Barbie doll commercial guaranteed to send anti-gay right into ORBIT

As a guy who collects male and female action figures (I own several Wonder Woman figures), I don't see anything wrong with this commercial featuring a boy with a Barbie doll. Of course you just KNOW not everyone will be as understanding. But, while my tastes don't run to Barbie dolls, the little boy is right. She is "fierce."

 

'New York Times blasts Cruz for appearing with death penalty for gays' pastor, media for not caring' & other Mon midday news briefs

Sen. Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz and the Anti-Gay Pastor - There should be other venues besides the New York Times calling out Ted Cruz AND the other presidential candidates for appearing with this nut. Still, it's nice that the press also gets called out for not caring.

 Tennessee pastor lashes out after Paris attacks: ‘There is no such thing as a good Muslim’ - And he even worked in some nasty crap about marriage equality. It's always sad how tragedy brings out the worse in some people. 

The POZ 100: Celebrating Long-Term Survivors - A wonderful issue which proves that HIV isn't a "death sentence."

 Linda Harvey: Obama's Support For Equality Act, Appearance In Out Magazine Are Signs Of God's Judgment - Crazy Linda always good for giving me gas.

 Mormon Church Punishes Children For Having Gay Parents. Hundreds Respond By Quitting Church - Just in case you haven't heard, the Mormon church has a little insurrection on its hands. And it's totally deserved. 

 15 Things You Really Shouldn’t Say To Trans People - Be honest. How many of us are guilty of this?

 Last but not least, Happy 10th anniversary to Box Turtle Bulletin!!

Saturday Night Live destroys anti-transgender bathroom horror stories

In less than three minutes, Saturday Night Live destroys the horror story of "men invading women's restrooms" - i.e. the lie which led to the defeat the non-discrimination ordinance in Houston:

UPDATED - 'Judge facing firestorm of criticism for removing infant from home of lesbian couple' & other Fri midday news briefs

Regarding the case in Utah of the judge removing an infant from the care of foster parents simply because the couple is gay, it would seem that the community, including Utah's governor, is rallying on behalf of the couple. This is a wonderful thing which demonstrates how people aren't as easily fooled by anti-gay propaganda when it comes to the ability of lgbt couples to raise children:

Utah challenging judge's order to remove baby from lesbian foster parents

UPDATE: Utah Governor 'Puzzled' by Judge Who Ordered Baby from Lesbians

Utah Judge May Have Violated Ethics Code in Blocking Same-Sex Adoption

 UPDATE - The judge has reversed his order because of the massive negative outcry.  Score a HUGE victory for the good guys!!

In other news:

Protesters Confront Caitlyn Jenner: 'You're An Insult To Trans People'- I don't believe that one person should be "chosen" as a representative of all people in one group and I don't believe that it's anyone else's right to anoint themselves as the guardian of how anyone in any group should act. I said this from personal experience because I've been verbally attacked by heterosexual African-Americans for my sexual orientation. That being said, the protesters did make excellent points and it was to Jenner's credit that she listened and talked with them. Life is a learning experience and no one is perfect in their beliefs.

 Christian UN staff in Kenya refuse aid to gay men fleeing persecution - THIS SITUATION RIGHT HERE is an insult to the body of Christ. 

Christians Are Leaving Homophobia Behind - Will Journalists Keep Up? - But not all Christians are like those above and journalists should explore the diversity instead of falling for the gay vs. Christian narrative. 

 What Reporters Should Know About Dallas' Updated LGBT Ordinance - Because you just KNOW that lie about "men in women's restrooms" will be pushed in Dallas.

Family Research Council seeks legislation which could bar states from protecting lgbt families, community

The SPLC-designated hate group The Family Research Council (so named because of its tendency to vilify the lgbt community via distortions and falsehoods) has announced that it wants to push statewide legislation which would supposedly "protect" those who "support natural marriage."

The group calls it the Government Nondiscrimination Act and claims:

The Government Nondiscrimination Act prohibits the state government from penalizing individuals and entities for their moral or religious beliefs that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. It also protects individuals and entities who believe that sexual relationships are properly reserved for such marriages—such as a religious school requiring students to refrain from engaging in any sexual activity outside of marriage. GNDA also protects individuals and entities from being penalized for believing that “man” and “woman” are biologically based. States should not be in the business of forcing individuals and entities to affirm same-sex marriage or other sexual conduct against their beliefs.

 . . .  The Government Nondiscrimination Act is focused on preventing government discrimination. Our government should never discriminate against, punish, or penalize people based on their sincerely held belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Like the First Amendment Defense Act at the federal level, states need to pass legislation now to protect individuals and entities from state discrimination on the basis of their beliefs in natural marriage.

This act appears to be so deliberately broad  that it could potentially prevent government entities from protecting married gay couples and lgbts (including families) in general from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It also sounds like this act would prevent government entities from fairly keeping tax dollars away from entities which would discriminate against lgbts, such as Catholic adoption agencies.

And in light of the recent controversy involving a Utah judge who removed an infant from the home of its foster parents simply because the couple was lesbian, what potential effect would FRC's Government Nondiscrimination Act have in possible future situations involving officials who may cite their religious beliefs to keep gays from adopting children?

In a nutshell, the Government Nondiscrimination Act seems to be carrying "freedom of religion" a bit too far. You certainly should have freedom to worship. But no one should have the freedom to discriminate while exploiting their religion or "conscience" as an excuse to do so.

Bryan Fischer uses discredited study to support anti-gay parenting judge

Right on cue, someone from the anti-gay industry is defending a Utah judge who removed an infant from a household simply because the foster parents was a lesbian couple.

And who else but Bryan Fischer. From Right Wing Watch:

Recently, a judge in Utah ordered that a foster child be removed from a home with two lesbian parents and placed with a heterosexual couple on the grounds that "kids in homosexual homes don’t do as well as they do in heterosexual homes."

 Predictably, Bryan Fischer came rushing to that judge's defense on his radio program today, declaring that "no culture would ever want to adopt policies that are harmful, dangerous and risky to children." "That means we should never countenance policies that place children in same-sex households, whether it's foster care or whether it is adoption," he said.

Fischer also came out against single-parent adoptions as well, before citing Mark Regnerus' repeatedly debunked study to claim that children raised by lesbians are 10 times more likely to be sexually abused.

 "The risk of sexual abuse, unwanted sexual touching, is 10 times higher in a lesbian household than in a heterosexual household," he said. "So if we care about the sexual purity, the sexual integrity of our children, which I do, then the last place we are going to want to put a child is in a lesbian household." "So good for this judge," he concluded. "I am 100 percent standing behind him."

The irony of Bryan Fischer citing a repeatedly discredited study is that at the same time day, his organization - the American Family Association and various other anti-gay and conservative groups made a failed attempt to initiate a twitter campaign against the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Associated Press.

These groups are angry at the Associated Press for publishing an article which identified the Liberty Counsel as an SPLC-designated anti-gay hate group. And they are still angry that SPLC declared the American Family Association and various other anti-gay groups, including the Family Research Council and the Liberty Counsel, as "hate groups" for their attempts to demonize the lgbt community via lies and distortions.

Kinda like what  Fischer attempted to do during his radio show.

On second thought, I wouldn't call the attempted campaign a failure. It allowed me to garner a large number of new readers for my 2011 post,  16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group.

'Right Wing Watch censored for focusing attention on GOP & 'death penalty for gays' pastor' & other Thur midday news briefs

Right Wing Watch got censored for focusing on GOP candidates (such as Ted Cruz) and Pastor Kevin Swanson (right)

Programming Note: We've Been Suspended on YouTube (For Now) - So someone in the religious right is trying to censor Right Wing Watch by filing a "copyright claim". Why? Because of the following situation:

 Religious Right Pundit: How Were We To Know Kevin Swanson Wanted To Kill Gays! - The fact that Right Wing Watch has been putting attention on the fact that presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Mike Huckabee kissed up to a pastor who supports the death penalty for gays has gotten some folks angry.  

Anti-LGBT Houston Groups Face Higher Bar To Repeal Dallas Nondiscrimination Ordinance - So the same group who pulled the campaign of lies in Houston hopes to do the same in Dallas even AFTER the folks there voted for the nondiscrimination ordinance. The nerve! 

New business group will promote Indiana LGBT protections - Meanwhile the fight for lgbt equality in Indiana is going to heat up!

 Utah judge removes lesbian couple’s foster child, says she’ll be better off with heterosexuals - NASTY on so many levels. 1. The couple had the child since August and everyone, including the birth mother, approves of the adoption. Except for, that is, the judge. 2. The judge claimed that numerous studies backs up his decision but he has yet to name one. I bet a steak dinner he will pull out the discredited Regnerus study. 3. An awful precedent BECAUSE the judge made a personal choice to pull a child out of a home it was already in because of the sexual orientation of the foster parents. We can only hope this doesn't repeat itself. I have been watching in particular what anti-gay groups have had to say about this. As far as I see, nothing yet. But I double dare them to say any words of support for the judge so I can put it on blast.  

First VA transgender clinic opens in Cleveland - THIS is needed.