When idiots who flagrantly attempt to violate the First Amendment rights of others are attorneys, I feel a special sort of disdain for them. The latest display of idiocy goes to Mathew D. Staver, Esq. of the ironically titled Liberty Counsel.

A cease and desist letter was sent to a Santa Rosa, California blogger, Justin Watt of the blog Justinsomnia after he parodied a billboard advertising Exodus International, the notorious ex-gay organization that believes it's possible to change one's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The original billboard read “Gay?, Unhappy? www.exodus.to.” Watt modified the image to read “Straight? Unhappy? www.gay.com.”

Frowned upon by most rational psychiatrists and psychologists, and the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the World Health Organization, and most other professional medical associations, the ex-Gay movement has been plagued by scandals that are ridiculously predictable. The most well-known of which occurred in 1979, when two conference organizers, Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, left the ministry to be with each other, becoming possibly the first openly ex-gay-former-heterosexual-gays.

Having confronted a couple of ex-gays in my time, the most striking thing about ex-gays is how unconvincing they appear to be as heterosexual. And, you would think, those who are truly happy, would be more inclined to enjoy their happiness rather than feigning it by recruiting others to participate in what strikes me more as misery.

Once the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the national ACLU Foundation’s Lesbian & Gay Rights Project agreed to defend Mr. Watt, Exodus International stood more chance of turning Richard Simmons straight than prevailing in their legal battle.

Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, told the New York Times that the group did not want someone to think that it had endorsed the image. As if. And, he told the Times, "he has no problem with it now that the logo is gone."

On Friday, Exodus dropped its case against Mr. Watt.

About the logo my ass. Like any reasonable person is going to think that a bunch of uptight, sex-obsessed, torture-device-waving homophobic quacks would genuinely direct people to www.gay.com. Although I think it was less about the "e" and more about realizing the weakness of their legal claim in the wake of the First Amendment, I can’t help but think that electro-therapy might be just the remedy to apply to sleazy lawyers filing frivolous cease-and-desist letters rather than using it to abuse children exploring their sexual identities.

As for the "e" in the parody accompanying this post . It stand for "eat me." Alan.