SOUTH CAROLINA: Motion To Intervene Claims Gay Marriage Would Force Man To Stop Worshipping The Lord

From local loony tune Don Boyd's typos and misspellings-laden motion to intervene in the challenge to South Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage:

DON BOYD, MUSICIAN AND PSALMIST, Anointed and Assigned as a Watchmen of the souls of the people errantly calling themselves lesbian and gay WOULD PURSUE DISMISSAL of what is in essence and in truth a RELIGIOUS matter couched of late as a secular deprivation of constitutional rights by the Gay Agenda (of said people errantly identifying and calling themselves lesbian and gay) apostate and rebellious from The Most High GOD and Creator LORD of all the Earth, covetous of the Portion of those marrying and given in marriage in this world, troubled and incited of that Wicked One Lucifer the Devil unto discontent with Divine Constraint their Portion and glorious Calling in this life unto Reward of the Next. [snip] Any ratifying of gay "marriage" would compel me to leave off worshipping THE LORD with music and psalms - free exercise of my religion -to assume the life of a protester and wedding crasher.

Tea Party Gov. Nikki Haley: Perpetrators of Domestic Violence Should Keep Their Guns Because Freedom, Victims Should Go to Church

Nikki Haley, the Tea Party governor of South Carolina isn’t worried about what she says; she knows that no matter how outlandish her remarks are the people of her state will reelect her because she stands between them and the evil federal government that is stripping away all of their freedoms. Freedoms like being able to beat their wives without worrying that some bleeding heart judge will allow their victim to stab or shoot them in self-defense and claim a stand your ground defense.

In a debate on Tuesday Haley replied to a question that should have been a no brainer, one that no matter what side of the gun control debate one is on the logical answer must be the same.

“Should the state make it easier for police to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted domestic violence offenders?” The moderator asked.

Easy one? Of course it should be easy — no rational person would say otherwise. Apparently Nikki Haley is not a rational person:

“You know I’ve always believed in the Second Amendment, and I believe in it because I’m a certified weapons permit holder myself. And I know the classes, and I know the time, and I know the education that you need in order to be able to carry. We want to make sure that we put it in the hands of responsible people, which is why we passed legislation that said that anyone that had been ordered by the courts to be declared with a mentally ill disease, that they could not carry.

But for everybody else, we want them to have the ability to protect their home, protect their children, protect their business.”

Governor Haley does not think that being a wife beater is a good reason to strip a “man” of his “God-given right” to amass and keep an arsenal with which to keep “the little woman” in line.

This is not out of line with what passes for rational thought in South Carolina, in 2012 Whitlee Jones stabbed and killed her live-in boyfriend Eric Lee after being beaten, dragged down the street by her hair and prevented from leaving their apartment by him. The judge agreed with her attorney that the state’s SYG law applied and granted her immunity from prosecution.

The prosecutor did not agree claiming in his appeal that Jones did not qualify for the SYG defense because its intent is to allow one to protect himself from outsiders not from other residents in their home.

Haley’s most telling remark could be a simple misstatement but given her attitude that only the mentally ill should be prohibited from carrying weapons it is more likely to have been a Freudian slip:

“We need to continue to increase penalties against domestic violence victims and make sure that we’re doing all we can to educate people on how they can have a better life.”

Widescale Corruption Scandal Rocks South Carolina’s GOP Statehouse

Just over a month ago, South Carolina’s republican Speaker of the House, Bobby Harrell, was indicted on multiple criminal charges, including misconduct in office, misuse of power, using campaign donations for personal gain and falsifying financial reports. The nine count criminal indictment against Harrell appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

According to the Post and Courier, state and federal investigators have now widened the probe to include several other lawmakers. Authorities are looking into allegations that range from elected officials selling votes, to state lawmakers funneling money from South Carolina’s budget into their own pockets.

A large part of the investigation involves a PAC which was directly connected to Harrell, known as The Palmetto Leadership Council. According to Ashley Landess, President of the SC Policy Council, which first raised concerns with the state’s attorney general over improper conduct by Harrell:

“There was rumored to be a big operating account into which money was funneled that was not related to the PAC and not used in elections. The concern was that perhaps there was a great deal of big money coming from corporations … and the nature of the expenses may have benefited the speaker.”

One part of the investigation involves accusations that money from that secret account was used to “sway” lawmakers votes in the election of a Supreme Court Justice, Jean Toal. According to South Carolina’s Post and Courier, State Representative Jenny Horne, an outspoken supporter of Toal, is said to be one of the lawmakers under investigation in connection with those allegations.

Mother Calls Cops on Porn-Watching 15-Year-Old

It's every teen's worst nightmare: mom discovers your porn stash. Now imagine how much horrible it would be if the police got involved. 

The Smoking Gun reports that a pubescent nightmare scenario played out in South Carolina on August 5, when police were summoned by the mother of a 15-year-old boy because the teen had been watching porn on the living room television.

According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, Chavondar Gallman, 40, a real estate agent in Spartenburg, South Carolina returned home on August 5, with a client and her two-year-old daughter in tow. The three went into the living, where the two-year-old turned on the television to find that porn playing. They immediately turned the television off and took the toddler out of the room.

Gallman called 911 and gave a voluntary statement to police officers, saying she summoned police because "her son has been having behavior issues and that he will not listen, talk back, and steal." The report details that Gallman requested police documentation due to her young daughter being exposed to porn and to track her teenage son's behavior.

Watching porn is not illegal in South Carolina.

The police report failed to indicate what the son was doing in his room at the time of the call.

South Carolina Legislator Wants To Force Students To Learn Creationism

Well, it’s happened again. The great state of South Carolina has demonstrated that when it comes to ignorance of science, its legislators take a back seat to no one. They must have been jealous of Kansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

Last week, SC legislator Mike Fair, a Republican, proposed a new standard for teaching high school biology that encourages teachers to teach alternatives to evolution, by which he means creationism. He’s been working on this for months; last spring he tried to pass a law that would have required students and teachers to construct arguments against evolution. After failing to get that through his committee, he has proposed a new law that says:

“evolution is continually open to and subject to experimental and observational testing.”

Except of course that’s not what he really means.

Let’s be clear: Mike Fair doesn’t want evolution to be taught in public schools. Instead, he wants to force students, using the power of government, to adopt his conservative Christian views, which teaches that God created all living things just as they are today, about 6000 years ago (or 4000 years, depending on who you ask).

The 1925 Scopes trial on the teaching of evolution, showing William
 Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow.
(Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution)

Fair has a history of trying to dumb down the teaching of science. Back in February, he blocked the state education oversight committee from using the phrase “natural selection” in the state science standards. Speaking to the (SC) Post and Courier, Fair said

“To teach that natural selection is the answer to origins is wrong. I don’t think it should be taught as fact.” [Mike Fair, S.C. legislator]

Ignorant barely begins to describe this statement. Mike Fair clearly doesn’t have the faintest grasp of biology or genetics. He’s the last person that anyone should want to weigh in on science standards. His behavior goes far beyond mere ignorance, though: not only is he wrong, but he wants to use the power of the state to impose his religious views, under the guise of science, on every student in South Carolina’s schools. No wonder South Carolina is perennially ranked near the bottom of the country in public education.

I have a confession to make. I grew up in South Carolina and went through the public schools there, from kindergarten right through high school. I met lots of guys like Mike Fair: popular, plays on the football team, student body president. These guys are usually bullies (we’ve all seen the movie), and that’s just what Fair is demonstrating now: he wants to bully every teacher, and every child, into listening to his ignorant views of science. I’ve no doubt that if Fair could require prayer in every school — Christian prayer, that is — he’d do that too. I grew up surrounded by this kind of nonsense, but I didn’t speak up then because I would have been ostracized. Well, I’m speaking up now.

Fair and his colleagues in the Republican-dominated S.C. House of Representatives argue that no, they aren’t forcing teachers to teach creationism — they just want to teach the controversy. Equally appalling is the position of the S.C. Superintendent of Education, Mick Zais, who agreed with this sentiment, saying:

“We ought to teach both sides and let students draw their own conclusions.”

No, you shouldn’t. There is no scientific controversy about evolution. Evolutionary theory is based on an enormous edifice of facts, with literally tens of thousands of scientific papers providing evidence to support it. There is no competing theory out there.

“A growing concern is the immigration of people who are accustomed to their religion and their civil laws being inextricably connected. For those newcomers to our state, this bill will be helpful to them as they are assimilated into our culture maintaining complete freedom to worship as they please.”Ironically, three years ago Fair introduced a bill to prevent the imposition of Islamic-based Sharia law in South Carolina. He justified this by saying

Reading this sent my irony meter way into the red zone. Let me see if I understand: Mike Fair doesn’t want religion and civil laws to be “inextricably connected” — but he does want to require that public, state-funded schools teach his religious view of the creation myth. I guess what he meant to say is that it’s okay to mix religious fundamentalism and civil law, as long as it’s Mike Fair’s brand of Christian fundamentalism.

South Carolina doesn’t even need its own set of science standards, nor does Texas, Louisiana, or Kansas. The laws of science don’t change when you cross state lines or national borders. Allowing politicians to set science standards is a recipe for disaster, and is one reason why the U.S. continues to lag the rest of the world in science education—as South Carolina has once again demonstrated.

South Carolina GOP Gov Orders Freedom Police To Remove Democratic Operative At Meeting

While the South Carolina Governor wrapped up her meeting with the Atlantic Beach Town Council on Tuesday morning, town police quietly escorted a woman from the building. According to the officer who escorted her out of the meeting, the woman works for the South Carolina Democratic Party and her removal was ordered by the governor’s staff.

According to WMBF, Kate Sarna was filming the proceedings when she was told by town police officers to leave the Atlantic Beach Community Center.

Sarna questioned why she was told to leave the building after she was outside, asking if she had been causing a disturbance or creating a problem.

According to Atlantic Beach Police Sgt. John Jackson, her behavior was not a problem but he was just following orders. Those orders came from Nikki Haley’s staff.

WMBF reports:

Sarna said she had been told by SLED that it was OK to attend any meeting in a public place.

“SLED didn’t tell us,” Jackson responded. “We were told by the governor’s people to remove you.”

A spokesperson for the governor said prior to the meeting that the governor never intended to go into executive session and wanted to keep her remarks open to the public.

With the governor not joining the council, Atlantic Beach Mayor Jake Evans had the agenda amended to remove the executive session and allowed the governor to address the council.

When she finished speaking, Haley told the council she was ready for a frank discussion with them but she was met with silence.

Alternatively, Haley could have just removed everyone who did not follow her in lockstep, so I guess this is a positive move on her part by just removing one Democrat. Or maybe, the other Democrats are left in an alleyway after being punched in the throat by Haley’s staff, for freedom.

GOP Education Candidate Wants to Teach ‘Scientific Theory of Intelligent Design’ to Children

Sharon Few, a Republican who hopes to become the top education official in the State of South Carolina, wants to have a form of creationism taught in schools.

Few, one of eight Republicans campaigning for the Superintendent of Education, said during a primary debate on Tuesday that she believed “intelligent design” — that is, creationism in a clown suit — should be taught along with evolutionary theory. No word on whether she thinks that we should teach the Earth is flat and whether or not we should teach the stork theory of sex ed (which would actually be an improvement). During the debate, Few said:

In regard to the evolution issue, I have to say that that is one of the problems with our education system today, and it is one of the problems that has been brought to light through the problems with the Common Core standards. Children are not receiving an objective education.” 

“There is plenty of science and research behind the theory of intelligent design, and yet it is not allowed in the classroom. There is no reason why the scientific theory of intelligent design should not be taught in the classroom alongside the theory of evolution, and that way children would receive an objective education and they could also — for Christian children — could point to their God though the theory of intelligent design. Children need to have an objective education.

She needs to look up the definition of “objective” — “objective” does not mean “whatever I agree with.”

You can watch Few in the video below.

Controversial lgbt play a huge hit at the College of Charleston

The controversy at the College of Charleston involving lgbt issues has been a back and forth between the legislators and college. Last night however,  students finally spoke out about the situation in their own way:

From the Charleston Post & Courier: 

"Fun Home" author Alison Bechdel said she owes a debt to the generations of gay people who came before her, including her closeted, gay father who killed himself.

And she was proud to be part of bringing to Charleston the off-Broadway show based on her book, despite threats from South Carolina lawmakers that they could continue to slash the College of Charleston's budget.

Bechdel and the original cast of the New York show volunteered to present two performances in concert format at the 750-seat Memminger Auditorium Monday. The 7 p.m. show sold out and most seats for the 9 p.m. show also were filled.

Also, earlier that day students also attended a rally in support of "academic freedom" where they called into question the decision by SC lawmakers to take away $52,000 of its budget simply because Fun Home  was offered to students to read. Other SC lgbt organizations and leaders have also weighed in on the controversy:

Warren Redman-Gress, executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, said that in addition to students, the performances were important to Charleston residents, including members of its gay community. The General Assembly "is still trying to bully those with certain views," he said. The graphic novel "Fun Home" was the selected title for the College Reads! program and made available to all incoming freshman in the fall of 2013.

In the book, which Bechdel has written and drawn in comic-strip form, she describes her childhood with a closeted gay father, who was an English teacher and owner of a funeral home; the trial he faced over his dealings with young boys; his suicide; and her own coming out as a lesbian.

In February, some lawmakers took issue with the book, and the S.C. House budget-writing committee moved to withdraw $52,000 of school funding, the cost of the summer reading program.

The fact that last night's performances was a hit amongst students does call into question the claim by lawmakers that there were complaints about its reading assignment. 

However, if students are truly worried about this situation and how it may affect "academic freedom," the attendance last night was a good first step.  An appropriate last step should be an en masse rally at the State House while lawmakers are deliberating over the issue.

SC legislators to state universities: Assign gay material, see your money cut

Some state legislators in South Carolina want to teach a lesson -- to two of the state's public universities.

The legislators want to reduce funding for the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate because the schools assigned materials to students that dealt with homosexual themes.

The state House of Representatives is preparing to vote this week on a budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year that would strip the College of Charleston of $52,000 and the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg of $17,162.

The cuts are a fraction of the universities' proposed state funding for next year -- College of Charleston is set to receive $20 million and USC Upstate $9.5 million.

But the proposed cuts, despite being small portions of the schools' overall budgets, have drawn outrage from students, faculty, and even some alumni from both institutions. Many have taken their complaints to a website created to protest the cuts, and hundreds of individuals have posted, expressing their disapproval.

"I am a gay USC Upstate faculty member and a proud CofC alumnus...and SC is my home too. I won't stand by and let my academic freedom AND my civil rights be devalued," one post read.

The situation stems from freshman assignments at both schools.

Last summer, the College of Charleston provided incoming freshmen with a memoir, "Fun Home," in which the author deals with coming out as a lesbian. The University of South Carolina Upstate, meanwhile, assigned "Out Loud: The Best of Rainbow Radio," which features an account of South Carolina's first gay and lesbian radio show.

Lesbian Parents Not Recognized As Married, Son Denied Social Security Benefits

Lisa and Melody Rawson of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina have an adopted son who suffers from multiple medical conditions, including spina bifida. When they were living in New York they received a monthly $600 social security check to cover the cost of his medical expenses. However, the New York winters were too harsh for him so this past September they moved to South Carolina, at which point they promptly stopped receiving any benefits at all.

The reason? South Carolina's state computer system won't allow Lisa and Melody to both be listed as his parents. As a result the paperwork cannot be processed, so their son's medical benefits are denied by default. The Rawsons have tried contacting Social Security, the Justice Department, and Congress but allege being given the runaround.

SC Senate Candidate Lee Bright Wants Congress To Impeach Pro-Equality Federal Judges

It looks like South Carolina's got a terrifying candidate on the books for 2014's senatorial elections, and his name is Lee Bright. The Republican, who will be challenging Senator Lindsey Graham (long rumored to be gay), gave a disheartening and disturbing response to a Tea Party group in Utah regarding the state's pro-marriage equality federal ruling. Bright would like one of these pro-equality federal judges to be impeached by Congress as a means to encourage others to "do the right thing."

Right Wing Watch reports:

Bright told Tea Party Express, “Congress ought to stand up and do its job and impeach one of these federal judges. And I think when you do that, being a federal judge is a pretty good gig, and I think if you’ll impeach just one, the rest of them will do the right thing. And they’ll do it out of necessity, because self-preservation is an instinct that so many folks have.”

The Constitution grants lifetime appointments to federal judges “during good behavior.” In the nation’s history, only eight federal judges have been impeached and removed from office by Congress –most for committing crimes or severely neglecting their duties.

Bright also spoke about his desire for looser gun control laws, inaccurately utilizing Israel as a comparison point for the United States:

"You look over at Israel, and that’s an armed group of folks over there,” he said. “I mean, they are teachers with machine guns on playgrounds, because you got terrorists over there that would choose to harm children and whose teachers are there to protect them. When you’ve got folks that are armed and able to defend themselves, the threat of terrorism goes down drastically.”

Federal Court Finds GOP Governor Violated Civil Rights Of Protesters

On December 16, 2013, a Federal Appeals Court judge ruled that South Carolina Governor Niki Haley violated the civil rights of protesters. The protesters, who gathered at the state’s capital building in 2011, were a spring off of the Occupy Wall Street movement. 19 protesters, who were a part of the group Occupy Columbia, were arrested without cause. The arrests occurred under the direction of the SC governor.

Gov. Haley ordered the arrest of Occupy members who did not break the law.

Haley ordered the arrest of protesters who were camping on the grounds. The arrests were made even though there was no law in SC that made it illegal for the group to set up camp. Seven members of the protest group filed suit against Haley for violating their first amendment rights. Attorneys for the protesters claimed that it was their message of income inequality that Haley didn’t like. They presented no danger and broke no laws. Haley’s attempts to quash the protests, as well as to silence the protester’s political speech, would not have taken place if the message had been one she agrees with, attorney’s stated in the suit. The protesters, whose hands were zipped tied, were taken to a detention center after the arrests. Charges against them were dropped shortly after.

The judge found that there was enough proof to show that the civil rights of protesters were infringed upon.

The recent ruling, which comes two years after the arrests were made, is being seen as a victory for civil rights. Although the ruling does not give restitution to the protesters at this time, it upholds their right to sue Gov. Haley and state officials involved in the arrests. In his ruling, the judge wrote that the protester’s civil rights were infringed upon by Gov. Haley, with the help of state officials, who were acting upon her orders. The ruling is further proof that while republicans often say they care about the Constitution, when civil rights get in the way of their agenda, they have no second thoughts about trampling them. The right to free speech and the right to assemble are protected by the US Constitution. Reps like Haley, who claim to care about constitutional rights, also have a habit of denying them, when it better serves their purpose.

Did the president order a crack down on the occupy protests, as some people claim?

Some Occupy protesters have pointed a finger at President Obama, claiming that he ordered a nation wide crack down on Occupy protests in 2011. In order to support this claim ‘journalists’ have cited documents that show that the FBI and other agencies were keeping tabs on the protest activity. Still there is nothing in those documents that suggests, even to a slight degree, that any federal agency ordered or even wanted the movement put down. Another ‘journalist‘ claimed he had secret. inside information from an unnamed source within the Justice Department. The source supposedly told him that the Department of Homeland Security was training state and local police to crack down on the Occupy protests. Speaking from a journalistic perspective, if I cannot track down the source of story and verify for myself that it is based on fact, I don’t give it a lot of weight. On the other hand, internal e-mails (that can be read with your own eyes) do show that President Obama did support the Occupy movement and that he requested that the civil rights of protesters not be infringed upon. There are several times that the president is known to have requested that state and local authorities not crack down on the protesters. If there was a national, coordinated effort to suppress the Occupy protest, the big question would be why did protests receive support in some parts of the country, while being openly attacked in others? With Haley and so many other Republican leaders being the loudest critics of both President Obama and the federal government, it’s unrealistic to think they wouldn’t be pointing the finger now, if federal agencies were involved in the crack downs.

OKLAHOMA: Governor Might Sue To Block National Guard Benefits For Gays

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that he was ordering all National Guard units to comply with Pentagon policy regarding spousal benefits for gay soldiers. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin may go to court to stop him.

Alex Weintz, spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin, said she “is working with Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to evaluate the legal options available to the Oklahoma National Guard.” Weintz stopped short of saying Oklahoma will refuse to follow Hagel’s order, but made it clear Fallin would not go along with it willingly. “Gov. Fallin is calling on President Obama and Secretary Hagel to stop using the National Guard as a pawn in a larger social agenda,” said Weintz. “The president has made it clear he supports gay marriage. He has the legal authority to order federal agencies to recognize gay marriages. He does not have the legal authority to force state agencies to do so, or to unilaterally rewrite state laws or state constitutions.”

Following Hagel's edict, Indiana's Attorney General agreed to comply. Other states who have not yet done so: Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

South Carolina Mayor Doesn't Want 'Queer' Marriages 'Rammed Down Her Throat'

Linda Oliver, the mayor of West Union, South Carolina, is under fire for comments she made on Facebook using the "Q-word" with regard to same-sex marriage, and tells WHNS how she really feels about it:

"I don't want it rammed down my throat."

Oliver's online comments were in regard to the recent actions by Buncombe County Register of Wills Drew Reisinger in neighboring North Carolina, who began accepting marriage license applications for gay couples this week.

Said Oliver on Facebook:

"What's it gonna take to get these queers to realize they don't need a piece of paper. God will not bless their union because he plainly speaks against queers in the Bible. Want to cover your queer with insurance? Buy a policy. Want your queer to get your stuff when you die? Make a will."

Now there is reportedly a Facebook petition calling for Oliver to be removed from office.

Added Oliver to WHNS: 

"All I can say is if people want to crucify me that's fine. I know that following Jesus, I'm going to be crucified...And I got lambasted because I quoted the bible and stuff like that on Facebook and that's the way I feel...I have apologized, it's on there if people would just read the feed. They're focusing on the word and I apologized for that. If people would read the whole thing they'll see that I plainly said I will not say that anymore, I'll say homosexual...What I'm emotional about is because my feelings- the way I feel toward homosexuals is how I've been brought up."

SC Senator Who Led Charge to Pass Gay Marriage Ban Says He Was Wrong, Supports Equality: VIDEO

Former South Carolina State Senator John Hawkins, who led the charge in South Carolina to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage, announced on Wednesday at a speech before the Alliance for Full Acceptance that he now regrets what he did and supports full marriage equality.

Said Hawkins to WCSC: "I was wrong about pursing the marriage amendment. I wish I hadn't been so strident against it....I'm really hoping that people are going to walk away from this with a little bit of healing...It would be great if everyone who stood against us in the Senate said, 'We were wrong; In fact, you really do deserve equal rights.'"

Hawkins served in the state Senate for eight years, from 2001 to 2009 and now works as an attorney.

S.C. Teacher Bullied Student Mercilessly, Called Him "Gay Boy," Until Student Attempted Suicide

According to lawsuit, teacher repeatedly belittled the student in front of his peers, calling him names in class such as 'Gay,' 'Gay Boy,' 'Mrs. Pete,' 'Mrs. Peters."

 

 A high school math teacher in South Carolina bullied a student so mercilessly as "gay" that the boy tried to kill himself, the teen and his mother claim in court.

John Doe and his mother sued the Charleston County School District in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas.

The teacher, Alan Ingram, is not named as a defendant, though he is named throughout the complaint. Ingram was the boy's teacher at West Ashley High School in Charleston, the family says in the lawsuit.

"In early April 2013, Ingram began bullying plaintiff in class, in front of plaintiff's classmates, by telling plaintiff's classmates that plaintiff was 'gay,' and by calling plaintiff names and belittling him in the presence of his classmates. This continued on a daily basis for an extended period of time," the complaint states.

"During this time, Ingram repeatedly belittled plaintiff in front of his peers, calling plaintiff names in class such as 'Gay,' 'Gay Boy,' 'Mrs. Pete,' 'Mrs. Peters,' and other names.

"Ingram repeatedly told plaintiff's classmates that plaintiff was in a homosexual relationship with another male classmate and that they were 'boyfriend and girlfriend'.

"Further, Ingram encouraged and asked other students in class to pick on plaintiff as well and similarly belittle him during classes."

The boy's mother, who filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe, said her son felt particularly helpless because Ingram was in a position of authority,

"Plaintiff was made to feel that he could not report this to the school administration; and further, plaintiff felt he could not appeal to any of his classmates due to the alienation and isolation created by Ingram," the mother and son say in the complaint.

The teacher's bullying gave boy "emotional and psychological distress which was manifested by physical illness," his mom says. As a result, she says, her son "attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself."

He has since withdrawn from school, is being educated at home, and is undergoing mental health counseling, his mother says.

The family seeks damages for gross negligence and pain and suffering, and costs of the lawsuit and medical bills.

They are represented by Philip Hammond, with Uricchio, Howe, Krell, Jacobson, Toporek, Theos & Keith.

Ingram is still a math teacher at West Ashley High School, according to the school's website, checked this morning (Friday).

Lesbian Couple Challenges South Carolina's Gay Marriage Ban

A lesbian couple has filed a lawsuit challenging South Carolina's laws banning gay marriage. Katherine Bradacs and Tracie Goodwin and their attorney, John Nichols, filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week.

The suit challenges the state's marriage law and a 2006 voter-approved constitutional amendment prohibiting the state from recognizing any relationship other than a heterosexual marriage.

“By defining marriage in this way, South Carolina discriminates on the basis of sex,” the lawsuit states. “The Supreme Court has made clear that perpetuation of traditional gender roles is not a legitimate government interest.”

“Neither traditional nor moral disapproval of same-sex relationships or marriage for gay and lesbian couples is a legitimate basis for unequal treatment of same-sex couples under the law.”

Bradacs and Goodwin married last year in the District of Columbia.

The couple want the state to recognize their marriage to qualify for additional federal benefits since Goodwin is classified as a disabled United States Air Force Veteran.

“This suit is really about equal treatment of all South Carolina citizens under the law,” lawyer Nichols told The State. “We should value people who want to live in a committed relationship, regardless of gender.”

The lawsuit names Governor Nikki Haley and state Attorney General Alan Wilson as defendants.

It’s finally time to out Lindsey Graham

It’s time to finally out Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Graham has had it coming for a while now. Not because he’s a Republican. But because he’s an anti-gay Republican. And while it’s one thing to be gay and a closet case, it’s quite another to be a hypocrite, an anti-gay gay, someone who uses his power to harm others in the name of morality, all the while knowing secretly that he is one of the others.

In this case, Graham’s hypocrisy that broke the camel’s back is immigration reform. I have it on good authority from someone intimately involved in the immigration reform process that Lindsey Graham is the central reason that the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would help stop the forced deportation of foreign-born gay spouses, is being blocked from being added to the immigration bill. While other Senators might be bluffing about their opposition to addressing the immigration needs of gay binational couples in immigration reform, Graham isn’t bluffing.

The obvious question arises as to why Graham is holding gays hostage in the immigration bill.

One theory is that UAFA is Graham’s legislative beard. A beard is a woman a gay man socializes with in order to throw off suspicions that he’s actually gay. In this case, the theory goes, Lindsey Graham is using UAFA in order to throw off the suspicions of the Tea Party voters back home who are challenging him in a high-profile primary. Their suspicions are that: A) Graham is a liberal; and B) he’s gay.

Graham’s support for immigration reform is hardly helping him dispel the closet liberal image.  But his opposition to UAFA, the theory goes, is a two-fer: It let’s Graham oppose something, anything, related to immigration reform (his support for the measure has been a thorn in his side with the far-right back home), and it has the added benefit of bashing gays.  Everyone knows that a closeted gay man wouldn’t bash his own people, right?  So bashing UAFA “proves” that Graham is straight.

Why Liberals Should Thank South Carolina

South Carolina just elected Mark Sanford to Congress; A guy who got caught cheating on his wife and using taxpayer money to visit his mistress because you know… 

Republicans are the party of strong Family Values and Fiscal Responsibility. 

This is actually a HUGE win for liberals across the country, and I’ll explain why:

Mark Sanford is going to be the poster child for GOP Hypocrisy in 2014. If you look at the way Republicans across the country seem to run their campaigns not against their opponents, but instead against Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama – turnabout would be fair play. How can Republicans ever complain about sexual transgressions ever again? How are we as a nation not supposed to laugh in your face when you mention the cost of Barack Obama’s trips now? They just elected a man who was drummed out of office for ethics violations while using taxpayer money to disappear for days while leaving the country to cheat on his wife with his Argentinian mistress. Need to go deeper into the hypocritical rabbit hole? Sanford voted to impeach President Clinton for lying about his alleged affair.

But… Mark Sanford had this to say in regards to lying about an affair:

“The issue of lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of Democratic government, representative government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything.”

Maybe it’s time for him to apologize to Bill Clinton and LGBT couples everywhere for his views on the institution of marriage.

So thank you, South Carolina. It’s typically very tough to frame such a strong argument against your entire party, and your entire platform in one easy-to-understand symbol. The only thing that could have made it better is if Sanford forced his wife and mistress to get abortions. Wait… Am I getting my hypocritical Republican politicians mixed up?

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Sanford Wins - Proves GOP Hypocrite Party

It’s official, Mark Sanford has been declared the winner over Elizabeth Colbert Busch. The next time you hear a Republican praising their party as the party for “family values” and “morals,” be sure to laugh hysterically as you walk away

Yes that Mark Sanford who famously went hiking on the Appalachian Trail while really boinking his mistress in South America. All on the taxpayer's dime! Also going AWOL while serving as Governor of South Carolina. 

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