New Hampshire gays are fighting back against the hate group NOM

The ad below is what California and Maine needed when NOM, an out-of-state hate group, came riding in with the sole purpose of making sure gay families are denied any rights whatsoever using whatever despicable dirty trick they could to achieve that goal.

I love this ad. It packs a powerful punch, but doesn't stoop to the lies or trickery that NOM does. And when dealing with hateful bullies like NOM, that is what it is going to take. NOM is not going to rest until they rip the right to marry from every New Hampshire gay and lesbian and their children. They will do it with the same lies, the same sources of money (probably from the Catholic and Mormon churches as they did before), and any other deceitful ugly tactic they can think of.

Let's hope the good people of New Hampshire see this group of carpet-bagging haters for what they are: pitiful losers who are so blinded by their hatred for lgbt people that they will stop at nothing to hurt them and their families.

Uganda Gays: Hang Them

Well they didn't exactly hang David Kato, but they got the job done with a few blows to the head with a hammer.

Is that good enough for you Scott Lively, Tony Perkins, Rick Warren, and Peter LaBarbera and the rest of you bloody Christian Haters?

Oh for cryin out loud - what in the hell is wrong with people

I am posting this clip without much comment, except to say that all you hot-house homophobes who wilt at even the mere sight of a happy gay couple: pull out the smelling salts - you might need em:

Are the American evangelicals who went to Uganda to spread hate and homophobia going to be held accountable for the murder of David Kato?

Looks like all that rabid hatred and homophobia that American evangelicals have been exporting to Uganda may now have claimed its first victim with the death of a Ugandan gay man named David Kato, who was bludgeoned to death in his home this week.

I wonder if these so-called men of God: Scott Lively, Peter LaBarbera, Tony Perkins (the Family Research Council), and Pastor Rick Warren feel like they have blood on their hands.

Here is what JMG has to say about these so-called men of God:

Yesterday Scott Lively's "nuclear bomb" against Ugandan gays went off in the form of the iron bar which crushed the skull of David Kato. In some countries, it's possible that Lively would be under arrest today. Also complicit in this murder is Peter LaBarbera, who for years has worked to publicize and praise Scott Lively's evil agenda. Then there's Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council, who last year paid lobbyists $25,000 to convince members of Congress to block a planned resolution denouncing Uganda's gay death penalty bill. And let's not forget Pastor Rick Warren, who supported, funded, appeared with, and publicized the work of Uganda's leading anti-gay activist, Pastor Martin Ssempa.

And here is an ABC report on these evangelical haters and their work. A word of warning: it will make you sick to your stomach:

And after all of this, I cannot forget the last conversation I ever had with my own homophobic evangelical brother in which he told me my own gay son would go to hell for choosing to be gay and giving me a real tongue lashing for daring to speak of the oh-so-holy Rick Warren in anything but glowing terms. No surprise it was my last conversation ever with him.

Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick...

Update: Statement by President Obama on the Killing of David Kato

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release January 27, 2011

Statement by the President on the Killing of David Kato

I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work.

At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras were also murdered. It is essential that the Governments of Uganda and Honduras investigate these killings and hold the perpetrators accountable.

LGBT rights are not special rights; they are human rights. My Administration will continue to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all.

Well shut my mouth, Conservative Christians divorce more, study says

This should send them hollerin like stuck pigs:

Divorce is more common among conservative Christians and young people, according to a recent study.

University of Iowa sociology professor Jennifer Glass presented her study on skyrocketing divorce rates in regions highly populated with conservative Christians to an overflowing crowd in Burdine Hall on Friday.

“Politically and religiously conservative states, especially in the Deep South, exhibit higher divorce rates than politically and religiously liberal states in the Northeast and Midwest,” Glass wrote in her study.

But in two shakes of a sheep's tail these same sanctimonious hypocrites will argue it's all the fault of those evil gays.

Thinking about that beautiful young girl's courage - could I have done that?

Watching the video clip of that beautiful young girl using her high school assembly as her chance to bravely come out and proclaim who she really is got me to thinking. She knew that there could be consequences to coming out so publicly. Big consequences. And I am sure that while her peers were daydreaming about graduation and parties and end-of-year proms, she was agonizing and worrying and calculating and crying and maybe even praying about something much more important in those weeks, or months, or years leading up to this big announcement.

She knew she could lose friends. She knew she could be shunned by those whose religious beliefs she offended or by those who are just plain ignorant asses. She knew that there could be adults at school, or at work, or in the community, or even in her own family who might turn their backs on her for daring to so publicly speak her truth. But she came out anyway. The burden of the secret she was keeping was just too overwhelming, too corrosive, and too heavy to carry around anymore.

Can we straight people even wrap our minds around the kind of agony and pain our lgbt children go through? Do we have any inkling of the kind of desperation they must feel when they are forced to choose between the love and respect of family and community or living openly as who they are? What kind of society straddles their young lgbt children with these kind of huge and scary choices? And yet that is what we do. No wonder this young girl felt that coming out to a big crowd of high-school peers with such a dangerous but eloquent bare-your-soul speech was the lesser of evils. She could not live the lie society expected of her any longer. This was not just courage, but survival instinct. And I know for a fact that I could not have done this. At that age I lacked the courage and emotional maturity that she had --- or maybe it was because I wasn't being forced to make such a grueling choice. And I am willing to bet that 99% of straight high school kids could not either. But then, we have not put our straight children through the sheer hell we have put our gay children through. And that we allow this to be done to them in the name of God or politics or Christian Values or Family Values is beyond cruel and twisted, it is evil and inhumane.

Our lgbt children have not lost their childhood, we as a society have stolen it from them. We have denied them the right to daydream, without shame or guilt, about who they think is cute or who they have a crush on. We have denied them the right to "fit in" and feel normal among their peers. We have forced them to spend every waking minute worrying about things straight kids never give a second thought. And we have literally denied them the right to the same hopes and dreams that straight kids have unless they deny the most fundamental part of who they are and love someone of the gender we approve of.

It is time to stop sanctioning the abuse of our lgbt children in the name of twisted religious beliefs or crass political ploys. And it is time to start putting the shame where it belongs, on those who have used homophobia and hate to advance their political agenda, on those who have used perverted religion to hurt or destroy, and on those who have chosen willful ignorance to justify their hate and bigotry.

We have lost way too many of our precious children to suicide and hate crimes. We know that as many as 20% to 40% of homeless youth out on the streets are lgbt children thrown out by their families. And we have witnessed the almost unbelievable spectacle (in this day and age) of political figures (including sitting Presidents), preachers, pastors, bishops, popes, prophets, and other religious leaders who have fed fuel to the hatred, the homophobia, and the ignorance that has so hurt our gay children.

This madness must stop. Maybe this beautiful young girl realized that as well. And I hope and pray that her actions are not only not in vain, but serve as an example to other children who are faced with the ugly choices that society so unfairly puts on them. I hope her actions open a floodgate that can never be closed. It is time to give our lgbt children back the carefree childhood that society so cruelly stole from them.

This young lady is amazing

I saw this over at JMG's place and I just had to post it here. This young lady is not only amazing, but inspirational and brave. She is a high school senior who chose to come out at her school assembly. This IS the religious homophobes and haters worst nightmare. Let's hope this starts a new trend at high school assemblies:

Fmr Navy Chaplain Favors Gay Exorcisms

Wow, check out this guy, Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former navy chaplain (thank goodness I can say former because this guy isn't fit to minister to my dog let alone our servicemembers) who thinks he can cure "teh gay" with exorcisms. He also believes that gay men are women. Gordon admits in the clip below to having been a drunk in college who lusted after women, but claims to have been cured when he found god.

Well this momma smells a skunk. I know this guy's type up close and personal. I've got a family member just like him. He is nothing but a dry drunk who simply replaced the abuse of alcohol for the abuse of religion. And honestly, I'll bet those who've known him as both a drunk and a sanctimonious fraud, probably miss the drunk.

I am sick to my stomach just listening to this man. What in the hell was the Navy thinking when they brought him on-board as a chaplain? He's a homophobe and misogynist who uses the bible as cover while spreading hate and misguided beliefs:

Oh and by the way, this guy thinks that repealing Don't Ask-Don't Tell was a mistake. Never mind the fact that this hideous policy, according to this GAO report, has cost the American tax payer almost $200 million during the period between 2004 and 2009. The average expulsion of a gay service member under DADT cost taxpayers $52,800 and there were 3,664 people expelled. Hate and homophobia have proven to be quite expensive.

Arizona has yet another honor bestowed upon it

The Buffalo Beast’s 50 most loathsome list is out and guess who comes in at Number 8? Why it's our very own governor, Jan Brewer:

Charges: Gila Monster eugenics gone horrible awry. Killed two people, and another ninety-six languish, unable to afford the life-saving transplants for which she slashed state funding. Cut health care for kids too. Hates health care. Horny for the NRA; signed law nixing concealed carry permits, which had no ill effects in 2010. None. Don’t worry about it. Not a problem. Seriously. It’s totally cool. Attempted to justify the draconian racial profiling law SB 1070 by repeatedly citing fictional desert decapitations. Lambasted as the Himmler of the Southwest, she protested, saying her father died fighting the Nazis. He was never in the military. He died in ‘51. From lung cancer.
Aggravating factor: “God has placed me in this powerful position as Arizona’s governor.”
Sentence: Followed everywhere by a mirror; subsequent heart attack.

Yet one more reason to feel so proud to live in Arizona ...

An Arizona Irony

Pointed out so well by John on Towleroad and posted at Andrew's place as the Comment of the day:

"Does anyone else see the irony in this tragedy? In Arizona, the state that has been the de facto "face" of recent political gay bashing (DADT-McCain) and racism (their highly controversial immigration law), a white straight man shoots a female Jewish member of congress who then has her life saved by a gay Hispanic American. It's poetic,"

I have to wonder if our governor, Jan Brewer, in her quiet moments, has any regrets about her decision to demonize minorities in Arizona for political gain. I would like to think she does, but then again, any person who can deny poor and desperately ill people the transplants they need to survive and not even blink, is probably also incapable of feeling any regret either.

And as for Senator John McCain, well I am done talking about him ... He's a sad sack of cynicism and ugly and I have no illusions that he will change or redeem himself after his disgusting behavior during the DADT repeal hearings.

Poor, poor Arizona...

The wild,wild west through the eyes of political cartoonists

Click to embiggen

And you will have to go to TPC to see the 3rd one.

Heartbreak in Arizona - Guns in the wrong hands - Lives lost, Lives forever damaged

I have held back from saying anything about the horrors of yesterday, partly because I am so angry and heartbroken that I do not want to say something I will regret or have to take back later. I can be hot-headed. I can be overly passionate. And I am human. I want so badly to lash out and blame someone or something. It is childish, I know, but the immensity of what just happened down in Tucson, my own backyard, has brought home just what I have been worrying would happen as I've watched Arizona sink farther and farther into an abyss of extremism led by crazy, opportunistic politicians willing to say and do anything to gain and retain power. And when you throw angry constituents, high unemployment, a terrible economy, an overabundance of easily-obtained guns and a systematic dismantling of any sane gun regulations in - something is bound to happen.

And it did. I guess that terrible sense of dread I've been feeling for a while was not so crazy after all.

Like Gabrielle Giffords, I am a native Arizonan, born here, raised here, educated here, married here, and then I repeated the cycle all over again with my own children. Aside from an 11 year stint living in Minnesota, I am as pure a "Zonie" as one can find. I love this state, but right now, I do not like it. In fact, right now I am so ashamed of what is going on here that I find myself embarrassed to admit that Arizona is my home.

Yep, things have gotten pretty extreme and ugly here. It was just a matter of time. You simply cannot have politicians cynically harnessing the intense emotions of their constituents for political gain and stoking fears with over-the-top rhetoric and actions and then be surprised when things go bad.

So here we are again, another black eye for the state, 6 people dead, including a 9 year old child and a respected federal judge, numerous innocents critically wounded, including State Representative Gabrielle Giffords. Many lives changed forever yesterday and my profound fear is that we will not have learned anything and it will be back to business as usual in a week or two.

My husband and I have been talking for the past few years about whether this is where we want to grow old. After all, our children are grown and none are living here or have plans to come back. This state has moved so far to the right that we no longer feel we are even represented by our politicians, much less tolerated since we do not seem to share the prevailing ideology that reigns supreme here.

I know we are a very angry and divided country right now and what happened down in Tucson could have happened anywhere, but it happened here and it happened yesterday. And I am reeling. And I am scared. And I am worried that we will not learn anything from this.

It is time for some honest reflection. It is time for some serious soul-searching. It is time for some sanity. It is time to tone down our words and our emotions. It is time to work together to make things better. It is time to talk to each other respectfully. It is time to listen attentively. We must make something good come from yesterday's horrors. We simply cannot continue on the path we have been going. We have become our own worst enemies.

The Great Orange Satan

This is definitely off topic as far as this blog is concerned, but I just finished reading Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi's latest brilliantly written article, "The Crying Shame of John Boehner". It is 6 pages of pure bile-inducing bliss. No one can expose a fraud better than Mr. Taibbi and this well-written John Boehner expose is proof. There aren't many people who can write about such vile subjects so entertainingly that it makes the experience of your blood-pressure shooting through the roof, your heart beating so hard you think it is going to pop out of your chest, and the acid burning a hole in your stomach feel like a worthwhile trade-off.

A taste:

John Boehner is the ultimate Beltway hack, a man whose unmatched and self-serving skill at political survival has made him, after two decades in Washington, the hairy blue mold on the American congressional sandwich. The biographer who somewhere down the line tackles the question of Boehner's legacy will do well to simply throw out any references to party affiliation, because the thing that has made Boehner who he is — the thing that has finally lifted him to the apex of legislative power in America — has almost nothing to do with his being a Republican.

I know there can be health risks, but this is definitely a worthwhile read. Article in full here.

Lead With Love - The Trailer

Every parent who has a gay or lesbian child should watch this. From the website, the description:

LEAD WITH LOVE follows four families' experiences in learning that they have a gay or lesbian child. Created for parents who are working through this news themselves, this poignant and informative film shares real stories from parents and children, factual information from psychologists, educators, and clergy, and concrete guidance to help parents keep their children healthy and safe during this sometimes challenging time.

Full movie can be seen here.

Oh and by the way...

Happy New Year!

My hope is that the march towards full equality for my gay son and the glbt sons and daughters of parents everywhere continues unabated in 2011. Next stop?

Marriage Equality!

(Maybe then I can fold up shop and stop this seething...)

Oh how I wish we could...

But I wouldn't stop with the two old coots we call our Senators. There is a long list of embarrassing nincompoops on the state level I'd love to exchange as well.

Click to embiggen the cartoon

Could Hell be freezing over?

Is the Republican Party finally realizing that the homophobic, anti-gay haters who call themselves social conservatives and "advocates" for the family have outlived their usefulness to the Party? Is this the beginning of a process to decouple the Republican Party from these nasty idiots? After watching this clip, this momma has got to wonder ... And not only does it give one reason to hope, but it was just so entertaining watching them make fun and call them out for the out-of-touch fools they are --- and on Fox no less.