Family Research Council gearing up to fight ENDA with distortions

I don't know why the Family Research Council continues to keep me on its email list. I received one today about ENDA.

Like so many things put out by the Family Research Council, the email is full of distortions and doublespeak. I want to highlight two of the most egregious:

President Obama wants to punish Christians by . . .
November 19, 2009 | Share with Friends

Dear Alvin,

A grave threat to your traditional values and religious freedom is resurfacing.

Deceptively, it's called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Truthfully, it should be called the "Discrimination Against Christians in the Workplace Act."

I know that sounds far-fetched, but this is what ENDA will do . . .

ENDA will redefine your faith as illegal workplace bigotry . . . make the government a full partner in the homosexual rights movement . . . and force churches, small businesses run by Christians, and faith-based charities to hire nonbelievers or face federal investigation.

Apparently FRC hasn't learned anything from the unsuccessful attempt to make it seem that hate crimes legislation is an attack on Christianity. Now its making the same inaccurate case about ENDA.

First of all, as I understand it, ENDA does have an exemption for churches and faith-based charities. But as for small businesses run by Christians, I find that argument weak.

What's next - allowing a small business to discriminate in the case of race, gender, or religion?

I'm betting that FRC wouldn't appreciate that last point.

But here is where FRC trips up in its email:

This law would punish anyone in the workplace who dares oppose homosexual behavior, cross-dressing and other unhealthy behaviors. The liberals intentionally want to define "discrimination" very vaguely so that their allies in the courts and federal and state agencies will have broad latitude to silence traditional moral viewpoints about sexuality.

Just how would someone "oppose homosexual behavior in the workplace?" And should they be defended no matter how scurrilous the opposition?

We have just seen a case of a young man in Massachusetts fired for calling his fellow employee (a lesbian) a "deviant" simply because she was bragging about her upcoming wedding.

Should his type of  "opposition to homosexuality in the workplace" be defended? I don't think so.

Seems to me that the threats resurfacing here has less to do with the lgbt community and more to do with a christian (small "c" intended) group pulling out fear tactics  in order to scare people about a simple law that will allow lgbts to work and live freely.
You know, like normal people do because in terms of wanting to work, be free from discrimination, and provide for our loved ones, we are normal people.

Despite what FRC says.

Contact your Congressional leaders and tell them to support ENDA.

Related posts

Should the right to call a fellow employee 'a deviant' be protected under law?

Traditional Values Coalition distorts marketing statistics to attack ENDA

Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA

Bathrooms, Church Exemptions, and Lies: Five ways the religious right misrepresents ENDA

Exposing an anti-gay ENDA lie before it gains traction

Anti-gay marriage governor facing ethics charges regarding visits to his mistress and other Thursday midday news briefs

Panel finds probable cause for charges against Sanford - Sorry Marky Mark but I haven't forgotten your eagerness to sign that dreary anti- marriage equality amendment. Apparently you think marriage should only be between a man, his wife, and his mistress.

Wave of anti-gay mailers attack Parker in Houston mayoral race - It just got ugly in Houston.

Exporting the Anti-Gay Culture War - While the religious right lies about not being able to preach against homosexuality in this country, they are also sowing the seeds for anti-lgbt violence in other countries.

Adam Lambert: 'I Don't Want to Be a Gay Poster Child' - Honey, you are sooo late in declaring your intentions on that one.

House Committee Passes Partner Benefits Bill - This is good news.

Some people don't know the difference between criticizing Obama and hoping for his destruction

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Not necessarily an lgbt issue per se but still an important one.

I am so sick of people minimizing the nasty rhetoric against the President. The hateful rhetoric emanating from supposed mainstream venues such as television shows and radio talk shows, the nasty signs at those teabagging rallies, the constant comparison to President Obama and dictators of the past such as Hitler and Mao, the taking everything he does and making a huge issue out of it; all of it is going in an ugly direction.

And while this is happening, you have the other group playing that straw man argument - "waaah, I am being accused of being a racist because I am simply criticizing the President. Why can't you criticize the President without being thought of a racist"

It's nonsense. Maybe if they were as quick as to condemn the hateful rhetoric against the President as they are to making stupid jokes regarding him receiving a Nobel Peace Prize or whatever else, their comments would have more credibility.

To me, these folks playing the straw man argument are just as bad as those who would carry the ugly signs and make the ugly comments. They see the nastiness taking place and more often than not, they try to overlook it.

And that whining about "well they did it to Bush too" is ridiculous. I personally don't agree with anyone calling for or inferring for the death of a President.

But let me ask you this - just when did you ever see a commentator on a major news network compare Bush to Hitler or Stalin?

Whiny comments made about how Bush was treated intended to lessen the impact of ugly things said about Obama merely proves my point.

And it only proves my point about the abject absence of decency coming from some circles who attack Obama.

Religious right anti-hate crimes rally featured person from actual hate group

Submitted for your approval and laughter, scenes from the anti-hate crimes rally:



For those who are not aware of this fact, the first speaker at .09 seconds is Scott Lively, the head of Abiding Truth Ministries. Abiding Truth Ministries is an officially declared hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and mostly because of Lively.

A while back, Lively wrote a book, The Pink Swastika, which  incorrectly affiliated the Nazi Party in Germany with the lgbt community. The book has been repeatedly discredited, including in 2005 and in 2007:

Stephen Feinstein, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, said the book was "produced by a right-wing Christian cult and is as correct as flat earth theory."

In addition, Lively has been known to sanitize the reputation of  the discredited researcher Paul Cameron even to the point of lying about Cameron's work being published peer-reviewed journals (it wasn't) and claiming that Cameron's critics have no scientific merit to criticize him (they do):

While Cameron has been the subject of intense, unrelenting criticism (and mockery) by “gay” activists and their allies, he has produced an impressive body of work related to the homosexual issue, much of it published in peer-reviewed journals, and I do not believe the criticism of his work is merited on scientific grounds.

Also, according to Box Turtle Bulletin:

(Lively) is associated with not just one, not two, but three of just eleven organizations identified by the SPLC as a hate group (He co-founded Watchmen on the Walls, founded Abiding Truth Ministries, and he is now the leader of the School of Christian Activism). If that weren’t enough, he spoke at a banquet last winter for a fourth SPLC hate group, Mass Resistance.

This year, Lively was amongst the number of anti-gay figures who journeyed to Uganda for a three-day conference. In this conference, Lively helped to stoke a myriad of anti-gay lies and myths.

And anti-lgbt sentiments in Uganda are totally different than they are in America in terms of how the government embraces them.

Last month, the Uganda government was pushing an anti-gay bill which favored :

  . . .lifetime imprisonment on conviction of homosexuality, and defines a new category called “aggravated homosexuality” with provisions for the death penalty upon conviction. Among the factors which can lead to “aggravated homosexuality” is if one partner is HIV-positive. This bill would mandate HIV testing to determine eligibility for “aggravated homosexuality.”

The bill also pushed :

a complete ban on all LGBT activities — including blogging — which could be construed as “promoting homosexuality.”

So even after all of that, Lively didn't get arrested for what he said Monday. It's further proof that religious right claims about hate crimes legislation is inaccurate.

But it still bugs me how he tries to make himself into a noble soul during his speech when he goes on about how he will continue to say that homosexuality is wrong regardless of whether or not he gets arrested.

He needs to focus on his eagerness to lie.

Or does he think lying is okay.

One would think so based upon his history.

More than anyone could ever do, Lively puts the absolute hypocrisy of these folks on center stage. He is a perfect example of the old adage that action speaks louder than words.

The type of love that he and his cohorts claim to have is the type that no one needs.

More information about Scott Lively and Uganda can be found here at Truth Wins Out.

Family Research Council attacks Obama appointee with sliced footage and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Video: FRC invited Chai to speak; now slicing both her footage and her back - Family Research Council tries to smear EEOC appointee with sliced video footage.

Catholic Report: Homosexuality Not a Factor In Clerical Sex Scandals - A surprise to everyone but us.

Transgendered aide turns to law she helped pass - A bad situation involving an online friend of mine. Give em hell, girlfriend!

DC Elections Board Rules Against Prop.-8 and Question 1 Style Ballot Initiative - Harry Jackson and company loses another one.

Join the group 'Expose religious right’s history of anti-gay junk science'

Expose religious right’s history of anti-gay junk science is a facebook group that I am helping to start.

When we talk about lgbt rights, we sometimes forget to emphasize the fact that for over 30 years, religious right groups have either relied on junk science or distorted legitimate research to weave an inaccurate anti-lgbt narrative.

We don't emphasize, among other things, their continued reliance on the studies of discredited researcher Paul Cameron nor do we mention the large number of physicians and researchers who have in the past complained about the distortion of their work by these groups.

Subsequently, these groups (i.e. the National Organization for Marriage, the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association, etc.) and their spokespeople are not questioned or called to the carpet for their lies as much as they should be.

A lot of us know that these groups are phony but we aren't doing enough to emphasize the point.

It is because of our lack of attention that religious right groups are either able to push the phony notion that they are somehow upholding "traditional values" while distorting science or push tacit approval of vile  homophobic images, such as the above Concerned Women for America endorsed comic book (of which several pages are present on the facebook group). 

This group is meant to be a call to action. It's a call for the lgbt community to start changing the narrative in the fight for our equality.

Seems to me if organizations are either deliberately relying on junk science or truncating legitimate science, they should be the ones whose credibility should be questioned rather than the people who are the victims of their inaccurate invectives.

As we have seen with Monday's silly sideshow rally against hate crimes legislation, we are dealing with organizations who will push a point even after said point has been continuously proven wrong and refuted.

And while we laugh this time at religious right groups falling on their faces in public embarrassment, let's not forget the times when their tenacity to push inaccuracies have harmed the lgbt community.

The point of this so-called culture war is not lgbts having to explain why we are deserving of basic rights. The point should be why are these so-called moral groups lying to deny lgbts our basic rights.

Click here to join.

Congressman pushing Carrie Prejean for public office?

This is just too funny not to post about. From TMZ:

Carrie Prejean has a serious congressional supporter who thinks she should pursue a career in politics ... and it's not just because she has her finger on the hot-button issues.


TMZ spoke with Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) who tells us he thinks Prejean could be a serious contender in the political arena: "[Carrie] has the ability to draw crowds and if she has a strong message to go with that, who knows what she can do? She has star power which can open doors.

"We've all made mistakes when we were 17. [The sex tape] is going to be an impediment, but people are excited about her convictions and her beliefs."

For the record -- Carrie was 20 when she filmed her world famous solo mission.

Well in terms of faces of the Republican party, she'd be much prettier than Rush Limbaugh.

Palin/Prejean in 2012? What do you think?

Arrest made in anti-gay murder, more laughing at anti-hate crimes rally, and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Puerto Rico Police Arrest Suspect In Gruesome Murder- I want to know what kind of animal would do such a thing to a child!

The messengers of God can't get arrested in this town - And the anti-hate crimes legislation rally sinks even LOWER! Go get em, Dana Milbank!

Out puts out its list of top 100 people - My buddy Pam Spaulding made the list!!

Play depicting Jesus as gay packs church - Apparently it was a hit!!

Date Set for First Latin-American Gay Marriage - Good news out of Argentina

They came, they protested, they got ignored: Anti-hate crimes legislation rally a huge disaster

Gary Cass and his Christian Anti-Defamation Commission held their protest against lgbt inclusive hate crimes legislation yesterday and I think it's safe to say that despite the hype and the myriad other organizations and personalities involved, including Harry Jackson, Rick Scarborough, Janet Porter* (seen here above pushing her silly book), Matt Barber, etc., it stunk worse than a Southern kitchen after a pot of chitterlings cooking on the stove.

People for the American Way's Religious Right Watch said the following:

Sure, we heard many of the Religious Right’s standard lies about the hate crimes bill being an effort to silence Christians, and, of course, Janet Porter waving her book about “the criminalization of Christianity.” We heard the inflammatory and inaccurate characterization of the bill as the “Pedophile Protection Act.” We heard from a Philadelphia grandmother with Repent America who in the Right’s inaccurate retelling, was arrested only for sharing the gospel with attendees at a gay pride event. We heard essentially irrelevant examples of anti-gay preachers being suppressed in other countries which don’t have the First Amendment protections Americans enjoy. And we heard some preaching that God and the Bible say homosexuality is wrong. In other words, we heard standard and typically false Religious Right talking points about the hate crimes law, and a bit of standard anti-gay theology that is unquestionably protected by the First Amendment.

But there was nothing that anyone could remotely consider incitement to a hate crime, and nothing that even these speakers could say with a straight face had any chance of getting them arrested. Even Matt Barber, who typically does not shy away from disparaging comments about gay people and their supporters, gave a relatively dry recitation of the Liberty Counsel’s assertions that the law is unconstitutional.

So, what happened? Did these culture warriors essentially chicken out? Did they feel outnumbered? In spite of the event being billed as a “rally,” the number of speakers gathered behind the microphone seemed to outnumber the number of people attending in support of their message. The “love is legit” folks had the most visible presence. Maybe the organizers just figured out that a “we love the homosexuals” message would play better than “God wants them dead.

Damn, I'm disappointed. Not even Focus on the Family could make this rally seem better than it was. Although  Cass, tried to make a diamond out of the pile of manure he helped to create. Check out his sleight of hand statement:

Gary Cass, president and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, said pastors who preach from the Bible could be held accountable if someone hears their sermon and then commits a crime against a gay-identified individual.

"It puts the burden on the minister to have to read the minds of the people that are listening to him and be able to predict the future," he said. "It has a very chilling effect on the minister's speech, because the safest thing is to just say nothing."


Nice trick. Pathetic but nice. I was under the impression that the narrative was that pastors would be arrested for preaching that homosexuality is a sin, period.

I noticed that Peter LaBarbera wasn't invited. Maybe he should have been. You think he would have brought pictures from Folsom Street Fair?

Seriously, this is a huge victory for our side and we really didn't have to do anything but not get in the way when Cass and his cohorts shot themselves in the foot.

If only the entire fight for lgbt equality was as easy as this.

* Just wanted to add another point that I couldn't fit into this piece regarding Janet Porter. How ironic is it that she wrote a book talking about the "criminalization of Christianity," when in 1988 when she was Janet Folger, she supported sodomy laws, which in essence criminalized gays for private behavior. So among her other "qualities," (i.e. paranoia, eagerness to engage in hyperbole and distortion tactics), one can put hypocrisy on her scorecard.

Related posts:

Let the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission wallow in the filth of its own ignorance

Christian Anti-Defamation Commission defends exorcists and hate groups from the 'scary gays'

While phony christians lie in Washington, lgbt children are getting murdered in Puerto Rico

While a bunch of phony christians (with a small "c") went to Washington to grandstand today, we have been alerted to something awful happening to one of our lgbt children:

On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.


This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that "people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen”

To be fair, all of the details of this situation are not fully known. But the contrast between  what happened today in Washington and the news of this child's murder couldn't be more stark

While those who claim to be working in God's name went to Washington to push a lie (that has been exposed time and time again regarding hate crimes legislation), our lgbt children seem to be in danger on a worldwide level.

Just who do you think God is paying attention to?

Mormon Church hit with extremely nasty anti-gay leaflet and other Monday midday news briefs

MORMON RESPONSE - Last week, the Mormon Church embraced pro-lgbt rights legislation for the first time ever. Since that time, they have gotten a lot of mess thrown at them but nothing more shocking than this anti-gay leaflet (click on it at your own risk) that was allegedly sent out to 80,000 people. Now you know how WE feel, guys!

Anti-Gay Groups Oppose a Lesbian for Mayor of Houston - It would just kill some people to have an lgbt for mayor.

Will disapproval of homosexuality lead to jail today in Washington, DC? - Today's anti-lgbt hate crimes legislation protest gets called out for the sham that it is.

Nation's largest gay newspaper publisher closes - The Southern Voice shut down today. This is NOT good news.

Phony christians to protest hate crimes legislation today

Today at 1:30 p.m., Christian Anti-Defamation Commission and various other groups will stand in front of the Justice Department and protest the recent lgbt-inclusive hate crimes law recently signed by President Obama.

They are hoping to get arrested for preaching about how "evil" homosexuality is, thereby adding credence to their narrative that the law punishes speech rather than action:

Ministers from various denominations will preach from the Bible, especially those parts that speak to the sin of homosexuality. This will serve to reassure ministers and Christians that they are free to do the same.

A letter from Matt Staver of Liberty Council will be presented to Attorney General Eric Holder that expresses our concerns about the many unconstitutional aspects of the hate crime bill. Specific legal challenges also may be announced then.


CADC doesn't have a leg to stand on because it has been proven continuously that hate crimes legislation has nothing to do with speech.

But since they have been proven wrong with logic, the CADC and their supporters are relying on repetition to beat folks down.

In a perfect world, this group and their cohorts would be ignored. Unfortunately, as the creation of cell phones have shown, this is not a perfect world.

Maybe they will be ignored, but I am suspecting something interesting to come out of today's protest and I am hoping that folks in our community don't provide it.

Related posts:

Let the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission wallow in the filth of its own ignorance

Christian Anti-Defamation Commission defends exorcists and hate groups from the 'scary gays'

More 'words of love' - Seven more anti-gay statements and personalities

My top 10 anti-gay statements posted last Sunday got such a reaction that I would like to post a sequel. Not necessarily a top 10 list but a view on other anti-gay statements out there from the past and present  and the personalities determined to make like hell for lgbts. This is to remind people that the narrative of lgbts being pushy, angry, hypocritical, intolerant folks is a myth. We weren't exactly the ones who started this mess. And though Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, the folks at the National Organization for Marriage, Peter LaBarbera, and other various groups and entities like to portray us as the aggressors, as the following will demonstrate,  they aren't exactly innocent or blameless.


Pat Buchanan - Buchanan, the "respected" journalist and former White House employee who probably single-handedly gave the 1992 Presidential election to Bill Clinton after his "culture war" speech at the Republican National Convention held that same year hasn't exactly been a friend to the lgbt community

In all honesty, Buchanan, as the link shows, doesn't seem to care for anyone not fiting his "specifications" of a true American, but his verbal attacks on the lgbt community gone beyond the pale of ugly. They are best typified by this missive thrown at those suffering from HIV/AIDS in 1983:

The poor homosexuals -- they have declared war upon nature, and now nature is extracting an awful retribution (AIDS)." 

or 1990:

"With 80,000 dead of AIDS, our promiscuous homosexuals appear literally hell-bent on Satanism and suicide,"

or 1993:

"AIDS is nature's retribution for violating the laws of nature."


Donnie McClurkin - Don't act shocked. You know I was going to include him. After his recent uncalled for attack against the lgbt community last week, McClurkin definitely makes this list. His comments against young gay men of color were as follows:

“I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go … No, don’t applaud ‘cuz it ain’t funny. It’s because we failed. I see them everywhere.”

I'm having flashbacks of that little boy in the Sixth Sense.

Of course in his screed,  McClurkin didn't want to leave the sistas out. He had this to say about young lesbians:

"These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide . . . but there are some evil young hard butch girls."

McClurkin has in the past claimed that he was molested and that led to him being gay. He has also said that through the "power of Jesus," he is no longer gay.

I say two things.

1. When someone like McClurkin says that they have been "delivered from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ,"  that usually means they are going to go through life more celibate than a monk in coma.

2. If by chance McClurkin ever announces that he is dating a woman or about to marry a woman, I suggest that we all stop what we are doing and start looking for Rod Serling. Because we will definitely be in the Twilight Zone.


Matt Barber - And then there is the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber, the author of the following statement on why anti-discrimination protection for lgbts would be a bad idea:

“Imagine, if you will, a 280 lb linebacker who likes to wear a dress and high heels and lipstick, you know comes to church wanting a job at the front desk as a receptionist and they turn him away because they don’t feel that that represents their values or the image that they’re trying to hold at that church, under ENDA they could be held accountable for discrimination against that individual.”

In 2005, he lost his job at AllState Insurance in part for penning an anti-gay column. Since that time, the story was spun that he was fired due to his beliefs and he has parlayed that narrative into cinchy gigs with Concerned Women for America, the Liberty Counsel, and a book deal. However, like all religious right stories of gay persecution, there are details omitted (such as Barber using AllState Insurance equipment to write his column or him identifying himself as an employee of AllState in the same column). To paraphrase critic Mary McCarthy's famous statement on playwright Lillian Hellman, just about all of Barber's tale of being a victim of the "gay agenda" is a lie including the words "and" and "the."

But seeing that he predates Carrie Prejean as a religious right figure of alleged gay persecution, let's all pray that no freaky videos or pictures of Barber pop up.

Despite what they say, gay men are not that desperate to see naked flesh.

A preview for tomorrow's piece on anti-gay comments and personalities

Last Sunday, I wrote a piece on the top 10 anti-gay sayings which got a huge reaction.

I am working on a sequel to that piece which I hope to unveil tomorrow morning. Here is a short preview to get you interested:

Donnie McClurkin - Don't act shocked. You know I was going to include him. After his recent uncalled for attack on young gay men last week, McClurkin definitely makes this list. His comments against young gays of color were as follows:

“I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go … No, don’t applaud ‘cuz it ain’t funny. It’s because we failed. I see them everywhere.”

I'm having flashbacks of that little boy in the Sixth Sense.

Of course in his screed,  McClurkin didn't want to leave the sistas out. He had this to say about lesbians:

"These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide . . . but there are some evil young hard butch girls."

McClurkin has in the past claimed that he was molested and that led to him being gay. He has also said that through the "power of Jesus," he is no longer gay.

I say two things.

1. When someone like McClurkin says that they have been "delivered from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ,"  that usually means they are going to go through life more celibate than a monk in coma.

2. If by chance McClurkin ever announces that he is dating a woman or about to marry a woman, I suggest that we all stop what we are doing and start looking for Rod Serling. Because we will definitely be in the Twilight Zone.

Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks

There are times when I love the Cartoon Network show The Boondocks.

And then there are times when it makes me scratch my head in confusion.

The segments involving rapper Gagstalicious is one of those times.

This rapper has been the subject of two episodes exploring the fact that he tries to be "hardcore" while trying to hide his obvious sexual orientation.

Usually The Boondocks episodes are spot-on when it comes to parody and satire involving race relations and American culture, but in the case of the two episodes involving Gangstalicious, The Boondocks can be seen as a microcosm of how the black community deals with lgbts of color: meandering, confusing, and difficult to come to a satisfactory resolution involving places in the community

From the second episode involving Gangstalicious comes this parody of a rap video.

The only thing of note here, other than the fact that it's so obviously gay (although very few people in the episode get that point - I guess that's the joke), is how misogynistic it is:




Past Know Your LGBT History postings:

Know your lgbt history - Mannequin

Know your lgbt history - The Warriors

Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover

Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame

Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes

Know your lgbt history - California Suite

Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay

Know your lgbt history - Windows

Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla

Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles

Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son

Know your lgbt history - In Living Color

Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords

Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?

Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street

Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George

Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda

'Know your lgbt history - Cruising

Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones

Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up

Know your lgbt history - Fright Night

Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil

The Jeffersons and the transgender community

Catholic church gets scolded on threats to abandon D.C.'s poor and other Friday midday news briefs

Catholic officials shouldn't forsake D.C.'s poor in gay marriage fight - Catholic church getting more negative feedback for their threats regarding D.C.'s poor

'Question 1 opponents': The far-right's newest faux monolith - Even though they won the vote in Maine, the anti-gay marriage folks can't stop lying.

Scarborough: Anti-Gay Activists Are Just Like MLK - I intentionally haven't said anything about this YET. But rest assured, as soon I calm down, I got some words!

David Catania Smacks Down Anti-Gay-Marriage Law Prof - David Catania is shaping up to be my new hero. The brother kicks serious ass!

While Carrie Prejean self-destructs, right-wing plays pitiful defense

Despite how the lgbt community feels about Carrie Prejean, we can all agree that her controversy is blowing up into something better than a plotline on "Desperate Housewives."

In addition to the above interview with her ex-boyfriend (via TMZ) in which he accuses her handlers of attempting to convince him to lie regarding that "sex tape" and her disastrous, just unbelievably bad interview with Larry King comes the news that she pulled out of various appearances, including, according to Jillian Bandes of the conservative Town Hall, an appearance at an invitation-only event at the National Republican Club of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and numerous other radio segments.

In her column, Bandes doesn't even try to defend Prejean and the title of the piece, Carrie Prejean's Disappearing Book Tour, doesn't even help matters.

It's too soon to say whether or not folks on the right have totally abandoned Prejean, but I'm starting to feel a little sorry for her.

This thing is not going away and with her ex-boyfriend getting involved, the crapstorm will be getting thicker for her.

Please bear in mind that I said I feel a little for her. She really has no one to blame for this but herself.

GAY IN AMERICA(Color Lines Across Rainbow Skies) Loft XVA 66 Parts 3 and 4

In order to exorcise the nastiness of Donnie McClurkin, I present parts three and four of GAY IN AMERICA(Color Lines Across Rainbow Skies) Loft XVA 66





See parts 1 and 2 here.

Prejean cracking under pressure, Hannity admits wrongdoing, and other Thursday midday news briefs

Carrie Prejean Threatens To Walk Off "Larry King" (VIDEO) - Geez Carrie! Queen Esther never cracked under pressure.

Hannity: Jon Stewart Was Right About Protest Footage (VIDEO) - When journalist Janet Cooke admitted to lying, she was forced to resign. My, have times changed!

Campfield should blame himself for bizarre antics - Anti-gay attention grabber falls on his face HARD!

LGBT protesters, anti-gay counterprotesters clash outside Fort Worth City Hall - Things are getting ugly all over!

76% of Mass. voters in favor of protecting transgender people from discrimination - Good news out of Massachusetts!

Catholic church trying to 'blackmail' D.C. in attempt to erode lgbt equality

After pouring a huge amount of money into defeating same-sex marriage in California and Maine, the Catholic church is now jumping into the D.C. argument with a little blackmail:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.


Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.


Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.

The church will be "forced" to end these services? That's like a kidnapper saying that he will be forced to kill someone if he isn't sent ransom money.

In this case, it's the homeless and destitute who are being held hostage:

Catholic Charities, the church's social services arm, is one of dozens of nonprofit organizations that partner with the District. It serves 68,000 people in the city, including the one-third of Washington's homeless people who go to city-owned shelters managed by the church. City leaders said the church is not the dominant provider of any particular social service, but the church pointed out that it supplements funding for city programs with $10 million from its own coffers.

This new argument is specifically over the following:

The archdiocese's statement follows a vote Tuesday by the council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary to reject an amendment that would have allowed individuals, based on their religious beliefs, to decline to provide services for same-sex weddings.


"Lets say an individual caterer is a staunch Christian and someone wants him to do a cake with two grooms on top," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 6), the sponsor of the amendment. "Why can't they say, based on their religious beliefs, 'I can't do something like that'?"

Almost a good question but the devil is in the details. I prefer to point to the words of hopefully soon-to-be EEOC head Chai Feldblum:

Once an individual chooses to enter the stream of economic commerce by opening a commercial establishment, I believe it is legitimate to require that they play by certain rules. If the government tolerated the private exclusionary policies of such individuals in the commercial sector, such toleration would necessarily come at the cost of gay people’s sense of belonging and safety in society. Just as we do not tolerate private racial beliefs that adversely affect African-Americans in the commercial arena, even if such beliefs are based on religious views, we should similarly not tolerate private beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity that adversely affect LGBT people.

There may be some who disagree with this and I understand that. However the matter at hand is this: that the Catholic church would make such a petty move as to threaten to eliminate services for thousands of people in an attempt to erode not just gay marriage but gay anti-discrimination rights is just petty.

Perhaps the church should show the Biblical verse that points out just why this sort of travesty is appropriate.