NOM's Financial Desperation

NOM is emailing "send me your money" every few hours. They are claiming an anonymous donor who will match contributions    which are not tax deductible    dollar for dollar. Last year NOM had a shortfall of $1.1 million. Maybe they should give up fancy offices and large salaries instead of crying about liberal victimization. Then there is that pitch:

As you know, our opponents get huge checks from Hollywood celebrities or well-funded left-wing foundations. NOM counters with tens of thousands of small donations from supporters just like you, who sacrifice your time and money to defend marriage.

First of all, per their tax return, in 2010 just five donors combined to give NOM over $8.1 million. That's an average of over $1.6 million each. I thought that devout Christians took bearing false witness seriously. Silly me.

If we are able to take full advantage of the Year-End Million Dollar Match, we will have the sort of financial security and proof of grassroots support that will show the anti-marriage crowd that we are not going to roll over and allow marriage to be destroyed. It will send a strong message that we are ready to go toe-to-toe with the anti-marriage bullies all over America.

Aside from describing yet another big donor, portraying people who seek marriage equality     a civil right as "anti-marriage bullies" is just plain moronic. NOM had their chance, in a federal court of law, to produce evidence and witnesses to support their argument that marriage equality has a negative effect on marriage. They produced nothing, nada, zip, zero.

The reason that National Organization for Marriage cannot substantiate their claim that marriage equality adversely affects marriage is because it is a lie!

The simple fact is that NOM has become just one more religious right, anti-gay organization. "Defending marriage" is nothing more than a pretense to raise money. I know it; they know it and you know it.

Two Christian churches file suit in federal court to stop Hawaii civil unions

The plaintiffs are Emmanuel Temple, the House of Praise, and its pastor, Carl E. Harris, and Lighthouse Outreach Center Assembly of God, and its pastor, Joel Hunkin. They sued the state, Governor Abercrombie and state health director Loretta Fuddy.

Their claim is basically that civil unions will have a chilling effect on religious freedom. You can read their drivel in full here (PDF).

NOM: Wet Dreams and Nightmares

Last year, National Organization for Marriage managed to spend $1.1 million more than they took in. Gay hate is getting more expensive. Aside from bloated salaries and fancy offices, Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher managed to make some spectacularly boneheaded expenditures. NOM's misadventures continue this year in Iowa.

NOM is breathless over the apparent surge of Rick Santorum. Mr. frothy mix is NOM's wet dream for President. Meanwhile NOM has launched an expensive advertising campaign opposing Ron Paul. According to Brian Brown:

Quite frankly, Ron Paul is worse on marriage than even Barack Obama.

Personally, I think that Ron Paul is an antisemitic, racist, homophobic crackpot. He is also a reconstructionist Christian. To suggest that he is more supportive of marriage equality than Barack Obama is monumentally moronic. Paul supports DOMA. Paul's "offense" was to refuse to sign NOM's idiotic pledge. Among other things, the pledge first obligates the signer, as President, to champion a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman

First of all, amending the Constitution does not involve the President.  What is required is a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress and then ratification by three-fourths of the states (38). Since the Bill of Rights only 23 proposals have accomplished this. That NOM could be successful is highly improbable. In point of fact it would be nearly impossible.

Even more improbable than the pledged constitutional amendment is that either Paul or Santorum will be the GOP nominee. Let alone the next President of the United States. In the last cycle, Mike Huckabee won the Iowa Caucus. It is increasingly irrelevant.

Spending large sums to prevent Paul from winning the Iowa Caucus is astonishingly stupid. Nevertheless, it sure is fun to watch.

Related articles

• NOM is insolvent! (slowlyboiledfrog.com)
• National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown has Selective Memory (slowlyboiledfrog.com)

When will AP Finally Stop AFA From Altering Their Content?

In July of 2009 I was able to develop an email list of four or five AP officials in order to complain about alterations of content by American "Family" Association's OneNewsNow. It subsided for awhile. Today, there is this gem:

Here is what Andrew Welsh-Huggins really wrote. Needless to say, pro-homosexual indoctrination is not a phrase that he used:

For the record, Associated Press is a non-profit cooperative that is nominally owned  by its contributors. OneNewsNow is apparently a subscriber. Attributing content to AP that is not AP's is a violation of their service agreement.

THAT Photo; Just Because it Pisses "Them" Off

Yikes! Collective Amnesia Strikes Again

Tom Farr and Tim Shah, of Georgetown University's Religious Freedom Project provided a polemic in today's New York Times titled Religion in the Public Square. Therein they ask; Is religious freedom under threat in America today?

Towards the end of the piece, they write:

Which makes the effort to separate the religious and political threads in the American tapestry all the more dangerous. In 2010, the U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker invalidated a California ballot initiative for which millions of religiously motivated blacks and Latinos, among others, had voted on the same day they cast ballots for Barack Obama. The measure was Proposition 8, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The presence of religious arguments in the campaign led Judge Walker to assert that the "moral and religious views" underpinning the vote were not “rational,” rendering the measure unconstitutional.

The reason that Judge Walker invalidated Prop 8 is because proponents of the measure could not provide evidence or a witness to credibly explain what harm marriage equality poses to "traditional" marriage. The authors of this piece are confused. Judge Walker did not rule that religious views were not rational (I'll refrain from stating the obvious). "Rational" in this case refers to a rational basis review.  This constitutionality test requires that the governmental action be rationally related to a legitimate government interest. Moreover, the First Amendment requires that laws have a secular purpose.

Again, proponents of Prop 8 failed to define what legitimate state interest is served by Prop 8. Indeed, their own witness conceded that America would be better served by allowing same-sex marriage.

This is becoming rather tiresome. Religious liberty does not mean the right to trample on the civil rights of others. My grandmother, who kept a Kosher home, never tried to shut down the local pork store.


Freedom means that people are free to practice their religion     not impose it on others.

National Organization for Marriage's Brian Brown has Selective Memory

Judge Walker made the only decision that he could make in Perry v Schwarzenegger. For the same reason Walker's decision will be sustained on appeal.

• NOM did not lose this case because they were outspent. Their lead counsel is Charles Cooper who was named by The National Law Journal as one of the 10 best civil litigators in Washington.
• NOM did not lose this case because Judge Walker is gay. They knew that going in. In fact, there was a concern, based on prior decisions, that Walker, who is an extremely conservative jurist, would be inclined to favor  NOM/ProtectMarriage.com.

NOM lost this case because they could not produce a single witness who would support the necessary arguments:

1. That the state has a secular interest in denying gays the right to marry.
2. That same-sex marriage poses a threat or harm to traditional marriage.

When asked what harm is posed by same-sex marriage, Cooper said "I don't know." NOM's own witness asserted that we would be a better country with marriage equality. Denied all the hyperbole, in a court of law NOM has no valid argument. The reason is simple. NOM is opposed to marriage equality because it offends their ultra conservative Catholic ideology.

At this point, the record is what it is. Testimony is done. Evidence is finished. What's left is whether or not Judge Walker made a legal or procedural error.

Today, Brian Brown is asking for more money.

NOM: Thanks for the Reminder

In a blog post today, National Organization for Marriage reminds us that George W. Dent has an article in the November issue of Engage, the magazine of the Federalist Society. What NOM fails to mention is that Mark P. Strasser has an article in the same issue of Engage. Mr Strasser is a legal proponent of marriage equality. As we all know, Ted Olson is one of the founders of the Federalist Society.

Getting back to Mr. Dent, his article is titled Perry v. Schwarzenegger: Is Traditional Marriage Unconstitutional? He is asking a question that is intellectually dishonest. Loving v Virginia establishes that marriage    to the person of our choice     is a basic and fundamental civil right.

To obfuscate that ground, Mr. Dent asserts that Loving overturned the criminalization of interracial marriage while same-sex marriage in California is different:

Same-sex marriage is very different from the cases where the Court has recognized a right to marry. In Loving v. Virginia the Court overturned a law forbidding interracial marriage. However, California does not forbid homosexual marriage; it simply does not license it . . .

Florida Family Association has Threatened to Sue Me

Apparently, Mr. Caton is not fond of my calling his tax return into question. I filed a referral with the Internal Revenue Service on December 14. I am content to let them sort out whether or not Mr. Caton is using Florida Family Association as his personal tax shelter. In an email, purportedly from Caton, he writes:

Subject: Legal action

Dear Mr. Hart,

The information that you posted on slowlyboiledfrog.com regarding Florida Family Association, Inc. is patently false.  The language that you used in your email posted below is malicious.  Your malice coupled with libelous statements is legally actionable.

If you do not remove these libelous statements from slowlyboiledfrog.com the next time you hear from us will be by a deputy serving you with notice of a lawsuit.

Sincerely,
David Caton, President

What I find remarkable about all of this is that this nitwit runs a one-man hate factory spewing lies about gays, Muslims and whomever else he doesn't like. The hypocrisy is stunning. Needless to say, I am not terribly concerned.

Related articles

• FFA Cooks their Books? (slowlyboiledfrog.com)
• Florida "Family" Association now Targeting MTV (slowlyboiledfrog.com)

I am an "Anti-Marriage Radical"

In his latest "send-me-money," NOM's Brian Brown claims:

If we can take full advantage of this Year-End Million Dollar Match, we will enter 2012 ready to go toe-to-toe all across America with the anti-marriage radicals...taking the $782,111 we have already raised and strategically deploying it in preparation for early fights in the courts, over the airwaves, in the halls of power, and at the ballot box...and WIN.

Now I support marriage equality. In the real world that means that I support marriage. For example, I want the children of gay couples to have married parents (shouldn't a true conservative insist?).

In federal court, NOM failed to offer any argument that might support the notion that marriage equality has any effect on so-called "traditional marriage."

Exactly how marriage equality is either "anti-marriage" or "radical" shall remain one of the mysteries of fund raising. Were NOM more prudent with donated money they might not be insolvent. They had a negative net asset value as of their last IRS filing.

Brown continues:

With so much at stake in 2012 (marriage under fire in dozens of states, the legal case to uphold Prop 8 in California, a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act moving through the Senate, and the most important Presidential election for marriage ever), we MUST build on . . .

Even he must realize that NOM cannot solicit contributions that will be used, as implied, in the Presidential election. Moreover, the taxpayers are currently footing the DOMA legal bill.

Related articles

• De-constructing FRC's Marriage Mythology (slowlyboiledfrog.com)
• Brian Brown and NOM's Love For Adulterers and Child Abandoners (lezgetreal.com)

MRC: Anti-Gay "Bias Alert"

L. Brent the Third

Right wing political and religious extremist, L. Brent Bozell III, controls the dubiously named Media Research Center. Under the guise of countering liberal media bias^TM, Bozell spreads right wing propaganda. 

Today, one of Bozell's trolls    Brad Wilmouth    has authored an unfortunately named "bias alert" titled 
ABC and NBC Celebrate Anniversary of Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal. Therein, Mr. Wilmouth proceeds to document some of the coverage of the one year anniversary of repeal     none of which seems to prove much of anything other than the obvious which is that most of our troops don't care. They are professionals whose only expectation of fellow service members is that they do their job.

Among other things Wilmouth observes:

NBC correspondent Jim Maceda's report then focused on placing a positive spin on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

To "prove" his point, Wilmouth offers a transcript of Jim Maceda interviewing gay and straight soldiers for whom the repeal has been uneventful. So, all of these military personnel are guilty of spin as well? Perhaps, just maybe, nobody really cared in the first place which was the conclusion of most of the research and, ultimately, the service chiefs and former Secretary of Defense (Bush appointee) Robert Gates.

Then there is that kiss that is driving the mullahs to distraction:

Before running a full report touting the success of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a year ago, NBC anchor Brian Williams also featured the kiss.

In point of fact, Mr. Wilmouth, a year since the repeal of DADT (which had broad public support) the world has not ended. Nor have the armed services seen a massive reduction in re-enlistments. Indeed, the most skeptical of the service chiefs, General Amos of the Marine Corps has conceded that the repeal has been uneventful.

The only bias that I can detect is Mr. Wilmouth's obvious homophobia. He, and others, are insulting the professionalism and patriotism of our service members.

Related articles

• General James Amos, Once a Fierce Opponent to 'DADT' Repeal, Welcomes Gay Couples to the Marine Ball: LISTEN (towleroad.com)
• The kiss that is driving the fundies BONKERS! (The Slowly Boiled Frog)  

Meet Karla Dial - Christian Fundamentalist

Karla Dial "writes" for Focus on the "Family" Citizen Link which gives her the opportunity to display her rather mediocre intellect     honed at the mediocre New Mexico State University.

The best advice I can offer anyone is that whatever you do, do your best. Give your heart to the Lord, and let Him orchestrate your steps—and then stand back and watch as He creates art out of your life.

Apparently, her own advice not only didn't work for her but managed to obliterate whatever intellectual curiosity that she might have once had. But I digress.

Call equal rights for LGBT people special rights and you'll hear from me!

The kiss that is driving the fundies BONKERS!

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, left, kisses her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2011. It's a tradition at Navy homecomings that one sailor is chosen by raffle to be first off the ship to kiss a loved one. Wednesday, for the first time, the reunited couple was same-sex. (Brian Clark | The Virginian-Pilot)

Happy Holidays from Narth!

The nitwits at NARTH just sent out the following email blast:

They may destroy countless young gay lives while giving their parents knowingly false information but darned if they are not going to be civil and joyful! So happy holidays to you at NARTH. Have a George Rekers special on me as you wipe blood off of your hands.

Maybe these cretins can make a 2012 resolution to fold their putrid tent.

Re-Connected to the World

. . . and this blog. My laptop died (47 days after warranty expiration)     it breathes but the display is comatose. Dell offered to sell me a replacement part for more money than the laptop originally cost. Figures.

A brand new Acer arrived late yesterday. It features a quad-core Intel i5 and a sparkling display which can even be connected to my HDTV. Even an old fart like me loves a new toy.

Peter LaBarbera's War on Civilization

The RSS teaser to an article in OneNewsNow begins; 

A pro-family advocate is explaining what the nation's largest homosexual activist group requires of the companies it praises in its buyer's guide.

They are, of course, referring to Peter LaBarbera     Christian warrior. "Pro-family?" Undoubtedly, only a few decades ago, the same Christian fundamentalists would have described a segregationist as "pro-family." The self-aggrandizing term was as meaningless then as it is now because "family" is a diverse concept. It includes the single parent with his or her children. It  also includes same-sex couples, perhaps with children. "Family" is a construct that Mr. LaBarbera does not get to define. But I digress.

Fox is so fucked

As Media Matters points out, Fox staff seem to have a real problem reading and rendering maps!

Who moved Nevada and why?














Where is Egypt?















Bernie Sanders must be so pissed!

Teachers, Youth Pastors Face Child Sex Charges

Oh those heterosexuals. We should lock them all up and throw away the keys.

December 14, 2011: POLK COUNTY, Fla.     Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrests of three men who work with children and are accused of having sex with minors.

Deputies say a coach and teacher is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student. The man coaches football at George Jenkins High School.

A middle school teacher is accused of performing lewd and lascivious acts with a 13-year-old student. Deputies said he also became a youth pastor at the girl's church and continues to molest her.

In an unrelated case, another youth pastor at the same church is also accused of lewd and lascivious acts against the same 13-year-old girl.

FFA Cooks their Books?

Update: A referral (complaint) was emailed to the IRS at 1:00 EST this afternoon.

Gay bashing is expensive but not this expensive. For 2010, Florida Family Association claimed revenues (contributions) of $172,140. Out of that, they paid David Caton's salary and benefits of $59,423. Then there is a line item of $86,550 for printing, publications, postage and shipping. There is nothing on their website to suggest that they printed, published or shipped anything     much lest $86 thousand worth. Then there are other expenses totaling $32,277. That's almost $120,000 of expenses for a one-person operation that he might operate out of his home.

Caton had another for-profit business out of the same space (the now defunct Florida Fishing Report). Even if he used FFA funds, it amounts to pennies. FFA also owns another domain, cleanuptv.net which they haven't done anything with.

I ran a 200-employee not-for-profit. It looks to me like Caton is stealing; running FFA as his own private tax shelter. In other words, Caton paid taxes on a $52K base but, in reality, was earning well into six figures     funded by donors who received a tax deduction. Only Caton knows for sure. Most small not-for-profits have some, let's call them, "executive refinements." This looks like wholesale looting. I'll make a referral to the IRS and let them sort it out.

Related articles

• Florida Family Association- One Man Hate Group (lezgetreal.com)

Florida "Family" Association now Targeting MTV

Who are these crazy people?

According to American "Family" Association's OneNewsNow, the Florida "Family" Association is taking on more "pro-'gay' advertisers"     scare quotes and all. You may recall that these are the unglued Christian fanatics who persuaded Lowes to withdraw advertising on a show that was too "Islamic" for their tastes.

Their David Caton is now pissed off at MTV's TeenNick. According to Caton:

It has content that is very extraordinarily explicit towards transgender and homosexual lifestyles . . . It often has promotions on there that direct teens to organizations that will encourage them to embrace and accept the transgender or homosexual lifestyle, particularly TheTrevorHelpline.org     a website that describes itself as "a free and confidential service that's open for gay and questioning youth," and claims to be "saving lives" by encouraging confused kids to "be proud of who you are."

I didn't know that anything could be "very extraordinarily" but the fact that anyone would listen to these nuts is just insane. I can save the lengthy polemic. This boils down to two provably wrong assumptions:

1. Sexual orientation is a choice and;
2. It is somehow contagious

 I wonder just how much contact is required to catch "the gay." Is the contagion airborne? Ugh!

Related articles

• Florida group in Lowe's flap has history of protests (mercurynews.com)

NOM Citing "Bad Catholic" Again

Once again, NOM is citing the Bad Catholic blog at patheos. This is the same idiot (Marc Barnes) who lacked sufficient intellectual curiosity to realize that the "research" of Paul Cameron was double-a crackpottery. This time around, Barnes is sharing his view of moral relativism; a theme often used by Matt Barber and other fundamentalists. Apparently we are to believe that human adaptation to circumstances, environment, progress and other variables is a bad thing. Removing these pesky abstractions leaves things just as fundamentalists prefer - simplistic.

It is quite obvious that Mr. Barnes does not understand the concept. He begins by offering a false choice of too many rules or no rules. Not surprisingly, Barnes then concludes that there is only one path; one rule:

The good news — really, the only Gospel worth preaching — is that Christ restored the game. Anyone can play, if they so desire. He stripped away the thousands of rules, and gave us back the One Good Rule. He is the voice crying out in the wilderness, “The asphalt is lava!” He has found the lost sheep; the adventure of childhood. St. Augustine summed up his One Rule better than any one else: “Love God, and do what you want.”

The "one true path" has been the claim of every huckster in history. Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon have claimed this monopoly on wisdom.

The sheer arrogance of some Christian fundamentalists is appalling. Hindu, Hebrew and Greek philosophers have a few thousand years on Christianity.  In Barnes' simplistic world, we are to dismiss, as irrelevant, what came  before a radical Jewish rabbi was crucified. Sure.

Townhall.com: "When Will Discrimination Against Christians be Banned?"

Townhall.com offers a December 13, 2011 column written by Benjamin Bull (who might be the attorney with Alliance Defense Fund with the same name). Therein, Mr. Bull complains that the President preferences gays over Christians which, of course, is utter nonsense. I would also remind Mr. Bull that most gays are Christians. Mr. Bull begins:

On Dec. 6, the White House released a memorandum instructing the heads of U.S. executive departments and agencies abroad to join in the “struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons” around the world.

OK. Townhall gets that part correct.

With all due respect to the president, perhaps this is an all-too-obvious attempt to garner votes from a group that wasn’t that impressed with his performance until he successfully imposed homosexual behavior on the military earlier this year. Yet while he’s doing his best to appeal to that group, Christians around the world continue to be persecuted—to be hunted like animals, then tortured and killed when captured—yet we are still awaiting a serious White House memorandum on their behalf.

That's where these folks always lose it. They are incapable of simply stating the truth that Congress (with wide approval of the general public) eliminated DADT. Far from "imposing" a sexual orientation on the military (I'm not exactly sure what that means), the President and the Secretary of Defense ensured that the repeal was done with minimal disruption. According to those "pro-gay, lilly livered liberals" that comprise the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the repeal of DADT has been uneventful.

Furthermore, the LGBT community was far from dissatisfied with the Obama administration. Those who might have been, received a sobering reality check from the unhinged crazies who represent the potential nominees of the Republican Party. What? We are going to vote for the likes of Gingrich? His own gay sister says that she will not vote for him.

I am sure that Christians (and Jews) are persecuted in many countries. However, I am unaware of any country that makes being a Christian a crime (there are some countries that make it illegal to convert to Christianity), let alone one punishable by death.

76 countries criminalize homosexuality. Five of those provide a death penalty for being gay.

What is it that is so hard for Mr. Bull to understand?

Related articles

• Marine General Amos Now OK with DADT Repeal (bilerico.com)
• US ready to push for gay rights abroad (smh.com.au)

NOM is insolvent!

Gay bashing is getting expensive. For the year ended 12/31/2010, NOM is showing a net asset value (net worth) to the tune of -$1,191,164! In other words, they  have debt exceeding assets in the amount of $1.2 million. In spite of that, they paid out relatively generous salaries:

• $152,500 to Maggie Gallagher
• $212,500 to Brian Brown
• $116,667 to Jennifer Morse

They also gave back $150,000 to Robert George's American Principles Project which is the front group for a bevy of anti-gay, Tea Party and fundamentalist activities of Maggie Gallagher and Robert George.

They provided another $200,000 to their California PAC; presumably to influence the 2010 elections. Oh and they are showing about $300,000 in legal fees. Most of that probably went to Prop 8 - which they lost. That doesn't include any of the sums paid to attorneys for the appeal.

Moreover, they have accrued a considerable amount of accounts payable. It looks like they haven't been paying vendors for all of those advertising smears.

As others have pointed out, they have a very high concentration of big donors. They are showing individual contributions of $2,940,000; $3,416,000; $750,000; $600,000 and $400,000. Other donations over $5,000 total over $300,000. 22 large donors provided NOM with 85% of its total receipts.

Check Out the Westboro Idiot's T-Shirt!

Could this cretin possibly be more clueless?

h/t Huffington Post

NOM Lies and Distorts - Again

This has become a habit. National Organization for Marriage breathlessly shouts:

PPP Poll: Almost 60% in North Carolina Say They Will Support Marriage Amendment

Not exactly. Check out the polling sample:

"Likely primary voters" would be the most radical right wing Republicans. Hardy "60% in North Carolina."

Maggie, Robby & the Tea Party - Yahooie!

I just stumbled upon this today. It turns out that Robert George's American Principles Project has yet another Internet domain; TeaPartySocialNews.com     which points to the Maggie Report. I am not surprised that they are increasingly becoming Tea Baggers given their gold standard fetish.

Registrant:
   American Principles in Action
   1100 H St, NW
   Suite 700
   Washington, District of Columbia 20005
   United States

   Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
   Domain Name: TEAPARTYSOCIALNEWS.COM
   Created on: 08-Jun-11

Related articles

• What is Robert George Up To? (slowlyboiledfrog.com)

A puffy Newt's puffery

Newt Gingrich has made the following pledge:

As President, I will vigorously enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, which was enacted under my leadership as Speaker of the House, and ensure compliance with its provisions, especially in the military. I will also aggressively defend the constitutionality of DOMA in federal and state courts. I will support sending a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the states for ratification. I will also oppose any judicial, bureaucratic, or legislative effort to define marriage in any manner other than as between one man and one woman. I will support all efforts to reform promptly any uneconomic or anti-marriage aspects of welfare and tax policy.

I also pledge to uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others.

 Sure Newt, Sure.

Do heterosexuals somehow give license to men who have sex with female children?

I give Peter Heck a tad more credit than the average Christian polemicist. He is better educated and more intellectually honest than most of his peers. Nevertheless, many of those same Christians seem to want to conflate gays with pedophiles; making hay of the furor following the Sandusky debacle. In an article in OneNewsNow, Mr. Heck asks an important question. First he stipulates:

Let me clarify this point: I am not suggesting that homosexuality and pedophilia are equivalent. They are not. Nor do I believe that they should be treated identically under the criminal law. Homosexual participants are typically consenting adults, while pedophilia usually involves an unwilling and victimized child. Therefore, child molesting involves a degree of sexual abuse that homosexuality does not encompass.

I wish that Mr. Heck would call people what they choose to be called. In this case, it is "gay" in contrast to "homosexual." When he says that gays and pedophiles should not be treated identically under the [sic] criminal law, I hope that he means that homosexuality is not a criminal offense. Then I run into more serious problems:

Brian Brown as Don Quixote

He's at it again! One of these days, NOM's Brian Brown will realize that marriage equality is a) a done deal in New York and; b) inevitable nationwide. Until then, Brian will tilt at windmills.

Brian has suddenly come to the realization that, from time to time (though very rarely), New York amends it's constitution.  He has seen an article in the New York Daily News about a potential amendment going to the ballot to allow casino gambling in New York.

Eureka Maggie! Eureka Robby! We can do that too! Eureka, eureka, eureka. Let the people decide civil rights! Eureka, eureka, eureka!

Calm down Brian. It's not going to happen. First of all, a proposed amendment goes to the Attorney General for guidance. Right now, a federal court has determined that such amendments are unconstitutional. Then, both houses of the NY State legislature have to agree to the amendment in two successive sessions. It might even be close in the State Senate but marriage equality has overwhelming support in the State Assembly.

Poor Brian. It's not his fault that his intellectual curiosity and dependent critical thinking are at the same level as a gold fish.

Related articles

• Brian Brown's Continuing Hissy Fit (slowlyboiledfrog.com)
• NOM's New York State of Mindless Obsession (slowlyboiledfrog.com)
• Brian Brown Unglued (slowlyboiledfrog.com)

2011: A good year to be gay - unless you were a beaten down kid

Aaron Hicklin, Editor of Out Magazine, wrote a piece in the Guardian about how things have changed for the better for gay people. That may be true unless you were a bullied gay teen. Advances in marriage equality and the repeal of DADT don't mean much if you are considering suicide.

We need to remember that our children are still murdering themselves at three times the rate of their heterosexual peers. These kids are some of the most courageous people on the planet. Every day they go to school knowing that they will be taunted, ridiculed and even physically assaulted. Imagine if adults faced similar circumstances in their workplace.

The missing piece is education.

In too many schools, we still have adults, including teachers, counselors and principals, who are enablers and even instigators. It is ignorant parents who create the little monsters who are bullying and, essentially, murdering our children.

Idiots like Rick Perry, who condone anti-gay bigotry, don't help. In fundie-land cretins like Bryan Fischer (American "Family" Association's spokesbigot) claim that gay youngsters kill themselves because they know that being gay is wrong. Parents hear that crap and some believe that crap. Other things that parents hear and believe    that make things worse    are that their Tommy or Jane is misbehaving and that their behavior can be changed.

Parents are still marching their youngsters to quacks like Marcus Bachmann. They expect their kids to be "fixed." It's the parents that need to be fixed and the kids need to know that.

So yes, Aaron, I think it's great that DADT was repealed and marriage equality came to New York. Mr. Olson and Mr. Boies have done a tremendous job on Prop 8. The Trevor Project, GLSEN and GLAAD have all done great work in 2011. I just think it's important that we don't forget about these children.

Related articles

• 2011: A good year to be gay (guardian.co.uk)
• Pat Buchanan: Marriage Equality Is 'Absurd,' DADT Repeal 'Indoctrinates' Soldiers (thinkprogress.org)

By all means - Make it easier to buy WMD in Florida!

I, for one, am simply thrilled that a loaded pistol was not brought to elementary school to harm someone. Gee, let's give the kid's parents some sort of award for creative Show-and-Tell. How many children in Florida have imbeciles for parents who have an unsecured hand gun? What happens if the kid gets really pissed off?

The gun fetishists have made it virtually impossible to control weapons of mass destruction in people's homes. Pandering politicians empower the fetishists.

Police are investigating after a Florida student brought a loaded handgun to his elementary school. According to a spokeswoman, administrators at Dinsmore Elementary School in Jacksonville were notified by another student before classes Friday morning about the gun.

The gun was immediately confiscated. No injuries were reported.
The Florida Times Union reported  that an initial investigation found that the gun was not taken to the school “to do any harm.” The student will receive “appropriate disciplinary action.” Meanwhile, the school district’s police department is investigating.

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LC Has a New Victim to Trot Around

A few days ago, I wrote about Natalie Johnson. Johnson is the fundamentalist who was terminated by Macy's after a manager told her to comply with company policy and she refused. The company policy that caused Ms. Johnson so much distress was Macy's allowance of transgender individuals to use whichever dressing room they prefer.

It's not like people are running around naked in the dressing room areas. 

Were that the case, I would spend considerably more time at the South Beach store just off Lincoln Road. But I digress. The fact that his woman had some notion that her "Christian beliefs" would be compromised is simply ludicrous. Either this woman is spectacularly stupid or; She wanted to get fired or; She was a plant.

Anyhow, shock - shock, Ms. Johnson is becoming a celebrity among the usual suspects. Liberty Counsel informs us:

Join Mat Staver and Natalie Johnson on America’s News HQ: Fox News Channel on Sunday Dec. 11, between noon and 1:00 p.m. to discuss Macy’s policy that allows men to use women’s fitting rooms.

Personally, I am breathless in anticipation of this event. Ugh!

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Not surprisingly, Tony Perkins has a smooch for Rick Perry

I read this crap so that you don't have to. Unsurprisingly, hate group leader, Tony Perkins is thrilled with Perry's widely denounced anti-gay campaign ad.

Santorum is Irrelevant; The talking point lives on

While stumping in Iowa this week, a 23-year-old graduate of Dordt College challenged the former Pennsylvania senator to show any harm gay marriage would cause.

In response, Santorum claimed that, if gays marry, schools will teach young students that homosexual sexual activity must be “seen as equal” to heterosexuality. He predicted, “you are going to have . . . spread throughout our curriculum a worldview that is fundamentally different than what is taught in schools today . . . What is going to be taught to our children…even to little children” about the definition of “married couples [or] what families look like in America?” he asked.

Not surprisingly, Santorum is unoriginal. This bit of cognitive dissonance is from the warped mind of Frank Schubert, the Prop 8 campaign manager.  It is painfully effective as an extension to the theme that gays pose a threat to children. I am sure that some numb-skull in the mid-20th century came up with a similarly contrived argument in opposition to interracial marriage.

This conveys the notion of gay sex being taught like gymnastics instruction to children. That is just preposterous. It is a lie. That children will be taught that gay marriage is the equivalent of heterosexual marriage is partially true. So what?

Children already go to school with other children being raised by same-sex couples. Married or not, those families exist regardless of how much Santorum would prefer that they not exist. Indeed, up to half of a child's peers in school are being raised by a single parent. Divorce is a fact of life as well.

Santorum and others of his ilk forget that, while Norman Rockwell was painting the image below left, he was also painting the image to the right. The America that they yearn to return to was imperfect. Just as it is imperfect today. All that we can do is to try to make it better. Mr. Santorum?

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