This hasn't been a good week for the so-called "Christian" anti-LGBT bigots out there. Mike Pence has been a train wreck in one television appearance after another and his defenders aren't doing a whole lot better: Cuomo Confrontation with IN Conservative Gets Personal: ‘Own Who and What You Are’:
New Day host Chris Cuomo, who’s become a one-man wrecking ball over Indiana’s just-passed “religious liberty” bill, confronted Ryan McCann, Policy Director of the Indiana Family Institute, Tuesday morning for his third contentious interview on the subject in the past 24 hours.
McCann argued that the bill only ensures protections for religious minorities, something Cuomo said was belied by the presence of anti-LGBT figures at the bill’s signing. McCann said that the statements Cuomo was alluding to had been passed around the internet “by the left.”
Things got personal when Cuomo demanded McCann account for the real motives behind the bill, which was supported by “groups like yours, that are Christian-based, with an animus toward the LGBT community. Own who and what you are. There’s nothing wrong with that you’re allowed to believe it but you’re not about native Americans or people who want liver transplants, right?” Read on...
Here's more from Raw Story: ‘Own what you are’: CNN host exposes Indiana law backer as gay conversion therapy promoter:
“More often than not, what seems to be the momentum for this Indiana law are Christians who are a majority — certainly not a minority in this county — saying that doing business with certain types of people is offensive to their religion,” Cuomo pointed out during an interview with Indiana Family Institute Policy Director Ryan McCann.
“The outcry is coming from organizations like yours that are Christian based with an animus toward the LGBT community,” the CNN host added. “Own who and what you are. There’s nothing wrong with that, you’re allowed to believe it. But you’re not about [fighting against religious discrimination of] Native Americans.”
McCann, however, refused to acknowledge Cuomo’s assertion that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act would be used to discriminate against LGBT people. But he also dodged questions about whether his group would support making sexual orientation a protected class.
“Why shouldn’t we go ahead and give our people this greater [religious] protection?” McCann asked. “It has nothing to do with the issues that I think perhaps you, I hope not, and others in the media are making this about. It has to do with protecting religious minorities. And I think as a Christian, as any Christian would want to do, we want to protect — and other faith backgrounds — we want to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights. I don’t care what faith background you are, I don’t care what your sexual orientation is. If you’re a gay business owner, I want to protect you from government just as much as a straight business owner.”
“You understand why that is a little bit of a suspicious premise coming from you, given your past and what you’ve said about the LGBT community and the animus that you have toward them,” Cuomo observed. “And then this bill comes up that expands who is a religious actor, who can act out of religion to any kind of business, which is unusual. And it starts to seem suspicious that you are targeting this group to protect yourself from another trend that’s coming, which is gay marriage and equality.”
“You act like you know me well,” McCann shot back. “This is the first time we met.”
“I only know what you’ve said,” Cuomo replied, reminding McCann that he had written that “self-described” gay and lesbian people should submit to “life changing counseling.” Read on...
