Via AmericaBlogGay: Kelsey Grammer thinks the Tea Party is nuts, disagrees with them on gay marriage

Republican Kelsey Grammer was asked last night by Piers Morgan about his allegiance to the Tea Party. 

Says Grammer: “I’m not sure they say anything that I would object to. I’ve just been told that they’re lunatics."

Morgan tells him that most of the Tea Party is opposed to gay marriage. 

"I wouldn't sign on to that. Absolutely. I played several [gay characters]. I guess I'm more Libertarian in that way. I think marriage is up to two people that love each other. And if you find the church that you want to get married in you go right ahead ..In my mind the state of marriage is something that has been endorsed by the idea that it is a sacrament within the context of a faith...the word marriage comes out of the religious side of our experience and our history. So I tend to think our government shouldn't be involved in any way..."

TowleRoad:has the video of the interview as well.

Ron Paul on Gay Marriage

The We Do Campaign - Asheville, NC

Via JMG: Evil Gays Are Brainwashing America!

Rick Perry's BFF and Dallas megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress says that gays are using Chinese brainwashing techniques to zombify America into accepting their evil agenda. Jeffress made the networks last week for telling the nation that Mormonism is a cult. He also says the Catholic Church is run by Satan.

Labels: assholery, batshittery, bigotry, closet cases, con men, Dallas, hate groups, hate speech, liars, scam artists

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: FOTF Reveals Shocking News That Major GOP Candidates Hate Gay People

Focus On The Family's Stuart Shepard really wants you to find his YouTube clips and therefore tags them with seven different spellings of his name.

Labels: 2012 elections, Family Reseach Council, Focus On The Family, GOP, hate groups, Values Voters Summit

reposted from Joe

Rachel Maddow On Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny

Via JMG: B.A.R. Endorses Bevan Dufty

San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter has endorsed Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who would become the city's first openly gay mayor if elected.

We're not endorsing Dufty just because he is gay. But political recommendations are part of our responsibility as the leading LGBT newspaper and it would be significant for America's gayest city to have an out mayor. It's important to us that one day San Francisco have a gay mayor and Dufty is as qualified as anyone else in the field. The late Harvey Milk often urged LGBTs to elect their own. We find it curious that Dufty could not secure the top spot from either of the city's LGBT Democratic clubs; the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club left him off entirely.

Last week Dufty made national news when he launched an ad campaign featuring his young daughter, the first such political ad from a gay candidate.

Labels: 2011 elections, Bevan Dufty, San Francisco

reposted from Joe

We Do Campaign: Monroe & Lupe's Story

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 October 13, 2011

Praise and Criticism

If we really stop to think about praise and criticism, we will see they do not have the least importance. Whether we receive praise or criticism is of no account. The only important thing is that we have a pure motivation, and let the law of cause and effect be our witness. If we are really honest, we can see that it makes no difference whether we receive praise and acclaim. The whole world might sing our praises, but if we have done something wrong, then we will still have to suffer the consequences for ourselves, and we cannot escape them. If we act only out of a pure motivation, all the beings of the three realms can criticize and rebuke us, but none of them will be able to cause us to suffer.

– The Dalai Lama, "Bad Reputation"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlofGay: "Frank Kameny, the modest, stubborn man who helped start the gay rights movement."

Kameny died last night. Linda Hirshman has a short article up on Slate about how important Kameny really was to the movement. I love this snippet: 

And when the American Psychiatric Association, which defined homosexuality as a mental disorder, decided to hold a meeting in Kameny’s hometown, he quickly organized the disorganized protesters of the GLF and the alphabet soup of other burgeoning gay organizations to disrupt the meeting. They then and force the shrinks to listen to their claims that they were not crazy. 

When the moment came, the protesters upended the psychiatrists’ convocation, and actual fighting broke out, with the doctors using the medals they had just been awarded to beat back the invading homosexuals. Kameny, seeing that the designated protest speaker had been pushed out of the meeting room, leaped onto the stage. “I saw that nothing was going to happen unless I did it,” he recalled. The psychiatrists had taken away the microphone, but “I never needed a microphone. And I knew exactly what to say because I had been speaking about how wrong they were for years.”

And so Frank Kameny proceeded to regale the assembled professionals with his recitation of how their diagnosis of homosexuality as a mental illness was unscientific, groundless, immoral and harmful. Two years later, the APA took homosexuality out of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Not Crazy. Two years after that, the federal government explicitly rescinded Executive Order 10450.

Via Just Out:

John Smid, The former leader of Exodus International’s Love in Action ministry, now says that homosexuality is an intrinsic part of a person’s being, not a behavior one can repent from — and admits that he’s never actually met a truly “ex-gay” man.


Smid, who resigned as Executive Director of Love in Action in 2008, posted an essay on the website of his new ministry Grace Rivers explaining that he no longer believes that one can repent of being gay:

So often people will say someone needs to “repent” from homosexuality. It is something that actually cannot be repented of! People are, or they are not, homosexual. It is an intrinsic part of their being or personally, my being. One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable. I have gone through a tremendous amount of grief over the many years that I spoke of change, repentance, reorientation and such, when, barring some kind of miracle, none of this can occur with homosexuality… we as Christians pervert the gospel as it relates to homosexuality as though homosexuals aren’t welcome in the kingdom unless they repent (which many interpret to change). But since homosexuality is not “repentable” then we put homosexuals into an impossible bind…

Make the jump here to read the entire article

Via JMG: Perry Quotes Gay Poet Langston Hughes

Just as Rick Santorum did several weeks ago, during last night's GOP debate Rick Perry quoted legendary gay poet Langston Hughes. Santorum never used the quote again when told of its source.

Labels: debate watch, gay writers, poetry, Rick Perry

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Photo Of The Day: Salt Lake's Pink Dot

Inspired by Singapore's event of the same name, yesterday Salt Lake City residents gathered for their first Pink Dot celebration. [Photo credit: Steve Griffin/Salt Lake Tribune]

Labels: LGBT rights, Pink Dot, Salt Lake City, Utah

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Barney Frank Vs. Gingrich, Part Two

"I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told DeLay not to go on the dance show. He’s been having a bad year, you know — this self-styled intellectual leader of the free world struggling to stay ahead of Michele Bachmann in the polls is unsettling him so he talks even sillier than he sometimes does." - Rep. Barney Frank, firing back at Newt Gingrich, who last night called for his imprisonment.

Labels: Barney Frank, debate watch, Newt Gingrich

reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It’s a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs.

– Pema Chodron, "Stay with Your Broken Dreams"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay: Tracy Morgan defends his right to be a homophobe, blames guy who was offended

What a pig. 

Read this Gawker piece, then check out the video that's over there as well. Tracy Morgan, who joked a few months ago about how he'd kill his son if he ended up being gay, went on Letterman last night. Letterman spent nearly ten minutes trying to get Morgan to give a satisfactory answer as to why he did it. Morgan just squirmed and gave a lot of really bad excuses, including he just can't remember what he said, it was so long ago you know.

Oh yeah, Morgan blamed the gay kid who was offended and told everyone what he heard at the club.  Apparently, you're not supposed to speak out when Tracy Morgan acts like a homophobic jerk.

Keep digging.

Via AmericaBlogGay: BREAKING: Gay rights legend Frank Kameny has died

The Washington Blade tweeted it about 45 minutes ago. Frank Kameny was a big deal in the gay rights movement, and if you haven't heard of him, you should take the time to check out his Wikipedia page.

He died on National Coming Out day.

http://www.bizarrocomics.com/

http://www.bizarrocomics.com/

Via Gay Politics Report: Romney dogged by marriage equality questions at N.H. event

A New Hampshire town hall appearance by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney featured so many questions about his stance on marriage equality that the GOP presidential candidate stopped answering questions about the topic. Romney said his opposition to marriage equality is rooted in his belief that children should be raised by both a mother and a father. He also said he supported domestic partnership arrangements, but stopped short of declaring support for civil unions. ABC News/The Note (10/10)

Via Gay Politics Report: Anti-gay rhetoric flies amid presidential politics at D.C. summit

Speakers at the 2011 Values Voter Summit, held in Washington, D.C., last weekend, had harsh words for LGBT advocates, with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, calling them "the most unhappy people I ever met that called themselves 'gay.'" Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association said the next president should treat homosexuality as "a threat to public health." Republican presidential candidates addressed the conference and reiterated their opposition to marriage equality, though Mitt Romney specifically distanced himself from Fischer's rhetoric. "Poisonous language doesn't advance our cause," Romney said. Washington Blade (10/8), Politico (Washington, D.C.)/Burns&Haberman (10/8)

America's 5 Favorite Ways to Ignore Jesus

Let Fred In

Via JMG: BREAKING: Hate Groups FAIL To Collect Enough Petitions To Overturn SB 48

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! From a Stop SB 48 email blast:

"The News is Not Good ... it is doubtful we will get the number of signatures we need to qualify. Unfortunately the last several deliveries of mail have not been what was expected and a large number of petitions have been pulled out because of errors. From all appearances, we would need a miracle to qualify this referendum."

We chortle in our joy. We chortle the fuck outta this.

UPDATE: Equality California celebrates.

“The FAIR Education Act will simply ensure that California’s students learn an honest, accurate, and inclusive account of history, but opponents of equality have grossly distorted the intent and the effect of the FAIR Education act in their quest to secure signatures for this referendum. Today's victory shows that their lies cannot stand up to our truth,” said Roland Palencia, Equality California Executive Director and Interim Executive Committee Co-Chair of the coalition to protect the FAIR Education Act. “But we know that opponents of equality won't stop here. We remain vigilant, not only to make sure that people know the facts about the FAIR Education Act, but also to continue preparing for new attacks on the FAIR Education Act at the ballot box, in the legislature and in courts of law.”

Labels: California, FAIL, hate groups, LGBT History

reposted by Joe

Via AmericaBlogGay: Headlines we like to see

From the LA Times.

Vai AmericaBlog Gay: A rocking pro-lgbt legislative year in California

From Equality California: 

Governor Signs Ten of Twelve Pro-LGBT Equality Bills Sponsored by EQCA in 2011 Legislative Session 

Sacramento – Ten of twelve bills sponsored by Equality California and passed by the California legislature this year are now the law of the land. Three of these bills had been signed into law earlier this year, the remaining seven received the Governor's signature over the past weekend. One of the two bills vetoed by the Governor, Senate Bill 747 (Kehoe), which would have required professionals to complete continuing education on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender cultural competency in health care was vetoed by the Governor, who said he believed “licensing boards are better suited that the Legislature or the Governor to decide these matters.”

"This has been a watershed year in the California legislature for advancing the rights and protections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians," said Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), speaking as Chair of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. "Because of the leadership of so many lawmakers and the hard work of organizations like Equality California, we have closed inequality gaps, made schools safer for LGBT students, ensured that LGBT people are counted and better represented in government and government services and made our state safer and more inclusive for transgender individuals. These changes in the law positively impact the lives of millions of Californians and go a long way toward making California a more fair and equal state."

Via JMG: Britain To Cut Aid To Anti-Gay Nations

In a move many would like to see the United States make, the British government has announced that it will reduce financial aid to nations that persecute their LGBT citizens.

Poor African countries which persecute homosexuals will have their aid slashed by the Government in a bid by David Cameron to take his gay rights crusade to the Third World. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has already cut aid to Malawi by £19 million after two gay men were sentenced to 14 years hard labour. And he has warned the country's leaders to scrap plans to introduce draconian new anti-lesbian laws. Mr Mitchell, one of Mr Cameron's closest allies, is also threatening to impose further aid 'fines' against Uganda and Ghana for hardline anti-gay and lesbian measures. The policy was disclosed after Mr Cameron defended his decision to legalise gay weddings when he addressed last week's Conservative Party conference.

The Daily Mail accompanied their above-linked story with a graphic noting that countries who commit other (non-gay) human rights abuses will continue to receive British assistance.

Labels: Africa, Britain, Malawi, Uganda

reposted from Joe

Graph lifted from a Facebook post:

Via JMG: Frothy: Gay Rights Are Not Civil Rights

RELATED: Frothy Mix unexpectedly finished a relatively strong third in yesterday's Values Voters Summit straw poll, a survey you won't hear much about because Tony Perkins is super-pissed that 600 Ron Paulians beamed down from their flying saucers to vote on Saturday morning and then immediately left the convention center.

Labels: DADT, GOP, Rick Santorum, Santorum

reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlogGay: Santorum: Studies show gays aren’t like blacks (uh, no they don’t)

Actually, there's no such thing as a study showing that gays aren't like blacks. Santorum, as usual, can't string together a coherent thought. 

As for his assertion that banning gays in the military is somehow different than banning blacks, again, Santorum's argument succumbs to his weak intellect. The issue isn't whether being gay is genetic just like race is genetic (though the prevailing science is that genes play a role in sexual orientation), the issue is whether prejudice hurts morale and cohesion in the armed forces, and if it does, then why is Santorum in favor of racially integrating the military?

And Santorum's argument, namely that prejudice does hurt morale and cohesion, is justification for excluding minorities from the military as well. Was it no less a "social experiment" when Truman integrated the armed forces? Does anyone honestly believe that white racists experienced immediatelyl improved unit cohesion when a minority was included in their unit? Doubtful. They were probably pretty ticked off and didn't want to work with the new guy in their unit (the very definition of "harm to morale and cohesion"). But over time everyone learned to live and work together, and they realized their prejudices were wrong.

Finally, as for Rick Santorum's explanation as to why you can't compare racial prejudice and bigotry against gays, Coretta Scott King said you can and should compare the two. And I think she knew a little more about civil rights than a guy whose name means something not safe for work.