The hate group leader's continuing mendacity

Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins - Family Research Council

via YouTube/Fox News

Self-righteous conservative Christian hate group leaders continue to traffic in dishonest rhetoric. They lie. Hate group leader Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) is complaining about the federal court injunction that has halted implementation of the transgender military service ban. Regarding United States District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Perkins writes:

She doesn't even care that the policy she's trying to stop is a matter of national security. All she cares about is imposing her personal agenda on a country that never elected her.

About the lesbian parenting study

Thursday, Williams Institute at UCLA Law reports: Young adults with lesbian parents more likely to report same-sex attraction and experiences. This is the result of a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine summarizing findings based on data from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS). NLLFS is important scholarship because it has followed the offspring of lesbians since 1986 and it has a remarkable 92% retention rate.

The NLLFS has resulted in a large collection of peer-reviewed research published to first-rate academic journals.

"Transgenderism is leading us towards totalitarianism"

Jonathon van Maren and Nancy Pearcey

Via LifeSiteNews

These people are leading me to a headache. People espouse this nonsense and they do not expect to be ridiculed? We are informed that: “Nancy Pearcey has been called America’s ‘preeminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual.’” We are about to explore her intellect as she joins fundamentalist Catholic Jonathon Van Maren for a chat. I am quoting from the accompanying text describing the conversation.

Pearcey and Van Maren discuss the deeply-rooted philosophical arguments underpinning the transgender movement, how it exploded in less than a decade, and the dangers it poses to our society.

Focus affiliate: "Stop the Legislature from Pushing Kids to Change Gender"

Faith healer: Bad knees, sore shoulders, arthritis, cancer, blindness are all cast out in the name of Jesus

Photo via BBC

Family Policy Alliance is an affiliate of Focus on the Family. “In alliance with Massachusetts Family Institute” they have published: MASSACHUSETTS: Stop the Legislature from Pushing Kids to Change Gender. This will probably not be the most idiotic thing that I read today but it will be damned close.

I scarcely know where to begin. Suffice it to say that gender cannot be influenced. If we could change a child's gender through influences then there would be no transgender kids because they would not suffer from gender dysphoria because they would be influenced toward congruent gender and natal sex. No parent wants a trans child. Is that not abundantly obvious as a matter of common sense?

So what's new from the red-caped loons?

via Christian Newswire

The folks at Foundation for a Christian Civilization dba America Needs Fatima and dba American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (aka TFP) are trying to pray away marriage equality. According to a press release at Christian Newswire by the fundamentalist Catholic group:

As some begin to wonder what has happened to the Catholic opposition to same-sex "marriage," TFP-America Needs Fatima is doing 3,108 public St. Joseph Rosaries for Traditional Marriage on, March 23, a Saturday close to Saint Joseph's feast day.

Breaking: Journal apologizes for rapid onset gender dysphoria paper and issues correction notice

PLOS ONE, the journal that published Lisa Littman's paper on what she called Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria has issued a formal apology for publishing the paper. It has also issued a correction notice and a formal comment which are amended to the paper which has been revised.

The correction notice reads, in part:

After publication of this article [1], questions were raised that prompted the journal to conduct a post-publication reassessment of the article, involving senior members of the journal’s editorial team, two Academic Editors, a statistics reviewer, and an external expert reviewer. The post-publication review identified issues that needed to be addressed to ensure the article meets PLOS ONE’s publication criteria. Given the nature of the issues in this case, the PLOS ONE Editors decided to republish the article, replacing the original version of record with a revised version in which the author has updated the Title, Abstract, Introduction, Discussion, and Conclusion sections, to address the concerns raised in the editorial reassessment. The Materials and methods section was updated to include new information and more detailed descriptions about recruitment sites and to remove two figures due to copyright restrictions. Other than the addition of a few missing values in Table 13, the Results section is unchanged in the updated version of the article. The Competing Interests statement and the Data Availability statement have also been updated in the revised version

Mad Mat reminds us that we have seen it all before

Hate Group Leader Mad Mat Staver

YouTube/Fox News

Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBT hate group, has penned a verbose, end of world, diatribe about the Equality Act (HR5). The Equality Act would simply amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. Bills automatically die at the end of the legislative session. I expect HR5 to be among the deceased.

This lengthy tirade includes a quote from Mad Mat Staver:

“The Equality Act is not about equality. This bill eviscerated religious freedom and targets churches with an LGBT wrecking ball,” said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “This bill pushes the LGBT agenda on all people and targets Christianity in every area of life—including the church. There also will be an increase of sexual assaults when males 'identifying as females' are allowed to use girls and women's bathrooms and locker rooms. We will see an increase of instances where Christians and others are being punished unless they violate their beliefs in order to comply with such a law. And that is just the beginning of unconstitutional chaos in America,” said Staver.

Chicago Mayoral Race - Is IFI Responsible for Homophobic Fliers?

Images via Mary Ann Ahern/Twitter

The Victory Fund is reporting that a group is distributing homophobic fliers attacking lesbian Chicago mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle face each other in an April 2, 2019 runoff election. They were the top two vote recipients among 14 candidates in the general election on February 26.

The offensive fliers, featuring a photo of Lightfoot and her wife, were distributed on vehicles in key neighborhoods and at predominantly black churches (trying to drive that wedge again). According to the fliers a Lighfoot mayoralty would result in “all contracts, jobs, and employment newly assigned exclusively to gay people,” and that “all churches will abide by the gay marriage laws,” and schools will “teach Gay History by mandate.”

OK Michael Brown - If you don't want ridicule, why invite it?

“Don't ask us to normalize Dr. Brown's personality disorder.”

Via YouTube

Monday, Dr. Michael Brown writes: The Silencing of the Lambs.

There has always been one endgame for the radical left: the silencing of dissenting voices, in particular conservative Christian voices.

The radical left is not simply interested in winning in the marketplace of ideas. It is not simply interested in changing hearts and minds. It is ultimately interested in silencing the opposition, especially all opposition that is based on a biblical worldview.

Supreme Court sides against religion-based discrimination

Monday, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a bed and breakfast in Hawaii. The B&B refused to accommodate gay couples due to a religious objection and in defiance of state law. Refusing to hear the case means the there were not at least four justices who were interested.

The case is captioned Aloha Bed & Breakfast v. Cervelli, Diane et al. The denial to hear the case lets the decision of Hawaiian courts stand that the B&B violated the law. Lambda Legal was on the winning side. The loser was Alliance Defending Freedom.

Hate group's letter is NOT research

Quackery | 1799 © Wellcome Library, London

Monday, American College of Pediatricians, a small anti-LGBT hate group, is promoting a letter to the Endocrine Society written by ACPeds' usual coterie of pious crackpots defending the faith. They do not like the fact that the Endocrine Society supports gender-affirmative care for gender dysphoric children.

The cranks, in signatory order:

1. Michael K. Laidlaw is a Rocklin, CA physician with no board certifications. Laidlaw specializes in the treatment of diabetes and metabolic disorders. He does not treat people with gender dysphoria. Nor is he qualified to do so. Laidlaw is a Knight Templar in defense of the Church.
2. Quentin L. Van Meter is an “expert” that conservative Christians adore. Van Meter is, indeed, a board certified endocrinologist. He specializes in the treatment of juvenile diabetes. He is not a board certified psychiatrist. whatever experience he has with gender dysphoria is limited to not dispensing puberty blockers and hormones. Van Meter is president of ACPeds.

Mr. Huckabee - your kind attention please

Fox News

The sham group, Southern Poverty Law Center, amassed over $500 Million in cash (offshore accounts) but a front for uber-liberal political causes while smearing Christian conservatives. Its founder just fired--accused of...wait for it-racism. https://t.co/fu1lXDOFwO

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) March 14, 2019

I will get to the substance of your tweet but first, about those offshore accounts. You are suggesting that the SPLC is doing something illicit or shady. In calendar year 2017, the IRS identified 2,561 nonprofits with assets exceeding $300,000,000 (excluding private foundations for which data is not available). Of those 2,561, 574 had offshore accounts. Were the data on private foundations available that number would be considerably higher.

I think that AFA is on Walmart email #8 Introducing THE Homosexual Agenda™

American Family Association is profoundly pissed off at Walmart. The chain store's “crime” was to create a Facebook video featuring a gay couple. Hate group leader Tim Wildmon is obsessed to the point of unhealthy mania. Okay,  Wildmon is an anti-LGBTQ maniac all the time regardless of what Walmart is up to.

Friday's missive is titled What do you think they were thinking?. The sub-heading reads: “Walmart's Homosexual Agenda? – Take Our Survey” Tim Wildmon is so out of touch that he does not realize or appreciate the fact that referring to the Homosexual Agenda™ invites ridicule.

Tony Perkins' Many Lies About the Equality Act

Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins is a pathological liar

YouTube/Fox News

Hate group leader Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) doesn't think that honesty is required of self-righteous Christians. Sanctimonious mendacity is an amalgamation that goes unnoticed by supporters of Family Research Council. Perhaps the hypocrisy is acceptable — even welcomed — because Perkins tells his flock of sheep what they want to hear.

Fear & greed:

The Equality Act is the perfect starting gun for Perkins' exercise in political cynicism. Anger serves him well which is why Perkins always seems to be pissed off by imaginary threats. Perkins and his base seek to preserve Christian privilege — which includes a right to discriminate against people they disapprove of, all neatly cloaked in scripture.

Perkins' latest polemic is titled: A Clash Act: Dems Push LGBT Takeover. Is he claiming that gay and transgender people are going to engage is some sort of coup d'état? Or is he projecting? Fearing that LGBT Americans will hijack the Democratic Party in a similar fashion to the way that the religious right consumed the GOP in the 1980s.

Heritage Foundation writer claims that the equality act is some form of tyranny

Embed from Getty Images

Monica Burke at the Heritage Foundation possibly reports to Ryan T. Anderson (and it shows). Burke has penned 7 Reasons Why the Equality Act Is Anything But for the organization's blog. (Heritage writers are particularly fond of enumerating things.) So let us don hip boots and wade through the swamp of intellectual dishonesty.

Each article of faith is an assumption coupled to a “victim.” I have given each a generous drivelectomy given Ms. Burke's painful verbosity.

1. It would penalize Americans who don’t affirm new sexual norms or gender ideology.

Why can't these nutty people refrain from editorializing every American sneeze? This is medium-rare, re-fried bull exhaust for several reason. The first is that she is consumed with the notion that LGBTQ people seek the approval of others. She does not approve because of slavish devotion to ancient texts.

The bishops are apoplectic over the Equality Act

At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Robert Vega has the title of: Policy Advisor, Promotion & Defense of Marriage. Yes, they are still trying to upend marriage equality the poor dears. The USCCB, at their Marriage Unique for a Reason site, has posted an audio recording of Vega being interviewed by two other defenders of the faith.

I tried to cue up the recording to the applicable portion. No dice. Manually go to 31 minutes. You would think that the world was coming to its inevitable end. When Earth does die it is more likely to be the result of climate change than equal dignity for LGBTQ people.

Susan Collins Attempts to Induce Amnesia

AP Images

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine is a co-sponsor of the Senate version of The Equality Act. The measure would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Passage would require 60 votes.

There is some speculation as to whether or not Mitch McConnell would even allow the bill to come up for a vote and if, by some miracle, it was to pass the Senate, I highly doubt that Trump would sign it into law given his pandering to the Christian right.

Bills automatically die at the end of each session so Collins' sponsorship has no future value.

Another moron weighs in on conversion therapy

Andrew Beckwith misinforming people | CBN

I am constantly amazed at the beliefs that some people embrace in order to conform their world to the scripture of religious conservatism. Massachusetts is once again considering a ban on adolescent conversion therapy. This brings out one Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute. As an aside, Beckwith is also a lawyer affiliated with Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBT hate group.

According to American Family Association's blog (yeah, it's one of those days):

Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute says parental rights would seriously be violated if this is passed.

"This is actually a direct assault on the rights of parents to bring up their children,” he argues, “and would seek to put a gag on therapists and parents who are trying to lead their children away from homosexual behavior or gender-identity surgeries and hormones."

The sinister agenda behind teaching kids to be nice

Three hate groups object to lessons in kindness.

Page scan of I Am Jazz via Google Books

Bob Kellogg and Jody Brown are two propagandists for American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group. They have authored: NEA-LGBT alignment out of the closet, recruitment agenda clear.

“Recruitment” is a particularly crass anti-gay antiquity. Bigots claim that gays cannot reproduce so they recruit children to become gay. People actually believe that nonsense along with a cornucopia of myths about LGBT people.

Mom of Desmond is Amazing cleared of child abuse charges

Embed from Getty Images

State and local agencies have determined that the mother of Drag Kid Desmond is Amazing (Desmond Napoles) she has not committed child abuse by allowing her young son to perform. Apparently the good Christians who are obsessed with parental rights flooded agencies with complaints after Desmond performed at a gay nightclub, 3 Dollar Bill.

Due to the varied and voluminous complaints, Child Protective Services (CPS) investigated Desmond’s family, as did the New York City Administration for Child Services (ACS), the New York Police Department, the Child Advocacy Center, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Labor, and the District Attorney’s Office. The general consensus is that the complaints were unfounded. I am so shocked.

Brian S. Brown's latest tantrum for money

The latest email from Brian S. Brown on behalf of anti-LGBTQ National Organization for Marriage asking for money is ominously titled: The “Equality” Assault. So just who is assaulting Brown, NOM or NOM supporters? Funny you should ask:

Dear Friend—In the name of 'equality,' a comprehensive assault on people of faith will be unleashed in Congress this week. That's because according to published news reports, the misnamed "Equality Act" is set to be introduced as proposed legislation as early as tomorrow. In so doing, we will be embroiled in defending against an all-out attack on our values, and common sense, that will require a strong, aggressive and determined effort to prevail.

Help NOM Defeat This Assault on Marriage Supporters

Tony Perkins deceives with such ease

YouTube/Fox News

Hate group leader Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) is a pathological liar. People who dishonestly argue in support of a point of view are often mendacious because they are incapable of constructing a truthful argument. Sometimes it depicts an intellectual deficit and sometimes it is because the individual knows that the truth is contrary to his narrative. Sometimes it is both.

There is a cynical element to this. Perkins knows that a portion of the citizenry will believe just about anything Perkins says due to confirmation bias. Compounding this dynamic is the fact that once a lie is promoted by, and to, the right — it never dies. There might be better examples but “death panels” comes immediately to mind.

Jamie Shupe creates his own problems

“Shupe's experiences are not relevant to the challenges transgender people face or the professional demands of the clinicians who treat them.”

Monday, according to Jamie Shupe (at Heritage Foundation's blog no less): I Was America’s First ‘Nonbinary’ Person. It Was All a Sham. Last September I wrote about Jamie Shupe who was legally the first non-binary person in the United States. Shupe contacted me asking for a correction. I described Mr. Shupe as ex-non-binary. Mr. Shupe informed me that he is still non-binary but is no longer a transgender woman. Moreover, Shupe is intersex.

To be honest, I do not know if Shupe is now non-binary. I do know that his his transgender experiment came to an end. Sadly, due to the medical care he received, it was just that; an experiment.

GOPers figuring out how to make lower income people pay for tax cuts for the wealthy

“Tax cuts pay for themselves!” The evidence says otherwise.

So I am reading a piece in CBN, (“The Christian perspective©”) titled Trump Seeks to Balance Budget as National Debt Crisis Reaches $22 TRILLION. After the tax cut for the wealthy it was inevitable that this would occur.

The CBN piece written by Ben Kennedy is nonspecific about what will be cut but you can be sure that those cuts will not affect business “incentives.” Likely cuts will be to programs that lower income Americans depend on. Lower and middle income Americans are about to pay for the tax cuts that are enjoyed by our wealthiest citizens.

What we can learn from "Leaving Neverland"

Pepsi commercial - Michael Jackson and James Safechuck

Before I get into this I have no intention of having a debate with rabid Michael Jackson fans. I have read all of their arguments. In my opinion Michael Jackson was a pedophile who sexually molested young boys. I also believe that, in addition to the two men profiled in Leaving Neverland, there are numerous other victims including Gavin Arvizo (the subject of the 2005 criminal trial). Mine is a carefully considered opinion.

If you have not seen Leaving Neverland two men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, claim that Michael Jackson abused them from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. Safechuck met Jackson at age 10 in 1986 when he performed in a Pepsi commercial. Robson met Jackson at age five in 1987 in his native Australia.

Right on cue an email from Restored Hope Network

Anne Paulk Heads Restored Hope Network

Image: YouTube

Late Thursday I received an email from Restored Hope Network titled Announcing HOPE 2019 & Early Bird Promo Code. It is an invitation to their June conference with an “early bird discount” if I register soon.

Earlier on Thursday I wrote about Michael Brown shilling for Restored Hope Network. Brown was encouraging good Christians to donate money to the fraudulent organization.

RHN's mission is to market conversion therapy and then to funnel gay people to allied “therapists” who benefit from the referral. I need to review the 2017 tax return (not yet available) to get a better understanding of the economics. Restored Hope Network is a not-for-profit for people to profit. In addition to gay people they are actively trying to attract parents of children with gender dysphoria.

Seeking miracles and Michael Brown's obsession with gay people

Image: YouTube

Thursday, between kneading bagel dough and other pastimes I received an email from Restored Hope Network. The missive is titled: Appeal From Dr. Brown and the appeal is for donations to Restored Hope Network.

Restored Hope Network is one of the successors to Exodus International which ceased operation in 2012. Exodus' president, Alan Chambers, who just the prior year was named “Daniel of the Year” by World Magazine for his stance on Christian issues, stated that conversion therapy does not work and is harmful. Seven years later, conversion therapy still does not work and is still harmful.

They create the need for what they hate

Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute - Unknown date

Image: Interframe Media

Illinois Family Institute is a hate group. An IFI employee, Laurie Higgins, is one of the reasons that IFI is considered a hate group. Wednesday, Higgins writes: Illinois Lawmakers Advance K-12 “LGBT” Indoctrination Bill.

From idiotic projection:

“Progressives,” also known as cultural regressives, have long had their sights on the hearts, minds, and bodies of other people’s children. Now that they control Big Government schools, regressives can control the ideas to which children are exposed. And boy, oh, boy are regressive Illinois lawmakers going for broke—morally speaking. They’ve already achieved fiscal bankruptcy.

Martina Navratilova Apologizes ... In Part

Tennis World USA

It would be highly irresponsible for me to write about Martina Navratilova without noting that she is a pro-LGBT champion. Navratilova has been a powerful LGBT presence in sports and a relentless advocate. She bravely came out quite early in her career, at a time when she put her very existence in professional tennis at risk. She is now making an effort to make amends for a transphobic essay.

On Feb. 17 Navratilova wrote an Op-Ed in the Times of London titled The rules on trans athletes reward cheats and punish the innocent. What immediately struck me from the title was the notion that there are guilty and innocent people involved in who can compete in athletic competitions. Her subtitle reads:

Hate group's continuing mania over an ad featuring a gay couple

Hate Group Leader Tim Wildmon - American Family Association

Image: YouTube

American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group, is haunted by the fact that Walmart used a gay couple for a Facebook video ad. AFA's preoccupation with with what amounts to the simple fact that gay couples exist, attempts to influence an increasingly resistant corporate culture. But AFA's existence is dependent upon public bigotry.

Another email Tuesday is titled: Three reasons to sign the Walmart petition:

I know you get a lot of email and may have missed our recent AFA Action Alert about Walmart's video campaign on Facebook promoting two homosexuals on a "date" in their local Walmart store.

Laziness & incuriosity make people look stupid - Kids suffer in their wake

Repeating “lore” from the conservative Christian echo chamber can be very embarrassing.

Unfortunately, folklore is not confined to fairytales

Image origin: Sekpress.net

On Monday, ultra-conservative Catholic apologist, Jonathon Van Maren, posted something about his favorite subject of late: transgender children. Van Maren's only interest is defending the teachings of the Catholic Church. According to the wizards at the Vatican, trans people are confused and should never transition. My interest today is first how people like Van Maren source information. Consider the following paragraph:

Duck! "Ex-gay" uncovers a vast conspiracy

When the facts don't support your bullshit, there must be a conspiracy to alter what is factual.

David Kyle Foster (Who dresses this guy?)

Image: YouTube

According to David Kyle Foster, ex-gay, there are 6 Things to Understand before Ministering to the Transgender Community. According to Foster we are all terribly ignorant and confused. Rather than providing useful information about gender dysphoria, Foster unloads with a mega “Unfair!” Apparently there is a vast conspiracy which exists to frustrate the efforts of conservative Christians.

Before I get into Foster's “poor us,” here are four indisputable scientific facts:

1. No intervention known to medical science addresses gender dysphoria.
2. No one — no one — knows what causes gender dysphoria.
3. People become transgender to mitigate the effects of gender dysphoria which include anxiety and depression.
4. Gender affirmation allows people with gender dysphoria to function with levels of anxiety and depression at, or near, normal levels.

DNA: A new wrinkle in twin tests

Wikimedia Commons

In round numbers, if one identical twin is gay, odds are about 50% that the other twin is gay. Sharing less genetic material, if one fraternal twin is gay, there is about a 25% probability that the other twin is gay. These percentages are more than 10 times and five times (respectively) the incidence of homosexuality in the general population.

I have argued that twin tests prove that homosexuality has a genetic link, at least in part. According to medical science, sexual orientation involves genetic and environmental factors. Environmental to scientists means anything that is not genetic. Some speculate, for example, that a birth mother's hormones are an environmental factor contributing to sexual orientation.

Calling hate compassion

The phony compassion “is just bigotry stemming from religious disapproval.”

Monday, Jean C. Lloyd writes: Equip Yourself to Become A True Trans Ally: Read Walt Heyer’s Trans Life Survivors. The outlet for this spellbinding treatise is Witherspoon Institute's pseudo-intellectual blog.

Jean C. Lloyd is a lesbian married to a gay man she met through the oddly named Courage Ministry. She is also a professional Catholic. Lloyd sports a PhD. In what discipline and from where are never disclosed. Suffice it to say that her advanced degree does not enhance her credibility. If it did we we know its source and subject.

Mr. Heyer:

Must they continually affirm their hate group status?

When AFA is not indulging in silly boycotts they are targeting LGBT children.

American Family Association must be having a sale on the promotion of ignorant bigotry. I would prefer not to write about the hate group twice in one day but AFA is sufficiently hateful to warrant the attention. On their phony news blog one of their village idiots, Chris Woodward, writes CA Dems unhappy with lesson on biology & grammar. (Here we go again.)

The post is about transgender and gender nonconforming children. The spew is adorned with a photo of Desmond is Amazing who is neither trans nor gender nonconforming.

A bill in California seeks to force foster care parents to use a child's preferred name and gender pronoun, but there is pushback against such an "Orwellian" demand.

AFA doubles down on Walmart

Hate Group Leader Tim Wildmon of American Family Association

YouTube

In an email to supporters on Friday, American Family Association writes: Walmart is not listening. They claim to be seeking 150,000 signatures on the premise that the hate group can impose its bigotry on Walmart's day-to-day operations.

Tim Wildmon, the intellectual giant running American Family Association, is very, very, very upset with Walmart. As I wrote about on Thursday, the retailer has the audacity to run an online advertisement featuring two gay guys on a blind date meeting up at Walmart and doing some shopping.