How many times have we heard from hardcore Tea Partiers that their cause “focuses on economic issues and doesn’t care about social issues?”

Of course, there’s an ample catalogue of evidence to refute that statement, but just in case we needed any more proof, look no further than the Tennessee Tea Party. They apparently missed the “social issues are verboten” memo when they released this tweet on Monday in reaction to news of Barney Frank’s impending retirement:

Some economic critique.

Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips issued a statement condemning the tweet, but according to Daily Kos, the Tennessee Tea Party is steadfastly standing behind its bigoted views.

Oh, Margie:

I haven’t had anything to say about the non-scandal that is “Wiener-gate.”  [Ugh, if you don't know what I'm talking about, A. It involves Andrew Breitbart and B. Go to Gawker or something, because I'm not re-explaining it.]  Basically, a semi-lewd picture of a clothed erect penis was sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account, he claims it was hacked, and it looks like one of Breitbart’s own hacks may have been the hacker.

But what does Dan Blatt at Gay Patriot think about it?  Uhhh…well, he says that if Weiner DID tweet the wiener:

Look, Congressmen are human. They have the same weaknesses, the same strengths, as the rest of us. If Weiner’s twitter wasn’t hacked, Mr Weiner did something a lot of men do when they’re lonely and longing for human connection.

What?! They tweet pictures of their genitals to people they don’t know on Twitter? What?! Normal Behavior, according to Dan Blatt!

Oh my lord…

Ever since our successful petition to have Exodus International’s iPhone app deleted from the app store, untold numbers have had a chance to learn about the insidious “ex-gay” industry and what it actually does to people. So Peterson and some of the other “ex-gay” survivors have started a hash tag on Twitter — #exgaysurvivor — to share their stories with each other and the world. Here’s some of what they have so far:

Whenever I make a mistake, I still fight the voice in my head that tells me it’s because I’m evil and possessed by a demon – @cylestnichole

After my gay-related exorcism, the only thing that went away was my love for myself – @vcervantes

My family was deeply wounded by Exodus International staff – @p2son

Has barely begun to scratch the surface of the ways they have been harmed by their ex-gay past… it is all too painful… – @never_again4

In ex-gay ministry, I was told if I wasn’t changing to str8t then I wasn’t trying hard enough – @gaysexpert

The twisted Emotionally Dependent Relationship teaching is an invasive species that digs into the brain. Awful – @MJaneB65

The thing is, the silent or implied messages were often more insidious than the direct and explicit ones. – @JarredH

I became depressed and suicidal after ex gay therapy. – @jeraskew1

Never would I have considered that there was a problem with the system. I was made to believe I WAS the problem – @gaysexpert

Being told not to form Emotionally Dependent Relationships kept me in fear of love. http://t.co/97hetHL – @MJaneB65

It was awful because so often ex-gay leaders blamed ME for not trying hard enough or trusting Jesus – @p2son

The only time I’ve ever felt separated from God was during my ex-gay experience – @cylestnichole

I was told that if I was gay, God would utterly reject me – @gaysexpert

God is not the author of confusion, but of love. My time in reparative therapy produced nothing but confusion and hate – @never_again4

They told me that I had gay demons. Then that abuse made me gay. Then my parents failed. #exgay ministers misled me -@p2son

They told me my “boy” was too much and my “girl” was not enough. I became nothing. @MJaneB65

college sent me to ex-gay therapy & all I got was a hospital bill after trying to kill myself bc they told me I was sick&sinful – @never_again4

After 10 years of reparative therapy I was hospitalized because I was suicidal – @MJaneB65

Actual Suicide note: “God would rather have me die now than to live with another gay thought.” – @gaysexpert

‘Love Won Out’ came to my college. After that, I attempted suicide 3 times within one year. I never told any of my friends – @cylestnichole

My counselors didn’t believe I existed. And, like Tinkerbell, poison and disbelief almost killed me. I do believe in fairies! – @connoley

If you have a story to tell, or genuinely want to learn more about the horrific lies perpetuated by the “ex-gay” industry, get thee to the Twitters and join in, and keep up with Peterson’s blog in the meantime.  AND speaking of Twitter, since I haven’t mentioned it on the blog in a while, you should also follow me and Truth Wins Out, if you want, and you should want to, because come on.

Eight hours ago on Twitter:

One hour ago:

There are a lot of new readers right now, so welcome, stay a while, fix yourself a drink, etc.

Also, if you use the Twitter machine, follow me here, and Truth Wins Out here.  And of course, join us on Facebook.

That is all.

Is Sarah Palin supportive of the repeal of DADT?  Has her Twitter been hi-jacked?  Did she see a tweet with lots of misspelled words and feel an emotional connection, regardless of content?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Yesterday, the uber-conservative lesbian radio host Tammy Bruce tweeted this, in a string of comments about DADT repeal:

But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. Enuf already–the more someone complains about the homos the more we should look under their bedabout 15 hours ago via webRetweeted by 95 people

And then Sarah Palin retweeted it:

So, what is she saying? Was “Sarah Palin” [you know she doesn't run her own Twitter or Facebook] following Tammy’s conversation and agreeing with her about DADT repeal? Was she just being catty?

Max Read at Gawker points out that it’s a wee bit unprofessional for a politician [but not for a reality teevee star or a professional Facebooker!] to be using the word “homo,” even if she’s retweeting someone else, and then he breaks down the possibilities for us:

• She is coming out in support of DADT repeal and gay rights.Bruce thinks that Palin is expressing her point of view on “DADT, treatment of gays & attempts to marginalize us.” Which isn’t out of the question—Palin is not, in the context of her party, rabidly homophobic, and her stance on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was limited to a sort of feeble “not right now” back in February. So, yes, maybe reality ungulate-shooter Sarah Palin is expressing her solidarity with gay soldier-types via microblogging. What a blow for the forces of freedom and openness!
• She didn’t understand the Tweet. It’s not the most professional way to come out, so to speak, in support of DADT repeal, is it? (Though, Jesus, why am I looking for professionalism from this woman of all people? I mean—she would come out for gay rights in a way that would piss off a lot of gay people, wouldn’t she?) It’s possible she—whoever is in charge of the Official Palin Twitter—just, well, didn’t get the joke, or didn’t understand the Tweet at all.
• She clicked the wrong button. Maybe! Though the re-Tweet’s been up an awful long time.
• She thinks we should be looking for gay people hiding under beds.

I say there is absolutely no telling which one of those options is closest to the truth, because we are dealing with Sarah Palin here.

This happened yesterday, and the tweet remains up, so I’m guessing #3 is out, while #2 and #4 are distinct possibilities.

Well, whatever, I’m sure she’ll be on The Foxes “clarifying” the whole thing in a four-minute run-on sentence sans verbs in the next 24 hours.

Since there are a lot of new readers these days, I thought I’d give you all some instructions:

1.  Follow me on Twitter.

2.  Follow Wayne on Twitter.

3.  Follow Mike on Twitter.

4.  Fan us on Facebook.

5.  Your choice.  Find something nice to do for number five.

Yesterday, Truth Wins Out asked the rapper 50-Cent to clarify a Tweet he made that may have been anti-gay. Here is what he wrote:

“If you a man and your over 25 and you don’t eat pu**y just kill your self damn it. The world will be a better place.” Lol, Twitter.

In response, Truth Wins Out wrote in a press release:

“We hope that 50 Cent was simply expressing enthusiasm for oral sex in an inartful way,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It would be unconscionable if he were calling on gays to commit suicide in the face of such tragedy. Only a despicable reprobate would do such a thing and leaders from Hollywood to Washington should condemn such rhetoric. Truth Wins Out calls on 50 Cent to clarify his remarks immediately.”

Eight minutes ago, 50-Cent left this message on Twitter:

The other night I made a joke about a blow job. My male followers enjoyed it. So I then went on to joke about women receiving the same….Some how they turned a simple joke about oral sex into a anti gay statement. I have nothing against people who choose and alternative life…Style in fact iv publicly stated my mom loved women. It funny how people think negative statements are news worthy but positive statements are not worthy of coverage.

Well, good for him. We are glad he clarified the Tweet and that it was not anti-gay.

** By the way, Mr. Half Dollar…FYI… it is not an alternate life and people do not choose to be gay.

Rapper’s Comments Follow Atrocious Day of Gay Suicides, Says TWO

NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out called on rapper 50 Cent to clarify potentially anti-gay remarks he made on his Twitter account today. The tweet comes on the heels an infamous day of sadness and sorrow, where four gay teens died from suicide. According to 50 Cent’s message:

“If you a man and your over 25 and you don’t eat pu**y just kill your self damn it. The world will be a better place.” Lol, Twitter.

“We hope that 50 Cent was simply expressing enthusiasm for oral sex in an inartful way,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It would be unconscionable if he were calling on gays to commit suicide in the face of such tragedy. Only a despicable reprobate would do such a thing and leaders from Hollywood to Washington should condemn such rhetoric. Truth Wins Out calls on 50 Cent to clarify his remarks immediately.”

In September, there have been four gay teen suicides as a result of school bullying, as well as an incident where classmates broke a young man’s arm because he joined the cheerleading squad:

** Seth Walsh, the Bakersfield, CA 13-year-old who hanged himself from a tree in his back yard after years of being bullied, died Tuesday afternoon after nine days on life support. Police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself. “Several of the kids that we talked to broke down into tears,” Police Chief Jeff Kermode said. “They had never expected an outcome such as this.”

** Asher Brown, 13, an eighth-grader killed himself last week. He shot himself in the head after enduring what his mother and stepfather say was constant harassment from four other students at Hamilton Middle School in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston Texas. Brown, his family said, was “bullied to death” — picked on for his small size, his religion and because he did not wear designer clothes and shoes. Kids also accused him of being gay, some of them performing mock gay acts on him in his physical education class, his mother and stepfather said.

** Billy (William) Lucas, 15, a student at Greensburg Community High School in Greensburg, IN, was found dead in a barn at his grandmother’s home Thursday evening — he had hanged himself. Friends say that he had been tormented for years

“He was threatened to get beat up every day,” friend and classmate Nick Hughes said. “Sometimes in classes, kids would act like they were going to punch him and stuff and push him. Some people at school called him names,” Hughes said, saying most of those names questioned Lucas’ sexual orientation.

** Yesterday, a Rutgers University freshman posted a goodbye message on his Facebook page before jumping to his death after his roommate secretly filmed him during a “sexual encounter” in his dorm room and posted it live on the Internet. Items belonging to 18-year-old Rutgers student Tyler Clementi were found by the George Washington Bridge last week, according to authorities. Clementi’s freshman ID card and driver’s license were in the wallet.Clementi’s post on his Facebook page, dated Sept. 22 at 8:42 p.m. read, “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.”

*** School bullies broke the arm of eleven year-old Tyler Wilson because he joined the cheering team. But he’s pushing through it, and he’s going to cheer and not give into the thugs. A longer report and full interview with Tyler and his mom from Good Morning America are here.

“In this time of mourning, we need voices of love and compassion,” said TWO’s Besen. “The last thing we need is a recording artist with 3,366,288 Twitter followers to throw gasoline on the fire and encourage hate. I certainly hope that 50-Cent makes it clear that his statements were misunderstood. If his statements were, indeed, anti-gay, then we are looking at a genuine monster.”

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO monitors anti-LGBT organizations, documents their misinformation and exposes their leaders as charlatans. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

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