I agree with my good friend Matt Barber, who is also a Board Member of Americans For Truth in addition to his important work at Liberty Counsel. It is not ethical nor good strategy for the “pro-family” movement to promote one evil and public-policy disaster (changeable and sinful behavior as a government-backed “civil right”) to fight another (homosexual “marriage”). Yet that is precisely what the Yes on 1 campaign’s pro-domestic partnership ad called “It’s Possible” did. [Click HERE for AFTAH's election story.] Here again is the text of that misguided Yes on 1 ad used in Maine:

‘Abandoning traditional marriage entails real consequences, yet we want to be tolerant of gays. Maine’s Domestic Partnership laws provide substantial legal protection for gay couples. Any problems remaining can be addressed without dismantling traditional marriage. It’s possible to support the civil rights of all citizens and protect traditional marriage at the same time.’

We who claim to follow God are lacking in integrity if we promote the normalization of homosexuality as part of some (perhaps well-intentioned) utilitarian plan to ostensibly “save” traditional marriage. Indeed, the irony of the ad text above is that progressive concessions on “domestic partnership” and “civil unions” legislation will, in fact, dismantle traditional marriage. Yes on 1 PR consultant Frank Schubert’s compromising spin will pave the way for disaster in the pro-family movement, as it undermines our greatest strength: our commitment to the truth. It’s time to reject Political Correctness and get back to basics in the pro-family movement. — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.org

P.S. Young people won’t buy this political spin anyway: looking for hypocrisy, they will merely say that if “gay domestic partners” truly are worthy of state recognition in the name of civil rights, then why NOT allow them to marry (and why NOT teach children “gay”-affirming lessons in school)?  The debate will only turn around when we succeed in re-explaining to Americans — both young and old — why homosexual behavior is wrong and is NOT anything like a “civil right,” and about how newfangled homosexual “rights” negate our precious First Amendment freedoms.

Read Matt’s statement below and then his additional remarks that follow it:

____________________________________

STATEMENT BY MATT BARBER
Contact:  jmattbarber@comcast.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Nov. 4, 2009

Counterfeit Marriage Rejected in Maine

Lynchburg, VA – Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action, issued the following statement on news that the voters of Maine have rejected counterfeit “same-sex marriage” by 53% – 47%:

“There’s good news and bad news here,” said Barber. “The good news is that even in one of the most liberal States in the Union, Maine, the people have once again rejected the ridiculous and oxymoronic notion of ‘same sex marriage.’ The momentum has again shifted –– hopefully for good this time –– in favor of protecting legitimate marriage. A counterfeit is a counterfeit. An orange is an orange no matter how much you want it to be a turnip. This isn’t about ‘marriage.’ It’s about hurting and broken people desperately seeking affirmation of an objectively deviant lifestyle. One that, even in their heart of hearts, they know to be a dead end. As for the militant ‘No on 1’ homosexual activists?  I’m reminded of spoiled children dressing up and playing house, refusing to come in when mom calls for dinner.

“Here’s the bad news. The margin of victory could have been greater. Many behind the ‘Yes on 1’ campaign, rather than simply telling the truth, chose the Neville Chamberlain approach. They merely circled the wagons around the word ‘marriage,’ even suggesting that ‘domestic partnerships’ (‘gay marriages’ by another name) are acceptable. This makes no sense. If that’s a viable compromise, then why not simply allow ‘gay’ duos the word ‘marriage’? It’s an incongruity that demands an explanation. This is an historic battle for the minds and souls of our children –– for our very culture. The mealy-mouthed approach must end. This  is not just about ‘marriage.’  It has everything to do with forced affirmation of homosexuality – under penalty of law. Indeed everyone who fought hard to defend marriage in Maine is to be congratulated, but if it weren’t for a brave group of truth tellers – Paul Madore, Peter LaBarbera  and Brian Camenker ––  who came to Maine in the final hour to hold a press conference and address the pink elephant in the room –– homosexual deviancy and the radical ‘gay’ agenda –– counterfeit marriage might have prevailed.”

###

Added comments by Barber for Americans For Truth:

“Here’s is a mere sampling of what God – the sovereign creator of the universe – has to say about deviant homosexual conduct which He calls ‘abominable’:

‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.’ Leviticus 18:22

‘Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.’ - Romans 1:26-27

“By contrast, here’s what the organized “Yes on 1” campaign had to say about the same topic in an ad [view the ad HERE] they ran up to yesterdays vote:

‘Abandoning traditional marriage entails real consequences, yet we want to be tolerant of gays. Maine’s Domestic Partnership laws provide substantial legal protection for gay couples. Any problems remaining can be addressed without dismantling traditional marriage. It’s possible to support the civil rights of all citizens and protect traditional marriage at the same time.’‘

“It’s simply impossible to reconcile the two. If the Pro-Family movement wishes to survive, we must stop listening to political focus groups and PR , and start listening to the inerrant word of God.”

I suppose the radical Rush-haters might speculate that in allowing an African American to host his show, Limbaugh is merely creating a public cover for his racism. But I think the truth is that Rush is color-blind and instead is serving his huge audience by letting them listen to and learn from one of America’s most popular conservatives, one with a gift for explaining economics to the public.

The last time I heard Williams guest-host for Rush — a few weeks ago — he was interviewing Thomas Sowell, the brilliant conservative writer and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Sowell (left) who also happens to be black. I have been a conservative for 25 years and I have never heard a fellow (white) conservative say anything demeaning or racially tinged about either Williams or Sowell, or Alan Keyes or Michael Steele, etc.  True conservatives value ideas — and when brilliant men and women put forth good ideas, they could care less about the skin color of the person offering them.

So as far as the current Rush controversy goes, all I can say is: if Limbaugh is a “racist,” he sure is an incompetent one. — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.org

P.S. Since we’re on the subject of Rush, one day on these pages we’ll have to tell the full story of how “El Rushbo” got “zapped” by ACT UP, a homosexual group know for its “direct action” tactics — when he was substituting for the old CBS Pat Sajak Show. That intolerant act of “gay” thuggery — which is mentioned in this Wikipedia entry on Rush (footnote #49) — certainly contributed to Rush downplaying the homosexual issue in the years that followed.

SPECIAL STUDENT/PASTOR RATE:  Sponsor a student or a pastor to go to the AFTAH banquet for half the usual ticket price: just $25/person. Young people swimming in the pop culture’s pro-”gay” swamp and our spiritual leaders need to hear Matt’s inspiring message!  Please designate their school or church affiliation.  Call 910-308-7619 for more info. Sign up at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/.

Please save the evening of Saturday, October 24 to attend Americans For Truth’s banquet. Our featured speaker is Matt Barber, culture warrior for Liberty Counsel. Matt is quite a guy, to say the least. He’s gone from being a professional heavyweight boxer, to being fired by Allstate Insurance Company in 2005 because he wrote an online article — on his own time — critical of organized homosexuality, to his current position as one of America’s leading defenders of natural marriage and family. AFTAH got rave reviews for its last banquet; you won’t want to miss this one! The event will be held outside Chicago, at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. Tickets are $50 per person. You can prepay online by clicking the “Online Banquet Signup” link at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/, or mail your check (designate: “banquet”) to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  Write us at americansfortruth@comcast.net, or call 910-308-7619 for additional information. Please spread the word and we hope to see you there on Oct. 24th!

Note: you can read some of Matt’s columns by plugging “Matt Barber” in the AFTAH “Search” button on the upper right corner of this website. We suggest you start with this important piece: “Matt Barber Answers Charge that Christians Focus Too Much on Homosexuality.” Matt’s will be signing copies of his new book, “The Right Hook: From the Ring to the Culture War,” at the banquet. Here’s what some top conservative leaders are saying about the book:

 “Our country is at a crossroads. Now, more than ever, we need strong voices to stem the tide of liberalism that is washing away America’s Judeo-Christian heritage. Matt Barber is one of those voices…” – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

“… Matt Barber is fighting back. The Right Hook is a must read for anyone who seeks to preserve America’s Godly heritage.” – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich

“We are thankful that God picked Matt Barber out of the boxing ring and placed him in the national ring to go head to head with the adversaries of our country.” – Tim and Beverly LaHaye

“Matt Barber needs to be heard by every American … the kind of leader people should follow.” – Congressman Tom Delay

______________________________________________

Help AFTAH Stand for Truth against the “Gay” Lies!

Help us fight the well-funded, powerful Homosexual Lobby with your tax-deductible donation at http://americansfortruth.com/donate/.  You can mail your gift to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  Thank you! — www.aftah.org

TAKE ACTION: Call and write your U.S. Congressman and Senators (202-224-3121; 202-225-3121; www.congress.org) and urge them to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA; HR 2981) as a Big Government bill that would empower the federal government to force small businesses to subsidize homosexual and gender-confused lifestyles. 

By Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com

Dear AFTAH Readers,

Just in case you are still relying on establishment liberal media like the Associated Press (AP) to get your news, here are some startling photos and links documenting the mammoth, conservative “Tea Party Express” march in our nation’s capital Saturday, September 12th. This was a grassroots taxpayers’ protest of historic proportions — not in the “tens of thousands,” as AP misreported, but between one and two million people coming to make their voice heard in Washington.

I have been to a few big marches on Washington — including the annual March for Life and (as a critical observer) the homosexual activists’ March on Washington in 1993 (Click HERE to watch a very revealing YouTube video about that radical event). Based on the photos of Saturday’s tea party in D.C., this march appears to have dwarfed those past mobilizations. And try as the liberals will to paint Saturday’s marchers as a bunch of extremists, these are regular Americans, many of which had never attended a D.C. mass rally before. (But try this for a glimpse of the extreme 1993 “gay” rally, which had much smaller numbers.)

The Left is already moving to discredit the massive conservative turnout — jumping all over a false claim that ABC News reported the march as drawing between 1 million and 1.5 million. (We hope the Park Service will come up with a fair estimate, but even if they don’t aerial photos tell the story.) When even the left-wing MSNBC (NBC reporter Tom Costello) goes off script and reports that “hundreds of thousands” took part in the rally, you know something very significant has happened in Washington [watch Costello's MSNBC report HERE]. The New York Times reported:

“Many came on their own and were not part of an organization or group. But the magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours.”

Here are some important websites that tell the real story about this huge rally in D.C.:

• Obviously moved by the enormity of the 9/12 march, the British newspaper Daily Mail  — hardly sympathetic to American conservatives — reported (emphasis added): “A million march to US Capitol to protest against ‘Obama the socialist.’” However, the Daily Mail’s original headline was: “Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama’s spending in ‘tea-party’ demonstration” (it appears that the DM’s editors made some politically correct revisions);
• Michelle Malkin’s original story on the 9/12 march: “Yes, the picture is real, nutroots” [see photo at right]
• Malkin’s follow-up web article: “Celebrating the 9/12 rallies; Turnout estimated at 2 million” ;
• WorldNetDaily.com story on 9/12: “A million or more rock Washington: Taxpayer march could be biggest rally ever in capital”;
• WND founder Joseph Farah’s column: “The shameful non-coverage of 9/12″;
• 9/12 elapsed-time footage of D.C. protesters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sjvc6baor8
• Glenn Beck web page with more photos of 9/12 march: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/30493/

It deserves remembering that smug, out-of-touch media types like Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s resident lesbian leftist,  her über-obnoxious fellow MSNBC talker Keith Olbermann, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper viciously mocked the initial mass “tea party” protests with smirking jabs attaching them to “teabagging” — which, as it turns out, is a twisted oral sex act popularized by homosexual activist filmmaker John Waters’ movie “Pecker.” It was certainly a low point in the history of U.S. media to watch highly paid TV celebrities airing their inside dirty joke that compared decent, concerned Americans to a modern perversion. (Thankfully, most normal Americans didn’t know what “teabagging” was.)

Perhaps the liberal media elite’s snide condescension toward everyday Americans simply voicing their discontent — including suggestions that the protesters are racist because President Obama is black — accounted for an extra few hundred thousand protesters arriving in D.C. Saturday to make their presence felt. And that they did: even Maddow, Olbermann and the Huffington Post will have a tough time explaining away these seven-figure crowd numbers.

What does all this have to do with the fight against the Homosexual Lobby? Well, for one, beyond the health care debate, the Obama Administration is pushing to enact a comprehensive “gay” agenda that would greatly expand the government’s power to effectively force businesses and individuals to approve of or subsidize immoral homosexual and “transgender” lifestyles. The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) — slated for a House hearing Wednesday, Sept. 23 — would create federal homosexuality- and transsexuality-based “rights” for employees. This would invariably circumscribe the liberties of business owners who oppose homosexuality as a matter of conscience. Our religious and First Amendment freedoms are at stake in this debate.

We trust that the same people who oppose Big Government intruding into our lives will resist the idea that the Government should be forcing businessmen and businesswomen to support homosexual behavior and gender confusion or risk getting sued.

NBC reporter Tom Costello reported that “hundreds of thousands” took part in the rally; the actual number was likely over a million.

 The AP photo above belies the news organization’s own reportage that numbered the massive crowd in the mere “tens of thousands.”

This pro-family press conference — largely ignored by the dominant liberal media — was organized by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs at the Liberty Counsel (and an AFTAH Board Member), was fired by Allstate Insurance Company in 2005 because he wrote an online article — on his own time — critical of organized homosexuality. Since then, he has risen to his current position as one of Americas leading defenders of natural marriage and family. He will be the keynote speaker at AFTAH’s fund-raising banquet outside Chicago on Oct. 24, 2009.

Folks, we hope that Rachel Maddow (left) — the lesbian MSNBC talker who is as “out” in her homosexuality promotion as in her left-wing activism — takes up the offer of my good friend Matt Barber and lets him appear as a guest on her show. That seems only fair after Maddow lied about Barber’s statement on Obama-care and “sex-change” operations.

We understand that liberals don’t want to talk (rationally, anyway) about Obama-care covering abortions and grotesque transsexual “sex-change” procedures as “health care.” That is why we must discuss these awful possibilities. (By the way, even before Barber’s column, below, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s blog noted that President Obama’s favorite think tank, the liberal-left Center for American Progress, was beating the drums for adding “sex change operations to the list of medical procedures that all health insurance policies in the nation must cover.”) — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.com

BANQUET REMINDER:  Culture warrior and former professional boxer Matt Barber (right) is coming to Chicago on Saturday, Oct. 24 to keynote the AFTAH fundraising banquet. The dinner is being held at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL, and tickets are $50 per person. You can prepay online (just note “AFTAH banquet” in the Paypal or Credit Card form) or mail your check (designate it “AFTAH Banquet”) to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Please spread the word and make plans to come! E-mail aftahangela@gmail.com or americansfortruth@comcast.net for more information.

_____________________________

Matt Barber writes:

Sex-Change-apalooza: ObamaCare Likely to Mandate Free ‘Sex-Change’ Surgeries

By Matt Barber, August 5, 2009

I got a call a couple days ago from a producer with MSNBC. He wanted a hard copy of a press release I sent out entitled: “ObamaCare Likely to Mandate Free ‘Sex-Change’ Surgeries.” In the release I addressed the likelihood that, under Obama’s monolithic socialized healthcare scheme, taxpayers may well end up funding elective and entirely cosmetic “gender reassignment” surgeries. I was happy to oblige and asked which program he produced. “Rachel Maddow,” he reluctantly divulged. I chuckled and joked, “Oh, I’m sure Rachel will give me a glowing review.”

I then suggested that it would be better still if Rachel actually had me on the show to defend and debate the substance of my release. He declined. Understandable, though. Ms. Maddow—a hard-left lesbian activist who plays a pseudo-journalist on TV—certainly wouldn’t want me confusing all 242 of her wide-eyed, spoon-fed, Kool-Aid swilling viewers with the facts. (By the way, Rachel, sweetheart, if you have the guts, the offer still stands.)

In what was apparently an awkward attempt at ridicule, Maddow then focused like a laser on the title of my release. True to form, she twisted and spun like the Michelle Kwan of yellow journalism. I was disappointed. Not because she transparently distorted my words. I counted on that. I was disappointed because I actually expected the allegedly clever, Oxford educated talking-head to pull it off with some degree of satirical dexterity.

She did not.

Did Maddow mock me for suggesting that ObamCare might provide taxpayer funded “sex-change” operations? No. Did she deride me for mean-spiritedness, insensitivity and “transphobia”? No. Instead, she just lied. She dishonestly suggested that I claimed the government was going to “mandate sex-change operations.” Get it? That, if ObamaCare becomes reality, healthcare officials will knock down your door, drag you away and force you to undergo a “gender reassignment” surgery. I know—Silly.

Still, what Maddow didn’t say speaks volumes. She didn’t refute any of the substance of my release. She didn’t deny the real likelihood that such cosmetic procedures will be covered at taxpayer expense. And she certainly didn’t give me the opportunity to respond to her propagandist obfuscation.

But it didn’t stop with Maddow. Those adorable, patchouli soaked little left-wing lemmings at the Daily Kos, Wonkette and elsewhere also picked up on my release. I was surprised to see that many of them, in fact, agreed with the substance of my argument. Quite a few opined that “sex-change” surgeries should be covered at taxpayer expense and a number of them conceded that they almost certainly will.

So what prompted me to break this story in the first place? Well, when Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT) asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) whether President Obama’s proposed socialized healthcare plan will mandate taxpayer funded abortion, she admitted that it will require “any service deemed medically necessary or medically appropriate.” It now appears that the plan’s “medically appropriate” umbrella is far more expansive than most Americans could have imagined.

In addition to abortion on demand, the weight of the evidence indicates that, in fact, cosmetic “gender reassignment” surgeries for both U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants who suffer from APA recognized “Gender Identity Disorder” (GID) may indeed be provided—free of charge—courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. The current price tag for such a procedure can exceed $50,000.

Page 972 of the House version of the bill (H.R. 3200) provides for “standards, as appropriate, for the collection of accurate data on health and health care” based on “sex, sexual orientation [and] gender identity.” [Click HERE to read Peter Fleckenstein analysis of HR 3200 posted by Liberty Counsel.] The Senate draft indicates that the government will “detect and monitor trends in health disparities,” requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to “develop standards for the measurement of¬†gender.” (i.e., officially recognize subjectively self-determined “transgender” or “transsexual” gender identities). It further mandates “participation in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups from…different genders and sexual orientations.”

So, does ObamaCare expressly stipulate that taxpayer funded “sex-change” operations will be provided? No, but neither does it explicitly require coverage for heart bypass surgery. Don’t forget; we’re talking about what’s “medically appropriate” here, and look who gets to make that subjective determination: Your doctor? No, it’s “Rachel Maddow-minded” bureaucrats within the Democratic Party. It’s a liberal-Democrat appointed government “Health Benefits Advisory Committee.” And if you think they’re not itching to pay back the homosexual, transgender and pro-abortion pressure groups that helped get them elected, I’ve got a house at 1600 Pennsylvania I want to sell you.

Still, there’s a gulf of difference between what Obama and liberals in Congress, and the American people deem “medically appropriate;” especially when it’s “we the people” footing the bill. It’s unconscionable to force Americans, against their conscience, to fund abortion on demand and to facilitate gender confusion by subsidizing the elective practice of genital “sex-change” mutilation.

But don’t just take my word for it. After hearing Sen. Mikulski’s “any service deemed…medically appropriate” admission, I was prompted to dig a little deeper. I contacted the offices of Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rep. Barney Frank and the House Subcommittee on Health. I asked, very simply, for “an assurance that the proposed healthcare plan will not allow taxpayer funded ‘gender reassignment’ surgeries or hormone therapies.” When faced with the bill’s relevant language, every staffer I spoke with either declined to answer or would neither confirm nor deny that such procedures would be covered.

Indeed it’s no wonder that—as Americans find out what’s hidden within this socialized ObamaCare monstrosity—support for the plan is plummeting faster than MSNBC’s ratings.

It’s time for the mainstream press—yes you too Rachel Maddow—to do its job and demand straight answers. Instead of prancing around like little ObamaCare cheerleaders, journalists need to ask the same questions I did and refuse to take “no answer” for an answer.

But don’t hold your breath.

Thankfully, we don’t have to. Wanna have a little fun? Contact your Congressional representative (202-224-3121; 202-225-3121; www.congress.org) and ask the following question: “Will you personally guarantee that, under this plan, no taxpayer dollars will go to fund abortion or ‘sex-change’ operations?’”

Then sit back and watch them squirm.

Matt Barber is a Board Member of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action. Click HERE for information on Barber’s appearance as keynote speaker at AFTAH’s fund-raising banquet on Saturday, Oct. 24. Send comments to Matt at: jmattbarber@comcast.net .

Americans For Truth sent the following e-letter today to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, and cc’d to pro-family leaders across the country. Homosexual militant Wayne Besen (left) is once again attacking the Pope — one of his many targets among those who espouse traditional Judeo-Christian morality. Tonight Laura Ingraham subbed for Mr. O’Reilly:

Dear Mr. O’Reilly, why are you helping gay extremist Wayne Besen project a false “moderate” image?…

… Dear Mr. O’Reilly, homosexual activist and “Truth Wins Out” founder Wayne Besen plays nice and respectable on your show, but he is one of the most hateful, anti-religious bigots in the overall homosexual activist movement. I write today because I believe that if you were aware of his full record, you might not want him on your program – except perhaps in one of those interview segments in which you expose the hard Left. Besen regularly lies about pro-family advocates, cynically equates sincere defenders of historic, Judeo-Christian sexual mores (such as Dr. James Dobson) with “hate” and vile prejudice — and practically stalks ex-gay leaders like Greg Quinlan (cc’d above) in his fanatical campaign to discredit the well-observed reality that homosexuals can change and leave that lifestyle.

Besen certainly is not the responsible and respectful gay spokesman he pretends to be on your show, and he benefits greatly from the moderate image that comes from being a frequent guest on FOX. At the very least, I would expect you to do a segment grilling Besen, in tough O’Reilly tradition, on some of his extreme statements and tactics – such as when he had to be escorted from a convention after harassing an “ex-gay” booth and getting in the face of Quinlan, screaming at him in an obscenity-laden tirade. Or when he not only accused Dr. Dobson of being “hateful” but also of contributing to “hate violence” against homosexuals – in a “Truth Wins Out”-sponsored campaign to deny Dobson’s entrance into the Radio Hall of Fame. (Ironically, a year earlier the same Besen did all he could to discredit a real victim of physical assault – after a homosexual activist angrily attacked an ex-gay man volunteering at a PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) booth at a fair in Arlington, Virginia. Besen’s baseless insinuation that the victim was lying was ultimately disproved when an Arlington police officer confirmed that the ex-gay man was attacked, and that his assailant had to be escorted out of the fairgrounds. Imagine how Besen would have decried the “hate crime” had the victim – and not the victimizer – been a homosexual.)

Thank you for challenging Besen — in your most recent interview with him about anti-Prop 8 protests — on his preposterous claim of “just wanting to be left alone,” For Wayne Besen to say such a thing – after his mean-spirited harassment of critics; his penchant for slandering good people and revered Christian leaders like Dr. Dobson as fomenters of “hate violence,” and his ends-justifies-the-means campaign to discredit healthy change and time-tested morality — is the height of irony. Thank you for all the good work you have done in exposing left-wing “loons” – a description Wayne Besen has well earned with his particularly nasty brand of intolerance in the service of homosexual “rights.”

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera

President, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

Cc: Regina Griggs, PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays); Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council; Tom Minnery and Kermit Rainman, Focus on the Family; Matt Staver and Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel; Sandy Rios, Culture Campaign and FOX contributor; Robert Knight, Coral Ridge Ministries; Brent Bozell and Tim Graham, Media Research Center; Gregg Quinlan, New Jersey Family Policy Council; Joseph Farah and Bob Unruh, World Net Daily; Don Irvine and Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media; Michael Heath, Maine Family Policy Council; Randy Thomasson, Campaign for Children and Families; Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families; David Smith, and Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute; Phil Burress, Citizens for Community Values; Rick Scarborough, Vision America; Gary Glenn, AFA-Michigan; Don Wildmon and Buddy Smith, American Family Association; Dean Byrd and David Pruden, NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality); Jack Roeser and John Biver, www.ChampionNews.net; Linda Harvey, Mission America; Stephen Bennett, Stephen Bennett Ministries; Scott Lively, Abiding Truth Ministries; Joe Glover, Family Policy Network; Brian Camenker, Mass Resistance.

Following is the e-alert Besen sent out earlier today announcing his appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor”:

——————————————————————————–

From: Wayne Besen [Truth Wins Out]
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 12:27 PM
To: [recipient]
Subject: TWO’s Wayne Besen on O’Reilly Factor TONIGHT (8PM EST)

Please tune in at 8PM EST to the Fox News Channel. Truth Wins Out’s founder Wayne Besen will appear to discuss the Pope’s comments that condoms make the AIDS epidemic worse.

“You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

How many people is this man willing to see die to defend his outdated dogma? Can the Pope show us a population where HIV increased because of condom use? Of course not!

Tune in TONIGHT. (The show re-broadcasts at 11PM EST.)

Truth Wins Out | P. O. Box 25491 | Brooklyn | NY | 11202

[Note to AFTAH readers: click HERE to watch the Congressional testimony of Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness]

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark is shown here training with the Danish Home Guard (59,000 strong). Unlike Denmark, America’s armed forces (1.43 million active duty members; 1.46 million in reserves) protect freedom the world over — and cannot afford the problems and distractions caused by politically correct social experiments like open homosexuality in the military.

By Jack Roeser

I’m a business owner now, and I was a private in the Combat Engineers, having volunteered in 1942 and served over three years at the bottom of a big army in a big war.

All this patty cake about “don’t ask don’t tell” or of just accepting homosexuals in the army doesn’t take into account how that affects military life.

First of all, the army is not a democracy, it is all about accepting orders without a vote. Promotions or assignments are the prerogative of sergeants and officers. This power must be used with some restraint and fairness or the cohesiveness of the unit suffers. As a soldier you have to work together, perhaps with a lot of gripping, but you know there are unpleasant or dangerous things to do that someone must do, hopefully not you. Put a homosexual into that mix and you get trouble when he or his homosexual buddy get into the command structure. Thereafter promotions and assignments will be seen as affected by weird sexual influence. Fairness and respect suffer. Retribution of a very unfair sort may result.

Also, an army must inflict less than luxurious living conditions including sleeping in double deck bunks, in a barracks, showering en masse, eating from a mess kit, etc. In a peace time army conditions may be more effete, but we can’t forget that armies are all about knocking the other guys down and destroying their stuff while they try to do it to you. Unit cohesiveness and a certain manly toughness need to be cultivated.

I once saw a picture of a Danish army squad. They looked more like bellhops. The joke about it was they could be conquered by a telephone call: “We’re coming, do you surrender?”

A photo of a German platoon coming down a muddy road gave the conviction that these guys could be real trouble. That is a deterrent.

You don’t fool around with John Wayne or the Marines. That is the deterrent we pay for in having an army. Homosexuals are a problem better left out.

The businessman in me must say that the whole concept of someone basing their identity on how they do sex, is repulsive. Adding the concept of “gay pride” to it is beyond rationality; that the schools and media try to tell us that the homosexual lifestyle is OK, is nuts. No one looks at their baby boy and says, “How wonderful, he can grow up to be a homosexual.” That destructive path leads to diseases and a short life for the homosexual, and no grandchildren for the parents of a misguided sexual extrovert.

Yours truly,

Jack Roeser

Founder, ChampionNews.net

Jack Roeser is an entrepreneur in business and politics. He is Chairman and founder of Otto Engineering Inc., in Carpentersville, Illinois which manufactures electronic control and communication switches for aerospace, medical and industrial uses. Previously, he started three other successful businesses which are now owned by large corporations.

In 1991, Jack was selected as “High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year” in Illinois. He was also chosen as an Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Illinois in 1996. A Pi Tau Sigma honors graduate of the University of Illinois in Mechanical Engineering, Jack holds over 50 patents in Electrical, Mechanical, Machinery and Marine products.

Jack enlisted in the Army in 1942 and served in the Combat Engineers in the South Pacific.

In 1994, he ran for Governor in the Republican primary, receiving 26% of the primary vote. He also served by appointment on Governor Edgar’s Education Transition Team and Lamar Alexander’s Education 2000 in Illinois.

For the past 25 years, Jack has been an advocate of education reform through the application of free market principles and of school choice. He lives in Barrington, Illinois with his wife Jeannine. His sport is sailing; he has won the Chicago to Mackinac race among many others.

After working as an engineer for several other reputable firms, Jack began his own engineering manufacturing company in 1961 with $5,000. He operated the business in Morton Grove for several years before moving it to Carpentersville.

Today, Otto Engineering is housed in a beautifully renovated campus on the east and west banks of the Fox River. Last year, Otto had over 500 employees and annual sales of over $79 million. Otto’s success is marked by the high precision and quality of its products.

Marc Rotterman, senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation and a GOP consultant, writes:

Jesse Helms: American Hero

From Human Events, July 5, 2008

One of my fondest memories of Senator Helms was election night 1990 — when Senator Helms just defeated former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gant.

Let me set the scene…

All the major networks had just “called the race” in Helms’ favor. My wife and I, along with other Helms loyalists and aides, were in a hotel suite in downtown Raleigh watching the returns with the Senator and his wife “Ms. Dot.”

Helms’ supporters had gathered in the first floor ballroom along with all the NC press corps and other media from across the country and the world. As Dan Rather of CBS reluctantly “called the race” for Helms — I recall seeing a big grin coming over the Senator’s face.

By now, the time had arrived to exit the suite and head downstairs so Senator Helms could once again graciously accept another six year term and thank the people for their supported. We all crowded into the elevator.

When we disembarked and we were immediately swamped by a phalanx of reporters and cameras. I, along with several members of Helms staff, formed a cocoon around the Senator and his wife — working to get them through the crowd to the stage and the awaiting microphones. The crowd was at “fever pitch” crying Jessse, Jesseee!

Helms — who understood the art of seizing the moment” better than almost any other public figure I have been associated with — paused after getting to the stage. He waited for the crowd to quiet down. Then, at precisely the right moment, Senator Helm’s said in his Southern drawl…“I’d have been down here sooner — but I was watching the grieving face of Dan Rather as he announced my re-election to the United States Senate.”

The crowd in the ballroom went nuts.

Click HERE to read the reast of Marc Rotterman’s tribute, “Jesse Helms: American Hero”

We’re just getting back from a trip that offers more evidence why homosexuality is wrong and harmful to children. Meanwhile, take a read of Phil Magnan’s report, “15 Reasons Why Homosexuality is Wrong and Hurts Society.” Phil is the founder of Biblical Family Advocates, based in San Diego. I just met him in person for the first time and came away impressed by his love for people, including those practicing homosexuality, and his love for God’s truth and His heart on this issue. Check out BFA’s report. — Peter LaBarbera

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. Chicago’s CBS TV affiliate fields a float every year at the city’s bawdy homosexual “pride” parade, but CBS and other major Chicago secular media were no-shows at AFTAH’s pro-family coalition press conference yesterday highlighting a huge and growing pro-family boycott of McDonald’ s (based outside Chicago). McDonald’s was given a high 85% rating by a homosexual lobby group for its pro-homosexuality and pro-transsexuality policies. Photo courtesy Illinois Family Institute.

Dave Diersen, an Illinois Republican activist, has provided a summary of the coverage of our press conference in front of McDonald’s’ world headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Predictably, I suppose, we were completely blacked out by Chicago’s and Illinois’ major media — which had no excuse since they were inundated with press releases about the event by four pro-family organizations taking part: Americans For Truth, American Family Association, Illinois Family Institute and Liberty Counsel. It appears that the Fox News item below came from AP.

So once again the major media are doing the work of the homosexual lobby. Many in the media have decided that the “gay” issue is settled, and the homosexual activists have won. (Remember when Big Media thought the abortion issue was pretty much over?) Yesterday’s non-coverage was appalling journalism, even by corrupt Chicago standards. Clearly, the boycott story is compelling — even from a pure business perspective: already, nearly 200,000 people have signed AFA’s boycott petition (www.boycottmcdonalds.com).

The people involved in this boycott of McDonald’s are good family people — not vegans, America-hating leftists, or some other fringe group. And the idea really seems to be catching on. As I said yesterday, millions and millions of Americans have had it with the elite media’s and pop culture’s promotion of homosexuality, but they don’t know what to do about it. Boycotting McDonald’s, an easy target but admittedly not the worst corporate offender — PepsiCo Foundation recently gave $500,000 to the homosexual group Human Rights Campaign Foundation, compared to McDonald’s $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce — is something simple to do to stand up for marriage and the natural family.

More coming on this story. — Peter LaBarbera

P.S. Most major Chicago media either field floats or participate in the annual Chicago “Gay Pride” parade, and the local ABC affiliate televises it (see photo above). Now there’s some “news” with wide appeal in Chicagoland!

______________________________

Dave Diersen writes:

[Note for those outside Illinois: the "combine" derogatorily refers to Chicagoland Democrat and Republican politicians and interests that work together (corruptly) to advance their own political and monetary interests irrespective of party and principle.]

News clips and upcoming event information:
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
VERY SAD BUT NOT SURPRISING: The Combine gets its news media members to keep the McDonald’s boycott off their websites – Dave Diersen
www.gopillinois.com
The American Family Association and other groups have called for a boycott of McDonald’s because it promotes homosexual activity. It is very sad, but not surprising, that the Combine got its news media members to keep the boycott off their websites. The boycott was announced at an outstanding 10:00 AM press conference yesterday at the McDonald’s restaurant across from McDonald’s world headquarters in Oak Brook. Because the Illinois Democrat Party Platform promotes homosexual activity and the Illinois Republican Party Platform discourages homosexual activity, the boycott is a political story. I was hoping to see Mary Ann Ahern, David Beery, Mike Flannery, Rick Preason, Andy Shaw, and other political reporters at the press conference, but I did not. Speakers at the outstanding press conference included Matt Barber, Peter LaBarbera, Sandy Rios, and David E. Smith. Sadly, McDonald’s is a member of the Combine. Hopefully, Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Chairman Andy McKenna Jr. will get his father, Andy McKenna Sr., the President of McDonald’s, to get McDonald’s to stop promoting homosexual activity. Also, hopefully, he will get his father to cancel McDonald’s membership in the Combine. IRP Chairman Andy McKenna Jr. was scheduled to meet with DuPage County Republican Central Committee (DCRCC) leaders in Wheaton this evening. Hopefully, all this will be discussed during that meeting and summarized in a DCRCC press release.

FOX NEWS CHANNEL
– Christian Group Boycotts McDonald’s for Supporting Gay Chamber of Commerce
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,383561,00.html
(THE ARTICLE: OAK BROOK, Ill. – A Christian group that opposes same-sex marriage launched a boycott of McDonald’s because of the fast-food chain’s support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. American Family Association president Tim Wildmon says almost 200,000 people have signed an online pledge to boycott McDonald’s for promoting homosexuality instead of remaining neutral. McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman says the company has made a financial contribution to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and a McDonald’s executive serves on the chamber’s board. He insists that doesn’t mean that McDonald’s supports “a particular lifestyle or same-sex marriage.”)

LIFE SITE NEWS
– Family Advocates Take McDonald’s Boycott to Home of the Golden Arches After “Hate” Smear – Peter Smith
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071602.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: OAK BROOK, Illinois, July 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The boycott against McDonald’s over its public support of a gay lobby group pushing same-sex “marriage” has now escalated, as the pro-family groups the global hamburger giant accused recently of “hate” have brought the fight right to the home of the famed Golden Arches. The American Family Association (AFA), Americans for Truth, the Illinois Family Institute, and the legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel held a joint press conference Wednesday in front of the McDonald’s restaurant across from McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois to protest the corporation’s statements that people opposed to its support of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), were motivated by “hate.” . . . The AFA boycott petition may be found here: http://www.boycottmcdonalds.com/ Contact info for McDonald’s: Andrew J. McKenna, President, McDonald’s Corporation USA, McDonald’s Plaza, Oak Brook, IL 60523 Phone: 1-800-244-6227 or: 630-623-3000 Fax: 630-623-5004)

DAKOTA VOICE
– Protest at McDonald’s HQ Over Promotion of Homosexual Agenda – Alexander Sheffrin
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/07/protest-at-mcdonalds-hq-over-promotion.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: McDonald’s, however, has been unapologetic about its pro-gay stance, asserting that organizers of the boycott are motivated by a hateful agenda against homosexuals. “Hatred has no place in our culture,” McDonald’s USA spokesman Bill Whitman told The Washington Post. “That includes McDonald’s, and we stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment,” he explained. But the AFA is arguing that its boycott is about the record of McDonald’s and its duty to be a responsible and neutral corporation. “This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald’s, or how homosexual employees are treated,” the AFA said. “It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, choosing to put the full weight of their corporation behind promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage,” the group explained. In an e-mail to boycott supporters, Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, which organized a press conference outside McDonald’s headquarters Wednesday, said that the accusations of “hate” and prejudice from McDonald’s were a reflection of the food chain’s own deeply embedded anti-Christian views. “When we’ve reached the point where belief in the Bible and traditional morality is routinely equated with hatred, America has become hostile territory for people of faith,” he said. “Sadly, ‘diversity’ is becoming a corporate code-word for anti-Christian bigotry – forcing people of faith to imbibe politically correct ideologies that violate their beliefs,” he added. According to a press release, boycott organizers “are encouraging families to do two things: sign, print and distribute a Boycott McDonald’s petition at www.boycottmcdonalds.com; and call the local McDonald’s to politely tell the manager they are boycotting the chain until it stops promoting the gay agenda.”)

WICHITA EAGLE
– Not ‘lovin’ it’: McDonald’s supports gay group – Brent Castillo
http://www.kansas.com/opinion/castillo/story/465759.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Bigot. Homophobe. Hater. These are the terms that many gay activists and their supporters use to label you if you oppose gay marriage, or believe homosexuality is immoral. What is surprising is to see the spokesman for McDonald’s USA, Bill Whitman, incorporate some of the same rhetoric when justifying the company’s support and involvement in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The chamber lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues, including the promotion of same-sex marriage. “Hatred has no place in our culture,” Whitman said in an interview with the Washington Post. “That includes McDonald’s, and we stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment.” The “hatred” he is referring to is the American Family Association’s call for a boycott of the restaurant chain.)

PAM’S HOUSEHOLD BLEND
– DIERSEN HEADLINE: VERY SAD: “tfeminist” a) denigrates Christians as being “religious wingnuts” and “kooks” and b) defends McDonald’s promotion of homosexual activity
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showComment.do?commentId=69952
(THE POSTING: My view on McDonalds – McDonalds is a corporation based in eastern DuPage county. As much as DuPage gets a wrap for being conservative, lets be clear, the wing nut section is in Wheaton, eastern DuPage is some pockets of liberalism and corporate conservatism. The eastern part of DuPage draws employees from Cook and Chicago. It is really just a gigantic corporate office park, especially Oak Brook. McDonalds, secondly exists in Illinois and is a stones throw from “gay friendly” Chicago (I still love the fact that Mayor Daily turned down the Republican Convention saying he was to busy with the gay games). They have to play to Dem Politics to keep State Tax incentives. Illinois is not going to turn red any time soon, the state has become indigo, as younger blue collar folks, and their white collar brethren are starting to share a common political vision for the state. Dem Politics in Illinois, has become pro-queer as a result. Some of it has to do with the increasing progressive nature of the state, and some is pure economics. They want the state to be a “creative class” one that rivals California. They have done a pretty good job of it so far. The state is without question getting an increasing amount of corporate relocations, sees major Hollywood movies regularly (both Batman and Wanted were filmed there). McDonalds, wants to be part of this effort, they have strong ties with the interests of the state and the City of Chicago. McDonalds, a long time sponsor of the Olympics, also wants to see the games in their back yard. So to say they have increasing ties to the democratic party in the state would be an understatement. They may as well be a million miles from these religious wingnuts, they exist in another political reality and honestly are not influenced by these kooks. Their reality that is more about tax incentives, the Olympic games in Chicago and recruiting, than right wing boycotts, really don’t have much of an impact. Either way, I am encouraged that McDonalds is ignoring the boycott. When it gets down to it the company has always been one that success is tied to urban areas and urban politics more than anything. I am not saying McDonalds is great, rather . . . that they are a corporation that exists in Illinois and influenced by the politics of the state. A corporation that exists in a pragmatic reality unaffected by right wing politics, and more centered on their own corporate interests.)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (Gospel of John 3:13-18)

We pass along this item on the passing of Tony Snow (shown at right in his final televised White House briefing) from Cathi Herrod and the Center for Arizona Policy:

I woke up to the sad news this morning that Tony Snow has passed away. Perhaps one of Tony’s last public appearances was his talk at CAP’s April 29 Making Our Days Count dinner. My favorite quote from Tony rings especially true today: “God bids us to choose. Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?” Tony walked what he talked — his commitment to his walk with the Lord, to his family, and to making a difference was evident. Take a few moments to pray for Tony’s wife Jill and their three children and all those who personally knew and loved Tony Snow. Take a moment also to examine whether you are choosing to devote your remaining days to things that matter.

You can listen to the podcast of Tony’s April remarks and read his memorable column from Christianity Today. Check our website on Monday to view the video of Tony’s April speech.

Yours for Arizona Families,

Cathi Herrod, Esq.
President
The Center for Arizona Policy

According to some militant homo-fundamentalists in San Diego, supporting the preservation of marriage as solely between a man and a woman constitutes “hate.” Acting on that absurd and bigoted notion, “queer” activists in San Diego are planning a protest against hotel owner Doug Manchester, to be held Friday, July 18 (1:00-2:00 PM) at Manchester’s San Diego Grand Hyatt Hotel. Manchester, to his credit, gave $125,000 to the California Marriage Protection Amendment effort. A strong Catholic, he is worried that “gay marriage” in the state will lead to lawsuits against religious schools that teach that real marriage is between a man and a woman — i.e., that the counterfeit homosexual variety is wrong.

Folks, can you see the escalating anti-religious harassment that follows the progression of the homosexual activist movement? To affirm their “rights” and contorted brand of “equality” (which is actually radical egalitarianism), they need to tear down Judeo-Christian tradition and culture. Now is the time for all marriage supporters and defenders of sexual sanity to frequent hotels and businesses owned by pro-family marriage defenders like Doug Manchester. Unilateral Christian disarmament in this “culture war” will lead to state-sanctioned oppression of people of faith — it’s that simple.

Here’s the link to Doug Manchester’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, and that to his other hotel in San Diego: the Grand Del Mar. — Peter LaBarbera

By Brian Fitzpatrick

Culture & Media Institute, June 10, 2008

Thank God for the alternative media.

Unlike the big newspapers and TV networks, small conservative online news sites are reporting the growing threat posed to religious liberty by the burgeoning homosexual rights movement.

Two indispensable Web sites, Canada’s LifeSite News and [American Family Association’s] One News Now, have carried a stunning series of articles in the past few days about critics of homosexuality being attacked by the governments of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Belgium and Canada.

• Britain’s Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor Will Defy Law Forcing Homosexual Adoption
• Northern Ireland MP Investigated for “Homophobic” Remarks
• Belgian Bishop Cleared of Charges for Church Teaching on Homosexuality

No country is harder on religious believers than Canada, where a modern-day star chamber called the Canadian Human Rights Commission is cracking down on Christian preachers who dare to repeat what the Bible says about homosexuality.

• Alberta Pastor Fined $7,000 and Ordered to Publicly Apologize and Remain Silent on Homosexuality
• Canadian Catholic Priest Accused of Hate Crime

The homosexual rights movement is not really an effort to win civil rights for a supposedly oppressed minority. It’s a war against Western civilization’s Judeo-Christian moral order, joined now by many non-homosexuals who support rewriting society’s moral code. The goals are to win social acceptance of alternative sexual “lifestyles,” especially homosexuality, and to make room for a revolutionary new sexual code that glorifies self-indulgence and embraces promiscuity.

Hedonism and homosexuality cannot be legitimized without displacing the Bible’s restrictions on sex and God’s design for the family. The revolutionaries are going about it the obvious way, in our litigious society—through the courts. By redefining traditional sexual morality as bigotry, the sexual revolutionaries are using the law to assail the rights of speech, association and religion of anyone who disagrees with them. Using “sexual orientation” statutes and hate crimes laws, they are attempting to silence anybody who believes that homosexuality is a sin, not an acceptable alternative “lifestyle.”

A Canadian Catholic magazine editor, Father Alphonse de Valk, warns in his editorial, “Fascism Has Come to Canada”:

So we move from [former Canadian Prime Minister] Trudeau’s 1967 slogan “there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation” –– falsely used to destroy traditional morality – to the new slogan that the state will determine people’s moral thinking.

Why aren’t the liberal newspapers and broadcasters reporting these stories? As politically savvy secular institutions that back homosexual rights, they may be reluctant to publicize religious victims of the movement. They appear to be following in the footsteps of Walter Duranty, the New York Times foreign correspondent who won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Stalin’s Soviet Union.

In the 1930s, Duranty downplayed the realities of the Soviet gulag, where 10 million or more people died. He lied about Stalin’s deliberate starvation of millions of people in the Ukraine. Even though his deliberate misreporting has been thoroughly documented, the Times has never removed Duranty from its list of staff who have won Pulitzers. Nor has the Pulitzer committee withdrawn the award.

For Duranty, loyalty to political ideals trumped journalistic ethics. Rather than expose Stalin, Duranty defended him: “You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.”

The current journalistic cover-up of the homosexual activist movement’s assaults on freedom is not the same in degree as covering up the Gulag, but it’s the same in kind. It is an abdication of responsibility and a professional disgrace. And it is one more reason that alternative media that report honestly are rapidly growing.

Brian Fitzpatrick is Senior Editor at the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center.

Detroit homosexual activist Sean Kosovsky (left) says media who criticize homosexual “marriages” as illegitimate should be sued for libel and “slapped around publicly.” Kosovsky has also recklessly and falsely accused Gary Glenn’s American Family Association of Michigan of supporting the murder of homosexuals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wed., May 21, 2008
CONTACT: Gary Glenn 989-835-7978

By Gary Glenn, President, AFA-Michigan

LOS ANGELES — Michigan’s largest homosexual activist group says once marriage is legally redefined to include homosexual couples, business owners and even news media outlets who refuse to recognize such marriages should be jailed or sued and “publicly slapped,” a Jewish and openly bisexual columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News reported Monday.

Statements attributed in the column to homosexual lobbyist Sean Kosofsky, director of policy for the Detroit-based Triangle Foundation, were denounced Wednesday by American Family Association of Michigan President Gary Glenn, co-author of the Marriage Protection Amendment approved by voters in 2004 to constitutionally reaffirm the legal definition of marriage in Michigan as only between one man and one woman.

“The Triangle Foundation openly admits homosexual activists’ intentions, once they gain sufficient political power, to impose their radical social agenda on America by brute force, trampling cherished American values such as religious freedom, freedom of speech, academic freedom, and even freedom of the press if it stands in their way,” Glenn said.

Glenn pointed to comments by Kosofsky reported Monday by David Benkof, author of Gay Essentials: Facts for Your Queer Brain and founder of the Q Syndicate, a “gay”-press syndicate that provides columns and other material to a hundred homosexual newspapers.

Benkof, who strays from “gay” political orthodoxy by opposing the redefinition of marriage, wrote in a column published Monday by the Los Angeles Daily News that he had interviewed homosexual activists nationally about the legal implications of a California Supreme Court ruling last week declaring a constitutional “right” to so-called homosexual “marriage.”

Benkof wrote: “What happens if a traditionally religious business owner wants to extend his ‘marriage discount’ only to couples married in his eyes? Sean Kosofsky of Michigan’s largest gay-rights group, the Triangle Foundation, says, ‘If you are a public accommodation and you are open to anyone on Main Street, that means you must be open to everyone on Main Street. If they don’t do it, that’s contempt and they will go to jail.’ ” http://www.dailynews.com/editorial/ci_9312682

Benkof continued: “Michael Taylor-Judd, the president of the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington state, said if a newspaper writes that a given same-sex marriage wasn’t really a marriage, ‘it is certainly in the realm of possibility for someone to bring a (libel) suit, and quite possibly to be successful.’ Kosofsky agreed: ‘I would be sympathetic to some damages. They need to be slapped publicly.’ ”

(See full Benkof column below)

Glenn said the Triangle Foundation routinely justifies its hostility toward individuals and organizations who disagree with homosexual activists’ political agenda, as well as Triangle’s admitted plans to suppress their opponents’ free speech rights, by demonizing those who support traditional one-man, one-woman marriage as promoters of “hate” and violence.

* The Triangle Foundation’s web site currently features a news release charging that support for Michigan’s Marriage Protection Amendment by Glenn and Catholic Cardinal Adam Maida of the Archdiocese of Detroit was a motivating factor in the alleged beating death of a homosexual senior citizen last year in Detroit. “It is appalling hypocrisy,” the statement reads, “for (Glenn and Maida) to pretend that their venomous words and organizing have no connection to the plague of hate violence against gay people, including the murder of Mr. Anthos.” http://www.tri.org/violence/pdfs/taskforce.pdf

Triangle’s claims were proven false when police reported they found no evidence of assault and the Wayne County medical examiner’s office concluded the man had died from natural causes after a fall resulting from arthritic paralysis. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262308,00.html

* Kosofsky has for years publicly accused Glenn’s organization of supporting murder, though only one news media outlet has ever published the allegation. “We personally believe that the AFA may support the murder of gay, lesbian and bisexual people,” Kosofsky said, as reported in 2001 by State News, the student newspaper at Michigan State University.
http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2001/11/gay-rights_group_fights

And Kosofsky in a published column in 2005 called Cardinal Maida “recklessly wicked,” accused him of “arrogance, bigotry and hypocrisy,” and said the Catholic church’s position in support of one-man, one-woman marriage “should be tossed in the trash.”
http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=13021

Glenn also noted that when Kosofsky said news media outlets should be sued and “slapped publicly” if they report material to which homosexual activists object, one example may have been fresh on his mind. Last month, Kosofsky attacked WNEM-TV Channel 5, Saginaw, for its coverage of a pro-homosexual student protest in public schools. “WNEM has run one of the worst stories I have seen in recent years on Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender issues by using insensitive and inflammatory terms,” Kosofsky wrote on his blog, Blog O’ Queer.
http://www.blogoqueer.org/2008/04/horrible-coverage-of-day-of-silence-in.html

Violations of religious freedom, free speech rights, academic freedom, and freedom of the press have become routine in countries and states that have already adopted so-called homosexual “marriage” or “hate crime” laws based on homosexual behavior, Glenn said.

* Swedish Pastor Ake Green in 2004 was sentenced to 30 days in jail for preaching a sermon in which he defined homosexual behavior as sinful and harmful to society. http://www.akegreen.org

* Baptist Press reported in 2005: “A Catholic bishop in Canada is under investigation by a government agency for condemning ‘gay marriage’… The bishop, Fred Henry of Calgary, is being investigated by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for comments he made about homosexuality in both a letter to parishioners and a Calgary Sun newspaper column. Two homosexuals filed the complaints.” http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=20716

* The Irish Times reported in 2003: “Clergy and bishops who distribute the Vatican’s latest publication describing homosexual activity as ‘evil’ could face prosecution under incitement to hatred legislation. …Those convicted under the Act can face jail terms of up to six months.”
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2003/0802/1059775167952.html

* The London Daily Telegraph reported in 2006: “New Government proposals on equality could require clergy to bless homosexual ‘weddings’ or face prosecution, the Church of England said yesterday. It said the proposed regulations could undermine official teaching and require Christians to act against their religious convictions.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1520849/Church-%27could-be-forced-to-bless-gay-weddings%27.html

* Catholic Charities in Boston was forced by a state “sexual orientation” law to either process the adoption of children to homosexual couples, a direct violation of Vatican policy, or abandon their century-old adoption referral services altogether. They chose the latter. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/03/11/catholic_charities_stuns_state_ends_adoptions

* The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix newspaper was ordered by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal to pay three homosexual men $1,500 each after the newspaper agreed to run an ad that featured Bible verses critical of homosexual behavior. “As the Star-Phoenix lawyer said in his closing statement (before the Tribunal), ‘A Human Rights ruling against the Star-Phoenix and Mr. Owens could limit freedom of speech in the media, in churches and in classrooms.’” http://www.realwomenca.com/newsletter/1999_Sept_Oct/article_7.html

* A British couple were questioned by police on possible “hate crime” charges after they wrote a letter-to-the-editor of their local newspaper criticizing city officials for distributing brochures at city hall promoting homosexual behavior. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/4555406.stm

* The London Daily Telegraph reported last month: “A Christian couple who have taken in 28 children have been forced to give up being foster parents after they refused to promote homosexuality. Vincent Matherick, 65, and his 61-year-old wife Pauline were told by social services that they had to comply with legislation requiring them to treat homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567160/Christian-foster-parents-condemn-’gay-laws’.html

* A British Anglican bishop in February was fined for refusing to hire an openly homosexual man as a church youth minister. http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021104.html

* The London Daily Telegraph reported in 2003: “A bishop who angered homosexuals by suggesting they seek a psychiatric cure is to be investigated by police to see if his outspoken views amount to a criminal offence, it emerged yesterday.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1446318/Bishop%27s-anti-gay-comments-spark-legal-investigation.html

* Eleven Christians in Philadelphia — including two grandmothers in their 70’s, one white and one African-American — were arrested and charged with “ethnic intimidation” under Pennsylvania’s “hate crimes” law when they tried to read Bible verses out loud during a homosexual street festival. They faced a cumulative 47 years in prison had they been convicted. http://www.cultureandfamily.org/articledisplay.asp?id=6542&department=CFI&categoryid=nation

* A New Mexico Christian photographer was fined $6,600 for refusing on religious grounds to photograph a homosexual marriage-like “commitment” ceremony.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200804/CUL20080416a.html

* Catholic bishops in Belgium and Spain were sued in 2004 by homosexual activist groups for making public statements in opposition to homosexual behavior and homosexual “marriage.”
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=43235

* Boston public school teachers were threatened with termination if they failed to portray so-called homosexual “marriage” in a positive light. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=27201

———————————–

LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
Los Angeles, California
May 19, 2008

Same-sex ruling good for no one
by David Benkof

Champagne corks are popping wherever gays and lesbians gather throughout the Golden State after the California Supreme Court’s ruling in In Re Marriage Cases, which opens the way for same-sex couples to legally wed beginning next month. But my fellow members of the LGBT community shouldn’t be celebrating. This decision does next to nothing for California gays and lesbians, and causes real harm to people who believe in the “old” definition of marriage. It’s nothing to be proud of.

The June weddings that can now be expected for same-sex couples all over California will actually provide little tangible advantage to anyone. California already has a domestic-partnership law providing all the state benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act denies all the federal benefits. Sure, gays and lesbians may get a lift in self-esteem from having their relationships declared “equal” by four jurists, but does an ego boost really outweigh the real harms caused by Thursday’s decision?

Because there certainly are harms — to religious liberty and to children, for example. For the last two weeks, I have been contacting “marriage equality” leaders from San Diego to Sacramento to ask about the impact of redefining marriage on religious freedom.

All have repeatedly refused to disclose their opinions, including prominent lesbian and gay legislators and leaders.

Although California marriage-equality leaders won’t say what impact they expect Thursday’s change to have on religious freedom, activists in other states haven’t been so shy.

What happens if a traditionally religious business owner wants to extend his “marriage discount” only to couples married in his eyes? Sean Kosofsky of Michigan’s largest gay-rights group, the Triangle Foundation, says, “If you are a public accommodation and you are open to anyone on Main Street, that means you must be open to everyone on Main Street. If they don’t do it, that’s contempt and they will go to jail.”

Sharon Malheiro, a lawyer and LGBT activist from Des Moines affiliated with the state’s gay-marriage lobby, One-Iowa, told me if a teacher in a marriage-equality state taught that marriage is between a man and a woman, “then it becomes a job performance issue,” and the school district should take appropriate action.

Michael Taylor-Judd, the president of the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington state, said if a newspaper writes that a given same-sex marriage wasn’t really a marriage, “it is certainly in the realm of possibility for someone to bring a (libel) suit, and quite possibly to be successful.” Kosofsky agreed: “I would be sympathetic to some damages. They need to be slapped publicly.”

Now, no lesbian in history has lost her assets, her job, or her freedom for writing, teaching, and running her business guided by her belief that marriage is a union of any two individuals who love each other. So why do gay activists outside California support limitations on the freedom of speech, the press, and religious expression for anyone who disagrees with them? And why won’t California marriage-equality activists go on the record with their opinions on this vital issue?

This new ruling doesn’t only harm traditionally religious people. It poses a serious danger to the well-being of children.

After four Massachusetts judges imposed this change on their state, Boston’s Catholic Charities was given the choice of treating couples without both a mother and a father the same as more traditional couples, or getting out of the adoption business altogether. The well-regarded agency felt it had no choice but to shut down – which means there are children in the Bay State who do not have the mother and father they could have had if gay activists hadn’t been so strident.

As an LGBT person, I’m embarrassed that my fellow community members prioritized their own pride over the welfare of disadvantaged orphans.

There are real and injurious issues the gay community could be focusing on, such as the distressing rates of HIV/AIDS among African-American men who have sex with men, the FDA’s unnecessary ban on gay blood, and Florida’s heartless prohibition of gay and lesbian adoptive parents. No lesbian ever died a painful death because the government called her relationship a domestic partnership instead of a marriage.

Gays and lesbians should put away the champagne, work to overturn this ruling, and start focusing on LGBT issues that actually matter.

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David Benkof is a columnist in several gay newspapers around the country and the author of “Gay Essentials: Facts for your Queer Brain.” Contact him through his blog, gaysdefendmarriage.com.

http://www.dailynews.com/editorial/ci_9312682

As a state representative who is always willing to meet with any and all of my constituents on any issue with an open and sincere dialog, it is apparent from the statement released by PFLAG that their “open dialog” was for the purpose of politicizing the conversation to their benefit.

While I did meet with PFLAG in what was a cordial and polite meeting, they have taken my statements and have spun them to make it appear that I am backing off my comments that homosexuality is a sin. As a Christian who believes in the authority of God’s Word, I will never retract my comments that homosexuality is a sin.

PFLAG has also spun my words to say that I am in favor of “sexual orientation” laws. I unequivocally do not support “sexual orientation” laws. While I do not advocate employers going on a witch hunt to fire homosexual employees who are performing their jobs in a manner just like any heterosexual employee, I do not support laws that would force employers to check their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association at the workplace door.

Since PFLAG has shown their lack of integrity by misinterpreting my statements from our meeting to fit their agenda — thus revealing their purpose of open dialog to be just a means of seeking to weaken my position and strengthen theirs — I see no benefit in having future meetings with them.

God’s Word does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever [Hebrews 13:8]. His Word expresses His moral character. Therefore, my opinion also will not change.

State Rep. Sally Kern
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Oklahoma City, OK
March 28, 2008