Monday, September 26, 2011

Democratic lawmakers not happy with Boehner's DOMA defense

Hot damn! This is BIG!:

Democratic lawmakers don't like the "harmful and unreasonable arguments" being used by House speaker John Boehner's lawyer to keep the Defense of Marriage Act on the books.

A contingent from Congress, including all four of the gay members, wrote to Boehner demanding a chance to confront the lawyer with what they say is "discredited" and "biased" research on homosexuality that was used in a legal brief representing Congress in court.

 . . .several Democrats — Tammy Baldwin, David Cicilline, John Conyers, Barney Frank, Jerrold Nadler, and Jared Polis — say Clement doesn't represent them or even the scientists he cites in his legal arguments.

 . . . They cite, for example, professor Lisa Diamond's complaint that Boehner's lawyer has "completely misrepresented my research." A lot has changed since DOMA was passed 15 years ago, they say, but Clement's ideas on why it should remain "do not withstand the test of time or scrutiny."

The representatives are asking Boehner, for the second time, to grant them a briefing about the case so they can hear more about a court strategy they say isn't based in fact.   

Why is this big? Because a while back, not only did Diamond complain that Clement was distorting her work, but at the same time, I published a post clearly showing that Clement was also using junk science and bad studies in his defense of DOMA.

In his defense of DOMA, Clement cites the work of Case Western Reserve University law professor George W. Dent, Jr.

But Dent's work - which Clement uses -  cited both Paul Cameron and George Rekers, two discredited researchers. Cameron has been censured or rebuked by several organizations for his bad methodology in his studies and Rekers lost a lot of credibility for last year's scandal when he was caught coming from a European vacation with a "rentboy."

Also, Dent cited the work of Walter Schumm's study Children of Homosexuals More Apt To Be Homosexuals? A Reply to Morrison and to Cameron Based on an Examination of Multiple Sources of Data.

Schumm's study was criticized for using the same false methodology as Cameron's work. i.e. citing sources "from general-audience books about LGBT parenting and families, most of which are available on Amazon.com"

Furthermore, Dent cited a book called Straight & Narrow by Thomas E. Schmidt to make criticisms about gay health. However, Schmidt is not a credible researcher in the field of gay health. He is a professor of New Testament Greek at Westmont College in Santa Barbara and according to Rev. Mel White of the group Soulforce, Schmidt cited Cameron's discredited studies many times in Straight & Narrow (5th letter to Jerry Falwell.)

And last, but not least, Dent cited the work of the American College of Pediatricians. The American College of Pediatricians is not a credible organization, but an organization created to give credibility to junk science about the gay community. Last year, over 14,000 school district superintendents in the country were sent a letter by ACP inviting them to peruse and use information from a new site, Facts About Youth. The site claimed to present "facts" supposedly not tainted by "political correctness."  Of course these were not facts, but ugly distortions about the gay community, including:

Some gay men sexualize human waste, including the medically dangerous practice of coprophilia, which means sexual contact with highly infectious fecal wastes

As for now, it is not known how or if Boehner will respond to the Democratic legislators. But still, their actions of questioning Boehner on the material that his lawyer is using is a good thing because it puts a spotlight on the distortions those on the right use to defend anti-gay laws.

And it's about time. 



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President Obama condemns booing of gay soldier and other Monday midday news briefs

Obama: Booing of Gay Soldier 'Not Reflective of Who We Are' - Thank you, Mr. President.

Toledo Pastor Erects 9 Gay-Hating Billboards, Says He Loves Everyone - Cause we all know that it's not The Church's duty to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and provide comfort, but waste a bunch of money on anti-gay billboards.

NEW YORK: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs Landmark Bill Aiding LGBT Seniors - Way to go, Gov. Cuomo.

Retailers Are Put on the Spot Over Anti-Gay Aid - I like what the Southern Poverty Law Center said about this - "Calling out groups for their hatred isn't offensive. Claiming bigotry as a Biblical value is."

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen’s Opposition To DOMA May Be Guided By Personal Experience, Transgender Son - Fascinating piece on Republican representative who opposes DOMA.




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Bigot - gays are winning 'culture war' and taking prisoners

Scott Lively
"Many Christians are only now awakening to the seriousness of the threat to our society posed by the homosexual movement. But, unfortunately for us all, it is only the sounding of the victory trumpets by "gay" activists that has stirred Christians from their slumber. The watchman's walls have been broken and breached, the village is in flames, and triumphal "gay" culture warriors are leading a long string of young prisoners by their necks into the woods. Most disturbingly, many of the captives, including some of the children of these still sleepy-eyed Christian parents, seem happy to go."

The above ramblings is paranoid homophobic bigotry of the highest order. And it would be hilarious except when one realizes who it is coming from.

Scott Lively, head of the SPLC-declared hate group Abiding Truth Ministries and author of the discredited piece of garbage, The Pink Swatiska (a book claiming that gays were responsible for Hitler's Nazi Party), wrote the piece which appeared last week in World Net Daily.

And it is pretty much the same vein of trash which Lively has made a living in declaring - i.e. claiming that gays are secretly plotting to take over America, "indoctrinate children," and cause all sorts of mayhem.

It's the same trash one would hear from folks like Matt Barber and Peter LaBarbera, except for one thing. As odious as LaBarbera and Barber are, neither person has the death of an innocent on their heads.