Small Minds and Big Mouths

Dr. Blowhard is in!

Image: Public Domain

According to an article in the Christian Post, Doctors speak out: Lupron and the 'diabolical' push to sterilize, gender-transition confused kids.

Apparently, one of those doctors used the word diabolical (it is in quotes in the headline) to describe a medical intervention which is consistent with the overwhelming scientific consensus for the treatment of severe pediatric gender dysphoria. One might also think, from the headline, that physicians who conform to the science are deliberately trying to sterilize gender dysphoric children. I have seen no evidence that puberty blockers cause sterilization and certainly no doctor intends for that to occur.

Jennifer Roback Morse exploits an 11-year-old

“The truth is that Morse doesn't give a crap about Desmond. She is intent on blaming the LGBTQ community for something that is blameless.”

Hate group leader Jennifer Roback Morse

Image: YouTube

Jennifer Roback Morse, leader of Ruth Institute, an anti-LGBT hate group, has penned: Stop Exploiting Desmond: A Challenge to the ‘LGBTQ’ Community. Every fundamentalist Catholic blowhard seems to feel compelled to voice their disapproval of “drag kid” Desmond is Amazing. Enough! It is these odious shame machines who are exploiting Desmond.

Before I get into this, Morse cannot explain her disapproval but I think that she is confusing drag with transgender (as you will see). Although, I am reminded that in 1431 the Church burned 17-year-old Joan of Arc for dressing as a man so there is some historical consistency. Right? Now is a good time to state that the majority of Catholics do not share Morse's sentiments.

America's Second Oldest Women's College Accepting Trans Students

Photo: Stephens College/Columbia Business Times

Stephens College in Columbia, MO was founded in 1833. It is America's second oldest women's college in continuous operation. (The oldest — I knew you would ask — is Salem College in North Carolina, founded in 1772.) According to an FAQ that the college posted:

What is the College’s updated admissions policy?
Stephens College has recommitted to its singular mission of educating women. Consistent with our culture’s expanding understanding of the definition of womanhood, the College’s admissions policy will recognize both sex and gender identity in its determination of a student’s eligibility for admission and enrollment.

Speaking of grifters, there is the ever-present Brian S. Brown

Thursday, National Organization for Marriage continues to mislead potential donors. I am in the process of attempting to reconcile NOM's 2017 supposed “matching grants” with the 2017 tax return. It is going to take some time but matching grants are a scam. The money being donated is not contingent on the donations of others.

Brian S. Brown will say just about anything to raise money. Thursday's missive is titled Don't let us fail. I hate to be the one to break it to you Bri but NOM failed 3½ years ago with the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. It was inevitable after the Windsor ruling in 2013. Windsor eradicated NOM's only victory, Prop 8. Before that, in 2012, gays ran the table at the ballot box.

Mr. Brown has a very short (and selective) memory:

Just a common grifter

This sad little man is obsessed with the notion that he is an arbiter of morality.

Image: Christian Strain

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality sent out an email heralding his “accomplishments” and also his victimization at the hands of those contemptible homosexuals. LaBarbera has his hand out asking for money. Who could pass up the opportunity to finance a hate group?

…we at Americans For Truth keep on doing exactly what the LGBTQueer Lobby is trying to stop us from doing: speaking out in the media against a nefarious and revolutionary sexual agenda that threatens to silence Christian conservative speech even as it corrupts the hearts and minds of young children.

Returning Thursday, December 27

Before you accuse people, Dr. Cretella ...

Former pediatrician and hate group leader Michelle Cretella - American College of Pediatricians.

Image via YouTube

Michelle Cretella, executive director of American College of Pediatricians, an anti-LGBT hate group, has accused the parents of Desmond Napoles (drag kid, Desmond is Amazing) of child abuse and neglect. She has presented this as a professional opinion.

Cretella has no first-hand knowledge of events, she has never met Desmond, she has made no effort to contact his parents and she has no evidence to support her allegations. Hers is highly irresponsible commentary without any foundation. Cretella is often indifferent to the truth.

Sprigg explains why we are not entitled to protection from discrimination

“In publishing this manifesto, Family Research Council forfeits any right to argue that they are not a hate group.”

Image: Newsmax

Discipline is required on my part to refer to Peter Sprigg without inserting my preferred middle name for the anti-LGBT bigot. Peter Sprigg has authored a pretentious Issue Brief for his employer, Family Research Council (an anti-LGBT hate group). The title of Sprigg's gush is: Why “Sexual Orientation” and “Gender Identity”Should Never Be Specially Protected Categories Under the Law.

The correct term is not “category” but protected class. Either a group is or is not a protected class. There is no such thing as a “specially” protected class. Sprigg does not author much in the way of ingenuity or originality to support his contentions:

Ohio's governor adds gender identity protections - Fundamentalists are PISSED!

Aaron Baer, president of Ohio's Citizens for Community Values, thinks that his anti-LGBTQ bigotry should be official state policy.

Image via CCV

On Wednesday, Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio signed Executive Order 2018-12K. The order prohibits employment discrimination is state government. What upsets the conservative Christians is the inclusion of “gender identity or expression” as a protected class. They are just fine with protections based on religion but feel that government employees should be able to discriminate against people they disapprove of.

Citizens for Community Values issues a statement:

ADF: "Was Jack set up?"

Apparently the American dream is a right to discriminate against people one disapproves of - all neatly cloaked in scripture. LGBTQ people are denied their American dream for equality.

Image: ADF email

Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBT hate group, asks if Jack Phillips was “set up?”

Jack’s cakeshop in Colorado—Masterpiece Cakeshop—received a phone call. It wasn’t from a fan congratulating Jack about the [Supreme Court] news or a reporter calling for an interview. It was a call from a local attorney and LGBT activist.

The attorney called to request a custom cake designed with a pink interior and a blue exterior to reflect and celebrate a gender transition.

Midweek gender sophistry

I am reliably informed that Cathy Ruse is a smart and very nice woman. But she does work for a hate group (Family Research Council). Today she writes: Parents Beware of Puberty-Blocker Propaganda. “Propaganda” suggests that people are trying to convince others of something that is not true.

What we know about puberty blockers in the treatment of gender dysphoric children is that they give the kid and parents some time to sort things out and that they are fully reversible. This information comes not from LGBTQ activists but from the people who treat children with gender dysphoria.

Comparing gender-affirming surgery to castrati

Anthony Esolen is a smart guy but intellectually dishonest

Image: Nat'l Catholic Register

Wednesday, Anthony Esolen — an irrational Catholic fundamentalist — writes: Some Men Are Born Eunuchs . . .. A castrato is a male with a singing voice equivalent to a medium-high mezzo soprano female (think Cecilia Bartoli). The effect was obtained through castration of the boy prior to puberty. Esolen correctly notes:

The last castrato to sing professionally, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922. It is not known whether he was castrated as a boy to preserve his voice or to remedy an inguinal hernia. A poor recording of his singing survives. His voice was a thready soprano, not the kind of thing for which even a partisan of the practice would have recommended mutilation. Perhaps it was once stronger and surer. We do not know.

About that "Christian" airline

Image: Daily Express

According to CBN:

An aviation ministry located in Texas is set to become to the world's first Christian airline.

The ministry known as Judah 1 announced last week that the Federal Aviation Administration had accepted their application to switch from a private operator to becoming its own airline.

The ministry currently serves Christians traveling around the world and domestically for mission trips and religious tours.

When did they become so concerned for the welfare of gay kids?

Embed from Getty Images

Fundamentalist Catholics refuse to fully accept their gay children because of something no more compelling than superstition. They are advocates of discredited conversion therapy and tell their gay kids that they are going to Hell. Suddenly, these misfits are concerned for the welfare of a gay child. That child is “drag-kid” Desmond is Amazing.

Doug Mainwaring sickens me.

Doug Mainwaring is a gay man who rejoined his lesbian wife as a religious duty “for the benefit of the children.” Those kids are probably so screwed up at this point as to defy an army of psychologists. He is in no position to evaluate anything concerning Desmond.

To raise money for NOM Brian S. Brown indulges in absurd fear mongering

Image via C-SPAN

The latest plea for money from Brian S. Brown, on behalf of National Organization for Marriage is titled: Day 1. According to Brown, all sorts of terrible things are on the horizon when Democrats take control of the House of Representatives:

• Anyone who refuses to address a "transgender" individual according to the person's preferred pronouns will be subject to strict discipline, including firing, and could be hit with massive fines, potentially up to $250,000.

Hate group: "Barronelle could lose her home"

Image via The Tennessee Star

The hate group is Alliance Defending Freedom (which doesn't seem to include freedom from discrimination or persecution). Barronelle is Barronelle Stutzman, the Washington state florist who decided that she did not want the flowers she sold to be displayed at a same-sex wedding. Oh, the horror of it all!

The ridiculous claim is via an unsigned email but the hyperbole is likely to have originated with the hate group's cynical leader, Michael P. Farris. The purpose for the email is to encourage people to send money to ADF. None of that money is likely to benefit Ms. Stutzman.

Tony Perkins vs. NIH (ignoramus vs. esteemed scientists)

Hate group leader Tony Perkins thinks that the science changes with each new administration. The head of Family Research Council is now unhappy with Dr. Francis Sellers Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Francis Collins is now in his fifth presidential administration. Dr. Collins was the director of the National Human Genome Institute from 1993 to 2008 (Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43). He became director of NIH in 2009 under President Obama and is now working under the Trump administration. His demonstrable accomplishments are too numerous to mention here.

None of that matters to Tony Perkins:

AFA's latest "perversion" rant

Image:YouTube

Monday, hate group leader Tim Wildmon of American Family Association has sent out an email to supporters with a familiar theme:

The LGBTQ socio-political agenda seeks to replace God’s truth about human sexuality with perversion as the societal norm. It has overtaken virtually every major American institution. The entertainment world, corporate America, education, and government have all been infiltrated by this rebellion against God. While they have been wildly successful in these institutions, they will not be satisfied until they have conquered the last one, the church.

Catholic conservative to head Family Policy Institute of Washington

Outgoing state senator and incoming executive director of Family Policy Institute of Washington Mark Miloscia.

Image: KING5.com 

In the wake of Joseph Backholm's departure, the anti-LGBTQ Family Policy Institute of Washington has named a new executive director; Mark Miloscia. Miloscia, 60, is an outgoing Washington state senator who lost his bid for another term in the November 6 general election. For 2019 Democrats will continue to have majorities in both houses of the state legislature. Nevertheless, Miloscia might increase FPIW's influence.

Focus affiliate promotes anti-trans BS

via Family
Policy Alliance

According to Family Policy Alliance: “We’re still a public policy partner of Focus on the Family.” Now that that is settled, one of their flunkies — Stephanie Curry — writes: What Prime-Time TV Isn’t Telling You.

After bemoaning some trans-positive content in prime time, Curry wants you to know several things:

Medical Resources intended for Women are being used by Men—For example, in Colorado a state medical program provides free or low-cost healthcare for low-income women who need breast and cervical cancer screenings. The program has been opened up to men, who say they’re women.

AFA is displeased with Orrin Hatch - Walker Wildmon weighs in

They did not exactly start out with genius but each generation of the Wildmon family produces further diminished intellect.

Image via YouTube/CBN

American Family Association is not happy with Orrin Hatch's final speech from the Senate floor. The six-term, 84-year-old lawmaker had the temerity to say (according to AFA):

I believe we can find substantial common ground on these issues that will enable us to both safeguard the ability of religious individuals to live their faith and protect LGBTQ individuals from invidious discrimination.
[…]
As one of my final acts as a U.S. senator, I challenge my colleagues to find a compromise on this crucially important issue — a compromise that is true to our founding principles.

Arithmetic is a challenge for the nativist AFA

Image: Los Angeles Times

American Family Association is known for being an anti-LGBT, anti-Islam hate group. They are also anti-immigrant. One of their flunkies, Michael F. Haverluck, writes: $5B for wall way less than illegals' $155B annual burden.

For starters, the $5 billion was a throw-up number without intensive study. We really have no idea how much this wall would cost were it ever completed. According to a recent report from the GAO, the cost to construct 722 miles of barriers in priority locations was estimated at $18 billion. Trump originally proposed about 2,000 feet of wall. He is now down to about 900 feet (depending on the day of the week, his blood pressure and Melania's, uh, … depth of attention).

Liberty Counsel IRS Referral

Hate group leader Mad Mat Staver (Liberty Counsel)

Image via YouTube/Fox News

In 2006, hate group leader Mad Mat Staver managed to have Liberty Counsel recognized as an Integrated Auxiliary of a Church. Then controlling organization is supposed to be Thomas Road Baptist Church. The following information has been transmitted as a referral to the Exempt Organizations Division of the Internal Revenue Service:

Re: Liberty Counsel, EIN 592986294. Reference is made to a letter dated December 11, 2006 from Liberty Counsel's auditors; Batts, Morrison, Wales & Lee to the Internal Revenue Service, EP/EO, Cincinnati, OH.

Exploring Dr. Michael Brown's inferiority complex

Dr. Michael Brown is obsessed with gay people. That might reveal something about his own sexuality and insecurities but it is probably more complex than that.

Wednesday, Michael Brown provides A Short Primer on the Bible and Homosexual Practice. Aside from the fact that the Bible says lots of things that are no longer applicable (like, say, murdering brides who turn out not to be virgins), Brown is being intellectually dishonest and, perhaps, revealing in ways that he does not intend.

I don't want to go through this entire treatise and I am more interested in the why than the what. Here is just a sample of Brown's prose:

Another Trump whopper about President Obama

The latest utterance from Dear Leader:

The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they can’t give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2018

Presumably Trump is referring to a $400 million transaction which was the first payment of a settlement in the amount of $1.7 billion. Trump's number is about 88 times the actual dollar amount. Moreover, this was Iran's money. We owed this since 1979.

Hate group's international branch promotes anti-LGBT venom

Elyssa Koren and Paul Coleman demonstrate that ADF International promotes the same bigotry as the parent organization.

Images via ADF International

Two employees of ADF International have penned an essay for Witherspoon Institute's pseudo-intellectual blog. Witherspoon is an ultra-orthodox Catholic organization headed by an Opus Dei numerary. First, it is important to understand what ADF International does.

According to tax filings, ADF International is not part of Alliance Defending Freedom. However, it is fair to say that the organization is under the administrative control of Alliance Defending Freedom. ADF International is newly registered in the United Kingdom (May 26, 2017). No financial information has been required thus far.

A Lamborghini and a Rolex - Churches need to file tax returns

Pastor John Gray of Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina bought his wife Aventer a Lamborghini Urus for their eighth wedding anniversary. With 641 HP the vehicle tops out at about 190 per and is the world's fastest SUV. It is just what every pastor's wife requires. Average price of the Urus is about $270,000 (base price is $200,000).

A collection of anti-trans advocates

This is not the legitimate, intellectually honest and neutral "space" that it claims to be.

We have a relatively new collection of anti-trans and anti-gender-affirmation advocates. It is called the “gdworkinggroup.” It doesn't appear to be anything more than a web site but many of the participants are familiar to those of us who track transgender opponents, skeptics and obsessives. They have an entire section devoted to Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria which is nothing more than parental wishful thinking.

These folks do not get off to a very good start. On the home page is this welcome notice:

Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group: An International Discussion Space for Clinicians and Researchers

AFA's lawyer - wizard that he is - weighs in on the Mueller probe

American Family Association's half-assed in-house lawyer has a few strange observations about the Mueller probe. That lawyer is Abraham Hamilton III.

So who is this guy?

In the way of background Hamilton doesn't seem to have ever practiced civil law. Rather, he was an assistant district attorney in Houston and then New Orleans for about eight years combined. He is a graduate of that Mecca of critical thinking, Oral Roberts University. His law degree is from third or fourth tier Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. I can find no record that he has ever appeared in a federal court.

36 people have signed a letter to the administration from a hate group

“Confusing faith-based religion with evidence-based science requires one to torture logic and reason to the point where no science survives.”

What is "best for children" is the preference of science over religious dogma.

Religious conservatives have sent a letter to the administration regarding transgender people on the stationery of American College of Pediatricians. Those signing the letter include several hate group leaders. Also, according to Southern Poverty Law Center, American College of Pediatricians is itself a hate group.

The people who signed this thing are not embarrassed to be associated with a hate group. There are signatures from medical doctors. Every one of those is at odds with their own professional association. Every one of those has irresponsibly substituted their religious faith for medical science. (A list of signatories and their associations is “below the fold.”)

Brian S. Brown: "They're coming after us"

Image: YouTube/C-SPAN

Another day. Another dishonest plea for money to keep National Organization for Marriage afloat. Why anyone thinks that is a worthwhile cause remains a mystery. Name something that NOM is legitimately responsible for (other than sowing discord and bigotry).

Today's missive is titled: They're coming after us. It really has become quite comical — sardonically amusing.

William P. Barr's "October, 2017" article in "Catholic Lawyer" is actually circa 1995

Image: Kirkland & Ellis

I am not suggesting that William P. Barr is any gift to the LGBT community. However, it is important for us to be fair and reasonable irrespective of whether or not our adversaries behave accordingly. According to Pink News:

In October 2017, Barr penned an article for The Catholic Lawyer in which he decried the attention shown to “the homosexual movement” and appeared to express opposition to LGBT+ anti-discrimination laws.

That is true. However, the article in question was not authored in October, 2017. According to a footnote on the second page:

A teacher victimized by religious teachings

French teacher Peter Vlaming believed that he had a religious duty to be obnoxious towards a trans boy.

Photo via West Point HS, West Point, VA

Thursday evening Tony Perkins was whining about a teacher who was suspended for refusing to use gender-correct pronouns in regards to a transgender boy in his class. Perkins' idiotic obtuseness is infuriating. Perkins is cunning and even determined but he is not very intelligent. LifeSiteNews joined in but showed some restraint in contrast to Perkins' inflammatory language.

That teacher has now been terminated. I expect outrage from both outlets.

Dishonest Disapproval of Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks before the Anti-Defamation League

Straight or gay, Tim Cook is my hero for running the largest company on the planet. Imagine the performance required of him at each stage of his career to end up as CEO of Apple. While corporate politics might have played a role in his success, ultimately Tim Cook is where he is because of results.

Contrast Mr. Cook with Doug Mainwaring who has never achieved anything in what amounts to a career in misadventures. Mainwaring, a Catholic zealot, was not happy being gay so he returned to his ex-gay ex-wife. I am certain that they have a “marriage made in heaven.” But I digress:

Ryan T. Anderson and Katy Faust a capella

Katy Faust, the bigot of Ask the Bigot and the pseudo-moralist of Them Before Us.

Image: YouTube

Ryan T. Anderson has a new project aimed at preventing gay couples from conceiving children through in vitro fertilization. It is the result of a quartet of religious opprobrium:

The Catholic Church considers IVH immoral; same-sex marriage nonexistent; gay people “objectively disordered“ and that same-sex couple parenting “does violence” to the children they raise.

Joining in the festivities at Heritage Foundation on December 12 are:

Blowhard Bill Donohue remains clueless

Pope Bill Donohue via South Park

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, is a divorced man who has taken it upon himself to be a stalwart defender of the Catholic Church. Mr. Donohue does not approve of EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum because Feldblum is gay and gay people are “objectively disordered.” Donohue doesn't admit his bias of course:

“She has an animus against the First Amendment right to religious liberty,” Catholic League President Bill Donohue told Bloomberg Law. “To say that we have a right to religious liberty but that it takes a back seat to gay rights that are found nowhere in the Constitution sends a very bad message to people of faith, at least of a more traditional stripe.”

Move over Paul Cameron. You have been replaced.

Gerard J. M. van den Aardweg, from his video proclaiming that “homo-tyranny is upon us.”

Image via YouTube

According to LifeSiteNews, “Dr. Gerard J. M. van den Aardweg is a Dutch psychologist and psychoanalyst. He is one of Europe’s foremost experts on homosexuality.” Not exactly. The first clue is that van den Aardweg was on the board of National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

Van den Aardweg is also a conspiracy theorist. He has said that global organizations with a global sexual ideology wanted “to deal a blow to normal marriage and the family and to this end they use the homosexual movement, the sexual rights movement.” He claims, among other things, that the Nazi ideology was “rooted” in homosexuality (perhaps reading too much Scott Lively).

Brian S. Brown: Another utterly dishonest money-beg

Brian S. Brown becomes more dishonest as he becomes more desperate to keep NOM afloat.

Image via YouTube/C-SPAN

National Organization for Marriage clearly has financial problems. Only a few years ago, NOM had combined revenues of $16 million. In 2017, less than 10% of that. The latest pitch from Brian S. Brown — the crisis du jour — is titled: We are behind. I'll resist the impulse to construe an anatomical reference.

After the first week of our year-end $50,000 matching gift offer, we’ve fallen significantly behind. By now, we should already have raised 20% of our $50,000 goal, but we've raised less than half of that. I have to be honest – I'm really concerned.

Alan Keyes claims to be a person of "colored persuasion"

Conspiracy theorist and rabidly anti-LGBT, Alan Keyes wants Trump to exercise control over social media.

Image via YouTube/Raw Story

Citing Laura Loomer as an example, Alan Keyes claims that Twitter victimizes conservatives. He wants Trump to take action. Writing about an Alan Keyes polemic is no easy task. Doing so requires patience for a bloated, painfully verbose expression. One also requires a batshit-to-English translator handy.

The current piece posted to an ultra-conservative Catholic site is titled: Trump should move against Twitter and other civil rights violators. Apparently people have a “civil right” to engage in hate speech.

The billboard and the SPLC are getting under ADF's skin

The No Gays Allowed billboard in Times Square

Screen Capture

Alliance Defending Freedom is a $50 million/year anti-LGBT hate group. It postures as a defender of religious freedom which seems to usually mean the “right” to discriminate against LGBT people.

Being deemed a hate group does not sit well with the folks at ADF. A new campaign is highlighting some of ADF's rancor when it comes to LGBT people. The campaign features a prominent three dimensional billboard in New York's Times Square directing people to https://NoGays.org.

According to NBC News, the group sponsoring the billboard is Citizens for Transparency. NBC reported:

A statement released about the campaign lists a number of prominent LGBTQ activist … “allies” of No Gays Allowed. They include Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry; Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights; Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network); and Christine Quinn, the former speaker of the New York City Council.

The most extreme crackpottery from Michelle Cretella to date

“Her explanation for the existence of gender dysphoria in a child is that the mother has Munchausen syndrome (which is very rare) and has somehow imposed the condition on her daughter.”

Former pediatrician and now hate group leader Michelle Cretella  (American College of Pediatricians).

Image via YouTube

Someone by the name of Tyler O'Neil wrote: Mother Forcing Transgenderism on 6-Year-Old Son May Suffer From a Mental Disorder, Pediatrician Says. O'Neil is an imbecile.

This relates to a custody case in Texas that I have written about. One cannot force a child to be transgender; the child has been diagnosed by expert psychologists and psychiatrists and there is no evidence whatsoever that the child is being forced to experience gender dysphoria.

Ryan T. Anderson - As dishonest as ever

“What Anderson is really saying is that any such laws must depend upon not protecting anyone and if they accidentally do offer some protections then they must not be enforceable.”

According to Heritage staffer and Defender of the Faith, Ryan T. Anderson: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Laws Are Not Fairness for All. Anderson is primarily concerned with how nondiscrimination laws might affect the Catholic Church. He goes on to write (quite verbosely):

Current proposals to create sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) laws with varying types of religious exemptions would not result in fairness for all. Instead, they would penalize many Americans who believe that we are created male and female and that male and female are created for each other. They would violate the privacy and safety of women and girls, the conscience rights of doctors and other medical professionals, and the free speech and religious liberty rights of countless professionals. Establishing bad public policy and then exempting select religious institutions is not acting for the common good — and is certainly not fair for all.