Sen. Ted Cruz got catch in a heated exchange with out actress Ellen Page at the Iowa State Fair over “religious liberty” laws which become a license to discriminate against LGBTs.
Page began by asking the senator, who was wearing an apron and grilling pork chops, his opinion on Americans losing their jobs for “just strictly being gay or trans.”
“What we’re seeing right now, we’re seeing Bible-believing Christians being persecuted for living according to their faith,” Cruz said.
“For discriminating against LGBT people,” Page responded.
“Now I’m happy to answer your question, but not to have a back-and-forth debate,” said Cruz.
Cruz brought up Dick and Betty Odgaard, an Iowa couple who stopped renting their art gallery for weddings after a long legal battle for refusing to host a same-sex wedding. “No one has the right to force someone else to abandon their faith and their conscience,” Cruz said.
The presidential hopeful also pivoted to bring up the serious anti-gay oppression is occurring in Islamic states. “ISIS is executing gay people, Iran is executing homosexuals, and on the left you hear complete silence about Iran hanging homosexuals,” he said.
I would disagree that there has been silence on the issue of LGBTs being killed by ISIS.
In the end, this stands as what may be the most substantive discussion on LGBT rights in the presidential campaign thus far.
GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz takes Dick & Betty Odgaard of Grimes, Iowa, on a martyr tour trying to portray the couple as “victims” of the LGBT movement.
The Odgaards made news in 2013 when they turned away a gay couple who inquired about having their wedding at the gallery.
You’ll note how Cruz continually uses the word “church” to describe the building the couple owns. But the fact is, the BUSINESS the Odgaard’s own is not a religion-based business at all. They purchased the building in 2002 and operated the space as the Gortz Haus Gallery, an art gallery which also rented out for weddings.
Cruz also skips over the fact that Iowa has a very clear public accommodation law that bans discriminating against folks based on sexual orientation, just as you can’t turn away customers based on race or religion.
“Open for business” means open to all.
Eventually, the couple stopped hosting any weddings at all to avoid having to provide services to “the gays.”
Not sure how Cruz thinks this old story will cut through the clutter of the ongoing Trump campaign train.
Ted Cruz’s new book will not be appearing on the New York Times’ Bestseller List, even though he outsold all but two of the other books sold this past week.
A Times spokesman said: “In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.”
Apparently, political peeps like to buy copies of their own book to give away to supporters to spread their message. However, in the past that has also helped get their books to the top of the list.
The policy at the Times currently is to not count these bulk purchases as the powers that be want the list to more closely reflect the sales to individuals and not “strategic bulk purchases.”
I’m sure the conservative Right folks will be hating on the NY Times, but as the pundits point out in the clip below, several right-wing characters like Bill O’Reilly and Charles Krauthammer have had #1 rankings on the NY Times list.
“Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it,” the Texas Republican told NPR News’ Steve Inskeep in an interview published on Monday.
Since only suits against the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky were specifically considered in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which was handed down last Friday, Cruz — a former Supreme Court clerk — believes that other states with gay marriage bans need not comply, absent a judicial order.
“On a great many issues, others have largely acquiesced, even if they were not parties to the case,” the 2016 presidential contender added, “but there’s no legal obligation to acquiesce to anything other than a court judgement.”
While Cruz’s statement may be technically true, federal district and circuit courts are obligated to follow the Supreme Court’s precedent and overrule all other states’ same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional.
Clearly Ted Cruz has no firm grasp of legal precedent.
While the decision on same-sex marriage addressed four states, that ruling becomes controlling precedent for all other courts to follow on the issue from here on forward.
If Cruz wants to force gay and lesbian couples to go through the time and expense to file lawsuits which WILL end up with a judgement in favor of same-sex marriage, he can I guess. But the result will be the same whether states go through the lawsuits or not. At the end of the day, any judge will have to cite the SCOTUS ruling and marriage equality will prevail.
Delivered with a grave and hushed tone something like you’d imagine your creepy boss whispering in your ear as he slowly rubs your shoulder just as he’s convincing you to cook the company books while he stares at a young blond receptionist at an office party.
“Turning to you in such a special and personal way.”
Boys, boys, boys. You’ve GOT to get your act together and your stories straight.
For weeks gay NYC hoteliers Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass have been in trouble with the NYC LGBT community because they held a “fireside chat” with virulently anti-gay Sen. Ted Cruz last month.
Initially, the two men were “surprised” by the uproar saying they didn’t really understand the degree to which Cruz opposes LGBT rights. And they stressed that the evening was not a fundraiser of any kind.
“There were no checks given, it was nothing like that,” Reisner told New York magazine.
Next, came the community boycott of their businesses including the niche hotel The Out NYC, followed by a full-on “apology tour” stressing that they will work hard to regain the gays’ trust.
That lasted a couple of days until Weiderpass published an attack on the LGBT community including one passage calling the gays “cheap.” Now there’s damage control for you.
“It is amazing that my businesses are being boycotted by some because I hosted a discussion with an elected official. Not a fundraiser. Not an endorsement. A dialogue,” wrote Weiderpass in an op-ed for The New York Observer. “Despite media reports to the contrary, I did not organize the Cruz dinner, but did embrace the opportunity—again, in a non-fundraising setting—to discuss a number of important issues, including support for Israel and support for gay rights.”
Well, the proverbial “other shoe” dropped today as the New York Times reports that Reisner actually DID write a check to Cruz’s campaign – for the maximum amount of $2,700.
It was only AFTER the scandal escalated that Reisner apparently asked for his check back – probably because the donation would should up on Mr. Cruz’s campaign finance filing when it becomes public in July.
“In the interest of transparency, I gave Senator Cruz a $2,700 check to show my support for his work on behalf of Israel,” Mr. Reisner said in a statement he provided after The Times learned of the donation from two people with direct knowledge of it. “When I realized his donation could be misconstrued as supporting his anti-gay marriage agenda, I asked for the money back. Senator Cruz’s office gave the money back, and I have no intention of giving any money to any politicians who aren’t in support of L.G.B.T. issues.”
Bolding is mine.
Umm, yes Mr. Reisner, contributing to a politician’s campaign is generally seen as supporting their positions. Unless you inherited all your money, there’s no way you could be a successful businessman and not understand such rudimentary concepts.
It just keeps getting worse for these guys.
Interestingly, when asked about the $2,700 check, Reisner’s buddy Weiderpass seemed “surprised” to learn about the donation as he attended an event last night at New York’s Marriott Marquis hotel.
And guess who also just happened to attend last night’s event?
