ARKANSAS: Another Renegade Clerk

After consulting with the Liberty Counsel, the county clerk of Van Buren County, Arkansas has distributed a memo which declares that her office will not be issuing same-sex marriage licenses.  Via the Arkansas Times:

Pam Bradford, the Van Buren County clerk, circulated this memo to all county clerks today announcing her intention to defy the U.S. Supreme Court and have her office refuse to issue marriage licenses. She was out of the office when I called, but an employee confirmed the memo and said, as yet, no same-sex couples had presented themselves in the county to obtain a marriage license. Bradford's resistance is contrary to the position taken by both Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Even the anti-gay Family Council, which is promoting ways in which people opposed to marriage can avoid participation in the process, distributed the advice from another religious legal organization that the best means to avoid compliance is to have someone else who is willing to do the work do it in place of someone with objections. Bradford has taken this a step farther. Bradford is a Republican and attends Shirley First Baptist Church according to her Facebook page. The clerk's office is in Clinton.

Van Buren County has a population of 17K and bans the sale of alcohol. (Tipped by JMG reader Jordan)

UPDATE: Has she caved already?

Channel 4's Greg Yarbrough tells me at 5 p.m. that reporter Marci Manley has talked with Van Buren Clerk Pam Bradford, who has not returned my calls. She tells Manley that she's spoken with an Arkansas attorney, Mike Rainwater, who provides legal advice to county governments through the Association of Arkansas Counties, and is now saying she will issue marriage licenses — and treat customers "with respect." This followed by about an hour a phone message to me from Mathew Staver, head of the Liberty Counsel in Texas, which said it had agreed to represent Bradford to defend her in resisting issuance of licenses. Moral: Local advice better than that of outside agitator.

SOUTH CAROLINA: GOP Rep Rants About "Abomination" Rainbow Flag During Debate On Confederate Flag Removal

Via Jezebel:

The debate is airing live on C-SPAN, which is a great time for some states’ rights grandstanding by Republicans looking to win reelection bids. Republicans like State Senator Lee Bright, who is circulating a petition to keep the flag, writing on Facebook, “Right now, we have an opportunity to protect the symbol of our Southern heritage. The Confederate battle flag proudly represents states’ rights, so let’s fight to keep it flying!” Just in case you had any illusions whatsoever about what Senator Bright thinks about his black constituents. Determined to make today a hateful twofer, Bright began his remarks this morning by inveighing against gay marriage and the Supreme Court, for some reason. He referred to the White House being lit up in what he called “abomination colors,” meaning the rainbow flag of LGBT rights. “We can talk about a flag all we want, but the Devil is taking control of this land,” Bright added.

OREGON: Final Ruling Says Anti-Gay Bakers Must Pay $135K To Gay Couple

Via Oregon Live:

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian on Thursday ordered the owners of a former Gresham bakery to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple for refusing to make them a wedding cake. Avakian's ruling upheld a preliminary finding earlier this year that the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa had discriminated against the women on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Bakery owners Melissa and Aaron Klein cited their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage in denying service. The case ignited a long-running skirmish in the nation's culture wars, pitting civil rights advocates against religious freedom proponents who argued business owners should have the right to refuse services for gay and lesbian weddings.

Avakian's final order makes clear that serving potential customers equally trumps the Kleins' religious beliefs. Under Oregon law, businesses cannot discriminate or refuse service based on sexual orientation, just as they cannot turn customers away because of race, sex, disability, age or religion, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said in a news release.

The Klein's say they will appeal. But they'll likely never have to pay a penny due to a GoFundMe-style campaign launched by Franklin Graham.

ITALY: Hundreds Of Thousands Rally In Rome Against Same-Sex Marriage

Breitbart celebrates:

Hundreds of thousands of people travelled from all over Italy and Europe yesterday to protest against the proposed legalisation of gay marriage, and the teaching of ‘gender theories’ in schools. Gathering in the San Giovanni Square in Rome, with estimates of participants running from 300,000 to a million people, the protest put the ‘anti-Austerity’ protests held in London on the same day to shame, for sheer volume of people and absence of criminal behaviour. Attendees held aloft banners reading “The family will save the world” and “Let’s defend our children”, as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tries to push a civil union bill through parliament.

The call for Italy to keep pace with its western European neighbours on the issue has grown stronger since Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage last month. But rights activists warn it will be no mean feat for the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party to find allies across the political spectrum, blaming an excessive influence of the Catholic clergy on the political class. Rejecting the assertion, Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for the “Defend our children!” committee said: “We are asking for families based on marriage be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children’s sexual identities”.

More from Yahoo News:

While a survey published by Italian daily La Stampa at the end of May found that 51 percent of voters would support gay marriage, protesters in Rome said the state should stop trying to interfere in sexual or gender education. "We are asking for families based on marriage be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children's sexual identities," said Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for the "Defend our children!" committee. There were both cries of support and derision from the political sphere.

Matteo Salvini, rising star on the far right and head of the Northern League party, sent a Facebook "hug for all the mummies and daddies protesting peacefully in Rome to defend their children's future." Vincenzo Brana, head of the long-standing Arcigay gay rights association in Bologna, was quick to point out that "today is World Refugee Day", with hundreds of thousands of migrants in Italy facing an uncertain future. Their problems "are an urgent issue which concerns us all. Those who take to the streets to talk of other things show they are living on another planet, and I would recommend leaving them on that planet alone."

Note the many Manif Pour Tous flags.

BREAKING: North Carolina House Votes To Override Governor's Veto On Magistrates Same-Sex Marriage Refusal Bill

The override passed by a mere three votes.

UPDATE: From the Campaign For Southern Equality.

"Senate Bill 2 is unconstitutional, and will undoubtedly be challenged in court. This bill, which will now become law, is discriminatory and treats gay and lesbian couples as second class citizens. We are more determined than ever to achieve full equality for LGBT people in North Carolina and to ensure that LGBT youth know that they are not alone,” says Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality. "This law is nothing more than state sanctioned discrimination. It is a terribly misguided attempt to rewrite what equal protection under the law means. Equality and fairness are not principles that are decided on a case-by-case basis, dependent upon who happens to be working the counter on a particular day. Neither the United States Constitution nor the North Carolina Constitution permit any such thing. It is terribly unfortunate that this many elected officials don’t understand that,” says Jake Sussman of Charlotte-based Tin Fulton Walker & Owen and lead counsel in General Synod of the UCC v. Reisinger, the lawsuit that struck down Amendment One last October.

Meet Ireland's Duggar/Westboro Family

Last night I came across the below videos from an Irish anti-gay marriage group calling themselves Mandate For Marriage.  From their "about" page:

Mandate for Marriage is a website established by Mr Sean Burke, who lives in Castlebar, Co. Mayo with his wife and family. He presents the case that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that this definition is in the best interests of the stability of the family, the rearing of children, and the protection of religious liberty. Sean is assisted in the campaign by his two sons. Enoch Burke is the official spokesperson and media representative for Mandate for Marriage. Isaac Burke is responsible for media productions at Mandate for Marriage. Marriage, as a social institution, has a long enjoyed a privileged and celebrated status. The mandate for marriage is historically viewed as coming from God: ‘therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife’ (Genesis 2:24). The Irish state, in its Constitution, recognised and protected marriage as an important institution ‘upon which the family is founded.’ No state has a right to usurp this mandate and redefine marriage, as the Irish government is requesting to do in this referendum.

Enoch and Isaac? Right out of Genesis. As it turns out, there's eight more of those kids and the Burke family is rather notorious in their neck of Ireland.

The Burkes are a family from Castlebar who are known for their campaigns against Gay Marriage, where they quote Leviticus, and claim that the gay community invented AIDS. They are made up of Martina and Sean Burke, and their ten children, all of whom have biblical names. The parents of the family run the website Campaign for Conscience where they post articles on issues such as abortion and Christian values. They have been part of daily conversation in Galway recently as two of the Burke children who attend NUI Galway have been running for positions on the NUIG Students Union. Enoch Burke who is the part of the Christian Union Society, has been running for Equality Officer. His younger brother and Auditor of the College’s Life Society, has been running for Post-Graduate Officer. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However what I strongly disagree with are the Christian Union’s posters in which they say "To permit couples of the same gender to avail of marriage is to change this definition. Once altered in part, the entire definition is then subject to change. For example, the NAMBLA group (USA) are now lobbying for marriage status for pedophilic men-boy relationships."

In other words, the Burkes are an Irish mashup of the Duggars and Westboro. In fact, this site calls them "Ireland's Phelps family." (And like the Phelps, the kids sing.) With that in mind, view the below admittedly slick videos. Clearly the Burkes are taking the cues from the likes of FRC and the AFA.


RELATED:  Watch Irish students protest the Burke family, who can be seen lined up to the left of the sitting students.

Fallout Begins For Michigan Car Shop

Concernstipated Women: GLSEN's Day Of Silence Stifles Our Right To Bully

"On the Day of Silence, GLSEN encourages students to go to school and remain silent all day. Their website says the day seeks to 'call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.' And therein lies the irony, doesn’t it? In light of all we know today, how the pro-LGBT radicals are bullying Christians into silence, it is almost comical to hear this propaganda still being peddled to our children. If we want to talk about a silencing effect, we can talk about the recent Indiana brouhaha and the ensuing hysteria over Memories Pizza owner Crystal O’Connor telling a viciously deceptive reporter they could not cater a same-sex 'wedding' because it would conflict with their religious beliefs. How about the silencing of Mozilla’s former CEO, Brendan Eich? Or the bullying of Barronelle Stutzman, the florist who is at risk of losing everything she has, including her home, her family business, and her life savings, because of her religious beliefs on marriage? We are at the point where they are ready to put Christians in jail if they don’t abide by the pro-LGBT mantra." - Concernstipated Women head Penny Nance, writing for Breitbart.

INDIANA: Pizza Parlor Will Give Some Of Windfall To Florist In Washington State

Via the Daily Mail:

In an exclusive first interview inside Memories Pizza restaurant since it closed down last week, owner Kevin O’Connor and daughter Crystal emerged from hiding and told Daily Mail Online they had been heartened by the support of 29,000 people who donated and many more who wrote to them. They revealed they are set to share their new fortune with disabled children, a women’s help group, fire fighters, police trusts, Christian churches and Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman, 70, who was fined after declaring she would not serve a gay wedding.

The O’Connors are being advised by financial guru Ed Butowsky, an expert in the investment wealth management industry. He said: "Mr O’Connor and Crystal are genuine people. He is devastated that he has given Walkerton a bad name and people around the US might view it as a gay hating town. It is not that. But the O'Connors believe what they believe and that is their right. They want to share the money they have received and we are discussing how best that should happen. Nothing has been decided 100 per cent, but some charities will receive money as will Barronelle Stutzman who they wish to support."

Liberty Counsel To SCOTUS: Don't Approve Same-Sex Marriage Because Sodomy Should Still Be Illegal Anyway

The Liberty Counsel today filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, arguing that same-sex marriage must not be legalized nationwide because homosexuality should still be criminalized in the first place. An excerpt:

Nearly seven decades of Kinseyan cultural transformation have shown that Kinsey’s promises of a freer, more enlightened and safer society were, at best, illusory, and at worst, deceptive. All of the cultural indicators that should have improved according to Kinsey and his supporters have in fact declined, in some cases, precipitously, as the full effect of the called-for changes has become manifest. Kinsey claimed that fornication and adultery were widespread and not harmful. If anything, according to Kinsey, such experiences actually strengthened marriages. Therefore, laws against fornication and adultery were unjust, unfair and unconstitutional. Drafters of the MPC [Moral Penal Code] took Kinsey’s advice and decriminalized those sexual offenses. Instead of strengthening marriages, the decriminalization and destigmatization of adultery, fornication and other non-marital conduct have had the opposite effect.

According to the Liberty Counsel, the decriminalization of "non-marital conduct" is responsible for increases in rape and illegitimate babies. So stop them gays from getting married.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention this bit from their press release: "Liberty Counsel is calling Christians to unite in fasting and prayer for three days before Supreme Court hears the case on April 23, 24, and 25."

NOTE: The anti-gay briefs are pouring in and I'll be excerpting more of them over the weekend. Hang onto your hats.

MISSOURI: Springfield Readies For Repeal Vote On LGBT Non-Discrimination Laws

Colin Murphy reports at Boom LGBT:

Mirroring a wave of anti-equality efforts in state legislatures and cities across the nation, opponents of a recently passed LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance in Missouri's third largest city are asking voters to repeal the law on April 7. In a 6-3 vote on Oct. 13, The Springfield City Council passed City Ordinance 6141, a bill to amend the city’s current nondiscrimination ordinance by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected categories in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

But any celebration was short-lived when the following month an opposition group successfully turned in more than 2,600 signatures (the threshold is 10 percent of the votes in the most recent April municipal election) to repeal the expansion through a ballot referendum known as Question 1. Proponents of the repeal say they don't want the regulations expanding into their businesses, their churches - or their bathrooms. "We're in a battle for our children and our children's children," said Calvin Morrow, Yes on Question 1 spokesman, the Springfield News Leader reports. Morrow went on to call the ordinance an attack on Christianity.

Leading the repeal drive is local megachurch Pastor John Lindell, who says, "It is possible for someone who has been a life-long alcoholic to stop. It is possible for somebody who has a cutting tongue and a big mouth to stop. It is possible for someone who is engaged in homosexual behavior to stop." Over 100 Springfield businesses have formed a coalition in opposition to the repeal. Yesterday the anti-LGBT side posted the below testimony from a local gay man who supports the repeal of his own rights. Note the on-screen message at the end.

Quote Of The Day - Amanda Marcotte

"[B]igots cannot wait to play the victim. Don’t give them legitimate cause. Just as with the people sending glitter bombs to anti-choicers. Yes, it’s funny watching a bunch of people who would literally force you to give birth against your will whine because they have glitter in the carpet. But these folks are dying for any angle they can get to play the victim. If they can get the tiniest toe hold to claim that your actions extend beyond free speech into harassment and attempt to cause material harm, they are going to grab it and hang on for dear life. So don’t." - Raw Story columnist Amanda Marcotte, responding to the threats against the Indiana pizza parlor. Marcotte suggests that merely quoting bigots verbatim is "often enough to make your point." Which is kind of the entire theme of this here website thingy.

Mat Staver: Gays Are Like Hamas

"Their agenda doesn’t stop until they are completely dominating anybody who ultimately does not not only agree but promote and affirm their lifestyle. Their agenda will not stop, it will ultimately result in fines and prosecution. This is an intolerant agenda. This is like dealing with terrorists, negotiating with people who have a zero-sum game and they don’t want you to exist. It is like the Palestinians and the Israelis: the Palestinians in Gaza don’t like the Jews to exist in the land, so no matter how much land you give them for so-called peace, it doesn’t really satisfy them. There is no satisfying this radical agenda, they don’t want you to exist. If you do exist, they want you to promote and applaud their sinful lifestyle." - Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver, speaking to World Net Daily.

Country Radio Stations Pull Hit Single Following Complaints About "Gay Agenda"

Country radio stations nationwide have ceasing playing a hit single after listeners wrongly complained that the song promotes homosexuality. Via the Washington Post:

Alana Lynn, a morning co-host on country music station 104.3 FM in Boise, Idaho, was excited to play Little Big Town’s latest single for her listeners. “Girl Crush,” a powerful ballad about a woman envious of her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, seemed destined to be a hit. “I want to taste her lips, yeah cause they taste like you / I want to drown myself in a bottle of her perfume,” vocalist Karen Fairchild sings. “I want her long blond hair, I want her magic touch / Yeah cause maybe then, you’d want me just as much. . . I got a girl crush.” Sure, it’s a provocative way to describe jealousy. But when Lynn played the song on the air, she didn’t anticipate that she would get furious phone calls and e-mails accusing “Girl Crush” of “promoting the gay agenda” and threats to boycott the station. In recent weeks, multiple radio stations from coast to coast have been inundated with similar complaints about “Girl Crush,” forcing several to take it out of a regular rotation. (Sample comments heard by a Texas program director: “You are just promoting the gay agenda on your station and I am changing the channel and never listening to you ever again!!”)

The song is currently #4 on the iTunes country chart and is at #17 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Liberty Counsel Event Speaker: Militant Homofascists Are Taking Over America

Miranda Blue reports at Right Wing Watch:

This weekend’s Awakening conference, an annual event hosted by the Religious Right legal group Liberty Counsel and attended by any number of far-right activists and a few GOP presidential candidates, was dominated by the theme that the Christian Right is in a spiritual war against a satanic coalition of LGBT rights, Islam and progressivism. Nobody summed it up quite as well as Ken Graves, a pastor from Bangor, Maine, who declared to the audience sitting in a megachurch in Orlando that they were in a fight against “militant homofascism” that “seeks to take over our land and make it Sodom” and secular humanists who, in conjunction with militant Islam, want to “destroy everything we have” and establish a “secular humanist caliphate.”

TEXAS: Hate Group Calls For Christian "Army" To Defend State's Marriage Ban

From the hate group Texas Values:

It’s time for Texans to rise up and take a stand for God’s truth about marriage! We must draw a line in the sand. Please make plans to attend the Defense of Texas Marriage Amendment Rally scheduled for Monday, March 23rd at 1:00 pm on the south steps of the Texas Capitol. Please encourage your family, friends and fellow church members to attend. In the November 8, 2005 General Election, the citizens of Texas passed, by an overwhelming margin of 76% to 24%, a Marriage Amendment to the Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 32, which provides that “Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.”

The event is being hosted by our friends at Conservative Republicans of Texas and over 100 elected State Officials are sponsoring this event. Unfortunately, those state leaders standing for truth are coming under attacks by those seeking to redefine marriage. That is why Texans must have a show of force to let these legislators know that we support them. With the U.S. Supreme Court set to take up a potentially landmark gay ‘marriage’ case later this year, there could not be a more important time for Texans to declare their support for marriage between one man and one woman.

In the clip below the president of Conservative Republicans For Texas calls for a Christian "army to protect biblical marriage," adding that Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore will headline the rally.

Liberty Counsel: The Alabama Supreme Court Has Restored The Rule Of Law

"The ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court is historic, and is one of the most researched and well reasoned opinions on marriage to be issued by any court in the country. The legitimacy of the judiciary is undermined when a judge legislates from the bench or usurps the power reserved to the states regarding natural marriage. This decision of the Alabama Supreme Court is very well reasoned, which is quite rare from today’s courts. The decision not only affirms natural marriage but also restores the rule of law." - Mat Staver, head of Liberty Counsel, which filed the writ of mandamus that resulted in last night's ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court.

TEXAS: Let's Copy Arkansas And Ban Every City From Enforcing LGBT Rights

John Wright reports at the Texas Observer:

A Fort Bend County Republican has introduced a bill that would prohibit cities from enforcing ordinances protecting LGBT people against discrimination. State Rep. Rick Miller’s House Bill 1556 would bar cities from adopting nondiscrimination ordinances that include protected classes not contained in state law. Texas law doesn’t include sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. If passed, Miller’s bill would undo LGBT protections passed by numerous cities, including Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and Plano. Altogether more than 7.5 million Texans are covered by such ordinances.

RELATED: Last week West Virginia GOP lawmakers also tried to copy Arkansas, but the Republican head of the state Senate has declared that there is "no way" that the bill will be heard in his chamber.

UNITED NATIONS: Russia Tries To Block Marriage Benefits For LGBT Staffers

Foreign Policy reports:

Last June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a far-reaching administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of the United Nations’ lesbian and gay employees, as well as to other U.N. workers who had entered legally recognized domestic partnerships. On Monday, March 2, Russia gave the plan a resounding nyet.

Speaking Monday morning at a meeting of the U.N.’s main budget committee, a Russian diplomat demanded that Ban reverse his decision on the matter, saying the U.N. chief’s action violated a U.N. General Assembly resolution that left it to U.N. employees’ governments to determine whether are eligible for spousal benefits. Moscow has been weighing whether to force a vote in the budget committee, known as the Fifth Committee, to halt funding such benefits, a vote that it likely could win. Unlike the U.N. Security Council, the United States and other big powers don’t have the power to veto votes in the Fifth Committee. While its decisions are generally made by consensus, states can call for a vote.

“We will insist that the secretary-general urgently revoke the administrative bulletin” expanding benefits to same-sex couples, the Russian diplomat told the committee. Russia’s critics characterized the gambit as a cynical political maneuver aimed at checking the authority of a U.N. leader who has clashed with Moscow over its policies from Syria to Ukraine. Russia has transformed what is by all accounts a low-priority administrative dispute into a high-profile power struggle with the U.N. leader.

Russia's move is being opposed by the United States and the European Union. (Tipped by JMG reader Zhera)

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