Can God turn gays straight?

British PM Stands by Gays, Speaks Out on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

At a reception yesterday at 10 Downing Street for LGBT supporters, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke out about the repeal of the military gay ban in the United States.

Said Brown to those gathered: "You are the pride of our country and we thank you very much. We know this debate continues in America today. I would say to people who still favour ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’, look at our experience in Britain."

He promised to never give up on gay rights: "Tonight we reaffirm our commitment, my commitment, the commitment of the Government to standing with you all until the full range of gay rights are achieved. When we started as a Government on this journey, people said the dreams that we had together were impossible.... as long as Harriet (Harman) and I and other ministers are able to work with you, I promise you that nobody ever need walk the road to equality alone."

Other Related News

Study shows lifting of military bans not disruptive in other nations

Foreign countries that lifted their military gay bans without much advance notice did not see any negative impact on troops, a new study from the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has found. The conclusion of the report, "Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer," is at odds with the stance of U.S. military officials, who claim a process of a year or longer is needed to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Military-ban repeal to be introduced in Senate by Lieberman

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., is the chief sponsor of a bill set for introduction next week that would end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The legislation would "enable patriotic gay Americans to defend our national security and our founding values of freedom and opportunity," Lieberman said

Explained: The Clusterfuck That Lost the Proposition 8 Campaign

During testimony, filings, and deliberations in the Proposition 8 trial, an unasked question reverberated through the federal courthouse in San Francisco: Why, exactly, are we here?
A step outside into the reality of still separate and unequal California provided an answer: An inept anti-Prop. 8 campaign fumbled what should have been a winning campaign. This quote from Rolling Stone was representative of anecdotes, quotations, blog posts and other accounts describing what a rotten organization the umbrella group Equality California oversaw: "The gay rights groups that tried to stop (Proposition 8) ran a lousy campaign."

There hadn't been an engaging roadmap to this sad business, however, until Monday, when Equality California -- set up in 2005 as an umbrella organization for efforts to confront an anticipated anti-gay marriage initiative campaign -- filed a legal brief in response to a request for campaign strategy records. To read Equality California's Geoff Kors describe in the filing the group's strategy formulation, it's possible to imagine a gymnasium full of people engaged in an unrefereed shouting match, in lieu of actually playing a basketball game.

Postgame analysts said the anti Prop. 8 campaign excluded leaders of top gay lesbian groups, thus depriving the campaign of door-knockers. Meanwhile the campaign's phone-banking effort didn't ramp up until the month before the vote.

According to Monday's filing, however, what the campaign didn't have in foot soldiers and phone volunteers, it made up for in consultants. The anti Prop. 8 campaign seems to have been a full-employment act for West Coast political hacks.

Equality for All paid numerous consultants to provide advice and technical supportfor a wide array of campaign activity. These consultants included: political consultants who provided overall advice on campaign strategy; political consultants who provided advice about specific campaign strategies (such as reaching out to certain targeted voter groups); messaging consultants in a variety of media; messaging consultants who conducted polling and focus group research; and technology consultants who, for example, created and managed Equality for All's website and social media presence.

According to Rolling Stone, the campaign neglected to harvest political bounty even as it grew up beneath Prop. 8 opponents' toes.

Until the final days, the campaign failed to take advantage of the backing of every major newspaper in the state, as well as that of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former President Bill Clinton and future President Barack Obama. In one bizarre episode, an outside consultant was forced to "jackhammer" the campaign leadership simply to convince them to make use of a robo-call from Bill Clinton.

Judging from the multi-headed hydra-style decision-making process described in Monday's filing, it's a wonder the consultants managed to push even that decision through. Equality California acted simultaneously as a campaign organization and as a collection of independent groups each doing its own thing.

Per Monday's filing:

The member organizations of Equality for All participated both in the campaignactivities of the umbrella organization, and in campaign activities on behalf of their ownorganizations. For example, EQCA was a member of the Equality for All campaign, but EQCA also worked to defeat Proposition 8 in its own capacity -- using its own website to argue against Proposition 8, sending emails to its own list regarding Proposition 8, and holding its own fundraisers to defeat Proposition 8. It is my understanding and belief that the many of the other member organizations of Equality for All worked within and independently of the Equality for All campaign in the same way EQCA did.

Equality California didn't so much lead a campaign as participate part-time in an extended social club of groups who didn't particularly like the ballot initiative, the filing suggests.

'TOUGH S**T' FOR THE UNEMPLOYED ONE SENATOR BLOCKING JOBLESS BENEFITS EXTENSION FOR1.2 MILLION AMERICANS, CURSES ON SENATE FLOOR

Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month.

As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension Thursday night, Bunning refused to go along.

And when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) begged him to drop his objection, Politico reports, Bunning replied: "Tough shit."

Bunning says he doesn't oppose extending benefits -- he just doesn't want the money that's required added to the deficit. He proposes paying for the 30-day extension with stimulus funds. The Senate's GOP leadership did not support him in his objections.

And at one point during the debate, which dragged on till nearly midnight, Bunning complained of missing a basketball game.

"I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9:00," he said, "and it's the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina since they're the only team that has beat Kentucky this year.

Uganda's Gays Fight Back Against Crackdown

Even as Uganda's parliament considers the Anti-Homosexuality Bill -- which calls for the death penalty for some gay acts -- a group of about 100 Ugandan gays and lesbians held a secret meeting to determine how to stand up for their rights.

The clandestine conference was held a hotel function room in downtown Kampala last week and was titled "Standing on the side of Love, Re-imagining Valentine's Day."

Organized by the Rev. Mark Kiyimba of the Ugandan Unitarian Universalist Church, and financially supported by the Austria Foundation, the meeting was a strategy session to discuss how to respond to the bill. The participants resolved to petition the Ugandan Speaker of Parliament to scrap the bill and to instead move to decriminalize homosexuality.

"Our conference showed that religion does not need to be an enemy to the cause of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] concerns," said Kiyimba, who declares himself a married bi-sexual. "What is at stake here is religious freedom, human rights and minority protections."

Kiyimba said the conference is "a kick-off or starting point for us, against this bill." He said in March he will take his petition to various countries, including the U.S., to galvanize international support for Uganda's gays.

Dolan "Grateful" Gay Marriage Bill Failed

Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan sat for a rare interview Thursday with NY 1 News in which he said that he was “grateful” the marriage equality bill failed in the New York state senate last year. He also said that gays and lesbians should not be allowed to march in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.

“The archbishop would not shy away from controversial issues,” said reporter Roma Torre. “On the subject of gay marriage, Dolan said he was grateful that the state senate last year defeated a same-sex marriage bill. He also said he has no plan to support the gay and lesbian community in its fight to carry banners in next month’s St. Patrick's Day parade.”

Dolan was named to lead the archdiocese last year and for the most part kept a low profile in the first year of his appointment.

Miss Beverly Hills Lauren Ashley Doesn't Even Know What It Says In Leviticus About The Gays

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Size-D Implants Saved Woman's Life: Doctor

A Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon says a woman's size-D breast implants might have saved her life when a gunman opened fire at her office.

Lydia Carranza was working at the Simi Valley dental office July 1 when her co-worker, the gunman's wife, was shot and killed.

Carranza was just a few feet away. She survived a gunshot to the chest, but the the bullet left a scar and deflated the implant.

"She's just one lucky woman," Dr. Ashkan Ghavami told the LA Times. "I saw the CT scan. The bullet fragments were millimeters from her heart and her vital organs. Had she not had the implant, she might not be alive today."

Presbyterians to Ordain Gay Man

A regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church voted Saturday to ordain Scott Anderson, a gay man from Madison, Wis.

The John Knox Presbytery's 81-25 decision is likely to be challenged by opponents across the country, according to the La Crosse Tribune. The presbytery, or regional grouping of Presbyterian churches, represents 61 churches and 10,000 members in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Anderson, 54, has been in a committed relationship for 19 years, according to the article. For seven years he has been the executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, which advocates for unity among different Christian denominations.

The church requires that married candidates for ordination take a vow of fidelity. Gay and straight single candidates must take a vow of chastity. However, the church does make some exceptions.

His ordination is set for May 15, but may be delayed due to expected appeals from churches like the Caledonia Presbyterian Church near Portage, Wis.

Anderson was a pastor at a church in Sacramento but was outed in 1990. He then voluntarily gave up his ordination.

Miss Beverly Hills tries to one-up Carrie Prejean, says it’s divine law that gays be put to death.

Last year, Miss California Carrie Prejean endeared herself to the right wing when she answered a question about same-sex marriage by saying that she believes marriage “should be between a man and a woman.” Now, Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley, who will compete in the Miss California pageant in November, has gone further. Ashley told Fox News that not only is she against same-sex marriage, but that she thinks it is divine law that gays should be put to death because “the Bible is pretty black and white“:

Carrie Prejean isn’t the only beauty queen open to expressing her objection to same-sex marriage. Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley is also speaking out in support of traditional nuptials.

“The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. In Leviticus it says, ‘If man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.’ The Bible is pretty black and white,” Ashley told Pop Tarts.

“I feel like God himself created mankind and he loves everyone, and he has the best for everyone. If he says that having sex with someone of your same gender is going to bring death upon you, that’s a pretty stern warning, and he knows more than we do about life.”

Despite her strong words about homosexuality, Ashley also told Fox that she “has a lot of friends that are gay.” and that there’s “no hate between [her] and anyone.”

Group claims DADT would mar religious freedom

A right-wing Christian values coalition is worried a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would marginalize the effectiveness of military chaplains, the Catholic News Agency reported.

“The military would effectively establish preferred religions or religious beliefs,” the letter said. “That is a constitutional offense that carries a very pragmatic consequence: just what will happen to recruiting efforts if Christians become second-class soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines.”

The main concern of the Alliance Defense Fund is the protection of religious freedom. The group was founded by James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, and several other anti-gay leaders.

“Military chaplains who have volunteered to defend the liberties protected in our Constitution shouldn’t be denied those very same liberties,” said Alliance Defense Fund spokesman Kevin Theriot. “Forcing chaplains to deny the teachings of their faith in order to serve in the armed forces is a grave threat to the First Amendment and to the spiritual health of Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen who depend on them.”

“We urge you to reconsider your decision and avoid this collision with America’s most cherished and fundamental freedom of religious liberty,” the ADF letter concluded.

Maryland Can Recognize Out-of-State Gay Marriages

Effective immediately, Maryland attorney general Douglas F. Gansler has announced, the state can recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Gansler said state agencies can begin acknowledging the rights gay couples have been awarded in states where same-sex marriage is legal. The announcement comes with Gansler's issuance Wednesday morning of a long-awaited opinion on the validity of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

"Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Democrat, asked in May asked if such marriages could be recognized," The Baltimore Sun reported. Gansler's 40-page report makes it clear that the answer is yes, the newspaper added.

"The opinion does not enable same-sex couples to wed here," the Sun continued. "It also does not carry the weight of law, but is meant to guide judges and state agencies." Gansler said the document offers "a prediction, not a prescription" for how courts will interpret the law.

Minnesota Holds First-Ever Hearings on Marriage Equality Bills

Hearings on three pro-marriage equality bills that some activists had criticized as "show hearings" (because the bills aren't expected to leave committee) were held today at the Minnesota Capitol:

"A proposal introduced by Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis, would allow two consenting adults to enter into 'civil union contracts,' regardless of their gender. Another bill, put forth by Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, would recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states as legally valid in Minnesota. But the most far-reaching legislation would legalize gay marriage by removing gender-based terminology in existing state statute. The measure was introduced by Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, more than a year ago and has 22 other Democratic co-sponsors. Kahn noted in advocating for the bill that she’s probably been married longer than any other current legislator at the Capitol."

The hearings were the first-ever in Minnesota on legalizing same-sex marriage: "It is uncertain whether there will be any vote at all on gay marriage this year in the Minnesota House or Senate. Some opponents questioned whether social bills are important this year considering all the work that needs to be done on the budget."

West Virginia House GOP to Force Vote on Gay Marriage Ban?

Earlier this month, GOP House lawmakers in West Virginia were planning a "drastic" parliamentary move to force votes on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Looks like it could happen this week.

The Charleston Gazette reports: "House Republicans plan a series of procedural motions this week to force floor votes on proposals they say Democrats have allowed to die in committees. Those include a resolution (HJR5) that calls for a statewide referendum on whether to amend the constitution to define marriage, and a proposal (HJR104) to boost tax breaks for elderly and disabled people."

A move to force the tax measure failed on Monday.

The Charleston Daily Mail adds: "Republicans argue West Virginians want to see the legislation voted on by the full 100-member House. Democrats suggest the Republican plan is nothing more than a waste of time and an attempt to score political points. 'The Republicans only seem to want to score election year points by trying to force debates and votes on issues like gay marriage,' state Democratic Party chairman Nick Casey said in a statement. ...But Republicans contend the ban on gay marriage and the homestead exemption are serious issues that need urgent action. Armstead said he wants to keep West Virginia from going through what California went through when a court legalized gay marriage."

Anglicans May End Ban on Civil Partnerships on Church Premises

Anglican bishops say they'll support a lifting of the current ban on holding civil partnership ceremonies in church:

"Senior bishops in the Lords have told The Times that they will support an amendment to the Equality Bill next month that will lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in religious premises. The amendment would remove the legislative prohibition on blessings of homosexual couples and open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques and all other religious premises. In a letter to The Times a group of Church of England clerics say today that religious denominations should be allowed to register civil partnerships on their premises if they wish. It would be up to individual denominations whether to offer civil partnership ceremonies...The Lords amendment is expected to be tabled in the next few days by Lord Alli, the Labour peer, who is openly gay. It is likely to be backed by the Conservatives and, significantly, the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Rev Timothy Stevens, who convenes the 26 bishops in the House."

Advocates expressed approval at the news: "Stonewall, the gay rights campaign group, said: 'We know this is a matter of importance to only a small number of people, but it is important nonetheless. And the amendment makes clear that the celebration of civil partnerships is permissible, not mandatory.'

Missouri University Board Member Resigns Over 'Fag Lion' Remark

Missouri Southern State University board member David Ansley has resigned following uproar over his characterization of the school's former mascot logo as a "fag lion," the Joplin Globe reports:

"During Saturday’s retreat, MSSU Athletic Director Jared Bruggeman was discussing changes the athletics department has made to give a more consistent appearance, including revamping the school’s lion logo before the start of the 2007-08 school year. Ansley voiced his approval for the change during the meeting by saying, 'We went from the f-- lion to the ferocious lion.' Board Chairman Rod Anderson immediately looked at reporters who were covering the retreat meeting at the university and said, 'That’s off the record.'

Ansley resigned Monday, following the formation of a Facebook group calling for him to quit:
"In a written statement Monday, Ansley apologized to students, faculty, staff and administrators for any offense, and expressed remorse for his actions. 'I have always thought of myself as a tolerant man,' he wrote. 'Yet the fact that I spontaneously made the comment has caused me pause. Personally, I am conducting introspection. My goal is to examine my own prejudices with the hope of renewed tolerance. I hope to be a better person because of all this.' A faculty adviser for a student group advocating equal rights on campus said Ansley’s resignation will not make the issue of sexual orientation discrimination disappear."

Obama health plan lacks LGBT provisions

President Barack Obama’s new health care proposal appears to be scrubbed of most of the gay provisions that were present in the House version of the bill.

Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a lesbian, fought to add most of those provisions to the bill. She said Monday she is not giving up. She called Obama’s plan “an important step forward,” but she adds “it is not the final word,” in an interview with Metro Weekly.

In fact, the plan can’t be called a bill yet. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the proposal “a starting point,” it is based on the Senate version of the bill and takes into consideration ideas from both Democrats and Republicans.

Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the White House with LGBT media, points out the proposal does include a “data collection” provision. The item calls for the creation of a health secretary to work toward collecting information on sexual orientation and gender identity (in addition to a host of other categories) to help identify health needs.

What’s missing?

“Most LGBT and HIV activists had supported the House bill because it included key LGBT specific provisions,” the Metro Weekly article states. “In addition to the data collection, it prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the provision of health care; enabled people with HIV and low incomes to obtain Medicare coverage earlier in the course of their illness; and eliminated the tax that gay employees must pay if their same-sex partners or spouses receive health coverage from their employers’ plan. Straight employees don’t pay that tax but, for gay couples, the coverage is characterized by the federal government as additional income for the gay employee.”

Baldwin said Monday she planed to ”continue to fight for all of my priorities in the final health care reform bill, including those related to LGBT health.”

Dr. Oz Introduces Daytime Audiences to Blossoming, Confident Transgender Kids

CPAC Poll: Gay Marriage Does Not Concern Conservative Youth

A new poll taken at CPAC of a sample made up of 48% students shows "Stopping Gay Marriage" is the least of their priorities.

Mass. says federal marriage law unconstitutional

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman interferes with her state’s right to regulate the institution.

Coakley’s office filed a lawsuit in July challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In papers filed late Thursday, Coakley asks a judge to deem the law unconstitutional without holding a trial on the lawsuit.

Coakley argues that regulating marital status has traditionally been left to the states. She also says the federal law treats married heterosexual couples and married same-sex couples differently on Medicaid benefits and burial in veterans’ cemeteries.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage and is the first to challenge the law.

Bob Barr At CPAC: 'How Would You Like To Be Waterboarded?'

One-time Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr riled the conservative CPAC crowd on Friday, when he declared that civilian courts were appropriate for handling terrorists and insisted that -- if a trial was what they wanted -- those who used waterboarding should be brought before a judge.

The Georgia Republican appeared on a panel about the balance between national security and personal freedoms.

Pointing to the passage of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Barr insisted that America already had the laws in place to handle terrorist acts like the failed Christmas Day airline bomb plot. Those who suggested that "an idiot on that airline flying into Detroit on Christmas Day" needed to be sent to a military tribunal were "allowing our leaders to have their cake and eat it too."

"There is nothing magical about a military tribunal," Barr said, as boos from the audience began cascading around him. "They don't have, necessarily, better lawyers than in a civilian sector. I think I have a lot more faith in our U.S. attorneys who are non political, than my colleagues on the other side of this debate do. We can try them. We should try them. That is precisely... what our law provides for. And if next time we are faced with a situation we say: 'Oh, you know, we want to have them go to the military. Let them torture them for a while. It's not enhanced interrogation techniques. Waterboarding is torture. How would you like to be waterboarded? Try that!"

Needless to say, Barr was alone with his sentiments. Following him on the dais was Viet Dinh, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and one of the authors of the USA Patriot Act.
"I think Congressman Barr's implication of the act passed in 1996 is rhetorical but not relevant because since 1996 there have been a couple other laws, one the authorization of the use of military force after 9/11," Dinh explained. "Two, the military commission act, which explicitly and expressly authorized the use of military commissions to try unlawful enemy combatants for acts that are not only contrary to the unites states law but contrary to the law of nations and the laws of war."

California Might Possibly Discontinue Searching for Homosexuality Cure

In a new piece of legislation submitted before Friday's deadline for new bill, California State Rep. Bonnie Lowenthal introduced Assembly Bill 2199, which would, 43 years after its creation, remove from the lawbooks a mandate the Department of Mental Health must "plan, conduct and cause to be conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex crimes against children, and the causes and cures of homosexuality, and into methods of identifying potential sex offenders."

News Corp selling out the a Saudi?

News Corp president Rupert Murdoch has struck a deal with Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal that would make him the fourth largest investor in the company, which is also parent company to conservative mouthpiece Fox News.

You might remember Prince Alwaleed from the time he offered $10 million to the city of New York after 9/11 for reconstruction, only to be refused by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani because the Prince blamed the attacks on the U.S. rather than on the terrorists themselves. Prince Alwaleed has also donated generous sums to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

AIDS vaccine effects may wear off

Shot appears to lose its strength after about a year, researchers say

An AIDS vaccine that appears to have worked at least partly in Thailand may only temporarily protect patients, with the effects starting to wane after a year or so, researchers reported on Thursday.

That may explain why results of the experimental vaccine have been so difficult to interpret, said Dr. Nelson Michael, a colonel at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute of Research in Maryland, who helped lead the trial.

Michael's team is trying to find out how or why it might have worked. They surprised the world last September when they showed the experimental vaccine cut the risk of infection by 31 percent over three years.

"It is very likely that this vaccine only worked for a short period of time," Michael said in a telephone interview.

"It is a weak, a modest effect but something that we can build on."

The vaccine is a combination of Sanofi-Pasteur's ALVAC canarypox/HIV vaccine and the HIV vaccine AIDSVAX, made by a San Francisco company called VaxGen and now owned by the nonprofit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.

Bill Introduced to Count LGBT Californians

A California assembly member introduced a bill Tuesday that would require the state to gather vital data about its LGBT population.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu's bill would require the state to add questions about sexual orientation, gender identity, and domestic partnerships in the voluntary demographic section of California's government forms.

According to Equality California, which is sponsoring the bill, this would help provide more information about LGBT people's need for and use of public services, thereby making it possible to deliver the appropriate amount of services. "This bill will improve the state's ability to measure the community's needs for such crucial public services as job training, and it will ultimately enable California to ensure that LGBT Californians, especially those living in poverty, receive the services they need to take care of their families and to lead healthy lives," Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, said in a statement Thursday. "Currently the state collects little data on the LGBT community, and this bill would help close the information gap

Gay Adoptive Parents Win Birth Certificate Case in Louisiana

A federal appeals court has upheld a December 2008 ruling by U.S. District Court judge Jay Zainey ordering the state of Louisiana to list both names of adopted gay parents, Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, on their son's birth certificate:

"Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell appealed Zainey's decision, arguing that state law wouldn't allow such an adoption in the first place. The San Diego couple adopted the boy, born prematurely in Shreveport in 2005, via a court in Kingston, N.Y. But when they sought an amended birth certificate from Louisiana, the Office of Public Health and Vital Records Registry said that state law forbade it, citing their status as unmarried men. Caldwell advised the registrar that she did not have to honor an adoption from New York that would not have been granted had the couple lived in Louisiana. Lambda Legal, a national civil rights organization based in Los Angeles, sued on behalf of the couple in October 2007, saying Louisiana Vital Records Registrar Darlene Smith violated the U.S. Constitution in denying them an accurate birth certificate, which threatened the boy's enrollment in a health care plan and treated him like a second-class citizen."

Said Adar: "We're pleased our son will finally have a birth certificate where he sees both his parents included. A birth certificate is more than a piece of paper; it's at the heart of your identity."

CNN Visits Gay Republican Group at CPAC

Wingnut Brigade Presser in Support of Military Gay Ban

Via HRC Backstory comes this video from the CPAC conference.

A group of right-wingers led by their fearless wingnut leader Elaine Donnelly had a press conference to rally against repeal of the military's failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Donnelly, along with Tom Minnery, Vice President, Public Policy, Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council, David Keene of the American Service Union, Penny Nance of the Concerned Women for America, and Retired Admiral James Lyons presented their bigoted arguments (that according to all the latest reports have no basis in reality) in support of the ban.

Mexican States Challenge Gay Marriage

Five Mexican states are mounting a supreme court challenge to the new marriage equality law passed in Mexico City.

The Mexico City assembly approved same-sex marriages in December, passing the first such measure in Latin America. The law is scheduled to take effect in the city in March.

According to Agence France-Presse, the five states planning the court challenge have governors from the Nation Action Party (PAN) of President Felipe Calderon. Elements within PAN have vocally opposed marriage equality.

The five states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Sonora, and Tlaxcala are taking action because they are concerned that the Mexico City law could oblige them to recognize same-sex marriages, according to AFP.

NH House Rejects Gay Marriage Ban, Repeal Bills by Wide Margin

The New Hampshire House has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in the state:

"CACR 28 defined marriage in this state by saying it can only be between a man and a woman. It was rejected by a wide margin, 201-135, short of a simple majority and far below the three-fifths majority -- 238 votes -- it needed to advance to the Senate. Sponsors tried to delay a vote on the bill until March 17, so local voters could weigh in on petitions at town meeting that ask for a popular vote on the amendment. "All we're trying to do here is put this on the ballot," Rep. David Bates, R-Windham, arguing voters should have their say. His effort to delay a vote fell short on a 191-148 vote.

The House also rejected another bill, HB 1590, by a vote of 210-109. It would have repealed the state's marriage equality law.

Uganda: Kill the gays and all their friends, too!

D.C. Catholics End Foster Care Program

Citing the city's move to legalize same-sex marriage, Washington, D.C.'s Catholic diocese has stopped its 80-year foster care program, the Washington Post reports.

The National Center for Children and Families assumed the 43 children, 35 families, and seven staff members who were tied to Catholic Charities' foster care program on Feb. 1.

The city government gives approximately $20 million to help fund Catholic Charities' adoption, homeless, and domestic violence services annually. However, since it is a Catholic operation, it does not condone gay marriage, therefore it would turn down gay and lesbian couples looking to adopt. Since such discrimination is against city policy, it is being forced to shut down its foster care services.

Though the church warned that gay marriage could lead to the end of its foster care program, city officials said that no other faith-based group that provides similar services have said their city contracts were in jeopardy.

Gardasil May Help Gay Men, Older Women

Two recent studies of the cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil indicate it could help prevent conditions that lead to anal cancer, cervical cancer, and other diseases that affect gay men and older women.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. reported the results of two recent studies at the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia conference in Monte Carlo, Monaco, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“In one study, Gardasil was 89% effective in preventing human papillomavirus, a virus that causes cervical cancer and other diseases, in women ages 24 through 45,” reported the Journal.
“In the other study, the drug was 78% effective against anal intraepithelial neoplasia, a precursor to anal cancer, associated with HPV in men ages 16 to 26 who have sex with men.”

Currently, Gardasil is OK'd for use in girls and young women ages 9 to 26 for prevention of some types of HPV. It is also approved for use in males of the same age range for the purpose of preventing genital warts.

Merck is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to expand Gardisal’s use in women ages 27 to 45, according to the Journal.

Homophobic Singer's Tour Canceled

A Jamaican reggae star's U.S. tour was canceled recently after several gay activists raised concerns about his homophobic lyrics.

Renegade Productions, which was in charge of Capleton's West Coast tour, announced the cancellation on its website. Another artist, Cocoa Tea, was scheduled to tour with him. The tour was set to begin on Monday at the Ragga Muffins festivals in Long Beach and Oakland, Calif., but Capleton was removed from the lineup.

Gay Episcopal Bishop-Elect Nears Confirmation

Reverend Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool, the Episcopal priest who was elected an assistant bishop of the Los Angeles diocese in December, has received more than half the necessary votes from church leaders to be consecrated as the denomination's second openly gay bishop.

Glasspool’s election is subject to a 120-day consent process that began in January, according to the Christian Post. She has received 29 votes thus far and needs a total of 56 to become bishop.

"Throughout her 30 years of ordained ministry, the Rev. Mary Glasspool has been faithful and consistent to the ministry, doctrine and teaching of the Episcopal Church," Bishop Nathan Baxter of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania wrote in a pastoral letter of support. "On the matter of her sexuality and [lifestyle], the Rev. Glasspool is faithful to the spirit and prayerfully determined direction of our church."

In 2003, V. Gene Robinson was elected to become the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, taking office in 2004 as the first openly gay bishop in the church.

Zsa Zsa’s husband says he’s ready to lead California

What the world already knows of Prince Frederic von Anhalt reads like a tabloid writer’s dream: eighth husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, lover (never confirmed) of Anna Nicole Smith, self-proclaimed member of European royalty.

The flamboyant socialite says he’ll add a new title on Wednesday: California gubernatorial candidate.

Von Anhalt and his attorney said they will file his candidate papers in late morning at the secretary of state’s office in Sacramento.

If he follows through, von Anhalt would be the only independent in a field that includes Republicans Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner and the presumed Democratic candidate, Attorney General Jerry Brown.

He already has a platform (titled “Return the Good Life to California”) that is sure to win favor with a certain segment of California’s electorate. He wants to lift the import ban on Cuban cigars, then tax them, and reduce vehicle-registration fees, making up the difference in part by taxing “bad drivers.”

He also is offering what he says are realistic proposals that will have an immediate effect on California’s $20 billion budget deficit.

One proposal is a “sin tax” on alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, as well as marijuana and prostitution, which, under his platform, would be legalized.

“Marijuana is a big industry already,” von Anhalt said in a telephone interview from his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air, where he cares for his 93-year-old wife. “Let’s legalize it, tax it, make some money and put less people in jail.”

A statewide initiative to legalize and tax marijuana is likely to appear on the November ballot.

He also favors repealing the ban on gay marriage, which voters wrote into the state constitution in 2008.

“I believe in marriage between men and women, but I am also a defender of the constitution, which says equal rights for all,” he said in his platform. “Let them be as miserable as the rest of us.”

His 1986 marriage to Gabor is his seventh.

Blog swarm descends on HRC

There is a blog swarm forming – and it’s taking aim at the Human Rights Campaign. A host of gay and straight bloggers are joining forces to put pressure on HRC to urge Obama to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell this year

The message from the blog swarm is two-pronged. First, they want President Barack Obama to announce publically he wants Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repealed this year. Then Obama needs to “take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens,” AmericaBlog says.

The bloggers involved include: Joe Sudbay and John Aravosis, AmericaBlog; Pam Spaulding, Pam’s House Blend; Michelangelo Signorile, Sirius OutQ & the Gist; Markos Moulitsas, DailyKos; Andy Towle, TowleRoad; Joe Jervis, Joe My God; Bil Browning & Phil Reese, Bilerico; Taylor Marsh, TaylorMarsh.com; David Mixner, DavidMixner.com and Dan Savage, Slog.

“We’ve had an amazing few weeks of momentum on DADT repeal following the mention of DADT,” Aravosis writes. “But that momentum is quickly slipping away. After talking to people around Washington over the past two weeks, Joe and I have found a vacuum of leadership that is leading to confusion. The Hill has no idea if the President does or doesn’t want them to move ahead with repeal this year. The House has already said that it’s waiting for the Senate to do something. The Senate is in turmoil after the Democrats lost a single seat in January. And the DADT proposals being discussed in the Senate are focused on every possible approach except full repeal this year.”

The group contends it’s HRC’s job to make Obama listen.

“Whatever HRC has been telling the White House about DADT, it clearly isn’t working” Aravois said on AmericaBlog. “In spite of the President’s positive comments during the State of the Union, no one knows where President Obama stands on repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell this year. All the while, unnamed administration officials are telling the media that it could be years before repeal finally happens. The White House clearly didn’t get HRC’s message, and as a result, we are losing this historic momentum.”

HRC responded to the blog swarm with a statement.

“The campaign will continue to push the momentum for repeal of DADT through an on-the-ground campaign manager in key states to build diverse local coalitions; to increase public education; to activate grassroots contacts with members of Congress; to form an online hub for action on repeal; and to partner with other key groups working on repeal including the Center for American Progress, Servicemembers United and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network,” HRC said.

The blog swarm encourages the public to call HRC for a call to action. HRC can be reached at (202) 628-4160 and toll-free at (800) 777-4723.

NH Lawmaker Apologizes for False Gay Sex in Classroom Claims

A New Hampshire lawmaker admitted yesterday that she had no proof to back up claims that gay sex was being taught in schools as a result of the state's marriage equality law, a claim she delivered to the Judiciary Committee earlier this week along with a graphic description of anal sex.

Said Rep. Nancy Elliott:
"During the executive session on House Bill 1590, I made a statement concerning the curriculum in the Nashua school system which I believed to be true. Upon inquires from the speaker, I repeated the statement. This statement made in the Judiciary Committee had caused some controversy so I went back to my source for the statement to verify the information that I had received. I found that I could not confirm the accuracy of the information. I am compelled by the fact that the statement cannot be verified that I withdraw the statement I made in committee last Tuesday regarding the Nashua schools. I was told shortly before the hearing on HB 1590 that what I later said had happened and I firmly believed it to be so. It is for that reason and because of its relevance that I brought it up to the committee. I would have never said anything in the performance of my duties as a state representative that I did not believe was true or relevant. I am presenting this letter at the first committee meeting of Judiciary since last Tuesday. I do so at the earliest opportunity in order to make clear I am withdrawing what I said regarding the Nashua schools. I would like to apologize to Judiciary Committee, the Nashua public schools and its employees and the speaker as well as anyone else affected by what I said. I will try much harder in the future to verify fully my statement. Mr. Chairman I would appreciate your putting this statement into the file on HB 1590 so that someone looking at the file would understand my statement was inaccurate.’’

The admission came after calls for Elliott to either recant the statement or prove it true.

New Hampshire's House voted yesterday on a measure to repeal the state's marriage equality law, and a measure to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. A House panel has recommended both measures be rejected.

Ewan McGregor Fancies Full Frontal Nudity

Ewan McGregor talks to OUT magazine about how much he enjoys nudity and pushing the limits of sexuality on screen:

“I always try not to limit myself in all respects. Sexuality is just one of them. I could understand saying ‘I would never do gratuitous nudity.’ Wait. No. I probably would. I’d probably be quite happy to. I remember getting a kind of rush out of [going full frontal] that first time, a slight feeling of power about it, you know?”

McGregor also reveals that he shot two takes of a fellatio scene on Jim Carrey in the upcoming film I Love You Phillip Morris: "There were two alternatives. There was the spit, and there was a really nice slow swallow, where I look at him and just do a loud swallow. I really like that one, but I guess they went for the more obvious spit over the side.”

McGregor recently told the L.A. Times that he "quite liked kissing Jim Carrey" in the film.
He also recently dashed suggestions that it's not a gay movie:

"Y'know there was a lot of talk about it at Sundance about it not being a 'gay movie.' Well, I think it is a gay movie. Of course it's a gay movie. It's about two gay men or three gay men, y'know? And a man whose relationships are with men. And although the humor isn't born out of the fact it's about gay men, it's a funny movie. Y'know, I never wanted to be worried about the fact that it's a gay story because it is. I hope they locked it that way. You can imagine that the people who deal with such things going, 'Oh, let's make sure people don't think it's a gay movie and y'know that won't sell.' But of course it is, and it's a good film."

Samsung and California's PG&E Working on Solar Photovoltaic Deal

Samsung is making big moves in the world of renewable energy these days. After a $6.6 billion contract with the government of Ontario for wind and solar development last month, the South-Korean mega-conglomerate is now entering a deal (pending regulatory approval) with California's Pacific Gas and Electric to build a handful of solar PV farms in the state.

Dick Cheney for DADT Repeal

Citing changes in society and recent signals from military leadership, former vice president Dick Cheney told ABC News' This Week that he believes the time is right to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

"Twenty years ago the military were the strong advocates of 'don't ask, don't tell' when I was secretary of defense," said Cheney. "I think things have changed significantly since then. I see that Don Mullen, or Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has indicated his belief that we ought to support a change in the policy. So, uh, I think my guess is the policy will be changed.”

Dr. Oz Tackles Transgender Children

The Dr. Oz Show Thursday will air “one of the best 15-minute segments on transgender children to ever appear on national television,” the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced on its blog Tuesday.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who rose to fame as a regular medical correspondent on Oprah, talked with two transgender teens and their families about their experiences growing up and their parents’ decision to support them.

Love Makes a Family – that’s real family values

Support of civil unions jumps

Two-thirds of Americans support allowing gays and lesbians to form civil unions, according to a new Washington Post-ABC poll released Friday. In addition, the poll found 47 percent of Americans support legalizing same-sex marriage.

The number of people supporting civil unions represent a significant increase over the numbers from previous polls. Approval of civil unions, which would give same-sex couples many – but not all – of the rights guaranteed to married couples, jumped 12 percent since the poll was last conducted in December 2007.

While civil union acceptance jumped, same-sex marriage stayed about the same since the last poll was conducted in April 2009.

The poll, as expected, found more Democrats and Independents support same-sex marriage than Republicans. The results are also divided along age lines, with people younger than 30 feeling stronger about legalizing same-sex marriage than those in older age groups.

Geography also played a role in the poll: While Northeast and Western states supported marriage, those in the Midwest and the South tended to oppose legal marriage.

Few Americans Want Members of Congress Re-Elected, Poll Finds

Just 8 percent of Americans want the members of Congress re-elected, according to a CBS News-New York Times poll taken nine months before roughly one-third of the Senate and the entire House face voters.

The Feb. 5-10 survey found 81 percent of respondents saying the lawmakers shouldn’t receive another term.

By 80 percent to 13 percent, Americans said members of Congress are more interested in serving special interests than the people they represent.

Also, 75 percent disapproved of the job Congress is doing, the highest level since 74 percent said they disapproved in October 2008. Congress’s job approval rating was 15 percent in the current survey; it was 12 percent in October 2008.

NH Rep. Nancy Elliott Offers Graphic Description of Anal Sex During Marriage Equality Debate

New Hampshire GOP Rep. Nancy Elliott voiced her concerns this week in an executive session regarding HB1590, a bill that would repeal New Hampshire's marriage equality laws.

She explains what same-sex marriage means to her:

"We're talking about taking the penis of one man, and putting it into the rectum of another man, and wiggling it around in excrement, and you have to think. I'm not sure. Would I allow that to be done to me? All of us — that could happen to you — Would you like that happen to you? Is that normal? Is that something that we want to portray as the same as the one-flesh union between a man and a woman?"

She then says that marriage equality should be repealed after claiming that the law has caused children in a Nashua classroom to be shown graphic images of what she described above.

QUEERTY.COM nancy elliot new hampshire from Queerty on Vimeo.

Uganda's Anglican Church Has Additions for the 'Kill the Gays' Bill

The Anglican Archbishop of Uganda has offered his $.02 on the "kill the gays" bill. Some parts of it just aren't enough for him:

Orombi added, '"The Church of Uganda associates itself with the concerns expressed in the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009," Archbishop Henry Orombi said in a Feb. 9 statement. "However, instead of a completely new bill, the church recommends a bill that amends the Penal Code Act addressing loopholes, in particular: protecting the vulnerabilities of the boy child; proportionality in sentencing; and, ensuring that sexual orientation is excluded as a protected human right," said the archbishop.

...The ideal situation would be one where necessary amendment is made on existing legislation to also enumerate other sexual offences.' ... 'The church appreciates the bill's objective of protecting the family in the light of a growing propaganda to influence younger people to accept homosexuality … to provide for marriage as contracted only between man and woman,' said the archbishop...

Other proposals by the church include the prohibition of lesbianism and bestiality, together with 'other sexual perversion,' and a ban on the procurement of homosexual material and the promotion of homosexuality as a normal lifestyle. 'Homosexual practice has no place in God's design of creation, the continuation of the human race through procreation, or his plan for redemption. Even natural law reveals that the very act of sexual intercourse is an experience of embracing the sexual other,' said Orombi. At the same time, the church offered to counsel, heal and pray for people with, 'sexual disorientation' in schools and other institutions of learning."

Happy Valentine's Day

Topless America: Joining the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal

Anglican Church Leader Issues ’Profound Apology’ to Gays

The head of the Anglican church (known as the Episcopalian church in the U.S.) offered gays and lesbians his "profound apology" for remarks designed to appease anti-woman and anti-gay hardliners and hold the splintering faith together.

UK Football Association's Anti-Homophobia PSA

Uganda's Anglican Church Loves the Kill The Gays Bill. Except the Part That Could Imprison Priests

The Church of Uganda, the branch of the Anglican Communion there and led by the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, has at last joined the chorus of voices on the nation's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. So let it be known, once and for all, the Church does not support the bill. Well, they don't support one tiny, self-serving part of it. All the rest, they like!

The Church is just fine with the bill's calling for the death penalty for gays who have sex with minors, the disabled, or while HIV-positive. The one thing they don't want lawmakers to do is allow prison time for anyone who fails to report alleged homosexuals, which could put doctors and — egads! — church pastors in jeopardy of going to jail if they dare stumble upon A Gay and, rather than turn him in, try to counsel him with Jesus's message.

Otherwise, besides a clause recommending "language that strengthens the existing Penal Code to protect the boy child, especially from homosexual exploitation; to prohibit lesbianism, bestiality, and other sexual perversions; and to prohibit procurement of material and promotion of homosexuality as normal or as an alternative lifestyle, be adopted," the Church of Uganda, which counts about a third of Ugandans among its flock, says in its statement that it wants to "ensure that homosexual practice or the promotion of homosexual relations is not adopted as a human right."

Prop 8: Trial shows best interests of kids lies with marriage equality

Star witnesses for both sides in the recent Proposition 8 trial agreed on one thing: Children of same-sex parents benefit from having two parents who are happily married to each other. On Feb. 3, their testimony was cited in two friend-of-the-court briefs submitted by 17 organizations dedicated to the advancement of the social sciences and the promotion of mental health.
The testimony at trial was most stunning from David Blankenhorn, an expert witness for the defenders of Proposition 8.

"I believe that adopting same-sex marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and lesbian households and their children," he said, during his testimony as the last person to take the stand.

Dr. Michael Lamb, head of the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cambridge and an expert for the legal team challenging the California same-sex marriage ban, said that, "for a significant number" of children being raised by same-sex parents, "their adjustment would be promoted were their parents able to get married."

Both men’s testimony was later cited in an amicus brief submitted by the California Division of the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy and 11 other mental-health professional organizations, representing tens of thousands of therapists. It was also cited in a separate brief from the American Anthropological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the National Association of Social Workers (and its California chapter), and the American Academy of Pediatrics, California. The organizations concur with the witnesses that the stigma of marriage inequality has negative effects on the children of same-sex couples.

Iowa Lawmakers Fail to Push Marriage Ban

The push by Republican lawmakers for debate on a measure that would negate a court ruling and ban same-sex marriage in Iowa has failed.

Point Foundation Deadline Looms

The Point Foundation, the country's largest scholarship and mentoring organization for LGBT college students, is accepting applications for the 2010-2011 academic year, but the deadline is fast approaching.

The Los Angeles-based organization will accept applications until Friday. The Point Foundation received 2,463 applications for the 2009-2010 academic year but is hoping to top that number for 2010-2011.

The average Point scholar receives between $25,000 and $33,000 in financial support — the group has given away over $4.5 million since it was established in 2001. Many Point scholars have been cut off financially from their biological families.

West Virginia Leaders Battle Gay Marriage

West Virginia already has a statute banning same-sex marriage, but state leaders — Democratic and Republican — say it doesn't go far enough and are pushing for a constitutional amendment.

Both the Democratic majority leader and GOP minority leader, Tim Armstead (pictured), of the state's house of delegates support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Armstead is pushing for a proposed bill to leave the committee to which it is currently assigned and be discussed on the house floor.

"A number of states throughout the country have recognized homosexual marriage and we think we need a safeguard to keep that from happening here and we think the people of West Virginia want that safeguard," Armstead told West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Rowan Williams to challenge infighting over gays and women bishops

The Archbishop of Canterbury will fight threats of disintegration in the Church of England with what is expected to be a forceful intervention at the General Synod today.

Dr Rowan Williams is determined to challenge the increasingly bitter infighting sparked by disagreements over women bishops in England and gay ordinations in the US.

In one of the most important presidential addresses of his seven-year archiepiscopacy, described by one insider as a “brilliant piece of work”, the Archbishop is expected to salvage hope from the despair felt by many Anglicans over pressure brought by the liberal, evangelical and Catholic wings of the established Church.

Anglican leaders are increasingly concerned at the way that the Church’s tussles over women and gays is hindering its mission to proclaim the gospel to the nation. The synod was told yesterday that the Church of England was suffering a “testosterone deficit” caused by a “seriously out-of- line” gender balance. The synod heard anecdotal evidence suggesting that women are playing an increasingly important role in the Church, and when it comes to attendance bishops should be actively pursuing missions directed at men.

Dr Williams’s address comes after a decision to proceed with the ordination of women bishops with no significant concessions to traditionalists.

He is also expected to address a contentious debate tomorrow about a motion to recognise the new conservative evangelical Anglican Church in North America, which was created by traditionalists who have been deposed or broken away in the dispute over gay ordination in the US.

Lorna Ashworth, a lay synod member from the Diocese of Chichester, is calling for the Church of England to afford the new church recognition within the Anglican Communion. This would be no more than symbolic but it would add weight to any formal request from the new church to become an extra province within the Anglican Communion.

Bishops have put up an alternative motion designed to wreck Ms Ashworth’s motion by stalling it for the foreseeable future.

Dr Williams’s speech will come as the Church faces losing thousands of laity and clergy from conservative and Catholic traditions over the issue of women bishops. When the synod agreed two years ago to proceed with the legislation to consecrate women, Dr Williams was among the bishops who voted against a simple measure and wanted concessions to keep Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals on board. Traditionalists hoped for similar arrangements to when women were ordained priests in 1994, and the synod set up a system of “flying bishops” to care for traditionalists. But under the proposals announced yesterday after months of debate, the Church has been unable to find a way to make provision for traditionalists without turning women bishops into “second-class” consecrations.

Frenso College Professor Teachs from Bible and says Homosexuality is a Disease

The ACLU has sent a letter to Fresno City College following complaints about a professor who relies on the Bible to teach biology, "demanding that the school ensure that all its health science classes teach unbiased and medically accurate information" and urging the school to mandate unbiased health information.

One student told Fresno station KSFN: "He started out asking was Jesus haploid or diploid, a biological term and he directed us to go to the bible for proof and write a paper on it." Another said, "I was very upset about the homosexuality part to think that this man would be telling me that my gay and lesbian friends which I have quite a few of are ruining the world, are degrading society."

According to the ACLU, in recent lectures, Professor Lopez:
Presented a slide listing “homosexual facts,” including that homosexuality is a “biological misapplication of human sexuality” and said that the “recommended treatment” is “psychological counseling” or “hormone supplements.”

Presented LGBT people as a burden on and/or threat to society, claiming, for example, that anything but a heterosexual union provides a “one-sided foundation for raising children.”
Presented bible passages as “empirical” evidence that life begins at conception in support of his assertion that abortion is murder and “the leading cause of death in this country” (because there are over a million abortions a year).

Followed a slide on climate change in a presentation on “environmental health” with a slide containing a Biblical quote about the world ending in fire, and said “that is the real global warming we should be worried about.”

Repeatedly referenced the Bible and used it as a teaching tool, for example assigning as homework a question as to Jesus’ genetic makeup.

"The View" : Meghan McCain Blasts Sarah Palin and Tea Party Movement

Colbert: "Sarah Palin Is A F--king Retard"

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The Insitution of Marriage Is Like a Country Club That Doesn't Let Blacks or Jews Join