The Gaytheist Agenda

Here is a sampling of reactions to today’s decision from Judge Walker. The wingnuts are rending their garments, as expected. Pro-equality groups are celebrating.

 
National Organization for [Heterosexual-Only] Marriage (NOM):

……
“When a lower judge makes an unprecedented ruling, that totally overturns existing Supreme Court precedent, the normal thing for that judge to do is to stay his decision, and let the higher courts decide in an orderly fashion that respects the rule of law, if he’s right, or if he’s way off-base. Judge Walker’s ruling is more evidence he is not a neutral referee, he’s an activist on this issue. He doesn’t even want his ruling ignoring Supreme Court precedent and imposing gay marriage against the expressed wishes of the electorate appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Walker feels that that only the state politicians who were against Prop 8 have standing to appeal and the over 7 million California voters who supported Prop 8 shouldn’t be able to even present their position to a higher court. It’s outrageous. The People are supposed to be sovereign, not the politicians. This stay order will be appealed to the Ninth Circuit and if necessary to Justice Anthony Kennedy, and I think it is a tactical mistake on Judge Walker’s part to display his injudicious zeal–once again–before Kennedy’s eyes.”
…..

I guess in Brian Brown’s world a “neutral referee” would be a heterosexual Christian who thinks gay people don’t deserve the same rights everyone else has because God says so, and because of some nonsense about “complementary” naughty bits and spawning.

 
Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

…..
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the same-sex couples who will again be free to experience the joy and celebration of legally marrying in California. This is a remarkable moment, stemming from the landmark ruling declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional. That decision came down to a simple yet profound principle: People should be treated equally under the law. Lifting the stay puts that principle into practice. We thank the judge for his continuing sense of fairness and sound reasoning in this case.”
…..

 
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council:

…..
“Once again, Chief Judge Walker has disregarded the will of the people of California by interpreting the U.S. Constitution in a way that imposes his own personal beliefs. We support protectmarriage.com’s immediate appeal to the Ninth Circuit to stay this decision until the conclusion of the case.
…..

“Imposes his own personal beliefs”? Methinks the lady doth project too much, Tony.

 
Equality California:

…..
“Today we are overjoyed, not only for all of the committed couples who are finally able marry as well as for their family and friends, but also because a fundamental constitutional freedom has been restored. This case has definitively proven that extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples causes no harm and is in line with our country’s core values of equality and liberty. Today is a monumental step forward for our entire nation.
…..

 
Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link:

…..
“Judicial activism is definitely growing at a rapid speed,” said Bruce Hausknecht, CitizenLink’s judicial analyst. “Regardless of your stance on marriage, every American should be troubled at the recent attempts to redefine the Constitution, undermine marriage and create laws out of thin air.
…..

Hey, Bruce, we’re not the ones going around redefining state constitutions with discriminatory amendments.

 
Jennifer Pizer of Lambda Legal:

…..
“Although we’re disappointed that Judge Walker elected today to give the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals a chance to consider the issue of the stay, we are gratified that he has denied the request to put his historic ruling on hold during any appeals. He has applied the standard legal tests in the standard way and reached the only logical conclusions given the overwhelming evidence produced at trial: Nobody is harmed—especially not the backers of Prop 8—by restoring equality in marriage to California’s same-sex couples. Nobody suffers when everyone is treated equally. There’s enough equality to go around.
…..

 

 

My brilliant wife has updated the 1965 classic Perversion for Profit. Lock away the kiddies and those with heart conditions, then enjoy!

 

We’re constantly being told that so-called “traditional marriage” needs to be “protected” from things that might taint and threaten it. One of the biggest alleged threats to “traditional marriage” is committed same-sex couples, including those who have been together half a century or more.

How about these people, who have the right to marry yet have never had it questioned or challenged by any of the “marriage defenders”? How is it they don’t in any way threaten the “sanctity” of marriage or make it less “special”?

 
(If you like this video please to to YouTube and vote it up.)

 
It just goes to show where we rank in the grand scheme of things. Convicted serial killers, rapists, child molesters, and other brutal criminals have the “fundamental right” to marry. Loving, law-abiding same-sex couples are considered so heinous that it’s necessary to amend state constitutions to deny them that right.

There is something seriously wrong with our society.

 

Of course this fight is far from over, and a higher court could easily reverse the decision, but it’s still wonderful news.

…..
U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in favor of gay couples’ right to marry, the AP reports, challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the ground that it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage.

Same-sex unions have been legal in Massachusetts since 2004, but the state argued that DOMA discriminated against gay married couples by denying them access to the same benefits as heterosexual married couples.
…..
“The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment,” Tauro wrote in a ruling. “For that reason, the statute is invalid.”
…..
Advocacy groups embraced Tauro’s ruling Thursday. “We’ve maintained from the very beginning that there was absolutely no basis for this law treating one class of married Massachusetts couples different from everybody else and the court has recognized that,” said Gary Buseck, GLAD’s legal director.
…..
The lawsuit challenges only the portion of the law that prevents the federal government from affording pension and other benefits to same-sex couples.
…..

Update: Here is a PDF copy of the court’s decision, courtesy of Joe My God.

DOMA Decision

Gill-v-US

This calls for a small celebration!

 

There’s been a whole bunch of crazy going on lately…

 
Not to be outdone by Texas, the Montana GOP is now seeking to “keep homosexual acts illegal”. There’s only one problem–Teh Gay hasn’t been illegal in Montana since 1997. Here’s another fun fact–boffing animals is perfectly legal in Montana. A previous law banning it was declared unconstitutional. I wonder if the Montana GOP will reconsider banning Gay if we tell them we’re not after their sheep.

 
An anti-gay lay evangelist fought for and won the right to hand out Bibles and homophobic propaganda at the Twin Cities Pride Festival, which was held in a public park. So does that mean an atheist could hand out nontracts at any church picnic or other religious gathering in a public place?

 
Tea-Party darling Sharron Angle thinks rape is God’s Plan for women. Obviously any resulting pregnancy is a gift from Him and abortion is out of the question. Sharron Angle obviously worships one sadistic “god”.

 
Moving right along with the crazy ladies, one opines that having a “pro-life” vanity plate on her car would make her a target. But pro-choice people are not the ones who go around harassing women, shooting doctors and bombing clinics, are we? Methinks the lady doth project too much.

 
It’s another glorious day in the annals of “traditional” parenting. Danette Stark is charged with 18 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. She allegedly took photos of one of her daughter’s classmates and doctored them so it appeared the 13-year-old was engaged in bestiality. Then she allegedly passed those photos around at the girl’s school. Just good, clean, Utah family fun.

 
And, once again, Christians are exhibiting their true colors. They left their gang sign on a NC atheist billboard barely a week after it went up. Jesus would be so proud.

 

There’s really no other way to describe this bizarre, convoluted, hypocritical disaster of a platform.

We Believe in:
1. Strict adherence to the Declaration of Independence and U.S. and Texas Constitutions.
…..
3. Limiting the expanse of Government Power.
4. The sanctity of human life, created in the image of God, which should be protected from fertilization to natural death.

#4 already conflicts with #1, since it violates the Establishment Clause. As to #3, they only mean “government power” that might restrict the rights of RW Christians, as we will soon see.

9. A free enterprise society unencumbered by government interference or subsidies.

So y’all will be refusing those farm subsidies you get left and right?

Affirmative Action – Inasmuch as the Civil Rights Movement argued against using race as a factor in American life, affirmative action reintroduces race as a powerful force in American life. The Republican Party of Texas believes in equal opportunity for all American citizens without regard to race or gender. To that end, we oppose affirmative action because:…..

Here’s another instance where those who enjoy privilege pretend they’re being victimized by that which seeks to address inequality. What’s particularly underhanded is the way they act like they’re actually advocating for marginalized individuals when they demand affirmative action programs be eradicated.

Free Speech for the Clergy – We urge change of the Internal Revenue Code to allow a religious organization to address issues without fear of losing its tax-exempt status. We call for repeal of requirements that religious organizations send government any personal information about their contributors.

“Religious” organizations can now become legal money-laundering groups with no accountability to anybody. They can say and do whatever they want and use their power to sway elections without any repercussions whatsoever. Because they claim to speak for “god” they can be above any and all laws.

Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) – We oppose this act through which the federal government would coerce religious business owners and employees to violate their own beliefs and principles by affirming what they consider to be sinful and sexually immoral behavior.

Translation: Our chosen religious lifestyles take precedent over anything and everything. We should be able to use them against anybody and everybody for any reason we wish.

Remedies to Activist Judiciary – We call Congress and the President to use their constitutional powers to restrain activist judges. We urge Congress to adopt the Judicial Conduct Act of 2005 and remove judges who abuse their authority. Further, we urge Congress to withhold Supreme Court jurisdiction in cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and the Bill of Rights.

Activist Judge (noun) A judge who makes a decision with which Republicans disagree. “That Activist Judge gave homos rights. We need to get him off the bench.”

Ten Commandments – We oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit, or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols.

So the First Amendment means nothing in Texas, unless that “other religious symbols” means they’d be willing to allow a Neopagan group to erect a pentacle at City Hall, or a statue of the Buddha to sit in the public park. Somehow, though, I think they only mean Christian religious symbols.

Pledge of Allegiance – We support adoption of the Pledge Protection Act. We also demand that the National Motto “In God We Trust” and National Anthem be protected from legislative and judicial attack.

Isn’t it interesting how the people who always preach “tradition” are the ones who fight to prevent returning the Pledge to it’s traditional (original) form?

Flag Desecration – Any form of desecration of the American Flag is an act of disregard for our nation and its people and penalties should be established for such.

It’s telling that they don’t also call for people to actually follow the Flag Code. That would put a huge dent in their displays of “patriotism”.

Family and Defense of Marriage – We support the definition of marriage as a God–ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists. We call on the President and Congress to take immediate action to defend the sanctity of marriage. We are resolute that Congress exercise authority under the United States Constitution, and pass legislation withholding jurisdiction from the Federal Courts in cases involving family law, especially any changes in the definition of marriage. We further call on Congress to pass and the state legislatures to ratify a marriage amendment declaring that marriage in the United States shall consist of and be recognized only as the union of a natural man and a
natural woman….
…..

Translation: We demand our chosen religious lifestyle to be codified into law. We demand that our narrow definitions of marriage and family be forced on everyone.

Marriage Licenses – We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such.
…..
We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.
…..
Texas Sodomy Statutes – We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.

Translation: We truly hate gay people. We believe it should be legal to prosecute, attack, imprison and even kill gay people (if that’s what our “deeply held religious beliefs” dictate) with impunity.

We implore our Party to support, financially or with in-kind contributions, only those candidates who support protecting innocent human life.

Translation: “Innocent human life” means fetus. It doesn’t mean born human being who needs support due to poverty, disability or other reasons (they’re “burdens on society”). It most certainly doesn’t mean gay person (see above).

Harassing Pregnancy Centers – We urge legislation to protect pregnancy centers from harassing ordinances to require pregnancy centers to post signs in violation of their Constitutional rights. We further oppose any regulation of pregnancy centers in Texas which interfere with their private, charitable business.

Apparently requiring “crisis pregnancy centers” to exercise truth in advertising would violate their rights and constitute harassment. Meanwhile lunatics screaming obscenities and threats at women seeking reproductive health services are merely engaging in their constitutionally protected right to free speech.

Protection of Women’s Health – Because of the personal and social pain caused by abortions, we call for the protection of both women and their unborn children from pressure for unwanted abortions. We commend the Texas Legislature for the passage of the Woman’s Right to Know Act, a law requiring abortion providers, prior to an abortion, to provide women full knowledge of the physical and psychological risks of abortion, the characteristics of the unborn child, and abortion alternatives……

Translation: Women are too stupid to know whats best for them so they need the state to come in and tell them that they shouldn’t have that abortion they want.

Parental Rights and Responsibilities – We believe that parental rights and responsibilities are inherent and protected by the United States Constitution. Local, state, or federal laws, regulations, or policies shall not be enacted that limit parental rights in the rearing of both biological and adopted children. The Party supports the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act to amend this statute and restore the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children. We unequivocally oppose the United States Senate ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which would transfer jurisdiction over parental rights and responsibilities to international bureaucracies……

Translation: Children are the property of their parents and have no rights of their own. We’ll do whatever the hell we want with our kids and no freaking foreigners are going to tell us otherwise.

Americans with Disabilities Act – We support amendment of the Americans with Disabilities Act to exclude from its definition those persons with infectious diseases, substance addiction, learning disabilities, behavior disorders, homosexual practices and mental stress, thereby reducing abuse of the Act.

Translation: If you’re not in a wheelchair you ain’t disabled. Get to work or go die in the streets as Jesus intended. (Of course being gay isn’t and never has been considered a disability under the ADA. I’m sure they just threw that one in there to further stigmatize LGBT Americans.)

Controversial Theories – Realizing that conflict and debate is a proven learning tool in classrooms, we support objective teaching and equal treatment of all sides of scientific theories, including evolution, Intelligent Design, global warming, political philosophies, and others. We believe theories of life origins and environmental theories should be taught as challengeable scientific theory subject to change as new data is produced, not scientific law. Teachers and students should be able to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these theories openly and without fear of retribution or discrimination of any kind.

“Intelligent Design” is, of course, Christian Creationism wrapped in a sciencey sounding name. Furthermore, while they claim to be all about debating and teaching the controversy, you won’t see them introducing Babylonian, African or Egyptian creation myths. “Teach the controversy” is merely a ploy to push Christianity into the classroom.

Pledge of Allegiance in Public Schools – Students should be led daily in the Pledge of Allegiance, the Texas Pledge, the National Anthem, and be taught flag etiquette and patriotic songs to ensure that the loyal and patriotic spirit of Texan and American heritage is preserved.

Our children must be properly indoctrinated on a daily basis if they’re to become loyal, credulous little minions.

Sex Education – We recognize parental responsibility and authority regarding sex education. We support policies that mandate parental notification and consent before any sex education program is presented to their child. Parents must be given an opportunity to review the material prior to giving their consent. We oppose any sex education other than abstinence until heterosexual marriage.

What happened to “objective teaching and equal treatment of all sides”?

Traditional Principles in Education – We support school subjects with emphasis on Judeo-Christian principles (including the Ten Commandments) upon which America was founded and which form the basis of America’s legal, political and economic systems. We support curricula that are heavily weighted on original founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and Founders’ writings.

Revisionism at its finest. The government of the United States is in no way based on Christianity. None of the founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution) refer to Jesus, God, the Bible or any of this “Christian Nation” twaddle we’re constantly being told to swallow. The Founding Fathers were not evangelical fundamentalist Christianists.

Equality of All Citizens – We deplore all discrimination. We also deplore forced sensitivity training and urge repeal of any mandate requiring it. We urge immediate repeal of the Hate Crimes Law. Until the Hate Crimes Law is totally repealed, we urge the Legislature to immediately remove the education curriculum mandate and the sexual orientation category in said Law.

Notice the only portion of hate-crimes legislation they object to is the portion that protects people based on their sexual orientation. They aren’t asking that people no longer be protected from crimes based on religion, for example. It’s not hate crime laws in general they object to, only the ones that protect homos.

Child Abuse – We recognize the family as a sovereign authority over which the state has no right to intervene, unless a parent or legal guardian has committed criminal abuse. Child abusers should be severely prosecuted. However, we oppose actions of social agencies to classify traditional methods of discipline as child abuse. We support enactment of a homicide-by-abuse statute that provides punishment for abusing a child to death without intent of killing……

Translation: Godly traditional discipline like beating children with sticks or PVC pipes should not be considered child abuse unless the child dies.

Addictive Behaviors – We encourage state and federal governments to severely prosecute illegal dealers and manufacturers of addictive substances and pornography. We urge Congress to discourage export of such substances into our country. Faith based rehabilitation programs should be emphasized. We oppose legalization of illegal drugs. We support an effective abstinence-based educational program for children. We oppose any “needle exchange” program. We urge vigorous enforcement of our DUI laws.

“Faith based” treatment programs are generally ineffective, and it’s highly inappropriate to have the government promote them in any way. “Abstinence-only” sex education promotes ignorance and leads to increases in teen pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDS. Needle exchange programs, on the other hand, actually decrease the spread of infection and reduce risks so of course they oppose them.

Minimum Wage – We believe the Minimum Wage Law should be repealed.

Translation: If we want to pay people $2/hour to slave in the factories so our CEOs can make even more exorbitant salaries that’s our prerogative. Of course we’ll then turn around and wonder why so many lazy bums are standing in line at the soup kitchens….

Legal Immigration – One nation, one flag, one language, one loyalty;
….
Enforcement of Immigration Law – We support strict and immediate enforcement of all immigration laws.

 
Texas Republicans promote freedom and prosperity–for white, heterosexual, male Christians. Everyone else is pretty much screwed.

 

A little bit of this and that from around the Intertubes, with a hefty dose of snark.

 
A recent study found that children raised by lesbian couples have better outcomes in various areas than children raised in other family environments. Needless to say all of the RRRWers came out in droves to claim the study was biased, flawed, and just plain wrong, because it didn’t support their notion that parents must have both a dingle and a dongle for children to be raised properly.

 
Another group of Christians proved their love and morality by punishing a girl who was molested by her stepfather. Mind you, they claim she got off easy because they only humiliated her in front of the entire congregation rather than stoning her like the Bible commanded….

 
Zack Ford gets death threats from teabaggers–you know, those people who claim they’re just protesting high taxes (don’t you dare call them racist, because they aren’t, Blanche, they aren’t!) and SocialistCommieNaziMarxists.

 
The Prop 8 Trial closing arguments were a few days ago. The proH8 side can be summed up as thus:

Heterosexuals are terribly impetuous. They engage in all manner of irresponsible sexual behavior and reproduction. The state needs to “channel” them into marriage in order to control them and their behavior. Since gay people cannot unintentionally impregnate one another during heated moments in the back seat of a car, cannot knock up a mistress with whom they’re Hiking the Appalachian Trail, etc, they don’t have any need for marriage nor does the state have any interest in granting them that right. Marriage is not about love, committing one’s life to another person, protecting the rights of a family, etc. Marriage is solely about breeding.

I rather wonder why heterosexuals have so many dating Websites, books about finding and keeping the perfect mate, romance novels, etc. If marriage is solely about breeding and raising the resulting offspring, then they shouldn’t care about meeting the “perfect” soulmate, love, or any of that. They should be consulting physicians and biochemists for testing so they can determine who they’re most biologically/genetically compatible with. It doesn’t matter if they detest one another, because it’s not about them and their selfish desires–it’s all about the children. In fact, they should take sex out of the equation altogether and let science create their perfect offspring for them–since producing spawn is the only purpose of marriage in their world.

 
But wait, there’s more: They want the state to stop recognizing the 18,000 marriages performed in the all-too-brief window when marriage equality was a reality. My wife and I have been married nearly two years now, as have thousands of other couples who fought long and hard for their rights. Nonetheless the so-called “marriage defenders” want to forcibly make us legal strangers in our own state. More of that Christian love, apparently. (Image via)

 
Finally, Alvin McEwen reminds us why it’s critical that we not excuse bigotry masquerading as “deeply held religious beliefs”. While disturbing, this is an excellent primer on the hatred and intolerance LGBT people are faced with every day. (If you’re up for more intensive reading check out Angie Jackson’s most excellent 10-part expose on homophobia.)

 
P.S. You may be aware that 8: The Mormon Proposition was officially released into theaters yesterday, and it’s also available via OnDemand and for pre-order on DVD. We’re planning on watching it tonight via OnDemand (though we’ll be getting the DVD as well). Tissues are on hand…

 

It turns out a post my wife made caused some bigots so much consternation it became part of a court case. Once again those who spent a great deal of time and money trying to strip innocent people of their rights went running to the courts demanding the right to do so in complete anonymity. The people who keep insisting they’re proudly defending “tradition” and “moral values” are always the first to beg the activist judges they normally deride to give them white hoods under which they can hide their dirty deeds.

But once again the bullies’ attempt to pretend they’re the victims failed. Miserably. My lovely wife has all the details.

 

Today is the National Day of Reason. It’s pretty simple, actually.

The purpose of the National Day of Reason is to celebrate reason—a concept all Americans can support—and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government intrusion into the private sphere of worship.

That’s something I should think everyone should be able to get behind, whether religious or not. On the face of it, the mixing of religion and government might seem harmless or even beneficial. But you have to ask yourself whose religion will be promoted? Which sect? Which particular beliefs? To which extent will they be enforced and what will be the penalties for those who don’t obey? And how is any of this fair to those believers whose beliefs are under-represented or not represented (to say nothing of non-believers who obviously get the shaft under such a system). Truly, the only fair and safe way is to keep government secular–completely neutral to religion.

 
Of course you may have heard about that National Day of Prayer thingie. It was recently declared unconstitutional, and rightly so. Nonetheless our government still chose to use our tax dollars to promote sectarian religion, since the ruling is not official “until all appeals are exhausted”. Take a look at the photo in the linked story and at the official National Day of Prayer Website. How can anybody even attempt to claim there isn’t a particular religion being promoted? They’re blatantly promoting Christianity. So much for the First Amendment.

Why is it the people who rant loudest about “big government” and go apoplectic when they feel the government is “telling them what to do” are always the ones behind things like the National Day of Prayer? Religion and faith are deeply personal matters so how is it in any way the government’s place to tell a person if they should pray, to whom they should pray, when they should pray, etc? Furthermore if a person is devoutly religious then, ostensibly, they’re praying routinely and certainly don’t need a taxpayer-funded government nudge to do so.

 
The National Day of Prayer is good for one thing only–pushing Christianity on the nation at the expense of the taxpayers. People might claim they’re promoting good by talking to their hands but they’d be doing far more by putting those hands to work. Of course that would take actual time and effort, which is why it’s typically eschewed for the easy fix that makes people feel good and pious, while doing absolutely nothing.

 

The 2010 Blog Against Theocracy is now up!

This blogswarm is dedicated to Separation of Church and State. Click the link to read more than a dozen excellent posts from around the blogosphere.