This afternoon, during a rally in New Hampshire, former governor and Mitt Romney supporter John Sununu (R) highlighted the candidate’s opposition to marriage equality in a state where an overwhelming majority of residents support same-sex marriage. “Mitt Romney fought for traditional marriage with the groups down there [in Massachusetts] that felt so strongly about it. That’s a true conservative, that’s a real leader,” Sununu said. Watch it:

The New Hampshire legislature will take up a bill to repeal the state’s 2009 same-sex marriage law later this month, even though “only 27 percent of New Hampshire adults support repealing” the measure. Romney himself has endorsed eliminating the law and has even developed three different tiers of marriage for gay and lesbian coupes. Sununu’s remarks could also be an indication that the Romney campaign is expecting presidential challengers Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich to continue questioning the governor’s anti-gay credentials.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) announced that she will be introducing legislation to legalize same-sex marriage during a press conference this morning, saying, “now it’s our time, it’s this generation’s call to end discrimination.” Linking the fight for marriage equality to racial justice, Greogire debunked common arguments against gay and lesbian unions and described domestic partnerships — which the state allows — as “discriminatory” and “separate but equal”:

GREGOIRE: Some say domestic partnerships are the same as marriage. That’s a version of the discriminatory, separate but equal argument of the past. For decades that argument was used to keep African Americans separate in schools, at their apartments, at drinking fountains. After all, the argument went, those separate places were just as good. But we, Americans knew, separate is not equal and finally the law caught up. [...]

We need to ask ourselves, how would it feel, how would it feel to be a child of a gay couple? How can we tell those children that their parents’ love is seen as unequal under Washington law and that their families are different? We must tell these children and their families that they’re every bit as equal and important as any other family in Washington state.

Gregoire described her own seven-year evolution on the issue as challenging and revealed that her children, “the children of friends,” and friends pushed her to support full marriage equality. “And let me just tell you, I feel so much better today than I have for the last seven years,” she added. Watch a compilation of her remarks:

Gregoire also pointed to Massachusetts’ experience with same-sex marriage, noting that none of the “doomsayers predictions” have come true. “In fact, the people of that sate are raising their children, coping in this economy, working to make a better world just like Washingtonians,” she said. “The economy of Massachusetts has benefited and continues to benefit from the change in the law.”

The Washington bill includes language that will allow religious institutions to “exercise their freedom of religion” and the state “will not tell them who to marry,” Greogire said. “Religions can decide what they want to do, but the state cannot be in the business of discrimination.”

Sen. Ed Murray (D), a supporter of the measure, said that proponents are “a few votes short in the Senate” but remain confident they will “find those votes in this session.” If Washington successfully legalizes same-sex marriage, it will become the seventh state in the nation with marriage equality.

The Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut has announced it is launching a local chapter of Courage, the Catholic ministry that promotes the idea that only through a life of chastity can gays live “in accordance with Church teachings.” Robert Pallotti, Office of Diaconate director, and Rev. Paul Check, the director of the new chapter of the “love the sinner, hate the sin” ministry, are optimistic about the outcome:

PALLOTTI: Through support and spiritual intervention, we can help people with same-sex attraction lead moral and fulfilling lives. These people are hurting and so are their families. Doing nothing would be a lack of compassion.

CHECK: [It will help people] who have a unique struggle, an often difficult and vexing one, and who want to know that the grace of Christ and his cross is available to them in concrete and practical ways.

Rather than acknowledge that Catholic teachings exacerbate the stress gays and lesbians can feel as they struggle to come out, Pallotti and Check are eager to capitalize on it. Perhaps they feel that three years of marriage equality in Connecticut have just made the state too LGBT-friendly. Efforts to repress sexual orientation are harmful and ineffective, but Courage represents a more malevolent intent to deprive gays and lesbians of the opportunity to love and be loved. Pallotti speaks of compassion, but turning gays’ own victimization against them and using the fear of Hell to make them afraid of love is the very opposite of compassion.

The Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) is using the suicide of Jacob Rogers — who was bullied relentlessly for being gay — to promote state legislation that would protect bullies who harass other students for their sexual orientation. The “license to bully” bill, HB 1153, was actually introduced last year, but FACT is hoping it will make headway in this new legislative session. Mirroring similar language that was recently proposed in Michigan, the bill creates specific protections for students who share any “religious, philosophical, or political views” that are “unpopular,” regardless of their consequences to the learning environment:

“Creating a hostile educational environment” shall not be construed to include discomfort and unpleasantness that can accompany the expression of a viewpoint or belief that is unpopular, not shared by other students, or not shared by teachers or school officials.

The policy shall not be construed or interpreted to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of students and shall not prohibit their expression of religious, philosophical, or political views; provided, that such expression does not include a threat of physical harm to a student or damage to a student’s property.

The bill is unabashedly designed to ensure that anti-LGBT bullying persists in the school system, as it specifically eliminates any protections or education that might help curb such harassment:

Harassment, intimidation, or bullying prevention task forces, programs, and other initiatives formed by school districts, including any curriculum adopted for such purposes, shall not include materials or training that explicitly or implicitly promote a political agenda, make the characteristics of the victim the focus rather than the conduct of the person engaged in harassment, intimidation, or bullying, or teach or suggest that certain beliefs or viewpoints are discriminatory when an act or practice based on such belief or viewpoint is not a discriminatory practice as defined in 4-21-102(4).

The mindset behind this bill flies in the face of data that shows the presence of LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying policies, supportive staff, and Gay-Straight Alliances all help minimize bullying. In addition to this bill, the Tennessee legislature will also reconsider the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prevents teachers and staff from providing any educational support about LGBT identities.

FACT’s outright endorsement of anti-gay bullying is horrifying, but not surprising. Like many small conservative organizations, FACT is mostly a one-man operation, and its president, David Fowler, regularly condemns anything related to LGBT equality. He personally helped script debate on last year’s bill that banned all municipal nondiscrimination protections throughout the state of Tennessee, disguising the discriminatory intent of the law with economic rhetoric. Fowler also ran transphobic ads opposing Nashville’s nondiscrimiantion protections and objected when insurer BlueCross BlueShield instituted similar corporate policies.

More than any of his past efforts, Fowler’s call for more bullying makes it clear his motives are malicious and have little to do with religious freedom or any other benefits for the state of Tennessee.

Rick Santorum’s surprising second-place finish in Iowa comes after months of dogged campaigning throughout the sate’s 99 counties and more than 350 town halls. ThinkProgress tracked the former Pennsylvania senator throughout this period and has compiled a list of his top 10 most outrageous claims:

1) ANNUL ALL SAME-SEX MARRIAGES: Arguing that gay relationships “destabilize” society, Santorum wouldn’t offer any legal protections to gay relationships and has pledged to annul all same-sex marriages if elected president. During his 99-country tour of Iowa, Santorum frequently compared same-sex relationships to inanimate objects like trees, basketballs, beer, and paper towels and even tried to blame the economic crisis on gay people. As Santorum explained back in August, religious people have a constitutional right to discriminate against gays: “We have a right the Constitution of religious liberty but now the courts have created a super-right that’s above a right that’s actually in the Constitution, and that’s of sexual liberty. And I think that’s a wrong, that’s a destructive element.”

2) ‘I’M FOR INCOME INEQUALITY’: “They talk about income inequality. I’m for income inequality,” Santorum said during an event in Pella, Iowa in December. “I think some people should make more than other people, because some people work harder and have better ideas and take more risk, and they should be rewarded for it. I have no problem with income inequality.”

3) CONTRACEPTION IS ‘A LICENSE TO DO THINGS’: Santorum has pledged to repeal all federal funding for contraception and allow the states to outlaw birth control, insisting that “it’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

4) GAY SOLDIERS ‘CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN CLOSE QUARTERS’: During an appearance on Fox News Sunday in October, Santorum defended his support for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell by arguing that gay soldiers would disrupt the military because “they’re in close quarters, they live with people, they obviously shower with people.” He also suggested that “there are people who were gay and lived the gay lifestyle and aren’t anymore.”

5) OBAMA SHOULD OPPOSE ABORTION BECAUSE HE’S BLACK: During an appearance on Christian television in January, Santorum said he was surprised that President Obama didn’t know when life began — given his skin color. “I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people,” he explained.

6) WE DON’T NEED FOOD STAMPS BECAUSE OBESITY RATES ARE SO HIGH: Speaking in Le Mars, Iowa in December, Santorum promised to significantly reduce federal funding for food stamps, arguing that the nation’s increasing obesity rates render the program unnecessary.

7) ABORTION EXCEPTIONS TO PROTECT WOMEN’S HEALTH ARE ‘PHONY’: While discussing his track record as a champion of the partial birth abortion ban in June, Santorum dismissed exceptions other senators wanted to carve out to protect the life and health of mothers, calling such exceptions “phony.” “They wanted a health exception, which of course is a phony exception which would make the ban ineffective,” he said.

8) HEALTH REFORM WILL KILL MY CHILD: Santorum, who claims that Obamacare motivated him to run for president, told reporters in April that his daughter Bella — who was born with a genetic abnormality — wouldn’t survive in a country with “socialized medicine.” “Children like Bella are not given the treatment that other children are given.”

9) UNINSURED AMERICANS SHOULD SPEND LESS ON CELL-PHONE BILLS: During a meeting with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register in August, Santorum said that people who can’t afford health care should stop whining about the high costs of medical treatments and medications and spend less on non essentials. Answering a question about the uninsured, Santorum explained that health care, like a car, is a luxury resource that is rationed by society and recalled the story of a woman who said she was spending $200 a month on life-saving prescriptions. Santorum told her to stop complaining and instead lower her cable and cell phone bills.

10) INSURERS SHOULD DISCRIMINATE AGAINST PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: Santorum sounded like a representative from the health insurance industry when he addressed a small group of high school students in Merrimack, New Hampshire in December. The former Pennsylvania senator not only defended insurers for denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, he also argued that individuals who are sick should pay higher premiums because they cost more money to insure.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) is expected to announce her support for legislation that would expand marriage to gays and lesbians, Reuters is reporting — just days before a group of lawmakers introduce a marriage equality measure in the state legislature:

“The speculation is that she’ll support marriage equality and we are looking forward with great anticipation to her speech,” said Josh Friedes, director of marriage equality for Equal Rights Washington. “She has demonstrated great leadership in LGBT civil rights issues and we are confident she’ll continue this tradition of leadership,” Friedes said.

In May 2009, Gregoire signed a bill putting before the voters a measure granting domestic partners the same rights as married couples as long as they did not conflict with federal law. That ballot measure, known as Referendum 71, was approved by voters later in 2009.

The legislative efforts is spearheaded by gay lawmakers, Sen. Ed Murray (D) and Rep. Jamie Pedersen (D), who have introduced marriage equality legislation in years past and passed laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people and establishing domestic partnerships. Murray and Pedersen announced this year’s effort in the aftermath of New York’s successful push for marriage equality in June and have received backing from “a well-funded grassroots organizing campaign that plans to build public pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill.”

Interestingly, Gregoire remained circumspect about her support for marriage equality during an interview just tree weeks ago, saying that she would need to see the bill before committing herself to the concept. ” [Legislators are] going to have to get me a bill. They haven’t been able to yet. I need to see what it says. What’s it going to do with domestic partnerships? What’s it going to do with domestic partners who come into the state of Washington?,” she asked.