaded that he had to speak his mind about the gay community - not matter how ignorant and hateful his words were, thereby  proving these organizations to be dodging liars and giving the gay community and our supporters one of many things to point out about the contradictions in the religious right's phony claim of persecution.

That man - Bryan Fischer - Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association. The AFA is one of the organizations declared as a hate group by SPLC and Fischer's rhetoric is a main reason for this designation.

Yet those defending AFA and other religious right groups conveniently omit any talk of Fischer or the comments he made. Such as:

when he said that gays created the Nazi Party:




or that homosexuality should be criminalized:




or that gay sex is like terrorism:




And it bears mentioning that Fischer isn't seen as a loon by many on the right. He is dead center in their mainstream. Many individuals, such as various Republican presidential candidates have appeared on this man's radio show. So maybe, in a strange way, the gay community owes some sort of debt of thanks to Fischer. Because you see, every time someone like Peter Sprigg or Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council claim that they are being "picked on" because of their "faith," we can remind them of this:




And if those video clips aren't enough for you, then consider when Fischer:

tried to refute SPLC's list of 10 lies the religious right tell about the gay community. Not only did SPLC answer him back - embarrassing the hell out of him, but I got some kicks in myself.

Lastly, there was the interview with David Pakman in which Fischer really made an ass of himself. The following are just some of the highlights:

“We're the ones telling the truth about the link between homosexuality and pedophilia.”

“Active participation in the homosexual lifestyle will deprive a male of anywhere between 8 and 20 years of his life expectancy” - a Paul Cameron lie.

“There is ‘no such thing as a monogamous homosexual relationship’”

“The rectal wall is one cell thick” - now Fischer is quoting Paul Cameron almost verbatim.

“We need to take our cue from gay porn actors”

“Those homosexual activists that are so intent on normalizing homosexual behavior...they must be harboring some deep seated longing to be straight”

“...homosexual activists must be latently heterosexual”

The fact that the AFA actually allows Fischer to use its name is more than enough reason to give the organization "hate group" status.

If anyone disagrees, please tell me why. Your reasoning is going to be highly enjoyable to hear.

Equality California calls out the Family Research Council's lies

From The New Civil Rights Movement comes a lesson in knocking the religious right on its ass:

Equality California (EQCA) today released a video attacking Tony Perkins, head of the certified anti-​gay hate group Family Research Council, for his ties to the KKK, and calls out Perkins’ lies about SB 48, California’s FAIR Education Act that ensures the LGBT community, minorities, and the disabled are fairly included in public school education lessons.

The EQCA video replays Perkins’ FRC video, noting often the “lies lies lies” Perkins tells.
There is a very strong movement under way to stop SB 48, which become effective in January. One group, Stop SB 48, has been very effective at organizing and regularly send out fundraising emails and “notes from the field.”

Last month, opponents of SB 48, the FAIR Education Act, were allowed to collect signatures as a first step to put a repeal referendum on the ballot. Like marriage equality in Maine, SB 48 could be repealed before ever going into effect.

Fortunately, EQCA has put together a strong coalition to protect SB 48, but its a very tight battle.

The rest of the story is at The New Civil Rights Movement webpage, but below is the video and it is awesome:

Religious right cause celebre backfires and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Students of Florida’s Barfing Teacher Come Foward - The religious right thought they had the perfect cause celebre when Florida high school teacher Jerry Buell was fired for comments he made about marriage equality and then was reinstated. And now, it is slowly but surely backfiring in their faces.

NC: Republicans hold court at press conference touting anti-gay marriage amendment legislation - Will this madness finally prevail in North Carolina?

Let’s Face it – Homophobia is so Gay- Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out ruminates over the latest scandal involving an anti-gay politician's questionably gay behavior. Is there like one every week? Warning, this link contains a blurred, yet still graphic picture.

Focus On The Family: Basic LGBT Info Is ‘Sexualizing Our Schools’ - Focus on the Family was one of the few major anti-gay organizations not given hate group status by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Watch how the organization attempts to rectify this.

'Porno Pete' LaBarbera tries to correct me and fails miserably - Sorry but I simply HAVE to include my post from this morning because the entire thing is hilarious. A certain religious right leader publicly calls me out and you know I had to respond with the facts. He besmirched my honor and if my "honor" is going to be besmirched, it will be by a man with a HEAVY bank account. LOL

'Porno Pete' LaBarbera tries to correct me and fails miserably

Peter LaBarbera is angry at me.

The American Family Association's One News Now is probably spooked with me.

It's an interesting controversy which has brewed over a comment I made on One News Now's site.

On the particular piece, the author, Jerry Newcombe, said the following:

I know a man (Matt Barber) who was fired from a job with a Fortune 500 company a few years ago because on his own time, on his own computer, at his own home, he posted a blog expressing his own opinion, opposing same-sex “marriage.” He was confronted by his boss at the office and asked if he was the same Matt Barber as on the blog. He was.

Now those who follow this blog know the story of Matt Barber, who is now affiliated with Liberty University. He was originally employed with AllState Insurance before being fired for writing an anti-gay column while using a company computer and also identifying himself as an employee of the company. Barber was able to become a religious right cause celebre and soon, an active player in this so-called culture war as an employee of Concerned Women for America and now the Liberty Counsel.

I wrote a comment to Newcombe's piece saying the following:

Sorry but Mr. Newcombe is inaccurate about one part. Matt Barber used his company’s computer AND identified himself as an employee of the company [Allstate] in his column. That’s why he was fired.

I should have known that it was strange when not only my comment but the ability to leave any comments was eliminated from the article.

And now I see why. This morning on his site, "Porno Pete" LaBarbera (apparently he hates it when I call him that) put the following comment on his website:

Below is a longer version of an article I posted in Facebook responding to homosexual activist Alvin McEwen, who repeated an oft-used bit of “gay” misinformation about Allstate’s 2005 firing of pro-family advocate Matt Barber. (Barber sits on the Americans For Truth Board, is Associate Dean at Liberty University School of Law, and is Director of Cultural Affairs for the Liberty Counsel.) Alvin is a bitter fellow who — although purporting to factually correct alleged pro-family falsehoods — regularly dishes them out himself (go HERE to see him viciously slander me as “Porno Pete”). In posting a response to an AFA column by pro-family writer Jerry Newcombe (reprinted at bottom), McEwen writes:

Sorry but Mr. Newcombe is inaccurate about one part. Matt Barber used his company’s computer AND identified himself as an employee of the company [Allstate] in his column. That’s why he was fired.

Here is my correction of Alvin’s tendentious “correction”:

Matt Barber is a good friend of mine, a Christian man of high integrity, and a Board Member for my organization, Americans For Truth. As one living in Illinois who was intricately familiar with Matt’s case, I want to set the record “straight” here and correct the lies that homosexual activists like Alvin McEwen repeatedly spew about his unjust firing.

Barber was fired after writing a column (which was published by conservative websites) against the homosexual agenda — on his home computer, on a Saturday. He did NOT identify himself as an employee of Allstate, but a third-party blog publisher did so by mistake. A staffer with the homosexual lobby group Human Rights Campaign then “reported” Barber’s web article to Allstate’s HR depart, and Matt immediately was called in on a Friday afternoon. Ironically, he was told that Allstate “celebrates diversity,” and that his (traditional) values did not reflect those of Allstate. Barber was suspended and informed that he likely would be fired for writing the column. He was then escorted by Allstate security guards off the corporate grounds. Monday morning, Barber was canned over the telephone.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security [see graphic above] investigated the firing and found Barber innocent of misconduct; IDES made this judgment (emphasis theirs): “The claimant was discharged from ALLSTATE INS. CO. because AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT AN ARTICLE HE HAD WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS OWN TIME.”

Furthermore, even if Barber had used his company laptop for personal use (which he did not), Allstate policy allowed such personal use — especially for employees who traveled frequently, as did Barber.

Barber sued Allstate and as the trial date approached, Allstate frantically contacted Matt’s attorneys and begged for a cash settlement so that the details of his discriminatory firing would not become public.

Needless to say, Allstate had to pay Barber a very significant sum of money to make the embarrassing scandal go away. Had the case gone forward, Allstate’s blatantly anti-Christian (and anti-conservative, anti-family) employment policies would have been exposed. This would have included Allstate’s self-serving lies designed to discredit Barber, which were disseminated to the media — and which Alvin McEwen cynically regurgitates here. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth.

First of all, let's look at this charge from LaBarbera:

The Illinois Department of Employment Security [see graphic above] investigated the firing and found Barber innocent of misconduct; IDES made this judgment (emphasis theirs): “The claimant was discharged from ALLSTATE INS. CO. because AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT AN ARTICLE HE HAD WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS OWN TIME.”

 
"Porno Pete" even has a copy of the letter on his site, which I won't reprint here. You can go there to read it if you want. However, that letter had to do with Barber receiving unemployment benefits. The Illinois Department of Employment Security found that Barber did not commit willful misconduct, so he was therefore able to receive benefits.

But in relation to whether or not AllState was correct in firing Barber, the letter is irrelevant.

During the controversy, AllState contended that Barber was fired "because he used the company's information technology systems and other resources for his personal journalism activities, many of which took place on company time."

Peter Sprigg's definition of 'love' includes lying, bearing false witness

Peter Sprigg (FRC) routinely publishes misleading studies about gays

Peter Sprigg, a spokesman for the Family Research Council, recently made the following statement on a radio show:

People are afraid of the homosexual activists and they’re particularly afraid of this character assassination that comes in the form of the word ‘hate.’ Nobody wants to be accused of participating in ‘hate’ and so throwing that word ‘hate’ around becomes a trump card even when nothing that we have done can reasonably be called ‘hate.’ On the contrary, everything we do is motivated by love for the people who are hurt by this lifestyle.

Bear in mind that this is the same man who said that he wants to deport gays and lesbians out of the United States:




And also wants to pass laws designed with leading the way to put gays and lesbians in jail:




Right Wing Watch (who provided the transcript and video of Sprigg making his comments) also pointed out several other ways Sprigg has demonstrated his "love" of the gay community:

• Lobbied to make it harder for students to join Gay-Straight Alliances because “homosexuality is harmful to society.”

• Argued that gays and lesbians shouldn’t be judges because a gay judge can’t “be held up as a role model.”

• Linked homosexuality to pedophilia even when scientists rejected their correlation.

• Opposed allowing same-sex partners or their adopted children from collecting their deceased partner or parent’s Social Security benefits.

Now Sprigg has said and done all of these things because he claims that homosexuality is a "dangerous" lifestyle.

This, of course is a lie, but Sprigg's role in furthering this lie needs more examination.

Sprigg, you see, has personally published misleading studies about the gay community

If one took a look at many of these studies (which I have on many occasion and the links are below), you would find a disturbing pattern of a distorting legitimate studies and research and an intentional omission of crucial portions of these studies which would serve destroy Sprigg's thesis of the supposed "dangers of homosexuality."

Sprigg has committed these offenses in studies and papers such as


Getting It Straight: What the Research Shows About Homosexuality ,

The Top Ten Harms of Same Sex Marriage,

Federal Report Confirms 'Nuclear Family' Best for Children's Health

His piece, The Top Ten Myths about Homosexuality demonstrates a specific example of Sprigg's sleight-of-hand behavior. Amongst other egregious errors, Sprigg takes pro-gay health information totally out of context. Check out this passage by Sprigg:

Even the pro-homosexual Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) acknowledges:

• “Gay men use substances at a higher rate than the general population . . .”
• “Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate . . . .”
• “ . . . [G]ay men have higher rates of alcohol dependence and abuse . . . .”
• “ . . . [G]ay men use tobacco at much higher rates than straight men . . . .”
• “Problems with body image are more common among gay men . . . and gay men are much more likely to experience an eating disorder . . . .”

The GLMA also confirms that:

• “ . . . [L]esbians may use tobacco and smoking products more often than heterosexual women use them.”
• “Alcohol use and abuse may be higher among lesbians.”
• “ . . . [L]esbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women.”

Homosexual activists generally attempt to explain these problems as results of “homophobic discrimination.” However, there is a serious problem with that theory—there is no empirical evidence that such psychological problems are greater in areas where disapproval of homosexuality is more intense.

Now compare what Sprigg said as opposed to what GMLA actually:

Sprigg:

“Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate . . . .”

GMLA:

Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate than in the general population. The likelihood of depression or anxiety may be greater, and the problem may be more severe for those men who remain in the closet or who do not have adequate social supports. Adolescents and young adults may be at particularly high risk of suicide because of these concerns.

Sprigg:

“ . . . [L]esbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women.

GMLA:

Research indicates that lesbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women. This may be due to added stressors in lesbian lives from discrimination. Lesbians need support from each other and from health care providers to find healthy releases, quality recreation, stress reduction, and coping techniques.

I hear that Sprigg is also a minister, so he should have a better idea than most about lying in God's name and bearing false witness.

And if he truly loved the gay community, he would apologize to us for both offenses.

The anti- marriage equality lies begin in Minnesota and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Flier belier: Debunking MN For Marriage's latest handout - Here we go again. They are beginning their anti-marriage equality campaign in Minnesota with a bunch of lies. Jeremy Hooper debunks every last one.

Marriage Equality - Simple answers to NOM's complicated lies - here is something folks in Minnesota and other places can use, courtesy of Hooper and myself.

El Paso Priest: Calling Gays “Putrid” Constitutes “True Pastoral Care for Homosexuals” - Don't you just love it when folks demonstrate how much they "love" the gay community?

Why Opponents Of Marriage Equality Are Trying To Block The Release Of The Prop 8 Trial Tapes - That's a good question. What are they afraid of?

Fischer: Make Homosexuality "A Criminal Offense" - Somehow I have a feeling that the American Family Association won't lose that hate group status any time soon.

Rick Perry Doesn’t Like Romney Because He’s Too Gay Friendly - Surprising? No.