Queer Hatred Index of Hate Against Queers

Oh, NOM, it's not like we financed a name-calling billboard or anything. That would be you.

Since the National Organization For Marriage is once again slighting members of the pro-equality commentariat for accurately noting the way certain Maryland lawmakers sold out their principles for their own perceived ease...

Shocked Reaction of Pro-SSM Advocates to MD Defeat: The Name Calling Begins [NOM Blog]

...we thought we'd take a second and do something we like to do from time to time: Remind everyone of the very first targeted campaign from whence the nascent National Organization For Marriage launched its own national profile:

2007:

Yep, that's correct: Four years ago, NOM launched a jaw-droppingly hostile billboard attack comparing a Massachusetts state lawmaker to Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold. Not a blog post. Not an Op-Ed. Not even a fundraising blast. A BILLBOARD! Simply because the legislator voted against putting the state's marriage equality before a public vote. A billboard with which Mr. Puppollo's friends, neighbors, loved ones, and any one else who drove under it were suddenly confronted. A billboard fully bankrolled by NOM's startup donor rolls.

So Maggie, Brian: You all are shocked -- SHOCKED! -- that shunned gays are upset over their declared friends and allies choosing to bow down to anti-LGBT pressure rather than doing what is right, fair, economically sensible, and a boon to the peaceful greater good? Right, well: We'll see your feigned outrage and raise you this nasty piece of roadside artwork!

Watch: TX Democratic County Chair Dan Ramos Calls Gay Groups 'Termites', Compares Them to Nazi Party

I missed this piece last weekend in the Dallas Voice about Texas' Bexar County Democratic Chair Dan Ramos's remarks about the national gay group Stonewall Democrats:

In an interview with the Current today, Ramos blamed homosexuals in the party for both undermining his authority and for the poor election results in Bexar County in 2010. “They are all connected to the gay Democratic Party, the so-called Stonewall Democrats. Just like termites they managed to get some of their people in key positions,” he said.

The party faithful has been largely divided over Ramos since he was elected to office in May, 2010, but his chief detractors are all homosexuals, Ramos said.

Ramos said he opposes homosexuality on religious grounds and doesn’t believe gay-friendly Democrats like Stonewall reflect the values of Bexar County voters. “I liken them to the Tea Party — the Tea Party and the f**king Nazi Party — because they’re 90 percent white, blue-eyed, and Anglo, and I don’t give a f**k who knows that. Just like the blacks … they’re American, but you can’t get your way just because you’re black.”

Ramos held a press conference today, Think Progress reports, at which he repeated the "termites" remarks and refused to apologize for the comments.

Said Ramos: "I believe I’m dealing with the truth, sometimes the truth hurts. So be it."

The chair of the Texas Democratic Party Boyd Richie has called for Ramos' resignation and the Stonewall Democrats have condemned Ramos' remarks.

Ramos sought money from Stonewall Democrats during his campaign for County Chair.

Watch the video, AFTER THE JUMP...

Crystal Cathedral Choir Asked to Sign Anti-Gay Statement

There’s an old saying: If it weren’t for gays in the choir, church would get pretty quiet. Crystal Cathedral is about to put that to the test:

The “Crystal Cathedral Worship Choir and Worship Team Covenant,” recently handed out to members, states that members should commit to being Christians by following the Bible in every way.

Former and current choir members say they are particularly offended by a statement in the document that refers to homosexuality. Long-time church members say this is the first time they have seen the cathedral take a firm stand against homosexuality and are disturbed by it.

The covenant states: “I understand that in an era where images of family relationship and personal sexuality are often confused, Crystal Cathedral Ministries believes that it is important to teach and model the biblical view. I understand that Crystal Cathedral Ministries teaches that sexual intimacy is intended by God to only be within the bonds of marriage, between one man and one woman.”

Ann Moore Waltz, a long-time church member and the Cathedral’s first soloist to stand and sing on top the snack shack in Robert H. Schuller community church at the Orange drive-in said, she does not agree with the statement in the covenant. “If I were still in the choir and if that was presented to me, and if a gay person had walked out, I would have walked out with him or her,” she said. “If you are a Christian group and people come to you, you should be a good servant, love them and shine the light of Jesus on them – regardless of who they are.”

Longtime choir director Don Neuen resigned last October over earlier steps toward a purge of the choir:

But things ended on a sour note for the choir director. He said the “last straw” for him was when Gretchen Schuller Penner, who directs the “Hour of Power” programs, told him that she would be “vetting choir members” going forward and that she would make sure that they were “emotionally and spiritually fit for the Crystal Cathedral.”

“I found that to be terribly judgmental and couldn’t accept it,” Neuen said.

Crystal Cathedral founder Robert Schuller retired in 2006, placing his son, Robert A. Schuller at the helm. The younger Schuller was removed two years later due to a “lack of shared vision” — and amid controversy over salaries and housing allowances for family members. In 2009, the elder Schuller’s daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, was named pastor. Last year, Schuller Coleman announced that the church was going into bankruptcy after donations fell by 29% in 2009. It’s congregation has already shrunk in half over the past two years.

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Transgender Woman Shot, Dragged in Arkansas

The body of 25-year-old Marcal Camero Tye was found along a stretch of Highway 334 near Forrest City, Arkansas earlier this week. 

Said "We're going to be, of course, waiting for the lab results, the pathology reports, but it appeared to be that he did have a head wound and also that he had been drug by a car."

Authorities took plaster casts of the tire treads in hopes of identifying the vehicle which struck Tye.

Watch the disturbing report, AFTER THE JUMP...

 

SAINT MAARTEN: Pastors Demand Special "Code Of Conduct" For Gay Tourists

A group of pastors on the tiny Caribbean island of Saint Maarten say that the corrupting influence of homosexual tourists must be curtailed. Therefore they want their local Parliament to impose a new "code of conduct" to prevent gay cruise ship visitors from committing public displays of affection. The pastors met yesterday with Parliament's Committee For Tourism to present their demands.

Pastor Wycliffe Smith, who headed the delegation, said the group was guided by the word of God and had not been politically motivated or manipulated by anyone to champion these issues. He said the churches were following the rule of God by loving the sinner, but hating the sin. "We are not saying it is right to do it hidden or in the closet," he said. Smith said homosexuals were coming to the island every day via the airport and the harbour and there also were many who live here. His contention is that these people should not impose their way of life and should curb public displays of affection. "As a Christian nation, we love you [homosexuals], but we don't love your lifestyle," he said. [snip] Pastor Leyland Sam said the concern was that the gay cruise would be an "avalanche" of gay people on the island. If St. Maarten doesn't stop this inflow, he added, probably 15 years down the line the island will have to expand its prisons and hospitals because of the gay people.

One member of Parliament noted the pastors' concerns, but said that any changes to local law would have to be in line with human rights treaties the island presently has with the Netherlands.

Chuck Norris Claims Progressives, Gays Have Overtaken Public School System

Chuck Norris, the former Walker, Texas Ranger actor who now works mostly as a right wing pundit, penned a commentary today that claims the public education system has devolved into "progressive indoctrination camps."

According to the actor's inane argument, published at WorldNetDaily, there's a "lopsidedness" in schools that threatens to doom us all, in part because of pro-gay attitudes among young people:

What happens when the political and public educational pendulum swings from concern for the tyranny of sectarianism in Jefferson's day to secularism in ours? What happens when U.S. public schools become progressive indoctrination camps?

Dr. Jim Nelson Black, founder and senior policy analyst of the Sentinel Research Associates in Washington, D.C., wrote an excellent book, "Freefall of the American University." In it, he documents the clear biases pervading our public academic settings. Among that lopsidedness is the intentional training of students to disdain America, freely experiment sexually, forcefully defend issues like abortion and homosexuality, as well as become cultural advocates for political correctness, relativism, globalization, green agendas and tolerance for all.

One of the primary ways these educative platforms are spread is by recruiting and retaining faculty members who reflect and teach them.

Isn't it great how conservatives are always trying to paint their ideological opponents as a bunch of cultists or as braindead idiots who can't think for themselves? They're always "recruiting" or being "recruited." What a tired, senseless narrative Norris and his ilk are trying to conjure.

Norris goes on to cite the facts that fewer teachers see a liberal bias in the news and more describe Bill Clinton as a better president than Ronald Reagan as "evidence" for his argument, which proves just how seriously this man should be taken...

PhoboQuotable - Frothy Mix Santorum

"In the heat of the American Revolution in 1777, the Continental Army was struggling to muster shoes and victory. What were two of our most heroic founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, doing? They were arguing in favor of religious liberty, giving us the precursor to what we now know as the Religion Clause of our Constitution's First Amendment - the heartbeat of our Constitution.

"Fast forward to recently when President Barack Obama claimed the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage for federal law as one man and one woman, was 'legally indefensible.' Intellectually, morally, and constitutionally President Obama's claim is absurd. And it is a dagger aimed at the heart of a core constitutional value: the free exercise of religion. Schools, the media, and even some politicians often like to remind us of the first part of our First Amendment - that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" - but tend to omit the remainder: "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Last week, ignored it was." Former GOP Sen. Rick "Man On Dog" Santorum, writing for the Des Moines Register.

Watch: Harding University President Speaks On 'Degrading' Gay Website

Harding University, a conservative Christian college in Searcy, Arkansas, this week blocked a website highlighting that school's discriminatory policies toward LGBT people.

Now the university's president, David B. Burks, has spoken out against the site, which he calls "offensive and degrading."

Well, there's something offensive and degrading here, but it's not the site.

Watch Burks' remarks, if you can stomach them, AFTER THE JUMP...

Tony Perkins: Gay Rights Cost Christians Their Freedom To Be Bigots

"In perhaps the greatest irony, this couple was trying to give children what homosexuals cannot--a loving mother and father. But Europe is so enslaved to 'tolerance' that it's willing to leave children homeless to make a point. Meanwhile, believers across the U.K. are stunned. 'Christianity isn't dying,' wrote one. 'It's being eradicated.' And if Americans think the same thing can't happen here, they're mistaken. Every special 'right' or concession we make to the homosexual community, Christians pay for in freedom. That's a major reason why Catholic Charities had to end its adoption program in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. They never wanted to be in the position of choosing between their faith and their freedom." - Family Research Council spokesbigot Tony Perkins, who says that last week's British court ruling against anti-gay foster parents is a harbinger of what's to come for America.

Ohio Anti-Labor Bill Sneaks In Anti-Gay Provision

Following in the Wisconsin legislature's footsteps, Ohio lawmakers are using their power to take on labor unions, and yesterday the Buckeye State's Senate passed a bill that would strip workers of collective bargaining rights.

Supporters of the legislation are presenting it as a matter of economics, but that does nothing to explain why they felt the need to include superfluous anti-gay provision that again defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.

From Sec. 3101.01 of the bill, via ThinkProgress:

A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.

As Zaid Jilani points out, Ohio has already banned marriage equality, which makes one wonder why the bill's authors felt the need to spell it out again. Perhaps they're just petty? That's got to be it, because I can't think of any other logical explanation. Not that those who fight against equality are known for their logic...