crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

To paraphrase one of my favorite singers, Anne Murray, we sure could use a little good news today.

So how about this from D.C.

During the recent hearings about marriage equality, the anti-lgbt forces have been slipping and they have been slipping badly. First comes our friend Sista Hot Mess from last week. Remember her?

Then comes Ruth Jacobs and her fascination with the “anus:”

And those are just the preliminaries. Next is National Organization for Marriage head Brian Brown. It turns out that Brown doesn't do that well when faced with someone who will not fall for his silly talking points. Geez, why are the cute ones so dumb:

And for the main event – This is Walter Fauntroy. He is a black minister who is against marriage equality. He is also a former Washington D.C. delegate and an organizer for the 1963 March on Washington. That last point is important to remember because every now and then, the conservative groups he aligns himself with sometimes try to slip in the notion that he was the main organizer of 1963 March on Washington; a notion that is inaccurate because the main organizer was Bayard Rustin, an openly gay black man.

His testimoy was been labeled as “bizarre” and “incomprehensible:”

Transcript:

''I have advocated, where there are contractural relationships between people who, who have same-sex relationships, that they ought to be granted; and provided the contractural that the courts re — provide everyone. However, on the question of marriage — you cannot equate marriage with a contract when marriage is nature's schoolroom for teaching people how to care for, protect and defend one another…. That's why across the world, we are in danger, quite frankly, of violating the principle of perpetuation of the species. I have many, many friends, who are — have, uh, sexual preference to others of the same sex. But they cannot reproduce….

''I just want to make it very clear that we who are most concerned about this issue, are concerned as political scientists, who know that this issue has been used by people who want to deny people five things, and are doing it effectively, in order to win eleven states in 1984 by diverting the attention of the people from the issue which was an ill-advised WAR in Iraq that has wrecked the world…. I've known homosexual couples for years and always advised, 'Protect yourself.' Please, get rid of — I've married couples — heterosexual couples who need a contract to make sure, that 'if you rat on me' — uh, excuse me! If — if we buy this house and, and you — you're not gonna have it. You, it's — as we used to say on the street — uh, um — 'It's cheaper to keep her!'''

Two lessons to take out of this:

1. Smile, folks. Things aren't as bad as you think. We will win this.

2. The vast importance of having lgbt elected officials. In the Jacobs, Brown, and Fauntroy clips, the city councilman who basically breaks them down is openly gay David Catania.

It's something to contemplate when one thinks of our city council victories last night.