NOM Reveals NY Repeal Plans

But it's ALL so complicated, Slaggie!

We're putting together a 4-year campaign strategy that will reverse same-sex marriage in New York. We'll have many more details, and ways for you to get involved, in the days ahead but the overall plan will have three phases:

PHASE 1:
Elect pro-marriage majorities next November that will approve a marriage amendment in both the Assembly and Senate during the 2013 legislative session.

PHASE 2:
Protect pro-marriage candidates in the 2014 elections, so that the amendment can receive final legislative approval in the 2015 legislative session.

PHASE 3:
Successfully pass the ballot measure when it goes before voters in November 2015.

A 4-year process seems like a long time—and it is—but it's achievable. In New Hampshire and Iowa, they've had same-sex marriage for just 2 years, but are already well on the way to reversal. The key to success is electing legislative majorities who will answer to the people of their state, and not to special interests.

Lots of federal work can be done in four years.

Red-Caped Anti-Gay Catholic Loons Bring Their Hate Campaign To New York City

NEW YORK: More Assholery From The Red-Caped Catholic Loons

Photo Of The Day

This weekend in Fairport, New York, Jason Curtis, 14, counter-protested the red-caped loons of the Society for Defense of Tradition. "I know kids that are gay and I don't want them to be criticized," he said.

[Photo credit: Bethany Young]

NEW YORK: Red-Caped Loons Claim Attack By "Pro-Homosexual Advocate"

The red-caped loons of the anti-gay Catholic Society for Defense of Tradition are claiming that a "pro-homosexual advocate" tore up their banner at a street protest in Fairport, New York this weekend. The video of the "attack" looks very, very staged to me. (I'll be calling Fairport police today and see if any report was actually filed.) It's also interesting that the clip is only posted to their own site and not their YouTube channel as they normally do. Watch the video and let us know what you think.

Red-Caped Loons At Bronx Hate Rally

The red-caped loons of the Catholic Society for the Defense of Tradition have posted the below recap of their day leading the anti-gay hate parade into the Bronx. As you may have noted from my Sunday slideshow, the average age of these brainwashed zombies seems to be around 20. And in case this is your first time hearing about them, you should know that these nutjobs believe that society contains a "naturally elite class" that should be running a strictly and exclusively Catholic government in the United States. They claim to have 120,000 members.

Catholic News Round-Up

The anti-gay hate group Renew America is one of the sponsors of this daily "Catholic News Round-Up" channel on YouTube, which today warns that evil Brazilian gays, unsatisfied with their recent win on civil unions, are now targeting defenseless little children with an anti-homophobia campaign.

NOM Kicks Off New York Campaign

Just posted to NOM's blog:

“It’s become quite clear in recent days in New York that Governor Cuomo and same-sex marriage advocates are targeting a select number of Democrat state Senators, as well as some Republicans in their desperate attempt to coerce legislators to support their agenda,” said Brian Brown, President of NOM. “We want to be sure those courageous Democrats and Republicans who cast their vote of conscience in favor of traditional marriage will have a strong supporter if the radical gay activists come after them in their next election.”

Brian Brown vows: "NOM has defeated every pro-gay marriage Republican we’ve ever targeted, and we’re quite confident we will do so in New York, should that become necessary."

ITALY: Cell Phone Ad Riles Catholics

Some Italians Catholics are incensed over the below 10-second cell phone ad in which a man resembling Jesus asks "Dad" for help in escaping a dominatrix.

"It's a sordid concept and incredibly insulting to those who believe in Jesus Christ," said an editorial in Avvenire, a daily newspaper owned by the Catholic Bishops Conference. The newspaper's editor, Marco Tarquinio, said the commercial should never have been made. He suggested that Catholics offended by the ad should stop watching the channel and boycott the company's products. An association of Catholic television viewers, Aiart, made a formal protest over the commercial. "The reference to Christ is explicit and deeply offensive to religious sentiment," it said in a statement.

FRANCE: Andres Serrano's Piss Christ Destroyed By Catholic Protesters

After weeks of demonstrations, yesterday Catholic protesters in France destroyed NYC artist Andres Serrano's classic and controversial Piss Christ. The UK Guardian reports:

The work has previously been shown without incident in France, but for the past two weeks Catholic groups have campaigned against it, culminating in hundreds of people marching through Avignon on Saturday in protest. Just after 11am on Sunday, four people in sunglasses entered the gallery where the exhibition was being held. One took a hammer from his sock and threatened security staff. A guard restrained one man but the remaining members of the group managed to smash an acrylic screen and slash the photograph with what police believe was a screwdriver or ice pick. They then destroyed another photograph, of nuns' hands in prayer.

Protests against the photograph had also gained the support of France's far-right National Front party. The gallery's owner says the destroyed artwork will remain on display "so people can see what barbarians can do."

The Red-Caped Loons Of Maryland

The red-caped Catholic loons of the Society for the Defense of Tradition have posted video of last week's demonstration in Maryland.

Catholic Group: SCOTUS Rejection Of DC Marriage Suit Is A Human Tragedy

Just in from Catholics For The Common Good:

"It is shocking that the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept the appeal of District of Columbia citizens who were deprived of their right to vote on the definition of marriage. The Court's decision effectively upheld the finding of the Washington Human Rights Commission that it would be discriminatory to even give citizens a choice to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. [snip] The consequences of changing the definition of marriage have broad ramifications for how the value of marriage to children and society is perceived and will affect decisions people make about marriage in their own lives. Already, 41% of children born today are deprived of a mother and father who have first chosen to make themselves irreplaceable to each through marriage. This is a human tragedy and a violation of the rights of the child."

The Passion Of The Soccer Boys

The Bishop of Mallorca is ever so pissed at a local Catholic youth group, which is raising funds for its coming 20th annual performance of Passion Of The Christ by posing for an almost-nude calendar.

"It turns Easter week into something banal," the bishopric said in a stern written admonition. "It does not respect Christian symbols and is insensitive to Catholic feelings." The calendar marks the 20th anniversary of the Davallament Youth Association, one of whose principal tasks is to act out the passion of Christ in a fully-clothed version every Easter. "It all came from the need to celebrate our 20th anniversary," said Pep Mas, the group's co-ordinator. "The actors are the same people who take part in the Easter week representation, and the pictures are shot in the same places. I don't think, after all these years, that anyone can doubt our dedication." The town's mayor, Joan Magro, approves. "The calender is very original," he said. "The pictures are artistic and the models show what they have."

The calendar includes a semi-nude raising of the cross and an all-underwear Last Supper. Can anybody find the purchase link?

Antonin Scalia: The 14th Amendment Should Not Apply To Homosexuals

Speaking on Friday at the University of Richmond, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia denounced the concept of a "living Constitution" and said the 14th Amendment was not written with the intent of granting equal protection to ALL Americans. Just the heterosexual ones.

“The due process clause has been distorted so it’s no longer a guarantee of process but a guarantee of liberty,” Scalia expounded. “But some of the liberties the Supreme Court has found to be protected by that word - liberty - nobody thought constituted a liberty when the 14th Amendment was adopted. Homosexual sodomy? It was criminal in all the states. Abortion? It was criminal in all the states.” “The way to change the Constitution is through amendments approved by the people, not by judges altering the meaning of its words,” he added.

Scalia made similar comments in September when he told a San Francisco law school that the Constitution offers no protection whatsoever to homosexuals or females. Gay people and women, he said, should go to their state legislatures and see if "current society wants to outlaw discrimination" based on gender or sexual orientation. In the landmark 2003 Supreme Court ruling overturning laws against sodomy, Lawrence vs. Texas, Scalia was the most vehement dissenting vote.

The famous "Equal Protection Clause" of the 14th Amendment, upon which entirely hangs the hopes of the federal marriage equality movement, reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

RELATED: At 74 years old, Scalia is the longest-serving Supreme Court Justice, having been appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986. He is thought to be in relatively good health and most court watchers expect him to remain on the bench for as long another decade.

Cardinal Raymond Burke: Discrimination Against Gays Is Righteous And Good

Transcript here.

PhoboQuotable - Cardinal Raymond Burke

"As a bishop it's my obligation in fact, to urge the faithful to carry out their civic duty in accord with their Catholic faith. So, the Catholic Church in teaching that sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself, is simply announcing the truth, helping people to discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities." - Cardinal Raymond Burke, telling America's Catholics that it's their Godly duty to remember to oppress their fellow citizens at the polls next Tuesday.

Assistant Michigan AG Andrew Shirvell's Anti-Gay Harassment Goes Way Back

A reader writes to note that Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has been on an anti-gay campaign for years. From a 2005 news story:

Members of a local student-oriented Catholic parish received an e-mail last week urging them to boycott the New York Pizza Depot on East William Street because of a gay pride rainbow sicker on its front door. The sticker has upset some people, including Andrew Shirvell, an NYPD customer and member of St. Mary’s Student Parish, located down the street from NYPD. Shirvell, a University alumnus and former president of Students for Life, said the sticker is offensive because it endorses homosexuality instead of simply tolerating it. “I find the rainbow flag offensive because it is a symbol of the homosexual movement that, in my opinion, indicates a validation of the homosexual lifestyle, as opposed to a sign that indicates ‘openness’ to customers who are of the homosexual orientation,” he said.

Shirvell said the pizzeria "had to put up the rainbow flag decal in order to appease the homosexuals who frequented NYPD on Friday nights." No homosexual pizza! No homosexual cupcakes!

MINNESOTA: Lay Catholics Organize "Return The Anti-Gay DVD" Project

Saying that the Catholic Church should be feeding and clothing the homeless rather than mailing out hundreds of thousands of anti-gay DVDs, a group of lay Catholics in Minnesota has launched a campaign to send those DVDs back to their bishops.

We are a group of Catholics who are concerned about the priorities of the leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Their action, distributing 400,000 DVDs on the single subject of same-sex marriage shortly before the upcoming election, reflects misguided priorities and strays from the essential teachings of Christ. Our call to action is to create some good out of this unfortunate situation. We are collecting as many DVDs as possible and will return them to Archbishop John Nienstedt with a letter asking him to make the needs of the poor and love of neighbor his highest priority. We will personally make a financial donation for every DVD we collect to St. Stephens Human Services and Episcopal Community Services, non-profits working to help fight poverty and end homelessness in Minnesota.

The group stresses that they are not soliciting or accepting donations. They invite their supporters to instead send money to groups doing the real "work of Jesus."

Italian Minister Of Family Policy: Gay Adoption Leads To Human Trafficking

Italy's Minister of Family Policy says that allowing gay couples to adopt leads to children being bought and sold. The Catholic News Agency happily reports the message of Carlo Giovanardi:

In the interview with political analyst Klaus Davi, Giovanardi noted that “where the adoption by gay couples is allowed, such as in the U.S. and Brazil,” the countries have exploded with the “buying and selling of children.” “It is something that at least this government will never accept and I want to denounce it from here.” “To impose two parents of the same sex on a child is to subject that child to psychological violence,” Giovanardi continued. “A child has the right to grow up” in an environment where “a paternal and maternal figure complement each other and guarantee the child balanced development,” he added.

Knights Of Columbus Donate More To Fight Gay Marriage Than Fight Hunger

God's Gentle People™ at the Catholic charity Knights of Columbus have donated more to fight marriage equality than it has allocated for its own food bank program.

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal society founded in New Haven in 1881, does a lot of good work. In a report detailing its charitable giving during 2009, the organization noted that while the “Knights and their families are hardly immune to the economic downturn,” they had once again furthered their proud 128-year tradition of service — a tradition including “helping the widows and orphans of the late 19th century” and “providing coats to poor, cold children.” Add to that list a donation of a whopping $1.4 million in 2009 to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a nonprofit group dedicated to fighting same-sex marriage through the ballot initiative system in California, Maine and other states. While NOM hasn’t yet made public its 2009 fundraising numbers, the amount of charitable contributions it received in 2008 totaled approximately $2.9 million. The NOM donation eclipses what the Knights’ Supreme Council spent on some of its own charitable programs — such as its new effort supporting food banks or its total spending on education initiatives — in the same year, much to the outrage of some observers, including Catholic groups.

NOM has sued in state courts to prevent the disclosure of their donors, but the Knights of Columbus proudly announced their donation in a public report.