News Tidbits

The Daily Independent: MSU continues oral history project on Kim Davis events

Yahoo News: Family Research Council Praises Passage of Obamacare Repeal Resolution

LGBTQ Nation: Tony Perkins thanks John Kerry for providing list of LGBTQ rights Trump can undo

LGBT Weekly: UK health care organizations unite against conversion therapy

Pink News: Raft of anti-LGBT clergy booked for Trump’s inauguration

Pink News: The author of Russia’s gay propaganda law is now pushing to let men beat their wives

Commentary Tidbits

The Mighty: To Those Who Think I Can 'Pray Away' Depression

Friendly Atheist: Christian Charity That Rejected Huge Donation From Atheists is Now "Extremely Behind on Funds"

And the Wisdom to Know the Difference: Shall We Stop This Bleeding?

The Ring of Fire Network: Trump’s Campaign Staff Is Literally Filled With White Supremacists

Vice: Kim Davis's Hometown Just Had Its First Pride Celebration

Think Progress: Mere Months After Orlando, Evangelicals Declare New Commitment To Rejecting LGBT People

Huffington Post: ‘Christian’ College Gives Heave-Ho To Professor For Supporting LGBT People

News Tidbits

Louisville Courier-Journal: Judge dismisses civil suits against Kim Davis

Vancouver Sun: Vancouver Christians collide over televangelist Franklin Graham

Associated Press: Groups press Walgreens on religious restrictions in clinics

Washington Blade: Judge: Religion permits Michigan funeral home to engage in anti-trans bias

Gay Star News: Canada: Homophobic zombies at Toronto Pride sued for $104 million

Pink News: Australia: Being ‘transgender is like anorexia’, claim conservative lobby group

News Tidbits

Religion News Service: 5 faith facts on Mike Pence: A ‘born-again, evangelical Catholic’

LGBTQ Nation: Gay Men’s Choruses fight hate by serenading Focus on the Family

NPR: Anti-Abortion Groups Take New Aim With Diverse Strategies

The Advocate: 'Enemies of Equality' Report Draws Liberty Counsel's Ire 

The Guardian: Prayer and pain: why gay conversion therapy is still legal despite dangers

The Guardian: Doctors urged to advise patients about risks of abstinence-centric sex education

Gay Star News: IDAHOT 2017 will take on anti-gay ‘fear-mongering’ around ‘family values’

Reuters: Contempt ruling upheld against Kentucky clerk against gay marriage

Politico: Republicans building stronger anti-abortion plank in platform

Associated Press: Iowa: Church seeks to prevent transgender bathroom law enforcement

USA Today: Westboro Baptist Church recruits Jigglypuff, a Pokémon, against LGBT community on Pokémon Go

News Tidbits

NPR: Inside Trump's Closed-Door Meeting, Held To Reassure 'The Evangelicals'

Religion News Service: Evangelicals give Trump much-needed boost after Manhattan summit

The Guardian: Trump warns evangelical leaders: 'Clinton will be worse than Obama'

Los Angeles Times: Faith-based colleges say California anti-discrimination bill would infringe on their religious freedom 

Associated Press: Mississippians take action against anti-LGBTQ ‘religious exemption’ bill

The Globe and Mail: Canada: Montreal Catholic archdiocese forbids priests from being alone with children

Pennlive: Ahead of possible Senate vote, Catholic House lawmakers call out Catholic Church, make push for child sex crime reform bill

WCPO: Man disrupted prayer, impersonated police officer at West Chester mosque

Fox 13: State supports Noah’s Ark theme park, not all residents on board

Reuters: Kentucky clerk opposed to gay marriage says state law negates appeal

LGBTQ Protesters Make Their Voices Heard at Proclaim 2016 Convention

Queer Latinx seminarian leading in prayer protest #Proclaim16 pic.twitter.com/17rTIOcbOK

— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) February 25, 2016

As mentioned in a prior post, the Proclaim 2016 convention took place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee on February 23-26. Organized by National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), the annual gathering of conservative Christian media professionals and commentators had the following highlights:

• The convention featured appearances by presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, who discussed immigration, Supreme Court nominations, Planned Parenthood, and the economy.

• Kim Davis received the National Religious Broadcasters President's Award, according to the Gospel Herald. In a February 25th press release, Liberty Counsel explained that Davis received the award for "her faithful commitment to Christian values despite political and media opposition".


• A 20,000 square foot exhibit featured antiquities that will be displayed at the Museum of the Bible (due to open in Washington D.C. in 2017).

• Katie Harbat, Facebook's global politics and government outreach director, spoke at the convention despite calls for her to withdraw on account of the organizers' homophobia.

• Rafael Cruz, the controversial father of Sen. Ted Cruz, delivered a speech in which he lionized Israel, sneered at Palestine, and claimed that the Bible inspired American democracy. "We are a constitutional republic not because of Plato; we are a constitutional republic because of Exodus 18:21-22, because those framers were seeking the perfect form of government, and they encountered it in the word of God, because many of the freedoms we have today were enjoyed in that early Jewish state after Abraham came to the promised land," Raphael Cruz said in his talk at Proclaim 16. Cruz seemed to have forgotten that the ancient Israelites did not enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from cruel or unusual punishment, the right to due process, or the right to a trial by jury.

What intrigued me the most about Proclaim 2016 was the presence of LGBTQ rights demonstrators. LGBTQ rights activists made their voices heard at the convention so as to condemn the homophobia of its organizers and speakers.

On February 16th, Yazmeen Nuñez, Director of Programs and Communications at Soulforce, put out a call for action at Proclaim 2016. She reminded readers that American Religious Right outreach to foreign countries has had dire consequences for LGBTQ people in the global south. Nuñez urged supporters to condemn the NRB's homophobic code of ethics, to which NRB global affiliates must agree before they can access Christian resources for their communities.

"Our first action will be targeting the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) as they convene in Nashville, TN, in late February for their annual expo. NRB is an international network of fundamentalist Christian communicators with a great amount of cultural and political influence; their code of ethics explicitly forbids any one of their 1,400+ global affiliates from broadcasting any messaging that affirms the LGBTQI community. In other words, they have a requirement to condemn the lives of LGBTQI people in order to have access. Both here and abroad, theirs are some of the only theological and spiritual resources that small-town faith leaders can access in under-resourced areas.

You can join us in several ways: Come on over! If you will be in the Nashville area, come to our trainings or direct actions! If not, we invite you to engage other ways: start the hard conversations about power and citizenship; watch the Religious Right carefully and look for strategic points for demanding accountability; share these ideas widely with our fellow Church."

Members of Soulforce's Know Your Neighbors project made their presence known at the convention. During Rick Warren's talk, they marched through the room holding banners that read "Lev. 19:16 Stop Killing Us" and "Spiritual Violence Is Killing Us" while singing "I'm in the Lord's Army".

Leviticus 19:16 forbids God's people from spreading slander or endangering the lives of others. The Leviticus 19:16 banner was probably meant to condemn the Religious Right's anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and activism in viciously homophobic countries. It may have also been an indictment of Rick Warren himself, who came under fire for promoting homophobia in Uganda.

"Stop killing us" queer people of faith protesting queerphobia, racism at #Proclaim16 pic.twitter.com/ae1czh6nVr

— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) February 25, 2016

Woman said:"you're not really praying!" during prayer protest insinuating queer people can't pray. #Proclaim16 pic.twitter.com/DOZxgKAnEO

— Eliel Cruz (@elielcruz) February 25, 2016

According to the Advocate, the demonstrators later formed a prayer circle in the conference center lobby, but were escorted off the premises by security personnel. Conference attendees reportedly cried out "They're not really praying" and "Homosexuality is an abomination". Observer Eliel Cruz shared video clips of their prayer in a series of tweets.

"We celebrate the light of God that created darkness and dark bodies and queer bodies and queer desire. We celebrate that God who loves us and our families and our people. We beg, we beg for the mercy and forgiveness of the souls of those who are killing us, and we call them into Christian account ... We will pray without ceasing as is the call of our God that tell us we must, we must, we must hold each other accountable, because we are accountable for the lives of our brothers."

I applaud the Know Your Neighbor protesters, not only for condemning the NRB's homophobia, but for refreshing the public's memory about the Religious Right's export of homophobia abroad. The LGBTQ community has not forgotten the Religious Right's sins overseas, and it will continue to demand accountability.

To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

Media Matters for America: Cruz, Carson To Attend Right-Wing Media Convention Featuring Anti-LGBT, Anti-Muslim Extremists

The New Civil Rights Movement: Facebook Executive To Headline Anti-LGBT Religious Conference

News Tidbits

Associated Press: Survey: Religious Objections Law Cost Millions

Associated Press: Indiana evangelical group dismisses survey on objections law

Al Jazeera America: Georgia businesses assess costs of ‘religious freedom’ law

Washington Post: Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. endorses Trump

Religion News Service: Trump gets official and unofficial endorsements from two leading evangelicals

LGBTQ Nation: Rep. Louie Gohmert: ‘It’s time to start impeaching judges’ for marriage equality

Washington Blade: Pope Francis reiterates opposition to same-sex marriage

Gay Star News: Kim Davis: It was a 'joy' to stand against gay marriage

Pink News: Australian PM defends right of predecessor Tony Abbott to speak at anti-gay event

Commentary Tidbits

Pacific Standard: Growing Up With White Paranoia: Persecution vs. Privilege

Gawker: "Your Money Is in Your Heart": Baptized in the Prosperity Gospel

Quartz: A U.S. pastor sued by Ugandan LGBT activists says he faces a “powerful” international gay network

Talk to Action: Bill Gothard, Prominent Evangelical Christian Leader, Accused of Sexual Abuse and Harassment 

Politico: Cruz mega-donors’ path to ‘kingdom building’

The Guardian: Who’s driving high abortion rates? It’s the religious right

Daily Beast: Sex Abuse & Gay Conversion Therapy: The Dark Past of Justin Bieber’s Megachurch Hillsong

Huffington Post: Sledgehammers and Rights: The Double Standards of the Religious Right

Buzzfeed: Congressman Didn’t Know He Invited Kim Davis to the State of the Union

News Tidbits

Harvard Law Today: Panel on Spotlight film explores priest sex abuse scandal

Religion News Service: Franklin Graham quits the GOP over Planned Parenthood funding

Associated Press: Kentucky bows to clerk Kim Davis and changes marriage license rules

98.1 FM KMBZ: Abortion, gay-marriage foe to lead Kansas House panel

Washington Blade: Liberty Counsel sues Va. school district

ABC News: Anna Duggar Opens up About 'Betrayal' by Husband Josh Duggar

The Monitor: Uganda: Shun Politicians Who Support Homosexuality, Archbishop Ntagali tells Voters

Nyasa Times: Catholic Bishop Says Gays Are Horrible Sinners: 'Malawi Isn't Sodom and Gommorah'

Commentary Tidbits

Christian Science Monitor: From Bacon's Rebellion to the Boston Bombings: How well do you know American extremism?

Al Jazeera America: Trump's untruths woo working-class whites who ‘want to be proud again’

RH Reality Check: Anti-Islam Rhetoric Will Do Nothing to Stop Terror

GQ: The Couple Behind the Kim Davis Gay-Marriage Battle

Pink News: Donald Trump is not the only ‘dangerous extremist’ running for President

Salon: Fascism is all the rage in Europe, and it’s coming to America

Washington Post: The ‘Defend Christmas Freedom Hotline’ is now open. Operators are standing by.

Buzzfeed: Here’s What It’s Like To Go Through Gay Conversion Therapy In Australia

News Tidbits

New York Times: Donald Trump Calls for Barring Muslims From Entering U.S.

Washington Blade: Rubio pledges to reverse Obama’s LGBT executive order

Gay Star News: Marco Rubio: Obama forces businesses ‘to sin’ by banning LGBTI discrimination

Cincinnati*com: Cincinnati to consider ban on reparative therapy for LGBT youth

Associated Press: Answers in Genesis announces opening date for Ark Encounter

Edge Media Network: Time Readers Reject Kim Davis: County Clerk Won't Be Person of the Year

The Age: Australia: Catholic Church saves $62 million on sexual abuse claims

News Tidbits

Washington Post: Mormon Church makes same-sex couples apostates, excludes children from blessings and baptism

MSNBC: God ‘judges nations for sins,’ says host of evangelical event featuring 2016ers

CNN: Supreme Court to hear new challenge to Obamacare contraception mandate 

Reuters: Kentucky's governor-elect to remove clerk names from state marriage licenses

Wichita Eagle: Conway Springs teacher asked to resign after anti-bullying video upsets parents

Associated Press: Hearing set in state suit against Jehovah’s Witnesses elders

The Advocate: Rick Santorum Says Support for Trans Youth Encourages 'Gender Confusion'

Daily Monitor: Ugandan politician Abed Bwanika vows to rehabilitate homosexuals

Commentary Tidbits

Red State: Donald Trump Eaten by Giant African Lion    (Hat tip to Infidel753)

Gawker: Welcome to Artprize, a “Radically Open” Far-Right Art Competition in Grand Rapids

The Atlantic: Evangelicals Discover Moral Ambiguity on the Death Penalty

Washington Post: Being a doctor who performs abortions means you always fear your life is in danger

Salon: Christian fundamentalists’ plot against the Constitution: What Kim Davis’s newly unearthed emails reveal

The Advocate: Finish the Job: Ban Conversion Therapy for Minors

Daily Beast: Queer Spy at the Anti-Gay Conference

Jezebel: Christian Website Advises Avoiding Wife's Face if She's Not Into Sex

Raw Story: Christian marriage adviser: Use ‘fear and dread’ to control your wife — as God intended

The Guardian: Halloween was banned in my childhood, but that caused ignorance, not salvation

News Tidbits

Utica Observer-Dispatch: Son killed at Word of Life wanted to leave church, officials say

BBC News: Mother 'helpless' to stop fatal church beating of son

New York Times: Witness Says Clash Over Witchcraft Preceded Fatal Beating at Church

CNN: Washington high school coach placed on leave for praying on field

Salt Lake Tribune: Mormon apostle Oaks: Kentucky clerk wrong not to issue same-sex marriage licenses

Reuters: Catholic bishops debating family issues still split on divorcees, gays

Vatican Radio: Women at Synod of Bishops call for their voices to be heard

Associated Press: 6 Republican 2016 Hopefuls Woo Faithful at Texas Megachurch

The Advocate: Ted Cruz Wins Endorsement of Antigay Hate Group Official

Al Jazeera America: Singapore church leader found guilty in $35M fraud case

Irish Independent: Bishop says child fear has led to loss of altar servers

News Tidbits

USA Today: Activists protest Baptists' seminar on homosexuality

Associated Press: Video Shows Pope Defending Chile Bishop Accused of Cover Up

The Hill: Kasich warns against 'secular society'

New York Times: The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa

Reuters: Tennessee Board Drops Vote on Seeking God's Mercy Over Gay Marriage

The Advocate: Florida Advances Unnecessary Pastor Protection Act

WVLT 8: Gun store offering discount for Christians

Everything Lubbock: Texas: "In God We Trust" Now Displayed On Lamesa Hospital Ambulances

Washington Blade: Clinton on Kim Davis: ‘Enforce the law or you resign’

News Tidbits

Religion News Service: No ‘therapy,’ but Christ can ‘change’ LGBT lives, say evangelical leaders

Windy City Times: Trans woman wins decision against Hobby Lobby

Pink News: Joe Biden: Homophobes still exist, and most of them are running for President

Washington Post: Oklahoma’s controversial Ten Commandments monument was quietly removed overnight

Associated Press: Law firm labeled hate group leading Kim Davis' crusade

Reuters: 'Sense of Regret' in Vatican Over Pope Meeting With Gay Marriage Opponent

The Advocate: Liberty Counsel: The Vatican Is Lying About Pope's Kim Davis Meeting

The Courier-Journal: Black coalition forms to back biblical sexuality

Kim Davis Receives Cost of Discipleship Award at Values Voters Summit

Controversial Kentucky clerk and same-sex marriage opponent Kim Davis received the second annual Cost of Discipleship Award at the 2015 Values Voters Summit (see video archive here). Family Research Council president Tony Perkins bestowed the award on Davis, who was accompanied by Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who has represented Davis in her legal battles. In a September 14th statement at the FRC website, Perkins praised Davis and boasted that "courage is breeding courage", which has supposedly struck fear in the hearts of "militant secularists".

The award ceremony overflowed with the usual Religious Right rhetoric about alleged persecution of Christians, Supreme Court overreach, and the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. Kim Davis had been blasted as a homophobe and obstructionist by detractors, but that night, among her right-wing allies, Davis was a heroine.

At the beginning of the award ceremony, the FRC's Gil Mertz thanked Liberty Counsel staff for their activism, reminding them that Satan would target them for their "righteousness".

"God knows your name very well, even though I didn't, but be aware, Satan knows your name too. You guys are marked for your stand for righteousness. We're so thankful and proud of you."

Mat Staver condemned the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision as a potential threat to religious liberty. After incorrectly telling listeners that Davis was incarcerated for her Christian faith, Staver spoke at length about her conversion to Christianity. Opponents have accused Davis of hypocrisy for opposing same-sex marriage after having been married multiple times herself, but Staver assured the audience that those marriages were before she converted.

"On June 26th, five lawyers ... imposed their will, not a legal judgment, not based on the Constitution, and not based on the court's precedent, and ... ruled against, in their own mind, millennia of human history and the created order that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. We knew, at that moment, that this would be an unprecedented clash with religious freedom. What we did not realize is that within two months of that five-four opinion, that the first person because of their Christian faith would be sent to jail and spend six days in jail. And by the way, the case is far from over. And that lady is Kim Davis.

The impact of this case on us and on the world has been phenomenal. Some people said, well, how can someone who has not had perfect marriages in her past be defending marriage? Well one of the things that is wonderful about the Gospel is that four and a half years ago, Kim Davis' life radically changed when her godly dying mother-in-law, when she passed on Sunday morning, asked Kim, 'Kim, get your life in order. Try church. Go to church.' And so, to fulfill that mother-in-law's dying wish, on Sunday night she went to church and there she heard a pastor preach from the book of Galatians about forgiveness, about there's a God who created, who loved her and gave himself for her and gives her complete forgiveness and throws her sins into the bottom of the ocean and does not remember them again. And at that moment, Kim became a broken woman. She wept and gave her life to Jesus Christ, and from that moment on, she has not been the same person."

Staver used Davis' story as an example of alleged persecution of Christians in America, warning the audience that anti-gay Christians are supposedly becoming unwelcome in politics, business, and the workplace.

"Kim Davis could not attach her name and her authority to authorize, under her name and title, a marriage that conflicts with God's definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. And as a result of that, Kim Davis was targeted by those who demanded that she violate her conscience and her deeply held religious convictions. And most people would cave under the pressure, but Kim Davis did not.

Kim Davis was elected to this position by the people. She believes that God ultimately brought her to this place of the county clerk. She would not resign and should not resign, because if Kim Davis resigns, what does that message say? It says if you're a Christian, if you believe in marriage as one man and one woman, you better not run for office. If you're in office, you'd better resign. If you're not an elected official but you're in the public employment, you better get out. And now, it's not just there. If you're a baker or a florist or a wedding chapel, you need to get out of the business because your faith is colliding with the culture. Kim Davis would not and will not step down ..."

Hilariously, Staver claimed that 100,000 people prayed in a stadium in Lima, Peru in support of Kim Davis, a claim that was later debunked. Liberty Counsel released a statement on September 28th clarifying Staver's claim.






Following an introduction by Tony Perkins, Kim Davis held back tears and thanked God for giving her strength. Flanked by Mat Staver and her husband, Davis reminded listeners that "we are many".

"I feel so very undeserving. I want to start by thanking my Lord and my savior, Jesus Christ, because without him, none of this would have ever been possible, for he is my strength that carries me, and it is his mercies that follow me every day, and it is his love that endures all things.

I have realized through all the trials in our lives that if we wait upon the Lord, he'll show up just in the right time, 'cause timing is always perfect. I have discovered through all of this that his grace is truly sufficient in all things. I am only one, but we are many! Thank you all so very much!

The excitement surrounding Kim Davis at the Values Voters Summit boggles the mind. When did homophobia become a mark of courage? When did dereliction of job duties become the mark of a hero?

News Tidbits

CNN: Pope's meeting with Kim Davis not an endorsement, Vatican says

Reuters: Papal Meeting With Kentucky Clerk Chills Gay Catholics

Religion News Service: Pope Francis’ words on abuse vary by his audience

Religion News Service: Mass. pastor Scott Lively faces possible fine for harsh anti-gay efforts in Uganda

Associated Press: Australia to Deport American Anti-Abortion Activist Troy Newman 

KTLA 5: California: Suspicious Activity Found After Fire Breaks Out at Thousand Oaks Planned Parenthood

Al Jazeera America: ACLU sues Catholic hospital for denying patients emergency abortions

The Guardian: Faith schools in England illegally denying places to many children – report

Raw Story: Hobby Lobby strikes again as right-wing activists seek exemptions from birth control and marriage laws

News Tidbits

New York Times: Kim Davis, Kentucky County Clerk, Met Pope Francis

Willamette Week: Sweet Cakes by Melissa Owners Defying Order to Pay $135,000 to Lesbian Couple Who Wanted a Wedding Cake

The Advocate: Antigay Indiana Lawmaker Resigns After Sex Tape Text

The Guardian: Anti-abortion campaigner Troy Newman denied visa for Australia after Labor's intervention

NPR: 6 Clips Of Audio You Should Hear From The Planned Parenthood Hearing

Raw Story: Out of control congressman badgers and interrupts Planned Parenthood head 19 times in 5 minutes

ABC News (Australia): Anglican Church concerned gay marriage would force Christian wedding suppliers to cater for same-sex couples

Commentary Tidbits

Orlando Sentinel: 'Fundamentalist mind' explains why GOP won't compromise

National Catholic Reporter: Pope sends painfully mixed signals to abuse victims

The Atlantic: Why Did Pope Francis Meet With Kim Davis?

Politico: Donald Trump’s saving grace: Televangelists

Buzzfeed: I Asked An Anti-Marriage Equality Group For An Interview 17 Times And They Never Replied

Slate: The Planned Parenthood Hearing Shows How out of Step Republicans Are With America

The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser: The Closing of the Evangelical Mind