Disgusting. Ann Coulter is absolutely vile.

Today, at the Conservative Political Action Conference sponsored by the American Conservative Union, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter spoke saying, "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I--so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."

Audience members said "ohhh" and then cheered.

The Conservative Political Action Conference was attended by 2008 Republican Presidential candidates: Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and former Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA). Vice President Dick Cheney also attended the event.

See a video here.

The Human Rights Campaign made the following statements:

"To interject this word into American political discourse is a vile and disgusting way to sink the debate to a new, all-time low," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Make no doubt about it, these remarks go directly against what our Founding Fathers intended and have no place on the schoolyard, much less our country's political arena."

"It is clear that some in the Republican Party plan to run in 2008 the same way they did in 2004, by using discrimination to divide the country and rally their base," said Solmonese. "But, 2008 is not 2004, and this time the politics of fear and smear will not work. The American people are tired of those who would rather divide than unite."

"We demand that every single Presidential candidate in attendance at this conference, along with Vice President Cheney stand up and publicly condemn this type of gutter-style politics," continued Solmonese. "If not, then their silence will be deafening to the vast majority of Americans who believe this type of language belongs no where near the discussions about the future of our country."

Labels: anti gay, mary cheney, mitt romney, republican

Labels: bush, focus on the family, lesbian, mary cheney

Researchers who have had their studies used by the far-right wing in a distorteed manner are speaking out (video below). With the help of Truth Wins Out, researchers are coming forward to condemn Focus on the Family's James Dobson for distorting their research to make false claims about same-sex parenting.

In an article by Paul D. Thacker from Inside Higher Ed :

When academics feel that their work has been distorted in the press, they frequently have to settle for griping to colleagues or writing a letter to the editor. But for Carol Gilligan, a prominent psychologist and author of In a Different Voice, a mere letter did not suffice. When she was alerted that James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, referenced her work in a Time magazine column, she denounced his interpretation of her research - posting her views Monday in a video on YouTube.

In his magazine piece, Dobson criticized Mary Cheney’s decision to become pregnant. "The majority of more than 30 years of social-science indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father," he wrote last week. Dobson backed up his claims by citing Gilligan's work. Gilligan is a renowned expert on gender and human development and is a professor of education and law at New York University.

"I was stunned to hear that James Dobson quoted me in Time magazine," Gilligan says in the video (see video below). "I had no idea. I was mortified." She says that there is nothing in her research that would lead anyone to agree with Dobson's claim that same-gender families are unhealthy for children.

In a statement released by Focus on the Family, the organization said, "In his Time essay, Dr. Dobson does not represent Professor Gilligan as supporting or opposing same-sex parenting, but only that her work shows that men and women stress different elements in moral teaching."

The video was commissioned last Friday and quickly edited over the weekend by Wayne Besen, the executive director of Truth Wins Out, an advocacy group for gay rights. Besen said that he has grown weary of Dobson mangling science to advance a political agenda against gay families. Last summer, he started contacting researchers to alert them whenever Dobson cited them in his writing.

"None of them know this is going on," Besen said of the academics. "That's how [Dobson] gets away with it." This certainly holds true for Gilligan. In the video, she states that she learned of Dobson's article after Besen notified her. While Gilligan does not appear to dispute any specifics in Dobson's article, she says that Dobson distorts the meaning of her work which does not support his conclusions.

Another professor highlighted in the video and in Dobson's article is Kyle Pruett, a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and author of Fatherneed: Why Father Care Is as Essential as Mother Care for Your Child. Citing Pruett, Dobson wrote, "The fact remains that gender matters - perhaps nowhere more than in regard to child rearing."

After he was contacted last week by Besen, Pruett sent a letter to Dobson asking him to stop citing his research. The letter is posted on Besen's Web site.

"I pointed out that gay or lesbian relationships do not at all compromise childhood," Pruett said in an interview. He added that Dobson's analysis of his research on fathers was "destructive and highly prejudicial," and cherry-picked information. When people start spinning science, Pruett said, you have to respond.

"Journalism used to handle this, but not anymore," he said. "So it's bounced back to become the responsibility of the people doing the research."

In response, Focus on the Family stated, "While Pruett has tried to distance himself politically from the use of his scientific conclusions, those conclusions still remain."

Besen said that he has contacted other professors who Dobson has cited, and he plans to release more videos with academics countering Dobson's claims. "They're getting defined by Dobson who has the President on speed dial," he said. "They're reluctant to get involved. But in the name of academic credibility, they step forward."

The recent incident with Dobson is not the first time that academics have grumbled that Focus on the Family perverts science. Last summer, Elizabeth Saewyc, an associate professor with the school of nursing at the University of British Columbia, accused the group of "hijacking" her study on suicide rates among bisexual youth.

She said that she would not have learned that Focus on the Family was distorting her research unless Besen had contacted her. Her study found a link between homosexuality and risk for suicide, but she said that Focus on the Family blamed the high suicide rate on pro-gay activists. Saewyc said in an email interview that her study found only a correlation and was not designed to find causation.

"What was more surprising were the conclusions they drew from the information," she said of Focus on the Family.

SEE VIDEO BELOW:

Labels: evangelical, focus on the family, james dobson, mary cheney

Immaculate Conception or a turkey baster? We may never know... unless she writes another senseless book.

Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, is pregnant.

Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president. The baby is due in late spring.

"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth granddaughter," McBride said.

The vice president's other, older daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, is on leave as deputy assistant secretary of state after having her fifth child with her husband in July.

Mary Cheney was an aide to her father during the 2004 campaign, as was Elizabeth, and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL.

McBride declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Mary Cheney's pregnancy. Mary Cheney and Poe moved from Colorado to Virginia a year ago to be closer to the Cheney family.

Does anyone elese find it very ironic that the very administration that Mary Cheney worked so hard to get elected is the same adminisation rallying support to make life harder and less secure for her and lots of other people just like her? It's pathetic. Mary needs to grow some balls and stand up to the constant anti-gay bigotry in this country.

Labels: lesbian, mary cheney