'Should Tim Cook hold Texas accountable for its homophobia?' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

Tim Cook

Why Tim Cook Should Threaten to Shut Down Apple Campus Amid Texas Anti-Gay Crusade - Texas has gone anti-gay crazy. Michelangelo Signorile thinks Apple CEO and out gay man Tim Cook can do something about it. What do you think? 

FDA releases plan to end lifetime ban on gay, bisexual blood donors - Wonderful idea. The only downside is envisioning Porno Pete LaBarbera going insane and posting dirty pics of gay men. Where does he get those anyway?  

How The FDA’s Revised Blood Ban Caters To Religious Anti-Gay Beliefs - Then again . . .  

Michigan ‘Death Star’ Bill Would Override Local Employment Laws, Including LGBT Protections - "Death Star" bill? I say we use that name. 

 Eureka Springs Upholds LGBT Protections; Anti-Gay Leader Blames Threats Against Christian Voters: VIDEO - THIS has been the talk of the morning. BTW I don't buy the claim that "Christians were scared to vote." 

 Fischer: Support For Gay Rights Is 'Evidence That Satan Exists' - No, honey. The fact that you have a job shows that Satan has an evil sense of humor.

Dear Phyllis Schafly, a lady always knows when to leave. Take the hint.

Phyllis Schafly

I know that conservatives assume that Phyllis Schafly is some type of arch-goddess of their movement, but there comes a time when some folks just need to be put out in the pasture.

The legendary Lena Horne is reputed to have once said "A lady always knows when to leave the room."

Ms. Schafly, take the hint. Or at least remember your gay son when you spin such trash as below:

In an interview with conservative radio host Chuck Wilder on Monday, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly said that lawsuits against business owners who violate nondiscrimination measures by refusing service to gay and lesbian customers show that marriage equality advocates ultimately seek “to wipe out the Christian religion.” “Have you noticed that only Christian small-businesspeople have been harassed and sued for refusing to participate in same-sex marriages even though our fast-growing immigrant populations, you know of Muslims, Hindus and other faiths are also opposed to that concept?” Wilder asked. “The use of same-sex marriage to attack Christian businesses but not businesses run by members of other religions demonstrates what is really driving the demand for the new constitutional right to same-sex marriage.” “Well, that is right,” Schlafly responded. “They want to wipe out the Christian religion. And most of these other religions do not recognize same-sex marriage. I assume there are some Muslim bakers and photographers and other people who have been harassed, but they’re not being attacked and they’re not being criticized.”

US Congresswoman claims Christians are being persecuted in America but draws blank when asked for examples

The Family Research Council are going to be soooo angry at Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn:

At the South Carolina Freedom Summit, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN 7) advocated State Department intervention when asked what role the United States should play in protecting Christians around the world:

One of the things that we should be doing here is being very strong in our stance with religious freedom in our country... Our allies around the globe want to see us stay strong on our rights and not erode those rights... With the human rights violations and religious persecutions around the globe, we need a State Department that is going to step in and say, "This is not acceptable."

Blackburn thought that Christians are being persecuted in the U.S., but could not give any examples when asked by this reporter. Watch her remarks below:

I think that says it all regarding this "Christian persecution" nonsense. Thank you, Congresswoman Blackburn

'The knife of Kirsten Powers' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

The supposed 'Silencing': How Kirsten Powers Is helping far-right sell pervasive meme - This situation brought me down yesterday and it is still poking at my mind today. Jeremy Hooper puts the entire situation in perspective better than I can. But in a nutshell, I learned an ugly truth. Sometimes when a pundit claims to be for lgbt equality, it is only for the knife to go deeper when they stab the community in the back. Such is the case with "Fox News liberal" Kirsten Powers. She has just published a "liberals and gays are trying to silence their critics" book, which should garner her much popularity and attention. I learned two things by this experience regarding her book. From the excerpts I read thus far, her book is no different than any of the books written by conservatives like Jonah Goldberg, Laura Ingraham, or Ann Coulter. Heck, the cover of Powers's book is clearly stolen from the cover of one of Coulter's book - i.e. skinny blond in fetching outfit standing defiantly with her hand on her hip besides the book title. Powers offers nothing new. It's not simply the idea that Powers is pushing. It's that the idea is pretty much a carbon copy of the other books which whines that liberals and gays are "silencing" people and she uses the same half-baked anecdotes already offered as proof of a conspiracy and flowery language to cover up the fact that her theory is simply a conservative wet dream. Powers is merely tracing, i.e. copying a formula and claiming that her spin on it is original when it is actually old and stale. The only difference being is that she is supposedly a "supporter" of lgbt equality. In essence, she is exploiting her so-called relationship with lgbts to sell her book. And the second thing I learned? From reading Jeremy's post, people like Powers are always whining about being silenced, but they generally (and probably deliberately) mistake debate challenging their ideas as attempts to silence them. Sorry for the long expository, but it depresses me when stories of our pursuit for equality are bastardized for profit, particularly those who are supposed to be on our side.

Breaking–Exclusive: Activist Admits Her Testimony To Senators On Texas Anti-Gay Bill Was False - This just took place. Watch how quickly some in the media will try to obscure this. 

 How To Assess The ‘Truth’ When Writing About Transgender People - This isn't difficult to do if folks were willing to learn rather than scare themselves.  

What Happened When A Gay Dad Challenged A School Over Its Cancelation Of An LGBT-Themed Play - Wonderful!  

Ireland Is About To Become The First Country To Vote For Same-Sex Marriage - Don't count the chickens before they hatch. And I hope they hatch very well.

Video celebrates ALL mothers and we should, too

Allow me to be frank. Ryan T. Anderson, the Heritage Foundation, Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, and all of the rest on the right (and their concern troll collaborators) can stick it.

 No one has the right to negatively judge a family simply because they don't like the way the family is made up. If not wanting to put certain families in an inquisitional spotlight under the phony guise of "having a debate"  makes me "intolerant," then so be it.

 No family should have their dignity attacked in such a vile way.  When we dispense with all of the pseudo-intellectual hypotheticals, the false rhetoric, and the deceptive talking points, that's what we are talking about - people hiding their personal dislikes and ignorance behind fake studies and Biblical Scripture taken out of context.

The video ABOVE is the correction definition of good families. And we should take the time to honor all of these families who do what they can for their children, particularly the mothers - no matter what orientation they may be - who are the crucially important parts of these families. For more info, go here.

 And don't forget to #CelebrateAllMothers

'Anti-gay study faces MORE scrutiny' & other Monday midday news briefs

Mark Regnerus

The Anti-Equality Movement's Favorite Laughably Disingenuous Talking Point - “Gays and lesbians have a right to live as they choose; they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for all of us.” You just KNOW that's some Maggie Gallagher @#!% 

A “reality check” for the Regnerus study on gay parenting [UPDATED] - Oh this is good. More proof that the Regnerus study was fraudulent. Apparently folks answering the questions in the study were lying. How could Regnerus not have seen this?

 Raul Castro's Daughter Mariela Sponsors Blessing Of Cuban Gay Couples - Good for Cuba! 

 Gay NYC Hotelier Who Hosted Ted Cruz No Longer Sorry, Calls Gays 'Extremists' In New Op-Ed - Awwww poor baby! To me, the real story is that HE gets an op-ed while so many of the rest of us - because we don't have money or influence - gets the shaft. He is HARDLY a victim. But watch how quickly some in the media will portray him as one while ignoring how lgbt children are bullied.

  Tulsa County to pay $300K in fees in same-sex marriage case - Give it up! Turn it loose!

Anti-gay Mother's Day message courtesy of anti-gay right's 'intellectual future'

Ryan T. Anderson

Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation has been anointed by some as the intellectual future of the anti-gay movement or anti-marriage equality movement. I am not sure which overrated title he has been given because I think such things are ignorant.

Also, they tend not to be true, as one can gauge from this tweet Anderson sent out yesterday:

Today we celebrate Mother's Day. Next month we celebrate Father's Day. Because moms & dads are irreplaceable. Regardless of what SCOTUS says

— Ryan T. Anderson (@RyanT_Anderson) May 10, 2015

So many things come to my mind in order to properly describe this tweet. Ignorant. Tacky. Hateful. Inappropriate. Stupid.

But Anderson's tweet reveal much more. A game plan. A deliberate attempt to play same-sex households against heterosexual households. Anderson is just one of  many on the anti-gay right who say that same-sex households damage children because these households supposedly deny children of having the allegedly right to have a mother and a father.

The venomous implication is that gays are stealing children away from heterosexual families who would properly care for them in order to satisfy their own selfish desires.

It's like saying what Anita Bryant said in the 70s - that we "recruit children," but with focus on "implying" and "hinting."

I need not refute Anderson. Too many folks, especially those who read this blog, know the love and sacrifices all parents make for their children. Parenthood is not a competition nor do the vast majority of folks who become parents by whatever means take it lightly.

Nor should it be thought of as a caste system. Not all children live in households with a mother and a father. And while this can be a good home for a child, it is not the only type of home environment children grow up in nor should it be considered the "gold standard."

And all homes providing love and support for their children should be celebrated.

Editor's note - Please do not contact Anderson, particularly if you have something ugly to say. He will mostly likely what you say as an example of how "intolerant" gays are. He tends to do this a lot, even if he at first baits folks via HIS tweets.