OHIO: Insurance Group Offers Reward For Name Of Anti-Gay Horse Killer

Over the weekend, eight horses were burned alive in their rural Ohio barn in an arson attack on a property owned by a gay man. The words "fags are freaks" were found spray-painted on the barn. Today a $5000 reward has been offered for the name of the perpetrator.

Brent Whitehouse hopes a reward of up to $5,000 offered by the Blue Ribbon Arson Committee will help find the person responsible for setting a fire that killed his horses and destroyed his barn Sunday night. The State Fire Marshal's Office has ruled the fire was arson. Derogatory statements were painted on the barn walls and doors just before the fire, said Shane Cartmill, spokesman for the fire marshal's office. Whitehouse said because of those statements, the fire marshal's office is looking at the possibility of a hate crime. The reward, sponsored by the Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association, works with law enforcement, firefighters and insurance industry personnel in an effort to combat arson. The fire marshal's office is asking anyone with information regarding the fire to contact them.

Church Sign Of The Day

The above message is being displayed on an electronic billboard in Toledo, Ohio. The church has issued the below statement in support of their campaign.

This simple statement is intended to be a gift to those who have experienced hurt and discrimination because of their real or perceived sexual orientation. The Church seeks nothing less than the healing of the world, and Central UMC wants to offer words and acts of healing to those hurt and marginalized. Also, declaring that being gay is a gift from God is a prophetic call to the Church to get out of the business of marginalizing gay and lesbian persons from the Church, and to welcome them as full members.

Refreshing and positive religious news! On JMG!

OHIO: Eight Horses Burned To Death In Anti-Gay Arson Attack

Eight horses were burned alive in their barn this weekend in an arson attack on a property owned by a gay man. The words "Fags are freaks" were found spray-painted on the side of the barn.

Seven adult horses and one foal died as a result of an arson fire at 874 West Richards Road in McConnelsville just after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Owner Brent Whitehouse said he woke to discover the barn engulfed in flames and immediately called 911, but it was too late. "I couldn't get the door open I could still hear the horses kicking and I tried as hard as I could to get them out and I just couldn't get them out in time," he said. Those who know Brent believe this was a hate crime, explicit words relating to his sexuality were spray painted in large white letters on the side of the barn before the fire was started. "They obviously don't know him very well, because he's a sweet-hearted person and how he lives his lifestyle is nobody's business but his own," said friend Bobbie Nelson.

Unbelievable.

VIDEO: GetEQUAL Stages DOMA Sit-In At Speaker Boehner's Ohio Office

GetEQUAL has just posted video of last week's action.

OHIO: GetEQUAL Sits-In At Speaker Boehner's Office, Arrest made

Via press release:

West Chester -- Minutes ago, activists from GetEQUAL Ohio -- a direct action LGBT civil rights group associated with the national organization GetEQUAL -- entered Speaker Boehner's West Chester office to demand the Speaker not use tax-payer money to defend Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). At this moment, five protesters are holding a sit-in, demanding to speak to their representative. GetEQUAL State Organizer Tom Morgan issued this statement, "Later today the Speaker will be meeting with his bipartisan legal advisory group to consider whether to defend DOMA. We strongly encourage the Speaker to heed the advice of Rep. Pelosi and the millions of Americans who are demanding the Speaker focus on job creation and not discrimination."

OHIO: Drunk Driving Catholic Priest Offers Blowjobs To Arresting Officers

OHIO: Anti-Union Bill Has Hidden Anti-Gay Provision Against Partner Benefits

On Wednesday the Ohio state Senate narrowly voted to strip state employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights. And buried in that bill is a clearly unrelated provision that prevents the state from for offering any benefits to the partners of gay employees. Think Progress has the text:

Sec. 3101.01 of S.B. 5: … A marriage may only be entered into by one man and one woman. Any marriage between persons of the same sex is against the strong public policy of this state. Any marriage between persons of the same sex shall have no legal force or effect in this state and, if attempted to be entered into in this state, is void ab initio and shall not be recognized by this state. The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.

Same-sex marriage has been banned in Ohio since 2004, so it's unclear exactly what the aim of the above provision may be.

Union Workers Defend Their Rights As GOP Goose-Steps For Tea Party Billionaires

Loony Tunes Pastor Janet Porter Schedules Fetus To "Testify" On Ohio Abortion Bill

Lunatic preacher Janet Porter, who regularly calls on God to strike down the U.S. government, is pulling another one of her whackadoodle stunts.

A fetus has been scheduled as a legislative witness in Ohio on a unique bill that proposes outlawing abortions after the first heartbeat can be medically detected. Faith2Action, the anti-abortion group that has targeted Ohio to pilot the measure, called the in-utero witness the youngest to ever come before the House Health Committee at 9 weeks old. Faith2Action president Janet Folger Porter said the intent is to show lawmakers who will be affected by the bill, which abortion rights groups oppose. Ohio Right to Life has not endorsed the measure. An aide to committee Chairman Lynn Wachtmann said a pregnant woman will be brought before the committee and an ultrasound image of her uterus will be projected onto a screen. The heartbeat of the fetus will be visible in color.

Right Wing Watch reminds us that Porter served as co-chair of Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign.

OHIO: Bowling Green Voters Approve Sweeping LGBT Rights Ordinances

Last year the city council of the college town of Bowling Green, Ohio instituted broad ordinances protecting LGBT residents from discrimination. Anti-gay Christian groups immediately forced the suspension of the new laws and had them placed on this year's ballot. The votes are finally in and it was close. Via press release from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force:

With the final vote now officially tallied, voters in Bowling Green, Ohio, have passed two ordinances protecting people from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and public education based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Last year, the city council added those categories to Bowling Green's Fair Housing Law with Ordinance 7905, and the Unlawful Discrimination Ordinance with Ordinance 7906. The majority of voters backed those ordinances, allowing LGBT people to be protected under the city’s nondiscrimination laws. According to the results released today, Ordinance 7905 passed 52.67 percent to 47.33 percent and Ordinance 7906 passed 51.65 percent to 48.35 percent. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force contributed to this victory through staff and financial support provided to One Bowling Green, the locally-driven, grassroots campaign that defended the nondiscrimination measures.

FLASHBACK: Mehlman Supports 2005 Federal Marriage Amendment

In January 2005, GOP Sen. Wayne Allard (CO) introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment (a verbatim restating of the earlier failed Federal Management Amendment) with 21 Senate GOP co-sponsors. Later that year the bill was approved for review by the full Senate Judiciary Committee. Newly appointed RNC chair Ken Mehlman gave the bill his full support to reporters at an Ohio GOP fundraiser that March.

During his Akron remarks, Mehlman put forth political and policy statements often viewed as anti-gay. “Republicans are for government that stands on the side of marriage,” he said, “and on the side of strong families.” After the dinner, he was asked by a reporter about the GOP’s support for the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, introduced in the House last week by Rep. Dan Lundgren of California. Mehlman made it clear that he supports the amendment. “I don’t think it’s anti-gay,” said Mehlman. “I don’t think the intent is to be anti-anything.”

Members of the Cleveland Log Cabin Republicans attending the dinner expressed disappointment that Mehlman evaded questions about his sexuality. "He almost said it," one pouted. The above-linked story notes no such LCR regret about Mehlman's support for permanently enshrining anti-gay legislation in the motherfucking federal Constitution.

FLASHBACK: Mehlman Pushes 2004 Ohio Ballot Measure To Ban Gay Marriage

In 2004 then RNC head Ken Mehlman directly told Ohio's anti-gay bigots to get a marriage ban on the ballot.

Mehlman was interviewed after he spoke to the Summit County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner March 19 at Quaker Station. “I’m here to say thank you,” Mehlman told the gathering, “because Summit County increased its votes for George W. Bush from 2000 to 2004 more than any other county.” Mehlman managed the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and, according to the campaign’s Ohio co-chair, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, directed Ohio anti-gay activists to mount the campaign to put the Issue 1 marriage ban amendment on the ballot. Internet bloggers have pointed out that if Mehlman, 38, unmarried and never with female companionship, is gay, he is a hypocrite.

Just one more example of Mehlman's hands-on approach to repressing his fellow homosexuals.

OHIO: Maggie Gallagher Tells Crowd "Hate Is Not A Family Value"

At yet another hilariously unattended stop on the Hate Tour™, Maggie Gallagher tells the "crowd" that "hate is not a family value." Incidentally, Brian Brown has been noticeably absent from the last two stops on the tour. Embarrassed by the lousy response, Miss Brown?

At The University Of Cincinnati

Kind of curious that the cop was wearing a microphone.

BREAKING: God Smites Jeebus

Yesterday a six-story statue of Jesus in Monroe, Ohio was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati. The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said. The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday. The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said. The fire department would release a monetary damage estimate Tuesday, he said.

JMG tipster Josh notes that travelers had long enjoyed pulling over and posing with the statue.

Dems Launch "Shirtless" Campaign Against GOP Senate Candidate Rob Portman

Portman's name last appeared on this blog when it was revealed that Mary Cheney had contributed to his campaign. Former U.S. Rep. Portman (R-OH) opposes same-sex marriage and gay adoption.

OHIO: Joe The Plumber Wins GOP Thing

Joe the Plumber has been elected as a GOP committee rep in Ohio.

Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, who was hailed by Republican John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, won one of nearly 400 seats on the local Republican Party committee in Ohio's Lucas County. But don't call him Joe the Politician just yet. The group he'll serve on meets only a few times a year to elect the county chairman and sets the party agenda. Wurzelbacher won the seat by a 38-24 vote Tuesday in his suburban Toledo precinct. A message seeking comment was left with him Wednesday. He became an overnight sensation almost two years ago after questioning then-Sen. Barack Obama on the campaign trail about his economic policies and then when McCain repeatedly cited "Joe the Plumber" in a debate. He was held up by the GOP as an example of the middle-class worker who would be hurt economically by an Obama presidency. Wurzelbacher has since written a book, spoken at conservative gatherings and spent a few weeks as a war correspondent in the Gaza Strip.

RELATED: Last year Wurzelbacher famously pledged that he would never allow his children near any damn dirty queers because "all gays are pedophiles."

Tonight: Protest At Ohio's Miami University After Assault At Gay Fundraiser

Miami University junior Ben Collings says he and his boyfriend were assaulted after objecting to anti-gay comments he heard while attending a Gay/Straight Alliance fundraiser held at an off campus bar. Police are saying Collings initiated the fight.

Collings said that when he was in the restroom, he overheard others using derogatory words for homosexuals. Things got heated after that, he said in the video report filed by WCPO TV in Cincinnati. Collings suffered a broken cheekbone and nose, and had two black eyes. After the fight, he was treated at a hospital and underwent numerous medical tests. He said his injuries may require reconstructive surgery. Oxford police are investigating the fight, but believe that Collings initiated the fight. So far, police have not labeled the crime as a hate crime, but they continue to investigate. "I was assaulted because of my sexual orientation, if you want to define it as that – if you want to define it as assault, that's what it's going to be defined as," Collings told WCPO TV. Collings said he also believes an attack on his boyfriend inside the bar is a hate crime.

Student leaders said such assaults are never labeled a hate crime by local police. A silent protest will be held on campus tonight. Video of Collings' statement at the above link.