Homophobic Senate Candidate George Allen (R-VA)

From Think Progress:

After losing his 2006 re-election after his infamous bullying of an Indian-American campaign tracker who he called “macaca,” former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) is seeking to return to the Senate. In June, he won the Republican nomination to run against former Gov. Tim Kaine (D) for the open seat of retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D). Unlike Kaine, who has a solid record of supporting equality, Allen has amassed a consistently anti-LGBT record.

Over his time as Governor of Virginia, in the U.S Senate, and as a candidate:

1. Allen said homosexuality was not “acceptable” and should be “illegal.” In a 1994 radio broadcast, then-Gov. Allen told listeners that he didn’t want his children “even seeing the news of some of these things here, thinking that, this is acceptable behavior.” He added: “I don’t think this is acceptable behavior… and as a matter of government policy I don’t think we should condone that sort of behavior.” In the same broadcast, he praised Virginia’s unconstitutional Crimes Against Nature law –which made private consensual sex between same-sex adults a felony — saying “It’s against the criminal law in Virginia, that homosexual acts are illegal, and I think should stay illegal.”

2. Allen has vigorously fought to stop any recognition for same-sex unions. As Governor, he signed Virginia’s state defense of marriage law in 1997. Allen campaigned for the 2006 state constitutional amendment that banned all state recognition of same-sex unions. He co-sponsored the “Federal Marriage Amendment.” He continues to reaffirm his support for both the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act and a federal constitutional amendment, noting “My stand on marriage is clear: I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman.”

5. Allen opposed allowing same-sex couples to raise kids. In his 1994 anti-gay radio tirade, he said he opposes same-sex couples raising kids because it is “not in the best interests of a child to be raised in that environment.” His view has not evolved — last year, an Allen spokesman told Politico that the former Senator has never been a supporter of same-sex couples adopting and that he “agrees with Governor [Bob] McDonnell’s [R] recent decision to keep current adoption regulations in place.” Allen also backed efforts to allow adoption agencies to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. His campaign website notes that he “does not support same-sex couples adopting children.”

There is PLENTY more where that came from, and it only gets worse.

Catholic Priests Blame Kids For Their Own Rape

It Gets Better: San Francisco 49ers

This is the first NFL team to do an IGB video.

Michele Bachmann: Obama is Too Wealthy

I swear this is not from "The Onion." I double-checked just to be sure.

Has she forgotten who her party's nominee is and how much he's worth? Saying this women is crazy or stupid would be an insult to anyone who is crazy or stupid. There aren't words in any language of mankind to describe Michele Bachmann.

The Last Anti-Gay GOP Platform?

This is a bold prediction. It is also one that, though I would love it to be true, probably will not come to fruition. The platform that was passed at this year Republican National Convention was the most anti-gay platform in the party's history. To go from that to not mentioning LGBT Americans at all in four years sounds like to much to expect. The religious right still holds far too much power in the GOP to think that their power will evaporate. If Obama (whom they despise) wins, there may be a backlash from this group. If Romney wins, you can bet they will take some of the credit, they will believe that the nation holds the same views, and they will be emboldened, especially if they also have a GOP Congress at their backs.

It may be that the 2016 GOP platform is the last one that is anti-gay, but you better believe that these issues will still be argued for quite some time.

GOP Governor Caught in a Lie

GOP is Anti-Education

From Think Progress:

Republicans have been internally debating just how much to cut federal spending on education, but their platform unveiled this week at their convention in Tampa Bay does little to clarify their vision beyond referencing that no new investments will be made. While the Romney campaign works out the details of the education funding conundrum (or simply figures out the PR spin), Tea Party conservatives are loudly voicing their opinions to end federal spending on education entirely.

~

A new report shows that other nations like China and India have out-invested the U.S. in their education systems as strategies to become more competitive internationally. While U.S. 15-year-old students rank 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math, governments in China and India have expanded to make major investments in early childhood learning, expanded primary and secondary school public education systems, and post-secondary degree programs that produce career-ready workers.

It's unfathomable how anti-education and anti-intellectual the Republican party has become. Education spending is the investment that we put in the next generation. Nations with whom we compete are doubling down on their investment while the GOP wants to gut it. Apparently some want to eliminate it wholesale. This would leave the American labour market utterly uncompetitive compared to their foreign counterparts. We can afford NOT to spend on educating our children.

Tony Perkins' Wishful Thinking

 Really? Only a small minority supports marriage equality. Tony Perkins needs to get his head out of the sand. Most polls that have come out in the last several years say that at the least, a plurality, if not an outright majority, support legalized marriage equality. Maybe the "studies" done by his organization (Family Research Council, largely considered a hate group) say otherwise, but because of its inherent homophobic bias, said studies hold little to no weight.

Sorry Tony Perkins. While you're entitled to your own opinion, you are NOT entitled to your own facts. The fact is that you are as on the wrong side of history as was George Wallace before you.

TYT on Pat Robertson's Adoption Comments

I could have sworn that part of the conservative mantra was "Think of the children." I guess Robertson doesn't give two craps about the children, and wants others to do the same.

New Zealand Marriage Equality Advances

From the Washington Post:

New Zealand lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly cast a first vote in favor of a gay marriage law that was given impetus by President Barack Obama’s public support of the issue.

The 80 to 40 vote in front of a packed and cheering public gallery was the first of three votes Parliament must take before the bill can become law, a process that typically takes several months and allows the public to weigh in. Only a simple majority was needed to ensure a second vote, and the margin is a strong indication that the law will be passed.

Should New Zealand pass the measure into law, it would become the 12th country since 2001 to recognize same-sex marriages. Some states in the U.S. also recognize such marriages, but the federal government does not.

~

The proposed changes here can be directly traced back to Obama’s declaration in May in support of gay marriage. That prompted center-right Prime Minister John Key to break his long silence on the issue by saying he was “not personally opposed” to the idea. Then lawmaker Louisa Wall, from the opposition Labour Party, put forward a bill she had previously drafted.

“If I’m really honest, I think the catalyst was around Obama’s announcement, and then obviously our prime minister came out very early in support, as did the leader of my party, David Shearer,” Wall told The Associated Press. “The timing was right.”

On a side note, it is particularly interesting that some credit is going to President Barack Obama's endorsement of marriage equality. It goes to show how much of an inspiration he is not only here in America, but abroad as well. Does anyone truly think the Mitt Romney could fill those shoes?

Republican Women For Obama

Tweet of the Day: August 28, 2012

The sad thing is that I am in no way surprised something like this happened at the RNC.

History of Political Party Symbols

Marriage News Watch: August 27, 2012

Chris Matthews Tears Into RNC Chair

Americans Waste 40% of Food

LGBT Suicide Isn't A Problem...???

Virginia GOP Suggests Armed Rebellion

Dan Savage vs. Brian Brown on Homosexuality

Tony Perkins Challenged to Debate

From the Huffington Post:

Dear Mr. Perkins,

Let me again express my strong condemnation of the shooting at the Family Research Council offices, as well as my support and concern for all those affected. Security guard Leo Johnson, who took a bullet (and luckily did not lose his life, and is currently in stable condition), is a hero who saved others from being shot. I'm enormously grateful for that. As I wrote here last week, whatever the gunman's motives, they are twisted and utterly unacceptable. This shooting is an outrage and should send a chill through everyone on both sides of these debates. You and I have debated gay rights, civilly, on TV and in other media. That's how these disagreements should always be addressed: via civil discourse, never through violence.

In that post last week, I also stated that no one should be exploiting this tragedy for political gain. That's why I and many others are greatly disappointed by the press conference you held last week, and I'd like to take this opportunity to invite you to have a public discussion with me about hate (more on this below). Without providing any facts, you claimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center's labeling your group a "hate group" gave the alleged shooter a "license to shoot." You went on to obscure why you were put in the hate group category, implying that it was because of your position against same-sex marriage.

But let's be clear about why FRC is in that category. After all, there are thousands of conservative and religious groups across the country that are opposed to marriage equality, many of which also believe homosexuality to be a sin, but the SPLC does not deem them all hate groups. It's only a tiny handful of conservative groups that have been given that distinction by the SPLC. They are listed as hate groups "based on their propagation of known falsehoods -- claims about LGBT people that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities -- and repeated, groundless name-calling." Also, two years ago, an FRC official said "homosexual behavior" should be outlawed. You wouldn't repudiate him. It was also revealed that the FRC contributed $25,000 to stop a congressional resolution to condemn the "kill the gays" bill in Uganda, which would have made homosexuality punishable by death. You worried that the resolution could make it appear as if homosexuality is acceptable. If that Ugandan bill, and even tacit approval of it, isn't "hate," what is? 

~

But maybe we are misunderstanding you. Maybe you have incontrovertible proof behind these and many other claims. Maybe you can convince me that the hate group label is unfair, or maybe I can convince you that some or all of these claims are erroneous. Or perhaps we will each realize that we've misunderstood one another in some ways. So I'm asking you here and now to engage with me in a civil public discussion to debate these and other claims and to talk about hate. We can do it here on HuffPost, or on my radio program on SiriusXM. 

It's vitally important to have this dialogue now if you agree that we've all got to bring down the temperature, and if you sincerely want to clear up what you believe are misunderstandings. Let's take this instance, this latest tragedy, and turn it into a moment of understanding and insight.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Michelangelo Signorile

Describing Legitimate Rape

FRC Supports "Legitimate Rape" Congressman

From Buzzfeed:

Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, stood by embattled Missouri Rep. Todd Akin a day after he claimed that "legitimate rape" doesn't result in pregnancies, sparking a national furor. 

"We support him fully and completely," said FRC Action PAC president Connie Mackey.

Perkins and Mackey expressed support for Akin in the face of what they called "gotcha politics," issuing a stern warning to Republicans — including Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown — against criticizing Akin. 

"We feel this is a case of gotcha politics," Mackey told reporters outside of the Republican National Committee's platform committee discussions. "He has been elected five times in that community in Missouri. They know who Todd Akin is. We know who Todd Akin is. We’ve worked with him up on the Hill. He’s a defender of life. He’s a defender of families and this just a controversy built up, I think, it looks as though, to support his opposition. Claire McCaskill on the other hand, has supported planned parenthood all these years, which is under investigation for use of funds, for cover up on statuatory rape and I think that Todd Akin is getting a really bad break here..."

Marriage News Watch: August 20, 2012

Paul Ryan's Severe Conservatism

Daily Show Takes On Homophobic Stalker Andrew Shirvell

The Daily Show
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Social Conservatives Condemn Themselves

After the shooting of a Family Research Council security guard, social conservatives wasted no time in issuing blame. Their target: the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This is an organization which monitors hate groups and hate crimes here in America. They have a list of groups they have labeled as hate groups based on a given organization’s track-record. In the last couple of years, the Family Research Council was added to this list as a result of their advocacy for the oppression (institutionalized and societal oppression) of LGBT Americans. The addition of the FRC to the SPLC’s hate group list is why social conservatives are saying that the recent shooting occurred.

The obvious problem here this: if the SPLC merely putting the FRC (and other similar organizations) on a hate group list and pointing out the organization’s homophobic track-record is enough to induce this shooting, then what about the things that social conservative groups have said about and against gay people? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander as they say. I submit to you that if the SPLC is culpable for what happened at the FRC, then the following persons and organizations, by their own logic, words, and actions, stand condemned as responsible for every instance of homophobia-related vandalism, assault, bullying, murder, and suicide:

Bryan Fischer, Matt Barber, Peter LaBarbera, Scott Lively, Linda Harvey, Pat Robertson, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, David Barton, Cindy Jacobs, Ralph Reed, Ken Hutcherson, Andrew Shirvell

National Organization for Marriage, Concerned Women For America, American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Americans For “Truth” About Homosexuality, Liberty Council, Exodus International, Catholic League

There are many other public figures and organizations that belong on these lists, but these are the most notable. There is a reason that they are considered hate groups and no matter how they try to blame others for what has happened, they have plenty of blame and more staring THEM right in the face.

Rep. Dead-Beat Dad Behind in Polls

From the Huffington Post:

Freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) is nine points behind Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth, according to a poll released Thursday by the anti-Tea Party super PAC CREDO.

The poll of 500 voters in Illinois' 8th District found that 50 percent favored Duckworth, compared to 41 percent for Walsh. Walsh had a 39 percent favorable rating, up from 28 percent in a Democratic poll conducted in January. Little other polling is available on the race, but the Cook Political Report rates the seat as likely to turn Democratic.

Walsh, who recently took to the airwaves to re-introduce himself to voters, has a history of causing controversy with his statements, including his comments during a town hall that radical Islam was threatening the country. Duckworth, a double-amputee veteran, raised almost $900,000 in the past fundraising quarter after Walsh criticized her for frequently mentioning her military service.

The poll was conducted by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling using automated phone calls between Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, and had a 4.38 percent margin of error.

Pat Robertson: Don't Adopt Weird Foreign Kids

Paul Ryan's Threats to Women

Coming Out: A Game Changer!

Liberty University & Thomas Road Baptist RICO Case

From Think Progress:

On the same day a Mennonite pastor was convicted of abetting international kidnapping of the child of a same-sex couple, one of the girl’s mothers filed a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) suit against that pastor and others who she alleges helped her former partner kidnap their child Isabella and flee the country.

 

The lawsuit, filed by Janet Jenkins Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, also names her former partner Lisa Miller, the Liberty University School of Law, and the Thomas Road Baptist Church, among others. Both Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist were founded by the late Jerry Falwell and are based in Lynchburg, Virginia.

~

While anti-LGBT extremists have cheered this kidnapping, actually comparing it to the “Underground Railroad,” the verdict in the criminal case and this new case could finally hold those behind the kidnapping accountable for their actions.

Obviously my home town is doing me proud.

Paul Ryan's Dangerous Political Philosophy

The Paul Ryan Budget Explained

The 3 Republican Branches

Marriage News Watch: August 13, 2012

Obama Reacts to Romney's Ryan Pick

From the Huffington Post:

...President Barack Obama's campaign team said Romney's choice made clear that the former Massachusetts governor would be forced to adhere to the principles laid out in the House Republican budget – authored by Ryan – which they said would undermine entitlement programs crucial to middle-class families and seniors. Democrats said privately that the choice of Ryan could help Obama in states with large numbers of elderly voters, such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Obama met with top advisers Saturday at his campaign headquarters shortly after arriving in Chicago for a series of birthday-themed fundraisers scheduled for Sunday. Obama spent about two and a half hours at the headquarters.

The president did not publicly comment on Ryan's selection and aides described the headquarters stop as a typical weekly meeting.

Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said in a statement that Romney had "chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy."

Previewing the campaign's line of attack, Messina called Ryan the "architect of the radical Republican House budget" and said it would "end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors." Ryan was chief author of a House-backed budget plan that would curb overall entitlement spending and convert Medicare into a voucher-like system in which future seniors would receive subsidies to purchase health insurance on the open market.

Less than two hours after Romney introduced Ryan as his running mate, the Obama campaign released a 90-second Web video showing footage of the men appearing together. The ad calls Ryan the "mastermind behind the extreme GOP budget plan" and includes an audio clip of Romney saying earlier this year that it would be "marvelous" if the Senate were to adopt the Ryan budget. The ad ends with this tagline: "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: Back to the failed top-down policies that crashed our economy..."

Romney Calls Paul Ryan "Next President"

Meanwhile, the grandiosity (and I'm assuming that's a real word) of the music made me ill. The two main guys in this video made me even MORE ill than that. Another Romney blunder, and I'm not just talking about his VP pick either.

Bryan Fischer is Pro-Kidnapping

Election 2012: The GOP Stealing Ohio

From "The Nation:"

...In response to the 2008 election results, Ohio Republicans drastically curtailed the early voting period in 2012 from 35 to 11 days, with no voting on the Sunday before the election, when African-American churches historically rally their congregants to go to the polls. (Ohio was one of five states to cut back on early voting since 2010.) Voting rights activists subsequently gathered enough signatures to block the new voting restrictions and force a referendum on Election Day. In reaction, Ohio Republicans repealed their own bill in the state legislature, but kept a ban on early voting three days before Election Day (a period when 93,000 Ohioans voted in 2008), adding an exception for active duty members of the military, who tend to lean Republican. (The Obama campaign is now challenging the law in court, seeking to expand early voting for all Ohioans)...

...Now, in heavily Democratic cities like Cleveland, Columbus, Akron and Toledo, early voting hours will be limited to 8 am until 5 pm on weekdays beginning on October 1, with no voting at night or during the weekend, when it’s most convenient for working people to vote. Republican election commissioners have blocked Democratic efforts to expand early voting hours in these counties, where the board of elections are split equally between Democratic and Republican members. Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has broken the tie by intervening on behalf of his fellow Republicans.

‘‘I cannot create unequal access from one county board to another, and I must also keep in mind resources available to each county,” Husted said in explaining his decision to deny expanded early voting hours in heavily Democratic counties. Yet in solidly Republican counties like Warren and Butler, GOP election commissioners have approved expanded early voting hours on nights and weekends. Noted the Cincinnati Enquirer: “The counties where Husted has joined other Republicans to deny expanded early voting strongly backed then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008, while most of those where the extra hours will stand heavily supported GOP nominee John McCain.” Moreover, budget constraints have not stopped Republican legislators from passing costly voter ID laws across the map since 2010. ...

The Religious Wrong: I Can Raise the Dead

Seriously, someone call the men in white coats.

A "New" Theory on Sexual Orientation

From The Advocate:

A Northern California author says he's discovered the missing link that explains the biological source of sexual orientation. While doing research for his recent book, The Whole-Brain Path to Peace, James Olson stumbled upon what he says is the direct correlation between hemispheric dominance in the brain and whether a person is gay or straight.

Olson’s theory portends that both heterosexual men and lesbians are generally dominated by the left hemisphere of the brain, which is committed to sequential, thought-oriented processes. And heterosexual women and gay men are much more likely to be dominated by the right hemisphere of the brain, which regulates feeling and cultural awareness.

Olson believes that current research looking for a “gay gene” is searching in the wrong place. Rather, Olson contends, sexual orientation is determined by brain hemisphere dominance. Most men are left-brain dominant, whereas most women are right-brain dominant. Seizing on the implication that “most” necessarily excludes some people, Olson wondered what happened when brain dominance was reversed from the standard.

Yet another theory that points to sexual orientation being innate, not chosen. Personally, I would like to see where theory on this research goes in the future.

La. School Boots Pregnant Teens

From Think Progress:

One Louisiana school is dealing with the state’s high rates of teen pregnancy by taking an “out of sight, out of mind” approach. No pregnant students are welcome at Delhi Charter School in Delhi, Louisiana — a policy that the institution enforces by requiring students who are “suspected” of being pregnant to submit to a mandatory pregnancy test. 

If students are pregnant, they are no longer allowed to attend classes on the school’s campus and will be forced to either switch to another school or begin a home school program. If a student refuses to take the test, she is “treated as a pregnant student” and also kicked out of Delhi Charter School, according to the student handbook...

The ACLU is on the case since this is blatantly wrong on multiple Constitutional grounds (not to mention moral grounds). Of course the best way to address teen pregnancy is by instating comprehensive sex-education. It will come as no shock that Louisiana is one the states that have abstinence-only "education." When will these people realize that abstinence-only "education" is an oxymoron?

Colbert Takes on Anti-Chick-fil-A Heterophobes

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Miss. Church "Apologizes" For Banning Black Wedding

From the Huffington Post:

A predominantly white Mississippi church has apologized for its refusal to allow a black couple to marry in its sanctuary, though the couple said Monday they knew nothing of the apology until a reporter called.

The First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs posted the apology on its website Sunday, saying it was seeking "forgiveness and reconciliation" with Charles Wilson and Te'Andrea Henderson Wilson, their families and friends and God.

"This wrong decision resulted in hurt and sadness for everyone. Both the pastor and those involved in the wedding location being changed have expressed their regrets and sorrow for their actions," reads part of the six-paragraph statement.

However, Charles Wilson said no one from the church had contacted him or his wife.

"I can't believe they think they've apologized," Wilson said. He said only one or two people from the church have contacted him in recent weeks, and they did so personally and not as representatives of the church.

This is why much of the deep South has a bad rap: because they earned it.

Inactivity

Sorry about the resent inactivity but I've been moving over the past few days and not everything is set up just yet. Hopefully we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming later this week.

Marriage News Watch: August 6, 2012

Bryan Fischer Predicts Another Civil War

Remember what happened the last time states tried to secede?

Chick-fil-A's Plummeting Approval