*      *     *

“For those who support the hotel in this, imagine that the tables were turned. Suppose it was a homosexual group that had been turned down by the hotel because of ‘negative publicity.’ Would you still support the hotel’s right to discriminate in this fashion? Sauce for the goose…”

– Comment by “Springer” posted at Daily Herald article (reprinted below), “Anti-gay group sues Naperville hotel, alleges discrimination”

_____________________________

Anti-Christian Discrimination OK? Imagine the hue and cry that would have erupted had the Holiday Inn Select hotel (left) in Naperville, Ill., canceled a “gay” organization’s scheduled banquet after its leader told the hotel that some Christians might protest the event.

Dear AFTAH Readers,

Below are two local articles on AFTAH’s just-filed lawsuit against a Naperville, IL Holiday Inn hotel for canceling our banquet two years ago out of fear of “gay” protests.

We hope you can make it to this year’s AFTAH banquet on Sat., Oct. 24 at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL — featuring culture warrior and former professional heavyweight boxer Matt Barber, who was fired by Allstate Insurance Co., after writing an article against homosexual “marriage” on his own time. Tickets are $50 each. A table of 10 is $500. More information here: http://americansfortruth.com/news/matt-barber-to-keynote-aftah-banquet.html; book your seat now at www.americansfortruth.com/donate.

Also, don’t forget our the dinner-lecture at our Carol Stream office Thursday, Sept. 17 featuring Michael Brown, who is going to talk about how to walk that fine line of reaching out to homosexuals with the Gospel of Christ while resisting the radical “gay” political/cultural agenda. I am really looking forward to this talk. Click HERE for more info. RSVP to aftahangela@gmail.com or americansfortruth@comcast.net. (Donations will be accepted at the event to cover costs.)

Lastly, AFTAH has now crossed the half-way mark in our goal of matching a generous donor’s $20,000 grant. Please help us go all the way with your tax-deductible donation to AFTAH at www.americansfortruth.com/donate or by mailing your gift to: Americans For Truth, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  Thank you!

Peter LaBarbera
Americans For Truth  About Homosexuality
www.aftah.org

——————————————————————————–
(Suburban Chicago) Daily Herald story:

Link: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=316820

Anti-gay group sues Naperville hotel, alleges discrimination

August 27, 2009

By Christy Gutowski | Daily Herald Staff

Peter LaBarbera said he was just being honest when he told the Naperville hotel event planner to expect protesters outside his anti-gay group’s upcoming banquet.

His truthfulness, though, may have led to his own undoing.

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality recently filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Holiday Inn Select, 1801 N. Naper Blvd.

The Carol Stream-based group alleges its Oct. 6, 2007 fundraiser was canceled by the hotel six weeks earlier because of the group’s religious beliefs against homosexuality.

LaBarbera did not have a written contract, and no money was exchanged, but he said organizers verbally worked out details of the 100-person event, including the menu, during two meetings.

LaBarbera said hotel management told him the reservation was canceled due to “potential negative publicity.” AFTAH filed its discrimination suit Aug. 21.

“It’s always easy to come up with excuses,” said LaBarbera, AFTAH’s executive director, “but the real truth is they didn’t like our message. If you allow this sort of hecklers’ veto, you’re sanctioning discrimination.”

The banquet was planned at the hotel on the same night as a couple’s wedding. The Naperville Holiday Inn Select is independently owned and operated. Managers there said they had not been served with the lawsuit, and could not comment.

Georgia-based InterContinental Hotels Group owns the Holiday Inn brand. AN IHG spokeswoman said the cancellation decision was made solely by local hotel management. “IHG is very concerned about any claim of discrimination at any hotel bearing the Holiday Inn name,” said Sarah-Ann Soffer, media relations manager, in a statement. “IHG condemns unlawful discrimination in all of its forms. Since this matter is the subject of pending litigation, we have no further comment at this time.”

The national AFTAH organization, which is devoted to countering the gay agenda, ended up holding its banquet one day earlier at a Lombard hotel. Activists with the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network often protest AFTAH events, LaBarbera said.

The suit seeks an unspecified amount from the hotel in damages and attorney fees.

“We simply want to send a message that it might be easier to discriminate against a small Christian group, but it’s no less acceptable,” said Jason R. Craddock, AFTAH’s attorney. “We don’t want corporate America to continue in its belief that it’s OK to discriminate against unpopular points of view.”

_________________________________________

Naperville (IL) Sun story:

Link: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1739100,Christian-group-sues-Naperville-hotel_na082809.article

Christian Group Sues Naperville Hotel

August 28, 2009

By KATHY CICHON [kcichon@scn1.com]

Even though two years has passed since the incident occurred, a conservative organization has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against a Naperville hotel.

“Ultimately it would be easy just to ignore it and walk away,” said Peter LaBarbera, president and founder of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. “(But) it’s really not right to succumb to this sort of hecklers’ veto.” ….

On Friday the Carol Stream-based Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, which describes itself as “a group dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda,” filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Holiday Inn Select, 1801 N. Naper Blvd., Naperville.

The lawsuit stems from the cancellation of a banquet Americans For Truth planned to hold Oct. 6, 2007, at the Holiday Inn Select. While working on the menu several weeks before the event, LaBarbera told the hotel the banquet may draw protesters from the Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network, which describes itself as “a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered direct action group.” According to LaBarbera, a Naperville resident, the group frequently protests Americans For Truth activities.

According to a 2007 Sun article, that information led the Holiday Inn Select to reconsider. With a wedding in the other ballroom, the hotel canceled the Americans For Truth event.

“For the safety and security of all of our employees and guests, we decided that it is not a function that we wanted to have based upon the potential of having a protest,” said general manager Dennis Igoe at the time.

There was no written contract for the banquet, LaBarbera said Thursday.

When contacted Thursday, the Holiday Inn Select said it has no comment at this time. Atlanta-based InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn brand, issued the following statement:

“InterContinental Hotels Group, owner of the Holiday Inn brand, is very concerned about any claim of discrimination at any hotel bearing the Holiday Inn name. IHG condemns unlawful discrimination in all of its forms. The Holiday Inn Select Naperville hotel is independently owned and operated. IHG does not dictate local hotel operating policy for such franchised properties other than to require all hotels bearing its trademarks to comply with all applicable governmental requirements. In addition, IHG expects every Holiday Inn hotel to make every reasonable effort to promptly resolve all guest complaints. The cancellation decision in this matter was made solely by the local hotel. Since this matter is the subject of pending litigation, we have no further comment at this time.”

Saying it was unfairly treated because of its religious beliefs, LaBarbera said the group felt compelled to take action to prevent similar situations in the future and send a message to other hotels.

“We want something to come of it so hotels like Holiday Inn think twice before succumbing to anti-Christian (sentiment),” LaBarbera said.

LaBarbera said Naperville prides itself on tolerance, and that a “pro-family, pro-marriage” group deserves the same as other groups. If his group had been a gay rights or other organization, the situation never would have happened, he said.

“Tolerance is a two-way street,” LaBarbera said.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

“We don’t really have a dollar amount at this time,” said Jason Craddock, a New Lenox-based attorney representing Americans for Truth. “The most important thing is the message.”

________________________________________

To sign up for AFTAH’s Feedblitz service to receive notice of all AFTAH web postings, click http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=126361

Contact: jmattbarber@comcast.net

January 16, 2009;  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lynchburg, VA – Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Alliance Action and Liberty Counsel [and a Board Member of Americans for Truth], released the following statement today in response to news that the Hilton brand Doubletree Hotel near the White House (1515 Rhode Island Ave., NW – 202-232-7000) will be playing host to a homosexual orgy organized by the “Mid-Atlantic Leather Maneuvers” in at least three of its public banquet rooms this inaugural weekend.  Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) broke the initial story [CLICK HERE]:

“It’s appalling that the Hilton Doubletree Hotel chain is apparently so beholden to the mighty dollar that it would facilitate – in banquet rooms used by the public – a homosexual orgy boasting some of the most vile sex acts imaginable.  Despite initial denials by the hotel manager, I and other sources have verified with the hotel’s “Sales and Catering” and “Reservations” departments that, unbelievably, the hotel is in fact planning to go forward with the ‘gay’ orgy.

“It’s simply inexcusable that the Doubletree would place at risk the health of its staff and future guests by facilitating this orgy in rooms where food is served,” continued Barber.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics establish that men who have sex with men suffer infection from various forms of communicable disease, such as Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, at an astronomical rate.  Lower income hotel staff will be tasked – ostensibly under penalty of job loss – with cleaning up the various forms of potentially infectious biological waste left behind.

“I have therefore notified the Washington D.C. Department of Health about the planned Doubletree orgy.  The representative I spoke with was stunned and told me that the matter would be immediately investigated.  I also notified the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, which will be looking into possible criminal violations should the Doubletree go forward with the event.

“I suggest people contact Hilton’s Corporate Complaint Line at 310-278-4321 and tell them that they will no longer be staying at Hilton brand hotels if the Washington Doubletree goes through with this vile event.”

AFA Chairman Don Wildmon writes:

AFA ends boycott: McDonald’s agrees to changes

October 9, 2008

Dear Pro-family Americans,

Great news! Because of AFA supporters like you, McDonald’s has told AFA they will remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage. AFA is ending the boycott of McDonald’s. As you know, AFA called for the boycott in May after McDonald’s joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

McDonald’s said McDonald’s Vice President Richard Ellis has resigned his position on the board of NGLCC and that his seat on the board will not be replaced. McDonald’s also said that the company has no plans to renew their membership in NGLCC when it expires in December.

In an e-mail to McDonald’s franchised owners the company said, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.”

We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations. You might want to thank your local McDonald’s manager.

Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

AFTAH letter sent today to MillerCoors spokesman Julian Green [contact Green at green.julian@mbco.com or phone: 1-800-MILLER-6 or 414-931-2000.]:

Dear Mr. Green,

We are highlighting MillerCoor’s support of and advertising at the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco [to be held Sunday, September 28]. I am president of a conservative pro-family group, Americans For Truth (www.aftah.org). The Folsom Street Fair is probably the most extreme and debauched public event in the United States. As you can see from below and through the links on our site, it features men walking around fully nude and engaging in public homosexual orgies on the streets of San Francisco (as the police stand idly by).

Moreover, Folsom directly promotes anti-religious bigotry through its association with the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” and sale of (”religious”) “sex toys” that mock the Christian faith.

I would like to know how much MillerCoors is spending to promote its products at, and/or to “sponsor” the Folsom Street Fair (you are not listed in the program as an official sponsor, but you have a full-page ad in it). Does MillerCoors have any ethical guidelines for events it will — or will not — promote (through ads) and participate in? Would MillerCoors sell beer and advertise at, say, an Incest Rights festival, or take out an ad in the publication of other openly bigoted gatherings such as a Neo-Nazi rally?

If you would like to discuss MillerCoor’s promotion of Folsom and participation in this event, please call me. … We will be headed to San Francisco to monitor the perverse goings-on there and Miller’s role at the event. Here is the link to the Official Program Guide of the 2008 Folsom Street Fair containing your full-page ad [WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES]: http://www.folsomstreetevents.org/documents/2008_Official_Folsom_Street_Fair_Guide.pdf.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera
Americans For Truth
www.americansfortruth.org
W: 630-717-7631

Cc: Pro-family leaders and media: Mission America; World Net Daily; Lifesite News; Concerned Women for America; Liberty Counsel; Culture & Media Institute;  CNSNews.com; American Family Association; Bott Radio Network; Pastor Ken Hutcherson, Antioch Bible Church; One News Now; Family Research Council; Citizens for Community Values, Catholic League

PROFITING OFF OF PERVERSION: Miller Brewing Company took out a full-page ad (left) in the 2008 Folsom Street Fair Official Program Guide, on page 40. Five pages before that is this “StraightHell” ad that glories in the depraved and sadistic behaviors celebrated by this annual San Francisco “fair.” At least the gross Folsom ad has got one thing right: these boys are going STRAIGHT TO HELL if they don’t repent of this wickedness and accept Christ’s forgiveness. You can contact Miller though their spokesman Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com or phone: 1-800-MILLER 6 or 414-931-2000.

Folks, AFTAH is organizing this event in America’s “queer” Mecca later this month to remind the rest of the country (and Californians voting on the marriage protection) about the downward spiraling trajectory of liberal “tolerance” and the homosexual activist agenda. My good friend Linda Harvey will be joining us in exposing this sure-to-be unbelievably evil spectacle occurring on Sept. 28 in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s city. Democrats with any sense of decency and “family values,” as they say, should be ashamed at what their party has become: enablers for the worst public perversions known to mankind (see Mayor Gavin Newsom’s welcoming letter to the Folsom Street Fair HERE). — Peter LaBarbera

PS. The organizers for Folsom tried to intimidate Americans For Truth from publishing graphics from their website and Program Guide — including the welcoming letter from Mayor Newsom, a public servant! It did not work: we have “fair use” rights to expose their filth. More on that in another post.

___________________________________

Mission America writes:

California ‘Corruption Footprint’ Not Wanted in Middle America

September 8, 2008

Contact: Linda Harvey, (614) 442-7998, lpharvey@missionamerica.com

(Columbus, OH) Traditional families, especially children, will be harmed if California forces its sexual deviance on the rest of America, says Linda Harvey of Mission America.

Harvey joins other pro-family groups later this month in San Francisco to protest and expose the Folsom Street Fair, a public street orgy which includes sado-masochism, full nudity and homosexuality. They will also discuss the urgent need to pass Proposition 8, the ballot initiative upholding traditional marriage.

The event falls on Sunday, September 28, following “Leather Pride Week.” The alleged crowd estimate of 400,000 has no age restrictions, merely warnings about the “adult oriented nature” of activities. Last year, children were observed in the crowd where they could witness, for example, bare-bottomed men being whipped.

“There ‘s one big question: why?” said Harvey. ”How can Mayor Newsom, city officials and even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who represents San Francisco) tolerate disturbed people publicly displaying this deviance as police stand by and do nothing to stop it?

“California’s unsustainable sexual license is not an export we welcome in middle America,” said Harvey. “We don’t want same sex ‘marriage’ legalized, nor to have our children taught to praise homosexuality, as California children now must do after the passage of SB 777 and AB 394. And we don’t want naked people having sex in our streets.” Under the new laws, children must be taught favorable viewpoints about homosexuality and transgenderism. Other opinions are banned.

If Proposition 8 fails  –  and Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama succeed in their stated goal of repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act –  all states could  be forced under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution to recognize homosexual ‘marriages’ legalized by a CA court ruling in May.

Joining Mission America for the protest are Americans for Truth, American Family Association of Pennsylvania, the St. Joseph Men’s Society and other concerned groups.

“The ‘corruption footprint’ of California is staggering,” Harvey stated. “Sadly, San Francisco is a dying city discarding its children. Its only hope is the ‘offset’ provided by the fresh air of California’s traditional, caring families. Hopefully, these families will turn this state around and spare the rest of America from the polluting effects of California’s moral decay.”

Web site: www.missionamerica.com

By Peter LaBarbera

Needless to say, the AP (Always Politically-correct?) story below contains no critical comments from a pro-natural-family critic of homosexual “marriage.” I sent this note to Hallmark, after calling the company (816-274-5111) and being informed that Hallmark CEO Don Hall is not taking critical calls:

Dear Hallmark CEO Don Hall,

My wife and I won’t be buying Hallmark cards again until you stop promoting homosexuality and “gay marriage.” It’s very sad that your company — which most Americans would associate with more wholesome values — has now chosen to profit off of sexual immorality. (Homosexual behavior is sinful, changeable — see this EX-gay site: www.janetboynesministries.com — and often linked to serious health risks.)

Good luck with your new, politically correct business plan, but I will be informing as many people as I can to stop buying Hallmark cards until you get out of the homosexuality-promotion business.

Sincerely,

Peter LaBarbera
www.americansfortruth.org
americansfortruth@comcast.net

You’ll actually get a human being when you call Hallmark at 816-274-5111 as opposed to their computerized customer service line at 1-800-HALLMARK (800-425-5627). Please politely communicate your disappointment to them, as the operator is not responsible for this bone-headed move and might actually share your values. You can also e-mail them off their web contact page. Below is Associated Press’ biased story:

________________________________

Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards
Thursday August 21, 8:17 am ET

By Sarah Skidmore, AP Business Writer

Hallmark, seeing a new market after California ruling, rolls out gay ["marriage"] greeting cards

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Most states don’t recognize gay ["marriage"] — but now Hallmark does.

The nation’s largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex ["wedding"] cards — featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. “Two hearts. One promise,” one says.

Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay ["marriage."] A handful of other states have recognized same-sex civil unions.

The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.

“It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can,” Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell said.

Hallmark’s largest competitor, American Greetings Corp., has no plans to enter the market, saying its current offerings are general enough to speak to a lot of different relationships.

Hallmark started offering [homosexual] “coming out” cards last year, and the four designs of same-sex ["marriage"] cards are being gradually released this summer and will be widely available by next year. No sales figures were available yet.

Click HERE for the rest of the story

Take Action!

• Sign the online Boycott McDonald’s petition.
• Forward this to family and friends and ask them to sign the petition.
• Print and distribute the Boycott McDonald’s petition.

August 13, 2008

McDonald’s has done it again. First, the company paid $20,000 to become a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and to have a seat on the board of directors. Next, McDonald’s refused a request to remain neutral in the culture war by choosing to promote the gay agenda. Then McDonald’s accused those opposing the gay agenda, including same-sex “marriage,” of being motivated by hate.

Now we learn that McDonald’s sponsors training for homosexuals on how to promote their agenda among corporations from the inside. Out & Equal™ Workplace Advocates is a national organization devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the workplace. One of its primary purposes is to train employees how to aggressively promote homosexuality within the company they work for, all the way to the corporate boardroom. Part of last year’s Out & Equal Summit in Washington, DC, (sponsored by McDonald’s) was an organized march into congressional offices demanding same-sex “marriage” laws be passed.

At the bottom of McDonald’s half-page ad in the Out & Equal Summit booklet is this statement: “From neighborhood to neighborhood, coast to coast and around the world, McDonald’s is proud to celebrate diversity” [homosexuality].

Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue?

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

I am very conflicted about the boycott taking place because of my history with your company. I stop by my local McDonald’s every day for my large fountain Coke. Even when I travel, I make it a point to get to the nearest McDonald’s for my daily Coke. I have done that for years out of a preference for the taste and out of loyalty. I have read the biography on Ray Kroc and the history of the McDonald’s and have always had admiration for the man and his company. For the first time in my life, you are acting in a way that damages both my admiration and loyalty. I do not want to boycott McDonald’s, but you are forcing me into a position of compromise on doing business with a company every day that undermines my values. I take that personally.

You are going out of your way to put financial resources behind a group of individuals that choose to have sexual relations in an immoral, unnatural and unhealthy way. It would be fine if they were content to keep it to themselves, but they must flaunt this destructive lifestyle, dare to coerce others into supporting it, and threaten and castigate those who do not approve of it.

You have been asked to be neutral and withdraw your corporate sponsorship. It is a fair request for you to simply be neutral and not take a public position either way. Why do you insist on offending the majority of your customers to please a few? Please don’t make me give up my daily visit.

Janine, Illinois

I’m always mystified when allegedly intelligent, bottom-line-obsessed corporate types abandon the fiscally secure milieu of political neutrality and take sides, officially, on deeply polarizing, socio-cultural issues of the day.

That’s exactly what the formerly family-friendly McDonald’s Corporation recently did. In an apparent effort to pierce the hyper-demanding good graces of the radical homosexual lobby, these clowns (pun intended) have thrown the vast majority of potential Mickey D’s customers, worldwide, under the bus. Because of this colossal corporate blunder, the hamburger giant is now facing an embarrassing and ever-growing international boycott.

McDonald’s self-inflicted woes started back in March, when the company paid $20,000 to have Richard Ellis, McDonald’s “out and proud” homosexual vice president of communications, placed on the board of the innocuously tagged “National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.” NGLCC is an extremist, “gay” activist organization that lobbies for leftist causes, such as “gay marriage,” and pushes for other policies that would grant special privileges to certain individuals who define themselves based upon unhealthy, traditionally immoral and changeable sexual behaviors.

Unfortunately, the radical San Francisco-style policies both the NGLCC and McDonald’s advocate run directly counter to the best interests of the vast majority of Americans outside California’s “Sodom on the Bay.” For example, under communist-tested, McDonald’s-approved “hate speech” legislation, such as the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Christians and other business owners with traditional values would be forced – under penalty of law – to abandon sincerely held religious beliefs and adopt McDonald’s own secular-humanist, moral-relativist view of right and wrong. In many cases, business owners would be persecuted, even if the business in question were expressly faith-based. This pits the government directly against the free exercise of religion and, for that reason, is unconstitutional on its face.

But perhaps most damaging is that McDonald’s is now publicly supporting counterfeit “same-sex marriage,” despite the fact that, according to a March 2007 CBS/New York Times poll, only 28 percent of Americans believe same-sex pairs should be allowed legally to marry. As far as bad business decisions go, this one’s a real whopper (sorry for the mixed metaphor). This has, no doubt, made shareholders grimace … (OK, I’ll stop).

Still, same-sex marriage is a contradiction in terms. It’s a bizarre bastardization of legitimate marriage. It both mocks and undermines the genuine article. Marriage is a fundamental building block to any healthy society. If you introduce counterfeit money into commerce, the dollar is devalued. If you introduce counterfeit marriage into society, true marriage is devalued and society is harmed. Yet McDonald’s has now thrown its full weight, brand name and presently tarnished reputation behind the push for “gay marriage” in all 50 states.

If you take time to write McDonald’s and inquire as to why the company has betrayed a majority percentage of its customers, you’ll get a condescending, cutesy and self-aggrandizing form letter that takes about 350 words to say absolutely nothing. It’s built upon euphemistic talking points, spoon-fed by homosexual activist pressure groups such as the NGLCC and the anti-Christian “Human Rights Campaign”. It goes a little like this: “At McDonald’s we respect and value everyone … blah, blah, blah … Diversity … blah, blah … Inclusion … yada, yada … We have a long and proud history of leadership … blah, blah, (gag!)” You know the drill.

However, when McDonald’s steps up to the mic to address the media, a veritable rainbow of true colors is revealed. While referring to customers with traditional family values, spokesman Bill Whitman regurgitated this little McNugget to the Washington Post: “Hatred has no place in our culture.” Nice job, Bill. I’m sure the hundreds of millions of customers you’ve just smacked down with this little insult are itchin’ for a Happy Meal now.

Get it? If you happen to support the historical definition of marriage – which is, and has always been male-female – then you’re a drooling, inbred hatemonger. This kind of rhetoric is right out of the left’s PC handbook. It’s an intellectually bankrupt copout intended to avoid legitimate debate. When you’re getting your tail whipped, you lob personal attacks.

So, truth is McDonald’s definition of “diversity” doesn’t really mean diversity after all. The company has wholeheartedly bought into that euphemistic notion of “diversity” pushed by liberal elites – a paradoxical model for “inclusion” that only swings one way. So when you hear McDonald’s talk about “diversity,” what they’re really feeding you is warmed-over, anti-Christian bigotry in a cheap, thin wrapper.

Diversity is as diversity does, and McDonald’s brand of diversity has them in a real pickle. I suspect if the king of burgers were alive today, McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc would be some kind of flame-broilin’ ticked-off.

This column first appeared in WorldNetDaily.com. Matt Barber is also on the Board of Americans For Truth.

Buying gas is painful these days — and there’s much resentment against the Big Oil companies, Exxon included. But if you’re going to pay ridiculous prices at the pump anyway, why not reward a company that refuses to buckle to the aggressive and intolerant Homosexual Lobby? While you’re at it, follow the video’s advice (or go to Exxon’s Contact Page HERE) and commend Exxon Mobil’s executive team, while politely urging them not to give in to the homosexual activists.

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.)

Americans For Truth
www.americansfortruth.org
Contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631

NAPERVILLE, Illinois — Americans For Truth has called a press conference tomorrow with other family groups from across the country at the world headquarters of McDonald’s – to support the national boycott of the fast-food giant and highlight its record of promoting homosexual activism.

The press conference will be held at Wednesday, July 16 at 10:00 AM at the McDonald’s restaurant adjacent to McDonald’s world headquarters – at the corner of 22nd and Spring Streets in Oak Brook, Illinois. Participating groups joining Americans for Truth include:

• American Family Association (AFA), which launched the McDonald’s boycott
• Liberty Counsel
• Illinois Family Institute
• AFA of Pennsylvania
• Family Taxpayers Foundation

“AFA has focused its boycott on McDonald’s $20,000 grant to a homosexual businessman’s association –– calling for the company to return to neutrality in the culture wars,” said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH). “We agree, but AFTAH will also be highlighting McDonald’s daily promotion of unhealthy homosexual and transsexual lifestyles through corporate policies like funding unmarried ‘domestic partner’ (DP) benefits.”

McDonald’s scored an 85 percent rating on the homosexual lobby Human Rights Campaign’s corporate scorecard –– indicating its support for DP benefits, policies that reward transsexual behavior, donations to homosexual activist groups, and failure to support pro-family groups (e.g., those defending traditional marriage).

“McDonald’s has wisely chosen to alter its menu to promote healthy eating habits. Now it needs to examine its fiscal priorities and stop rewarding unhealthy lifestyles –– starting with an end to corporate subsidies for homosexual and transsexual behavior,” LaBarbera said. “Homosexuality is unhealthy, especially for men: 71 percent of male HIV cases in 2005 involved men who have sex with men, according to the CDC. And syphilis and other STD’s continue to afflict men practicing homosexuality at rates astronomically disproportionate to the rest of society.”

Noting that a McDonald’s recently suggested that pro-family critics of the corporation’s homosexuality-friendly policies are guilty of “hate,” LaBarbera said:

“Christians and religious people – and moral-minded Americans who are irreligious – cannot sit back while Corporate America turns them into second-class citizens by equating their traditional beliefs with ‘hate.’ 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.”

Why does McDonald’s equate defenders of marriage and Judeo-Christian morality with “hate”? TAKE ACTION: Call McDonald’s to let them know about your decision to boycott at 1-800-244-6227 (or 630-623-3000; fax: 630-623-5004). For more information about AFTAH’s Wednesday press conference at McDonald’s world headquarters, write americansfortruth@comcast.

Dear Readers,

Americans For Truth has called a press conference outside of McDonald’s world headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, this Wednesday, July 16, in support of American Family Association’s (AFA) boycott of the fast-food giant. Joining AFTAH and AFA will be representatives of Liberty Counsel, Illinois Family Institute, AFA of Pennsylvania, Culture Campaign and other pro-family advocates — including some moms who will explain why they won’t be taking their children to McDonald’s until the corporation stops promoting homosexuality and “gay” activism.

Note McDonald’s unfortunate choice below of the word “hate” as applied to critics of the company’s pro-homosexual policies. 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. Sadly, pro-homosexual “diversity” is becoming a code-word for anti-Christian bigotry, as we at AFTAH have experienced before. (See our story about the founder of DiversityInc magazine, Luke Visconti, outrageously equating this writer (and Americans For Truth) with racist pro-slavery advocates of the past. Click HERE for African American ex-lesbian Charlene Cothran’s response to Visconti’s ugly and, yes, hateful analogy.)

We must stand up for marriage and the natural family and defend truth, in love — which includes pointing people caught up in homosexuality to the possibility of wholesome change. Thanks for your support! — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

_____________________________

American Family Association writes July 10, 2008:

McDonald’s: those opposing SSM motivated by hate

Throwing out any pretense of being neutral in the culture war, McDonald’s has taken up the rhetoric of gay activists, suggesting those who oppose same-sex “marriage” (SSM) are motivated by hate.

AFA has asked for a boycott of McDonald’s restaurants because of the company’s promotion of the gay agenda. AFA asked McDonald’s to remain neutral in the culture war. McDonald’s refused.

In response to the boycott, McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman suggested to the Washington Post that those who oppose SSM ["same-sex marriage"] are motivated by hate, saying “…hatred has no place in our culture.” McDonald’s has decided to adopt the “hate” theme used by homosexual activist groups for years.

Whitman went on to say, “We stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment.” Mr. Whitman has intentionally avoided addressing the reason for the boycott. This boycott is not about hiring gays or how gay employees are treated. It is about McDonald’s choosing to put the full weight of their corporation behind promoting their agenda.

McDonald’s donated $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in exchange for membership and a seat on the group’s board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies Congress in support of same-sex “marriage.”

McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner said the company will promote issues they approve. “Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are. We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world…and we do.”

Take Action!

• Sign the online [AFA] Boycott McDonald’s petition: www.boycottmcdonalds.com.
• Forward this to family and friends and ask them to sign the petition.
• Print and distribute the Boycott McDonald’s petition.
• Call your local McDonald’s. Speak with the manager. Tell him or her (in a polite manner) that you will be boycotting McDonald’s until they stop promoting the pro-homosexual agenda. To find the phone number of your nearest McDonald’s, click HERE.

Thank you for caring enough to get involved. If you feel our efforts are worthy of support, would you consider making a small tax-deductible contribution to help us continue? [click HERE to donate to AFA; click HERE to donate to Americans For Truth]

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Coca-Cola and Best Buy have been on HRC’s 100-percent Pro-Homosexual Corporations list for two and four years, respectively. Coke’s competitor PepsiCo has been on the HRC list for four years. McDonald’s scores an 85% on the “gay” group’s survey. Click HERE to learn about the HRC’s criteria for ranking companies.

In 2008, the following 195 ‘Fortune 1,000′ corporations received a perfect 100-percent score from the pro-homosexual lobby group Human Rights Campaign (HRC), in its “2008 Corporate Equality Index.” Click on AFTAH”s story on McDonald’s 85-percent score — to learn about the pro-”gay” criteria for HRC’s “Corporate Equality Index.” The number next to each corporation’s name and headquarters city indicates how many years that company has received a 100% HRC ranking. (First-year 100% corporations are in bold.) Source: HRC’s 2008 Corporate Equality Index.

_____________________________

AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah San Francisco, CA 3
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. New Albany, OH 2
Accenture Ltd. New York, NY 1
Adobe Systems Inc. San Jose, CA 2
Aetna Inc. Hartford, CT 6
Agilent Technologies Inc. Santa Clara , CA 4
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP Washington, DC 1
Alcatel-Lucent Murray Hill, NJ
Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America Minneapolis, MN 2
Allstate Corp., The Northbrook, IL 1
Alston & Bird LLP Atlanta, GA 3
American Express Co. New York, NY 4
Ameriprise Financial Inc. Minneapolis, MN 2
AMR Corp. (American Airlines) Fort Worth, TX 6
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. St. Louis, MO 2
Aon Corp. Chicago, IL 1
Apple Inc. Cupertino, CA 6
Arnold & Porter LLP Washington, DC 2
AT&T Inc. San Antonio, TX 3

Bain & Co. Inc. Boston, MA 2
Bank of America Corp. Charlotte, NC 2
Bausch & Lomb Inc. Rochester, NY 5
Bear Stearns Companies Inc., The New York, NY 1
Best Buy Co. Inc. Richfield, MN 4
Bingham McCutchen Boston, MA 1
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Ridgefield, CT 1
Boeing Co. Chicago, IL 2
Borders Group Inc. Ann Arbor, MI 3
Boston Consulting Group Boston, MA 1
BP America Inc. Warrenville, IL 3
Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. Watertown, MA 2
Brinker International Inc. Dallas, TX 2
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. New York, NY 2
Bryan Cave LLP St. Louis, MO 1

Capital One Financial Corp. McLean, VA 5
Cargill Inc. Wayzata, MN 4
Carlson Companies Inc. Minnetonka, MN 2
Charles Schwab Corp., The San Francisco, CA 4
Chevron Corp. San Ramon, CA 3
ChoicePoint Inc. Alpharetta, GA 4
Chrysler LLC Auburn Hills, MI 3
Chubb Corp. Warren, NJ 4
Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose, CA 4
Citigroup Inc. New York, NY 4
Clear Channel Communications Inc. San Antonio, TX 2
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton New York, NY 1
Clorox Co. Oakland, CA 2
CMP Media LLC Manhasset, NY 3
CNA Insurance Chicago, IL 2
Coca-Cola Co., The Atlanta, GA 2
Coors Brewing Co. Denver, CO 4
Corning Inc. Corning, NY 3
Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 1
Credit Suisse New York, NY 3
Crowell & Moring LLP Washington, DC 1
Cummins Inc. Columbus, IN 3

Dell Inc. Round Rock, TX 4
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP New York, NY 2
Deutsche Bank New York, NY 5
Dewey Ballantine LLP New York, NY 1
Dickstein Shapiro LLP Washington, DC 1
Dorsey & Whitney LLP Minneapolis, MN 2
Dow Chemical Co. Midland, MI 3
DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours) Wilmington, DE 2

Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY 6
Electronic Arts Inc. Redwood City, CA 1
Eli Lilly & Co. Indianapolis, IN 2
Ernst & Young LLP New York, NY 3
Estee Lauder Companies New York, NY 3
Esurance Inc. San Francisco, CA 1

Faegre & Benson Minneapolis, MN 4
Fannie Mae Washington, DC 2
Foley & Lardner Milwaukee, WI 1
Foley Hoag LLP Boston, MA 1
Ford Motor Co. Dearborn, MI 4
Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Austin, TX 3

GameStop Corp. Grapevine, TX 1
Gap Inc. San Francisco, CA 3
Genentech Inc. South San Francisco, CA 1
General Mills Inc. Minneapolis, MN 3
General Motors Corp. Detroit, MI 2
GlaxoSmithKline plc Philadelphia, PA 3
Global Hyatt Corp. Chicago, IL 3
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The New York, NY 4
Google Inc. Mountain View, CA 2

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. Las Vegas, NV 1
Hartford Financial Services Co. Hartford, CT 1
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc. Wellesley, MA 2
Heller Ehrman LLP San Francisco, CA 2
Herman Miller Inc. Zeeland, MI 1
Hewitt Associates Lincolnshire, IL 2
Hewlett-Packard Co. Palo Alto, CA 5
Holland & Knight LLP New York, NY 1
Honeywell International Inc. Morristown, NJ 2
Hospira Inc. Lake Forest, IL 2
HSBC USA Inc. Prospect Heights, IL 1

IndyMac Bancorp Inc. Pasadena, CA 1
ING North America Insurance Corp. Atlanta, GA 2
Intel Corp. Santa Clara, CA 6
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Armonk, NY 5
Intuit Inc. Mountain View, CA 3

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. Plano, TX 1
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. New York, NY 6
Jenner & Block LLP Chicago, IL 3
Johnson & Johnson New Brunswick, NJ 3

Kaiser Permanente Oakland, CA 3
KeyCorp Cleveland, OH 1
Keyspan Corp Brooklyn, NY 4
Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc. San Francisco, CA 4
Kirkland & Ellis Chicago, IL 1
KPMG LLP New York, NY 3
Kraft Foods Inc. Northfield, IL 4
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP New York, NY 1

Latham & Watkins LLP New York, NY 1
Lehman Brothers Holdings New York, NY 5
Levi Strauss & Co. San Francisco, CA 5
Lexmark International Inc. Lexington, KY 3
Liz Claiborne Inc. New York, NY 2

Macy’s Inc. Cincinnati, OH 1
Marriott International Inc. Washington, DC 1
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Springfield, MA 1
MasterCard Inc. Purchase, NY 1
McDermott Will & Emery LLP Chicago, IL 2
McKinsey & Co. Inc. New York, MA 2
Mellon Financial Corp. Pittsburgh, PA 3
Merck & Co. Inc. Whitehouse Station, NJ 2
Merrill Lynch & Co. New York, NY 3
MetLife Inc. New York, NY 5
Microsoft Corp. Redmond, WA 3
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo Boston, MA 1
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Taylorsville, NC 5
Morgan Stanley New York, NY 2
Morrison & Foerster LLP San Francisco, CA 5
Motorola Inc. Schaumburg, IL 4

National Grid USA Westborough, MA 1
Nationwide Columbus, OH 4
NCR Corp. Dayton, OH 6
New York Times Co. New York, NY 4
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. Atlanta, GA 1
Nike Inc. Beaverton, OR 6
Nixon Peabody LLP Rochester, NY 2
Nordstrom Inc. Seattle, WA 3
Northern Trust Corp. Chicago, IL 2
Northrop Grumman Corp. Los Angeles, CA 2

O’Melveny & Myers LLP Los Angeles, CA 1
Oracle Corp. Redwood Shores, CA 1
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe San Francisco, CA 2

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP Los Angeles, CA 1
PepsiCo Inc. Purchase, NY 4
Pfizer Inc. New York, NY 4
PG&E Corp. San Francisco, CA 5
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP San Francisco, CA 2
Powell Goldstein LLP Atlanta, GA 2
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP New York, NY 2
Principal Financial Group Des Moines, IA 1
Prudential Financial Inc. Newark, NJ 5

Raytheon Co. Waltham, MA 3
Recreational Equipment Inc. Kent, WA 1
Replacements Ltd. McLeansville, NC 6

S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. Racine, WI 5
Schering-Plough Corp. Kenilworth, NJ 2
Sears Holdings Corp. Hoffman Estates, IL 3
Sidley Austin LLP Chicago, IL 1
Sodexho Inc. Gaithersburg, MD 1
Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal Chicago, IL 1
Sprint Nextel Corp Reston, VA 3
Starbucks Corp. Seattle, WA 1
Starcom MediaVest Group Chicago, IL 2
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide White Plains, NY 2
State Street Corp. Boston, MA 2
Subaru of America Inc. Cherry Hill, NJ 1
Sun Microsystems Inc. Santa Clara, CA 3
SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta, GA 3
Supervalu Inc. Eden Prairie, MN 1

Tech Data Corp. Clearwater, FL 3
Time Warner Inc. New York, NY 1
Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. Torrance, CA 2
Travelport Inc. Parsippany, NJ 1

U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis, MN 1
UBS AG Stamford, CT 3
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) Atlanta, GA 1
US Airways Group Inc. Tempe, AZ 3

Viacom Inc. New York, NY 3
Visa Foster City, CA 2
Volkswagen of America Inc. Auburn Hills, MI 2

Wachovia Corp. Charlotte, NC 2
Walgreens Co. Deerfield, IL 3
Walt Disney Co. Burbank, CA 2
Washington Mutual Inc. Seattle, WA 2
Waste Management Inc. Houston, TX 1
Wells Fargo & Co. San Francisco, CA 4 [see AFTAH article: "Wells Fargo Is a Huge Supporter of the Homosexual Agenda"]
Whirlpool Corp. Benton Harbor, MI 4
Wyndham Worldwide Corp. Parsippany, NJ 2

Xerox Corp. Stamford, CT 6

Yahoo! Inc. Sunnyvale, CA 1

• American Airlines
• American Express
• Ernst & Young
• IBM
• Intel
• JPMorganChase
• Lehman Brothers
• Motorola
• Travelport
• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, earned a 100 percent ranking on the homosexual activist lobby Human Rights Campaign’s “2008 Corporate Equality Index” — it’s Wells Fargo’s fourth straight year with a perfect record. Click HERE to see the list of all 195 of the 100-percent Pro-Homosexual Companies, according to HRC. McDonald’s — target of a growing pro-family boycott started by AFA — got an 85 percent score this year; you can view HRC’s pro-homosexual criteria HERE in our McDonald’s article.

As an example of Wells Fargo’s aggressively pro-”gay” marketing strategy, the company sponsors the annual “NGLCC/Wells Fargo LGBT Business Owner of the Year Award.” (For the uninitiated, “LGBT” stands for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender.”) We suspect that many pro-family Americans — be they religious or not — would take their mortgage, loan or banking business elsewhere if they were to learn of Wells Fargo’s deep commitment to the Homosexual Lobby.

Do you want your money to end up supporting homosexual, bisexual and transsexual activism? Contact Wells Fargo through their online corporate contact page.

Phone: 800-244-6227; or: 630-623-3000
Fax: 630-623-5004

McDonald’s Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60523

AFTAH has endorsed AFA’s McDonald’s boycott. McDonald’s has an 85% ranking on a radical homosexual group’s corporate scorecard. Laurie Higgins of Deerfield, Illinois, wrote the following open letter to McDonald’s:

By Laurie Higgins

In a recent letter, “Global Chief Diversity Officer,” Pat Harris, wrote that, “McDonald’s is associated with countless local and national affinity groups here in the United States. We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share in the belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination.” What precisely does GCDO Harris mean by claiming that homosexuals have a right to live and work “free from discrimination”? Does he mean that they should be able to live and work without being harassed? If so, we’re in complete agreement. No one should be harassed anywhere anytime.

Or, is he asserting that they have some sort of right to community approval of their sexual practices? If so, from where does that right derive? And is every group that is defined by anomalous sexual desires and practices owed that same right? Will McDonald’s stand in unity with all these “affinity groups”? Will McDonald’s cheerfully associate with the national affinity group NAMBLA [North American Man/Boy Love Association]?

What Harris neglected to articulate is whether McDonald’s believes that community members have the right to discriminate between moral and immoral conduct. Everyone I know believes that those who self-identify as homosexuals have a right to live and work in their communities free from harassment. Everyone I know believes that those who self-identify as homosexuals are equal in dignity and worth to heterosexuals. No one I know hates homosexuals. But many believe that homosexual conduct is immoral.

Just as every human has a right to live and work free from harassment, every human has a right to hold and articulate beliefs about which behaviors, sexual and otherwise, constitute moral behaviors. The most prevalent belief throughout history and in virtually all societies has been and continues to be that homosexual conduct is profoundly immoral and destructive to the lives of individuals and the fabric of society. McDonald’s can ensure a workplace free from harassment without supporting organizations whose central mission is not to end harassment but to impose radical views of deviant sexual practices on America through demagoguery and censorship.

What the “global diversity officers” at McDonald’s don’t seem to grasp is that by embracing the philosophical commitments of the LGBTQ community, they repudiate the philosophical commitments of Catholics, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and many Protestants. One would expect that McDonald’s, as a business enterprise, would refrain from taking positions on arguable, divisive cultural issues. The thickheaded diversity officers don’t seem to grasp the simple truism that no individual or organization can embrace mutually opposing principles. It is a logical impossibility. The solution should be obvious: conduct business and leave the transformation of public sentiments on controversial moral issues to others.

As long as McDonald’s affirms the destructive deceit that homosexuality is morally equivalent to heterosexuality, my family will not be financially supporting McDonald’s.

By the way, someone may want to inform GCDO Harris that diversity simply means variety or multiformity; it does not denote the beatified triumvirate of “race, gender, and sexual orientation.”

By Peter LaBarbera

McDonald’s Corporation scored an 85 percent ranking on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) “Corporate Equality Index.” HRC, the nation’s leading homosexual lobby group, publishes the corporate survey every year. The following are the 11 criteria used by HRC to evaluate whether a major company is sufficiently pro-homosexual and pro-transsexual; note that McDonald’s passed all but one test (a gender-identity ‘nondiscrimination’ policy– criterion 2a). (AFTAH has endorsed a nationwide boycott of McDonald’s.) See important explanatory notes at bottom:

2008 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index Ratings and Breakdown:

• Criterion 1a: [McDonald's: YES] Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation (15 points)
• Criterion 1b: [McDonald's: YES] Provides Diversity Training Covering Sexual Orientation (5 points)
• Criterion 2a: [McDonald's: NO] Prohibits Discrimination Based on Gender Identity and/or Expression (15 points)
• Criterion 2b: [McDonald's: YES] Provides Diversity Training Covering Gender Identity OR Has Supportive Gender Transition Guidelines (5 points)
• Criterion 2c: [McDonald's: YES] Offers at Least One Transgender Wellness Benefit (5 points) +
• Criterion 3a: [McDonald's: YES] Offers Domestic Partner Health Insurance (15 points)
• Criterion 3b: [McDonald's: YES] Offers Domestic Partners Dental, Vision, COBRA and Dependent Coverage Benefits (5 points)
• Criterion 3c ++: [McDonald's: YES] Offers at Least Three Other ‘Soft’ Benefits for Domestic Partners ++ (5 points)
• Criterion 4: [McDonald's: YES] Has Employer-Supported Employee Resource Group OR Firm-Wide Diversity Council (15 points)
• Criterion 5: [McDonald's: YES] Engages in Appropriate and Respectful Advertising, Marketing or Philanthropy (15 points)
• Criterion 6: [McDonald's: YES] Exhibits Responsible Behavior Toward the GLBT Community; Does Not Engage in Action That Would Undermine GLBT Equality. Employers Found Engaging in Such Activities Will — Have 15 Points Removed From Their Scores. (—) +++

+ HRC explains Criterion 2c transgender benefits (emphasis added): “At least one: Counseling by a mental health professional; pharmacy benefits covering hormone therapy; medical visits to monitor the effects of hormone therapy and other associated lab procedures; medically necessary surgical procedures such as hysterectomy; or short-term disability leave for surgical procedures.”

++ HRC explains Criterion 3c “Domestic Partner” soft benefits (emphasis added): “Other domestic partner benefits include at least three of the following (provided to the employee on behalf of the employee’s same-sex domestic partner): FMLA [Family Medical Leave Act]-like leave ; bereavement leave; employer-provided supplemental life insurance for a partner; relocation/travel assistance; adoption assistance; qualified joint and survivor annuity for domestic partners; qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity for domestic partners; retiree healthcare benefits; or employee discounts.”

+++ HRC writes regarding Criterion 6: “Employers found engaging in activities that would undermine GLBT equality will have 15 points removed from their scores.” [Explanatory note from AFTAH: HRC reports using among its sources: "Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filings for business foundation gifts to anti-GLBT groups." Thus, corporate foundation gifts to pro-family or conservative groups opposed to, say, homosexual 'marriage,' would result in 15 points taken off their HRC score. Conversely, corporate gifts to homosexual groups -- such as McDonald's' $20,000 donation to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce -- are welcome and result in 15 additional points (Criterion 5). This same dual standard is reiterated in Point 10 of the HRC-affiliated "Equality Project's" Equality Principles for homosexuality-affirming corporations: "The company will not bar charitable contributions to human rights groups and organizations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity, nor will it support groups opposed to such rights."]

Source: 2008 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, pp. 8-10, 27, 35; Equality Project: http://www.equalityproject.org/principles/en.html.

By Peter LaBarbera

We’re back from vacation — just in time to state our support for American Family Association’s boycott of McDonald’s. Actually, Americans For Truth has unofficially encouraged a boycott of the fast-food giant for the last few months — after AFA publicized McDonald’s budding, cozy relationship with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Today I went on Janet Folger’s “Faith2Action” radio program to express AFTAH’s support for AFA’s boycott. We will be detailing the many ways in which McDonald’s supports homosexuality and gender confusion. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based corporation has an 85 percent ranking in the 2008 “Corporate Equality Index” scorecard put out by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s leading homosexual pressure group.

You can contact McDonald’s HERE, and we urge you to stop in at the local McDonald’s restaurant that you would normally visit and explain to them in person why your family will no longer be eating there. Here’s one approach:

“My family spends at least __ hundred dollars a year at your restaurant but we will not be visiting again until McDonald’s stops supporting and financing the homosexual agenda. Homosexuality is a sin, and I don’t want my consumer dollars going to subsidize the unhealthy and immoral sexual agendas that undermine marriage. Please convey to McDonald’s national executive team that their decision to promote homosexuality is costing the company business.”

I’ve talked to many pro-family people who already have been boycotting McDonald’s for weeks. The idea has obviously caught on because it’s an easy step to take for the many Americans who are sick and tired of rewarding and subsidizing corporations that promote homosexuality.

On a personal level, from the perspective of a pudgy family man who’s scarfed down, say, about 100 too many Quarter-pounder-with-cheese and Big Mac meals in my lifetime, McDonald is an ideal boycott target. Unless you’re supremely loyal to McDonald’s brand of fattening, greasy burgers, McChicken sandwiches and fries, etc., it’s pretty easy to drive to another fast-food joint or — better for your body — substitute healthy food instead.

Come to think of it, this is one of the few protests against unhealthy lifestyles that can lead you to live a … healthier lifestyle. Two birds with one stone.

Pathetic as it may sound for what it reveals about my eating habits (and in my own defense I do have five kids), I’ve probably avoided spending easily $100-$150 since vowing not to reward the “gay”-promoting fast food chain a while back.

This is a boycott that any American, now matter how “average,” can take part in and help make successful. Past AFA boycotts affected those who may have been in the market to buy a car (Ford) or visit a Florida theme park (Disneyworld), but this boycott is for anyone with enough willpower to redirect his growling stomach away from the Golden Arches as he drives down the road.

How easy is it to punish corporate bad behavior? Just think “McDonald’s — Financing the Unhealthy Homosexual Agenda” and drive on by.

I haven’t seen any data on this, but I’ll bet that McDonald’s execs know full well that “burger loyalty” to their chain is not near what it used to be in an age with so many fast and cheap eating options. We’ll see if they continue to dig in their heels against AFA or actually get out of the Homosexuality Promotion business. (I’d be shocked if the latter happens anytime soon.) On a technical note, we at AFTAH have our own concerns with McDonald’s’ corporate practices that may go beyond those stated by American Family Association; we’ll lay those out for you in forthcoming posts.

Lastly, as a long-time observer of the particular brand of narcissism associated with “gays,” I must add: the spectacle of hordes of body-conscious homosexual men venturing to McDonald’s to buy fattening Quarter-Pounders — just to offset AFA’s boycott — is, well, simply delicious.

“They invent ways of doing evil.” (Book of Romans 1:30)

See article below

By Peter LaBarbera

The above is a photo of videos sold at one of the many pornographic booths at the International Mr. Leather 2008 convention, held in the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel (Patrick Donnelly, Gen. Man.: 312-565-1234) over the Memorial Day weekend. Click HERE to listen to an online CWA interview with this writer. (I walked through the IML “vendors market,” open to the public, in a lower-level conference room at the Hyatt, where I shot this photo. )

Note that we’ve covered up the pornographic images. The bestiality titles (e.g., “Goat Fever,” “Amateur Animal 1,” speak for themselves. “Scat,” according to one online (and sexually explicit) “Robert Scott’s Gay Slang Dictionary,” refers to “A gay male who gets sexual gratification from acts involving faeces.” That is, excrement, which to us at Americans For Truth is proof that Satan is alive and well in this world.

Many IML “leathermen” may be successful businessmen or professionals by day, but in secret they glory in the sickest perversions imaginable, including (for some) “sex play” involving urine and feces. See this incredible photo of a group that advocates “piss parties,” and which hawks its vile products every year at IML.

All those concerned about the spread of HIV will be horrified to learn that homosexual “barebacking” (condomless sodomy) porn videos were everywhere at IML 2008, more so, it seemed, than at last year’s event at the Palmer House Hilton, also in Chicago. So much for all that homosexual “safer sex” education.

Pity the poor Hyatt Regency Chicago workers who had to clean up after the orgies and sex parties of the IML’s (mostly) homosexual “leathermen,” who attracted vendors selling such porn titles as the “Eat [Sh-t]” porn series (1, 2 and 3!; see photo above). Other videos playing at IML vendor booths in the Hyatt Regency gloried in homosexual fetishes involving urine, “fisting,” domination, submission, humiliation, extreme pain and bondage. As CWA’s Matt Barber and Martha Kleder discussed in the online CWA interview with this writer, what normal person would want to stay in a hotel room previously occupied by men engaging in such filthy sodomitic practices? (Call the Hyatt Regency’s Chicago’s General Manager, Patrick Donnelly, at 312-565-1234.)

International Mr. Leather is a spectacle that, like the annual, sadistic Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, could only have emerged from the hyper-sexualized, God-defying “gay” male subculture. And lest we dismiss IML as the “fringe of the sexual fringe,” we should remember: 1) that International Mr. Leather organizers claimed to “expect over 18,000 people from around the world to join in the celebration of IML” (Official Program Guide, p. 13); and 2) that America’s groundbreaking “sexologist,” Alfred Kinsey, was himself driven to punish himself masochistically, inserting foreign objects up his penis since his youth, according to his biographer, James H. Jones (Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life).

Of course, Kinsey’s covert and reckless perversions were not known to the American public as he labored carefully, with the media’s all too willing compliance (click HERE for Aug. 24, 1953 Time cover story), to achieve his vision of loosening the country’s sexual mores in the name of science. Jones describes how Kinsey “punish[ed] himself with savage brutality”:

“For a boy like Kinsey, a righteous boy whose sense of self-worth depended upon rigid self-control, nothing needed to be kept more hidden than the fact that he masturbated and that he did so with a foreign object inserted up his penis. Kinsey’s secret hiding place was not a treasure trove but a torture chest that contained the instrument of his pain. By late adolescence, his masochism was well advanced. He had progressed beyond straws and was inserting a brush back up his penis, a practice he would continue for life, at times changing the instrument of self-torture, but never the point of attack.”

So now we come full circle as the sadistic “International Mr. Leather” marks its 30th anniversary — with men celebrating with whips, anal “sex toys” and bondage gear a version of what was then the self-brutalizing Kinsey’s secret shame. (Certainly had the public known about the real Kinsey, including his lifelong sadomasochistic perversions, and willingness to include alleged self-reporting pedophile “data” on infant “orgasms” (Table 34 in his 1948 book Sexual Behavior and the Human Male), it would have spoiled his culture-changing enterprise.) Tragically, for the idolatrous men at IML, shame seems to be in pathetically short supply.

Perhaps to pay tribute to the man whose inner demons drove him to popularize deviant sexuality — paving the way for the “gay pride” revolution and, ultimately, outright perversion-fests like International Mr. Leather — Alfred Kinsey’s image should replace the heart on that black-and-blue “Leather Pride” flag (at right).

AFTAH’s photo-coverage of IML 2008 will continue. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth.

Sadistic homosexual men attending an “International Mr. Leather” convention took over the Hyatt Regency Hotel (Patrick Donnelly, Gen. Man.: 312-565-1234) in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend. Click HERE to listen to the CWA online interview with Peter LaBarbera of AFTAH. LaBarbera reports that the most vile pornography videos imaginable, including bestiality porn, were on sale in abundance in a large conference room at the Hyatt Regency. Above is a (blocked out) photo from last year’s IML (held at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago) of the “Water Boys,” a group that advocates orgies involving men urinating on and in one another. At this year’s IML, the “Water Boys” advertised the “Biggest Piss Party on the Planet” in Palm Springs, CA July 11-13. Hard-core sodomitic pornographic videos depicting this and other depraved acts showed on screens throughout the Hyatt Regency ballroom hosting the IML venders’ market.

CWA’s Matt Barber asks in the online interview: assuming that the men engaging in the above type of “pig sex” (as they call it) indulged in their twisted perversions in their hotel guest rooms, how does the Grand Hyatt staff clean up and disinfect the rooms afterwards? Would YOU want to stay in the same room where men engaged in satanic, depraved sodomitic orgies involving feces and urine? Call the Hyatt at 312-565-1234 to tell management that you, too, will never stay at this hotel; and also call the Palmer House Hilton (312-726-7500), host of last year’s IML (see 2007 photo-story HERE). Both hotels should pay a price for profiting off of sadistic and unhealthy perversions.

Concerned Women for America writes:

The Hyatt Regency Chicago just hosted three days of homosexual perversion featuring the open display of obscenity and debauchery in both their ballrooms and guest suites. Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues spoke with Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, who documented activities on site. Both say that potential guests need to voice their disapproval of Hyatt hosting and profiting from such an event. They also want to know what Hyatt does to protect the rights and health of their workers during such events as well as sanitizing afterwards. Listen | Download

The number for the Hyatt Regency Chicago (Patrick Donnelly, Gen. Man.) is 312-565-1234.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ONLINE. CWA’s Barber asked two questions on the program:

1. “Why is the Hyatt Regency facilitating this kind of immorality and debauchery?”; and
2. “What are they doing to disinfect these rooms to ensure the safety of future guests … and hotel workers … who have to clean up this stuff?”

Stay tuned on Americans For Truth’s website for more posts and photos of this evil homosexual event.