“The amalgamation of the races is not only unnatural, but is always productive of deplorable results. The purity of the public morals, the moral
and physical development of both races, and the highest advancement of civilization . . . all require that [the races] should be kept distinctly separate,
and that connections and alliances so unnatural should be prohibited by positive law and subject to no evasion.”

And

“The amalgamation of the races is not only unnatural, but is always productive of deplorable results. The purity of the public morals, the moral
and physical development of both races, and the highest advancement of civilization . . . all require that [the races] should be kept distinctly separate,
and that connections and alliances so unnatural should be prohibited by positive law and subject to no evasion.”

Oh, and my favorite:

“[T]he State’s prohibition of interracial marriage . . . stands on the same footing as the prohibition of polygamous marriage, or incestuous marriage, or
the prescription of minimum ages at which people may marry, and the prevention of the marriage of people who are mentally incompetent.”

And, if those look familiar, well, that is because they are being said today about same-sex marriage.

It is not surprising that the decision by the NAACP to come out in support of same-sex marriage has angered some of the more ardent bigots within the religious community, and that many pastors are harshly critical of this. For instance, Pastor Derek McCoy, the executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance- a group dedicated to the destruction of marriage through exclusivity- called the NAACP’s stance “unfortunate” and claimed that it would contribute to the “further demise of the family”, though he seemed to not have any actual statements regarding how.

McCoy claimed that the NAACP was “endorsing an epidemic” of fatherless households, perhaps not quite grasping that the problem is not not having a father, but not having a two parent household. Recent polling has shown that there is a shift, though, in the Black Community towards acceptance of same-sex unions thanks to the decision of President Barack Obama, General Colin Powell, actor Will Smith and the NAACP coming out in favor of these unions.

According to the Catholic News Agency:

McCoy said that redefining marriage is redefining the family in a way that is “hazardous” for children.

“Gay marriage” teaches that fathers and mothers are both dispensable, he explained, and “this is absolutely going to harm the family.”

The absence of a father has been linked to higher rates of crime, poverty, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy throughout the U.S.

Actually, the absence of two parent households have been linked to crime, poverty, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy in the US. The studies used to attack same-sex marriage are almost always ones which compare two parent households to single parent households. Studies have shown that there is little appreciable difference between same-sex parents and opposite sex parents when it comes to parenting, how their children will grow up, and the like. This is deliberately ignored by the Religious Right.

McCoy also tried to dismiss attempts to “compare” same-sex marriage opponents to those who oppose interracial marriage claiming that it is not the same issue at all, and that “The core essence of a marriage is the two sexes coming together.” Which is a religious based belief, and is reflected in the attacks on interracial marriage all those decades ago.

Alveda C. King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr and ardent homophobe, also tried to claim that her grandfather and uncle would never have “embraced the homosexual agenda that the current NAACP is attempting to label as a civil rights agenda.

Reverend William Owens, founder of the Coalition of African American Pastors, also claimed that “We who marched with Rev. King did not march one inch or one mile to promote same-sex marriage.” Owens also went on to claim that same-sex marriage was counter to Dr. King’s work because it was an attempt to “declare that an act contrary to God’s law and to the natural law is a civil right. We call on all Americans to respect the legitimate civil rights of gay people to be free from violence, harassment, to vote, to hold jobs. But none of us has a moral or civil right to redefine marriage.”

Back about fifty years ago, this was said:

“[A]t the very time the Constitution of the United States was being formulated, miscegenation was considered inimical to the public good and was frowned upon by the colonies, and continued to be so regarded and prohibited in states having any substantial admixture of population at the time the 14th amendment was adopted.”

And this:

“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his
arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

It is ultimately sad to hear the words of the racists in the mouths of those they sought to oppress.

President Obama

Getting President Barack Obama to fight for LGBT rights has not always been easy, but he has done quite a lot for LGBT rights over the past four years. In the above campaign spot, Obama and supporter Jane Lynch outline what Obama has done in four years to secure more LGBT rights. Obama has done a lot for LGBT rights, and his decision to support same-sex marriage has only helped to secure some more moderate votes, but has not driven away any of the votes that would never have voted for him anyway.

I’m delighted to announce that 2012 will mark the eighth year of my annual Pride Party. This event has become a hallmark of Pride weekend and is guaranteed to be one of the hottest tickets in town. This year the San Francisco Pride Committee has named us an official event! What started out as an alternative little party for a few friends has now become a staple at Pride in SF – with guests coming from all over the world. Over the past seven years you have helped us raise big money just by purchasing a ticket and attending this awesome event.

With all the progress the LGBT community has seen in the past year, I thought it seemed only fitting to make my annual Pride celebration bigger and better than it’s ever been before. I’ve booked two of my favorite venues, each a spectacular space featuring grand outdoor and indoor settings. With shuttles running between the two locales every 10 minutes, you’ll be sure not to miss a moment’s celebration. And, if all that wasn’t enough, the list of performers and DJ’s I’ve lined up is sure to keep things festive well into the night. But, just as importantly, Pride is not only about celebration, but also recognition. Each year I donate the entire proceeds of my fabulous party to an outstanding organization benefiting our community, and this year I’ve chosen to honor the San Francisco LGBT Center in recognition of it’s ten years of unparalleled support and outreach.

Join me this Pride as we come together to celebrate our community and remember, this year, there’s MORE! to celebrate.

You’ll find everything you need to know about the party here on my website. Please add me on Twitter for up-to -the minute updates before and during the party!

Loads of Love,
Juanita

The unmanned spacecraft was launched by SpaceX’s Dragon 9 rocked on Tuesday. This is a means to replace the space shuttles, which were retired by NASA recently. Currently, NASA relies on Russia and the Soyuz rocket and spacecraft to get supplies and crew to the ISS.

The Huffington Post reports that:

NASA awarded $381 million to SpaceX as part of a 2006 agreement, according to press materials from the company. SpaceX has spent $1 billion over the last decade, the Associated Press reports.

NASA has also awarded $266 million to Orbital Sciences Corp., a Virginia-based space technology company, which has a goal of launching a rocket and spacecraft by the end of the year.

There has been a big move towards privately funded or organized space exploration in recent years as the federal government and other governments have cut back severely on funding space exploration.

Meghan and Cindy McCain for the NoH8 Campaign

Meghan McCain is finding out that the Republican Party is no place for a Center Right individual. She spoke to Reverend Al Sharpton on MSNBC about the ideological divisions within the GOP, and just how she is facing a lot of problems in the Party for being a moderate.

McCain stated “I’m a proud moderate Republican, but using the word ‘moderate’ in the Republican party today is considered a dirty word. Many people in the Republican party treat me like I’m a freak, like there’s something wrong with me and that I’m a mutant from the original design.”

At one point she even states “I wish I knew more where it came from I don’t understand the popularity of Michelle Malkin and Andrew Breitbart and people who exacerbate people’s fears.”

Actually, that has long been a part of the GOP strategy going back to, oh, Richard Nixon. It’s at the very core of the Southern Strategy.

McCain did say that she will “always stand here and say you can’t actually kick me out of the Republican Party.” True, but it doesn’t stop them from trying.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sugiyama is, truly, a eunuch.

Sugiyama did take the operation to become a eunuch a bit far. He offered up to anyone who would buy them for 100,000 yen the offer of cooking for consumption his own genitals. That is correct, Sugiyama offered to cook his penis, scrotum and testicles for the buyer. Cannibalism is not illegal in Japan. This all occurred on 13 April.

According to Calorie Lab:

After initially considering eating them himself, Sugiyama offered the meal on Twitter in mid-April to the first person willing to pay 100,000 yen (about $1,250). But after the notoriety that his tweet caused, he organized a public banquet, dubbed “Ham Cybele – Century Banquet,” at the “Asagaya Loft A” event space in the Suginami Ward of Tokyo. “Century” in Japanese is a homophone for the Japanese word for “genitals”; “Ham Cybele” refers to the Anatolian mother goddess, prefixed with an appropriate word for tough meat to create a phrase whose initials match Sugiyama’s artist name of HC.

You can read about the rest of the event at Calorie Lab.

Part of the issue that surrounds this is the fact that people have been saying that Sugiyama is transsexual. The question, of course, is whether or not this is correct. The standard definition of transsexual usually includes the words “opposite sex” as in, a transsexual is someone who has the gender of the sex opposite that which they were assigned at birth. Our society, which is very binary, does not have a third option. So, is this person just an asexual who chose to take that to the logical conclusion? Is this person agender instead of asexual?

It seems like there is so much that needs to be discussed about gender and sex that this should bring up. Unfortunately, most people are probably going to just ignore the whole issues brought up by it and focus on the ‘ew’ factor of the cannibalism and the removal of this person’s genitals.

It still brings up the question- how does one define what a transsexual really is?

The decision is in a class-action lawsuit. It is the first decision to be handed down since President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage.

Wilken is just the latest judge to rule in this manner. Conservative and liberal judges have upheld the Constitution and its provisions which render DOMA unconstitutional. Wilken found, like many others, that Section 3 of DOMA, which is the federal definition of marriage and spouse, “vilates the equal protection rights of Plaintiff same-sex spouses.” Furthermore, subparagraph C of Section 7702B(f) of the Internal Revenue Code “violates the equal protection rights of Plaintiff registered domestic partners.” The court found that “both provisions are constitutionally invalid to the extent that they exclude Plaintiff same-sex spouses and registered domestic partners from enrollment in the CalPERS long-term care plan.”

Wilken ordered CalPERS not to use DOMA or that tax provision to deny enrollment to same-sex spouses and domestic partners in California. She also ordered that the federal government not disqualify CalPERS’ plan from the beneficial tax treatment for following her order. The order, however, has been stayed to see if there will be an appeal.

According to MetroWeekly:

The case comes about because, even if CalPERS wanted to allow the participation of same-sex married couples or domestic partners in its long-term care program, Section 7702B(f)(2) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) disqualifies a state-maintained plan from favorable tax treatment if it provides coverage to individuals other than those specified under the tax-code provision, which was signed into law a month before DOMA was in 1996. As Wilken noted, “The list of eligible individuals in Section 7702B(f)(2)(C) includes state employees and former employees, their spouses, and individuals bearing a relationship to the employees or spouses which is described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of 26 U.S.C. § 152(d)(2).” Wilken found the decision to include subparagraphs (A) through (G) — and not (H) — of the underlying tax provision relevant because subparagraph (H) would have allowed for coverage for domestic partners, among others.

I think I’ve know since I first laid eyes on her.

Apparently, what happened is that the “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef” host was sort of ‘outed’ by “Chopped” host Ted Allen. Most non-Food Network fans would know Allen from “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy”, and yes, he is openly gay. For that matter. . .do you know how many chefs on “Chopped” are openly lesbian?

Anne isn’t upset about it, though. Her rep told Page Six that “Anne doesn’t feel she was outed. She has made no secret of her relationship.”

Burrell is now the first confirmed openly LGBT cooking show host on the twin networks. Allen is a host of a cook off contest and Cat Cora is the only female Iron Chef.

The Huffington Post reports that:

A number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media outlets charged Allen, formerly of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” with “outing” Burrell, who had previously been mum about her personal life, in his radio interview. “I’m not going to put a label on Anne, but she is dating a woman right now,” Allen, who reportedly went on to explain that the woman in question works at Chicago eatery Avec, said. “She was really cool.”

Let us be honest here. None of this is a surprise. Anyone with decent gaydar could have told you that Burrell is lesbian. We just wish she could have won The Next Iron Chef as well.

At the time, Emanuela was 15.

Amorth was appointed to his post by Pope John Paul II and claims to have carried out tens of thousands of exorcisms. Amorth is also one of the people who attacked Harry Potter calling the books the “work of the devil” and has claimed that “the devil was at work in the Vatican” with regards to the child sexual abuse scandal.

The Vatican has insisted that they have done everything that they can to help solve this mystery.

TJ Lane

Judge Timothy Grendell has determined that Chardon High School shooter TJ Lane will be tried as an adult in the deaths of three students. It is clear, according to Grendell, that Lane planned to murder people at the school in a deliberate and calculated manner. Grendell also ordered that Lane be held without bond.

Lane’s grandparents were in the court, along with relatives of those who were murdered. The court did hear from a Geauga County Sherrif’s deputy and both prosecutors and defense attorneys before making its ruling. Lane’s lawyer has stated that Lane admitted that no one picked on him or bullied him. Geauga County Sheriff’s deputy John Bilicik stated that Lane admitted to the crimes when interviewed by the police.

According to NewsNet5, this exchange occurred:

BILICIK: “Why did you shoot people?”
LANE: “I have no idea. I don’t really understand it myself.”

BILICIK: “How many did you shoot?”
LANE: “I don’t know. I was aiming for heads so they wouldn’t suffer.”

BILICIK: “Did someone piss you off?”
LANE: “No one pissed me off. I have no problem with people.”

Footage from cameras in and around the high school was shown in court, but the Media was not allowed to see it. Prosecutors were concerned that it would prejudice a future jury. Lane’s defense attorney wanted him to remain in the juvenile court system because of his diagnosis of having schizophrenia and unspecified psychosis.

Lane admitted to opening fire in Chardon High School, killing three students and injuring two others.

Regarding the first, Servicemembers Defense Network stated:

“SLDN and our allies have been working on Capitol Hill this year to encourage the Senate Armed Services Committee to pass a common-sense defense spending bill that does not seek to turn the clock back on the progress we have made in this first year of implementation of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal. We now turn our attention to making sure the full Senate passes the committee bill and that the harmful language included in the House version is stripped away in conference committee,” said Sarvis.

The House passed its version of the NDAA on May 18 and included two harmful amendments put forth by opponents of LGBT military equality. The first would give so-called “conscience protections” to chaplains and service members who do not wish to minister and work with gay and lesbian service members. A threat to military readiness and unit cohesion, this amendment would allow service members to actively harass their fellow comrades for their perceived or actual sexual orientation. It would allow chaplains to discriminate against service members by religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, or any other religious belief simply by arguing that ministering to them would be contrary to their “conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs.”

A second amendment adopted to the House version of the bill would limit the use of Department of Defense property for same-gender marriage ceremonies.

“The Department of Defense has already made it clear – and appropriately so – that decisions about the use of facilities should be made on a sexual orientation neutral basis. This is yet another attempt by a few opponents of military equality who are looking to turn the clock back on progress and relegate gay and lesbian service members to second-class status,” said Sarvis.

With regards to women in front lines combat, the NDAA unveiled by Senators Carl Levin and John McCain includes a proposal put forward by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York which would order the military to develop a plan to send women into battle. The Pentagon has already begun relaxing ground ground combat exclusion policy for women, and opening more jobs closer to the battlefields. This would require the commanders to come up with plans to remove those final barriers.

The Huffington Post notes:

Women constitute about 15 percent of the armed forces, and 144 have died in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 900 have been wounded there. Supporters of opening all war zones to women say such a change would also remove obstacles to women’s advancement in the military, where battle experience is a key to promotion.

“Women are already fighting and dying for our country shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers in uniform on the front lines, but without the formal recognition that is essential for them to advance and obtain the benefits they have earned,” said Gillibrand in a statement. “Just like it was wrong to discriminate against service members because of whom they love, it is also wrong to deny combat roles to qualified women solely because of their gender.”

Meanwhile, two female soldiers have filed suit in order to gain combat roles for women. Command Sergeant Major Jane Baldwin and Colonel Ellen Haring, both Army Reservists, have stated that the exclusion based upon their sex violates their rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. They stated in the filing that “This limitation on plaintiffs’ careers restricts their current and future earnings, their potential for promotion and advancement, and their future retirement benefits.”

The video is above.

According to sources, Hernandez came forward to confess his crime. According to some, he has cancer and is facing marital problems. According to police, Hernandez worked at the bodega that Patz visited when he went to go buy a soda. That store was right near Etan’s apartment, the very area that was searched last month. According to what we know, Hernandez has confessed to the crime of strangling Patz after he was lured down into the basement. Afterwards, Hernandez threw Etan’s remains into the trash. Hernandez has been a suspect in the past, and apparently has confessed to several people, but only just now come forward to the police.

Back in 1979, prosecutors identified Jose Antonio Ramos, a child molester, as the criminal. Ramos is currently serving jail time for molesting children, and is scheduled to be released in November 2012.

What makes the Patz story so remarkble is that he was the first child to appear on milk cartons across the country.

Of course, OMM has had no success in actually getting anyone to listen to them. Archie Comics went through with their same-sex marriage storyline- and will have a story about gender swapping soon. Of course, that isn’t stopping OMM from issuing their usual statement condemning this move and crying “think of the children”- that’s right, we can use the children that’s why we’re forming a Children’s Brigade.

Sorry, drifted off into Futurama there.

Their letter, which is below, runs the usual line of thought about how children become gay if they are exposed to homosexuality at an early age. This is rather silly since many lesbians and gays who are adults today didn’t know that they were normal until AFTER they were adults. (Heck, the first time I even knew someone could be lesbian or gay I was 15!)

Here is OMM’s rant:

Part 1: DC Comics recently announced one of their most popular, but as of yet unnamed, prominent characters will soon be coming out of the closet. DC Comics, owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, has decided that one of their beloved superheroes will be homosexual. Who will they choose; Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, or another one of their characters that children look up to?

Last year, DC Comics Co-publisher Dan DiDio said that the company would not change the sexual orientation of an existing superhero and would bring in a new one altogether. Parents may have been able to avoid a new character since it would not be one many children have grown to admire. DiDio has changed his mind and will not be introducing a brand new character. They will feature an existing character who was previously assumed to be straight, will now become openly gay. Senior VP Sales Bob Wayne said DiDio’s view ‘had evolved’, comparing the shift to Barack Obama’s recent endorsement of same-sex marriage, according to a report. DiDio did not specify which character would ‘come out’ or in which issue it would be featured. It will likely be a June issue during LBGT month, joining lesbian character Batwoman.

Part 2: And to make matters more shocking, Marvel, now owned by Disney, followed DC Comics’ announcement with a surprise of their own. Northstar, Marvel’s first openly gay hero, is going to tie the knot with his boyfriend in the current issue of “Astonishing X-Men.” This is the first same-sex wedding in a superhero comic book.

In “Astonishing X-Men” #50, which hit comic shop shelves Wednesday, Northstar proposes to his boyfriend, Kyle, a fellow snow sports enthusiast who possesses no superpowers. The couple will seal the deal in issue #51, slated for a June 20 release.

“The story of Northstar and Kyle is universal, and at the core of everything I write: a powerful love between two people who have to fight for it against all odds,” said X-Men comic writer Marjorie Liu in a statement.

Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, “I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men?”

This is ridiculous! Why do adult gay men need comic superheroes as role models? They don’t but do want to indoctrate impressionable young minds by placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light. These companies are heavily influencing our youth by using children’s superheroes to desensitize and brainwash them in thinking that a gay lifestyle choice is normal and desirable. As Christians, we know that homosexuality is a sin (Romans 1:26-27).

Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to homosexuality at an early age. Comic books would be one of the last places a parent would expect their child to be confronted with homosexual topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Children do not know what straight, homosexual, or coming out of the closet even means, but DC Comics and Marvel are using superheroes to confuse them on this topic to raise questions and awareness of an alternative lifestyle choice. These companies are prompting a premature discussion on sexual orientation.

Northstar’s wedding will be the first same-sex wedding in the world of mainstream superhero comics, but not the first gay comic books character. Earlier this year One Million Moms emailed Toys ‘R’ Us concerning the “Life With Archie” No. 16 with two gay characters getting hitched. Toys ‘R’ Us had the audacity to display “Archie- Just Married” at the front of the store by the checkout counters.

Sigfried & Roy in 2012 by Usien Via Wikipedia

Roy Horn is, apparently, livid over video being shoppted to the media showing him sexually assaulting and harassing his caretakers, and is threatening legal action if the tapes are not turned over to him. TMZ is reporting Horn is threatening to take the caretakers to court if the tapes are not turned over as a confidentiality agreement between Horn and his employees state that these recordings cannot be taken to the media.

TMZ reports that:

We’ve seen the 2010 footage — and it shows several instances of inappropriate behavior … including Roy forcibly kissing a caretaker, grabbing two caretakers’ penises, tweaking one’s nipples … and more.

Even if the tapes never see the light of day, the damage has already bee done.

Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re, the head of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, told reporters that, although the girl fell pregnant after being abused by her stepfather, her twins had “the right to live, and could not be eliminated.” He also stated “It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons. Life must always be protected.”

Showing off that the Catholic Church is more interested in preserving male superiority than actually helping the poor or preventing the need for abortions, the Catholic Church has not acted in any manner against the alleged abuser. The police believe that the girl was sexually assaulted for years by her stepfather, and that it was not until she was rushed to the hospital because of severe stomach pains that it became known that she was pregnant and required an emergency abortion. Odds on are that neither the girl nor the two fetuses would have survived the pregnancy.

According to the Belfast Telegram:

The controversy represents a PR nightmare for the Vatican. The unnamed girl’s mother and doctors were excommunicated for agreeing to Wednesday’s emergency abortion yet the Church has not taken formal steps against the stepfather, who is in custody. Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, the conservative regional archbishop for Pernambuco where the girl was rushed to hospital, has said that the man would not be thrown out of the Church, because although he had allegedly committed “a heinous crime”, the Church took the view that “the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious”.

Former President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva even got into this stating “As a Christian and a Catholic, I deeply regret that a bishop of the Catholic Church has such a conservative attitude. The doctors did what had to be done: save the life of a girl of nine years old. In this case, the medical profession was more right than the Church.”

The girl’s stepfather is also accused of abusing her handicapped 14-year-old sister, and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

One of the doctors involved in the abortion, Rivaldo Albuquerque, has stated that he will continue to attend Mass despite what the archbishop orders.

MN Machine

Why is it that whenever I hear about a story like this, all I ever get going through my head are songs like “Men in Tights” by Mel Brooks or “Real Men” by Joe Jackson? There are two stereotypes that abound regarding the gay man- the every effeminate ones and the really butch ones. The Catholic group Courage is holding their 13th annual sports camp for gay men to try and get them to stop being attracted to one another, or at least remain celibate. After all, nothing quite says straight like running down a field and tackling someone.

The camp is where “men physically compete on the field while enriching their souls through a daily regimen of prayer, confessions, mass, and the Liturgy of the Hours.”

According to Philly.com:

The member, who asked not to be identified, said the weekend was a “tutorial sports event” and “not some sort of brainwashing camp that tries to make someone into something they’re not.”

He also said all different kinds of people were expected to attend, including married men “who had this issue in the past” and those who face “social blockades” because of their ineptitude when it came to sports. While no drinking is allowed, according to the registration form, in previous years participants celebrated at the end of the week with cigars and cognac.

That isn’t all that has been said about sports and ineptitude leading to homosexuality. Apparently Pal Kleponis of the Institute for Marital Healing in West Conshohocken stated at various Courage conferences that he believes that homosexuality is rooted in childhood rejection and trauma. Robert Fitzgibbons, the therapist who runs the Institute, has written about this stating that boys who are rejected because they cannot play sports “begin to identify with the female instead of the male.” He contends that the root of the problem is poor hand-eye coordination.

BTW, that was the sound of a thousand gamers hitting their heads on their desks. I have kept abreast of the pro-gaming circuit, and while none of these guys are the stereotypical gamer, very few of them look like they would excel at sports. Still, it takes a lot of hand-eye coordination and stamina to last through a 45 minute Starcraft II game- and there are some of those that go on for even longer. Then again, at the end of this article, is a partial list of gay male sports stars.

Ed Coffin, director of Peace Advocacy Network, stated that “They think that in offering people with same sex attraction the chance to learn how to play sports they will learn to be manlier. It’s a ludicrous assertion. There are many, many out gay athletes and many gay men who play sports,”

This, of course, comes on the heels of Dr. Robert Spitzer renouncing his 2001 study claiming that highly motivated lesbians and gays could become straight through therapy, and the World Health Organization calling reparative therapy “a serious threat to the health and well-being — and even the lives — of affected people.”

Philly.com noted that:

“It’s been a really bad week for this whole movement to change one’s sexual orientation,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, which fights against antigay theory and religious extremism.

The idea that gay people are bad at sports “is an insult to common sense and is contradicted by reality,” he said. “The idea that sports has anything to do with one’s sexuality is confusing science with stereotypes.”

One guy named Robert who provided a testimonal about the sports camp stated that:

“Because of my lack of athletic confidence, I’ve often felt less than a man . . .It felt so true and good to see myself as a peer and competitor to the other men instead of believing that I didn’t belong with the other members of my own sex. Instead of feeling intimidated or repulsed by the physical contact, I liked it … One time a teammate gave me a sweaty celebratory hug. He was humbly secure in himself, just as he was, selflessly and joyfully showing affection to others. I also liked when one man, whom I’d felt intimated by, gave me a pat on my belly, meaning ‘way to go!’ His touch made me feel accepted as one of the guys.”

And probably much more than that. Really, what this comes down to is this notion of being a ‘failure’ as a man because they do not live up to the stereotype that society imposes upon them, and while it may take away their fear of being unable to live up to the stereotype, it seems unlikely that they will ever stop being attracted to men.

Billy Bean is a former Major League baseball player. It seems that he did not get the memo about gays not being good at sports. He came out in 1999 and says that Courage’s take on sports is “is discrimination and archaic stereotypical belief, that is inexcusable. We are born the way we are born. I find it heartbreaking that anyone would subject a young man into believing he should suppress who he is, in a way that is so potentially damaging.”

Courage’s ideas about homsoexuality come from Fitzgibbons’ research primarily and supposedly gay men’s lack of confidence comes from rejection by parents and others. Al, who runs a Scranton Courage support group, stated “I never met a man with same sex attraction that had a healthy relationship with his father.”

In truth, he has it backwards. There are many gay men who have healthy relationships with their fathers, but because his experience is limited to just those who hate themselves, the likelihood is that his view is skewed. In truth, gays who hate themselves probably have a toxic relationship with their parents.

Here, incidentally, is a list of gay athletes via Wikipedia:

Graham Ackerman,
John Amaechi,
Eric Anderson,
Jim Barnett,
Billy Bean,
Thomas Berling,
Mark Bingham,
John Blankenstein,
Brendan Burke,
Glenn Burke, I
van Bussens,
J. P. Calderon,
John Curry,
Donal Óg Cusack,
Steven Davies,
Michael Dos Santos
Robert Dover
Justin Fashanu
Edward Gal
Rudy Galindo
Vicky Galindo
Ed Gallagher
Terry Garvin
Bobby Goldsmith
Andrew Goldstein
Peter Häggström
Matthew Hall
Kyle Hawkins
Bruce Hayes
Anton Hysén
Patrick Jeffrey
Gus Johnston
Orlando Jordan
Chris Kanyon
Peter Karlsson
Johan Kenkhuis
David Kopay
Daniel Kowalski
Greg Louganis
Robert McCall
Ray McDonald
Lindsy McLean
Hans Peter Minderhoud
Matthew Mitcham
Chris Morgan
Jim Morris
Ondrej Nepela
Robert Newton
Scott Norton
Rudolph Nureyev
Graeme Obree
Ryan O’Meara
Brian Orser
Nigel Owens
Dave Pallone
Bob Paris
Sandy Parker
Pat Patterson
Lee Pearson
Otto Peltzer
David Pichler
Aslie Pitter
Brian Pockar
Ian Roberts
Ronald Robertson
Olivier Rouyer
Matthew Rush
Will Sheridan
Roy Simmons
Brian Sims
Blake Skjellerup
Blyth Tait
David Testo
Mark Tewksbury
Gareth Thomas
Bill Tilden
Ted Tinling
Esera Tuaolo
Louis Van Amstel
Dan Veatch
Mike Verschuur
Tom Waddell
Ji Wallace
Johnny Weir
Rick Welts
David Wilson
Scott Woodward-Smith

The NHTL wants the protections that LGBT South Africans enjoy stripped from the Constitution. They submitted a proposal to the constitutional review committee, which is charied by Chief Patekile Holomisa. Chief Holomisa is also the chairperson of the NHTL, so, of course, the petition was then referred to the parliamentary party caucuses. Reports are that Holomisa is antagonistic to LGBT people, and is vehemently opposed to civil unions and same-sex marriage.

African National Congress chief whip, Dr. Mathole Motshekga, issued a statement stating that the ANC will not accede to any submission seeking to amend the nation’s Constitution to strip LGBT people of their protections.

However:

Subsequently on SAFM AMlive, Xolani Gwala conducted an interview with Contralesa which exacerbates concerns despite the statement issued by the office of the ANC chief whip. It was suggested that people who are lesbian and gay foster declining population figures in South Africa because they are not actively engaged in sexual reproduction, and thus stop people from having babies.

Whomever put forward this argument would seem to be blithely ignorant of Statistics South Africa’s population statistics, which shows an impressive increase in the population of our country over time; but the point is evidently not the question of fact but rather the prejudices which informed the statements.

It was suggested that lesbian and gay persons do not make appropriate adoptive parents of children, and that adoptions by same-sex couples should be discouraged. Holomisa also claimed that, traditionally, people who were homosexual were subjected to certain rituals which transformed them from socially and culturally unacceptable “sexual deviants” into “normal”, socially and culturally acceptable heterosexuals.

It appears that many of the lies being spread by the anti-LGBT groups in America have now shifted fully into every corner of Africa. The question is, will South Africa follow Uganda and other nations backwards into the Darkness or will they stand up and keep moving forward.

Sigfried & Roy in 2012 by Usien Via Wikipedia

TMZ is reporting that a graphic video of Roy Horn groping employees, grabbing their privates, and squeezing their nipples is being shopped around currently. They describe the video as “extremely disturbing,” and to on to explain “Roy — who was mauled by a tiger in 2003 — has been going through rehab to strengthen his left side. But the physical therapists tell us, Roy’s right side is ‘extremely strong,’ and the video clearly shows Roy sexually assaulting the male therapists.”

It should be noted that Horn suffered a stroke during the incident with the tiger Monticore, and that may be causing his behavioral issues. A Vermont politician suffering from brain damage was accused of having masturbated in the locker room of a gym that he was using even though he legitimately does not even recall the incident.

According to TMZ, the video from 2010 shows:

– As a caretaker helps Roy to the bathroom, Horn shoves his hand into the man’s butt crack in an aggressive manner

– On another trip to the bathroom, Roy thrusts his rear end into the male caretaker’s crotch

– In two clips, Roy grabs the genitals of two male caretakers

– Roy goes under the shirt of one caretaker and appears to tweak his nipples. The caretaker appears to writhe in pain

– It appears Roy gets frustrated with one of the caretakers and violently whips him with an oxygen tube

– Roy manhandles one of the caretakers and forcibly kisses him on the mouth

All three of the caretakers are straight men, and have families. They have sued Horn in court over the sexual assaults. They did try to take this to the police, but were informed that the statute of limitations- which is one year- had run out. So far, no comment from Horn has been recorded.

Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn quit the stage completely in 2010, some seven years after the incident with Monticore.

The fire blazed through most of the night, only being extinguished this morning.

Most of those achievements have involved voting against legislation to help women or voting in favor of stuff that hurts women.

The Hill notes that:

The committee mission statement explains that the group “is organized for the purpose of influencing, advancing, leading, and communicating the Republican agenda in the House of Representatives. The Women’s Policy Committee is dedicated to the principles of job creation, less government, lower taxes, regulatory relief, personal responsibility, individual freedoms and a strong national defense.”

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (Calif.) will serve as committee chairwoman.

Bono Mack stated “As mothers, grandmothers, daughters, wives and sisters, women often see things in a different context,” she said in a statement. “As Republican women, we have some really unique ideas for moving our nation forward, and we’re excited about working together to find solutions.”

The Hill also notes:

“Republican women in Congress are making a real difference,” says Bono Mack in the video.

“While our backgrounds are different, one thing is not,” continues Rep. Kay Granger (Texas).

“We are all conservative reformers,” says Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.).

“We know what it’s like to run a budget, a business and a family,” explains Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.).

So far, these women have mostly supported every male-oriented bit of legislation to come out of the Republican Party with the aim of hurting women. The problem the GOP is facing is not that there is a lack of women in the GOP, but rather, that they have crafted policies which attack the basic rights of women, and are often bombastic in their assaults on those very rights. Some of those attacking women have been women themselves.

All this does is create a target, really.

Ravi was facing up to ten years in prison for using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi during an intimate encounter. While typically bias laws are aimed at those who act out of utter hatred for a minority, they can target those who act with malicious intent out of a biased or prejudiced manner such as Ravi did.

According to NJ.com:

Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman sentenced Ravi to 30 days in the county jail, three years of probation and 300 hours of community service. The judge also ordered him to have counseling and contribute $10,000 to a state-licensed, community-based organization dedicated to assisting victims of bias crimes.

The sentence was a stunning departure from state sentencing guidelines that require the judge to find extraordinary circumstances to overcome the presumption of a prison term for the second-degree convictions and replace them with probation. Second-degree convictions carry a presumption of five to seven years in prison.

Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey president Leslie Sinemus feels that there is a good likelihood that the sentence will be overturned and stated “I’m not sure 30-day sentence as condition of probation sends the defendant or future defendants the message.”

What may be at issue is the fact that Judge Berman did not agree with the Grand Jury’s finding of a bias crime, nor the verdict of the jury that there was a bias crime. Berman called the spying “cold, calculated and methodically conceived”, but only handed down a thirty-day sentence over ‘trying to hinder his own apprehension by lying to investigators and tampering with evidence by removing tweets from his Twitter account.’

There are 7 Catholic organizations and 43 Catholic Dioceses that have filed a law suit on Monday against the federal government mandate requiring employers to include birth control in their health care plans

Catholic leaders contend the President Barack Obama’s-endorsed health care initiative requires employers to include coverage in their health benefit plans for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and artificial contraception, “all of which violate the Catholic Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person.

While individual State Catholic Conferences took the issue to court, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has not involved themselves in this strategy as a national Catholic Conference. There appears to be a difference within the Conference on how best to approach this topic without getting involved in partisan politics. Currently 13 Dioceses out of 200 Catholic Dioceses are involved in this partisan political strategy of aligning with the GOP by taking a coordinated court approach which is sure to generate a lot of media coverage.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago while supporting the efforts of those state conferences has not allowed the Illinois State Conference to get involved. Two dioceses in Illinois Springfield, and Joliet, however have decided to side with Cardinal Timothy Dolan and against Cardinal George’s approach to steer away from patrician politics.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “We have tried negotiation with the administration and legislation with the Congress, and we’ll keep at it, but there’s still no fix,” in explaining why Catholic institutions have resorted to the courts.

Cardinal Dolan has yet to explain what has our federal government done to impede the religious rights and intrude on religious freedoms? He can’t see through the mist of dogma.

Erin Shields, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department, said Monday the agency does not comment on pending litigation. The liberal advocacy group Catholics United accused the bishops of serving a “right-wing political agenda.”

The differences in approach highlights I think a division in US Conference of Catholic Bishops on strategy. Cardinal Dolan promotes the idea of victimization by the government of the Church; Cardinal George on the other hand promotes the idea of religious freedom. While the Rainbow Sash Movement disagrees with both of these approaches and supports women’s health over dogma. It would seem that Cardinal George is attempting to be reasonable in promoting his idea, while Cardinal Dolan foams at the mouth.

Besides Illinois, the lawsuits have been filed in seven states and the District of Columbia by the archdioceses of Washington and New York, the Michigan Catholic Conference, Catholic Charities in Mississippi, Missouri and Indiana, health care agencies in New York and two dioceses in Texas.

In any case, the horse has left the barn. If the Supreme Court found for the government against Amish paying social security and unemployment taxes the court will have no other recourse than to support the government’s current position on the birth control issue as far as Roman Catholic Hospitals, Universities and Charitable organizations are concerned, despite their religious belief.

Clearly there appears to division among Roman Catholic Bishops on what the best strategy should be. Now that the issue is in hands of the court only time will tell.

Powell, if everyone remembers, was the architect of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which has now been repealed. Powell told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “It was the Congress that imposed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ it was certainly my position, my recommendation to get us out of an even worse outcome that could have occurred.”

For Powell, the issue is not about religion, but about public policy. He stated “I respect the fact that many denominations have different points of view with respect to gay marriage and they can hold that in the sanctity in the place of their religion and not bless them or solemnize them.”

He also stated that he has “a lot of friends who are individually gay but are in partnerships with loved ones, and they are as stable a family as my family is and they raise children. And so I don’t see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married under the laws of their state or the laws of the country.”

Powell served as President George W. Bush’s Secretary of State, and is a moderate Republican.

Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN’s Executive Director and an Army veteran, stated “This Memorial Day, we remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom, but we must also recognize that our gay and lesbian service members and their families pay a price every day even as they serve our country – a price their straight counterparts are not required to pay. It’s time to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and honor these brave patriots by treating them equally.”

The petition states:

The so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) forces the military to treat married gay and lesbian service members and their families differently than it treats all other married service members and their families. Please end this discriminatory and unequal treatment of our service members and veterans by repealing DOMA.

“When Congress repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ it meant that our gay and lesbian service members could serve openly, but not — as long as the so-called Defense of Marriage Act is on the books — equally,,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry. “It is time for Congress to repeal DOMA so that service members and their families will no longer be unfairly denied important protections and so that their employer – the military – can treat all personnel and their families fairly and equally.”

The Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry joint campaign launched last week with the release of a compelling online video illustrating the real injury inflicted on gay and lesbian military families who, because of the federal government’s refusal to respect their marriages, are denied the support and protections that all other military families receive. Already, the video has been viewed more than 50,000 times.

Because of the ‘gay exception’ created by DOMA, America’s legally married gay and lesbian couples are denied more than 1,100 federal responsibilities and protections, including access to military insurance programs, Social Security survivors benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws, and the opportunity to take leave to care for a spouse. On May 9, 2012, President Obama cited conversations with service members as part of his reason for supporting same-sex couples’ freedom to marry. The President had already endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, and had instructed the Attorney General Eric Holder to stop defending DOMA in the courts based on the Department of Justice’s determination that DOMA is unconstitutional.

In October 2011, SLDN filed landmark litigation on behalf of eight married gay and lesbian service members and veterans challenging DOMA and three other federal statutes that may be interpreted to prevent the military from providing the same protections and support to all families. For more information on the case, click here.

Freedom to Marry’s federal program works to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and make the case for marriage to government officials, opinion-leaders, and political operatives in Washington, DC. Freedom to Marry jointly leads the Respect for Marriage Coalition, a diverse group of nearly 70 organizations working together to repeal DOMA, and regularly hosts salons to engage Democratic, Republican, and independent opinion-leaders and operatives in conversations about why marriage matters to same-sex couples. Since the introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act, the bill that would restore the historic practice of federal respect for lawful state marriages, the number of cosponsors has increased from 18 to 32 in the Senate, including every Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and from 108 to 144 in the House of Representatives.

For more information on Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry, visit www.freedomtomarry.org/serve.

“The poll also finds that 59 percent of African Americans say they support same-sex marriage, up from an average of 41 percent in polls leading up to Obama’s announcement of his new position on the matter. Though statistically significant, it is a tentative result because of the relatively small sample of black voters in the poll.”

It is also not surprising that the National Organization for Marriage pretty quickly screamed about this poll. Frank Schubert, their national policy director, called into question the poll’s accuracy by pointing to the number of polls that have overestimated support for same-sex unions before state ballot measures. Schubert actually stated:

“There is not a chance in God’s green earth that African Americans support same-sex marriage. [The President’s endorsement has probably] created a lot of angst and conflict in that community, but his opinion of same-sex marriage is not going to be changing the opinion of African Americans in a significant way.”

Actually, Schubert is comparing apples to kumquats here. This poll is of all Americans, and does not reflect the voting public in, say, North Carolina or any given state, for that matter. Support has also grown in a number of places where, back in 2004 and 2006, they passed anit-marriage amendments.

The New Civil Rights Movement noted that:

In the past week, the NAACP, actor Will Smith, and rappers Jay-Z and 50 Cent have all joined the president in declaring support for same-sex marriage.

NOM’s corporate policy is to drive a race wedge into the politics of marriage and attempt to make being anti-marriage equality a badge of honor.

Diaz states:

“I am hopeful that through this press release, my message to Pastor Sean Harris and his followers will be heard and he will see the errors of his ways.

“The sermon Pastor Sean Harris gave that has been broadcast online and covered in the media is, to say the very least, not Christianly. As followers of Jesus, Christians must oppose violence and hatred toward all human persons. I implore all parents to always love their children and never abuse them or turn their backs on them for any reason. It is an outrage that anyone, especially in the name of Christ, would ever suggest putting any human persons in concentration camps or mistreating each other.

“Jesus’ message to love one another is the core of Christianity even if we disagree with the actions of others or with their way of life. There is nothing in Christianity that permits us to become savages or treat each other with violence and contempt. Pastor Harris’ teachings are not based on Christ’s teachings at all.”

Senator Diaz may want to go back to the Bible and start reading everything that Christ said about homosexuality, and realize that his opposition to homosexuality and to marriage equality is not rooted in his faith, but in his fears about what it means to be a man, or a failure as a man. His own hatred and bigotry is not found in the words of Christ, but in the fears that haunt his mind.

And Diaz may want to remember that, whether he likes it or not, he is just like Harris even if he will not use those hateful words. It is his hateful actions that will hurt many a child in this nation.

MSNBC explains that:

The video, posted on YouTube, tells the story of the fictional 12-year-old Hailey Bennett (played by Jessica), who lost her mother at age 3, is abused by her dad and is all alone after her only friend moves away. Hailey gets bullied at school daily, is mocked on her fake Facebook page, and ultimately, ends her life. The video and the Facebook page had disclaimers saying Hailey was a fictional character, according to TODAY.

A parent saw the Facebook page, which did include an update saying “I wanna be dead”, called the police, who in turn called the school, and Jessica was called into the assistant principal’s office. There, she was confronted by printouts of the page which did not include the disclaimer.

MSNBC explains:

“I tried explaining it so much … they had the printouts of the page but none of the printouts that they had were the ones where I specify that it was a fake page,” Jessica said, adding that the person who handed them over “hadn’t been able to go down far enough to see that it was fake.”

Jessica’s mother did bring printouts that had the disclaimer, but school officials did not really seem to be bothered by it. School Superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer told WNBC New York that the video, which was posted online, was “unfortunate in that it created a substantial disruption to the school.”

This leaves some of us baffled since it seems that the person who created the disruption was the parent who didn’t read the site fully or the police who did not check the site properly to see if it was not a work of fiction.

Jessica cried hysterically when the school punished her, and stated that “I couldn’t even believe that I was getting in trouble for something that I had worked so hard on, and the only intent of it was good.”

Jessica now faced a suspension hearing at school, and her father is hoping that it will be reversed, erased and that she can turn in the project. He stated that “This is a great project. There’s thousands of people that love it, and it can be fixed. This can be fixed, simple. I’m very proud of the things she’s done here.”

Jessica stated that “They’ve been been teaching us since we were in kindergarten that you treat people the way you want to be treated and not to bully. Then I make some type of movement in it and I get punished for it.”

Church member Geneva Sims stated that “So he had every right to say what he said about putting them in a pen and feeding them. The Bible says they are worthy of death. He only preaches the word…God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”

So, where is Worley’s sermons calling for the stoning death of Mark Sanford, John Ensign, John Edwards, and all adulterers. The Bible is quite clear on this one, in fact. Adulterers are suppose to be stoned to death.

Stacey Pritchard, also a member, stated “Sometimes you’ve got to be scared straight. He is trying to save those people from going to hell.”

She should try asking Larry Craig about that. It isn’t so much getting scared straight as getting scared into hiding it from everyone and doing it in the dark.

Jeremy Hooper over at Good as You unearthed audio of Worley from, apparently, 1978 stating “Forty years ago [LGBT people] would’ve hung, bless God, from a white oak tree!”

The Huffington Post notes that:

In the video, reportedly filmed on May 13, Worley calls for gays and lesbians to be put in an electrified pen and ultimately killed off. “Build a great, big, large fence — 150 or 100 mile long — put all the lesbians in there,” Worley suggests. “Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out…and you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out…do you know why? They can’t reproduce!”

He also condemned President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage, proclaiming, “I’m not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!”

Of course, part of the problem is that the laws laid down in Leviticus include a lot of prohibitions that are ignored these days, including by Worley and his congregation. Like many Christians, Worley unfortunately ignores the word of Christ in favor of Saul of Tarses or the Old Testament. Christ said about as much about homosexuality as he did about television. The problem for the Worleys in the world is that Christ’s actual words take away from the power that they want over people.

"Marriage Equality: It's A Right" from Flickr

There is one phrase that comes to my mind with regards to the National Organization for Marriage’s boycott of Starbucks. . .Instead of leaving, they’re staying in droves.

Apparently, NOM has now decided to hold up Robert Adolph Enyart as their model. Apparently the man created a video of him dumping Starbucks coffee down the drain. Other than being a waste of money, it seems like it isn’t much of a stunt. Apparently, Pastor Enyart claimed that he did not know about the fact that Starbucks supports same-sex marriage, and had just bought the coffee right before he bought it. In fact NOM wrote about it saying:

This past week a pastor in Colorado made a video of himself dumping a cup of Starbucks coffee down the street curb drain. Apparently he had purchased it on his way to work shortly before hearing of Starbucks position in support of same-sex marriage and the DumpStarbucks.com campaign and decided he couldn’t go through with drinking it, but wanted to make a statement instead. What you can do this week: Make an inventive and fun home video of yourself or a friend “Dumping Starbucks” and send it in. As many as we can we’ll post online so everyone can see and have a good laugh. If you don’t want to buy a cup of Starbucks (remember we are protesting them) then grab an empty cup from a coworker or friend and use that instead.

Joe My God notes that:

As anybody who saw the original video knows, that preacher did know in advance of his purchase. In fact, AFTER he became the subject of widespread internet ridicule, he pulled the clip and filed copyright claims against others that had mirrored his video. He then re-recorded his clip with the new claim and restaged pouring it down the sewer, this time with an included ad for his stupid radio show.

Enyart is, of course, not exactly the best choice for the face of the boycott. He has been married three times according to sources. He was married to Krista Lynn Crisler from 1981 to 1989, but divorced because, as one source puts it, he was struggling “sexual immorality and porn.” This occurred during his Operation Rescue days. He married his second wife because “I was desperately lonely, but I was also on the rebound”. We do not even know the name of his second wife.

The final time, though, he married Cherl Mayns, a divorcee, and while the two were, apparently, cohabitating, he beat Stephen Mayns, Cherl’s son. According to John Mayns, the boy’s biological father, Enyart “stripped him down naked, bent him over my ex-wife’s bed and then beat him with one of her belts.” In fact, Enyart beat the boy so hard that he broke the skin and was charged with child abuse. Enyart eventually was convicted of the crime and spent fifty days in jail.

Sounds like a great person to showcase traditional marriage, huh?

Today, David Pakman “had an email exchange with the web designer, specifically about whether they disavow the kill gays comments. Their answer was not reaffirming of gay rights, to say the least. They also said they don’t think the clip of Worley saying kill gays in electrified pens was representative of his beliefs (?). The email is contained in this clip that is here:”

That would be in the clip above. The next clip, though, basically makes it clear that Worley’s statements are hardly a departure from his normal statements. Pakman interviewed a lesbian mother who had heard about twenty of Worley’s sermons and attested that his statements about gays was normal for him.

That’s right, coming in at number 69 on Maxim’s Hot 100 list of women is Stephen Colbert. As Maxim’s people explained “Democracy isn’t always pretty: Sometimes it’s downright handsome. With a massive write-in vote campaign, the Colbert Nation proved they’re not only loyal but also incredibly horny.”

Well, another explanation might be that he gets the award because Arianna Huffington- yes the founder of the Huffington Post- named Colbert an Honorary Woman. Of course, if Colbert really wants to take the plunge not only do we know of a few good doctors to help him along, but he would probably make a very lovely woman. The award reads:

In special recognition of his continued efforts to bring to light the issues, both real and imagined, that face women, and generously putting a male voice to their struggles, which is far louder and therefore more convincing than a female one, Stephen Colbert, with the approval of most of the women around the office, is conferred upon the title of ‘Honorary Woman’ with all the honors, privileges and nearly the same rights as men.

Ah, equality. . .it’s for everyone.

The two live in Dummerston, Vermont and have been together more than a decade, and legally married in Vermont last year. They were informed of the decision by the Vermont Congressional delegation.

A majority of Americans- 52%- feel that lesbian and gay relationships are just fine. All together, it is an interesting snapshot of what Americans find morally acceptable:

Man states “I respect each and every human being, regardless of which race or creed, regardless of which religious belief you believe in, and regardless of which sexual preference you are, including gays and lesbian people. . .Do not fight against me for some song that I sung 20 years ago. There is no one in this world is the same as they were 20 years ago – I know I am not.”

Of course it isn’t going to be easy. Even Perez Hilton notes that saying:

We’re sure a lot of people won’t be convinced by a 1:35 apology, but we think it takes courage to admit ignorance and we’re happy to hear that Beenie Man has FINALLY been enlightened!

It’s 2012, people! Homosexuality is nothing new and it’s not going anywhere, so anyone still harboring hate in their heart for the LGBT community needs to wake up and embrace CHANGE!

The thing is, we have to forgive in the end. If we cannot forgive, then we cannot truly claim the higher moral ground. If we are honest, though, homophobia is rooted in fears relating to what it means to be a man and a woman, and fears that someone doesn’t live up to it.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Rome, February 15, 2012, with his dream Vespa

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is apparently still livid that he is not allowed to rule over the United States government in an ideologically pure manner. He took to CBS to accuse the Obama Administration of strangling the Church over the matter of contraception policies. Dolan stated that the compromise that he, himself, agreed to before it went public was not sufficient because he believes it is too restrictive.

Dolan stated that“They tell us if you’re really going be considered a church, if you’re going to be really exempt from these demands of the government, well, you have to propagate your Catholic faith and everything you do, you can serve only Catholics and employ only Catholics. We’re like, wait a minute, when did the government get in the business of defining for us the extent of our ministry.”

Apparently, and not surprisingly, Dolan has ignored much of the debate. While the contraceptive medications are used for contraception, they are also used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions that are exclusive to women. Part of the problem, of course, is that these Catholic institutions also cover medicines like Viagra, which is used only by men, and are used to treat a disorder that is not life threatening nor particularly painful.

Dolan also ignores that the First Amendment is a two way street. Government intrusion into religious doctrine, but is also suppose to protect the government from religious intrusion. It has also become clear that Dolan does not believe that his flock are trustworthy enough to decide on the issue of contraception on their own even if health insurance from those institutions would cover it.

Dolan simply wants to impose a Catholic theocracy in this nation, as has been evident in his actions attacking LGBT Rights on “religious” grounds.

Cyrus, who is 19, recently starred in the huge flop “LOL” with Demi Moore, and was busy telling Amanda DeCadenet of the interview show The Conversation about her sex life. She talked about the importance of parents telling their children about how great sex is, and that kids were finding out about it on television. She stated “It’s the only way we create, and it’s the only way the world keeps going. So it’s ignorant not to talk to your kids about it or [not] make it seem as magical or cool as it actually is. [Kids] have a TV, so they know what sex is. So educate them and let them know it’s a beautiful thing, and it is magic, and it’s when you connect with somebody.”

Cyrus did say something that is important though. She stated that “The girls that really base how much they’re worth on the sexual favors they can do for somebody, that makes me really sad. Your worth isn’t based on [sex]. Your worth is based on how you feel about yourself.”

It isn’t really the message that’s the problem, but more the messenger. It is possible to talk about this without, well, apparently trying to sell sex like it’s the new big thing. What’s more, there is a certain level of hypocrisy in Cyrus’ actions given the fact that she does a lot these days of showing up in very skimpy clothing. If one’s worth is not based upon sexual favors, neither is it really measured in sex appeal.

A judgement agreed to by Couch and the school district agreed that he can wear the shirt and the district must pay $20,000 in damages and court costs for violating Couch’s freedom of speech.

Last night, Martin Bashir interviewed Lewis who was forced to take to the floor of the House to denounce attempts by fellow Georgian Representative Paul Broun to introduce a federal voter ID law. Lewis discusses the battle against Republican attempts to suppress votes and even states “They’re trying to steal this election before it even takes place.”

What no one seems to actually be explaining to the Republican Party is that their demographic has changed greatly over the years, and these laws may actually make it harder for their core constituents to vote. Since the days of Richard Nixon and the Southern Strategy, they have become more and more reliant upon poor white male voters. The Democrats have had to rely upon minorities, women, and the middle.

Still, any attempt to suppress votes is morally repugnant.

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He also apparently doesn’t quite grasp just how twisted his religious beliefs are, but I’ll let Bashir’s guest explain that.

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courtesy of Wikipedia

The National Organization for Marriage is starting to have some major problems. Fred Karger, the openly gay GOP Candidate for President, has been leading the charge going after NOM. He wrote to us to explain that:

We will know within a few weeks if the California Fair Political Practices Commission will look into our charges. NOM has taken center stage since its Prop 8 win in California in 2008 and poured money into half the states across the county to fight the freedom to marry, oppose pro marriage equality candidates, qualify constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage, force GOP Presidential candidates to sign its hateful “Marriage Pledge,” attack judges, governors, mayors, and even former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. NOM has raised tens of millions of dollars and doesn’t feel the need to obey state or federal laws and report its donor’s names. NOM has sued 23 states to overturn and invalidate their reporting laws.

I will remain vigilant against the National Organization for Marriage, and am working very hard with our limited resources to expose its numerous illegal activities before the appropriate state and federal authorities.

NOM is in Trouble

With the release of 29 “Confidential” NOM documents eight weeks ago, thanks to the incredible work of the Attorney General’s office in Maine, we got a glimpse into many of the unethical and illegal activities of the National Organization for Marriage. Now with our release of the “NOM Eleven” secret donors we cite in our FPPC complaint, these up until now mega-donors to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign are out of the closet. We are helping to expose what NOM doesn’t want us to know, exactly who is giving this known hate group all its money.

It is clear that NOM leaders Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown are going down.

It has long since been clear that many of the anti-LGBT groups have been engaging in shade practices in order to try and win elections. Karger has a list of the secret donors here at the Huffington Post. There have been reports of incorrect ballots being given out, priests filling in absentee ballots for invalids, and so much more. The fact that these have been going on has not been investigated hard enough, so it is wonderful to know that Karger is fighting hard to root this stuff out.

The picture gets worse when factoring in the groups’ total cash on hand. Priorities USA finished April with $4.7 million available. Restore Our Future had $8.2 million and American Crossroads a whopping $25.5 million. In addition, a nonprofit spinoff of American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS, which does not disclose donors, recently announced a $25 million ad campaign.

Obama still has the advantage, though. He has $115 million in his war chest while Romney has $61 million. Obama also outraised Romney last month. Still, the RNC and Romney nearly raised as much as the DNC and Obama did; however, it should be noted that Obama tends to rely heavily upon small donations while Romney is reliant upon large ones, and people will begin to donate more as time goes along. Romney may also face bigger problems with fundraising as there are many Social Conservatives who are still not sure about supporting him.

Still, this is going to be a difficult and expensive election complicated by the Supreme Court and Citizens United.

“The NAACP coming out in support of gay marriage you know (you know) (you know) (in the) in the mantra of civil rights, really (you know) irks rank and file African Americans who do not see this in a civil rights context. Um and and so there are a lot of dramas that will be played out here. I think it’s an opening for the GOP.”

Jeremy Hooper over at Good As You notes that the attempts to make the NAACP seem irrelevant are not a good idea and states “ Though if they do amplify this tactic, I think there will be a lot of African Americans of varying viewpoints who also won’t take lightly this obvious political attempt to damage the NAACP’s reputation. It’s a dangerously divisive path for the GOP to tread. “

There is more to it than that, though. The NAACP has now taken up a position in opposition to many Black pastors and priests. What this is going to do is force a conversation within the Black Community about LGBT rights. It is an important conversation that needs to take place not only for the advancement of the LGBT Community, but for the cohesion of the Black Community given the importance of religion to many Blacks. As the younger generations grow comfortable with LGBT Americans, many Black pastors and priests could find themselves with diminishing congregations over their stances.

There is also the counter voice to this. . .and in this case, it comes from Wanda Sykes. Sykes is openly lesbian and Black. She praised Obama’s stance stating “I’m so proud of him. I knew he would get there. But I believe it’s earnest and I’m just so proud because I flash back to this time four years ago and watching the vice presidential and presidential debates and when the topic of same sex marriage comes up, it was almost like they laughed…I still voted for him because it was what I thought was best for the country and I just hope people who are – have a problem with him coming out for same sex marriage that they will still go with their instinct of what’s good for the country.”

She also praised the NAACP for supporting same-sex marriage by stating “I’m so proud of the NAACP! I mean – this is huge! Really is huge because the NAACP, their roots are so instilled in the church. That’s where their meetings and all of that are held, in churches. So to come out and support same sex marriage – I’m so thrilled that they have gotten past the point that it’s not about religion, it’s about rights. . .Marriage really doesn’t have anything to do with religion. That’s why atheists get married. It’s about all the rights that comes along with it. So I’m very proud of the NAACP right now and I think I’m going to join! Maybe I’ll up my membership now.”

The thing is, there are many LGBT Blacks in the nation too, and it is an important conversation for them.

Rep. Joe Walsh

Tyrant. . .the word that many Tea Party Republicans are looking for is Tyrant. Unfortunately, they seem to be missing the words Tyrant and Tyranny in their lexicon. Instead, they substitute the words socialism, communism and Naziism for those. During a town hall, Representative Joe Walsh was confronted by a woman who stated that she believes that Americans are losing their freedoms because of “elected officials who were falsifying their ideologies to get elected.”

She stated “It is sedition. I mean, they did it underground. If they are honest brokers and they believe in what they’re saying and where they want this country to go, like Obama, then you’re right. He should have said it before he was elected, and said ‘I’m a socialist, I believe in socialism, in communism, Nazism,’ whatever, and say ‘this is where I want to lead the country’ — not do it underhandedly.”

Actually, sedition is making statements that leads to insurrection or rebellion among the populous. In fact, the people who are acting in a seditious manner would be. . .well, the Tea Party and the Republicans. The word she is looking for is ‘treason’.

Walsh, of course, doesn’t bother with refuting her claim. After all, he is of the same seditious ilk as she is. He goes on to state “However you want to label or define it, don’t you think after three and a half years as a country now we have a really good idea where this president wants to go? There are people in this audience — it’s fine — who believe in this America we’re living under right now. That’s fine, that’s a legitimate viewpoint. I will fight to my last breath against it, but I wish politicians on the other side would be honest about how they feel.”

Apparently, both believe that freedom involves being allowed to die horribly in poverty while others are forced to make up the money it takes to care for you through higher prices at the hospital.

Freedom. . .it’s just another scam to get free funny hats to the Republicans, and only for the select few. Everyone else doesn’t get freedom, right?

“Build a great, big, large fence — 150 or 100 mile long — put all the lesbians in there. Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out…and you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out…do you know why? They can’t reproduce! . . .I’m not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!. . .It makes me pukin’ sick to think about — I don’t even whether or not to say this in the pulpit — can you imagine kissing some man?”

First of all, according to estimates, between ten and thirteen percent of the American population is lesbian or gay. So, that would be between 30,000,000 and 40,000,000 lesbians and gays in this country. So, yeah, that big a fence isn’t going to work. Secondly, more lesbians and gays will be born since they are- typically- the children of straight people. Finally, apparently this guy doesn’t get that there are many lesbian and gay families with children. You would have to emasculate every single gay man in there in order to pull this one off.

Of course, for some reason, I am reminded that there was someone who did try something like this back in the 1930′s and 1940′s.

I’m just not going to bother posting his name here.

The explain that:

At a weekend meeting of the 103-year old civil rights group’s board of directors, the organization voted to support marriage equality as a continuation of its historic commitment to equal protection under the law. “The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAACP. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

Three members of the National Board are from North Carolina: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President of the North Carolina NAACP and chair of the Political Action Committee for the National Board; Ms. Carolyn Q. Coleman, 1st Vice President of the North Carolina NAACP and Assistant Secretary of the National Board; Mr. Lenny Springs, Assistant Treasurer of the National Board.

During the Monday morning press conference, North Carolina NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II announced that the state’s leading civil rights group, a major coalition partner in the recent campaign to defeat Amendment One, supported the resolution of the NAACP National Board of Directors endorsing same-sex marriage and opposing any efforts “to codify discrimination or hatred into the law.”

Rev. Dr. Barber told reporters same-sex marriage is a matter of civil rights, and the nation’s most prominent civil rights organization will support it.

In response, Equality NC’s Executive Director Stuart Campbell released a statement praising the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP’s decision to endorse marriage equality:

“I am proud to stand with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and the North Carolina State Conference NAACP in supporting the National NAACP’s decision to endorse marriage equality. The NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, and with its endorsement of marriage equality and the momentum that endorsement brings, we continue to see that supporters of marriage equality are on the right side of history. The NAACP has long stood on the side of political, social and economic equality for all citizens in the United States, regardless of sexual orientation,” said Campbell.

“The North Carolina NAACP, with the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber at its helm, was an early supporter of Equality NC’s efforts to fight off Amendment One, a divisive, anti-gay amendment to our state’s constitution prohibiting marriage equality, civil unions and domestic partnerships, and which was unfortunately just placed in our constitution,” Campbell added.

“The NAACP’s recent endorsement of marriage equality simply confirms what we have been saying for some time: support for marriage equality is multi-generational, multi-cultural, and comes from leaders of many different communities and faiths. The opponents of marriage equality, namely the National Organization for Marriage, have long played racial politics in an attempt to drive a wedge between the gay and lesbian community and the African American community. This recent decision by the NAACP is yet another example that our respective communities reject the politics of division. And that we are all united in the goal of achieving fairness and equality for all North Carolinians, and say no to any attempts to create second class citizens, disenfranchise voters, or in any way weaken protections for individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability or any other factor beyond the merits and facts of the given situation, said Campbell.

“Today, we are proud to stand beside the NAACP in a coalition forged from the shared conviction that we shall never stop fighting for equality.”

In its unprecedented decision last month, the EEOC concluded that “intentional discrimination against a transgender individual because that person is transgender is, by definition, discrimination ‘based on … sex’ and such discrimination … violates Title VII.” The EEOC is the federal agency that interprets and enforces federal employment discrimination law, and the decision marked the first time it has offered clear guidance on this issue.

Masen Davis, Executive Director, celebrated today saying, “This is a historic day for human rights in the United States. From the Deep South to my home state of Missouri, starting today transgender and gender non-conforming people now have legal recourse if they face discrimination on the job. We no longer have to be silent when we are fired or not hired simply for being who we are. If you think you are being targeted with harassment or discrimination at work, I urge you to contact your local EEOC office and file a complaint.”

The EEOC ruling came as a result of a discrimination complaint filed by Transgender Law Center on behalf of Mia Macy, a transgender woman who was denied a job as a ballistics technician at the Walnut Creek, California laboratory of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Ms. Macy, a veteran and former police detective, initially applied for the position as male and was told that she virtually was guaranteed the job. Ms. Macy was exceptionally qualified for the position, having a military and law enforcement background and being one of the few people in the country who had already been trained on ATF’s ballistics computer system. After disclosing her gender transition mid-way through the hiring process, Ms. Macy was told that funding for that position had been suddenly cut. She later learned that someone else had been hired for the job.

In response to the EEOC’s decision, Ms. Macy stated, “As a veteran and a police officer, I’ve worked my whole career to uphold the values of fairness and equality. Although the discrimination I experienced was painful both personally and financially, and led to the loss of my family’s home to foreclosure, I’m proud to be a part of this groundbreaking decision confirming that our nation’s employment discrimination laws protect all Americans, including transgender people. I’m grateful for the help of Transgender Law Center, which believed in me from the start and helped guide me through this process. No one should be denied a job just for being who they are.”

The decision follows a clear trend by federal courts in recent years holding that transgender people are protected by Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination. But it has even broader implications than a court decision, because the EEOC is the agency charged with interpreting and enforcing federal discrimination laws throughout the nation. The EEOC’s decision will impact every employer, public and private, throughout the nation. The decision is entitled to significant deference by the courts, and will be binding on all federal agencies.

Transgender Law Center’s Legal Director Ilona Turner explained, “It’s incredibly significant that the Commission has finally put its stamp of approval on the common-sense understanding that discrimination against transgender people is a form of sex discrimination. That’s true whether it’s understood as discrimination because of the person’s gender identity, or because they have changed their sex, or because they don’t conform to other people’s stereotypes of how men and women ought to be.”