Religion

 The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Rusty Andrade was prepared to lose. But it still felt like a punch to the gut Wednesday as he watched, from a seat on the Senate floor, lawmakers vote to kill a proposal to bolster Utah’s hate-crime laws. “It totally feels like a revictimization,” said Andrade, 35, whose 2014 beating by two men shouting gay …

Rejected by a vote of 27-7. Woo and hoo. The HRC reacts: “For one day at least, West Virginia is spared from legislation that would increase the likelihood of unacceptable discrimination and a flood of expensive legal challenges,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Unfortunately, despite today’s events, more work lies ahead. LGBT West Virginians still remain at risk for …

NBC News reports: Russian faces up to a year in prison for saying “there is no God” during an argument on social media, his lawyers said Wednesday. Viktor Krasnov also wrote the “Bible is a collection of Jewish fairy tales” during the discussion on European social networking site Vk.com in 2014, lawyer and human-rights activist Pavel Chikov posted on his …

For real. He said that. The Huffington Post reports: A top Mormon leader made some eyebrow-raising claims about the gay community during a visit to Chile last week. During a Feb. 23 meeting, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) Elder David A. Bednar claimed that he and his fellow Mormons “do not discriminate” against gay and lesbian …

Some promising news out of West Virginia last night: The state Senate has put the brakes on the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration bill (HB4012), making significant language changes that bill supporters say guts the measure. The Senate, on a 23-11 vote Tuesday evening, approved an amendment by Sens. Corey Palumbo (D-Kanawha) and Ron Stollings (D-Boone) that said the RFRA law could …

He took the veto down to the literal last hour before it would become law. Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard heeded to pressure from LGBT advocates and businesses on Tuesday, announcing he vetoed a bill that would have banned transgender students from using school restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. South Dakota would have …

“The Girl Scouts organization sure isn’t what it used to be! St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson isn’t worried about being politically correct in letting people know about it either. He told church members and scout leaders that the Girl Scouts is wrong in their support of transgender rights and homosexuality and is not aligned with the teachings of his church. …

Pastor John Hagee, who says that Sodom & Gomorrah was only a “pilot study” for killing homosexuals, is urging his followers to get out today and “vote for the bible.” Because if they don’t, godless liberals will increase their “savage attack” on the freedom of religion and all Americans will lose their guns. According to the clip below, five of …

Two weeks ago Marco Rubio recruited a slew of anti-LGBT activists to sit on his “religious liberty” advisory board. This afternoon hate group leader Tony Perkins announced that he will chair a similar advisory board for Ted Cruz. Curiously, Heritage Foundation hater Ryan Anderson sits on both boards. From Perkins: Ted Cruz announced today the creation of a 19-member Religious …

See the ad below. Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue probably shot every TV in his house last night after Spotlight won the Oscar for best picture. But this morning he’s in the news, literally, with a full-page ad in the New York Times that slams Disney-ABC for next week’s debut of The Real O’Neals, a sitcom loosely based on the …

Indonesia’s crackdown on its LGBT population continues. Gay Star News reports: Indonesia has banned men from behaving effeminately or dressing in women’s clothing on TV. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) issued a directive Tuesday (23 February) after receiving complaints from viewers. The directive specifically banned: Men wearing feminine fashion. Men wearing feminine make-up. Feminine body language exhibited by men, including, …

Via World Net Daily: The CEO and founder of Hobby Lobby, the company at the heart of one of the court battles for religious freedom in this country – via a case that sought exemption from a government mandate to provide abortion-inducing drugs in employee health-care plans – gave his thumbs-up to Sen. Marco Rubio for president, calling front-runner Donald …

“Exorcist Bob Larson faces five generations of the demon Death in a woman’s bloodline! Ludmilla’s mother threatened suicide. Then, the mother finally hung herself. Exorcist Bob Larson confronts demons of Death and Witchcraft!”

Rick Green, the co-host of debunked “historian” David Barton’s Wallbuilders show on Christian radio, is running for the Texas Supreme Court. Green has chosen to run for the seat of an incumbent justice who shares his last name, with the obvious hope that voters won’t realize which Green they are voting for. The Texas Observer reports: In any other state, …

Things just continue to get worse in Indonesia. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: On Friday, Indonesia’s former Information and Communications Minister Tifatul Sembering, tweeted, “A saying of the Prophet [Mohamed]: Whomever you find committing the acts of the community of Lot (homosexual) should be put to death.” Sembering is now a member of Parliament from the Islamist Prosperous Justice …

“Robert chose the homosexual lifestyle because he craved attention from men. We have all these myths about homosexuality and he was just being used by people, they just wanted to take advantage and he didn’t know any better. He thought that what they were showing him was love when actually it was one form of lust. When he came free, …

The former Michigan Tea Party legislators whose affair exploded into national news thanks to a bizarre cover story will face criminal charges for lying to investigators. Shortly before their affair was exposed, the pair had introduced a trio of bills intended to block same-sex marriage from being enacted. Click On Detroit reports: The Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Friday …

From the Charlotte News & Observer: N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday he’s exploring a possible special legislative session to deal with a controversial provision of Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance. Moore and others object to the so-called bathroom provision that would allow transgender people to use the restroom of their choice, depending on the gender with which they identify. …

From Fairness Kentucky: A “License to Discriminate” bill that would sanction discrimination against LGBT Kentuckians passed out of the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee this morning. Senate Bill 180, introduced by Senator Albert Robinson of London, seeks to gut local LGBT Fairness Ordinances passed by eight Kentucky cities. Those cities include Covington, Danville, the State Capital Frankfort, …

South Dakota’s Senate Judiciary Committee this morning killed a bill which would have legalized anti-LGBT discrimination by businesses. The bill’s chief sponsor was state House Rep. Scott Craig (above left). Lambda Legal celebrates but cautions that other anti-trans bills remain active in South Dakota:  “The Senate Judiciary Committee did the right thing today. House Bill 1107 was a harmful and …