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GLAAD Launches Project to Educate Media About Anti-LGBT Activists

Good news. GLAAD has launched a new initiative to educate the media about the history and positions of prominent anti-gay activists. The "Commentator Accountability Project" has the stated goal to deliver "critical information about frequent anti-gay interviewees into the hands of newsrooms, editors, hosts and reporters."

Audiences need to be aware that when they’re not talking to the mainstream media, these voices are comparing the LGBT people to Nazi Germany, predicting that equal treatment of LGBT people will lead to the total collapse of society, and even making accusations of satanic influence.

The Commentator Accountability Project is bringing all of these statements to light, while calling attention to the sentiments behind them. We will show that the commentators who are most often asked to opine on issues like marriage equality or non-discrimination protections do not accurately represent the "other side" of those issues. They represent nothing but extreme animus towards the entire LGBT community.

The initiative includes background information on about three dozen anti-LGBT social conservatives. Many names should be familiar to R20 readers, such as Maggie Gallagher, Harry Jackson, Ken Hutcherson and Bob Vander Plaats. Contact GLAAD if you see any of these commentators on television.

GLAAD's Senior Director of Programs and Communications Herndon Graddick addss:

"Hate is not an expert opinion. In most cases, news outlets invite reputable experts to speak on the subject at hand, but when talking about LGBT issues, open hostility and anti-LGBT bias seems to be all the credibility required. This project holds these so-called 'pundits' accountable for the extreme anti-LGBT rhetoric they continue to spread. ... These activists have the right to recite their anti-LGBT talking points, but it is important to expose the questionable and often hostile rhetoric that passes as punditry when so-called 'experts' speak out against the lives of LGBT people on the air or in print."

Good As You's Jeremy Hooper worked as a consultant with GLAAD on this project. Bravo and congrats to all.

Cain: "I'll Overturn the Supreme Court if They Overturn DOMA"

PHOTO: Getty

Civics 101 much? Anti-gay Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain vowed last night to "overturn" the Supreme Court if they overturned the Defense of Marriage Act or legalized marriage equality.

Cain was one of six Republican presidential candidates to attend anti-gay activist Bob Vander Plaats' "Thanksgiving Family Forum" in Iowa. The bizarre statement was in response to National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown, who asked Cain how he would respond to a Supreme Court ruling that overturned Prop 8 in California.

"I would lead the charge to overturn the Supreme Court if they overturned DOMA," insisted the former pizza executive.

And not one person on the panel attempted to correct Cain on his epic lack of knowledge on the three branches of government. Via Raw Story, watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

Iowa GOP Governor-Elect: Don't Impeach Judges Over Gay Marriage

Iowa's Republican Governor-Elect Terry Branstad is changing his position on the right-wing push to impeach the four remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices who issued the state's landmark marriage equality ruling in 2009.

Last week, Branstad had no comment on the impeachment drive started by three newly-elected legislators. And today:  Impeachment is not the "appropriate remedy", Branstad tells the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

In a wide-ranging interview, Branstad said he disagreed with the court’s marriage ruling but he also disagrees with a band of House Republicans who have indicated they are drafting articles of impeachment against Justices Brent Appel, Mark Cady, Daryl Hecht and David Wiggins. Three other members of court – Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit — ended their terms Dec. 31 after they lost their retention votes in the Nov. 2 general election.

The incoming governor said he believes the unanimous court “over-reached” when the justices struck down as unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act he signed in 1998 that defined marriage in Iowa as only between one man and one woman. The 7-0 ruling in April 2009 had the effect of legalizing civil marriages between couples of the same gender – a change that critics argue was legislating from the bench and over-stepping the justices’ constitutional authority that constituted malfeasance in executing their duties.

"I think if you look and read the Constitution, which I have, I think it’s pretty obvious. The Constitution says what the grounds for impeachment are. My reading is it’s not there," he said. "There’s a difference between malfeasance and over-reaching, I think. I really think that if people look at the Constitution, I think the remedy is that when they come up for retention that people have a chance to vote them out. I think that’s the appropriate remedy. I don’t think that impeachment is the appropriate remedy."

As of this month, Republicans will occupy the governor's office and control the House. Democrats will retain a narrow 26-24 edge in the Senate. But it will be very difficult to force a ballot measure, Radio Iowa reports. "A resolution must be passed by both the Iowa House and Senate in 2011 or 2012 and then again in 2013 or 2014 before an amendment could be placed on the General Election ballot."

Branstad's statement comes the same week that Bob Vander Plaats, the extreme former anti-gay Republican gubernatorial candidate, announced a statewide tour to build support to impeach the four remaining justices. Vander Plaats' former campaign advisor wrote a scathing op-ed in the Des Moines Register, saying Vander Plaats was "so obsessed with gay-marriage ... he would rather see the Iowa judicial system destroyed, instead of pursuing a change in the law within the channels provided."

Iowa NAACP Leader Supports Anti Gay Vander Plaats for Governor

Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., Iowa's most prominent black pastor and the president of the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, announces his support for extreme anti-gay Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats. The registered Democrat says he is supporting Vander Plaats because the Sioux City businessman promises to issue an executive order to halt marriage equality in Iowa on his first day in office. Despite it being totally illegal.

"I know that Bob Vander Plaats is not afraid to stand up for what is right,” Ratliff said. "That takes courage. He's talked about the importance of defending the institution of marriage. … That takes backbone and determination. That's what I want in my governor – and that's why I'm standing here today to show my support for him," he added.

Ratliff also said he will actively campaign for Vander Plaats. All five of the men seeking the 2010 GOP gubernatorial nomination oppose gay marriage, but Vander Plaats is the only candidate who has pledged to issue an executive order to put a stay on gay marriage and force a vote on the issue.

Rod 2.0 readers may recall that Ratliff is one of the state's leading anti-gay bigots. The pastor of the Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines received "a standing ovation" by his congregation as he denounced the Iowa Supreme Court's landmark marriage equality decision. Ratliff also wrote a blistering op-ed in the Des Moines Register that attacked gays as "un-natural and un-healthy". 

Ratliff''s wingnut position is a sharp contrast to the NAACP's national leadership. Chairman Julian Bond and President Ben Jealous have came out publicly in favor of repealing California's Proposition 8. Over the weekend, Bond delivered a passionate address to the National Equality March and said he was proud to stand with gay and lesbians in their quest for equality.  Said the civil rights veteran:"Rights for gays and lesbians aren't special rights in any way. It isn't special to be free from discrimination, that is a universal entitlement of citizenship."

Ratliff says his endorsement is not in his capacity as NAACP chapter president. Okay. So does this mean he will give a second endorsement for the gubernatorial candidate who will be best for Iowa's black community and help improve unemployment in Des Moines?

NAACP Endorses Anti Gay Marriage Candidate [On Top]

More on Rev. Keith Ratliff:
Iowa Black Pastor: "No Compromise on Homosexuality"
Iowa's Leading Black Pastor Seeks Marriage Ban