ABC News may have invented the Kraft Foods boycott over the Pride Month Oreo, but One Millions Moms’ inevitable response doesn’t exactly change the story from fiction to fact. The hate-group affiliated organization lashed out at Kraft Foods today over the rainbow cookie posted on Facebook, urging supporters to write the company that they are “highly offended” that Oreos would claim to “Proudly support love!”

What’s telling is that though the response insinuates a boycott — “There are plenty of cookies on the market for moms to buy for their families that do not support liberal causes. We have a choice.” — it stops short of even using the word. Perhaps OMM knows that Kraft products are so ubiquitous that its already unsuccessful protest efforts would have substantial trouble gaining steam. It’s much easier to convince social conservatives to submit a form email than to empty out half their pantries.

It’s worth noting that the group conceded that having a “neutral” position on LGBT issues is, in effect, the same as having their anti-LGBT position:

One Million Moms will continue to support companies in the future with full understanding where they stand on principles and morality. We will choose to stay away from those who do not support moral decency.

Kraft needs to hear from you. Supporting the homosexual agenda verses remaining neutral in the cultural war is just bad business. If Christians cannot find corporate neutrality with Kraft then they will vote with their pocketbook and support companies that are neutral. Send your email letter to Oreo (Kraft Foods) now!

It’s true: “remaining neutral” and “standing on [conservative] principles and morality” are the same. Choosing not to recognize the diversity of the LGBT community is to help maintain its invisibility and exclusion from society. The Oreo ad didn’t testify before Congress, file an amicus brief, or take a position on a ballot initiative as many companies have — it merely recognized a community and its culture. For OMM, that alone was enough to “disrespect millions of American families by supporting the homosexual agenda.”

Oreo boasts that it is “America’s Favorite Cookie,” and it proved this week that it is a cookie for all Americans. OMM’s ideal version of the country is one where LGBT don’t even exist.

Our guest blogger is Andrew Cray, health policy consultant for LGBT Progress.

Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in the lawsuit challenging several key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The justices’ ruling, upholding much of the law, will bridge the coverage gap for gay and transgender people through the creation of health insurance exchanges and the option for states to expand Medicaid program eligibility.  But the decision doesn’t stop there – the justices also upheld all of the law’s key consumer protections, which will continue to serve as a lifeline for millions of Americans to receive the health care they need and deserve.

In particular, Court’s decision retains two key part of the law that were not front in center in the spotlight of the litigation, but that are of vital importance to the LGBT community: the extension of coverage to young adults, and the consumer protections incorporated in the Patients’ Bill of Rights.

Requiring that insurers offer coverage for young adults up to age 26 under their parents’ insurance makes it much easier for LGBT young adults to get access to necessary care. Through the requirement, the Affordable Care Act will continue to open up access to insurance for thousands of youth with gay and transgender parents, as well. In less than two years since this part of the law was implemented, over 80,000 young adults raised by LGBT parents have maintained access to insurance through their parents’ coverage – over one and a half times as many people as can fit into Yankee Stadium. That number will only grow after yesterday’s decision.

The second major victory following from the Court’s decision is the retention of the law’s Patient’s Bill of Rights. This provision creates new protections outlawing many of the insurance industry’s worst abuses by:

• Ending lifetime limits on coverage, starting in 2010;
• Phasing out annual limits on coverage by 2014, which is particularly important for people with long-term or chronic conditions such as HIV or cancer;
• Starting in 2014, prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition, such as HIV or a transgender medical history;
• Preventing insurers from arbitrarily canceling a sick person’s coverage, starting in 2014.

These essential protections will continue to ensure insurance access for many gay and transgender people by prohibiting insurers from unfairly targeting those who need access to care the most. For example, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, one insurer denied a transgender woman coverage for routine treatments related to a cut on her hand and a deviated septum. When she appealed these coverage denials, she was told by the insurer that she was being denied coverage because of her “condition,” a reference to her gender identity.  The laws’ prohibition on unfair and discriminatory insurance practices will prevent this type of abuse.

Recognizing the great importance of these protections for LGBT people, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has stated, “the Affordable Care Act may represent the strongest foundation we have ever created to begin closing LGBT health disparities.” Having survived a trial by fire, we can look forward to a promising future with a revitalized health care system supporting healthier communities built on the foundation of healthcare reform.

Mark Regnerus’ flawed paper on gay parenting has won the acclaim of hate groups and ex-gay therapists and its publication seems to have been politically calculated with marriage equality opponents like the National Organization for Marriage. A group of 18 anti-gay religiously-biased professors defended the paper, but now, a group of over 200 professors and therapists have written a “bombshell letter” critiquing its methods and publication.

Among the concerns are how quickly it was published, the validity of its peer review, and the merits of its methodology and conclusions:

We are very concerned about the academic integrity of the peer review process for this paper as well as its intellectual merit. We question the decision of Social Science Research to publish the paper, and particularly, to publish it without an extensive, rigorous peer review process and commentary from scholars with explicit expertise on LGBT family research. The methodologies used in this paper and the interpretation of the findings are inappropriate.

The publication of this paper and the accompanying commentary calls the editorial process at Social Science Research, a well-regarded, highly cited social science journal (ranking in the top 15% of Sociology journals by ISI), into serious question. We urge you to publicly disclose the reasons for both the expedited peer review process of this clearly controversial paper and the choice of commentators invited to submit critiques. We further request that you invite scholars with specific expertise in LGBT parenting issues to submit a detailed critique of the paper and accompanying commentaries for publication in the next issue of the journal.

Read the full letter for more detail about the professors’ concerns.

The data in this study clearly lacks the integrity to actually impact mainstream psychological thinking on the question of same-sex parenting, as exemplified by this letter and the American Psychological Association’s rebuke of the study. Whether its publication was politically intentional is irrelevant to the fact that the only purpose it serves is to add to the stack of invalid studies the anti-gay movement cites to defend its anti-equality actions.

Carl Siciliano

The White House has named Carl Siciliano as a “Champion of Change” for his work advocating on behalf of LGBT homeless youth. Siciliano is the founder and executive director of the Ali Forney Center, one of the nation’s few and largest shelters dedicated to create a safe refuge for LGBT young people with nowhere else to go. The champion responded to the announcement in a press release:

SICILIANO: It is thrilling that as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Ali Forney Center, we are also being recognized by the White House for our pioneering work on behalf of homeless LGBT youth. When we opened the Ali Forney Center, the challenges we faced were daunting; there was very little awareness of the plight of homeless LGBT youth, especially on the federal level, and it was difficult to obtain support for our work. I am very grateful to President Obama for recognizing the needs of homeless LGBT youthand incorporating their care into his vision of ending youth homelessness. I am also grateful to the White House for recognizing the quality, innovation, and  importance of the Ali Forney Center, which is a testament to all of the individuals who have served on the board, staff and as volunteers.

Because of family rejection, rates of LGBT youth homelessness are disturbingly high: as many as 40 percent of all homeless youth identify as gay or trans. Just this week, Cyndi Lauper launched the “Forty To None” campaign to add to the good work Siciliano and others are already doing to address this crisis. Unfortunately, efforts like the Ali Forney Center can only address the symptom of homelessness until family acceptance of LGBT youth becomes a societal norm.

Our guest bloggers are Andrew Cray, health policy consultant for LGBT Progress, and Kellan Baker, health care analyst for LGBT Progress.

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision on the health reform law, popularly known as “Obamacare,” is a major victory for the millions of Americans who will have access to insurance for the first time under the Affordable Care Act. The law, which was a cornerstone initiative of President Obama’s first term in office, will serve as a lifeline for millions of people, including gay and transgender people, to the health care they need.

The Affordable Care Act is expected to extend health insurance coverage to more than 30 million people in 2014. Half of these people will be newly eligible for Medicaid, while the other half will be able to purchase affordable private coverage through new state health insurance exchanges.

The law requires each state to establish an exchange to make purchasing insurance simpler and more affordable for individuals and small businesses. The exchanges will function as marketplaces that allow consumers to easily compare and purchase health insurance plans, and individuals who make between $15,000 and $43,000 per year will receive subsidies to help them pay their insurance premiums.

This income bracket likely includes many gay and transgender people and their families, since discrimination in areas of everyday life such as employment and relationship recognition mean that gay and transgender people are disproportionately likely to be poor, unemployed, and uninsured.

Importantly for gay and transgender people and their families, the exchanges may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in any of their activities, and all exchange plans must offer comprehensive benefits across 10 essential health benefit categories. These categories include vital services needed by many gay and transgender people, including prescription drugs, hospital stays, and mental and behavioral health services.

Yesterday’s decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act means that many states will soon be racing to catch up to the 14 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have already established health insurance exchanges. As states set up their exchanges, advocates will have significant opportunities to include and engage LGBT people in working to ensure better health for everyone in America. With the clear force of law on our side, there is no better time for each of us to take action to guarantee that gay and transgender people and their families can get the care they need to stay healthy.