Anti-Gay Activists Threaten Uprising If Supreme Court Approves Marriage Equality

The hysteria of the Christofascists - and their display of outright insanity - is escalating on the eve of the Supreme Court's oral argument hearings tomorrow.  The batshitery is ranging from threats of a Christofascist uprising if the Court strikes down marriage bans nation wide, to false claims that pastors would be forced to marry same sex couples, to spittle flecked shrieks that Christianity will be outlawed.  Those stirring the agitation seemingly want to squeeze every last possible penny out of the sheeple so as to live the good life as long as possible, yet one has to wonder what rock their followers are living under if they believe the palpable lie.  Right Wing Watch looks at the lunacy.  Here are excerpts:

Now, as even many conservative pundits are predicting that the Supreme Court will strike down the remaining state bans on same-sex marriage, Religious Right leaders are preparing their response.

In a conference call with other movement figures, Dobson was steadfast in his opposition. If the Supreme Court strikes down the state bans and states across the country fail to convene “a state constitutional convention to re-examine the Constitution” on marriage, Dobson warned, “we’re going to see a general collapse in the next decade or two.”

Worse, Dobson said, there could be a war: “Talk about a Civil War, we could have another one over this.”

In a press conference today in front of the Supreme Court, Faith 2 Action’s Janet Porter gathered a who’s who of radical anti-gay activists and “ex-gays” to deliver “restraining orders” to the Supreme Court demanding that the justices not hear arguments on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans.

The activists, including Scott Lively, Peter LaBarbera and Bill Owens, also announced that they were filing a motion asking Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan to recuse themselves from the case because they, in Lively’s words, “deliberately officiated at so-called homosexual wedding ceremonies.”

Greg Quinlan, an “ex-gay” activist, echoed the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins , saying a Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality “will bring open season on Torah Jews and biblical Christians, and it will definitely bring open season on those of us who left homosexuality.”

Steven Hotze of Conservative Republicans of Texas, a Roy Moore acolyte who has been advocating for a bill in his state barring the use of funds to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples if the state’s marriage ban is struck down, declared that gay marriage is “not a marriage, it’s a mirage, because it’s counterfeit, it’s a lie, it’s untrue.”

A decision in favor of marriage equality, he warned, “would force individuals to have to condone, accept, even celebrate sexual immorality among certain elements of the population and teach it to the children.”   “It would criminalize Christianity,” he added. “The pastors would be forced to have to marry those of the same-sex.”

 

I have never interacted directly will all of the lunatic individuals above, but I have had e-mail exchanges with LaBarbera and Quinlan and, quite honestly, in my opinion both are certifiably insane.  Moreover, both are obsessed with gay sex - hence LaBarbera's nickname "porno Pete" - and strike me as desperately wanting to engage in gay sex while forced into mental melt down by their religious brainwashing (and desire to make a buck huckstering to the ignorant).

PFOX Idiocy: Billboard Features Gay Non-Twin

PFOX - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays - the Christofascist funded small group of "ex-gays for pay" is a never ending clown car/train wreck.  It's as if the Three Stooges were in charge of PFOX's constantly bungled efforts.  Just in time for the holiday season, PFOX put up a billboard adjacent to busy I-95 in the Richmond area that purports to show identical twins and makes the false claim that no one is born gay.  The problem?  The model whose photo was used int he billboard is (i) not a twin, and (ii) is a proud gay.  Greg Quinlan - PFOX's tortured, self-loathing "ex-gay for pay" president makes a buffoon out of himself and PFOX yet again!  Here are highlights from Huffington Post:

A new wrinkle has emerged in the controversy over an "ex-gay" group's Virginia billboard which purportedly depicted a set of "identical twins."

Model Kyle Roux, who hails from South Africa, says he was shocked that his image was used in the Virginia-based ad, especially because he identifies as an "out and proud" gay man, NBC affiliate WWBT first reported.

"It just seems like there no place in today's world for an organization that is promoting this as being some kind of deviant or distasteful lifestyle, because I've lived my life openly gay and happy for my entire life," Roux, who added that he is not a twin as the billboard proclaims, told the news station. 

The ad, which appeared recently beside I-95 in Richmond, depicts two men, one dressed in a suit and the other in a white T-shirt, and says: "Identical twins: One gay. One not. We believe twin research studies show nobody is born gay."

A representative for PFOX did not respond to The Huffington Post's initial request for comment.

As noted in a prior post, the researcher behind the twin study that PFOX cites says that PFOX is misreporting and twisting the findings of his work - something PFOX seems to do constantly.

PFOX Unwittingly Showcases Parental Child Abuse

As this blog has noted countless times at this point, EVERY legitimate medical and mental health association in America condemns so-called reparative therapy and concludes that gay conversion efforts do not work.  Even former ex-gay poster boy John Paulk and the former president of Exodus International have admitted the claims of "change" are little more than lies and self-delusion.  But that doesn't stop parasite "ex-gay" ministries from preying on the gullible and pandering to parents who are more concerned about what people will think about them than they are for the welfare of their child.  These parents, in my view, are the height of selfishness.  They ought to be charged with child abuse.  Right Wing Watch looks at the batshitery that is the norm for PFOX - Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays - which is a far right Christofascists organization staffed by self-loathing "ex-gays for pay" like Greg Quinlan.  Here are story excerpts - Note the traits that supposedly make one susceptible to homosexuality and the number of discredited quacks cited as "experts":

A recently released spring newsletter [PDF] of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) includes an essay by Steve and Janice Graham, who describe their efforts to rid their son of his “destructive” homosexuality.

Quoting ex-gay therapist Charles Socarides’ claim that coming out amounts “to a kind of murder of the family,” the Grahams write that they believed their son is gay because he started “looking at body builders online” and had “personality traits (high intelligence, curiosity, overconfidence, and a tendency to overanalyze) [that] made him more susceptible to porn and homosexuality.”

“To us, homosexuality is a deviation, a disorder, a willful rebellion, or a combination of these,” they write, adding that their son’s ex-gay therapist told him to “tell us every homosexual feeling or thought he experienced each day.”

The newsletter also features articles on Mother’s Day and President Obama’s supposed attempt “to ‘queer’ America” and promote “homosexual addicts.”

When our son admitted his problems with homosexuality, we took him to see a psychiatrist—but it was too upsetting for him. He thought we believed he was crazy. We didn’t know what to think. We were in shock—and a bit of denial.

In his book, A Freedom Too Far, Dr. Charles Socarides describes how we felt during this time: 

“Announcements like this that our kids have suddenly decided [or in our son’s case, become convinced] they’re gay amount to a kind of murder of the family. Parents can’t imagine things that are worse. It’s something like a premature Alzheimer’s disease; there’s no more real communication, no more sharing of experience, now, or ever. Some great parents can say that this is okay. But, deep down, they know they are deluding themselves. This can mean the end of hopes and dreams for their kids—that they will some day experience the extreme joys that have been repeated over and over again since civilization began, that they will become parents. And make them grandparents. To know that this isn’t going to happen—well, it’s a sadness.”

 …
Years later, our son’s therapist concluded he wouldn’t have struggled with homosexual tendencies had it not been for the pervasive homosexual influence of the internet. In other words, he was fed a gay identity. It began with the power of suggestion—by our son looking at body builders online. Having endured a lot of teasing from his peers, he was curious about his male body. He wondered if he had what it took to be a “real man.”

Many parents today back off when their child tells them they’re “gay.” This never occurred to us. To us, homosexuality is a deviation, a disorder, a willful rebellion, or a combination of these. It isn’t anyone’s true self. As Michael Glatze notes, “The whole gay identity is completely a fabrication. You’re not a homosexual; you’re a heterosexual with a homosexual problem. It’s literally all in your mind.”

In “Seven Ways to Recruit-Proof Your Child,” Scott Lively writes “it’s never too late for a child to recover his innate heterosexual orientation.” He cautions: “it will take much more work than taking preventive action would have.”

 

I can only imagine the psychological damage done to the child of these insane and self-centered parents.  From 37 years of trying to "change," I know that this bullshit doesn't work and all it does in cause internalized self-hate and self-loathing.  I pity the child of these horrible people.

Ex-Gay Awareness Event Demonstrates Few Ex-Gays Actually Exist

One of the big lies that has been funded by Christofascist organizations and marketed by charlatans like Michele Bachmann's husband "Marcia" is what I call the "ex-gay myth."   In their battle to deprive gays  equality under the civil laws and deny us marriage in particular, the Christofascist have struggled to convince the public and legislators in particular that sexual orientation is a choice and that this damaged condition can be changed through prayer and voodoo like therapy.   Thankfully, more and more of the public has seen through the lie as shown by the growing number of people who believe one's sexual orientation is something you are born with - i.e., the same position held by legitimate medical and mental health experts.  Yet the Christofascists and their "ex-gays for pay" continue to try to convince the world that there are "hundreds of thousands of former homosexuals" despite their invisibility outside of paid positions in ex-gay "ministries" and snake oil merchants seeking to make a buck at the expense of religiously tormented gays and their families.  To try to further market their lie, "ex-gay" marketers held an "Ex Gay Awareness" event in Washington, D.C.  Only 15 "ex-gays" showed up and at the gala dinner, a total of 60 folks attended, most with ties to marketing the ex-gay myth.  Think Progress looks at the debacle.  Here are highlights:

Tuesday night, the ex-gay group Voice of the Voiceless finally held its Ex-Gay Awareness dinner, having been delayed from July because of supposed “security threats.” Ironically, it accomplished the opposite of its supposed awareness-raising goals.

Earlier in the day, all of 15 ex-gay activists went to Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of ex-gay therapy and its profiteers and victims. It’s unclear who they were able to talk to on the first day of the federal government’s shutdown, and the measly turn-out mirrored the dismal turnout at July’s “ex-gay pride” press conference.

The dinner, which was held at an undisclosed location, was supposedly attended by some 60 people, though it’s unclear who any of them are. The only people who spoke were either people who are not ex-gay, like the Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber and Bishop Harry Jackson, or those who profit from their ex-gay identities and are already established pundits on the topic, like Voice of the Voiceless founder Christopher Doyle and PFOX president Greg Quinlan. The event was closed to the press — and to anyone who doesn’t support ex-gay therapy — so only the Christian Post and WORLD Magazine articles shed any light on what was said.

According to Doyle, ex-gays “need to scream and yell for equality and justice for all.” Indeed, it seemed many of the speakers highlighted the need to be visible — at an event designed to not be visible. It’s unclear what its organizers hoped to accomplish by hiding in the dark. If anything, they proved that ex-gay therapy is based on shame, that there are very few success stories, and that only those who profit from the harmful, ineffective treatment are willing to be visibly associated with it.

But for the harm and misery these frauds cause, they'd be laughable.  As for the "ex-gays for pay" themselves, tawdry whores have more virtue and decency.

More Spittle Fleck Craziness from The Christianists

It seems no one goes out of their way looking for insults and a reason to spew batshitery that the Christofascists.  Especially when the source of outrage can be directed at the Obama White House and/or Hollywood.  Michelle Obama's surprise appearance at last night's Academy Awards is one source of flying spittle - especially given her apparent reference to gay rights.  The other source of outrage among the hate group crowd is a storyline on CBS's Criminal Minds, which featured an "ex-gay" serial killer who'd undergone abusive "sexual conversion therapy."Linda Harvey and ex-gay for pay Greg Quilan are simply beside themselves and vented profusely on World Net Daily, a/k/a Wing Nut Daily.  Here's a sampling of the spittle flecked hysteria:

Sparking the comments was a recent episode of “Criminal Minds” that featured a team of FBI profilers that investigates serial killers. In the Feb. 20 episode, titled “Broken,” a serial killer is murdering women and homosexual men in what appears to be a series of sex crimes.

The episode makes a startling claim as the killer is a person who received conversion therapy as a young man to overcome homosexual attractions. According to the characters in the show, the therapy caused him to believe that acting on his same-sex attraction is wrong. This belief causes him to violently attack people, because he is conflicted about his sexual orientation.

“This man can’t accept his same-sex desires, but he can’t fight them either,” one of the profilers explains. “He’s most likely been repressing all sexual urges for some time.   “He is trapped in a scenario with an impossible outcome. He can’t force himself to like women, so when he is unable to get aroused he becomes depressed again and lashes out in anger to the people he blames for his impotence.”

The show portrays members of the ex-”gay” community as ticking time bombs who are potential serial killers. In one scene, a computer screen shot features a report portraying “The Ex-Gay Movement.” The description states that cautioning children to not have homosexual thoughts was harmful and that individuals merely claimed they had changed their same-sex attraction.

Linda Harvey, founder of Mission America, says the episode is plain and simple discrimination.
“There is absolutely no evidence behind the premise of the show. It is total and complete propaganda,” Harvey said. “Not only is it discriminating against these individuals, they slam everyone who is attempting to overcome these feelings even though there is no evidence that these feelings are inborn and say your opinions on the issue don’t matter.”


Harvey said the episode is part of a larger movement to portray conversion therapy as hateful while portraying ex-”gays” as unstable people who are a threat to everyone around them.  “The homosexual lobby and its supporters are now deciding there is a desperate need to discredit people who want to partake in conversion therapy,” Harvey said.

The people who are desperate are, in my opinion, the mentally ill individuals like Quinlan and Harvey who make a living attacking gays and homosexuality.  They see the larger public realizing that they and their "ministries" are quacks - Harvey has ZERO credentials to qualify heras credible on issues of sexual orientation - and snake oil.  But for being "ex-gay," Qunilan has no marketable skills or talents. 

As for Michelle Obama, her cardinal sin last night - other than, of course being black - is that she made a positive reference to the gay community.  Joe Jervis summarizes as follows:

 

The First Lady was the surprise final presenter at the Oscars, announcing the Best Picture winner via live video from the White House. In her presentation, Obama gave a nod to the gay community.

"These nine movies took us back in time and all around the world they made us laugh, they made us weep and they made us grip our armrests just a little tighter. They taught us that love can endure against all odds and transform our lives in the most surprising ways, and they reminded us that we can overcome any obstacle if we dig deep enough and fight hard enough and find the courage to believe in ourselves. These lessons apply to all of us no matter who we are or what we look like or where we come from or who we love."

 Needless to say, the wing nuts have gone berserk.