Adam, a transgender character on Degrassi

The American Family Association (AFA) and Florida Family Association (FFA) are alleging that the Trevor Project is “recruiting teens and children to become ‘gay’” through its suicide prevention hotline. The AFA reports today that FFA is encouraging followers to boycott Target for advertising on the Teen Nick show Degrassi, which airs PSAs for the Trevor Project. The group has provided a form email, which reads:

Not only is Teen Nick affirming the homosexual and transgender lifestyles in the content of the program itself but also includes promotions during Degrassi which lead America’s youth toward, not away from embracing these behaviors.

Target is the ONLY major retailer that is advertising on this irresponsible and shameful show.  This is a point that I will remember when choosing where to shop.

The Trevor Project is unabashedly committed to saving lives through its lifeline. While this particular email campaign is trivial, it is emblematic of the true motives of religious right “family” groups. Not only are they unsympathetic to the bullying and harassment that young people face for being perceived as gay, they are actively promoting the negative climate in schools by objecting to the very group trying to save lives. Given a choice between standing by their anti-gay and anti-trans beliefs or affirming young people to save their lives, it seems that groups like the American Family Association have chosen stigma over survival.

A Lutheran pastor resigned from Trinity Lutheran Church in Alabama last week after experiencing a “change of heart” towards equality for gay and lesbian people. Pastor Bert Oelschig had initially opposed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)’s 2009 decision to “allow openly gay pastors” in “committed, lifelong and monogamous relationships” to serve in the clergy and even threatened to “break away with the national denomination.”

But in June, Oelschig experienced a revelation and attempted to explain his newfound support for LGBT equality to his church. Oelschig drew parallels “between the acceptance of homosexuality and those of other social movements, especially the civil rights movement of the 1960s, to which the church, ‘using countless biblical endorsements,’ once opposed but has since come to embrace.” The church council forbade Oelschig from addressing the matter further and eventually suspended him. Still, he returned to the topic during his farewell address last week:

“Before there was any creation, God was love,” Oelschig said, citing imagery from his original sermon. “After creation, gender came along, but God’s essence was still love. It’s my belief that the love between people is not a function of gender. (Homosexual couples) can express love, faith and affection just as we all can … it’s blessed by God.

“Love trumps chromosomes.”

“With all that,” he said, “I can’t say what brought me to that place, except that God, through the Holy Spirit, is revealing to me that homosexuality — in the context of the same thing as marriage — is blessed by God.”

Polls show that religious Americans are indeed increasingly supporting LGBT rights. A ABC News/Washington Post poll from March, for instance, found that 53 percent of white Catholics and 57 percent of non-evangelical Protestants support marriage equality.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) has criticized Union Township high school teacher Viki Knox for writing that homosexuality is a “perverted sin” that “breeds like cancer” on her Facebook wall, characterizing the comments as “disturbing” and not a positive example “to be setting for folks who have such an important and influential position in our society.”

Now, former New Jersey Govs. Brendan Byrne (D) and Tom Kean (R) are also weighing in. During an interview with NJ.com on Thursday, the two leaders condemned the content of Knox’s remarks, but suggested that the state should not regulate speech outside of the classroom:

Q: A New Jersey teacher has come under fire for posting anti-gay comments on her Facebook page. Assuming she didn’t do it on school time or property, should this be grounds for considering her termination?

GOV. BYRNE: Certainly time has passed her by. What she’s done is clearly not in the mainstream anymore. What reaction there should be, I don’t know. These are views you see very little of anymore, and I’m disappointed in the teacher.

GOV. KEAN: Well, you certainly don’t want anything like that expressed in the classroom, so that’s the first question — did any of this get said in the classroom? If it was only expressed outside of school through her private correspondence, then it’s free speech.

The school district is currently investigating whether Knox’s strongly expressed religious beliefs “have seeped into her classroom.”

New Hampshire’s House Judiciary Committee will decide on Tuesday whether to recommend repealing the state’s same-sex marriage law “and replacing it with civil unions for any unmarried adults including relatives,” the Associated Press is reporting. Last month, a subcommittee approved the bill, which preserves existing same-sex marriages and also contains language that “allows any business, individual, school or association to refuse to recognize civil unions, exempting them from state laws that bar discrimination on housing, employment, contracts and grants.” The full House will not vote on the bill until next year.

Polling shows that the move is unpopular among state residents, however. A WMUR Granite State Poll from October 14 found that voters want to keep marriage equality by a two to one margin. Just 8 percent said that the law had “a major effect on the state,” while 28 percent saw a “minor effect” and 47 percent saw no effect at all. Only 27 percent of New Hampshire adults said they support repealing same-sex marriage, while 50 percent strongly oppose repeal.

The legislature tried to adopt similar measures last year, but ultimately postponed the question to focus on economic issues.

Herman Cain has shifted his position on same-sex marriage just several days after coming under criticism from social conservatives — and fellow presidential candidate Rick Santorum — for not adequately opposing access to abortion services. In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network’s The Brody File on Saturday, Cain pledged to “sign” a federal constitutional amendment outlawing abortion — something a president cannot do — and also backed an amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage.

The new position represents another change for Cain, who had supported a federal marriage amendment during his failed race for the U.S. Senate in 2004, but told NBC’s Meet the Press as recently as last Sunday that the question of marriage is best left to the states. Here is the evolution of his position:

CAIN IN 2004: “The courts have failed the American people. Congress needs to enact a constitutional amendment to protect the sacred institution of marriage.”

CAIN ON OCTOBER 16, 2011: “I wouldn’t seek a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but I am pro-traditional marriage.”

CAIN ON OCTOBER 22, 2011: “I think marriage should be protected at the federal level also. I used to believe that it could be just handled by the states but there’s a movement going on to basically take the teeth out of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and that could cause an unraveling, so we do need some protection at the federal level because of that and so yes I would support legislation that would say that it’s between a man and a woman.”

Watch the most recent flip flop:

Following his appearance on MTP, several conservative organizations slammed Cain for not outlawing same-sex marriage nationwide. Rick Santorum even issued a statement characterizing marriage equality as a moral wrong akin to slavery.