Amanda Marcotte explains it all

Amanda Marcotte:"....why conservatives see same-sex marriage as a threat to traditional marriage. It’s not because straight people won’t want to get married if gays are doing it, too. It’s because it redefines marriage as an institution of love instead of oppression."

Sunday Funnies..

Be ye not afraid.  Australian legislator discusses gay marriage.

Nestlé CEO Says Water Is Food That Should Be Privatized – Not A Human Right

Protesting CISPA

Fighting the fear of terrorism.

So much joy

Gays finally able to get married.

So much sorrow. Norway.

So many lies.

So much stupidity.

So much fraud.

So much of everything.

It always comes down to sex, doesn't it?

Politicians in Utah get ready to address the most threatened issue in the United States.... sex. This makes me feel so much safer....

Majority Of American Adults Support Same-Sex Marriage so the Republicans try to deny it.

Tea Party Jesus.

Not being able to punch school-aged gay kids

Is being threatened by tolerance!!

Who will the poor bullies be able to threaten then? Who's thinking of THEM???

The meaning of marriage

Thank you, New York State Senator Diane Savino:

Not sure how gay marriage threatens the institution of marriage ...

But why can't the wingnuts who are so threatened by gay marriage change THEIR OWN terminology of marriage? So they can go around with an arched eyebrow and a curling sneer and say,"Well, we're CHURCH SANCTIFIED married..."

Then they could even work in their own church as kind of an advertisement: "Well, we're HOLY ROLLERED CHURCH OF POINTY CELIBATE HATS SANCTIFIED..."

Just think of all the fun we could have... fighting in the aisles, pie throwing...

Thank you, sir, for your service to our nation

Your patriotism, and your love of your sons. All of them.



h/t to JJ of Unrepentant Old Hippie

I do, you can't, so I won't let you.

Texas politicians tie themselves in knots trying to prevent the divorce of a married gay couple.

Sanctity of Marriage!! Family Values!! Grandstanding!! Hate Speech!!

Listen to the children who have same sex parents

And realize they are loved and healthy and normal.

I'm speaking to you especially, Susan.

Tell Pelosi and Reid: Now is the time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

Credo Action:

First John Ensign. Now Mark Sanford. Seems like a lot of politicians who've voted to ban gay marriage have broken their own marriage vows.

And that's why this is exactly the right time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) - the awful legislation that prevents legally married same-sex couples from accessing federal rights and benefits.

John Ensign voted to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Mark Sanford voted for DOMA when he served in Congress. Politicians like them claim that marriage should be between one man and one woman, but that's sure not how they do things in their own marriages.

Blogger John Aravosis made the great point that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have a rare opportunity right now: If they strike while the iron is hot and introduce legislation to repeal DOMA, the right-wing "family values" opposition wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Moreover, conservatives wouldn't be able to argue against DOMA without drawing further attention to their own deep hypocrisy.

Sign the petition

"The Defense of Marriage Act has institutionalized homophobia for far too long. As more and more states legalize same-sex marriage, it's absurd that legally married couples still can't access the federal rights and benefits to which they're entitled. Politicians like John Ensign and Mark Sanford who say marriage should be between one man and one woman have no legs left to stand on - this is the right moment to introduce legislation to repeal DOMA."
President Obama claims he's in favor of repealing DOMA - he just needs for Congress to send him a bill. Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid should give him the opportunity to make good on his word.

Sign this petition today to tell Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid that we've waited too long to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act - now is the right moment to do so, and they should introduce legislation to take advantage of it.

Republicans run for the closets...

Official Trailer for OUTRAGE

It breaks my heart

Proposition H8:

1 Million for Marriage Equality:
Watch our new "Fidelity" TV ad and sign the pledge!

The California Supreme Court's decision is extremely disappointing, but we don't have time to mourn the court's failure to restore marriage equality to California.

It's time to go on offense. To be fearless in our fight for equality. Starting right now.

We are all -- gay and straight -- working together to build a grassroots army to restore marriage equality to California.

Please sign the pledge and forward "Fidelity" to your friends!

We, the undersigned, are united in our refusal to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state's constitution.

We pledge to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California.

Join more than 700,000 Courage Campaign members ready to restore marriage equality to California. Help us reach 1 Million for Marriage Equality by adding your name now!

A wingnuttered male speaks out

About marriage and why gays threaten it. You'll need a drink. (link via Atrios)

Don't you have a nuclear strike to predict or something?

Pat Robertson tries to reactivate fear and loathing of the gay, talking about the ultimate conclusion:



The only one who is perverted is you, Mr. Robertson.

Response to a person frightened by gay marriage

Susan took issue with this post and left a comment. I respond in bold:

Blogger Susan said...

on April 10, 2009 at 7:03 pmSusan Salisbury
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

(Susan, you should have deleted this bit ... it looks like you have copied and pasted this rant about the blogosphere.)

The statements made in this video are true.
Read Parker v. Hurley, 474 F. Supp. 2d 261 (D. Mass. 2007)– in this case a federal court held that Massachusetts parent have no right to withdraw their children from school during times when it teaches that homosexual marriage is normal and desireable. If you favor homosexual marriage– you may think this is a good decision but it is disingenuous in the extreme to claim that the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts which lead to this teaching and this decision has no impact on those parents. Their children are being taught that their parents are bigots. So there is state enforcement of the pro gay marriage view through the children.

What I don't understand is why you are unable to teach your children in your church and in your home that gay marriage is something you are against and why you believe this does not mean you are a bigot. Children are able to understand philosophical conundrums, conflicts, differences and will be exposed to these concepts whether you control what the teachers say or not.

What do you think people of different faiths teach their children who go to public schools in the US? What do you think Hindu parents teach their children? Muslims? Buddhists? And anyway, public school should NEVER teach one faith, philosophy over another, EVER. Public school by default should be 'faithless'. And why on earth is being gay somehow locked into a religious argument? Being gay is not a choice like choosing a religion. Why is being gay such a threat to God?

There are many things I disagree with that my children have been taught or exposed to and I have explained my position and listened to what my children think. You want them to be able to think for themselves, weigh the arguments, choose their path. They will be doing these actions throughout their adult life, so the training starts now.

That is unless you think that they should NOT think for themselves and that the only true way is total and absolute submission to your church's tenets. Then you believe they cannot be exposed to ANY concepts that threaten their precarious grip on their religious beliefs and you must sweep before them cleaning up everything that challenges them.

Then the question would be why is your and your children's belief in God so weak, so easily threatened that it cannot stand up to questions, challenges, denials?

Catholic Charities adoption agencies were given the choice to either treat placement with gay couples as equal to placement with heterosexual couples or lose their license to run an adoption agency. They gave up their state license.

Children who languish in orphanages have been quoted as saying they'd love to be in ANY loving home with anyone who wants them. They don't care where the love comes from. And I do mean love not the bizarre belief that gays are pedophiles. They aren't. There have been many children who have been raised by gays. Listen to them.

Contrary to other comments that have been posted in response to this story, the California Supreme Court held in North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group, Inc. v. Superior Court (Benitez) (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1145 [-- Cal.Rptr.3d --; -- P.3d --] that a doctor may not refuse to provide artificial insemination services to an unmarried woman who was a lesbian because of religious objections to pregnancy outside of marriage.

Good. The doctor who has religious qualms should ask himself (herself) why he is in this specific area of medicine.

so the video is true and the people who think it is filled with hate are at least wrong as to the facts alleged in the video. The truth is that the pro gay marriage group seeks to impose its views on those who disagree with them.

I disagree with you and am not trying to silence you. In fact here I am responding to your comment which I doubt you will ever come back to read. I am not imposing anything on you but living my life. For those who are gay, I believe they want to live their lives without interacting with you as well. Can you leave them alone? Obviously you have not even considered what it is like to be on the receiving end of your 'not filled with hate' actions.

If that is not the case, I challenge each of you to show where you have been willing to sponsor exemptions for people who disagree with you— where you have been willing, for example for President Obama to keep the conscience clause in place ( allowing physicians to refuse to perform certain services like abortions) where they have a firmly established religious belief that such procedures are immoral.

Why on earth would I want to be operated on by a doctor whom I assume has my best interests in mind but turns out that he is using his religious tenets to guide him? What does his religion have to do with my health, safety, and life? And yes, I do 'sponsor' people I disagree with all the time. I believe in tolerance.

I’m still waiting. Where are the pro- gay marriage people who think that Mr. Parker had a right to control what his children are taught about gay marriage? Not on this blog, I’m pretty sure.

Actually I'm not really pro-gay as much as anti-fundamentalism, anti-hate; more pro-diversity, pro-tolerance, pro-people. There is no 'gay agenda' by the way, as much as you think there is an evil conspiracy to invade your churches and your minds. The way Mr. Parker 'controls' (interesting choice of verb) his children's teachings is to do it at home and at church. His children should be able to handle the fact that life is filled with things that will challenge and question their faith. Every day. Or do you expect to sweep ahead of them forever, demanding that everyone stop doing things that disturb you?

Where are the pro-gay people who think that Catholic Charities has a right to keep its license to operate an adoption agency even if they have moral qualms about placing children with same sex couples?

Again, I think most of you think that people should not have the right to disagree with you about homosexuality and gay marriage. You think anyone who disagrees with you is a bigot and should be punished or sanctioned for expressing his or her opinion, so far as I can see. You think it is a good thing that public schools and the law should line up to force YOUR point of view on those who disagree with you.

Have you looked at the definition of bigotry?

The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.

Some of think that’s fascism and tyranny. You all seem to like it as long as it is the fascism you have chosen.

And have you looked up the term fascism?

Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism, p. 218:

Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal constraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.

Do you really know what you are talking about? You are angry that your bigotry is being called what it is yet you profess that your God is love. You talk about fascism without realizing you qualify for the term. You are angry because you are afraid and out of your comfort zone. How do you deal with it? To demand that society return to the benighted days when gays were ashamed and silenced. Why? What threat do they possibly pose to you? If you haven't noticed, society is moving on.

Thank God.

Nom nom nom and anti-nom

(NOM: the National Organization for Marriage has just ruined a wonderful lolword.)

They have absolutely flipped out over the Iowa acceptance of gay marriage.

National Organization for Marriage’s new tactic: fear-mongering without using the word ‘religion’

The National Org for Marriage has made a moronic video stuffed with untruths.... so make sure to watch the video response at the end of the post.

Update 4/13: A hilarious riff on the NOM ad:

Buy IKEA

Catholics in Poland are calling for a boycott of furniture retailer IKEA because its catalogue features pictures of same-sex couples.

National newspapers and news websites have covered the story and the concerns of some religious people that the Swedish company is "trampling" on Christian concepts of family.

"I would not like to cease doing shopping in IKEA but if the firm does not stop promoting homosexual relationships, I will, unfortunately, feel compelled to do so and I will notify about it all the people I know so that they do the same," one Catholic woman wrote.

For their part, IKEA has robustly defended its advertising and has refused to respond to the boycott.

"Homosexuality is one of the essential elements of living in contemporary society," said IKEA spokesperson Karolina Horoszczak.

And:

IKEA Family Live in Poland is the most recent focus of ongoing debates about what constitutes a family. In the most recent IKEA Family Live 2009 publication, 12 archetypes of different family makeup are presented under the slogan “Family life is changing … Welcome to the new era.” One of the 12 example families presented is Ian and Steve, page 54 -57, who have no interest in having children, but enjoy their IKEA Kitchen and herb garden (and their AWESOME HOUSE!).

Apparently Poland has a very strong catholic stance on the issue of same sex partners, to the point where In 2007, in a debate in the European Parliament, Poland was denounced as hateful and repulsive for its “defence of the family” when the country refused to allow the “promotion of homosexuality in schools”.

Imagine a government that forcibly breaks up 18,000 marriages.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Sign the petition:

We, the undersigned, share President Barack Obama's view that "for too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect."

Yet, on December 19, 2008, Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and seeking to nullify the 18,000 same-sex marriages conducted between May and November of 2008.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, 2009, with a decision expected within the next 90 days. We, the undersigned, ask that the Court invalidate Prop 8 and recognize the marriage rights of these 18,000 couples -- and all loving, committed couples in California -- under our state's constitution.

As Americans who believe in the rule of law and fundamental civil rights, we know that Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund's shameful attempt to nullify these unions will not be vindicated in the eyes of history. We know that, ultimately, love will prevail, no matter how hard they try to fight it.

A vast right-wing conspiracy

To force you to love God.... their God. Certainly not my God.

The Protect Marriage Coalition, which led the fight to pass an anti-gay marriage initiative in California, is now suing to shield its financial records from public scrutiny.

The lawsuit claims that donors to Protect Marriage and a second group involved in the suit have received threatening phone calls and emails. It asks for existing donation lists to be removed from the California secretary of state's website and also seeks to have both plaintiffs and all similar groups be exempted in the future from ever having to file donation disclosure reports on this or any similar campaigns.

Although public access advocates believe this sweeping demand for donor anonymity has little chance of success, it does point up the secretive and even conspiratorial nature of much right-wing political activity in California.

[snip]

The man who more than any other has been associated with this kind of semi-covert activity over the past 25 years is reclusive billionaire Howard Ahmanson.

Ahmanson is a Christian Reconstructionist, a devout follower of the late R.J. Rushdoony, who advocated the replacement of the U.S. Constitution with the most extreme precepts of the Old Testament, including the execution -- preferably by stoning -- of homosexuals, adulterers, witches, blasphemers, and disobedient children.

Ahmanson himself has stated, "My goal is the total integration of biblical law into our lives."

Thanks, but I'd rather not. Besides, once you've let the theocrats loose upon the government things will get quickly out of hand. Who is to say it will be your specific religion that will be the one that rules?