'Congressman links lgbts to Noah's Flood' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Congressman Louie Gohmert

Louie Gohmert Links Homosexuality To Noah’s Flood - Who else but Louie Gohmert. Before you get blase about this, like everything Gohmert has said over the years, always remember that he is a Congressman with the power to vote on YOUR lives. See why voting matters? 

The Powerful Way Logo TV Is Censoring Itself On National Coming Out Day - Don't be fooled by the headline. This is actually a good thing because LOGO is making a wonderful and very necessary point. 

National Park Service issues LGBTQ history study - YES! I minored in history so this is an especially good thing to me. 

Rainbow Noose Meme “Probably Too Dramatic”, Says Anti-Marriage Equality Campaigner - Just when you think WE had big problems getting marriage equality in America . . .  

LGBTQ people of color victimized by domestic violence face unique obstacles - The struggle is NEVER over.

Flashback: National Coming Out Day 1988 and The Oprah Winfrey Show

Today is the 28th National Coming Out Day. Rather than any long-winded posts about the importance of coming out, how about a blast from the past?

The following is a clip from the Oprah Winfrey Show which spotlighted the first National Coming Out Day in 1988. The words uttered here by members of the LGBT community are as poignant now as they were back then:

'Faith leaders' continued support of Trump an ugly indictment of our nation's choices

For decades, the anti-lgbt industry have targeted our community with deliberate lies and scientific distortions about our lives. They have painted us as valueless indicators of a society running away from God.  But last weekend, all they had to do is make a simple stand against an individual whose comments about women proved that he is pretty much everything they have claimed us of being.

It would seem so easy for them to rebuke him, wouldn't it? Hardly.

  

Evangelical Leaders Shrug At Donald Trump’s Lewd Comments

Ralph Reed

 “People of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defund Planned Parenthood, defend religious liberty and oppose the Iran nuclear deal,” said Ralph Reed, who heads the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “A ten-year-old tape of a private conversation with a talk show host ranks low on their hierarchy of concerns.”  

Why some top evangelicals are standing by Trump 

Gary Bauer

" Hillary Clinton is committed to enacting policies that will erode religious liberty, promote abortion, make our country less safe, and leave our borders unprotected.”

 Prominent Evangelicals Still Backing Trump After Lewd Video

Tony Perkins

 “My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values, it is based upon shared concerns about issues such as: justices on the Supreme Court that ignore the constitution, America’s continued vulnerability to Islamic terrorists and the systematic attack on religious liberty that we’ve seen in the last 7 1/2 years.”  

Franklin Graham: Trump comments ‘cannot be defended,’ but Supreme Court is top issue

Franklin Graham

 "The crude comments made by Donald J. Trump more than 11 years ago cannot be defended. But the godless progressive agenda of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton likewise cannot be defended. I am not endorsing any candidates in this election. I have said it throughout this presidential campaign, and I will say it again—both candidates are flawed. The only hope for the United States is God. Our nation’s many sins have permeated our society, leading us to where we are today. But as Christians we can’t back down from our responsibility to remain engaged in the politics of our nation. On November 8th we will all have a choice to make. The two candidates have very different visions for the future of America. The most important issue of this election is the Supreme Court. That impacts everything. There’s no question, Trump and Clinton scandals might be news for the moment, but who they appoint to the Supreme Court will remake the fabric of our society for our children and our grandchildren, for generations to come."

In all honesty, the fact that these men are seen as faith leaders in the first place is astounding. Ralph Reed was involved in an ugly scandal exploiting Christian mobilization against gambling casinos.  The scandal cost him an almost assured win as Lt. Governor of Georgia.

Long before he made a name for himself as a so-called pro-family advocate, Gary Bauer undermined efforts to educate Reagan on the AIDS crisis and efforts to get the president to address it publicly. He undermined Surgeon General C. Everett Koop as the crisis swept through the nation.

Perkins has a long history demonizing lgbts from claiming that we are pedophiles to claiming that we are tools of "the enemy."

Graham has praised Russian president Vladimir Putin for his country's persecution of lgbts. Ironically, Graham has been silent about Putin's persecution of Christians.

Why are we shocked that supposed faith leaders like Graham, Bauer, Reed, and Perkins are willing to overlook Trump's comments about sexually assaulting women?  The question needs to be how in the hell did these folks become "anointed" as this country's faith leaders in the first place?

SBC official - Trump has 'snuffed out' the religious right

I'm sure Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, won't win any applause from folks like Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins, or James Dobson with a recent piece he wrote in The Washington Post.

But he makes a good point in his claim that Donald Trump has wrecked the religious right. Part of it is as follows:

Some of the very people who warned us about moral relativism and situational ethics now ask us to become moral relativists for the sake of an election. And when some dissent, they are labeled as liberals or accused of moral preening or sitting comfortably on the sidelines. The cynicism and nihilism is horrifying to behold. It is not new, but it is clearer to see than ever.
 

There is good news, though, behind all of this, regardless of how this election turns out. The old-school political Religious Right establishment wonders why the evangelical next generation rejects their way. The past year is illustration enough. The evangelical movement is filled with younger, multiethnic, gospel-centered Christians. They are defined by a clear theology and a clear mission — not by the doctrinally vacuous resentment over a lost regime of nominal, cultural “Christian America.”

The people who have used the gospel to sell us politically cynical voting guides have done damage. But they are not replicating themselves in the next generation.

You can read the column in its entirety here.

'Brutal assessment of gay Trump voters' & other Thur. midday news briefs

Understanding Homonationalism: Why Are There Gay People Supporting Trump? - BRUTAL assessment of gay Trump supporters:

Put another way, homonationalists are largely white gay people blinded by privilege and actively working against the well-being of the most vulnerable members of our community. These individuals have received their portion of the proverbial pie through recent LGBT victories ― access to rights and capital ― and don’t feel the need to fight against the ideologies of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, xenophobia, transphobia or Islamophobia that are institutionally ingrained into the fabric of America. Homonationalists believe embodying their freedom means working to violate or deactivate the rights of others. Homonationalists are pawns of their own erasure. 

Pence’s penchant for dodging questions isn’t poise. It’s how he defended anti-LGBT discrimination - Don't be upset that Pence wasn't asked any questions about his anti-lgbt history during the recent VP debate. If he truly becomes the "front runner" in the next presidential election, that is the time we ROAST him. 

 Mike Pence: Appearing on Radio Show of Top Anti-Gay Leader James Dobson 'Greatest Honor of My Life' - So let's start assembling the list NOW.  

Rick Scarborough: Gay Marriage Has Made It Illegal For Christians To Serve As Federal Judges - Oh for crying out loud . . .

Unhinged pastor blames lgbts for recent racial unrest in Charlotte

Resident Charlotte pastor nut Flip Benham knows who is to blame for the awful unrest which took place in the city after the police shooting of  Keith Lamont Scott.

And he lets everyone know during his latest unhinged tirade at a Charlotte City Council meeting:



What can I say? The man NEEDS Jesus. Or at least a huge Valium.

Franklin Graham caught up in Trump Foundation controversy

Franklin Graham

Recently on his Facebook page, Franklin Graham took it upon himself to castigate the media about Trump's unreleased tax returns. He claimed that there are more pressing issues they should be concerned about . . . like the transgender community:

The media keeps talking about it, but to be honest with you, nobody gives a rip about Donald J. Trump’s taxes. What people do care about is their own taxes. And when I read about the government spending $8.4 million of taxpayers’ money a year—starting today—for things like gender reassignment and hormone therapy for military personnel, I’m disgusted! Aren’t you? This is the kind of immoral garbage President Obama and his administration are allowing to be put in place in our country. $8.4 million a year—with all the things our military needs—can you believe that? Things like this need to be stopped. It just shows you how morally warped our politicians have become.

Graham has long used his Facebook page as if he was God delivering  messages from a high mountain. However, this time he probably should have kept his mouth shut.

According to a recent article by NBC News, Trump used his own charitable foundation to give money to several conservative groups who helped him raise his profile in anticipation for his run for president. The Trump Foundation is already facing scrutiny for a myriad of unethical and possibly illegal activity. On Monday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the charity to stop fundraising in the state after reports that it had not submitted to routine audits.

According to the NBC News article:

The foundation, which Trump initially financed with his own money but has been funded by outside donors since 2008, gave $286,000 to prominent conservative groups that were important players on the road to the GOP nomination, according to tax filings first reported by RealClearPolitics. The groups included Iowa's Family Leader, South Carolina Palmetto Family Council, the American Conservatives Union and Citizens United.

Together, the donations paint a picture of the wealthy businessman using charity-earmarked money to build relationships with conservative activists in early voting states. There are laws prohibiting self-dealing that would bar these kinds of donations if they were solely for Trump's personal benefit, but there's nothing stopping Trump from donating to these groups as a charitable act — even if it does grease the wheels of his presidential bid along the way. 

And Franklin Graham:

Though Evangelical Rev. Franklin Graham is not endorsing a candidate, he was an early ally of Trump — and his charities reaped the benefits, too. "The more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, 'You know, maybe the guy's right,'" Graham told ABC News in 2011.

The organization named for his father, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, got a $100,000 check a year later in 2012, while Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief group, got $25,000 the same year. 

Graham should have been more forthcoming with Trump's donations to his groups with the same  eagerness  he attacks the transgender community. He would still be a nasty demagogue, but at least he wouldn't be a hypocrite.