John Boehner: ENDA "Not Necessar"; Hosts Anti-Gay Group

I sometimes what bizarre alternate universe some in the GOP inhabit.  An example: House Speaker John Boehner who not only thinks that LGBT citizens need no employment discrimination protections - he says we are already protected and that ENDA might lead to "frivolous lawsuits:

BOEHNER: I am opposed to discrimination of any kind — in the workplace and any place else. But I think this legislation — that I have dealt with as chairman of the Education Workforce Committee long before I was back in the leadership — is unnecessary and would provide a basis for frivolous lawsuits. People are already protected in the workplace. I am opposed to continuing this.

Obviouly, Boehner has his head so far up his ass - or the ass of the Christofascists -  that he can't see reality.   I certainly had no protections when I was forced from a law firm for being gay here in Virginia either.  As noted by Think Progress, it is still legal in 29 states to fire employees based on their sexual orientation and in 33 states based on their gender identity. Neither class is protected in Boehner’s home state of Ohio.  The man is a douche bag.   But Boehner has taken his bigotry even further.   He has made sure that the anti-gay World Congress of Families has a place to meet on Capital Hill.  Here are excerpts from Think Progress:

Just a day after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) claimed the LGBT workplace protections are “unnecessary,” he is making sure that an anti-gay group has a place to meet on Capitol Hill.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an Illinois-based group that believes homosexuality is a “deviation” from sexual norms comparable to pornography, promiscuity, and incest, and it has been directly responsible for exporting American homophobia to countries like Russia, organizing trips for anti-gay leaders like the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown to go speak with Russian lawmakers. They had planned a meeting today in a Senate office building that features three anti-gay voices: Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America, and Steven Mosher of the Population Research Institute. The session, called “The Family in America,” is specifically geared toward sharing lessons learned from successful anti-gay campaigns in other countries — like Russia.

On Thursday, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who represents WCF’s home state of Illinois, realized that his office had booked the space being used for this anti-gay symposium and canceled access to the meeting room. A spokesman for Kirk’s office told BuzzFeed that the Senator “doesn’t affiliate with groups that discriminate.” As of Friday morning, it seemed that the event would not be able to proceed.

That was, at least, until Speaker Boehner stepped in and secured new meeting space for the group on the Hill. His office did not comment, but WCF President Allan Carlson offered high praise for his intervention during his opening remarks at the symposium:

CARLSON: At least in the House of Representatives people have not succumbed to the great fear [of LGBT activists]. A great fear seems to be descending over what has been called the world’s greatest deliberative body … ideas are being suppressed, debate is being shut off, and minds are being closed.

These [Russian] laws and proposed bills have been directly tied to the influence of U.S. anti-gay activists who WCF sent to Russia, and now these are the values Boehner believes deserve a voice on Capitol Hill. It’s unclear how this endorsement of discriminatory values squares his belief that there is “no need” to protect the LGBT community from the very same kind of unfair treatment.

As I said, Mr. Boehner is a douche bag - and that's being kind to him.