Rev. Bill Owens

In March, confidential memos detailed the National Organization for Marriage’s strategy to drive a wedge between the gay and black communities (and nullify the existence of people who are both black and gay in the process). Unfazed by the backlash, NOM doubled down on the strategy, following through on it in North Carolina and refusing to apologize, even after internal emails showed how particular the group was about highlighting black religious leaders at events.

Now, NOM has redoubled its effort to “fan the hostility” by propping up the overstated Coalition of African-American Pastors and its founder (and NOM’s new spokesperson), Rev. Bill Owens, who likes to compare homosexuality to bestiality. The organization has released a new video, featuring Owens, the vitriolic Bishop Harry Jackson, Pastor Ericka McCrutcheon (who says gays “sodomize each other and practice other deviant behaviors in society), and others, criticizing the NAACP for “pandering to the President” and joining him in supporting marriage equality. Here are a few of the talking points taken right out of NOM’s race-wedging playbook:

JERRY MARTIN: The NAACP is wrong to label same-sex marriage as a civil right.

JOHN MCCRUTCHEON: To use homosexual marriages and civil rights in the same sentence is an oxymoron… Homosexuality is not a civil right.

OWENS: Many African-Americans are struggling because of peer pressure. They don’t know what a person would feel if they speak out against President Obama and the NAACP because they’re black.

Watch it:

While technically CAAP is a coalition of black pastors, it’s not actually representative of anybody except the few radicals who’ve joined it. When CAAP had the gall to demand a meeting with the President two weeks ago, it admitted that it does not speak for any denomination, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Church of God in Christ. The group’s only purpose since its founding has been to attack marriage equality, and only since partnering with NOM has its anti-gay tantrums received any legitimate media attention. Unsurprisingly, in the vein of all of NOM’s failed online campaigns, CAAP’s 100000 Signatures 4 Marriage campaign has garnered a full 46 Likes on Facebook.

NOM’s media effort has been to paint CAAP as being some huge conglomeration of black pastors, when in fact it seems to have at best tens of active members (despite Owens’ claim of 1,300 members), and they clearly do not speak on behalf of their community. National polls have shown that a majority of African-American voters support marriage equality, even at higher rates than the national average. Even in Maryland, where Harry Jackson is quite present, a majority of African-American voters are prepared to uphold the state’s same-sex marriage law. NOM is clearly failing and trying to follow through on its plan to sow divisions, but there’s nothing quite as desperate as encouraging black voters to abandon their largest civil rights organization, top civil rights leaders, and the first black president over an issue on which they already largely agree.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has a colorful reputation that gets him into hot water with the media, so the stakes were high at last Wednesday’s ESPY awards when he took a moment to answer some questions from OutSports. But rather than create a new controversy with an insensitive remark, he joined the many professional athletes who would welcome a gay teammate into the lockerroom:

OUTSPORTS: How would you feel if one of your teammates on the Patriots came out of the closet this season?

GRONKOWSKI: If that’s how they are, that’s how they are. I mean, we’re teammates so, as long as he’s being a good teammate and being respectful and everything, that’s cool.

Gronkowski couldn’t recall ever playing with a gay teammate — certainly no professional football players have ever come out until after they retire from play — but his comments will help create a more inclusive environment for future players to come out. As openly gay former player Wade Davis remarked, “Just the fact that Gronkowski was willing to be interviewed by you for a gay Web site, it’s powerful to somebody.” For many young people, athletes like Gronkowski with a prominent public profile serve as role models for success and achievement. Hopefully someday soon a gay player can serve in the same capacity.

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll (R) — a former Florida state representative and a Romney surrogate — has been accused of having a sexual relationship with one of her female aides. Carroll denies that the affair ever happened, but her response to the controversy relies on a line of reasoning that simply wouldn’t hold if she were accused of having a relationship with a male aide:

CARROLL: The problem is that when you have these accusations that come out, it’s not just one person you’re attacking. It’s an entire family. My husband doesn’t want to hear that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years – I’m the one that’s married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that’s been single for a long time. So usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.

Regardless of whether the accusation against her is true or false, Carroll’s defense of her character has more to do with disproving the allegations about her sexuality than with disproving the allegations about marital infidelity. Carroll seems to believe that her marriage, her children, and her appearance all prevent her from being capable of having a relationship with a woman — when, of course, none of these factors is actually a precursor to heterosexuality.

Carroll, who believes President Obama’s decision to allow gay and lesbian individuals to serve openly in the military will throw the armed forces “off their mission,” may have personal opinions about the LGBT community that impact her response to the current controversy. However, perpetrating negative stereotypes about lesbians — particularly the false assumption that they look a certain way — is not a persuasive way to defend her character.

Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key

Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key wanted to rent the Masonic Hall at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum to hold a commitment ceremony, but were refused because they are a same-sex couple. Sturgis’ mother, Veronica Rodriguez, lamented that her daughter has been denied use of the “perfect venue”:

RODRIGUEZ: As a mother, I have dreamed of giving my daughter the wedding that she desires, and I want her to be able to get married in her hometown in front of our family and friends. We are not asking Mississippi to recognize Ceara and Emily’s relationship, although it should. We are just asking that they have the opportunity to hold a ceremony in a public place – the same as other couples.

The state-owned museum allows heterosexual couples to use the space for their ceremonies, but its director claims that it has a policy banning same-sex weddings and ceremonies. In 2009, State Attorney General Jim Hood released a letter stating that the museum can limit use of its facilities to events considered “legal” under state law. The Southern Poverty Law Center has come to the couple’s defense, arguing that the policy violates the First Amendment (with viewpoint discrimination) and the Fourteenth Amendment (with differential treatment).

Hood’s argument fails on its face. If it were true, then it would technically be illegal to have any kind of same-sex wedding or commitment ceremony. There is a difference between not recognizing same-sex unions and declaring them to be unlawful. What Hood seems to have suggested is that Sturgis and Key could be arrested simply by declaring their love for each other in front of their family and friends, which would obviously violate their right to free speech and expression. Given the growing number of religious denominations that recognize marriage equality, such a precedent would also be a clear violation of religious freedom.

For the state of Mississippi to declare that a same-sex commitment ceremony is unlawful behavior is an egregious attack on gay community and its personal liberties. It’s nothing more than a pathetic excuse for blatant anti-gay discrimination.

The French senate voted unanimously last week to prohibit discrimination against transgender people. Unfortunately, the language used to identify the protections was “sexual identity,” which is a less accurate term than “gender identity” as used in other legislation throughout Europe. Still, a number of impassioned speeches preceded the important vote, including from Sen. Michelle Miller (Socialist Party):

MILLER: Transgender people have alerted us to high frequency of harassment and assaults they experience, particularly during the transition period that can last several years. It seems necessary to me to complete the law on discrimination and to add recognition of transphobia.

According to a recent poll, 34 percent of young trans people in France have attempted suicide and 19 percent have been disowned by their family. Those numbers are even higher in the U.S., where 41 percent of trans people have attempted suicide and 57 percent experience significant family rejection. Establishing legal protections are an important first step to reducing anti-trans discrimination, a step the U.S. has yet to take.