Damn, these people have an insatiable need to feel victimized

Tim Gill

By now many of you have read Andy Kroll's June 23 piece in Rolling Stone about Tim Gill. Mr. Gill has spent a great deal of money financing LGBT equality. Gill, a Republican, is currently focused on the Bible  Belt. His goal is nondiscrimination protections in every state.

Among the more than 4,500 words in Kroll's piece are these 89 words that are driving the religious right over the cliff. (Keep in mind that they want to be driven over the cliff. Being victimized is part of the ethos):

Has Brian S. Brown just babbled his way into official "hate group" status for NOM?

The Southern Poverty Law Center has not designated National Organization for Marriage as a hate group. Yet, Brian S. Brown, NOM's leader, shared some thoughts with Kevin Fagan at the San Francisco Chronicle. Brown's utterances suggest that NOM now meets the hate group criteria.

Fagan wrote a beautiful piece about Army Captain Sage Fox who recently transitioned from male to female. Maj. Charles McGrue, Fox's commander, has the right approach: “No problem. Male, female, transgender, whatever — if you are capable of doing the job you’ve been assigned, that’s what matters. And Sage is great at her job.” So where is the problem?

Hate Group Takes a Large Economic Hit

Revenues for the years ended June 30, 2015 and 2016
Click on image to enlarge

I have the tax return for American Family Association for the year ended June 30, 2016. The hate group's revenues declined nearly 40% from the prior year. Contributions went from $27 million to $16 million and total revenues went from $30 million to $18 million. This represents the lowest amount of contributions received since the 2010 fiscal year.

Now were I a prick — the kind of guy who would claim that trans women are determined to sexually abuse young girls in Target's dressing rooms — I might say that prior year's revenues were 67% higher. That happens to be true but it's not the proper way to document economic change. Thus we settle for a 40% decline year over year.

The Hate Group Leader and the Bridal Boutique

Hate group leader Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) drones on about W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg, PA. (Victoria Miller, proprietor). In 2014 Miller was quoted as saying that providing wedding dresses for a lesbian couple would break God's law.

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 5:32

I am certain that Miller makes sure that she does not abet adultery. What's that? She doesn't have a qualification questionnaire to pre-approve who is eligible to shop at her tacky store? I would like to send in an obviously pregnant woman to see if Miller would take her money. Most of these self-righteous bigots apply their “logic” exclusively to gay people.

Two great minds on the same page

Elaine Donnelly and Peter LaBarbera

We can thank hate group, American Family Association for bringing together two hate group leaders to share their wisdom on Agent Orange's transphobic tweets. Peter LaBarbera (“Porno Pete”) and Elaine Donnelly (“Clueless”) explain all you need to know. The piece by AFA's Chad Groening (must they all have porn names?) is titled: “Trump spurred to act by generals, by facts.”

We will begin with Clueless:

AFA Loses in Connecticut - Is your state helping to fund the hate group?

Is your state helping to pay this hate group leader's salary?

SPLC informs us that “Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities Rules Against Anti-LGBT Hate Group in State Giving Campaign.” According to SPLC:

The comptroller’s office issued a press release on July 20 announcing the CCHRO’s ruling, which follows state comptroller Kevin Lembo’s request in January to the Connecticut State Employee Campaign Committee (CSECC) to remove [American Family Association] from its list of participating charitable organizations.

This issue first came to my attention last December.I have notified a number of progressive legislative leaders in other states that defer to a group called Neighbor to Nation.

Sec. Mattis is reportedly livid over Trump's transgender ban tweets

Apparently when Agent Orange said that he discussed the transgender service ban with “my generals” that did not include Secretary of Defense James Mattis who was on vacation.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

GuideStar files a motion to dismiss in Liberty Counsel action

The complete motion is "below the fold"

Liberty Counsel has sued GuideStar USA because GuideStar indicated that Liberty Counsel is designated a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center. As I noted last month GuideStar was truthful. SPLC does consider Liberty Counsel a hate group.

Without a client controlling expenses, Mat Staver, the hate group leader, is a vexatious litigant. This is the very definition of abuse of process and one of these days someone is going to be sufficiently pissed off to sue Liberty Counsel accordingly. LC is using the courts, with no chance of prevailing, in order to further a business objective.

God has spoken to me

Paul Strand - CBN

Paul Strand of Christian Broadcasting Network asks: “Why Do LGBT Rights Outweigh Our Religious Rights?.” I am instructed by God to answer that query. His word is: “They don't — dummy.”

What Mr. Strand seeks is Christian supremacy which is the source of Christian privilege. Mostly, he “just” wants the right to discriminate against people he disapproves of, regardless of applicable law.

Witherspoon Institute's Vomit Comet

Thursday, yet another anti-LGBT piece from the Opus Deist outlet.

Chad Felix Greene

The vomit comet is the aircraft that NASA uses to accustom new astronauts to the feeling of weightlessness. Witherspoon Institute's pretentious pseudo-intellectual blog, edit by Ryan T. Anderson, produces similar feelings. That brings me to Chad Felix Greene.

Chad Felix Greene claims to be a conservative gay Jew from West Virginia who is HIV+. Greene has a penchant for promoting his intellectual honesty — something that he shows little respect for. In the preface to a 2017 collection of essays, Greene gave much praise to Mike Cernovich (not always understood but a strong leader). Cernovich is the cynical troll who is responsible for the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and who accuses everyone he disagrees with of being a pedophile. In that same book is an essay titled Bruce Jenner is a Republican. Clearly Mr. Greene has a transphobia problem. Where is the intellectual honesty in that.

Hate Groups Praising Trump's Bigotry

Can these guys serve in the military?
They are all transgender men

Of course Brian S. Brown at National Organization for Marriage is taking some credit for Trump's decision to ban transgender service:

NOM has helped lead a nationwide grassroots movement to oppose the gender ideology of former President Obama and the left, which has attempted to force the transgender agenda on the military, public school children and all institutions of government. Recently, we helped mobilize a massive grassroots push back against 23 Republican members of the House of Representatives who opposed efforts to stop saddling taxpayers with the huge cost of sex changes surgeries and other treatments for transgendered people who join the military.

Conservative Christian parents in Mass. nuts over sexual diversity sex-ed

Last week the Massachusetts Senate passed S.2113, the Healthy Youth Act by a vote of 31-6. This was despite the best efforts of Republican Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr to derail the bill. Tarr tried to add a required parental opt-in to the bill. That amendment failed although parental opt-out is available. What seems to have gotten them very upset is this portion:

… (vi) age-appropriate information about gender identity and sexual orientation for all students, including affirmative recognition that people have different sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions and information about resources that offer support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students. Sexual health education may incorporate opportunities for students to analyze societal and media messages.

Agent Orange strikes again - by tweet of course

Donald Trump has declared, by tweet storm, that transgender individuals will not be permitted to serve in the military.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

A self-proclaimed leader of hate

Brian S. Brown has his hand out again and this time it is for International Organization for the Family which is actually World Congress of Families which is actually the Howard Center For Family Religion and Society which is actually just another anti-LGBT hate group. One day Brown's kids will be so proud.

Today's missive is titled “A Pizza A Month.” Mr. Brown looks like he eats lots of pizza. But I digress:

Dear Friend:

I want to update you on the tremendous opportunity we have this summer as a result of the $100,000 matching gift offer we've received. Every dollar we raise through the summer will be doubled thanks to this incredible offer! I am most excited that 52 people have accepted our request to become a Sustaining Member, pledging to make a modest contribution to IOF each month. The great news is that all those future monthly contributions for an entire year will be matched! All together, we will receive $705 per month so far which is nearly $8,500 on an annual basis. That's a great start, but I know we can do so much better!

Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado - Question Presented and briefing schedule

Alms for ADF on the counter at Masterpiece Cakeshop
I wonder if the ACLU or SPLC have donation cans

Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is the case of the Washington State baker (Jack Phillips) who declined to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding in defiance of the state's nondiscrimination law. I expect Colorado to prevail but the Question Presented Report is biased in favor of the baker which is as expected since it was written by Alliance Defending Freedom, Masterpiece's lawyers. The QP is undated but here is what it says:

Someone should inform this hate group leader that he looks like a fool

Once again, American Family Association's Tim Wildmon is furthering his silly and pointless Target crusade. The latest email is titled: “Avoid this store: Do your back-to-school shopping elsewhere.” If nothing else, Target's dividends are currently yielding nearly 5% and they have 49 consecutive years of raising its dividend. 11 days ago the company increased its earnings guidance due to “improved traffic and sales trends.”

Like a dog with a bone:

Deacon Jim Russell is Oh-So-Clever

Deacon Jim Russell

Were Deacon Jim Russell really intelligent and clever, he would get a real job and find other uses for his time. Yet Russell works for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and writes bigoted, ignorant and moronic anti-LGBT essays. Religious belief is no excuse for incivility.

The latest smear is titled: “Orthophobia and the Marginalized QTBGL Catholic.”

As I survey the current state of the Catholic Church, I believe I can no longer hold back. It is time for me to come out.

I am and have for some time identified as a member of the QTBGL community, and I need to explain why I call myself a QTBGL Catholic.

Katy Faust is Still Making Mischief

Ms. Faust, Circa 2015
The photo on her blog is around 1995 vintage

Katy Faust of Ask the Bigot fame has moved on to Them Before Us. Faust continues to be irrationally obsessed with devaluing same-sex parenting and reversing same-sex marriage. According to Faust, her parents divorced when she was about 11 years old. Her mother fell in love with another woman and they jointly raised Faust.

Faust once wrote: “My parents’ divorce has been the most traumatic event in my thirty-eight years of life.” She added that she would have given anything “to have my mom and my dad loving me under the same roof.” The fact that her mother is gay seems to be far less consequential than her parents' divorce but she wants to blame the gay. A conservative Christian, Faust is married to a Seattle pastor.

Medical College Re: Dr. Paul McHugh

This comes to us from Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. BCM is ranked 8th best in the country by US News (21st in research). The piece is titled “Alternative science: The importance of informed policymaking.”

The author is Cody Brannan. Brannan is a graduate student of Bioscience and Health Policy at Rice University interning with the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.

Brannan seems to politely call McHugh a quack while proving, once again, that there are a few sane people in Texas (who are greatly outnumbered by crazy people):

You’ve probably heard the phrase “alternative facts” by now. Suddenly, “alternative” is part of our vocabulary as a popular characterization for falsehoods that are portrayed as facts.

Judge finally confirms that hate group leader Mat Staver lost the Kim Davis case

Mat Staver, leader of Liberty Counsel, has been insisting that Kim Davis was the victor in her civil litigation. The matter is has now been resolved. Plaintiffs prevailed, Davis lost and  Kentucky must now pay attorneys fees in the amount of $224,000. Quoting from the New York Times:

But the plaintiffs in the case filed a motion for lawyers’ fees shortly thereafter; a magistrate judge later recommended that the court deny the plaintiffs’ motion for such fees.

But in his order, Judge Bunning rejected the magistrate’s recommendations, finding instead that the couples who had sued Ms. Davis had “prevailed” in the case, which entitled them to lawyers’ fees. He also found that the Commonwealth of Kentucky — not Ms. Davis or Rowan County — must pay them.

“In this case, the plaintiffs ‘prevailed by every measure of victory,’” Judge Bunning wrote. “Plaintiffs obtained marriage licenses that could not be revoked. And two of the plaintiff-couples married on those licenses. That is enduring relief.”

I am certain that Austin Ruse has a point to make - I just cannot figure out what that is

Austin Ruse, head of C-Fam (an SPLC designated hate group), has an opinion post in the Washington Examiner titled: “Two years after Obergefell, no land rush on gay marriage.” Doug Mainwaring made the same assertion based on the same Gallup numbers about a month ago. According to Ruse:

Where are all the gay weddings we were promised? Here we are two years after Obergefell, the case in which the Supreme Court imposed same-sex marriage on all 50 states, without restriction. At the time, we were told gays wanted nothing more than to be able to marry each other, just like their straight friends and neighbors. And yet, the needle on gay marriage has hardly moved.

"The Rainbow is Christian!" Who knew?

The folks behind Ark Encounter are now lighting their creation in rainbow colors at night. According to them:

The Ark is illuminated with rainbow colors in the evening as a testament to the true meaning of the rainbow. After the Flood, God designated the rainbow as the sign of His covenant to never again destroy the whole earth with water.

Hate Group and Michael Stokes Paulsen redefine religious liberty

Michael Stokes Paulsen is a bright, well educated guy and a professor at third-tier St. Thomas University School of Law in Minneapolis. In addition to his law degree, Paulsen has an M.A. from Yale Divinity School.

Paulsen is a guest lecturer at, and for, Family Research Council this afternoon. FRC is a hate group.

Today's seminar at Family Research Council is strictly amateur hour. Its title is “Four Objections to Religious Liberty … and Some Possible Answers.”

The Bishops and the Hate Group

Kellie Fiedorek, a “lawyer” with the hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom, has made a video for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is fitting in that Kellie Marie Fiedorek is a graduate of that tower of critical thinking — Ave Maria Law. Fiedorek has probably been in Catholic education since grammar school. That might explain why this little video is such an insidious bit of LGBT hate. She likely believes that gay people are “objectively disordered” and that gender dysphoria is a myth.

Presumably, the bishops are intentionally obfuscating the fact that Fiedorek works for a hate group. There is no mention of ADF anywhere. According to the bishops:

Poor, Poor ADF (Bringing in the Sheaves)

Hate group leader Michael Farris is attempting to exploit ADF's hate group designation. Alliance Defending Freedom is designated as an anti-LGBT hate group for good cause. Yet, on Thursday Farris sent out an email titled “Fighting the ‘hate’ label.” Now you might think that their choices are:

1. Factually dispute the designation as a hate group with Southern Poverty Law Center or;
2. Mend their ways. 

Instead, they have a different strategy:

Charges Against Ed Murray Are Not Representative of Anything

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

The anti-LGBT hate site, LifeSiteNews is running a post titled “Seattle’s homosexual mayor faces multiple child rape allegations.” Obviously, this has nothing to do with the Catholic Church or important news. The reason that LifeSiteNews is running this is to denigrate gay people. They are obsessed with gay people. LSN's tags on the piece are “homosexuality, rape, seattle mayor ed murray.” Their pernicious intent is to claim that gay men are child molesters. It is a call to stereotype. It is not true!

It is important to remember that these are allegations against Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle. Yet, even if true, what is the point? For example, quoting from the Washington Post regarding an incident that gained some notoriety:

An amusing dissertation on Satanism with some homophobia thrown in

“No Satanist ever called me a faggot.”

John Horvat II writes: “A Call to Protest the Growing Threat from Satanism.” It is an exposition of hypocrisy. Horvat is V.P. of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP). I generally describe TFP as a cult formed with the hypothetical marriage of Opus Dei to the John Birch Society. It has its origins in Central and South American dictatorships fighting agrarian reform; some quite brutally. Threat? TFP is un-American and neofascist and it has some ties to Nazis who emigrated to the Americas after World War II (on forged Red Cross passports facilitated by the Vatican).

LiMandri: I was right all along about same-sex marriage

Charles LiMandri excuses his bigotry with religious belief (he professes to be an ultra-conservative Catholic). LiMandri predicted that marriage equality would bring civil war to the United States. Gay marriage was always an end-of-world proposition. We are more than two years post-Obergefell and not much has happened in the way of revolt or the world coming to an end but that doesn't stop Charles LiMandri from claiming otherwise.

LiMandri's dipsie is titled: “Same-sex ‘marriage’: Religious right was right all along.” After some preliminaries with the usual rhetoric:

End-of-World, Part 1

AFA tries to intimidate with absurd threat to "primary" Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

American Family Association is a hate group. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (my Congress critter in Miami Beach) knows that AFA is a hate group. Ileana is a GOPer but she has a transgender son, Rodrigo.

Today's missive from hate group leader Tim Wildmon is titled: “Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen voted for sex changes in military.” That is not entirely accurate. She voted against an amendment to the Defense Authorization that would ban all treatment for gender dysphoria except for mental health care. That includes the service member's children.

David Benham tells a whopper

Not exactly the rocket science look

The Benham Brothers are not exactly the brightest bulbs. David Benham's latest story causes me to wonder if he measures intellect by his own shortcomings. According to the Brothers' latest piece titled “Former Lesbian Finds New Identity—in Christ:”

Last week, on the same day Eugene Peterson came out in favor of gay marriage—and later retracted —I (David) had a great conversation with a same-sex attracted young woman who came out of the lesbian lifestyle and surrendered her life to Jesus.

I am no great fan of Caitlyn Jenner but she deserves a fair measure of respect

Photo credit: Us Weekly

The headline at LifeSiteNews reads: “Transgender Republican Bruce Jenner may run for Senate, will push LGBT agenda.” LSN is a far-right Catholic outlet.

Doug Mainwaring, who wrote that headline, wants to ensure that readers know that he does not approve of Caitlyn Jenner. This imbecile is an openly gay man who should realize that the same people who he writes for don't approve of him. The fact that he returned to his ex-lesbian wife is irrelevant to them. The fact that he writes bigoted anti-LGBT pieces is irrelevant to them. At the end of the day, he is just one more homosexual.

No AFA - The Clintons did not murder someone and he was not about to testify against them

American Family Association, a certified hate group, has joined the conspiracy chorus of people claiming that the Clintons had someone murdered. According to Michael Haverluck at AFA's “news” blog: “Witness exposing Clinton Foundation found dead.” Haverluck, and seemingly hundreds of conspiracy theorists, have been parroting a piece at WND. WND, of course, was Birther Central for a number of years. It is essentially the conservative Christian version of the National Enquirer.

Conservative Catholic philosophers are in no position to determine medical truth

Despite some pretensions to the contrary, Witherspoon Institute remains a fundamentalist Catholic organization headed by an Opus Dei numerary. Monday, at Witherspoon's blog, Gerard T. Mundy writes: “Hiding from the Sun: Gender Ideology’s Attack on Truth.”

I cannot find Mundy's academic background. Suffice it to say, he is probably not a board certified psychiatrist. According to the post, “Gerard T. Mundy teaches philosophy at Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City.” Apparently Mundy was with St. Peter's University for about three years, presumably as an adjunct instructor. Given that truth is at issue, there was a link to his bio at the philosophy department. That link is gone.

Hate group leader having a meltdown over sane Republicans

“Hartzler's amendment would have prohibited the military health system from providing any treatment for gender dysphoria other than mental health counseling.”

Mat Staver is pissed. Come to think of it, Mat Staver, leader of Liberty Counsel, is perpetually pissed. This time it is because the House of Representatives rejected Amendment 10 to the 2018 National Defense Re-Authorization Act. The vote was 204 for and 219 opposed. Opponents included 24 Republicans. Apparently Staver thinks that Christians are entitled to all Republican votes (which is often the case).

I am a "Marriage Supporter" - From whom do I require protection?

Frank Schubert in 2008 pandering to the faithful
for Proposition H8 in California

It is a predictable pattern. Brian S. Brown sends out a gimme and a day or so later, Frank Schubert, forwards the same email to the same recipients with his own comments added. Schubert, who is still the “political director” of National Organization for Marriage is a staunch Defender of the Faith. I guess that if NOM gets enough cash and enough of a cause, Schubert's firm can get back on the food line. The subject of Schubert's email is “FW: 🚨Protect Marriage Supporters Now!” I have no idea what that little graphic on the subject line is supposed to be.

Mollie Hemingway added her usual BS to the ABC/ADF "story"

“Accurate reporting doesn't require Hemingway's approval. It would have been biased not to reference Alliance Defending Freedom's designation as a hate group.”

Mollie Hemingway, writer at The Federalist, has a spectacularly overrated intellect and a hallmark of her writing is intellectual dishonesty. Consider her post Thursday titled: “ABC News: Christians Who Believe In The First Amendment Are A ‘Hate Group’.” Did I mention that Hemingway is persistently intellectually dishonest?

No, Ms. Hemingway, this has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Christians who routinely denigrate and attempt to marginalize LGBT people are, indeed, a “Hate Group.” In this case that would be Alliance Defending Freedom. 

Alliance Defending Freedom attacks ABC for accurately referring to it as a "Hate Group"

ADF is demanding — demanding mind you — an apology from ABC News for referring to the organization as a hate group. They are also demanding that ABC retract the article. Jordyn Pair (whoever that might be) writes at The Federalist:

“Americans’ trust in media is cratering, and the blatant bias and lack of professionalism that ABC attempted to pass off as news can only serve to confirm and intensify that distrust,” said ADF Director of Communications Kerri Kupec.

A new argument from Michelle Cretella for a Catholic outlet

Michelle Cretella is on a crusade to convince people
that gender dysphoria does not exist

Thursday, at National Catholic Register, Marcia Segelstein writes “What if Your Child is “Gender Confused?” At the top of the piece is a photo of Jazz Jennings captioned “Jazz Jennings, a teenage boy who has gained fame for presenting himself as a female on his YouTube channel…” Segelstein's polemic is an interview with Michelle Cretella who a) is not currently a licensed physician and; b) has no expertise or experience treating pediatric gender dysphoria. Once people start writing about “confusion” you can be certain that their piece is religious dogma in contrast to anything remotely serious about human sexuality.

Mollie Hemingway has a rather odd headline

Mollie munching on a mic -
and apparently staying hydrated

Mollie Hemingway, who writes for The Federalist is one of those people whose intellect is grossly overrated. Today, she has a piece titled “Abortion Fanatics Don’t Want Choice, They Want Fewer Babies.” I am apparently one of those “fanatics” because I believe in reproductive choice. Hemingway's hyperbole is intellectually dishonest. More importantly, wanting fewer babies is, well … a choice. No?

Hate group boycott is good for business

Not really but Target (NYSE: TGT) shares were up sharply this morning after the company raised its profit and revenue outlook for the second quarter as more people shopped at its stores in April and May. Shares have advanced (as of mid-morning) about 4%.

American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group, takes credit for every challenge that Target has faced — mostly due to Americans' shift to online merchants. Therefore, they should take credit for more foot traffic in Target stores. I jest and they won't.

The Sprigg and Ex-Trans Crackpottery

Peter Sprigg of Family Research Council is jumping for joy late Wednesday because 15 people claim to be ex-trans. Besides being in the employ of a hate group, Sprigg is a Baptist minister, not a mental health worker.

First some image-of-God warm-up:

… our maleness or femaleness, and the complementarity of the two, is part of the “image of God” with which each of us is created by God. Linda Seiler, who struggled with gender identity issues growing up, said this means that “gender is sacred” and that “rejecting one’s God-given sex is rebelling against the Creator.” Speaker Nate Oyloe applied the concept to marriage, saying, “Divorce is the image of God, masculine and feminine, being torn apart.” Another speaker, who formerly lived a lesbian lifestyle and is now living a life of chastity, gave a personal testimony in which she declared, “I was born with a sinful and rebellious nature, but I was reborn in the imago dei (image of God).”

Lawyer who argued Obergefell is not concerned over Kennedy rumors

Just a quickie from one of my source publications:

Ropes & Gray's Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, who argued the historic gay marriage challenge in the Supreme Court, doesn't buy the fears that any successor to Justice Anthony Kennedy will jeopardize the Obergefell decision. “We now have hundreds of thousands of individuals acting in reliance on 'Obergefell.' And society has moved forward,” he says.

Brian S. Brown outlines an agenda

The email from Brian S. Brown, head of National Organization for Marriage, is titled “It's Time To Protect Marriage Supporters From Governmental Discrimination.” That of course indulges in the logical fallacy of begging the question. I qualify as a “marriage supporter” and there is no evidence that his constituency requires protection from the government. If anything they require protection from dishonest money-grubs.

AFA is going to be mighty pleased that Target announced a gender neutral back-to-school fashion line

I am just waiting to get the anti-LGBT missive this afternoon from American Family Association. It seems that their favorite Target has announced a back-to-school line of clothes that is gender neutral. I am quite certain that AFA will find some reason that Target's business decision is offensive to (some) Christians.

A cynical Trump exploits the Christian Right

Wednesday, the headline at CBN News reads “Faith Leaders Pray for Trump in Oval Office, Enjoy 'Open Door' at White House.”

About two dozen evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Monday during a day-long "listening session" with the Office of Public Liaison.

Johnnie Moore, a former senior vice-president at Liberty University, posted pictures of the prayer time Tuesday night on social media but emphasized that it was more than just a photo op.
[…]
Moore said faith leaders are enjoying frequent access to officials throughout the Trump administration and explained: "We enjoy an open door, not just in the Eisenhower Building, but in the West Wing."

Head of Russian Orthodox Church touts therapeutic value of exorcisms to treat mental illness

Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev)
Maybe he'll light that hat on fire

During a visit to a convent, Patriarch Kirill said that trained psychiatrists are sometimes confronted with mental illnesses that they are unable to scientifically explain. The Russian Orthodox Church has an app for that. Kirill went on to claim that exorcisms are quite valuable in the treatment of various forms of mental illness (apparently not the one that afflicts him).

Anti-trans is anti-LGBT - putting the entire community at risk

Attacking transgender people means attacking the science. It is thus an attack on the gay community as well.

The Crusades never really ended

Transgender people are now serving as a proxy for the religious conservatives' war on sexual diversity. North Carolina served as a perfect example of this phenomenon. When the state essentially outlawed trans kids, at the very same time they nullified all local LGBT nondiscrimination laws that offered some protections to gay people in some locales.

More importantly, they are going after all of our community's children as they relentlessly attack trans kids and their parents. At the same time they are attacking gay kids and kids who are being parented by gay couples. At the end of the day they are insisting that sexual orientation and sexual identity are a choice. At the moment they are doing so primarily through attacks on transgender children but we are all under siege.

Hilarious headline from LifeSiteNews

The staunch Defenders of the Faith at LifeSiteNews don't get satire or humor. If they did they would never run with this headline:

Here’s how one saintly pope would clean up gay orgies at the Vatican.

They go on to explain (the folks are LifeSiteNews are not big fans of Pope Francis):

The Vatican under Pope Francis has been completely silent after news recently broke of a high-ranking monsignor who was arrested some two months ago in the act of hosting a cocaine-fueled homosexual orgy in a building right next to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Oops. Later:

Questions that Jack Phillips should have been asked

The View: Paula Faris and Jack Phillips

Over the next six to nine months we can expect to hear much from Jack Phillips. Alliance Defending Freedom believes that his case can be won in the court of public opinion. In 2012, Phillips owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig in defiance of the state's nondiscrimination law.

In 2014 the Colorado Civil Rights Commission found Phillips guilty of discrimination. In August, 2015 the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the Commission's ruling. In April, 2016 the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. In July, 2016, Phillips appealed to the United States Supreme Court. A year later the Court agreed to hear the case.

Forget Atlantic Broadband

One more screw you to be incorporated into Google search and Google News. Bad enough that they have kept me on hold for over 30 minutes but they push an incessant stream of advertisements to me so that I cannot do anything else. They even blast ads in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish.

This coincides with their horribly distorted little ditty played over and over again. The ad stream is intentionally over-amped. If you turn it down you will not be able to hear if a human ever comes on line.

Heritage editor uses offensive Third Reich reference to smear GuideStar and SPLC

Ken McIntyre

As a Jew I find it highly offensive to compare relative trivialities to the Nazi extermination machine. An entire branch of my family literally went up in smoke. I don't know much about Ken McIntyre other than the fact that he is a senior editor of Heritage Foundation's blog, Daily Signal. I have written about him once before.

Monday, McIntyre has penned: “We Hear You: GuideStar, Parroting SPLC, Loses Way in ‘Hate Group’ Rhetoric.” I do not mean to suggest that GuideStar's work or the work of Southern Poverty Law Center is trivial. Not at all. It's just that no one will die or has died because GuideStar chose to include SPLC's hate group designation in its information.