Category: Camera

Pro-Equality Protesters in Santa Monica Roust the Westboro Haters: ‘Go Back to Kansas’

Jon Ponder

Gay Star News:

When members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up at Santa Monica High School today to conduct an anti-gay protest, they were in for a huge surprise.

That surprise was a huge crowd that was on hand to counter-protest the group known to protest at military funerals carrying signs that say such things as ‘God Hates Fags.’

…The church members stayed only a brief time as they found themselves faced with scores of students who were well-prepared for their arrival.

Students and others were holding rainbow flags large and small and waving signs with such messages as ‘God Cares for All Creation,’ ‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time for Hate’ and ‘God Hates People Who Say They Know Who God Hates.’

The video … shows the spirited crowd of students and a dispirited small group from Westboro walking away from the scene as someone in the crowd yells: ‘Go back to Kansas!’

British MP Cites America’s Jim Crow Era ‘Separate But Equal’ Laws in Argument for Marriage Equality in England

Jon Ponder

The debate over marriage equality in Britain’s House of Commons earlier this week took on some of the rancour of the debate here in the Colonies, exposing a “nest of bigots” in Parliament, as a columnist for The Guardian put it.

In the end, however, the House voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill legalizing same sex marriage — at least in part because of an impassioned speech by MP David Lammy, who studied law at Harvard, and who compared Britain’s current civil unions with America’s “separate but equal” laws in the Jim Crow era:

[…]

Leading Psychiatrist Recants Study Suggesting Gays Could Be Cured

Jon Ponder

In just 28 years, Dr. Robert Spitzer went from hero to betrayer among advocates of gay civil rights. In 1973, he led efforts to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. But in 2001, he released a study that suggested that homosexuality could be cured. Now he has recanted the 2001 study and apologized to gays who have been harmed.

The harm has been significant in that hate groups have often cited the 2001 study in their lawsuits to restrict civil rights for gays, including the Proposition 8 case in California. The study was so foundational to the hate groups’ case in support of Prop 8 that some legal scholars believe it may be the final strew that leads to striking down the anti-gay marriage amendment to the California state constitution that was added when the initiative passed.

Now Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out has interviewed Dr. Spitzer about his recanting of the study and concomitant apology. Highlights are here.

Church Member Voices Support for Baptist Preacher’s Call for Final Solution for Gays

Jon Ponder

Transcript:

ANDERSON COOPER: Pastor Worley obviously has strong support within the community. There are some 1,200 seats in his church. Gary said there is a service going on right now.

Stacey Pritchard is one of the church members, she joins us tonight. Stacey, I know you’re a defender of Pastor Worley and I appreciate you coming on the program.

Do you agree with his statements that he said on the pulpit that gays and lesbians should be put behind electrified fences until they die out?

STACEY PRITCHARD, MEMBER OF PROVIDENCE ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH: I believe that that was taken — I mean yes, he said that, but of course, he would never want that to be done.

Of course, people are going to take it and make it their own way and make it into what they want to. But I agree with what the sermon was and what it was about.

COOPER: But you’re saying he doesn’t want it done, but he said he wanted it done on the — he said it from the pulpit. Why do you interpret that’s not what he wants?

PRITCHARD: OK, let me try to say it a different way, maybe — maybe that’s what he felt like should be done. I mean, it can be said either way, OK, just to make the short of it, yes, I agree with him. If they can’t get the message that that’s wrong, then they can’t reproduce and eventually they would die.

COOPER: So you believe only that gay people are only born of other gay people? You’re saying they can’t reproduce, so therefore they would all die off. Aren’t gay people born — gay people get born to straight parents all the time, no?

PRITCHARD: No, that’s not what I meant. If men and men were in the same fence and women were in the same fence, they can’t reproduce together. That’s what I mean.

COOPER: Right, but that wouldn’t eliminate all gay people. There would be more gay people born outside the fence to straight people, wouldn’t there?

PRITCHARD: Exactly, but we were meaning the ones in there. See, it’s all taken out of context and twisted. The main point is always the same.

COOPER: So what is it about gay people that are worse than adulterers who Leviticus points out and people who have cursed their mothers and fathers who should be put to death and promiscuous girl who can be put into death — what makes gay people worse than those people?

PRITCHARD: From the bible, there’s no difference. But that is what he was talking about.

COOPER: So you believe people who — you believe adulterers should be put to death because that’s in the bible?

PRITCHARD: Like you said, like it was said, you know, not really, whatever happened, but yes, OK, I’m not going to keep answering the same question over and over, yes.

COOPER: So does it seem Christian to you, though, to talk about putting people behind electrified fences and watching them die?

Because I have talked to a number of pastors in the last couple of days, who say, that just doesn’t sound Christian, that doesn’t sound like the message of love that they hear in the bible.

PRITCHARD: People are once again harping, harping, harping, on the electric fence, this and that. It’s about homosexuals, and it’s wrong. That’s what it’s about.

COOPER: But you would understand why some people would feel this is wrong to say, I mean you say people are harping on it. Do you understand why people might be concerned? If some people were talking about putting Jews behind electrified fences, I imagine that would be of concern to you?

PRITCHARD: Well, you know, here we go again, nobody’s going to put them behind an electric fence.

COOPER: Well, actually that has happened, it’s called the holocaust. You said nobody’s going to kill homosexuals, it’s happening right now in Iraq. It’s happening right now in Iran.

PRITCHARD: Yes, and this is 2012.

COOPER: Right, it’s happening right now 2012 in Iraq and Iran.

PRITCHARD: And you know what? This is a pastor that speaks the word of God. Anybody can take it any way they want to, and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to. They can turn around and go on.

COOPER: Stacey Pritchard, I appreciate you being on the program. I know it’s difficult topic so thank you.

PRITCHARD: Sure, yes. Thank you so much.

COOPER: That’s one of the supporters of Pastor Worley in that town in North Carolina.

Source.