CA Gov signs pro-gay bill and other Thursday afternoon news briefs

What a drag. My modem is shot so I am here in McDonalds trying to download AOL so i will have access to dial-up until I get to Time Warner. And my patience is low. God help those two black men next to me criticizing the gay community. Anyway, please enjoy these news briefs and I hope to have things fixed by tomorrow morning:

California Governor Signs FAIR Education Act - Religious right head explosion imminent.

Surprise, Surprise: NOM Endorses Ex-Gay Therapy - Apparently NOM is getting really deep into anti-gay territory. Like I'm actually surprised.

Why Does The Right Still Insist Being Gay Is A Choice? - Because they live in a parallel universe of EXTREME stupidity.

Gay, lesbian households increase in Okla. - We only did it to piss off Sally Kern. lol

NEW YORK: Another Town Clerk Quits - Bye, bye, bye.

Michele Bachmann, This Gay Man Thanks You - I couldn't have said it better myself.

Daily Show destroys Bachmanns' ex-gay nonsense and other Thursday midday news briefs

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Field of Dongs
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Comedy Repression Therapy
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Hilarious! I'm all for this!

And in other news . . .


Rick Perry Ally Bickle Says Marriage Equality Is "Rooted In The Depths Of Hell" - Imagine having Rick Perry in the White House.

Oakland A's suspend minor league prospect for gay slur - Good

Governor Brown To Veto CA's SB 48 Education Bill? - Don't do it, Gov. Brown.

GOP Senators Who Voted For Marriage Equality In New York See Fundraising Spike - Excellent news out of New York.

Bachmann controversy exposes religious right liars

The controversy about Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, and his clinic is sad on so many levels.

There is the sadness at the thought of the men and women exposed to the fraudulent idea that somehow their God-given sexual orientation is evil and therefore should be eliminated.

And then there is just how low those on the right will stoop to cover for the Bachmanns.

Witness the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg during an interview espousing the view that the controversy is not a big deal:



And then there is this madness by the National Organization for Marriage giving cover to "professional ex-gay" and known deception artist Greg Quinlan:

That theme - that the Bachmanns are the "victims of a conspiracy" is recurrent throughout religious right talking points about this controversy.

Yet none of these so-called "moral folks" have addressed the question that if Bachmann's clinic is providing such a good service then why did he feel the need to lie about it.

Indeed more than anything I could ever say, the Bachmann controversy underscores how broken the moral compass is for those in the religious right.

I've said it before and I will say it again:

Lies in the name of God are still lies.

Phony victimization ruining American Christianity

According to Religious Right Watch, the Family Research Council is asking for folks to pray for Marcus Bachmann's clinic because supposedly it's "under siege" by the gay community because of its use of the faulty practice of reparative ("ex-gay") therapy"

Christian Counseling under Assault – This week a homosexual activist group reported findings from their undercover “sting” operation at Minnesota Christian counseling clinic owned by Republican Presidential candidate Michelle Bachman and her husband, Marcus. Sympathetic national media seemed shocked that the Christian counseling center offered help for homosexuals to break free from addiction to homosexuality through faith in Jesus Christ. Where will the homosexual assault on religious liberty stop?

Meanwhile, the right-wing website Lifesite News is sounding the alarm simply because NY Gov Andrew Cuomo has told the state's marriage clerks that they must comply with the law and sign their names on same-sex marriage licenses.

In these two stories is a theme which is recurrent throughout many religious right Christian and evangelical circles - the idea that someone's religious beliefs trumps the fact that they are not honest or that they have a job to do.

Both stories are really simple.

Bachmann lied and was caught in his deception. He initially said that his clinic does not engage in ex-gay therapy. And he was proven to be a liar by the undercover video.

But some folks who call themselves Christians aren't questioning the fact that Bachmann lied because they are too busy spinning conspiracy theories as to how the entire controversy is a "plot against Marcus and Michele Bachmann and evangelicals."

What's more, these folks actually embrace the fraudulent therapy done by Bachmann's clinic while conveniently omitting the fact that he lied about it.

And to top it all off, they do all of this while talking about "morals" and "values" and "upholding God's truth."

It's a bizarre gymnastic conundrum which should alarm anyone who really do care about morals and values.

The case in NY is even easier to figure out.

As shown by Lifesite News, some folks actually believe that someone working for state government should be absolved from following the rules of their job simply because they are Christian.

The question of where the line should be drawn is a serious one. It should not be taken lightly.

If state workers can use the Biblical verses as an excuse to not sign same-sex marriage licenses, then what's the justification of them not using Biblical verses to deny interracial couples their licenses  (i.e. the Tower of Babel story) or refusing to sign licenses because the woman in the potential marriage may have signed it before the man (in defiance to what some say about the supposed subservient position of a woman in a relationship in accordance to Scripture).

Just when was the Biblical verse "render to Caesar what is Caesar's"  replaced by "I'm a Christian so I deserve more rights than you?"

It's ironic that the same evangelicals and Christians who support all of this mess are constantly complaining about how Christianity has a bad name in this country.

Maybe these "Christians" should stop acting like a bunch of self-righteous, spoiled brats who want their way all of the time.

NY anti-gay activists throwing tantrums and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Don't you just hate people who name-drop? Well too bad because I am going to be one of those people. Witness my online buddy Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out on Hardball as he expertly eviscerates Marcus and Michele Bachmann for the ex-gay mess both are embroiled in.

And in other news . . .

NYT profiles homophobes who lost, but are still fighting marriage in NY - Disappointing one-sided article by The New York Times. But still the law is the law.

California Board Accepts Credits From NARTH for Licensing Renewal - So apparently being a bogus group trafficking junk science means nothing against your credibility as long as you beat up on the gays.

Audio: Bachmann in '04: 'It’s part of Satan, I think, to say this is gay' - It's never a dull moment with Michele Bachmann.

Illinois Judge Reinstates Catholic Adoption Contracts - For the time being that is.

Religious right circling the wagons around Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann

The controversy over presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's husband (Marcus Bachmann) and his clinic engaging in the dangerous practice of reparative therapy (attempting to convert gay men into heterosexuals) has gained an added dimension.

While Bachmann herself refuses to comment about it, several religious right figures have come out in support of not only her but her husband's practice.

However, rather than address the issue of the dangers of reparative therapy, these folks are whining that Bachmann is the "victim" of a "scorched earth" media campaign out to destroy her:

Marcus Bachmann

 Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel - "Marcus Bachmann is providing a therapeutic service to those who struggle with same-sex attractions and who seek to get their minds around those same-sex attractions," Barber notes. "So this is nothing short of yellow journalism, and we have come to expect this kind of stuff from the left."

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth - "Incredibly, ABC even went so far as to title its piece “Pray Away the Gay at Bachmann Clinic?” — recycling TWO founder Wayne Besen’s mocking and bigoted attack-slogan for the idea that people can overcome homosexual desires through faith in God."


Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media - "Once a greatly feared investigative reporter, Brian Ross has been reduced to recycling left-wing material from the homosexual lobby. But the pathetic hit job he narrated on Monday’s ABC Nightline show on GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has backfired in a big way. The charge was that the Bachmann family counseling service engages in terrible things by teaching homosexuals how to leave their disease-ridden lifestyle."

The Family Research Council - "The Bachmanns are unapologetic for their views on homosexuality--views that are rooted in the faith that a majority of Americans share. Apart from Washington, D.C. and homosexual interest groups, the majority of the country will view Marcus's work for what it is--a ministry of hope. Pointing men and women who struggle with same-sex attractions to God isn't "a discredited form of therapy," it's the path to sexual healing."

The irony is that none of these statements are helping Bachmann or her husband. The initial undercover investigation - done very excellently by the group Truth Wins Out - took place because Bachmann's husband was denying that his clinic engaged in reparative therapy.

If what Marcus Bachmann is doing is so beneficial, then why would he lie about it?  Apparently members of the religious right are so caught up in fighting the supposed sin of homosexuality that they give the actual sin of lying a free pass.

Perhaps Michele Bachmann advise these folks to keep their mouths shut. If they are trying to help her, they aren't succeeding.

'Interfaith' website lies about SPLC and its hate group designations

An "interfaith" site, Beliefnet, has weighed in on the controversy regarding the Southern Poverty Law Center and its labeling of several religious right groups as anti-gay hate groups.

But the site is very deceptive in terms of what it chooses to highlight . . . and omit.

Rob Kerby, Beliefnet's Senior Editor, said the following in an article:

Why would anybody accuse 13 Christian organizations, including the American Family Association and Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council, of practicing “hate?”

. . . Could the intent be to smear and silence some of the most effective Christian ministries in America? To blacken their names because they have dared to speak out in the political battle over same-sex marriage?

When a smear campaign against the Family Research Council began last year, it was immediately denounced by Speaker of the House John Boehner and 150 other national leaders, including 24 members of Congress.

 . . . That time the smear was led by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which for years has pursued anti-discrimination cases. It received considerable well-deserved publicity for suing the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups.

However, the SPLC in recent years has taken up the same-sex marriage cause and the battle against “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the military.

In late December 2010, the center advised the national press to shun 13 Christian groups because they were hate groups. Among the groups smeared were the American Family Association, the Family Research Council and the Traditional Values Coalition. The smaller groups included Abiding Truth Ministries of Springfield, Massachusetts; the Chalcedon Foundation of Vallecito, California; and the Faithful Word Baptist Church of Tempe, Arizona.

That's the tone of the article - i.e. SPLC is trying to "silence these groups because they are standing up against the supposed "gay agenda."

Kerby's article omitted several important facts about SPLC's designation of these organizations as hate groups.