Tag: anti-LGBT

Posted on

CBS News: Liberty Counsel Is Behind Anti-LGBT Hate Laws In At Least 20 States

LGBT activists have known the names Mat Staver and Liberty Counsel for years. Staver and his cronies have spent years working to subvert the rights of LGBTs in the areas of marriage and public accommodation.

But now, CBS News has not only put Staver and company in the spotlight, but revealed in no uncertain terms the true nature of their mission: to control the “fire” of LGBT rights.

Demonstrators against the so-called bathroom bills were out in force in South Carolina — their chants echoing those in other states where they say legislatures have have enacted laws enabling bigotry.

But while they protested, the conservative group, that’s helped author many of those measures protecting religion over sexual orientation, was working at its Orlando area office on new ways to uphold what it says is really at stake.

“It is only about being free to pursue your faith,” said Mathew Staver. “We have no interest in discriminating against anyone.”

Staver is the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which has affiliated attorneys in all 50 states — drafting bills, advising lawmakers and defending clients in what they believe to be the great cultural clash of our time.

CBS News first met Staver when he defended a Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who said it was against her religion to hand out marriage licenses to homosexuals. Lately, Liberty Counsel has been helping to draft legislation for conservative lawmakers in at least 20 states.

Their bills began cropping up in state legislatures soon after the Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage last year.

An objective observer could conclude that they want to push back against that ruling.

“Well I certainly want to push back against that ruling,” Staver said. “It was a wrong ruling. It has no basis in the constitution.”

Where are they going with this?

“The Supreme Court in the 5-4 opinion on marriage in 2015 lit the house on fire,” Staver said. “All we’re trying to do is control the fire at this point in time.”

And he is unfazed by corporate threats to pull out of states in protest against his work.

“They’re not gonna follow through,” Staver said.

So it’s a bluff?

“It’s a bluff. They’re not leaving,” he said.

Posted on

Sarcastic Tennessee Tourism Ad Skewers State For Anti-LGBT Legislation

Funny Or Die skewers the state of Tennessee for the recently passed anti-LGBT law that allows health care providers to deny services to LGBT patients based on discriminatory religious beliefs.

This video serves up a satirical invitation to visit Tennessee:

“Soon you could cross the bridge to unenlightenment, ride a horse without worrying a gay guy is looking at your butt, tiptoe across humanity to relive a time when people were unequal, sing a sad country song about your gay friends being refused counseling services, enjoy live music, if we can convince anyone to perform here, gaze at the beautiful rolling hills where the fog is as thick as our ignorance, and laugh at an effeminate child!”

Posted on

Deutsche Bank Puts New Jobs On Hold In North Carolina Due To Anti-LGBT “Hate Bill”

Deutsche Bank has hit the “pause” button on plans to bring 250 new jobs to its Cary, North Carolina, location after the state passed a controversial law targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.

Reuters has the details:

“We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously,” John Cryan, the chief executive of Germany’s largest lender, said in a statement on Tuesday.

North Carolina became the first state last month to enact a measure requiring people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

“We’re proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now,” Deutsche Bank’s Cryan said.

Deutsche Bank currently employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary and had said in September 2015 that it aimed to add 250 jobs there by 2017.

Posted on

Planting Peace Plants Billboard On North Carolina Border Protesting HB2

From Planting Peace:

On March 23, in a specially-convened session, the North Carolina legislation passed into law HB2, a law that was initiated to strike down a Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that was set to go into effect April 1 and would have extended rights to the LGBT community.

Since HB2 has been signed into law, North Carolina has been met with backlash from the business community, legal challenges from LGBT rights groups and outrage from citizens throughout the United States.

When North Carolina and other legislators pass anti-LGBT laws and speak anti-LGBT rhetoric, they are sending a direct message to our LGBT family that they are somehow less than, broken, and not equal under the law. These messages reflect why suicide rates among the LGBT community are so high. It’s estimated that half of transgender people contemplate suicide.

In response to North Carolina passing of HB2, Planting Peace has constructed a message to North Carolina legislators and the anti-LGBT movement.

Our billboard is a reminder that laws such as HB2 move us backwards in the movement for equality and fundamental human rights for all. It is also meant to show the LGBT community and North Carolina that advocacy groups such as Planting Peace and others are willing to fight.

We have to meet hate with love; intolerance with compassion. To deny any individual basic human rights based on your individual beliefs is outrageous and unethical.

Our message to our LGBT youth is simple:

You are loved, valued, supported, and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with you, and we will stand by you. You are not alone.

Posted on

Bryan Fischer: Musicians Cancelling Concerts Is An Act Of “War” On Christians

Virulently anti-LGBT American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer has decided that the act of musicians (Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen) cancelling concerts in states with anti-LGBT laws constitutes an act of war against Christianity.

At the same time, the AFA has announced a boycott of PayPal for withdrawing business expansion plans in North Carolina over the recent ‘hate law,’ HB 2.

From the AFA:

It is astounding that Fortune 500 companies are ruining their reputation over a law that ensures men and women use separate restrooms. Many of these same corporations, including PayPal, are doing business in Saudi Arabia—a country in which homosexuals are fined, jailed or killed for their lifestyle. Yet where is the action there? This is the very definition of hypocrisy! It is understandable if companies lobby for a lower corporate tax or for more grants, but to weigh in on a bathroom bill is nonsense. If you have a PayPal account, join American Family Association and cancel it today.

I like what my friend Joe Jervis of JoeMyGod says about the hypocrisy of boycotts, according to the conservative right wing-nuts:

When powerful national Christian groups with millions of members call for boycotts, that is a righteous use of the free market in order to preserve morality, marriage, family, and the American way. But when pro-LGBT folks call for a boycott, THAT is homo-fascist intimidation, intolerance, bullying, economic terrorism, a stifling of religious liberty, and an attempt to deny the freedom of speech. And don’t you forget it.

Posted on

Rocker Bryan Adams Cancels Mississippi Concert Due To Anti-LGBT ‘Hate Law’

Canadian rocker Bryan Adams went “Springsteen” on Mississippi cancelling his upcoming April 14 concert at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi in the aftermath of the signing into law of the “Religious Liberty” bill 1523, which legalizes anti-LGBT discrimination.

The law has been described as the most aggressive anti-LGBT legislation in the U.S.

From Adams’ Instagram:

Mississippi has passed anti-LGBT ‘Religious Liberty’ bill 1523. I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi. I cannot in good conscience perform in a State where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation. Therefore i’m cancelling my 14 April show at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Using my voice I stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends to repeal this extremely discriminatory bill. Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans. I look forward to that day. ‪#‎stop1523‬

Posted on

Gov. John Kasich: I Probably Wouldn’t Have Signed North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, during an appearance on Face The Nation, said he probably wouldn’t have signed North Carolina’s hate law which legalizes discrimination against LGBTs.

He added that “we are not having this issue in our state” in terms of religious freedoms being hampered.

From Mediaite:

Kasich avoided getting into the specifics of the “bathroom” bill, which––in addition to rejecting anti-discrimination law––demands that everyone must use the bathroom of the gender on their birth certificate.

He complained, “Why do we need to write a law every time we turn around in this country?”, and said, “Chill out, get over it if you have a disagreement with somebody.” (It’s not clear if he was specifically referring to the people behind the anti-trans legislation.)

Posted on

Tony Perkins: The Media Is Lying About Mississippi’s Hate Law

Virulently anti-gay Tony Perkins sent out an email today claiming Mississippi’s new anti-LGBT law has nothing to do with businesses turning people away.

Someone should remind Perkins that lying is regarded as a sin in the Bible he claims to love so much.

The media writes, but does it read? Too few seem to, based on the coverage of Mississippi’s new religious liberty law. After Governor Phil Bryant (R-Miss.) signed a bill that essentially reaffirmed the First Amendment, headlines across the country screamed that Mississippi had just given Americans a “license to discriminate.” “Mississippi governor signs law allowing businesses to deny service to gay people,” some read — regardless of the fact that the measure does no such thing!

Governor Bryant, like the 20 states with religious liberty laws before him, didn’t create a new “religious right” for businesses to turn people away. No believer I know would want that, let alone lobby for it. Despite what the Left would have you think, this debate isn’t about Christians discriminating against anyone — it’s about stopping the government from discriminating against them!

All that Mississippi leaders have done is make sure that the state can’t punish, fine, fire, or block someone from a government work for believing in natural marriage. The Left lies about what the bill does because they know if people knew the truth, they’d probably support it! And a level playing field — the same one they used to demand for their own values — is not what they want for men and women of faith. Forced acceptance is.

Ok, so let me set this straight: government doesn’t punish folks for “believing in natural marriage.” Government gets involved when these business owners “belief” becomes a misguided justification for denying protected minorities goods and services.

You know, those pesky public accommodation laws that require private businesses to treat everyone fairly.

But then, what do you expect from a guy who bought a mailing list from the KKK when he ran for office because he knew those were the kind of folks he wanted to reach?

Posted on

Funny Or Die: Mississippi Anti-Gay Tourism Ad

Mississippi’s new anti-LGBT legislation is not winning friends across the country.

Here’s just the beginning of the aftermath of Mississippi’s House Bill 1523 which now allows public and private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on the employers’ religious beliefs.

From Washington state’s Spokesman-Review:

Washington employees were banned from most government-related travel to Mississippi because of that state’s new law allowing businesses owners to refuse service to gay, lesbian and transgender customers for religious reasons.

Gov. Jay Inslee issued the ban on non-essential travel Tuesday afternoon, saying Washington has strong laws against discrimination that covers sexual orientation and identity, and its citizens traveling to Mississippi for work might be discriminated against.

And up in Vermont (via the AP):

The state of Vermont is banning for now official travel to Mississippi because of that state’s passage of a law that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples. In a Tuesday message to top state officials Vermont Administration Secretary Justin Johnson said the action was a response to Mississippi’s new law.

Earlier Tuesday Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin invited PayPal to bring 400 jobs to Vermont after the company said it was backing out of a move to North Carolina because of a new law in that state that restricts protections for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people. Last week Shumlin banned all non-essential state travel to North Carolina to protest the law.

And New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order:

Funny Or Die quickly delivered this bit of satire, which would be more funny is it weren’t so close to the truth.