Sunday, March 24, 2013

CBS Again Gives Platform to Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins

Since I wanted to hear some of the other speakers (e.g., David Frum, Evan Wolfson and Brendon Ayanbadejo), I watched Face the Nation's coverage of the gay marriage cases before the U. S.S. Supreme Court despite the fact hate group leader Tony Perkins was once again given a platform to spew lies and animus.  Once again, I wonder why CBS doesn't include the Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi group leaders or perhaps some Al Qaeda terrorists onto the show as panelists.  One would get just about as much credibility as having Perkins - a man with documented KKK dealings - appear on the show.  

While fighting the urge to vomit listening to Perkins, his arguments against gay marriage came down to (i) the new polls showing majority support are wrong and that votes at the state level 7 to 9 years ago are what really represent the public view on gay marriage and (ii) that "children deserve a mother and father" without ever (A) explaining how married same sex couples have any impact on heterosexual marriages, (B) explaining how gay marriage impacts the number of children born to unwed heterosexuals, or (C) mentioning of the millions of children now being raised by same sex couples who are actively harmed by the denial of marriage to their parents.  Shame on CBS.   As Think Progress notes, behind Perkins' lies and the lies of the Christofascists who have filed briefs in the cases is the claim that we gays don't really exist.  Here are highlights:

At the core of conservatives’ argument against marriage equality in both cases is the idea that gay people actually do not exist — only “homosexual behavior” does. In House Republicans’ final reply brief filed this week against DOMA, attorney Paul Clement argued that “sexual orientation is defined by a tendency to engage in a particular kind of conduct.” Proponents of Prop 8 similarly suggested that “sexual orientation is a complex and amorphous phenomenon that defies consistent and uniform definition.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops added in its amicus brief that homosexuality is a “voluntary action” just like polygamy. In other words, people are only really gay when they’re having gay sex — otherwise they’re not.

Herein lies greatest challenge for gay and lesbian civil rights: the fact that sexual orientation is an invisible identity. Unlike race or gender, it cannot so easily be superficially assessed. Thus, conservatives are counting on doubt and distrust, urging the Court to dismiss whatever gay people actually say about their lived experiences — discount every individual’s coming out story, ignore decades of gay culture and gay history, and disregard the scientific conclusions of the entire major medical community. In fact, opponents of equality regularly claim that “the gay agenda” is merely a conspiratorial quest to validate sinful behavior — as opposed to an effort to allow millions of people to participate fairly in society.

The Court will have the opportunity to weigh the question of whether gay men and lesbians exist in both a legal and practical sense. The practical case for recognizing gays is simple, yet compelling: gay people exist and more importantly, are already raising children in families. All of the conservatives’ arguments rely on claims about “responsible procreation” and what’s best for children, but not one of them takes into account the millions of children already growing up with same-sex parents. Besides the fact social science research supports same-sex parenting, it’s quite easy to see how those families would benefit from the securities and protections of marriage equality. The Court could simply accept opponents’ arguments about the values and purposes of marriage, but rather than apply them in conservatives’ imaginary gay-free universe, acknowledge that they should apply equally and fairly to gay couples as well.
 My contempt for the dishonest, lying "godly Christian" crowd continues to increase with ever passing day.  They simply are not nice people - especially those like Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, et al who are making a ton of money peddling hatred - and one can only hope that more and more of the American public will recognize this reality.


 

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