ARIZONA: Attorney General Tom “Sanctity Of Marriage” Horne Exposed As Adulterer

Joe.My.God. reports:

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, one of the state’s most vocal opponents of same-sex partner rights, has been exposed (by the FBI, no less) as an adulterer. 

Tom Horne caused more than $1,000 worth of damage when he clipped another car in a parking garage and just drove off, in order, according to FBI agents, to conceal an affair he was having with his passenger. Phoenix police records obtained Tuesday include detailed witness accounts by FBI agents who were following Horne, Arizona’s attorney general, on March 27 as part of a campaign finance investigation. They said they watched him back his borrowed vehicle into a white Range Rover in the parking garage of a Phoenix residential complex. FBI agents said that after the fender-bender, Horne and the woman, since identified as Carmen Chenal, who works for Horne, walked off and entered the residential area of the complex where Chenal lives.

In August, Horne filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court, demanding that Arizona be allowed to repeal domestic partners insurance for state employees. In his suit, Horne claimed that rescinding benefits for gay employees would be good for Arizona tourism because doing so “furthers the State’s interest in promoting marriage.” In addition to the investigation into Horne’s campaign finances, there are charges that the employee he’s been adulterously fucking was hired despite having no qualifications for the job.

Mitt Romney Got Log Cabin Republicans’ Endorsement By Promising Major Gay Rights Law

America Blog reports:

[UPDATE: At the bottom of this post I have an update from Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, a lead religious right group.  They not very happy with Uncle Mitt. They’re demanding a “flat, empathic, unemphatic, unambiguous denial from Romney himself. Please clarify for us all, Governor.  Bottom line: we still need a clear, unambiguous, no loophole denial from Gov. Romney that he will support ENDA as president.”]
Oh, Mitty, there you go again.
Ben Adler reports in the Nation today the remarkable news that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney apparently secured the endorsement of the lead gay Republican group, the Log Cabin Republicans, by privately promising them that he would support passage of a major piece of gay rights legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

It is currently legal under federal law, and in a number of states, to fire, not hire, and not promote someone because they’re gay or trans.  ENDA bans that discrimination under federal law.
Romney has previously opposed ENDA, Paul Ryan previously supported it, then got beaten up by his own party and voted to kill it, and now refuses to say where he stands on the legislation.
Adler thought it odd that Log Cabin thought, per their statement endorsing Romney, that they could work with him to pass major gay rights legislation, so he called up Log Cabin’s executive director, R. Clark Cooper, to find out.  Cooper, apparently, spilled the beans.
Romney’s greatest asset as a politician is his total lack of integrity, honesty or consistency. He is perfectly willing to go before the religious right one day and pledge fealty to them, and the Log Cabin Republicans the next day to do the same. And, apparently, that is what he has done, in private.
Cooper asserted repeatedly that, “With a President Romney we’re confident we can work with him [on ENDA].” But when asked why, Cooper offered only reasons that Romney should work with them: that discrimination is a form of economic inefficiency and impediment to job growth. But you could make the same argument to any president.
The question is what Romney has said that gives them such confidence. Cooper says, “Romney been clear in his opposition to workplace discrimination.” He also seemed to conflate private conversations with LCR representatives and his public pronouncements, saying such things as, “[Romney] is acutely aware of the problem of the patchwork of discrimination,” meaning that it creates problems for businesses that some states ban anti-gay discrimination and others do not.
Later, clearly referencing private communications with the campaign, Cooper said, “Based on our work with the campaign and Gov. Romney, I’m confident [that he will support anti-discrimination legislation].” Cooper was coy and vague about what exactly Romney said to inspire such confidence; he says Romney “has been adamant” in opposition to discrimination. Romney is clearly quite a salesman.
As I’ve written before, Romney has spoken of his personal preference not to practice discrimination, but he has not actually publicly called for outlawing workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Cooper said he would e-mail me Romney quotes I may have missed that do call for such legislation, but as of this writing he had not done so.
As I continued to press this point and suggested that LCR may be factually wrong about Romney’s position, Cooper blurted out, rhetorically, “Have you met with Romney’s domestic policy team?” Cooper’s implication was abundantly clear: Romney’s domestic policy team has privately told LCR what they wanted to hear. And therein lies the answer to how Romney secured LCR’s endorsement. But Romney so fears the wrath of the religious right that he will not adopt this position in public, (Although ENDA polls very well, major social conservative groups, such as the American Family Association, continue to oppose it and demand that Romney do the same.)
Given that Romney is a reflexive liar, the question then becomes why LCR chooses to believe Romney. For that, I have no answer other than wishful thinking on their part.
Oh my.
How Long Until Romney Flip-flops Again?
Get ready for Romney’s promise to help get ENDA passed to go the way of former Romney spokesman Rick Grenell, who was unceremoniously self-deported from the Romney campaign after the religious right got vewy vewy angwy with Master Mitt.
Just guess what the religious right is going to do when they find out that Mitt Romney has promised to pass the most significant piece of gay and trans rights legislation in the history of America.
Keep in mind that up until recently, Romney used to love the gays.  Romney once even promised that he was more pro-gay than Ted Kennedy.  Then he wanted to be president, and he realized that he needed to become a neanderthal to run as a Republican, so suddenly Romney was anti-gay, and like his opposition to withdrawal from Afghanistan, past promises went down the memory hole, another victim of Romnesia.
Let’s all count down together to how long it will take for Romney to issue a statement revoking his secret pact to support ENDA: 3, 2, 1…_______UPDATE: Here’s the American Family Association’s response – none too pleased with Uncle Waffle:

Mitt Romney’s Son Tagg Signed “Abortion” Clause In Surrogate Birth Contract Of His Twins

TMZ reports:

TMZ has learned Mitt Romney’s son Tagg — who had twins this year through a surrogate — signed an agreement that gave the surrogate, as well as Tagg and his wife, the right to abort the fetuses in non-life threatening situations … and Mitt Romney covered some of the expenses connected with the arrangement  … and it may boil down to an incredibly stupid mistake.

The twin boys -- David Mitt and William Ryder — were born on May 4, 2012.  We’ve learned Tagg and his wife Jen, along with the surrogate and her husband, signed aGestational Carrier Agreement dated July 28, 2011.  Paragraph 13 of the agreement reads as follows: 
    
“If in the opinion of the treating physician or her independent obstetrician there is potential physical harm to the surrogate, the decision to abort or not abort is to be made by the surrogate.”

Translation:  Tagg and Jen gave the surrogate the right to abort the fetuses even if her life wasn’t in danger.  All the surrogate has to show is “potential physical harm,” which could be something like preeclampsia — a type of high blood pressure that could damage the mother’s liver, kidney or brain, but is not necessarily life-threatening.

Paragraph 13 goes on:

“In the event the child is determined to be physiologically, genetically or chromosomally abnormal, the decision to abort or not to abort is to be made by the intended parents.  In such a case the surrogate agrees to abort, or not to abort, in accordance with the intended parents’ decision.”

And there’s another relevant provision in Paragraph 13:

“Any decision to abort because of potential harm to the child, or to reduce the number of fetuses, is to be made by the intended parents.”

Translation:  Tagg and his wife, Jen, had the right to abort the fetuses if they felt they would not be healthy.

Sources connected with Mitt Romney tell TMZ, Mitt was involved in the surrogate arrangement because he paid some of the expenses connected with the agreement.  We do not know if Mitt Romney read the contract or knew the terms.

Mitt has said, “I’m in favor of abortion being legal in the case of rape and incest and the health and life of the mother.”  Otherwise, Romney is against abortion. 

Now for the stupid mistake.  We’ve learned Tagg chose the same surrogate in 2009, who gave birth to a boy.   Attorney Bill Handel — a nationally-known expert in surrogacy law who put the deal together between Tagg and the surrogate — tells TMZ when the 2009 contract was drafted there was no Paragraph 13 providing for abortion because Tagg and his wife didn’t want it.

Handel says in 2011, when the second contract was being drafted, everyone involved “just forgot” to remove Paragraph 13.  Handel says, “No one noticed.  What can I say?”

Dear Brian Brown, When It Comes To Violence & Vilification, NOM Is There

Via Box Turtle Bulletin:

1. When Reverend Ariel Torres Ortega stood on your stage as your guest at your rally and proclaimed that gays are “worthy to death,” NOM was there. But you didn’t condemn it at the event, on your website, or on your blog.
2. When Bishop Robert Evans announced gay marriage represents “the evil modern works of Satan,” NOM was there to spread the message.
3. When Kirk Cameron called same-sex marriage a threat to civilization, NOM was there to create a video helping him spread his views and dubbing him a “champion of marriage.”
4. When Chik-Fil-A president Dan Cathy said marriage equality activists “are inviting God’s judgment on our nation,” NOM was there to suggest a weekly appreciation day for him.
5. When Fox News asked NOM founder Maggie Gallagher about a pageant contestant who said gays “shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them,” Maggie was there, not to condemn the call for violence, but to praise “her courage in coming forward.”
6. When commenters on your own blog responded to your complaints about incendiary rhetoric by claiming homosexuality is “a perverted act, just like pedophilia,” and saying they understand why a country like Uganda would want to punish gays with the death penalty? Maggie Gallagher was there — but to defend her own self, not to condemn violence and vilification

“Moron Of The Week” Nominee & Four Times Married Drug Addict Rush Limbaugh Defends Sanctity Of Marriage

Via WND:

“Now Christianity has to be banned, and that’s where this is all headed. All this stuff at Chick-fil-A, the target is Christianity, not Chick-fil-A. The target is freedom of religion. [With] Obama and Obamacare, the target is always freedom. When we’re talking about liberals, the target is always freedom. Dan Cathy, the head honcho of Chick-fil-A, he’s not making a political statement when he talks about the values the company believes in. It gets interpreted that way because the left has politicized gay marriage.” - Rush Limbaugh-

Church Of England: Although We Were Founded On The Principles Of Henry VIII, Marriage Should Be Between 1 Man & 1 Woman

The Church of England cannot support the proposal to enable ―all couples, regardless of their gender, to have a civil marriage ceremony. Such a move would alter the intrinsic nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as enshrined in human institutions throughout history. Marriage benefits society in many ways, not only by promoting mutuality and fidelity, but also by acknowledging an underlying biological complementarity which, for many, includes the possibility of procreation.

We have supported various legal changes in recent years to remove unjustified discrimination and create greater legal rights for same sex couples and we welcome that fact that previous legal and material inequities between heterosexual and same-sex partnerships have now been satisfactorily addressed. To change the nature of marriage for everyone will be divisive and deliver no obvious legal gains given the rights already conferred by civil partnerships. We also believe that imposing for essentially ideological reasons a new meaning on a term as familiar and fundamental as marriage would be deeply unwise.

The Church Understanding Of Marriage

1. In common with almost other Churches, The Church of England holds, as a matter of doctrine and derived from the teaching of Christ himself, that marriage in general – and not just the marriage of Christians – is, in its nature, a lifelong union of one man with one woman. […]

Read the full statement.

FLORIDA: Former Gov. Charlie “Not-So-In-The-Closet” Crist Accused Of Secret Gay Affairs

This isn’t new, is it?

Ireland: Priest’s PC Autoplays Porn Slideshow To Congregation 

Gizmodo reports:

Father Martin McVeigh was giving a talk to 26 parents and one 8-year-old kid when computer disaster struck. He connected his USB drive into a PC to start his Powerpoint presentation and, instead of the word of God, a hardcore gay porn slideshow started—thanks to Windows’ autoplay.
Some parents—who were there to hear McVeigh talk about First Communion—were angry. Others were in shock. Just like McVeigh. He was so embarrassed that, according to witnesses, unplugged the USB drive and walked out of the room without uttering a single word. Later he declared to the press:
I don’t know how it happened but I know what happened. There are people making innuendoes who weren’t even there but in this day and age these stories grow.
Well, Father, I think there’s little space for innuendo after showing gay porn in church. McVeigh, however, claims there is an explanation for all this.
The Archdiocese of Armagh, where the parish belongs, called the police and gave them the USB stick for inspection. The police told them there was no crime in gay porn and the drive didn’t contain any pedophilia. It was just normal gay porn.

According to The Ulster Herald, “an emergency meeting was held in the parish last night.” You know, because gay priests are such a rare event that emergency meetings need to be held with the utmost urgency, so everyone can slam someone who mistakenly made his sexual preferences public. Embarrassment is not enough! To the fire with him.

(Tipped by R. King).

Moron Of The Week: AZ’s Sheriff Paul Babeu

For being a living contradiction and for believing that he could get away with secretly fucking around with his allegedly illegal Mexican immigrant boyfriend and be only the second most racist and extremely vocal anti-immigration activists, at the same time.

Karma is a bitch, right?

Hypocrite Of The Day: Newt Gingrich -Newt Gingrich’s Ex-Wife says Newt Wanted An OPEN MARRIAGE

WMAL reports:

The reporter who conducted that interview, ABC Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross, told WMAL’s Morning Majority program that Marianne Gingrich claims her ex-husband wanted an ‘open marriage.’ “He came to her and said, ‘I want to stay married to you and still have an affair with Calista, his current wife,” said Ross. “According to Marianne, he said ‘You need to share me,’ and she said ‘I don’t want to share,’ and the marriage ended,” he added.

Newt Gingrich with Callista (left) and Marianne (right)

Hypocrite Of The Day: Karen Santorum - The Freaky Wife Of Rick “Frothy Mix” Santorum

Joe.My.God. reports:

Before she married Rick “Marriage Defender” Santorum, his now-devout wife Karen was shacking up with an abortion doctor forty years older that she was. If that’s not freaky enough, he was also the doctor who delivered her. Can I get an “ewww” up in here?

Mrs. Santorum, 51, apparently wasn’t always committed to the cause. In fact, her live-in partner through most of her 20s was Tom Allen, a Pittsburgh obstetrician and abortion provider 40 years older than she, who remains an outspoken crusader for reproductive rights and liberal ideals. Dr. Allen has known Mrs. Santorum, born Karen Garver, her entire life: he delivered her in 1960.

“Karen was a lovely girl, very intelligent and sweet,” says Allen, who at 92 uses a walker but retains a sly smile. A wine aficionado who frequented the Pittsburgh Symphony and was active in the local chapter of the ACLU, he lives with his wife of 16 years, Judi—they started dating in 1989, soon after he and Garver split—in the same large detached row house where he lived with the woman who would become Santorum’s wife.

He and Garver also lived for several years in another house a few blocks away. “Karen had no problems with what I did for a living,” says Allen, who helped start one of the first hospital-sanctioned abortion clinics in Pennsylvania. “We never really discussed it.” (The Santorum campaign did not return repeated requests for comment on the relationship.)

No sex outside marriage! All life is sacred! Ask my freaky wife all about it!

Canada: MP’s Do An “It Gets Better” Video, But There’s Something Off

We all agree that Conservatives in Canada and in the United Kingdom tend to be more open minded on social issues like Gay Marriage, however, that doesn’t mean we don’t have our own Bachmann versions up there. In this case, we’ve got a couple of MP’s appearing on a “It Gets Better” video, but to those who have a good memory and/or are news junkies like myself, you’ll notice there’s something off here. In one word: Hypocrisy.

Dan Savage comments:

The video was released by Canadian conservatives—no national conservative elected official or leader in the United States has been able to bring himself or herself to say “please don’t kill yourselves” to LGBT kids. But my Canadian readers aren’t buying it:
···················

• I am trying (but struggling very much) to be positive about Canadian cabinet minister Vic Toews’ appearance in an “It Gets Better” video. The video was posted by Conservative staffers and Members of Parliament in the wake of Jamie Hubley’s suicide this week in Ottawa. One side of me is glad. The other side is enraged. Toews, having repeatedly sought votes by peddling fear and homophobia, now has the gall to tell us that it gets better? The patronizing bastard.
• I think that maybe it will get better when hypocrites like him stop telling our neighbours and colleagues how we are a threat to their communities and families. And he pretends to wonder where the hate and bullying comes from? What a fucking miserable prick. To me, It Gets Better is supposed to be a source of positive energy and I hate to be a downer, but…

···················

• Greetings from Canada. Our Conservative MPs have just recorded their own “It Gets Better” video and I thought you might want to expose their hypocrisy! Of the 10 MPs that I could identify I believe that only TWO—John Baird and Shelly Glover—voted to support the addition of “gender identity” and “gender expression” to our Criminal Code and Human Rights Act, in February of this year.
• Thought I’d pass this along and maybe you can SLOG it and get your loyal readers to start calling these hypocrites out!

···················

• If you haven’t heard, some staffers, MP’s and a Senator of Canada’s Conservative (right wing) party just posted an It Gets Better video in response to a teen suicide in Ottawa. As you know, same-sex marriage is legal here, but the Conservative Party tried to re-open that debate in 2006. I looked into that, and out of the 6 MP’s who were in government at that time, 5 of them voted against same-sex rights. Pretty disgusting, but I thought you might find it interesting. Thanks for starting the project.
• P.S. Here’s the break down:
• Lois brown- unelected in 06
• Alice Wong - unelected in 06
• Vic Toews - against in 06
• Rona Ambrose - against in 06
• Mike Wallace - against in 06
• John Baird - for in 06
• Shelly glover - unelected
• Deepak Obhrai - against in 06
• Candice Hoeppner- unelected in 06
• David sweet - against in 06
• Don meredith (senator) - n/a

···················

• Just thought I’d pass this on to you: it’s leading Canadian Federal Tory cabinet ministers and staffers and MPs making an It Get Better video. Can you imagine Republican big wigs doing the same? I cannot imagine it. This wasn’t an official video, but I’m sure if PMSH (the Prime Minister) or the party officially didn’t approve, it wouldn’t have happened.
• Also, a lot of those on the left are bashing these Tories (I vote Liberal, btw) for making this video, i.e. “well you were bad once, this is thus hypocrisy.” Surely we should be embracing them, not scolding them for being late to the party. I wonder how many Tories are afraid to fly blue at Pride Parades because they are afraid of being spit on.

“Savage Love” readers know how I feel about Vic Toews. But I’ll just say this about Canada’s conservatives contribution to the “It Gets Better” Project: People who are in a position to make it better—elected officials—but who have chosen, over the years, to make it worse, can come around. It’s essential that they do. People who have advanced the cause of ignorance and bigotry and hate—people, like Vic Toews, people who have empowered the bullies—are welcome to see the error of their ways, to come around, to make amends and make it up. But it’s going to take more than a video to undo the damage done by Vic Toews and Canada’s conservatives. This was, quite literally, the least Vic and his fellow conservatives could do. The very least.

Santorum Didn’t Hear Boos, But Thanks Gay Soldier

He can suck it.

Dick Coughlan: Straight Pride Is For Queers

Anderson Cooper Rips Michele “Crazy Eyes” Bachmann