Jeremy Hooper's Blog, page 236
July 3, 2013
Make Your 'Ex-gay' Pride Month plans now!
With so much activity to cram into such a small amount of time, one must plan. It's almost Pride Month after all—"Ex-gay" Pride Month!
As you may or may not know, social conservatives like Linda Harvey and professional "ex-gay" activists like Christopher Doyle have officially declared July to be the official month for these festivities honoring those "in heterosexual relationships, pursuing heterosexuality, or living celibate lives as former homosexuals." But I can almost guarantee that you've...
July 2, 2013
A new act for Employment Nondiscrimination?
Michelangelo Signorile makes a compelling argument:
It's time for a rebranding. The president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Chad Griffin, following on the success of the "freedom to marry" movement that he helped advance rapidly, should get to work right away and change the name of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which will be voted on in the Senate in coming days, to the "Freedom to Work Act."
Full argument: And Now It's Time to Rebrand ENDA: The Freedom to Work Act [Huff P...
NOM finally admits it: They're the ones playing offense
What do you do when your organizational work geared around discrimination is repudiated by the highest court in the land? Why you admit you're the side that's on the offensive, natch:
[NOM]
Um, yeah—we all know that, NOM. The anti-LGBT movement has always been the antagonistic one. Without organizations trying to tell us that we are wrong, do not belong, and are not entitled to certain deserved rights, there would be no such thing as a "culture war." You on the conservative side declared that "...
So don't marry us. Or bless us. Or come to our weddings. Or buy us toasters. Who cares?
The Illinois Family Institute is the organization trying to stop CIVIL marriage equality in the state. The fight in the state has nothing to do with the optional religious ceremony. Churches and faith leaders will be as free to deny gays of a religious ceremony on the day after marriage equality is signed into law as they are on the day before equality is signed into law, just as they currently free to deny any kind of couple for just about any kind of reason (e.g. atheist, interfaith, divorc...
You guys, show some dignity to the man who says you are a threat to schoolchildren
Former U.S. Senator and current Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint has openly stated his belief that gay people (and unwed mothers) should be banned from being public school teachers. So you'll have to forgive me if I am insensitive to this "traditional marriage" conservative's newfound victimization:
[SOURCE: Far-right conservative Heritage Foundation via far-right conservative NOM]
No one on our side is denying human beings of their worth or dignity as human mortals. What we are saying—...
Meet the 29 white, Republican, straight-identified men who hope to turn U.S. Constitution into weapon against gays
These are the twenty-nine U.S. Representatives who are co-sponsoring the current go-nowhere attempt to put a Federal Marriage Amendment into the U.S. Constitution. Marvel at the diversity:
Rep. Joe Barton [R-TX6]
Rep Jim Bridenstine [R-OK1]
Rep. Mo Brooks [R-AL5]
Rep. Paul Broun Jr. [R-GA10]
Rep. Jeff Duncan [R-SC3]
Rep. John Fleming [R-LA4]
Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ8]
Rep. Louie Gohmert [R-TX1]
Rep. Ralph Hall [R-TX4]
Rep. Andy Harris [R-MD1]
Rep. Tim Huelskamp [R-KA1] (*SPONSOR)
Rep. Randy Hultgren [R-IL...
Audio: Hear Tony Perkins struggle to explain why his version of discrimination is somehow different
What follows is a very interesting and telling clip.
First we get a caller who throws Tony Perkins off of his game. The caller basically asks why businesses aren't free to discriminate at will. She thinks she's making a good "pro-family" point, but she's actually pulling Perkins off his desired narrative. The fact of the matter is that the anti-gay crowd doesn't want to talk about the freedom of businesses to refuse service to anyone for any reason because they don't want to highlight the trul...
Audio: Tony Perkins says SCOTUS 'car jacked' America
You know those often violent incidents where a criminal forcibly seizes an automobile owner's property? Yeah, well—Family Research Council president Tony Perkins thinks the United State Supreme Court did that to America:
[SOURCE: Washington Watch w/ Tony Perkins; 7/1/13]
But wait, is it a car jacking or a joy ride? Because those seem like polar opposites on the car-based punditry scale.
Whatever the case, it seems that our committed happiness and legal parity has somehow ruined Tony Perkins' abi...
Poll: Right side of history nabs new recruits
A new USA Today/Princeton Survey Research poll shows a whopping 55% of Americans in support of marriage equality, with only 44% voicing opposition:
WASHINGTON — A record majority of Americans approve of same-sex marriage in the wake of two landmark Supreme Court decisions, a USA TODAY poll finds.
Poll: Support for gay marriage hits high after ruling [USA Today]
It seems contagious, this whole peaceful love thing. Forget just LGBT rights. These trend lines should give us hope in America in gener...
