In July 2010, Jennifer Keeton sued Augusta State University for expelling her from its graduate level Counselor Education Program when she refused to abide by the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. Keeton argued that she should not have to affirm gay clients or silence her personal religious opposition as a counselor. Now, a unanimous three-judge panel from the 11th Circuit  Court of Appeals has rejected her appeal for a preliminary injunction against the expulsion, concluding that her free speech and free exercise were not hindered by the school’s conditions.

Keeton had said she believes members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning population suffer from “identity confusion,” and had expressed interest in attempting to convert students from being homosexual to heterosexual. She also said it would be impossible to separate her views about homosexuality from her clients’ views, and even admitted that if she were a high school counselor, she would tell a sophomore struggling with his sexual orientation that it is not okay to be gay. The court ruled that the cultural sensitivity remediation the school prescribed her so she could learn to work with GLBTQ clients did not constitute viewpoint discrimination, but rather reflected the expectations of the profession:

Every profession has its own ethical codes and dictates. When someone voluntarily chooses to enter a profession, he or she must comply with its rules and ethical requirements.  Lawyers must present legal arguments on behalf of their clients, notwithstanding their personal views.  Judges must apply the law, even when they disagree with it.  So too counselors must refrain from imposing their moral and religious values on their clients.

The Sixth Circuit is hearing a similar case against Eastern Michigan University by a student named Julea Ward. In July 2010, Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed Ward’s suit, saying her dismissal “was entirely due” to her “refusal to change her behavior.” Motivated by Ward’s ongoing case, some Michigan legislators recently proposed legislation that would allow counseling students to decline serving certain clients without jeopardizing their academic success.

The Florida Family Association (FFA) has attracted media attention for convincing Lowe’s and Kayak.com to pull their ads from All-American Muslim, but the additional scrutiny has also revealed that the one-man organization is guilty of making inaccurate claims about the success of its advertising outrage campaigns. Think Progress investigated claims by the organization’s head David Caton that FFA had convinced Macy’s and Target to drop their advertising from Teen Nick’s Degrassi after the group raised objections to the show’s portrayal of LGBT teens and its support of The Trevor Project suicide hotline for LGBT youth. It turns out that these were no victories at all.

Jim Sluzewski, a spokesperson for Macy’s, told Think Progress that Macy’s had never actually run a single advertisement on Degrassi and never had plans to. He pointed out that FFA targeted Macy’s because other vendors had run commercials during Degrassi, mentioning at the end that their products were “available at Macy’s.” Macy’s had nothing to do with these commercials, and Sluzewski said that any FFA claim of victory over Macy’s was simply “wrong.”

An official statement from Target similarly suggests that Caton’s protests had no impact on their advertising:

Target continues to air ads on TeenNick. We purchase airtime to reach audiences that most closely match a typical Target guest and our commercials are broadcast on a variety of television programs throughout the day.

Caton said FFA’s next target for the Degrassi campaign is the Mars and Wrigley candy companies. At time of publication, they had not responded with comment about whether they had any plans to alter their advertising. Mars’ Advertising Guidelines suggest, however, that they would have little reason to back away from advertising on a multi-award winning series like Degrassi:

The handling of controversial subjects calls for particular sensitivity and consideration. When serious treatment of controversial subjects is handled properly, in a factually accurate, fair and balanced manner, the media can perform a constructive societal role which should be encouraged.

Caton may object that Degrassi‘s content is “aimed at an immoral behavior that children would embrace,” but it’s becoming quite clear that advertisers should take his complaints with a grain of salt. The FFA speaks only on behalf of one cantankerous man and does not have nearly as much influence as it claims to.

Same-sex marriage opponent Pastor Jim Garlow, a big supporter of California’s Proposition 8, sent an email to conservative Christians on Saturday accusing liberals and President Obama of “destroying the definition of marriage” and asking them to support the GOP candidacy of thrice-married Newt Gingrich:

“Destroying the definition of marriage is not merely “left.” It is wrong. It is sin. Stealing funds from future generations and spending it so that they will be closer to slavery than freedom is not merely “left.” It is wrong. It is sin. Although Mr. Gingrich is not running for ‘Theologian-in-Chief’ but ‘Commander-in-Chief,’ he grasps these issues. He understands the moral component.”

Garlow has been backing Gingrich for the past few years and has served on the board of one of Gingrich non-profit organizations, Renewing American Leadership, dedicated to “preserving America’s Judeo-Christian heritage.” Garlow’s weekend letter went on to describe Gingrich’s positions on marriage (including his past transgressions and request for forgiveness), abortion, and judicial activism.

Garlow has a long history of anti-gay activism. Speaking at the Faith and Freedom conference in June, Garlow compared same-sex couple adoption to children losing their parents on 9/11 and has previously claimed that Satan is behind the “attack on marriage.” He has also likened same-sex marriage to bestality, saying that if marriage equality is upheld “the next court case could conceivably say that if three people wanted to marry or four people or five people or if someone wanted to marry their dog or their horse.”

Evangelical voters in Iowa are still split over Gingrich’s candidacy, although the former Speaker’s courtship of influential conservatives may soon produce endorsements from key Republican leaders.

At a campaign stop in Iowa yesterday, a self-described “gay-friendly Iowan” named Kathy Schnell confronted Michele and Marcus Bachmann on their anti-LGBT views by pointing out that 10 percent of the population is gay according to the famous Kinsey Report. At first the congresswoman avoided the question, but then said the report wasn’t valid. Marcus Bachmann, infamous for offering harmful ex-gay therapy, added that the 10 percent figure is “a myth”:

SCHNELL: I wonder if you’re aware that 10% of the population is gay. And if you have 28 children, then 2.8 of those kids are very likely gay. (She’s not listening to me.)

MICHELE BACHMANN: Well, that’s according to the Kinsey Report.

MARCUS BACHMANN: Your facts are wrong.

SCHNELL: That’s not valid?

MARCUS BACHMANN: No, it’s not at all. That’s been a myth for many years.

Watch it:

Unfortunately for the Bachmanns, those numbers are not as mythical as they might like to believe. According to analysis by the Williams Institute, it is true that only about 3.5 percent openly identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. But studies also suggest that as much as 11 percent of the population has had same-sex attractions with at least 8 percent engaging in same-sex sexual behavior.

Schnell’s point holds up: When the Bachmanns spread their anti-gay messages or harmful ex-gay junk science, they are hurting millions of Americans, and quite possibly members of their own family.

A 14-year-old bisexual high school student challenged Rick Perry on his support for reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell during an event in Decorah, Iowa, asking the Texas governor why he is “so opposed to gays serving openly in the military, why you want to deny them that freedom when they’re fighting and dying for your right to run for president.” Perry attributed his position to his faith and the “sin” of homosexuality:

“Here’s my issue. This is about my faith, and I happen to think, you know, there are a whole hosts of sins. Homosexuality being one of them, and I’m a sinner and so I’m not going to be the first one to throw a stone,” Perry said. “I don’t agree that openly gays should be serving in the military. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was working and my position is just like I told a guy yesterday, he said, ‘How would you feel if one of your children was gay?’ I said I’d feel the same way. I hate the sin, but I love the sinner, but having them openly serve in the military, I happen to think as a commander in chief of some 20,000 plus people in the military is not good public policy, and this president was forced by his base to change that policy and I don’t think it was good policy, and I don’t think people in the military thought it was good policy.”

Watch it:

Unfortunately for Perry, a Pentagon survey of the military conducted before DADT was repealed found that an overwhelming majority of servicemembers didn’t mind serving alongside openly gay and lesbian soldiers. Since the policy ended on Sep. 20th, military leaders have not reported any problems or disruptions and have fully embraced the change.