Right-wing talking heads have had a busy week defending Indiana's anti-LGBT "religious liberty" law, which critics say would allow business-owners to deny services to gay, lesbian and transgender people. They've also gone on the offensive, calling LGBT people everything from terrorists to America-haters. Here's a roundup of the most ridiculous reactions to the controversy:
LGBT Folk Are The REAL Bullies
Despite the fact that 83 percent of Americans identify as Christian -- that's 265 million people -- and LGBT folks account for around 3 percent of the population, one of the religious right's main talking points is that "religious liberty" is under attack by fascist LGBT people. And by under attack, they mean they are being forced to provide services to LGBT people on the same terms as they provide services to everyone else.
You have to give Fox News credit. They were able to find a gay conservative willing to spout this talking point. Speaking to Tucker Carlson, conservative radio host Tammy Bruce said, "[G]ay liberals have turned into bullies when our work is to stop that kind of behavior."
Scratch That; They're Terrorists
On "Fox & Friends," Bill O'Reilly went even further, comparing the outcry over Indiana's anti-LGBT law to the persecution of Christians in Kenya. "If you link everything together we just heard about terror attack in Kenya on Christians," O'Reilly said. "In the U.S. and in Western Europe you have a civil war between the secular progressives and traditional religious people. In both cases, Christians are targets."
In [Insert Middle Eastern Country Here] They Kill Gays!
Another group right-wingers think have it made in the shade with Kool-Aid compared to conservative Christians are Muslims. So whenever LGBT people have the nerve to protest discrimination, they first have to condemn the violent treatment of gays in some Muslim countries, then be thankful they're not being thrown off roofs here in America.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas thinks gays should take the passage of discriminatory legislation in stride because, he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay." So just be thankful, alright?
Opponents of Indiana Law Hate America
You'd think he's joking but he's not. Conservative radio host Mark Levin thinks that opponents of the Indiana law don't just hate Christians. "The people who oppose these laws hate liberty; they hate the Constitution," he said on his show earlier this week. "I'll go even further: They Hate America."
LGBT People Want To Close Down All The Churches
Mike Huckabee has LGBT people all figured out. According to the Fox host, "It won’t stop until there are no more churches, until there are no more people who are spreading the Gospel [...] and I’m talking now about the unabridged, unapologetic Gospel that is really God’s truth."
