Display prominently celebrating new Illinois "Civil Unions" law put up by a pro-homosexual student club at Lyons Township High School. Photo: Earl Gough. Click on photo to enlarge.

Dear Readers, each pro-homosexual law makes it easier for school administrators and teachers to allow the one-sided promotion of homosexuality in their school, as occurred recently at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois (see photo). The state’s Democrat-dominated General Assembly passed a “Civil Unions” bill in a lame-duck session last year (before a new elected, more conservative legislature could take office) — and Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed it into law January 31. (The bill, which also allows heterosexual “civil unions,” thus further undermining marriage, takes effect June 1.)

America’s public schools are becoming de facto “Homosexuality-Promotion Zones” — directly undermining the authority of parents to guide their children’s moral upbringing — and subjecting Christian and moral-minded students to one-sided pro-homosexuality propaganda like the above. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; [Send news about your children's or local schools to americansfortruth@gmail.com.]

Illinois pro-family advocate Earl Gough writes March 7, 2011:

This is one of the reasons my kids no longer attend Lyons Township High School (LTHS) in LaGrange and Western Springs [Illinois].  This and much worse happens there because parents are not involved enough and (sorry) churches do even less.

I was at the South Campus this evening and found this large display (see photo at right) applauding Civil Unions at the front entry of LTHS.

There are 17 suburbs and 25 feeder schools that send their children to this school.  Imagine what influence parents would have if they cared to get involved.  But, because less than 2% (not 10%) of the population is more consistent in pressing this agenda, all of our kids, the majority, have to be subjected to this family-threatening political correctness that is not healthy or in the interest of the general welfare.

Perhaps, with upcoming school board elections [April 5, 2011], this may be good time to discuss this in the public square.  Remember the frog in the kettle?

Earl Gough

Illinois Citizens for Excellence in Education
Brookfield, IL

The Washington Times reports:

Combat troops to get gay sensitivity training

New policy OK’d for battlefield

By Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, Feb. 24, 2011

American combat troops will get sensitivity training directly on the battlefield about the military’s new policy on gays instead of waiting until they return to home base in the United States, the senior enlisted man in Afghanistan said Thursday.

The Pentagon is launching an extensive force-wide program to ease the process of integrating open homosexuals into the ranks, including into close-knit fighting units. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill, the top enlisted man in Afghanistan where 100,000 U.S. troops are deployed, said that the sessions on respecting gays’ rights will go right down to the forward operating bases, where troops fight Taliban militants.

“I have heard about the training that will be forthcoming to the battlefield,” Sgt. Hill told Pentagon reporters via a teleconference from Kabul. “We will take our directions from the Department of Defense, from the secretary of defense, the chairman, as well as the service chiefs of each service. Our plan is to take their direction, and we’re going to execute that training right here on the battlefield.” No unit is exempted, he said.

“Our goal is to not allow a unit to return to home station and have the unit responsible for that,” he said. “While we own those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, we’re going to execute that training on the ground. We hope that it will have little impact on their combat and security operations here.”

President Obama signed a bill in December to repeal the ban, called “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which required gay troops to hide their sexuality. However, the ban will stay in effect until the secretary of defense certifies that repeal of the policy will not hurt combat readiness. Elaine Donnelly, who heads the Center for Military Readiness, said it is “ridiculous” to train combat Army soldiers and Marines as they are engage in daily combat with tenacious insurgents. “It’s absurd because the military has more important things to think about in that dangerous part of the world,” she said. “For the administration to say this is more important than even with the troops we’re trying to train in that part of the world, I think it shows flawed priorities at best. It is ridiculous.”… [Continue reading at the Washington Times website]

Voter Guide put out last year by the Massachusetts Family Institute shows then-candidate Scott Brown promising to SUPPORT the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning open homosexuals in the military. Now, as Senator, Brown has flip-flopped and pledged to vote for the Repeal of the military's "gay" ban. Brown's treachery has emboldened Democrats and pro-Repeal forces seeking to make the radical change in the lame-duck Congress.

TAKE ACTION: Urge Sen. Scott Brown to honor his promise to the Massachusetts Family Institute NOT to support repeal of the existing ban on open homosexuality in the Armed Forces (see graphic from MFI scorecard above).  Call or fax Sen. Brown’s office at the following numbers (Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121); e-mail him HERE:

Washington, DC office:
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4543
Fax: (202) 228-2646

Local Office:
2400 JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury Street
Boston, MA 02203
Phone: (617) 565-3170
Fax: (617) 723-7325

Folks, so much for this Tea Party-backed Republican and the comeback of political integrity. By reneging on his promise to support DADT (and abandoning conservatism on other issues), Scott Brown shows that he is just like so many other politicians: using the conservatives and religious voters to get elected — then pursuing the agenda of powerful, liberal special interest groups. The GOP is doomed as a major party if it follows the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) lead by caving on social issues  — although this is also a military/security matter. That’s because America already has a party devoted to Abortion-on-Demand and Homosexuality – the Democrats.

And here’s a memo to Tea Partiers: state promotion of aberrant sexual lifestyles IS a Tea Party issue — which you will learn (the hard way) if the Big Government Gay agenda succeeds and the Pentagon is turned overnight into the world’s biggest pro-homosexual advocacy organization. Certainly our Founding Fathers led by Gen. George Washington would have been aghast at the idea of “forcing integration of homosexuality into the United States military,” as my good friend Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance aptly puts it below.

House Repeal Roll Call: To view the House Roll Call on Wednesday’s vote to overturn the military’s ban on open homosexuality, in which 15 Republcans and 15 Democrats voted out of step with their Party, go HERE. Camenker is correct: people from all over America should call Brown because he received nationwide support as a candidate. But more importantly, everyone who cares about the military needs to call their two U.S. Senators NOW (202-224-3121), as an expedited Repeal vote in the Senate is imminent. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

______________________________________

Emphasis Camenker’s below:

Scott Brown announces full support for repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Abandons conservative base

POSTED: Dec 12, 2010, republished from Mass Resistance website

US Senator Scott Brown has announced on Friday, Dec. 3 that he now supports the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” – effectively forcing the integration of homosexuality into the United States military.

In a sleazy, dishonest lame-duck move, the Democrats in Congress are desperately trying to repeal the law in the waning days before the new Republican-laden Congress takes over on Jan. 1. A considerable number of left-wing pro-homosexual Democrats were defeated in the Nov. 2 elections, and Brown (and the others) know that the repeal has virtually no chance once the newly elected members of Congress get in.

The bill has already passed the House and is in the Senate. Although Brown has voted to delay the bill slightly, that is only for strategic purposes. He has said he will support the bill as soon as certain “horse-trading” takes place. A final vote could come any day.

“]

Happier times. Scott Brown (center) is mobbed by supporters in Littleton the day before the election last January. How many of these people would still show up? [MassResistance photo.

Much more than just “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
The term “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” merely refers to an executive order by President Bill Clinton to circumvent the actual US law passed by Congress in 1993 which completely bans homosexuals from the military.

The 1993 law they are attempting to repeal (USC Section 654, Title 10) states:

“The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.”

Furthermore, this repeal is part of a larger Defense Appropriations Bill. That bill also includes language to allow taxpayer funded abortions in US military bases around the world. [Editor's Note: the Repeal bill to allow open homosexuality in the military  is now a stand-alone bill.]

Thus Brown, who campaigned on being the “41st vote” against the Obama agenda, could end up being a deciding vote to pass this key Obama promise to the homosexual movement. (And the abortion movement.)

Earlier this year Brown abandoned the Republicans and was the deciding vote on Obama’s massive financial reform bill. (Currently, Brown has voiced support for the Obama administration’s invasive and unnecessary TSA airport nude scans and pat-downs which angers many conservatives.)

Conservative base stunned

Nevertheless, Brown’s decision on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT), which he publicly announced last Friday, has stunned and angered his conservative base in Massachusetts. Pro-family and pro-life activists feel particularly betrayed. Back in 2004, it was pro-family and pro-life activists who converged from around the state and worked around the clock to help then-state rep Brown win the grueling special March 2 state senate election against Angus McQuilken by 51%-47%. And it was pro-family and pro-life activists who supported Brown early on in his US Senate race early on when he was 25 points behind Martha Coakley and nobody else would take him seriously. But those days are long gone.

Mass Resistance’s conversation with Brown’s Washington, DC office

On Wednesday afternoon Brian Camenker of MassResistance spoke at length with Brandon Acheson, a staffer in Brown’s Washington, DC office who has been explaining Brown’s position on this issue to constituents since the announcement. It was very disappointing, to say the least. It appears that Brown has become just another disingenuous, disconnected Washington politician.

Here’s some of what Brandon told us:

• Brown’s statement in the MFI voter guide. Brandon indicated he didn’t know who MFI was and that Brown never authorized any statement about his position — that it must have been a miscommunication. “Sen. Brown never made a firm commitment that he would vote against it,” Brandon told us. However, MFI’s president, Kris Mineau, told that Boston Herald, “When Sen. Brown ran for election, he said he would support the current policy of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’” In fact, MFI worked closely with Brown and hosted several events for him in this campaign. They even hold a birthday party for him each year (even though he’s pro-choice). Interestingly, in that same article the Herald also reported that:  “Brown’s spokeswoman, Gail Gitcho, said Brown changed his tune after President Obama ordered the Pentagon to review the policy. At that point, Brown said he would keep an open mind to its finding, which came out this week.”
• Sleazy lame-duck session. We asked Brandon why Brown doesn’t support waiting a few weeks and letting the newly elected Congress decide this — that using a lame-duck session was offensive to people. He avoided answering the question directly, but indicated that Brown had no problem with a lame-duck session passing controversial bills. But he’s insisting that two things get passed first: (1) full extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, and (2) a bill to continue funding the federal budget. Both of those appear to be in the works as part of the horse-trading going on to get this bill passed.
• Repealing the current law makes bold statement. Repealing the current law (see text above) makes the statement that homosexuality is compatible with US military service. Does Brown agree with that? Brandon wouldn’t answer that. Instead, he said that Brown has been in the military for 31 years and is comfortable with his position. (Would he be comfortable showering next to someone sizing him up?  Well, we didn’t ask that.)
• 41st vote against Obama agenda? We reminded him that Brown ran as “number 41″ and his base back home read that as their protection against the Obama agenda being pushed on them. But now Brown seems to be doing just the opposite. Brandon wouldn’t comment on that, either. He seemed to indicate that Brown was not concerned about opposition from conservatives back home, or the concept that they were his “base” of support.
  Needless to say, the entire conversation was depressing and angering.

What should YOU do right now?
Call now — Sen. Brown needs to hear from you loud and clear.

Every politician needs to hear from the people, especially his base. He’s certainly been hearing from the homosexual lobby (see below). He REALLY needs to hear from you.

Call Brown’s Washington DC office at 202-224-4543. (It’s more effective than calling his Boston office, which told us they are not knowledgeable on this issue — although they do register the number of calls they get.)

You can also email him HERE.  [See additional contact info above.]

EVERYONE across the country should do this, since Sen. Brown got support (including millions of dollars in small donations) from across the country. Tell them that if Brown supports the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” you will actively campaign against him in 2012 (or whatever else you think is appropriate).

It only takes five minutes, but it’s worth it.

Leave a message if you have to. In this short time frame it’s the only thing that will get his attention. (And you can bet that the homosexual lobby is doing the same thing — see our report HERE!)

Part Two of my interview with Barb Anderson of the Minnesota Family Council [listen HERE]. This was pre-taped and aired December 4, 2010. Anderson discusses how comprehensive sex-ed teaches the “how-to’s” of sex in a valueless vacuum, rather than guiding students on how and why to be abstinent until marriage. And due to the ideology of “inclusion,” dangerous practices like anal sex and “rimming” (mouth-anus “sex”) are specifically mentioned in some public sex-ed curriculum. “Rimming” is a repulsive act practiced by many homosexuals, and now by some perverted heterosexuals; you won’t believe this pornographic Wikipedia entry on it [Warning: highly offensive and graphic; Wikipedia is widely used by young students]. Insanely, children are being taught on how to practice this “safely.” It is astonishing that America went from teaching children the Bible in government schools to now instructing them about various disease-producing perversions — to be practiced in heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgended relationships (with no judgments allowed as to which is normal or superior). And then we wonder why America is sliding downhill morally. Part Three of the Anderson interview will air Dec. 18 due to a scheduling delay. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file.  Left click once on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show. 

12-4-10, Barb Anderson, All

Elaine Donnelly testifies against homosexualizing the military in the name of "nondiscrimination." Donnelly cautions that few lawmakers realize the radical changes that would result from opening up the Armed Forces to homosexuals -- including the persecution of moral-minded servicemembers and chaplains.

TAKE ACTION: Elaine Donnelly rightly warns in an interview with AFTAH of the devastating impact of Obama’s plan to homosexualize our military. Have you contacted both your U.S. Senators to oppose repealing the military’s common-sense homosexuality ban? Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) says he has the votes to move forward on a Defense bill containing the repeal measure. A repeal vote by the lame-duck Senate could come any time after Dec. 1. Call 202-224-3121 or go to www.Congress.org to make your voice heard!

____________________________________

This interview [click HERE to listen] with Center for Military Readiness founder and president Elaine Donnelly aired Nov. 20, 2010, and was recorded Nov. 17. As the leading proponent of maintaining the military’s common-sense ban on homosexuality, Donnelly more than any other American has fought debilitating “politically correct” agendas in the Armed Forces. In this discussion, she covers:

• the unforeseen harm to good order and discipline that would result from allowing open homosexuals in the military;
• how the Pentagon working group report on the repeal of the “gay” ban is a thinly-veiled tool to advance President Obama’s radical plan to homosexualize the miltary; 
• how the Obama administration led by Defense Sec. Robert Gates has politicized the investigations of homosexual soldiers violating the existing homosexual ban — effectively neutralizing the law;
• why “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is NOT the law of the land;
• how pro-homosexual diversity sessions and policies would be foisted on the conservative military culture to enforce “sexual orientation nondiscrimination”;
• the radical effect on military housing policy resulting from repealing the “gay” ban;
• how religious serviemembers and chaplains who oppose homosexuality as a matter of faith and conscience could be targeted for disciplinary action in a homosexuality-affirming military — especially if their opposition were to become public;
• the implications of a “zero tolerance” policy for soldiers expressing opposition to homosexuals in the military;
• what the surveys actually show regarding military and public attitudes toward the military’s homosexuality ban. 

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file.  Left click once on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show. 

11-20-10, Elaine Donnelly, All

__________________________________

Dear AFTAH Readers,

In an astonishing display of the same arrogance that led to the Democrats getting a “shellacking” at the polls Tuesday, President Barack Obama has renewed his call to repeal the military’s ban on homosexuality (the existing law is misnamed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”). Seemingly learning nothing from the election, Obama and his left-wing, homosexual activist allies are hoping to force the homosexualization of the military in a lame-duck Congress.

The nation’s leading homosexual pressure group, the Human Wrongs Rights Campaign, has pledged — following the GOP landslide — to “[Put] every ounce of strength into pressuring the Senate to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before the end of the year.” I am stunned at Obama’s “audacity” in catering to desires of HRC and other militant LGBT Lobby groups rather than the concerns of Middle America and desires of our fighting men and women during a time of war.

In a post-election press briefing, Obama falsely declared that the gays-in-the-military issue is non-partisan — despite the GOP’s unanimity in standing behind Sen. John McCain’s successful blockage of the recent repeal attempt in the Senate. Obama also alluded to the public’s alleged overwhelming approval for his stance (based on biased polling data that exaggerates the level of support for repealing the Armed Forces’ homosexuality ban). He conveniently ignored other polls [see HERE and HERE] – including one commissioned by Elaine Donnelly’s Center for Military Readiness that show that a majority of likely voters supports the current law, while 57 percent of military and those in military families also support the law. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth, www.aftah.org

_____________________________

For the best info on the crisis of Obama’s attept to homosexualize the military, go to the Center for Military Readiness’ website, www.cmrlink.org. Also see these articles from the AFTAH website:

• Thank You, John McCain! Republicans Block Repeal of Military’s Homosexual Exclusion Law
• Most Important Gay Vote ever: Reid, Democrats Go ‘Gaga’ for ‘Gays’ in the Military
• ‘Log Cabin Republicans’ Are Plaintiffs in Federal Judge’s Ruling Striking Down Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as Unconstitutional
• Video: Top Gays-in-Military Activist Aubrey Sarvis Tells MSNBC that Serving in Army as Homosexual Was ‘Not a Big Deal’
• Donnelly: Gates’ New Gays-in-Military Policy Invites ‘Noncompliance’ with 1993 Law Against Homosexuals in Military
• Will Our Military Stay Moral? Judge Orders Lesbian Reinstated to Air Force
• VIDEO: Elaine Donnelly Testimony on Why ‘Gays in the Military’ and ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Are Bad Ideas
• Zogby Poll Scam Pushes Homosexuals in Military; Meehan Introduces Repeal Bill Today
• Open Homosexuals in the Military: Bad Idea Then, Bad Idea Now
• Knight: Conservative Media AWOL on Gays in Military Debate
• VIDEO: Log Cabin Republicans Mock Military, Corrupt Children at Chicago ‘Gay Pride’ Parade
  

Barack Obama may be setting new highs when it comes to presidential appointments of People Practicing Homosexuality (PPH) in his administration — already more than 150, according to AP – but he’s setting new lows everywhere else. Yesterday, leftie Comedy Central “anchor” Jon Stewart referred to the Commander-in-Chief as “dude” in the course of his half-hour interview with Obama. (Obama is the first president to appear on the show.) 

Read liberal Washington Post writer Dana Milbank’s slam on Obama and his appearance (“On Comedy Central, the joke was on President Obama Wednesday night”) HERE, and watch the “dude” reference in context starting at about 1:45 on Part 3 of the videos of the Daily Show interview HERE.

I agree with this comment responding to a YouTube critical of Obama’s Daily Show disaster: “Obama has diminished himself so many times enough already that even liberals don’t treat him with presidential respect.” We at AFTAH are not nearly as cool as Jon Stewart, and don’t have anything approaching his cultural sway (especially with young people), but here are some questions and comments we wish he would have delivered to the Dude-in-Chief:

• Dude, stop undermining our military by using illegal means to homosexualize it (under the existing law that only Congress can change, homosexuals are barred from serving in the Armed Forces; see www.cmrlink.org); 
• Dude, abortion is the murder of an innocent life; stop promoting it and don’t make taxpayers subsidize it;
• Dude, aren’t you trashing the Defense of Marriage Act and the Constitution by granting via Executive Order marriage-type benefits to homosexual “spouses“?;
• On the same point: dude, you really pulled the wool over America’s eyes (and Rick Warren’s…) with all that talk in the 2008 campaign about how you believe marriage should be preserved as between a man and a woman. If that were true, why didn’t you use your Bully Pulpit to criticize the homosexual activist judge who recently single-handedly overturned California’s Proposition 8 — even though this marriage-defense amendment had passed in a statewide referendum?
• Dude, homosexuality is a sin, according to the Big Guy Upstairs (the real Annointed One) who created the world, so could you stop celebrating homosexual “pride” and stop promoting “gay” identities to impressionable young people?
• Speaking of which: dude, do you get to change God’s transcendent moral code just because you’re the coolest cat who ever sat in the Oval Office (the pro-homosexuality-obsessed Jon Stewart also might ask that of himself…);
• Dude, fire Kevin Jennings. He hates Bible-believing Christians (at least those who object to his homosexual lifestyle) — and the organization he founded, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), promotes reckless sexual behavior and gender confusion to minors; what message are you sending by stubbornly keeping this bigoted extremist on the Obama Team?
• Dude, stop making a sham of your public profession to be a Christian by using your tremendous executive powers to distort historic Christian teachings – and promoting sexual immorality as a “right” and abortion-on-demand as a “choice”;
• Dude, before you made that YouTube video about bullied gay youth, shouldn’t you at least have looked into the massive health risks linked to gay sex? Is the proper response to bullying to promote dangerous lifestyles and identities based on unnatural and unhealthy behaviors?
• Dude, we get it: you respect Muslims, but enough with the “America is not a Christian nation” comments already;
• Dude, since you respect Muslims so much, why not learn from their strong moral disapproval of homosexuality and abortion?
• Dude, a federal bill granting “civil rights” based on homosexuality and gender confusion (ENDA, the Employmen Non-Discrimination Act) will be used to take away the rights of other citizens who disagree with homosexuality. What about their “civil rights”?; in fact, the woman you appointed to the E.E.O.C., Chai Feldblum, has essentially affirmed that the courts will grant superior rights to homosexuals at the expense of Americans’ religious liberties; “Gays win, Christians lose,” she says; is that fair in a nation founded on religious liberty?
• Dude, why don’t you expand your vision by “vetoing” Political Correctness and inviting some EX-”gays” to the White House? Wouldn’t that be consistent with your commitment to “diversity”?
• Dude, why did one of your “gay” appointees urge his fellow homosexual activists visiting the White House to lobby for coverage of transsexual “sex-change” operations under Obama-care? I feel sorry for these terribly confused people,  but should Americans be forced to pay for their grotesque, body-disfiguring operations with their hard-earned tax dollars?…. 

We could go on and on, but there is too much work to be done to spend time pondering the degree to which Obama has degraded the Office of the Presidency, and harmed the United States of America with his left-wing agenda (after running for office posturing as a moderate). There’s a big election Tuesday. Change is coming. Yes, we can, dude — er … Mr. President. Yes, we can. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Should American consumers and taxpayers subsidize body-disfiguring "Sex Reassignment Surgeries" for gender-confused individuals? Above is Autumn Sandeen, a man who left his wife and kids to become a transsexual activist. Sandeen's ex-wife told AFTAH that she discovered his perverse cross-dressing desires when she found a dress that wasn't hers in the clothes dryer. Click on photo to enlarge.

Folks, every time I think I’ve seen it all regarding the Homosexual Lobby’s fanatical demands, they come up with something new that dumbfounds me in its astonishing arrogance and chutzpah. Check this out: the anti-Christian, anti-Bible (and yes, anti-God) homosexual lobby group Human Wrongs Rights Campaign (HRC) has added coverage for transsexual sex-change operations to its 2012 Corporate Scorecard criteria. These perverse criteria gauge how compliant major corporations are to HRC’s radical homosexual/bisexual/transsexual agenda. The D.C.-based lobby organzation wants at least $75,000 in “health” coverage for tranny sex-change operations for the corporation to get a perfect rating. 

HRC is led by well-paid secular bigot Joe Solmonese, who also is DEMANDING an apology from the Mormon Church because a church official affirmed Mormon teachings on the sin of homosexuality. HRC’s hugely-funded PAC is deeply involved in elections across the country: you can check out how your Congressman and Senators rated on the homosexual agenda criteria by linking to their Congressional Scorecard. 

The following is an excerpt of what HRC stipulates for its revised 2012 Corporate Scorecard “Criteria 3.0″ (yes, they upgrade them periodically, like Microsoft Windows) under “Health Insurance for Transgender Employees and Dependents”). If a corporation agrees to this for 2012 – and all of HRC’s other homosexual/transsexual demands [see this AFTAH article on the current rating criteria] – it gets a 100 percent rating: 

“Where available for employees, the following benefits should all extend to transgender individuals, including for services related to transgender transition (e.g., medically necessary services related to sex reassignment):  

• Short term medical leave
• Mental health benefits
• Pharmaceutical coverage (e.g., for hormone replacement therapies)
• Coverage for medical visits or laboratory services
• Coverage for reconstructive surgical procedures related to sex reassignment” 

This is social insanity, and further proof that modern liberalism is completely bankrupt in its escalating kowtowing to deviance and enthusiastic promotion of sex/gender confusion. If corporate executives allow themselves to be “bullied” by HRC into covering these tragic, body-disfiguring procedures for the severely gender-confused, they will cause more men and women to commit this ultimate rebellion against their Creator. The harsh truth is: American corporations are incentivizing sin and self-destructive behavior, and ultimately our culture’s descent into evil. These”Sex Reassingnment Surgeries (the PC term for them) are horrifying and the ultimate Crime Against Nature — we’ll described them in future posts. [If you must, go to this "Transgender" website where they are described with photos, but BE WARNED: it is beyond gross and upsetting.]  

Suffice it to say that I have great pity for anyone who would even consider doing this to his or her body – they desperately need help and God’s love — but you and I should NEVER be forced to subsidize these sickening operations — and especially not with our tax dollars. (Next week: how the Obama administration is telling LGBT activists to lobby for “sex change” operations to be covered under “Obama-care.”) 

One last thing: just as homosexual militants insist on propagandistic, pro-”gay” programs in schools to stop “bullying,” they want Americans to subsidize transsexual sex-change operations in the name of ending “systematic discrimination” against “transgenders.” No doubt the left-leaning media will echo their demands. Are you feeling manipulated yet? Me, too. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

 __________________________________________________

The following article mentioning AFTAH is from American Family Association’s news service, One News Now; [to subscribe to ONN's Daily News Briefs, click HERE]:  

Activist: HRC Engaging in Corporate ‘Blackmail’

A prominent pro-homosexual group isn’t satisfied with benefits already being offered by 337 major American businesses to their homosexual employees. 

By Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow – 10/20/2010 3:55:00 AM 

General Motors, Bank of America, IBM, Ford Motor, AT&T, Walgreen Co., Target, Citigroup — those companies (and scores more) got a 100-percent favorable rating on the 2010 Corporate Equality Index [PDF], an annual business ranking published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist organization in the country. [Caution: The previous links go to a pro-homosexual website]
 
But HRC is now demanding those corporations offer unlimited healthcare coverage for transgender employees — or lose the highest ranking offered under the Corporate Equality Index. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality tells OneNewsNow the group is simply escalating “its blackmail campaign against businesses.”
 
“In order to get a 100-percent rating, you now have to provide funding for sex-change operations for transsexuals,” he explains. “So…they keep ramping up the demands to get the 100-percent rating, knowing that companies are bragging about having the rating.”
 
Which, according to LaBarbera, means that people who spend money with those firms are helping underwrite that health coverage.

The Americans for Truth spokesman says even more to be concerned about. “An official in the Obama administration is also telling gay activists to lobby for transsexual sex-change operations to be covered under ObamaCare,” he claims.
 
LaBarbera points out that homosexuals represent one to three percent of the total population — and transsexuals are only a fraction of that group.
 
In an interview with CitizenLink, the president of the National Association for Research and Therapy for Homosexuality urged caution regarding HRC’s costly new requirement. “Medical treatments for transgender issues are very risky procedures — and it’s an irreversible path to take,” said Dr. Julie Hamilton. “There should be a lot more research done before these types of procedures become the main path to take.” 

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file.  Left click once on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.) OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show. 

10-2-10, Col. Dick Black, All

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

America owes a debt of gratitude to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for leading the fight against the Democratic leadership’s destructive and reckless attempt to homosexualize the military by ending the ban on homosexual servicemen. Allowing open homosexuality in the Armed Services would turn the military into a massive, “gay”-promoting bureaucracy — eroding morale and driving moral-minded soldiers and sailors out of the service. See the Defense Authorization bill vote tally HERE. Contact Sen. McCain via his online contact form HERE. We tried calling Sen. McCain in his D.C. office (phone: 202-224-2255; fax: 202-228-2862) but the voicemail was full. You can reach his local offices HERE. And go to this page to read McCain’s previous floor statement against the repeal effort. McCain has occasionally disappointed conservatives in the past, but in this case he stood strong and defeated a huge potential threat to our nation — extending well beyond national security. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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Associated Press initially reported after the vote [click HERE to see a subsequent, longer AP story]:

Republicans block bill to lift military gay ban

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer, 9-21-10
 
WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort to repeal the ban on gays from serving openly in the military, handing gay rights groups a defeat in their last chance any time soon to overturn the law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation, which authorized $726 billion in defense spending. The vote was 56-43.
 
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had been seen as the crucial 60th vote because she supports overturning the military ban. But Collins sided with her GOP colleagues in arguing that Republicans weren’t given sufficient leeway to offer amendments to the wide-ranging policy bill.
 
The vote fell mostly along party lines, although Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., sided with Republicans to block the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also voted against the measure as a procedural tactic. Under Senate rules, casting his vote with the majority of the Senate enables him to revive the bill at a later date.
 
Advocates of lifting the 17-year-old ban had been optimistic that the Democratic-controlled White House and Congress could overcome objections to repeal. The move is unpopular among Republicans, military officers and social conservatives.
 
Gay rights advocates now worry they have lost a crucial opportunity to change the law. If Democrats lose seats in elections this fall, repealing the ban will prove even more difficult — if not impossible — next year.
 
An estimated 13,000 people have been discharged under the law since its inception in 1993. Although most dismissals have resulted from gay service members outing themselves, gay rights’ groups say it has been used by vindictive co-workers to drum out troops who never made their sexuality an issue.
 
Top defense officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, have said they support a repeal but want to move slowly to ensure changes won’t hurt morale.

Lady Gaga poses naked and with a simulated bloody mouth on the cover of OUT, a homosexualist magazine. Gaga is using her pop culture power to overturn the ban on homosexuality in the Armed Forces. See article for resources for understanding the military's common-sense homosexual exclusion policy, and Lady Gaga's Senate lobbying video. Click on photo to enlarge.

TAKE ACTION NOW: Call your U.S. Senators immediately [202-224-3121; www.senate.gov] and urge them to vote against the Defense Authorization Act (SB 3454) containing an amendment repealing the military’s common-sense homosexual exclusion ban. The vote, orchestrated by Majority Leader Harry Reid,  is this afternoon. This is perhaps the most important homosexuality-related congressional vote in U.S. history. Urge support for Sen. John McCain’s filibuster of this radical change in military policy that would lead to the exodus of good men and women from the Armed Forces — and result in the persecution of chaplains and people of faith, merely because they oppose homosexual behavior or do not think homosexuality and “gay” politics belong in the military. You must let your voice be heard as homosexual groups and sexual radicals like Lady Gaga — encouraged by the liberal media — are flooding the Senate with calls in favor of allowing open homosexuals in the military.

Educate yourself on the common-sense Homosexual Exclusion Ban:

Below are resources to educate yourself on the implications of today’s vote:

• Video of Elaine Donnelly’s 2008 congressional testimony explaining the threat of repealing the military’s homosexual exclusion policy;
• Donnelly’s and the Center for Military Readiness’ explanation of the legistlative history of the current law banning homosexuals from serving due to the danger it poses to military readiness, cohesion and morale [note the discrepancy between that and Gaga's "repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell" video;
• Sen. John McCain's floor speech on the highly politicized defense authorization bill containing the repeal amendment;
• Text of the provision repealing the homosexual exclusion in defense authorization bill SB 3454; and
• Text of current homosexual exclusion law, Public Law 103-160, Section 654, Title 10, which would be repealed in a process launched by passage of SB 3454, if Sen. McCain's filibuster is not successful.

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Sen. Reid Goes 'Gaga' over Homosexuals in the Military

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, you know as well as I that the media -- and apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  -- are absolutely "ga ga" over "gays in the military." (Reid recenly 'tweeted' in support of pop mega-star Lady Gaga -- freakishly photographed nude on the cover of the "gay" magazine OUT above -- after she urged her millions of followers to lobby the Senate to support homosexuals in the military.)

This is what we're up against -- not just for today's critical vote on homosexuals in the military (commonly misnamed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell") but in trying to preserve truth for younger Americans who are, in effect, brainwashed on homosexuality. (And that is hardly an overstatement given the level of ignorance about the LGBT agenda that we're seeing, even among Christian and pro-life youths.)

Lady Gaga (real name: Stefani Germanotta), an admitted bisexual, is currently pop culture's biggest celebrator of homosexuality. She extols "gayness," androgyny and deviance in general, lives to serve her "gay" fans, and loves break down boundaries with her shocking behavior. But she also has a serious side that defenders of Judeo-Christian morality and traditional marriage need to reckon with: the Gaga video below lobbying the Senate to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- created just four days ago (Sept. 17) -- had 1,461,897 hits as of yesterday morning (9:00 AM Central) and 1,647,703 as of 7:12 Central this morning (Sept. 21, 2010). In contrast, a video of the excellent congressional testimony by Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness had about 3,300 hits as of yesterday; see that 9-minute video explaining why the DADT repeal is so misguided HERE.)

Calls have been flooding in to Capitol Hill in response to Gaga's plea to her fans (she calls them "little monsters") to lobby the Senate to repeal the military homosexual ban. Of course it helps that the liberal, overwhelmingly pro-homosexual media have promoted Gaga as if she is a serious public policy analyst and not a sexually twisted pop star -- fanatically committed to homosexuality-based "rights" -- who has a penchant for wearing bizarre costumes to grab attention. (Note that Germanotta exchanged her "meat dress" for a business-type suit in producing the video to the Senate below....)

Youth are lost

The cold, hard truth is the pro-natural-family side has largely lost the younger generations on the homosexual question -- after years of pro-homosexuality indoctrination in schools and Gaga-esque saturation-bombing of pro-"gay" messages in pop culture and Hollyood. We need to find a way to get them back toward the truth -- but right now, we need to stop President Obama, Sen. Reid and the Democrats from turning the U.S. Military into a gargantuan Homosexuality-Promoting Bureaucracy -- thus leading to discrimination against chaplains and people of faith in the Armed Services and driving good men and women from serving and re-enlisting in the military. TAKE ACTION: Call your U.S. Senators immediately at 202-224-3121 (www.senate.gov).

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Lady Gaga's YouTube video lobbying for the repeal of the military's homosexual exclusion law:

Go HERE for another Gaga video from a rally in Maine yesterday urging opponents of open homosexuals serving in the military to “go home.”

Statement of Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness, in 2008 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Personnel, in support of Section 654, Title 10, the law stating that homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military. TAKE ACTION: Call your Senators TODAY to support Sen. John McCain’s filibuster of legislation designed to overturn the ban on homosexuality in the military: 202-224-3121 (http://www.contactingthecongress.org/). A vote on the repeal is scheduled for tomorrow.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick compared servicemembers who oppose President Obama's policy of allowing open homosexuals in the military to "racists" and said they will have to leave the Armed Forces if they cannot bend to the new pro-LGBT rules. Why is Obama already moving ahead with homosexualizing the military in violation of U.S. law, which bans homosexuals from serving?

TAKE ACTION: The beginning of the process to vote on repealing the ban on homosexuals in the military starts Tuesday. Call and urge your U.S. Senators (202-224-3121) to oppose turning the Armed Forces into Homosexuality-Affirmation Zones that officially discriminate against normal, faith-based servicemembers and chaplains (see bigoted comments by Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick below).

Also, call Sen. John McCain (202-224-2235) and thank him for leading the opposition to negating the 1993 law barring homosexuals from military service. Read McCain’s formal remarks from the Senate floor yesterday HERE or watch the FOX News video (start at 7:44) on his website HERE. 

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Background:

Excerpted from the homosexual newspaper Washington Blade:

The U.S. Senate took the initial steps of moving forward with the issue of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on Thursday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed cloture on major defense budget legislation that includes repeal language.

Reid’s motion to proceed on the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill was met with objection by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), prompting Reid to move to end debate by filing cloture.

This manuever means a vote to start official consideration of the defense bill and amendments will take place Tuesday at 2:15 pm. Moving forward will require 60 votes from members for the U.S. Senate.  [Continued at the BLADE HERE...]

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AFTAH COMMENTARY:

See below where Lt. General Thomas Bostick equates those who defend normalcy and oppose sexual deviance in the military with racists.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama are rushing to homosexualize the U.S. military to satisfy a vocal and aggressive GLBT lobby made up of men and women desperate to have their disordered sexual lifestyle affirmed at any cost. If they succeed, they will severely undermine military morale by turning our Armed Forces into a zone of “Sexual Correctness” that punishes dissent, leading tens of thousands of moral-minded men and women to leave the service or otherwise not enlist.

The comments by Bostick are only the latest evidence that President Obama’s pro-homosexual “non-discrimination” plan for the military WILL DISCRIMINATE against normal and religious servicemembers who disagree with his immoral and impractical plan. Thus we face the specter that a type of ”homo-supremacy” will grow in the ranks:  ”open and proud” homosexuals and bisexuals will be welcomed into the Armed Forces, while those who defend faith, tradition and common sense on this issue (including Bible-honoring chaplains?) will be shown the door.

Lt. Gen. Bostick’s twisted comparison — which echoes the standard anti-Christian rhetoric of homosexual activists — is itself an act of bigotry that shows insensitivity toward people of faith. Opposing people based on their (unchangeable) skin color is bigoted; defending a time-honored sexual moral code in the military’s unique environment is not. Opposing the celebration of perversion is not “hate” or prejudice but the right thing to do!

Note also how Bostick is discussing the implementation of a homosexuals-in-the-military plan before any action by Congress has been taken. When you are The Annointed One as president, who needs Congress, right? – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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Excerpted from the Washington Times editorial:

Friday, Sept. 17, 2010

New Gay Army

Next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to begin floor debate on a defense authorization bill that would repeal the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and allow homosexuals to serve openly in the armed forces. Last month, a top military official offered a glimpse of how the military might look should the new policy take effect: Those serving who oppose the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) agenda are no longer welcome.

Those were the views of Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, the Army’s deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel matters who spoke about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before several hundred troops at the European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. “Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still racists and bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them,” Lt. Gen. Bostick said. “But these people opposing this new policy will need to get with the program, and if they can’t, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you’re always going to have those that oppose this on moral and religious grounds just like you still have racists today.”

The strong words take additional significance from Lt. Gen. Bostick’s direct involvement with a Pentagon panel charged with shaping military policy on this issue. Although Lt. Gen. Bostick presented the question of homosexuals in the military as if it were about civil rights, it is nothing of the kind. The services must discriminate to function. Those who are too old, too weak or too overweight must be shown the door even when similar actions in the private sector might spark a lawsuit. The reason for the military’s existence is to win battles and wars, not to ensure feelings aren’t hurt or to serve as a playground for social experimentation

The military’s long-standing ban on homosexual conduct is rooted in the principles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which also criminalizes adulterous conduct among heterosexuals insofar as it undermines the good order and discipline of the armed forces. Lt. Gen. Bostick suggested he would employ the same strict disciplinary standards to provide “education and training” that would ensure soldiers, sailors and airmen embrace the new LGBT agenda….. [Editorial continues at Washington Times HERE]

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SAVE THE DATE: AFTAH Banquet

Pastor Ken Hutcherson to keynote AFTAH banquet Sat. Nov. 13.

WHERE: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010; 6:00 PM; dinner served

BACKGROUND on Hutch: http://americansfortruth.com/news/ken-hutcherson-to-keynote-aftah-banquet-nov-13.html

Cost/register: $50 for early regristration; $75 after Nov. 8 and at the door. Send to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522, or pay online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate.

Those who have attended previous AFTAH banquets know that they are intensely educational and uplifting experiences that build you up and equip you to stand for righteousness in a dying culture. Pastor Ken Hutcherson is a bold man of God whose talk promises to be another special time of celebrating God’s timeless Truth. I look forward to hearing from – and learning from — ’Hutch.’  Info requests to: americansfortruth@gmail.com  — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Tentative Speakers Schedule

Thursday, August 5 – Saturday, August 7, 2010

Location: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004;

Cost: Adults: $149 for 3-day conference; Single day rate: $50/day; Married couples discount: $199 for full conference; Youth: $99 (scholarships available to attendees ages 14-25)

Contact info/queries/RSVP: E-mail americansfortruth@gmail.com ; phone: 630-717-7631; more background information HERE.

Truth Academy Instructors:

• Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel ; Board Member, AFTAH
• Cliff Kincaid, America’s Survival; Accuracy in Media
• Prof. Robert Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, author, The Bible and Homosexual Practice
• Arthur Goldberg, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH), author, Light in the Closet: Torah, Homosexuality, and the Power to Change
• Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute
• Robert Knight, Coral Ridge Ministries; author, Radical Rulers: The White House Elites Who Are Pushing America Towards Socialism, keynote presenter
• Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality
• Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty University School of Law
• Greg Quinlan, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX); Pro-Family Network
• Ryan Sorba, Young Conservatives of California

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 5 (Day One)

All presentations are 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of Q & A.  There will be a panel discussion and Q & A on Thursday and Friday, and a special evening presentation each of those evenings.

8-9:30 – Light breakfast;  Registration

9:30 – 10:00 – Opening Prayer, Calvin Lindstrom, pastor, Church of Christian Liberty;

Welcoming Remarks, Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality:

“From gay pride to gay tyranny”

10:10 – 11:10 – Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty University School of Law:

“History of modern ‘gay’ activism and the courts”

11:20-12:20 – Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel; Board Member, AFTAH:

“Masculine Christianity: a non-defensive approach to the Culture War over homosexuality”

12:20-1:20 – Lunch Break; light lunch provided

1:20-2:20 – Ryan Sorba, Young Conservatives of California:

“The ‘born gay hoax”

2:30 – 3:30 – Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute:

“Using reason and logic in answering pro-homosexuality arguments”

3:40-4:40 – Arthur Goldberg, JONAH (Jews Offering Healthy Alternatives to Homosexuality), author, Light in the Closet: Torah, Homosexuality, and the Power to Change:

“Can gays change? Is gay parenting good for kids? Presenting the research on homosexuality”

4:50-6:00 – PANEL DISCUSSION and Q & A:

Theme:  “Can the effort to ‘mainstream’ homosexuality in American culture be stopped?”

Panelists:  Rena Lindevaldsen, Matt Barber, Laurie Higgins, Ryan Sorba, Arthur Goldberg, and Greg Quinlan, Cliff Kincaid; Moderator: Peter LaBarbera

Special Thursday evening presentation (Q & A will follow talk):

7:45 – 9:15 – Greg Quinlan, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX); Pro-Family Network:

“An Ex-Gay Christian Discusses Love, Truth and Homosexuality”

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 6 (Day Two)

8:00-9:00 – Light breakfast; Registration

9:00 – 10:00 – Cliff Kincaid, America’s Survival, Accuracy in Media:

“The battle over blood: ‘gay’ health risks and public policy”

10:10 – 11:10 – Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty University School of Law:

“The zero-sum game: homosexuality-based ‘rights’ vs. religious and First Amendment freedoms”

11:20-12:20 – Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute:

“Corrupting children, politicizing schools: the homosexual youth agenda”

12 :20-1:20 – Lunch Break; light lunch provided

1:20-2:20 – Arthur Goldberg, JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality:

“The gender confusion agenda: ‘transgender rights’”

2:30 – 3:30 – Prof. Robert Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary:

“From abomination to ‘gay’: answering ‘queer theology’ — Old Testament”

3:40-4:40 – Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty U. School of Law:

“The legal strategy to stop homosexual ‘marriage’: triumphs and pitfalls”

5:00-6:00 – PANEL DISCUSSION and Q & A:

Theme:  “Returning the debate to behavior – getting off the ‘GLBT’ playing field”

Panelists:  Rena Lindevaldsen, Matt Barber, Laurie Higgins, Ryan Sorba, Arthur Goldberg, Cliff Kincaid, Robert Knight, Robert Gagnon, Gregg Quinlan; Moderator: Peter LaBarbera

Special Friday evening keynote presentation (Q & A will follow talk):

7:45 – 9:15 – Robert Knight, Coral Ridge Ministries; author, Radical Rulers: The White House Elites Who Are Pushing America Towards Socialism:

“From destroying DOMA to homosexualizing the military: Obama’s radical homosexual/transsexual agenda for America”

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 7 (Day Three)

8:00-9:00 – Light breakfast; Registration

9:00 – 10:00 – Prof. Robert Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary:

“’But Jesus never said anything about homosexuality’”: Answering ‘Queer Theology’ — New Testament”

10:10 – 11:10 – Robert Knight, Coral Ridge Ministries:

“Destructive legacy: Alfred Kinsey and the (Homo)Sexual Revolution”

11:20-12:20 – Greg Quinlan, PFOX, Pro-Family Network:

“The big, pink plan for a lavender culture”/”How to lobby effectively”

12:20-1:20 – Lunch Break; light lunch provided

1:20-2:20 – Cliff Kincaid, America’s Survival; Accuracy in Media:

“Combating pro-homosexual media bias, confronting pro-gay ‘conservatives’”

2:30-3:40 – Prof. Robert Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary:

“Agreeing with God: a truly biblical approach toward ‘out and proud’ homosexuality”

3:50-4:50 – Ryan Sorba, Young Conservatives of California:

“Confronting the zeitgeist: new strategies to turn around younger Americans on ‘gay rights’”

5:00-6:00 – Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel, AFTAH Board Member:

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Bleed: stopping Obama’s campaign to homosexualize the U.S. military”

6:00-6:20 – Closing remarks, Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

Aubrey Sarvis of the homosexual Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) said it was "not a big deal" serving in the Army as a homosexual way back in the 1960s. The gays-in-the-military debate is NOT about discreet homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces, but the desire of homosexuals to be "out and proud" even in the conservative military culture.

Folks, note how homosexual activist and former Army infantry sharpshooter Aubrey Sarvis of the Servicemember’s Legal Defense Network (SLDN) — the “gay” organization lobbying for homosexuals in the military — answers this question by MSNBC host Chris Matthews on his show Feb. 2, 2010:

MSNBC’s Matthews: “As a gay man, what was it like [serving in the Army]? You were not out in the open, obviously. What was your experience in that regard? What did you learn in terms of this issue of whether gay people should be allowed to serve openly?

Sarvis replies: “Well, by and large, even in the ’60s, Chris, I found that gays and lesbians serving — and most were serving in silence then — it was not a big deal. But all gays and lesbians want to serve openly. They want to be honest about their service to their country. And as Adm. Mullen said today, it comes down to integrity, and every servicemember counts — gay or straight.” [more analysis follows video....]

Sarvis’ comment is most reasonably interpreted to mean that  it was “not a big deal” for homosexuals like himself to serve — i.e., they were not harassed or persecuted, presumably as long as they kept silent about their homosexuality. By extension, he may also be asserting that it was “no big deal” to the majority of straight soldiers that there were (discreet, non-public) homosexuals in the Army.

Like Peter Sprigg of Family Research Council, I believe that “homosexuals” [for purposes here: people who practice homosexuality or claim a (deviant) sexual attraction to members of the same sex] should not serve in the military. That is the law. But think back to the days of Arvis’ youth 40 years ago — when homosexuality was much more condemned by society than it is today. If men or women were capable of serving (as secret homosexuals) then — without major difficulties — what is behind the current, politically manufactured “gays-in-the-military “crisis” that supposedly necessitates a revolution in our military conduct policy during wartime?

The answer is “gay pride” — which is a military and national priority only in the minds of homosexual advocates and their liberal allies like our current Commander-in-Chief. Discreet and celibate homosexuals have long served and continue to serve in the military — often after lying about their homosexuality to get in (which calls into question all that “gay” blather about “honesty” and “integrity”). But the fact that the nation’s leading homosexuals-in-the-military activist acknowledges that it was “not a big deal” for him to serve in the Army decades ago (Sarvis was in for more than three years) shows that — on a practical level — the issue is not really about homosexuals serving in the military.

No, Sarvis and fellow homosexual crusaders want servicemen and servicewomen who identify as homosexuals to serve as “out and proud gays and lesbians” –and to be affirmed as such by other servicemen, and by the Armed Forces’ bureaucracy. They already “serve in silence,” but they demand the “right” to do so loudly and proudly — traditional military values be damned. H.R. 1283, the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act,” sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), would accomplish this goal by imposing “sexual orientation” egalitarianism on the Armed Forces in the guise of fighting “discrimination”; as with all “gay rights” legislation, such a law would invariably lead to politically correct assaults on the rights and beliefs of fighting men and women of faith who oppose homosexuality on moral grounds.

In other words, GLBT activists — driven by the need to justify their immoral and unnatural lifestyle — seek to transform the conservative culture of the U.S. military to approve of “proud” homosexuality and bisexuality, even if that means spending millions of taxpayer dollars on “attitudinal adjustment” for all the soldiers, sailors and airmen who either oppose homosexuality or don’t wish to see it celebrated. If Congress caves in to this “gay” agenda, it would help drive out tens of thousands of high caliber, tradition-minded servicemen from the military.

Isn’t that a rather high price to pay to validate those in the military who aren’t even supposed to be serving in the first place? – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Enough already. Lt. Dan Choi (activist website HERE) is more than a distraction to the military: he’s a misguided “gay” militant who needs to follow his true calling — crusading for the acceptance of immoral sexual behavior. We’re quite sure there’s a job waiting for him at the leftist National Gay and Lesbian Task Force or perhaps the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The liberal media may love Choi (note CNN’s Rick Sanchez’s somber and deferential tone) but I’d hate to count on the media to defend America. See additional comments after the break and following the video:

The spectacle of Choi protesting his own Commander-in-Chief and Choi’s self-aggrandizing crusade against the Armed Forces — which by law cannot allow open homosexuals — helps explain to the public why celebrated homosexuality has no place in our military culture. Imagine all the pro-”gay” activism that would follow an official governmental shift toward mandating that the military affirm homosexuals. This must never happen. Homosexual behavior is incompatible with good morale and military discipline — and “gay”-affirming “diversity” policies would offend religious and moral-minded servicemen and drive good men and women out of the military. Somehow we think the United States Armed Forces can thrive in their true mission — fighting wars and protecting our shores — without being diverted into the dubious business of homosexual “pride.” – — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

AFTAH Board Member and Liberty Counsel Cultural Affairs Director Matt Barber adds this:

“Through Choi’s juvenile fit of civil disobedience, he obtusely undermines his own cause. As a former veteran with twelve years of service, I can say with authority that the military is only as strong as each link within its chain of command. Radical homosexual activists like Choi are weak links within that chain.

“Civil disobedience such as Choi’s must not and cannot be ‘tolerated’ within our Armed Services.  Choi has proven himself an insubordinate. I have no sympathy for this reckless, self-serving ideologue. His demonstrated disobedience and disregard for orders (Article 10, Section 654 USC) bolsters the case against both homosexual conduct and sexual militancy in the Armed Forces.”

Note: here is the CNN Youtube URL in case the version on our website does not work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbYQ8oxqFg4

“The risk of HIV transmission through receptive anal sex is much greater than the risk of transmission via other sexual activities.” — CDC

"Where the boys are": homosexual bathhouses lure young men into anonymous sodomies. The CDC and Obama Administration should shut down these perversion centers or at least hit them with a large "sin tax." Above is taken from the Steamworks bathhouse chain's website.

Dear Readers, once again the reality that Nature itself discriminates against homosexuality breaks through the bureaucracy’s official political correctness on this issue. Note how the CDC admits that anal sex is  a much higher risk activity than other sexual practices. Yet to teach the special risks of sodomy in schools would be to invite a “discrimination” lawsuit by the ACLU! Homosexual oral sex also is mentioned as a risk factor for syphilis. So why don’t the nation’s “Best and Brightest” on this issue launch an educational, pro-health campaign against “gay” sex, especially sodomy?

A less bold option might be to levy a heavy “sin tax” on homosexual bathhouses and sex clubs where dangerous, anonymous, “queer” sex proliferates, or — God forbid — actually to shut down these perversion centers as public health hazards. (Instead, “gay” bathhouses like “Steamworks” (right) are flourishing and even offering “Spring Break discounts” to lure young men.)

We understand that such ideas are anathema to the “gay”-pandering fraternity of the enlightened who run the country’s incompetent “war on AIDS” — you know, the types who truly believe their own propaganda that “homophobia” helps spread HIV. But the folly of their failed approach is revealed by press releases like that below. Common sense dictates that our government get out of the “gay” advocacy business and start aggressively targeting homosexual practices linked directly to disease — rather than trying to make those inherently unsafe practices “safe.”

If you have any other ideas on how to target destructive homosexual behaviors rather than “homophobia,” write us at americansfortruth@comcast.net. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

NCHHSTP – National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

Press Release [emphasis added]

All Findings Embargoed Until: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 4:30pm EST
Contact: NCHHSTPMediaTeam@cdc.gov [the NCHHSTP is the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention within the CDC]; (404) 639-8895

CDC Analysis Provides New Look at Disproportionate Impact of HIV and Syphilis Among U.S. Gay and Bisexual Men

A data analysis released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscores the disproportionate impact of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men in the United States.

The data, presented at CDC’s 2010 National STD Prevention Conference, finds that the rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of women.

The range was 522-989 cases of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 MSM vs. 12 per 100,000 other men and 13 per 100,000 women.

The rate of primary and secondary syphilis among MSM is more than 46 times that of other men and more than 71 times that of women, the analysis says. The range was 91-173 cases per 100,000 MSM vs. 2 per 100,000 other men and 1 per 100,000 women.

While CDC data have shown for several years that gay and bisexual men make up the majority of new HIV and new syphilis infections, CDC has estimated the rates of these diseases for the first time based on new estimates of the size of the U.S. population of MSM. Because disease rates account for differences in the size of populations being compared, rates provide a reliable method for assessing health disparities between populations.

“While the heavy toll of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men has been long recognized, this analysis shows just how stark the health disparities are between this and other populations,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “It is clear that we will not be able to stop the U.S. HIV epidemic until every affected community, along with health officials nationwide, prioritize the needs of gay and bisexual men with HIV prevention efforts.”

For the purposes of determining rates of disease for MSM, CDC researchers first estimated the size of the gay and bisexual male population in the United States – defined as the proportion of men who reported engaging in same-sex behavior within the past five years. Based on an analysis of nationally representative surveys, CDC estimated that MSM comprise 2.0 percent (range: 1.4-2.7 percent) of the overall U.S. population aged 13 and older, or 4 percent of the U.S. male population (range: 2.8-5.3 percent). Disease rates per 100,000 population were then calculated using 2007 surveillance data on HIV and primary/secondary syphilis diagnoses and U.S. Census data for the total U.S. population.

The new analysis is the first step in more fully assessing the impact of HIV among MSM and other populations significantly affected by the disease. CDC is developing more detailed estimates of infection rates among MSM by race and age, as well as among injection drug users. CDC is also in the early stages of planning for estimates among heterosexuals. Ultimately, these data can be used to better inform national and local approaches to HIV and STD prevention to ensure that efforts are reaching the populations in greatest need.

Research shows that a range of complex factors contribute to the high rates of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men. These factors include high prevalence of HIV and other STDs among MSM, which increases the risk of disease exposure, and limited access to prevention services. Other factors are complacency about HIV risk, particularly among young gay and bisexual men; difficulty of consistently maintaining safe behaviors with every sexual encounter over the course of a lifetime; and lack of awareness of syphilis symptoms and how it can be transmitted (e.g., oral sex). Additionally, factors such as homophobia and stigma can prevent MSM from seeking prevention, testing, and treatment services.

Also, the risk of HIV transmission through receptive anal sex is much greater than the risk of transmission via other sexual activities, and some gay and bisexual men are relying on prevention strategies that may be less effective than consistent condom use.

“There is no single or simple solution for reducing HIV and syphilis rates among gay and bisexual men,” said Fenton. “We need intensified prevention efforts that are as diverse as the gay community itself. Solutions for young gay and bisexual men are especially critical, so that HIV does not inadvertently become a rite of passage for each new generation of gay men.”

Preventing HIV and STDs among gay and bisexual men is a top CDC priority. CDC provides funding to health departments and community-based organizations throughout the nation to implement proven behavior-change programs for MSM and will soon expand a successful HIV testing initiative to reach more gay and bisexual men. Additionally, CDC is implementing an updated National Syphilis Elimination Plan in cities where MSM have been hardest hit by the disease, and will release an updated HIV prevention strategic plan within the next year to support the President’s upcoming National HIV/AIDS Strategy. CDC officials note that the new analysis released today underscores the importance of the HIV and STD prevention efforts targeting gay and bisexual men recently announced as part of the President’s fiscal year 2011 budget proposal.

For more information on HIV or syphilis, please visit www.cdc.gov/hiv or www.cdc.gov/std.

TAKE ACTION: Contact the Maine Human Rights Commission HERE (Commissioners’ names are at bottom). The Civic League writes:

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Private and Public Schools Subject to Transgendered Guidelines
By Staff of the Christian Civic League of Maine
Feb 19, 2010

The Record wishes to share news of urgent importance to all Christians in Maine. The Maine Human Rights Commission is preparing educational guidelines which will apply to schools across Maine, both private and public. The guidelines will require schools to allow transgendered students access to facilities of the opposite sex, including bathrooms and locker rooms. The  guidelines will be discussed at a public hearing in Augusta on Monday, March 1st.

The Maine Human Rights Commission has reassured the public that the guidelines are merely intended to give guidance to schools. But a document recently obtained by the Christian Civic League of Maine reveals that the Commission is being less than candid.   The new document shows that the Commission has already promised homosexual rights advocates that the guidelines will eventually be re-issued as regulations with the force of law. In an April 1, 2009 memo to Mary Bonauto of the organization GLAD, and other homosexual rights activists, the  attorney for the Commission, John P. Gause, writes,

“We will now move forward with submitting the Guidance to the Commissioners….If there is anything else you would like us to consider before that, please email or send that to me…On the regulations front Pat (Pat Ryan, Executive Director of the Commission) and I have decided to give the Guidance some time before moving in that direction. We do plan to promulgate, together with the Department of Education, further regulations in education (perhaps addressing more than just sexual orientation), but we want to give the Guidance some time before doing that. Of course, because that process is going to take some time when we do start it, it is never too early to be thinking about what the regulations will include. We would welcome your thoughts and suggestions on that at any time.”

A second memo by Gause states that the Commission is “in the beginning stages of promulgating regulations in education” similar to those regulations which cover sexual orientation in employment.

The League has also learned the startling news that the effort to introduce the new guidelines fell through in an August 2009 meeting because of resistance from the Commissioners themselves.  An August 10, 2009 memo from Gause to various homosexual rights leaders shows that the Commission put off a vote on the proposed guidelines until representatives from schools and colleges could speak on the issue.  The memo reveals that the March 1st meeting is the result of opposition from Commission members who wanted to hear more on the issue of requiring boys to play on girls’ sports teams.

The guidelines are based on Maine’s “Sexual Orientation Law” passed in 2005. The Christian Civic League vigorously opposed the law in a hard-fought referendum campaign. At the time, Mike Heath, the former Executive Director of the League, warned that the law would eventually require schools to grant transgendered children access to facilities of the opposite sex. Despite the best efforts of the League, the referendum was rejected, setting the stage for the eventual application of the law to public and private schools.

The Maine Human Rights Commission first applied the Sexual Orientation Law to schools in a case involving a transgendered student at Asa Adams Elementary School in Orono. The case arose when the parents of a transgendered boy demanded that their son  be allowed to use the girls’ bathroom. The school offered the boy the use of the teachers’ unisex bathroom, a compromise the boy’s parents rejected. The MHRC ruled in favor of the boy’s parents, who then sued the school in Penobscot Superior Court.

In early February, the League learned information about the proposed new guidelines which up until now has not been disclosed to the public. This new information reveals that the guidelines will apply to all schools in Maine, with the exception of Christian and parochial schools, and will have the force of law. Schools which violate the guidelines will receive a summons to appear before the Commission. The procedure for bringing a charge of discrimination against a school consists of filling out a simple one-page document. If the Commission rules in favor of the Complainant, the case can be used to bring a lawsuit against the school for monetary damages.

The League has also learned that the Boston-based homosexual rights organization GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) was given a major role in writing the proposed guidelines, which are based in part on existing guidelines used by schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The Maine Principals’ Association, the Maine School Management Association, and a representative of the University of Maine at Orono have already opposed the guidelines.  They have expressed their concern that schools will be forced to allow boys to participate in girls’ sports, giving an unfair advantage to teams with transgendered players. The League has also learned that GLAD is still vigorously advocating sending transgendered boys to girls’ teams, saying that to fail to do so is discriminatory.

The public hearing will be held at the Senator Inn in Augusta on Monday March 1st. The League urges all concerned citizens to attend the meeting to express their opposition to the proposed guidelines. If you are not able to attend the meeting, we urge you to write the Commissioners and submit your written testimony in advance. The names of the Commissioners and the contact information for the Commission is listed below. The mailing address of the Commission is 51 State House Station – Augusta, Maine 04333-0051.

Commission Members

Patricia Ryan, Executive Director

Paul K. Vestal, Jr.

Sallie Chandler

Joseph Perry

Kenneth Fredette

A. Mavourneen Thompson

Contact the Maine Human Rights Commission by clicking HERE.

“Gay rights groups were already mobilizing Thursday to make the subject [of homosexuals in the military/ending "Don't Ask/Don't Tell"] a campaign issue before congressional elections in November. The Human Rights Campaign announced plans to start a more than $2 million national grass-roots and lobbying campaign targeting lawmakers whose votes would be needed to pass a repeal.” – Washington Post, “On Issue of Gays in Military, Pentagon Will Make Recommendations to Congress”, Jan. 29, 2010

"Gay" military porn ad. Homosexual military pornography is a huge business. Many "gay" men are attracted to "macho" (masculine) guys in uniform. The last thing our Armed Forces need is to welcome in more men and women with disordered sexuality.

BACKGROUND NOTE: Here’s the truth on “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” and the law from Center for Military Readiness.

By Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

TAKE ACTION:  Dedicate yourself to actively oppose President Obama’s goal of homosexualizing and politicizing our American Armed Forces (pro-”gay” “diversity” is political). As the Washington Post above reveals, homosexual activists will be going all out to pressure Congress to impose their radical agenda on our Servicemembers. Contact your Congressman and Senators by phone (202-224-3121; 202-225-3121; www.congress.org) AND in writing (preferably in a regularly mailed letter or a fax as opposed to e-mail) and urge them to OPPOSE H.R. 1283 — which we’re calling “Homosexualize Our Military Act” — which is mischievously named by liberals as the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act.” This act would impose a pro-homosexuality “non-discrimination” policy on our Armed Forces. In other words, it would radically force a change in ethos in the military to one of approving of homosexuality — including through one-sided “diversity” programs that would undermine servicemembers’ faith and morals (as happens today to people of faith in major corporations implementing pro-homosexual ”sexual orientation” agendas).

Also oppose all efforts by the President to advance his misguided agenda of homosexualizing our military non-legislatively (i.e., by various executive actions). Already, military leaders are laying the groundwork for a plan to gradually open up the military to homosexuality — the Washington Post reports. Obama must NOT autocratically launch this revolutionary change to our Armed Forces without legislative action and oversight.

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Two points about the 2006 FOX story below on a homosexual porn bust at Ft. Bragg:

1) There is a huge market for “gay” military porn because lots of homosexual men are turned on by “straight-acting,” “macho” (masculine) men. I realize it’s a sick comparison, but just as many women like a “man in uniform,” so do homosexual men. On Jan. 29, 2010, a Google search on the three words “gay military porn” (no quote marks) yielded “about 1,300,000″ entries. “Gay Military Porn” (in quote marks) yielded 34,300 entries. This is a huge (and very twisted) business, and obviously the demand is high among men with a homosexual problem.

The last thing our fighting men and women need is to have the military floodgates opened up for homosexual men and lesbians to join as open practitioners of homosexuality. That would put men who are sexually attracted to men, and women to women, in tight bunking situations, showers, etc., with servicemembers of the same sex. Remember: homosexuality is not an “identity” issue (sorry, Warren Throckmorton) or a “civil rights” issue; it’s a BEHAVIORIAL issue, and welcoming in men and women who are tempted to practice – or inclined to practice — disordered same-sex behavior is wrong and detrimental to the morale, effectiveness and readiness of our Armed Forces. 

Of course, there is a huge straight pornography problem, too, of course. But men do not bunk and shower with women in the Armed Forces (except married couples). The sexes are segregated. [And then there is this peculiar logic by a homosexual activist, Dale Carpenter, who argues that allowing open homosexuality in the military would help identify the “gay” soldiers — making it harder for them to leer at naked straight soldiers!  “Under present policy, the straight soldier doesn’t know who might be leering at him in the shower. So he has to wonder about everybody — hardly a reassuring prospect,” Carpenter writes. “Under a policy of openness, he’ll have a better idea who might find some of his 2,000 body parts especially appealing. Thus, he can take whatever modest precautions are available to minimize his exposure.”  How absurd. To even discuss such folly in a time of war is a needless distraction — and showering/privacy issues are just one of the many problems caused by homosexualizing the military.

2) Read the second to last sentence of the Fox story below: “The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy states that “homosexual orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service.” What kind of a nonsensical policy encourages “homosexuals” to join the armed forces but then bars homosexual conduct? This is a triumph of “gay” activists’ “sexual orientation” ideology — skewing the debate toward “civil rights” and away from aberrant behavior. And it is very bad public policy. As Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness constantly reminds anyone who will listen, “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” is NOT the law of the land, but rather a political compromise driven by a previous president”s (Bill Clinton’s) desire to pander to homosexual activists. We must go back to following the actual law passed by Congress, which bars homosexuals from serving. But that can only happen after the Obama presidency is over. Meanwhile, we must resist Obama’s plan to homosexualize and politicize our Armed Services.

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Army Paratrooper Pleads Guilty in Gay Porn Case
April 27, 2006, FoxNews.com

FORT BRAGG, N.C. —  An Army paratrooper pleaded guilty Thursday to engaging in sex acts on a military-themed gay pornographic Web site and was sentenced to prison.

Pfc. Richard T. Ashley, one of seven members of the 82nd Airborne Division charged with appearing on the site, pleaded guilty to sodomy, conduct detrimental to the Army and the unit, and drug use.

He was sentenced to 90 days in prison, but was given 15 days credit. Ashley also was demoted to private, will receive a bad conduct discharge and will lose two-thirds of his pay.

“I’ve embarrassed the entire Army, my country and most of all, dishonored God,” Ashley said during the hearing.

Pfc. Wesley K. Mitten and Pvt. Kagen B. Mullen were charged with pandering, sodomy and conduct detrimental to the Army and the unit. Mitten and Mullen, who also faces adultery charges, have pleaded not guilty.

Military Investigating 82nd Airborne Over Gay Porn Allegations

The 82nd Airborne says that four other soldiers, whose names were not released, received nonjudicial punishment for appearing on the Web site. They were reduced in rank to private, forfeited half a month’s pay for two months, performed extra work and were restricted to Fort Bragg for 45 days.

The Army has recommended that all seven be discharged.

The 15,000 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne are among the Army’s most elite soldiers, having volunteered to serve in a unit that trains to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy states that “homosexual orientation alone is not a bar to service, but homosexual conduct is incompatible with military service.” Service members who violate the policy are removed from the military.

"Stay at Home" Lesbian to Take Kids 1,800 Miles from their Dad? University of Illinois professor Karen Kelsky is one step closer to uprooting her children from their devoted father in Illinois and raising them with her lesbian lover in Oregon.

Folks, this is a tear-jerker — a real-world by-product of the cultural elites’ myth advancing the supposed equality of “gay parenting.” If this rancid decision is left unturned, these poor children will be forced to live with immoral role models and all the confusion that entails — far, far away from their devoted father. (Maybe a couple of homosexual “uncles” from Portland could replace him….) Also, note the perverted “scholarship” at the University of Illinois — your tax dollars at work, Illinoisans! God help us, and God help these poor children: that they won’t become guinea pigs in the Left’s latest social experiment: intentionally fatherless, lesbian parenting. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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By Laurie Higgins, reprinted with permission from Illinois Family Institute

I apologize for the lurid title, but this is a lurid story.

Every divorced father, every non-custodial parent, and every decent, fair, compassionate person should both tremble and be outraged by the recent feckless court decision of activist Illinois judge, John R. Kennedy.

The now-lesbian ex-wife of Mr. Taro Iwata took him to court in Urbana, Illinois in a successful attempt to take their two young children, with whom Mr. Iwata is very close, to Eugene, Oregon to live with her and her lesbian partner.

Eugene, Oregon–a stone’s throw from the lesbian mecca of Portland, Oregon–is 1,800 miles away from Champaign, Illinois, where both Mr. Iwata and his children currently live.

His ex-wife, Karen Kelsky, is a tenured associate professor of East Asian Languages and Culture and Anthropology at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). Kelsy has decided that her self-serving and disordered desire to live with a lesbian lover across the country trumps her husband’s natural and legitimate desire to be deeply and regularly involved in his children’s lives and trumps her children’s needs, desires, and rights to be deeply and regularly involved with their father.

And apparently Champaign County Judge Kennedy agrees, for he has decided that Kelsky may uproot her children, take them far away from their devoted father, and settle them permanently in a household defined by deviance.

According to attorney Jason Craddock, who represents Mr. Iwata, the Court found the following:
that the children’s best interests will be served by allowing the move because 1) the mother will be a “stay at home mom” (ah, yes, the quintessential picture of traditional domesticity: a fatherless home led by two lesbians) while her lover works (even though their standard of living here in Illinois is higher than their standard of living will be in Oregon); 2) the judge views the lesbian relationship as equivalent to a heterosexual marriage (even though neither the state of Illinois nor the state of Oregon views them as equivalent); 3) the judge found that the mother being with her lover will be a direct benefit that will enhance the children’s quality of life; and 4) the judge found that the presence in Oregon of the extended family of the lesbian lover was a factor warranting removal of the children in that neither the mother’s nor the father’s extended family lives close to Illinois or Oregon.

So now interactions with the extended family of a homosexual partner constitute a greater benefit to children than regular, frequent interactions with a loving, committed–and heterosexual–biological parent? That is a radical, subversive, insidious, pernicious, and stupefying idea. Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

The Court went even further in its efforts to undermine the fundamental human right of both children and fathers to be intimately involved in one another’s lives: Kennedy decreased the remaining inadequate summer and holiday visitation times.

Attorney Craddock explains that,

Even from a “coldly” legal standpoint, this decision is subversive. It flies squarely in the face of decades of removal jurisprudence in Illinois, as Illinois courts historically and consistently give great weight to the relationship enjoyed between children and their non-custodial parents, and typically allow removal only where the visitation time would either remain the same or increase after the move. Also, Illinois courts have never allowed removal where a custodial parent desired to move to a place in order to move in with a paramour or when such a move would lower the family’s standard of living. Courts have without exception allowed removal only where the new spouse or fiancee of the custodial parent lived away from Illinois and where the standard of living would be increased.

This decision clearly constitutes an activist decision, with Judge Kennedy going boldly where the Illinois legislature expressly declined to go before: the Illinois “civil unions” bill presented in the House of Representatives was soundly rejected this past year. Our elected legislature apparently recognizes a legal distinction between heterosexual married couples and same-sex couples. Judge Kennedy has taken it upon himself to confer legal status where it decidedly does not exist.

This tragic, unconscionable, deliberate rupture in an essential relationship serves the unholy desire of Kelsky, who writes this about herself on the U. of Illinois faculty bio page (emphasis added):

My current work is on the lesbian community and the politics of transgenderism in Japan. I am at work on a book project entitled “The Personal is Personal: Reading the Lesbian in Contemporary Japan,” which is a cultural studies-based exploration of the major lesbian popular texts of the last twenty years, including autobiographies, zines, and pornography. I focus on the major sites of contestation around lesbian identity and subjectivity in this work, particularly around issues of butch-femme and sexual autonomy, coming out, privacy and visibility, and the question of sexual diversity. I have just finished a manuscript entitled “[Not] a Lesbian Feminist: Kakefuda Hiroko and the [Im]Possibility of the Lesbian Subject in 1990s Japan.”

Judge Kennedy’s findings reveal his likely underlying assumptions: he likely holds the unproven, highly arguable, a-historical theory that homosexuality is ontologically equivalent to race and morally equivalent to heterosexuality, whereas in reality homosexuality is both ontologically and morally equivalent to polyamory or consensual incest.

He also likely holds the unproven, arguable, a-historical, erroneous theory that “gender” is irrelevant to both marriage and parenting.

Perhaps most troubling of all is that he has arrogantly decided that subordinating the relationship of father and children to the profoundly disordered relationship of mother and homosexual partner serves the best interests of the children.

It’s a wonder that Kennedy can sleep at night.

Mr. Iwata intends to appeal this execrable decision. Please pray for his victory.