GOP Nominates Anti-Gay Pastor E.W. Jackson for Lieutenant Governor in Virginia

Anti-gay Pastor E.W. Jackson joined Ken Cuccinelli and Attorney General nominee Mark Obenshain on the Virginia Republican ticket over the weekend.

Jackson told the Washington Post that he has never been hateful about homosexuality:

“I think people always try to put that in the context of being hateful and it’s not,” he said. “It’s a particular worldview that every Christian for the most part who goes to church across this commonwealth shares: that marriage should be between one man and one woman. And anything else is an attempt to redefine an institution that really can’t be redefined. But I also like to let gay folks know that that same religious faith requires that you care about everybody, regardless. . . . It’s about religious principles, but never, ever about hatred or bigotry.”

Jackson has linked homosexuality and pedophilia: "I know their people say, well, it’s unfair to associate homosexuality with pedophilia or some of these other previsions. But I believe that there is a direction connection because what they really want is absolute sexual freedom."

Jackson has said gays are psychologically sick: "Their minds are perverted, they’re frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally and they see everything through the lens of homosexuality. When they talk about love they’re not talking about love, they’re talking about homosexual sex. So they can’t see clearly."

He commented on the Democrats' embrace of marriage equality this way:

Later this month when Democrats make same-sex marriage part of their official Party Platform, the former practicing attorney says they will be spitting in the face of every Bible-believing Christian in America: “They will be saying, 'We don't care what you think, what you believe, or what the Bible or the God of the Bible says. We know better than God.'”

And he has said pro-gay rights liberals “have done more to kill black folks whom they claim so much to love than the Ku Klux Klan, lynching and slavery and Jim Crow ever did.”

Singer-Songwriter Josh Ritter Speaks Out for LGBT Rights at Anti-Gay Messiah College: VIDEO

Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter on Facebook:

I travel a lot - this month I was in fifteen cities in as many days. I always like to learn a little bit about the place I'm going to play - that Chicago has the fourth largest GDP of any world city, or that Louisville is famous for a sandwich known as the "Hot Brown."

Today I was Grantham, Pennsylvania, at Messiah College, and as I was doing a little digging about the place I learned something that surprised and disappointed me.

Messiah College requires all students to sign a "Community Covenant" promising to, among other things, “avoid such sinful practices as…homosexual behavior….”

This policy, which I see as exclusionary and bigoted, could not run more counter to my personal beliefs. If I had done my homework, and read about Messiah's policies ahead of time, I would never have agreed to play there.

I did play at Messiah College tonight, and I chose to use the opportunity to talk to the students - to encourage them to seek openness and change. I spoke honestly about my personal views - that we should all have the right to love - and to marry freely, no matter what our sexual orientation. Everyone was respectful and kind, and it is my hope that they'll continue to demand a change to the Community Covenant.

I hope to have made the best of a difficult situation. I'm donating the fee I received from Messiah College tonight in its entirety to The Trevor Project (thetrevorproject.org), the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

I won't play Messiah College again - not until they welcome, in word and deed, all members of their faith regardless of sexuality, and I urge my fellow musicians to do the same.

- Josh Ritter

We've written about Messiah College on Towleroad HERE.

A sample of Ritter's music, AFTER THE JUMP...

Western Evangelical Group Pushing Ethiopia to Impose Death Penalty for Gays

Will Ethiopia consider imposing the death penalty for homosexuality? Bikya News seems to think so:

An anti-gay organization that held a recent workshop on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in Ethiopia is reporting that the death penalty against gay people in Ethiopia may be on the horizon.

The workshop reportedly looked with the social ‘evils’ and ‘disastrous’ effects of homosexuality in Ethiopia, and was led by United for Life Ethiopia, a Western Evangelical Christian organization with local representation.

Government officials, religious leaders, leading heath professionals, charities and members of the public attended the event at the Bethel Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa, last week. In the workshop police alleged ‘homosexual family members and neighbors’ have sexually abused 117 boys last year. It comes on the heels of much antagonism toward the LGBT community in Ethiopia.

GSN adds:

At the conclusion of the workshop, the EICAH representative stated that the council is ‘making progress’ in convincing the government to be stricter on homosexuality and introduce the death penalty to punish ‘such acts’.

The ECIAH representative added that prospects for capital punishment being legislated against gays ‘seems promising’.

The United for Life Ethiopia (ULE), led by Dr Seyoum Antonios, sponsored the event as well as ECIAH.

ULE is a Western Evangelical organization that receives funding in the UK and US and offers to ‘cure’ gayness as well as campaigning aggressively against LGBT people in the country.

Pat Robertson Defends ESPN's Broussard, Says 'Nothing Bigoted' About Calling Jason Collins an Abomination: VIDEO

Pat Robertson yesterday defended ESPN commentator Chris Broussard, who caused a firestorm when he said Jason Collins was 'in rebellion God' for coming out as gay, Raw Story reports.

Said Robertson:

“Somehow we’ve said if it’s heterosexual fornication, it’s bad; if it’s homosexual fornication — that used to be called an abomination in the Bible — now it’s a protected civil right. And so somebody that says that that kind of conduct is sinful is now being pilloried in the press. He’s telling the truth! This is what the Bible says!...You can’t tell them if they want to go to hell or heaven, that’s their business. But don’t tell somebody that he can’t speak specifically about what the Christian faith says about certain conduct. There isn’t anything bigoted about that...So, our hat’s off to somebody who’s brave enough to say it. But, whew, let’s hope the people at ESPN will man up and defend their guy for speaking what is truth."

And so far, ESPN is standing by him.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

ESPN Sportscaster Chris Broussard Stands by Anti-Gay Remarks About Jason Collins: VIDEO

ESPN sportscaster Chris Broussard clarified the Christian nonsense that came out of his piehole yesterday:

Today on OTL, as part of a larger, wide-ranging discussion on today's news, I offered my personal opinion as it relates to Christianity, a point of view that I have expressed publicly before. I realize that some people disagree with my opinion and I accept and respect that. As has been the case in the past, my beliefs have not and will not impact my ability to report on the NBA. I believe Jason Collins displayed bravery with his announcement today and I have no objection to him or anyone else playing in the NBA.

ESPN said it regretted the distraction:

We regret that a respectful discussion of personal viewpoints became a distraction from today’s news.  ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.

No word on any further repercussions.

What Broussard said, if you missed it:

Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian.

And a longer version of the video I posted yesterday, AFTER THE JUMP...

Jets Release Tim Tebow

The New York Jets have released Tim Tebow, the NYT reports:

On Monday morning, the Jets cut Tebow with no pomp, a victim of circumstance. They acknowledged an experiment gone awry with a news release that said, simply, “Jets waive QB Tim Tebow.” There was no mention in that release of Tebow’s statistics with the Jets, perhaps in part because there were none worth mentioning.

He was more afterthought than asset, more distraction than revelation, a decoy who played a greater role on special teams than behind center.

Business Insider adds:

"It's unclear where Tebow goes from here."

Calling Dr. Robert Jeffress at First Baptist in Dallas...