Today, advocates for allowing same-sex couples to legally marry in Maine announced plans for a Citizens Initiative to enact a marriage equality law, delivering more than 105,000 signatures from Maine voters who want the issue on the November 2012 ballot to the Secretary of State’s office. The announcement follows two years of outreach and conversations with Mainers about the freedom to marry, statewide polling showing steadily increasing support for allowing same-sex couples to marry – which now stands at 54 percent – and intensive field organizing in preparation for the campaign. “The number of signatures we gathered and the thoughtful conversations we’ve been having with voters tell us that Mainers are eager to speak on this question again,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine. “Our polling shows a 54% majority of support for same-sex marriage in Maine. Many Mainers have changed their minds and want a chance to bring equality and fairness to our state.”
Stupid that they have to do this, as civil rights really shouldn’t be subject to a show of hands in the first place, ever, but they must be pretty confident this time around.
Marc Mutty, who ran Yes on 1 in Maine, will be featured in a documentary later this year on the campaign to repeal marriage in that state, and in the trailer, he’s on camera admitting what we all already know — they lied in their campaign. They always lie:
“We use a lot of hyperbole and I think that’s always dangerous,” says Mutty during a Yes on 1 strategy session, at the time on leave from his job as public affairs director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine.
“You know, we say things like ‘Teachers will be forced to (teach same-sex marriage in schools)!’ ” he continues. “Well, that’s not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn’t, you know?”
“No,” interjects a woman off-camera. “We don’t say that.”
“Let’s look back at our ads and see what we say,” Mutty persists. “And I think we use hyperbole to the point where, you know, it’s like ‘Geez!’ “
Indeed! I would go so far as to say that not only Mutty, but the entire Religious Right, flat makes sh*t up, their hatred of gay people runs so deep. More than that, they seem to know that facts are not on their side:
“I know we need to do what we have to do — not only slam people over the head with a two-by-four, but a two-by-four with nails sticking out of it,” he says. “And it’s nuts … unfortunately, I think it’s a lousy approach. But it’s the only thing we’ve got — it’s the only way. That’s the way campaigns work.”
Well, like I said, we already know they’re liars, but it’s refreshing to see one of them admit it, and perhaps, it seems from the article, feel a little bit of remorse over it. Like any good Christian, though, Mutty’s biggest regret is that he was caught on camera saying potty words, because, as we all know, potty words are worse than lying about an entire class of people in order to deny them and their families constitutional rights.
The National Organization for Marriage, the nation’s leading anti-gay group whose stated mission is to stop same-sex marriage, is actively working to defeat the passage of the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act (SB 1716) in Illinois.
This bill would allow same-sex couples to enter into a legal civil union in the state; it does not provide for same-sex marriages. A vote on the bill is expected soon in the Illinois legislature.
“NOM’s opposition to civil unions for gay and lesbian couples shows how far out of the mainstream it truly is,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said. “This new battleground plainly reveals NOM’s deep-seated enmity toward the LGBT community, with no regard to public support.”
Two-thirds of Illinois voters, according to an October 2010 poll by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, support either civil unions or marriage equality. A Chicago Tribune poll registered 57 percent of Illinoisans approve of civil unions, compared to 32 percent who disapprove.
Like…they’ve completely lost this battle in Illinois, and yet they’re going to waste their donors’ money trying to keep gay couples from having legal recognition of any kind in that state.
They must assume their supporters are functionally retarded* as well, considering the fact that they fought against the marriage law in Maine specifically because Maine already had civil unions, which NOM claimed were just fine! We have always been at war with Eastasia, etc.
Hypocrites.
*All wingnut organizations believe this about their donors. By the way. From the teabaggers to the social conservatives, and everywhere in between. Just do a little research on how easily and casually groups like NOM lie to their followers, secure in the knowledge that said followers are too brainwashed to do simple Google searches on their own.
It was pretty awesome. Watch it if you missed it earlier.
I especially liked her idea for sending home troops who are too homophobic to uphold their own oaths, because we need stronger people than that in our military.
She’s serious about this. She’s in Maine holding a rally today to put pressure on the two moderate Republican Senators from that state, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, to break John McCain’s petulant little homophobic crybaby filibuster.
Lady Gaga announced via Twitter Sunday evening that she would be attending a last-minute rally in Portland, Maine, on Monday targeted at convincing GOP senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to vote with Democrats to help break a filibuster that, if successful, could effectively kill the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal effort for the year.
“Meet me in Portland, Maine 2moro, 9/20 to help repeal #DADT. I’m holding a Rally + speaking live in Deering Oaks Park http://bit.ly/cO4cY9,” said the tweet sent from Lady Gaga’s account, @ladygaga, which has over 6.3 million followers.
The rally, which is being billed as “For the 14,000” discharged under the policy (or “#4the14k” in twitter speak), will be held at 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday, September 20, at Deering Oaks Park and has been organized by the pro-repeal lobby group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. A spokesman for SLDN said it was a last-ditch effort to garner the 60 votes needed to move the National Defense Authorization Act to which the repeal measure is attached. The vote on the Senate floor is scheduled for Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
“The votes to break Sen. John McCain’s filibuster are not there,” acknowledged Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of SLDN. “Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine are key to breaking the filibuster. With the vote Tuesday, we need everyone supporting repeal to call their senators.”
Eleveld’s piece points out that this required quite a bit of schedule shuffling, since Gaga is currently on tour in the South. For her to find a way to jet off to Maine for a minute to harness her millions of Twitter followers and Facebook fans and the rest of the Little Monster Diaspora to do something political and important shows that she’s actually committed to the repeal of the awful discriminatory DADT policy.
Morality police are conducting their annual crackdown and women who reveal strands of hair are liable to be stopped in the streets for failing to respect the dress code, or “hijab”.
Ahmadinejad’s surprisingly liberal view was condemned by fellow hard-liner politicians and senior clerics “I wish he had not said those words about the hijab,” Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told the faithful during the week’s Friday prayers, in a rare criticism of the president.
“We are grappling with many problems including economic and political ones but the issues of morality and ethical security are among the important issues that cannot be ignored,” he said.
When BP sank an oil shaft deep into the earth — a mile below the surface of the Gulf, and another two miles through rock — it showed a stunning lack of prudence and foresight. For the sake of economy, the company left off an indispensable safety valve; and out poured an unstoppable torrent of oil. The heavy crude oil and asphalt immediately began killing all the creatures that swim in the sea, fly through the air or build their nests on land.
Those who viewed the environmental damage ‚Äî Christians and non-believers alike ‚Äî called the damage “apocalyptic.” Our culture is awash in a flood of impurity of another kind, and that is the loosening of the rules intended to conserve and perpetuate life.
The shining whiteness of the bridal gown, symbolizing purity and the power that purity conveys, has been stained — or smudged, if you will — by pornography, sex before marriage, marital infidelity, divorce, abortion and, now, so-called marriages between people of the same sex.
Like the dirty oil that pours uncontrollably into the waters of the Gulf, this withering tide of immorality at times seems impossible to control. No one has been successful in stopping the onslaught, since many parts of our society share a mistaken view of human freedom. When used properly, freedom is good and life-enhancing, but when misapplied, freedom works against life.
Not all free actions are moral; and not all actions that are legal are good. In the case of slavery, free and legal actions were profoundly cruel and hateful. The same is true of abortion, the worst moral evil of our time.
The title of that piece? “Immorality is Worse Than Oil Spill.”
Who needs radical Muslim ayatollahs when you have radical Christian clerics saying basically the same things? There is a pattern throughout literalist, orthodox religion, of all kinds, that seeks to distract people from real issues (like economic and political freedom in Iran, or the millions of gallons of oil destroying the Gulf of Mexico) and refocus them on issues of no import (like the hijab or the freedom of two people in the United States to fall in love and build a life together).
This is why it’s so funny to me when hardline Christians criticize hardline Muslims. They have so much in common!
Yes, the Catholic bishop of Maine was pissed off that a nonprofit which exists to help the homeless of that state had the audacity to support the “No on 1″ campaign, so they pulled their funding:
PORTLAND – A social service agency’s support for same-sex marriage has cost it local and national funding from the Catholic Church’s anti-poverty program.
Preble Street’s Homeless Voices for Justice program has lost $17,400 this year and will lose $33,000 that it expected for its next fiscal year.
Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the Washington-based Catholic Campaign for Human Development say that Preble Street violated its grant agreement by supporting Maine’s “No on 1″ campaign last fall.
Ooh, big man! Taking a sh*t on the homeless to prop up your anti-gay bigotry is so brave.
Catholics for Marriage Equality has begun an effort to replace the lost funding by raising $17,400 for Homeless Voices for Justice. Anne Underwood, a co-founder of the group that advocates for same-sex marriage, said Bishop Richard Malone is punishing the homeless because of politics.
“This is petty vindictiveness,” she said. “After the election is over, suddenly the money is revoked from poor people because of a political opinion held by the bishop.”
Underwood said that many Catholics in Maine will now think twice before donating money to the church to help fight poverty. “People who are homeless should not be used in political games,” she said.
It’s becoming apparent that people should never donate money to the Catholic church for the sake of “helping” people, because the church is run by petty, vindictive little children who have no qualms about hurting people whose only “crime” is receiving aid from a group that doesn’t hate gay people.
Growing up Protestant, I never understood why the Catholic church was so intent on defining itself as “Catholic” rather than Christian. Perhaps it’s because the name of “Christ,” who lived for the poor and absolutely despised sanctimonious religious authorities, is so offensive to them that they’d rather not have to say it very much?
I had three calls about this from my family before 9:00 a.m. Preble Street is an institution in Portland. It is one of the biggest and most important social service organizations in the city, which means the state, too.
Here’s the website for Preble Street. Portland is my hometown so I just donated and noted that my contribution was on behalf of their support for No on 1.
(…)
I grew up Catholic and I seem to recall that it was Jesus who said, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.” But, the Catholic Bishops have decided those words don’t apply if anything gay is involved.
The reality is that these Catholic bishops don’t actually care about helping the poor, the “least of my brothers,” unless it contributes to expanding their own grandiosity, largesse, and most importantly, control over people’s lives. If you’re in the business of actually helping people and you receive money from the Catholic Church, you should probably go ahead and start looking for other, better, more humane and loving funding sources, because if you run afoul of the Catholic Church’s “morals” in any way, say, by loving people equally or by having true compassion for the downtrodden, you’re S.O.L.
Lee Atwater was a thug Republican strategist of the 20th century, famous for his unbelievably dirty campaign strategies. He perfected the art of push-polling*, and is responsible for the continuation of the “Southern Strategy” under Ronald Reagan, which was implemented beginning in 1968 as a way to play on the racial fears and prejudices of Southern voters by using code phrases and buzzwords which, to non-Southern, non-racist people didn’t always resonate, but served** as dog-whistles for racist voters. In 1981, Atwater gave an interview in which he explained the evolution of the Southern strategy for the Reagan years:
‘You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’ — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.
”And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, ‘We want to cut this,’ is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than ‘Nigger, nigger.”’
Atwater went on to manage Poppy Bush’s 1988 campaign.
Okay, why am I talking about Lee Atwater? Because I think we’re seeing something similar happening among the anti-gay movement. Many of you will remember that, during the campaign to strip gay couples of equality in Maine, conscious decisions were made by those running the Yes on 1 campaign to relegate the fringiest of the fringe anti-gay activists as far onto the sidelines as they possibly could. Jeremy Hooper was one of the first to notice this trend, as those running the official campaign did everything in their power to make the fight about “protecting children” and to emphasize over and over again that they were not anti-gay, even though, at heart, they obviously were/are. They did this because it’s no longer okay to appear virulently bigoted against gay people in American society. Or, to put it in Atwater-ese, it’s 2010 and you can’t say “faggot, faggot, faggot” anymore. So, the messaging is changing.
The good news, though? We may actually be a bit further along than I thought, because one of the fringiest of the fringe activists seems to have, in least one instance, fallen under the spell of “political correctness” that he fears the most. Upon hearing that President Obama had appointed Amanda Simpson, who happens to be transgender, to a post at the Commerce Department (that hotbed of LGBT activism), Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber had these predictably inane things to say:
“Is there going to be a transgender quota now in the Obama administration?” asked Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth. “How far does this politics of gay and transgender activism go? Clearly this is an administration that is pandering to the gay lobby.” …
Matt Barber, associate dean at Liberty University, said the appointment “boggles the mind.”
“This isn’t like appointing an African-American in order to try to provide diversity and right some kind of discriminatory wrong,” he said. “This is about political correctness.
Right, whatever. They’re weird. We know. But Jonathan Chait of The New Republicnoticed something else*** about those statements:
The interesting thing is that there’s no attempt to show that the administration employed any sort of quota or affirmative action program. It just hired a person who’s transgendered. The religious right obviously opposes that, but they can’t say so. Thus they have come to employ words like “quota” to mean something entirely different than their literal meaning.
It’s very odd to witness a part of the political discourse where one side understands that its actual views are so completely socially unacceptable that they can’t be expressed, and must be replaced with nonsense terms.
Odd, indeed! And good news, ultimately. It’s not good, in and of itself, that they’re using, as Chait put it, nonsense words like “quota,” because those are dog-whistles aimed at the very same low-information voters Atwater targeted. But it’s notable, because it means that, in some way, they’ve recognized that they really no longer have any hope of reaching those who don’t hear the dogwhistles. That bird has flown. And those who do still hear the dogwhistles?
UPDATE: On the other hand, considering the fact that we’re dealing with the “fell off the deep end years ago, never to return” contingent of the radicalized anti-gay set, we still have to acknowledge the fact that the above may be an anomaly, as The Two Pouting Peters of the Christian Right have made other statements on the Simpson nomination where they do indeed wear their backwards bigotry directly on the sleeves of their tattered muu muus. But the point still stands. These two and their sweaty man wrangler friend are more prone to public displays of hatred, and the Atwater-ization of the anti-gay Right is precisely why they’re being pushed more and more into the margins of the movement. They make statements like these, in these settings, because the American Family Association and the Family Research Council are themselves considered fringe by mainstream Christendom. Emerging churches which seek to attract younger followers have nothing in common with organizations such as that. So when they speak for FRC, or in one Peter’s case, to the AFA, there’s no need for dogwhistles. But don’t expect to see them with a prominent role in a statewide anti-gay campaign any time soon.
*A perfect example of Atwater-esque push-polling came during the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary, when the Bush campaign sponsored push-polls wherein voters got calls asking if it would make them more or less likely to vote for John McCain if they knew that he had fathered a black child out of wedlock. McCain, of course, has an adopted Bangladeshi daughter named Bridget, which offered a visual confirmation for voters who didn’t know any better.
**It’s still going on, to be quite honest, but it’s mostly moved into far-right media and talk radio. Example: the use of the term “welfare queens,” used by Rush Limbaugh and others, to convince empty-headed white Republicans that poor black people are coming after them and everything they hold dear.
***The fact that Chait noticed at all should make Peter’s and Matt’s day, to be honest.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has acknowledged in court papers that it documented 32 accusations of sexual abuse of children by priests associated with a parish here over 40 years.
The diocese made the admission last week in contesting a lawsuit filed by the estate of Michael Powel, who died last year. Mr. Powel had claimed that he was sexually abused at St. Theresa’ Parish in Trumbull between 1968, when he was 9, and 1972, when he was 13.
However, while the diocese admits the abuse, it refuses to accept responsibility — and it is seeking to suppress proof of the abuse:
The diocese is contesting a request from Mr. Powel’ lawyers to turn over all documents regarding sexual abuse by priests at the parish. In its filing in Superior Court in Waterbury, the diocese said it had compiled 126 boxes of documents and files detailing 32 accusations of abuse by eight priests at St. Theresa’. …
Mr. Powel’ lawyers said that the motion by the diocese was a “bait-and-switch” to avoid producing documents by Wednesday, a date previously agreed upon to provide discovery materials.
The Diocese of Bridgeport is one of 50 dioceses and bishops that donated a total of $550,000 to undermine marriage for same-sex couples in Maine, even as parishes and church charity programs back home are closing for lack of funding.
