On Thursday in the Daily Beast, writer Jonathan Rauch called Flake's "deal-breaker" misguided -- and a GOP "suicide mission" (emphasis mine):

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Alan Chambers of Exodus International is trying to sanitize his organization's reputation by softening its rhetoric about "curing" gay people, and wants to see others in the movement do the same. Chambers recently invited writer and gay rights activist Jeremy Hooper to join a listserv of 70 socially conservative activists in an effort to expose the violent rhetoric circulating among others in the anti-LGBT equality movement.

As reported by Hooper and ThinkProgress, Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute didn't react well to Hooper's presence on the list:

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Jones blasted the "globalist mafia" behind recent LGBT anti-discrimination measures, and called transgender rights "fake rights." He went on to preemptively defend himself against allegations of transphobia by clarifying: " It's not that I'm against people that think they're a woman or a man or whatever."

More from Jones:

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"That's kind of mind-boggling. I think I talk about that. That, you know, I never set out to be the first," he said.

"You're sort of waiting around for somebody else to … raise their hand," Collins went on to explain. "I'm ready to raise my hand but, you know, you still look around like, 'OK, come on, guys.' It's time for someone else in the room to raise their hand and say, 'You know what? Yeah, so big deal. I can still play basketball. I can still help the team win, and that's what's most important.'"

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StudentsFirst's honoree, Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan, is the co-sponsor of the state's shameful (and, thankfully, failed) "Don't Say Gay" legislation, a measure that would have banned teachers from discussing sexuality that is not "related to natural human reproduction" in the classroom. The bill was a barely-concealed attempt to prevent teachers from talking about the existence of gays and lesbians with their students, and would have enshrined anti-gay discrimination in Tennessee law and educational policy. Additional language in Ragan's measure would have compelled educators and school therapists to "out" students they suspected of being gay to parents or guardians.

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Broussard went on to accuse Collins of not being Christian and "walking in open rebellion to God":

Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian.

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In the piece, which begins "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay," Collins goes on to explain that he used downtime during the 2011 player lockout to "confront who I really am and what I really want." He reflected on his family, his teammates and what role he could play in advancing equality for others before finally making the decision to come out, he writes:

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Senate Bill 5927 would not allow businesses to deny services to people based on race, religion, disability or other protected classes under federal law; but being gay or transgender is not a protected class, so discriminating against them is fair game, according to the bill:

The right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, philosophical belief, or matter of conscience may not be burdened unless the government proves that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest.

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The famously LGBT-averse organization has in recent months been taking awkward steps toward becoming more inclusive, thanks to a series of high-profile challenges and increasing pleas for greater tolerance within its ranks. In January, it announced it was "potentially discussing" changing its restrictions on gay members. Then, last month, it unveiled a new survey it's sending to its members that will feel them out on a few scenarios that "could happen if the Boy Scouts keeps or changes its policy" – scenarios that bear no small resemblance to recent high-profile stories involving gay Scouts and adult leaders who've been shut out because of their orientation. It was a peculiar move – one that had the appearance of progress but the suggestion that equality toward those oddly classified "open homosexuals" is something that can be dictated by the tastes of an organization's members.

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So here's a look at events from the past week to reaffirm your hope in human nature (or at least get you through another day).

1). It’s been a good week for LGBT rights. The Boy Scouts removed their ban on gay members (if not gay scoutmasters), and New Zealand passed gay marriage. National Party MP Maurice Williamson gave an epic speech in favor of marriage equality:

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A Reddit user shared a photo of a Seattle McDonald's bathroom sign, announcing:

We respect the rights of all customers and employees. We believe all people must have access to safe and dignified bathroom facilities regardless of their gender identity or expression. Therefore, the following policy has been adopted for this restaurant at 1530 3rd Avenue ... Employees and customers may use any restroom that corresponds with and is based upon the gender identity they publicly and exclusively assert or express.

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Hale worked as a physical education teacher at Bishop Watterson High School for close to 20 years, and when news of her termination spread, students started a petition to have her job reinstated. Hale has also filed a legal claim seeking her job back, and a city ordinance may put the law on her side.

As the Columbus Dispatch reports:

A Columbus city ordinance makes it a misdemeanor for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on sexual orientation. City law also states that an employer cannot have a policy that discriminates based on sexual orientation. Those who are found guilty could face up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine...

Napoleon Bell, executive director of the city’s Community Relations Commission, said the city law has no exemption for religious organizations.

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In response to a recent column about a bisexual woman who was wondering if she should marry, some people wrote angrily to say that one does not have to want to be in a plural marriage to be bisexual. That makes sense. They said that they were bisexual but happy in a committed monogamous relationship. That too sounds reasonable. Some claimed to have been hurt or insulted by my recent words about bisexuality. So I reexamined what I wrote.

I want to be kind and I want to be fair and want to admit that I can make mistakes. I hurt some people and I am sorry. I erred in not speaking to enough bisexual people to understand the sensitivity of the issue. I got swept away in the pure logic of it. For that I am sorry.

But let me state affirmatively what underlies my thinking. People need to make choices based on who they really are. In order to do that they must have legal choices that suit who they are.

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This theory holds that closeted young men in bigoted environments often respond by overachieving in certain areas, like sports or academics -- the idea being that it's an adaptive means of finding a sense of self-worth where they can. It can also serve to distract from their sexuality: As Andrew Tobias wrote in his 1976 memoir, "The Best Little Boy in the World," a key "line of defense" was his endless list of activities. "No one could expect me to be out dating ... when I had a list of 17 urgent projects to complete," he wrote.

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Dismissing accusations of homophobia in the Christian community, Buchanan writes (without irony, one assumes):

No true Catholic church can preach that Jesus hates gays. "Love your enemies" is the message of Christ. Hate the sin and love the sinner is taught as gospel truth in Catholic schools.

But the conservative commentator did cede a little ground to Savage's contention that "loving Jesus means hating gay people" for far too many people of faith:

Undeniably, the Christian view, though mislabeled "homophobia," alienates millions... For traditional Christianity's view that homosexual acts are immoral and same-sex marriage an absurdity cannot be reconciled with the view that homosexuality is natural and normal and gay marriage a human right.

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"ENDA is a priority. Right now the votes aren't there, but that doesn't mean they won't be," Jarrett told Reuters.

While a growing number of lawmakers have come out in support of marriage equality, few of the recent congressional gay rights converts have endorsed the measure to protect gay and transgender people from job discrimination. (Looking directly at you, Rob Portman, et al.)

It is currently legal to fire someone for being gay in 29 states. Transgender people are vulnerable to job discrimination in 34 states. This is why the Obama administration must push Congress to pass federal protections, gay rights advocates argue. The alternative other advocates suggest? Sign an executive order.

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As reported by The New York Times:

On Wednesday, evangelical pastors will converge on Washington for a day of prayer and lobbying on Capitol Hill.

Guiding the campaign is a coalition called the Evangelical Immigration Table, which includes the top pastors of more than two dozen evangelical denominations and at least 20 heads of Christian colleges and seminaries. “It is very remarkable the degree to which there is consensus,” said Galen Carey, the vice president of government relations for theNational Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group for the churches. No prominent pastor has spoken out against the immigration effort, although some pastors of the largest churches have remained silent.

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"Batgirl" writer Gail Simone told Laura Hudson at Wired that the inspiration for the character came from a conversation with a fellow writer -- and a desire to mirror the diversity of comic readers themselves:

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“The player who does it, they’re going to be amazed at the additional opportunities that are put on the table, not the ones that are taken off,” National Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts told Bloomberg News on Friday.

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As reported by The New York Times:

You Can Play will help run seminars for N.H.L. rookies to educate them on gay issues and make resources and personnel available to each team, as desired. The league and union will also work with You Can Play to integrate the project into their behavioral health program, enabling players to seek counseling regarding matters of sexual orientation confidentially. Burke said the joint venture would also step forward when players make homophobic remarks.

Patrick Burke, a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers and a founder of You Can Play, applauded the partnership, as he explained to the Times:

We have players from around the world, and a lot of those players are from countries that are seen as more progressive on LGBT issues. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable or strange to think that the N.H.L. and the N.H.L.P.A. are driving this, in part because our players tend to be more comfortable with this issue.

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