Where the Religious Right in this country is concerned there is no such thing as equal rights for gay citizens. Even something as innocuous as adding sexuality and gender to the Hate Crimes act is under challenge from these “divinely” inspired bigots. The Thomas More Law Center, which prides itself as the “Sword and Shield for People of Faith” is filing a law suit challenging the constitutionality of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

“Originally posted at Squarestate.net”

For those who are not familiar with the Thomas More Law Center, it one of the projects that billionaire pizza mogul Tom Monaghan has spent his money on since being bought out of Domino’s in 1998. One of his other projects is a Ave Maria School of Law and an Catholic gated community that ran aground of ACLU and was scrapped before it got off the ground.

Mr. Monaghan is, to put it plainly, a Catholic religious zealot. That his Thomas More Law Center is involved in trying to roll back the protections in the Shepard/Byrd act should come as no surprise. They have been involved in all kinds of litigation against providing equal rights for all citizens.

The Center is filing suit on behalf of three pastors and a private citizen. What exactly are they upset about? Here is what Richard Thompson the president of the center has to say about the case:

This is part of the list of political payoffs to homosexual advocacy groups for support of Barack Obama in the last presidential election. The sole purpose of this law is to criminalize the Bible and use the threat of federal prosecutions and long jail sentences to silence Christians from expressing their Biblically-based religious belief that homosexual conduct is a sin. It elevates those persons who engage in deviant sexual behaviors, including pedophiles, to a special protected class of persons as a matter of federal law and policy.”

Lets kick this off by giving credit where credit is due, Teddy Parteridge is doing a fabulous job of live blogging the Prop 8 trial. Without him we would have to be satisfied with the 30 snippets on the traditional media broadcasts. If you have ever tried to live blog anything you know just how hard what he is doing is. Teddy you rock!

Things are looking moderately good at the Prop 8 trial. Right now, the plaintiffs (the gay couples who want to be able to marry) are presenting their case so it is expected. We have had the very emotional testimony from the plaintiffs about what being denied this right that every heterosexual citizen takes for granted means.

It is a real drag to lose a hard fought political battle. However, it is not always the end. The loss in Maine shows we need to stop fighting State by State and take this to the Supreme Court as a Fourteenth Amendment issue.

There are new developments in the No on 1 campaign for Marriage Equality in Maine. If we can raise 10,000 by the end of the day Friday, an anonymous donor will match it dollar for dollar! Also see the first ad going up today!