Children's Museum Demands Apology For Outcry Over Telling Gay Couple They're Not A Family

In a move that surprised few, The Hands On Children's Museum of Jacksonville, Florida, which recently told a gay couple they were not a family, is now claiming to be the real victim of unfair treatment and is demanding an apology.

In a statement, the museum says it is being slandered with false accusations and is overwhelmed with the amount of outcry online and over the phone. The museum says it couldn't possible discriminate against anyone because its policies are not discriminatory:

The Jacksonville “Hands On” Children’s Museum has never discriminated against anyone. But in fact the “Hands On” Children’s Museum , it’s employees, the board members, the donators and sponsors, the director, the directors family and her husbands church are being discriminated against, attacked and threatened. The director was yelled at and screamed at and feels the Hands On Children’s Museum deserves an apology for how the museum is being treated. This is a children’s museum.

Oh the logic of bigotry.

Marco Rubio: It Should Be Legal to Fire Someone for Being Gay: VIDEO

Think Progress caught up with Senator Marco Rubio today in an elevator at the opening luncheon of the annual Faith and Freedom Forum and asked him about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Said Rubio:

"I haven’t read the legislation. By and large I think all Americans should be protected but I’m not for any special protections based on orientation."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

It was the second fail on LGBT civil rights for Rubio in 24 hours.

Earlier, he said he's finished with the immigration bill if it includes gay couples:

"If this bill has something in it that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill. I'm done," Rubio said Thursday during an interview on the Andrea Tantaros Show. "I'm off it, and I've said that repeatedly. I don't think that's going to happen and it shouldn't happen. This is already a difficult enough issue as it is."

Twins Raised by Two Moms are Key West High School's First Valedictorian and Salutatorian Sisters

Erin and Elizabeth Czerwinski were named Valedictorian and Salutatorian of Key West High School in Florida this month, Freedom to Marry reports. They had grade point averages of 4.713 and 4.746.

They are the school's first sisters to take the double top honor, and they were raised by a lesbian couple.

Now, who was saying gay people can't raise children?

Jacksonville, Florida Children's Museum Tells Gay Couple They're Not a Family: VIDEO

The Hands on Children's Museum of Jacksonville, Florida tells Karen Lee-Duffell and her family that they have to pay extra after noticing "Mom and Mom" on their membership form renewal:

"She says 'oh wait no, you're going to have pay an extra ten dollars to add this other mom, you can't have two moms' and she points up at the sign, a family membership consists of one mom and one dad," said Lee-Duffell.

Lee-Duffell said the employee told her the museum is concerned about people taking advantage and putting multiple families on one membership.

And if you believe that explanation, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Check out FCN's report, AFTER THE JUMP...

Commissioner Kevin Beckner Rips Hillsborough County's Anti-Gay Pride Law Before Board Repeals It: VIDEO

As I mentioned in my previous post, Tampa's Hillsborough County yesterday voted 7-0 yesterday to repeal a hideous discriminatory statute that banned recognition of Gay Pride by the county.

Gay Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner ripped those who put it in place a new one yesterday with a powerful speech that earned him a rousing ovation.

Said Beckner, holding up a copy of the Constitution: "What does it say to a community when its own government sanctions discrimination against a class of its  citizens? Does it give authority to others to discriminate against their fellow human beings? What about our children? Our children who go to school every single day that are subject to bullying simply because who they are as human beings. Does it give children the authority to bully and to put down their fellow classmates because government has said it's ok to do so? Ladies and gentleman, that is the real cost that this policy has to this community."

Watch his remarks, AFTER THE JUMP...

Tampa's Hillsborough County Repeals Ban on Recognition of Gay Pride in 7-0 Vote

Florida's Hillsborough County repealed an ugly law yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times reports:

Hillsborough County commissioners reversed course Wednesday, overturning a local policy many gay rights activists saw as the ultimate insult. They voted 7-0 to repeal a ban on county government recognition of gay pride, a movement the ban's instigator once dismissed with a "little g, little p."

"And repealed should be capitalized," said Commissioner Kevin Beckner (pictured), who led the reversal. "Capital 'R.' "

While the vote was unanimous, the debate and public testimony were hardly harmonious.

One pastor warned Hillsborough risked losing the "favor of God" if commissioners overturned the ban. Another expressed offense that gay rights activists would equate themselves with African-Americans who faced discrimination based on the color of their skin rather than sexual preference.

Beckner added this:

Beckner waved his Bible and expounded on his belief in Jesus Christ: "Yes, I'm a gay man and I'm holding the holy Bible in my hand. Is that why our savior, Jesus Christ, hung on that cross, so that he could divide our community. He didn't die for some of us. He died for all who believe."

Watch Equality Florida's Nadine Smith speak before the council, and eloquently praise the bigots for making their discriminatory positions public, AFTER THE JUMP...