Hate group leader Tony Perkins whines that people of faith will be 'beaten into submission' by Respect for Marriage Act

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council

Tuesday's 61-36 victory in the Senate for the Respect for Marriage Act has gotten many conservative groups and leaders all out of sorts.

Good. 

But leave it to Tony Perkins, president of SPLC-designated hate group the Family Research Council to win major awards for whining.

"Republicans clearly acknowledged by their support of the Lee, Lankford, and Rubio amendments that this legislation is a threat to the First Amendment freedo­­­­ms of individual Americans. And yet 12 of 12 Republicans still chose to vote for the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act. The (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act makes people prime targets for government harassment, investigation, prosecution, even civil action. This bill is a club, with which the Left will attempt to beat people of orthodox faith--who believe in marriage as God designed it and history has defined--into submission to their destructive sexuality ideology.

 "My experience as a former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has shown me that religious freedom's greatest threat is not a military force that eradicates or suppresses religious freedom, although that has certainly occurred. The greatest threat are policies like the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. They are what curtails the exercise of religious freedom-- which leads not to a violent overthrow of this fundamental freedom, but to its systematic suppression and eventual loss. In other words, the government has declared open season on anyone who believes in marriage as it's always been, the union of a man and woman.

Am I the only who thinks that Tony's heart simply wasn't into making his statement. Even that nonsense in labeling the bill "The (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act) comes across as more artificial than usual.

In truth, the Respect for Marriage Act has absolutely nothing to do with Perkins and company, no matter how many times he attempts to make it all about them. It's about LGBTQ people and our rights to make choices in our lives instead of having those choices forcefully being made for us.

'The gay man helping Tucker Carlson ramp up hatred against LGBTQ community ' & other Wed midday news briefs

Justin Wells, the gay man helping Tucker Carlson ramp up hatred against the LGBTQ community.

The powerful gay man behind Tucker Carlson's bloodcurdling hate​ - This right here is some "repugnant shit."  A gay man is behind Tucker Carlson's empire of hate. 

Schools are becoming hotbeds of political conflict – especially in purple districts - And deliberately so, no doubt. 

Senate Passes Respect for Marriage Act - Just in case you missed this wonderful news. 

These recently elected trans lawmakers say anti-LGBTQ bills inspired them to run - This is how you do it. You don't cower in the face of hate. You use it to inspire you.

Marriage equality is about the LGBTQ right to make decisions about our own lives

As the Respect for Marriage Act makes it through the Senate, back to the House, and eventually on President Biden's desk to be signed into law, I want to address something which I have been thinking about for a long time.

Those who are followers of this blog probably think that I am going to be talking about the anti-LGBTQ industry and their tantrums about the Respect for Marriage Act. 

Not this time. 

Instead I want to remind folks what this is all about. Even as we attain the rights we are owed, there exist an argument within the LGBTQ community. Some in the community have accused others of attempting to copy heterosexuals, i.e. adjusting our lives to be just like that of heterosexuals. This mindset to some peoples includes dreams of a life as a Norman Rockwell painting with 2.5 kids, a nice home in the suburbs complete with a white picket fence, and other tokens of a stereotypical idea of the Leave It To Beaver television show. The only difference of course is it's Ward and Ward or June and June leading the family instead of Ward and June.

The folks against this image say that such aspirations are a slap in the face because they imply that LGBTQ people are okay so long as we act like heterosexuals. And this supposedly means a forgetting of our roots, when we were - and still are - the outcasts because of our inability to fit the supposed ideas of normalcy. What's the use of fighting for LGBTQ equality if you think that the goal is to act just like the heterosexuals?

And then there the accusation that the movers and the shakers of the LGBTQ community are wanting this Norman Rockwellian image so much that they sacrifice the push for equality in LGBTQ communities of color and particularly the transgender, bisexual, queer, and other communities which don't fall under the umbrella of "normal." The desire for marriage rights is in some ways seen as a cop-out or a desire to be like heterosexuals because internally there is some self-homophobia afoot.

Well I don't like getting into those discussions because often times, they result in ridiculous tangents in which people go so far in different directions that they end up being angry with each other over something said or the desire to get the last word in.

I'm a 51-year-old gay man. Over 25 years ago when I was coming to grips with my sexual orientation, what pained me to the point of so much misery was that other people, who didn't even care to know me, were making decisions about how my life would be. From the legislators like Jesse Helms or  Sam Nunn  trying to undermine my future through the legislative process , to preachers like Jerry Falwell telling all sorts of lies about me in the pulpit, to organizations like the Family Research Council pushing along bogus research papers and making speeches about my so-called radical agenda.

These folks never knew me but the things they said and did affected me in an extremely negative sense. Based upon their beliefs and false ideas of entitlement, they told this young gay man - me - that I have no rights to a future decided my wishes and desires. They were telling me that I don't get to pick my path. They, on the other hand, get to tell who I am, who I can love, how I can love, and what my future will be as decided by their parameters. I had no say on anything. Instead, they got to determine my future. They had the first, middle, and last about my life. And if I didn't like it, then too bad.

You see, that's what it's all about to me, whether it be the fight for marriage rights or any other rights in the LGBTQ community. It's not about wanting to be just like heterosexuals or forgetting where you came from. It's about the ability to make our own choices. I feel this way - if you are an LGBTQ person who wants that Norman Rockwellian dream, then you have a right to have it. If you are an LGBTQ person who wants something else, then you have that right to make choices.

You have that right to determine which direction your life will go, not some conservative legislator, preacher, or anyone else wanting to reduce your choices. They don't have that right. It doesn't belong to them. And no laws, ordinances, or religious books gives them that right either.

That's what the Respect for Marriage Act, marriage equality in general or any other LGBTQ right is to me - the power of self-determination.. Your power to make choices unencumbered by someone else's prejudice, religious beliefs, or ignorance. Marriage is not the only right LGBTQ people should have. It's one of many. And instead of arguing about it, we should get busy in yanking more rights out of the hands of those who falsely think they should have to power to dole them out to us.

'10 pastors wanted LGBTQ Pride Month displays at local libraries' & other Tue midday news briefs

10 pastors wanted LGBTQ Pride Month displays banned at local libraries​ - Uh uh. No way. Forget it.

Colorado Shooting Hero Advises When You Come Out, Come Out Swinging - Amen! 

Broadcast news failed to mention crucial context in coverage of Colorado Springs shooting at LGBTQ nightclub - The media is notoriously slack when it comes to covering LGBTQ issues. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger addresses ‘Don’t Say Gay’ fallout, importance of LGBTQ inclusion in stories - Talk is cheap, Mr. Iger.

'Gays Against Groomers' founder has history of promoting white supremacist ideas and personalities

Jamie Michell, founder of 'Gays Against Groomers' has a documented history of promoting white supremacist ideas and personalities.

Editor's note - This revelation took place the day before Thanksgiving, which may explain how it went under the radar. But now that Thanksgiving has passed, I am hoping that it will receive more attention.

We all know about the hateful group Gays Against Groomers and how it is an outlet to funnel terrible lies against the LGBTQ community.  But here is something you may not know. According to The Wrap, an online publication covering the media and entertainment, the founder of Gays Against Groomers, Jamie Michell, has a history of promoting white ideas and personalities.

This revelation came as part of a larger story of how Michell appeared on Tucker Carlson's show to discuss the recent shooting at Club Q in Colorado which took five lives and left 25 others injured.  Michell - with no pushback from Carlson - blamed the victims of the crime for what happened. 

"It shouldn’t have to be said, but what is anti-LBGTQ that these people need to understand, and what is putting our community in great danger, it, you know, claiming that all of us support this and just associating all of us with this. You know, saying that ‘groomer’ is an anti-LGBTQ slur,” Michell said. “That is doing irreparable damage to us as a whole, and it’s putting a really large target on our backs. And unfortunately, the tragedy that happened in Colorado Springs the other night, you know, it was expected, predictable. We all within Gays Against Groomers saw this coming from a mile away, and sadly I don’t think it’s gonna stop until we end this evil agenda.”

Michell claims that her group is comprised of LGBTQ people who are trying to stop the so-called grooming of kids by the others in the community, particularly the trans community.  The Wrap points out how Gays Against Grooming was barred from Vemmo and PayPal for harassment campaigns against the trans community.

Then The Wrap dropped this little nugget about Michell, with "receipts" (and y'all know how much I love receipts). 

Michell identifies as Jewish and denies any affiliation with Nazism. But she has a long, documented history of association with white supremacist ideas. She is known to follow several openly white supremacists on Twitter, she has promoted the work of white supremacist Vincent James Foxx and she has openly called for political violence, among other things. 

 Old accounts owned by Michell on YouTube and Flickr contained explicit Nazi imagery, something Michell blames, variously, either on an ex-boyfriend or on being hacked, though she has never actually identified who her ex was. Read more about all that here.

I would love to hear Michell explain all of her conundrums. Of course we all know that she won't do that.  She'll most likely double down on her false narrative while claiming to be a victim. 

'Florida has genuine problem of child sex abuse in its foster care system' & other Mon midday news briefs

Innocence Sold: Florida’s foster system provides dangerous sex traffickers with easy access to vulnerable children​ - While accusing LGBTQ people and culture of trying to 'sexually groom' kids, Florida gov Ron DeSantis seems to be missing actual child trafficking in the state's foster care system. 

21 GOP senators tell colleagues to oppose same-sex marriage bill unless it allows discrimination - Sorry, y'all. It ain't gonna happen.

Utah Groups Hope to Bridge Religious and LGBTQ+ Communities - We will see . . . 

How the American anti-LGBTQ hate machine is posing a threat to Canadians - Now this madness is bleeding over into Canada.

Video - These people are fed up with the banning of books and attempts to erase LGBTQ people in public schools

 Those people attempting to ban books and erase LGBTQ people in public schools tend to get too much attention. So much so that the people who take a stand against such hatred are ignored. We rarely see them in the media or hear the words they say to school boards because I guess it's more lucrative to give the haters the lion's share of attention.

But those taking a stand against banning books and erasing LGBTQ people in public schools are very vocal and very eloquent. They may not have right-wing money fueling them, but the truth of their words will always win in the end.