Take that, bigots.

[h/t Think Progress]

The Religious Right may cynically use the term, but they certainly don’t own it. Here, a Republican straight guy in New Hampshire, standing up for his gay brother and talking about why he supports marriage equality:

I have a brother kinda like that. #awwwwwwww

[h/t Joe]

UPDATE: Craig Stowell, the straight brother in the video, has a petition up at Change.org, asking New Hampshire legislators not to repeal marriage equality. Go sign it.

Rick Santorum’s absurd bigotry knows no bounds, and is almost as offensive as the fact that he thinks he’s smart:

Speaking at a boarding school in New Hampshire on Friday, Santorum cited an unnamed “anti-poverty expert” to claim that children are better off having a parent in prison who abandoned them than having two same-sex parents.

[...]

It’s unclear to which “anti-poverty” expert Santorum was referring, or what the expert’s study said, but it is clear that Santorum is likely distorting it. He isn’t wrong that numerous studies have highlighted the importance of keeping children connected to parents who may be in prison, but none of them include any actual research on comparisons with same-sex families. They may juxtapose a child having no father (i.e. a single mother) with having a father in jail, but it’s completely invalid to compare an abandoned mother to two committed loving mothers.

Numerous conservative groups regularly attempt this “fatherless” rhetorical trap to make a case against same-sex marriage.

Yes they do, because they are liars. I actually referred to this the other day. I never know which conservatives are actively lying when they misuse studies that pit single parents against married opposite-sex parents to condemn gay couples raising children, and which are simply parroting the ignorant crap others have taught them. Santorum, though he fancies himself an intellectual, doesn’t convince me that he has the gray matter to come up with creative lies by himself. It doesn’t matter, because he has irrational bigotry and fear in droves, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.

What is so strange about this line of argument, though, is that only a true believer who has completely lost the ability to reason for himself would buy into it. Theoretically, Rick Santorum is running for president, and I cannot believe that he doesn’t have at least one advisor passionately urging him to cut this sh*t out if he wants to have a prayer of making it past New Hampshire. And the fact that he said this to intelligent high school kids in a boarding school! Does he simply rejoice in making a fool of himself?

More on this in the L.A. Times.

Since Evan and I have been blogging about it for some time now, TWO readers are likely familiar with the attacks on marriage equality in New Hampshire.

In case anyone needs a refresher, New Hampshire’s entire legislature flipped from Democratic to Republican control in the Tea Party-fueled red tsunami of the 2010 midterms. One unfortunate result of that was that the state’s marriage equality law, which made New Hampshire the fifth state to grant same-sex couples the freedom to marry when it took effect in January 2010, came under assault from anti-gay extremist elements of that state’s GOP. Despite polls decisively showing widespread opposition to repeal among citizens of the Granite State and editorials from several of the state’s major newspapers calling on lawmakers to end their mean-spirited efforts, Republican politicians have pushed ahead in their attempt to strip away existing rights from their LGBT constituents and spit in the face of the nearly 1,800 same-sex couples who have married there since the law was enacted. (So much for the whole “will of the people” thing, huh?)

According to the Nashua Telegraph, the state House of Representatives is expected to take a vote on the repeal measure very soon after the January 10 presidential primary. Just two years after New Hampshire lawmakers granted lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people the simple dignity of being able to marry the person they love, that precious freedom is in serious jeopardy.

Enter Craig Stowell. Craig is a Republican and a former Marine. He also happens to have a brother, Calvin, who is gay (and a Twitter phenom, but I digress). Bucking his party, Craig became the co-chair of Standing up for New Hampshire Families, the group working to preserve, protect, and uphold the state’s marriage equality law. He also launched a Change.org petition calling on the legislature to do the right thing and leave the law alone. Change.org always asks petition creators why their particular action is important, and Craig’s explanation brought tears to my eyes:

My brother and best friend, Calvin, was tormented all the way through high school because people knew he was gay. There were nights that I worried I may wake up and he wouldn’t be there any longer; crushed by the misery he was forced to endure. When New Hampshire extended marriage to gay and lesbian couples, two years ago, he finally felt accepted. He finally felt like he belonged. Since that day 1,800 loving and committed gay and lesbian couples have married.

Today, the right to marriage is under attack in New Hampshire. If HB 437 passes, same-sex couples will no longer be allowed to marry. This mean-spirited attack is nothing more than state sponsored bullying. The bill actually goes on to allow discrimination in employment and housing based on sexuality.

When I enlisted in the Marines, I took an oath to defend freedom and liberty. In 2004, I went to Iraq to do just that. As the co-chairman for Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, I am now defending my brother’s freedom here at home, and I hope you will help me by telling legislators to vote NO on HB 437.

Two recent polls have shown that Granite Staters overwhelming support marriage equality. One poll coming from the University of New Hampshire shows support at 62 percent. It should be obvious that the majority of New Hampshire believes this is a settled issue.

When my wife Berta and I were married, Calvin was right there by my side as my best man. I want the opportunity to be his best man when he finds the person he wants to marry. With your help, I know we can ensure that freedom will still be there when he does.

Once you can see your computer screen again through the tears and have swallowed the lump in your throat, please join me in heading over to Change.org and signing Craig Stowell’s petition. All of us at Truth Wins Out (along with so many others) have said for a long time that equality is not and should not be a partisan issue. The courageous and heartwarming actions of people like Craig Stowell give me hope that the day will come when that’s truly the case.

Advice to Rick Santorum: stick with talking to hicks. When you talk to college students, they’re going to make you look dumb every single time.

Think Progress referred to this video as Santorum’s attempt to engage in a “Socratic dialogue,” which does seem to be what he was doing. Unfortunately it came out really frothy.

Here is Rick Perry talking to New Hampshire voters. Draw your own conclusions. I like the part where he gets really gay, around 2:45.

Note from Wayne: If you are a man and you have slept with Rick Perry or you can prove that Rick Perry hit on you, please contact me immediately at wbesen@truthwinsout.org. That little gay part that Evan alludes to at the 2:45 mark was just too much. It seemed like an unintentional crack in the alleged closet door. I heard many rumors down in Texas when I was recently in Houston. If you can confirm them, we’d like to hear from you.

[h/t Blue Texan]

Oh, Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown, would either of you know the truth if it smacked you across the face and sang you a big gay showtune?

Rachel Maddow reported last night on NOM’s latest ruse, a pathetic effort to make it appear as if their campaign to repeal marriage rights in New Hampshire has broad popular support — as Rachel points out, supporters of the law outnumber those who want to rescind equal marriage rights by two to one. It seems that Jeremy discovered that, in a sad, sad attempt to make it look as if they have friends people are on their side, the NOMsters have resorted to photoshopping Barack Obama’s crowds to make them look like they’re watching Brian Brown speaking.

As grotesque as it is bitter, as lonely as it is hilarious, these are the actions of losers. Losers who lie a lot.

[h/t Joe]

In 2009, the New Hampshire legislature voted to allow same-sex couples the freedom to marry. Since that time, support for marriage equality has only grown in the Granite State. In 2010, control of the legislature flipped to the GOP, and as a result, marriage rights for same-sex couples have come under attack from anti-gay extremist elements of the New Hampshire GOP.

This extremism flies in the face of public opinion. Newspapers have editorialized against efforts to overturn the state’s marriage equality law. A poll released earlier this month by the non-partisan University of New Hampshire Survey Center showed that 62% of New Hampshire residents oppose repealing marriage equality, with these results being nearly identical to those obtained in a February poll asking the same question. Even if you only count New Hampshire Republicans, support for overturning the law fails to win a majority.

Earlier this year, it looked as though New Hampshire Republicans were putting marriage repeal on the back burner when the House Judiciary Committee voted to push the issue to 2012. But Freedom to Marry is now reporting that a vote on the repeal bill is scheduled in the House Judiciary Committee for tomorrow, October 25. It looks as though despite strong and widespread public opposition, anti-gay extremists are indeed moving forward with their attacks on New Hampshire’s same-sex couples and families.

The next time you hear a marriage equality opponent spouting nonsense about “the will of the people” (as though minority rights should ever be subject to a majority vote…), tell them about what’s currently going on in New Hampshire. The truth is that wingnuts don’t care about the “will of the people,” only about imposing their will on the people.

Truth Wins Out will continue to monitor this attack on marriage in our neighboring state. In the meantime, please consider “liking” Standing Up for New Hampshire Families on Facebook to show solidarity with those fighting back against these attacks on equality and keep up with the latest developments out of the Granite State.

This just in:

According to Reuters, all six members of Michele Bachmann’s New Hampshire campaign staff resigned en masse yesterday.

From here in Vermont, it certainly looked as though the Bachmann campaign was ignoring our neighbors in New Hampshire. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who thought so:

“New Hampshire’s WMUR television said the reason given was due to the Bachmann campaign’s lack of focus on New Hampshire, which holds the country’s first primary election.

‘It certainly underscores the impression that New Hampshire isn’t a priority for her. She’s totally written us off,’ said former Republican state legislator Fran Wendelboe.”

Things sure aren’t looking good for Michele Bachmann. You’d think that if God told her to run, the campaign would be going a little better…

Igor Volsky went to a Tea Party rally in New Hampshire and asked the people there if they had seen any changes in the state since marriage equality passed.  It doesn’t seem to have affected them.

Here is your caveat, though:  This is New Hampshire.  Gay wingnuts are already crowing, seemingly because they think they have a point to make, that “See, I told you the Tea Party weren’t bigots!”  Again, this is New Hampshire. 

It’s got to burn the Religious Right, though, seeing videos like this.  At least in some places, even the craziest of the wingnuts aren’t riled up by the gays anymore.

Next time, go ask Alabama Teabaggers what they think about marriage equality, and you’ll get a very different set of responses.

[h/t Jeremy]