Faith leaders teach that lying is a sin. So why do religious-righters distort the truth so shamelessly in pushing their extreme political agenda? You can see at least two big examples in Texas right now. One of the biggest falsehoods religious-right groups are pushing right now is the claim that Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood to help exterminate the […]
One of the most remarkable outcomes of the 2015 session of the Texas Legislature is the complete failure of the broadest legislative assault on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community anywhere in the country. It’s so remarkable in large part because Texas is deeply red state in which religious-right/tea party activists make up a powerful part of the […]
Redefining #marriage “equals” no safeguards against “freedom to marry” multiple people for love, polygamy. #txlege — Jonathan Saenz (@jonathansaenzTX) January 22, 2015 “Redefining #marriage “equals” no safeguards against “freedom to marry” multiple people for love, polygamy.” Jonathan Saenz, the lawyer/lobbyist who heads the anti-gay group Texas Values, is once again making arguments Americans heard long […]
Religious-right groups are, predictably, spitting venom over President Obama’s executive order barring discrimination against LGBT employees of the federal government and government contractors. The executive order, which the president announced on Monday, does not include an exemption allowing employers to discriminate for religious reasons. The executive order did keep a provision from a 2002 executive order signed by President […]
A Texas religious-righter is providing a case study in trying to become a leading voice for a cause that history is leaving behind. Jonathan Saenz, the lawyer/lobbyist who heads up Texas Values, has clearly decided that sounding like a raving hate-monger will make him a big boy among anti-gay extremists. As Media Matters reported on Tuesday, Saenz is now arguing that supporters of […]
Religious-right activists are predictably outraged that LGBT students at Texas A&M will celebrate their spring graduation at a special campus event today (April 16). The university’s GLBT Resource Center is sponsoring the banquet, dubbed Lavender Graduation, this evening. Phyllis Frye, an A&M alum and the state’s first transgender judge, will be the featured speaker. (Frye’s appointment […]
Even as Republicans who voted for the anti-gay discrimination bill in Arizona now admit they made a serious mistake, some religious-right activists are doubling down in their hate campaign. In fact, some just seem downright obsessed about gay people. Case in point: Jonathan Saenz at Texas Values, the lobby arm of Plano-based Liberty Institute. At […]
Was it wrong for the federal courts to force an end to school segregation and the ban on interracial marriage in Texas? One might be excused for wondering whether the folks at Texas Values think so. Texas Values, lobby arm of the right-wing, Plano-based group Liberty Institute, insists today that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott […]
The debate over the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance in San Antonio appears headed to a possible conclusion when the city council votes on Thursday. As expected, the religious right has engaged in a great deal of misinformation and fear mongering during the debate, either at public hearings, in the press, via social media or through Ken […]
With Christmas celebrations on the brink of extinction in Texas, the Texas House intervened yesterday by passing the “Merry Christmas bill” to ensure public schools remain a welcome place for Jesus Santa. Santa’s attorney — and lobbyist for the religious-right group Texas Values — was at the Capitol to whip votes and remind us all of the […]
