Anti-LGBTQ hate group employee defends anti-gay adoption law with skillful evasion

I had a very nice twitter conversation today with Kellie Fiedorek of the Alliance Defending Freedom regarding the recent law passed in Oklahoma which allow adoption agencies to receive taxpayer funding while discriminating against the LGBTQ community.

For those who don't know, the Alliance Defending Freedom has been called a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center due to its diligent attention to undermining LGBTQ rights on many levels. From writing anti-transgender student bills to defending discrimination against the LGBTQ community to helping efforts to put gays in jail simply for their sexual orientation in countries like Belize and Jamaica, ADF is a one-stop shop for attempts to put bigotry and homophobia into laws.

And (surprise, surprise) ADF also has a hand in crafting bills like the one just passed in Oklahoma.

Of course ADF doesn't actually come out of the box screaming about the "homosexual agenda" like other folks we know, such as Peter LaBarbera or Linda Harvey. Instead, ADF is very passive-aggressive, sort of like a racist organization which says that "it's not anti-black, just pro-white."

The sad thing is, as you will read in photocopied Twitter thread below, ADF employees come across nice. So nice in fact that you almost forget what the organization is actually about  (Editor's note - please pardon the spelling errors and the typos on my part) :

'Pence addresses LGBTQ-unfriendly college, credits Trump with supposedly more people believing in God' & other Mon midday news briefs

Mike Pence addresses one of the most LGBTQ-unfriendly colleges in the country - And that's not the most shocking thing about the situation. Check out the news brief below.

WATCH: Mike Pence says more Americans believe in God now because Donald Trump is president - This right here is the most shocking. And he is probably right if he is talking about the number of Americans who have sank to their knees crying "Oh God! Why is this fool in charge!" 

Anti-gay adoption bills mask messages of old bigotry with false appeals to religious freedom - My post from earlier this morning because if you haven't read it yet, you really should. 

LGBTQ Groups Call New Oklahoma Adoption Law Discriminatory - THIS is what I'm talking about in the above news brief. 

Scott Lively Wants To Be The Champion Of ‘Authentic Conservative Homosexual’ Voters - He means self-hating, closeted gay voters.

Anti-gay adoption bills mask messages of old bigotry with false appeals to religious freedom

When we attempt to take advantage of our fairly won marriage victory by going through the  rituals and routines it encompasses, that same religious horde conjures up the argument that innocent inquiries into wedding shops and bakeries or desires to simply start a family via foster care or adoption are actually strategic plots to undermine and destroy Christianity. And that people and industries whose so-called religious beliefs would never be "protected" if they were exploited to deny service because of race, religion, or gender suddenly need a blanket of protection against the gay community because we are acting as if we are normal Americans.

Don't be fooled by the lies folks say regarding the law in Oklahoma, the soon-to-become law in Kansas, and several other similar laws which allow adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against gays while receiving tax dollars.

The proponents of these contraptions masquerading as bills and laws will  claim that agencies doing a service shouldn't have to betray their "core beliefs." Then they will tell you exaggerated anecdotes and spin awful tales of how supposedly gays are targeting Christians for financial ruin and how that these laws are the only thing standing between having successful businesses and people losing their homes, livelihood, etc.

Their spin is so good that you tend to forget that behind it is a syndicate of religious zealots and organizations with lots of money, lots of media savvy, a lot of connections to government, and a self-righteous mindset which makes them immune to any type of self-examination that doesn't end with God coming down from Heaven and anointing them with crowns while  a host of angels sing their praises.

Let me speak for other side of the issue, i.e. the men, women, children, and families who are and will be damaged by these laws. No one is paying attention to us. No one seems to care about our core beliefs or our livelihoods while preening, precisely coiffed men and women ooze fake sincerity as they repeat rehearsed talking points about "religion being this nation's cornerstone," etc. etc.

'Homer's Phobia' was a groundbreaking episode of 'The Simpsons'

Editor's note - Enjoy tonight's fun post. I am currently working on a little something which has been on my mind due to these bills and laws allowing adoption agencies to receive taxpayer funds while discriminating against the LGBTQ community. And I will be taking the unusual step posting it early tomorrow morning.

 In 1997, The Simpsons looked at homophobia in an Emmy-award winning episode entitled 'Homer's Phobia.' I'm guessing that a lot of folks reading this post saw the episode and found it as hilarious as I did. Over 20 years later, the episode still holds up as one of the funniest ones in television history. With the right level of comedy and education, it never comes across as trying too hard to be comedic or PC. In this video, my friend Matt Baume gives more details about how groundbreaking 'Homer's Phobia' was.

'Another anti-gay evangelical willing to ignore Stormy Daniels hush money payment' & other Fri midday news briefs

Matt Barber

Matt Barber Covers For Trump On Stormy Daniels, Says Hush Money Payment Was ‘Just The Regular Course Of Business’ - Late to the party, but just as hypocritical as those already present. Super Christian Matt "we need to start talking more an in graphic detail about gay sex to disgust people enough to not support gay equality" Barber claims that the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was "ordinary legal settlement."

Editor's note - according to GLAAD, Barber just loves talking about the LGBTQ community in ugly tones. Maybe he would love us more if we started paying off heterosexual porn stars . . .

House Dems demand answers on LGBT removal from SBA website - As the Trump Administration eliminates mentions of the LGBTQ community from another government website, Congressional Democrats want answers. I want answers, too. Who specifically is behind this mess? 

A teacher claims he was fired for his sexuality in federal discrimination lawsuit - That's right! Sue and take all the money! 

Georgia Democrat ‘loves homosexuals,’ but not equality - Girlfriend, we need to have a SERIOUS talk . . .

Alex Jones, Infowars verbal attacks on lesbian community reveal sad inadequacies

I apologize for exposing you to this awful video. From Media Matters:

Anyone watching Infowars long enough would notice host Alex Jones’ remarkable obsession with a very specific subset of the global population: lesbians. Jones’ unhinged tirades about innumerable topics have rightfully made him a target for online mockery and the protagonist of numerous internet memes. But there’s something more sinister than funny in the way that Jones and some of his guest co-hosts depict, mock, and dissociate from lesbians to Infowars’ hundreds of thousands of viewers. ones’ guest co-hosts -- including Gavin McInnes, founder of the chauvinistic fraternal organization Proud Boys, Infowars contributor Owen Shroyer, and anti-feminist troll Milo Yiannopoulos -- mimic his hateful rhetoric. That treatment ranges from sexist, sophomoric mocking of lesbians for their supposed appearance to the dangerous perpetuation of the absurd idea that lesbians are depressed because they need a man or have turned to women after having a “bad experience with men in their life.”

This is disgusting, it's nasty, it's grotesque. But it is part of the mindset which has put this country in the state it's in today, i.e. being led by incompetent dumbass who is supported by a  right-wing media obsessed with gaining money and ratings, conservative evangelicals abandoning their supposed integrity in a quest for secular power, and online moronic trolls who don't care about anything else other than "triggering liberals."

On the other hand, a bunch of pathetic wannabe alpha males attacking the "dreaded other," in this case the lesbian community, to cover up for their own obvious inadequacies is probably the best definition of what's going on these days.

NC GOP Congressional candidate Mark Harris has long history of opposing LGBT rights

Mark Harris

A primary win by a  pastor in North Carolina should catch the attention of the LGBTQ community.

According to Patheos:

Incumbents are typically favored in American elections, but that didn’t save GOP politician Rep. Robert Pittenger from his primary challenger, the anti-gay pastor Mark Harris last night. The surprise upset puts Harris, who helped lead the fight to ban same-sex marriage in North Carolina, against Democrat and Marine Corps veteran Dan McCready. It also puts a somewhat reliable Republican seat into a toss-up.

. . . Harris isn’t just a pastor; he is a fiercely anti-LGBTQ activist known for opposing civil rights and claiming that being gay is a choice. He is best known as a point man for a state amendment to ban same-sex marriages that was ultimately found unconstitutional. More recently, he led forces to repeal protections in Charlotte for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.

And don't think for a second that marriage equality being legalized by SCOTUS will cause Harris to respect it should he get elected to Congress. On his campaign webpage, Harris said he would support conservative judges who would "revisit" the marriage equality ruling; the translation being he would support putting people on the bench whom he knows would strike down marriage equality before they were even sworn in.

A former blogging compadre of  mine, Jeremy Hooper, has a long file on Harris from when he covered the 2012 NC marriage equality vote. The following audio of Harris denigrating marriage equality and the LGBTQ community (in the name of religion, of course) is all you need to hear to know that if this man went to Congress, life for us would become more difficult. It's bad enough that the anti-LGBTQ industry already has much of Trump's attention and a hand in developing policies. Just think of how much more anti-gay havoc Harris would help them cause.