Tag: haters

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Hawaii: State Supreme Court Refuses To Review Ruling Against Anti-LGBTQ B&B Owner

A B&B owner who refuses to rent a room to a lesbian couple asked the Hawaii state Supreme Court to review the ruling against her. The court said 'no' leaving the lower courts decision in place.

In 2007, Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford of Long Beach, California, traveled to the Aloha state to visit a friend who had just given birth.

The child apparently was having some health issues at the time, so the couple decided to seek accommodations nearby. The closest option was The Aloha Bed & Breakfast.

But when the couple called Phyllis Young, owner of The Aloha B&B in Honolulu’s Hawaii Kai area, Young told the couple same-sex relationships are “detestable” and “defile our land.”

Hawaii’s public accommodation law specifically bans establishments that provide lodging to transient guests from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, race, color, ancestry, religion, disability and sex —including gender identity or expression.

Later that year, Cervilli and Bufford filed a complaint with Hawaii’s Civil Rights Commission.

Although Young asserted she had the right to discriminate since her business was in her home, the commission determined Young had openly discriminated against the couple.

Cervilli and Bufford consequently filed a lawsuit against Young in 2011.

In 2013, a Hawaii First Circuit Court judge ruled that Young had violated the state’s public accommodation laws and ordered her to stop discriminating.

Young appealed the decision and in February of this year, the Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court ruling.

In a last ditch effort, the B&B owner asked the state’s Supreme Court to review the case. The high court declined to do so today, and effectively affirming the lower court ruling that Young had discriminated.

Earlier this year, Bufford told QVoiceNews, “I can’t tell you how much it hurt to be essentially told, ‘we don’t do business with your kind.’ It still stings to this day.”

“We thought the days when business owners would say ‘We’re open to the public – but not to you’ was a thing of the past,” she added. “You don’t have to change your beliefs,” she said, “but you do have to follow the law just as everyone else does.”

Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn hailed the decision saying in a statement:

“In letting the existing decision stand, Hawai‘i today joined a long line of states across the country that understand how pernicious and damaging a religious license to discriminate would be.”

“In fact, since the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop in early June, three state courts – in Arizona, Oregon and now Hawai`i – have either ruled against or refused to review rulings against business owners who have claimed religious justifications to discriminate.”

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Designer Nate Berkus Takes High Road After Attack By Derick Duggar

Jeremiah Brent (L), daughter Poppy and Nate Berkus (R)
(Image via Twitter)

Out interior designer Nate Berkus’ and his partner Jeremiah Brent have a new show on TLC called Nate & Jeremiah By Design.

In only three episodes, the telegenic couple has already developed a wide audience.

But after the cable network shared a photo of Nate and Jeremiah with their daughter Poppy, former TLC personality Derick Duggar (remember the Duggars???) had a big problem calling them “a travesty” and lamenting the “perversions” being exposed to their child.

However, Nate responded on Twitter, taking the high road:

The next episode of Nate & Jeremiah By Design airs tonight at 9:00 PM EST on TLC.

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Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Couple Renege On Divorcing On Passage Of Marriage Equality

I’ve posted in the past about a married couple of haters in Australia who “threatened” to divorce should marriage equality come to the land “down under.”

Back in June 2015, Nick and Sarah Jensen of Canberra swore to divorce in protest if the government legalized same-sex marriage.

It will come as no surprise the threat was an empty one as Parliament has resoundingly approved marriage equality.

From The Daily Mail:

And after Parliament finally passed the law to cheers on Thursday afternoon, Mr Jensen announced his position in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. “My previous public comments regarding civil divorce never envisaged me separating from my wife, but rather our marriage from the State,” he wrote.

“The legislation currently makes it untenable for us to do this under the law. The point we were highlighting and that still stands however is the fact that a redefinition of marriage changes the agreement under which we were originally married. We will be making no further comment.”

Here’s Nick Jansen’s statement from 2015:

“My wife and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. But later this year, we may be getting a divorce. The decision to divorce is not one we’ve taken lightly. And certainly, it’s not one that many will readily understand. And that’s because it’s not a traditional divorce. Our view is that marriage is a fundamental order of creation. Part of God’s human history. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman before a community in the sight of God. And marriage of any couple is important to God regardless of whether that couple recognises God’s involvement or authority in it.” 

(h/t JoeMyGod) 

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North Carolina: Anti-LGBT “Pledge” Falls Flat

The haters in North Carolina say they have no animus towards the LGBT community.

Right?

Except, that is, when they want to force legislators to sign a “pledge” that no pro-LGBT protections will ever happen as long as the lawmakers are in office.

The folks over at anti-LGBT NC Family Policy Council began to circulate the above pledge designed to keep HB2, the new hate law in the state, in place.

But notice that third bullet point – “That I will not vote for any bill that would add the terms “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” or “gender expression” to HB2 or any other statute or state policy.”

So, in reality, it’s not JUST about “protecting children” from bathroom predators. It’s about keeping the gays from having equal rights.

NC Capitol has the details on how the haters in NC backpedaled out of this mess:

John Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, sent the pledge to all members of the House and the Senate. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, he had emailed lawmakers, saying the pledge was circulated “inadvertently” and should be ignored.

“We had considered providing a means, prior to the convening of the 2016 Legislative Session, by which we could continue to encourage North Carolina lawmakers to stay strong in your leadership defending the privacy and safety of all North Carolinians, and clarifying that there is no patchwork of confusing local laws in the state that are harmful to commerce, labor, and trade,” Rustin said in the email. “However, we decided not to move forward with this pledge and respectfully ask that you disregard yesterday’s e-mail.”

State House Rep. Darren Jackson made sure the “pledge” was seen by the public:

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Houston: Haters Vote Down LGBT Protections Ordinance HERO

In a heartbreaking loss, Houston voters succumbed to dramatic anti-LGBT ads to vote down the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO.

Prop. 1, known as Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, would have barred discrimination on the basis of race, age, military status, disability and 11 other categories in a variety of areas. (Religious organizations and institutions would be exempt from the requirements.)

It was HERO’s protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, however, that attracted the most attention and made the ballot measure the center of the LGBT community’s efforts this election.

The Houston City Council narrowly approved the equal rights ordinance last year, but after a petition drive by anti-gay activists, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the city in July to either repeal it or put it on the November ballot — giving each side just a few months to make their case.

Conservative activists — who were heavily outspent by LGBT advocates — dubbed Prop. 1 the “bathroom ordinance” and adopted the slogan “No men in women’s bathrooms,” playing up fears that passage could lead to male sexual predators dressing up as women and entering women’s restrooms.

This factually dishonest message proved to be incredibly effective: Many Houston voters seemed to think the measure was solely about access to restrooms and were unaware of the broader nondiscrimination protections in the measure.

Over 200 American cities have similar LGBT protections in place.

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Anti-Gay Street Preachers Descend On New Orleans To Disrupt Southern Decadence

File this under the category of “Christian kindness” – Anti-gay preacher Ruben Israel and his klan showed up in New Orleans last weekend to irritate, interrupt and disrupt the annual Southern Decadence event.

Clip recap:

“This Mini Documentary was filmed in New Orleans La. at the Southern Decadence Homo Fest.

“The LGBT Community is a Depraved and Perverted Community that Must be Resisted and Destroyed

“Ruben Israel exposes the true condition of the LGBT community.”

Among the assorted taunts shouted at the SD attendees, “You are evil.” “You are sin.” “You hate God.” “You sold your country for the Devil.” “You sold your country for entertainment.”

And, well, you get the picture.

Now, where are all these folks during Mardi Gras when the party is five times bigger?

Oh, yeah. That’s a heterosexual kinda thing. Mardi Gras gets a pass.

(h/t JMG)

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Facebook Troll Serves Up Snark To Haters Over Target’s New “Gender Neutral” Policy

Ok, this is really hysterical.

You can imagine how – just sometimes – folks on the end of customer service would love to really speak their minds to over the top, outraged customers.

Check this out from Adweek:

That dynamic played out in particularly rogue fashion on Target’s Facebook page this week. As the retailer received a steady stream of nasty comments from people upset about its move toward gender-neutral in-store labeling, Facebook user Mike Melgaard posed as Target with a fake Facebook account—Ask ForHelp, with a bull’s-eye profile pic—and began excoriating the haters with comically sarcastic replies.

He got away with it for about 16 hours, too, commenting on about 50 posts before the fake account was shut down.

I’ve posted two of Melgaard’s responses here. Head over to Adweek for many more. Some funny stuff 🙂

(h/t JMG)

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Straight Vlogger Joe Santagato Takes On Marriage Equality Haters

Straight YouTuber Joe Santagato took on the marriage equality haters this week on his vlog.

“It’s not like you’re invited to the wedding. You’re not even going to know it happened. You’re not going to be there. So why do you care?” Santagato asks. “That’s the part I don’t get because people who are so against it go out of their way to be against it. They use their vacation days to take off of work so they can stand on the side of some fucking highway with a sign that says, ‘God hates fags.’ Like that’s going to do anything.”

Santagato also addressed the Texas pastor – Rick Scarborough – who had threatened to set himself on fire to stop marriage equality before retracting his statement after the SCOTUS ruling explaining he didn’t mean it literally.

Says Santagato, “You sound like a 5-year-old. No one is going to give a shit. Light yourself on fire. Have a ball.”

Watch the full episode below.

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Matt Baume Highlights Some Of The Worst Reactions To Marriage Equality

Matt Baume gets to the root of those who are so up in arms about LGBTs recently getting full marriage rights in the US.

(Well, “full” if you ignore what’s happening in Louisiana and Texas right now…)

Same-sex couples are getting married, and somehow the world has not yet ended.

But wait – some anti-gay politicians keep warning we’re just moments away from the collapse of civilization.

Here are some of the dumbest — and most dangerous — things they’re saying.