The Hollywood Reporter writes that TLC has pulled 19 Kids and Counting from its schedule in response to star Josh Duggar’s admission that he molested several underage girls 12 years ago, including his sisters.
No word on if the network will permanently pull the plug on the reality series.
In related news, June “Mama June” Shannon of the now defunct Here Comes Honey Boo Boo has expressed her outrage that her show was cancelled when she was merely seen in public with a known child molester, but TLC hasn’t made that same decision (yet) about the Duggars show.
Shannon told TMZ if “19 Kids and Counting” stays on the air, she hopes to sue TLC for shutting down her show abruptly. The man Shannon was snapped with never appeared on her reality show, she noted.
“I read that the Duggar family said this happening with their son brought them closer to God and each other. So they’re saying it’s O.K….?” Shannon told TMZ. “Hell no.”
By a vote of 141-2, the Texas state House passed Bill 2065 which would reaffirm that pastors and churches can’t be forced to participate in same-sex weddings.
LGBT advocates say the Pastor Protection Act is unnecessary because clergy and churches are already protected from being forced to participate in same-sex weddings under the state and federal constitutions as well as Texas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
No same-sex couple has tried to force an unwilling clergy member to officiate their wedding.
Opponents of the legislation are also concerned that pastors acting in a secular role, such as county clerks and justices of the peace, might use the bill as a basis for denying licenses to same-sex couples or refusing to marry them.
The Pastor Protection Act has already cleared the Senate, and Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign it.
Former game show host/current late night infomercial huckster Chuck Woolery perpetuates the flat out lie that churches will lose their tax-exempt status if they refuse to host same-sex marriages.
It should be noted that Woolery – champion for the sanctity of marriage – is on his 4th wife.
Note the ego stroke in the title of the clip – “Save Us Chuck.”
Texas state Rep. Cecil Bell’s bill to “really really really” ban same-sex marriage died tonight without a vote as the deadline passed without the bill coming up for a vote.
While the legislative session continues on to June 1st, it becomes difficult to introduce new bills at this time. Bell would have to find a Senate bill currently in play that would be “germane” to blocking marriage rights for LGBTs.
Major Texas-based corporations have denounced the bill, including BP, Dow Chemical, American Airlines, and Dell. As in other states that have considered such discrimination born out of animus, money often makes the loudest statement.
Official count: Anti-gay marriage #HB4105 came 23 bills from a vote before midnight deadline fell. #txlege— Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) May 15, 2015
#txlege House Democrats kill anti-gay marriage bill, and 200 other measures, w/ 15 hours of delaying tactics http://t.co/L7IfdVDRUC— Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) May 15, 2015
That's a wrap. Several bills, inc. #HB4105, which would've prevented state/local funds to issue same-sex marriage licenses, has died #txlege— FOX 7 Austin (@foxaustin) May 15, 2015
With the legislative session in Texas coming to a close tonight GOP Texas House reps have begun pulling their own bills out of consideration to make sure they get to HB4105 which would double-triple-quadruple ban marriage equality in Texas.
So much so that an $8 billion education bill was pulled down so the haters could ensure getting to the anti-gay legislation.
A State Rep. just pulled down a $8B school finance bill to move more quickly towards banning #LGBT marriage licenses. #HB4105#txlege
Former Speaker of the Missouri state House – John Diehl
Yesterday I posted about anti-gay, conservative and MARRIED Missouri Speaker of the House, John Diehl, who had been caught in a sexting scandal with a college freshman who was serving an internship at the Missouri state legislature.
Today, Diehl has announced he is resigning as Speaker and from his legislative seat as well.
“For the good of my party, the caucus, and this state, I’m not going to further jeopardize what we have accomplished this year and what can be accomplished in the future,” the Republican from Town and Country said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “Therefore, I will be resigning the position of Speaker of the House and the office of State Representative in a way that allows for an orderly transition.”
After spending eight hours in his office conferring with colleagues Wednesday, Diehl issued a statement apologizing saying he took “full responsibility” for the exchanges. He did not offer any detail. Diehl emerged from his office around 11 p.m. Wednesday but said little more to reporters.
In this statement Thursday, he still offered little detail, but again apologized and he acknowledged “making a serious error in judgment by sending the text messages.
“It was wrong and I am truly sorry,” Diehl said in the statement. “Too often we hear leaders say they’re sorry but are unwilling to accept the consequences. I understand that, as a leader, I am responsible for my actions and I am willing to face the consequences.”
Diehl was a vocal opponent to same-sex marriage in Missouri. So much so that he filed an amicus brief with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals opposing marriage equality there.
Diehl also co-sponsored a 2012 bill to ban Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools, which read: “Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no instruction, material, or extracurricular activity sponsored by a public school that discusses sexual orientation other than in scientific instruction concerning human reproduction shall be provided in any public school.”
I’m sure the 49 year old, who is married with three children, bases his opposition to same-sex marriage on his “deeply held religious beliefs” that don’t seem to rule out sexting with a teen aged student who’s less than half his age.
Texas Republicans look to approve legislation that would ban local officials from granting same-sex couples licenses to marry, launching a preemptive strike against a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling next month that could declare gay marriage legal.
Supporters of the measure said it would send a powerful message to the court. Taking a cue from the anti-abortion movement, they said they also hoped to keep any judicially sanctioned right to same-sex marriage tied up in legal battles for years to come.
The measure, by Rep. Cecil Bell, a Republican from the outskirts of Houston, would prohibit state and local officials from using taxpayer dollars “to issue, enforce, or recognize a marriage license . . . for a union other than a union between one man and one woman.”
Bell said the bill “simply preserves state sovereignty over marriage.”
Gay rights advocates condemned it as mean-spirited and discriminatory.
The law would clearly be unconstitutional as any ruling by the Supreme Court would supersede state law. But that doesn’t bother the haters in the Lone Star state. Even if unconstitutional, the issue will take up years of costly court battles their side will lose. But they’d rather make their discriminatory stand than step into the new century.
In order for the bill to pass, it will need to be approved in the House before the end of business Thursday night in order to be sent on to the state Senate.
In addition to Bell’s House bill, the Texas Senate began the week by approving a separate bill allowing clergy members to refuse to perform marriages that violate their religious beliefs.
Rep. Steve King, speaking to Glenn Beck, says a SCOTUS ruling in favor of marriage equality will “throw this country into an endless trauma” similar to the issue of slavery.
“Dred Scott back in 1857, the court thought that they were going to solve the slavery question by telling Congress that they couldn’t free the slaves and telling the county that slaves could never be citizens,” King said. “They made that decision and that helped move us towards a civil war … Then in 1866, there was a civil rights act; that wasn’t enough to get the job done. There was the Thirteenth Amendment that freed the slaves. The Fourteenth Amendment that guaranteed them full citizenship and then we still were a hundred years before we got the Civil Rights Act.”
“If all of that to eliminate slavery, do they really think that they can do what they’re going to do to marriage, with one decision of the Supreme Court and society is going to accept that?” he asked. “Society is in for a long battle.”
Last week, Sylvia Driskell from Auburn, Nebraska filed a lawsuit against all homosexuals – ALL of us – asking the court to decide whether homosexuality is a sin.
Judge John Gerrad does not suffer fools lightly, and has dismissed the case in a strongly worded opinion.
Gerrard said Driskell lacked subject matter jurisdiction and cannot sue a class of unidentified defendants. Driskell did not set forth a factual or legal basis for a federal claim.
“The United States Federal Courts were created to resolve actual cases and controversies arising under the Constitution and the laws of the United States,” Judge Gerrard said. “A federal court is not a forum for debate or discourse on theological matters.”
Gerrard declined to allow Driskell an opportunity to amend her complaint.
Yesterday, I reported on a Marshall University football player Steward Butler, who had been charged with two counts of battery for allegedly attacking a gay couple in public for kissing.
Initial reports showed that the university had issued an indefinite suspension, but according to The Herald-Dispatch football coach Doc Holliday and athletic director Mike Hamrick for the school have dismissed Butler from the team after learning additional information regarding his charges.
Butler, who is facing two misdemeanor battery charges, is accused of beating two men after they kissed at 5th Avenue and 9th Street in Huntington. According to The Herald-Dispatch, Butler “witnessed the kiss, exited a passing vehicle and proceeded to shout derogatory words toward both men related to their sexual orientation.” Butler then allegedly hit both victims in the face with a closed fist.
