Tag: anti gay
McCarthy Leads Prayer At Conclave Of Anti-Gay Hate Groups

McCarthy Leads Prayer At Conclave Of Anti-Gay Hate Groups

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy joined hands with more than a dozen House Republicans, leading them in prayer at Wednesday’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, an event co-sponsored by several far-right Christian organizations, at least five of which appear on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups.

The California Republican specifically mentioned his upcoming meeting later Wednesday with President Joe Biden, when the two will discuss the debt ceiling, which Republicans want to leverage to massively cut federal spending on programs critical to keeping many Americans alive, including Social Security and Medicare – or shut down the federal government if Democrats do not agree to their terms.

“Father, I want to lift up those who are not here today. I want you to open their hearts,” McCarthy prayed. “Father, I want to lift up the president. Father, you know I will meet with him today. Father, I ask. I asked that you open both of our hearts that you put our meaning, our meaning that seeks your truth. And the help for this nation. Father, we know as we struggle, is we come up short and again but continue to seek your guidance. We ask that you give us the patience of Job. We ask that you give us the intellect the leadership that you gave David we ask that you give us the boldness.”

The event was held at the Museum of the Bible, a non-profit founded by right-wing evangelical activist David Green and the Green family. Green is the founder of Hobby Lobby, the privately-held chain store that won a Supreme Court case enshrining into U.S. jurisprudence the concept that for-profit corporations can and do have religious beliefs.

The five groups sponsoring the event which also appear on the SPLC’s list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups include the American Family Association (AFA), the Family Research Council (FRC), the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Liberty Counsel, and the Pacific Justice Institute.

Other attendees included anti-LGBTQ activists, like “right-wing pastor Andrew Brunson, who blasted the United States as ‘the primary corrupter of the world’ because ‘our government and corporations increasingly march under the rainbow flag,'” he said, as Right Wing Watch reported.

Also, two “ex-gay” activists.

Later, the Republicans, including McCarthy, were prayed over by Tony Perkins, the longtime head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council. Perkins has also served as chair and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent federal government commission.

Far-right House Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Weber of Texas descended into an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ tirade during which he invoked “the blood of the lamb” to telegraph to McCarthy his concerns about U.S. debt.


Weber is an original co-sponsor of the federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He once compared then-President Barack Obama to Hitler.

Right Wing Watch reports some of the Members of Congress who attended include Reps. Mary Miller, Diana Harshbarger, Steve Scalise, Rick Allen, Brian Babin, Michael Cloud, Robert Aderholt, Tracey Mann, Burgess Owens, Gary Palmer, Michelle Steel, Warren Davidson, Brandon Williams, Dan Bishop, Nathaniel Moran, and Mike Johnson.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Arizona Republicans Nominate Racist, Anti-Gay Blake Masters For Senate

Arizona Republicans Nominate Racist, Anti-Gay Blake Masters For Senate

Arizona Republicans chose millionaire venture capitalist Blake Masters on Tuesday to be their 2022 nominee for U.S. Senate, despite his history of overt racism and anti-LGBTQ bigotry.

Masters will face incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in the November midterm elections.

Former President Donald Trump gave Masters his "Complete and Total Endorsement" in the Republican primary race. But even with Trump's backing, Masters only received about 39% of the vote against the rest of the GOP field, including Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and businessman Jim Lamon.

In June, Masters told the right-wing advocacy group FreedomWorks that he would be open to ending Social Security as we know it. In Arizona, roughly 18.3% of residents and 24.5% of voters are over the age of 65, according to U.S. Census data.

"We need fresh and innovative thinking," Masters said. "Maybe we should privatize Social Security, right? Private retirement accounts, get the government out of it."

Masters has repeatedly made bigoted comments.

On April 11, he told the right-wing Jeff Oravits Show podcast that America's gun violence problem was mostly a problem for people of color.

"We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it's gang violence, right?" he baselessly argued. "It's gangs. It's people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats don't want to do anything about that."

Masters has frequently attacked LGBTQ rights.

He proposed a federal "Don't Say Gay" law based on Florida's bigoted law, claiming "your tax dollars should not fund radical gender ideology and weird sex instruction for children."

He also supports businesses denying service to LGBTQ customers.

He opposes same-sex marriage equality because marriage's "point is procreation and creating children."

Masters promises on his campaign website that he will "crack down on crime," especially "deadly mob violence." But he also touted the endorsement of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who egged on the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection and then sold campaign coffee mugs commemorating his fist pump to the mobs storming the building.

His campaign has benefited from at least $15 million in super PAC donations from his former boss, the conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel.

Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, has extensive ties to white nationalists and co-wrote a 1998 book that claimed, "The purpose of the rape crisis movement seems as much about vilifying men as about raising 'awareness.'" Thiel apologized for the "insensitive, crudely argued statements" in 2016.

Political experts rate this fall's Arizona Senate race a "toss-up."

Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), was elected to the Senate in a 2020 special election. He says he is seeking a full term "because Washington is broken and Arizonans deserve independent leadership focused on solving the problems we face."

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

USAID

Democrats Demand Investigation Of Bigoted Appointees At USAID

Reprinted with permission from ProPublica.

Democratic senators have called for the Trump administration to investigate anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim statements made by recent appointees to the U.S. Agency for International Development, urging the organization to do more as its leaders grapple with internal strife over their approach to issues of racism and inclusion.

The letter by seven senators made oblique reference to nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations calling for racial justice, saying that it is “important that employees hear from their leadership at the USAID an unequivocal commitment to addressing institutional prejudices."

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Merritt Corrigan

USAID Hires Anti-Gay Critic Of ‘Liberal Democracy’

Reprinted with permission from ProPublica.

A new Trump appointee to the United States' foreign aid agency has a history of online posts denouncing liberal democracy and has said that the country is in the clutches of a “homo-empire" that pushes a “tyrannical LGBT agenda."

In one post, Merritt Corrigan, who recently took up a position as deputy White House liaison at the U.S. Agency for International Development, wrote: “Liberal democracy is little more than a front for the war being waged against us by those who fundamentally despise not only our way of life, but life itself."

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