'NOM's Brian Brown calls out Dan Savage's family' & other Thur midday news briefs

Senator Pinckney's desk is veiled in black today in honor of his legacy. pic.twitter.com/4KneVVPj3I

— Zeke Stokes (@zekestokes) June 18, 2015

Editor's note - I was contemplating not posting another piece in light of that awful terrorist act in Charleston last night. Yes it was a terrorist act and I will not rehash it to prove my point. There is no need. My prayers and condolences got out to all of the victims (the deceased and their families) and I hope we can learn something. How many times must this happen before we all get down to discussing the things which keep us down?  

For those who want to know more, Buzzfeed is consistently updating about the incident.

I am only posting because I feel my news briefs are still needed, even on a day like today:

Audio: The one where Brian Brown attacks @FakeDanSavage's son at an anti-gay church conference - So even after being invited into Dan Savage's home, seeing his family, and having a discussion about the importance of ALL families, NOM's Brian Brown pulls this mess. Not smart, my friend.

Michigan GOP Lawmaker Wants School Officials Held Criminally Liable For Teaching Students About Homosexuality - Anti-gay state legislator Gary Glenn teams up with anti-gay activist Janet Porter. Vulgarity ensues.

Pledge Pressures Republican Presidential Candidates To Reinstate Anti-Gay Discrimination - Just. try. it. 

South Bend Mayor: Why Coming Out Matters - His message is important.

Tips for reporting (and not reporting) the upcoming SCOTUS marriage equality decision

Media Matters suggests five "do's and dont's" for the media when covering the upcoming SCOTUS decision on marriage equality.

I personally think these tips would work just as well when it comes to covering lgbt equality issues and this so-called cultural war. Attached are three of the tips:
  

DON'T Cite Debunked Horror Stories

In recent debates over marriage equality, anti-LGBT groups and activists have trotted out the same tired "horror stories" about the supposedly negative consequences of same-sex marriage on religious liberty, including that:

• public schools will be forced to teach children about same-sex marriage
• churches will lose their tax exempt status if they don't perform same-sex weddings
• religious adoption agencies that refuse to serve same-sex couples will be shut down
• pastors will be forced to officiate same-sex weddings

All these claims were thoroughly debunked years ago, but news outlets tend to cite them without checking the facts. Journalists should avoid lending credibility to anti-equality myths and hold commentators who push this kind of misinformation accountable.

DO Accurately Identify Anti-LGBT Commentators 
 
Mainstream media often fail to give their audiences relevant information about guests they ask to comment on marriage equality. If a guest represents an anti-LGBT hate group for example -- like the Family Research Council or American College of Pediatricians -- identifying the person as such is essential to providing audiences the context they need to assess that guest's point of view. On CBS' Face the Nation this past April, Bob Schieffer exemplified how the media should introduce such opponents when he accurately identified one of his guests as the president of an anti-gay hate group. Schieffer's decision to properly identify Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council, infuriated anti-LGBT conservatives, who rely on softball media interviews to whitewash their extreme positions. Anti-LGBT groups also frequently use legal scholars and academics to advance their talking points without revealing the animus that motivates their work.

DON'T Pit Gay Rights Against Religious Beliefs
 
Pitting religious communities against proponents of marriage equality is a common practice in the media, but it ignores the fact that most religious people support legalizing same-sex marriage. Media outlets have historically had trouble separating anti-LGBT animus from sincere, mainstream religious belief, framing the debate instead as a "God vs. Gays" issue. A recent study found significant margins of people in major religious groups -- including 84 percent of Buddhists, 77 percent of Jews, 60 percent of Catholics, and 56 percent of Orthodox Christians -- support same-sex marriage. Among all religiously affiliated Americans, supporters are in the plurality, with 47 percent favoring same-sex marriage, compared to 45 percent who oppose it.

Aside from misrepresenting support for marriage equality among religious people, elevating the "God vs. Gays" myth reinforces the right-wing campaign for anti-LGBT "religious freedom" laws. Coverage of the marriage equality decision will offer media outlets an opportunity to accurately portray the support for same-sex marriage among religious groups, and dispel inaccurate tropes about religion and gay people.   

The rest of the "do's and don't's - DO Rely On Empirical Evidence, DON'T Cite Flawed Social Science - are equally important. Check them all out here

GLAAD's wonderful documentary short spotlights South Carolina's lgbt community

From The Huffington Post:

The 20-minute film, "GLAAD Presents: State of Change -- South Carolina," was produced as part of GLAAD's Southern Stories program and is the first in a six-part series of short documentaries that aim to accelerate acceptance of LGBT people living in the American South.
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 . . .The documentary screened in Charleston, South Carolina on June 15 as part of GLAAD's Southern Stories Summer Tour, a six-state, 10-city tour across southern states. GLAAD officials will meet with LGBT citizens as well as allies during the tour to spotlight their stories in local and national media.

 I saw this last night at the Nickelodeon and thought it was wonderful. One of the people you will see in this short documentary is USC professor Ed Madden, the man responsible for my eight years of hell-raising when he once remarked, "Gee, Alvin. Why don't you start a blog."

(In my best "Peg from Married with Children" voice) Thank Ed, everyone.

'Ryan Anderson - an anti-lgbt activist on the rise with help of junk science' & other Wed midday news briefs

Ryan Anderson peddles anti-lgbt junk science in a "nice" way.

Meet Ryan Anderson, The Anti-LGBT 'Scholar' Peddling Junk Science To National Media - When Michelangelo Signorile and the rest of us intrepid lgbt activists say that the battle for lgbt equality is not over SHOULD SCOTUS rule for marriage equality, people like Ryan Anderson are the reasons why. Anderson is the new face of anti-lgbt activism - intelligent, less fire and brimstone and more attempts to form "logical" arguments which speak against marriage equality and lgbt equality in general. Silly jokes about his possible homosexuality won't work on him. They have the opposite effect because this young man wraps himself in self-victimization like a second skin. BUT, as with all anti-lgbt activists, he has flaws in his arguments and sources. Educate yourselves on him because unfortunately you will be seeing and hearing more from him.

New Study Shuts Down Common Claim Against Same-Sex Parenting - Yet ANOTHER study proving that same-sex parenting is no danger to children. I'm all for it because the more studies proving this, the better when folks like Mike Huckabee, etc claim that our raising of children is simply a "social experiment."  

Pope Francis's Comments On Heterosexual Parenting Alienate Gay Catholics - But someone needs to tell the Pope about this study. He came around on climate change, now how about same-sex parenting.  

We Deserve Representation, Too - A letter to the editor by me published in The Free Times, local newspaper. Apparently the gay vs. black divide has hit the city of Columbia by way of a human relations committee and a ministry association wanting to play the "Oppression Olympics." The head of the association needed to be reminded that lgbts of color exist. It's always pleasant to be complimented on what I write, but writing stuff like this always depresses me simply because while I receive kudos and lots of reads, it generates NO needed discussion. Kinda like the column of mine about the systematic erasing of lgbts of color from Black history & the Black community, which was published last year by The Huffington Post. I got a lot of read and positive comments, but still no needed discussion by the folks who really should be having one. Unfortunately a large part of the African-American community either love playing the "black vs. gay" argument or pushing narratives which see lgbts of color pleading for acceptance from their heterosexual black brothers and sisters. Nothing too defiant or assertive because it scares people too much to talk about.

 'Spiritual warfare' on gay marriage declared by Southern Baptists - Oh stop it already. The Southern Baptists have declared "spiritual warfare" on lgbts so many times that at the beginning of every year, we mark the date they will make the announcement on our calendars.  

North Carolina Teacher Quits After Reading Gay Fairy Tale To Third Grade Class - I really wish he hadn't have done that.

Brian Brown, NOM, & the church of ' I'm not gay no more!'

Brian Brown of NOM recently bragged about the following:

Recently I had the great honor of presenting two distinguished awards to leaders of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) at their 65th annual Women's International Convention/Crusade in Minneapolis. Over 10,000 people were in attendance as I presented Bishop Charles Blake the "Outstanding Leadership Award" for his principled stand for faith, family and God's definition of marriage. Bishop Blake is the Presiding Bishop and Chief Apostle of COGIC. . .

For those not familiar with COGIC, that's the church which was the subject of a, shall we say, interesting event at its convention last year:



Imagine. Hanging around with a group full of charlatans who exploit people's fear about lgbts . . . . COGIC should know better.

'GOPers threatening constitutional crisis over possible marriage ruling' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

The New Nullification Crisis: GOPers Vow To Defy SCOTUS Over Gay Marriage - Allow me to put it plainly as I can - IF SCOTUS rules for marriage equality, you have to follow the ruling. If elected officials encourage any type of defying, they are creating a constitutional crisis. You just can't decide NOT to follow a ruling because you don't like it.  

The Rise of Christian Conservative Legal Organizations - Dear lgbt community, familiarize yourself with these groups. IF we win at SCOTUS, you will hear from them whether you want to or not (and you will not want to). 

 Fisher-Price Backs LGBT Families - Here is where we have to call out folks who attempt to call this move "political." Fisher-Price is merely acknowledging the existence of same-sex households and the children who grow up in these households.

How Mexico Gradually Became A Marriage Equality Nation - By either the easy or hard way (and there is no easy way) we win again.  

This Trans Man's Breast Cancer Nightmare Exemplifies The Problem With Transgender Health Care - What happened here was awful and any health care provider who even tries to plead "religious liberty" in a case like this deserves to get a foot broken off in their tuckuses.

Signorile - Lgbts fell for a false 'turning point' narrative after Indiana win

Michelangelo Signorile

Ah, but the Indiana moment, I was told by some activists, was truly different from the Arizona moment. The Indiana moment, they exclaimed with jubilation, was really, totally and completely the true turning point, honest!

Unfortunately, they were swept up in victory blindness, intoxicated by a win, letting their guard down, seduced into believing in the inevitability of equality while anti-LGBT forces moved on to other states. Just last month I penned an op-ed in the Washington Post pointing out that, on balance, anti-LGBT conservatives actually had a pretty good 12 months, despite Indiana and other losses. I noted that they operate through trial and error, and that they'd be back, finding a new way to turn their animus into law. Last week they did, and it was a stellar win for them and an infuriating setback for LGBT people.

And please, spare me the argument that the laws won't hold up in court, which is often yet another symptom of victory blindness. First off, no one knows that, and after the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, we should all be concerned. Secondly, the goal of anti-LGBT conservatives is in fact to keep LGBT equality tied up in the courts as they gather their forces, raise more money and deny us our rights for as long as possible while they attempt to roll them back, just as they do on abortion rights, voting rights and other issues. So, yes, they had exactly the win they were seeking.

Michelangelo Signorile, Why Indiana Wasn't a Turning Point on LGBT Rights -- and Why You Should Be Mad About It

Michelangelo Signorile, in his new column, Why Indiana Wasn't a Turning Point on LGBT Rights -- and Why You Should Be Mad About It, puts the right perspective on the recent anti-gay laws passed in Michigan and North Carolina.

The lgbt community is like a character in a cheesy horror movie in that we hit the monster once and then celebrate a supposed victory. Meanwhile, the monster gets back up and we are in the same position we were before.

We  celebrated prematurely after Indiana because we believed a false narrative. There are too many of us ready to declare the battle for equality over after one victory. When we do this, we seriously underestimate those who fight against lgbt equality and set ourselves up for future disappointments.

The battle for equality will be long and strenuous. In the long run we will win, but it won't be pretty. If people on our side of the spectrum are ready to talk about "turning points" or wanting to celebrate  after one victory in the beginning of a new chapter of this battle, then maybe those folks should either re-educate themselves or examine their minds to see if they are up to the fight in the first place.