'Anti-gay Oregon bakery was not fined for cake, but sharing lesbian couple's personal info' & other Fri. midday news briefs

Save your fake tears, Melissa Klein. We now know why your bakery was fined.

Oregon bakers weren’t fined over cake — they were punished for sharing lesbian couple’s home address - I don't care how many times this story has been listed, I don't care how many times folks have read this story, and I don't care how tired folks are of hearing about it. THIS component NEEDS to go viral. That bakery in Oregon which got into trouble for not serving a gay couple and ended up having to pay a $135,000 have been liars from the start. They whine about their religious liberty and accuse the lgbt community of being "intolerant." It turns out they were fined BECAUSE they shared the lesbian couple's personal information, causing the couple to receive a multitude of threats and nearly causing their foster children to be taken away. Now when the Family Research Council, Todd Starnes, and various other anti-gay groups and personalities repeat this story, they won't mention this fact. When the couple who owns the bakery makes their speech at FRC's "Values Voters" Summit, they aren't going to mention that detail. We need to drill this truth into people's heads so that they know how much of a lie this entire crying towel story was. 

The Newest Argument For Wedding Cake Discrimination - Because you can BET the anti-gay right is attempting to twist this situation again.  

Mike Huckabee: US Now Worse Than Sodom And Gomorrah Because Of Marriage Equality - The poor anti-gay right continues the conjecture and hyperbole to no avail. 

Governor Tells a Kentucky County Clerk to Start Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses or Resign - BECAUSE it's their freaking jobs to do it!  

Right-Wing Pastors: Expect 'Gunfire' And Rebellion Due To Gay Marriage Ruling - The only thing I've heard are words from overpaid, self-righteous so-and-so's who are too cowardly to start something themselves so they are attempting to bamboozle others into doing it.

Anti-gay right's attack on SCOTUS are dangerous

The one thing which bothers me greatly throughout the entire right-wing freakout over the marriage equality decision is the disrespect of SCOTUS. Take Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, for example:

Staver

We should not pretend that it is the rule of law, we should not act like it's the rule of law," he counsels. "We do need to protect religious freedom – but in the process we cannot accept this ruling as a legitimate ruling as the rule of law. It is not; it is not based on the Constitution – and if it's not based on the Constitution, it's just their opinion."

I'm sure his words will come back to haunt him, should Staver ever find himself arguing a case in front of SCOTUS.

Their rulings are not merely opinion.  SCOTUS is the body which makes sure our laws are in accordance to the Constitution. And their rulings, like it or not, are legitimate dictates which we must follow. I haven't liked some rulings but I have never referred to the justices as "black robed tyrants" or "unelected judges." 

Such rhetoric is not only disrespectful but dangerous to the integrity of the court and future of this country.  Staver and the rest who are attacking SCOTUS for their marriage equality ruling should think upon their words. If they are urging resistance against a ruling which they don't like, what are they to do if people on the other side of the spectrum urges resistance against a ruling they would like in the future?

We should encourage some anti-gay activists to speak openly, freely, and often

Stacy Swimp should speak about lgbt issues more often.

Apparently, Glenn Beck is off the air this month for medical reasons.

This leaves his radio show in the hands of his  co-hosts, Pat Grey and Stu Burguiere. Together, the two demonstrate why sometimes it is a wonderful idea to let anti-gay leaders speak free and unfettered. Instead of interviewing Michigan anti-gay activist Stacy Swimp, the two let him ramble about the evils of lgbts and marriage equality. The following audio is just a little taste of the insanity:



Transcript:

Swimp: "This is not even just about so-called gay marriage. This is about an immoral revolution. Look at what they're doing, they're trying to superimpose it in our schools. Did you hear about the case in California, and this is not uncommon, where homosexuals who have been allowed to adopt children ... are taking them to get hormone shots because they're saying that this pre-adolescent wants to be of a different gender and so they're trying to stop the natural genetical [sic] process of this minor that they have custody of? This is what's happening, so this is getting to a point now where they're literally trying to collapse our Western Civilization. This is a moral, supernatural, spiritual thing that's manifesting itself in the political realm, in the social realm, in the cultural realm and if people like you and I and those of us who can see it don't do anything about it, I'm telling you, we're going to look up and we're going to have boys going to the girls' bathroom ... We're going to have men walking around in bottomless pants." 

Huge hat tip to Right Wing Watch.

'Married gay couples to receive FULL federal benefits' & other Thur midday news briefs

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch

Obama Administration Confirms Married Same-Sex Couples Will Have Access to Federal Benefits - Not baaaad! 

Toledo judge issues statement after refusing to marry same-sex couple - Now THIS is a situation more serious than that of clerks refusing to issue marriage licenses. When a JUDGE uses "religious liberty" as an excuse not to do his or her duty, we are talking about a serious constitutional crisis here.

Russian Government Unveils Offensive Heterosexual Pride Flag To Honor “Traditional Family Values” - And Russia continues to attack and stigmatize its lgbt citizens. 

 Bryan Fischer Once Again Calls For Enacting Russian-Style Anti-Gay 'Propaganda' Laws In America - In a manner which Bryan Fischer wishes America would do. Dream on, big boy.  

Tea Party Sheriff Calls For 'Pitchforks And Torches' In Response To Marriage Equality Ruling - And in that SAME voice of making fun of fake bravado, I say to this guy - "BITCH, PLEASE!!" It's like I said before. Anti-gay figures want other people to do the rioting while they reap the benefits. 

Kenyan Leaders To Obama: We’ll Throw Rotten Eggs At You If You Talk About LGBT Rights Here - This issue of Obama possibly speaking about lgbt equality in such a homophobic country like Kenya is heating up WITHOUT little or no mention from the American media. And we already know of a certain anti-gay supposed Christian group who stands in support of the persecution of lgbts in Kenya.

Family Research Council defends persecution of gays in African countries

For Tony Perkins, it's not persecution unless it happens to evangelicals.

In a show of absolute hypocrisy, as the Family Research Council pushes the false notion that marriage equality is causing the persecution of evangelicals in American, the organization is simultaneously defending anti-gay persecution in Kenya.

From FRC President Tony Perkins in a recent email message:

When the President travels abroad, there's one thing he never leaves at home: his radical social agenda. Since day one, the Obama administration made it clear that this isn't your parents' version of diplomacy. Instead, the White House has dispatched an army of liberal ambassadors -- all with strict instructions to use their influence to force acceptance of the President's extreme sexual priorities.Now, after seven years of aggressive bullying, the President's crusade hasn't exactly improved relations with America's neighbors (not that it's an administration priority). From Hillary Clinton to John Kerry, the State Department has repeatedly violated the first rule of the diplomatic process: to respect the traditions and beliefs of other countries. In most cases, this forceful approach has made more enemies of nations than friends -- especially in countries as profoundly religious as Kenya.

Like other African and South American nations, they don't appreciate the administration's decision to openly demonize their beliefs and promote homosexuality and abortion as international "human rights." And when the President Obama visits Kenyans this month, they intend to tell him so. Dozens of lawmakers are planning protests during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, where White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says the President will once again call for "equality" for LGBT Kenyans. "It is important for us as Kenyans to know that the U.S. is not God," one church leader told CNSnews.com. Lawmaker Irungu Kangata was more candid. "We are telling Mr. Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home." The Speaker of the National Assembly echoed that resolve. "Liberal thoughts are being entertained in some countries under the guise of human rights. We must be vigilant and guard against it. We must lead an upright society and now allow obnoxious behavior as we have a responsibility to protect our children."

I guess it wouldn't mean anything to Perkins to know that gays are persecuted in Kenya. And when I say "persecuted," I am not talking about the lying dross Perkins and his allies in the religious right conjure up about lgbts to scare their ignorant supporters.

Anti-gay groups sowing lies, hoping to reap chaos in wake of SCOTUS marriage equality ruling

As this video above of Kim Davis, an clerk of court in Rowan County (Kentucky), refusing to help a gay couple fulfill their legal right to marry, goes viral, it has me thinking.

We are all being played for fools. Davis, other government officials who are pitifully stalling or outright refusing to marry couples (gay or heterosexual) under the guise of "religious freedom," and the lgbt community are all being manipulated and exploited.

I am sure that this situation and others like it (luckily there are not that many) will end up in our favor. However, the lgbt community needs to recognize that it is not these clerks or other government officials who don't agree with our legal right to marry who are the problem.

We should be aiming a lot of our fire at the anti-gay organizations and personalities who are instigating this mess. Individuals like Tony Perkins and Bryan Fischer and organizations such as the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, or the American Family Association want a resistance against marriage equality.

They want protests, government employees refusing to do their job, and general chaos. But they aren't going to get their hands dirty. You won't see Tony Perkins or NOM president Brian Brown leading a march of non-complying government officials. You won't see Bryan Fischer standing in front of window of courts clerks in an attempt to bar gay couples.

They reside in the ears of those who think that homosexuality is a sin.  Via mass and social media, they create and repeat inane threats of persecution and false claims that gays want to destroy Christianity. They imply or outright say that hordes of "homosexuals" will be invading evangelical churches, dragging pastors from the pulpits  and tossing them into in prison for refusing to marry gay couples, and probably snatching children on their way out, like some goblin whose name parents speak  when they want to keep their offspring in check.

Like a wannabe puppeteer, anti-gay organizations and personalities are pulling the strings,  buoying the arrogance and recklessness of clerks and various other government officials and  thereby manipulating them to refuse to carry out their duties, while expecting to be paid by the tax dollars of the people whose rights they are infringing upon. And when our community react against these individuals, well that's a part of the plan, too. Anti-gay groups are attempting to manipulate us all into an unnecessary holy war in which they hope to reap the benefits of pointing and saying "see, we told you so."

It proves the point that the more things change, the more they remain the same. When lgbts had no or very little political power, anti-gay groups exploited fears and religious beliefs to keep the boot of oppression on our necks. Even though the lgbt community has amassed much political power over the years, the anti-gay propaganda playbook doesn't change.

And why should it when there are so many folks who can be manipulated by it while the lgbt community as well as lgbt leaders busy themselves with fighting the pawns of that playbook rather than the masters.

'Marriage equality backlash not happening for anti-gay industry' & other Wed midday news briefs

Poor Franklin Graham. Gays getting married gets hm down.

What must drive the anti-gay activists crazy - Jeremy Hooper makes a wonderful point. If anti-gay personalities and the groups were expecting a wide groundswell of anger against the SCOTUS marriage equality decision, they aren't getting it, particularly if one compares the anger they hoped to exploit with that of the lgbt community and allies when Prop 8 was passed. Now THAT was a groundswell of anger.

Why 'Gay Marriage' Is Dead but the Battle Just Became Much Bigger - Signorile, as usual, makes a wonderful point.
 

Op-ed: LGBT Work, Housing Protections Needed Now, Says NAACP Leader - Wonderful point and it is awesome that it's made by NAACP leader Julian Bond. That makes it an extra special point because of the recognition beyond of the lgbt community that these protections are needed.

 Franklin Graham: God May Smite Obama With Lightning In Gay Marriage Punishment - Frankie Graham is still angry over the marriage equality decision and he is milking it on his facebook page. There is the place where some of the anger resides. Folks on their butts commenting on facebook.

Louisiana Justice Refuses To Obey Supreme Court, Writes Opinion Implying Gay People Rape Their Children - The good news is that there was no ruling against the lgbt community here. It was an acknowledgement that Louisiana must obey SCOTUS on marriage equality. The supremely bad news is the fact that there are plenty of folks like this justice around in high office. It's definitely not over.
 

Kansas Recognizes Same-Sex Marriages — But Not Same-Sex Tax Filings - Gov. Brownback screwed up the state of Kansas. Did lgbt couples think they would escape his dumb hands?