Jeremy Hooper's Blog, page 24
April 3, 2015
The one and only thing I'll write about #MemoriesPizza
WHEREAS, Memories Pizza in Walkerton, IN, is known on a national level for one reason and one reason alone; and
WHEREAS, that one reason for national attention is its admission that it would deny a large order to a same-sex wedding if it were asked; and
WHEREAS, the Memories Pizza admission is a perfect example of the kind of slippery slope that can come in allowing public accommodations to turn away customers based on who they are, so long as they claim "religious freedom;" and
WHEREAS,...
April 2, 2015
Indiana fallout: Five #RFRA genies the anti-LGBT right can't put back in the bottle
What a week. Some say it's a game changer, and I agree. Here are some changes, as I see them:
5) The anti-LGBT movement cannot keep pretending that this recent "religious freedom" push is inspired by something other than marriage equality. Everyone kept pressing defenders in Indiana and (to a lesser extent) Arkansas to come up with valid reasons why these laws were needed, if not LGBT acceptance and same-sex marriage. None could. Every prominent defender just so happened to be an anti-LGBT...
READ: A bevy of anti-gay (and pro-'ex-gay') Supreme Court amicus briefs
Groups and individuals that have shown a heckuva lot of animus toward LGBT rights and human beings for some reason think they can persuade the Supreme Court into seeing an argument that goes beyond their own personally-held convictions and/or (but usually and) condemnations.
Family Research Council:
Parents and Friends of 'Ex-gays':
Ryan Anderson:
Ruth Ins...
Robert Oscar Lopez insists 'same-sex parenting is Jim Crow,' continues to obliterate his own side's denials of animus
This man is filing an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court and is a darling of conservative press:
Sounds like you're problem is with adoption itself, Robert. And with reality, if we're being honest.
***
*In case you're wondering, here is what Garrett Epps actually said on NPR:
EPPS: You know, it is, I think, an argument about what is going to happen when, as a lot of people assume, the Supreme Court ratifies the cases that say that same-sex marriage mu...
FRC gearing up to pray, fast for God to intervene in SCOTUS marriage cases
From the Family Research Council's prayer targets for Easter weekend:
[FRC]
God has yet to answer. Probably because he's busy writing each individual Peep and Cadbury Egg, thanking them for being more reverent of Easter weekend than the ragingly political and shockingly divisive Christians at the Family Research Council could ever be.
Americans having 'A ha!' moment over Indiana, Arkansas, and this week's anti-LGBT #RFRA fiasco
Like anyone involved in politics, and particularly its "culture war" offshoot, I've dedicated the bulk of this week's thinking and opining to the subject of the so-called "religious freedom" bills that have been in the news in a *MAJOR* way. But unlike others, this is not a subject that is new to me. I've been thinking about these license-to-discriminate initiatives for years, and have given them particular focus in the two years since the anti-LGBT movement began prioritizing them. For me,...
April 1, 2015
The anti-gay right is really testing the limits of America's bullsh*t meter
This snippet comes from the National Organization For Marriage. Check out the highlighted part:
FULL: NOM
These cake and florist and photography cases are not discrimination against gays and lesbians but rather "cases where people of faith have been discriminated against for acting in concert with their faith"? I mean, come on with that noise! I know the anti-LGBT right has never met a word or phrase that it isn't willing to redefine, but the idea that turning away actual human gays and l...
Breaking: Arkansas's Republican governor won't sign license-to-discriminate bill in its current form
Admitting that the state "religious freedom" bill goes further than he'd like and admitting that even his own son signed a petition asking him to veto it, Republican governor Asa Hutchinson announced at a morning press conference that he will not sign the Indiana-like bill unless and until the legislature makes changes to it.
A partial win, it seems, particularly since this is sure to make the far-right APOPLECTIC. So hooray for now. More to come.
***
**UPDATE: The governor also says he i...
AFA goes after Megyn Kelly for suggesting Indiana protect gays and lesbians from discrimination
From Walker Wildmon, the son of American Family Association president Tim Wildmon (and grandson of founder Don Wildmon):
With all due respect Megyn Kelly, you are wrong. Homosexuals do not need to be a protected class along with blacks. In fact, you do African Americans and civil rights leaders an injustice by comparing homosexuals to blacks that weren’t allowed to vote and were deprived of certain God given rights prior and during the civil rights era.
By classifying homosexuals as a “pro...
Hillary Clinton comes out against Arkansas license-to-disriminate bill!!
From the former first lady of Arkansas (among other things):
The Republican governor will announce her plans soon. Hillary will too.
