Homophobes at the Vatican = "Real Victims"?

Seriously?:

Last month the Catholic Church voiced strong opposition to a UN Human Rights Council resolution naming the protection of LGBT persons against discrimination and violence an official human right. The reason, according to Vatican representative Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, is that ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, and transgender persons would make those who oppose such human rights the real victims.

During a debate on the resolution (officially called the “Joint Statement on Ending Violence and Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”) Tomasi unequivocally stated that the Council, the UN, and other state bodies cannot base law on sexual orientation since “the ordinary meaning of ‘sexual orientation’ refers to feeling and thoughts, not to behavior.”

In clarifying this, he stressed that if sexual orientation were to carry a behavioral component it would be a false premise, because such a definition would be contrary to natural law morality. According to this logic, the recognition of LGBT identity would “undermine his/her ontological dignity”—meaning that since gays, lesbians, and transgender persons are by their nature “intrinsically morally disordered,” claiming sexual orientation identity is, by nature, false.

The Vatican should just follow their idiocy with a proclamation that the priests who rape children are victims because their privacy was violated. It goes without saying that the leaders in the Catholic church have a martyrdom complex, and they need to get over themselves. Read the rest of this post...

Top five moments from the GOP House's latest "marriage" hearing

Here's the first one, courtesy of Equality Matters:

REP. CONYERS SAYS “PERSONAL ANIMOSITY” MOTIVATES THE HEARING, QUESTIONS DOJ’S ABSENCE

During his introductory remarks, Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) astutely pointed out that, at a hearing intended to investigate the Justice Department’s decision not to defend DOMA, Republicans had not invited a representative from the Justice Department itself. Instead, they chose to invite Gallagher, who has no legal background and admits to being unqualified to discuss legal issues later in the hearing:

Read the rest of this post...

Why didn't Republicans show up for DOMA hearing?

If the GOP is willing to waste tax dollars they claim is in such short supply it is time to make grandma eat cat food then why didn't they show up for the third hearing on same-sex marriage?

Ian Thompson, who’s gay and legislative representative for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the lack of presence by anti-gay lawmakers was telling that the they were uncomfortable with their positions.

“The thing that was particularly striking to me was the fact that so few DOMA supporters on the committee actually were in attendance,” Thompson said. “So, from my perspective, if the hearing was intended to demonstrate the support of the House of Representatives for DOMA, from the attendance alone, it was a complete and total flop.”

Also, it should be noted that no Justice Department officials were invited by Republicans to provide testimony as to the legitimacy of Obama not defending DOMA.

Democratic lawmakers’ criticisms during the hearing weren’t limited to Gallagher. Conyers questioned Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), chair of the subcommittee, why no witnesses from the Justice Department were present to defend Obama’s decision to drop defense of DOMA.

Hate debutante and recent recipient of the "Anita Bryant award," Maggie Gallagher was there, of course, to fail to answer tough questions about why she and "The National Organization of Marriage (NOM)" think they have a valid position on gay marriage.

If Republicans are willing to waste resources to have hearing after hearing over gay marriage, the very least they could do is show up. Read the rest of this post...

Rick Santorum steals Langston Hughes phrase

It isn't enough for homophobe Rick Santorum to have a Google problem, thanks to gay hero Dan Savage, but now it seems he has a slogan problem.

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum announced Wednesday that he was forming an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run. His slogan was, and remains on his website, "Fighting to make America America again."

But it might not be for long. Santorum, a well-known conservative, backed away from the phrase -- saying he had "nothing to do" with it -- after being told it derives from a poem by Langston Hughes.

Hughes, who died in 1967, was an African American Communist who advocated for civil rights and social justice. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes may well have been gay; some of his poems were homoerotic and others defended gay rights.

He can't come up with a slogan that doesn't celebrate our community? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Rick, but I hope you give credit where it is due! Read the rest of this post...

Nate Silver finds "Gay Marriage Opponents Now in Minority"

Remember how last October the President said of marriage equality, "The one thing I will say today is I think it’s pretty clear where the trendlines are going."

Well, today, we get further confirmation from Nate Silver that the trendline is, in fact, moving in the right direction on marriage equality:

A poll from CNN this week is the latest to show a majority of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage, with 51 percent saying that marriages between gay and lesbian couples “should be recognized by the law as valid” and 47 percent opposed.

This is the fourth credible poll in the past eight months to show an outright majority of Americans in favor of gay marriage. That represents quite a lot of progress for supporters of same-sex marriage. Prior to last year, there had been just one survey — a Washington Post poll conducted in April 2009 — to show support for gay marriage as the plurality position, and none had shown it with a majority.

As we noted last August, support for gay marriage seems to have been increasing at an accelerated pace over the past couple of years. Below is an update to the graph from last year’s article, which charts the trend from all available public polls on same-sex marriage going back to 1988.

The trendline — derived through regression smoothing — estimates that about 50 percent of Americans now support gay marriage and that 46 percent are opposed, with a small percentage of voters undecided. By contrast, at this time two years ago, the numbers were 42 percent in favor and 53 percent opposed, according to the same technique.

As with much of what Nate writes, read the whole past. He provides some challenges for us and has a warning for anti-gay GOPers.

We are heading in the right direction. That's why Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown and their fellow homophobes are so frantic. Read the rest of this post...

A serious campaign for same-sex marriage in NY, led by Governor Cuomo

It looks like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is using his political capital to pass same-sex marriage. A new campaign organization, New Yorkers United for Marriage, will be launched today -- and it's led by consultants close to the Governor. He's putting his brand on this effort. And, Cuomo plays to win. Michael Barbaro at the NY Times has the scoop:

But Mr. Cuomo, who has vowed a personal push to win passage of same-sex marriage this year, has instructed his staff members to oversee the campaign to ensure it runs smoothly.

In weekly meetings over the past four weeks, at the governor’s office in Manhattan, high-level aides to Mr. Cuomo have repeatedly pressed advocates to communicate to lawmakers and the public with one voice.

“If this gets done, it’s through coordination,” the governor’s top aide, Steve M. Cohen, has told the advocates, according to those who have participated in the Friday afternoon sessions.

To that end, four influential gay rights groups — the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry and Marriage Equality New York — will form a single organization called New Yorkers United for Marriage.

The coalition is hiring Jennifer Cunningham, a veteran labor and media strategist who is close to the governor and has advised his campaigns. Ms. Cunningham and her firm, SKD Knickerbocker, will oversee the coalition’s media campaign and political strategy.

This is serious.

First, getting the groups to sacrifice their own brands for the greater cause is a critical step. We know how advocacy groups spend a lot of time trying to insure they can take credit -- or avoid blame. But, in New York, there will be one campaign with one goal: Passing marriage. I suspect that if any of the groups try to push their own agenda or brand, they'll be smacked back into line by the Cuomo crew.

Then, the Governor's team is basically running the show. They know how to do this kind of campaign. This is going to be an intense, sophisticated effort. The Governor is making it clear that passing same-sex marriage is important to him. And, he is the most powerful politician in New York, by far.

I'm impressed. It sounds like this will happen fast. So, get ready. Read the rest of this post...