Q Toon: What a Friend We Have

After accepting the congratulations of his minions and toadies following the mass murder in Orlando, Republican presumptive nominee Donald Berzilius Trump tweeted:

"Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people who will threaten your freedoms and beliefs."

Campaigning in Atlanta, Trump appealed not only to the LGBT community, but the communities of gays and lesbians as well:

"The LGBT community, the gay community, the lesbian community — they are so much in favor of what I've been saying over the last three or four days. Ask the gays what they think and what they do, in, not only Saudi Arabia, but many of these countries, and then you tell me — who's your friend, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?"

The Twitterverse responded with the hashtag #AskTheGays, in which it seems pretty obvious that Trump hadn't Asked The Gays before speaking on our behalf.

The next week, The Donald held a closed-door meeting with right-wing evangelical Christian leaders and announced the formation of a "Religious Advisory Board" including vocally antigay luminaries such as former Focus on the Family president Dr. James Dobson, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., Bishop Harry Jackson, First Baptist Church of Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress, and Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed.

We're still waiting for the formation of an LGBT Advisory Board for whenever Trump decides to #AskTheGays.

Dr. George Rekers and Traveling Companion

Dr. George A. Rekers, a co-founder of the Focus on the Family institute and a longtime antigay activist for the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NAMBLA) was caught coming home from a European vacation with a young man he found on rentboy.com, a gay sex hook-up site.

"I had surgery and I can't lift luggage. That's why I hired him."

—Rekers, to Miami New Times, which broke the story.

Apparently the qualities Rekers was looking for in a baggage handler were someone with a "smooth, sweet, tight ass" and "perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)" who was "sensual," "wild," and "up for anything"; at least that's how Jo-Vanni described himself on his rentboy.com profile. Jo-Vanni says that in addition to carrying Reker's luggage, he also gave the 62-year-old nude massages, but there was no "sex."

Rekers recently testified before the Florida legislature against adoption rights to same-sex couples at the request of state Attorney General Bill McCollum, and has been speaking out condemning gays and lesbians since the 1970's.

But what takes the cake this week is Rekers' explanation that he was actually following Jesus' example by ministering to sinners — you know, prostitutes, tax collectors. But it's so difficult to find an IRS agent willing to lug your bags around Europe.

फोचुस ओं थे फॅमिली'स टीवी अड़

This cartoon refers to contradictory decisions by CBS regarding two advocacy commercials intended for airing during the Superbowl. The first, in December of 2004, was for the United Church of Christ, and showed a bouncer at a church door, rejecting various minorities, including a same-sex couple. Christ wouldn't turn you away, went the tag line, and neither will we. CBS (and NBC) rejected the ad on the grounds that it was controversial.

Fast forward five years, and Focus on the Family brings an ad featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. Now, I'm sure the text in the cartoon is not a verbatim quotation of the ad, but anyone who knows the Tebows' life story will be able to catch whatever subtext underlies what they do say. Mrs. Tebow was on medication that, because she became pregnant with Tim, could have threatened her life; but she went through with the pregnancy in spite of her doctors' warnings and Florida won the Sugar Bowl.

Focus on the Family flaks contend that FotF merely "supports families." You'll forgive me if, since they have spent the last couple of decades loudly and enthusiastically undermining and demeaning my family, I don't believe that for a minute.