I got the month off to a very gay start yesterday with my list of various natural disasters attributed to gay people. That was ‘fun’ … and quite confronting, especially once it sinks in that some people actually believe those things?!
Last month I also reported on the landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which established marriage equality is a constitutional right in America. As you would imagine not everyone was happy with that outcome and there has been an outpouring of fear, hysteria and panic from some sections of the community. Having looked at some of the responses to the marriage equality judgment, I concluded that bringing together a ‘quality’ selection of those responses would be an ideal companion to yesterday’s ‘Gays cause [insert natural disaster of your choice] …‘
So, how did America respond?!
Some appealed to god. Others railed against judicial tyranny, or protested the legal decision as a ‘moral’ 9/11. And there were those who just had a complete meltdown …
Ben Shapiro is a conservative political commentator and editor at large at the home of conservative outrage, Breitbart.com.
John Nolte was a wildly unsuccessful Hollywood writer and director. He returned to North Carolina where he became a right-wing crank.
Tony Perkins is a Christian religious zealot and the President of the Family Research Council, a sister organisation to the American Family Association. In 2010 the Family Research Council was noted as a group known for its anti-gay hate activities.
Rick Santorum is a devoted Catholic, except when the Pope is urging action on climate change, and a conservative presidential hopeful with longstanding homophobic tendencies.
Ben Howe is the head-writer for Dana Loesch’s show on Glenn Beck’s The Blaze TV. You may recall her name from a piece earlier this year titled ‘Stupidity can pay after all …‘, in which The Vue Post noted that one of Dana Loesch’s staffers was behind a fundraiser for an Indiana family, who chose to announce their family pizza shop would refuse to cater a gay wedding. This resulted in a social media backlash and a short period of closure until their self-inflicted and utterly unnecessary drama blew over.
Greg Abbott is the conservative Governor of Texas who expects Barack Obama to invade his State any minute now.
Bill Kristol is a neoconservative political analyst and commentator. He was a leading proponent of the disastrous Iraq war and an unwavering apologist for Dick Cheney.
Bryan Fischer is another Christian religious zealot, and the former head of a certified anti-gay hate group, the American Family Association. He was also featured in yesterday’s ‘Gays cause [insert natural disaster of your choice] …‘ piece with this gem: The gay ‘agenda’ is tied to a ‘directly demonic energy’ and Satan himself, Bryan Fischer claims (The Huffington Post, 27 January 2015).
The National Organization for Marriage is a right-wing Christian organisation established to campaign against marriage equality. It is recognised widely as an anti-gay hate group.
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative ‘think-tank’.
Mike Huckabee is a Southern Baptist and another conservative presidential hopeful. He is also well know for his homophobic views.
Sadly, many of these comments cannot be simply dismissed as the views of fringe-dwellers. Some are revered religious leaders and others are presidential hopefuls. Yet they exhibit complete disregard, even disdain, for the fundamental principles that underpin our liberal, secular democracies, including the separation of church and state, the rule of law, and the separation of powers. The views they express are more in line with the mullahs of Iran than the liberal democratic traditions of the West.
It must also be acknowledged that the comments selected above are decidedly at the more civilised end of the scale. Far more offensive comments have been made, however most of those comments are barely, if at all, fit for reproduction here.
https://twitter.com/GimmieDadikpls/status/614551663097962496
The Vue Post 