New site spotlights heterosexual youth bullied into suicide by gay peers

I'm speechless.

There has been a lot of attention given to gay youth who have been bullied by their peers into either suicidal thoughts and actions.

And now it seems that the "worm has turned," so to speak. There is now a webpage focused on how many heterosexual youth have been bullied into suicide by members of the gay community.

Check out the site, Bullied by Gays, for more information.

The site is well-made and to the point. Like I said before, when I saw it, I was rendered speechless.

Hat tip to Think Progress.

Republican presidential candidates attending hate group summit and other Thursday midday news briefs

'Values Voter' catering: Canapés on the tray, animus on the slate - The Republican presidential candidates attending a summit by the Family Research Council, a hate group. How nice.

Related post - 16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group

GOP Makes Last Ditch Effort To Postpone Repeal Of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - My heart bleeds for these folks. Really it does.

A Christian Parent in Support of the CA FAIR Education Act - This is something which should get more press. Much more press.

Fischer Wants Departments of Education, Transportion, Agriculture, and HHS Eliminated - And replaced with the "Department to get rid of all of those pesky homosexuals." Okay that last part is not true. But then again, this IS Bryan Fischer we are talking about.

Religious right doom - DOMA trial a repeat of the Prop 8 trial?

According to Equality Matters, the government's case for the Defense of Marriage Act (taken up by Speaker of the House Boehner after the Obama Administration refused to defend the law) may be a repeat of the the disastrous Proposition 8 defense in 2010.

That defense was so pitiful that those defending Prop 8 (the law that outlawed gay marriage in California) could only muster two witnesses and both witnesses actually helped the case against the law.

Equality Matters breaks the similarities of the two cases down in three ways, bringing up information which the gay community should take note up (don't worry - I highlighted it):

Same Old Arguments

Last month, Paul Clement – the lead attorney hired by Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) to defend DOMA in federal court – filed two motions to dismiss the case of Windsor v. United States, one of several current legal challenges to the 15-year-old marriage law. The briefs revived a long list of typical anti-gay talking points: children need a mother and a father, ‘traditional marriage’ is necessary to encourage procreation, etc.

These arguments are nothing new: many of them are the same ones that were used (and rejected) in the 2009 First Circuit case Gill et al v. US Office of Personnel Management, which found Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. 

They’re also the same arguments put forward by proponents of Proposition 8 in the 2010 district court case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger. In Perry, each of those arguments was thoroughly dismantled, first by the plaintiffs’ attorneys and eventually by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s “factual, well-reasoned, and powerful” 136-page decision. Walker found that, even under the most deferential standard of judicial review, there was no rational basis for denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. 

( Editor's note - I published a post earlier looking at the pitiful junk science Clement is using to defend DOMA)

Same Old Non-Witnesses

In the Windsor case, Clement has had a difficult time securing credible experts and witnesses to provide testimony in defense of DOMA. As AMERICAblog’s Joe Sudbay has noted, Clement tried to rely on the ‘work’ of anti-gay activists like Maggie Gallagher. Windsor’s lawyers filed a motion to strike Maggie’s work from the record, citing their lack of an opportunity to cross examine her in court. 

A similar situation arose during the Perry trial. Defense attorney Charles Cooper found himself unable to put forth more than two ‘expert’ witnesses – one who was quickly dismissed as lacking “the qualifications to offer opinion testimony” and another who’s testimony was given “little weight.” Cooper’s inability to find credible experts to support Prop 8 eventually led Judge Walker to ask:

Seven million Californians, 70 judges and this long history that you described. Why did you present but one witness on this subject?

(Editor's note - For all of Maggie Gallagher's talk of "protecting marriage," why won't she allow herself to be put in a position to be cross-examined. The fact that the gay community has allowed this crucial contradiction to slip by unexploited - yes I said "unexploited" - is a huge problem in our fight for marriage equality.)

And Now, Same Old Shame


Monday it was reported that the House’s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) would oppose video recording the courtroom proceedings in Golinski v. United States, another case challenging DOMA’s constitutionality in federal court. BLAG’s opposition effectively ensures that the proceedings won’t be videotaped, as all parties must agree before the arguments can be recorded. 

BLAG’s position is reminiscent of the ongoing battle to prevent the public from viewing the footage of the Perry trial.  

For months, Prop 8’s proponents have been fighting “tooth-and-nail” to prevent the release of the trial footage, claiming that their anti-equality witnesses might be harassed and targeted for opposing same-sex marriage. This claim makes little sense: transcripts from the trial are publicly available, and both anti-equality witnesses had national profiles well before the Perry trial began.

As the American Foundation for Equal Rights – which represented the plaintiffs in the Perry case – has pointed out, it’s much more likely that Prop 8’s defenders are embarrassed about what happened during the trial. The defense’s witnesses admitted to lacking specific knowledge on a number of issues, contradicted themselves, and on several occasions, even agreed with the arguments made against Prop 8.

If these trends continued to hold, then we will probably be seeing a repeat of what happened last year when Prop 8 was overturned - i.e. the gay community dancing in the streets while the religious right and their supporters trying to cover up their faulty case by blaming the judge.

I'm already shopping for my dancing shoes

Hate group leaders think they know who God will judge

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

The prize for blatant chutzpah has to go to the Family Research Council head Tony Perkins and American Family Association head Tim Wildmon. During a recent AFA radio program, they claimed that God will "judge" America because of the gay community and legal abortion:

Perkins: You and I Tim as Americans have been given a very unique role in the history of mankind to be a part of that process and choosing our leaders, but with that opportunity comes a responsibility and an accountability. I think we’ll give an account for who the leaders of this nation, who the leaders are, and the policies that they adopt. We can’t simply wash our hands and say ‘oh just because we have a pro-abortion president, a Democratic president, we don’t have anything to do with that.’ No my friends, we do. When only fifty percent of the church-going population is registered to vote and only half of them are actually voting, I have some really somber news: I believe God is going to hold us accountable for the death, the destructive policies of this country that have devalued human life and are redefining marriage.
…
Wildmon: Folks keep in mind the overarching principle here we need to look at is a Biblical one, in that it is immoral, it is evil, it is wrong in the eyes of God to kill unborn babies.

Perkins: And as long as it’s happening in the United States we’re a party to it.

Wildmon: We’re a party to and we are being and we will be judged and held accountable for it, as a country.

Tim Wildmon, the American Family Association

Are they serious? While Wildmon is busy pointing the finger at gays and legalized abortion, he conveniently forgets the action of his group, the American Family Association, which include:

• inaccurately linking lgbts to pedophiles (a classic case of bearing false witness),

•  employing the rabid Bryan Fischer who has- when he's not claiming that gays made up the Nazi Party in German:

• made an ugly racial slur about President Obama, 

• viciously attacked a Medal of Honor recipient, and 

• wrote a ridiculous piece about the supposed lack of morals of Native Americans;

• and continuing to sell the fraudulent video "It's Not Gay," featuring the testimony of supposed "ex-gay" Michael Johnston (even though Johnston, an HIV-positive man, was discovered in 2003 to be having unprotected sex with various men). The AFA, by the way, is still selling the tape (seen here with Johnston's face is on the cover in this link).

And Perkins and the Family Research Council aren't exactly slouches in the bearing false witness or hypocrisy departments themselves.  I had trouble narrowing the number of lies they tell down to 16.

But the lies include distorting research, making false claims about GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), which FRC was forced to take back after GLSEN handed them a cease-and-desist letter, and relying on the junk data of a discredited researcher who believes that gays stuff gerbils up their rears.

These are the main reasons why the Southern Poverty Law Center named both FRC and AFA as anti-gay hate groups.

If you ask me, I think that both Wildmon and Perkins need to worry less about how God will judge others and worry more about He will judge them.

NY clerk needs to do her job or resign and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Ledyard, New York Town Board Fails to Uphold NY Marriage Equality Act - This does not need to be long and drawn out. There is no paradox to this nor is this woman's actions noble. Either do the job you were ELECTED to do or resign.

AP: 53% support equality; future moving one decided direction - More proof that NOM's money can buy them spin but not truth.

General Foresees Muted Response To Gay Ban Repeal - That ought to cheese off the religious right.

Justice Dept: Bullying Complaints On the Rise - This is NOT good. Or rather the bullying isn't good. That folks are complaining about it more is good.

Gay candidates win in Conn., N.C., and N.Y. - Yesterday wasn't all bad.

NOM's sad attempt to steal credit in the New York special election

  . . .when it looked as if Turner would win - he was leading in the polls coming into the final stretch - the hogs came to the trough. And the lead hog was the National Organization for Marriage.

Last night, Republicans won a special election in New York to replace former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Weiner had to resign after a ugly scandal regarding him allegedly sending lewd pictures over twitter.

This victory is considered an upset because it was supposed to be an easy victory for Democrats. Of course this is a ridiculous notion. There is no such thing as an easy victory in politics.

But still, folks didn't count on the Republican, Bob Turner, capturing the seat over David Weprin. And when it looked as if Turner would win - he was leading in the polls coming into the final stretch - the hogs came to the trough.

And the lead hog was the National Organization for Marriage. Weprin had voted for marriage equality earlier this year when the state passed the law allowing it. And now NOM wanted payback for that vote to the tune of $75,000 it spent on Turner's campaign. The organization also utilized a series of mailing and robocalls attacking Weprin.

But more than payback, NOM was trying to foster a claim that a vote for marriage equality in New York will get come back to haunt politicians. Brian Brown, NOM's president, had this to say after Turner's victory:

"NOM played a major role in this election, helping to organize the Jewish and Hispanic communities to coalesce with Republicans, conservative and other pro-family voters. We mounted the first and largest independent expenditure campaign in the race to make marriage a key issue, and we succeeded. David Weprin is not going to Congress for one reason: he listened to Andrew Cuomo, Michael Bloomberg, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and a few billionaires on Wall Street and went along with them to redefine marriage.

. . .Our message to the rest of the politicians in Albany who voted to redefine marriage is this: 'You’re next.' Once again voters have said: 'Don’t Mess With Marriage!"

Very few people are buying NOM's statement, seeing the organization as trying to salvage the embarrassment of losing the fight to stop marriage equality in New York, as well as trying sow seeds in its campaign to repeal the law.

Brown's statement omits several things. One was the fact that Turner was clearly leading before NOM interjected itself into the race. Secondly, the prevailing feeling is that the New York vote was decided not about marriage equality but sending a message to President Obama.

The Advocate had this to say:

Ask any analyst, and they will say the special election turned on the economy, opinions about President Obama, and to a lesser extent, U.S. policy toward Israel (a theme stirred when former New York City mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat for marriage equality, endorsed Turner in July to warn Obama to be a better friend to America’s closest ally in the Middle East). One week before the election, a Siena Research Institute poll showed Turner in the lead by six points, where 30% of voters listed the economy as their primary concern, followed by federal entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare at 28%, with Israel at a distant 7%.

Of course the retort would be that "The Advocate is a pro gay publication. Of course it will play down the marriage equality issue." But that opinion about this race was also expressed by the right-wing One News Now via an Associated Press piece:

Voter frustration over the sour economy and President Barack Obama's policies made the improbable a reality, as a Republican political novice, Bob Turner, scored an upset victory in a special election Tuesday over David Weprin, a Democratic assemblyman from a prominent local political family. The surprising results in the Brooklyn and Queens-area district portend a perilous national environment for Obama as he prepares to seek re-election next year.

NOM is simply trying to take credit for a victory that was already in the bag before it dropped its much-moneyed tentacles into the mix.

We will probably hear about it for a while. But like so much of its other claims, NOM taking credit for Turner's victory is a false narrative.

Marriage equality is a reality in New York and that's the bottom line.

It's time for the 'we need to protect marriage' con to die

Here we go again.

The North Carolina Legislature has passed a bill to allow its citizens to vote on a state constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

The majority of folks in NC are against this amendment but that is considered a minor detail by the organizations and people pushing it.

They are always quick to point out that other states which have polled against state constitutional amendments against gay marriage passed them when voters had the chance to register their opinions via the ballot box.

Of course the truth is not that simple. The untold narrative usually goes like this:

People in the targeted states are so generally worried about more pressing issues that they allow their legislatures to be the first salvo in what can be called an invasion, i.e. laying the groundwork by passing  a bill, thereby forcing constituents to vote on the matter.

Then an organization – usually the National Organization for Marriage – is the second part of the invasion via its virtually unlimited funds supplied by secret donors (which the group has fought tooth and nail not to reveal), that pays for the inundation of robocalls, mailers, and commercials spinning a multitude of lies about gays harming children or gays persecuting Christians, or gays causing all sorts of mayhem in general if the amendment is not passed.

At the same time, the organization stroke the egos of area pastors and public leaders. The organization, combined with these pastors and public leaders, gain votes by:

• picking a needless war with the gay community over the definition of “civil rights,”

• spooking people into thinking that God will literally send the Angel of Death to smite them if they don’t vote for the amendment,

• and scaring people into thinking that gays are going to knock down their front doors and cart them off to jail or convert their children if they don’t vote for the amendment.

The organization – again usually NOM – wins the vote and while it brays about how “the community stood up to protect marriage,” the community in actuality deals with strife, hard feelings, broken families, and generally not understanding why their votes to “protect marriage” hasn’t put food on their tables,  more money in their paychecks, or made their lives better.

It’s like some religious version of that Simpsons episode about the monorail. But instead of a faulty monorail, people are being sold a faulty premise that the biggest harm to their marriages are their gay and lesbian neighbors and if they make it difficult for these folks to marry, then somehow the real things that harm marriages – i.e. lack of communication or poverty (a subject none of these "we need to protect marriage" groups seem to ever address) will suddenly disappear.

It's time for this "we need to protect marriage" con to die. And it will. It could happen in North Carolina or Minnesota. Both states are facing anti-marriage equality votes next year. Or it could happen before then. But rest assured, it will happen.

As our economic crisis looms and Republicans go tete-a-tete with the President, people are starting to get hip to these distracting  amendment pushes which exploit their religious beliefs while doing nothing to solve the problems they have gaining employment, feeding their families, or paying their mortgages.

They say that a lie travels around the world before the truth has time to put on its shoes. What they always forget to mention is that when truth does put on its shoes, it usually makes up for lost time.

In the case of these phony “protect marriage” votes, I have a feeling that truth is just about to slap on its sneakers.