Anti-gay "pastor" charged with stealing $150K...blames gays. No, really.

This would make a good headline for The Onion.  Sadly, it's not satire at all.

Harris Himes, who calls himself "pastor" of the Big Sky Christian Center in Montana (the address of which is Himes's post office box), got himself in a bit of hot water recently.  He and another "pastor," James "Jeb" Bryant, apparently swindled an investor out of $150,000 by claiming to own a business called Duratherm Building Systems and promising good returns.  From the Missoulian:

The charges included theft, fraud, conspiracy to commit both, failure to register a security and failure to register as a salesman of same.

According to court records, Himes and Bryant claimed to own a business, Duratherm Building Systems, and promised at least one investor a large return on his $150,000. But the investor claimed to have never received any returns or confirmation of sale, nor could he get his money back.
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The 5 Most Offensive Sexist and Homophobic Moves by Conservatives: This Month Alone!

A sign at NYC's 2011 rally for women's health.

Photo Credit: Sarah Seltzer

From homophobic remarks to awful bills, here's a little roundup of a month of assault from the GOP.

May 17, 2012

It seems like with every cultural step forward by the country on the whole, the right-wing has to take a few leaps backward--and women, gays and minorities are the victims.

This month has already brought some great moments: massive protests on May 1 and the historic cultural moment when a sitting US president endorsed marriage equality. But simultaneously the GOP and other conservative institutions have gone on what felt like a vengeful tear. Maybe these racist, sexist and homophobic statements and bills really just constitute business as usual, a continuation of the "war on women," but in contrast to progress, it most certainly brings the term "reactionary" into a new light.

It also shows that the war on women isn't just on women--it's on anyone who doesn't conform to rigid patriarchal gender roles.

Here are five of the worst offenses this month.  READ MORE

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay

By RICHARD M. RYAN and WILLIAM S. RYAN

Published: April 27, 2012 

In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation in hate-crime legislation, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct in a men’s bathroom; and Glenn Murphy Jr., a leader of the Young Republican National Convention and an opponent of same-sex marriage, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being accused of sexually assaulting another man. 

One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.” 

It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.   READ MORE