Missouri Rep. Sue Allen (R)

The Missouri legislature has allowed an anti-bullying bill (HB 134) to die, and its Republican sponsor is blaming her gay colleagues for killing it. For all of the effective anti-bullying measures Rep. Sue Allen’s bill included, it specifically banned the creation of enumerated lists of identities to protect, such as sexual orientation and gender identity. Enumerating protections has helped guarantee that anti-LGBT bullying does not go unreported, but according to Allen, they’re too “partisan”:

I typically try to keep partisanship out of my message, but this is an issue for the Democrats who wish for certain students (GLBT –gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgender) to be “enumerated” within school policies. [...]

What “they” don’t seem to understand is that any stronger policies help ALL students, even those they would have categorized.

So….it seems some people care more about arguing points to make some students more protected when what they’ve really done is to NO better protect ANY student.

The “they” Allen refers to are openly gay lawmakers Sen. Jolie Justus (D) and Rep. Mike Colona (D), who Allen encourages her supporters to contact and blame for the bill’s failure.

Allen clearly does not understand the purpose and function of enumerating groups, calling it “discriminatory” to specify some groups for students and not others. Speaking with the Riverfront Times, she added, “Why are we always segregating?” Of course, enumerating groups does nothing of the sort; instead, it ensures that groups known to be targeted for bullying are specifically listed so that such harassment can be more easily identified. No student is excluded from a bullying policy because they don’t belong to one of the enumerated groups; instead, the groups serve to raise awareness about forms of bullying that are already problematic.

It would also be different if Allen’s bill simply did not address enumerate groups, but it specifically bans them. The only purpose for such a limitation is to ensure protections for the LGBT community are never extended. This is particularly problematic given the incredibly high rates of anti-LGBT bullying that take place in Missouri. According to GLSEN’s 2011 National School Climate Survey, 94 percent of Missouri students regularly hear homophobic language like “fag” and “dyke” at school, and 83 percent of LGBT students have experience harassment or assault for their sexual orientation. These are rates far higher than national averages.

With a bullying epidemic like that, Allen should better appreciate that enumerating protections to groups like LGBT students would actually better protect all students. Instead, she’s encouraging people to bully her gay colleagues for wanting to fix her problematic bill.

The National Organization for Marriage is very concerned about an anti-bullying lesson that took place at a middle school in Red Hook, New York. Students from Bard College talked to the middle schoolers about the existence of LGBT people, including identities such as “pansexual” and “genderqueer,” and roleplayed how to say no when asked for a kiss. According to NOM, this is a “terrible example” of the consequences of marriage equality, a point it made in three separate emails on Tuesday: one about Delaware, one about Rhode Island, and another for fundraising:

My friend, this is what’s at stake: our right to raise our children with our values, free from indoctrination into alternative “lifestyles” under the guise of “anti-bullying,” “tolerance” and “gender identity.” [...]

Politicians never forthrightly tell citizens that their daughters could be encouraged at school to kiss another girl or that their sons should always carry a condom. They don’t tell you that second graders can be taught about same-sex “marriage” in class, or that the existence of gay “marriage” would be used by a lesbian sex-ed teacher in Massachusetts to instruct her students in the details of having lesbian sex. And they don’t tell you about all the people who are sued or punished for refusing to go along with a gay “marriage” regime and who hold firm for traditional marriage.

It’s an agenda pushed by a set of people who truly believe that anyone who stands up for the simple truth that marriage is between a man and a woman because children have a right to both a mother and a father is a bigot and must be treated as such under the law. And as such, the law must be brought to bear to “correct” our hateful thinking and ensure that this “hatred” is not passed along to our children.

NOM is trying to defend forced ignorance. It doesn’t want children to learn that some of their classmates might have same-sex parents. It doesn’t want them to learn that some people have sexual orientations that aren’t heterosexual or gender identities that are not cisgender. And the fact that NOM refers to all of these identities as “lifestyles” suggests that they don’t want young people to have even the most basic understanding of the LGBT community. That deficit of knowledge is exactly what perpetuates the epidemic of anti-LGBT bullying in schools.

By obsessing over this non-story being driven by a few conservative parents, NOM once again confirms that its agenda is not limited to the issue of same-sex marriage. Indeed, they want families to fear LGBT people and the thought that their children might learn such a community exists — or that they might identify with it.

This Friday (4/19) is the annual Day of Silence (DoS), when students across the country choose not speak in school in protest of the mistreatment of LGBT youth. While some conservative groups are once again encouraging parents to keep their kids home, Focus on the Family and the Alliance Defending Freedom are hosting their annual pre-buttal, the so-called “Day of Dialogue” (DoD) on Thursday (4/18). The blatant goal of this event is to encourage Christian students to condemn homosexuality and transgenderism to their peers, but under the facade of opposing bullying.

Most of the materials on the DoD page were written by Jeff Johnston, Focus on the Family’s resident ex-gay, who rejects transgender identities as disordered and healthy and who describes homosexuality as “sexual brokenness.” For the Day of Dialogue, he encourages young people to talk about homosexuality with their classmates by suggesting they pursue ex-gay therapy because being gay is the same as being a prostitute or an adulterer:

Without God, and without following His intentions for us, all the good of sexuality is distorted. The good news, in the midst of our sexual brokenness, is that God still loves us deeply. He longs to reconnect with each of us and to begin healing, restoring and transforming us. He invites each of us to respond to His love.

All throughout Scripture, we see that God has a special place in His heart for people who messed up sexually. Jesus’ ancestors included prostitutes and adulterers, and He brought forgiveness and restoration to many people who were caught in sexual brokenness.  In the same way, Jesus is standing with His arms open to each of us. We’ve all had our identity, relationships, sexuality and desires impacted by sin. He invites us to experience new life, forgiveness, true relational intimacy with Him and healthy relationships with others.

As Christians, children of God and followers of Jesus, we have a unique opportunity to offer this good news to our classmates and those around us. In a disordered and hurting world we can offer hope, healing and renewal.

Interestingly, the DoD site does not use the word “gay” or “homosexuality” except on its page, “Responding To Challenges.” Participants are not encouraged to use the words at all, but respond that “God has a plan for our sexuality” (and it’s not homosexuality). Here’s an example of how Focus on the Family encourages students to explain that being gay is a chosen identity:

The fact is that nobody knows how same-sex attractions develop—it appears to be a combination of factors (from biology to individual temperament to culture to environment). There is no proof that it is purely genetic. For more information, you can read Are People Really Born Gay? as well as other resources posted here.

You can explain that the real issue, for those who follow Jesus, is not about changing from “straight” to “gay”, or what kind of sexual identity a person has, but about having a relationship with God. And as our relationship with him grows, we learn to manage our feelings, desires and behavior according to His best plan for us.

The fact is that many people have experienced great changes in their lives and voluntarily chosen  to align their feelings to God’s best plan.

These are blatant falsehoods. The American Psychological Association has determined over decades of research that sexual orientation is innate and attempts to change it are ineffective and harmful. Moreover, the most recent research in a growing field known as epigenetics suggests that sexual orientation is at least partially determined by genes — just not directly. Rather than being coded into the DNA directly, certain sex-specific switches on the genes known as “epi-marks” can be triggered during fetal development, causing variations in hormone levels that determine how the genes will express gender and sexuality for the rest of the individual’s life. It’s still not a perfect explanation, but it’s a clear indicator that biology has a significant impact on determining sex and gender and that they cannot simply be changed by shame-based therapy.

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Mike Rice, disgraced coach, and Tim Pernetti, athletic director.

Various media outlets, including The New Jersey Star-Ledger, are reporting today that Rutgers University is terminating its relationship with Athletic Director Tim Pernetti after he protected abusive basketball coach Mike Rice. Pernetti had seen video of Rice’s violent and verbal harassment of players, including anti-gay slurs, but chose not to fire him, instead punishing him with a fine and three-game suspension. When that video became public this week, only then was Rice fired, and Pernetti admitted that he was wrong to have not fired him in the first place.

It’s not clear yet whether Pernetti has resigned or if the university is firing him. According to ABC7 News, he may have been asked to resign but refused. A press conference this afternoon at 1 PM will clarify Pernetti’s fate.

Still, the removal of Pernetti does not end the scrutiny against Rutgers for retaining Rice. University President Robert Barchi had also seen the video footage of Rice’s behavior and supported Pernetti’s plans to try to rehabilitate the coach. In his statement Wednesday, Barchi explained that he rewatched the video after it went public and decided he now felt that Rice could not remain:

Yesterday, I personally reviewed the video evidence, which shows a chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behavior. I have now reached the conclusion that Coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability.

Faculty are calling on Barchi to be held to that same public accountability. Not only have more than 50 faculty members called for Pernetti’s removal — as is happening today — but at least two dozen have signed a letter calling on Barchi himself to be fired:

Although President Barchi is now suggesting otherwise, he has known about Coach Rice’s homophobic, misogynist and abusive behavior for several months now. Not only did he not fire Coach Rice, he in essence covered up the coach’s actions by failing to tell faculty and students about them.

The controversy had one other casualty this week. Assistant basketball coach Jimmy Martelli also resigned, stating that he is “sickened that as an assistant coach I contributed in any way to an unacceptable culture… For my actions, I am deeply sorry and I apologize to the players from the bottom of my heart.”

Universities across the country have LGBT Resource Centers to provide support services and programming that help create a safer and more inclusive learning environment for LGBT students, but Texas conservatives are taking aim at these facilities. Wednesday night, the Texas A&M University Student Senate voted 35-28 to pass what was renamed the “Religious Funding Exemption Bill,” which allows students to  opt-out of paying the portion of their student fees that goes toward the campus GLBT Resource Center — about $2 — if they have religious objections.

Apparently, the bill was expanded at the last minute so that it didn’t simply target the GLBT Resource Center, but the impracticality remains. After all, as an editorial in the student newspaper The Battalion points out today, a student could make an argument to “morally oppose” any campus service. University officials, who have final approval over any budget changes, explained that students are disallowed from paying the University Advancement Fee. Moreover, Student Body President John Claybrook has not decided if he might veto the bill, though he did win his position running against the bill’s sponsor, Thomas McNutt. Given that it passed with a narrower vote than was expected, it may not have the support to override such a veto.

Though it’s unclear this student-led attack on LGBT Aggies is enforceable, the state legislature is considering a broader change that very well could. Texas Rep. Bill Zedler (R) has filed an amendment to the state’s appropriations bill to cut funding for public universities that have “Gender and Sexuality Centers and Related Student Centers.” The amendment offensively claims that the centers promote behaviors that have a high risk for disease:

An institution of higher education may not use money appropriated to the institution under this Act, or any property or facility of the institution funded by appropriations under this Act, to support, promote, or encourage any behavior that would lead to high risk behavior for AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, or any sexually transmitted disease.

Many LGBT resource centers work directly with campus health services to promote safe sex practices and overall sexual health for all students — even those who aren’t LGBT. Zedler is simply implying that anything gay is therefore unhealthy, a stigmatizing stereotype not based on reality. Rep. Wayne Christian (R) attempted a similar measure blocking support for LGBT services in 2011, but Democratic opposition forced him to withdraw it. Texas lawmakers are considering several other bills this term that target schools for supporting LGBT students and employees.

There is one glimmer of good news for LGBT students in Texas. While A&M’s student government was busy voting for a religious right to discriminate, the University of Houston’s student government unanimously passed a resolution opposing Zedler’s amendment.

A new video revealed that Rutger University’s men’s basketball coach Mike Rice abused players by throwing basketballs at them violently, shoving them, and harassing them with profane and homophobic language, including “fucking faggot.” Rutgers administrators knew of complaints since last summer, but didn’t see the video footage until December, when they suspended Rice for three games, fined him $50,000, and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training. This morning, LGBT groups like GLAAD and HRC responded to the disturbing video by calling on Rutgers to fire the coach, which the university has apparently now done.

Rutgers Director of Athletics Tim Pernetti admitted today that he was wrong for not firing Rice in the first place:

PERNETTI: I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice. Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community.

Pernetti may have trouble re-earning that trust. Not only was he aware of the content of the videos, but the school is now embroiled in a lawsuit from a former employee, Eric Murdock, who alleges he was fired for whistleblowing about Rice’s behavior. Murdock, an ex-NBA player, served as former director of player development for the team, and had reported to Pernetti in July that Rice was engaging in illegal conduct. His contract was then not renewed, though Pernetti claims it was because he participated in a coaching clinic without permission. Pernetti explained that he did not see the video of Rice’s behavior until November, which is why he only took action shortly thereafter.

Many are arguing Pernetti should be fired for his lenient treatment of Rice, but Pernetti defended his actions before today’s firing because it was the coach’s “first offense” — a galling rationalization for what amounted to multiple hours worth of video-documented abusive behavior. Outside the Lines called Pernetti out on the fact that he didn’t rehire Murdock over a coaching clinic, yet retained Rice knowing how abusive his behavior has been. Watch the interview with Pernetti conducted Tuesday night after the video’s release:

What’s worse is that Rutgers president Robert Barchi was also aware of the abuse and did not act. In a statement today, Barchi admitted that he supported Pernetti’s plans to rehabilitate Rice. Only after the video was released to the public did Barchi reconsider that the abuse was worthy of termination. Notably, Rutgers is where Tyler Clementi, a gay student who was humiliated by his roommate’s invasion of his privacy, committed suicide in 2010. The university has been the center of a conversation about minimizing anti-LGBT harassment, and yet Barchi still was willing to excuse Rice’s behavior until public outcry convinced him otherwise.

Iowa’s Christian conservative group The FAMiLY Leader is once again objecting to the Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth, a yearly opportunity for students, teachers, and families across the state of Iowa to learn how to better protect LGBT young people from bullying. In the past, the group’s head Bob Vander Plaats has accused the conference of discriminating against straight students, even though allies are welcome.

At a press conference Thursday, The FAMiLY Leader and representatives from other groups (including hate group Concerned Women for America) objected to the conference for compromising the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality and using taxpayer funding in the process. Here’s FL’s Chuck Hurley admonishing LGBT advocates:

HURLEY: This Papa Bear is here to say, regarding the Governor’s Conference, stop coming after my kids and other people’s kids with evil propaganda. Stop twisting the Bible and stop using our tax dollars to do it. [...]

We’re here today to warn parents and to warn lawmakers and other who are responsible for protecting those children, and to urge them to protect appropriate action to protect those children, such as not letting them go to this conference next week, such as considering home and private education if their schools are teaching the things this conference is advocating — that Iowa school districts teach — and above all, teaching our children the truth about the Bible, sexuality, and bullying.

Watch the full press conference (Part 2 here):

This year, the group is specifically targeting Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) for hosting the conference. A conservative student group, Young Americans for Freedom, filed a Freedom of Information Act request to confirm that the university was spending money to help fund the conference. Student Jake Dagel explained, “Diversity is not when you use my tuition money or our tax dollars to fund a conference that bullies people for their Christian or conservative beliefs.”

Sixteen lawmakers have threatened to cut DMACC’s funding for promoting groups “who pervert the Bible, teach our youth to engage in dangerous behavior, and target individuals like Jan Mickelson for hatred and bullying.” Mickelson is a conservative radio host in Iowa that regularly attacks LGBT equality on his show.

Unsurprisingly, none of the conservative religious leaders expressed any concern for the severe consequences LGBT youth experience when they are bullied or shamed by their community, including attempting suicide, homelessness, academic performance, and school truancy.

Focus on the Family President Jim Daly

On Friday, the New York Times ran a puff piece about Focus on the Family, claiming that under the leadership of its president Jim Daly, the organization is softening by becoming one that “invites civil dialogue” and “turns down the rhetorical temperature on the debate.” It goes on to claim that Daly is “attesting to the divine love and grace that he firmly believes saved his life.”

Jeremy Hooper and David Badash have already penned extensive retorts, outlining the many odious anti-LGBT positions that Focus on the Family still holds. As a simple test of whether Focus on the Family and its political arm CitizenLink are engaging in more “civil dialogue,” here’s a look at some of the rhetoric they’ve put out over just the past six months:

• Marriage equality will “shut down businesses” and is actually about “silencing Christian voices in the public square.”
• Marriage equality is a “pernicious lie of Satan.”
• Gender and sexuality are determined by procreation, not anybody’s own sense of their identities.
• Homosexuality isn’t a “super sin,” but it’s still a sin, just like adultery, lying, cheating, and gossiping.
• There’s no such thing as being gay; it’s just a “political statement.”
• Marriage equality passed in November because voters are “unchurched” and care more about themselves than about children.
• Transgender identities are unhealthy disorders that result from childhood trauma.
• Trans people should pursue ex-trans therapy to rectify their “confusion” with their “God given gender identity and destiny.”
• Gay people are in “pain” and at battle with God.
• Heterosexuality is society’s ideal because affirming homosexuality would be “normalizing brokenness.”
• “Satan roams the earth like a lion, using sexual and relational brokenness to destroy individuals, families, churches, groups, businesses.”
• Parents should be able to prevent their children from learning that gay people exist.
• There are “a variety of roads into homosexuality” including molestation, parents’ divorce, and trouble conforming to gender roles.

And that was just the rhetoric that ThinkProgress happened to cover since last September. Of course, Focus on the Family also sponsors the annual “Day of Dialogue,” which encourages Christian students to condemn their gay peers — a counterprotest to the “Day of Silence,” which is designed to bring visibility to that very kind of bullying.

The New York Times should better clarify that not a single position has changed at Focus on the Family. As the article inadvertently demonstrates, the organization has simply achieved better PR when individuals aren’t paying attention to what they actually believe.

Speaking to a group of Catholic students at Iowa State University last month, Jennifer Roback Morse, head of the National Organization for Marriage’s Ruth Institute, said that Tyler Clementi’s suicide was influenced by a sexual encounter he had with an older man and that gay activists are manipulating young people for “some sort of political vision.” She unsurprisingly didn’t mention the invasive webcam spying his roommate did on more than one occasion nor the taunting Clementi endured online as a result. The Clementi family responded by demanding an apology from Morse for exploiting Tyler’s name “to advance an anti-equality agenda.”

Now, Morse has released a statement in which she not only refuses to apologize, but doubles down on the very duplicitous claims that got her in trouble in the first place:

MORSE: The media and activists groups are mischaracterizing my remarks, in which I urged students to befriend gay students, and also urged them all to adhere to the traditional standards of sexual morality. I believe that engaging in uncommitted sex hurts people of both genders and all sexual orientations. I would be happy to meet with Tyler Clementi’s mom and dad to try to move forward and go beyond the highly charged rhetoric that doesn’t help anyone. I don’t think the Clementis know me or what I believe or think or said. Reaching out across lines of moral difference in a spirit of love is my mission. In the meantime, I would invite anyone to come to the Ruth Institute website and listen to the entire podcast for themselves.

There is no evidence whatsoever that “uncommitted sex” did anything to “hurt” Tyler Clementi. Furthermore, Morse is continuing to encourage young people to engage in the very kind of anti-gay condemning of their peers that clearly did have a profound effect on Clementi’s sense of security and well-being.

It seems unlikely the Clementi family is convinced by this statement that NOM’s agenda is any less “cruel” than they described it. Besides, they still haven’t received an apology.