'NOM called out on hypocrisy' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

For Children of Same-Sex Couples, a Student Aid Maze - If receiving student aid is this much of a problem, just think of the other problems children in same-sex households have to deal with. You see this is what NOM and the rest of the religious right and their phony victims want to take attention away from - real victims of discrimination and prejudice.

NEW YORK: State GOP Senator Rips NOM's Hypocrisy Over Campaign Donations - Sen. Grisanti calls out NOM's lies.

Story to Watch: Va. Residents Show Support for LGBT-Inclusive Adoption Measures - Good for Virginians!

Black and Transgender: A Double Burden - Kudos to The Root for running this very important piece.

Fox Host Attacks College For Voluntary LGBT Application Question - The way Fox News misrepresented this situation should serve as a warning to the gay community. Imagine a highly-watched news network aggressively pushing anti-gay half-stories and homophobic guests. Fox isn't doing it with the fierceness it is using to undermine President Obama. But imagine one day if it does.

Please forgive me Mr. Rick Santorum for not feeling sorry for you

Rick Santorum feels like he has been bullied by a recent episode of Saturday Night Live which made fun of his run for president:

Santorum -- depicted by actor Andy Samberg in the sketch, titled "Yet Another GOP Debate" -- suggested that the segment was "bullying" during an interview with New Hampshire radio station WGIR on Sunday. The former Pennsylvania senator said he had been "hammered" by "the left" for his support of conservative principles.

"The left, unfortunately, participates in bullying more than the right does," Santorum said. "They say that they’re tolerant, and they’re anything but tolerant of people who disagree with them and support traditional values."

I don't feel the least bit sorry for Santorum. He is a public figure which makes him a target for comedians. Over the years SNL has made fun of  many public figures from President Obama to Star Jones.

And when Santorum acts like he is Joan of Arc at the stake, it makes it harder for me to sympathize with what a mockery his name has become.

Yesterday, another child committed suicide because he couldn't deal with the bullying which comes with being openly gay.

And unfortunately he is the latest in a long line of children who feel that there will not be a better tomorrow for them because of the ignorance of others.

I hate that. Any decent person would hate that. Any decent Christian would hate that.

So you will have to forgive me if I don't feel sorry for you, Mr. Santorum.  You are a self-righteous phony who deserves every bit of mockery rained down upon you.

In the early days of Christianity, their oppressors crucified them, fed them to lions, and burned them like torches. Somehow, I don't think that being made fun of by a late-night comedy show compares to these atrocities.

Mr. Santorum, you are not being bullied. Your ignorance is indicative of the reasons why others think its okay to bully.

So please get over yourself and stop acting like a straight-up BIYAAAATCH.

Catholic Church is overstepping its bounds against marriage equality in Minnesota

Minneosta Archbishop John Nienstedt

The Catholic Church in Minnesota is continuing a dangerous precedent:

Archbishop John Nienstedt sent a letter to every priest in the state at the start of October urging them to put every Catholic church in Minnesota to work passing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“It is imperative that we marshal our resources to educate the faithful about the Church’s teachings on these matters, and to vigorously organize and support a grass roots effort to get out the vote to support the passage of the amendment,” the letter read. It went out on Oct. 4 to every priest in the state.

The archbishop said it wants priests in every parish to identify a “church captain” in order to create an “ad hoc committee” in every church in the state. The “church captain” is a component of the Schubert Flint strategy used in 2008′s divisive Proposition 8 battle in California.

The strategy mirrors a similar one used by conservative Christians in California to pass Proposition 8 and end marriage rights for same-sex couples.

 . . .  According to Nienstedt’s letter, the church captains will be organized by the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic church, which will in turn report to the Minnesota for Marriage coalition for statewide efforts. Minnesota for Marriage is made up of the Minnesota Family Council, MCC and the National Organization for Marriage.

“A major issues will be placed before the State of Minnesota in the November 2012 election. a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Nienstedt wrote. “The sanctity of marriage and vital role of the family is at stake. It is a firmly-held teaching of our church that a marriage is a union of a husband and a wife, and that they together are the ones suited to be a father and a mother.”

First of all, I wonder if this is legal for a tax-exempt organization to take such a role in the political process?

Court to NOM - Give up the names!

According to NOM Exposed, the National Organization for Marriage got smacked down by the courts today:

We just referenced Doe v Reed last month in our memo on the campaign finance shenanigans of the National Organization for Marriage. NOM, you’ll recall, justifies hiding its donors (and thus files endless lawsuits to keep those donors secret) due to, they claim, harassment and intimidation (and worse) from LGBT advocates.  Such harassment and vandalism has gotten so bad, apparently, that tenet #4 on NOM’s presidential marriage pledge has called for “investigations” of LGBT Americans who, supposedly, are responsible for such vandalism.

Well, today, a federal judge, a George W. Bush appointee, has ruled against NOM’s phony argument.  According to the Seattle Times, the judge said  “Protect Marriage [an off-shoot of NOM] failed to show any ‘serious and widespread threats, harassment, or reprisals against the signers of R-71, or even that such activity would be reasonably likely to occur upon the publication of their names and contact information.’”
More from the paper:

A federal judge on Monday issued a ruling that publicly releases the names of 137,500 people who two years ago signed Referendum 71 petitions to bring the state’s domestic-partnership law to a vote.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle of Tacoma ends a legal fight between the Secretary of State’s Office and the religious conservative group Protect Marriage Washington.

The group had argued in court that petitions bearing the names of the signers should be sealed to protect them from harassment, while the state maintained that the petitions need to remain public.

The article said that the group will appeal the ruling, which continues to bring up the simple question - just what is NOM trying to hide?


Related post:

NOM trying to sidestep Minnesota disclosure laws

'Top 25 celebrity coming out stories' and other Monday midday news briefs

25 Celebrity Coming Out Stories That Shocked The World - To be honest, a few of these coming out stories weren't shocking. I mean George Michael? Come on. One observation though. For all of the criticism about the Black church and homosexuality, this list actually mimics the Black church - i.e. black women stepping up in leadership roles in regards to vital issues (even though it is only one black woman on this list) while unfortunately black men are absent.

Linda Harvey denounces 'unwashed mob', continues to throw mud at same - In the world of the religious right, a teacher who attacks an lgbt display at her school while using some of the nastiest language to put down the gay community is a victim and any comment expressing disapproval of gays - no matter how ugly and venomous - is perfectly okay whereas it would NOT be okay if the comment had to do with race or religion. Okay.

Oregon May Seek To Overturn Anti-Gay Marriage Ban On 2012 Ballot - Things just got interesting in Oregon.

Pennsylvania Professor Humiliates Lesbian in Class, Calls Her 'Disgusting, Unnatural, and Abnormal' - A future "victim" of the so-called gay agenda. Whatever happened to the "good old days" when you can verbally attack gay students without reprisal, huh? The next thing you know, you won't be able to use the "n" word to describe black students.

Santorum Claims Herman Cain Is Too Pro-Gay, Compares His Fight Against Marriage Equality To Lincoln Fighting Slavery - And then Santorum whines about gays attacking him.

Catholic Charities wants state to sanction its discrimination

The Catholic Charities of Illinois are trying to have it both ways:

Illinois State Senator Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) on Wednesday filed legislation that would amend the state's civil union law to allow Catholic Charities to continue to license foster and adoptive parents without serving same-sex couples.

McCarter's proposal, SB2495, would amend the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, signed into law in January, to allow faith-based agencies like Catholic Charities to decline to provide foster care and adoption services to applicants who "would constitute a violation of the organization's sincerely held religious beliefs" and refer them to other agencies.

The new legislation is the latest development in the ongoing saga between Catholic Charities agencies and the state Department of Children and Family Services who, earlier this year, canceled $30.6 million worth of contracts with Charities because they claimed the agencies were not providing services for the state in a way consistent with its non-discrimination law.

Supporters of the Catholic Charities - the National Organization for Marriage included - will have folks fooled that this is an issue of personal religious beliefs. They seem to always conveniently forget the monetary aspect.

They want to have things both ways - i.e. thinking the Catholic Charities should have a right to state monies even as it discriminates against taxpayers who supplies that money.

To me, the choice is simple - if you don't want to abide by the rules which come with the money, then don't take the money.

Meet the people who scare the religious right

When people like Rick Santorum, Ann Coulter, and Maggie Gallagher or groups like the National Organization for Marriage claim that being black and gay isn't the same or falsely claim that the gay community is trying to piggyback on the struggles of the black community, just remember the people in the following videos.

They are the people who Santorum, Coulter, and Gallagher don't want you to see.

These are the people who NOM doesn't want you to see. To the homophobic race-baiters seeking to divide and conquer both communities, they are most dangerous people in the world:







Editor's note - I am aware of the unfortunate fact that the African-American transgender community is not represented with a video montage. Unfortunately I could not find one. So what does that tell us? We may be closer to where we want to be but we still have miles to go in order to get there.

If there is a video out there, please send it to me and I will feature it on my blog.