Pastor Frederick Haynes of the Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas gave a powerful sermon in support of President Obama’s recent endorsement of marriage equality. Haynes notes that during his oath of office, Obama vowed to uphold the constitution, not the Bible. During his sermon, which criticized both fellow pastors and the congregation for their condemnation of marriage equality, “the congregation stood up and shouted their disapproval at him.” Haynes argued that the congregation should change its views:

HAYNES: He [President Obama] swore upon oath to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution, not the Bible, but the Constitution of the United States. He is not the pastor of the United States, but the president of the United States. And for the first time in the history of this nation, we have a president who has dared to use his position to make the democratic promise available, not just for a select few who are up and in, but for everybody, regardless of their race, their creed, their color, or their sexual orientation! And my brothers and sisters, I salute the President.

Have you ever read the Gospel and heard Jesus say anything about homosexuality?…Black folk can’t even deal with homosexuality because we got issues with sexuality. And because we got issues with sexuality we can’t have a healthy discussion about homosexuality. Why, why do you get so upset?

Watch the video:

Haynes’ poignant endorsement reflects the growing number of African-American voters that have shifted their views and now support same-sex marriage. Polls in Missouri and Pennsylvania, Maryland indicate that, following Obama’s endorsement, the majority of African Americans now support marriage equality. Overall, African American support for marriage equality is currently higher than the general population.

-Nina Liss-Schultz

It seems that the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins finally got the memo about which LGBT organization Target is supporting with 100 percent of the sales of its LGBT pride month t-shirts. Today, Perkins sent out an “alert” email entitled “Put a bullseye on Target’s funding of left-wing group,” decrying the Family Equality Council for allegedly “shutting down Christian based adoption agencies”:

Minneapolis based mega-retailer, Target Corp. has announced that throughout the month of June (which President Obama has officially declared “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month”) it will be selling “gay pride” t-shirts with 100 percent of the proceeds to benefit the Family Equality Council, a national pro-homosexual organization bent on eliminating faith-based adoption agencies and redefining marriage throughout the nation.

The Family Equality Council’s clear objective is to pass legislation on the local and national level that would effectively shut down Christian based adoption agencies. We have seen this happen in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.[...]

This not-so-fashionable fundraiser shows that Target has its sights set on social engineering. Please sign our petition letting Target know that you want them to take a position of neutrality on the redefinition of marriage and the right of Christian adoption agencies to operate as they have done throughout history.

Perkins’ email is incredibly troubling for numerous reasons, and FRC knows it. The use of “bullseye” is reminiscent of when Sarah Palin used crosshairs to target certain members of Congress, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), whose staff and supporters were the victims of a deadly shooting last year. Though FRC’s email included “bullseye,” the language was ultimately removed from the online version of the message, but “bullseye” is still evident in the URL (click to see full-size):

Additionally, the entire premise of the email is a lie. What happened in Massachusetts, Illinois, and DC with adoption agencies was voluntary. Religious organizations are completely entitled to discriminate in regards to which couples they allow to adopt. When marriage equality and civil unions become law, the state commits to investing in same-sex families. The agencies that shut down — mostly those run by Catholic Charities — did so completely voluntarily when they refused to stop discriminating when faced with the threat of losing taxpayer subsidies. Faith-based adoption agencies eliminate themselves when they disqualify themselves for public funding.

Perkins’ lambasting of the Family Equality Council as “social engineering” is also disturbing. Just two weeks ago, he accepted an invitation to have dinner with its president Jennifer Chrisler and her family. His only communication about the offer was through CNN, and so far a date has not been set. Given how ill-informed his attacks are, it raises the question of whether he honestly intends to open his heart to Chrisler’s family.

When the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell took effect in the fall, the Pentagon explained that in states with marriage equality, a same-sex marriage ceremony can be performed on military bases. No military chaplain is required to perform a marriage ceremony if it violates their beliefs, but they are allowed if they wish to.

Since then, Republicans have proposed numerous measures to ban these ceremonies, arguing that such ceremonies amounts to DOMA-prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages. In September, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) attached a provision to a House defense authorization bill that specifically prohibits marriage ceremonies not allowed by DOMA from being performed on federal property. In January, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) proposed a bill that bans military chaplains from performing all same-sex marriage ceremonies under the guise of affirming their right not to perform such ceremonies.

This week, a military chaplain performed a lesbian commitment (note: not marriage) ceremony on the Fort Polk Army Base in Louisiana, a state which does not recognize same-sex marriage. Three GOP congressmen — Akin, Huelskamp, and Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) — couldn’t hold back their scorn for equality, even though no marriage ceremony was held:

HUELSKAMP: Americans should be outraged at what happened at Ft. Polk. Not only is it a clear violation of the State of Louisiana’s law to allow this “ceremony” to go forward, but this happened despite last year’s assurances from the Department of Defense that state law recognizing only traditional marriage would be respected and upheld. They clearly lied.

FLEMING: The liberal social experiment with our military continues. My frustration is compounded by the fact that a social agenda, which has nothing to do with military readiness or our national defense, is being imposed on our men and women in uniform.

AKIN: This appears to be a case where political agenda has trumped the rule of law, which is absolutely unacceptable.

These congressman have confirmed what has long been suspected: the GOP is against not only gay marriage in the military, but the very existence of gay people in the military. Pentagon officials, as well as troops themselves, have said that repealing DADT has had no harmful effect on the military. Many members of the military have said it makes them more comfortable to work in an open environment.

– Ben Sherman