Box Turtle Bulletin

The protest NOM does NOT want to see

At each stop on their Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas, the National Organization for Marriage pays far more time and attention to those protesting them than they do to their own supporters. If the protest is unruly, they make a huge stink about how they are being their denied their right to free speech (not subjected to criticism) and being shouted down by those who have talk about tolerance but have no tolerance (for NOM’s intolerance).

HCR even speculated that their sole purpose for the tour was to find someone out there who would threaten them and justify their efforts to keep their donors and supporters anonymous.

But while NOM unquestionably delighted in the Providence rally at which a few equality activists stormed the podium and gave them good video and were even pleased by their ability to edit the tape of the Madison rally so as to make it appear that protesters were deliberately screaming at and booing a priest while he was praying, I don’t think they much will enjoy the counter-protest planned by Stand-Up Florida for their Orlando stop.

Once at the protest, guest speakers will speak words of wisdom from their hearts. We have a great host of speakers attending this counter protest and the Angels from the Angel Action Network will also appear to block the N.O.M. protesters from our counter protest. We will be working in conjuction with a group, Come Out Orlando.

We also will be offering candles for a vigil and for those who would like to kneel down and pray with us in a silent prayer for N.O.M.

We will finish the counter protest, with our backs facing N.O.M., singing “Amazing Grace.”

I just don’t think that NOM has much use for video of their opponents singing Amazing Grace. And they certainly don’t want news cameras contrasting their supporters in their lawnchairs with ernest gay and gay-supporting people in silent prayer. It makes it hard to claim that you are the good guy.

I can’t wait to see the pictures.

NOM takes Saturday off

The National Organization for Marriage has explained the tiny crowds showing up for their Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas as being because their supporters have real jobs. Well, it’s Saturday and many people are off work for the weekend.

So it does make it a bit peculiar that NOM decided not to hold a rally today.

NOM in Rochester: “we’ll be treated as bigots”

The National Organization for Marriage’s Summer for Marriage Tour rolled into a church parking lot set in a big green pasture (perhaps it needed fertilizer) in Rochester, MN. And the attendance was small (Tour Tracker):

18 NOM attendees
9 NOM staffers/volunteers
2 priests
7 protesters

As absolutely nothing new or even remotely interesting resulted from NOM’s increasingly boring tour, I want to touch on something that Brian Brown said there that he and Maggie Gallagher have been saying a lot lately:

“If we do not stand up for marriage we will be treated under the law as bigots.”

Objecting to being called a bigot has featured large in their talking points as of late. But they aren’t really worried about what anyone calls them; it’s a larger issue than that.

Brian and Maggie fear that the world is changing. They fear that it may soon become normal to treat gay people with acceptance, respect and equality. They fear what anti-gay extremists refer to as the “normalization of homosexuality.”

And they have reason to fear.

Consider, if you will, the man or woman who in 1963 firmly believed that it was right to segregate by race. At the time, their views were not outside the range of normal; they were not considered to be peculiar or automatically assumed to be grounded in hatred. When George Wallace stood in the schoolroom door, he was a reflection of his time and culture and held a view that was supported by the majority of his constituents. He was certain that God was on his side.

But time has not been kind to the image of George Wallace and his supporters. At this point we look back and marvel at the fear and animus that was so embedded into a culture that kind and decent people accepted these attitudes and presumptions as normal and good and ordered by God. “It was bald-faced bigotry,” we say, and have little patience or forgiveness for that part of our history.

And Brian and Maggie fear that this is likely to be their fate.

And so it is with determination that they fight forward, hoping to turn back a culture that has already passed the tipping point. Like George Wallace, they declare that the public is behind them and toss the gauntlet declaring heterosexual privilege now, heterosexual privilege tomorrow, heterosexual privilege forever.

And with increasing shrillness they desperately look for a way to come out on the winning side of history. They hope that by claiming the rhetoric of civil rights they can achieve the success of that movement. In desperation they turn to the prayers of priests begging for divine intervention.

But I think that they know by now that there is no turning back. Marriage’s George Wallace moment was in 2004 when George W. Bush made same-sex marriage a campaign issue. That was the peak of opposition and its been on a steady decline since. Equality is coming and the signs are everywhere.

More and more the Democratic leaders are speaking in terms of equality, and more and more Republicans are unwilling to be seen as equality’s enemy. When Laura Bush said that she “disagreed” with the FMA, it disheartened them. When Cindy McCain endorsed marriage equality the end seemed so much closer. Furiously they lashed out at Tom Campbell for daring to endorse marriage.

Loudly they gloat about the California vote, knowing that polls reveal that it soon will be reversed. They bluff and demand the right to vote in Washington, DC, even while knowing that there’s a good chance they would lose that vote. As they look out at the few dozen people who park their lawnchair at their rallies, they cannot help but know what we already know.

Equality is coming. Time is on our side.

The future world will likely look back and wonder how the majority of Americans let a handful of religious zealots dictate discrimination. They’ll marvel at the fear and animus that is so embedded into our culture that kind and decent people accept these attitudes and presumptions as normal and good and ordered by God. “It was bald-faced bigotry,” they will say, and will have little patience or forgiveness for this part of our history.

And so Brian and Maggie fight on. Because they know that “we’ll be treated as bigots.”

A Question for Maggie Gallagher

Four days have passed since the infamous “kill the gays” sign appeared at NOM’s Indianapolis rally. And four days of silence on the sign from NOM. Instead, they’ve been complaining that NOM are the victims — that’s right, victims! — of the mean old gays.

The sign quotes Leviticus. Rob Tisinai points out that NOM President Maggie Gallagher has defended others who has cited the Levitical death penalty for gay men. So now is the time for a direct question to Maggie Gallagher. Leviticus 20:13 says:

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Maggie, do you or do you not agree with this statement?

[Graphic by Rob Tisinai]

Guess who is NOT showing up at NOM’s rallies

Today in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the National Organization for Marriage’s President Brian Brown told his ralliers, “This is a civil rights question. It’s about our civil rights.”

Brown speaks this line at every single tour stop on NOM’s Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas. Usually he invokes Dr. Martin Luther King.

In Annapolis, Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, told the crowd that “The major civil right, for those of us who went through the civil rights movement, is the right to vote . . . .”

Here he is:

And here is his audience:

Yesterday in St. Paul, Bishop Robert Battle, Senior Pastor of the Berean Church of God in Christ (a predominantly African-American church), told his listeners that “The African American church is firm on the biblical truth that marriage is one man and one woman.”

Here’s Bishop Battle:

And here’s another view of his audience:

Today Battle was scheduled to come to St. Cloud to be the black speaker. I’m not sure if he made it – the speakers’ chairs seem to be mostly empty and NOM’s blog makes no mention – but if so, he spoke to this crowd about the commitment of African Americans to the cause:

Now perhaps it’s just me, but it just seems that on average, NOM’s ralliers have had a distinct pale hue. Even in places with significant African–American populations.

NOM’s rally in wackadoodle St. Cloud church proves uneventful

Today the National Organization for Marriage held a rally at Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud. This is the same church which paid for an ad in a local paper claiming that The Moslems were a threat to America and were trying to “take control” by “supporting the gay agenda.”

According to the Trial Tracker (thanks guys for being the most reliable source of info about NOM’s Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas (and church lawns)):

Today, 73 NOM supporters gathered on a lawn in front of Granite City Church.

There is no report as to whether The Moslems tried to infiltrate the rally, but one NOM supporter made an unintentional statement when they brought their rainbow umbrella.

A handful of protesters stayed on the sidewalk about 250 feet away to maintain a presence, but the main equality event was across town in a park by the university where 89 folks showed up to support marriage for all.

Phyllis told me a community organizer, Justin Michael, spoke to the crowd largely composed of students from St. Cloud State University, the second largest in the state (the rally is being held in Barden Park, next to the University). There’s a lesson here: St. Cloud is part of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district, a virulent opponent of equality (and many other progressive issues). But this goes to show again that even in the reddest bastions of homophobia, we can find the future in younger supporters of equality like the students from St. Cloud State. We cannot write off areas of the country that may seem more conservative by their representation or character.

The “reddest bastions” comment refers to the fact that St. Cloud is represented by Michele Bachmann, a congresswoman obsessed with opposing civil equality for gay people (on religious grounds). Here are just a couple of her doozies:

If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement.

and

It’s part of Satan I think to say that this is “gay.” It’s anything but gay.

The speakers today seemed to be the same formula: Brian Brown, Catholic Priest, local “family” activist, Baptist Pastor, black person. However Michele Bachmann was not among the speakers on the church lawn. I’m not sure about Satan.

UPDATE: NOM’s Louis Marinelli has blogged about the St. Cloud event. The man is truly delusional.

Like I mentioned, we had at least two hundred attendees today and the best part is that they were an active crowd. You could sense that they were engaged and excited to be there and I know that when they left our rally today they were going to go home and spread the word.

At least two hundred? I guess that doubling the crowd hasn’t been impressive so now NOM is just taking the actual turnout and multiplying by three. Here’s the accompanying photo that Louis provides of the audience.
There are 61 people in this photo, including children.

As for the protesters, there were enough to count on one hand and they stayed closer to the street, held and few signs and kept to themselves. They weren’t an issue.

Yup, because the bulk of theme (outnumbering NOM’s crowd) were across town, in my opinion a wise move.

Although Bachmann didn’t make an appearance, State Representative Steve Gottwalt (District 15A) did show up. Still no word on either Bishop Battle or Satan.

NOM’s driver Louis is back with another blog

Louis Marinelli is back with a new blogsite, and it’s as bizarre as the first. This time he’s making a big deal over someone who wrote “bullsh!t” on the ground with chalk (foul language!) and absolutely obsessed about how the Trial Trackers didn’t want him taking pictures of their press passes.

You know, from reading his stuff earlier, I pictured Marinelli as being a crotchety senior – the kind that rants about “kids these days.” But he’s actually a young guy.

Weird!

It’s like he’s in some strange time bubble where people don’t use “foul language” or show the middle finger. I’ll admit to thinking “kids these days” some times, but even I know that we don’t live in Leave it to Beaver world.

Va-va-va-va-Victims! (send money)

Brian Brown has struck up the orchestra and started in on his song and dance routine. You know the one.

(hands on chest) Oh woe is me, I’m so bullied, so abused.
(arms outstreched) Oh can’t you see how badly I’ve been used?
(hands up to God) I treat those vile maggots with love and with care.
(hands clutched) And just cuz I want to take away their rights, they say that I’m not fair.
Really. Me!! It’s truuuuuue.

(all together on the chorus)
Send money.
Send money.
You know that they’re evil, so full of sin
and if you don’t send me cash, then they’re gunna win!
So send money, more mu-uh-ney.
Cuz if you send money I can keep my job.

His latest letter out to his supporters is, frankly, disgusting. But if follows the pattern that the National Organization for Marriage has used since Brian became its face:

* Claim to be a victim
* Use offensive language to demonize gay folk
* Claim gay folk are intolerant
* Lie about his support (double the crowd)
* Use more demeaning and offensive language to demean gay folk
* Suggest that gay folk are all in a conspiracy
* Beg for money
(disclaimer – the money you send to support this event will be used for other purposes)

Brown’s best over-the-top – and least honest – paragraphs are:

I thought I had heard and seen it all, but the radicals reached a new low yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. NOM and its supporters gathered peacefully in Madison to pray for marriage and to stand in support of marriage remaining a sacred union between men and women.

We were honored to have Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison address the crowd. Bishop Morlino spoke of the need to love one another even as we disagree on the issue of same-sex marriage. Yet when he led the crowd in the Lord’s Prayer, the gay marriage radicals screamed and booed him.

I’ve now watched two videos of that segment of the rally – both the unedited and NOM’s edited version – and the truth is that the counter protesters closest to the rally didn’t scream and those who were further away and couldn’t hear what was going on chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia’s got to go.”

Personally, as readers know, I prefer the silent treatment. It is effective in making our presence known without giving them video. And most know that I consider myself a Christian. But guess what: I am not obligated to honor or respect the prayers of those who are calling out on God to miraculouosly take away my rights. Those are not holy prayers or worthy of respect.

Entire fundraising letter after the break

Read the rest of this entry »

NOM supports Fiorina campaign to Latinos

American Principles in Action, a obscure far-right organization that seems obsessed with opposing civil equality for gay people, has created a project they’ve called Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. They can be best described as hard-core conservative on all issues except immigration – sort of the Latino GOProud, if you will.

Their goal is to convince Latino Californians to vote Republican, focusing solely on (non-immigration related) social issues and, in particular, to drum up votes for Carly Fiorina. (From their press release)

The Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, a national organization of conservative Hispanics, today launched a $1 million campaign in support of California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles. Fiorina is running against Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer.

why?

“Carly Fiorina, like the majority of Latinos, believes in the right-to-life, traditional marriage and in hard work and entrepreneurship,” stated Aguilar.

And who is a part?

The Latino Partnership for Conservative principles “Tus Valores” campaign is supported by the Susan B. Anthony List, a network of 280,000 Americans in all fifty states dedicated to mobilizing, advancing and representing pro-life women in politics, and by the National Organization for Marriage, a non-profit organization with a mission to protect marriage and the faith communities that sustain it.

I assume “supported by” includes financial support, but that isn’t clear.

UPDATE:

GoodAsYou is reporting that this group is even more closely tied to NOM:

This Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles coalition is an outreach of the American Principles Project, and this Fiorina effort is the work of APP’s action arm, American Principles in Action. Robert George is the founder of APP/APIA. The same Robert George who — wait for it, wait for it — CO-FOUNDED NOM! So essentially we have NOM signing on as one of two sponsors (the Susan B. Anthony List being the other) of a pro-Fiorina effort that was setup by their own founding chairman and current prominent spokesperson!

NOM gets best turnout in St. Paul, larger crowd counterprotests

Today the National Organization for Marriage got the largest turnout to date for their Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas. Yes the plaza in St. Paul, Minnesota, was still mostly empty, and counter-protesters outnumbered them, but the crowd was not as embarrassingly small as it has been at most stops.

From Trial Tracker

In the largest NOM turnout to date, I hand-counted 163 NOM supporters before I stopped to file this blog post.

Despite this, NOM supporters were still outnumbered by supporters of equality. A hand-count total of 217 equality supporters showed up to outnumber NOM supporters. The largest contingent of equality supporters stood behind the NOM rally before marching up the steps and inside the State House for a rally. 33 equality supporters have stayed behind, silently holding signs and rainbow flags.

In St. Paul the marriage supports did not chant or otherwise disrupt NOM’s message.

UPDATE: More in from Courage Campaign:

At the conclusion of the equality event, activists went back outside, lined the NOM rally in a semi-circle and turned their backs to the speakers in a silent counter-protest.

Outside, Brian Brown was giddy and despite his insistence otherwise, even his speakers are becoming more fringe.

“America is becoming a nation of bastards,” one NOM speaker stated from the podium to applause from the crowd. “You can dress a pig in a tuxedo, but it’s still a pig,” he continued.

NOM in St. Paul: a disturbing perversion of Christianity

The National Organization for Marriage presented its usual speakers in St. Cloud, Minnesota today. But it also presented someone who made the most peculiar and disturbing speech we’ve yet observed on their tour.

First, let me say that it is appropriate that religious moral teaching – along with other codes of ethics – deal with appropriate sexuality. Violation, abuse of trust, maturity, fidelity and even abstinence are all issues about which people of faith may and should determine ideals and personal goals.

It is not peculiar or inappropriate for Christianity – or any other belief system – to establish rules of self-comportment which preclude using others sexually and which encourage abstinence before commitment and fidelity afterword. But lately I’ve seen faith leaders who go far beyond ethical sexuality and who have gone so far as to spiritualize and even deify heterosexuality.

Take, for example, this report by NOM’s blogsite (perhaps Maggie Gallagher) of a speech by Father Mike Becker, the rector of St. John Vianney Semi­nary in St. Paul:

Father Mike Becker, from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, told supporters today that from a spiritual perspective, “Marital intimacy is a prayer,” relaying the account of a woman who told him that she believed there were angels in the room rejoicing when her child was conceived.

That is, to me, shocking coming from a Christian minister.

The idea of “intimacy” as an offering to a deity is not a new one. Fertility cults, wherein deities are honored by sacred acts of f*cking, were at one time a dominant religious experience on the planet. Sexuality is a powerful force and linked as it is with procreation and rebirth and the cycles of the seasons, it was almost inevitable that it would become a focal point of worship.

But not for Christians. The Protestant long Judeo-Christian heritage is one of rejection of “sacred sex.” Indeed, most scholars agree that the Levitical sexual restrictions exist in a part due to the sex worship of neighboring Canaanites. And New Testament Christians set themselves apart from the collection of Roman deities with their temple prostitutes.

To say that “marital intimacy is a prayer” is not only heretical, but a very disturbing perversion of Christianity, as I know it to be. And to conjure up images of invisible demi-gods hovering about watching you have sex is not only exhibitionistic, but hearkens back to Samhain fires and Astarte temples. While these may have an appropriate place in the religious lore of others, they are certainly not a part of Protestant Christianity.

I am troubled that many of those who oppose civil equality for gay people do so not limit themselves to matters of sexual ethics. Rather, for a while some have been demonstrating an obsession with sex that borders on the deification of heterosexuality. But this is by far the most extreme that I’ve seen.

UPDATE: More from Courage Campaign:

We also met with Father Michael Becker, a Catholic priest whose main argument against homosexuality was centered around the practice of anal and oral sex. According to Father Becker, anal and oral sex lack dignity because they abuse their partners as instrumentalities of pleasure for non-procreative potential.

He said it, not me.

NOM’s Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas finds one in Madison WI that is overflowing… with counter-protesters

Madison, the state capital of Wisconsin and a college town, has a long tradition of progressive activism. A very liberal island within a slightly more conservative state, in 2006 when Wisconsin voted in a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, 76% of Madison voters voted against. So surely the National Organization for Marriage had to know that Madison would not lend itself to media images of a strong show of support for their cause.

But I doubt that they predicted this (Tour Tracker):

That’s a hand-counted crowd of 466 pro-equality supporters, my friends. Four hundred and sixty-six. Easily the biggest crowd yet!

NOM’s side? Arisha counts 54.

That isn’t going to look encouraging for NOM’s “traditional marriage” supporters on the evening news.

Unlike at previous stops, NOM has not yet posted any pictures from today’s event. The pictures coming in from the equality side appear to be upbeat and positive.

UPDATE: This was what NOM dreamed to see coming up the street… they just assumed it would be supporters.

UPDATE TWO: The Courage Campaign has a video up of the counter protest coming down the street. If you had any question about the validity of the count, you have to check out this video. It takes nearly four minutes for the crowd to walk by.

In a pathetic attempt to spin their comparatively minuscule turn-out, Maggie Gallagher has a new theory as to why they were outnumbered eight to one (a little fact they fail to mention in their “recap”).

A number of people came up after the rally, telling us that the Madison cops (God bless ’em), in their zeal to keep the counter-protestors out, were preventing them from joining NOM’s rally.

Meanwhile NOM’s pictures are the usual pics of the speakers, but not the crowd, accompanied by their oh-so-impressive zingers.

UPDATE THREE:

In reviewing a tape of the rally, I heard Bishop Morlino clarify NOM’s definition of marriage: “One husband, one wife, one lifetime, with openness to children.” Translation: ban divorce and contraception. You don’t always see these visible in their propaganda, but if you look closely you see a pattern appear.

Let’s never forget that those who lead the charge to take away our civil freedoms don’t see us as the end game. We are but one step in their desire to impose the doctrines of their faith on all people.

On Thursday, NOM will be touring Crazyville

On Thursday, the National Organization for Marriage will be holding a Summer for Marriage rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota. However, unlike most stops, this time they will be at a church, the Granite City Baptist Church. (Chicago Tribune)

Granite City Baptist Church Pastor Dennis Campbell tells WJON radio that the organization contacted him about bringing the rally to St. Cloud and he agreed to host because it has a message he supports.

Campbell is an interesting fellow. And the messages that he supports are unique. For example, back in March, probably about the time that NOM was putting together their tour, Campbell took out an ad in the St. Cloud Times to answer the question, Does the Islamic Religion Represent a Threat to America?

Christians are being driven from their homes, murdered, and enslaved in Islamic nations according to William J. Murray, Chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition. Islam is extending its influence over Europe and the United States. Statistics claim there are 9 million, but with illegal immigrants, it is probably closer to 15 million, according to a missionary that grew up in Central Asia. He said Uzbekistan, where he grew up, was 88% Islam. It is projected that in 30 years there will be 50 million Moslems in the USA.

How do Moslems seek to take control of a nation? Moslems seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs, and by supporting the gay agenda.

Oh yes, folks, gays are tools of the “Moslems” who seek to overthrow America and force everyone to be Moslems. And when NOM’s Big Bus of Animus pulls up at Granite City Baptist, not only will it be protecting America from gay people, but from Moslems as well.

And Campbell not only knows these amazing things, but he is passing them on to the next generation. At the Granite City Baptist Academy, they teach that secular “students are being brainwashed into a contemporary blend of all religions through classroom myths, rituals, symbols, and multicultural experiences” and that

Secular textbooks are inappropriate for Christian children. Secular publishers are more concerned about being politically correct than historically and scientifically accurate. Publishers are pressured to portray feminists, homosexuals, and Muslims in a positive light.

What a bunch of wackadoodles; NOM should feel right at home. Though, perhaps Maggie Gallagher shouldn’t mention her Hindu husband while she’s in St. Cloud. I doubt Pastor Dennis is all that fond of Hindus either.

NOM’s Louis Marinelli’s blogsite goes ‘invite only’

It now appears that the National Organization for Marriage has silenced their loose cannon, Louis Marinelli. While he is likely still driving the bus for their Tour of Mostly-Empty City Plazas, his blogsite can now be seen only by invitation. As Marinelli’s existences seems to revolve around expressing his contempt for gay men and women, that must frustrate him immensely.

NOM supporter advocates hanging gay couples

The National Organization for Marriage had this supporter out in Indianapolis today:

That’s Larry Adams. When the Trial Trackers interviewed Mr. Adams, a NOM staffer advised him not to say “anything inflammatory” but seemed to have no objection to Mr. Adams’ signage.

In order to punish people for doing the wrong thing, you’re stopping sin like this here. If homosexuality was against the law, if it was punished like it’s supposed to be, there wouldn’t be so much homosexuality out here.

Bil Browning has additional photos at the Bilerico Project

And one more time with the solution:

UPDATE: To date (7/27) I’ve not seen any renunciation of the sign or its message by NOM or anyone affiliated with NOM. However, here’s the discussion that occurred when an equality supporter posted the sign on NOM’s Facebook page:

Eva Kurilova: Nice.
Although I fully understand that not all of you, not even a majority of you, want to hang/kill gays.
Unlike your failure to understand that most gay people have been peacefully protesting. That two people storming a podium does not equal an entire movement or an entire segment of the population, and so you constantly gripe about troublesome gay activists that the rest of us should answer for. Well, answer for this then. [picture of noose sign posted]

Dustin Brian Lee Tenney: The fact that nobody stopped them, and nobody on their side apologized for it doesn’t help your case Eva.

Nick Jones: Does peaceful protest also include women making out in front of the podium trying to make a mockery of the rally. If they were really peaceful protesters they would leave their megaphones at home as well as their lifestyle.

Theresa Preece: That depends on the meaning behind the picture and the verse. Not that I agree with the choice of “art” but it could be argued that when people willingly chose to live in sin- as in the case the sin of homosexuality- that they are chosing death over life. As in death to eternal life- and that the choice (the choice of death, which is represented in the two nooses) is on them. Again, I don’t agree with the choice of artwork, but as is the case – it is open to interpertation and that is one interpertation that differs from yours, Eva.

Shannon Williams: One can’t hold the conservative movement reponsible for what that scripture says. God, himself, wrote that verse, as well as all verses in his holy Word. If that verse bites, your beef is with the Creator of the Universe, not with any human.

I don’t see any disagreement with the sign’s message that gay couples should be executed.