NOM helping to create bad hysteria about same-sex families, gay marriage

Editor's note - Today begins Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters' "March to One Million." In less than a month, this blog will have it's 1,000,000 hit. Not bad for a part-time blog, huh? Seriously though, on the right side of the blog are what I deem are some of the best postings of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters during its five and a half year run. Feel free to read as many as you like.

Last Saturday, the National Organization for Marriage linked to a UK Telegraph article pulling the hysteria act about marriage equality:

UK Telegraph: Teachers Could be Forced to Promote Gay Marriage in Classrooms

Parents will be powerless to prevent their children being taught about gay marriage at school if ministers press ahead with plans to legalise the move, it has been claimed.

Aidan O’Neill QC has provided the Catholic Church with a legal opinion stating that equality laws mean teachers will be forced to emphasise the validity of same-sex marriages.

Mothers and fathers with “traditional and often religiously-based views” will be “hard pressed” to insist that their offspring are educated in line with their convictions, he said.

The Catholic Church in Scotland, which commissioned the opinion, said it raised the prospect of classrooms being “flooded” with teaching materials promoting gay marriage.

Although the opinion considers the position in Scotland, where Alex Salmond’s administration is expected to legalise same-sex marriage, it is thought it could apply south of the Border where David Cameron is planning to do the same.

It's fascinating the language used in this article. How does one "promote" gay marriage? Is talking about the fact that gays can marry the same as "promoting" it?

We are dealing with some serious semantic mind games here. The mindset seems to be that if marriage equality is legalized, then schools in the UK will be forced to talk about gay marriage. And of course through NOM's osmosis, this should send a scary message when it comes to allowing marriage equality in this country.

It's so easy to manipulate people through fear and the thought of their children being harmed has to be one of the biggest fears of many.

But in this case, there is really nothing to fear.

I don't think that I am making a wild guess when I say that children from same-sex households already attend UK public schools just like they attend American schools.

So if there is a worry that talking about marriage equality would mean talking same-families and homosexuality, then I got news for NOM and the Catholic Church in the UK:

Discussions about marriage equality AND homosexuality AND same-sex parenting are already happening in schools in the UK and America. Children from no matter whatever household they come from tend to talk about their families.

And these discussions should continue. Are children from same-sex households supposed to be quiet about their families as if they don't exist?  Are they supposed to be ashamed of their families? Of course not.

It always amazes me when folks like NOM and others pull the "our children will be corrupted" riot act, they always omit the simple but crucial facts that same-sex families exist,  their children attend public schools, and these children will not and should not be ashamed of their families.

The omission is deliberate and it says more about NOM and others allegedly attempting to "save children" than it does about the idea of marriage equality.

The next time gays are accused of being 'drama queens . . '

From Right Wing Watch:

Last month, the Family Research Council hosted its annual "Watchmen on the Wall" conference in Washington DC and, in conjunction, organized a press conference where event speakers would gather to announce their support for the Defense of Marriage Act.

Among the speakers at the press conference was Jim Garlow, who took President Obama to task for saying that his Christian faith played a role in his support for marriage equality.  Declaring that anyone can call themselves a Christian but still be ill-informed, biblically illiterate, and even an apostate, Garlow offered Obama a lesson in "Basic 101 of Christianity" to set him straight that marriage has always been, and always will be, a union between on man and one woman.

Garlow then closed out his remarks by likening those opposing marriage equality today to Revolutionary War pastors who fought the British because, just like them, these Religious Right activists are are willing declare "if necessary, here we die!"

Throughout history, people have been willing to die in defense of their country and from religious persecution (which in all honesty, no one can call marriage equality religious persecution because isn't being forced to marry another man), but there has to be a special type of individual who will put his life on the line to justify his ego.

Come on Garlow and the rest of you guys! It doesn't even have to come to that. If you don't agree with marriage equality, you don't have to come to my wedding. Nor do you have to bring a gift.

'Transgender man pops the question at White House reception' and other Monday midday news briefs

WATCH: A White House Pride Trans Marriage Proposal - This is too cool. Ordinarily I would make a joke about how the religious right react to something like this, but not now. I mean who really gives a crap about what they think about this awesome proposal. 

In other news:  

Target Sells Out - Hold up, folks. Don't get angry. Target has sold out all of its Pride t-shirts. Now I can ruminate how the religious right will react.
  
U.S. Senator, top conservative group call on Tony Perkins to revoke Ron Baity's award - This is hilarious. Infighting amongst religious right groups. Of course the media conveniently doesn't talk about this.
  
Kameron Slade, New York Fifth Grader, Prohibited From Giving Gay Marriage Speech At School - Including this for the update. He WILL be allowed to give his speech. Cool!
  
Michigan House Passes Anti-Gay ‘License To Condemn’ Counseling Bill - This right here is a nauseating disgrace. 

Matt Barber - The audacity of a fake Christian

Matt Barber

The Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber has a message to folks he calls "average everyday homosexuals:"

I write this not to professional homosexuals. That is to say, not to members of the well-funded, politically powerful homosexual activist lobby. They will mock and reject my words outright. They will twist and misrepresent what I say to further their own socio-political agenda. That’s fine. It’s to be expected. It merits little more than a yawn and an eye roll.

Instead, I write this to my fellow travelers in life – average, ordinary people, male and female, young and old – who happen to call themselves “gay.” I write this out of obedience to God.

It is my hope and prayer that you will consider what I have to say and take it at face value. My intentions are pure and my motives upright. If I can plant the seed of truth in just one person, and that seed begins to sprout, then I consider this letter a success.

I pray that you are that person.

What I write may offend you. It may even infuriate you. But I hope it makes you think. Know this: Your friends have lied to you. Christians do not hate you. We love you intensely. We love you because of who you are, not because of what you do or because of who you think you are.

Bear in mind that this is the same Matt Barber who said the following:

Same-sex families are basically evil:



Gays push pedophilia:



Gay adoption is tragic:



It only goes to show that not only is Matt Barber a hypocrite but he is also a dumb hypocrite. Either that or his hatred towards the gay community has him thinking that we are not sexually disordered but we are also mentally disordered so much we won't think of googling his name to see whether his deeds match his words.

Don't get me wrong. I like Matt Barber. He is good for our equality struggle. Whenever someone needs a perfect example of the naked hypocrisy of the religious right, I point him out as a shining example.

It amazes me that this man, who has spent an disorderly large amount of his professional life lying on, defaming, and dehumanizing the lgbt community, has the nerve to come to us with talk of love, Jesus, and holy righteousness.

I have a two questions for Matt.

Have you lost your damn mind? Or better yet, just how stupid do you think we of the lgbtq community are?

You really expect us to listen to your phony words when we have been made unfortunate targets of your real words and your vindictive attacks? How can you talk about Christian love and morality to us after all you have done to bear false witness against us continuously and without apology?

You don't throw rocks at someone and then come to them holding your hand out in a false mea culpa.

And since you are so interested in talking about Jesus, remember what He said in Matthew 7-5:

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Matt, that beam in your eye is so huge and thick that it could up the roof of Madison Square Garden on its own without any help. It's a wonder how you can see out of both of your eyes.

Or maybe the words you spout just goes to prove that you can't see as much as you think you can.

Know Your LGBT History - Liberace

I may catch some flack for this one but I have always had a secret liking for Liberace.

Any man who could rock a fur like he did is awesome in my book.

The sad thing is that he never came out. Can you imagine what would happen if he were alive now and did come out. The following are clips from a BBC documentary on his life. Parts of it is not nice so I included a tribute to Liberace from Good Morning America shortly after he passed away:
















Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

'Fifth-grader not allowed to give speech supporting marriage equality' and other Friday midday news briefs

 Fifth-Grader Prohibited From Giving Speech Supporting Marriage Equality - Today, it's speeches about the topic. Will tomorrow bring children in same-sex homes prohibited from talking about their families? An ugly future to ponder but also a religious right dream. 
  
Express Delivery: The Regnerus “Gay Parenting” Paper Took The Fast Lane To Publication - Box Turtle Bulletin has come up with a theory about that fraudulent anti-gay parenting study which we should investigate more. What if it was created specifically to be used in the upcoming DOMA and Prop 8 cases?

APA Blasts Allegedly Biased Report on Gay Parents - Speaking of which, the American Psychological Association has just blasted that awful study.

COMMENTARY: South Africa’s “corrective rape” of lesbians - "Corrective rape" is how some countries maintain so-called "family values." Of course the religious right won't ever tell you that.  

Thorne-Begland 'humbled' by appointment as judge - Republicans in Virginia fail in their attempt to keep an openly gay man from being appointed as a judge.

 Leon Panetta, Secretary Of Defense, Salutes Gays In The Military - The loud popping you hear are a million anti-gay heads exploding.

NOM's flow chart reveals organization's empty arguments

I'm not saying that the National Organization for Marriage is ducking the heat regarding the recent fraudulent study bought and paid for by one of its founders and chairman emeritus Robert George, but I find it hilarious that NOM hasn't talked about the study on its blog as much as it did when the study first came out.

However, NOM is spotlighting a flow chart created by university research assistant (who shall remain nameless because with his name out there, NOM will no doubt claim that his life is being threatened even though no one will probably do so) on marriage equality. In all honesty, I have no idea what this young man's stance is on the issue. He could have created the flow chart as a class exercise.

NOM claims that the flow chart proves the duplicity behind marriage equality.

I disagree. The flow chart doesn't refute marriage equality, but it does reveal the empty animus of some of those who don't agree with marriage equality:

So according to this flow chart, marriage equality is similar to gladiator games and sterile couples can still procreate.

It has to be a joke, really. This chart is mere philosophical tripe which has no bearing on real world situations. It doesn't speak out the millions of same-sex couples who are leading happy lives and it certainly doesn't say a word about the same-sex couples raising children.

Best of all, what was the whole point of this thing? I would love to see someone present this trash in court just to see the judge either die laughing or choke in anger while espousing how his time has been wasted.

This is not to say that this chart doesn't have its uses.

It is nice to see the empty arguments of those against marriage equality in living color so they can be easily refuted.

By all means, please do so. And feel free to comment here.