Sugar's Rainbow - Stuff and Nonsense

We returned from Houston earlier than expected so I decided to whip together a quick roundup:

Responding to a female caller's question on The 700 Club, cadaverous Pat Robertson suggested that it is appropriate for born-again Christians to befriend "homosexual persons" ONLY if they believe the individuals can be converted.  He also warned the girl to stay away from gay bars and parties.  David Badash provides video of the exchange on the New Civil Rights Movement, if you can stomach it.  (Keep the Pepto handy.)

Over at AlterNet, Amanda Marcotte presents five ways that social conservatives are attacking your sexual freedom.  (I'm sure we can all think of more than five.)  Marcotte also explains why Fox News blowhard Sean Hannity is "making sexual resentment a right-wing trope."

"God yes, Church no!"  That was one of several slogans shouted by thousands of human rights activists protesting Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Spain.  A massive "kiss-in" has been planned for the pontiff's arrival on Thursday.  After the Spanish parliament legalized gay marriage back in 2005, Roman Catholic leaders stepped up their condemnation of same-sex couples (that is, when they weren't busy shielding pedophile priests from civil lawsuits).  Elisa Santafe reports for AFP.

During an interview with Catholic News Radio of San Diego, Newt Gingrich said that gay nuptials are directly responsible for America's ailing economy.  This contradicts data which shows states with marriage equality experience an economic upturn.  Gingrich's logic is as tortured as always, but then so are his listeners.  Igor Volsky has details on Think Progress.

Jason Cherkis at Huffington Post discovers more than a few of Rick Perry's close associates think that Governor Helmet Hair would not make an effective president.  After living under his tenure in Texas, I tend to agree.  As the nation's Commander-in-chief, Perry would relinquish power to unhinged Christofascists and greedy corporate titans.

The Washington Post editorial board exposes the misfortune of undocumented gay and lesbian immigrants who (thanks to the abominable Defense of Marriage Act) face deportation despite entering into perfectly legal civil unions.  The Post correctly argues that Attorney General Eric Holder should declare a moratorium on the removal of foreign nationals in state-sanctioned relationships until our federal courts rule on DOMA’s constitutionality.

I am really sick of hearing about Christine I-Am-Not-A-Witch O'Donnell.  Why a legitimate television interviewer would want to chat up this Tea Party harridan (who lost the election and isn't currently running for anything except perhaps Loon of the Year) baffles me.  Piers Morgan, please demonstrate some class and tell CNN's producers to stop booking bigots that are no longer newsworthy.  Story via Georgia Voice and elsewhere.

This isn't terribly surprising:  Jackson Mississippi police officers are unable - unwilling? - to gather much-needed evidence in an anti-gay hate crime, so the the Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking over the case.  (It's worth mentioning that FBI agents have been praising the local cops, but it's not too difficult to read between the lines.)  From WAPT.com.

And finally, Ned Flaherty has created an interesting chart showing where each prospective presidential candidate stands on LGBT rights.  You'll notice Republican Fred Karger, a Republican who identifies as gay, ranks just above President Obama.  (Karger's uphill campaign, like that of Kinky Friedman, smells rather like a stunt, and I suspect the moderate conservative has a better chance persuading Marcus Bachmann to wear an evening gown to one of his wife's rallies than he does snagging the GOP nomination.  Even so, I predict the "gay conservatives" at GOPround will end up supporting somebody at the bottom of this list.  They get soooo turned on by politicians who despise them.)