Fox News chose to ignore the historic passage of marriage equality in Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota, opting instead to promote a handful of asinine horror stories about same-sex marriage.  

Fox News viewers are likely unaware that three states – Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota –voted to legalize same-sex marriage over the past three weeks. That’s because Fox News spent a total of one minute covering the stories, according to an Equality Matters analysis:

While CNN and MSNBC both covered the developments, Fox News made only three mentions of the passage of marriage equality in Rhode Island, entirely ignoring the new law in Delaware.

At the same time that Fox was ignoring these historic victories, the network promoted several stories meant to stoke right-wing fears about marriage equality.

On May 1 – just one day before Rhode Island’s vote – Fox News host Bill O’Reilly criticized a speech by Masha Gessen, a Russian gay activist who claimed that marriage equality would – and should -- “change” the institution of marriage, adding “it’s a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist.” O’Reilly cited the speech as evidence that “a lot of gay activists” might secretly want to destroy marriage – a plot that O’Reilly refers to as “the Swedish model”:

The whole segment was pure, unadulterated Fox News nonsense. Marriage is on the rise in Sweden. Gessen is not a spokesperson for the marriage equality movement. She gave her speech year ago at a writers’ festival (though it recently resurfaced on several anti-gay websites). And people from across the political spectrum have been calling for the abolition of marriage since long before marriage equality was a serious possibility.  

This wasn’t Fox’s only baseless attack on same-sex marriage. On May 10, the crew at Fox & Friends criticized the “P.C. police” for including gender-neutral language on certain federal forms in order to accommodate same-sex couples.

Fox’s failure to report on major state victories for marriage equality in May wasn’t a result of having too many news stories to cover; the network had more than enough time to air multiple throw-away segments about the supposed dangers of same-sex marriage.

Rather, it was the result of the network’s tendency to ignore major advancements for LGBT equality while ginning up baseless fears about how that equality might threaten Fox’s target audience.

To see the full Equality Matters report, click here.

The crew at Fox & Friends can’t handle the fact that government documents are beginning to acknowledge same-sex couples, blaming the “P.C. Police” for new, gay-inclusive language on federal student aid forms.

In April, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would be making minor changes to the language used on its Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to recognize families headed by same-sex couples, including  replacing the terms “Mother/Stepmother” and “Father/Stepfather” with the terms “Parent 1 (father/mother/stepparent)” and “Parent 2 (father/mother/stepparent).” 

During the May 10 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy criticized the change, warning that “the P.C. police are loose in the federal government”:

As the Fox & Friends crew struggled to think of reasons to criticize the language change – like co-host Gretchen Carlson’s concern that parents will “start fighting over which one is 1 and which one is 2” – Fox’s chyron displayed several headlines suggesting that the new language somehow punished heterosexual parents:

Later in the show, the Fox & Friends crew returned to the subject, again displaying a “P.C. police” graphic and airing viewer complaints about the language change, including one comment that a couple is “now having a domestic dispute” because they can’t agree on which parent should be deemed “#1”:

In reality, the minor change in FAFSA language is a “fair, effective, and efficient” way to reduce bias that discriminates against students raised in same-sex households who seek financial aid to fund their college education. Fox’s outrage over such a common sense change is just the latest example of the network’s inability (or unwillingness) to accept and recognize same-sex relationships. 

Previously:

Fox News Has A Meltdown Over Gender-Neutral Marriage Licenses In WA

Fox News Downplays Major Election Night LGBT Victories

Fox News Chyron Falsely Declares “Same-Sex Marriage… Fails In Minnesota”

Breitbart.com is promoting the theory that Hitler was secretly gay, playing into one of the most extreme and damaging anti-gay smears in right-wing politics: that gay men were responsible for the Holocaust.

In a May 9 post, Breitbart.com touted “new evidence” that Hitler was gay, citing a Washington Examiner article that highlighted notes taken from interviews with several of Hitler’s doctors. The “evidence” of Hitler’s alleged homosexuality includes the claims that Hitler took female hormones and did not sleep in the same bedroom as his girlfriend and eventual wife, Eva Braun:

There is new evidence that Adolph Hitler was gay. Doctors who treated Hitler were interviewed by the U.S. Army after World War II, and the notes from those interviews have now been made public.

Army interrogator Herman Merl, who was a medical technician who interviewed Hitler's doctors, Karl Brandt and Hitler’s primary physician, Theodor Morell, wrote “Homosex” in the space provided for Hitler’s sexuality. The doctors told Merl that Hitler did not sleep with girlfriend Eva Braun in her bedroom, and he himself received female hormones. Merl wrote, "Eva Braun = separate rooms" and "female hormone - injection 50,000 units." He added, "His sexual life and intercourse with Eva Braun was told to me."

The theory that Hitler was secretly gay isn’t new in right-wing circles – anti-gay extremists like Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association have been making similar claims for years.  In fact, the “Hitler was gay” claim is part of a broader anti-gay smear which posits that gay men were responsible for the Holocaust and that Hitler intentionally sought out homosexuals for his “inner circle” because their “unusual brutality” made them well-suited to carry out mass genocide.

That myth has been widely debunked, of course, and the reality is that gay people were the victims, not the perpetrators, of the Holocaust.

Breitbart.com’s post, with its blaring headline and ominous picture, continues a long tradition in right-wing media of grasping at straws to suggest some link between homosexuality and one of worst human rights atrocities in history.

Previously:

NOM Ally Compares Gay-Straight Alliances To KKK, Nazi Skinhead Groups

NOM's Morse Dodges Question About Comparing America To Nazi Germany

WorldNetDaily Video Cites Book Co-Written By Hate-Group Leader To Push Bogus Gay-Nazi Link

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones went on a rambling, transphobic rant during his radio show, warning that protecting the rights of transgender people will cause them to start “vomiting and crapping all over the place.”

During the April 30 edition of his radio show, Jones launched a screed against the “globalist mafia,” which he blamed for efforts to reduce discrimination against transgender people. After claiming that he isn’t bothered by transgender people – but that their “fake rights” don’t exist – Jones warned that “transvestites” would “throw up all over the walls” in public bathrooms. He continued by peddling a number of outrageous, damaging stereotypes about transgender people:

JONES: They’re saying in high schools, in junior highs now, they’re going to have – men can decide to be in the women’s bathroom if they want. You’re like ‘well big deal, that’s their gender.’ It’s all about these fake rights that don’t exist versus my basic liberty being taken. It’s not that I’m against people that think they’re a woman or a man or whatever. I don’t even care. Give me a break. It’s not even on my radar screen. I could care less. I care about people.

[…]

I dealt at Access TV with a famous Austin transvestite, who died a few years ago, who they’re talking about building a statue to, going in the bathroom, men and women, and vomiting all over the walls when they would do whatever they were doing in there. I mean, I’m talking about several transvestites cramming their way into the men’s bathroom, the women’s bathroom. You’d go in there to comb your hair before you went on air, there they were. And they finally got thrown out of there because of it and said it was because of discrimination because they were transvestites. No. It was because whatever they were injecting in there made them throw up all over – I mean imagine every week throw up all over the walls. And then I had an office by this guy. The bad luck is I had an office where we would look down, turned out he lived around the block, and I would have to watch him every day in the cheerleader outfit, through my office window, on the air, doing deals and stuff in cars and stumbling around everywhere. And then I’m not a trendy because I don’t bow down. I had to go in there store, there was a grocery store next door… you know with crap dripping down his leg, stinking. And I’m supposed to just go ‘oh, you’re a trendy with rotten teeth hanging out of your head, and a weird bald head, you’re in a dress. Here, here, here, here, please, please more diarrhea running down your leg.

[…]

I don’t want my daughters growing up in a country where some transvestite comes walking into the thing hopped out of their brain on drugs vomiting and crapping all over the place. [emphasis added]

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) threw its support behind anti-gay ESPN analyst Chris Broussard, who recently criticized openly gay NBA player Jason Collins for living life in “open rebellion” against God.

 Broussard came under fire on April 29 after condemning Collins, the first openly gay athlete in a major American sport, for “living in unrepentant sin,” saying:

Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian. [emphasis added]

During the April 30 edition of Lutheran Public Radio’s Issues, Etc., NOM spokeswoman Jennifer Morse praised Broussard for his anti-gay comments, claiming it took “more courage” for him to make those remarks than it did for Collins to make his announcement:

MORSE: I think he required more courage than the basketball player did. I mean, it requires no courage at all today to say “I’m gay.” It’s my understanding [Collins] got a phone call from the president congratulating him on his courage. Well how much courage can it take if the president’s going to pick up the phone and give you a personal phone call, you know? But in the meantime, this fellow who says, you know, ‘I’m a Christian, and I believe that sex belongs in marriage and it belongs in man-woman marriage,’ to say that, now that will bring the whole wrath of society down upon your head. So that’s the guy that really required the courage and I give him a lot of credit for it. [emphasis added]

Morse went on to say that Broussard’s comments made him sound like a “spokesman” for NOM’s Ruth Institute, which Morse is the president of:

MORSE: I was actually quite touched by his comments because – I hate to say this because the gay lobby will certainly pick up on this – but I want you to know I did not coach this man at all whatsoever, but he sounds like a spokesman for the Ruth Institute because he’s there saying all of these sins are sexual sins. [emphasis added]

Previously:

NOM Finally Acknowledges Weeks Of Anti-Gay Violence Following France’s Marriage Vote

NOM Openly Advocates For Anti-Gay Business Discrimination

NOM Denies Anti-Gay Violence In France After Praising Activist Who Called For “Blood”

Fox News largely underreported the news of the first openly gay male athlete in major American sports, while one Fox News contributor resorted to mocking the player’s decision to publicly identify as gay.

On April 29, NBA center Jason Collins became the first professional athlete in a major American sport to come out as gay, writing in a story for Sports Illustrated:

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.

The announcement was a major development in the sports community following months of debate and speculation about if and when a male professional athlete in one of the major American sports would identify as gay.

Despite the significance of Collins’ announcement, Fox News barely covered the story, dedicating less than ten minutes on April 29 to the story – significantly less time than coverage on CNN (48 minutes) and MSNBC (29 minutes) –  according to an Equality Matters analysis:

Fox’s underreporting wasn’t limited to its on-air coverage. While most major news websites prominently displayed Collins’ announcement on their home page, the story barely earned a hyperlink on FoxNews.com:

Never one to miss an opportunity to attack LGBT Americans, Fox News Radio reporter Todd Starnes mocked Collins’ announcement, tweeting “the NBA is turning into GLEE”:

* Equality Matters searched news transcripts provided by Snapstream for the terms “gay” and “Collins” on April 29. Reruns and teases for upcoming segments were excluded.

Previously:

Fox Reporter: Military Opposition To Anti-Gay Hate Speech Is A Sign Of “The End Of Days”

On Fox, Tony Perkins Distorts MSNBC Ad To Attack Same-Sex Families

O’Reilly: Student Protest Against Anti-Gay Priest Is “A Fascist Act”

Now that the French parliament has voted to approve legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is finally willing to acknowledge and condemn the violence that’s characterized the country’s anti-gay movement throughout the debate.

The movement to oppose marriage equality in France became marred by increasingly violent and uncivil behavior as France’s parliament inched closer to approving a measure legalizing same-sex marriage.  In the past month alone, examples of aggressive anti-gay behavior was rampant, including:

• A death threat sent to National Assembly president Claude Bartolone including an envelope filled with gunpowder
• A spike in anti-gay attacks, including two brutal attacks against gay civilians
• A violent assault against a popular gay bar
• A group of protesters vandalizing an LGBT center in Paris
• A number of violent skirmishes between anti-gay protesters and police officers

And shortly before the French National Assembly voted to make marriage equality legal, a phrase loosely translating to “homosexuals must be killed” was trending on Twitter in France.

Despite being closely tied to France’s anti-gay movement, NOM refused to acknowledge – let alone condemn – the anti-gay violence being carried out by its supporters across the Atlantic. On April 18 NOM President Brian Brown described anti-gay protesters as “peaceful,” even suggesting that the violence might have been caused by pro-equality protesters.

On April 23, hours after the French General Assembly voted in favor of marriage equality, NOM finally issued a statement acknowledging the spike in violence:

We urge all French citizens to contact lawmakers to express their strong opposition to this policy. We also call on all citizens to conduct themselves honorably and peacefully. Even though the same-sex marriage policy being foisted on an unwilling public is profoundly unwise and anti-family, no citizen should ever express their disapproval through violent means. We condemn in the strongest possible terms violence by anyone on either side of this debate.

NOM’s tepid statement is likely to be too little too late. The group failed to specifically condemn the leaders of France’s anti-gay movement who are responsible for using violent rhetoric to motivate supporters – leaders NOM previously praised. Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage have already resumed their attacks on police following the French National Assembly’s vote.

Previously:

NOM Openly Advocates For Anti-Gay Business Discrimination

NOM Denies Anti-Gay Violence In France After Praising Activist Who Called For “Blood”

Another Anti-Equality Horror Story Falls Apart: Damian Goddard Edition

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is now openly advocating for the right of a business to refuse service to gay people, even if that service has nothing at all to do with same-sex marriage.

In an April 17 blog post, NOM warned its supporters about a First Circuit Court decision in Hawaii that found that the Aloha Bed & Breakfast had discriminated against a gay couple when it refused to rent them a room:

Hawaii's First Circuit Court has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple against the owner of the Aloha Bed & Breakfast, alleging that the religious owner "discriminated" against the couple for not renting them a room.

The Blaze reports the Bed & Breakfast owner's attorney, Jim Hochberg, saying that "[t]he public needs to be aware of this decision because it has far-reaching consequences," and because it ignores the owner's First Amendment rights.

Of course, while lawsuits such as this are becoming ever more frequent, yet still same-sex marriage activists claim redefining marriage will have no impact on anyone's religious freedom or basic rights.

Notice how NOM puts the word discriminated” in scare quotes.

This incident has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. The couple in question wasn’t married. Hawaii doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages. And, unlike in other anti-gay horror stories of business owners being sued for refusing to serve same-sex couples getting married, the business’s service being offered has nothing to do with marriage or same-sex weddings. The couple was denied a room solely because they were gay. As The Blaze reported:

When [Diane] Cervelli specified they would need one bed, the owner asked if they were lesbians. Cervelli responded truthfully and the owner said she was uncomfortable having lesbians in her house because of her religious views, the lawsuit said.

It’s not Hawaii’s marriage law that NOM has a problem with, it’s the state’s non-discrimination law.

NOM’s idea of religious liberty includes allowing business owners to simply refuse service to gay people if they’re “uncomfortable” serving them. That’s not “protecting marriage,” but a protection of blatant anti-gay discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.

Previously:

NOM Denies Anti-Gay Violence In France After Praising Activist Who Called For “Blood”

Another Anti-Equality Horror Story Falls Apart: Damian Goddard Edition

NOM's Morse: It's "Absurd" To Let The States Decide On Marriage Equality For Themselves

Despite having endorsed an activist who openly called for “blood,” the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is downplaying growing anti-gay violence in France in the lead up to the country’s vote on same-sex marriage.

Just days before the French Parliament’s final vote on marriage equality, news outlets are reporting a spike in anti-gay violence in France, including the vicious attack of a gay couple, an assault on a gay bar, and several clashes between anti-gay protestors and police officers.

The violence has undoubtedly been encouraged by the leaders of France’s anti-gay movement. Prominent anti-gay activist Frigide Barjot became the target of widespread criticism in early April after promising “blood” if the French government embraces marriage equality, saying:

This is a disgrace. The French people don't want this law, and what do they do? They speed up its passage. [President] Hollande wants blood, and he will get it.

France’s top Catholic bishop, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, similarly criticized the government for considering embracing marriage equality, warning to French bishops’ at a conference that “this is the way a violent society develops.”

Rather than condemn the anti-gay violence occurring in France, however, NOM continues to portray French anti-gay activists as “peaceful,” even suggesting that it’s the pro-equality activists who are committing violence. In NOM’s April 18 newsletter, NOM president Brian Brown wrote:

In France spontaneous peaceful demonstrations by young people protesting their government's determination to ignore the voice of the people is causing headaches across the country.

[…]

Violence did break out but not from the pro-marriage protestors.

In the small hours of Saturday, a leading member of the 'Manif pour tous,' Samuel Lafont, was knifed several times in the center of Paris after pro-gay 'marriage' activists had called for violence against him on Twitter. While his alleged aggressors are apparently not linked to the pro-gay movement in any way – they are Brazilians who were arrested on Sunday afternoon – outrageous remarks from the pro-gay 'marriage' lobby hoping he would die triggered a new series of demonstrations in the center of Paris on Sunday.

It makes sense that NOM would attempt to whitewash the anti-gay violence taking place in France. NOM is deeply connected to France’s anti-gay movement.

In January, NOM praised Barjot as a “hero for marriage,” touting her “speech of a lifetime” at an anti-gay rally in Paris. Robert Lopez, a close NOM ally, praised Barjot for presenting the anti-gay movement in America with a “colorful” character “whom we can emulate.” Statements by Cardinal Vingt-Trois have also been echoed on NOM’s blog since as early as August of last year.

NOM has yet to acknowledge, much less condemn, the violent rhetoric being spewed by its allies in France or the real anti-gay violence that it’s helped encourage.

Previously:

Another Anti-Equality Horror Story Falls Apart: Damian Goddard Edition

NOM's Morse: It's "Absurd" To Let The States Decide On Marriage Equality For Themselves

UPDATED: Are The Chicago Bears Supporting NOM’s Anti-Gay Student Conference?

One of the most prominent horror stories used by anti-gay activists to fearmonger about marriage equality has fallen apart, further undermining the narrative that same-sex marriage would somehow threaten religious freedom. 

In the months leading up to last November’s historic state votes on marriage equality, anti-gay groups peddled a number of horror stories about the alleged threat same-sex marriage poses to religious liberty and free speech. One of the most notorious of these examples was the story of Damian Goddard, a Canadian sportscaster who claimed to have been fired from his job at Rogers Communications’ Sportsnet after tweeting about his opposition to marriage equality:

Goddard’s story was heavily touted by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which made Goddard the spokesman for its failed Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance:

Goddard’s version of the story was denied by Sportsnet, which cited “well documented” reasons for Goodard’s termination and stated that the decision to fire Goddard had been made before he tweeted his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Still, Goddard insisted he had been wrongly fired, even filing a complaint against Rogers Communications with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and boasting that he was “sitting on a virtual gold-mine” in his case against the company:

Despite his predictions, however, Goddard’s case was dismissed by the Canadian Human Rights Commission on April 15. According to Life Site News:

In June 2011, Goddard, a devout Roman Catholic, filed a human rights complaint alleging religious discrimination.

But he received a letter from the Commission on April 15th  advising him that they had dismissed the complaint. “The evidence does not support a link between the complainant's religion and the termination of his employment contract,” they wrote.

Goddard called this decision “almost unbelievable” and has already vowed to take his fight “to the next stage,” though it’s unclear what that stage will be.

What is clear is that yet another one of the right-wing horror stories about marriage equality appears to be a flop.

With Goddard, NOM was hoping it found a credible spokesperson to peddle its anti-gay talking points. Instead, it found a loose cannon whose growing list of extreme positions is likely to do more harm than good for NOM’s brand.

Previously:

NOM’s Anti-Defamation Spokesman Promotes Column Claiming “Communist-Homosexualists” Have Infiltrated The Catholic Church

NOM’s Anti-Defamation Spokesman Doubles Down On Calling Obama A “Terrorist”

He Doesn’t Even Go Here: Meet NOM’s New Anti-Defamation Alliance Spokesman

After years of denigrating LGBT people and mocking marriage equality, Fox Nation is suddenly expressing concern that new gun control legislation might discriminate against same-sex couples.

In an April 12 Daily Caller article, Mike Piccione criticized new gun control legislation that would prohibit the transfer of firearms between unwed partners without a background check, arguing that the measure “sharply limits rights of gay gun owners”:

Gay couples living in states that do not recognize their marriage will now be unable to transfer firearm ownership to their partners without undergoing a background check, should federal gun legislation recently proposed by Democratic Sen. Harry Reid become law.

According to the “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013,” which was introduced in the Senate this week, only couples in a government-sanctioned relationships will be allowed to privately transfer ownership of their firearms without first having to pass the federal background check.

[…]

Gay gun owners who want to transfer a gun to a partner, however, must first physically turn their guns in to an entity holding a federal firearms license so that a background check can be performed on the partner. The checks are conducted by the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System.

Fox Nation promoted the article, asking “Does Democrats’ Gun Bill Discriminate Against Gays?”:

While it appears to be true that, under the proposed legislation, same-sex couples would not be allowed to transfer gun ownership between spouses without a background check, it’s hard to take Fox Nation’s concern about LGBT equality seriously.

Fox Nation has a history of demonizing LGBT equality, including attacking President Obama for calling on the U.N. to protect victims of LGBT violence.  It previously criticized an immigration judge for halting the deportation of a gay man who is married to an American citizen, and when Obama announced his support for marriage equality last May, Fox Nation warned, “OBAMA FLIP FLOPS, DECLARES WAR ON MARRIAGE.”

The Daily Caller’s sudden support for LGBT equality seems no more sincere. The publication typically concerns itself with LGBT issues only when they can be used as an excuse to advocate for anti-gay causes and politicians. Earlier this month, the Daily Caller’s Jim Treacher suggested that marriage equality might lead to fathers marrying their sons for tax purposes.

Previously:

Fox Nation Uses Image From “Mrs. Doubtfire” To Mock Transgender People

Fox Nation, Rush Limbaugh Peddle Gay Marriage-Pedophilia Link

Fox Nation: “OBAMA FLIP FLOPS, DECLARES WAR ON MARRIAGE”

Right-wing media outlets are criticizing the Washington attorney general for enforcing non-discrimination laws against a florist who refused to offer her services for a same-sex wedding.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit on April 9 against Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts, a florist that refused to supply flowers for the wedding of a same-sex couple due to her religious beliefs. According to the lawsuit, the florist violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers on the basis of sexual orientation.

Right-wing media outlets have jumped on the story, touting it as evidence of the gay community’s hostility towards religious freedom.

Fox News Radio reporter Todd Starnes called the lawsuit “anti-Christian,” publishing an article laden with quotes from anti-gay activists:

American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer cited the incident as an example of “homofascism”:

Breitbart.com’s John Nolte echoed Fischer’s comments, describing the incident as proof that the “organized left” wants to “destroy the Christian Church and marginalize Christians”:

It begins.

There is no question that rank-and-file gay couples of all political stripes are sincere in their desire to enjoy the benefits and status that come with marriage. There is no sinister agenda at work in the issue of same-sex marriage among the masses. But the same cannot be said of the organized left who have always intended to use the issue of gay marriage as a vehicle to destroy the Christian Church and marginalize Christians.

Faithfulness to the Bible and the Christian faith will very soon be declared bigotry by the media and a de facto civil rights violation by the State. [emphasis added]

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins linked the incident to Washington State’s recent decision to legalize same-sex marriage, writing:

Of course, leading up to last November's election, when Washington State voted to legalize same-sex "marriage," supporters argued that redefining marriage wouldn't hurt anyone--that it was just about two people who love each other. Well, it may be about two people who love each other, but it's also about the florists, the bakers, the candlestick makers, and everyone else the Left wants to force to endorse their relationship!

The most telling reaction to the lawsuit, however, came from Joseph Backholm, head of the Family Policy Institute of Washington:

One wonders how many of those who assured us that no one would lose their liberty will come to the defense of Arlene’s Flowers.

Of course this lawsuit isn't due exclusively to the redefinition of marriage.  The non-discrimination statute that this suit has been brought under existed previously.  It was bad then, it is bad now.  The difference, however, is this.  Now that the law says marriage is genderless, those who think otherwise are much more likely to be confronted with the Hobbesian choice to conform or be punished. [emphasis added]

Backholm is right in pointing out that the lawsuit “isn’t due exclusively” to Washington’s marriage equality law. In fact, it has nothing to do with the law. Same-sex couples are allowed to have same-sex wedding ceremonies – which are functionally just private celebrations – even if the state they’re in doesn’t legally recognize their relationships as “marriages.” In other words, refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex couple’s wedding ceremony is an illegal act of discrimination regardless of whether Washington had decided to legalize same-sex marriages.

As Backholm admits, his real problem is with the state’s Consumer Protection Act because it prohibits business owners from discriminating against LGBT people.

When right-wing figures fearmonger about marriage equality’s alleged assault on religious freedom, what they’re usually talking about is their own reluctance to abide by basic non-discrimination measures put in place to protect LGBT people, regardless of whether that discrimination stems from sincerely held private religious beliefs.

Previously:

Fox News Fails To Prove That Marriage Equality Threatens Religious Liberty… Eight Times In A Row

NOM’s Morse: Non-Discrimination Laws For LGBT Employees Promote The Gay Agenda

Liberty Counsel’s Barber: Non-Discrimination Laws Lead To Bestiality, Anarchy

Fox News Radio reporter Todd Starnes criticized an email from a U.S. Army officer condemning anti-gay hate speech, suggesting that the email was a sign of “the end of days” and warning his audience that “your military is being turned against you.”

In an April 9 article for Fox News Radio, Starnes reported that an email from Lt. Col. Jack Rich instructed subordinates to be on the lookout for behaviors that are “inconsistent with Army Values,” including showing support for a number of “hate groups” operating in the U.S.

The email included a list of anti-gay groups like the Family Research Council (FRC) and American Family Association (AFA), stating:

The religious right in America has employed a variety of strategies in its efforts to beat back the increasingly confident gay rights movement. One of those has been defamation. Many of its leaders have engaged in the crudest type of name-calling, describing LGBT people as “perverts” with “filthy habits” who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and “convert” them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging “facts” about gays that are simply untrue assertions that are remarkably reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote about the “bestial” black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.

Rich’s depiction of the hate speech stemming from the anti-gay movement is entirely accurate. Both FRC and AFA have been listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center due to their long histories of defaming LGBT people, including peddling the myth allowing for openly gay soldiers would cause a spike in sexual assaults and HIV infections in the military.

Starnes – who acts as Fox News’ resident mouthpiece for anti-gay hate groups – chose to depict the email as an assault on Christianity, interviewing several employees of FRC who, not surprisingly, condemned the email:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told Fox News he was disturbed by the contents of the email.

“It’s very disturbing to see where the Obama Administration is taking the military and using it as a laboratory for social experimentation  — and also as an instrument to fundamentally change the culture,” he said. “The message is very clear – if you are a Christian who believes in the Bible, who believes in transcendent truth, there is no place for you in the military.”

The headline for Starnes’ piece also incorrectly described FRC and AFA as “Christian Ministries,” ignoring both groups’ work in authoring anti-gay propaganda and lobbying for extreme anti-gay policy initiatives:

On April 9, Starnes previewed his report on the Bill and Joel show, warning listeners that “your military is being turned against you”:

He went on to suggest that the “persecution” of Christians was evidence of the arrival of “the end of days”:

Rich’s email is hardly a sign that the world is about to end. It makes sense for Army officials to keep an eye on soldiers who might be peddling inflammatory hate speech – including anti-gay propaganda – within their ranks. Groups like FRC and AFA are some of the country’s largest producers of that kind of hate speech.

The fact that Starnes views such a simple measure as a sign that the military has “turned against” people like him says more about his anti-gay views than the alleged intolerance of the military towards Christians.

Previously:

On Fox, Tony Perkins Distorts MSNBC Ad To Attack Same-Sex Families

Megyn Kelly Asks Anti-Gay Hate Group Leader Why Pro-Gay Activists Are So Intolerant

Megyn Kelly Trivializes Transgender Prison Inmate's Fight For Necessary Medical Treatment

Hate group leader Tony Perkins jumped at the opportunity to attack same-sex parents while peddling distortions about a new MSNBC ad on Fox News.

During the April 10 edition of Fox & Friends, host Gretchen Carlson invited Perkins on to criticize a new MSNBC ad in which Melissa Harris-Perry calls on America to think about child-rearing as a community effort. Perkins suggested that Perry’s comments are part of the left’s desire to move away from family structures headed by “a mom and a dad”: 

PERKINS: Kids are still born to moms and dads, to women and men. Still takes a man and a woman to create a child. Children aren't born to the neighborhood watch; they are born to a man and woman. There is a reason for that. God gives them to man and woman. And the reality is now we have decades worth of social science that show children do best with a mom and dad who love them, who are married, and care for them. Moving away from that notion, which the left would love to do, will be devastating for society. [emphasis added]

The ad, which was promoting Harris-Perry's call for renewed investment in education, clearly had nothing to do with same-sex marriage. Yet Perkins, who never misses an opportunity to attack marriage equality, took a not-so-subtle jab at households led by same-sex parents. Perkins’ claim isn’t supported by scientific research, which has consistently found that children raised by gay parents do just as well as those raised by heterosexual parents.

This is the third time Fox has hosted the hate group leader for a softball interview in about a week.

When Perkins tried to push a similar talking point on MSNBC last month, he was grilled for peddling junk science. On Fox News, he gets a free pass.

Previously:

Megyn Kelly Asks Anti-Gay Hate Group Leader Why Pro-Gay Activists Are So Intolerant

Fox News Contributor On Marriage Equality: “Seriously. Why Not Incest.”

Megyn Kelly Whitewashes Hate Group Leader’s Extreme Anti-Gay Bigotry

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly whitewashed the extremism of one of America’s most notorious anti-gay hate group leaders, suggesting that pro-gay activists are actually the intolerant ones.

During the April 8 edition of America Live, Kelly invited Tony Perkins – president of the anti-gay Family Research Council (FRC) – to discuss the reaction to the suicide of right-wing Pastor Rick Warren’s son. Kelly condemned “haters” on the Internet who were using the tragedy as an excuse to attack Warren over his anti-gay views.

Near the end of the segment, Kelly asked Perkins how he felt about being “the subject of attacks” over his opposition to marriage equality, suggesting the pro-gay activists are the ones being intolerant:

KELLY: A lot of people thought, think, that Pastor Warren is on the wrong side of the gay marriage issue. You can relate to him in this way – not the being on the wrong side, I’m not passing a judgment on that – but you also oppose gay marriage and have been the subject of attacks, and it seems like some, not all, but some of those who want tolerance and acceptance, in their effort to get it, are very willing to pass judgment, alienate, attack, and go about it in a way that may be undermining the very thing they seek.

PERKINS: Absolutely, I think you’re absolutely correct. I mean, just to show a little bit of human compassion to a parent who has lost a child would go a long way in showing that they just want to be accepted and enjoy tolerance. [emphasis added]

The irony of asking a hate group leader if he’s bothered by the alleged “intolerance” of his critics seems to be lost on Kelly.

Perkins isn’t just an opponent of same-sex marriage – he’s made a career of peddling false and degrading smears about LGBT people, including:

• Falsely claiming that gay men are more likely to molest children
• Comparing gay activists to terrorists and labeling them pawns of the devil
• Applauding Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, calling it an effort “to uphold moral conduct”

Perkinshas repeatedly used discussions about LGBT suicide to score cheap political points, claiming that LGBT teens kill themselves because they know being gay is “abnormal” and that they are “in rebellion to God’s design.” In a letter to supporters, Perkins called the anti-suicide “It Gets Better” project an attempt to “recruit” kids into a “lifestyle” of “perversion.” He’s even blamed high suicide rates in the military on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Kelly’s softball segment is the second time five days that she’s attempted to whitewash Perkins’ well-documented history of extreme anti-gay commentary.

Previously:

Fox News Contributor On Marriage Equality: “Seriously. Why Not Incest.”

Megyn Kelly Trivializes Transgender Prison Inmate's Fight For Necessary Medical Treatment

Megyn Kelly Whitewashes Hate Group Leader’s Extreme Anti-Gay Bigotry

Fox News contributor Erick Erickson hyped the claim that legalizing same-sex marriage would pave the way for same-sex incestuous marriages, claiming that “many, many, many” marriage equality supporters will support incest and polygamy once “they can shift public opinion further.”

In an April 5 blog post on RedState, Erickson echoed controversial comments made by actor Jeremy Irons, who criticized marriage equality by suggesting fathers would marry their sons in order to avoid paying estate taxes. Erickson agreed, arguing that “there is little moral difference” between loving, committed gay couples and incestuous relationships:

Seriously. Why not incest.

[…]

If love and commitment are the justification for marriage, why exempt this?

[…]

So why not fathers marrying sons and moms marrying daughters? Is it because of the “ick” factor? Why should that preclude it?

If life comes down to who you love and who loves you back, if a father and son love each other so much they want to get married, there is little moral difference between two people of the same sex getting married who are not related and want to be and two people of the same sex who already are related becoming closer.

[…]

The truth is, many, many, many of the same people who are now in support of gay marriage, but would oppose this or polygamy will, once the next step is advanced, support these things too. They just have to lie about it for now until they can shift public opinion further.

Erickson’s argument is riddled with the same flaws that have always plagued the conservative slippery slope argument against marriage equality.

1. It’s Empirically False – In the states and countries that have legalized same-sex marriage, there’s been no evidence of a rush to legalize or destigmatize incest. In fact, most of the states that allow for marriages between first cousins are conservative-leaning states with explicit bans on same-sex marriage.

2. Incest Causes Real Harm To Children – Unlike in the case of same-sex marriage, there are persuasive reasons for banning incestuous marriages. Romantic relationships between parents and their children are typically exploitative and psychologically damaging. As Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick wrote:

The problem with the slippery slope argument is that it depends on inexact, and sometimes hysterical, comparisons. Most of us can agree, for instance, that all the shriekings about gay marriage opening the door to incest with children and pedophilia are inapposite. These things are illegal because they cause irreversible harms.

There are plenty of compelling arguments for opposing marriages between parents and their children. “Gay people shouldn’t be allowed to marry, either!” isn’t one of them.

Previously:

Fox News Fails To Prove That Marriage Equality Threatens Religious Liberty… Eight Times In A Row

Fox News Contributor: Gay People Are “On The Road To Hell”

CNN's Erickson: Promoting Gay Rights In The South Breeds Resentment, Backlash

Just moments after claiming to “understand the torture” experienced by transgender people, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly mocked a transgender inmate’s attempt to acquire medically necessary gender reassignment treatment while in prison.

During the April 4 edition of America Live, Kelly hosted Fox News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin and former prosecutor Tom Kenniff to discuss a Massachusetts transgender inmate who has successfully sued the state in order to acquire gender reassignment surgery while in prison.

Throughout the segment, Kelly and Kenniff repeatedly and inaccurately referred to the inmate, Michelle Kosilek, as a male, suggesting that taxpayers shouldn’t be required to cover the costs of her “elective” surgery:

KELLY: I understand the torture of gender identity disorder, the torture that that is for somebody. But a convicted murderer who strangled his wife so badly she was almost decapitated, should they really be getting that operation the taxpayer’s dime?

When Colwin suggested that Kosilek should be housed with other female inmates, Kelly mocked the idea of giving Kosilek a ”get out of male prison free card”:

COLWIN: He’s been in prison with men. Now he’s anatomically female, he should be able to put in the women’s detention centers, and you don’t need the –

KELLY: Really? Now you get a get out of male prison free card, Tom, if you can get a sex change operation funded by the taxpayers?

Placing Kosilek in a women’s facility should be a no-brainer. Transgender inmates face high rates of sexual assault when they aren’t placed in the appropriate facilities. Forcing a female transgender inmate to be housed with male prisoners, regardless of where that inmate is in her transition process, makes her a target for violence and abuse.

Kelly also failed to acknowledge the medical necessity of gender reassignment surgery. Kosilek has been diagnosed by prison doctors with gender identity disorder (GID). In cases where a GID diagnosis has been made, gender reassignment treatment is considered by experts to be “medically necessary” and “not optional in any meaningful sense.”

As Colwin pointed out, failing to provide Kosilek with gender reassignment surgery could result in self-harm, including suicide and auto-castration. According to The Boston Globe:

Kosilek has already tried to castrate himself and twice tried to commit suicide, once while taking the antidepressant Prozac. The Department of Correction’s own doctors have said that surgery is the only appropriate care for Kosilek.

Recent litigation has similarly established that this denial of treatmentis a form of “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Fox News has made a habit of using Kosilek’s case as an excuse to peddle transphobic misinformation. Last November, during the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Fox & Friends crew mocked Kosilek’s request for electrolysis treatment. And in January, Kelly and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly joked that Kosilek was too unattractive to worry about being raped in prison.

In February, GLAAD called on Fox to end its transphobic news coverage.

Previously:

UPDATED: GLAAD To Fox News: If You Want To Attend Our Events, Stop Attacking LGBT People

Fox News Columnist Launches Transphobic, Unscientific Rant Against MMA Fighter

Fox’s O’Reilly Fear Mongers About MA School Policy To Protect Transgender Students

The Chicago Bears provided autographed memorabilia to support an anti-gay student conference that depicts LGBT people as sinners, pedophiles, and sexual deviants, according to conference organizers.

In an April 3 email to supporters, the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) Ruth Institute announced that it would be hosting a “festive gala event” at the end of its annual “It Takes A Family” (ITAF) conference, which is aimed at training college-age students to oppose same-sex marriage:

According to the email, the gala will include a raffle featuring two pieces of autographed memorabilia from the Chicago Bears Organization, who the group thanks for “supporting our message”:

This year, we're planning on sending our graduates off with a bang! And we've got some help! Several donors have stepped up and donated terrific items for us to raffle as prizes in an effort to raise funds for ITAF '13.

[…]

For now, you should know that we have two fabulous raffle items from the Chicago Bears Organization (and a huge THANK YOU to the Bears for supporting our message).

Last year, an Equality Matters undercover investigation revealed that NOM’s ITAF conference was peddling damaging anti-gay misinformation to attendees, including:

• Same-sex parents are more likely to molest their children than heterosexual parents
• Children raised by gay parents are more likely to identify as gay
• Homosexuality is a sin akin to polygamy or incest
• Same-sex relationships are “dysfunctional” and “inherently unstable”

The conference also featured Robert Gagnon, a theologian who promotes “ex-gay” therapy and recently compared gay-straight alliances to Nazi skinhead groups. Gagnon’s book, which claims that gay people are “worthy of death,” was also on sale at the conference.

Gagnon is already slated to speak at this year’s conference.

One of the raffle items is a signed jersey of former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who has previously said that he would love his son if he turned out to be gay.

It’s unclear if the Chicago Bears Organization is aware of the kind of extreme anti-gay rhetoric that goes on at the ITAF conference, but it’s hard to imagine that NOM’s is the kind of “message” the organization wants to appear to publicly support.

UPDATE: On April 3, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Bears denied having donated the memorabilia to the Ruth Institute:

The Chicago Bears and linebacker Brian Urlacher denied any involvement Wednesday with the Ruth Institute -- an arm of the National Organization For Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage -- after being tied to the group in an online promotion.

In an advertisement for its June gala at an upcoming conference, the California-based Ruth Institute stated, "For now, you should know that we have two fabulous raffle items from the Chicago Bears Organization (and a huge THANK YOU to the Bears for supporting our message)." Below the statement are images of an autographed  Brian Urlacher jersey and an autographed black-and-white photo of Walter Payton.

"I sign a lot of stuff for charity and I don't always know where it goes," Urlacher told the Tribune. "If I would have known it was for this cause, I wouldn't have done it."

Jarrett Payton, Walter's son, had no comment when reached by Tribune.

In a statement, the Bears said, "The two items featured in The Ruth Institute gala invitation were personal donations to Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse.  Neither was a club donation, nor do they represent the team’s view on any social issues.  Any remarks stating otherwise are false.”

Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Morse initially declined comment. But the website later dropped all images and references to the Bears at the team's request, and Morse issued a statement: "The Ruth Institute is not working with the Chicago Bears organization or any of its players past or present to promote our upcoming auction. The memorabilia we are auctioning off was acquired by me personally, not through the team or players. We understand that the Chicago Bears organization takes no position on social issues, and we regret any confusion we may have caused on this point."

NOM’s gala announcement now reads:

Hey, Everybody, just need to correct the record concerning the prizes and auction items we talked about in our last email blast to you!

Here's what the description should have said: "We have two fabulous AUCTION items: a signed Brian Urlacher jersey and a signed photo of Walter Payton (both items were donated by individuals, not the team or the players)" Sorry for any confusion!

Previously:

EXCLUSIVE: Undercover At NOM's Anti-Gay Student Conference

NOM Invites “Gays Are Worthy Of Death” Speaker To Student Summer Conference… Again

“Ex-Gay” Plaintiff Spoke At NOM’s Student Conference

Fox News host Megyn Kelly attempted to whitewash the record of one of the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate group leaders, ignoring his history of extreme bigotry towards the LGBT community.

During the April 3 edition of America Live, Kelly hosted Tony Perkins – president of the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council (FRC) – to discuss the faux controversy surrounding comments made by Reverend Luis Leon during this Easter service attended by President Obama. During his homily, Leon highlighted examples of discrimination that he felt were promoted by the religious right:

It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back ... for blacks to be back in the back of the bus ... for women to be back in the kitchen ... for immigrants to be back on their side of the border.

Kelly rejected the idea that Perkins and other “captains” of the religious right held bigoted and extreme views about the gay community:

KELLY: Tony Perkins, who is president of the Family Research Council. He is on as a captain of the religious right, who we believe is one of the ones being attacked by the reverend in that sermon.

[…]

KELLY: Tony, how alienating is that for you? As somebody who’s been openly religious and a Christian conservative, to hear folks who believe as you do, that what you really want is you want blacks on the back of the bus, you want women back in the kitchen, you want gays in the closet, and you want immigrants back on their side of the border?

[…]

KELLY: It seems like some have given a pass to those who would criticize Christians, conservative Christians and their views on gay marriage, for example, because they just say, ‘look, you are just bigots. That’s just all there is to it. You’re bigots if you’re not behind gay rights and that’s the civil rights issue of our time and therefore if you’re on the wrong side of it you deserve to be condemned.’

PERKINS: Well, as was stated, he rolled into this statement he made on Sunday some very, very loaded language to portray those who would be against the redefinition of marriage as if they were bigots that wanted to see African-Americans at the back of the bus and women back in the kitchen. As Cal [Thomas] said, I don’t know what time capsule he came out of, but clearly he is not able to discern the difference between those issues. [emphasis added]

But if Leon’s comments apply to anyone on the religious right, it’s Tony Perkins.

Perkins has a long, well-documented history of extreme, bigoted anti-gay rhetoric, including falsely claiming that gay men are more likely to molest children than straight men and suggesting that openly gay teens commit suicide because they know being gay is “abnormal”

It’s also hard to deny that Perkins would prefer gay people to stay “in the closet”:

• He’s argued that the GOP should stop nominating gay people to public office
• He’s claimed that repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would cause a spike in disease and undermine morale
• He’s applauded Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, calling it an effort “to uphold moral conduct”

And, under his leadership, FRC employees have argued in favor of instituting “criminal sanctions” against gay people, with one FRC spokesperson suggesting that gay people should be deported from the United States.

As for wanting “blacks on the back of the bus,” Perkins also reportedly has ties to white supremacists. In 1996, Perkins paid more than $80,000 to use the mailing list of a David Duke, a former chieftain of the Ku Klux Klan, and has given a  speech to the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative citizens, a white supremacist group.

Kelly is quick to defend Perkins, who has become a “captain” of the religious right thanks in part to her network’s incessant promotion of his brand, but she ignores the realities of Perkins’ career. When it comes to people like Tony Perkins, Leon’s comments were exactly right.

Previously:

NBC News’ Russert Grills Tony Perkins Over DOMA Views

Déjà Vu: FRC Rehashes Same Arguments Against Boy Scouts That It Used Against DADT Repeal

Fox Invites Tony Perkins To Peddle “Gays Are Pedophiles” Myth Over Boy Scouts Ban

Dr. Ben Carson, who recently attempted to walk back his controversial comments about marriage equality, is scheduled to give the keynote address at a banquet hosted by a notorious anti-gay hate group this fall.

Carson has spent the last several days doing damage control after he compared same-sex relationships to bestiality and pedophilia on Fox News’ Hannity, saying “marriage is between a man and a woman … No group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition.”

The comments sparked outrage from Carson’s colleagues, prompting him to clarify his remarks and declare to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “I love gay people.” 

In October, however, Carson is slated to deliver the keynote address at the notoriously anti-gay Illinois Family Institute’s (IFI) Fall Banquet. According to IFI’s Facebook page:

IFI is one of the few state anti-gay groups labeled as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for its extreme views on LGBT people. According to SPLC:

In 2006, then-Executive Director Peter LaBarbera … told a religious-right gathering hosted by Vision America that homosexuality was "disgusting" and demanded the closing down of all "homosexual establishments." He called for the repeal of all "sexual orientation laws" — laws that ban discrimination against gays — and spoke of the "need to find ways to bring back shame to those practicing homosexual behavior."

[…]

In 2009, [Laurie Higgins, IFI’s director of school advocacy] compared homosexuality to Nazism, likening the German Evangelical Church’s weak response to fascism to the “American church’s failure to respond appropriately to the spread of radical, heretical, destructive views of homosexuality.” Elsewhere, Higgins has pined for the days when gays were in the closet. “There was something profoundly good for society about the prior stigmatization of homosexual practice… . [W]hen homosexuals were ‘in the closet,’ (along with fornicators, polyamorists, cross-dressers, and ‘transexuals’), they weren’t acquiring and raising children.”

According to Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper, IFI president David Smith has a history of anti-gay remarks, which include:

• Equating homosexuality to pedophilia and incest
• Promoting “ex-gay” therapy
• Suggesting that gay parents should be “cast into the sea”
• Calling homosexuality “depraved,” “unnatural,” “unhealthy,” “changeable,” and “immoral”

If Carson wants his apology to the LGBT community to be taken seriously, agreeing to speak to one of the most anti-gay groups in the country isn’t the best way to go about it.

Previously:

"Nasty, Petty, And Ill-Informed": Ben Carson's John Hopkins Colleague Responds To His Marriage Equality Attack