Anti-gay bakery & 'religious liberty' argument loses again

No matter how much they cried, moaned, and played the victim in front of a national audience, the owners of an Oregon bakery learned that the law is the law for everyone.

According to the Willamette Week newspaper:

The gears of justice grind slowly. But administrative law judge Alan McCullough made an interim determination that Gresham bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated unlawfully when they refused to serve a lesbian couple in May 2013.

Sweet Cakes owner Aaron Klein denied a wedding cake to the couple in May of 2013, after learning that the cake would be eaten at a same-sex wedding. The couple filed a complaint, and in January 2014, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries found "substantial evidence" that Sweet Cakes wasn't within their rights to deny service. 

A hearing on March 10 will determine whether the bakery owes the couple damages. Sweet Melissa owners Aaron and Melissa Klein filed for a summary dismissal of the complaint, citing religious freedoms. They also attempted to retrieve $200,000 in damages and legal fees from the couple. 

The Kleins have been the cause celebres of "religious freedom," or the right to refuse businesses to anyone on the grounds of "personal religious beliefs."

"Religious freedom" has been the calling card of retaliation for anti-gay groups in the wake losing several marriage equality cases in federal court. They claim that marriage equality would force businesses to serve same-sex couples in contradiction to the business owners' religious objections to marriage equality. The irony is that at the time of the incident, Oregon didn't allow gay couples to be legally married.

During a "Values Voters Summit" last year, Melissa Klein openly wept while claiming, without corroborating evidence, that the bakery was shut down and harassed.

Since then, several state legislatures have been pushing hard for "religious liberty" laws to be passed, including in Oklahoma, Texas and South Carolina.

While I am almost supportive for the Kleins, I am more supportive for the same-sex couples who would be negatively affected if any "religious freedom" bill or action became remotely close to law.

When you own a business, you do own a bit of power over people's lives. Who is to say in the future, if these bills became law, a group of businesses wouldn't unite to keep same-sex couples out of their area by denying food service, places to live via rental properties, or what have you?

And where would the anti-gay groups who championed these "religious liberty" laws be when all of this would be taking place?

Who do you think would be advising these businesses behind the scenes?

'Anti-gay lawmakers want revenge for losing marriage equality fights' & other Monday midday news briefs

Alabama Lawmaker: Same-Sex Couples Don’t Deserve Same Financial Benefits As Other Families - Which is why the opposition has such a hard time formulating an argument against marriage equality which is not religious and not full of lies. They come across as mean as a rattlesnake with an attitude.

Anti-Gay Lawmakers Seek Revenge With Dangerous New Laws - That's what it's all about. Revenge and intimidation and neither will work.  

The 5 Worst Fears About Coming Out As LGBT Later In Life - This article is VERY APPROPRIATE. Often times when we think of coming out, we think of young folks. Coming out crosses all age groups. 

 This Homophobic Lawmaker Is Still Trying Ban Same-Sex Marriage In Hawaii - Or what happens when a Peter LaBarbera-ish person gets a legislative seat.

 Steph Grant Talks About Life As A Photographer For LGBT Weddings - This is awesome!

What Mike Huckabee didn't say about gays during the CNN interview . . .

Possible presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was on CNN yesterday pulling his "who, me?" routine regarding his "disagreement" with marriage equality and lgbts in general.  He even pulled the "I've got gay friends" card. No doubt his performance will make headlines from coast to coast:

What a pity that people will remember the above rather than the below clip in 2012 when Huckabee implied that gays should be kept out of the boy scouts for the sake of protecting the boys from abuse:

Luckily for Huckabee, he was able to pull off his subterfuge last night. Lucky for him. Unlucky for the rest of us.

'Marriage equality expected to boost Florida's economy' & other Friday midday news briefs

ExxonMobil Adds LGBT Protections - Lesson learned here. It took 17 years for this to happen and it finally did. Never give up. 

Gay Marriage Expected to Boost Local Economy - Money, money, money, money. MONEY! Good news from Florida.
 
Breaking: Sally Kern Withdraws Anti-Gay 'License To Discriminate' Bill - Unfortunately her two other bills, and Kern herself, remains in the legislature.  

FRC prays for judges, governors, legislators to ignore marriage equality rulings - Cause apparently praying for an ending to war, poverty, and disease aren't as important . . .  

Nick Teich's Story From The Let Love Define Family Series - A camp which helps our transgender and gender nonconforming children will always get support from me.  

When Fox News Defended Bryan Fischer’s Anti-Gay Extremism - You really don't think that we would forget, did you?

Family Research Council supports punishing clerks who follow the law on gay marriage

When it comes to these "religious freedom" bills, particularly involving clerks and government employees with regards to legal gay marriages, the Family Research Council's change of semantics is very telling.

On one hand, the group claims that marriage equality is dangerous because it pits a person's employment and livelihood against their religious beliefs:

"As more states are forced to redefine marriage, contrary to nature and directly in conflict with the will of millions, more Americans will see and experience attacks on their religious freedom.   . . .  As more and more people lose their livelihoods because they refuse to not just tolerate but celebrate same-sex marriage, Americans will see the true goal, which is for activists to use the Court to impose a redefinition of natural marriage on the entire nation." - October 16, 2014.

Yet when it comes to what we are beginning to see now - state legislators introducing bills to actually punish clerks and government employees for legally issuing same-sex marriage licenses, FRC isn't so concerned by people's livelihoods (emphasis on important part of FRC's statement added by me):

Where's the resistance to same-sex "marriage?" A better question might be: where isn't it? While the Left is busy telling the media that Americans have "moved on" from marriage, conservatives everywhere are proving them wrong. In several states, the backlash to the courts' overreach on marriage is sprouting up in legislative committees faster than reporters can cover them. Even the New York Times is finally admitting that the wave of opposition isn't subsiding in states where out-of-control judges swung their gavels like sledgehammers against voter-approved marriage laws.

By large numbers, leaders are firing back with all kinds of legislation to stop the spread of court-imposed same-sex "marriage" at their borders, including some bills that take aim at officials who act against the will of the people.

In Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, Republicans are moving quickly on measures that would penalize any government employee caught issuing same-sex "marriage" licenses -- regardless of the courts' orders. - January 30, 2015

Shouldn't FRC be as concerned for the freedom and livelihoods of employees who may actually want to issue same-sex marriage licenses in accordance to their beliefs or, at the very least, or want to follow the law.

Or perhaps this idea of "religious freedom" is yet another dodge perpetrated by FRC and other so-called morality groups. Perhaps this is about what it's always been about  - keeping the lgbt community under heel via the exploitation of fear and religious beliefs.

This idea of the preservation of "religious freedom" is merely the latest code phrase.

In the 70s, they claimed to stand against lgbt equality because they wanted to "protect the children."

In the 80s, it was all about exploiting the HIV/AIDS crisis.

In the 90s, they screamed about "special rights."

And in the years afterward, it was about "protecting the definition of marriage."

Now, it's all about religious freedom; the newest buzzword used to mask old prejudices.

This ado isn't about religious freedom any more than it was about "protecting the children" or stopping "special rights" or "saving marriage."

It's about the unfortunate special ability to wrap up old rotten prejudices in new clean packages and continue to sell them to America.

AFA retains Bryan Fischer and then sells him out . . . HARD

The "AFA's firing of Bryan Fischer" saga just took a strange turn today.

According to Right Wing Watch:

Bryan Fischer kicked off his radio program today by refuting reports that he had been fired by the American Family Association, explaining that he has simply given up his role as an official AFA spokesman while retaining his role as a daily radio host for AFA's radio outlet, American Family Radio. Fischer said that his designation as an AFA spokesman while he also served as a radio host was creating confusion and resulting in the personal opinions he expressed on the radio being unfairly attributed to the AFA. As such, Fischer will no longer serve as an official voice for AFA but will continue to spew his bigotry from the AFA's radio station

 But Fischer's explanation omits  a letter AFA sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center - a letter which will probably be forever known as the worst cover-your-ass letter in the history of mankind.

In this letter, AFA said in the name of "free speech," the organization allows Fischer to have a radio program on its network. And then the AFA proceeded to repudiate and rebuke several claims Fischer made, as well as any association to Fischer himself:

If the AFA thought this letter solved anything, the organization is sadly mistaken because not there are more questions the organizations need to answer. Most specifically, if AFA repudiates Fischer's statements, then why give him a platform to spew them in the first place?

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch and SPLC.

'Bryan Fischer has made AFA the 'Lady Macbeth' of the Religious Right' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Some who have been following the firing of AFA's Bryan Fischer have pointed out  that while he lost an official title with the group, he still retains his radio show, i.e. his platform where he spews the verbal venom which got him into trouble. This is true, but don't look at it as a negative. To me, it's like birthday cake with big scoop of ice cream. After years of denying and dodging, AFA has tacitly admitted the fact that Fischer's rhetoric is vile, HOWEVER  Fischer is too bullheaded and stupid to lessen up on it. In other words, the AFA and Fischer is caught in a hole and Fischer is insistent on digging that hole deeper. Works for me.

The AFA Cannot Wash Its Hands Of Bryan Fischer's Bigotry That Easily - You had better believe that, PARTICULARLY if any of us lgbt bloggers have anything to say about it. The American Family Association just become the Lady Macbeth (i.e. sleepwalking scene) of the Religious Right.

 Alabama Probate Judges Org. Backs Down, Advises Members To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses If Stay Is Lifted - Glad to see that the group is getting smart.  

Ford employee says he was fired for anti-gay remarks: "Homosexual behavior leads to death" - And he has filed a federal lawsuit, too. Good. I want to see how this plays out.  

Houston Fox Affiliate Peddles Transphobic Attack On Equal Rights Ordinance - We are continuing to have this same problem with this same Houston television station pushing the same transphobic lies. I doubt it is a coincidence.  

Iowa Gallery Stops Hosting Weddings To Avoid Serving Same-Sex Couples - Sorry to those who disagree but we are winning the right to marry fair and square. Some folks are trying to make us seem mean and uncompromising, but I got two problems with that. One - lgbts are compromised from the day we are born and especially when we realize how we are different from other little boys and girls. Second - in all of these "religious freedom controversies," no one on the other side has given us a solution as to how our needs can be accommodated if clerks don't want to marry us and we are refused service. The "you can just go somewhere else" argument is just damn rude.