One of the biggest challenges in social justice advocacy is demonstrating success. When the whole goal is to prevent people from having negative experiences, it’s hard to prove that strategies are actually working, because there isn’t physical evidence. The desired result is “no negative experiences,” but some might see this as merely “nothing.”

Take the “It Gets Better” project. Tens of thousands of videos have been made since the anti-bullying campaign launched a year ago. Surely one of IGB’s undeniable successes is the way it has rallied many people in the public sphere to take pro-LGBT stances, from politicians to sports teams. But does the campaign actually make a difference for the young people it targets? Some have critiqued it as “self-congratulatory back-patting,” suggested it’s “useless,” or expressed concern that it includes “no path to change.” Even the Disappointing Gay Best Friend was unimpressed. While we can track suicide attempts, mental health trends, and rates of bullying, it would arguably be difficult to ever directly connect IGB to the positive results it might be fostering.

But there’s one exception: young people saying thank-you. Box Turtle Bulletin posted this video today from a teenager named Dylan:

Dylan found an “It Gets Better” video from YouTube user “depfox,” gay couple Jay and Bryan Leffew with their kids Daniel and Selena. Through the Leffew family, Dylan saw that he didn’t have to pray away the gay or repress his identity. He could, in fact, grow up to have the loving family that he has dreamed of. Since posting his thank-you to the Leffews last month, he has since made a follow-up video telling his own coming out story in which he also talks about how important Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns’ video was for him as he was figuring out his identity.  Dylan’s journey is far from over, because though he came out to the world at large on YouTube, he still hasn’t talked to his family about his identity. Still, by coming out, he is already on a better path.

Is it fair to suggest that IGB saved Dylan’s life? Yes. Nobody will ever know what his story might have been, but if some Internet videos helped him avoid a life of denial, depression, and psychologically harmful ex-gay therapy, that is surely a victory. It’s pretty hard to call something “useless” that has saved a life, and it would be foolish to assume Dylan is alone. “It Gets Better” is making it better one video at a time just by being there for young eyes to see. Keep them coming.

Oklahoma state Rep. Sally Kern (R) first became infamous on the national stage when she said that blacks “don’t work as hard” as white people. The Oklahoma House finally reprimanded her for those statements, but Kern has yet to answer for a number of derogatory remarks she’s made about gay men and women.

Now, ahead of the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, Kern is doubling down on her claim that homosexuality poses a greater threat to America than terrorist attacks. In 2008, Kern said homosexuality is “the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” and called it a cancer that is “spreading” across America and “will destroy our young people.”

Now Right Wing Watch reports that a few days ago, she spoke with Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality to promote her new book, The Stoning of Sally Kern. She repeated her claim that homosexuality is “more dangerous” than terrorist attacks because unlike terrorism, we have to deal with it every day:

KERN: Which has destroyed and ended the life of more people? Terrorism attack here in America or HIV/AIDS? In the last twenty years, fifteen to twenty years, we’ve had maybe three terrorist attacks on our soil with a little over 5,000 people regrettably losing their lives. In the same time frame, there have been hundreds of thousands who have died because of having AIDS. So which one’s the biggest threat? And you know, every day our young people…they’re bombarded with ‘homosexuality is normal and natural.’ It’s something they have to deal with every day. Fortunately we don’t have to deal with a terrorist attack every day, and that’s what I mean. It’s more dangerous, and yes I think that it’s also more dangerous because it will tear down the moral fiber of this nation.

Listen here:

Kern went on to say that homosexuality is eroding the “principles of religion and morality” our nation was founded on and “without virtue this nation will not survive.” Perhaps not coincidentally, her words echo the rhetoric of conservatives who blamed the September 11th attacks themselves on homosexuality in America.

It’s difficult to comprehend the sheer heartlessness of Kern’s implication that the gay men and women who were murdered on September 11th were actually a greater threat to their country than the terrorists who killed them. Also insulting — and ignorant — is her claim that homosexuality is solely or mostly to blame for AIDS deaths. Blaming the AIDS epidemic on the gay population is to blame many of its victims.

The Dump Michele Bachmann blog reports that Michele Bachmann buddy Bradlee Dean has penned an open letter to President Obama, asking him to stop promoting the “radical homosexual agenda” in public schools.

Dean, the rock star turned pastor who is suing Rachel Maddow for suggesting that he supports killing gay people, lays out his grievances with the administration’s policies, complete with references to pedophilia and child pornography:

Dean has a long friendship with Bachmann, dating back to her days as a Minnesota state senator. In 2005, Bachmann sent Dean’s ministry a letter of endorsement, saying, “Your work is a testament to the struggle our youth are facing in making the right choices in the face of controversy and peer pressure. [...] I commend you on writing this book for parents and youth alike,” she wrote. Bachmann has also appeared on Dean’s radio show and attended his fundraisers. “It a tough job that you do, but someone has to do it. I thank God that he has given you the strength and the resolve to fight for our timeless values,” she said of Dean in 2009.

Dean argues that his lawsuit against Maddow is designed to “protect the young in public high schools” from homosexual indoctrination and prevent the media from smearing Bachmann.

Robert George receiving the Presidential Citizens Medal for "his many contributions to our civic life."

Robert George usually just describes himself as a professor at Princeton University, but lately he’s been stepping out more into the public arena, and with such visibility comes accountability. George is not just a professor, but a leader and lead funder of the Catholic Right. He founded and serves as chairman of the National Organization for Marriage and co-authored the Manhattan Declaration, which calls upon Christians to defy laws if that’s what it takes to maintain Christian anti-gay principles. He also founded the American Principles Project (APP), which sponsored Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) GOP presidential candidate forum on Monday, including George as one of the panelists.

But in addition to his solid anti-gay credentials, George is apparently well-connected to Islamophobia, serving on the board of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, one of the top funders of anti-Islam extremism. In fact, the Bradley foundation has given over $5 million to groups like the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy, and Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum. Unsurprisingly, the Bradley Foundation also supports anti-gay organizations like George’s NOM, the Eagle Forum, the Institute for American Values, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Last week, Faith in Public Life pointed out that Catholicism rejects Islamaphobia and called on George to renounce his connections to it:

George’s support for these conspiratorial extremists is particularly disappointing given his Catholic background, as the Church rejects this hostile approach to Islam. The Vatican has long been engaged in inter-religious dialogue with Muslim leaders, and when a historical quote in a 2006 speech by Pope Benedict appeared to support a more negative view of Islam as intrinsically violent, the Pope quickly apologized and clarified that he has “total and profound respect for all Muslims” and the Quran which he described as “the holy book of a great religion.”

A prominent Catholic intellectual like George should have nothing to do with the rhetoric of these extremists. George should clarify whether he endorses these views his organization is funding, and if not, how he reconciles his position on the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation’s board.

It may be that George is not personally interested in Islamophobia, but continues to serve on the Bradley Foundation board just to get financial support for his anti-gay connections. He did admonish presidential candidate Herman Cain for expressing prejudice against appointing Muslims. It’s much more likely, though, that George appreciates how effectively the two go hand-in-hand. From a conservative Christian point of view, both gays and Muslims are a threat to the country (just ask Sally Kern), and there is arguably more to gain politically and financially by promoting fear of both than by distinguishing between the two. George’s own organization NOM has suggested gays have issued a “fatwa” and are “waging jihad” against Christians. Even if he doesn’t involve himself directly in Islamophobic efforts, George’s anti-gay efforts can (and clearly do) benefit from donors who believe in Christian superiority. It should be no surprise George is taking advantage of that, whether it compromises his Catholic values or not.

Five North Carolina state lawmakers held a town hall Thursday night to discuss the pending constitutional amendments the legislature is scheduled to take-up next week, including one measure to outlaw same-sex marriage. A majority of North Carolinians say they oppose changing the constitution but that didn’t stop state Sen. James Forrester (R) — who is also a medical doctor — from describing homosexuality as an “unhealthy lifestyle” and urging gay people to “change their lifestyle” back “to the normal lifestyle we can accept“:

FORRESTER: I’ve got a few homosexual patients and I treat them just the same as anybody else. I love them perhaps even more because I know they are going to die at least 20 years earlier and it’s something I have no control over and we need to reach out to them to try to get them to change their lifestyle and back to the normal lifestyle which we can accept.

Watch it:

He added that the gay “lifestyle” is decreased by at least 20 years and predicted that “If this bill does not pass then homosexuality will be taught into public school as the norm.” “Do you want that? No. The homosexuals want to have their lifestyle considered normal,” Forrester said.

The amendment would have to pass both the House and the Senate by a three-fifth majority and would then go before voters on the November 2012 ballot. A 1996 state law already outlaws same-sex marriage, but supporters of the measure argue that a constitutional amendment would prevent judges from overturning it and instituting marriage equality.