DISRESPECTFUL: Westboro Announces Steve Jobs Protest— Via iPhone!

Westboro Baptist Church says it will picket Steve Jobs' funeral, but apparently God also hates irony: Leader Margie Phelps announced the protest via a Twitter announcement made on an iPhone. "The irony here is almost unbelievable," notes Josh Wolford on Web Pro News. Jobs' sin? Phelps tweeted that he "had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin." And just under her tweet is the clear statement, "via Twitter for iPhone."

PEACE: Civil Rights Hero Fred Shuttlesworth Dead at 89!

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the most dynamic leaders of the civil rights movement, died yesterday at the age of 89, reports the Washington Post. Shuttlesworth survived bombing attempts, beatings, and dozens of arrests in his attempts to end segregation in the South, and was key in making nonviolence a central tenet of the movement.

In the early '60s, harsh images of Shuttlesworth and other protesters being attacked in Birmingham, Alabama, by police with fire hoses, dogs, and truncheons shocked America and help spur an end to segregation. “He was one of the most courageous men that I have ever known," said Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Shuttlesworth and Martin Luther King Jr. "I don’t know of anyone else that could have led the movement in Birmingham." Shuttlesworth was beaten unconscious by a Ku Klux Klan mob when he tried to enroll his children in a white school in 1957. The year before, he suffered only minor injuries when 15 sticks of dynamite exploded beneath his bedroom window on Christmas Day. “I believe I was almost at death’s door at least 20 times,” Shuttlesworth recalled in 2001. “But when the first bomb went off, it took all fear from my mind. I knew God was with me like he was with Daniel in the lions’ den."

NOT OUT: Joel Osteen's Views Against Homosexuality Will Never Change (Until he is Outed)!

Perhaps getting caught tapping his foot in a men's room stall will eventually change megachurch pastor Joel Osteen's views on scripture.

BANNED: Gay Tennessee Couple Assaulted by FAMILY!

Jerry Pittman Jr. and his partner Dustin Lee were assaulted last week when they tried to attend a church service at Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland, Tennessee, according to reports.

Pittman Jr. says his father, who is the church's pastor, instructed two deacons and Pittman's uncle to attack the couple and physically prevent them from attending the church service.

WBBJ reports: "My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad's request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn't help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back," said Pittman. He said bystanders did not offer assistance. He said the deacon yelled derogatory homosexual slurs, even after officers arrived. He said the officers never intervened to stop the deacons from yelling the slurs.

The couple says they were not allowed to press charges at the time of the incident, either.

Assault charges have now been filed against Deacons Billy Sims and Eugene McCoy and Pittman Jr.'s  father and Deacon Patrick Flatt. All are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

HATE KING: "Pastor" Himes Blames Gays For Legal Woes!

Harris Himes, the self-proclaimed pastor and all-around homophobe charged with theft and fraud, among other things, called into a local Montana radio station after being released from jail yesterday to defend himself.

Well, actually, it was less of a defense and more of an offense against his ideological opponents, whom he claims set him up.
From The Missoulian, via J.M.G: [Himes] didn't keep a low profile after leaving the Ravalli County jail...

Peter Christian of KGVO radio's "Talkback" show mentioned the charges against Himes on Thursday morning and Himes called in to respond. He told Christian he is an attorney, but knows better than to represent himself. Himes went on to claim that gay and pro-abortion activists may be behind the charges against him and co-defendant James "Jeb" Bryant, another self-proclaimed pastor.

Himes further claimed that State Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen may also be behind the charges because of political disagreements they've had in the past.

AFFIRMED: New Details Call 'Homosexuality Is Wrong' Student's Story Into Question!

Texas teen Dakota Ary became a conservative super star when it was revealed last week that he had been suspended from school for telling his class, "I'm a Christian and, to me, being homosexual is wrong."

With the help of right wing defense team at Liberty Counsel, 14-year old Ary was able to get his three-day suspension reduce to one single day, and cleared his permanent record of the incident. He also helped ignite a national conversation about whether the student should have been reprimanded or if he was simply exercising his Freedom of Speech.

Even though he was spouting intolerance, many people, right and left alike, agreed Ary had been wronged. As new details emerge, however, it's starting to look as if Ary's remarks were less about the First Amendment and more about challenging his teacher.

SLAP: Drag Queen Drives Off Bible Thumpers at University of Nebraska!

Some evangelical Bible thumpers were making their presence known on the campus of the Universtiy of Nebraska at Kearney this week, until they were upstaged and driven off campus by a drag lady in black.

OUTburst: Heckler Calls Obama 'The Antichrist'!

President Obama was heckled by a wingnut named David Serrano at a House of Blues fundraiser last night in L.A..

Yelled Serrano: "The Christian God is one and only true living God! The creator of heaven and the universe! Jesus Christ is God! Jesus Christ is God! Jesus Christ is still our God! Jesus Christ is still God! You are the Antichrist!"

The heckler was identified as David Serrano, the NYDN reports: Tony Bell, spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, says Serrano has been a fixture at county meetings for a couple years, giving long, rambling religious statements predicting earthquakes and the apocalypse.

"He yells out his statements, which are very mistaken, odd interpretations of scriptures," Bell said. "He's been pretty close to being thrown out of our meetings. When he calls Supervisor Antonovich 'Mikey,' it's very vitriolic. He's not a pleasant guy. He talks about Jews in his diatribes and seems very anti-Semitic. I don't have the impression he's dangerous, but he has issues that could use some help.

BIAS: Student Suspended for Saying Homosexuality is Wrong!

A Texas student has been suspended for telling a friend during a class discussion of homosexuality, "I'm a Christian and, to me, being homosexual is wrong."

Fourteen-year-old Dakota Ary, an honor student and football player, has become an instant cause celebre among conservatives. Liberty Counsel, a right-wing defense firm, helped him clear his permanent record and get the suspension reduced to a day: Ary's lawyer, Matthew Krause, said the suspension was unjustified and that Ary is entitled to express his opinion on homosexuality in school.

SWING: Ted Haggard to Appear on Celebrity Wife Swap!

In possibly the weirdest news you’ll hear all day, sex-and-drug-scandal-plagued Ted Haggard is going on the celebrity edition of ABC’s Wife Swap reality show … and will swap partners with Gary Busey. Yes, in case you’d forgotten, Haggard still has a wife—despite the fact that he admitted paying for meth-fueled sex with a male masseuse in 2006. 

The probably-bisexual pastor now runs a nondenominational church in Colorado, and Busey is apparently a good match for him: The born-again actor is involved with Christian men’s organization Promise Keepers. However, Busey bizarrely has no wife, just a girlfriend with whom he has a child. Producers haven’t said whether she’s the swapee or not, People notes, but the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that she is. Busey, of course, has slightly more experience than Haggard with reality TV, having already appeared on Celebrity Rehab and Celebrity Apprentice. But Haggard, who is apparently trying for a second career in entertainment, has appeared in a Christian “sex comedy.”

UNITED: Number Protesting 'Ground Zero Mosque' Opening: Zero!

The definition of anticlimactic: Following almost two years of clashes between those who planned the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” and those who protested it, the Park51 Islamic cultural center opened its first exhibition in New York yesterday without incident. 

Spectators, not protesters, viewed an exhibit featuring photos of New York City children representing 160 ethnicities taken by a Jewish photographer, the New York Daily News reports. The developer, however, admitted to the AP that “we made incredible mistakes. … The biggest mistake we made was not to include 9/11 families” from the very beginning. Instead, they were consulted only after the center became hugely controversial. Now, at least one 9/11 family member is on the advisory board, and the center will have a 9/11 memorial. “We’re very committed to having them involved in our project,” he says. “We're really listening."

(Into the Light Walk) In this Place…

by Alan Bounville
Into the Light Walk

In this place…
The people I’ve met. The stories I’ve been told. The lives they lead. The strength they have. What I’ve seen with my eyes…

There they go, on their bikes, crisp white shirts. Everyone waving. Nametags everywhere. Even on little girls at street fairs while they make their rainbow bracelets at the church that is not their church’s booth. Nice people, giving people, who just so happen to indoctrinate their kids with the idea that a heterosexual lifestyle is best. No matter how you shake it, that’s heterosexism.

In the South Visitor Center at Temple Square sits an interactive display. Kids can have fun with the video screens, touch them and learn about the ideal family. Even if their family isn’t this one view of family, they can learn what the best families are all about.

There they go again, on their bikes, black ties. Happy faces. Young. Ready to share their truth.
Door to door to door.

Click Here for More!

SILENT: Hate Group Leader Sprigg Says Christians Will Now be Forced into the Closet!

Hate groups leader Peter Sprigg sounds the alarm about sexual tension, sexual harassment, and sexual assault over  the end of 'DADT', which also means that Christian service members will now be forced into the closet.

PHOBE: Catholic Mom is Scared to Leave the House Because of All the Gays!

Stacy Trasancos is a scientist-turned-Catholic-homemaker in Massachusetts with seven kids who suffers from agorahomophobia. In a wrenching blog post, she describes how the gruesome spectacle of gay families hanging out at a local public pool has made her afraid to venture outdoors: I find myself unable to even leave the house anymore without worrying about what in tarnation we are going to encounter. We are responsible citizens. We live by the rules, we pay our taxes, we take care of our things. I'm supposed to be able to influence what goes on in my community, and as a voter I do exercise that right. But I'm outnumbered. I can't even go to normal places without having to sit silently and tolerate immorality. We all know what would happen if I asked two men or two women to stop displaying, right in front of me and my children, that they live in sodomy. 

And what sort of unspeakable PDA has she witnessed at the poolside? I'll tell you. One gay couple was engaged in inappropriate "elbow-rubbing." Another lesbian couple was hugging in a way that was "clearly not friendly." My god!

SAVAGE LOVE: Teenager Says 'It Gets Better' Saved Him From Christian Counseling!

HATE: Conservative Mars Hill Church will start services in Southeast Portland on Sept. 10!

A conservative Seattle church has purchased an old church building in liberal Southeast Portland, with services set to begin on Sept. 10, Details in the Oregonian.

Mars Hill Church, which was founded in 1996, is a mega-church with nine campuses in the Northwest and Southwest and three more on the way, including the new Portland facility at Southeast 32nd Avenue and Taylor Street. 

Mark Driscoll, the founder of the church, preaches against homosexuality and urges gays to turn from sin.

"A gay couple walks into your group, you're supposed to tell them to repent," Driscoll said in a sermon posted on the church website. "And if at any point you don't tell them to repent, you're not faithful to Biblical Christianity."

BLAME BACHMANN: Crane Falls, Smashes Into National Cathedral!

The National Cathedral got a message from on high today: “Run!” A construction crane toppled over there Wednesday, smashing into the Church House and the Herb Cottage, along with five parked cars, the Washington Post reports. 

The area was experiencing high wind at the time, with gusts hitting 40 to 50 miles per hour, but it’s, ahem, unclear if that caused the accident. One person was taken to the hospital as a result of the accident, but his injuries were not believed to be serious. Father Simon Bautista, a glass-half-full kind of guy, sees that as a miracle. “You can see that this was a divine hand that kept something else from happening,” he says. Bautista was at the cathedral when the crane fell. “My office started shaking,” he says, describing a sound that was like “thunder.”

XTREME: Gay Malaysian to Defy Gov't With Wedding Banquet!

(AP) – A gay Malaysian pastor who plans to marry his American partner in New York pledged today to throw a wedding banquet in his Muslim-majority home country despite criticism by government politicians. Rev. Ouyang Wen Feng, an ordained minister who has mainly lived in the United States since 1998, says he wants more Malaysians to speak up for gay people after the country's Islamic affairs minister recently described same-sex unions as a form of "extremism." 

"I still plan to have a Chinese wedding banquet in Kuala Lumpur next year," wrote the 41-year-old in an email to the AP. "I believe, I deserve at least this very right to share my joy with my friends by dining together, even in Malaysia." Malaysia's Islamic affairs minister last weekend said the publicity surrounding Ouyang's plan to marry worries authorities. "We agree with human rights, but such extremism that allows man and man to marry will create social problems."

OUSTED: Churchgoer Calls For Removal of Racist Homophobe Bronx Principal

Over the weekend, Frank Borzellieri, a principal at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a Bronx Catholic school with students who are predominantly black and Latino. Borzellieri was exposed by the NY Daily News as a racist homophobe who espoused his views in a book called Don't Take It Personally: Race Immigration, and Other Heresies and as a school board member in Queens tried to "Ban literature he labeled 'anti-American' from school libraries. His targets included books on different races and culture, and a biography of King" and "remove an openly gay teacher and gay-rights activist from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside, and ban school employees from making any references to homosexuality."
That didn't go over well in the Bronx.

A church-goer yesterday interrupted the service at Our Lady of Mount Carmel to call for Borzellieri's removal, the NY Daily News reports: "I wanted them to feel my sense of outrage that he was brought into the community to teach," said Juan Varela, 54, who was arrested yesterday on disorderly conduct and weapons possession charges and spent seven hours in police custody. Varela, who is Catholic but lives in Queens, said he sat in a pew during the 10 a.m. Mass. At one point he stood up, walked to the altar, faced parishioners and began railing against Borzellieri.

"This church hired a racist. This church does not like Hispanics and blacks," one police source quoted Varela as saying. Cops said he initially refused to leave, but finally complied. He said he was kicked from behind by ushers at the back of the church as he tried to exit.

Varela, who was arrested shortly thereafter, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon — a knife — and disorderly conduct.

RESEARCH: Psychologists Turn Gay Mormons Into Study!

Gay people have long been poked, prodded and probed by the scientific community. And, yes, that tradition continues.

Via the Daily Herald: A Utah State University psychology professor has launched a research study aimed at better understanding the experiences of gay Mormons and their relationship with the church.

Professor Renee Galliher says she hopes the survey data will dispel myths and promote better understanding about the lives of Mormon gays.

Like many faiths, Mormonism teaches that any sexual relationship outside of traditional marriage is a sin, and in the past, the church preached that homosexual feelings, alone, were a sin. One faith leader last year even suggested gays could be cured through prayer.

Among other questions, the survey asks respondents to describe their commitment to Mormon teachings before and after accepting their sexual orientation.