So how's that rebranding effort working out for you, Reince? Maybe instead of hoping this guy will resign from the RNC, someone could fire him instead.

Michigan Republican Refuses To Resign, Stands By Anti-Gay Facebook Post:

The Republican official in Michigan embroiled in controversy over an anti-gay Facebook post said Friday that he won't be heeding the calls to step down and he stands by the content of the inflammatory article.

Dave Agema, a Republican National Committeeman and former Michigan state representative, told Newschannel 3 that he has no intention of resigning, despite calls from members of his own party to do so. On Wednesday, Agema posted an article on his Facebook page in which homosexuals were described as "filthy." The article contained "some statistics about the homosexual lifestyle," such as: "50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals (10)" and "Homosexuals account for 3-4% of all gonorrhea cases, 60% of all syphilis cases, and 17% of all hospital admissions (other than for STDs) in the United States (5)." A screen grab from the Facebook post can be viewed here.

While Agema distanced himself from the "filthy" characterization, he was quick to highlight the statistics on the gay "lifestyle and what it causes."

"They quoted as what somebody else said and attributed it to me; I didn't say that," Agema told the news station. "So, do I agreewith everything that that guy and the way he said it in the article, no. But he gives a lot of statistics on the results of the health and mental and physical health of the lifestyle and what it causes."

Cenk Uygur did a really nice job of pointing out in the clip above that if Agema didn't want what was in the article attributed to him, then maybe he should have thought twice about posting it and endorsing what was in it, and that he still agreed with the better part of the article, which is frankly, just bullshit made up statistics.

Pam's House Blend has more on why it's important to be paying attention to the lies being pushed by the religious right and then parroted by anti-gay bigots like Agema here: Gay community wasting good opportunity in Dave Agema controversy:

For those who wonder why bloggers like me “pay attention” to the religious right and spotlight their lies, the following post is you:

Michigan Republican Committeeman: Homosexuality ‘Usually Leads To Early Death’ – During the Supreme Court hearings this week on Prop 8 and DOMA, Michigan Republican Committeeman Dave Agema posted on his Facebook page something called Statistics on Homosexuality, a vicious anti-gay list of lies, including:

Many homosexual sexual encounters occur while drunk, high on drugs, or in an orgy setting.

Homosexuals live unhealthy lifestyles, and have historically accounted for the bulk of syphilis, gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, the “gay bowel syndrome” (which attacks the intestinal tract), tuberculosis and cytomegalovirus .

25-33% of homosexuals and lesbians are alcoholics .

Of homosexuals questioned in one study reports that 43% admit to 500 or more partners in a lifetime, 28% admit to 1000 or more in a lifetime, and of these people, 79% say that half of those partners are total strangers, and 70% of those sexual contacts are one night stands (or, as one homosexual admits in the film “The Castro”, one minute stands).

Also, it is a favorite past-time of many homosexuals to go to “cruisy areas” and have anonymous sex.

78% of homosexuals are affected by STDs. 50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals The median age of death of homosexuals is 42 (only 9% live past age 65). This drops to 39 if the cause of death is AIDS. The median age of death of a married heterosexual man is 75. The median age of death of lesbians is 45 (only 24% live past age 65). The median age of death of a married heterosexual woman is 79.

Homosexuals are 100 times more likely to be murdered (usually by another homosexual) than the average person, 25 times more likely to commit suicide, and 19 times more likely to die in a traffic accident.

It wasn’t that long ago that “high-profile” religious right groups such as the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage, and Concerned Women for America peddled this information free and unashamed. They still do peddle these lies, but only covertly.

You see, this is why it is so important for us to focus on religious right groups and spokespeople. Not only because of the lies they peddle, but because how these lies can influence people already with an animus towards the lgbt community, such as Agema. These false statistics provide those folks with the push they need to attack the lgbt community with violence or anti-lgbt legislation.

Indeed, the vast majority of anti-gay legislation (whether it be Prop 8, DOMA, or fiendish legislation targeting our transgender brothers and sisters and people with HIV or AIDS) is rooted in these lies masquerading as good research.

It’s why I work as hard as I do to call these folks out.

Unfortunately as the media focuses on Agema’s nonsense, very few – if any at all – are making the point to refute his lies. The following links are posts I have done in the past which does look at claims made by Agema.

Go read the rest for the links to her past posts debunking these lies.