Throwback Thursday - NOM unleashes 'The Gathering Storm' against marriage equality

In 2009, the now toothless National Organization for Marriage unleashed a $1.5 million ad campaign against marriage equality. The center of this campaign was a television ad entitled The Gathering Storm, which attempted to shift the narrative to the idea that marriage equality will cause discrimination against those who disagree with it:

:
The backlash against this ad was immediate and vicious. Its campy nature was parodied constantly by "response" commercials. I've included several of them below. However, the long term effect of The Gathering Storm cannot be ignored because it formed the building blocks of the "religious liberty" argument which is now used in various attempts to justify anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Still, the parodies are hilarious.

Tell the Washington Post not to sugarcoat its coverage of the anti-gay hate group Alliance Defending Freedom

Don't let the Alliance Defending Freedom fool you. Its goals are not noble.

No news briefs today. There is something more important happening.

Yesterday, the Washington Post published a fluff article on the anti-gay hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom.  The article is very one-sided, making ADF and its lawyers look normal and their goals noble. The first paragraph should give you a idea of what I'm talking about:

Two days before the announcement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement, a woman who stood to gain from it was on the steps of the Supreme Court once again. Kristen Waggoner’s blond bob was perfectly styled with humidity-fighting paste she’d slicked onto it that morning at the Trump hotel. Her 5-foot frame was heightened by a pair of nude pumps, despite a months-old ankle fracture in need of surgery. On her wrist was a silver bracelet she’d worn nonstop since Dec. 5, 2017, the day she marched up these iconic steps, stood before the justices and argued that a Christian baker could legally refuse to create a cake for a gay couple’s wedding.

It's like writing an article on long-time racist David Duke and going into detail about how his face-lift makes him look "distinguished."  Bear in mind that the Alliance Defending Freedom may purport to "protect Christians," but its definition of doing this is making sure that the LGBTQ community's equality and safety are undermined.  I am very disappointed that the Washington Post and the author of the article, Jessica Contrera, took this direction.

I've prepared two tweets which you can retweet, mark as a favorite, or build upon for your own tweet. The tweets include two items about the ADF which aren't included in the article. The goal is to demand more nuanced coverage when it comes to groups and people purporting to "protect Christians" from us.  And also to send a message to those groups, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, that with more spotlight comes more scrutiny. You will be pulled out in the sunlight for the world to see you as you truly are. Not as you pretend to be.

@washingtonpost @mjcontrera (You failed to mention this in your normalization of the Alliance Defending Freedom. Please do better in the future). Alliance Defending Freedom is working to keep LGBTQ people from adopting children https://t.co/jo33DGdpoS

— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) July 5, 2018

@washingtonpost @mjcontrera (ADF has defended imprisoning gays & sterilizing trans people in foreign countries. Please do not normalize them or their lies.) Alliance Defending Freedom is attacking nearly every aspect of LGBTQ equality https://t.co/QXDwX87PwE

— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) July 5, 2018

Related post - The Christian Legal Army Behind ‘Masterpiece Cakeshop’ - A much more detailed and truer article about the Alliance Defending Freedom.

'Dayna Smith becomes first transgender person to run for public office in South Carolina' & other Tue midday news briefs

Dayna Smith

A preacher, a delivery driver and a trans activist: Meet these SC Senate hopefuls - And just like that, history is made. Dayna Smith has become the first transgender person to run for public office in South Carolina. I've known Dayna for a long time and I can tell you that this is not joke. She is serious about becoming a state senator and will do a wonderful job. All of the naysayers (because they always come out when it comes to LGBTQ progress in South Carolina) need to remember that progress doesn't come from sitting on your ass and dismissing possibilities. Progress comes from making possibilities.

White House won’t say if Kennedy successor will uphold LGBT rights - Hell, I can guess the answer to that question. That's why it is imperative that many of us who can do what Dayna Smith is doing. This is our country, too. 

Is the Supreme Court poised to side with ex-gay conversion therapy? - I don't necessarily agree with this but it is something to ponder. 

The Healing History Of Two-Spirit, A Term That Gives LGBTQ Natives A Voice - This is wonderful. Our communities has such a diverse outreach and history. To inhibit it via spotlighting only one region of the country or one group limits us severely.

The reason why the anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice evangelical right supports Donald Trump was given in 2010

Religious right activist Janet Porter (formerly Folger) (last seen making a fool out of herself for Roy Moore during his failed Senate campaign last year) gave the answer as to why conservative evangelicals give unwavering support to Donald Trump in spite of his incompetence, basic dishonesty, and downright inhumanity.

And, believe it or not, she answered this question in 2010. It comes down to one basic thing:



When this video came out back then, it was view as comical. In light of recent events, particularly Trump in the White House, his very cozy relationships with Porter's colleagues in the evangelical right, and Justice Kennedy's retirement, Porter's prayer sails from comedy to eerie.

The sad irony is that Porter is heavily involved in the anti-abortion movement. And that is even spookier in light of the fact that should Trump's pick for SCOTUS get confirmed, attempting to overturn Roe vs. Wade seems to be the first order of business.

Then it will our turn to be at stake. So what can the LGBTQ community do about it? What we have always done from Day 1 - fight like hell. But it's not just simply us or those who believe that a woman has the right to control her own body who needs to fight like hell.

We all need to ask ourselves what example does America want to send to the world - do we want to be controlled by a bunch of self-righteous religious fanatics?

Or do we want to keep our freedoms?

'Ohio news station gives much needed platform to transgender community' & other Mon midday news briefs

Ohio news station hosts the mother of a transgender boy to highlight dangers of anti-trans bill - You mean actually interviewing transgender people or supportive members of their family instead of bought-and-paid-for pundits or anti-LGBTQ talking heads with precise talking points? Why the very idea is so novel that it may actually give us a clear view of issues facing transgender Americans! 

Meet ‘Mama Dragons,’ A Fierce Group Of Moms ‘Breathing Fire’ For Their LGBTQ Kids - Mama Dragons? I LOVE it! 

Mormon Rockstar Releases Documentary on Helping LGBTQ Youth - I am in total support of this.

Anti-LGBTQ Campaign to Force Transgender Discrimination onto the Ballot Fails in Montana - Battles are still fought and won, regardless.

Here's What Pride In 2018 Looks Like All Around The World - Soak it in, folks. We are STILL badasses.

Franklin Graham pushes 'gay recruitment' hysteria over anti-bullying videos

Witness the following tweet Franklin Graham just sent:

Parents in the East Penn School District are up in arms about being told they can't see videos that their children were shown without their permission. Parental rights are being ignored here. We need Christian men & women running for school boards. https://t.co/VJYYIQmQnY

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) June 30, 2018

Graham is so typical of the self-righteous homophobia which permeates conservative  right-wing evangelical circles. He sees the words "LGBT"  and  automatically thinks of sex or "recruitment." Apparently to Graham, adherence to what he thinks is God's word is more important than reading comprehension.  If he had taken the time to read the article he retweeted, he would have seen that the videos in question were about bullying:

 Videos played by the Gay-Straight Alliance Club during Emmaus High School's morning announcements back in April are now in the spotlight. 

At a school board meeting earlier this month several parents, community members and the president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania voiced their concerns, saying the entire student body was exposed to homosexual and transgender ideals. 

. . . Emmaus High School student Aidan Levinson says the idea that the videos forced the gay lifestyle onto heterosexual students couldn't be further from the truth. 

"It was more of an anti-bullying effort more than anything else," Levinson said. Levinson is not a member of the LGBTQ community, but spoke at the school board meeting Monday -- expressing his support for showing the videos. 

 . . .The superintendent of the East Penn School District says he was not aware of the videos before they played but has seen them since. 

In a statement to 69 News he says, "I did view the videos at a later date and found them to be appropriate and related to the mission of eliminating bullying and promoting sensitivity and understanding of our LGBT population."

First of all, nothing in the article says that parents aren't allowed to see the videos. Aside from Graham's ignorance, this incident gives a view of the game which is played to stigmatize our community. A so-called pro-family group brands anything having to do with the LGBTQ community as scandalous, no matter how non-threatening it may be and then spooks parents into raising a fuss about it. It creates a situation which implies that we are attempting to "recruit" children behind the backs of their parents. The very idea is inane enough, but it gets downright insulting when one factors in that these concerned parents don't give a damn  that LGBTQ students AND same-sex household with children exist and should have a say in the matter as much as them.

But speaking of Graham, I tend to think that him reading the article wouldn't have changed his mind about the situation. In 2015, he praised Russian president Vladimir Putin for how he was persecuting the gay community there, claiming that Putin was keeping children safe. So perhaps the idea that Graham is angry that the school district is attempting to keep LGBTQ kids safe from bullying isn't that farfetched to contemplate.

'Anti-LGBTQ hate group leader Tony Perkins already 'picking out drapes' for America' & other Fri midday news briefs

FRC's Tony Perkins don't know how my community can use our 'receipts.' He will learn.

Tony Perkins: We Can Do For Gay Rights What We’ve Done To Abortion Rights - So Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is already picking out drapes to go with his version of America that he thinks Trump's pick for Kennedy will bring. We are deep into the second stage of what happens when the anti-LGBTQ right get a huge victory - them planning victory parties before the battle has even started. They learned nothing from their behavior and what it led to in 2004 after Bush was re-elected and they won several anti-marriage equality referendums in the same election. Or more to the point - if one of the largest anti-gay hate groups in America with a list of documented offenses a mile long - including relying on the work of a discredited researcher who once claimed that gay men stuff gerbils up their rectums - THINK it is easily going to take away our equality without a long, bruising fight in which folks like myself are now scouting where we can lay the deepest blows on its overall integrity, then it has some serious surprises coming. I do not say this to advocate violence and I am certainly not talking about violence. I simply mean certain "Christian" groups are damaging their brands even as I speak with their behavior. And all we have to do is deepen the holes they are poking into their own credibility. 

DISCRIMINATION IN S.C.: Legislature Sends Appropriations Bill with Anti-LGBTQ Provision to Governor - And just like that, my backyard has fallen victim of one of those "let the adoption agencies smear gays while taking their tax money" bills. There will be a resolution to this and it will go in our favor.

The Day My Dad Kicked Me Out For Being Gay Changed My Life Forever - By deliberate design, anti-LGBTQ groups dehumanize us as a mindless horde out to force issues on people and destroy America if we don't get what we want. This man's story is the reality.

‘Queer Eye’ Stars Have Different Takes On Masterpiece Cakeshop Owner - One of them makes a wonderful point. Why should we give people like that cakeshop owner a piece of OUR platform under the illusion of being "civil." 

Conservatives hope an ampersand will help defeat marriage equality - A dumb campaign.