NC Family Values Organization: Gays Murder Marriage

As I’ve posted before, the battle for marriage equality is heating up in North Carolina. A state constitutional amendment defining marriage is slated for the polls in May, state senators are now backpedaling from the wording of the bill they helped create, and even a North Carolina Baptist Church is standing up for gay marriage.

Proponents of marriage inequality, however, are launching their assaults against gay marriage, as reported by Queerty.

The North Carolina Family Policy Council, a self-professed “defender of traditional marriage” (as worded on their website), has published its quarterly publication titled Family North Carolina that “doesn’t just single out the gays as murderers of traditional marriages. It singles out the gays and everyone who supports them!”

The bride and groom caught in the crosshairs, which is the featured image for this post, is the image the NCFPC is using in their publication. Apparently, according to the NCFPC, anyone who favors equality is attempting to murder the rights of “traditional” people everywhere. What people like the NCFPC fail to see is that the people in the crosshairs are those who are being discriminated against!

Think about it. In the 1960’s when civil rights for African Americans were at the forefront of this nation’s civil liberties fight, who was really in the cross hairs? The white majority who felt their rights were being infringed upon or the African Americans who were being discriminated against?

Tweeting Ignorance: Ron Paul’s Newsletters

Ron Paul's Tweeted Newsletters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t you just love it when someone makes broad generalizations about a community based upon the actions of a few? I had hoped Ron Paul would prove better than that, even though I knew better. Perhaps it’s his recent rise in the polls, with only a few points separating him from Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, but it seems Paul is falling in step with bad mouthing the gay community just like his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls.

Sigh.

(story via Towleroad)

 

Chicago Cardinal Compares Gay Pride Parade to KKK

This year, the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago was rerouted, and the new route happens to pass in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. This has caused much consternation for the church who fears that they will not be able to have mass that Sunday because the parade will interfere with their services.

The pastor expressed his concern to Catholic Cardinal Francis George, who made the following comments, as reported by ThinkProgress:

Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”

Cardinal George has just shown what an idiot he is. To compare a celebration of gay pride to a Klu Klux Klan parade is not only revolting but maddening. The KKK is a bigoted, hate mongering group who used to revel in their parade of men dressed in white sheets. Their parades were about lynching minorities. Their parades were designed to instill fear and spread hate. Their parades included violence and cross burning.

Gay pride parades are about celebration, about being accepted for who you are, and about not being afraid to celebrate being gay. I see no comparison between a gay pride parade and the KKK.

Cardinal George apparently doesn’t agree. Either that, or he just doesn’t get it. The Chicago Gay Pride Parade isn’t a march against Catholicism. In fact, when Chicago’s LGBT community learned about the pastor’s concerns, they met with him and arranged to start the parade at a later time to give the congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel the time they needed to worship. If the parade was truly some secret march against Catholicism, they wouldn’t have done that.

Of course, the Holy Cardinal is trying to eat his words now saying, “Obviously, it’s absurd to say the gay and lesbian community are the Ku Klux Klan, but if you organize a parade that looks like parades that we’ve had in our past because it stops us from worshipping God, well then that’s the comparison, but it’s not with people and people — it’s parade-parade.”

Sorry, Cardinal George, you can’t take back your hateful words, and your attempt is weak at best.

And there are some out there who are calling for action. Change.org, an online organization that mobilizes petitions for change, is calling for George’s resignation. Also Equally Blessed, a pro-LGBT rights Catholic organization, stated that George “has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office. In suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has reason to fear LGBT people in the same way that blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities had reason to fear the murderous nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, he has insulted the memory of the victims of the Klan’s violence and brutality.”

Thankfully, George is facing the consequences of his actions. Perhaps, the good Cardinal needs to learn a lesson in prudence. I’m sure the Bible has something to teach about that.

Love in Action Movie Trailer

Director Morgan Jon Fox is set to release a documentary titled Love in Action in March 2012. This movie follows the life of a young gay man sent to Love In Action, a Christian based ex-gay therapy “ministry.”

The parents’ decision to send their son off to be brainwashed (rightfully) sparks controversy in their town.

You may remember Love in Action (the ex-gay group, not the movie) from a previous post on John Smid, former director of Love in Action, who recently came out of the closet himself. Smid appears in the documentary spouting his support for ex-gay conversion. The fact that he is now out and proud adds validity to the film maker’s vision.

Here’s the trailer for the movie. I know I plan on watching it when it is released.

(video via Joe.My.God)

In NC: Republicans Backing Out of Marriage Inequality Amendment

In North Carolina, an anti-gay marriage amendment will go to the polls in May. However, the wording of the amendment has many politicians worried and even regretting their support of the amendment, as reported on ThinkProgress.

The amendment, as it is currently drafted, states that it will “provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.” However, the wording that prevents the state from “prohibit[ing] businesses from offering benefits to domestic partners, isn’t included on the ballot.”

Without that final sentence, politicians such as Republican State Senator Jim Davis are fearful of what the amendment might lead to as he said here:

I have a lot of libertarian in me. I believe firmly, passionately that a marriage should be defined as being between one man and one woman. But I also believe with all my heart that in a free America people who choose to live a different lifestyle should have a legal right to do so. Just don’t call it marriage. [This amendment will] restrict their freedoms a little more beyond my comfort zone.”

While I must give politicians like Davis some credit for realizing the epic failure of this amendment, I find the last sentence of his quote still rather troublesome. It’s okay to restrict freedoms of Americans as long as it’s within his comfort zone? It seems to me that we shouldn’t be restricting civil freedoms at all!

But the damage has been done. The amendment is on the ballot and extreme religious groups (i.e. NOM) have jumped on the bandwagon to get this amendment passed in North Carolina.

Now, we can only hope that the voters in the state will see the same flaws the proponents who helped pass the amendment now see.

Archbishop Dolan Promotes Gay Discrimination

Awhile back, I posted about Archbishop Patrick Dolan who commented that gay marriage would lead to a conflict between church and state. In a recent proclamation, the good shephard made a decree (as reported by ThinkProgress) that prohibited “any Church personnel or property from being utilized for same-sex marriage ceremonies under penalty of ‘canonical sanctions,’ calling  [New York’s] new marriage equality ‘irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law.’”

In his decree, Archbishop Dolan outlined the following restrictions:

1. No member of the clergy (priest or deacon) incardinated or assisting in the Archdiocese of New York, or any person while acting as an employee of the Church, may participate in the civil solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, which includes but is not limited to providing services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privilege for such event. Ecclesiastical solemnization or celebration of same-sex marriages is expressly forbidden by Canon law.

2. No Catholic facility or property, including but not limited to parishes, missions, chapels, meeting halls, Catholic educational, health, or charitable institutions or benevolent orders, or any place dedicated, consecrated, or used for Catholic worship may be used for the solemnization or consecration of same-sex marriages.”

While his decree isn’t surprising, I find it quite sad.

I’m a firm believer in the separation of the church and state, and I in no way believe that any church should be forced to break their canonical laws. To do so would violate the basic tenets of our Constitution. Every church has the right to their rituals and beliefs, and no government should ever infringe upon that. After all, one of the reasons the Pilgrims came to this country was because their beliefs were being violated by the monarchs in England.

In his quest for new brides, King Henry XIII fractured the Catholic Church and began a long bloody battle between Catholicism and Protestantism, where the only people who suffered were those who didn’t follow the religion of the crown.

Separating church and state was the only way to ensure the safety of the people. No one would have to worry about being oppressed for religious beliefs if those beliefs didn’t match the individual in charge.

With that said, Archbishop Dolan’s decree basically outlines that the church will actively discriminate against homosexuals and those who might disagree with the church’s stance.

It seems to me we are moving in the wrong direction here.

I’m no religious scholar, but I thought Jesus created his church for all–the mighty and the meek, the poor and the down trodden, the saint and the sinner. I don’t recall stories of Jesus decreeing that anyone was not welcome in his church. He reached out to the outcasts, those who were shunned by a polite society and he sought to bring them closer to God through his loving embrace.

Archbishop Dolan’s proclamation does the exact opposite. It pushes away a section of His people, telling them they will not be welcome and they will not receive the blessings of others.

To me, that sounds extremely anti-Christian and actions unbecoming of a truly good shepherd.

NOM Looking to Derail Same Sex Marriage in Iowa

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has spent approximately $15,000 in the Iowa state election to help stop same sex marriages, as reported by ThinkProgress. NOM’s goal is to oust Democrat Liz Mathis by channeling funds into Republican Cindy Golding’s campaign. If they can “eliminat[e] the Democratic majority in the Iowa Senate, the state will have the support necessary to ban same-sex marriage in Iowa’s constitution.”

Thousands of homosexual couples have been married in Iowa since same sex marriage was made legal in 2009, and the state hasn’t suffered drought, famine, or pestilence. In fact, no heterosexual marriages or families have been threatened by Adam and Steve saying “I Do.”

Still, NOM President Brian Brown stated:

“This is a pivotal election contest in our battle to allowing the people of Iowa the opportunity to vote to restore marriage. A proposed constitutional amendment on defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman enjoys broad-based, bi-partisan legislative and voter support, but is being prevented from coming to the floor of the Senate by Majority Leader Mike Gronstal. If Ms. Golding is successful in her election, we are hopeful that Senators will finally have the opportunity to vote on the marriage amendment, and we expect it to pass handily.

I find it frightening that this group channels funds into state elections in order to advance their national agendas. They are willing to utilize all their resources to make sure that loving couples are denied basic civil rights simply because they don’t agree. Is this really any different than the KKK rousing support and funds to make sure civil rights were continually denied for African American citizens?

I think not.

Civil Rights should be guaranteed for every American, no matter their age, race, religion, or sexual orientation. This isn’t a country where we can pick and choose who gets what freedom, yet this seems to be the type of country NOM is fighting for.

Herman Cain: Homosexuality Washes Off

ThinkProgress reported that in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN Presidential Republican front runner Herman Cain still believes that homosexuality is both a sin and a choice. In fact, during the interview Cain once again reiterated that he has seen no science to disprove his belief, despite the fact that the American Psychological Association says that it is not. They have many studies (AKA science) to back them up.

In fact, “when Morgan pushed him that race and sexual orientation were comparable, Cain explained that race is different because it ‘doesn’t wash off.'”

I don’t know about you, but I’ve taken many showers and not once have I emerged as a heterosexual (even when I tried to force it before coming out). Cain continues to reside quite happily in his ignorance and prejudice and is unwilling to accept the many documented studies by an august medical association, such as the APA. To claim that a section of the American public, whom he wants to govern, can simply change their sexual orientation by showering is preposterous.

Just as taking a shower won’t cleanse Cain of his prejudice, a good scrub won’t make me (or any other gay individual) straight.

Here’s the interview if you want to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkRWKAdGuk4

The Right to Love: An American Family–Movie Trailer

Below is a trailer for a documentary set to release in 2012. It chronicles the fight of one gay couple as they struggle to battle Prop 8 in California. Amidst the turmoil of the struggle for Gay Marriage Equality, this gay couple fights back through home movies, showing that they are no different than any other married couple.

In Texas: Male Cheerleader Kicked Off Squad for Kissing A Boy

By now, some of you most likely heard about the 17-year-old high school student in Alice, Texas, who was kicked off the cheerleading squad for kissing a boy. Apparently, peeping Tom security guards caught the kiss on surveillance cameras and notified school administration about the elicit lip lock.

In response, the student was suspended and removed from the squad–permanently.

On Friday, Alice High School principal Lucy Munoz made the following claim in a letter about the incident: “the district does not suspend students for kissing other students at school, regardless of the gender of the student.” What was missing from her comment was any verifiable reason other than the kiss that prompted the student’s suspension from school and removal from the cheerleading squad.

Principal Munoz, however, did state that the “Cheer Program Handbook requires students to adhere to a higher standard of conduct than that which applies to the general student population.”

Yeah, right.

I was in high school too. And I seem to remember cheerleaders making out in the hallways or parking lots. Some even (gasp!) had sex. I doubt that has changed since I graduated in 1990.

To claim that this student was kicked off the squad and suspended solely based on a public display of affection is ridiculous, especially when you consider how much kissing goes on at high school campuses! Does she really think people are that stupid?

Luckily, we are not. Students and parents aren’t buying it either. There has been an uproar in Alice over what the principal has done to this student.

While I hate what this poor young man is having to endure, I applaud the students and parents for coming to the boy’s defense. That’s what I call school spirit!

The school district is investigating, and it’s my hope that not only is the boy quickly re-instated back into the school and the squad but that Lucy Munoz finds herself out of a job.

Kick her out, kick her out! Waaaaay out!