FRC: A Hate Group's Strategy to "Go On The Offensive"

My blogger friend Jeremy Hooper does an amazing job of shifting through the pronouncements and web sites of leading anti-gay hate groups and exposing their malice and theocratic agenda time and time again.  Jeremy has again struck pay dirt in exposing the agenda of Family Research Council ("FRC") - a registered hate group and affiliate of The Family Foundation which controls the Virginia GOP - to "go on the offensive" and disseminate more lies and fraudulent "studies" and attempt to brainwash youth with its lies and disinformation.  Leading this charge, of course is FRC head, Tony Perkins who has a white supremacist background that the mainstream media fails to spot light time and time again (the image above shows Perkins addressing a white supremacy group).  For rational, thinking Americans who value the Constitution and religious freedom for all, FRC should cause nightmares because no lie is to big and not fraudulent claim to outrageous.  Jeremy makes this comment:

Not sure the Family Research Council wanted people like me to see this, a document where the notoriously deceptive D.C. special interest groups lays out its plan to prevail over "anti-family" forces. But I did see it. So here, you should too.

Think Progress neatly summarizes the poisonous FRC agenda.  Here are highlights:

[T]his document provides a candid look at how this prominent anti-gay hate group views the culture war and where its focus will be moving forward. What’s particularly notable is FRC’s admission that its agenda is completely religious in nature, but that it intends to force its beliefs upon others.  Here are a few highlights:

GO ON OFFENSE: FRC has consistently played great defense. But at this “moment of critical mass” for this and the next generation, we must go on the offense to advance the Christian worldview as America’s only hope. We must double our impact!

GENERATE BIASED RESEARCH: Society listens to academic research, so we must use the language the secular world understands to prove that marriage and worship are foundational to a healthy society and economy. The left has many large institutes manufacturing faulty research to support their anti-family agenda, pro-family conservatives need a social science research powerhouse.

TARGET YOUNG PEOPLE: We have an aggressive plan to engage high school and college students, equip young leaders, and find new ways to communicate truth to the internet generation… we must flood the public debate with fresh, new pro-family activists. FRC must expand our development of materials and video curriculum to equip pastors and laypeople to effectively engage the culture… To expand our reach, we must expand our team that works directly with pastors and their congregations.

FRC clearly sees that on questions like marriage equality, it is losing on multiple fronts. All legitimate scientific research lends credence to supporting LGBT equality — the left’s “many large institutes” include every major medical organization in the country. The intense amount of pushback on Mark Regnerus’ illegitimate conclusions about the harms of gay parenting provides a great example of conservatives’ failure to justify their religious-based biases with scientific data.

Further, polling continues to show distinct generation gaps among young people on all LGBT issues, so FRC’s concern about targeting young people is telling. The tactic is a bit ironic, given that conservatives regularly attack the LGBT community for trying to “indoctrinate” young people, but that’s exactly what they want to do.

As indicated, here in Virginia, FRC works hand in glove with The Family Foundation to push for theocracy and to dupe and intimidate members of the GOP who are constantly threatened with a primary challenge if they fail to do TFF's foul biding.  No one in Virginia bears more hatred and animus towards LGBT rights and lives than TFF.

Chick Fil-A President: Allowing Gay Marriage Invites God's Wrath on America

First Chick Fil-A's senior management admits that the company funds anti-gay organizations.  Now, Chick Fil-A President has gone further and engaged in a rant about gays and gay marriage inviting God to smite America.  And every single person who buys anything at Chick Fil-A is funding this kind of animus and bigotry.  Hence why I've boycotted this poisonous food chain for many years.  Patronizing Chick Fil-A is like a black patronizing a KKK owned business or someone of the Jewish faith supporting a Neo-Nazi owned business.  Here are some of Mr. Cathy's remarks and the comments of my blogger friend Jeremy Hooper at Good As You:

I really do think that the comments I unearthed yesterday are really worth heightened note, so I have no problem building on them. To remind you, this is what company president and COO Dan Cathy said about those of us who support marriage equality for same-sex couples (and about single parents):

"(1:05)…I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about"

AUDIO SOURCE: Dan Cathy

Dan Cathy's comments are obviously disturbing, regardless of broader context. But when one considers the context in which they were delivered, these comments really do show us, without any shred of doubt, where a major American fast food chain places LGBT people, our lives, and our loves within the societal realm.

Here's what I mean. These latest comments came from a media appearance that Dan Cathy made just a few weeks back. These were not words that I had to dig up from some secretive source or haul out from the WayBack Machine—these were pointed comments delivered on a radio show after a two year period where this particular company has come under great scrutiny for its actions and contributions in regards to LGBT rights. Mr. Cathy is well aware of the controversy, and has even made disingenuous videos and issued responsibility-shirking press releases denying that the company holds such view. But now, as he tells Baptist Press, the President and COO seems to be taking a "guilty as charged" stance. He, the head spokesperson for this company, appears to have embraced defiance, which takes this whole thing to another level entirely.

What Chick-Fil-A is no longer free to do? Deny that there is animus for LGBT people within the top offices of the family that runs the whole operation. Dan Cathy looked a concerned customer base in the eye and doubled down on the idea that gays are "shaking a fist" at God. That is now a very public part of the company's DNA. Plausible deniability is completely off the table.

More Evidence that NOM is a Catholic Church Front Organization

I have long had the gut feeling that the National Organization for Marriage ("NOM") is actually a front organization doing much of the dirty work for the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy's jihad against LGBT individuals.  This relationship would certainly explain NOM's strenuous - almost hysterical - efforts to keep the sources of its funding secret.  Just imagine if it were documented that the Catholic bishops were pouring millions of dollars into efforts to influence legislation and oppose candidates for political office.  It could mean the Church - or at least many diocese - could be looking at a loss of their tax-exempt status for clear violations of the restrictions of Sec. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Now that General Mills has come out in opposition to the Minnesota constitutional amendment to make LGBT Minnesotans inferior citizens, NOM has launched a boycott against the food giant.  But, as my blogger friend Jeremy Hooper happened to discover NOM may have screwed up and helped confirm the NOM/Catholic Church connection.  Here's Jeremy's comments on his discovery revealed in the image below:

[I]f one looks at the HTML code [of NOM's laughably ill-advised Dump General Mills petition], he or she will see this hidden text: 

Click image to enlarge

What, is Cardinal Wuerl a Kellogg's fan? Or is it that this uber Catholic organization is finally starting to own the real, really faith-based thinking that has always guided its resistance to civil marriage equality?

One can only hope that this relationship will be investigated by the IRS and appropriate steps taken to revoke tax-exempt status for the diocese of Washington, D.C., and any other diocese and Church affiliated tax-exempt organizations implicated in violations of the Internal Revenue Code.

GLAAD Targets Lying Christianist "Pundits" Used By Media

I have vented a number of times about my frustration with main stream media outlets that regularly provide a platform for anti-gay bigots without ever challenging the untruthfulness of the statements these people make or addressing their backgrounds - e.g., Tony Perkins of the hate group Family Research Council who has ties to white supremacist groups. Time and time again these hate merchants come on even progressive news outlets and are allowed to spew lies and untruths. Now, thankfully, GLAAD has launched a "Commentator Accountability Project" which aims to inform media outlets as to the dishonesty, anti-gay animus, and general toxicity of these "commentators" and "pundits." Here's how GLAAD describes the project:

The GLAAD Commentator Accountability Project (CAP) aims to put critical information about frequent anti-gay interviewees into the hands of newsrooms, editors, hosts and reporters. Journalists or producers who are on deadline often don't have the time to dig into the histories of a commentator. Audiences need to be aware that when they’re not talking to the mainstream media, these voices are comparing LGBT people to Nazi Germany, predicting that equal treatment of LGBT people will lead to the total collapse of society, and even making accusations of satanic influence.

The Commentator Accountability Project is bringing all of these statements to light, while calling attention to the sentiments behind them. We will show that the commentators who are most often asked to opine on issues like marriage equality or non-discrimination protections do not accurately represent the "other side" of those issues. They represent nothing but extreme animus towards the entire LGBT community.

GLAAD also is asking people to contact them when they see an anti-gay bigot given an unchallenged platform to spew anti-gay hate and lies. These anti-gay "pundits" can be recorded here. Here's a rogue's gallery of the hate merchants GLAAD is targeting:

Not surprisingly, some of the Professional Christians/hate merchants are none too happy that their lies and thinly veiled hate - which is often aimed at shaking down the ignorant and gullible for money - are going to be exposed. An example of the whining and conniptions racking the professional Christian/homophobe set comes from Focus on the Family, a/k/a Focus on the Anus as per Pam Spaulding:

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announced today its new “Commentator Accountability Project,” which seeks to “educate” journalists about spokespeople from organizations that hold a biblical view of sexuality.

In an interview with Politico blogger Dylan Byers, GLAAD Communications Director Rich Ferraro said the 36 people networks need to be “educated” about — including Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, family formation studies director Glenn Stanton and education analyst Candi Cushman — “aren’t experts” but people who “represent nothing but extreme animus towards the entire LGBT community.”

Schneeberger added that GLAAD’s campaign was “rather chilling.” This is an attempt to stifle freedom of speech and freedom of religion by trying to intimidate the media into forfeiting their constitutional right to freedom of the press,” he explained. They’re seeking to saw three of the five legs of freedom off the stool that holds up the First Amendment.”

The list of flagged spokespeople also includes Exodus International President Alan Chambers, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, THE FAMiLY LEADER President Bob Vander Plaats, the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher, Prison Fellowship Ministries Founder Chuck Colson, Wallbuilders Founder David Barton, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, Bishop Harry Jackson, marriage expert Jennifer Roback Morse, pastors Jim Garlow and Lou Engle, radio personality Kevin McCullough, and Princeton University Prof. Robert George.

Having followed many on the list of faux experts for many years, the safest assumption to use with them is that if their lips are moving, then they are probably lying. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are one thing. Deliberately disseminating know lies and falsehoods to harm others is something very different. These individuals, in my opinion, are horrible people and their dishonesty needs to be exposed and media outlets who give them a platform need to be held accountable.

P.S. Kudos to my blogger friend Jeremy Hooper of Good As You who assisted on the GLAAD project.

Quote of the Day - Jeremy Hooper on 72 Days of Marriage "Sanctity"

The bigots and self-enriching whores of the Republican Party and professional Christian class - e.g., Maggie Gallagher, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell - whine incessantly about needing to "protect marriage" by denying any recognition of the committed relationships of same sex couples. Yet the real threat to the "sanctity of marriage" is not same sex couples like myself and the boyfriend or others in marriage like relationships but rather heterosexuals that treat marriage like the flavor of the quarter. Who am I talking about? No-talent, professional celebrity Kim Kardashian who is filing for marriage only 72 days after her "fairy tale" marriage. That's right after less than 1/16th of the time the boyfriend and I have been in a committed relationship. My blogger friend Jeremy Hooper (pictured at his wedding) at Good As You summed up the travesty that is worked against same sex couples by lying - pardon my language - whores like Maggie Gallagher as follows:

Kim Kardashian's wedding was so special, America was told, that it merited a two-part television special. The E! network even went so far as to label it a "fairytale wedding" on par with Kate and William's royal nuptials.

Today Kim and husband Kris Humphries announced that they are divorcing after 72 days. Which is fine, whatever. I have no interest in judging anyone's marriage or its dissolution.

However, the next time Maggie Gallagher gets in front of an audience and tells folks that GAY PEOPLE are the ones sending kids confusing messages about marriage, I hope she will consider the reality of this Halloween day. Because only about fifty or so children will see my husband and I tonight, and they will see us as a loving unit passing out candy to those costumed enough to deserve it. But millions upon millions will see endless media coverage of the quick dissolution of a product -- a commodity with marketing and press releases and ratings -- that adults spun to them as a "fairytale." Frankly, I know which cultural influence I'd rather explain to my kids.

HRC and Rachel Maddow Call Out NOM for Faked Photos

I wrote yesterday about the story broken by fellow Blogger Summit attendee, Jeremy Hooper of Good As You, who caught the ever dishonest National Association for Marriage ("NOM") photo shopping Obama rally pictures to give the utterly false impression that NOM has large, wide spread support for its anti-gay jihad. Hopefully, the expose will go viral now that Rachel Maddow did a segment on NOM's dishonesty which can be viewed here. To further ratchet up scrutiny of NOM's sleazy practices, HRC has released a letter condemning NOM's dishonesty. Here's the text of the letter to NOM which was disseminated via press release:

Dear Mr. Brown:

Your organization has sunk to a new level of deception by manipulating photographs from an Obama campaign event in Ohio to trick Granite Staters into believing support for the National Organization for Marriage is much greater than it really is. And while I know that NOM has never been above misleading the public to further its cause, this new phoniness is an example of just how far you will go to make people believe your pursuit - the denial of equal treatment under the law -- is supported by New Hampshire voters and Americans in general.

There's no mistaking the facts: 62 percent of Granite Staters oppose repealing marriage equality. In addition, polls reflect that a majority of Americans support marriage equality nationwide. And it's no secret that support is growing as Americans from all walks of life come to the understanding that all that gay and lesbian families seek is to have our love and commitment recognized and legally protected. Yet NOM futilely and painstakingly attempts to convince otherwise.

The fact that you had to "steal a crowd" from someone else's event to create the illusion that people support your cause is evidence that you and your cohorts are truly scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Americans want the truth. And the truth is voters in New Hampshire want the legislature to leave the popular marriage law alone and focus on the economy and budget matters.

With the example of supposed Christians like Brian Brown and similar professional Christians, it is little wonder that the "no-religion" category is the fastest growing among young adults. How can anyone with a shred of integrity and honesty want to wear the Christian label if it puts them in the same ranks as the liars and hate merchants at NOM and its allied "family values" organizations.

The Hidden Agenda Behind "Protecting Marriage"

I have noted before that the principal reason that the Christianists and professional Christian set are so obsessed with gays (and gay marriage in particular) is because we threaten their house of cards belief system in much the same way the non-existence of a historical Adam and Eve rocks their belief system to the core. It comes down to the essential fact that, if the Bible is wrong about committed same sex relationships being "an abomination" - and likewise, if Adam and Eve did not exist - then the immediate question is what else in the Bible is not true. Hence the hysteria and obsession in depicting homosexuality as wrong and imposing far right Christian beliefs on all of society. Adding to the hypocrisies and lies from the Christianists is the claim that it is gays rather than themselves who constitute the principal threat to religious freedom in this nation. Jeremy Hooper looks at the religious basis for the animus against gays. Here are some highlights:

Usually we activists have to prod and dig a little bit to get opposition voices to admit the personally-targeted goals that underlay the "protect marriage", "traditional values" movement. But sometimes we get folks like Michael Youssef, columnist for the American Family Association's One News Now, who come right out and admit how they truly see us and what they want us do: I am not surprised at their continual demand for increasing affirmation of their lifestyle, because God created us in His own image and He placed a mechanism within us that alerts us when we are defying God's natural laws. Even homosexual lobbyists know deep down that homosexuality is contrary to God's created order.

It's truly amazing how much these avowed heterosexual Christians presume to know about us. About our wants, our needs, and even our consciences -- they act as if they are the God and we the humble puppets who lie in wait for their next instruction. . . . . The overarching goal, as stated, is for an LGBT-less world.

Anything that challenges their beliefs or requires independent thought process must be stamped out in the eyes of the Christianists. Society and the laws in their view must be forced to conform to their belief system so that they are not required to reflect on the fact that they are living their lives in accordance to fanciful myths written by ignorant nomadic tribes. Bob Felton aptly describes this mindset that cannot countenance anything that might challenge its fragile and artificial belief system:

Why is religious instruction at school so important to some of them? The answer, of course, is because it’s school. It is public sector affirmation of their beliefs and the primacy of their club — and never mind how the Hindu kid, the Jewish kid, the Muslim kid feels about it. If they should be caused to feel excluded, as if they are … other, so what?

It's all about the Christianists and the special rights that they demand for themselves even as they trample on the rights of others. They need to be defeated in both the societal and political arenas.

Maggie Gallagher's Past Statements Prove NOM Is All About Imposing It's Religious Views on All

Most of the time the mouth pieces for the National Organization for Marriage and professional Christians like Tony Perkins (and Victoria Cobb at the odious Family Foundation in Richmond) pose and posture as if they were acting as the protectors of religious liberty and/or constitutional principles. It's all a lie, of course, and from time to time these theocrats slip up and let their real motivations show. In other instances, their past statements come back to expose them and bit them in the ass (and Maggie Gallagher has one big ass to bit). Blogger friend Jeremy Hooper at Good As You has unearthed some of Ms. Gallagher's past statements that prove that her anti-gay marriage stance is ALL about forcing "Catholic marriage" on all. The statements also show just how Gallagher and NOM are when they talk about "the sin of contraception." The only religious freedom that these folks want is the right to impose their religious beliefs on EVERYONE regardless of others' faith or creeds. It's all about Maggie and those like her. Here are highlights from Jeremy's blog:
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[W]e criticize National Organization For Marriage Chair Maggie Gallagher for refusing to acknowledge that her (and her organization's) fundamental reason for opposing CIVIL equality lies not in constitutional reads but rather in canonical law. . . . But it turns out that back in 2006, before Prop 8 brought so much attention to those who deny basic fairness and shined heightened scrutiny on the justifications these "culture warriors" use to carry out the ignoble civil rights mission, Maggie actually was being a little more honest about her motivations. And not just when it comes to marriage, but also to things like "the sin of contraception," as she lashed out against the overall "culture of death." Here are some snips and a link to M.G.'s full piece:
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If the Catholic Church’s teachings are based on natural law, available to rational people of good will, how is it that the Church finds it so difficult to defend its vision of marriage. . . . This latest iteration of a culture of death represents an institutional attack on the capacity of the Catholic Church to transmit faith into the future.
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V. CAN WE SAVE CATHOLIC MARRIAGE?
This daunting question can be translated along operational lines: can we do a better job of transmitting a Catholic marriage culture to Catholics and their children?
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Persuading people of the sin of contraception may be important, but it is even more important to persuade them that babies, families, sex, love, and marriage are good. IF MARRIAGE IS NATURAL, WHY IS DEFENDING IT SO HARD? TAKING UP THE CHALLENGE TO MARRIAGE IN THE PEWS AND THE PUBLIC SQUARE
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Maggie, Brian, Robert George, Jennifer Roback Morse, the Haas family, Opus Fidelis, and everyone else at NOM have every right to use their Catholic beliefs against whatever "evils" they perceive in the world. However: THEY NEED TO OWN THEIR MOTIVATIONS! At this point, NOM is essentially like a Catholic variation on the Southern Baptist Convention: Working alongside others for the common fight, but nevertheless working from the foundation of their chosen, personal faith. But unlike SBC, NOM tries with all of its organizational might to hide their religious basis,
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And that deceptive public positioning is unfair to this entire debate. Without Catholic motivation, there would be no NOM. Period. If we can have the fortitude to acknowledge this fact, then they, the believers who signed up to stand with their faith, should be able to do so as well.

The Amazing "Conversion" of NOM's Louis J. Marinelli

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You first broke the story of how Louis J. Marinelli (shown in the photo above) who coordinated the National Organization for Marriage's national bus tour last year and who had maintained NOM's Facebook page has left that organization and issued a statement that he now fully supports civil marriage for same sex couples. If you read his statement on his blog which can be found here, two things stand out.
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The first is that by meeting same sex couples (who typically far out numbered NOM supporters at tour stops) on the bus tour Marinelli, was forced to face the reality of our lives and the fact that we are real people with real lives and not some faceless propaganda construct with an alleged agenda of destroying society. To me, this statement underscores just how critically important it is for LGBT individuals and couples to not hide who they are. Yes, it can be unnerving - even down right scary - at times to be true to who you are, but it is critical to put real faces on what it means to be LGBT. Time and time again, I have found that when confronted with living, breathing fellow humans, many people simply find it impossible to continue to cling to the stereotypes and negative depictions disseminated by the professional Christian hate groups. One of my clients, for example, is a case in point and he will admit that knowing me and other gay professionals forced him to totally rethink old prejudices. Here's what Marinelli said about meeting LGBT couples on the tour:
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Having spent the last five years putting all of my political will, interest and energy into fighting against the spread of same-sex marriage as if it were a contagious disease, I must admit that it is hard for me to put the following text into words let alone utter them with my own voice. . . . the one thing that is for sure is that I have come to this point after several months of an internal conflict with myself. That conflict gradually tore away at me until recently when I was able to for the first time simply admit to myself that I do in fact support civil marriage equality. If there is an issue of shame, it is a result of acknowledging the number of people I have targeted, hurt and oppressed.
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Even though I had been confronted by the counter-protesters throughout the marriage tour, the lesbian and gay people whom I made a profession out of opposing became real people for me almost instantly. For the first time I had empathy for them and remember asking myself what I was doing.
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I really came to understand that gays and lesbians were just real people who wanted to live real lives and be treated equally as opposed to, for example, wanting to destroy American culture. No, they didn’t want to destroy American culture, they wanted to openly particulate in it.
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The second thing that is striking about Marinelli's conversion is his recognition of the hate basis of NOM's anti-gay propaganda and the dehumanization of other citizens that is its core. I've noted before the parallels between the Nazi dehumanization of Jews and the Christianists' efforts to dehumanize gays. Here's what Marinelli says about the hatefulness of NOM's propaganda:
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In December I came out in support of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I also removed the admins I had delegated my moderating duties to for my Facebook page.
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Having done that, I had to pick up where they left off. I was largely taken aback by the fact that the page I created had become such a hateful place. My comments and rhetoric paled in comparison to what that place had turned into. I began to understand why the gay community was out there claiming opposition to same-sex civil marriage was all about hate.
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I soon realized that there I was surrounded by hateful people; propping up a cause I created five years ago, a cause which I had begun to question.
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Marinelli also goes on to embrace a point about which I and others have long argued: the fact that civil marriage and religious marriage and that the former in no way threatens the latter:
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Lastly, I came to understand the difference between civil marriage and holy marriage as in the sacrament of the Catholic Church. Let me rephrase. I understood that but either willingly chose not to accept it or just didn’t see it. Regardless, I see it now and the significance of that is as follows:
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Once you understand the great difference between civil marriage and holy marriage, there is not one valid reason to forbid the former from same-sex couples, and all that is left to protect is the latter. . . . My name is Louis J. Marinelli, a conservative-Republican and I now support full civil marriage equality. The constitution calls for nothing less.
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I applaud Marinelli's candid self-reprimand for his past deeds. Not surprisingly, the hate merchants at NOM are doing a great deal of fast singing and dancing trying to distance the organization from Marinelli. Jeremy Hooper has details on this disingenuous charade here and here. As always, when Maggie Gallagher's and Brian Brown's lips are moving, it's a safe bet that they are lying.

Where Are the "Good" Christians?

Some readers from time to time complain that I am too hard on Christianity and that there are Christian denominations that actually do good works as opposed to the politically motivated professional Christians - e.g., Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, et al - who can best be defined by who they hate. And it's a long list of who these hate merchants hate and despise, with LGBT citizens often at the top of the list followed in alternating order by immigrants, non-Christians, and many others. I will concede that yes, there are Christians who do good works and actually try to follow the Gospel message. Unfortunately, most of the time they are on the side lines and never forcefully condemn and call out the professional Christian parasites and vitriolic anti-gay denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention, the Roman Catholic Church or the Mormon Church.
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Its one thing to occasionally publicly advocate for pro-LGBT legislation or to publicly oppose anti-LGBT legislation, Prop 8 being but one example. But where are these "good" denominations on a daily basis. My own ELCA parish, for example, does many good works. Yet on LGBT related issues, it remains mostly silent and measures go by the wayside out of a fear of upsetting the sensibilities of "conservative" parishioners. The same pattern can be seen in a leading Episcopal parish here in Hampton. No one has the backbone to call these conservatives out for what they truly are: bigots and homophobes - and false Christians. The silence is deafening most of the time and because of this silence spineless legislators allow themselves to be manipulated by the hate merchants who wrap themselves in religion.

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A case in point. As Jeremy Hooper reports at Good As You, Focus on the Family is opposing a civil unions bill in Colorado, calling the measure that would afford same sex couples legal protections "unnecessary." Jeremy has this to say:
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[L]et's get real: By "analysis," they mean "meticulous consultation of the same preconceived script from when Focus on the Family always operates." This organization has never shown even an ounce of willingness to consider something like civil unions. Hell, this is an organization that still puts "ex-gay" therapy front and center. For them, a compromise wouldn't be civil unions -- it'd be letting a gay person "change" yet still watch "Modern Family" on occasion.
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I concede that there are Christian and other religious groups who have voiced support for the proposed civil unions legislation in Colorado. But where are the press conferences, media stunts and concerted actions to rally church members to support the bill with the kind of vigor that the haters utilize daily? Sadly, they are largely non-existent and the field is by default yielded to the groups that make religion a force for evil.
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I subscribe to the theory that when good people do not actively and vocally oppose hate and evil, they become part of the problem. It's the "good German" phenomenon all over again. Too many of the "good Christians" continue to act like the "good Germans" did during the rise of Hitler.

The "Nice" Free Pass Given to Haters and Bigots

Blogger friend Jeremy Hooper at Good As You has a post that raises an issue that needs more discussion. It's an issue that I hear all too often - frankly sometimes to the point of near nausea. What is it? It's the excuse that so and so was "nice" when I interviewed him/her or that "they seemed like a nice person" even though I disagree with his/her politics. Thus, people who promote racial hatred, anti-gay hatred and other foul are given a pass on their foul agenda because they act "nice" to often ignorant and/or gullible members of the media. An example? Virginia's Del. Bob Marshall who some reporters have described as "nice in person." The free pass generated by this phenomenon also extends to at times to members of organizations and/or institutions that are responsible for heinous deeds - e.g., the Catholic Church and the sex abuse scandal - who are not held accountable for the misdeeds that they tacitly support. Jeremy goes on to show the ridiculousness of the "nice" excuse:
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"So what" if the president of the National Organization For Marriage has me over for coffee? Even if freshly ground and perfectly French pressed, does that change the fact that he wants to legally divorce me under the civil law that governs our shared nation?
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"So what" if the socially conservative member of Congress welcomes me into his or her office with a warm smile? Even if we share a nice laugh, does that alter the text of the bill wherein he or she called for my banning?
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"So what" if Focus on the Family's outreach person engages in genuine, off-the-record conversations about the ups and downs of this "culture war"? Even if we share both respect and confidences, does that free the mental anguish from the kids who are daily subjected to FoTF's "ex-gay" teachings?
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"So what" if that company that's financing the anti-equality movement was good to your stepbrother's uncle's roommate who worked for them in college?
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Yes, my vote is with firmly with Jeremy. Being "nice" in an often off the record, non-public setting does not give one a pass for hateful and vicious conduct towards entire classes of people. An extreme, but telling example of the bogus nature of the "nice excuse" comes from more than 60 years ago: Adolf Hitler. Yes, Hitler was described as "nice" and "charming" by some who met him and by his staff. This from his maid at Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria:
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"He was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for. You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us,"
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Or there's Hitler's nurse at the bunker during the Reich's final days:
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Hitler shook hands with all the people he hadn't greeted before. After that he talked to us regularly. "His authority was extraordinary. He was always polite and charming. There was really nothing to object to."

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The next time you hear an anti-gay bigot or racists described as "nice," remember that some of histories greatest monsters could be "nice" in informal occasions even as they pressed an agenda of genocide.

Obama Could Have Chartered A Very Different Course on LGBT Rights, But We Don't Seem to Matter

In an interview at the Daily Beast, Elliot Spitzer and Kevin Sessums had some very harsh words for Barak Obama on LGBT issues. Spitzer stopped just short of calling Obama a coward. Sessums was not as reticent. Personally, I view Obama as a total liar as well as a coward. Here's a sampling of their interview:
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SESSUMS: On another legal matter, do you agree with Obama that he had no choice as president defending the law of Congress to appeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ruling that said it was unconstitutional? Or do you agree with Ted Olson that he did not have to?
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SPITZER: He didn’t have to. He should have gotten rid of it with an executive order. He is the President! He is the commander-in-chief!
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SESSUMS: And on gay marriage he is to the right of Dick Cheney and Ken Mehlman and Ted Olson. It would be almost poetic if it weren’t so sad and disheartening that on the civil rights issue of our time, our first African-American president will be seen on the wrong side of history. Again, for political reasons he’s playing with people’s lives.
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This dialogue got Jeremy Hooper at Good As You thinking and expressing feelings that I share. Like so many of us, he feels let down and, worse yet, that to our president, our lives simply do not matter. Jeremy usually expends his writing skills exposing the hate, hypocrisy and down right lunancy of the anti-gay forces. So this is a bit of a departure in some ways, but as always he states his case eloquently. Here are highlights:
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But on LGBT issues, it's been all compromise all the time! The principled push forward, a subjective path that those who value equality for all citizens have chosen to take without hesitancy or qualifiers, is typically presented by this administration as a two-footed, equally-merited, completely objective march. There's been little danger in the bold leadership seeming too tough, except with the far-right social conservatives who think watching "Modern Family" without fast forwarding through the Cam/Mitchell scenes is too pro-gay.
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The promises have been there. The speeches and proclamations have been inclusive, which does make a statement and should not be denied. But the White House has expended shockingly minimal capital on true change for LGBT rights, during a time when they should've realized that the window was always destined to close. In turn, the people who've become much more disenchanted, alienated, and/or confused are the ones who put so much hope in a president who they expected to take real world risks to accomplish what's long overdue and undeniably right.
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The mere fact that we LGBT people still have to discuss our basic humanity here in 2010 is appalling: That's a truism that expands well beyond the presidency or even politics. However, there is no person in the world -- NOT. ONE. PERSON. -- who is in a more powerful chair in terms of changing civil rights history. It's past time President Obama risk seeming arrogant on these core values issues, lest he risk seeming worthy of primary challenge in 2012.
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And that's not a threat from a detractor, either. It's a real concern from a frequent defender who still wants to believe.
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Part of me would like to still believe that Obama meant something of what he said during the campaign and in speeches here and there on LGBT rights. But experience to date suggests that desire is merely wishful thinking on my part. Sadly, I believe that LGBT lives and hopes never meant anything to the Liar-in-Chief. He only wanted our votes and our money. Many in the community likely feel like jilted lovers. But as in any failed relationship, at some point one must accept that's its over and move on. I want that worth primary challenge in 2012.

Peter LaBarbera Stoops to a New Low - Even By His Disgusting Standards

Back in December 2008 I had the very good fortune to meet Jeremy Hooper, editor of Good As You at the LGBT Blogger Summit in Washington, D.C. Jeremy is smart, witty, honest and willing to take the battle to defeat anti-gay lies to the Christianists who disseminate them. In contrast, Peter LaBarbera who I have interacted with at times over the years is, in my opinion, a self-loathing closet case who can't stand the fact that some gays have moved past their religious brainwashing and refuse to live an unhappy lie like LaBarbera is doing himself. Worse yet, from my dealings with LaBarbera he is a pathological liar who has made a career bouncing from one anti-gay "family values" organization. Now, after leaving - being fired? - a string of organizations, LaBarbera runs the disingenuously named "Americans for Truth About Homosexuality." I say disingenuously named because truth is one thing that is wholly missing when it comes to LaBarbera.

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Getting back to Jeremy, when he and his partner got married he posted about the wedding - which was a beautiful event and ultimately was featured in the 2010 Martha Stewart Weddings - to show the world the beauty of same sex love. Now, Peter LaBarbera has applied graffiti to one of Jeremy and Andrew's wedding photos in an attempt to making it into something ugly (see below). Jeremy may not want to attack LaBarbera in anger, but I have no such reticence. Porno Pete, you are disgusting and continue to be living proof of why one might be well advised to avoid self-congratulatory Christians like yourself and Christianity as a whole. The only perversion that I see is you, Porno Pete.

Religious Reactions to Prop 8 Ruling Underscores That It's All About Religion

I have long maintained that the ONLY justification really behind anti-gay legislation and bans against gay marriage is religion. The opinion rendered by Judge Walker in Perry v. Schwarzenegger - who naturally the Christo-fascists want impeached - thoroughly demolishes all of the other alleged justifications. Thus, one is left only with supposed "moral" justifications which is in essence religious justification. Which, if the United States Constitution means anything, illegal and must be outside the realm of the civil laws. USA Today has a compilation of reactions to the ruling and the only ones who are bemoaning the result are those who seek to impose their generally hate and fear based religious beliefs on all Americans. They are also the ones who disseminate false and demeaning anti-gay propaganda even as they demand respect and civility for themselves. Hypocrisy knows no limits with these people who in the final analysis care only for themselves and of course power, control and most of all MONEY. They are indeed the reincarnation of the Pharisees denounced by Christ in the Gospels. First some highlights on the reactions of the Pharisee set:
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The Mormons, who were among the strongest supporters of Prop. 8. A statement released this afternoon said: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regrets today's decision. We recognize that this decision represents only the opening of a vigorous debate in the courts over the rights of the people to define and protect this most fundamental institution -- marriage. There is. . . . no doubt that today's ruling will add to the marriage debate in this country and we urge people on all sides of this issue to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different opinion.
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The 11 Roman Catholic bishops of California spoke as one through the church's lobbying arm in the state, the California Catholic Conference. The CCC executive director Edward (Ned) Dolejsi, who also serves on the executive committee of ProtectMarriage.com and the Proposition 8 Legal Defense Fund -- two groups that take credit for the original successful passage of Prop 8 -- said in a statement Wednesday that they were "disappointed" in the ruling, . . .
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Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Rev. Albert Mohler . . . This clearly this is a huge boost to proponents of same-sex marriage in terms of cultural momentum ... In a society like ours the sense of cultural momentum is priceless. It gives proponents a sense of impending inevitability even as it upends millennia of human experiences and wisdom on marriage. No one could possibly believe this was in the minds of the founders when they framed the Constitution. I greatly lament the social and political pitfalls.
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No surprises here. And I would add that Mohler's alleged societal pitfalls utterly failed to be proved during the trial. As for the "political" pitfalls, the only downside is for the Christianists who, once marriage is available to all Americans, will lose their biggest cash fundraising issue and some of them will need to secure real jobs. All in all, it's just more of the same old bullshit that is the norm for these power crazed and money hungry institutions/organizations that want nothing less than a theocracy with themselves in charge. Those who grasp the concept of freedom of religion and who understand it applies to ALL citizens naturally were jubilant over Walker's ruling. Here's a sampling of their reactions:
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[T]he Rev. Susan Russell . . . . head of the gay Episcopal group Integrity and pastor of All Saints Pasadena, points out: Progressive people of faith have biblical values, too -- and one of those values is telling the truth. And the truth is, if we're going to love our neighbors as ourselves, we need to be defending all marriages and valuing all families ...
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This ruling, says Russell comes down to a judge considering the religious arguments against gay marriage then concluding, "No one has the right to write their theology into our Constitution. (This) should be celebrated by people of all faiths, of any faith and of no faith.
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Rev. Barry Lynn head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State cheered the downfall of the referendum, which he says was a push by lavishly funded political front groups representing Catholic bishops, the LDS Church (Mormons) and fundamentalist Protestant churches to impose their doctrine on civil law marriage. In a statement Lynn said: A growing number of American denominations and faith groups perform same-sex marriages. Why should the state refuse to recognize those ceremonies while approving of ceremonies by other clergy? A decent respect for church-state separation means the government should not play favorites when it comes to religion.
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While the battle is far from over, I sincerely hope that this ruling is the beginning of the end of the civil laws being used to punish gays and other minorities that the Christo-fascists don't like. P.S. The photo is of fellow blogger Jeremy Hooper and his partner who married last year in Connecticut.

AFA Calls for Boycott of Today Show

We all knew that it was only a matter of time before the American Family Association called for a boycott of the Today Show for changing its policy to allow same sex couples to participate in its wedding contest. I'm sure that the boycott will flop like all of the others have flopped, with AFA nonetheless claiming victory to save face. Like so many of the self-proclaimed "pro-family" organizations, AFA in reality operates to enrich its founder and his family through the dissemination of hate and intolerance. Not what I would call Christian values whatsoever. The screen shot above is courtesy of Jeremy Hooper at Good As You who does a wonderful job exposing the lies and hypocrisy of our foes. Jeremy, keep up the great work!

Marriage Opponents Denigrate Gay Lives

There has been much chatter across the blogosphere in terms of the closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Like many in the LGBT community, I find the statements of the Proposition 8 proponents down right hateful and in the final analysis their argument is that the lives and loves of LGBT citizens don't matter. Worse yet, they describe our lives and loves as something nasty and hurtful to society. The boyfriend and I have yet to take advantage of the new same sex marriage laws in the District of Columbia, but certainly may do so in the near future. To hear Prop. 8 counsel Charles Cooper describe same sex relationships as a threat to society itself enrages me. Who are these self-righteous, false Christians to condemn the lives of other humans? I am not the only one who takes these hate filled slights personally. Two amazing blogger friends who have legally married their partners - one in California and the other in Connecticut - each have touching posts wherein they express their personal outrage at the denigration and marginalization of their lives by Proposition 8 proponents like Maggie Gallagher who have enriched themselves financially while disseminating anti-gay hate and bigotry. I felt portions of their posts need to be re-quoted and promoted because they underscore the inherent evil of the efforts of the anti-marriage equality forces.

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The first is Jeremy Hooper of Good As You (pictured with his partner Andrew above left) who married his partner last summer and in fact had photos of their wedding featured in Martha Stewart's wedding magazine issue earlier this year. Here's a portion of what Jeremy has to say about the Bible beating bigots who try to fraudulently depict themselves as the victims of gays oppression:
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[W]hen . . . Christian-allied firms like the Alliance Defense Fund use arguments involving procreation, morality, Judeo-Christian marriage roots, or the supposed ability of gays to "change" (all of which were used), our side ABSOLUTELY has the right (responsibility?) to shoot these lines downs! Because the truth is that NO GAY ACTIVIST -- NO. GAY. ACTIVIST! -- is trying to force Christians to accept same-sex marriage, working to force faith leaders to marry same-sex couples, or in any way demand that churches honor gay unions. Those decisions are up to individual faith denominations, and that kind of advocacy, if it's to happen at all, must happen from within the individual churches. The only matter we care about in this Prop 8 case is *CIVIL* law and gay citizens' right to love under it. THAT is what the Prop 8 crowd put on trial back in November of 2008. We're now demanding that they answer for it!! Unapologetically so.

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The other individual to speak out from a personal perspective is Waymon Hudson, a fellow Bilerico contributor pictured with his husband Anthony at below right). Their marriage is one of the 18,000 marriages that occurred before the passage of Proposition 8 which the professional Christian crowd have now asked be voided by Judge Walker. Here are highlights from Waymon's thoughts:

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My husband and I married in California before Prop 8 passed and are among the Limited Edition Married Gays that exist in a separate and not equal space when it comes to relationship recognition. Now the same people that have claimed time and again that we are somehow weakening their marriages by simply being together are actively seeking to strip us of any rights or recognition our marriage provides us. Follow the twisted logic? Me either.

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To have these groups literally seek to break up marriages because of their own personal bias is disgusting. They will not be satisfied until they can come into our home, take our marriage certificate of the wall, and rip it in half. Yet somehow they continue to wear (with the help of a increasingly lazy media) the mantle of "family value" voters and proponents.
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How can taking away my family's rights and recognition be a "family value"? How can telling children of same-sex couples that their parents are less-than and abhorrent in their anti-equality campaigns be protecting families? Why do they still get to claim any sort of family values at all?

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The Prop 8 backers and those like them have never been able to provide any proof of harm to their marriages or the institution of marriage by allowing same-sex couple to join in. Their arguments boil down to personal distaste or outright bigotry- hardly sound legal reasons.
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The dishonesty of their stance needs to be challenged by everyone around them. They need to be forced to answer how they claim the are for "saving" marriage while trying to destroy legal, existing marriages like mine. They need to answer how they are "pro-family" while demonizing our families and children. They need to be pushed and pushed until the world sees them for what they are: small-minded people with deep prejudice, not some crusading do-gooders who "just have political differences" with equality for all.
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I'm gay. I'm married. I'm pro-family. I have family values. They don't get to own these terms. They belong to all of us. And I won't cede them to the likes of these people any more.
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I agree with Jeremy and Waymon completely and, candidly, I find it difficult not to view that anti-gay lobby as a bunch of evil bigots worthy of my hatred. I know that that's not a Christian reaction. But then their conduct is anything but Christian. They - or at least their self-dealing leaders like Maggie Gallagher - ARE evil people.

Martha Stewart’s Gay Wedding Couple

I previously posted about fellow LGBT Blogger Summit attendee Jeremy Hooper's wedding to his partner being one of the weddings spotlighted in the 15th anniversary issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. Before that, I had posts last summer that carried some photos from Jeremy and Andrew's wedding in Connecticut (at right). Now, The Advocate has an interview with Jeremy that looks at how he and his husband came to be featured in the magazine and what Jeremy hoped to achieve. I particularly like the fact that he sought to have his wedding as just as natural as that of a straight couple - which is as it should be. Needless to say, I applaud Jeremy and Andrew for their willingness to put their faces on an issue that has needlessly caused so much political turmoil. Here are some highlights from the Advocate story:
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Blogger Jeremy Hooper talks about being featured with his husband, Andrew Shulman, as the first gay couple in Martha Stewart Weddings. Jeremy Hooper is best known in gay circles as the brains behind the website GoodAsYou.org, which tackles everything from antigay conservatives sticking their feet in their mouths to the marriage equality movement. But this month Hooper (pictured at left) and his husband, Andrew Shulman, are more likely to be recognized as the first gay couple featured in Martha Stewart Weddings.

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Hooper first posted photos from his Connecticut wedding on his blog in June, circulating them out to newspaper and magazine editors in the weeks that followed. An editor from Martha Stewart Weddings e-mailed him back a day later. “I think they were actively looking for a same-sex couple,” Hooper says. The blogger says the magazine wasn’t looking to get overly political, but it was clear to him the editors were looking to make a statement.

Martha Stewart Weddings' editor in chief Vanessa Holden says it was Andrew and Jeremy's personal take on the wedding that really caught the magazine's eye. "We have thousands of submissions, and we look for a very particular kind of wedding," she says. "We liked the personal style, their take on how they wanted to celebrate their union. It was a very nice, well-executed, tastefully done celebration of two people's unions."
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Hooper says he made such a point of getting the wedding photos out there because “for the past five years my personal and my public life have been one and the same. Every step of this journey — every time I can put a human face on this issue, I do.” He says he thinks another reason editors at Martha Stewart Weddings were so eager to run the photos is that the wedding was so pro-family. “We had six or seven children there under the age of 10. We had a nun in full habit. Every faith, everything they always use against us, I think we nipped all of those in the bud.”

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It is important for the members of the LGBT community to put human faces on "the gays" so that it becomes increasingly difficult to depict us as the "other" and somehow not fully human.

Martha Stewart Celebrates First Gay Wedding Ceremony - And It's Someone I Know!

This week, Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, did its first article that included a same-sex wedding ceremony. What's amazing is that it's the August wedding of Good As You blogger Jeremy Hooper and his husband Andrew Shulman. I met Jeremy at the LGBT Blogger Summit last year - his blog is one of my daily reads - and had previously done posts about his beautiful wedding. Jeremy writes as follows at Good As You (where you can click through and see their wedding album):

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We're humbled and honored to have been deemed "good thing"-y enough to grace this mass market mag's pages. It's one time you won't hear us complain about our love being turned into an issue. Our full equality: Today Martha, tomorrow Congressional Quarterly?
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Congratulations Jeremy and Andrew!! And kudos to Martha Stewart for including a gay wedding in her magazine. I look forward to the day when all can recognize the legitimacy of the love of same sex couples.

Maine's "Yes On 1" Largest Donor - an Examination

Jeremy Hooper - one of the LGBT Blogger Summit attendees I was lucky enough to meet last December - at Good As You has put together an amazing chronology of the efforts - and lies - of the opponents of Marriage equality in Maine. Jeremy describes these folks who want to subvert the civil laws to adhere to one set of intolerant religious views as follows:

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These folks want our hopes and dreams to go up and flames. And they don't care how many one hundred dollar bills they have to use as kindling in order to burn up the part of the Maine constitution that was intended to grant church-separated civil fairness to ALL citizens!
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The National Organization For Marriage: This group is extremist. This group is unfair. This group is hellbent on destroying anything that gets in the way along their narrow path. At this point, this group (coupled with the Catholic church, to which NOM is strongly tied) essentially is Stand For Marriage Maine (the group pushing the 'Yes on 1' side) .
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Rather than recreate Jeremy's work, the following is a series of links to his various posts (he e-mailed me the code since I am clueless on how to write in html, one of the reasons I use Blogger). I encourage readers to check out Jeremy's informative and often wonderfully sarcastic information. Like me, he doesn't hesitate to call it like it is.

Volume 1: Unhinged billboard campaign

Volume 2: Oversimplified reduction of pro-gay comments

Volume 3: Ridiculous Vaclav Havel/Soviet empire comparisons

Volume 4: NOM board member wants to overthrow pro-gay governments

Volume 5: NOM's general counsel = quite extremist

Volume 6: Heated attack from NOM"s founder, Robert George

Volume 7: Mid-90s version of Maggie found DOMA too timid

Volume 8: Brian Brown's words: Why doesn't the "yes" campaign say truth-bearing stuff like this?

Volume 9: Maggie's highly Catholic take on your "sinful" lives

Volume 10: Marriage equality = Vietnam?

Volume 11: Maggie's unfair reduction of Iowa ruling vs. the actual Iowa ruling

Volume 12: Maggie unfair take on Maine (detecting a theme here?)

Volume 13: Gay unions = "grassfire," per NOM guest star Rick Santorum