Tag Archives: Arizona

Right Wing Extremist Ethan Schmidt Who Threatened To Shoot LGBT's @ TARGET Arrested.

Right Wing Extremist Ethan Schmidt Who Threatened To Shoot LGBT’s @ TARGET Arrested.

Gay News From Around The Globe, , ,

A right-wing extremist who threatened to “hunt” down and shoot LGBTQ+ Americans and their supporters at TARGET’s “across Phoenix, Arizona” was arrested over the weekend for a separate case, the Mesa Police Department said.

Via The Daily News:

Ethan Schmidt was taken into custody on Saturday during the March for our Lives demonstration at the Arizona State Capitol for reportedly failing to comply with a court order stemming from a case back in January, local television station KSAZ-TV reported. “On the original case, he was charged for violating an order against harassment. A local business had taken out an order against harassment on Ethan and he had been served with the paperwork. Ethan allegedly violated the order by contacting the business after being served. He was charged with a misdemeanor and a warrant was issued for his arrest,” police said.

Last month we reported here that Schmidt appeared in a video shared on social media saying that he would expose “satanic Pride shrines” across the country, and would “find and kill” all the LGBT supporters and all the employees that support it.”

““I also like to hunt LGBT supporters on my free time. That’s one of my favorite pastimes,” he continued, saying that he was going to go on “hunting expeditions pretty soon, hunting the LGBT supporters across Arizona and Phoenix … If you support the LGBT agenda, you’re not safe.” – Ethan Schmidt

Schmidt was reported to various government agencies after his threats to kill were posted. There is no word if the FBI ever looked into it all.

16 States Currently Pushing "Don't Say Gay" Laws

16 States Currently Pushing “Don’t Say Gay” Laws

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conservative lawmakers in 16 mostly red states across America are considering new legislation that would bar teachers from “introducing concepts of sexual orientation or gender identity to young students”, imitating a new Florida law that opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” Law.

Falling back on the Ron DeSantis’ and Anita Bryant’s “Save The Children Campaign” playbook of “gay panic” the following states all have anti-LGBT legislation in the works.: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, New Jersey, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Illinois, Rhode Island, Ohio, and South Dakota.

“Battles over sex education in schools have been a constant front in the culture wars that have raged between liberals and conservatives for decades” aid Aaron Ridings, chief of staff and deputy executive director for public policy and research at GLSEN. ““There’s a chilling effect from all of these bills on people who are LGBT”

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples

Arizona Supreme Court Rules Business Can Refuse to Make Invitations for Same-Sex Couples

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In a 4-3 vote the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Phoenix-based Brush & Nib Studio, a small business that refused to produce wedding invitations for a lesbian couple.

Justice Andrew Gould for the majority wrote:

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like-minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs. With these fundamental principles in mind, today we hold that the City of Phoenix … cannot apply its Human Relations Ordinance … to force Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, LC (“Brush & Nib”), to create custom wedding invitations celebrating same-sex wedding ceremonies in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs.

Adopted in 2013, City Code 18-4(B)(1)-(3) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability. It applies to businesses offering services to the general public. But the state of Arizona itself has no such protections on it’s books as law.  And as we all know there are currently no federal protections against LGBT discrimination.

Alliance Defending Freedom which is designated as hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center represented the printers.

Koski and Duka spoke at Alliance Defending Freedom’s Scottsdale office in a press conference with lawyer Jonathan Scruggs.

“This is a win not just for Breanna Koski and me; it is a win for everyone,” calligrapher Joanna Duka said at a press conference in the Scottsdale office of Alliance Defending Freedom. “Everyone should be free to live and work according to their beliefs.”

The city of Arizona issued the following statement:  “The city of Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance is still a legal, valid law and remains in effect,” the city said in a statement after the ruling. “It currently affirms that everyone should be treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, sex, gender or disability.  The Arizona Supreme Court made a very narrow ruling that one local business has the right to refuse to make custom wedding invitations for same-sex couples’ weddings that are similar to the designer’s previous products. This ruling does not apply to any other business in Phoenix. The city of Phoenix has had an anti-discrimination ordinance since 1964 to protect all residents and believes that everyone should be treated equally

#NN15 – The View From My Window: Phoenix, AZ (Otherwise Known As HELL!)

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Well after 2 flights, turbulence, the TSA searching my bags, and no sleep I have have arrived in Phoenix, AZ where it its currently a chilly 103 F. and even Satan is sweating.

This week Back2Stonewall.com will be attending and covering Netroots Nation 15  as part of  LGBT Netroots Connect group run by the talented and lovely Mike Rogers (Vice Chairman of Raw Story Media, Inc. and is best known for his work in reporting on closeted gay politicians and is  the lead subject of the 2009 film Outrage.)

Founded in 2008 as the National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, LGBT Netroots Connect develops programs that bring online and offline activists and leaders together to create change. We work with leaders, journalists, LGBT organization staff, bloggers and activists to discuss the future of the LGBT movement and the ways in which our actions impact it

Netroots Nation itself is a 4 day event that draws thousands of journalist, bloggers,  social justice advocates, labor and organizational leaders, grassroots organizers and online activists come together to share practices and build stronger relationships with others working on the issues they care most about. And each year, some of the brightest minds in progressive politics come to Netroots Nation to speak with—and hear from—our community

Keynote speakers this year include Elizabeth Warren senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and Presidential hopefuls Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and the very humpy Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland.

Tomorrow kicks off with the LGBT Netroots Connect Pre-Conference, a one day long gathering of over 100 of the best and brightest LGBT advocates, blogger, media journalist who will come together to discuss and think tank the important issues that the LGBT community is currently facing.

I will be covering it all here with no holds barred commentary, posts and videos here on Back2Stonewall.com  (You could also follow on Twitter @Back2Stonewall)

See you in Hell!  Er, I mean Phoenix!

 

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‘Kill All Homos’ Pastor Stephen L. Anderson: ‘It’s the Government’s Job’ To Execute Them All (VIDEO)

Featured, Religious Morons and Anti-Gay Idiots,

Anderson cra cra

 

This weeks Hatemonger-Du-jour  Stephen L. Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona believes that he had found the cure for AIDS in the Bible — and that cure, he said, was to execute all gay people because they are responsible for the  virus.  Anderson who is wallowing in his new found hate celebrity limelight and sat down with Local nterview with 12 News for a one-on-one interview that despite being crazy is bone chilling in his conviction of hating gays.

Via Addictinginfo.com:

“When I heard your sermon,” interviewer Mark Curtis told Anderson, “it sounded like the rantings of someone who is  either a hatemonger or a religious zealot. I’m wondering: which are you?”

Anderson responded:

I’m a religious zealot, and I love the Bible, I love God’s word, I believe that the law of the lord is perfect, and, you know, Leviticus 20:13 clearly says, “If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” As a Christian, I believe the Bible, and that’s where I get my belief.

Anderson acknowledged that one of the Ten commandments is “Thou shalt not kill,” but said that:

What you have to understand is that the Bible commands that certain people be put to death — not by me, not by Christians. It’s obviously not my job or the job of any Christian to go out and kill anybody, and I’ve never taught anything like that.

Anderson explained that the onus of executing all the “homos” belongs to the government:

Rather than the government’s job is to punish criminals and to execute those who commit capital crimes and, according to the Bible, homosexuality is a capital crime, and I didn’t write the Bible.

Curtis asked Anderson if he had a gay son or daughter, would he want them to be put to death? Anderson’s answer, of course, was ‘that will never happen to me.’

Well, that’s just a fallacy that it just turns out that certain people are gay. That’s just a lie. Because it’s not random — it’s not something that’s just gonna accidentally happen to one of my children…

“Wait a minute — how do you think it happens, then?” the interviewer interrupted. Anderson continued:

Well, the Bible’s real clear in Romans Chapter 1. It talks about how God gives people over to a reprobate mind to do these filthy acts, so it has to do with them rejecting the lord and rejecting Jesus Christ.

Curtis asked again because he wants “to understand that [Anderson is] a man of his word,” if the good pastor had a gay son or daughter, what would he do in that situation?:

Well, it’s not gonna happen. If I did, I would have nothing to do with them. That’s like saying “What if your daughter grew up to be an axe murderer? What if your son grew up to be like Adolf Hitler? […] It’s just a silly question.

“Well, as long as you bring up Adolf Hitler, he wanted to exterminate Jews and anyone who wasn’t blonde haired and blue-eyed and didn’t fit into his vision of the way people should be,” the interviewer noted. “Isn’t that, in a way, what you’re preaching — that you want to get rid of anyone who isn’t heterosexual?”

Anderson responded:

Absolutely not. I’m preaching the Bible, something that Adolf Hitler rejected. He taught evolution, which is why he wanted to execute what he considered inferior races.

“But you would like to see anyone who isn’t heterosexual die, correct?” the interviewer asked. Anderson began with, “Well, the Bible says that…” but was quickly cut off by Curtis, who demanded to know what Anderson personally believes.

“I believe the Bible, I believe what the Bible says, and if I didn’t I wouldn’t be a Baptist, I wouldn’t be a Christian,” Anderson told him.

Anderson also said that he doesn’t care if he is perceived as a hatemonger or his church as a hate group.  And that  that people hate him because he is preaching God’s word…just like Jesus.

Hopefully we won;t have to wait too long before this lunatic is  caught in a cheap motel with a rent-boy, meth and a lot of lube.

You can watch the full insane interview over at AddictingInfo.org

 

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Has The Same-Sex Marriage Blues

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Jan Brewe bitch

 

“In 2008, Arizona voters approved a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Now, with their rulings, the federal courts have again thwarted the will of the people and further eroded the authority of states to regulate and uphold our laws.

“It is not only disappointing, but also deeply troubling, that unelected federal judges can dictate the laws of individual states, create rights based on their personal policy preferences and supplant the will of the people in an area traditionally left to the states for more than two hundred years.

“As Justice Scalia opined, such action is tantamount to ‘an assertion of judicial supremacy over the people’ and is an image of the judiciary ‘that would have be en unrecognizable to those who wrote and ratified our national charter.’ Simply put, courts should not be in the business of making and changing laws based on their personal agendas.

“It is not the role of the judiciary to determine that same-sex marriages should be allowed. Historically and traditionally, that power belongs to the states, and to the people. If society wants to recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions, that decision should be made through our elected representatives or at the ballot – not the courts.” – Arizona Gov. Leatherface Jan Brewer, crying crocodile tears via press release.

Well I have 2 words for Jan Brewer

Exfoliate bitch!

Arizona’s SB 1062: The Right To Discriminate Against LGBT’s Comes Back To Bite Republican State Senator On The Ass.

Featured, Gay News Domestic & U.S. Politics, ,

shame on you

Former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard’s new television spot features Melanie Puskar-Blakely, Tonya Blakely and their two children discussing state Sen. Michele Reagan’s vote in favor of SB 1062 a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to LGBT people on “religious freedom” grounds, which Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed in February.

“State Sen. Reagan voted for that hateful legislation and stood with those who would make us second-class citizens, even at the risk of losing the Super Bowl,” Puskar-Blakely says. “With that record, how can we trust her to be fair as Secretary of State?”

After Brewer vetoed the bill, Reagan did a 360 and released a statement saying she was “pleased” the governor did so and feigning ignorance of its consequences.  “I’m pleased that the governor had the courage and good sense to veto SB 1062,” the statement read. “It was the right decision. I regret specifically that the members of the Senate were not fully educated or informed of this legislation.”

Despite the fact that SB 1062 was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and only voted by Brewer because of the threat of the losing the Super Bowl, Netroots Nation in 2015 will be hosted in Phoenix next July.

Back2Stonewall.com will not be attending.

How “Gay Power” Rose Up Like A Phoenix And Defeated Arizona’s Right To Hate SB-1062

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Gay Power

As we all know by now last night Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed Bill SB 1062 that would have allowed businesses and in some cases individuals to use bigotry through “religion” to deny service to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender customers

“I call them as I see them, despite the cheers or the boos from the crowd,” Brewer said, criticizing what she described as a “broadly worded” bill that “could result in unintended and negative consequences”

“To the supporters of the legislation, I want you to know that I understand that long-held norms about marriage and family are being challenged as never before. Our society is undergoing many dramatic changes,” she said. “However, I sincerely believe that Senate Bill 1062 has the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve. It could divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would ever want.

“Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value. So is non-discrimination.”

The controversial measure faced a barrage of opposition from large corporations and athletic organizations, including Delta Air Lines, the Super Bowl host committee and Major League Baseball and all this happened because the LGBT community and its straight allies spoke out loudly and clearly against this his heinous bill which was nothing but a thinly disguised throwback to Jim Crow and was nothing more than a legal way to discriminate against LGBT individuals.

But we rose up together and fought back.

This was a major win for the LGBT community and one that was brought about the people itself and not by the LGBT organizations who claim that they represent us. “Gay Inc” as they are called said barely a word over Arizona’s hateful bill and only did after being openly criticized and called out for being silent.  But amazingly once Jan Brewer vetoed the measure a flurry of press releases flew fast and furious from the usual suspects. Within 10 minutes of the announcement The Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and the Task Force had already sent out releases applauding Brewers move despite the fact that they didn’t have a damn thing to do it and neglecting to mention the people who did and that would be all of us.

This victory belongs to the community at large and our LGBT allies. As soon as the Arizona Senate passed the hateful bill we jumped into action. We made phone calls, sent emails and took to social media. We reached out to businesses, travel agencies, and the mainstream media TOGETHER like in the olden days of gay activism and we fought SB 1062 side by side instead of depending on others lead the fight for us. We dropped the LGBT compartmentalization and were all “gay” once again. There were no special groups and personal issues getting in the way. SB 1062 affected all of us and together we stood side by side and fought it and we won.

Arizona’s SB 1062 has proven one thing. That by taking the lead and fighting together we can and will win.

We should do it more often.

NFL to Jan Brewer and Arizona: We Pulled The Superbowl Once And We Are Watching.

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shame on you

With the 2015 Superbowl scheduled to take place in Glendale, Arizona the NFL has taken a keen interest in what the next move is going to be by Governor Jan Brewer and if she is going to sign the Jim Crow-esque “We Don’t Serve The Gays” bill into law.   NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, today made an official statement today letting Brewer know that they are watching.

“Our policies emphasize tolerance and inclusiveness, and prohibit discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other improper standard. We are following the issue in Arizona and will continue to do so should the bill be signed into law, but will decline further comment at this time.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that Arizona could have trouble with the NFL and lose its hosting of a Superbowl.

Super Bowl XXVII was originally scheduled to be played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the home of the Phoenix Cardinals. However, a controversy over the state’s recognition of a newly created federal holiday changed things.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a national holiday honoring African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1986, the first year that the holiday was observed, Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, had issued an executive order creating the holiday after the state legislature voted against it. Babbitt’s successor, Republican Evan Mecham, rescinded the order on the grounds that Babbitt did not have the authority to issue such an order and Arizona ceased to observe MLK Day for the time being. Mecham also made his displeasure for the holiday widely known, saying that King did not deserve a holiday and that black supporters of the law should have been more concerned about getting jobs. In response, Dr. King’s widow Coretta Scott King and musician Stevie Wonder spearheaded a complete entertainment and convention boycott of Arizona. Blacks across the nation supported the boycott. In 1989, after Mecham had been removed from office the state legislature did approve the holiday but opposition to it forced the holiday to be put on the November election ballot in 1990

Earlier that year, in March, the NFL had its annual meeting in Orlando and one of the items on its agenda was to determine a host city for Super Bowl XXVII. Among the cities being considered was Tempe, and Arizona civil rights activist Art Mobley was sent to the meeting to make sure that the Arizona ballot initiative was a talking point at the discussion. The vote was conducted and Tempe was awarded the game, but committee chairman and Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman warned that if the MLK Day ballot initiative went against adoption of the holiday, the NFL would not hesitate to pull the game from Arizona and move it somewhere else. The fact that the majority of NFL players were African-American was a big factor into this threat, as many of them felt uncomfortable of having the Super Bowl in a state that didn’t honor a national holiday honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

The opposition to the holiday in Arizona was large, however, and the voters defeated the law at the polls. The NFL responded by making good on its threat to remove the Super Bowl from Tempe and held another vote, with Pasadena was chosen as the site for the first time since Super Bowl XXI was played there six years earlier. Meanwhile, after having lost out on millions of dollars in revenue from the boycott of the state by entertainers and the loss of the Super Bowl.  Arizona voters finally approved the MLK Day holiday in the 1992 elections and the NFL responded by awarding Tempe Super Bowl XXX at their 1993 meeting.