'African-American leaders push back hard against anti-marriage equality argument' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Video: Southern Baptist for Maryland equality - The next time someone accuses black ministers being at the forefront of homophobia, show them these videos. Just awesome:





 It's a welcome change from the attacks on our families by bought-and-paid for pastors like Harry Jackson

In other news:

Former NOM president: Marriage is not a “civil rights issue” - From the sound of the article, Maggie Gallagher got some serious push back against her positions from some African-American leaders. I wish I had been there.  

Transgender Voters Could Be Disenfranchised By Voter ID Laws, Advocates Warn - Better safe than sorry. Transgender voters need to know this info before they attempt to vote.

 Preserve Marriage Washington Sidelines Ken Hutcherson, Imports Harry Jackson To Play “Homophobic Black Pastor” - That's gotta be nice. Disposable homophobic black pastors. Just throw the one you are finished with in the trash and pop in a new one.

 

Bishop tells woman she risks going to hell if she accepts her gay son

Nienstedt

What you are seeing is an unbelievably cruel letter by Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt to a mother of a gay son in 2010. In essence, it's telling her that if she accepts her gay son, she risks going to hell.

Apparently this is par for the course for Nienstedt. According to an article in the Minnesota's Star Tribune, Nienstedt has raised eyebrow with how he has led the charge against marriage equality in Minnesota:

Working aggressively behind the scenes, the 65-year-old Nienstedt has emerged as a key financial and political force for passage of the marriage amendment, which will be on the Nov. 6 ballot and is the most contentious issue in the state this election season.

He has committed more than $650,000 in church money, stitched together a coalition of leaders from other faiths and exerted all his power within the church to press Minnesota's million-plus Catholics to back him.

 . . .  Nienstedt is not a new disciple to the traditional marriage campaign. In 2006, as bishop of the diocese of New Ulm, he mobilized Catholics to send postcards to lawmakers urging them to support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Not long after he was promoted to archbishop in 2008, Nienstedt ordered an end to the gay pride prayer service at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis. Before the 2010 election, he led a move to send DVDs opposing same-sex marriage to 400,000 Catholics in Minnesota . . .


 . . .   Undeterred by the criticism, Nienstedt has raised the stakes. To a mother who pleaded for acceptance for her gay child, he wrote: "I urge you to reconsider the position that you expressed. ... Your eternal salvation may well depend upon a conversation of heart on this topic."

To clergy, he issued orders that no "open dissension" would be allowed. He wrote one outspoken priest, the Rev. Mike Tegeder, that if he persisted, "I will ... remove you from your ministerial assignments."

"He silenced his priests under the order of obedience," said Ed Flahavan, a member of Former Priests for Marriage Equality, a group that went public in May with the names of 80 former Minnesota Catholic priests against the amendment. "It's the first time in my experience or knowledge that kind of blanket order has been given" in this archdiocese.

Individual Catholics have seen their parishes directed to form committees to work for passage of the amendment. The archdiocese also appointed married couples to talk up marriage at Catholic high schools. Nienstedt asked priests to recite a "marriage prayer" during mass.

Folks like Nienstedt is most likely the reason why some people are making the choice to turn away from religion.

Pat Robertson's group embroiled in huge gay scandal

The chickens have come home to roost for the extreme homophobe Pat Robertson. After years of verbally bashing the gay community, including helping the late Jerry Falwell blame us for 9/11, Robertson's legal group (the American Center for Law and Justice) is now embroiled in a HUGE gay scandal.

According to the Advocate magazine:

A senior attorney has been fired from the conservative American Center for Law and Justice for reportedly having multiple relationships with younger men.

Metro Weekly reports that James Henderson was fired September 25, one day after two blogs, Exposed Politics and The Patriot-Ombudsman, posted reports that Henderson may be gay. The reports showed that Henderson created a Facebook account solely to communicate with at least two men he was involved with.

While it is unclear whether the men are at the age of consent or old enough to consume alcohol, it appears that Henderson provided them with alcohol and marijuana. One of the reports alleges that one of the men was 17 when he began communicating with Henderson in 2010.

Henderson is married with eight children.

The American Center for Law and Justice was founded in 1990 by Pat Robertson as a counter to the American Civil Liberties Union. Representatives of the organization confirmed to Metro Weekly that Henderson had been fired but would not make any further comments. His attorney, Christopher Zampogna, told Metro Weekly that he would not comment on Henderson's termination, but also confirmed that he was fired.

Henderson previously taught undergraduate religious studies at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., also founded by Pat Robertson.

Comment away, folks.

'Huge error spotted in Maine anti-marriage equality ad' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Protect Marriage Maine—or Ukraine?! - Anti-marriage equality commercial in Maine pulls a huge deception. Couldn't they find any Maine couples or at least a couple not as far as the Ukraine?  

Michigan State Rep Calls Homosexuality A ‘Lifestyle’ That People Can Leave - Here we go again.

 Roy Moore, Alabama Chief Justice Candidate, Calls Gay Marriage 'Ultimate Destruction Of Our Country' (VIDEO) - Roy Moore is like a fungus you can't get rid of.  

Not So Nice: Meet The Group Behind Minnesota's "Low-Key" Anti-Equality Ads - They know how to fake being polite. 

NOM fails HARD in NY Senate primary

To hear the National Organization for Marriage proclaim it, its attack on the New York Senators who voted for the passage of marriage equality in the state worked liked gangbusters.

You wanna bet:

Equality Matters - who was kind enough to create the above chart - said the following:

NOM endorsed six candidates in New York’s state senate primary. Out of these six, two ended up winning their races, and only one of those races revolved around the issue of same-sex marriage. NOM also claimed credit for forcing two additional pro-equality state senators to resign before the election:

• Sen. Mark Grisanti. Although NOM worked aggressively to defeat Grisanti in the primary, the pro-equality Republican won his district with roughly 60 percent of the vote.
• Sen. Stephen Saland. Saland – who provided the critical 32nd vote to pass New York’s marriage equality law – was declared the winner of his close primary despite being targeted by NOM.
• Sen. Gustavo Rivera. Freshman state Sen. Gustavo Rivera handily defeated NOM-endorsed challenger Manny Tavarez, who campaigned against Rivera’s support for marriage equality.
• Mark Amodeo. In the race to determine who would challenge Republican Sen. Grisanti in November, Democrat Mark Amodeo defeated NOM-endorsed candidate Charles Swanick by a wide margin.
• Sen. Roy McDonald. McDonald’s defeat proved to be NOM’s only real “victory” in New York’s Senate primary. After losing a close race to NOM-endorsed challenger Kathleen Marchione, McDonald decided to drop out rather than run as a third-party candidate. A poll taken earlier this week showed that McDonald could have won his seat in a three-way race.
• Sen. Shirley Huntley. Although NOM claims that Huntley lost to challenger James Sanders as a result of her vote for same-sex marriage, it likely has more to do with the fact that she was indicted on felony corruption charges just weeks before the election. Gay marriage wasn’t a central part of Sanders’ campaign, which instead emphasized “clean government.”
• Sen. Carl Kruger. NOM also claims responsibility for ending Sen. Carl Kruger’s career over his vote for marriage equality, failing to mention that Kruger resigned in anticipation of being convicted  on federal corruption charges. He’s currently serving seven years in prison.
• Sen. James Alesi. Alesi is the last of the four “turncoat” Republican senators NOM targeted for supporting marriage equality. NOM claimed credit for his decision to retire this year, but reports indicate that his retirement might have more to do with a “bogus lawsuit” he filed against constituents several years ago than with his support for same-sex marriage.

Of the six races NOM was involved in, only one can reasonably be considered a “victory” for NOM. That’s a pretty pitiful record for any organization . . .

That's the thing with  bull. It's unfortunate but sometimes, it must be revealed as such by a careful wafting of the smell by those who know it as such.

Otherwise, those pushing it will get away with the lie that what you smell are rose petals.

NOM-affiliated pastor calls gay families 'discombobulated Frankenstein structures'

I don't think Jeremy Hooper will mind if I steal this one from him. I want to get this clip out to as much people as possible because it underlines a basic hypocrisy about the National Organization for Marriage and their supporters.

They seem to always whine about being unfairly labeled as "bigots" because they believe that marriage should solely be between a man and a woman. This is a lie and NOM bought-and-paid for pastor, Bishop Harry  Jackson proves this point with what can only be called an unprovoked, nasty attack on same-sex families. This is totally uncalled for and the only reason why Jackson and NOM gets away with stuff like this is because NO ONE presses the issue. Not the mainstream media or OUR media.

 We've got to stop letting them get away with this mess. People like Jackson and the folks I talked about in the post this morning are attacking our families and we should be pointing attention to that simple fact every chance we get. They don't want to simply "preserve" the supposed traditional definition of marriage. They are unfairly attacking same-sex families who have never done them any harm.

When is someone is going to ask folks like Jackson and company questions like - "If you don't want to seem bigots, then why are you attacking same-sex families?

'Supreme Court Justice Scalia would criminalize being gay' and other Monday midday news briefs

Thought police: One Million Moms blasts a yet-to-be-filmed concept - Whatever happened to waiting for something to air before attacking it. This Jennifer Lopez project doesn't even have an IMDB page yet. Geez! 

 No, Justice Scalia, Overruling Roe, Criminalizing Sex and Killing Inmates Are Not ‘Absolutely Easy’ Cases - Sorry but Scalia is a bigoted moron. He refers to gay lives as "homosexual sodomy." One would have to ask what does he think of "heterosexual sodomy."

“Ex-Gay” Plaintiff Spoke At NOM’s Student Conference - Surprise! Surprise! One of the plantiffs in the case against California's ban on "ex-gay" therapy is affiliated with NOM.

 LGBT History Month Icon Of The Day: Manvendra Singh Gohil - This man deserves accolades because he has guts! It must be heck to be India's first openly gay crown prince.