Saturday Male Beauty

Mega Church Pastor Comes Out to Church

Would that more religious leaders had the courage of Jim Swilley, pastor of a mega church in Conyers, Georgia, who this past week told his congregation that he's gay. Admittedly, it took him years to come to the point of admitting who he is, but he did it - unlike many religious leaders who remain self-loathing closet cases who end up damaging the lives of other in their quest of denying who they are. Like Swilley, I was married for over two decades. For anyone who has not walked down that road, it is hard to comprehend what a huge move taking such action represents. Especially if one is in a profession where speaking the truth of who one is may result in a loss of one's career. I congratulate Swilley and hope that his statement may save someone from years of self-hate and/or suicide. Swilley's conduct is in sharp contrast to the closeted professional Christians who continue to damage and/or ruin the lives of others out of their own self-hatred. Robert Knight, Peter LaBarbera and other hate merchants could stand to learn from Swilley's example. Among other things, Swilley told the media:
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“As a father, thinking about your 16-, 17-year-old killing themselves, I thought somebody needed to say something,” . . . “I know all the hateful stuff that’s being written about me online, whatever. To think about saving a teenager, yeah, I'll risk my reputation for that.”
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Here are details from the Rockdale Citizen:
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Church in the Now is entering into a new chapter of its ministry after its leader and pastor Jim Swilley announced to his congregation that he is gay.
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For many church members, Swilley’s coming out during last Wednesday’s service was not a surprise. Swilley said he had been aware of his sexual orientation since a young age. He and his wife and co-pastor, Debye Swilley, separated about 18 months ago and have subsequently divorced after 21 years of marriage. A video of the service was posted to the church’s website Saturday that shows Swilley explaining to his congregation that he needed to be himself to continue his ministry and that meant explaining his homosexuality and debunking rumors about him.
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Swilley gives a 50-minute talk in the video and says that his sexual orientation is something he has struggled with his whole life. He adds he was always attempting to come to terms with his orientation and his faith in God.
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The announcement brought some immediate changes to the church, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in May. Swilley will no longer be referred to as a bishop after he agreed to step down from the College of Bishops of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, a coalition of church ministries of which Church In The Now is a member.
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There may also be questions about the future of the church. Membership numbers were unavailable, but CITN is one of the largest in the community. The CITN campus is a landmark overlooking Interstate 20, just east of the Salem Road exit.
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In his comments, Swilley said he wants to continue his ministry and that everything is “on the altar, and if we do lose it everybody is ready to start something else.” . . . Swilley has received many comments of support on his blog, Facebook page and Twitter. However, in the video Swilley acknowledges members have left the church and personal relationships ended abruptly over the issue.
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Here is a video that Swilley has posted:

Watch live streaming video from bishopjimswilley at livestream.com

Is the Virginia Pilot Trying to Hide GOP Rigell's Ant-Gay Extremism?

I have written a number of times about the religious extremism of GOP candidate Scott Rigell (on right pictured with former Virginia Beach GOP party chair who resigned due to his distribution of racist e-mails) who is running for the Virginia 2nd Congressional seat. Rigell has a documented anti-gay history going back to a very nasty split in Galilee Episcopal Church where Rigell was one of the ringleaders who did not want gays to be able to hold positions in the church. Back at the time the Virginian Pilot decided to report on the controversy, perhaps because Galilee was one of the "power churches" attended by many "movers and shakers" in Virginia Beach.

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Now, it has come out that Rigell continues to have anti-gay ties. Indeed, he's been endorsed by (and gushed over the endorsement) Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition ("TVC"), an anti-gay hate group registered by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Daily Press, which has a circulation area that encompasses a portion of the Virginia 2nd Congressional District found the shocking fact of Rigell's ties to Rev. Sheldon news worthy and did an excellent story yesterday which can be found here. This story was in turn picked up by local station WTKR-TV on its website. This shocking fact about Rigell, however, is strangely not news worthy in the eyes of the Virginia Pilot. One can only wonder why.

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Let's look at the surrounding circumstances and see what conclusions one might possibly reach. First, it is well documented in the media that there has been a wave of gay teen suicides, some directly linked to anti-gay bullying, some apparently triggered more by the general homophobia still far too prevalent in society. A recent survey reported by CNN documented that two out of three Americans believed that the anti-gay agenda of churches and supposedly Christian organizations was largely responsible for the atmosphere that makes some gays view suicide as their best option. Sheldon's TVC is a leader in fostering an extremely anti-gay atmosphere and disseminates unbelievably vile (and untrue) anti-gay propaganda. Given recent events and TVC's status as an anti-gay hate group, it would seem to inquiring people that the Rigell-Sheldon tie is news worthy. But not so with the Virginian Pilot.

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Then we have the ongoing media coverage of the issue of DADT and its possible repeal. Both Rigell and Sheldon oppose DADT repeal, with Sheldon's group making all kinds of wild anti-gay statements. Again, the Rigell-Sheldon tie would seem news worthy in this areana. Indeed, UK Gay News, an LGBT news site based on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean viewed Rigell's endorsement by Sheldon to be newsworthy:
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Bilerico Project - USA: VA GOP's Scott Rigell Lists Hate Group Leader as Endorser. Commentary by Michael Hamar. Imagine my surprise at finding Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition proudly listed as an endorser of Scott Rigell, the GOP candidate for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. After all, the Southern Poverty Law Center has registered TVC as an anti-gay hate group. One would think that even a far right Christianist like Rigell might want to avoid appearing to be a fanatic. This is an expanded version of Michael Hamar's original post on his blog Michael in Norfolk.
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Yet in its own back yard, the Virginian Pilot remains silent on the story even as a growing number of websites across Virginia - including the Washington Post's blog page - report the story. What's going on? That's what I asked the Virginian Pilot yesterday. The response I received from Meredith Kruse, state director, was, in my opinion, more than a little disingenuous:
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The publisher and editor of The Pilot have issued a clear directive to staff members who cover political campaigns, including the 2nd District race: be accurate, hold candidates accountable, and give readers the information they need to make an informed choice at the polls. Advertising does not and must not affect our news coverage, because our credibility as a news organization is paramount. We stand by the decisions we've made about which issues to cover in the final days of the campaign, mindful that readers expect our news judgment to be consistent and fair.

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Yes, the response was a bit testy. Because the Virginian Pilot has, in my opinion, two huge possible conflicts of interest going on in terms of Rigell and the duty of telling the public the whole story on Rigell and his ties to Rev. Sheldon. Here they are:

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First conflict of interest: the Virginian Pilot endorsed Rigell based on his claimed "business experience" with I suspect no homeworking being done on his extremism on social issues. From experience over nearly three decades in the area, the Virginian Pilot NEVER admits that it's wrong and a story on the Rigell-Sheldon connection obviously says something about the flawed process behind the endorsement of Rigell. In sharp contrast, the Daily Press, which likewise endorsed Rigell, unlike the Virginian Pilot opted to served the public's need to know and did yesterday's excellent story. But there's a one big difference between the Virginian Pilot and the Daily Press, which brings us to the Virginian Pilot's second apparent conflict of interest.

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Second conflict of interest: Scott Rigell's Freedom Automotive has three large dealerships, all located in the circulation area of the Virginian Pilot. And like most auto dealerships, guess where Freedom Automotive buys significant amounts of advertising? Bingo, from the Virginia Pilot. Obviously, the amount of such revenues isn't available, but calculating rough figures based on standard charges, it is not a small number.

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So has the Virginian Pilot been bought by Scott Rigell? Sadly, we will never know for certain, but in my opinion, by connecting the dots if you will, it is not unreasonable to conclude that such is the case. Obviously, the Pilot could prove my gut feeling wrong by running a story. But, I'm not going to be holding my breath.

More Friday Male Beauty

Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Speaks Out for Bullied Gay Teens

When I left the Roman Catholic Church I briefly joined the Episcopal Church. About a year later by pure happenstance I went to First Lutheran Church in Norfolk (pictured at left) one Sunday and ultimately found a new home. Yes, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") and the Episcopal Church have strong similarities, but as a former Catholic, the move to the ELCA was more seamless. From my experience, the denomination is for the most part what Christians should be as opposed to the hate merchants of the Christian Right who seem to model their behavior on that of the Biblical Pharisees rather than Christ. Bishop Mark Hanson, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, lends his voice to the "It Gets Better" project in a new video. In it he says the following:

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"Sometimes the words of my Christian brothers and sisters have hurt you. I also know that our silence causes you pain...You are a beloved child of God. Your life carries the beauty and dignity of God's creation...There is a place for you in this world, and in this Church."

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I sincerely encourage LGBT Christians in need of a church home to check out the ELCA. Here's the video:
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Most troops Don't Oppose Serving with Gays

The leaked results of the Pentagon/Department of Defense survey of troops on the potential elimination of DADT prove that most service members could care less about the personal lives and/or sexual orientation of their fellow soldiers and sailors. The leaked results demonstrate that other than (i) professional homophobes like Elaine Donnelly and Tony Perkins who make a comfortable living off of marketing hate, (ii) the fossilized senior ranks of the military brass, and (iii) pandering and/or spineless politicians, no one believes that repeal of DADT is a problem or that repeal will in any way interfere with military readiness. The leaked results clearly show that the far right's whining about an exodus from the military if DADT is repealed is complete bullshit - something most of us non-Kool-Aid drinkers already knew. Yes, there are some who said they'd leave the military if DADT is repealed - just as I'm sure some members of the military did after Harry Truman integrated the military. But as a nation, do we want to be aiding and abetting bigotry? Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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A majority of active-duty and reserve service members surveyed by the Defense Department would not object to serving and living alongside openly gay troops, according to multiple people familiar with the findings.

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The survey's results are expected to be included in a Pentagon report, due to President Obama on Dec. 1, regarding how the military would end enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" law that bans openly gay men and lesbians from serving in uniform.

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Military officials did not say how many troops completed the survey, but at least 103,000 had done so just days before it was due, according to the Pentagon. A similar survey was later sent to military spouses.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is expected to rule Friday on whether the military can continue enforcing the ban while it considers a legal challenge against it.

Friday Male Beauty

Arkanas School Board Member Who Wants Gays to Die Resigns

Arkansas' Midland School Board Member Clint McCance who ignited a fire storm with his Facebook statements that he wanted gays to die and who celebrated gay teen suicides is resigning from office. It's obviously wonderful that a hateful bigot like McCance will no be in a position to inflict his nastiness on school students. It remains a sad commentary, however, that someone like McCance could get elected in the first place. The resignation demonstrates that when the bright light of the media is focused on bigots it DOES make a difference. The big issue is getting the often lazy MSN to cover issues like this one and force the public to demand that officials who demonize other citizens pay the consequences. Here are highlights from Towleroad:
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Midland School Board Member Clint McCance told Anderson Cooper that he is resigning from the school board following a firestorm of outrage over remarks he made on Facebook celebrating the suicides of teens who killed themselves after homophobic bullying.
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Said McCance: "I am going to resign from the school board. It is to -- to help my community, to help my school. I don't want them to receive bad press or have a distraction because of some ignorant comments that have -- that I made. If they decide later, you know, a year, five years, 10 years from now to vote me back in, if my constituents want that, then -- then I will run again."
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Added McCance: "I -- you know, I would -- would like to extend an apology, especially to those to those -- to those families that have lost children, not just gay, heterosexual, all -- all children that feel like suicide's the only way out. It's a -- it saddens me, and -- but especially for those five -- five families that have just recently lost children. You know, I have -- I have brought more hurt on them with these comments. And that was never my intention. And I apologize for that, because they don't -- they don't deserve that. And I do feel genuinely bad for that, for them

Daily Press: Gay Community Angry With Rigell Endorsement

I had been very concerned that the local print media would bury the story of Scott Rigell's endorsement by and ties to Lou Sheldon, the head of Traditional Values Coalition - a registered hate group with the Southern Poverty Law Center ("SPLC") The SPLC tracks hate organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and white supremact groups among others. Both the Daily Press and the Virginian Pilot had endorsed Rigell, falling for his "experienced businessman" propaganda. Fortunately the Daily Press is doing the right thing and has reported on the Lou Sheldon scandal. Whether the Virginia Pilot - which has a huge conflict of interest problem since Rigell's Freedom Automotive with three dealerships is a significant advertiser with the Pilot - will do the same remains to be seen. Not surprisingly, Rigell's campaign is whining over the fact that the extremism of Rigell's positions on social issues is belatedly being exposed on the eve of election day. I'm sure Rigell's goal was to be a stealth Christianist candidate. He is cut from the same wacky cloth as Christine O'Donnell and Sharron Angle and voters need to know that fact. Here are highlights from the Daily Press story:
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The gay rights community is up in arms after discovering that Republican congressional hopeful Scott Rigell displays is touting the endorsement of a California religious leader that the Southern Poverty Law Center has considered an "anti gay hate group" for five years.
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The uproar online surrounds Louis P. Sheldon and his organization the "Traditional Values Coalition" an Anaheim Calif.- based group that says it speaks for 43,000 churches. Sheldon is listed alongside Rigell's other endorsements in alphabetical order between Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms and former Virginia Beach GOP chair Chuck Smith.
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But the gay rights community noticed Sheldon first and the story was picked up by liberal bloggers throughout the state, who found inflammatory details about Sheldon sitting all over the Internet.
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The director of research for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Heidi Beirich, said Sheldon has been listed on their collection of hate groups for the past five years. Beirich said that of the 932 hate groups that the SPLC tracks nationwide, only a handful are branded "anti-gay."
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"Sheldon and his outfit consistently defame gays...(with) rabidly anti-gay propaganda," Beirich said. "They're especially nasty about pushing the idea that gays are coming after people's children."
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Beirich said that Sheldon and his daughter Andrea Lafferty are "some of the worst" when it comes to anti-gay rhetoric promoting ideas like "AIDS patients should be sequestered in separate cities."
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Rigell's campaign has already had to distance itself from a pair of former Virginia Beach Republican Party officials who forwarded or sent along emails including racist jokes and diatribes against minorities.
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Rigell is obviously linked to parts of the evangelical movement, most notably Pat Robertson, because like Gov. Bob McDonnell, Rigell went to Robertson's Regent University for graduate school. On Wednesday he held a fundraiser with former Arkansas governor and onetime presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, a star in the evangelical movement.
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[N]o one forced Rigell's campaign to put Sheldon's name up on the candidate's Internet headquarters. Cameron said the campaign was "unaware" of any controversy surrounding Sheldon or any accusations against him or his organization, and said that Democrats appear to launching late attacks to help U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye. .
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Sheldon's name was still listed on Rigell's website as of noon Thursday.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Barack Obama's Alternate Reality

Many blogs and media outlets have written about Barack Obama, a/k/a the Liar-in Chief - and his first time ever meeting with representatives of the LGBT and progressive blogosphere. Hence I will not regurgitate the coverage - the full transcript of the meeting is here - other than to look at one remark made by the Liar-in-Chief:
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Let me go to the larger issue, though, Joe, about disillusionment and disappointment. . . . I'll be honest with you, I don't think that the disillusionment is justified.
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As readers well know, under Obama's watch to date DADT has NOT been repealed, ENDA has NOT been enacted, DOMA has not been repealed and legally married same sex couples do NOT receive equal recognition of their marital status. Other than the Hate Crimes Act enacted a year ago, NOTHING has been accomplished. And Obama thinks that disillusionment with his regime is not justified. WTF is required to make the man think we have reason to be disillusioned? A reinstitution of the sodomy laws nationwide or what? Pam Spaulding summed up Obama's statement with these words:
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Unpack that statement; it's very loaded. What is going on there? Is he: Clueless? Callous? On point? Depending on which of those you select, the one clear thing is there's a gulf of understanding going on between this WH and a generous slice of the LGBT community.
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What's equally telling are the comments left on Pam's post. Of the 86 comments as of this moment, they are uniformily angry if not out right furious with the Liar-in-Chief. Here are two telling comments:

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Not disillusionment..revulsion, Mr. President. Barack Obama has continued to instruct his Department of Justice to argue in Federal Court to KEEP discrimination the law of the land, even after the most vicious and hateful acts of Congress have been declared to be unconstitutional. The gay and lesbian population of this country is far more than disillusioned, Mr. President. We are mortified and sickened by your shameless homophobia and your dishonesty.
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He's standing in the way of progress. The problem, for me, is not what Obama hasn't done, but what he has done; specifically, defending DOMA and DADT, and worst of all, staying and appealing the DADT injunction. If he had just let it be, time would have destroyed DADT--The longer gays and lesbians served openly with no consequences, the more it would have become a non-issue, and the harder it would have been for a future administration to revive DADT. Keeping it alive only perpetuates the right-wing myth that horrible consequences could befall our nation if open gays and lesbians are allowed to serve. It also sends a message to America that we're flawed and shouldn't be allowed to mingle with with the perfect straights, that we might somehow contaminate their purity.
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Equally informative is the number of comments that take HRC to task for its failure to represent the LGBT community. Instead, HRC seems more interested in providing political cover to the White House. Indeed, here's a sample of a couple comments on HRC:
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We will never be free until HRC ceases to exist.
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[W]e would be better off if HRC collapsed tomorrow. But Obama would have betrayed us even if they'd never existed. They didn't CAUSE that betrayal, they only let him pat himself on the back more as he did it.
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Personally, I continue to hope that Obama will have a primary challenge in the run up to 2012. I will definitely vote for his opponent. As for HRC, I seriously question whether or not its leadership wants actual progress. That's right, I think HRC is part of the problem regardless of their whining and claims that they are advocates for the LGBT community. Why do I say this? Because if DADT is repealed, ENDA is enacted, DOMA is repealed and equality is roughly achieved at the national level, there will be no need for HRC. And God forbid, then Joe Solmonese would lose his cushy six figure income and might not be able to afford to be among Washington, D.C.'s "best dressed."

Clarence Thomas' Growing Conflict of Interest Problems

I have written a couple of articles of late on the unprecedented and highly questionable activities of Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Not only is Thomas' wife apparently reaping financial gain from anonymous donors, but her ties to ultra far right organizations make it increasingly impossible for Thomas to retain any semblance of impartiality on any number of cases and issues coming before the Supreme Court. In my opinion, Ms. Thomas needs to either cease and desist in her activities or Justice Thomas needs to consider resigning from the Supreme Court. Besides raising the obvious conflict of interest issues, Virginia Thomas' activities and allegiances also raise questions as to her sanity. Case in point, her allegiance with a Catholic organization that believes that The Spanish Inquisition was a high point for Roman Catholicism. Torture, murder, driving people from their homes - all hallmarks of the Inquisition - yet Ms. Thomas allies herself with those who support such activities. Here are highlights from Alternet:
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Mrs. Thomas' Tea Party think tank, Liberty Central, promotes the causes of groups that take pride in intolerance, including one right-wing Catholic group, Tradition, Family and Property, whose founder declared the Spanish Inquisition "the most beautiful page in the history of the Church."
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Earlier this year, AlterNet reported on Liberty Central's embrace of Gun Owners of America, whose president, Larry Pratt -- guru to the militia movement -- unapologetically addressed a rally of white supremacists in 1992, and more recently told attendees of a gun owners' rally in Washington, D.C., that they are "at war" with the federal government. We also looked at Liberty Central's relationship with the Missouri Sovereignty Project, which threatens armed insurrection against the government.
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Since then, Thomas has added to the "Friends of Liberty Central" page on her think tank's Web site a plug for Tradition, Family and Property, a virulently anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-democratic Catholic group founded in 1960.
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TFP has long enjoyed ties to the far right in American politics, including the International Freedom Foundation, which existed primarily as an American front group for the apartheid regime in South Africa during the Reagan years,
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[The founder of TFP] loved the Spanish Inquisition, he wrote, "because, while it went on, the Catholic Church managed to cleanse itself of heretics." (Never mind that many of those so-called heretics were Jews who wanted nothing more than to practice their own faith, or people whose politics were inconvenient to the Spanish throne.)
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The Catholic crusades against the Muslim world are viewed as a time of glory by the devotees of TFP. Roberto de Mattei, who wrote a friendly biography of Oliveira and is said to be close to TFP, presented his revisionist history of the crusades at a 2006 conference at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome.

Thursday Male Beauty

Gay U.S. House Members: "Elections Matter" - Why We Need to Vote

A few weeks ago I was seriously leaning towards staying home on election day next week. My disgust with the Liar-in-Chief and Congressional Democrats is off the charts and, candidly, I have come to see Barack Obama as nothing more than a pathological liar when it comes to LGBT issues. The man will say anything to manipulate and fool LGBT Americans. Meanwhile he means none of it. That said, as more and more information comes out about many of the GOP candidates' extremism - Lou Sheldon/TVC endorsed Scott Rigell is a local example - I have changed my mind. It is critical that ALL of get out and vote AGAINST the gay haters and Tea Party lunatics. That's right, we need to vote not so much FOR the Democrats, but rather AGAINST those who are part of an agenda of hate, division, racism, homophobia and intolerance of others in general. As the Washington Blade is reporting, Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) have authored a letter to the LGBT community urging us to vote even while acknowledging the betrayals that we as LGBT Americans have experienced. Here are some story highlights:
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The three openly gay members of Congress on Wednesday made public a letter emphasizing that “elections matter” as they urged LGBT people to go the polls.
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In the letter, Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) acknowledge the many LGBT people are frustrated with the lack of progress in Congress, but maintain that “an apathetic stance during such a critical time is fruitless.”
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“We need not look too far into the past to see how inaction and complacency truly pays us back,” the letter states. ”Under Republican rule, we not only suffered from a lack of victories, but truly devastating setbacks.”
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The letter recalls the anti-gay initiatives of the Republican Congress under former President George W. Bush, such as an attempt to make an ban on same-sex marriage part of the U.S. Constitution.
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The fight for equality is far from over. We face obstruction at every turn and it is incumbent upon us to push harder to ensure swift action on the issues that affect us most.
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Next month, the courageous and steadfast activism of the past year must be met by a vote cast on November 2nd. We ask that you look at your local ballot and scrutinize and measure candidates running for each seat. Which candidates do you see supporting issues that affect our community, which will champion our causes? Whether it is for employment non-discrimination, the repeal of DOMA or Federal Partnership benefits? Which candidates even believe LGBT issues merit space on their campaign website?
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Elections matter. They matter to our country and to our community. We must go out and vote this November to ensure the forward momentum we have struggled for continues for our benefit and for that of future generations of LGBT individuals.

Linda Harvey - "I'm Not Responsible for Anti-Gay Bullying and Suicide"

I can only assume that Maggie Gallagher has shared her disingenuous "talking points" she has utilized to try to duck responsibility for the consequences of her non-stop anti-gay propaganda with others in the Kool-Aid drinking crowd. Now Linda Harvey (at left) - who claims to be an expert on homosexuality and social issues even though she has ZERO legitimate credentials on the issues - is comparing herself to Michelle Obama as she tries to avoid the consequences of the horribly toxic anti-gay screeds that are her stock in trade. Here's the batshitery from Christian News Wire:
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Any incidents of bullying and name-calling can be punished without forcing acceptance of offensive behaviors. Communities must not allow themselves to be manipulated into supporting pro-homosexual bullying prevention plans, and believers in Jesus Christ need to stand up against this corruption of youth.
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"Traditional morality is not responsible for harassing speech. Are healthy nutrition programs or the First Lady's anti-obesity initiative responsible for slurs and insults to overweight students? Of course not," Harvey said. "Bullies act for a variety of reasons, and schools need to punish the behaviors, not become the thought police. Administrators who use good judgment will refuse to aid and abet false accusations."
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I about retched when I read this ludicrous allegation. And to compare Ms. Obama's agenda with her own is truly untethered. Box Turtle Bulletin has a few quotes of Ms. Harvey's statements about gays and homosexuality. To think that the compare to advocating good nutrition and weight loss reveals that Harvey is even crazier or a bigger liar than I thought:
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■ Feeling repulsed by gays isn’t merely acceptable, rather “repulsion is a natural defense against something that is absolutely wrong for you.”
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■ Being gay is an affront to God.
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■ Homosexuality is a deviance that violates human dignity and worth.
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Oh, and did I mention that Harvey promotes the myth that sexual orientation is a choice myth too? Somehow I cannot help but believe that Linda Harvey is helping to fuel the increasingly negative view of Christianity in this country, especially among the younger generation. She's mean, vile and liar.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Dedicated to Matt Barberand Liberty Counsel

American Public: Christianity's Contributions Mostly Negative

The last two posts have focused on the continued message of hate and discrimination that is being broadcast by Protestant Christianist organizations and the Roman Catholic Church. It's a very ugly portrait. However, there IS good news. This precise conduct seems posed to ultimately be the demise of Christianity - at least in its hate based incarnation. It's literally a case of the Christians killing Christianity. Why do I say this? Because a new Barna Group survey has found that a majority of Americans believe that the contributions of Christianity to society are mostly negative. That's right - the American public increasingly sees Christianity in a negative light and believes that its negatives outweigh its positive contributions. And one of the issues fueling the anti-Christianity grounds well is the Christianists' anti-gay agenda. The parasites of the Christianist organizations are living well in the short term. but they may be ultimately killing their own source of self-enrichment in the long term. Such would truly be a case of Divine justice. Here are highlights from Christian Century:
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When asked about Christianity's recent contributions to society, Americans cited more negatives than benefits, according to a new survey.
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The negative contribution cited most was hatred or violence in the name of Jesus, according to the Barna Group survey. Other frequently cited examples included opposition to gay marriage and the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.
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"Overall, there was a more extensive and diverse list of complaints about Christians and their churches than there was of examples of the benefits they have provided to society," said the Barna Group, a Christian firm that researches U.S. faith and culture, in a report released Monday (Oct. 25).
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Personally, I welcome the prospect of the death of Christianity in its current predominant form which is based on hate, division and intolerance. Here are some additional highlights from the Barna Group's summary of the survey results:
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[T]he survey also discovered that Americans are even more likely to identify negative contributions to society by Christianity in recent years.
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The most frequent response, however, was the inability to think of a single positive contribution made by Christians in recent years.
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When asked to identify what they thought were the negative contributions of Christians to American society in recent years, the most frequent response was violence or hatred incited in the name of Jesus Christ. One out of five Americans mentioned such vitriolic attitudes. This was most likely to be mentioned by people associated with non-Christian faiths (35%) and by evangelicals (31%).
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Three other responses generated similar levels of support. Thirteen percent said the opposition of Christians to gay marriage was the largest negative contribution. People 25 or younger were twice as likely as other Americans to mention this. Blacks (20%) and Skeptics (20%) also registered above-average levels of concern about that position.

Cardinal Designate Raymond Burke Slams Gays While Ignoring Child Rapist Cover Ups

Apparently not wanting to be out done by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians - using the term Christian loosely, of course - the Roman Catholic Church is piling on as well with anti-gay demagoguery with Cardinal Designate Raymond Burke (pictured at right) disseminating DVD's lecturing Catholics that it is a sin to vote for candidates who, among other things, support civil marriage equality for LGBT Americans. Besides representing the height of hypocrisy on the part of an institution that has time and time again protected child rapists, Burke's conduct raises a serious question as to how and why the Catholic Church has retained tax-exempt status given its huge involvement in election politicians and furthering religious based discriminatory legislation. Meanwhile, of course, Burke has done nothing to remove those who enabled and covered up for child rapists from the Church hierarchy. Christian News Wire has these highlights from Burke's disingenuous bullshit:
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As Americans approach the eve of election week, U.S. Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke is reminding Catholics in an exclusive 25-minute video interview that they are bound in conscience to vote for political candidates who oppose aborting babies, embryonic stem cell experiments, euthanasia and so-called homosexual "marriage."

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"Millions of Catholics have no idea it's a sin to vote for candidates who favor these grave evils, which attack the very foundations of society, . . . "
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"So, the Catholic Church in teaching that sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself, is simply announcing the truth, helping people to discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities."
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Like so many others, I suspect that (1) Burke has the blood of LGBT suicide victims on his hands, (2) is part of the sexual abuse cover up machine directed from the Vatican and (3) has a reserved place in Hell.

Christianist Organization: Homosexuality is Always Wrong; "Gay" Suicide Pandemic a Myth

A number of the Christian Right organizations have come together and underscored just how ugly and hateful Christianity has become under their foul influence. Indeed, these organizations seem driven to deliver a message that will fuel more gay teen suicides even as they lie and claim that "gay" suicides are a "myth." It doesn't get much more than despicable than this, but its the norm for Christianists. The roster of hate merchants endorsing the anti-gay declaration include American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Liberty Counsel, Americans for Truth, American Family Association of Michigan, American Family Association of Pennsylvania, American Family Association of Indiana, and RenewAmerica. Each of these organizations engages in vicious anti-gay propaganda and, of course, in the process, enriches its leaders financially. As I have said before, the nastiest prostitute is down right virtuous compared to the individuals and organizations. Christian News Wire reports on the lies and disinformation being disseminated by these groups. Here's a sampling:
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A coalition of pro-family leaders today urges Christian families to be faithful to biblical morality and discerning in the face of false and irresponsible accusations. Christianity and traditional values are not the cause of teen suicides, and attempts to link the two are deceptive and will ultimately harm children.
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"Gay" activists nationwide are fueling an effort to indict traditional moral values as "guilty until proven innocent" in some bullying incidents involving teens. Their proposed solutions end up sexualizing teens at young ages into known high-risk behaviors and silencing concerned parents.
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"Just say no" to these outrageous and unsubstantiated claims, said Buddy Smith, Executive Vice President, American Family Association (www.afa.net). "Bullying can be prevented without endorsing homosexual behavior.
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Authentic Christians will remember several key concepts from Scripture:
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1. Homosexual behavior is always a sin, God's plan for sexuality is male/female marriage, and God has not changed His mind about this (Genesis 19; Leviticus 18:22; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
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4. School boards aid child corruption and insult faithful families when they allow "gay-straight alliances," homosexual indoctrination programs, permission for use of opposite sex restrooms, and any of the other ridiculous demands of the "gay" lobby.
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"It's time that extremists stop exploiting tragedy to push a selfish political agenda," said J. Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs of Liberty Counsel (www.lc.org). "Liberal pressure groups have been shameless. They use talk of 'bullying' as a Trojan Horse to silence traditional values.
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Concurrently, Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel - a toxic blight on society based in Lynchburg, Virginia, - has takes the hatred a step further and made the disingenuous claim that the problem of gay teen suicide is a myth. That's right. The recent deaths of gay teens to suicide is some fabricated myth. It's beyond disgusting, but increasingly represents the face of Christianity in the USA. Here are highlights from OneNewsNow:
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A conservative attorney . . . . believes the idea that there is a homosexual youth suicide epidemic is a dangerous misconception.
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Studies show suicidal tendencies among homosexuals are about ten percent higher than the rest of society, but that occurs even in European nations where homosexual activity is celebrated and in areas of the United States where the lifestyle is more accepted. So since so-called "homophobia" is not the cause, Barber suggests another possibility.
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"I think the cause is clearly we need to look to these kids who are sexually confused and are really disturbed and tormented internally -- it's not an external source," he notes. "So often times, unfortunately, with no other perceived means at hand, some of these kids are at risk to hurt themselves."
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He believes God's natural order is written on the hearts of every man and woman, which means people know when they are violating natural order. The Liberty Counsel attorney decides that young people struggling with homosexuality are in need of counseling for their gender identity disorder.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Arkansas School Board Member Wants Gays Dead

It looks like the U.S. Department of Education may have its first school division to investigate under its new guidelines for schools and universities that do not address anti-gay bullying. In this case, one of the members of the Midland School District school board, Clint McCance, is doing the bullying via truly hateful comments on Facebook (samples are above). McCance's batshitery and hate is like something that Scott Rigell endorser Lou Sheldon likes to disseminate. If you can't read the images above, they read as follows:
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“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed therselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE.”
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“No because being a fag doesnt give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then dont tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that shit to yourself. I dont care how people decide to live their lives. They dont bother me if they keep it to thereselves. It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids and die. If you arent against it, you might as well be for it.” He further writes, “I would disown my kids if they were gay. They will not be welcome at my home or in my vicinity. I will absolutely run them off. Of course my kids will know better. My kids will have solid christian beliefs. See it infects everyone.”
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HRC's Backstory has a complete copy of McCances screed here. The messages were first brought to HRC’s attention by R. Anthony Turner, a 1998 graduate of Midland High School. One can only image the toxic atmosphere that must exist at the Midland School division.
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I would urge readers to contact Midland Superintendent Dean Stanley and demand that McCance resign from office. His e-mail address is: dstanley@midlandschools.org. I likewise hope that local residents will contact the Department of Education and demand action.

Update on Obama's "Fool the Gays" White House Meeting

As I noted yesterday, the White House held a meeting late yesterday afternoon with representatives of Gay, Inc., plus representatives from organizations like SLDN and SU that are actually pushing to make DADT history. Since any discussion of the pending litigation in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States was off the table as a pre-condition of the meeting, there was really little point to the meeting other than Obama trying to look like he's doing something for LGBT Americans - even though he's not. As Metro Weekly notes:
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President Obama dropped by today's White House meeting on DADT..... A White House aide confirmed this, saying the president stopped by the meeting "to directly convey to the participants his personal commitment on this issue."
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A person outside the White House familiar with the meeting agenda told Metro Weekly that there were three main points the White House was looking to impress upon attendees: (1) President Obama was pushing for lame-duck Senate action, (2) there would would more meetings up to the vote and (3) executive options are not being looked at right now.
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Excuse me, but Obama must really think we are all a bunch of cretins if he believes that we will now all be happy homos and fall in line and kiss his disingenuous ass. Had Obama had any personal commitment to end DADT, no appeal would have been filed in the DADT and no action would have been taken to stay Judge Phillips' injunction against enforcement of DADT. Pam Spaulding is equally unimpressed and rightfully so:
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Yawn. FAIL. Again. This song and dance is really tiring at this point. . . . No plan, no fallback plan either. Sound familiar? How many times can Lucy jerk the football away from Charlie Brown? DADT is alive and kicking, and it will be after the election -- and in 2011. That means the President and HRC didn't deliver as promised. That is something no one will forget. The ineptitude and lack of a plan, as well as the gross use of the LGBT community is just plain sad.
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I don't know about readers, but I am way past being over this president and his lies and broken promises. I'm voting on next Tuesday, but it has NOTHING to do with supporting this president who continues to throw LGBT Americans under the bus.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Dedicated to Tony Perkins

San Diego Priest-Abuse Files Shows How Diocese Worked to Protect Predators

Over the last two years the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy and its ass kissing sycophants in the Knights of Columbus have spent millions of dollars to deprive same sex couples civil marriage rights and denigrating LGBT Americans in general. All the while, the Church pretends it is taking the high ground and "protecting marriage" - even as the Church works tooth and claw to hide its true moral depravity from public view. That effort has taken a major blow in San Diego where 10,000 pages of sex abuse trial court documents have been released against the Church's protestations. Attorneys for sex abuse victims claim that there are another 200 pages that the Church is working overtime to keep sealed in the court records. Among other things, the release documents confirm that the diocese had quietly moved priests who had molested children from parish to parish and sometimes even slipped them out of the country. As I have asked before, why does anyone continue to remain a member of and fund this foul institution. Here are highlights from the San Diego Union Tribune:
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The release of thousands of pages of previously confidential files on San Diego Roman Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse is a landmark development in the abuse scandal, lawyers and advocates for victims said Monday.
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The approximately 10,000 pages of documents made available over the weekend extend back more than a half century and constitute what one expert called the most significant cache of clergy abuse files that has been released since 2003.
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The diocese is claiming some 2,000 more pages of documents relating to the priests should remain private, but the final decision will be made by a retired San Diego Superior Court judge who has been charged with deciding what documents should be made public.
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In 2007, the diocese agreed to a nearly $200 million settlement of all the claims.
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A portion of the released documents offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the diocese over the decades as it dealt with some priests accused of abuse. They confirm what plaintiffs and their lawyers have long said — that in some instances the diocese quietly moved priests who had molested children from parish to parish and sometimes ushered them out of the country.
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Among other things, he said, he was struck that many priests who were accused of abuse were from foreign countries, perhaps more than any other diocese in the nation.
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That raises the question of whether San Diego bishops actively recruited, or agreed to accept, problem priests being moved from other dioceses, he said.
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Irwin Zalkin, a San Diego lawyer who represented many of the plaintiffs, said the San Diego diocese is arguing that certain legal privileges — such as those between a therapist and patient, or attorney and client — bar the release of the remaining 2,000 pages of records. He said because most of the 48 priests whose files have been released are deceased, the protection does not apply.
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The lawyers suspect those documents contain the most embarrassing and damaging records of how the diocese handled problem priests. “These documents that have been released are just the tip of the iceberg in San Diego,” Boucher said.

GOP's Scott Rigell Proudly Lists Hate Group Leader as Endorser

Click image to enlarge

UPDATED: A version of this post will publish on The Bilerico Project later today and Blue Virginia has picked up the story and expanded it - Lowell's expanded piece is a must read. The story is important because Rigell has gone to great lengths to depict himself as a "business man" and to keep his extreme position on social issues under the radar. I'm not sure why Glenn Nye hasn't made Rigell's extremism more of an issue - perhaps fear of being labeled "anti-Christian" in a conservative district. In reality, Rigell is cut out of the same cloth as Christine O'Donnell and Sharon Angle. The issue of this endorsement is also important because to be registered by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group really requires that an organization demonstrate extreme toxicity and hate. Among other hate groups it tracks are the Klu Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups and white supremacist groups.

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Imagine my surprise at finding Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition ("TVC") proudly listed as an endorser of Scott Rigell, the GOP candidate for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. After all, the Southern Poverty Law Center has registered TVC as an anti-gay hate group. One would think that even a far right Christianist like Rigell might want to avoid appearing to be a fanatic. But apparently such is not the case. The Southern Poverty Law Center has this, among other things to say about registered anti-gay hate groups:

Many of its leaders have engaged in the crudest type of name-calling, describing homosexuals as "perverts" with "filthy habits" who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and "convert" them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging "facts" about gays that are simply untrue — assertions that are remarkably reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote about the "bestial" black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.

My discovery of Sheldon's endorsement of Rigell actually came about quite innocently. This evening the portion of Hampton, Virginia, in which I live held a very well run candidate forum for the three candidates running for the Virginia 2nd congressional district. Democrat incumbent Glenn Nye and independent candidate Kenny Golden both appeared and cogently responded to a uniform slate of questions. And Republican Scott Rigell? He was "too busy." The multi-millionaire Rigell (who made $400,000 off the "cash for clunkers" program even though he condemns Glenn Nye for voting for the stimulus bill) blew off the forum to attend a fundraiser somewhere on the south side of Hampton Roads
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Rigell's absence and the incoherent presentation by Rigell's surrogate, failed GOP primary candidate Bert Mizusawa, left me with no option but to revisit Rigell's campaign web site to determine what if anything Rigell had to say on the issues addressed at the forum. I had not been to the website since it was recently sanitized to remove the names of a past and recently resigned GOP party chairs for Virginia Beach linked to racist e-mails after coverage hit the Virginian Pilot and many other media and blogosphere outlets.
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So besides holding endorsements from accused racists and the head of a registered hate group what else did I learn about Rigell from his web site? Actually, not much and it's hard to discern what Rigell believes in other than (1) a reprise of Ronald Reagan's trickle down economics that created a huge budget deficit, and (2) "protecting marriage," from the gays, and (3) likely maintaining special rights for far right Christians whose rights will trump those of other citizens.
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It should be noted that Lou Sheldon of TVC is not the only Christianist fanatic endorsing Rigell. Others include home schooler icon and Patrick Henry College founder Mike Farris and Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., President of STAND AMERICA. While his name isn't visible on Rigell's website, Pat Robertson is no doubt also lurking behind the scenes as well.
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Golden is in many ways a moderate compared to Rigell, but the only candidate that will protect the rights of all citizens is Glenn Nye. Glenn will get my vote on November 2, 2010. Meanwhile, Rigell needs to be called out on boasting about support from individuals like Sheldon and organizations like TVC.

Department of Education To Address Anti-Gay Bullying; Meanwhile Tony Perkins' Tells Gay Teens They're "Abnormal"

It's really difficult to describe my loathing and feelings of utter disgust when I hear the vicious, hate-filled bullshit that emanates nearly daily from Family Research Council ("FRC") and its racist, homophobic douche bag leader Tony Perkins. Even as the U. S. Department of Education is very belatedly taking steps to prod schools and universities to address the issue of bullying and anti-gay bullying in particular, Perkins is uttering derogatory anti-gay statements as if he hopes more gay teens will decide to end their lives rather than live in a society full of the venom and hatred which are the stock in trade of FRC. Legitimate news media outlets need to stop affording a platform to Perkins and similar hate merchants. As noted, on the positive front, the Department of Education is reminding schools and universities of the duties under federal statutes and making it clear that a failure to seriously address bullying and bigotry could impact the availability of federal funds for the offending schools and universities. These highlights come from The Advocate:
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The U.S. Department of Education launched an effort Tuesday to outline educators’ responsibilities in combating bullying and specifically informing them that, in many cases, Title IX applies to and prohibits the harassment of LGBT kids if it is sexual in nature or based on gender nonconformity.
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In a letter distributed to about 15,000 school districts across the country plus colleges and universities that receive federal funding, [Education Department Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Russlynn] Ali wrote, “Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination based solely on sexual orientation, Title IX does protect all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, from sex discrimination … The fact that the harassment includes anti-LGBT comments or is partly based on the target’s actual or perceived sexual orientation does not relieve a school of its obligation under Title IX to investigate and remedy overlapping sexual harassment or gender-based harassment.”

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The “dear colleague” letter included a hand full of hypothetical harassment scenarios that would violate federal statutes.
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Institutions that receive complaints but fail to take action to protect students who are being unlawfully bullied or harassed could face legal action or financial penalties. Ali said those cases could be referred to the Department of Justice for litigation or they could result “in the withdrawal or termination or conditioning of all federal funds received from the Department of Education.”
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At almost the same time that the Department of Education is taking these positive steps, Tony Perkins is trashing LGBT youth during an interview on NPR that included Tammy Aaberg whose son Justin committed suicide due to anti-gay bullying that went unheeded by his school. Here's the bullshit that's all too typical of Perkins and his fellow modern day Pharisees of the Christian Right:
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Conservative religious groups such as Focus on the Family want to stop what they see as an attempt by gay rights organizations to get a foothold in public schools. Tony Perkins, president of the evangelical Family Research Council, says gay activists are exploiting the concern over bullying — and twisting the facts. "There's no correlation between inacceptance of homosexuality and depression and suicide," he says. Rather, Perkins says, there is another factor that leads kids to kill themselves.
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"These young people who identify as gay or lesbian, we know from the social science that they have a higher propensity to depression or suicide because of that internal conflict," he says.
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Homosexuality is "abnormal," he says, and kids know it, which leads them to despair. That's why he wants to confront gay activism in public schools. For example, his group supports the Day of Truth, when Christian high-schoolers make their case that homosexuality is a sin.