What Is Blogging For Truth?

For over 30 years there have been organizations dedicated to spreading lies and false studies about our lives, our loves and our persons.

It's time to stop listening to and believing them.

Let's tell the world our truths and stand up to speak for ourselves instead.

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. ~Harvey Fierstein

Monday

Fighting the Anti-Gay Industry

When the Anti-Gay Industry speaks to the American public in support of its agenda, they speak of protecting our children, they speak of traditional family values, and they usually show images of a man and a woman with children, looking like something straight out of the Donna Reed Show.

Publicly, they equate homosexuality to incest, bestiality and child abuse. Since Anita Bryant, they feel free to say we are recruiting children. The happily proclaim we are incapable of long term relationships. They quote scriptures saying we are an abomination and that homosexuality should be outlawed and we should not receive full and equal civil rights, nor should we be included in hate crimes laws.

These are just their public tactics. What do they say to each other about us? What is the whole story? Autumn Sandeen, in one of her posts, suggested we study our enemy, so we can know how to fight them. I have been studying, mostly what they say to each other. They all say the same thing to each other.

They say they want to re-criminalize homosexuality; it is top on their priority, that is why they fight same sex marriage and the inclusion of LGBT in hate crime laws, that is why they marginalize us by claiming we are only 1% of the population.

They want do this for a number of reasons:

1. First and foremost they wish to send us back into the closet, to scare us into retreating in our battle for civil rights. This is what the average, person on the street Anti-Gay wants, and if some of us spend time in jail, it will just teach the rest of us a lesson.

2. Secondly, they wish to have judges consider Ex-Gay therapy as an option. James Dobson, Mike Ensley of Exodus International, The Peter LaBarbera, James Hartline, Sally Kern, Mr. Steve (Sally’s Husband) Kern, Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association, Beverly LaHaye of Concerned Women for America, Martin Mawyer of the Christian Action Network and the rest of the Anti-Gay Industry have claimed at various times and in various ways to support this idea.

3. The end result of their agenda is this: They wish to make homosexuality a capital offense. When they are speaking to “their audience” and each other, they do not mince words. They do not pull punches. They flat out say that the penalty for homosexuality must be death, it is what the Bible and the Quran require.

You may think I am being a little paranoid with that third statement. I think you need to read these pieces below. They are out there on the internet; they are included in their pamphlets and brochures that they send out to members, on their forum posts and in their newsletters.

We don’t need to be paranoid, we need to let our congressmen and senators and even President Obama know that these ideas aren’t the fringe in the Anti-Gay Industry, they are The Anti-Gay Industry. And when they say homosexuality means a death sentence, they aren’t talking about not making it to the after life.

Introducing the Anti-Gay Industry and what it preaches:

The American Family Association [AFA]:

Founder: Don Wildmon; President Tim Wildmon

In its 1994 booklet Homosexuality in America, the AFA claims:

"[p]rominent homosexual leaders and publications have voiced support for pedophilia, incest, sadomasochism, and even bestiality."
AFA's direct-mail appeals are particularly shrill: Don Wildmon
"For the sake of our children and society, we must OPPOSE the spread of homosexual activity! Just as we must oppose murder, stealing, and adultery!" says one such recent fundraiser letter. "Since homosexuals cannot reproduce, the only way for them to 'breed' is to RECRUIT! And who are their targets for recruitment? Children!"
In one October 2004 article, the AFA Journal suggests that gay influences are leading to a
"grotesque culture" that will include "quick encounters in the middle school boys' restroom."

AFA has 21 state directors, including California's Scott Lively, co-author of The Pink Swastika, a book that claims "homosexuals are the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities"

America Vision:

Founder: Gary DeMar, AFA president Tim Wildmon praised him as "one of the best writers out there in the Christian community and thinkers."

Gary DeMar on the February 2, 2006 broadcast of Today's Issues, a program of American Family Radio, a network of nearly 200 radio stations owned by The American Family Association (AFA).

DeMAR: The definition of Christian Reconstruction is simply this: The Bible applies to every facet of life. That means not just the judicial aspects of life, such as civil government, church government, but business, economics -- every facet of society. The Bible has something to say about each area. For example, on homosexuals: We do not believe that homosexuals ought to be executed. The Bible doesn't say that homosexuals ought to be executed. What it says is thGary DeMaris: If two men lie together like man and woman, they are to be put to death.

PORTEOUS: What the hell do you think that is?

DeMAR: Well, wait a minute. If a guy comes up to me and he says, "I'm a homosexual," that doesn't mean he's to be executed. If you understand the Scriptures, it says very clearly: If a man comes up to you and says, "I've murdered somebody," that doesn't mean that person ought to be executed.

GONZALES: Oh, so what you are saying, Gary, is, if you catch homosexuals in the act, then the Bible says to execute them.

DeMAR: The Bible lays forth the severest penalty, which would be capital punishment for two men who publicly engage in sodomy. DeMar continued by stating his nominal support for the death penalty for adulterers and abortion doctors:

GONZALES: If, indeed, the Reconstructionist movement ever made it in America, would you advocate these biblical principles being carried out: the execution of the adulterer, the abortionist, and the homosexual?

DeMAR: I'm saying that they could be implemented, yes.

In 1993, American Vision helped county commissioners in Cobb County, Ga., pass an anti-gay resolution so strongly worded that it sparked a national controversy. Cobb County Commissioner Gordon Wysong spoke at American Vision's annual fundraising banquet the following year, saying of gay people, "We should blame them for every social failure in America

DeMar is a leading promoter of an extremist theology called Christian Reconstructionism, also known as Theocratic Dominionism, which, according to journalist and author Frederick Clarkson, "argues that the Bible is to be the governing text for all areas of life -- such as government, education, law, and the arts, not merely 'social' or 'moral' issues like pornography, homosexuality, and abortion." In his essay, "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence," Clarkson stated that under a Christian Reconstructionist government,

"[w]omen would be generally relegated to hearth and home. Insufficiently Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps executed. So severe is this theocracy that it would extend capital punishment beyond such crimes as kidnapping, rape, and murder to include, among other things, blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality."


The Alliance Defense Fund:

Founders: D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, William Bright of the Campus Crusade for Christ more than 30 other Christian ministries, as a response to the American Civil Liberties Union. James Dobson

Their purpose is to defend "family values." ADF's major focus is strategizing and coordinating with hundreds of lawyers and right-wing groups to defend what they define as "Christian legal issues." Examples include anti-gay cases like Boy Scouts of America v. Dale and Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network, and a national strategy to "protect marriage," following Vermont's decision to allow same-sex civil unions. According to the People for the American Way;

"ADF's founding groups are influential members of the Right, they are pro-life and anti-gay and their ultimate goal is to see the law and government of the US enshrined with conservative Christian principles."
In 1994, ADF solicited funds on Christian radio with an ad claiming,
""Pro-life demonstrations may soon be illegal. ... Religious broadcasting may soon be censored. Hiring homosexuals in Christian schools, churches, and even as Sunday School teachers may soon become the law of the land. ... Don't let Christianity become a crime."

In 2003, President and Chief Council, Alan Sears and ADF Vice President Craig Osten expanded on that theme in The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom, which ties homosexuality to pedophilia and other "disordered sexual behavior."

On November 22, 2004, ADF lawyers filed suit on behalf of Stephen Williams against the Cupertino Union School District in Cupertino, California. Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School, had been told not to use class handouts that proselytized for Christianity. His suit alleged that his First Amendment rights had been violated. Because one of his handouts included excerpts from the Declaration of Independence making reference to God, the ADF's press release about the case was headlined "Declaration of Independence Banned from Classroom". Fox News and other conservative outlets gave heavy play to that distorted version of the story. Alan Keyes also repeated ADF's spin:

"Someone was mentioning to me that there is a school district now in America where they will no longer teach the Declaration of Independence to the students. Why? Because it mentions God. ...Now we’re being told that on account of some doctrine that has been promulgated by the courts, it is now unconstitutional to teach our children about the Declaration."

The truth, as pointed out in an answering press release from the school district, was that "The Declaration of Independence, sections of the United States Constitution, and other historical documents are re-printed in our textbooks, displayed in some of our school buildings, and taught in our social studies curriculum and lessons."

Alan Keyes also believes that Gay adoptions promote incest [5:40]:

Christian Action Network

Founder: Martin Mawyer, longtime editor of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority Report

In his "dirty and dangerous" battle against "militant homosexual groups," Mawyer has not held back. In 1997, after Ellen Degeneres came out as a lesbian on her TV sitcom, Mawyer accused her of

"DUMPING HER FILTHY LESBIAN LIFESTYLE RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF YOUR LIVING ROOM!! ... If we allow the tidal wave of gay and lesbian smut to continue to pour into our homes, it will utterly consume us in no time at all!"

In 1999, he asked the Federal Communications Commission to put an "HC [homosexual conduct] warning label" on TV programs with gay characters. Martin Mawyer

The following year, CAN caused a national stir when TV stations refused to air its inflammatory ad attacking Hillary Clinton, who was then running for U.S. Senate.

"It is rumored that Hillary Clinton is a lesbian. It is rumored that Hillary Clinton supported homosexual marriage. It is rumored that Hillary Clinton will leave her husband upon taking office. ... Sometimes, rumors are true. Shouldn't you know the truth? For more information on traditional family values, please contact the Christian Action Network."

More recently, CAN protested "Gay Days" at Disney World and other theme parks — events that Mawyer's wife and CAN partner, Bonnie, says demonstrate "the true intent of these homosexuals: they are after our children!!"

A 2000 Mawyer mailing incorporated militia-like paranoia:

"I am not ready to give this great nation over to one-world government extremists ... radical, disease-carrying homosexuals ... anti-family lesbian feminists ... or anti-American U.N. globalists!"
CAN activists today are familiar faces at Gay Days, videotaping "bad behavior."

In 2003, CAN turned its footage of "homosexual kissing, hugging and fondling" into a video tour of the Southeast, warning parents about the perils of Gay Days and warning that "homosexuals live in a pattern of sin and debauchery."

Christian Street Preachers Alliance:

Founder: Jim Rudd also publisher of “The Covenant News.” The Christian Street Preachers Alliance also known simply as The Christian Alliance and is considered the heir to the Christian Coalition. Jim Rudd has published numerous articles seeking our government to make homosexuality a capitol offence. Below are exerpts from just two of his articles. Jim Rudd

Homosexuality Is A Crime By Jim Rudd The Covenant News ~ December 9, 2008 When ministering to homosexuals, one of the first things we let them know is that there is no such thing as a right to commit sodomy...... Homosexuality is a crime (Lev. 20:13), and for Christians to publicly refer to this criminal activity as "gay" or as a "life style" is an anti-Biblical presupposition that suggests to the public, and to our civil officials, that the laws against sodomy can be ignored. To ignore what God says is to mock God, and for Christians to suggest that it is permissible for civil officials to ignore the Commandments of God is iniquity -- anomia -- Greek for lawlessness (Matt. 7:23). Homosexuality is not a light or transient crime. It is an abomination (Lev. 18:22). It is the culmination of man's apostasy and hostility toward God and His Church (Rom. 1:18-32). For civil officials and judges to approve of homosexuality brings eternal damnation upon themselves (Rom. 13:2) and God's righteous judgment of death on the society as a whole (Gen. 19:24, II Pet. 2:6)...... Not only should Christian men fight for the safety of their families by demanding that these civil officials repent, or resign from office immediately, Christians should be demanding the strongest laws and punishments against homosexuality be put into effect so as to cleanse the pestilence from our society. (Lev. 20:13)
Again, in Rudd's article: Put Homosexuals To The Sword - By Jim Rudd - The Covenant News ~ June 7, 2006
America is a cursed nation (John.7:49) and "defending marriage" does nothing to cut off the curse. The marriage amendment does nothing to protect the people of the United States from the wrath to come-because of homosexuality. The word of God commands that sodomites are to be executed, and God gives our civil officials the sword to do the job. Until our civil officials turn from their wicked way by administering Justice, we can only be judged with the most depraved pagan nations in history: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 1:7). If you hate your children's guts, then do not teach them how to administer Justice in the land (Eph.6:4). Just sit back and let the lawless be damned (Matt.7:21-23)

There are a number of commentators on The Covenant News including Chuck Baldwin, Baldwin is the American founder-pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

Concerned Women for America

Founder: Beverly LaHaye, wife of Christian Reconstructionist Tim LaHaye, author of Left Behind series.

Concerned Women for America thinks college health clinics shouldn’t provide contraceptives and that young women should marry early and make “their husband and children their priority.” The organization promotes the idea that people can be de-gayed through belief in Jesus and that hate crime laws “threaten religious freedom”. LaHaye’s activism is centered on making the American legal system more directly based on a fundamentalist reading of Christian ideology. She encourages women to be strong and courageous, but only in a manner consistent with their God-ordained roles as wives and mothers.Tim and Beverly LaHaye

Beverly LaHaye pins blame for the "radical crusade" on gay people. In 1992, LaHaye said gay activists "go after boys by becoming teachers and Boy Scout leaders." In 1998, CWA called homosexuals "people who make lewd phone calls, expose themselves to others, and engage in prostitution." (Who knew? I thought it was heterosexuals who do that.)

In 2001, LaHaye hired two of America's most prominent anti-gay propagandists, Robert Knight and Peter LaBarbera, to launch CWA's Culture and Family Institute. LaBarbera, a former Washington Times reporter and editor of an inflammatory anti-gay journal called The Lambda Report on Homosexual Activism, had earlier been thrown out of the American Psychological Association due to his faulty "science." He also produced CWA's 11 Ways You Can Fight the Homosexual Agenda manual. Peter LaBarbera has moved on to the "bigger and better thing of attending gay leather events."

Knight, produces reports like "Sexual Orientation and American Culture," which warns that accepting "sexual orientation as a civil right" will lead to "a loss of stability in communities, with a rise in crime, sexually transmitted diseases and other social pathologies."

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, CWA accused same-sex partners of those killed of "trying to hijack the moral capital of marriage." In 2004, CWA raised a ruckus over a gay Canadian couple that wanted to visit the U.S. together, calling the men "a new threat to border security" and "the latest pair of 'domestic terrorists.'"

Coral Ridge Ministries/Center for Reclaiming America:

Founder: D. James Kennedy

Below taken from Souther Poverty Law Center:

Beginning in the early 1960s, the Rev. D. James Kennedy turned conservative Coral Ridge Presbyterian into a mega-church that now claims 10,000 members. In 1974, Kennedy branched out with Coral Ridge Ministries, which has since become one of the largest fundamentalist enterprises in America with some 160 employees, several divisions including a Washington-based Center for Christian Statesmanship, and radio and television studios producing shows that reach a combined weekly audience of 3 million.

In his book Stranger at the Gate, evangelical minister Mel White (see A Thorn in Their Side), who produced a popular film for Kennedy called "Like a Mighty Army," says Coral Ridge "practically funded its television outreach on ... disgusting, inflammatory antigay propaganda."
D James Kennedy
In one typical newsletter, Kennedy published a photograph of two sweet-looking children under a headline reading, "Sex with Children? Homosexuals Say Yes!" Elsewhere, he has written that "homosexuals prey on adolescent boys" and "take America's children."

After Kennedy cited bogus claims about AIDS transmission, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, himself a conservative evangelical, attacked his statement as "reprehensible" and "homophobic." "I just cannot believe the poor scholarship of so many Christians," Koop said, adding that Kennedy refused his subsequent offer of a briefing on the facts of AIDS transmission.

Kennedy denies that he subscribes to the extremist ideology of Christian Reconstructionism, which calls for killing "practicing homosexuals," but he is tied closely to leading Reconstructionists.

Kennedy has described the works of Reconstructionism founder R.J. Rushdoony, which are laced with anti-black racism and anti-gay vitriol, as "essential." His ministry has sold a book by leading Reconstructionist George Grant that laments the abandonment of legal codes prescribing death for homosexuals.

And he certainly holds theocratic views closely related to Reconstructionism, as reflected in the name he chose for Coral Ridge's political outreach arm: the Center for Reclaiming America (CRA). Since its founding in 1996, the CRA has brought together fundamentalist groups in campaigns like "Truth in Love," a million-dollar 1998 ad campaign that promoted "ex-gay" ministries offering discredited methods of "curing" homosexuals.

CRA sponsors an annual conference, Reclaiming America for Christ, that has featured leading Reconstructionists like Grant (who is also a former Coral Ridge vice president) and Gary DeMar (see American Vision), along with anti-gay stalwarts like Robert Knight (see Concerned Women of America).

Coral Ridge also has been a generous supporter of deposed Alabama Chief Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, the "Ten Commandments Judge" who in a 2002 "special concurrence" court opinion suggested that the state could impose "physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution" to protect children from gays and lesbians.

Moore's new Alabama outfit, the Foundation for Moral Law, is being partly bankrolled by Coral Ridge.

There are many more in The Anti-Gay Industry, most have been blogged about extensively here on Pam's House Blend, such asSally Kern

American's for the Truth About Homosexuality Founder: Peter Labarbera

Oklahoma Representative, Sally Kern and her husband Steve Kern

And then there is of course James Dobson who founded Focus on the Family According to SPLC, No one has spread the anti-gay gospel as widely, or with as much political impact, as James Dobson, the former child development professor and spanking enthusiast who founded Focus on the Family (FOF) in 1977.

Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council "
Perkins doesn’t just represent a minority of radical right-wing religious conservatives. He also represents a trend of anti-intellectual propaganda perpetuated by organizations pretending to have religious principles but ultimately end up falling in line with Republicans on fiscal issues as well as social ones. Perkins’ outlook promotes bad public policy and pushes the economic and social disparities further apart."

Paul Cameron - debunked "scientist" Cameron is a researcher who was dismissed from the American Psychological Association in 1984 after it was discovered that he was misrepresenting the work of his colleagues to demonize the gay community.

Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) is a small but influential organization that appears to consist mostly of the Rev. Lou Sheldon and his daughter Andrea Sheldon Lafferty. Both are mainstays on the conservative circuit, though their reputation has been damaged by revelations that Lou Sheldon took money from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to help kill an anti-gambling bill that would have hurt one of Abramoff's clients.

They all spew the same hate, day after day, it gets quoted in newspapers, blogs, on network and cable news shows. Their representatives get interviewed on talk shows. Can you imagine the KKK or Joe McCarthy getting interviewed as much today? They aren't experts or scientists and I wonder how they get away with being called Christians.

I think we shouldn't just be sending this stuff to our legislators, both federal and state, but we should be sending it to the MSM, and blogging about it like crazy. Not just the "family values" pieces, but the literature right off their sites. We should be asking everyone, "why are we listening to these people?" They are causing families to be broken when they influence parents to throw out their LGBT children, they encourage hate crimes with their preaching, they are causing suicides through the perpetuation of Ex-Gay therapy, and their real agenda is our criminalization and executions.

Why do WE still listen to them? Why don't we expose their agenda and just shut them up?

Thanks to Southern Poverty Law Center, Wikipedia, Right Wing Watch, Ex-Gay Watch, and The Radical Religious Right for giving me all kinds of information. And I want to thank the Anti-Gay Industry for unashamedly publishing their agenda.

Cross Posted as Part II of What We Can Learn From Joe McCarthy: Fighting the Anti-Gay Industry on Pam's House Blend

Thursday

Lurleen's answer to the false statements regarding Washington State's SSB 5688

Yesterday one of the Blenders at Pam's House Blend posted this diary directly answering the distortions of those who seek to deny Domestic Partnerships to couples in that state. I felt it wonderfully shows how they twist their facts and outright lie to continue the discrimination against LGBTQ:
Let us Examine the Lies and Distortions, One by One

by: Lurleen
Wed Mar 25, 2009 On Pam's House Blend
On Monday, March 23rd, the Washington State House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on SSB 5688, the Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill of 2009.

Not surprisingly, delegates from The Washington Hate Coalition repeated their same tired lies and distortions. As I listened to their testimony, I decided that we need to produce a sheet of concise responses to these lies, because we all know that they will keep repeating them until people accept them as the unquestioned truth. Below is my transcript of the testimony of the two main Hate Coalition members to testify. I have numbered their statements to facilitate our responses. My responses are embedded within the transcript and are in green typeface. I look forward to your comments.

1.Um, of course same-sex couples are not the only deviation from marriage as we have always defined it in this state, and I have yet to hear articulated any reason why any other relationship involving loving consenting adults, ah relationships that are not currently recognized by the State of Washington should be excluded if we uh begin to extend marriage-like benefits in every respect. Um as I'm sure most of you are aware, ah relationships involving close relatives, ah people who are already married and minors are also not recognized by the state of Washington.

  • This is the old "slippery slope" argument. To the extent there is a slippery slope, it was created by heterosexuals when they decided to reserve special legal rights for only their families in a country whose Constitution guarantees equal protection of the laws and due process.
  • For the rest of the story, Click Here: Pam's House Blend

    As suggested on The Blend, if you do something similar that is targeted at legislators in your state, make a nice print-out and mail it to them.

    Monday

    A Battle Hymn for Equality

    By D. Allan Kerr

    Published March 18, 2009
    Seacoastonline.com
    Reprinted in full by the gracious permission of the author.

    There’s a segment of our society which would suggest homosexuals are my enemy; this same segment tells homosexuals I do not believe in their cause. These are individuals who believe other people should be prevented from exercising the same rights they themselves enjoy – even if these other people pay their taxes, contribute to society, and obey the laws of the land.

    A bill recently introduced into the Maine legislature would allow residents to marry someone of the same sex, presumably if they are both consenting adults. Now those supporting and opposing the measure are each marshalling their forces for battle in the months ahead – the battle for your heart, your mind and your vote. Both sides will claim to speak for the majority, but in the end you will most likely have the opportunity to speak for yourself.

    I have nothing to gain from this proposal. I am euphorically heterosexual, married to a partner who is quite literally the woman of my dreams. We have three strong sons and a little girl with the twinkling face of an angel, who will celebrate her first birthday this very weekend.

    Our life is pretty good now, although we’re struggling through the economy like most people. If this gay marriage bill is defeated, our life will probably remain unchanged.

    If the bill passes, our life will probably remain unchanged – despite what some might suggest. So truth be told, none of this is any of our business.

    Except for this:

    If we stand by while friends and neighbors are denied a basic human right, I don’t know how we would be any different from good German citizens who looked the other way while Nazi thugs persecuted those who didn’t fit the ideal of a "master race." We would be no less ignoble than those who stood by while black citizens were denied the dignity allotted to their white neighbors, or those who remained silent while individuals suspected of supporting a Communist ideology were deprived of their livelihoods.

    Is it unfair to compare the prohibition of gay marriage to the destruction of six million Jews? Maybe. But see, I can’t really say for sure because I’ve never been forbidden to marry the person of my choosing. In fact, as a straight, white, middle-class Anglo-American Protestant male I’ve NEVER been made to feel I was one iota less than everyone else around me. But you know what? I’m pretty sure it sucks.

    I don’t imagine it’s encouraging when people try to portray you as some sort of subspecies which shouldn’t be allowed to marry, adopt, teach children or serve in uniform. I can confirm, however, how maddening it is to hear these critics attempt a position of superiority over people who surpass them in compassion, articulation, generosity and intelligence.

    Because I am a family man, these opponents will try to impale a wedge between me and the gay community. They will try to convince me that two women marrying each other will somehow destroy or undermine what my wife and I have built. I value the institution of the family above all else, and will defend it with word, pen, fist or stone. So what I say now I don’t say lightly – if my household cannot withstand the legal marriage of two people belonging to the same sex, it deserves to crumble.

    Fortunately, our foundation is much too strong for that. Suggesting that the American family unit will disintegrate upon the legalization of gay marriage is disingenuous fear-mongering manufactured for the ignorant and the weak. It is a crock. And it could succeed.

    Opponents will say gay couples shouldn’t marry because God does not want them to. Although our laws prohibit the imposition of one’s religious beliefs over others, they will use the arguments of their church to try to strike down the efforts of those who do not share those beliefs. Never mind that clergy members in Maine have formed a group in support of the bill (the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry) and are already campaigning for support among the state’s lawmakers. Or that clergymen like my father, a retired United Methodist minister, would happily preside over gay weddings.

    Never mind that professing to know for a certainty the will of God is the ultimate arrogance.

    Opponents will say the Founding Fathers provided no allowance for marriage of citizens of the same sex and therefore its prohibition is not a violation of civil rights. But the Declaration of Independence, the most celebrated document of our short history, insists that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." No one among us today has the moral authority to deny a fellow citizen of these rights.

    Again, to assume otherwise is a supreme arrogance.

    The bill was introduced by state Sen. Dennis Damon of Trenton, but one of the co-sponsors is Sen. Peter Bowman, who represents southern York County. Bowman is a retired Navy captain and former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard commander. I can tell you for a fact that the U.S. military is not historically encouraging of the homosexual lifestyle, but Bowman has been quoted as saying support of gay marriage is "the only fair thing to do."

    Bowman told this newspaper he believes homosexuality is "hard-wired" into certain people and our society needs to honor that. I lack the scientific background to assert whether the gay lifestyle is a matter of personal choice or genetic construction, and I don’t really care. The actions of consenting adults who do not seek to harm others in any way should be of no concern to anyone else.

    During the November election, gay rights proponents gathered signatures from voters approving same-sex marriage. They hoped for 10,000 names and wound up with 33,000. Now there are those who say even if the bill passes in the legislature the matter could be put to a referendum in November.

    If that happens, all of us living in Maine can make our voices heard loud and strong, and we can make it clear that we will not stand for discrimination against fellow Americans in the 21st century.

    According to Seacostonline, D. Allan Kerr is a struggling novelist and former newspaper reporter who now spends his days wrestling with lobsters. They need to add "A Noble Man" to this bio......

    Saturday

    Some Answers.....

    An Answer To: Why Must They Flaunt Their Sexuality?

    This is the same as saying to my husband that he can’t hold my hand in public because we will be flaunting our heterosexuality. What an absurd thing to say. Of course we can hold hands in public. Why not, we are a couple in love. So why can’t my gay boys walk hand in hand with someone they love. Because society doesn’t like it. But the only way this will change is for it to happen and people get used to it. Gay people are not doing anything we heterosexuals don’t do. They are being themselves. Showing and receiving affection from someone you love is very important for our well being.

    In fact many gay people are more likely not to show affection in public because of the negativity that it may bring.....This may look like flaunting but again it’s just being themselves.

    From Gay Family Support.com

    This is an example of what Blogging For Truth looks like........

    Tuesday

    More information about Blogging For Truth.


    Dear LLnL, In answer to your comment, here is the scoop on Blogging For Truth, May 25-31, 2009:
    During the week of May 25th through the 31st, all you have to do is write one, or more articles using information that shows how untruthful the Anti Gay industry is in their efforts to deny LGBTQ people their rights, such as, but not exclusively, marriage protections or protection under the hate crimes laws. As well as to offer personal stories as to how we are affected by the hate filled rhetoric of these organizations.

    The Anti Gay Industry is real, they receive their donations (and their salaries) by spreading lies and fear about the LGBTQ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Queer) The idea is that they have had 30+ years relatively unchallenged, instilling false facts into the American public's mind. They have almost exclusively used the widely debunked "science" of a Mr. Paul Cameron, if you click on his name, you can find the Wikipedia page on this man.
    Additional resources can be found at Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation on Paul Cameron's claims.

    My motivation in this? I have always had a deep seated belief, that humans deserve to be treated with dignity and respect even when sides disagree. I believe that even if you are .001% of the population in the United States, or anywhere else in the world, you deserve every human right afforded to you by simply being born. The only way these rights can be taken from you is if you voluntarily give them up by committing a crime against another human being.
    My hope is that if we can get enough bloggers, blogging more facts, pointing out the hypocrisy of these groups, then maybe more people will question what they say, and think about the human rights aspect of things like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" the Defense of Marriage Act, the anti-marriage amendments, and the anti adoption amendments.

    The couple of quotes on the left show the real agenda of the Anti-Gay Industry. It isn't to protect your children, it isn't even because the Bible tells them homosexuality deserves death, although a number of those in the Anti-Gay Industry have called for just that. Most wish, like Mr. Card says that LGBTQ would just go back into the closet, mostly to stop making them uncomfortable. Some, like Mr. Dobson would like to have homosexuality re-criminalized so that we may be sentenced to "Ex-Gay" camps such as Exodus, or once more subjected to elecro-shock treatments to "cure" us.

    As quoted from Religious Tolerance: "A study in 2001 found that Only 34% of born again Christians favored legalization of same-sex activities. Most feel that sexually active homosexuals should be imprisoned. We suspect that approximately the same percentage of conservatives from other religions -- Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, etc. -- would probably agree."

    Sunday

    Blogging For Truth



    img src="http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu308/truthandlove/bloggers600x150.jpg" border="0" alt="Blogging for Truth"


    img src="http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu308/truthandlove/bloggers300x150.jpg" border="0" alt="Blogging For Truth"


    img src="http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu308/truthandlove/bloggers100x200.jpg" border="0" alt="Blogging For Truth"


    "Beginning May 25 through the 31st, 2009 LGBTQ bloggers and all allies are invited to write articles about the truth of our existence and lives. To blog facts and the results of real scientific studies carried out by real scientists.
    For over 30 years there have been organizations dedicated to spreading lies and false studies about our lives, our loves and our persons. These same organizations in the United States now seek to remove all rights and privileges afforded us as American Citizens, they ultimately seek to re-criminalize our love and our existence. In other parts of the world our brothers and sisters face prison, torture and even death for being "sexual deviants."
    We believe it is time to shine the light on these false witnesses. It is time to end the hate.
    "

    Let me know if you wish to participate by leaving your URL/Blog address at the bottom of this post in the comment section, I will then add your link to the blog roll on the left. If you DO NOT HAVE A BLOG, let me know that too, and you can be an author of this blog and post on here.

    Resources:

    Here are some of what the Anti-Gay industry says:
    • "They're destroying the moral fibre of our country"
    • "They want special rights"
    • "They need to recruit in order to increase their number"
    • "They want to influence children and other people to become homosexual"
    • "They are a feature of a decadent society"
    • "They are against the family, against family values"
    • "The family is the fundamental building block of society"
    • "They are responsible for AIDS"
    • "None of them really has a faithful relationship."
    • "What they do is disgusting."
    • "They want to shove their sex lives in our faces."
    • And probably the single most hurtful lie: "They are child molesters."
    More blame out of the Uganda Conference:
    • Gays blamed for the rise of Nazism in Germany. A book, The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, claims that Nazi movement was, at its core, a homosexual movement. Despite the historical record to the contrary, the author Lively blames gays for the rise of Nazism and for the Holocaust itself, and claims that “the connection between homosexualism and fascism is not incidental.”
    • Gays blamed for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. In The Pink Swastika, Lively claims that “homosexuals are responsible for 68% of all mass murders in America.” In Uganda he recently extended that charge by blaming gay men for the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, which borders Uganda just to the south.
    • Parents blamed for their children’s homosexuality. Don Schmierer presented his contradictory list of fourteen “signs that an adolescent may be struggling with gender issues.” But his focus appeared to have been on one suggested cause: it’s the parent’s fault. He reportedly told participants that one of the biggest causes of homosexuality is the lack of “good upbringing” in families. In other words, good parents make straight children; bad parents, gay children.

    Below are profiles of a dozen of today's most influential anti-gay groups. Groups designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center are marked with an asterisk. The link will take you to the SPLC's descriptions of each.

    Alliance Defense Fund
    American Family Association
    American Vision*
    Chalcedon Foundation*
    Christian Action Network
    Concerned Women for America
    Coral Ridge Ministries/Center for Reclaiming America
    Family Research Council
    Family Research Institute*
    Focus on the Family
    Summit Ministries
    Traditional Values Coalition


    Links to other Anti-LGBTQ sites:
    American's for truth about homosexuality

    Where my title idea came from.....Because "The Peter" AKA Peter LaBarbera, is so eloquent: At AFTAH, we preach Christian mercy and have denounced Talibanesque capital punishment for homosexuals in countries like Iran. But we also believe that if states and localities here in America (and governments abroad) wish to ban sodomy, they have every right to do so — notwithstanding polemical U.S. Supreme Court decisions inventing newfangled “constitutional rights” and influenced by inaccurate homosexual activist amicus briefs.
    The Truth Sets You Free

    Sites dedicated to the truth: (feel free to make suggestions in the comments of great sites to add)
    HRC's END THE LIES WALL
    GLSEN 2007 School Climate Report
    Equality Federation Links Page
    SoulForce
    Ex-Gay Watch
    Homophobia The Fear Behind the Hatred
    Religious Tolerance
    A Letter to Louise
    Queers United
    G-A-Y Good As You
    National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
    PFLAG
    Family Equality Council


    Feel free to download and use these badges. Or you can use the direct link listed below each one.