Gay Rights Activists Outraged Over Billboard’s Message About Homosexuality and Genetics

Dec. 11, 2014 9:59am Billy Hallowell

NOTE:  the gay community has declared that anyone who claims homosexuality is not genetic is hateful.  This story illustrates the automatic reaction when a group makes a bold move in placing their belief on a billboard.  Certainly a new definition of hate.  It's easy for the emotional reaction to sway viewers, but take a minute and realize that it is just that - an emotional reaction.  Read Peter Sprigs on teen suicide rates for an interesting view.

A controversial billboard proclaiming that “nobody is born gay” has sparked a great deal of controversy in Richmond, Virginia, where it was recently put on display.

Paid for by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays — an organization aimed at helping so-called “ex-gays” gain acceptance — the ad features a picture of male twins and reads, “Identical twins. One gay. One not. We believe twins research studies show nobody is born gay.”

While the billboard is offending local gay and lesbian advocates, Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, believes that critics aren’t looking at the facts, specifically when it comes to analyzing how same-sex attraction pertains to twins.

“Identical twins have the same genes or DNA. They are nurtured in equal prenatal conditions.  If homosexuality is caused by genetics or prenatal conditions and one twin is gay, the co-twin should also be gay,” she said, according to WVUE-TV. “Because identical twins are always genetically identical, homosexuality cannot be genetically dictated. No one is born gay.”  **
See article online at: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/12/11/nobody-is-born-gay-activists-outraged-by-billboards-message-about-homosexuality-and-genetics/

**Read Peter Sprigs on teen suicide rates for an interesting view.

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Griggs went on in her statement to say that “change is possible” and that people deserve to know the truth about same-sex attraction, claiming that her organization seeks to help people “seeking positive life change.”

But the leader of Rosby, a group that offers resources to gay youths, said that the billboard is simply unacceptable in the modern era.

“I am shocked and really disappointed that at the end of 2014, we have a billboard in the middle of our city that says that kind of hate,” Beth Panilaitis, the organization’s executive director, told WVUE-TV.

Richmond Gay Community Foundation executive director Bill Harrison agreed.

“We do not know why people are heterosexual. Maybe when we figure that out, we can determine why some people are not,” he said in an interview with WWBT-TV. “What we do know is that this type of therapy has caused many people to commit suicide."  

Christian Printer Was Punished After Refusing to Print Gay Pride T-Shirts — and Now He’s Fighting Back

A Christian printer who was found guilty of discrimination by a civil rights commission and told that his employees would need to attend diversity training after he refused to print shirts for a gay pride parade is fighting back, appealing the ruling in Kentucky state court.

Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands on Originals, a Lexington-based T-shirt company, filed the appeal through his attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm, arguing that the messages he was asked to print violated his deeply held religious beliefs.

The challenge comes after Greg Munson of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission announced in October that Hands on Originals discriminated against the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization of Lexington when it refused to print the shirts back in 2012.

The civil rights commission subsequently officially adopted this sentiment in November, finding that Adamson — who regularly does business with and employs gays and lesbians — violated the local non-discrimination ordinance, according to a Alliance Defending Freedom press release.

“No one should be forced by the government to endorse or promote ideas with which they disagree. Laws that do that are fundamentally unjust,” senior legal counsel Jim Campbell said in a statement. “We are appealing the commission’s decision because the First Amendment protects the freedom of every American to decline to speak on any issue without fear of punishment.”

Read entire article here:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/12/10/he-was-punished-after-defending-his-faith-and-refusing-to-print-gay-pride-t-shirts-and-now-hes-fighting-back/

Gay Christians choosing celibacy emerge from the shadows

By Michelle Boorstein December 13 at 9:20 PM  Washington Post

When Eve Tushnet converted to Catholicism in 1998, she thought she might be the world’s first celibate Catholic lesbian.

Having grown up in a liberal, upper Northwest Washington home before moving on to Yale University, the then-19-year-old knew no other gay Catholics who embraced the church’s ban on sex outside heterosexual marriage. Her decision to abstain made her an outlier.

“Everyone I knew totally rejected it,” she said of the church’s teaching on gay sexuality.

Today, Tushnet is a leader in a small but growing movement of celibate gay Christians who find it easier than before to be out of the closet in their traditional churches because they’re celibate. She is busy speaking at conservative Christian conferences with other celibate Catholics and Protestants and is the most well-known of 20 bloggers who post on spiritualfriendship.org, a site for celibate gay and lesbian Christians that draws thousands of visitors each month.

Celibacy “allows you to give yourself more freely to God,” said Tushnet (rhymes with RUSH-net), a 36-year-old writer and resident of Petworth in the District. The focus of celibacy, she says, should be not on the absence of sex but on deepening friendships and other relationships, a lesson valuable even for people in heterosexual marriages.

Celibate Christian LGBT people are stepping out into the open for the same reason LGBT people in general are: Society has become so much more accepting, including in religious circles. But among conservative Christians, efforts toward more acceptance have collided with the basic teaching that sex belongs only among married men and women. celibacy movement helps reconcile those concerns.

However, they are also met with criticism from many quarters, including from other gays and lesbians who say celibacy is both untenable and a denial of equality.

Read the entire article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gay-christians-choosing-celibacy-emerge-from-the-shadows/2014/12/13/51c73aea-6ab2-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html

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Duggars Win -- Transgender Bathroom Bill Overturned

A city ordinance in Fayetteville, Ark, dubbed the transgender bathroom bill because it allows biological males who claim they are females to use restroom facilities for women, was overturned on Tuesday, Dec. 9, largely because of the intense lobbying efforts of Michelle Duggar, the matriarch of the reality-TV show 19 Kids & Counting, carried by The Learning Channel.

In Tuesday’s special election the rule, also called the Civil Rights Ordinance, was defeated: 7,523 votes to 7,040 votes, a 52% to 48% victory. In criticizing the ordinance, Mrs. Duggar had said that it affected “the safety of Northwest Arkansas women and children” because it would “allow men – yes, I said men – to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only. I don’t believe the citizens of Fayetteville would want males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female to have a legal right to enter private areas that are reserved for women and girls.”

 Read the entire story at:    http://cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/duggarathroom-bill-overturned?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=marketing&utm_term=facebook&utm_content=facebook&utm_campaign=b-duggars-bill

Michigan House Passed Bill Allowing EMTs To Refuse Treatment To Gay People

NOTE:  This story is as amazing as the Catholic professors being told that expressing opinions against same-sex marriage is discriminatory & harassment.  It is just as disgusting and dangerous to see the extreme over-reaction of the Michigan Republicans and is the reason why we are getting such extreme backlash from the LGBT activists - definitely  not Christian.

December 8, 2014 ● by Dan Avery

Over the weekend, Republicans in the Michigan Statehouse passed a “license to discriminate” bill that would give just about anyone the right to refuse service to LGBT people if it conflicted with their religious beliefs.

The broadly written Religious Freedom Restoration Act would allow, for example, an EMT to refuse emergency treatment to a gay person or a pharmacist to refuse to refill HIV medication, because God decreed gays and lesbians should be put to death.

Read the entire story at: http://www.newnownext.com/michigan-house-passed-bill-allowing-emts-to-refuse-treatment-to-gay-people/12/2014/.

Catholic profs told to report opposition to 'gay marriage' as harassment

By Kevin J. Jones

Milwaukee, Wis., Dec 9, 2014 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An anti-harassment training presentation at a Catholic college encourages employees to report critics of “gay marriage” – and could reflect recent federal decisions that the belief in marriage as a union of a man and a woman is discriminatory.

Part of the employee anti-harassment training at the Wisconsin-based Marquette University includes a presentation with a comic strip-style story about a fictional employee named “Harassed Hans,” a man in a wheelchair. The training encourages Hans to report to the university human resources his co-workers Becky and Maria who “have been talking about their opposition to same-sex marriage” all week.

Read the entire story at: 
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/catholic-profs-told-to-report-opposition-to-gay-marriage-as-harassment-29598/

Perspectives: Anti-discrimination laws, seeking power not equality

Written by Bryan Hyde on November 17, 2014     46 Comments

OPINION – The test of how well we actually understand personal liberty, natural rights, and the legitimate role of government is currently underway at many levels.

A highly visible example took place recently when St. George City Council members were asked to consider adopting an ordinance to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in housing and employment. We’ll see this test continued after the first of the year when state Sen. Steve Urquhart brings his latest statewide anti-discrimination bill to the state legislature for another try at passage.

What many citizens don’t yet seem to understand is that we are being asked to choose between freedom and equality.

They are asking that our laws place the natural rights of property or business owners below an individual’s right to be validated

The proponents of anti-discrimination laws and ordinances say that they are simply seeking equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community by making legally enforceable prohibitions against perceived discrimination. In seeking equality by edict, they are asking that our laws place the natural rights of property or business owners below an individual’s right to be validated for his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

This is done by making discrimination a legally punishable offense.

Click here to read the entire article and make comments

Arkansas Pastors Stand up - and Speak out!

Fifty pastors gathered in Fayetteville, Arkansas this morning for a briefing on how they can effectively address important social issues facing their churches and communities. A main topic of discussion was the City’s new special rights law -- the 119 ordinance.

While supporters of this ordinance say it’s only meant to address “discrimination” in areas like housing and employment issues, the actual wording of the law reveals that it will go much further. This controversial ordinance elevates sexual orientation and gender identity to the level of being a “civil right” and even goes so far that it gives these new classes more rights or special privileges than those for race, gender, or religion.

Among other things, it would allow males who claim to be transgender to enter gender-sensitive areas such as women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight shelters. Churches could face criminal prosecution for refusing to hire against their religious beliefs for positions deemed “secular” like a church secretary, receptionist, and bookkeeper, and it adds a cumbersome and dangerous new regulation for local businesses. Recognizing this, groups like the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce have come out in support of repealing this law citing 33 different problems they found with it.

At the briefing, Dr. Kenyn Cureton, FRC’s Vice President of Church Ministries, discussed the importance of standing together and being a clear voice as people of faith work together to address this matter. After the briefing, the pastors and speakers hosted a press conference to urge the citizens of Fayetteville to take a stand for their community and repeal 119 during the special election coming up December 9th. For more information on the ordinance, visit repeal119.com.

Libs Needle FDA on Blood Ban

Are you willing to contract HIV to prove how “tolerant” you are? If the FDA repeals its blood bank policy, you may not have a choice. At a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration this morning, liberal activists went for the jugular in their latest push to overturn its ban on blood donations from those who engage in risky sexual behavior. The debate, which seems to resurface every year at the FDA and HHS, refuses to die -- even though people could with radical changes to the government’s 30-year-ban.

This time around, homosexual groups are more confident than ever that the administration will roll back the prohibition, despite the increased risks it poses to the U.S. population. As FRC’s Peter Sprigg testified at today’s meeting, “Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men represent approximately 2% of the United States population, yet . . . in 2010, gay and bisexual men accounted for 63% of estimated new HIV infections in the United States and 78% of infections among all newly infected men.”

The FDA created the rule -- not out of prejudice, but precaution. Now, a growing chorus of liberals is insisting that federal agencies should ignore the risks so that homosexuals feel “more accepted” in society. In other words, the Left is willing to taint the U.S. blood banks to make a political point. If the FDA wants to protect people’s health, it has to be selective. The government can’t afford to contaminate the blood supply just to validate people’s risky sexual behavior.

Not to mention, Peter points out, that the very small size of the LGBT population (2.3% according to this year’s CDC survey) means that any potential benefits to the blood bank would be “marginal.” In fact, the only thing they would add with 100% certainty is liability. Yet every year, the government wastes taxpayers’ time and money debating what is nothing but a naked push to normalize and celebrate homosexual behavior. The blood donation policy doesn’t exist to serve a political agenda -- and it shouldn’t be changed to advance one. Even if the new screening can detect virtually all tainted blood, no test is completely safe. And the government shouldn’t be willing to risk America’s blood supply to prove it. To listen to Peter Sprigg’s testimony from earlier today, click here.

http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/today

Fireman's Reputation Torched in Book Dispute

Atlanta’s Kelvin Cochran may be a fireman, but he’s not fireproof, as the latest controversy shows. Despite a long and distinguished career (including a stint as the U.S. Fire Administrator), Chief Cochran is at the center of an explosive debate over free speech on the job after the city suspended him for allegedly handing out copies of a book he wrote and self-published on biblical morality.

Atlanta officials claim Cochran somehow violated workplace policy by openly discussing his Christian views on sexuality. In the book, Who Told You That You Are Naked?, Cochran explains the nature of sin, which affects us all. Included in the book is an unapologetic description of homosexuality as “perversion” -- a reference AtlantaMayor Kasim Reed took personal offense to. “I profoundly disagree with and am deeply disturbed by the sentiments expressed in the paperback regarding the LGBT community. I will not tolerate discrimination of any kind within my administration.”

In addition to being suspended, Cochran has to forfeit a month’s worth of pay and undergo “sensitivity training.” Although the section of the book dealing with homosexuality was only one part of the discussion, it was the sole focus of the city’s inquiry. While a number of public interest law firms are reviewing Cochran’s legal options, the immediate effect is clear: a further stripping of Christian faith from the public square.

Obviously, Mayor Reed’s message is that city employees have to check their beliefs -- and specifically, their religious beliefs -- at the door of public service. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where this persecution will lead: to a country where no evidence of biblical morality will be tolerated. Christians who want to serve in a public capacity will have to go underground spiritually -- or steer clear of those careers altogether. The fallout would be disastrous.

With the government assuming more and more power, do we really want police officers, prosecutors, and even firemen who have no moral foundation to be the guardians of justice? Trust me. We haven’t seen the level of scandal, corruption, and political abuse that would follow such a purge.

And how is Mayor Reed building his case? On the city’s special rights ordinance -- the same type of measure that led to the subpoena of Houston pastors, the prosecution of Colorado bakers, and the joblessness of California photographers. If the people don’t stand up and demand their First Amendment rights, this fire chief won’t be the only one having his career extinguished because he believes in biblical morality.

http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/today