The Family Research Council deserves a media platform . . . with caveats

There is a school of thought floating about in my community that since the Family Research Council is an SPLC-designated hate group, the media shouldn't give its spokespeople a platform to spread the organization's views.

I understand that school of thought, but don't agree totally with it because I think that media should give FRC a platform . . . with caveats.

The first caveat is that interviewers don't act as if FRC spokespeople such as Tony Perkins and Peter Sprigg are "pure as the driven snow" experts. I for one would like to see these two questioned on their ugly comments or the organization's usage of junk science studies.

The second caveat is that more often than not, FRC spokespeople not be given a free and open field to spout their lying rhetoric. I would like to see more debates between their spokespeople and spokespeople from organizations having to do with lgbtq equality.

It's my belief that in a free and open debate, FRC's so-called experts would be revealed to be empty vessels spouting nonsensical talking points having more to do with bias and homophobia than fact.

A perfect example of what I am talking about is this recent debate between Peter Sprigg and Emily Hect McGowan of the Family Equality Council. The two appeared on WUSA-9 to discuss an adoption bill being debated in the Virginia General Assembly.

Personally I think Ms. McGowan mopped up the floor with Sprigg. But what do you think:

Principal resigns after controversy regarding anti-gay comment to student

She told a lesbian student that she was going to hell. Now she can go to the unemployment line. From the Human Rights Campaign:

Haywood High School principal Dorothy Bond has resigned, according to Tennessee media outlet the Jackson Sun.

We told you earlier today how Bond came under fire after recently telling a lesbian student she was going to hell because of her sexual orientation. You responded quickly - in just four hours, more than 5,000 of you signed our petition calling on the Haywood County School District to investigate the allegations. This afternoon, Bond announced her resignation.

In a statement, the school district said:

"The Haywood County Board of Education acknowledges its student body’s right to free speech. Further, the Haywood County Board of Education strives to provide an atmosphere of tolerance and diversity while maintaining high academic standards."

Thank you for your swift action in standing up to homophobia!

Of course the question is how long will it be before she is presented as a victim of alleged gay bullies by the National Organization for Marriage or the Family Research Council?

I hope soon. I'm just itching for a fight.

'North Carolina gaining momentum against Amendment 1' and other Thursday midday news briefs

THIS is how you break down the dangers of an anti-gay amendment:



Protect All NC Families, the campaign to stop North Carolina's Amendment 1, which would constitutionally ban same-sex marriage, is clearly bringing its A-game to this fight! According to Protect All NC Families:

117 partners have joined the coalition — including the NAACP, Southerners on New Ground, the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, and numerous faith congregations.

We have 30 staff and seven field offices across the state.

We have raised more than $600,000 — more than $150,000 of that has come in online, with more than $80,000 of that number coming in the last three weeks.

We have more than 2,000 donors who have given $92 on average — the grassroots donors are with this campaign. We have raised our money in $10, 100, 250 and 1,000 chunks and we are ahead of schedule with what we have raised from that category.

We have more than 15,000 volunteers at this point and we are making 20,000 voter calls per week.

Important validators such as Senator Kay Hagan, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton, the conservative Carolina Review, libertarian thinker Michael Munger, Myers Park Baptist and others have come out in opposition to the amendment in recent weeks.

In other news:

NOM, ADF protect sanctity of church/state marriage - So churches should stand against marriage equality even though it's not necessarily an issue pertaining to them because no churches are forced to marry same-sex couples. Okay.

Tennessee Principal Condemns Gay Students To Hell - I absolutely DARE the religious right to defend this woman.

Perkins Claims that Gay Rights Advocates 'Want to Silence the Church' - I DESPISE Tony Perkins but even I'm astounded here. Read how he connects the lgbtq community to an issue having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with us.

Russia: Don't Go There (VIDEO) - Russians counter mind-boggling homophobia (yes it's an oxymoron) by their public officials.

National Organization for Marriage's anti-gay project is a colossal failure

 

From Equality Matters comes proof that the National Organization for Marriage's "big project," the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance, is not only tanking but also revealing the duplicity of NOM's claims gays being bullies:

Last September, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) launched the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance, a website dedicated to documenting Americans who’ve had their “rights and dignity” denied by supporters of marriage equality.

 . . .  As of today, however, it’s been nearly two months since NOM’s Marriage ADA has posted a new video. The site has posted a total of nine videos since September -- roughly two a month -- and few if any of those videos depicted instances of actual defamation.

 . . .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. Though the group hailed Marriage ADA as a “huge new step” to restoring civility to the debate over same-sex marriage, the project seems to have sputtered into little more than an expensive example of how dishonest NOM’s self-victimization meme really is.

Carlos Maza breaks down the lies of each case with incredible detail. Check it out.

Three reasons why religious right groups are bigoted - a visual exercise

To hear religious right groups (i.e. the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, etc.), they are unfairly attacked because they are standing up for the so-called Biblical view that homosexuality is a sin.

Of course this is a lie and I have used their words to demonstrate this time and time again.

So how about a different tactic.

I have it narrowed down to three reasons why religious right groups are bigoted and rather than use their words, I am going to use graphics, specifically their own graphics which they created to visualize and scare up opposition of the lgbtq community.

1. Stigmatization

As visualized by this awful doctored picture of openly gay Congressman Barney Frank as a leering TSA agent (courtesy of Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth), religious right groups have this need to define lgbtqs solely by sex acts.

Whether it be pathological or deliberately planned, to religious right groups such as the Americans for Truth or the Family Research Council, our lives are consumed with sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Never mind that we form long-lasting relationships and have thriving families because those facts don't fit in the mindset they want to push on American about us.


2. Lies

And as these two flyers demonstrate, religious right groups aren't above lying about the legislation which would benefit the lgbtq community. Both of these flyers claim that lgbtq-inclusive hate crimes legislation would lead to pastors being arrested for calling homosexuality a sin.

President Obama signed lgbtq-inclusive hate crimes legislation into law in 2009. Since that time, not one pastor - or anyone else for that matter - claiming that homosexuality is a sin has been brought up on charges of committing hate crimes. Not one.


3. Fear tactics

Now comes the fear. Religious right groups channel actor Kevin McCarthy at the end of the motion picture Invasion of the Body Snatchers. For those not familiar with that scene, that's when McCarthy runs out in the middle of busy traffic screaming at the top of his voice that the aliens are here and "You're Next!" if you ignore his warning.

But rather than telling adults that they are next, religious right groups tell adults that their children are "next," i.e. that they are being "targeted" by the lgbtq community.  The implication is that gays need the young to freshen up our ranks, so to speak. It's a tactic which has worked repeatedly whether done by Anita Bryant in the 70s, or in its more sophisticated form now by Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, and the folks at the National Organization for Marriage as well as other groups such as the Traditional Values Coalition and Concerned Women for America. It's really no different than when racists said that integration would lead to black men "rutting" on white women.

 So there you go. Three simple reasons why religious right groups are bigoted.

Any questions?

'NOM's push for money includes 'censored' pastors' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

 The following picture is what Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage is pushing in his latest "we need money" push:

It truly boggles the mind and it gives me an idea for a nauseating afternoon post. Don't eat before 5:30 folks.For more info about this picture, go to Jeremy Hooper's blog.


And in other news:

Harry Jackson Embarks on Campaign to Repeal Marriage Equality in Maryland - Not accidental of course. Jackson will naturally exploit Maryland's black churches.

Transgender (Mis)Education - Excellent piece which speaks to something missing (including by myself) - proper education regarding the transgender community.

‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Sponsor: Students Shouldn’t ‘Be Exposed To Alternative Lifestyles’ - If "alternative lifestyles" is defined as same-sex households, then this bill is more nasty and mean-spirited than originally thought.

Archdiocese of Baltimore: Having their tax-exempt cake, eating our rights too - It's amazing how some people abuse their tax-exempt status.

Lesbian Couple Told to 'Get a Room', Asked to Leave Phoenix Restaurant After Kiss: VIDEO - What the hell?

Religious right continue to slander judge for DOMA decision

It seems that so-called traditional values groups are highly selective when it comes to which parts of the Bible they follow.

While they thunder from the mountains about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, by their words against U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White (the judge who recently declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional), these groups seem to ignore the verse prohibiting bearing false witness against one's neighbor.

I've already mentioned how the Family Research Council called White a "San Francisco judge," thereby making a sly implication about his sexual orientation.

Mat Staver and our favorite homophobe, "Porno Pete" LaBarbera accused White of "helping Obama sabotage marriage."

Now Randy Thomasson of SaveCalifornia is getting into the act:

"Judge White is out of order. He is unconstitutional by ruling DOMA unconstitutional," Thomasson contends.

Of course not one of these folks will talk about the following:

White was confirmed to the federal bench by a voice vote in the Senate after being nominated by President George W. Bush in 2002. He’s the only judge confirmed to California federal courts during Bush’s two terms. After being nominated, White was approved by a bipartisan judicial selection committee and received praise from Democrats and Republicans alike. 

Nor will they even comment on the evidence used to defend DOMA:

White’s decision is remarkable for the extent to which it debunked the evidence presented by (Paul) Clement (the lawyer hired to defend DOMA by the Republicans in the House of Representatives) in opposition to same-sex marriage. Long before the decision was released, Clement’s defense was plagued with accusations of distorting research, avoiding cross-examination, and relying on widely discredited junk science. White’s ruling further demonstrated the lack of credible evidence presented in opposition to marriage equality.

Notably, he rejected the claim that same-sex couples were unfit to raise their own children, declaring:

More than thirty years of scholarship resulting in over fifty peer-reviewed empirical reports have overwhelmingly demonstrated that children raised by same-sex parents are as likely to be emotionally healthy, and educationally and socially successful as those raised by opposite-sex parents.

White went on to criticize the evidence Clement provided on same-sex parenting, criticizing his sources as “questionable,” “non-scientific,” and “without peer review.” 

These facts don't matter as long as these supposed Christian groups gain points by slandering Judge White.

And apparently these attacks are working.  Republican lawmakers will be appealing Judge White's decision.

Good luck on that, guys.