The Gaytheist Agenda

The anti-gay bigots screamed, tantrumed and rended their garments for the longest time before the Matthew Shepard Act passed. The notion that people might suffer a stiffer penalty for targeting a person because of their gender, sexual orientation (be it heterosexual or homosexual), gender identity (transgender or cisgender) or disability appears to conflict with the “religious values” of some. In fact, there’s going to be a rally over it on November 16th.

Some people are so agitated over the Matthew Shepard Act that they’re going to hold a “Rally for Religious Freedom”.

The Rally for Religious Freedom is meant to raise alarm over the nation’s new Federal “hate crimes” law just passed by Congress and signed last month by President Obama. The intention of the rally is to assert the freedom of speech of ministers and Christians in general to declare biblical truth in the public square.

They’ve been doing that for years. Do we really need another rally over this nonsense? No pastor has ever been arrested for preaching the Bible and none ever will. The Matthew Shepard Act is about violent actions, not speech. When will these nitwits get that through their heads?

Ministers from various denominations will preach from the Bible, especially those parts that speak to the sin of homosexuality. This will serve to reassure ministers and Christians that they are free to do the same.

In other words, this rally is just another excuse to engage in anti-gay speech and grandstanding while pretending “Christians” are being persecuted. Par for the course. But here’s a little pre-rally experiment. I’ll post those Clobber Verses right here.

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Deuteronomy 23:17 : “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.”

Romans 1:26-27: “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

1 Corithians 6:9-10: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [makakoi], nor abusers of themselves with mankind [arsenokoitai] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

1 Timothy 1:9-10: “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”

Jude 1:7: “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.”

I won’t be holding my breath waiting for the law enforcement officials to knock down my door to arrest me for a Hate Crime. Despite what the whiny bigots like to claim, the law does not address speech/words. It addresses actions. They could stand and read the entire Bible if they wanted and nothing would happen to them under the MSA. But that fact won’t stop them from pretending they’ve been thrown in a gulag and sentenced to bread crusts and tainted water for the rest of their lives by this law.

As to the bigots and their little rally, are they really going to just stand around reading anti-gay Bible verses and whining about how “persecuted” they are because Teh Gays now have hate crimes protections just like they do? Or are they going to really push things to the limit–even engage in violent acts against LGBT people–so they can really play the martyrs? Only time will tell. One thing I hope is that there are plenty of video cameras at this event so we don’t have to take their word for anything, because they are notorious liars.

 

The lying, whining shills of the RRRW are still gnashing their teeth over HR 1913/ S. 909, the proposed Hate Crimes Bill. The latest from WorldNutDaily:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says a homosexual activist who is attacked following a Christian minister’s sermon about homosexuality would be protected by a proposed new federal law, but a minister attacked by a homosexual wouldn’t be.
…..
“This is the question,” Limbaugh said. “[Sen.] Jeff Sessions [R-Ala.] presents a hypothetical where a minister gives a sermon, quotes the Bible about homosexuality and is thereafter attacked … by a gay activist because of what the minister said about his religious beliefs and what Scripture says about homosexuality. Is the minister protected?”

No, said Holder.
…..
Continued Limbaugh, “In other words: ministers and whites are not covered by the hate crime statute because we’re talking about crimes that have a historic basis, groups who have been targeted for violence as a result of their skin color, sexual orientation. So hate crimes are reserved exclusively for blacks and homosexuals. Everybody else can get to the back of the bus on this one. ”
…..

The cries of White Christians won’t be protected by this proposed legislation OMG we’re so persecuted are running rampant in the RRRW blogosphere. Either they’re buying the bull or they’re perpetuating the lies.

White people and Christians don’t need to be protected by the proposed legislation because they are already protected under existing federal and state hate crimes legislation, and have been for many years. This is something that the bigots conveniently ignore, and even blatantly deny, in their ceaseless tirades against hate-crimes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The portion of Section 245 of Title 18 which is primarily enforced by the Criminal Section makes it unlawful to willfully injure, intimidate or interfere with any person, or to attempt to do so, by force or threat of force, because of that other person’s race, color, religion or national origin and because of his/her activity as one of the following:
o A student at or applicant for admission to a public school or public college

o A participant in a benefit, service, privilege, program, facility or activity provided or administered by a state or local government

o An applicant for private or state employment; a private or state employee; a member or applicant for membership in a labor organization or hiring hall; or an applicant for employment through an employment agency, labor organization or hiring hall

…..

o A patron of a public accommodation or place of exhibition or entertainment, including hotels, motels, restaurants, lunchrooms, bars, gas stations, theaters, concert halls, sports arenas or stadiums.

This statute also prohibits wilful interference, by force or threat of force, with a person because he/she is or was participating in, or aiding or encouraging other persons to participate in any of the benefits or activities listed above without discrimination as to race, color, religion, or national origin.

The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any.
…..

Nearly every state provides separate hate-crimes statutes that protect on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity and/or a variety of other classifications. Some states go so far as to make interference with religious services a criminal act. Religion and religious individuals are very well protected in this nation.

So a Christian would be protected if he was, hypothetically, beaten by a gay man who was screaming “I hate Christians”. He would be protected because there are already hate-crimes laws on both the federal level and in most states that protect people on the basis of their religion. Likewise a Christian would be protected if his attacker were a transgendered man, a transgendered woman, a Satanist, a lesbian atheist vegetarian or even another Christian. Furthermore if a white person were attacked for being white they’d be protected under already existing legislation.

HR 1913/S. 909 does not give LGBT people special rights or elevate them above anybody. It adds sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the classes already protected by hate-crimes legislation. Furthermore sexual orientation doesn’t mean only gay/lesbian/bisexual individuals are protected by the law, nor does gender identity mean that only transgender individuals would be. Everybody would–including straight people and those who identify with the genitals they were born with.

Really the bigots should be screaming for this bill to be passed because it protects them as much as it protects the LGBT people they loathe so much. Those millions of straight people being persecuted by LGBTs would finally have the protection they’ve been lacking for so long.

 
Now repeat after me so it’s clear. If you’re dealing with a bigot this is a handy rebuttal. If you are a bigot stop pretending you’re a victim when you aren’t.

Christians and white people are already protected by federal hate-crimes legislation.

Christians and white people are already protected by federal hate-crimes legislation.

Christians and white people are already protected by federal hate-crimes legislation.

 
Related posts:
Traditional Values Coalition Enters Video Age to Spew Lies and Intolerance.

Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes Highest Since 1999.

 

I like her more every day.

STATEMENT FROM MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION REGARDING PEREZHILTON.COM

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was surprised to learn this morning via media reports that blogger Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira) has announced he plans to donate, to our organization, the proceeds of a lawsuit he is contesting over an altercation which has been widely reported in recent days.

We had no advance notice or contact from Mr. Hilton or his representatives regarding this proposal, nor any communication since he posted this plan to his website.

We do not know the details of the lawsuit, whether it has been filed, the nature of his claims or the likely outcome. But because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton’s admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner.

We very much appreciate the generosity of the offer to support our continuing work to memorialize Matthew through activism in defense of sexual minorities and in favor of understanding, compassion, and acceptance. But because so much of our work involves education to reduce the use of hateful language against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, or those so perceived, it would be inappropriate for us to benefit financially from circumstances in which such a verbal attack was involved.

While we applaud Mr. Hilton’s apology to the LGBT community and their loved ones for his use of such a slur, we also feel compelled to point out that use of epithets can often lead to physical violence, as it appears it may have in this case, and that the Matthew Shepard Foundation has worked for more than 10 years to bring to people’s attention the consequences of hateful or intolerant language.

Judy Shepard
Chair, MSF Governing Board

 
In case anyone is unaware of the latest Perez Hilton shenanigans:

…..
Today in Los Angeles, Hilton filed a $25,000 lawsuit against band manager Polo Molina. He’s seeking unspecified damages in excess of $25,000 for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. According to The Associated Press, the suit claims Molina attacked Hilton because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas’ new album.

Tuesday, Hilton issued an apology — of sorts — for calling Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am a “faggot” but defended his use of the anti-gay slur.

“The other night in Toronto, after feeling physically threatened by a verbally abusive will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, I chose the most hurtful word I know to hurl at him,” he wrote on his blog. “I was in an out-of-the ordinary situation and used a word that I would not utter under normal circumstances. My intention — however misguided it may have been — was to stand up for myself and tell this belligerent man that I had enough of his badgering and was not going to continue to let him berate and intimidate me.”

Monsieur Drama Queen will have to find some other way to assuage his guilt. There are plenty of groups out there that don’t care who or where they get their money from–groups that have no dignity or standards so long as the cash keeps flowing. In fact, I hear NOM is desperate for money right about now.

 

Despite the hideous lies and fearmongering of the RRRW, including outrageous claims that Matthew Shepard’s death was “a hoax”, the House of Representatives passed HR 1913 by a wide margin!

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Mathew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 249 to 175 vote. A total of 231 Democrats voted in favor of the legislation with 17 voting against, while 18 Republicans voted for the legislation with 158 voting against, according to Stonewall Democrats.

…..
This description comes from HRC:

During debate on hate crimes legislation taking place today on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) claimed that Matthew Shepard’s death was “a hoax.” While Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard looked on from the House gallery, Foxx, who managed the floor for those opposed to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, spoke saying, “the hate crimes bill that’s called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay. This – the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

You have to love those Republicans and their “family values”. Nothing screams “morality” like supporting violent crimes against people just because you think they’re icky. Watch some of their antics yourself, courtesy of Think Progress.

The bill now goes to the Senate where it is anticipated voting will be close. Hopefully, though, the Senate will do the right thing, as the House did.

 

Related posts:

The Hate Crimes Bill, Critical and Long Overdue.

Hate Crimes Bill Gets OK By House Judiciary Committee. RRRW Goes Berserk.

 

It has been more than ten years since Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die on a cold Wyoming night because he was gay. Since then his mother has been fighting for LGBT people to be afforded hate crimes protection.

According to FBI data, in 2007 there were 1,512 hate crimes against LGBT people. However since many cities and states don’t collect such data and even actively discourage reporting the figures are certainly much higher. Furthermore given that passage of anti-gay legislation leads to surges in anti-gay hate crimes, the figures for 2008 will undoubtedly be higher. In one CA county alone (Santa Clara) , hate crimes against gay people went from 15% in 2007 to 56% in 2008, which the DA attributed to the passage of Proposition 8.

2008 saw several high profile anti-gay hate crimes including:
*Angie Zapata, who was brutally beaten to death with a fire extinguisher when her partner discovered she was transgender.
*Lawrence King, a gay boy who was gender non-conforming, shot and killed in school by a classmate.
*Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay went to a church party and stopped at a bar afterward. They were viciously beaten by three men who hurled anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs at them. They’re just two of the many non-LGBT victims of homophobia. (Jose and Romel are brothers.) Anti-gay bigotry harms everybody, not just gay people.

 


 
Of course the usual suspects are feeding their minions, and the public, vile lies about hate crimes protections for LGBT individuals. Take this propaganda piece from Matt Barber, mouthpiece for Liberty Counsel, the legal group dedicated to protecting the “right” of the RRRW to run roughshod over the nation.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) have quietly re-introduced the federal thought crimes bill, H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. As has proved to be true in both Europe and Canada, this Orwellian piece of legislation is the direct precursor to freedom killing and speech chilling “hate speech” laws. It represents a thinly veiled effort to ultimately silence – under penalty of law – morally, medically and biblically based opposition to the homosexual lifestyle. The bill is expected to be marked up Wednesday before the full House Judiciary Committee.

Notice Barber makes these outlandish proclamations about the law and expects you to take him at his word. He calls it a “thought crimes” law when it is in actuality a “hate crimes” bill. He goes on to proclaim it will lead to the Bible and Biblical beliefs being outlawed. That’s all pure fabrication of course as there is nothing remotely of the kind in the law. Of course I don’t expect you to take me at my word. Read the bill yourself.

According to the latest FBI statistics, in 2007 there were about 1.4 million violent crimes committed in the U.S. Of those, only 1,512 were reported as “hate crimes” motivated by “sexual orientation” bias. Over two thirds of those were allegations of “hateful” words, touching, intimidation, pushing or shoving. There were a mere 247 cases of aggravated assault (including five deaths) allegedly motivated by “sexual orientation” bias nationwide. In each case, where appropriate, offenders were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and victims were afforded the exact same justice guaranteed every other American.

Let me play the Matt Barber’s game so you can see how vile it really is:
According to the latest FBI statistics, in 2007 there were about 1.4 million violent crimes in the US. Of those, only 1,628 were reported as “hate crimes” motivated by “anti-religious” bias. And a tiny fraction of those alleged victims–137 individuals–were “Christians”. They should really stop whining.

Why do they always try to make it a numbers game? Do they realize how depraved and heartless they sound by saying “only” so many GLBT people got brutally attacked/killed last year so they don’t warrant attention or protection?

BTW, when Matt Barber claims LGBT people are afforded the exact same protection every other American is afforded he fails to mention that he is afforded hate crimes protection based on the fact that he is a Christian. Funny how he always fails to mention that. The federal government and nearly every state in the union affords people hate crimes protection based on religion, race, ethnicity, disability and a host of other attributes. And if Barber considers hate crimes legislation “thought crimes laws” why isn’t he screaming for them all to be eradicated?

So, if proponents of H.R. 1913 are neither justified nor motivated by an actual need for the bill – as clearly demonstrated – then what drives them? The answer is twofold. First, passage of “hate crimes” legislation would place the behaviorally driven and fluid concepts of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” on an equal footing with legitimate, neutral and immutable “suspect class” characteristics such as skin color or a person’s true gender.

What about that protected “religion” class? People join and leave religions every day–Christians capitalize on this fact by proselytizing and sending out missionaries. People gain and lose faith in god(s) from minute to minute. If anything is fluid it is faith and religion. Religion is clearly a choice, and not in any way immutable, yet it is protected by federal and state hate crimes statutes.

Or is Matt Barber suggesting religious individuals, by his own criteria and logic, not have hate crimes protections?

 


 

This creates both a sociopolitical and legal environment wherein traditional sexual morality officially becomes the new racism. Those who publically express medical, moral or religious opposition to the homosexual lifestyle are tagged by the government as “homophobic bigots” to be treated no differently by law enforcement, the courts or larger society than the KKK or neo-Nazis.

Is Matt as obtuse as he seems to be or is he just hoping his audience will buy that insanity? “The Government” doesn’t care if you want to call gay people perverts, say we’re disgusting and proclaim that we deserve to burn in hell forever compared to morally pure Christians. After all the KKK and Neo-Nazis haven’t been shut down and still spew their hateful rhetoric as much as they want to. Rest assured, anti-gay bigots, you’ll still be able to preach all the homo-hating bile you want to even when the hate crimes bill is passed. All the hate crimes legislation will do is provide appropriate punishment if you commit a violent crime against one of us. If you can’t determine the difference between saying mean things and violent crime go back to school–real school–and get learned.

 
HRC has a new site, Fight Hate Now, dedicated to making H.R. 1913 a reality. Of special importance is their refutation of the myths and lies about the hate crimes bill. Fight Hate Now is a perfect companion to End the Lies, another HRC site dedicated to exposing RRRW anti-gay propaganda for what it is.

Also, Mike Tidmus deftly debunks the ever popular “They’ll put pastors in prison” lie. Be sure to read it so you can refute the lying liars who try to spread it.

 
This is not about special rights for LGBT citizens. It is about LGBT citizens having the same hate crimes protections people have based on race, religion, ethnicity, disability and other characteristics. It is about fairness and equality under the law.

Please take action. Send e-mails, and letters to your elected officials. Ask your friends and family to do the same. Make sure the lies and propaganda of the RRRW don’t win yet again. Make sure H.R. 1913 passes for the good of everybody.