I keep bugging Editor-In-Chief Jon about it, but he won’t give it up. You know what I’m talking about — the homosexual agenda. Wingnuts and Bible thumpers are convinced that there is a homosexual agenda, that gays have banded together and developed an agenda of some sort, and are actively pursuing it. But Jon won’t tell me what it is.

Nonetheless, this being the Benighted States of America, I believe that homosexuals should be able to pursue their own agenda — whatever it is — with all the freedoms granted to them by the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution.

Always astute editrix Trish alerted us to the latest assault on the homosexual agenda, courtesy of the American Family Association, which asked this pressing question: Should corporations be promoting homosexuality?

Several corporations are now supporting the homosexual agenda. These companies have been convinced by homosexual activists and the mainstream media that in order to be “fair and tolerant,” companies must make special rules for homosexuals and provide company money and resources to help promote their lifestyle. Many companies, at the urging of these groups, have also begun to support same-sex marriage.

The AFA, in pursuit of its own agenda of “motivating and equipping citizens to change the culture” is cleverly couching its anti-gay slant in a totally non-sectarian survey here. It’s a simple, one-question questionnaire:

If a corporation supports the homosexual agenda, would you:

• Be more likely to do business with that company
• Be less likely to do business with that company
• It would not affect my buying decision

Doesn’t get much more straightforward than that, does it? And now you see my problem — how can I honestly answer that question without knowing what the “homosexual agenda” is? Well, the AFA discovered the homosexual agenda, as promulgated in 1987 by “gay revolutionary” Michael Swift and reprinted as a public service by the AFA along with footnotes that chronicle how successful gays have been in advancing their agenda.

So do the homosexuals a favor and vote in the AFA’s survey. Currently, enlightened folk who are more likely to do business with a corporation that supports gay rights are running far behind, with less than 6,300 votes, versus 189,000 nimrods who say they would be less likely to do business with a corporation that supports the homosexual agenda.

I think it’s the only way we straights are ever going to be able to figure out what the heck those pesky homosexuals are really up to with their agenda and all that. Maybe if we vote for them, they’ll tell us what it is. Right Jon?

A Marine judge advocate says Sanchez “wrongfully solicited funds to support [his] purported deployment to Iraq” by coordinating a $300 payment from [a veterans group] and $12,000 from U-Haul Corporation.

Former Marine Reserve Cpl. Matt Sanchez, the darling of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — who once worked as a gay prostitute and in male films under the porn name “Rod Majors” — has been accused by the Marine Corps of conning $12,300 from a business and a veterans group by falsely claiming he was being deployed to Iraq.

On March 22, a judge advocate informed Cpl. Sanchez that:

Sanchez’s participation in porn films was part of the investigation, but that two of the three allegations against him involved lying “to various people, including but not limited to, representatives of the New York City United War Veterans Council and U-Haul Corporation” about deploying to Iraq at the commandant’s request.

“Specifically, you wrongfully solicited funds to support your purported deployment to Iraq” by coordinating a $300 payment from the UWVC and $12,000 from U-Haul, Jones wrote.

In an interview Thursday with Marine Corps Times, Sanchez said the fund-raising allegations are “demonstrably false” and that he never collected money from either organization.

Sanchez recently caught the attention of rightwing media types by claiming he was publicly humiliated by an anti-war group at Columbia University. The incident was reportedly investigated by the university and found to be false. This finding was irrelevant, of course, to conservatives who showered Sanchez with attention. He appeared on “Hannity & Colmes” and “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News, and was awarded the Jeanne Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award at CPAC because of his alleged contretemps with the war protesters at Columbia.

It was at CPAC that Ann Coulter famously called presidential candidate John Edwards a “faggot.” This incendiary moment lends irony to the famous photo taken of Coulter with Matt Sanchez that day at the convention hotel.

Despite quite a large cache of filmed evidence otherwise, Sanchez claims that he is not gay.

This story (which I saw over at the Blend) points up the fact that it is perfectly legal to discriminate against gay people in many states, including especially South Carolina:

A gay couple looking to rent a hotel room say they were turned away because of their sexuality.

“She wasn’t discreet about it,” said Jason Pickel, referring to a hotel employee. “She was not apologetic. She just said, ‘We do not rent to gay people.'”

For the past two and a half years, Pickel and Darren Black Bear have been in a committed relationship. During a search for a temporary home, the couple says it went to Affordable Suites of America, a long-term stay hotel located on Gion Street in Sumter [S.C.].

“We were inquiring about the price, deposits, extra person fee, and she asked who the room was going to be for, and I said for my partner and I,” Pickel said. “She said, ‘Oh we don’t rent to multiple people of the same sex.’ I said, so you don’t rent to gay couples? She said, ‘No, we don’t rent to gay people at all.'”

The website for Affordable Suites of America states the company does not allow children or pets in its suites, but there is no mention of same sex couples.

A reporter from the news department at television station in Columbia, S.C., posed as prospective renter and called Affordable Suites to check on the story:

The receptionist who answered the phone told us the following: “Our policy is we don’t rent to two people of the same sex if we only have one bed.”

Reporter: “Is that your policy?”

Affordable Suites: “That’s corporate policy because they only have one sleeping area.”

Reporter: “Okay, but they can’t share the bed?”

Affordable Suites: “I suppose they could, but most men don’t want to.”

Here is what is says on the Affordable Suites FAQ:

Can I bring my dog?

No. We love pets, but we do not allow them as guests.

How about my kids?

We are glad to allow children as visitors only. Our properties are all-adult and a maximum of two people per suite.

So, I can’t pile my buddies in the room and allow them to sleep on the floor?

No.

No pets, kids, buddies or gays. Got it.

After Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace came out of the closet two weeks ago as a proud homophobe, telling an interviewer that he believes gay people, including gay servicemembers, are “immoral,” the general was the target of a barrage of criticism from the left — as well as from one lone voice on the right.

Joe Murray is a former staff writer for the American Family Association, an anti-gay organization with a multimillion-dollar budget based in Mississippi. In Murray’s response to Pace, he wrote:

This is not a political situation, but instead it is a situation where a high ranking official made comments that judged individuals, not ideas. Pace singled out gay soldiers during a time of war and told these men and women that they were immoral. His comments, as a military official, were over the line and not defensible.

This caught the attention of our friend Pam Spaulding, editor of Pam’s House Blend, who contacted Murray and asked to interview him. Murray agreed. The result is a very interesting read that gives hope to cynics like myself, who believe religious rightwingers are so invested in their fantastical beliefs that they can never be reclaimed.

Here is an excerpt, but you really should read the entire interview:

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