Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
While the religious right have been silent - no doubt in shock - over the news that over 75 prominent Republicans signed on to a brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Prop 8, the Republicans in question haven't been so silent. The following is a New York Times interview with one of the Republicans, Margaret Hoover:
The National Organization for Marriage takes the cake with this nonsense:
Perhaps the denizens of NOM are living in a bizarro universe because the following statements have not come from supporters of "gay marriage" (marriage equality):
"The idea of same-sex marriage is troubling even to some homosexuals, let
alone those who hold a biblical conviction that marriage is intended by
the Creator to be between a man and a woman. . . Every time Western civilization seems to reach the bottom, one discovers
a new low even farther down the pit. If Western populations don’t wake
up, before long they will find themselves all the way in the Lake of
Fire with the devil laughing his head off". - Michael Youssef, televangelist
"This is a really pernicious lie of Satan to say that the gender part of
humanity doesn’t really matter because the gender part of humanity is
really denying the distinct God imaging in each of us as males and
females. We need to understand that as Christians. That’s the biggest
thing. The other is that, ‘you know kids don’t really need a mom and a
dad they just need any configuration of loving adults who care for
them,’ in fact, and this has already been in the case, we all know about
what hate speech is, the fact of saying a child needs a mother and a
father will be deemed hate speech because that is a statement against
same-sex marriage and parenting." - Glenn T. Stanton, Focus on the Family
"We need to remember that in the time leading up to the Flood what the
rabbis teach about the last straw for God before He brought the Flood
was when they started writing wedding songs to homosexual marriage and
Jesus said that you’ll know the End Times because it will be like the
days of Noah. There’s never been a time in the history of the world
since before the Flood when homosexual marriage has been open and
celebrated, and that’s another sign that I believe that we’re close to
the end." - Scott Lively(Editor's note - there is NO verse in the Bible which validates Lively's assertions regarding marriage equality songs and Noah's flood).
If you're going to DC to counter NOM's marriage march… - Be forewarned. IF you are going to DC to counter NOM's march, the organization will attempt to goad you into acting foolish so they can catch it on film. They admit it. DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO DO THIS!
One has to give anti-gay activist Scott Lively points for chutzpah.
After spending the longest time attempting to deny his involvement in how Uganda created it's "Kill the Gay" bill, Lively is now peddling the same mindset which led to the bill's creation.
In a recent issue of World Net Daily, Lively advances what he calls a theory which will ensure a "pro-family" victory. It's actually a repeat of what he wrote to Russia in 2007.
Are you ready for two of his suggestions? :
1. . . . begin training doctors, psychologists and therapists in the
techniques of helping homosexuals to recover, and offer this therapy as a
public service. Promote recovery for homosexuals in public advertising
and reach out to young people who may suffer from same-sex attraction.
Catch it early and spare these youths a lifetime of pain and suffering.
Importantly, if Russian authorities publicly promote recovery for
homosexuals, the “gays” will not be able to deceive the public with
their “born the way” propaganda.
2. . . . criminalize the public advocacy of homosexuality. My philosophy
is to leave homosexuals alone if they keep their lifestyle private, and
not to force them into therapy if they don’t want it. However,
homosexuality is destructive to individuals and to society and it should
never publicly promoted. The easiest way to discourage “gay pride”
parades and other homosexual advocacy is to make such activity illegal
in the interest of public health and morality.
In other words, leave gays alone. Just pass laws which make it absolutely impossible for them to function other than clandestine sexual encounters in bathrooms, rest stops, etc. Destroy their ability to function openly in society, have public relationships, and families. Make their lives so intolerable that while you are not forcing them to seek ex-gay therapy per se, you are manipulating them in that direction.
That's the most brazenly dishonest idea I've heard since Romney's desire for undocumented immigrants to choose "self-deportation."
This madness will never happen. But let's ask ourselves something. With all of the "Don't Say Gay" bills lurking about in state legislatures, the constant attacks by organizations like the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage, and the attempts to allow discriminatory behavior under the guise of "religious liberty," one wonders whether or not other religious right figures and supporters are a step ahead of Lively in the idea of making the lives of gays so intolerable that we practically trip over ourselves to rush into "ex-gay" therapy.
If you want to see all of the inane arguments against marriage equality wrapped up in one video, check out the above monstrosity from the Family Research Council.
It is a four minute rush of almost every anti-gay point, every anecdotal horror story, and every lame argument against marriage equality.
The gist of the video is that homosexuality is a "behavior" therefore marriage equality contributes nothing to society. The video compares marriage equality to dealing drugs.
The video basically makes the following points, which I took the liberty to refute in parentheses.
Heterosexual marriage supposedly:
Creates children (Because in the world of the Family Research Council, gays and lesbians cannot create children. Apparently our "parts don't fit"),
Best raises children (That is if one ignores the millions of gay households raising children in this country as well as worldwide),
Protects women (Except for the wives who get beat up by their husbands),
Civilizes men (Except for the husbands who treat their wives like punching bags),
And lowers crime, poverty, and welfare, which reduces government spending and deficits (which is really a reason to support marriage equality if you think about it).
On the other hand, marriage equality:
Validates sex partners (Because married heterosexual couples don't have sex. If you think I'm wrong, ask Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage, his wife and their multitude of children which they got from a cabbage patch in their backyard.),
Harms children by supposedly denying them a mother and a father (Because apparently a household with two fathers or two mothers is spooky),
Schools will subject children to "mandatory homosexual curricula" (Because apparently children in gay households don't attend public schools and if they do, who cares about letting them read reports about their families anyway. After all, they are inferior.),
Business and taxes will fund homosexual relationships (Because we all know that gays and lesbians don't own businesses and are exempt from paying taxes),
Freedom of religion and speech are gagged (Didn't they say this about lgbt-inclusive hate crimes legislation? Generally non-discrimination laws have less to do with marriage equality and more to do with fairness and taxes. An adoption agency receiving tax monies should not have the right to discriminate, regardless of which religion it serves).
This video is a colossal error on the part of the Family Research Council in that is provides arguments easier to poke through than Kleenex.
And more than that, the video comes across as just plain mean. It's dripping with a lot of naked animus towards same-sex couples and their families.
For one thing, it deliberately ignores the reality that children are raised in same-sex households. To me, implying that a child's family is nonexistent or inferior is more harmful than being raised in a same-sex household.
In addition, the video implies that gay couples know nothing about stability and fidelity. Maybe FRC should remember Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who after 55 years together were married in 2008 in California before Prop 8 was passed.
Or Edie Windor, who is seeking dignity for her over 40 year relationship with her late partner, Thea Spyer, by attempting to overturn DOMA.
And the thousands of couples in the states which passed marriage equality laws who stood in line in joyous celebration, tears, and accompanied by their children and family who were happy that finally their relationships were being treated with validity and respect.
But we all know that FRC won't do these things. The group is too busy creating caste systems for God.
All I can say is keep it up, FRC. If you keep showing America what you really think of same-sex couples and their families in such nakedly ugly details, we will receive marriage equality in practically no time at all.
This unbelievably nasty tweet by so-called "ex-gay" activist Linda Jernigan is a prime of example of why I started this blog. Regardless of what folks like Jernigan say about them being 'Christian' and the lgbt community being bullies the opposite is true. My advice to my fellow lgbt brothers and sisters and our allies not to slam them with profanity on the Internet or anywhere else. USE these people. USE their words. SHOW people what they say. TELL people what they say. They are their own worst enemies and our best weapon for lgbt equality.
Harvey: Gay 'Deception' Going Global - Linda Harvey is yet another example of what I'm talking about. USE the liars. Their words are our weapons against them.
For whatever reason, the Family Research Council has decided to resurrect the distortive story of supposedly what will happen if marriage equality is declared legal throughout the country, i.e. children will be "taught" about homosexuality.
Those who are familiar with how the right distorts this claim should know just who are the stars of the above video - two families from Massachusetts, the Parkers and the Wirthlins.
In 2005, the Wirthlins were supposedly upset that their child was read a story about a prince who marries another prince (instead of the customary stories of a young girl and her grandmother being eaten by a wolf or two children being abandoned by their parents in the forest and nearly cannibalized by a witch).
And the Parkers are really special. In 2005, the father, David Parker, was arrested for not leaving his son's school. He claimed that he wanted some type of parental notice which would exclude his child from discussions of gay families, even if those discussions happened by accident. However, there are some (this author included) who believed that Parker had conspired with a local anti-gay group (Mass Resistance) to blow the entire incident out of proportion.
Both families sued the schools, claiming that parents had the right to opt out their children when lessons like these were taught. And they lost in front of the Supreme Court, who found that while Massachusetts did have a law allowing parents to opt their children out of lessons regarding human sexuality, learning about different families is not a lesson about human sexuality.
However, the story didn't die. The National Organization for Marriage used the Parkers and Wirthlins in its successful attempt to pass Prop 8 in California. And the families were used in ads last year in Maryland, Maine, Washington state, and Minnesota - all failing efforts by the way.
This particular video starring Parker and Wirthlins runs like a conversation with FRC head Tony Perkins. However, I think it fails. Other than the ominous music and the fake tears at the end from Parker and his wife, I think the viewer will wonder what exactly is the problem.
If anything, the video makes the Parkers and Wirthlins look clueless and bigoted. While FRC tries to make the video seem like homosexuality will be "taught" to children as if this would be a calamity, the Parkers and Wirthlins freely admit that they object their children knowing about same-sex households.
And therein lies the difference. It is the reason why both families lost their lawsuit in court. Learning about different families has nothing to do with human sexuality. According to the Seattle Times, who wrote about an ad featuring the Parkers and the Wirthlins last year:
In reality, in classrooms across the state and the country, teachers
are already having conversations with children about different kinds of
families — those of mixed race or religion, or those headed by single
parents, grandparents, two moms or two dads.
And lessons about families are already part of the grade-level
requirements for first-graders in Washington schools — the idea being
that it helps prepare them to function as citizens in a diverse society.
But those requirements say nothing about any kind of marriage, and
schools typically don't raise the subject — in deference to students who
come from homes where the adults may not be married. Perhaps more importantly, there's no direct link between school
curricula and same-sex-marriage laws . . .
And while the video focuses on the Parkers' children - making free use of footage showing them playing and walking with their parents - this footage again undercuts the message FRC tries to present because the actual message it is saying is that same-sex households and the children who live in those households are somehow inferior and should not be type of respect that two-parent heterosexual households are given.
No doubt, FRC will sway the minds of those who are already in its camp, but that's a given. If the group was attempting to win over new converts to its side, then it will fail miserably. All in all, the video is archaic and the Wirthlins and Parkers come across as mean-spirited and selfish people determined to push second-class status on families who are not like their own.
As seen by this 1978 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, members of the transgender community and the idea that someone would attempt suicide after being called gay were funny topics once upon a time without hardly any reprisal.
Not so much today.
While we continue to do the work to gain equality, let's never forget how far we have come or where we have come from.
