Report - Media helping to promote anti-gay hate group

Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Family Research Council as an official anti-gay hate because of the group's deliberate use of lies and junk science to spread false information about the lgbtq community.

However, according to a new report by Equality Matters, the mainstream media is not only ignoring this but seems going out of its way to give FRC and its spokespeople credibility:

In November of 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed the Family Research Council as an anti-gay hate group due to its “propagation of known falsehoods” about the LGBT community. Since being listed, however, FRC spokespersons have been invited 52 times to discuss issues ranging from the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to the 2012 presidential campaign. Despite FRC’s long history of producing anti-gay propaganda, every major news network has invited the group on national television while failing to acknowledge its hate group designation.

Analysis: News Networks Regularly Host Family Research Council Spokespersons  

FRC Listed As An Anti-Gay Hate Group In November 2010. In November 2010, the Family Research Council (FRC) was added to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) list of anti-gay hate groups due to its “propagation of known falsehoods” about gays and lesbians. [SPLC, November 2010]

FRC Spokespersons Made 52 Television Appearances Since Being Labeled A Hate Group. According to an Equality Matters analysis*, FRC spokespersons – including Tony Perkins, Peter Sprigg, and Ken Blackwell – have been invited to appear on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News a total of 54 times in the twelve months since Perkins first appeared on MSNBC to discuss being labeled as a hate group. 24 of those appearances were on Fox News, 19 were on MSNBC, and 11 were on CNN.

And Equality Matters' report notes the exact reasons why FRC should be considered as a hate group:

SPLC: FRC’s “Specialty Is Defaming Gays And Lesbians.” From an October 7 SPLC report:

The Family Research Council (FRC) bills itself as “the leading voice for the family in our nation’s halls of power,” but its real specialty is defaming gays and lesbians. The FRC often makes false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science. The intention is to denigrate LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws and anti-bullying programs. To make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society, the FRC employs a number of “policy experts” whose “research” has allowed the FRC to be extremely active politically in shaping public debate. [...]

The FRC also strongly promotes the “ex-gay” movement as a way to combat LGBT civil rights measures, though professional organizations have repeatedly called so-called “reparative therapy” (which seeks to turn gays and lesbians into heterosexuals) into question and issued statements that don’t support it. [...]

Part of the FRC’s recent strategy is to pound home the false claim that gays and lesbians are more likely to sexually abuse children. This is false. The American Psychological Association, among others, has concluded that “homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are.” That doesn’t matter to the FRC, though. [SPLC Report, “The Anti-Gay Lobby,” 10/7/11, via LGBTQNation, emphasis added]

'NOM's financial records raising questions' and other Monday midday news briefs

NOM’s 2010 financial records raise questions - Read the article in its entirety. It's a major one, especially this part:

Under IRS rules regarding nonprofit entities with 501©3 and ©4 status, all donations above $5,000 must be disclosed. Of the 22 contributions NOM’s (c )4 was obligated to list, all but five were greater than $5,000.

The top five contributions to the National Organization for Marriage, Inc.:

$3,416,000
$2,940,000
$750,000
$600,000
$400,000

TWO Announces Intent to Sue PFOX As Early as This Week - Uh oh. This ex-gay group may get sued. Go get 'em Truth Wins Out!

AFA's Buster Wilson Calls on MSNBC to "Clean the Stable" of Maddow & O'Donnell - Now we know why Bryan Fischer gets away with so much nonsense.

Iowans Confront Perry At Campaign Event: ‘Why Do You Hate Gay People,’ ‘Go Back To Texas’- Ouch.

Bill Johnson, Former Alabama Governor Candidate, Caught In Lesbian Sperm Donation Scandal - Simply hypocritical.

LGBTQ youth caught in the crossfire of phony 'religious liberty'

As more information is coming out about the former Macy's employee who was fired for harassing a transgender customer, the story continues to keep getting disturbing.

Natalie Johnson - with the help of the religious right group, the Liberty Counsel - is suing Macy's claiming that the store violated her religious beliefs because of its policy of allowing transgender customers to use the women's changing room. Johnson is claiming that her religious beliefs prevents her from allowing transgender customers to use the women's changing room.

Here are some new details to the story, courtesy of Johnson (which is kind of stupid because it wrecks her entire case):

She approached the customer after she was leaving the changing room and insulted her, calling her a man.

The next day when informed of Macy's policy of allowing individuals of going into whichever changing room they wanted, she said that she refused to comply with the policy. That was why she was fired.

However, to me, the following is the most disturbing detail of them all:

The transgender customer was a teenager.

All of the negative lgbtq messages out there for our children to see is bad enough. But this situation, to me, is the worse. To have someone come up to you in a public setting and accost you in regards to who they assume you are had to be intimidating.

Luckily the young lady stood up for herself and had friends with her.

But this is just another case of how the phony cry of  "religious liberty"  has the potential to harm our children.

There are two cases on appeal in the courts of two women demanding to be let back into their graduate program at their prospective colleges. Both women, Julea Ward and Jennifer Keeton, are claiming that they were unfairly dismissed because their "religious beliefs" about homosexuality. In reality, neither woman wanted to counsel gays.

And if that's not bad enough, both women expressed a desire to be school guidance counselors.

Naturally their cases have been taken by the Alliance Defense Fund, another religious right group.

Certainly there is no deliberate attempt to potentially undermine the well-being of lgbtq youth by these folks and the groups taking their cases.

But it doesn't erase the fact that if the courts fall for their phony talk of "religious liberty," the undermining of lgbtq youth is a strong possibility.

Email Macy's and send the company your support for standing up for our rights and dignity. And most of all, tell Macy's to not back down.

Full-page ad calls out anti-gay 'religious liberty' claim

The following full page ad (click on image to enlarge) ran today in the Ithaca Journal courtesy of the group Truth Wins Out. It calls out the religious right in regards to their false claim of "religious liberty."

Maggie Gallagher, NOM should simply stop being such liars

Today's Know Your LGBT History has been pre-empted because apparently Maggie Gallagher and the National Organization for Marriage think that gay people are stupid.

Yesterday I posted that Equality Matters caught the National Organization for Marriage putting a post on its blog which used the work of the discredited researcher Paul "gays stuff gerbils up their rectums" Cameron.

Equality Matters also pointed out that this sort of thing is the standard for NOM. On its blog and on the blog of its affiliated group - The Ruth Institute, NOM posts links to pieces either showcasing anti-gay propaganda or junk science designed to demonize the gay community, especially in terms of our interaction with children.

Apparently attention to this fact must have really bugged NOM because today, former chairwoman Maggie Gallagher posted a piece on the group's blog which basically said that just because NOM puts something on its blog doesn't mean that its endorsing the work:

Some in the gay blogosphere are trying to assert that NOM--or me--endorses the view of every blogger/article NOM links to, by the act of linking to it.

This would lead to the absurd conclusion that NOM endorses the editorial positions of the New York Times, because NOM links to them--or The Advocate for that matter, as we often link to stories in the gay press.

If you want to know what NOM's message is, there are abundant videos and press stories (including our own press releases) with me, or Brian Brown, or other NOM personnel actually speaking. Fair enough to criticize us for what we actually believe and say.

The standard "a link constitutes an endorsement" would cut off the free flow of ideas at the knees.

 I would like to say personally that nothing in any argument I've ever made on gay marriage, rests on the idea that same-sex couples harm their own children at any higher rates than any other family form. (If there is data that shows this, I've never seen it.)

Excuse me? Apparently Gallagher must think that we are stupid. Passing along information about the gay community which you know to be inaccurate and incredibly stigmatizing is not the "free-flow of ideas."

It's lying. You can't explain it away and you certainly can't sugarcoat it.

And when you put it front and center on your blog, you are in fact endorsing it because you want people to see it. And you want people to link to the piece in question.

Maybe I shouldn't be so abrupt with Gallagher. She was always a poor spokesperson. Remember this part of her piece:

If you want to know what NOM's message is, there are abundant videos and press stories (including our own press releases) with me, or Brian Brown, or other NOM personnel actually speaking. Fair enough to criticize us for what we actually believe and say.

Okay, how about when Brian Brown told the following lie at a New York rally early this year:

" . . . kids as young as kindergarten are taught in Massachusetts that their parents are bigots because they believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman."

Or how about the time earlier in 2010 when Gallagher cited a study about abused children to make the case against marriage equality even though no same-sex couple took part in the study.

 Or how about when NOM blanket states with flyers designed to imply that gays want to use marriage equality to corrupt the innocence of children. Flyers like so:

Or how about now when NOM is teaming up, even as I speak, with the Minnesota Family Council, a group which spreads inaccurate information via its site that gays engage in pedophilia, bestiality, and the consuming of urine and feces.

Of course Maggie Gallagher doesn't attack same-sex couples.  She simply leaves those nasty actions to the groups NOM aligns itself with and then plays stupid when these groups are caught in the act.

If that's not bad enough, Jeremy Hooper  from Goodasyou.org points out several other things:

For starters, we could talk about the times you, Maggie, called homosexuality an "unfortunate thing" and "at a minimum, a sexual dysfunction much as impotence or infertility," suggested gays "can always control their behavior," called on a sitting President to give more research dollars to "ex-gay" research, or talked about the "several kinds of sins" that both gays and their supports commit every time they support marriage equality. Then we can go from there. 

You see this is why so many lgbtqs cannot stand Gallagher or NOM. It's bad enough that they are trying to take away our rights. It's bad enough that they demonize us, our children, and our families on a daily basis.

But absolute final straw is when NOM - and Gallagher - have the audacity to lie to us that they mean us no harm when we see their weapons for our destruction plainly behind their backs. And they aren't even trying to hide them.

The lgbtq community knows the difference between a kiss in the lips and a kick in the chops and Gallagher's piss poor explanations to the contrary are fooling no one.

'Did NOM's Brian Brown assault reporter at Gingrich event?' and other Friday midday news briefs

As we all know, the National Organization for Marriage is cozying up to various Republican presidential candidates, including Newt Gingrich.

And apparently because of that, we have the following footage of an incident which took place when a recent Gingrich fundraiser. Allegedly, NOM's president, Brian Brown, attacked a reporter, Andy Kroll, from Mother Jones - a progressive magazine - and shoved him out of the room when Occupy protesters appeared. From Joe.My.God comes a segment of the Keith Olbermann show with the reporter in question talk about the incident along with video footage. The part about Brian Brown begins at 3:12:



Pull your eyes from the lovely video of Brian Brown making an idiot of himself on camera (again) to ponder the irony that his organization thinks that gays and lesbian wanting to protect their relationships and families are the biggest threats to marriage, while a thrice divorced politician is it's savior

In other news:

Perry’s Staff Divided Over ‘War On Religion’ Ad - Rick Perry's gay staffer opposed a homophobic ad. What's wrong with that sentence? The fact that a gay person would work for such a man.

Malawi To Review “Bad” Laws - Hopefully a positive effect of the Obama Administration's new policy.

Faith-Based Group on Troy Mayor Controversy: 'Enough is Enough' - The mayor of town makes a nasty statement about gays, faces a backlash, and now some folks are sticking up for her. The poor thing. Her religious liberty to call gays "queers" (in a negative connotation of course) has been violated.

“I no longer identify as a Christian . . .” they write - A good friend of mine is fed up with phony cries of "Christian persecution coming from the religious right.

Woman files lawsuit because she can't harass transgender customers

Unbelievable. Earlier this week, I post a piece about a Macy's employee who was fired for harassing a transgender customer. Today, we learn more details about this case because she is now suing:

Natalie Johnson is a 27-year-old student and, until last week, worked at the River Center Macy's.

On Nov. 30, a teenager shopping caught her attention.

"I made sure to keep an eye on him because he was shopping for women's clothing," remembered Johnson.

She said she was convinced the shopper was a man. So when she saw him in the women's dressing room, she told him he couldn't change there.

"I had to just straight forward tell him, 'You're a man,' and of course that made him really got him steamed," said Johnson.

But the group of people he was with supported the shopper, arguing Macy's policy allows transgender people to change in the fitting room of the gender they associate with.

"I've made my choice the other day," Johnson told her manager. "I refuse to comply with this policy."

Johnson said she was let go.

Johnson filed a complaint with the Federal Employment Commission, claiming her religious beliefs prevent her from recognizing transgender people.

"There are no transgenders in the world. A guy can dress up as a woman all he wants, that's still not going to make you a woman," said Johnson.

There are so many things to be said about this. First of all, I refuse to believe that this woman filed this lawsuit on her own volition. Someone, or rather some organization talked her into it. This woman has no case because she admits that she refused to comply. The religious belief argument is a dodge. No one was attacking her religious beliefs. She was the aggressor. She was the violator. If she had a problem, she should have stepped aside. No one was forcing her to be in the dressing room (aren't dressing rooms usually confined to one person anyway) with the customer?

I mean what's next? Should harassing same-sex couples or same-sex couples and their children in stores be protected under the false umbrella of  "religious liberty?"

This woman felt that she was above following the policies of her employer and found out that no, she was not.


No doubt the organization - and I bet it's the Liberty Counsel -  that pushed Johnson into filing this lawsuit hopes to exploit people's fears about the transgender community and the lie about "men being able to invade women's bathrooms," etc.

But I think this going to backfire. This frivolous lawsuit demonstrates just how hollow the claim of "religious liberty" by the religious right are. It's obvious that "religious liberty" to some of them means the liberty to give us hell.

Those who are steaming over this - and you should be -  should forget making this woman the onus of your anger. She is nothing more than a tool. Email Macy's and send the company your support for standing up for our rights and dignity. And most of all, tell Macy's to not back down.

Related posts:

Macy's stands up for the lgbtq community

Why I get a nagging feeling every time I hear the phrase 'religious liberty' 

NOM is now pushing the discredited work of Paul Cameron

NOM is now pushing P. Cameron's discredited work

You all knew that this would happen sooner or later.

From Equality Matters:

Earlier today, Equality Matters reported that the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Ruth Institute was endorsing a book that claimed, among other things, that gay parents are more likely to molest their own children than heterosexual parents.

Now, NOM appears to be doubling down on that claim – and this time on its main blog.

In a December 8 blog post, NOM promoted an essay posted on the “Bad Catholic” blog titled “Two Lesbians Raised a Baby and This Is What They Got...” The essay – written by blogger Marc Barnes – is a response to a video of an Iowa man speaking eloquently in defense of his two moms, which recently went viral. 

Referring to the video as “false advertising,” Barnes attempts to lay out the case for why gays and lesbians aren’t fit to raise children:

• Gay couples are less likely to stay together
• Gay couples don’t want to get married
• Gay relationships are more likely to be violent/abusive

Near the end of his essay, Barnes makes an argument which is apparently becoming NOM-dogma – gay parents molest their children at higher rates than heterosexual parents:

Similarly, the children of homosexual parents are much more likely to be sexually abused. The journal Adolescence reports that a “disproportionate percentage—29 percent—of the adult children of homosexual parents had been specifically subjected to sexual molestation by that homosexual parent, compared to only 0.6 percent of adult children of heterosexual parents having reported sexual relations with their parent…. Having a homosexual parent(s) appears to increase the risk of incest with a parent by a factor of about 50″ (P. Cameron and K. Cameron, “Homosexual Parents,” Adolescence 31 (1996): 772.).

That's right.  Barnes - and NOM, since it is featuring Barnes' piece -  is now pushing the work of the discredited Paul "gay stuff gerbils up their rectums" Cameron.

Do the religious right even care about the victims of anti-gay persecution?

Based upon religious right reaction to the new Obama Administration policy regarding worldwide anti-gay persecution, one has to ask do these so-called followers of Christ have any problem with rape, "honor-killings," and murder if these actions are done to gays.

It sounds harsh to say that but what other opinion can one gauge after reading the words of religious right talking heads such as

Peter LaBarbera:

Homosexuality -- once widely regarded as a Crime Against Nature -- is no more a "fundamental human right" than any other sexual sin.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council:

It is startling that President Obama is prepared to throw the full weight and reputation of the United States behind the promotion overseas of the radical ideology of the sexual revolution.

Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel and radio show host Janet Mefferd:

Mefferd: Here’s a question I had too. In all the stories I was reading yesterday about this directive, in none of them did I see any break down of statistics on the number of homosexuals and transgenders worldwide who are being tortured, persecuted and killed for being gay, have you seen any statistics like that?

Barber: Of course not, it’s nonsense. It’s Orwellian New Speak.

These folks aren't stupid. They're willfully ignorant. And sad.

Now in some cases, in between the verbose adjectives about "sexual anarchy" and claims about how the Obama Administration is trying to" impose sexual madness" on other countries, came a spattering of pronouncements about how it was "awful that these things are happening" and how "no one should condone violence." (LaBarbera's press release didn't even have the good taste to do this.)

It seems to me that the all of the huge declarations, the adjectives of disgust should be aimed at the plight of the victims.

But these folks are so concerned with demonizing homosexuality that the victims of anti-gay persecution are merely an afterthought to them.

Victims like:

Nathaniel Cunningham, who was chased out of his home in Jamaica by an anti-gay mob.

Noxolo Nkosana and Noxolo Nogwaza who were both stabbed and raped by groups of men in South Africa. Nkosana lived. Nogwaza was murdered and her face and body was disfigured.

 Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni who, in 2005, were publicly executed in Iran for being gay after a trumped up charge of sexual assault.

And these are just a few of many. People like them, innocent gays and lesbians caught up in hateful cultures, are the people the Obama Administration is seeking to help.

But God forbid that the religious right even acknowledge the plight of these people. God forbid that these holier-than-thou folks be accused of  pushing the so-called gay agenda.

The absolute nastiness of these folks is best demonstrated by LaBarbera's last comment in his press release:

All Americans who love God and respect His wonderful design for mankind should be ashamed of Obama's and Hillary's campaign to force a deeply flawed sexual ideology on innocent nations that do NOT want to emulate American decadence.

Someone should tell LaBarbera that you can't talk about God's "wonderful design" while intentionally covering up the act of devils.

'Rick Perry anti-gay ad is a disaster on youtube' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Marriage Criminalization Bill Introduced In Nigerian House - In response to the Obama Administration's new policy, the Nigerian legislature is playing the "bricks without straw" game. We all know how that ended when the Pharaoh played it against Moses.

Occupy Rick Perry: He is the 2% - Rick Perry's gay bashing ad is a disaster for his campaign. How nice.

Gay Servicemembers Tell Rick Perry To Get His Facts Straight Before Running Ads That Slam Them - Yep! A TOTAL disaster.

Va. man surrenders in Vt. lesbian custody case - Slowly but surely, the noose is tightening around the religious right regarding Janet Jenkins/Lisa Miller case. I am guessing that certain members of a certain religious right group are wetting their pants in fearful anticipation.

Iowa’s Influential Social Conservative: Gingrich Convinced Us He ‘Asked God’s Forgiveness’ Over Affairs - How convenient . . . and phony as hell.

Religious right exploits Christian ignorance

Let me be clear on something.

I generally have no problems those who feel that based on their religious beliefs, homosexuality is a sin.

Despite the public buzzword to the fact, neither I nor a vast majority of the lgbtq community is looking for "tolerance." We are not looking for approval. We just want what should be afforded to us as tax-paying Americans - the right to live our lives not defined by someone else's standards of how we are or fevered imaginations about how we may engage in sexual intercourse.

You don't have to approve of me. Just don't stand in the way of me getting what belongs to me.

I have very deep problems with organizations like the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage. I have severe issues with people like Tony Perkins, Peter Sprigg, or Maggie Gallagher.

I feel that these folks are not only deliberately spreading distortions and propaganda against the gay community, but also deliberately exploiting the ignorance of some Christians.

A perfect example of what I am talking about is what happened last night. My piece, Attacks on Obama Administration policy shames Christianity, published here, Pam's House Blend, and The Huffington Post generated some blowback. One young lady felt compelled to write me. Another young lady also felt compelled to respond on a comment board.

What was compelling about the two response was how alike they were. Both were struck by the stories of the lesbians in South Africa being raped in order to try and change their orientation.

Both women condemned the practice.

Both women then threw the standard religious right phrasing at me about how it was "wrong to elevate homosexuality into a human rights issue."

And both women were shocked speechless when I informed that they were doing just that - "elevating homosexuality to a human rights issue" by condemning the practice of women being raped for being lesbians.

It left me thinking. If these women had abandoned the religious right buzzwords and dogma about the "gay lifestyle," they would have found common ground with me. They probably would have still thought of homosexuality as a sin, but they would have still understood not only the President's actions, but also the plight of gays worldwide.

It saddens me to think that not only these two women, but many other folks are led possibly led astray by people like Gallagher and Perkins and that many other people are also swayed against their gay neighbors by junk science studies and inaccurate anecdotes of spooky gay people all propagated to feed on their fears and religious beliefs.

It's a shame to realize that maybe we can actually all get along if it weren't for some people.

Gays should never fear or avoid confronting the religious right

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's monumental speech on gay rights yesterday has gotten a lot of reaction. However, none is as strange, at least to me, than that of Jim Downs, Assistant Professor of History and American Studies, Connecticut College.

He seems to think that Clinton's speech did a disservice to the American gay community. His piece in The Huffington Post, Hillary Clinton Is Not Helping the Gay Civil Rights Movement, leaves little to the imagination.

Basically, Downs is saying that Clinton's speech is emboldening the religious right and conservatives in America, such as Rick Perry in a recent anti-gay ad, to target gays as the means to motivate the Republican base. The gist of his piece can be seen here:

Clinton's clumsy language enables Perry to get even clumsier. It also allows him to open the door and let the religious right and the Tea Party loose on gay people. Clinton is worried about violence against gays abroad, but how does Perry's language provoke the religious right to launch a crusade against "gay" Americans at home? Perry exclaims, "Investing tax dollars to promote a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong." In the stroke of a sentence, Perry calls on Tea Party advocates with his references to "tax dollars" and he summons the religious right with his reference to "faith." All of which ends up with both groups tying gay people to the whipping posts in a symbolic gesture to broaden the Republican base. Put another, gay people once again reenter the election season as a political football in order to rally the right against the left.

There is a certain degree of abject cowardice in Downs' piece which I find incredibly distasteful.

Regardless of Clinton's speech, the gay community will be a target to motivate Republican voters. As long as we have the temerity to live openly and honestly without fear - you know, like taxpaying citizens - there will always be some demagogue out there exploiting fears about us to the ill-formed, ignorant, and willfully stupid.

That's how it's always been as long as I can remember it.

But we shouldn't allow these things to keep us from speaking out against injustice. Gays should never cower from bullies. And we should never put ourselves in some type of psychological stasis in hopes that we are ignored.

You have to put these things in perspective. In the case of Rick Perry's recent attacks on our community, we shouldn't be all that surprised. Perry was once the leading candidate in the Republican primary. Now he is the leading drip, exposed as a bad politician and an even worse campaigner. His sad attack on us is nothing more than a drowning man clinging to a slowly sinking life raft.

Gays should never fear the desperation of those who choose to be our enemies. But we should fight them head on. And Downs' column reveals a sad fact, not only about the gay community, but many of those we anoint as our leaders. Unlike our brothers and sisters in foreign countries, we have the means to fight back, but we rarely do.

And by fighting back, I don't mean solely street protests or acts of useless spontaneity fueled by rage. I mean a steady and consistent stream of calling out religious right lies.

We either sidestep confronting the religious right  as if we want avoid them. Or worse yet, we fight the battle on their grounds. We yield too much to them. We allow the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage to claim ownership of words like "morality" and "family" without raising the proper level of holy hell regarding the lies, distortions, and underhanded tactics they employ to acquire this license.

We let organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center do the hard work in calling out these groups and then will not support them loud enough with our voices, anger, and our media. Then we either scratch our heads or cry foul when these groups gain approval in the mainstream media.

Our problem is not that we are exploited to fuel a base of ignorance. Our problem is that we allow it to happen without a proper response, even though we know it's going to happen time and time again.

So Downs is way off base in his piece and whether he realizes it or not, he is causing more harm than Clinton's speech.

She told us that we are human beings. He is telling us that we should be cowards.

'Fake Christians continue to show their true colors regarding gay persecution' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

The two items below are the examples of silly desperation. Neither Rick Perry nor Rick Santorum will ever get to the White House. In fact, their behavior on the campaign trail makes one wonder just how did they attain their original elected offices in the first place. They are both like a bad dancer who has tripped his way through a recital and now thinks of himself as a Baryshnikov.

The polite word to describe both Santorum and Perry is demagogue.

Perry Launches New Anti-Gay Ad In Iowa:



Santorum: Gays ‘Destabilize The Family’ When They Have Children ‘Through Technology’:



For the lgbtq community and our allies - NEVER get angry at the desperation of fools. Use their ignorance to further your cause. In other words, don't get angry. Get educated.

Hat tip to ThinkProgress.

In other news:

Obama, Clinton to world: Stop gay discrimination - Awesome article on the new Administration policy.

US Pushes Hard on LGBT Rights Around the World - A very good break down on what it all means. As Box Turtle Bulletin says, fasten your seat belts.

Religious Right Explodes over LGBT Rights Initiative - One would think that truly Christian people would stand AGAINST persecution and not for it. Of course in all fairness, these are not Christian people. And true Christians need to open their mouths and put these phonies in check.

Press Coverage of Obama’s LGBT Human Rights Policy Was Muted - It's muted now but the historical perspective of this moment will overcome that.

Family Research Council 's hypocritical attack on the Obama Administration

Naturally the Family Research Council had to include its voice in the chorus of conservatives angry at the Obama Administration for its new policy of advocating the fair treatment of gays in its foreign policy:

Family Research Council criticized President Obama's memorandum today instructing federal agencies to promote the acceptance of homosexuality and gender identity disorder through its foreign policy.

FRC Senior Fellow Peter Sprigg made the following comments:

"It is startling that President Obama is prepared to throw the full weight and reputation of the United States behind the promotion overseas of the radical ideology of the sexual revolution. If he did the same on other issues, his own liberal allies would undoubtedly accuse him of cultural imperialism. Threats to withhold foreign aid from poor countries unless they conform their laws to the views of Western radicals are unconscionable.

"The United Nations, like the United States, remains sharply divided on the issue of whether special rights should be granted on the basis of sexual conduct, sexual orientation or gender identity. No treaty or widely accepted international agreement has established homosexual conduct as a human right, yet the Obama administration's actions seem guided by this fiction.

"President Obama should increase efforts to defend human rights that are widely recognized, such as religious liberty, rather than appeasing his domestic allies by imposing an alien ideology on other countries."

The huge irony is that FRC included a statement from Peter Sprigg, a man who has gone on record advocating that gays be exported out of the United States.

But more to the point, FRC seems to be saying that the Obama Administration shouldn't interfere with how a foreign country conducts its business.

How very ironic is it that earlier this year, FRC spoke out against a foreign country for doing just that:

According to the respected anti-persecution ministry Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), an Iranian Christian pastor has been sentenced to death in Iran for, to put it simply, being a Christian.

CSW says that “the death sentence handed down in 2010 for the crime of apostasy, to evangelical house pastor Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, has reportedly been upheld by the third chamber of the Supreme Court in the Shia holy city of Qom. Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani of the Church of Iran denomination was arrested in his home city of Rasht on 13 October 2009 while attempting to register his church. His arrest is believed to have been due to his questioning of the Muslim monopoly on the religious instruction of children in Iran.”

According to the Voice of Martyrs, “With (Pastor Nadarkhani’s) sentence now upheld and confirmed, it is possible that the authorities will ask him to recant his faith and execute him without advance notice if he refuses — a typical pattern of action taken by authorities in such cases.”

This death sentence has been issued despite Iran being a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whose Article 18 states:

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.”

Sadly, persecution of Christians in Iran is extensive

Certainly, I'm not saying that the persecution of gays is much more pressing than the persecution of Christians.

But FRC seems to be saying that the persecution of Christians is wrong while the persecution of gays should be allowed.

Violence against any group, be it gays or Christians, is wrong. There is no difference. Both need to be condemned equally.

And truly Christians groups know this.

Attacks on Obama Administration policy shames Christianity

 Today, the Obama Administration took a huge step against lgbt persecution worldwide:

The Obama administration is announcing a wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.

In a memorandum issued Tuesday, President Barack Obama directed U.S. agencies working abroad, including the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians who are facing human rights violations. And he ordered U.S. agencies to protect vulnerable gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers.

Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a monumental speech  in Geneva in which she basically broke it all down to the simple fact that gays rights are human rights.

The Obama Administration was no doubt spurred by acts of lgbt persecution in such places as Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, and South Africa. In Nigeria, Uganda, and Russia, the legislature is considering laws which would imprison lgbts and those who support them. In South Africa is a practice called "corrective rape" in which a lesbian would be sexually assaulted in hopes of turning her heterosexual.

Naturally, religious right groups and some of those on the right in general aren't happy with the Obama Administration over this new policy or Clinton's speech.

Amidst the usual whinings about the so-called radical gay agenda, two statements stand out.

One is from Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry:

“But there is a troubling trend here beyond the national security nonsense inherent in this silly idea. This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong.

“President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”

Aside from the usual offensive "real Americans should tolerate gays like one tolerates a dog which wets on the rug" semantics coming Perry is the sad fact that he totally omitted the reason why the Obama policy is necessary, i.e. the persecution of the gay community in other countries.

Bear in mind that this is the same guy who led a prayer rally earlier this year while claiming that America needs to call upon Jesus to save the country from calamities.

Apparently Perry seems to have overlooked the statement by Jesus which said:

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

And then there is this statement by Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel:

It is "frankly offensive" . . . that President Obama feels "compelled to export American culture's decline in morality, and export that immorality to other nations that are trying to adhere to traditional principles relative to human sexuality."

So in Barber's world, is it a traditional principle to imprison a man simply because he is gay and his mother because she didn't report him as being gay? Is it a moral thing to beat a woman within an inch of her life and violently rape her because she is a lesbian?

Barber statement is a cruel irony when one takes into account that earlier this morning, the Liberty Counsel was whining about a Macy's employee who was fired for harassing a transgender customer in violation of the store's policy.

It's a strange world we live in when someone harassing a customer at a department store can be seen as a Christian martyr, but speaking out against injustice is seen as a evil plot to destroy values.

It's a sad statement on what Christianity has become in America.

And with all of the statements and vigorous adjectives thrown out, not one of these so-called upstanding morality groups  or people has said one word about the true victims - the lgbts worldwide who are being victimized, who are being chased out of their homes and beaten, who are being persecuted and raped, who are being brutally murdered and disposed of in humiliating and devaluing ways.

Oh sure, some of those folks practically break their backs in their eagerness to rise and talk about the "evils of gay marriage." They will clap their hands sore when some well-dressed charlatan gets them together in an expensive ballroom to wax about how they are being "stomped out" by the radical progressives. And they will practically raise blisters on their feet with their desires to march against their gay and lesbian neighbors being afforded the same protections under the law.

But what about true cases of persecution? True cases of people being forced out of their homes by an evil agenda of intolerance? True incidents of mothers losing their sons, fathers losing their daughters, and children losing their parents to hate wrapped up in a religious cloth?

Where are these Christians then?

The next time any of these folks get together in one of their silly rallies whining about persecution and godless homosexuals, I don't think they should expect Jesus to be there.

He will be in Nigeria. He will be in Uganda. He will be in South Africa. And He will be in Russia.

'Rick Santorum is talking about gay sex again' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Santorum Is Outraged That Gay ‘Sexual Activity’ Is ‘Being Seen As Equal’ To Heterosexual Sex - If Rick Santorum is concerned about anal sex (and of course anal sex is what he means by gay 'sex activity'), it's probably cause he is concerned that it if he were to try it, it would give him lockjaw.

President Obama directs all federal agencies to 'protect the human rights of LGBT persons' - Folks on our side will complain about this but I say good for the President. Now let's get those other things taken care of.

'We changed history,' says Gallagher; 'Change doesn't mean bettered,' says dictionary - I have to agree with Miss Mags on this one. But her comments demonstrate just how oblivious she is. Of course they changed history. They are making marriage equality a possibility with their piss poor defense of Prop 8 in the courts and obviously stupid tactics which are turning people against them.

University of Utah professor: NARTH article “unscientific and irresponsible” - Not surprising seeing that NARTH is the main organization groups like the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage refer to on a regular basis.

Puerto Rico's Hate Crime Law May Soon Exclude LGBT Protections: Report - Uh excuse the hell out of me!

Macy's stands up for the lgbtq community

Recently, as far as I can tell, Macy's department store allegedly fired an employee for not allowing a transgender woman to use the changing facilities.

The reason why I say "as far as I can tell," is because all of the spin I am reading about it is coming from the right-wing Liberty Counsel:

A young woman was fired from a Macy’s department store in San Antonio, TX for refusing to violate her religious beliefs by permitting a young man dressed as a woman from entering the women’s dressing room. Natalie Johnson claims she saw the young man walk out of the women’s fitting room and politely told him that he could not go back in because it was for women only. The cross-dressing young man claimed that he is a “female.” Johnson said that he was wearing make-up and girl’s clothing, but clearly he was a male. The cross-dresser was accompanied by five other individuals. The group argued with expletives that Macy’s is LGBT-friendly, to which Johnson replied that Macy’s is also non-discriminatory toward religion, and that it would go against her religious beliefs to lie that he was a woman or compromise with homosexuality. The group then demanded to speak with a manager.

When Johnson was confronted by her employer, she explained that she could not allow a male to change in a female’s fitting room. Johnson’s boss referred her to Macy’s LGBT policy which allows “transgender” people to change in any dressing room they want. However, Johnson pointed out that the same policy also protects against religious discrimination and, in this case, it protects her right to her beliefs that were being violated. The manager demanded that she comply with the LGBT policies or lose her job. Johnson refused to go against her sincerely held religious beliefs and was terminated from her job.

Macy’s policy which allows men to use the women’s dressing room is fraught with problems. This policy will cause significant problems and will alienate the majority of Macy’s customers. Macy’s has essentially opened women’s dressing rooms to every man. The LGBT agenda has become the theater of the absurd.

The Liberty Counsel's version of this story is presently making the rounds in the right-wing publications and news sites.

Generally, I am extremely reticent when hearing a story coming solely from the Liberty Counsel (or One News Now, or any other religious right source).

However, in this case, I will make an exception and, for now, not question the version I hear.

It sounds like Macy's did right by our community and we need to support  the store for standing up for us.

A company has a right - within reason - to establish certain policies which it feels would better suit the needs of its prospective clients. If employees object to those policies, then maybe it would be better for the employee to work somewhere else.

It seems to me that the only problem in this case was the stubborness of the former employee. Macy's didn't hire Johnson for her religious beliefs. The company hired her because it felt she could do the job.

She couldn't do the job, or rather wouldn't, and therefore was terminated.

End of story.

North Carolina expose on anti-gay group NOM should be required reading for us all

Okay while this isn't as glamorous as a Lady Gaga song or as shocking as Neil Patrick Harris (or NPH for those who want to perpetrate like they know him)'s slur against the transgender community, an expose published today by the North Carolina gay publication QNotes on the National Organization for Marriage  and its campaign against marriage equality in the state is very important and very vital for us all to read.

Enough of the "we already know this" chatter.  The fact of the matter is that many of us don't know the things we should know about NOM and a lot of us who do aren't taking the time to educate our friends and families, or making a loud enough stink about it,  or supporting the publications which bring this information out (full disclosure - I contributed to this expose):

In past campaigns, NOM has been caught pushing obvious misinformation, lies and spin.

This year, the group came under fire for misrepresenting supposed “legal scholars” opposed to marriage equality. Each of the several scholars cited by the organization were extremely biased and one, Robert George, is a former NOM board chairman.

NOM has also regularly exploited children in their political quests.

Also this year, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact knocked the group for their repeated claims that legalization of same-sex marriage in New York would lead to kindergarteners learning about same-sex relationships.

The group has also attempted to link homosexuality to pedophilia — not once, but twice. The NOM-affiliated Ruth Institute has also claimed that homosexuality is a “learned” and “addictive” behavior.

In August, NOM accused gay activists of engaging in “jihad” to take away anti-gay Christians’ rights.

One of NOM’s first campaigns featured a billboard comparing a marriage equality supporter to Judas and Benedict Arnold. The group reincarnated the theme this year for mailers targeting pro-gay legislators in New York.

Equality Matters has provided a more in-depth run-down of NOM’s efforts in New York.

And here is where I am quoted:

South Carolina blogger and anti-gay watchdog Alvin McEwen told qnotes that he expects a strong NOM presence in the lead-up to the May 8, 2012, vote on the amendment.

How NOM goes about instituting their campaign strategy is a question still left unanswered. McEwen said the group’s past rhetoric and actions provide some clues.

“Look for them to push that nonsense about how ‘the best research says that children belong in a home with a mother and father,’” McEwen said. “Also, I expect them to push the lie about the Catholic Charities ‘being forced’ to give up helping to place adoptive children. The thing about NOM and other religious right groups is that they are big on ambushing people with anecdotes and horror stories about situations that allegedly happen because of marriage equality and the like. The big thing is to remember that they never tell the entire story.”
NOM’s campaigns often take a three-pronged approach, McEwen said.

“My guess is that NOM is going to target three angles — ‘gay marriage will harm children,’ ‘gay marriage will destroy religious liberty’ and ‘gays are trying to piggyback off of the Civil Rights Movement.’”

The entire expose is here.

Sometimes our community takes things for granted. In order to defeat NOM, we must expose the organization's lies every chance we get, as well as support the publications which do the same thing.

'Michele Bachmann gets schooled on same-sex families' and other Monday midday news briefs

Rep. Bachmann's Twisted Logic On Support For LGBT High School Kids - What bothers me about Bachmann's recent comments is that very few challenged her on the insult of reducing same-sex relationships and families to sexual intercourse.

BREAKING - As the video shows, Bachmann meets a child in one of those families she reduced to sex acts. It's doubtful that she will give this family and other like it the respect they deserve, but it's still nice to see her schooled:



 And in other news:

How he became a she - A very impressive feature expose on the transgender community.

If Newt Gingrich is the nominee, the GOP loses the marriage debate - No comment on whether or not I'm rooting for Newt. I don't want to jinx it.

DELAWARE: For state's same-sex couples, end of wait near - January promises to be interesting for Delaware.

Outrage – Church tells HIV+ patients to stop taking meds, claiming they were ‘healed’ - And the "healing process" was nauseating.

NOM lands in North Carolina, allies already pulling the pedophilia card

According to the North Carolina gay publication, QNotes, I have some interesting neighbors up north:

A referendum committee formed by several anti-gay religious groups is among the latest official campaign organizations set up for an impending ballot initiative on an anti-LGBT state constitutional amendment banning marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

The committee, Vote for Marriage NC, was formed last week by a coalition of groups including the N.C. Baptist State Convention, Christian Action League, NC Values Coalition, a coalition of African American pastors and the National Organization for Marriage.

 . . . “We very much look forward to a dialogue with North Carolina voters about the importance of preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC Values Coalition, said in a release. “The marriage amendment ensures that voters and not activist judges will decide the definition of marriage in our state. Marriage as the union of one man and one woman has served North Carolina well since before we were a state, and it’s time we respected the institution of marriage enough to protect it in our state constitution.”

Fitzgerald is a former lobbyist for the Christian Action League and N.C. Family Policy Council, groups affiliated with national organizations named as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Fitzgerald’s NC Values Coalition led the fight for legislative approval of the amendment, which came in September. The group has provided the new committee’s first $1,000 in funding.

 . . . “We are going to keep it on a positive note: keeping marriage as marriage and keeping it from being redefined,” she told the paper.

Of course we all know it means when anti-marriage equality folks say that they want to "keep the discussion on a positive note."

Should they accuse gays of wanting to corrupt children,  wanting to imprison Christians, or maybe both?

Luckily, however, QNotes is already starting to raise questions about the finances of this group in light of the fact that NOM continues to hide its donors - in violation of the law - in several other states. (Full discloure - this blogger is quoted in that article).

As for "positive discussion," according to Pam Spaulding, that nonsense has already been thrown out of the window after a debate yesterday on a radio show between two African-American community leaders - Dr. Patrick L. Wooden, Sr. of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, NC who supports the amendment and Rep. Marcus Brandon (D-60, Guilford County), who opposes it

I'm willing to bet that Wooden is a part of that newly-formed coalition. According to Pam, Wooden made a number of interesting statements:

He stated statistics (providing no source) that gay men in relationships have 8 partners outside of relationship. Too bad no one asked him about Herman Cain’s fidelity. (Editor's note - Wooden is distorting the Netherlands study which looked at casual relationships between gay men in the years before gay marriage was legalized in that area. It excluded lesbians and gay men in monogamous relationships).

He compared same-sex marriage to pedophilia.

. . . My favorite howler from Wooden: ”They are going to have to teach anal sex in the public school classroom” if gays can marry.

In contrast, Brandon came off as reasonable (hell, a badly bleating horn would come off as reasonable compared to Wooden):

Marcus Brandon did an excellent job of addressing the hypocrisy of the religious objection, noting Wooden has not called for an amendment to ban adultery and divorce, two sins that are in the Bible, as well as throwing back in Wooden’s face charges that the black civil rights movement has nothing to do with LGBT rights, saying ‎“these are all false arguments; Rosa Parks was tired because she was treated differently…That is what the civil rights movement was about.”

Whatever the case may be, the question of marriage equality in NC is heating up. And it would do the gay community well to start preparing now. As idiotic as Wooden sounded, he was getting those statistics from somewhere. And we are probably going to be hearing more of them.

It's not going to be pretty. But then again, the best victories are never pretty.