Family Research Council clearly lying about scientific evidence and gay parenting

Kenneth Blackwell of the Family Research Council

I've said it once and I will say it again. Once the religious right finds a factoid or meme to use against the lgbt community, they will continue to repeat it even though the factoid or meme has been refuted.

 Earlier this week, I wrote about how the Family Research Council was repeating a lie that the Obama Administration declared war on mothers in its Supreme Court brief against the California anti-marriage equality law, Prop 8.

Yesterday, FRC took that lie further via an employee, Kenneth Blackwell, in a recent piece he wrote, Obama Drops His Family Friendly Mask:

Last week, President Obama dropped the family friendly mask. He sent his Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with a simple message:

Dump Dads. Lose Moms.

That's because the Solicitor General speaks for the President. In the most august and formal way, it is this officer who carries the President's deepest convictions to lay them before the nation's High Court. What the Solicitor General actually said was this:

"As an initial matter, no sound basis exists for concluding that same-sex couples who have committed to marriage are anything other than fully capable of responsible parenting and child-rearing. To the contrary, many leading medical, psychological, and social-welfare organizations have issued policy statements opposing restrictions on gay and lesbian parenting based on their conclusion, supported by numerous scientific studies, that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are as likely to be well adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents."

"The weight of the scientific literature strongly supports the view that same-sex parents are just as capable as opposite-sex parents."

Actually, the weight of scientific evidence proves no such thing. All the work of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute (www.marri.org) shows that children do best in a family where mother and dad are married and where the family worships regularly.

As for children raised by two adults of the same sex, the most extensive study ever done was that of Dr. Mark Regnerus. Dr. Regnerus of the University of Texas conducted the largest, most rigorously controlled study in history. Here's what the U.T. study found:

The results of the NFSS [National Family Structures Study]research revealed that the "no differences" claim -- the claim that children raised by parents in gay or lesbian relationships fared no worse and in some cases better than children raised by intact biological parents -- was not true. On the contrary, the children of these households, on average, did worse than children raised by their biological, still-married parents.

The weight of scientific evidence -- as opposed to Donald Verrilli's politically correct posturing -- shows that his statements before the High Court are "not true. Remember, we are talking about the well-being of the children, not whether the adults in these relationships are well-satisfied with their domestic arrangements.

Mr. Blackwell omits a lot of truth to reach the point of this passage.

He said the weight of scientific evidence does not prove that same-sex parents are just as capable as opposite-sex parents in the raising of children. 

Mr. Blackwell conveniently forgets that the Obama Administration brief he tears down clearly cited both the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry as proof that same-sex parents are just as capable as opposite-sex parents in the raising of children (page 21 of the brief).

Furthermore Mr. Blackwell did not mention that independent from the Obama Administration brief, the APA submitted another brief to the court saying the same thing (i.e. same-sex parents are as capable as opposite-sex parents in the raising of children). And joining them in this brief was the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the California Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association and the National Association of Social Workers.

Finally, it is very ironic that Mr. Blackwell cites the Regnerus study as proof that his scientific proof that same-sex parents are not just as capable as opposite-sex parents because of the following simple fact:

The American Sociological Association condemned the Regnerus study in its brief submitted to the Supreme Court. In the brief, the ASA also said that same-sex parents are just as capable as opposite-sex parents when it comes to the raising of children.

So when Mr. Blackwell says that the weight of scientific evidence does not prove that same-sex parents are as capable as opposite-sex parents in the raising of children, he is clearly not being truthful. Not even a little bit.

Do me a favor, folks. Don't shake your head, suck your teeth and go "there they go again" at yet another time you have seen the Family Research Council blatantly lie about the gay community. Demand that more time and knowledge be invested in uncovering how organizations like FRC distort science or push blatant lies against the lgbt community.

Organizations like the Family Research Council don't rely on truth. They rely on repetition. They repeat a point while deliberately ignoring the simple fact that the point has been refuted by those who know better.

And they also rely on the gay community and others becoming blase or jaded about their constant lying.  The Family Research Council and other so-called "pro-family" groups can't use facts against the gay community, so they hope to beat us down through the constant repetition of lies.

It's not necessarily the Christian thing to do, but I guess they figure God will turn a blind eye because they feel that they are lying on His behalf.

You see, this is the problem. This is the reason for the lgbt community's anger towards groups like FRC who claim to uphold  their version of Christian values. It's not that we are intolerant of their beliefs or views.

We are just intolerant of their lies.

'Meet one of the youngest married gay couples in America' and other Thursday midday news briefs

David Harris And Tre'Darrius Anderson May Be The Country's Youngest African American Gay Couple To Marry - Meet the youngest African-American gay couple to marry and it begs a good question which will hopefully come up more in the future in the lgbt community. Is 19 an appropriate age for anyone to marry?

Ever-deceptive FRC twists 50+ yr old hit piece into supposed battle plan - This is low even for the Family Research Council. More desperation. LOL 

 Opposition To Marriage Equality Concentrated Among Elderly, Evangelicals, And Non-College Educated - Opposition getting smaller and smaller. 

Vocal on Gay Issues, Dean Goes Beyond Classroom - Who says gays can't hold top positions?

Here is some black gay comedy to lift you up

After last night's "filibuster," I am in a mood for something a bit more loose and different (especially seeing that the religious right has jumped on the "we love civil liberties" bandwagon. Where the hell were they when the Patriot Act was passed? Hell, if they are for civil liberties, then why are they giving lgbts to so much hell) So I apologize to folks who may not appreciate the following videos, but they are of one of my favorite comedians, openly gay Sampson. Definitely not safe for work and he may be a bit offensive:




 

Black church/Gay sensibilities

Allow me to explain the following video and what brought it about.

First let me say that I am NOT implying that ANYONE in this video is gay. 

What I am saying is that I am tired of this constant argument about lgbts and the Black church.

I am TIRED of members of the Black Church speaking loudly against gay equality when they know lgbts in their churches, choirs, and pulpits.

 I am tired of folks quickly grabbing their Bibles to condemn gay folks in the Black church but not taking the time to at least having a one-on-one conversation.

And I am tired of prominent members of the Black community (you know who you are) bending over backwards to make lgbts of color invisible due to their religious beliefs.

With that, I have one question. If the Black church is so against homosexuality, then why is it that some black choirs adopt gay sensibilities when it comes to the performance of their songs? Now some folks may accuse me of generalizing, but to all of the lgbts of color out there, you have seen dance moves like this in and out of church.  Some of us have done these dances ourselves.

So take this video as a symbol of the dual nature or hypocrisy of the Black Church attacking homosexuality. It is a of a gospel choir performing on the Stellar Awards, an awards show devoted to African-American gospel:

'NAACP filed brief against DOMA' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

A strong black voice for gay marriage - NAACP filed brief against DOMA last week. I wonder how many of NOM's bought and paid for "black leaders" are going to raise hell over this one.  

Anti-gay adoption bill reintroduced - One time: if religious adoption agencies receive tax dollars, they have to follow the rules of fairness. No exemptions.

 NOM's Roback Morse: My verbatim audio was 'mischaracterized'; Clementi family should meet me - Mischaracterized my foot! Just apologize already!

FRC Begs For Money To Fight The ‘Danger’ And ‘Disaster’ Of Nondiscrimination Protections - @!*# please! The Family Research Council must be out of its damn mind! I got some monopoly money for the group! 

 A Brand New Reason to Be Terrified of Homosexuals - You'd better believe it, jack!!

'Homosexuality is dangerous and Obama hates mothers!'

Matt Barber

Religious right and conservative groups have launched two distortions against the lgbt community this morning. One has to do with the false claim of the supposed dangers of homosexuality while the other will most likely be a new talking point against the Obama Administration in the upcoming Supreme Court Prop 8 battle.

Let's look at both distortions:

1. The false dangers of homosexuality 

The AFA's Instant Analysis published the following piece this morning:

Earlier research reinforced: Homosexuality is unhealthy lifestyle

A new study comparing same-sex couples to married heterosexuals shows that the former are less healthy than the latter. Matt Barber, vice president of Liberty Counsel Action, tells American Family News the latest numbers were published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. It found that same-sex cohabiting men were 61 percent more likely to report "poor or fair health" than an equitable number of men reporting from heterosexual marriages. Likewise, same-sex cohabiting women were 46 percent more likely to report the same when compared to heterosexual married women.

 . . . "We have known this for a long time," Barber notes. "There have been a number of studies indicating, for instance, that there are increased rates of domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse within the homosexual community, and this is just in keeping with what the International Journal of Epidemiology found in 1997, a Canadian study." In that study, homosexual men were shown to have a lifespan 8-20 years shorter than those who do not engage in that lifestyle. But Dr. Hui Liu of Michigan State University, the professor who led the new study, claims the fact that homosexuals cannot marry, as well as the burden of stress and discrimination, are to blame for the results. Barber does not agree.

Barber and AFA are incredibly brazen here. The study in question does not even say that homosexuality is an "unhealthy lifestyle." Rather, it makes the argument that the denial of the right to marry is keeping the gay community from having better health.

And what's even more brazen? Barber admits that this is the study's conclusion  but says he disagrees with it without offering any proof that the conclusion is in error.

In other words, Barber cherry-picks a portion of the study which suits his views while dismissing the rest of the study which contradicts his views. And he does so openly and without shame.

Even the 1997 study Barber alludes to is a distortion. In 2001, the researchers of that study complained that religious right spokespeople such as Barber were distorting their work. They never said that homosexuality was a "dangerous lifestyle." They were saying that there needed to be better ways to combat HIV.

2. Obama Administration says mothers are not important

According to the conservative CNS News, the Obama Administration's recent brief to the Supreme Court supporting marriage equality bashes mothers:

The Obama Justice Department is arguing in the United States Supreme Court that children do not need mothers. The Justice Department’s argument on the superfluity of motherhood is presented in a brief the Obama administration filed in the case of Hollingsworth v. Perry, which challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that amended California’s Constitution to say that marriage involves only one man and one woman.

The article then proceeds to attack the Obama Administration and the American Psychological Association to reinforce its claim that somehow mothers in general are being attacked.

Of course this is a lie. Nowhere in its brief did the Obama Administration say that mothers are not important. What the brief, using information from the APA, did was to contradict the claim made by opponents to marriage equality that only a mother and a father in a home can properly raise children.

The brief merely points out that same-sex households are also able to raise properly raise children.

But the meme that the Obama Administration is "bashing mothers" will most likely be a religious right talking point.  The meme is already making its way via several webpages including that of the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage.

How soon will it be before Matt Drudge and Fox News starts repeating the meme?

The lgbt community should get angry at these two blatant attempts to distort their lives. But they should also keep in mind that these lies betray a certain desperation on the part of religious and conservative groups.

Because both lies are not only brazen but careless and easy to refute, thus reinforcing the fact that when one gets desperate, one starts to make mistakes.

Anti-gay group NOM humiliates itself twice in one day

Today, the National Organization for Marriage not only suffered a double embarrassment, but proceeded to wallow in both humiliations, as if they were nothing.

Meanwhile, enterprising folks like myself are going to do what we can to make NOM's stupidity go viral. But it's not as if NOM isn't helping us.

First comes this item from Goodasyou.org by way of Think Progress:

The National Organization for Marriage is trying its best to rally support for its “March for Marriage” on March 26, which will have a full slate of religious anti-gay speakers. The group is even trying to pretend that inviting people is the same as having people attend to make it look like they have more support. But now it seems that NOM has a particularly despicable partner for the March, Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Drake, who regularly prays for people’s death, including President Obama. Jeremy Hooper noticed not only that Drake is promoting the march, but that he shared an email exchange coordinating his support with the march organizers. In fact, he committed to bringing his Congressional Prayer Conference broadcast to the march, and the event coordinator seemed all too grateful for his support.

And just in case you need confirmation of this prayer, listen to him double down on it when interviewed by news personality Alan Colmes:



And as if that's not bad enough, check out the following tweet from NOM president Brian Brown:

I would say that congratulations are in order except for one MAJOR problem:

There is no such thing as American Urban University.  You will notice that the background where Brown is receiving this "honorary doctorate" resembles a church.

According Laurel Rameyser of Pam's House Blend:

According to Bizpedia, the president of American Urban University was Bishop George D. McKinney from St. Stephen’s Cathedral Church of God in Christ in San Diego, CA.  Bishop McKinney is one of the organizers of Coalition of African American Pastors, the group giving Mr. Brown the honorary degree.However, the university’s corporation status was suspended in 1989.

Not surprisingly, although Bishop McKinney’s biography on the church website mentions the many universities where he has studied and talks about his many accomplishments, it doesn’t mention American Urban University.

And we all remember how NOM tried pitifully to use the Coalition of African-American Pastors to sabotage President Obama's African-American support.

So on the same day that NOM's Brian Brown sends out a tweet of himself receiving an honorary degree from a non-existent university, it is discovered that his group is teaming up with a pastor who prayed for President Obama's death.

When I was young, we had a phrase for when someone embarrassed themselves. We called it "giving up your cool points." If NOM keeps this up, the organization will only be left with "cool stamps."

Hat tip to John Becker.

'Bill O'Reilly continues harassment of gay legislator' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

WATCH: Bill O’Reilly’s Team Harasses Gay Colorado Speaker Over Child Molester Laws - Not content with making wild charges which led this man's 14-month-old daughter to be the subject of vile threats, O'Reilly continues to harass a Colorado gay legislator on those same lies. This isn't journalism. It's demagoguery. Dangerous demagoguery at that. For those who don't think what O'Reilly is doing is dangerous, I have two words for you - George Tiller.  

Carly Rae Jepsen Backs Out of Boy Scouts Jamboree Over Gay Ban - And the group Train also backed out. Key the religious right groups who will whine about how lgbts played the bullies. Whatever.  

NOM confuses ability to extend an invite with actual support - Chalk it up to another failure for NOM. 

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the Black Church - Naturally.

 CA lawmaker seeks rights for transgender students - I hope he is successful.

Tyler Clementi's family demands apology for anti-gay exploitation of his death

Tyler Clementi

From GLAAD:

Recently, the family of Tyler Clementi was joined by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and Equality Matters in calling on Jennifer Morse of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) to apologize for her recent speech to Iowa State University students on February 17, in which she used the story of Tyler Clementi’s death as an example of why it is “not the best thing” to let lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people be friends with other LGBT people, or be supported by the LGBT community.

Clementi, who died by suicide, was a student at Rutgers University when his roommate secretly recorded video of him kissing another man. Morse mentioned Clementi’s story, saying, “There are a lot of situations where people are doing something sexual that’s probably not the best thing for them…” Morse used Clementi as an example of LGBT youth who she claimed are, "… getting help and support from the gay activists who have their own thing that they’re doing which is not necessarily to help the individuals but they’ve got some sort of political vision."

"To exploit our late son's name to advance an anti-equality agenda is offensive and wrong," said Joe and Jane Clementi, the parents of Tyler Clementi. "By doing so, National Organization for Marriage prove that not only is there no low they will not sink to, to advance their cruel agenda - but that neither they nor Ms. Morse have any grip on reality. The very idea that Tyler's tragedy happened because of too much support - instead of not enough - is ludicrous. Shame on them."

"This is among the more reprehensible tactics we've seen from NOM, and this is a group whose internal documents touted the use of racially-motivated tactics to pit Black and Latino people against their own LGBT friends, neighbors and family members," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Now they're using Tyler's story to pit young people against their own peers."

"That NOM would invoke Tyler as a part of spreading their hateful messages shows a real lack of moral compass,” said HRC Vice President of Communications Fred Sainz. “This is more proof that NOM is not in tune with mainstream America but instead is driven by the fringe agenda of a few secretive anti-gay donors. NOM should do the right thing and immediately apologize to the Clementi family."

Unfortunately, I don't think NOM will be making any move to apologize. If I know the organization, the demand will be ignored.

Dear NOM, PLEASE, PLEASE allow this guy to speak at your marriage march

I have the perfect speaker for the National Organization for Marriage's upcoming March Marriage - E.T. Williams, the self-described "doctor of common sense."

As a matter of fact, I will probably begin a campaign asking NOM to invite him . . . as soon as I figure out what a "lebesian" is.

'Gay legislator getting hate mail because of Bill O'Reilly's lies' and other Monday midday news briefs

O’Reilly Targets Colorado’s Gay House Speaker, Suggests He’s Protecting Child Molesters - This is vile. It is what happens when irresponsible journalists get caught up in their own "power."  Thanks to O'Reilly's lies, the legislator has been getting ugly messages, including one hoping that his 14-month-old foster daughter gets raped.

On NOM's reliable erasure of Coretta Scott King - Dear NOM, your dastardly plan to play African-Americans and gays against one another will not work if folks know about it. No style at all.  

Perkins: LGBT-Inclusive Schools Will Have 'Teenage Boys Invading Girls' Locker Rooms' - Apparently Perkins has been watching the movie Porky's. Isn't that a sin to watch an R-rated movie?
  
United Nations Report Considers The Possibility That Practicing Reparative Therapy On Minors Is Torture - This would be VERY interesting.

 Rep. Carole Murray Votes 'Yes' On Colorado Civil Unions Bill, Explains Why In Emotional Speech (VIDEO) - Sweet!

Family Research Council giving spotlight to flawed study

Peter Sprigg of FRC

 (The following is a repost from three years ago, but since the Family Research Council has not corrected this study and instead has moved it into a spotlight position, this repost is needed.)

On its webpage, the Family Research Council has what it calls "resources" to supposedly "defend marriage."

However, like so many other things FRC pushes, the "resources" are rather flawed.

A perfect example is a pamphlet on the page entitled The Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality.

According to its author Peter Sprigg:

The homosexual movement is built, not on facts or research, but on mythology. Unfortunately, these myths have come to be widely accepted in society—particularly in schools, universities and the media. It is our hope that by understanding what these key myths are—and then reading a brief summary of the evidence against them—the reader will be empowered to challenge these myths when he or she encounters them.

According to Sprigg, these "myths" include the following:

• People are born gay.
• Sexual orientation can never change.
•  Homosexuals do not experience a higher level of psychological disorders than heterosexuals.
• Homosexuals are no more likely to molest children than heterosexuals.

Sprigg isn't necessarily unbiased when it comes to the lgbt community. At one time he said that "homosexual behavior" should be declared illegal. Another time before that, he publicly said that lgbts should be exported out of the United States.

However, even excluding  Sprigg's dubious comments, there is enough problems with Ten Myths to question its credibility.

At first glance, Ten Myths looks legitimate. However, a more intensive look reveals it to be a mishmash of inaccurate theories, cherry-picked work, and studies taken out of context created to justify homophobia

The following are just a few of the problems with Ten Myths:

1. Ten Myths repeats the lie that the Robert Spitzer study proves that homosexuality is changeable, excluding the fact that Spitzer has said on more than one occasion that his research was being distorted. Spitzer later disavowed this study and apologized to the lgbt community for creating it.

2. Ten Myths utilizes the work of  the organization National Association for  Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). The website Truth Wins Out calls NARTH  a discredited “ex-gay” fringe organization that peddles fraudulent “cures” for homosexuality.

According to Truth Wins Out, several NARTH members have been embroiled in controversies including:

Gerald Schoenwolf, PhD, a member of NARTH’ “Scientific Advisory Committee,” who wrote a piece on the group’s website that seemed to justify slavery

NARTH psychiatrist Joseph Berger, MD, another member of its “Scientific Advisory Committee,” who wrote a paper encouraging students to “ridicule” gender variant children.

Also, according to Truth Wins Out:

NARTH’ co-founder, Joesph Nicolosi encourages male clients to become more masculine by drinking Gatorade and referring to friends as “dude”. NARTH therapists have been known to practice rubber band therapy, where a gay client is made to wear a rubber band and snap it on his wrist when sexually stimulated. It is a mild form of aversion therapy meant to “snap” the client out of the moment of attraction. NARTH members have also been known to practice “touch therapy”, where a client sits in the therapist’ lap for up to an hour, while the therapist caresses him.

Earlier this year, another member of NARTH, George Rekers, resigned from the organization after caught coming from a vacation overseas with a "rentboy."

3. Ten Myths cites Ex-gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation by Stanton L. Jones and Mark A Yarhouse as proof that people can change their sexual orientation. However in 2009, the American Psychological Association repudiated this study for bad methodology. Furthermore, Ten Myths does not address the conclusion by the APA last year that programs created to change a person's several orientation does not work.

4. Ten Myths pushes the inaccuracy that a man who molests a boy is automatically gay even though the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America, all say that the homosexuality and pedophilia are not linked

5. But the most egregious inaccuracy in Ten Myths - and also something that says a lot about the mindset of its author, Peter Sprigg - is the following passage:

Even the pro-homosexual Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) acknowledges:

• “Gay men use substances at a higher rate than the general population . . .”
• “Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate . . . .”
• “ . . . [G]ay men have higher rates of alcohol dependence and abuse . . . .”
• “ . . . [G]ay men use tobacco at much higher rates than straight men . . . .”
• “Problems with body image are more common among gay men . . . and gay men are much more likely to experience an eating disorder . . . .”

The GLMA also confirms that:

• “ . . . [L]esbians may use tobacco and smoking products more often than heterosexual women use them.”
• “Alcohol use and abuse may be higher among lesbians.”
• “ . . . [L]esbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women.”

Homosexual activists generally attempt to explain these problems as results of “homophobic discrimination.” However, there is a serious problem with that theory—there is no empirical evidence that such psychological problems are greater in areas where disapproval of homosexuality is more intense.

So Sprigg's point is that the lgbt orientation itself is indicative of negative behaviors (i.e. drug and alcohol abuse) and not the homophobia that lgbts face.

But strange enough, the source which he cites - the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association - says that homophobia is the reason for many of these health problems. Sprigg deliberately omits information pointing this out:

Sprigg:

“Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate . . . .”

GMLA:

Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate than in the general population. The likelihood of depression or anxiety may be greater, and the problem may be more severe for those men who remain in the closet or who do not have adequate social supports. Adolescents and young adults may be at particularly high risk of suicide because of these concerns.

Sprigg:

“ . . . [L]esbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women.

GMLA:

Research indicates that lesbians may use illicit drugs more often than heterosexual women. This may be due to added stressors in lesbian lives from discrimination. Lesbians need support from each other and from health care providers to find healthy releases, quality recreation, stress reduction, and coping techniques. 

So basically The Top Ten Myths of Homosexuality is a fraud.  And the mythology that Sprigg spoke of has nothing to do with lgbts but with the mindset of anyone who takes his paper seriously and sees it for more than what it is - blatant homophobia wrapped up in phony science.

Robert Jeffress : tone-deaf homophobe for Christ?

We all know what the religious right and those who are anti-gay say about the lgbt community. We all know the lies and the distortions they stoop to in order to demonize us. But what if, just what if, they were challenged on these distortions with the facts? Would they attempt to refute with other facts? Would they agree that they were wrong? Or would they stick to their guns under the mistaken idea that being "Christ-like" is refusing to admit you are wrong even in the fact of being pointed out that you are wrong. Robert Jeffress, who has been in the news lately because of the Tim Tebow controversy, is the test subject to my question. Watch what he does when he is presented facts about the lgbt community which refutes his conjecture.



Where to start? First of all, the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, not 1976. And research was involved thanks to folks like the late Evelyn Hooker who was a pioneer in the study of homosexuality.

The basic point is that Jeffress is a sad man. He reminds me of the pharisees and the Sanhedrin council who spoke out against Jesus and plotted his death. He wraps himself so hard in the phony guise of being a steadfast warrior for good that he has abandoned all humility and common sense.

He thinks he is so close to God that he has become interchangeable to God. Jeffres forgets that he is just a man and as such is subject to mistakes in thought and actions. And when confronted with these mistakes, he refuses to yield just a little. He refuses to say "maybe I should take a look at this" or "perhaps I am wrong." He holds firm to his beliefs, which can be at times can be an admirable quality.

However, in this juncture, it's not so admirable. In fact it demonstrates a prime reason why so many are leaving the Christian religion. Jesus called men to preach the gospel, not be stubborn jackasses.

Too many "Christian" pastors have mistaken one for the other.

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper.

'Murder of black, gay politician is sad learning experience' and other Friday midday news briefs

Marco McMillian's Death Highlights Mississippi's Slow And Inconsistent Evolution - The sad case of murdered black gay politician raises questions about Mississippi's evolution.

 Bryan Fischer: President Obama should be impeached over DOMA - Bryan Fischer is ALWAYS good for a laugh!  

Bigotry On Display: Mississippi Students Protest Transgender Classmate - Sad things happen when children are not properly educated. 

 Colorado Civil Unions Bill Passes House Committee With One Republican 'Yes' Vote - Good news from Colorado.

Anti-gay leader Tony Perkins whines about 'Jewish lobby'

The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins seems to skirting on the lines of Anti-Semitism with his comments about the Democrats and the Jewish community:

Transcript:

But here’s the irony. Is that the Democratic Party and the Democratic senators that supported Hagel, in spite of the fact that he has a record that’s deplorable on Israel, it comes from Democratic senators who are mostly aligned with a lot of the Jewish lobby here in Washington and around the nation, enjoy the money coming from the Jewish community. The Jewish community tends to be liberal, not all, but a lot of it is, and it supports Democratic candidates. But yet the Democratic Party works against the benefit of Israel in many ways, and this is an example of it.

Right Wing Watch breaks down the interesting "significance"  of Perkins' words:

Speaking about the confirmation of Chuck Hagel, Perkins mused about the ‘irony’ that Hagel, whom he considers to be anti-Israel, was backed by Democratic senators who are “mostly aligned with a lot of the Jewish lobby” and “enjoy the money coming from the Jewish community.” Hmmm, “Jewish lobby,” where have I heard that before? Hagel has been savaged in recent weeks for having used the phrase in a 2006 interview. He has since apologized and said he should phrased his comments differently. In case it isn’t obvious, the ADL’s Abe Foxman explains the many problems with saying “Jewish lobby.” Notwithstanding Hagel’s apology, Sen. Lindsey Graham grilled him about his use of the phrase during his confirmation hearing. FRC also cited Hagel’s use of “Jewish lobby” in its background document opposing his confirmation. Meanwhile over at the website of the American Family Association, which broadcasts Perkins’ show, David Limbaugh railed against Hagel’s “bigoted accusation” about the “Jewish lobby” and said he failed to provide a “satisfactory explanation for his disgraceful terminology – because there is none.” “Bigoted” and “disgraceful” sounds about right, but don’t hold your breath waiting for conservatives to denounce Perkins’ comments.

My guess is that since it's rare that lgbt organizations call out Perkins for his continuous spoutings of homophobia, maybe he is getting so bold that he thinks the Jewish community will act the same way.

Let's hope not. 

President Obama, sociological association deals Prop 8 case a one-two punch

The case for Prop 8, the California law outlawing marriage equality in California received a serious one-two punch today courtesy of President Obama and the American Sociological Association. Both the Obama Administration and the ASA are filing briefs asking the Supreme Court to overturn Prop 8.

First from the Obama Administration:

California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriages in the state, should be overturned, the Obama administration plans to tell the Supreme Court.

An administration official confirmed that the Justice Department will file a brief in the case today. Officials would not discuss the legal arguments the brief would contain. The decision to enter the case comes despite the president’s past position that marriage rights should be a state matter. In recent weeks, however, Obama increasingly has referred to same-sex marriage as an issue of civil rights.

Other administration officials have taken the same stance. In a television interview to be aired next week, for example, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said that he saw marriage equality as “really the latest civil-rights issue.”

The American Sociological Association has already filed its brief and it destroys claims made that same-sex households are inferior when it comes to raising children, which is a major argument for those pushing Prop 8. The ASA especially calls out the Mark Regnerus study, which is the recent controversial study claiming children raised in same-sex households suffer adverse efffects. Supporters of Prop 8 made this study a huge part of their arguments in spite of fact that it has been discredited.

ASA said the following about the Regnerus study in its brief (pgs. 26-29):

 First, the Regnerus study does not specifically examine children born or adopted into same-sex parent families, but instead examines children who, from the time they were born until they were 18 or moved out, had a parent who at any time had “a same-sex romantic relationship.” . As Regnerus noted, the majority of the individuals characterized by him as children of “lesbian mothers” and “gay fathers” were the offspring of failed opposite- sex unions whose parent subsequently had a same-sex relationship. In other words, Regnerus did not study or analyze the children of two same-sex parents.

Second, when the Regnerus study compared the children of parents who at one point had a “same-sex romantic relationship,” most of whom had experienced a family dissolution or single motherhood, to children raised by two biological, married opposite-sex parents, the study stripped away all divorced, single, and stepparent families from the opposite-sex group, leaving only stable, married, opposite-sex families as the comparison. . . Thus, it was hardly surprising that the opposite-sex group had better outcomes given that stability is a key predictor of positive child wellbeing. By so doing, the Regnerus study makes inappropriate apples-to-oranges comparisons.

Third, Regnerus’s first published analysis of his research data failed to consider whether the children lived with, or were raised by, the parent who was, at some point, apparently involved in “a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex” and that same-sex partner. Instead, Regnerus categorized children as raised by a parent in a same-sex romantic relationship regardless of whether they were in fact raised by the parent and the parent’s same-sex romantic partner and regardless of the amount of time that they spent under the parent’s care. As a result, so long as an adult child believed that he or she had had a parent who had a relationship with someone of the same sex, then he or she was counted by Regnerus as having been “raised by” a parent in a same-sex relationship.

 Fourth, in contrast to every other study on same-sex parenting, Regnerus identified parents who had purportedly engaged in a same-sex romantic relationship based solely on the child’s own retrospective report of the parent’s romantic relationships, made once the child was an adult. This unusual measurement strategy ignored the fact that the child may have limited and inaccurate recollections of the parents’ distant romantic past.

Finally, the study fails to account for the fact that the negative outcomes may have been caused by other childhood events or events later in the individual's adult life, particularly given that the vast majority (thirty-seven of forty) of the outcomes measured were adult and not childhood outcomes. Factors other than same-sex parenting are likely to explain these negative outcomes in the Regnerus study. Regnerus himself concludes that “I am thus not suggesting that growing up with a lesbian mother or gay father causes suboptimal outcomes because of the sexual orientation or sexual behavior of the parent.”

 In sum, by conflating (1) children raised by same-sex parents with (2) individuals who reportedly had a parent who had “a romantic relationship with someone of the same sex,” and referring to such individuals as children of “lesbian mothers” or “gay fathers,” the Regnerus study obscures the fact that it did not specifically examine children raised by two same-sex parents. Accordingly, it cannot speak to the impact of same-sex parenting on child outcomes. 

The fact that President Obama is supporting efforts to overturn Prop 8 is a major deal, but the ASA denunciation of the Regnerus study is also a huge victory for the lgbt community. When religious right groups find a piece of information to use against the lgbt community, they tend to use it continuously. Thanks to the ASA, whenever they cite the Regnerus study, the lgbt community now have a huge caveat we can make use of. 

'AFA: Gay-Muslim-Atheist Alliance trying to destroy America' and other Thursday midday news briefs

'Project 2026' to Fight the Gay-Muslim-Atheist Alliance Destroying America - Say whaaaat!? Aw hell, I betcha i was the gay folks who told them. We just can't keep secrets.

 Minnesota Republican Legislator: Homosexuality Is A ‘Sexual Addiction’ And An ‘Unscientific Lie’ - Every time someone says we should ignore comments by the AFA's Bryan Fischer or Linda Harvey, or Matt Barber, I like to include a new brief like this one. You can't ignore it when state legislators say the same trash.  

Pediatrician On CNN: Transgender Girls Will Walk Around Bathrooms With Their Genitals Exposed - Vile lie for which he got called out for. And for the record, when I used the boys bathroom in school, I never walked around with my genitals exposed and neither did anyone else I knew.  

FRC prayer: Marriage equality = 'onslaught of evil' - The Family Research Council routinely lies and bears false witness against the lgbt community, yet it feels it can go to God and repeat its slanders. The old African-American phrase "they are going to bust hell wide open" comes to mind. 

 House Dems to urge Supreme Court to strike down DOMA - Good for House Democrats!

NOM's bought and paid for African-American group to lead march

Bill Owens

In its upcoming supposed "March for Marriage," the National Organization for Marriage is pulling out all of the stops, including teaming up with several religious right groups, such as the Family Research Council, having Catholic dioceses bus members to Washington, and this very interesting last item via press release:

Civil Rights activist Reverend Bill Owens has joined with the National Organization for Marriage to promote and lead the March for Marriage occurring in Washington, D.C. next month. 

 . . . Gay activists are wrong to claim the mantle of the civil rights movement in their push to redefine marriage for all - the most important civil right related to marriage is the right of every child to a mother and father," said Rev. Owens in a Feb. 25 statement.

Owens is the founder of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, a group that describes itself as "a grass-roots movement of Christians who believe in traditional family values such as supporting the role of religion in American public life, protecting the lives of the unborn, and defending the sacred institution of marriage."

He also was a participant in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s in Nashville Tennessee.

 

So in order to give some degree of historic relevance to its march,  NOM is including its own bought and paid for African-American leadership to participate.

Owens and CAAP are not necessarily independent participants. 

 

We already know that Owens is NOM's liasion to the black churches. We also know that NOM was using CAAP last year in a failed attempt to sabotage President Obama's African-American support during the 2012 election.

Owens has admitted to being paid by organizations like NOM ($20,000), the Family Research Council, and the American Family Association to be a shill.

And to make matters worse, there have been serious questions - which Owens has never answered - as to whether or not he actually marched or participated at all in the Civil Rights Movement.

But it really doesn't matter. In this age of Obama, some folks have no problem with cashing in on their black skins. No matter how much of their integrity it costs them.

Bill O'Reilly's attack on school transgender policy is BAD journalism

Not trying to sound like a cranky old man, but I remember a time in which journalists actually researched things before they went on television and ran their mouths. But thanks to people like Roger Ailes, the standards which journalists used to aspire to have gone down the toilet. Witness Fox News' Bill O'Reilly's ignorant rant about a Massachusetts policy to protect trangender students:


Transcript: 

O'REILLY: This is truly madness, ladies and gentlemen. You're telling me that a kid can go to a public school in Massachusetts, immediately upon entering the school take off the kid's shirt and put on a dress, alright, go to the girls' room when he's a boy, and then change his name from John to Tiffany, and then after school, put the shirt back on, go home, and he's still John.
[...]
O'REILLY: There's a difference between a conversation and a lifestyle. That's such a violation of parental rights by the state of Massachusetts. It's off the chart violation.
[...]
O'REILLY: We don't even want to get into the locker room situation here, okay? Because I know a lot of wise guys who would exploit this in a way that we're not even going to talk about.

Media Matters breaks down how many errors O'Reilly commits with his rants.

 . . . in his rush to condemn the new policy, he overlooked a few important facts about the directive and what it means to be transgender:

1. Gender Identity Is Innate And Largely Inflexible, Even In Young Children. As the MA directive explains, children who identify as transgender are typically responding to an "innate, largely inflexible" characteristic of their personality - not a random or casual "lifestyle" choice . . . This position is supported by experts at the American Psychological Association (APA).

 2. Students Aren't Allowed To Casually Change Their Gender Identity. The MA directive also establishes that schools should only accept the assertion of a student's gender identity when there is "consistent and uniform assertion of the gender-related identity"

3. Ignoring A Student's Gender Identity Is A Bad Idea. Allowing schools to acknowledge the appropriate gender identity of transgender students is an important step in protecting transgender youth from a host of negative consequences. Studies show that unwelcoming environments do serious damage to transgender youth, and simply refusing to acknowledge transgender children has been discouraged by medical experts. Instead, the APA encourages schools to provide support to vulnerable LGBT youth. This is especially true considering the "extreme harassment" already faced by many transgender students.

4. It's Dangerous To Inform Parents About Their Child's Gender Identity Without The Child's Consent. As the MA directive explains, allowing teachers to reveal their students' transgender status to their parents without permission is a terrible idea.

 5. Schools Are Allowed To Question A Student's Gender Identity In Appropriate Circumstances. The MA directive also instructs school staff to question a student's gender identity in the highly unlikely circumstance that a student claims to be transgender for inappropriate reasons, like "wise guys" trying to get into the girls' locker room. 

I don't care whether you are a reporter or a blowhard commentator like O'Reilly, when millions of people count on you for news and views, you have a responsibility to do the proper research in order to inform them correctly.  There is just simply no excuse for spreading misinformation even if you couch your errors as simply being your opinion.

But sadly, there is no accountability for O'Reilly and others who get paid megabucks for lazy journalism

In the early 1980s, a Washington Post reporter, Janet Cooke, was drummed out of the business after she admitted to making up a story about an eight-year-old heroin addict. To this day, she doesn't write for any newspaper.

If Cooke had committed her lie in this era of irresponsible journalism, she would probably end up not only still in the business but making more money than those who do abide by the standards of good journalism.

'NOM spokesperson uses Tyler Clementi's suicide against lgbts' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

NOM’s Morse Uses Tyler Clementi's Suicide To Discuss Exploitation Of "Confused" Adolescents By Gay Activists - Dear Bryan Fischer, move out of the way because Jennifer Morse has now taken your place as the top religious right embarrassment. 

 American Christian Legal Group Exports Anti-LGBT Agenda To Brazil - For those who laugh at Pat Robertson's televised verbal antics, keep this in mind - he is the founder of an anti-gay "Christian legal group" which has a presence in Africa and Eastern Europe. And it has now moved into Brazil.  

Family Research Council: Transgender People Need Therapy, Not Nondiscrimination Protections - I would absolutely KILL, I said KILL to hear an interviewer ask  FRC's Peter Sprigg for his credentials before he/she lets him go on his homophobic monologue. The man has none. He is not a medical professional so why he is labeled as an expert? 

NY state senator Rubén Díaz bussing crowds to NOM's #marchformarriage - Great. More people to be bussed to NOM's March for Marriage.  

Over 100 Prominent Republicans Have Signed Brief Supporting Same-Sex Marriage - And the list grows.

 Camenker: Educators Who Support LGBT-Inclusive Schools Like 'Nazi Concentration Camp Guards' - The hyperbole! Oh Lord, the hyperbole!