HUGE win for Houston LGBTs - there will be no referendum

According to LGBTNation, an lgbt-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance approved by the Houston city council in late May will not be challenged via referendum this November:

Opponents of Houston’s LGBT-inclusive Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) fell short of qualifying for a ballot referendum, Mayor Annise Parker announced Monday afternoon.The petition needed at least 17,269 valid signatures from registered Houston voters to put a repeal of the ordinance before voters in November.

City Attorney David Feldman said Monday the number of valid signatures submitted for the petition came to only 15,247.The group behind the repeal effort submitted more than 5,000 petition pages last month containing approximately 31,000 signatures.

But Feldman said his staff had found many invalid pages, most notably because some of the circulators who collected signatures were not qualified Houston voters, as required by law. In such cases, all the signatures the circulator gathered would be void, Feldman said. Other issues included names on valid pages that did not belong to registered Houston voters, Feldman said, and some signatures were gathered prior to June 3, when the ordinance was published and the petition drive could begin.

The article goes on to say that Parker doesn't think the situation is over. She expects opponents of the ordinance to file a suit against the city's findings with regards to the petition.

'Anti-gay activist wants apology' & other Monday midday news briefs

Marriage Equality Faces A Rough Ride In Court Next Week - Reading this article reminds one of the importance of the long fight. Will it also remind us not to give up and over analyze in the face of possible defeats?

Malevolence Personified - Now that the Ugandan courts have overturned that dreadful anti-gay law, anti-gay activist Scott Lively thinks he is owed an apology. He is owed something but it ain't an apology.  

Anti-LGBT Columnist: Take Children Away From Gay Parents - "I am not going to say what I want to say . . . I am not going to say what I want to say." 

 BarbWire Pundit: 'Cult Of Homosexualism' Will 'Enslave The Entire World' - Sounds like fun to me! lol

Scene from Ugandan court as anti-gay law is overturned

The following video is the scene in Ugandan last week when it overturned that awful anti-gay law. What strikes me is how the supporters of the law are so like the American religious right when they lost in the court battle, i.e. attacking the justices.

'Politifact sizzles Bryan Fischer for anti-gay lies' & other Friday midday news briefs

Politifact sizzles AFA's Bryan Fischer for his anti-gay lies -  When it comes to Bryan Fischer, there should be something lower than a "pants on fire" rating. How about a "bust hell wide open" rating.

Read: Zack Ford smacks back Ryan Anderson's love of tax-subsidized discrimination - When you read this exchange between one our own and anti-gay activist Ryan Anderson, you learn two things - 1. we need to acknowledge those intelligent, on-the-ball lgbt activists who aren't that well-known (yet) and how the anti-gay industry will attempt to manipulate the semantics of an argument. Imagine lgbts implied as being selfish simply because we want to be treated fairly!  

Ben Carson: LGBT-Affirming Pastors Put Their Finger In The Eye Of God - Every time I hear Ben Carson talk in a way which sends shivers of love down the spine of the anti-gay industry, I think of that episode of Scooby Doo where the monster supposedly kidnapped a supporting character and left a message on the walls of his office saying "Do not follow. He is ours now. "

 Federal Judge Knocks Down Remaining Challenge To New Jersey’s Ban On Ex-Gay Therapy - Another one bites the dust (OWWW!) 

 Fed Up With a Lack of Diverse Children's Books, Queer Parents Write Their Own - Kudos to them!

Uganda's anti-gay law struck down by its court

J. Lester Feder of Buzzfeed is now reporting that the anti-gay law passed in Uganda has been struck down by its court.

Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act on Friday, giving new hope to the country’s embattled LGBT people and human rights activists

. . .  The court struck down the law on procedural grounds, saying it was invalid because there was no quorum in Parliament when the legislation was passed on December 20. (A quorum is the requirement that at least one third of members are present when a vote is held.) The court was ruling on a petition brought by a group of 10 human rights activists, legal scholars, and opposition politicians. The court did not rule on the underlying question of whether anti-LGBT laws violate basic human rights, and so the pre-existing sodomy code, which was imposed when Uganda was a British colony, remains in place. Two men are currently awaiting trial under this provision.

Naturally, the scene in the court was wild. Ugandan public figure and one of the most public proponents of the law, Martin (eat da poo poo) Ssempa was in the middle of much of it:

The courtroom became something of a circus during the three hour recess the judges called before issuing the ruling, according to people in the room. Anti-LGBT activist Pastor Martin Ssempa prayed loudly, and got into arguments with multiple petitioners. Security eventually approached Ssempa to request he sit down.

What comes next? Feder said Ugandan lgbt activists expect some sort of unfortunate retaliation from those who supported the law and they are bracing themselves for it.

He also said:

Human rights activists say they expect politicians like the bill’s sponsor, MP David Bahati, to try to pass it again, but they think the chances he’ll succeed are slim. Re-passing the law would require starting the legislative process from the beginning, including committee hearings and receiving certification of its financial impact from the finance ministry. If the government of President Yoweri Museveni does not want the bill to pass again, the finance ministry could silently kill the bill simply by withholding certification.

Read the story in its entirety courtesy of Buzzfeed.

Will God 'nuke' America for having gay ambassadors?

Dear Vision America's Rick Scarborough,

If God hasn't destroyed America because of slavery, segregation, the stealing of land from Native Americans, the subjugation of women, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and Nikki Minaj's upcoming album (I'm just playing with that last one), I think He won't nuke us for having gay ambassadors:

'Former 'ex-gay' leaders unite to help ban 'ex-gay' therapy' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Exclusive: 9 Former Ex-Gay Leaders Join Movement To Ban Gay Conversion Therapy - Can you say "major kick in the ass to the religious right and the 'ex-gay movement," boys and girls? Good. I knew you could. 

Rick Santorum Presents Latest ‘Religious Persecution’ Movie - Because apparently his last one was soooo successful (snark). But seriously I noticed something about these events in which folks push the "persecution" meme. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that I never hear them tell people to pray to God or not to worry because "God is in control." It's always the push for panic of potential martyrdom for these folks. How odd is it that they are supposed to be fighting for values given to them by the God while at the same time implying that He has abandoned them when they fight for those values.  

Meet the LGBT activists fighting Uganda's anti-gay law - Or as they should be called, some of the bravest people in the world.  

Video: Tony Perkins for politically-driven pastors to test (if not run afoul) tax exempt status - Any church leader who listens to Tony Perkins deserves the disaster they are courting.

How A Hate Group Lost Influence On (Most Of) Cable News - And speaking of Tony Perkins (and the Family Research Council), I am happy to say that I, in an extremely minor way, contributed to this taking place.

Proposed bill could allow adoption agencies to discriminate against gays while taking taxpayer money

Bill could harm gay couples seeking to adopt.

This newest tripe, I mean action alert by the Family Research Council has gotten me a bit angry. The organization is pushing a bill which could allow adoption agencies and foster care providers to engage in anti-gay discrimination under the guise of religious freedom (see the bill here):

In California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and D.C. religious adoption and foster care providers have had their government funding pulled and have been forced to end services, simply because they continue to believe in the importance of a child having a mom and a dad. It's a sad sign of the times that some states have preferred to sever longstanding partnerships with faith-based providers rather than allow them to continue caring for and placing children informed by traditional moral beliefs about the family. This important legislation sponsored by Congressman Mike Kelly in the House and Senator Mike Enzi in the Senate will ensure that the interests of children are placed ahead of political correctness.

Specifically, this bill will prohibit discrimination against faith-based child welfare service providers by the federal government and by states receiving federal funds for adoption and foster care services. The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act will prohibit such discrimination against faith-based child welfare service providers and will threaten states continuing such discrimination with a loss of federal funding. This important legislation will ensure that the maximum number of child welfare service providers can continue to advocate for children and will ensure that many adoptive families can continue to work with a provider which shares their core beliefs.

For the record, adoption agencies, religious based or otherwise, are allowed to place children in homes with mothers and fathers. What this proposed monstrosity could do is to allow religious based adoption agencies and foster care providers to discriminate against gay  households while using our tax dollars.

No doubt, FRC and other supporters of this bill will attempt to paint the lgbt community as selfish if we raise any objections about this bill. It's definitely by intention that the organization uses vague code words and phrases about "core beliefs," children doing better with a mother and a father,"  "traditional moral beliefs" and all of the other board room talking points which are usually voiced by those seeking to deny the existence of same-sex households with children.

I don't think it's wrong or selfish for the lgbt community to assert our rights and dignity as taxpaying American citizens here. And I definitely refuse to believe that in doing so, we are hurting children.

It's been proven in study after study (the most recent being earlier this month)  that we can raise children just as well as two-parent heterosexual households. This view has also been validated numerous times by the courts, including the Supreme Court when it overturned DOMA last year. . Therefore, in the case of adoption agencies and foster care providers who want to discriminate against gay couples, we are talking about organizations who want to assert their personal religious preference instead of what's best for the child.

If religious-based adoption agencies  and foster care providers don't think that gay  households are suitable enough to raise children then they shouldn't be so eager to have their hands out in order to receive gay tax dollars.

It's bad enough when it is asserted that we are not good enough to raise and nurture children. Having to pay for that non-privilege  further reduces the gay community to the level of slaves in a masochistic relationship with our government . . . and all under the guise of "religious freedom."

Photo courtesy of HRC

Bryan Fischer can't decide who/what will 'destroy America'

Bryan Fischer

Today, Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said that if President Obama isn't impeached, it means the end of America:

America has a political problem. But it also has a political solution: impeachment. In fact, it’s impeachment or nothing. In the end, Republicans will have absolutely no other alternative if they wish to keep this president from transforming this once great nation into a banana republic. Lawsuits won’t work, because the president has already shown a cavalier disregard for the rule of law. Defunding won’t work, because the president has already shown a cavalier disregard for budgetary restraints of any kind. In the end, it will be impeachment or the ruin of America.

But Mr. Fischer, won't Islam destroy America? That's what you said in 2011:

Let us be clear: the goal of Islam is to destroy America. We don’t have to infer it; they are declaring it in no uncertain terms.

Come to think of it, in that same year, you said marriage equality will destroy America

Transcript: Our survival as a civilization, as a culture, depends on protecting the institution of marriage, everything is at risk here: our economic prosperity, our survival, our national security, all of it hinges on our willingness as a culture to protect monogamy and to protect the institution of marriage. You know, George Washington says 'In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who would labor to subvert these two great pillars,' you push these pillars over, you undermine the foundation of these pillars, you cause them to weaken, you cause them to crumble, you are not a patriot. So George Washington would have no hesitation of looking at groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State, ACLU, Freedom From Religion Foundation, all of these gay rights groups, George Washington would have absolutely no hesitation saying these groups are unpatriotic, they are un-American, in fact they are anti-American because they are laboring to subvert the pillars which this civilization rests.

Such is the problem with the overuse of hyperbole. Sooner or later, people will realize that you are full of shit.

'Anti-gay personality Todd Starnes creating victims of anti-Christian persecution' & other Thursday midday news briefs

The Right-Wing Agenda Propelling False Claims of Christian Persecution - As much as I hate to be one of those queens who like to say "I told you so" (yeah, right), I predicted a while back how Fox News personality Todd Starnes would emerge as one of the head figures in the "anti-Christian persecution" meme spreading. Apparently his Bible says "thus I say unto you, if there are no victims of anti-Christian persecution, create some."

Trans in America - I love this photographic portrait!

Head of Virginia's anti-equality org: 'open season to discriminate against anyone who believes that children deserve a mom and a dad'- One of our biggest strengths is the opposition's love of hyperbole to make their points. I mean nobody likes a consistent and eternal drama queen.

Michael Sam Focuses On Making the Rams, Not History - And THAT, my friends, is the right frame of mind to have. Good luck, Mr. Sam.  

Rick Santorum Angry That Marriage Equality Supporters 'Devalued' Marriage - Let's make him angrier just to see what happens.

Anti-gay right are picking on the judiciary again

Sorry for featuring such hyperbolic tripe so early in the morning but we can't afford to be blase about this sort of thing. This "documentary" reminds me of the propaganda films the Nazis used to show about Jewish people.

I mean really. Blaming the judiciary for the progression of marriage equality and claiming that they are "imposing their will" (of course without giving specific details as to which judges are doing so or any proof at all of these charges) is simply vile.

And it serves to cover up a simple fact about why judges are ruling for marriage equality. If - and I hope that if becomes a reality soon - marriage equality becomes legal across America, history will tell us that the folly of those against marriage equality played a huge part.

In 2004 and after, they voted to pass all of those anti-marriage equality laws with such abandonment that they seemed to have forgotten that the laws would be challenged in court.  The tactics they used to get these laws on the books were useless in the courts.

After all, you know what courts are, don't you? That's the place where ridiculous arguments such as  "marriage 'unites the two halves of humanity" and "marriage socializes men" don't fly. That's the place where anecdotes and horror stories about lgbts and children are like bullets to Superman's chest. That's the place where you can't sit in the studio of a fake newsroom and repeat your talking points without challenge. You will be challenged frequently and thoroughly.

It all comes down to a simple principle - don't pass laws you can't defend in court. 

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.

'Former 'ex-gay' spills details about religious right, Pat Robertson: gays demanding Christians have open, wild sex' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

Former anti-gay activist: "I've never met an 'ex-gay' man I thought was not still attracted to men" - WOW! Not only is former 'ex-gay' activist Yvette Schneider denouncing the 'ex-gay' movement but she is giving some good details on what does on in religious right circles. It's a long interview but trust me, it is a good one. 

Pat Robertson Warns Gays Threaten Christians: 'Have Open Sex With Anybody Or Else You Leave' - Damn u nasty, Pat Robertson. And trust me, no gay will be asking YOU to have open sex. 

BarbWire.com: When A Hate Group Creates Its Own Conservative "News" Site - I've long since thought of the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber as a hack who is perpetrating solely for the money. Equality Matters gives some interesting details about his online publication BarbWire which may justify my thinking.  

How The Alaska Supreme Court Is Circumventing The State’s Ban On Same-Sex Marriage - THIS is interesting, to say the least.

Straight White Guy Festival' Fliers In Ohio Park Spark Local Controversy - Ain't nobody going to that #@!*. What's a festival without drag queens?

Another former 'ex-gay' denounces the movement, apologizes to lgbt community

Schneider

In all of the excitement and happening involving yesterday's Virginia decision, something else the lgbt community should be celebrating got lost in the shuffle. According to Jeremy Hooper, GLAAD Special Projects Consultant:

Yvette Cantu Schneider has one of the most robust pedigrees of anyone who has ever worked in the so-called "ex-gay" movement. From the late nineties right through to the second decade of the twenty-first century, Yvette managed to find herself laboring for and with just about every top anti-LGBT group and activist you've heard of. From her high-profile start at the Family Research Council to her work with California's Proposition 8 campaign—with many stops, at many different groups and campaigns along the way—Yvette became one of that movement's most visible faces and certainly one of the most known women in a line of "work" known mainly for its male spokespeople. To this day, Yvette remains one of the key people who anti-gay voices like to cite in order to prove that "change" works. In a December 19, 2013, press release concerning the Duck Dynasty brouhaha, notorious anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera, who was a colleague of Yvette's during their shared time at the Family Research Council, cited Schnieder as an example of a person who has "ovecome homosexuality through faith in Jesus Christ." "Ex-gay" websites continue to list her as among their ranks and push her story as a source of inspiration. The American Family Association continues to sell a video, "It's Not Gay," in which Yvette appears as a talking head. They all still claim Yvette as being both an example and a worker bee for their side.

That all changes today. Yvette has reached out to GLAAD, exclusively, to share her story—one that will come as a shock to her former colleagues and allies.

In a nutshell: Yvette no longer wishes to identify with the "ex-gay" or anti-LGBT movement; is sorry for the pain she caused as part of that world; is highly questioning of the idea of "ex-gay" itself; and is now fully supportive of LGBT people, our truths, and our families. Yvette has made her sincerity clear to me, saying "as opposed to when I was doing things for the Christian Right out of duty and obligation, I'm doing it because I want to and feel it's the right thing to do." She hopes that by speaking out, she can start to undo any damage she might've helped to impart.

\Go to this link to read the first of a two-part story in which Schneider explains how an encounter with the child of a gay man and her own daughter's illness led her to question the path she was on.

But first, a little note. There are some who will probably say  "f#ck her," or "she hurt too many people to be begging forgiveness."

To those folks, I would like to quote Tyler Perry as Madea Simmons and say shut the hell up!

Forgiveness is a good thing. Not just for the piece of mind of the person you are forgiving but also your own soul.

Who wants to hold on to bitterness when it's so much easier - and healthier -  to forgive and open your heart?

VA marriage equality victory provides positive repercussions for NC . . . and hopefully a cellphone

Unless you have been living in a cave with your fingers in your ears, you have heard about today's marriage equality victory in Virginia which has repercussions in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Unfortunately, SC is determined to still defend its marriage equality ban. However not so much North Carolina:

NC AG Cooper says it's time to stop defending state's marriage ban: "There are really no arguments left to be made." pic.twitter.com/0HIQCS8OK1
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) July 28, 2014

Regardless, this is rather sweet particularly when one remembers the depths the opposition stooped to in North Carolina to get the ban passed in 2012. Isn't that right, Pastor Patrick Wooden?

You will remember that during the campaign, Wooden, a NC pastor , claimed that gay men have so much anal sex that we wear diapers. He later made a claim that a gay man had to have a cell phone removed from his rectum.

To make matters worse, on the night that his side won, he was filmed holding a cellphone in triumph:

While of course this battle is far from over, I will give you one guess what Wooden can now do with HIS cellphone.

'NOM wants international anti-gay group' & other Monday midday news briefs

The Rise Of Europe’s Religious Right - The American religious right is making interesting progress in Europe. Amongst the revelations in this article, Brian Brown of NOM is attempting to create an International Organization for Marriage. So just in case stuff starts coming down, don't act as if you weren't told beforehand. 

Texas Children’s Home Fires Employee Just For Being Gay - And it's perfectly legal.

 8 Things Straight People Get Wrong About Gay Men - Just eight?  

Gordon Klingenschmitt Scores An Exclusive Interview With Sen. Mike Lee - Terrible news. Two homophobes close to each other in a room does not cause spontaneous combustion.

BAD ANALOGIES: Gay Marriage is Like 2 + 2 = 5 - Ben Carson, a man who took the Steve Miller song "Take the Money and Run" to heart.

'Gaystapo' is now a Christian term

Bob Eschliman is a former Newton Daily News editor who is suing the publication for violating his Christian beliefs. According to the Huffington Post:

Former Newton Daily News editor Bob Eschliman dumped from his job after a blog post he wrote which criticized what he called "the LGBTQXYZ crowd and the Gaystapo" for trying "to reword the Bible to make their sinful nature 'right with God.'" Jim Romenesko first reported on the blog in April. Eschliman was later suspended with pay, and the newspaper's owner eventually terminated his employment, the Des Moines Register reported.

Allegedly, Eschliman wrote this piece, criticizing a website which rewrites the Bible to make it friendlier to lgbts,  on his own blog. Now this fact will probably spark discussions on free speech and its boundaries.

After his firing, the newspaper following in an editorial:

 . . .  the Newton newspaper published an editorial by Shaw Media President John Rung.
"Last week, he expressed an opinion in his personal blog that in no way reflects the opinion of the Newton Daily News or Shaw Media," Rung wrote. "While he is entitled to his opinion, his public airing of it compromised the reputation of this newspaper and his ability to lead it."

However, the interesting thing to me is how some in the religious right  are bending over backwards to say that Eschliman was fired for "expressing" his Christian beliefs without say exactly what he said. The American Family Association's One News Now, in its version of the story, made mention about Eschliman was a "Christian," and how he was "persecuted," but the publication never talked about his exact words. The framework of the article went about like this:

Eschliman's attorney is Liberty Institute-allied lawyer and former federal prosecutor Mat Whitaker, who tells OneNewsNow the journalist was an "exemplary" employee. "He had won many awards as a journalist and by all accounts he had outstanding performance as an employee," says the attorney. Eschliman ran into a problem, though, after he wrote about his personal religious beliefs on his blog and expressed his belief in traditional marriage. On April 30, he was placed on "indefinite paid suspension" while the company investigated his blog post. A few days later, the journalist was called into his boss's office and immediately fired and escorted from the building. 

The problem I have is this - so some folks set up a webpage making the Bible friendlier to lgbts. Big deal. That's their right, just as others may feel that it was Eschliman's right to slur all lgbts because of it. What's with the ugly language he used and why do some folks say that it was "mere expression" of his Christian beliefs?"

It doesn't make lgbts look as bad or intolerant as it does Christians who have no problem with smearing gays in that manner.

And one more thing. Substitute the word "Jew" or "black" for the group Eschlimann attacked and I hardly think that his firing would be seen as a controversy.

Why is that?

'Bachmann: Gays want to let adults sexually prey on children' & other Friday midday news briefs

Michele Bachmann: Gays Want To Let Adults 'Freely Prey On Little Children Sexually' - And they tell us that when we object to such character assassinations, we aren't showing "tolerance." Modesty precludes me from publicly commenting further, but needless to say, it's a good tirade.

Michael Sam Delivers Perfect Reaction To Tony Dungy’s ‘Distraction’ Claims - The irony about Michael Sam is that all of these folks claiming that he will provide a distraction are the very ones PROVIDING the distraction. Sam is busy practicing his craft.

Super Model Andreja Pejic Comes Out As Transgender - Good for her!!  

Fox’s Erickson Agrees That “The Homosexual Movement Is … Destroying America” - The day I take Christian instruction from an odious, bigoted, chauvinistic twitter troll who lucked into a media gig with Fox News, America IS heading on the road for destruction

Bill Maher speaks basic truth about marriage equality

This is an old clip but talk show host and comedian Bill Maher gives truth about opponents of marriage equality:

Sen. Rubio, speeches are cheap. Let's hear you denounce anti-gay groups like the Family Research Council

Take as much time as you need, Sen. Rubio.

Dear Sen. Marc Rubio,

If you are going to whine about marriage equality supporters being "intolerant," perhaps you need to take a look at those who defend your rhetoric. I have said this twice and now will make the third time. But this time is really special because the Family Research Council is defending your comments:

 The Senator then went where many of his colleagues fear to tread -- the very nature of marriage itself. "The union of one man and one woman is a special relationship that has proven to be of great benefit to our society, our nation and our people, and therefore deserves to be elevated in our laws." However, he said, "there is a growing intolerance ... towards those who continue to support traditional marriage ... and I promise you that even before this speech is over, I will be attacked as a hater, a bigot, or someone who is anti-gay. The intolerance in the name of tolerance is hypocrisy."

Just for the edification of my readers, this is the SAME Family Research Council who has been called an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center  in 2010 for its insistence of spreading hateful lies about the lgbt community:

 Headed since 2003 by former Louisiana State Rep. Tony Perkins, the FRC has been a font of anti-gay propaganda throughout its history. It relies on the work of Robert Knight, who also worked at Concerned Women for America but now is at Coral Ridge Ministries (see above for both), along with that of FRC senior research fellows Tim Dailey (hired in 1999) and Peter Sprigg (2001). Both Dailey and Sprigg have pushed false accusations linking gay men to pedophilia: Sprigg has written that most men who engage in same-sex child molestation “identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual,” and Dailey and Sprigg devoted an entire chapter of their 2004 book Getting It Straight to similar material. The men claimed that “homosexuals are overrepresented in child sex offenses” and similarly asserted that “homosexuals are attracted in inordinate numbers to boys.”

That’s the least of it. In a 1999 publication (Homosexual Behavior and Pedophilia) that has since disappeared from its website, the FRC claimed that “one of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the ‘prophets’ of a new sexual order,” according to unrefuted research by AMERICAblog.

'Sen Rubio's lie about 'tolerant debates' Part 2' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Sen. Marco Rubio no doubt won the news cycle yesterday with his deceptive whine that those who oppose marriage equality are the so-called victims of intolerance. I really wish folks would look into this man's background to see how much his claim is indicative of the false tone of victimhood of those who make the same claim. It only takes a little googling. For example, according to Right Wing Watch, in November of last year:

The Florida Family Policy Council announced today that it will host Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) at its 2013 Annual Dinner. The FFPC is led by John Stemberger, the anti-gay activist who most recently helped launch a Boy Scouts splinter group that will ban openly gay youth, and the fundraiser will honor Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver.

 Stemberger and Staver are far outside of the mainstream, but with Rubio preparing for a possible presidential run in 2016 he may use this event, much like his speech at the Values Voter Summit, to soothe any doubts about his right-wing credentials. Stemberger previously chaired Florida for Marriage, which spearheaded the campaign to pass a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions, and founded the anti-gay Boy Scout alternative Trail Life USA.

Stemberger has a long record of incendiary anti-gay rhetoric. He:

Claimed that being gay is an “artificial, social construct” that is “dangerous.”

Warned that the Boy Scouts will experience widespread sexual abuse as a result of including gay members under the age of eighteen.

Said that people are gay because they think it is “hip” and “cool.”

Alleged that affirming LGBT youth is “tantamount to abuse” and “an abuse to that child.”

And let's not forget Staver:

Mat Staver is the head of the Liberty University School of Law and its legal affiliate, Liberty Counsel, a sponsor of the Values Voter Summit. . . .  At a previous Values Voter Summit, Staver claimed that progressives are using LGBT rights and secular government in order to “ultimately implode America” and that the “agenda of the homosexual movement” is to destroy freedom and western civilization.

Through his role at Liberty Counsel, Staver has:

Argued that President Obama “does not respect America” and wants to intentionally cripple America so he can have global power and create his own personal army of Brownshirts.

Defended Malawi’s law criminalizing homosexuality and said U.S. opposition to criminalization was “immoral.”

Urged schools to prohibit students from holding a “Day of Silence” to protest anti-gay bullying and said teaching LGBT history in schools amounts to “sexual assault.”

Alleged that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will lead to child molestation, sexual assault, and even death and “harm women and children” if passed. 

The sad thing about all of this is not what was said, it's that the Beltway media will most likely exclude any talk of the circles Rubio runs with in their attempt to gain "access." 

In other news: