Ah, that Rick Jacobs. Don’t you just wish you could be there in Washington DC to watch the founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign have a few words with the National Organization for Marriage-backed and white evangelical favorite Bishop Harry Jackson over “freedom” and “equality” (pictured here). Some of you may remember that Bishop Jackson started his big national career right here in Southern California when he stood side-by-side with the Traditional Values Coalition head Rev. Lou Sheldon to launch his “High Impact” book tour. At the news conference, also attended by Jasmyne Cannick and Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Jackson promised that while he was opposed to marriage rights for same sex couples, he was not really antigay. He seemed to leave the smarmier opposition to LGBTs up to Sheldon.
Fifteen minutes after the rally was scheduled to begin in a park between the U.S. Capitol and The Supreme Court, Brian Brown took to the stage to announce that the event will begin in 10 minutes.
“Another bus is on the way,” Brown said to the 44 attendees before him who decided to brave the on and off rain showers here in D.C.
Please click inside to read the rest of the NOMTourTracker report.
NOT on the schedule is an event organized by NOM- backed Ruth Institute on Thursday, Aug. 12, at the Renaissance Airport Hotel, 9620 Airport Blvd, LA 90045. A protest is planned starting at 6:00pm. See this Facebook page for updates.
The Ruth Institute is holding an opening Gala event for its It Takes a Family ‘10 weekend Student conference under the slogans: One Man One Woman For Life and Making Marriage Cool.
Ruth Institute founder Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is one of the featured speakers. Here’s an excerpt from an article she published last March in the National Catholic Register in which she compares domestic partnerships to infertility:
“Domestic partnerships make us second-class citizens. We want marriage, just like everyone else.”
This is the constant refrain of the marriage-redefinition advocates. Drawing a legal distinction, any legal distinction, between same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples is unfair and amounts to ill treatment of the same-sex couples. But does this argument really hold up?
I am reminded of a time in my life when I felt the law was treating me as a second-class citizen.
Back in the late 1980s, my husband and I were confronted with infertility. Powerful feelings of inadequacy and deprivation swept over us, threatening to sweep us away. The world, we felt, had dealt us a raw deal.”
Please click inside to read the rest of her jaw-dropping comparison.
Prop 8 trial plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, who live in the Los Angeles area, discussed Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling striking down Prop 8 as unconstitutional on KNBC’s NewsConference with Conan Nolan Sunday morning. Paul Katami also talked about the long “thoughtful” process they went through before deciding to join the lawsuit, sponsored by the American Foundation for Equal Rights. He said he was upset by “The Gathering Storm” commercial produced by the National Organization for Marriage and the couple asked a couple of friends – who include actors Wilson Cruz and Alec Mapa, to star in a video response, “Weathering the Storm.” Please click inside to see the two “Storm” videos.
So many LGBT reporters and bloggers are doing a good job serving as eyewitnesses to history as the LGBT movement for equal rights bursts with visibility. But from a Prop 8 perspective, I want to especially commend Rick Jacobs and the Courage Campaign, which is providing an incredibly important resource with both its Prop8TrialTracker.comand its off-shoot on the same site, NOMTourTracker, working in cooperation with Freedom to Marry.
As Courage’s Eden James points out, someone who regularly posts comments on Prop8TrialTracker is Kathleen Perrin, who blogs as ownbycatz. Perrin has been posting invaluable Prop 8-related public documents (except transcripts which are available at the American Foundation for Equal Rights) on her Scribd account: http://www.scribd.com/ownbycatz
Someone who has emerged as a grassroots heroine is Courage’s Field Director Arisha Michelle Hatch, (pictured), a former lawyer and Obama 2008 organizer who explains in this interview with Prop8TrialTracker’s Adam Bink (from OpenLeft), what it’s like following Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher around on their National Organization for Marriage Tour in order to expose show NOM’s scarce attendance and their false assertions.
In a preview of her video interview with Dr. Alveda King in Atlanta on Friday, Hatch said:
“My streak of remaining disengaged as an interviewer was broken today in front of the Capitol building in Atlanta. I’ve interviewed Larry Adams, a NOM rally attendee, that suggested that the solution to homosexuality was lynching; I’ve interviewed a Pentecostal minister, speaking in tongues in Providence; I’ve endured Brian Brown’s spin without flinching.
But today was different.
Five minutes into my interview with (video coming), I began to cry.”
Thank heavens for LGBT equality activists and the bloggers who post about them! Otherwise how would we know what was really going on in the culture wars? How would we know that only 40 “protect marriage” supporters showed up for the much heralded National Organization for Marriage’s “One Man, One Woman” bus tour stop in Indianapolis? They’ve been met at every stop along the way by Freedom to Marry supporters, who turned out over 250 LGBT and allied supporters to counter NOM’s rally, according to Bil Browning’s post at Bilerico. He also provided this sign from one of NOM’s God-fearing supporters. This sign alone is critical in countering the “victim” meme NOM and Protect Marriage has been using in court and the media, as Mark Hefflinger reported here earlier this month.
Some of the quotes from Larry Adams: “What you gotta do with sin is take it out.” And, “if it was punished like it was supposed to be, there wouldn’t be so much homosexuality out there.”Larry also admits that he has been attracted to another man, but “I knew it was from the devil so I avoided it.”
UPDATE: Michael Crawford from Freedom to Marry says that they have launched a petition campaign to “Tell NOM to Denounce Call to Murder Gay Couples.” The petition says, in part: “Your fear-mongering and assaults on gay families are inciting prejudice and inviting violence. We call on you to immediately denounce these tactics and the harm you are doing to gay and lesbian families and the national conversation around marriage.”
But contrast this reporting on LGBT blogs with the slick faux-news report from NOM about them being “bullied and intimidated,” a video which can be easily distributed to churches and the NOM network created during Prop 8. Additionally, consider that without LGBT press and blog reporting to counter “reports” such as this, the lazy or otherwise-engaged mainstream media could consider this video, conveniently handed to them by NOM, to be the “truth.”
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) produced a fake news-style report about their summer marriage tour. This is a smart tactic that enables lazy or resource-less religious organizations and conservative media outlets and bloggers to play the spot as if it’s the real thing.
Meanwhile, the Courage Campaign is tracking the NOM tour and just reported that NOM’s president Brian Brown threatened the NOM Tour Tracker videographer with arrest. PERHAPS Brown didn’t want anyone to see images such as this one, taken by Courage staffer Anthony Ash, on the ground in Annapolis where Brown appears to be kicking off the rally to a collection of staffers. Follow the drama here: “#NOMturnoutFAIL: One Man, One Woman”
On July 5, LGBT POV contributor Mark Hefflinger posted an in-depth report on how antigay groups such as Protect Marriage and the National Organization for Marriage are playing the “victim” card – pretending to be harmed or intimidated by gays to gain mainstream sympathy. Here is a truly absurd video from NOM from their “Marriage Tour” in Albany Saturday in which a mother alleges she was intimidated by eight gay men standing with umbrellas blocking her view of the NOM event. Think she’s been coached? Andy Towle over at Towleroad also has a story on NOM President Brian Brown tweeting about his tour and protests in Providence, Rhode Island Sunday.
LGBT Californians and Religious Right activists are anxiously awaiting District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling on the constitutionality of Prop 8 – which is expected any day. The decision will be immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal by whichever side loses, with the idea of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court within the next few years.
But neither advocates nor opponents of marriage equality for same sex couples are sitting idly by, watching the clock. There is a quiet but massive effort by both sides to build cultural support for their position before the case reaches the high court. The latest effort was just launched by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Please click inside for the last on the Catholic Church’s “defense of marriage” campaign and why their latest video could end up being a spoof.
This time two years ago in California, before the swell of the Prop 8 campaign, loving couples were lining up to get married – legally. One of the organizations that helped strip that right to marry away from same sex couples was the National Organization of Marriage, NOM – which continues to try to undermine LGBT relationships wherever it can. The Freedom to Marry organization announced Thursday that they are not letting NOM go unchallenged: “Earlier this month, the anti-gay group, “National Organization for Marriage” (NOM), announced a summer tour across 17 states and the District of Columbia to “protect marriage.” In NOM’s call to action, they declared that “this is an urgent time for marriage,” that “a strong marriage…makes a strong family,” and that “groups of these strong families make strong neighborhoods” and “strong towns, cities, and states.” We at Freedom to Marry couldn’t agree more, and we would like to thank NOM for drawing attention this summer to the love, commitment, and the crucial safety net that marriage brings to families across the country.”
Please click inside for the rest of their announcement and how you can participate.
Some terrific journalists covered the federal Prop 8 trial and have provided a nice mosaic of reporting on Wednesday’s historic closing arguments in Judge Vaughn Walker’s San Francisco courtroom. The American Foundation for Equal Rights posted the entire trial transcript on their website during which you can read how Ted Olson, arguing for plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami and Sandy Stier and Kris Perry, passionately summed up why same sex couples deserve marriage equality.
With hard news reporters summing up the remarkable closing arguments – I found that there were other unnoticed or underreported stories that also contribute to the record of this remarkable time, including how the elections this November could dramatically impact the outcome of the trial. The National Organization for Marriage’s Maggie Gallagher told me, for instance, that she thinks Walker may rule that Prop 8 discriminates based on gender as well as sexual orientation. I was also amused to see that NOM posted video of Ted Olson’s moving answer to a question I asked at the news conference on their NOM blog.
Click inside to read Ted Olson’s answer to why he was so passionate during the closing arguments, plus reaction from NOM’s Maggie Gallagher, MEUSA’s Molly McKay, Lance Black and Cleve Jones, plus how the federal Prop 8 trial could be impacted by politics.
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, sent out an “EMERGENCY ALERT: Congress Set to Limit Political Speech TODAY!” See Brown’s letter below about their effort to stop legislation that would require the disclosure of the names of contributors and the amounts they’ve contributed to non-profit groups such as NOM.
But, a friend of mine just pointed out that there’s a useful tool embedded in the NOM message that helps advocates of full equality. When you click on their link to email a letter to your representative – you can change their form letter to vote “YES” – and you can delete the rest of the letter, fill out your information and hit send. It takes 2 minutes and – it might give NOM a little jolt to know they are helping the equality side with their money!
Vote “YES” Now.
Click inside to read Brian Brown’s Emergency Alert email.
Blogger Chino Blanco, known to California LGBTs for his persistent reporting on the connection between the Mormons and Prop. 8, sent me this advisory Thursday about an event happening Saturday in Washington DC: Former Sen. Gordon Smith, now President of the National Association of Broadcasters, will be presenting Orson Scott Card with an award this Saturday, April 24th, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM at the annual BYU Management Society Gala Dinner at the Crystal Gateway Marriott. Saturday also happens to be Youth Pride Day in DC.
And who is Orson Scott Card (pictured here from Wikipedia) and why should LGBTs care? Well, aside from his prominence on the board of the National Organization for Marriage, Card has some curious positions regarding gay people, like this for example:
“How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.
Biological imperatives trump laws. American government cannot fight against marriage and hope to endure. If the Constitution is defined in such a way as to destroy the privileged position of marriage, it is that insane Constitution, not marriage, that will die.”
With permission, here’s a re-posting inside of a blog Chino Blanco posted last month about Card and the event.
But NO! Instead they put out a fundraising email claiming their little political ad (which LGBT POV reported on earlier) is “shaking up” GOP Senate hopeful Tom Campbell’s campaign.
Here’s the ad – please click inside to read the latest missive from NOM’s Brian Brown:
Could that odd sound you hear be the creaking hands of time clicking over to a new day?
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) announced on Monday that he will soon be introducing a bill in the U.S. Senate to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I will be proud to be a sponsor of the important effort to enable patriotic gay Americans to defend our national security and our founding values of freedom and opportunity.
I have opposed the current policy of preventing gay Americans from openly serving in the military since its enactment in 1993. To exclude one group of Americans from serving in the armed forces is contrary to our fundamental principles as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and weakens our defenses by denying our military the service of a large group of Americans who can help our cause. I am grateful for the leadership of President Obama to repeal the policy and the support of Secretary Gates and Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen.”
Please click inside for more on DADT and the CPAC conference.
But back to that creaking clock of time. Who would have ever imagined that an antigay message delivered from the podium of the conservative CPAC stage would ever be met with the sweet sound of boos? And what prompted the boos? This guy condemning CPAC for allowing GOProud to participate. Best line: “The lesbians at Smith College protest better than you do. Bring it!” This video should be on the laptop of every LGBT person who lobbies Congress for LGBT rights.
This email was sent out Friday morning to the National Organization for Marriage’s email list. Notice how Brian Brown compares NOM to the Human Rights Campaign. Beyond the gloating, it’s a fundraising letter to start work on stopping marriage in New York and New Jersey: “The National Organization for Marriage has again, because of your support and work, played a key role in changing the course of history on marriage. As the largest contributor to the Yes on 1 effort in Maine, NOM spent almost all that it had (literally!), a total of $1.8 million dollars, because we knew the singular importance of a victory in Maine.” Click inside to read Brian’s pitch.
Many in the LGBT community are happy about the victory in Washington state, but absolutely devastated by the loss in Maine – with promises of more antigay battles to come.
This whole day on LGBT POV will be devoted to posts from different people about their reaction to the loss and ideas about what to do next. I’m going to chime in as well.
But first, Frontiers In LA reporter Peter DelVecchio sent me this wonderfully saucy and politically incorrect little video from character Mrs. Betty Bowers – kind of a comic ‘Mad Men’ version of a snarky Lily Tomlin character who calls herself “America’s Best Christian.”
THIS is what the National Organization for Marriage is fighting for. PLEASE watch. We need some laughter
On Monday, former Miss California Carrie Prejean’s book Still Standing: The Untold Story Against Hate, Gossip and Political Attacks will hit bookstores and no doubt it will be snapped up by Perez Hilton and Prejean’s new-found Christian fans.
One person NOT looking forward to the expected frothy fuming over her being fired by the Miss California USA Pageant organization is the man who fired her – Keith Lewis. The openly gay pageant director is expected to be a bigger character in the factional account than “hated” celebrity gossip blogger Hilton. And while a settlement between National Organization for Marriage spokesmodel Prejean and Lewis was announced on Tuesday, Prejean’s homophobic lawyer suggests he might sue for breach of contract if Prejean’s XXX-sex tape is leaked out. Click inside for the too-funny details.
Today I will complete the third installment of what has become a book-on-blog commemorating the passage of Prop 8 one year ago. But first – this heart-stopping news out of Maine – a new poll that shows the Religious Right with an edge in tomorrow’s election. NO ON 1/Protect Maine Equality DESPERATELY needs your help. THIS IS A RED ALERT! The National Organization for Marriage has poured in last minute money to outspend No on 1 and they need money to keep up with the last ad buy. Here’s the ACT BLUE PAGE to contribute – http://www.actblue.com/page/noon1redalert.
OR CLICK HERE. Meanwhile click inside to read the last Public Policy poll and news from Nate Silver.
Last Friday, US District Judge Vaughn Walker once again ordered Prop 8 proponents to turn over campaign-related documents to the plaintiffs in a federal challenge to the constitutionality of Prop 8. Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, one of the two same sex plaintiff couples, are pictured here with Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights which is sponsoring the Ted Olson-David Boies legal team arguing the case. Click inside to watch ProtectMarriage.com’s own political consultant Frank Schubert discuss his Prop 8 strategy – a clear counter to the Prop 8 proponents’ argument that releasing campaign documents should not occur.
On Monday, Miss California state director Keith Lewis and K2 Productions filed a cross-complaint and demurrer in Los Angeles Superior Court against former Miss California, Carrie Prejean. In an interview with LGBT POV, Lewis talks about the lawsuit, Carrie, wanting her ill-gotten profits, more explicit pictures to come, the National Organization for Marriage, Carrie’s pastor Miles McPherson, and oh, yeah – Mr. Trump who taped promos for a Nov. 22 televised Miss California pageant. Click inside for the scoop.
Ah, that Rick Jacobs. Don’t you just wish you could be there in Washington DC to watch the founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign have a few words with the National Organization for Marriage-backed and white evangelical favorite Bishop Harry Jackson over “freedom” and “equality” (pictured here). Some of you may remember that Bishop Jackson started his big national career right here in Southern California when he stood side-by-side with the Traditional Values Coalition head Rev. Lou Sheldon to launch his “High Impact” book tour. At the news conference, also attended by Jasmyne Cannick and Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Jackson promised that while he was opposed to marriage rights for same sex couples, he was not really antigay. He seemed to leave the smarmier opposition to LGBTs up to Sheldon. 
The NOM Tour Tracker – the important off shoot of the amazing 
So many LGBT reporters and bloggers are doing a good job serving as eyewitnesses to history as the LGBT movement for equal rights bursts with visibility. But from a Prop 8 perspective, I want to especially commend Rick Jacobs and the Courage Campaign, which is providing an incredibly important resource with both its 
Thank heavens for LGBT equality activists and the bloggers who post about them! Otherwise how would we know what was really going on in the culture wars? How would we know that only 40 “protect marriage” supporters showed up for the much heralded National Organization for Marriage’s “One Man, One Woman” bus tour stop in Indianapolis? They’ve been met at every stop along the way by 
LGBT Californians and Religious Right activists are anxiously awaiting District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling on the constitutionality of Prop 8 – which is expected any day. The decision will be immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal by whichever side loses, with the idea of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court within the next few years.
This time two years ago in California, before the swell of the Prop 8 campaign, loving couples were lining up to get married – legally. One of the organizations that helped strip that right to marry away from same sex couples was the National Organization of Marriage, NOM – which continues to try to undermine LGBT relationships wherever it can. The Freedom to Marry organization announced Thursday that they are not letting NOM go unchallenged: “Earlier this month, the anti-gay group, “National Organization for Marriage” (NOM), announced a 
Some terrific journalists covered the federal Prop 8 trial and have provided a nice mosaic of reporting on Wednesday’s historic closing arguments in Judge Vaughn Walker’s San Francisco courtroom. The American Foundation for Equal Rights posted the 
Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, sent out an “EMERGENCY ALERT: Congress Set to Limit Political Speech TODAY!” See Brown’s letter below about their effort to stop legislation that would require the disclosure of the names of contributors and the amounts they’ve contributed to non-profit groups such as NOM.
Blogger
The day after Easter and you’d think the 
Could that odd sound you hear be the creaking hands of time clicking over to a new day?
This email was sent out Friday morning to the National Organization for Marriage’s email list. Notice how Brian Brown compares NOM to the Human Rights Campaign. Beyond the gloating, it’s a fundraising letter to start work on stopping marriage in New York and New Jersey: “The National Organization for Marriage has again, because of your support and work, played a key role in changing the course of history on marriage. As the largest contributor to the Yes on 1 effort in Maine, NOM spent almost all that it had (literally!), a total of $1.8 million dollars, because we knew the singular importance of a victory in Maine.” Click inside to read Brian’s pitch. 
On Monday, former Miss California Carrie Prejean’s book Still Standing: The Untold Story Against Hate, Gossip and Political Attacks will hit bookstores and no doubt it will be snapped up by Perez Hilton and Prejean’s new-found Christian fans.
Today I will complete the third installment of what has become a book-on-blog commemorating the passage of Prop 8 one year ago. But first – this heart-stopping news out of Maine – a new poll that shows the Religious Right with an edge in tomorrow’s election. NO ON 1/Protect Maine Equality DESPERATELY needs your help. THIS IS A RED ALERT! The National Organization for Marriage has poured in last minute money to outspend No on 1 and they need money to keep up with the last ad buy. Here’s the ACT BLUE PAGE to contribute – http://www.actblue.com/page/noon1redalert.
Last Friday, US District Judge Vaughn Walker once again ordered Prop 8 proponents to turn over campaign-related documents to the plaintiffs in a federal challenge to the constitutionality of Prop 8. Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, one of the two same sex plaintiff couples, are pictured here with Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights which is sponsoring the Ted Olson-David Boies legal team arguing the case. Click inside to watch ProtectMarriage.com’s own political consultant Frank Schubert discuss his Prop 8 strategy – a clear counter to the Prop 8 proponents’ argument that releasing campaign documents should not occur. 
On Monday, Miss California state director Keith Lewis and K2 Productions filed a cross-complaint and demurrer in Los Angeles Superior Court against former Miss California, Carrie Prejean. In an interview with LGBT POV, Lewis talks about the lawsuit, Carrie, wanting her ill-gotten profits, more explicit pictures to come, the National Organization for Marriage, Carrie’s pastor Miles McPherson, and oh, yeah – Mr. Trump who taped promos for a Nov. 22 televised Miss California pageant. Click inside for the scoop. 
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