AL Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore orders state officials to not issue same-sex couple marriage licenses

Moore

I just got this tip from Joe Jervis' site.  After clamoring for so long for someone to actively defy federal court decisions for marriage equality, the anti-gay right has found their hero. And it's an old ally of theirs:

Via Huntsville's NBC affiliate:


Late Sunday night, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order in which he instructs state probate judges to neither issue nor recognize a marriage license for same-sex couples.

The order states, "Effective immediately, no Probate Judge of the State of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama Probate Judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent with Article 1, Section 36.03, of the Alabama Constitution or § 30-1-19, Ala. Code 1975."

It continues to say that if any probate judge fails to follow the state constitution, "it would be the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer of the State of Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley... to ensure the execution of the law."

The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta rejected the State of Alabama's request to issue a stay pending an appeal of the State's ban on gay marriage. That rejection paves the way for same-sex marriages to begin on Monday.

 WAFF has a crew working to uncover more details and is in contact with experts to determine what impact this order may have for couples preparing to wed Monday morning.

Moore's action comes a day after a small number of those opposing marriage equality gathered on the state capitol building to protest the federal court's decision.

What happens next is anyone's guess but needless to say things just got a bit hairy in Alabama. No doubt, anti-gay organizations such as the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage as well as personalities such as Fox News's Todd Starnes will rally folks to Moore's side.

However, Moore cannot trump federal court decisions.  Also, what he has done just transcended marriage equality and rooted itself in stickier territory.

State judges, or anyone else for that matter, cannot just decide to defy federal court decisions simply because they disagree with them. If Moore is allowed to get away with this when it comes to marriage equality, he reduces and trivializes our very legal system.

'Anti-gay activist accuses Katy Perry of 'pushing' homosexuality, Satanism during Super Bowl halftime show' & other Friday midday news briefs

Linda Harvey: Katy Perry's 'Firework' Promotes Satanism, Super Bowl Halftime Show Pushed 'Homosexual Agenda' - Let me guess . . . it was the sharks.  

This Evangelical Radio Host Is Making The RNC's Israel Trip Pretty Awkward - The Bryan Fischer/RNC Israel trip controversy rages on. They were asked told not to do it and only Reince Preibus listened.

My Transgender Life -- Transitioning at Age 64 - A fascinating and very important story.  

'Public Discourse' helps Supreme Court see religious animus that drives anti-equality movement - Oh yeah. No animus towards lgbts here. When those who oppose you help your argument, don't interrupt.  

Duke And Steve's Story From The Let Love Define Family Series - Speaking of which, now that we have heard from the liars with regards to same-sex families, let's shed some truth on the matter with this family.

Judge knocks down anti-gay 'experts' during SPLC lawsuit

While there is so much attention focused on marriage equality and the question of 'religious liberty,' the Southern Poverty Law Center is pushing a lawsuit which could have far-reaching effects on the so-called "ex-gay" industry.

And after what happened in court yesterday, things look like they are in SPLC's favor.

According to a press release from the organization:

A New Jersey judge ruled today that several prominent proponents of gay-to-straight conversion therapy will not be allowed to testify in an SPLC consumer-fraud case against a conversion therapy organization.

Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr. excluded Joseph Nicolosi, Christopher Doyle, Dr. James Phelan and Dr. John Diggs as witnesses for the defense, holding that their opinions are based on the false premise that homosexuality is a disorder.

Bariso wrote that “the theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but – like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it – instead is outdated and refuted.”

. . .  The 2012 SPLC lawsuit, filed on behalf of former JONAH clients and two parents of former clients, charges that JONAH, its founder Arthur Goldberg and counselor Alan Downing violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. It claims JONAH used deceptive practices to lure the plaintiffs into their services, which can cost some clients more than $10,000 per year.

SPLC's press release also points out how each failed witness would have contributed to the defense's case.

'GOP leaders to appear in wacky, offensive anti-gay documentary' & other Thursday afternoon news briefs

Editor's note - Sorry about the delay on today's news briefs. Long story. Anyway . . .

Anti-gay activist Janet Porter is apparently making the anti-gay version of "Around The World in 80 Days." That is to say the documentary she is working on (in which she AGAIN claims that gays are working to criminalize Christians) will feature cameos from almost every anti-gay activist in the business and some Congressional leaders, including:

 Rep. Steve King, Rep. Trent Franks, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Sen. Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, David Barton, James Dobson, Mat Staver, Phyllis Schlafly, Scott Lively, Alveda King, Brian Camenker, Frank Pavone, Robert Knight, John Stemberger, and, of course, Porter herself, who can been seen walking around in the woods with a lantern, warning that gay activists are seeking to turn Christians into criminals. 

As the above video preview shows, the documentary would be hilariously bad except for the fact that these folks are serious with their false claims.  And Porter wants churches to see it. Notice the African-American man at 2:27 who claims that gay/straight alliances are clubs about sex. He is John R. Diggs, yet another phony "expert," who published a seriously flawed, vulgarly inaccurate paper on supposed gay sex habits. Apparently,  Porter seems to also attempting to cram every homophobic stereotype in this documentary.


Republican Leaders Join Anti-Gay Extremists For Insane Documentary - As mentioned above, there will be some Congressional leaders who will be joining Porter in this documentary. And possibly some prospective Republican presidential candidates. And just who is Porter you ask? Well I've featured her many times but Right Wing Watch has this excellent break down of her "exploits." You are going to have read about her "activities and claims for yourself because all of that crazy would make my blog self-destruct. Needless to say there will be some Republican presidential candidates who may have lots of explaining to do.

Mike Huckabee had no reason to link pedophilia to homosexuality in his new book—he just did. - Speaking of Republican presidential candidates, Jeremy Hooper just gave me a good idea for a question reporters need to ask Huckabee - "Mr. Huckabee, why is it that when you talk about the gay community, often times a mention about pedophilia doesn't seem to be far behind?"

Pope Francis Announces Support For Banning Same-Sex Marriage And Adoption - Why is the Pope running hotter and colder than my last boyfriend?

The Ugly, Hateful Result Of The Anti-Gay “Religious Liberty” Debate - or how one can attempt to play the 'religious liberty' card to excuse just about any negative thing said about lgbts.

Attack on same-sex families reaches new low with so-called 'poster children'

Robert Oscar Lopez

Zack Ford from Think Progress has given us a window into the very definition of  desperation and evil.

Anti-marriage equality groups know that they failed to stop marriage equality in the courts in part because of our families. Therefore as a part of a new tactic, they drudged up four individuals who claimed that they were harmed by being raised in same-sex households.

However, there is nothing new or outstanding about these four folks. In fact, they are known, particularly Robert Oscar Lopez,  for their unsubstantiated accusations and ridiculously vindictive comments about lgbts and particularly same-sex families.

I doubt the tactic will work, but it emphasizes the desperation and unbridled ugliness that some so-called moral groups and individuals will stoop to in order to keep gays from marrying and having families:

As the Supreme Court prepares to take up the issue of same-sex marriage for perhaps the last time, opponents are scrambling to make their final stand against marriage equality in the public square. This month, they are rallying behind four individuals who had a gay parent but who argue against marriage equality. Called the “quartet of truth” and heralded by anti-LGBT groups like the Family Research Council, these adults spin a tale of trauma that they claim is representative of all children of same-sex couples.

 . . .  Each of the four, however, has a reputation that belies the LGBT-friendly facade of their connection to a gay parent. Klein uses multiple pseudonyms, including B.N. Klein, B.A. Newmark, and Rivka Edelman, to publish attacks on the LGBT community, particularly viciously anti-transgender rhetoric. Katy Faust runs a blog called, “AskTheBigot,” where she openly identifies as an evangelical Christian and espouses that “True Christianity” will “oppose the narrative that homosexuality is a ‘positive and normal’ variation of human sexuality.” Dawn Stefanowicz has happily shopped her story to anti-gay hate groups leaders like Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber. And Robert Oscar Lopez, who identifies as bi but has disowned his same-sex attractions, regularly compares same-sex adoption to slave ownership and cultural genocide. In fact, all four indicate that their negative ideas about homosexuality presuppose their experience having a gay parent, and in some cases, the very reason they felt traumatized by having a gay parent was the idea that they would have to accept it.

 . . .  All four also tell stories of parents who divorced or separated — a parent entered a different-sex relationship, had children, then later began having same-sex relationships. Though some of them were raised for some period of time by a same-sex couple, it was only after the trauma of their birth parents’ separation. This is an identical tactic as was used in the widely-debunked study conducted by Mark Regnerus, which claimed to demonstrate inferior results for same-sex parenting by using the experiences of kids from split parents to implicate committed same-sex couples raising children together. Some of their stories also prey on anti-gay stereotypes because of experiences of physical and sexual abuse from their gay parent. In reality, because same-sex families are more likely to be planned, studies suggest those couples are actually less likely to abuse their children.

For the full story, see  The Full Story Of The ‘Poster Children’ Conservatives Are Using To Oppose Gay Marriage

Todd Starnes defusing anti-gay argument of 'religious liberty' with his numerous reporting errors

Todd Starnes

To be such a proponent of religious right bastardization of the term 'religious liberty,' Fox News personality Todd Starnes is making a litany of mistakes in his pursuit to give it credibility.

According to Media Matters, in writing about the recent case of the bakery in Oregon which got into trouble for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple, Starnes made a huge error:

Fox News' Todd Starnes falsely reported that the Oregon bakers who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple could face up to $200,000 in fines, badly misinterpreting local reports about the case, according to the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries.

On January 29, an administrative law judge in Oregon rejected a request from the lawyers representing Sweet Cakes by Melissa to dismiss a discrimination complaint filed against shop owners Aaron and Melissa Klein. The case has been ongoing since early 2013, when the bakers refused to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in violation of the state's non-discrimination law. A March 10 hearing will determine what damages the couple is owed.

On February 3, Fox News reporter and serial misinformer Todd Starnes published his report on the Kleins' failed attempt to have the complaint dismissed, stating that the bakers could face $200,000 "in fines and damages"

Media Matters also points out that this led to a rebuke by Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Communications Director Charlie Burr:

Todd Starnes is writing that the bakery owners face fines of up to $200,000 in damages. That's false. In fact, it's the Kleins who have asked for $200,000 in damages from our agency for our enforcement of the Equality Act. We rejected the request due to jurisdictional issues. The agency's prosecution unit is seeking up to $75,000 per person in damages, but no ruling on amounts has been made. [emphasis original]

Starnes has since corrected the error. However, in the same piece , he commits what can be debated to be a deliberate oversight.  The piece in question included is a listing of  how Christians are supposedly being persecuted for stances against marriage equality and the lgbt community. Of course Starnes includes the recent controversy involving former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran. Notice how he describes the situation:

Kelvin Cochran was fired from his job as the fire chief of Atlanta after he wrote a book that affirmed biblical morality. The book included references to homosexuality that angered the city’s LGBT community. The city’s mayor denied Cochran was let go because of his religious beliefs, but I believe the evidence seems to prove otherwise.

Starnes' description of the Cochran incident omitted a HUGE amount of information. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was very detailed as to why Cochran was let go and this was reported in numerous places.  As a matter of fact, Mayor Reed's office released an internal report which said:

Cochran did not have permission to publish his book..

Cochran freely exploited his capacity as Atlanta's fire chief in the book, when in the past he disciplined firefighters for speaking in support of Chick-Fil-A while in their capacity as firefighters during the controversy in which its founder, Dan Cathy, made anti-gay comments.

While no witness could point to any incident in which Cochran unfairly treated his employees because of his religious beliefs, there was a sentiment of "distrust and disgust" and many felt that the booklet eroded trust and have compromised the ability of the chief to provide leadership in the future.

The point is Starnes felt the need to omit these details because they would have interfered with his anti-Christian persecution narrative.


This isn't the first time Starnes has gotten into trouble, even amongst Christian writers, for his penchant of omitting details and generally getting the story wrong in order to fit his narrative.

And I doubt that it will be the last.
 

'Anti-gay groups, supporters not totally unified on marriage equality tactics' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

Inside The Last-Ditch Conservative Campaign To Target LGBT Americans - Marriage equality isn't a reality yet, so I'm not dancing but this article is very interesting. The unity amongst the religious right is falling apart. 

Anti-gay group NOM: 'To deprive a child of [a mother and a father] is akin to orphaning them' - Meanwhile there has been a steady, underground attack on same-sex families. The good thing is that it isn't happening under our noses. Many of us lgbt bloggers know what's going on and we are merely observing for now. 

 If Brittany Newmark Klein wants to be a player, she should spine up and use her real name - For those who are curious about the last news brief, this one gives more detail.

Leading UK Evangelical Leader Comes Out As A Lesbian - Yet more evidence that there are some folks who are falsely appropriating the term "Christian." Being a Christian and an lgbt are identities which can overlap WITHOUT guilt or shame but with pride. 

 Manhattan Declaration’s Eric Teetsel: God May Let LGBT Equality Destroy Society - Somehow, I DOUBT that is going to happen.

LGBT History is Black History. Black History is LGBT History

Even yours truly can take time out from blogging, truth telling, and religious right spanking to note special occasions.

February is Black History Month and I love all celebrations with regards to my racial heritage . . . except for the fact that lgbts of color who have made positive historical marks are always omitted from mainstream Black History Month mentions.

Therefore, from time to time this month, I will be presenting videos, old blog posts of note, and various other things which will remind folks that lgbts of color played a huge role in the survival and progression of African Americans:



Unfortunately, as the video above demonstrates, even marginalized groups of people can accidentally practice the tactics which led to their own omission. I am aware and saddened by the fact that the video includes no African-American transgender brothers and sisters. However, rather than apologize about it, I thought I would improvise and include a few myself. My apologies to folks I may omit and please note that those below are only a very small representation of the wide variety of talent, intellect, and dignity African-American transgender brothers and sisters have brought to America:

Lucy Hicks Anderson - marriage equality pioneer

Kylar Broadus - Activist, attorney, professor

Monica Roberts - journalist, activist, good friend (I call her Cleopatra Jones behind her back).

Miss Major Griffin Gracy - participant at Stonewall

Tiq Milan - Senior Media Strategist of National News, GLAAD

Kye Allums - NCAA Divison 1 basketball star

'Why Nancy Reagan turned down Rock Hudson's plea for help before he died' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

Nancy Reagan Turned Down Rock Hudson’s Plea For Help Nine Weeks Before He Died - Easily one of the best, saddest, and most thorough stories I have ever read. And know this - regardless of your opinion after reading it, this is only the beginning.  There will be more stories like this coming out.  Whether or not HIV/AIDS is cured (and I hope that it is), future generations will view it in the same light as racism - an ugly physical manifestation brought to life by our egos, religious exploitations and ignorance; a ghost which will never be fully exorcised; an undying ravenous minotaur in a labyrinth which can never be destroyed. And the actions of those who could have slayed the beast in its infancy, but chose not to, will be put in the spotlight .  

Eleventh Circuit won’t halt Alabama same-sex marriages - Roy Moore. You are not stopping this.

Churches in Mountain Home, Ark. refuse funeral for gay man - There will more on this story in the Dallas Voice on Friday. When I hear about things like this, I don't get angry. I get sad because these folks will answer to God for their judgment.  

Jon Stewart rips into Mike Huckabee’s outrageous remarks about same-sex marriage - Thank you Jon Stewart for doing what the media should have but DID NOT do. 

 Oregon Bakery Found Culpable For Anti-Gay Discrimination, Could Face $150,000 Fine - I posted about this last night but Zack Ford from Think Progress gives a much better analysis.

Montana pastor: Why not discriminate against gays. We discriminate against child molestation

Folks who claim that we lgbts are too pushy and or can't handle "disagreement" with our supposed lifestyle don't know what we know and they certainly don't hear what we hear.

And most of all, they don't take into account how certain things which are said affects our lgbt children.

What I am talking about is this awful video below from January in which a Montana pastor spoke to lawmakers in opposition of a non-discrimination bill:

Partial Transcript:

 “I am here primarily as representative of myself and my family, most specifically my children, and that wouldn’t change if one of my children were to come forward and announce themselves as homosexual,” Steve Boettger of the First Baptist Church of Cascade said at the hearing.

“I firmly believe I do not have to agree with someone’s behavior in order to continue loving them.” “We do, as a culture and as a people, discriminate against behavior, and whether it is voluntary, innate, in-born, a choice, it is really not relevant to the point that it is indeed behavior,” he explained.

“For instance, we discriminate against incest. We discriminate against child molestation. We discriminate against a long list of behaviors that have long been believed to be wrong.”

 “I don’t understand how it is we could possibly disagree with what thousands of years have said, that most people have agreed is wrong. I think it is easy to understand that every advancement of this agenda… comes at the expense of what our founders, who I believe were right, set forth as our first right, and that is the right of religious expression.”

Mr. Boettger seems to forget that historically, segregation and the second-class status of women was thought to be a part of correct "religious expression." As for  the rest of his speech, it always amazes me when folks reduce lgbts to their fevered sexual imaginations or compare us to pedophiles and then act all shocked when we take offense.

Saying you love someone before ripping away their humanity is merely a facade. It's no different than expressing love before you proceed to punch out of your partner.

Lgbts don't need nor do we want love like that and personally if I DID want love like that, I would pay my mother to pistol whip me (apologies to Suzanne Sugarbaker).

By the way,the bill was voted down 7-5 thanks to the Republicans who were against it.

Hat tip to Raw Story.

Anti-gay bakery & 'religious liberty' argument loses again

No matter how much they cried, moaned, and played the victim in front of a national audience, the owners of an Oregon bakery learned that the law is the law for everyone.

According to the Willamette Week newspaper:

The gears of justice grind slowly. But administrative law judge Alan McCullough made an interim determination that Gresham bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated unlawfully when they refused to serve a lesbian couple in May 2013.

Sweet Cakes owner Aaron Klein denied a wedding cake to the couple in May of 2013, after learning that the cake would be eaten at a same-sex wedding. The couple filed a complaint, and in January 2014, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries found "substantial evidence" that Sweet Cakes wasn't within their rights to deny service. 

A hearing on March 10 will determine whether the bakery owes the couple damages. Sweet Melissa owners Aaron and Melissa Klein filed for a summary dismissal of the complaint, citing religious freedoms. They also attempted to retrieve $200,000 in damages and legal fees from the couple. 

The Kleins have been the cause celebres of "religious freedom," or the right to refuse businesses to anyone on the grounds of "personal religious beliefs."

"Religious freedom" has been the calling card of retaliation for anti-gay groups in the wake losing several marriage equality cases in federal court. They claim that marriage equality would force businesses to serve same-sex couples in contradiction to the business owners' religious objections to marriage equality. The irony is that at the time of the incident, Oregon didn't allow gay couples to be legally married.

During a "Values Voters Summit" last year, Melissa Klein openly wept while claiming, without corroborating evidence, that the bakery was shut down and harassed.

Since then, several state legislatures have been pushing hard for "religious liberty" laws to be passed, including in Oklahoma, Texas and South Carolina.

While I am almost supportive for the Kleins, I am more supportive for the same-sex couples who would be negatively affected if any "religious freedom" bill or action became remotely close to law.

When you own a business, you do own a bit of power over people's lives. Who is to say in the future, if these bills became law, a group of businesses wouldn't unite to keep same-sex couples out of their area by denying food service, places to live via rental properties, or what have you?

And where would the anti-gay groups who championed these "religious liberty" laws be when all of this would be taking place?

Who do you think would be advising these businesses behind the scenes?

'Anti-gay lawmakers want revenge for losing marriage equality fights' & other Monday midday news briefs

Alabama Lawmaker: Same-Sex Couples Don’t Deserve Same Financial Benefits As Other Families - Which is why the opposition has such a hard time formulating an argument against marriage equality which is not religious and not full of lies. They come across as mean as a rattlesnake with an attitude.

Anti-Gay Lawmakers Seek Revenge With Dangerous New Laws - That's what it's all about. Revenge and intimidation and neither will work.  

The 5 Worst Fears About Coming Out As LGBT Later In Life - This article is VERY APPROPRIATE. Often times when we think of coming out, we think of young folks. Coming out crosses all age groups. 

 This Homophobic Lawmaker Is Still Trying Ban Same-Sex Marriage In Hawaii - Or what happens when a Peter LaBarbera-ish person gets a legislative seat.

 Steph Grant Talks About Life As A Photographer For LGBT Weddings - This is awesome!

What Mike Huckabee didn't say about gays during the CNN interview . . .

Possible presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was on CNN yesterday pulling his "who, me?" routine regarding his "disagreement" with marriage equality and lgbts in general.  He even pulled the "I've got gay friends" card. No doubt his performance will make headlines from coast to coast:

What a pity that people will remember the above rather than the below clip in 2012 when Huckabee implied that gays should be kept out of the boy scouts for the sake of protecting the boys from abuse:

Luckily for Huckabee, he was able to pull off his subterfuge last night. Lucky for him. Unlucky for the rest of us.

'Marriage equality expected to boost Florida's economy' & other Friday midday news briefs

ExxonMobil Adds LGBT Protections - Lesson learned here. It took 17 years for this to happen and it finally did. Never give up. 

Gay Marriage Expected to Boost Local Economy - Money, money, money, money. MONEY! Good news from Florida.
 
Breaking: Sally Kern Withdraws Anti-Gay 'License To Discriminate' Bill - Unfortunately her two other bills, and Kern herself, remains in the legislature.  

FRC prays for judges, governors, legislators to ignore marriage equality rulings - Cause apparently praying for an ending to war, poverty, and disease aren't as important . . .  

Nick Teich's Story From The Let Love Define Family Series - A camp which helps our transgender and gender nonconforming children will always get support from me.  

When Fox News Defended Bryan Fischer’s Anti-Gay Extremism - You really don't think that we would forget, did you?

Family Research Council supports punishing clerks who follow the law on gay marriage

When it comes to these "religious freedom" bills, particularly involving clerks and government employees with regards to legal gay marriages, the Family Research Council's change of semantics is very telling.

On one hand, the group claims that marriage equality is dangerous because it pits a person's employment and livelihood against their religious beliefs:

"As more states are forced to redefine marriage, contrary to nature and directly in conflict with the will of millions, more Americans will see and experience attacks on their religious freedom.   . . .  As more and more people lose their livelihoods because they refuse to not just tolerate but celebrate same-sex marriage, Americans will see the true goal, which is for activists to use the Court to impose a redefinition of natural marriage on the entire nation." - October 16, 2014.

Yet when it comes to what we are beginning to see now - state legislators introducing bills to actually punish clerks and government employees for legally issuing same-sex marriage licenses, FRC isn't so concerned by people's livelihoods (emphasis on important part of FRC's statement added by me):

Where's the resistance to same-sex "marriage?" A better question might be: where isn't it? While the Left is busy telling the media that Americans have "moved on" from marriage, conservatives everywhere are proving them wrong. In several states, the backlash to the courts' overreach on marriage is sprouting up in legislative committees faster than reporters can cover them. Even the New York Times is finally admitting that the wave of opposition isn't subsiding in states where out-of-control judges swung their gavels like sledgehammers against voter-approved marriage laws.

By large numbers, leaders are firing back with all kinds of legislation to stop the spread of court-imposed same-sex "marriage" at their borders, including some bills that take aim at officials who act against the will of the people.

In Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, Republicans are moving quickly on measures that would penalize any government employee caught issuing same-sex "marriage" licenses -- regardless of the courts' orders. - January 30, 2015

Shouldn't FRC be as concerned for the freedom and livelihoods of employees who may actually want to issue same-sex marriage licenses in accordance to their beliefs or, at the very least, or want to follow the law.

Or perhaps this idea of "religious freedom" is yet another dodge perpetrated by FRC and other so-called morality groups. Perhaps this is about what it's always been about  - keeping the lgbt community under heel via the exploitation of fear and religious beliefs.

This idea of the preservation of "religious freedom" is merely the latest code phrase.

In the 70s, they claimed to stand against lgbt equality because they wanted to "protect the children."

In the 80s, it was all about exploiting the HIV/AIDS crisis.

In the 90s, they screamed about "special rights."

And in the years afterward, it was about "protecting the definition of marriage."

Now, it's all about religious freedom; the newest buzzword used to mask old prejudices.

This ado isn't about religious freedom any more than it was about "protecting the children" or stopping "special rights" or "saving marriage."

It's about the unfortunate special ability to wrap up old rotten prejudices in new clean packages and continue to sell them to America.

AFA retains Bryan Fischer and then sells him out . . . HARD

The "AFA's firing of Bryan Fischer" saga just took a strange turn today.

According to Right Wing Watch:

Bryan Fischer kicked off his radio program today by refuting reports that he had been fired by the American Family Association, explaining that he has simply given up his role as an official AFA spokesman while retaining his role as a daily radio host for AFA's radio outlet, American Family Radio. Fischer said that his designation as an AFA spokesman while he also served as a radio host was creating confusion and resulting in the personal opinions he expressed on the radio being unfairly attributed to the AFA. As such, Fischer will no longer serve as an official voice for AFA but will continue to spew his bigotry from the AFA's radio station

 But Fischer's explanation omits  a letter AFA sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center - a letter which will probably be forever known as the worst cover-your-ass letter in the history of mankind.

In this letter, AFA said in the name of "free speech," the organization allows Fischer to have a radio program on its network. And then the AFA proceeded to repudiate and rebuke several claims Fischer made, as well as any association to Fischer himself:

If the AFA thought this letter solved anything, the organization is sadly mistaken because not there are more questions the organizations need to answer. Most specifically, if AFA repudiates Fischer's statements, then why give him a platform to spew them in the first place?

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch and SPLC.

'Bryan Fischer has made AFA the 'Lady Macbeth' of the Religious Right' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Editor's note - Some who have been following the firing of AFA's Bryan Fischer have pointed out  that while he lost an official title with the group, he still retains his radio show, i.e. his platform where he spews the verbal venom which got him into trouble. This is true, but don't look at it as a negative. To me, it's like birthday cake with big scoop of ice cream. After years of denying and dodging, AFA has tacitly admitted the fact that Fischer's rhetoric is vile, HOWEVER  Fischer is too bullheaded and stupid to lessen up on it. In other words, the AFA and Fischer is caught in a hole and Fischer is insistent on digging that hole deeper. Works for me.

The AFA Cannot Wash Its Hands Of Bryan Fischer's Bigotry That Easily - You had better believe that, PARTICULARLY if any of us lgbt bloggers have anything to say about it. The American Family Association just become the Lady Macbeth (i.e. sleepwalking scene) of the Religious Right.

 Alabama Probate Judges Org. Backs Down, Advises Members To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses If Stay Is Lifted - Glad to see that the group is getting smart.  

Ford employee says he was fired for anti-gay remarks: "Homosexual behavior leads to death" - And he has filed a federal lawsuit, too. Good. I want to see how this plays out.  

Houston Fox Affiliate Peddles Transphobic Attack On Equal Rights Ordinance - We are continuing to have this same problem with this same Houston television station pushing the same transphobic lies. I doubt it is a coincidence.  

Iowa Gallery Stops Hosting Weddings To Avoid Serving Same-Sex Couples - Sorry to those who disagree but we are winning the right to marry fair and square. Some folks are trying to make us seem mean and uncompromising, but I got two problems with that. One - lgbts are compromised from the day we are born and especially when we realize how we are different from other little boys and girls. Second - in all of these "religious freedom controversies," no one on the other side has given us a solution as to how our needs can be accommodated if clerks don't want to marry us and we are refused service. The "you can just go somewhere else" argument is just damn rude.

Bryan Fischer fired from the AFA!

Bryan Fischer

Rachel Maddow has just reported the following:

Bryan Fischer has been fired from the American Family Association!

Details are sketchy and we don't know what the firing entails, but it looks like the entire incident has to do with a trip to Israel which would have included 60 members of the Republican National Convention scheduled from Jan. 31 to Feb. 8. The trip was going to be paid for by the American Family Association.

And the trip probably would have flown under the radar except for the watchful eye of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

According to Media Edge Network:

In a letter dated January 14 to RNC offices across the country, SPLC President Richard Cohen reminded RNC members of the AFA's extremism and its demonizing attacks on minorities.

"Given the AFA's public statements - including the false contention that gay men were responsible for the Holocaust, an idea undoubtedly offensive to Israelis - political leaders should not lend the prestige of their office to this event or to this organization," Cohen wrote.
 
Cohen's letter goes on to outline several of Bryan Fischer's (director of issue analysis and spokesman for the hate group) more outrageous anti-LGBT and racist statements including his support of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill and his statement that African Americans "rut like rabbits."

"Given that the disease of anti-Semitism is flaring throughout the world, we certainly understand your desire to show your commitment to Israel at this time," Cohen wrote to RNC members. "But accepting funding from an extremist group like the AFA would make a mockery of that commitment and legitimize its extremism."

According to the Israeli news agency Haaretz , of the 168 RNC members invited, more than one-third accepted.

Haaretz also notes that Fischer and Tim Wildmom, president of the AFA, as well as the group's external public relations representative, did not reply to multiple requests for their response to SPLC's statements.

However, according to Maddow, AFA did respond today:

 Maddow quoted AFA President Tim Wildmon as dismissing Fischer as “just a talk show host” who is no longer associated with the AFA. When asked specifically what bothered him about Fischer, he cited “the soundbite quotes, you know, the Hitler and the homosexuality one… we reject that.”

That would be a bizarre explanation by Wildmon, seeing that Fischer was, before today, AFA's Director of Issues Analysis. And as for AFA's "rejection of Fischer's rhetoric, just when did that begin? Fischer has been saying wildly inane things ever since he was hired by the organization (see video below)

In 2010, SPLC  designated the AFA and several other religious right organizations as hate groups due to their dehumanizing and bigoted rhetoric against the lgbt community.

In the case of the AFA, SPLC has on several occasions pinpointed the rhetoric of Fischer as a main reason why it considered AFA to be a hate group:

Since joining the AFA as director of issue analysis for government and public policy, Fischer has used the group's website and its radio network to promote outrageous and false claims about LGBT people, Muslims, Native Americans and African Americans. Despite Fischer's extreme views – like blaming gay men for the Holocaust, calling for the criminalization of homosexuality, and calling for the banning of Muslim immigration to the U.S. – prominent conservatives continue to appear on Fischer's radio show.

In this particular case, it is beginning to sound as if  SPLC was able to get the media in Israel buzzing about AFA and Fischer before the trip began, thus creating a possibly huge embarrassing incident not only for  anti-gay group but also the Republican National Convention.  And that may have been the thing which cost Fischer his job.

Headlines in several Jewish and  Israeli newspapers read as such:

US NGO: 'Hate group' funding Republican National Committee trip to Israel
  
GOP Israel trip funded by 'hate group,' watchdog says

 'Hate Group' Funds Republican Trip to Israel

Anti-Gay Group Funds US Politicians Visit to Israel


As I said before, details are very sketchy but until the entire story comes out, let's all take a look at the rhetoric of  one Bryan Fischer when he WAS employed by the American Family Association:



UPDATE - According to The New Civil Rights Movement, Fischer's replacement isn't any better:

But, and there are many buts, there is much more involved in this story, including the fact that Fischer's de facto replacement is David Lane, the head of the American Renewal Project, which is housed in and funded by the American Family Association.

Lane is so toxic that an op-ed he wrote for World Net Daily, the same site that regularly claims President Barack Obama is gay, was so offensive it was actually removed from the site.

Will the lgbt or mainstream media seriously tackle anti-gay propaganda before I reach the social security age?

It is my hope that one day in the not so distant future, the overall lgbt and mainstream media will take a look at the anti-gay propaganda spewed out by so-called morality groups and their spokespeople (i.e. the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage, etc)

. It is also my hope that the overall lgbt and mainstream media analyzes how this propaganda plays a major part in exploiting religious beliefs and justifying any action which designates lgbts as second-class citizens

Propaganda like this for example:

Or this:

Or this:

No matter how blatantly or subtle it's put out there, ugly propaganda about the lgbt community plays a huge role in galvanizing folks against us.  And it's time the lgbt community demanded serious attention paid to it in a manner which would put those organizations and spokespeople who uses it on the defensive (for a change).

Until that time comes, enjoy another look at my free booklet, How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right's War on Gay America. At the very least, it's a start.

If you cannot download it via the embed from Scribd, feel free to download your copy from here or here.

How They See Us by Alvin A. McEwen

'Anti-gay legislator Sally Kern defends her attacks on lgbt equality' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

'I Don’t Hate Anybody': Rep. Sally Kern Defends Her Three Latest Anti-Gay Bills (Video) - Sally Kern, the notoriously anti-gay Oklahoma legislator attempts to defend her three latest anti-gay bills. Her defense leaves me with only three explanations with regards to her homophobia  Either she is a religious right fembot - you know like the kind who fought the Bionic Woman in the 1970s tv series. Or at some point in her life, someone tied her down, held open her eye,s and made her watch those God-awful anti-gay "documentaries" they used to show in the 80s for a 24 hr period until she became totally indoctrinated by them. Or the safe and rational explanation. Kern is representative of the dangers of anti-gay propaganda in the hands of anyone with any shred of power over people's lives.

Organizers Of Gov. Jindal's Prayer Rally Retroactively Try To Cover Up Cindy Jacobs' Endorsement - And with this very quiet backslide which they hope no one will notice, the organizers of Bobby Jindal's recent prayer rally suffers a huge embarrassment.

 Rafael Cruz warns Christians: ‘God will hold you accountable’ if transgender people use public toilets - You know, I don't want to talk about anyone's father even if it is Sen. Ted Cruz (who I really can't stand in the first place) but DAMN!!!!  

Why The Mormon Church Deserves No Credit For Supporting LGBT Protections (At Least Not Yet) - The Mormon Church's possible change of attitude has been talked about for the last two days, but as the article notes, let's not be so quick to trust it as of yet. 

 Joel Grey Comes Out: 'Cabaret' Star Says 'I'm A Gay Man' At Age 82 - FINALLY! My gay ray hits a target I've been after! (Call me, Joel!)