Dear Readers,

We may be witnessing the “official” split of the American pro-family movement against homosexuality into two camps: the principled groups and churches that oppose all efforts to recognize and approve homosexuality as normal (AFTAH is in this camp); and “soft” family organizations and churches that oppose homosexual “marriage” (and sometimes “civil unions”) but which support other parts of the homosexualist agenda. Below is a version of an e-mail I sent yesterday to pro-family leaders across the United States upon learning of this misguided decision by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to support special legal “rights” based on homosexuality and gender confusion.

The pro-”gay” decision by the LDS Church to back a local “sexual orientation” law — widely reported by the media — is very bad news for our side.  The proliferation of newfangled laws granting special protections based on objectively disordered sexual/gender behaviors created the basis for punishing dissenters and people of faith long before the “gay marriage” debate became the dominant issue that it is in the “culture wars.”  I think I speak for us all in saying that we are very grateful to the Mormon Church for all it has done to defend against same-sex “marriage” (I personally am astonished by the LDS’ huge contribution to the cause). But “protecting marriage” while legitimizing government-backed preferred status based on changeable, wrong, and very unhealthy (even deadly) behaviors is a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.

Moreover, allowing homosexual special rights will only be used by liberal judges to rationalize their imposition of “gay marriage,” anyway (as has already happened), so what’s to be gained by such concessions? [See Gary Glenn's article on this point HERE]

Surely, much is to be lost.  Once we give up the principled argument, we torpedo our moral authority — which is our greatest and most precious asset.  If homosexuality (sodomy) is truly a crime against nature (and implicitly nature’s God), as Noah Webster defined it in 1828, and liberties truly come from God as I trust we all believe, then how can we possibly acquiesce to “rights” based on sin and perversion and keep our credibility as truth-tellers?  Are special homosexuality-based legal protections “civil rights” or a mockery of same?  If churches back “gay rights” (and the LDS is hardly the first), is there some truth to the idea that those of us who remain opposed to ALL aspects of the “GLBT agenda” are “bigots” or somehow extreme in our worldview?  And let’s be honest: our movement has already begun to ostracize its most principled warriors: I notice that everyone [in the pro-family movement] loves to use Brian Camenker’s and Amy Contrada’s indispensable, firsthand research but strangely some fail to credit MassResistance for their work. (They’re too “homophobic,” I guess.)

And where does the gay “special rights” train stop?  Is there some legal “right” to be homosexual parents?  Are school “sexual orientation” nondiscrimination codes legit (and even noble)?  Once you begin to cave, it’s hard to stop — while our cultural foes heap praise on us for every defection to their bogus “civil rights” approach.  Naturally, at the same time, the GLBT groups and their liberal allies will escalate their attacks against uncompromising pro-family groups as representing “extreme hate,” the fringe, etc.  Their goal is to marginalize us, and this certainly makes it easier. As we damage our pro-family/truth “brand,” we boost their spurious “equality” brand.

I fear some in the “pro-family” movement are dumbing and defining “victory” down so that we can proclaim it even as we lose the much harder and real culture war against normalizing homosexuality and gender confusion. This is a conversation our movement needs to have — because it appears there are two “missions” emerging from our once-unified coalition: one dedicated solely to preserving marriage (hopefully without allowing “civil unions” but sometimes even making that huge concession); the other dedicated as always to fighting every attempt to normalize homosexuality and using the government (and corporations) to sanction and celebrate homosexuality-based relationships. I say that our long-term survival — not to mention our integrity — rests on sticking with the latter mission.  Best – Peter LaBarbera, www.AmericansForTruth.org

Close down the gay sex clubs? Homosexual sex is dangerous — the CDC says “gay” and “bi” men are 50 times more likely than other groups to have HIV. And yet homosexual sex clubs flourish across the country. At left is Steamworks, a Chicago homosexual bathhouse where men go for anonymous sex with other men. This is a photo taken at the 2005 “Market Days” street fair, at which Steamworks advertises itself like any other business. Why doesn’t the government move to close down such perversion centers as public health hazards, given the overwhelming evidence of the dangers of male homosexual sex? 

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So much for gay “equality.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — the U.S. government agency tasked with guarding Americans’ health — has finally put a number on the massively increased HIV risk associated with “men who have sex with men” (MSM): “gay” and “bi” men are 50 times more likely to have HIV. This does not mean that the Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, will take some tough, politically incorrect steps necessary to prevent AIDS — like closing down homosexual bathhouses and gay (male) sex clubs in major cities, and educating teenagers on the hugely disproportionate health risks associated with homosexual sex. The relentless pandering by federal, state and local governments to “gay” activists even as these same agencies fight diseases specifically linked to homosexual sex is one of the greatest public policy follies of our time — indeed, of history itself.

The issue in this ongoing “culture war” is not the cause of homosexual “orientation” — or merely the legality of “same-sex marriage.” It’s homosexual behavior itself — and whether government should promote it or discourage it, or be neutral. I say discourage it, since the evidence keeps pouring in that conduct which has been proscribed as immoral down through centuries of Judeo-Christian tradition is also highly dangerous. Now if the CDC will only stop blabbering on about “homophobia” and start telling the truth — that the rectum is not a sexual organ, after all, and that we must take tough measures against “gay” promiscuity — America will become a healthier place. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com

The following is excerpted from the homosexual newspaper Washington Blade:

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Gay, Bi Men 50 Times More Likely to Have HIV

CDC reports hard data at National HIV Prevention Conference

By DYANA BAGBY, Washington Blade
Aug. 28, 2009

ATLANTA — Gay and bisexual men account for half of new HIV infections in the U.S. and have AIDS at a rate more than 50 times greater than other groups, according to Centers for Disease Control & Prevention data presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference this week in Atlanta.

Dr. Amy Lansky of the CDC presented research at the Aug. 24 plenary in which the CDC estimated in the U.S. there were 692.2 new HIV cases in 2007 per 100,000 men who have sex with men.

While the CDC data has continually reported gay and bisexual men and other MSM of all races as the groups with the highest numbers of new HIV cases each year, AIDS activists said this was the first time the CDC clearly stated with a concrete rate how the disease is impacting gay and bisexual men. Gay and bisexual men are also the only risk group in which new infections are increasing.

“They have never converted the numbers into a rate,” said Walt Senterfitt of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project. Senterfitt is an epidemiologist.

“It’s not like this is totally new information. But they are saying now that gay, bisexual and other MSM are 50 times more likely to have AIDS than women and non-gay or bisexual men. This is a new statement. We weren’t able to make that equivalent before. We can now compare apples to apples. We represent the largest proportion.”

The CDC estimates gay and bisexual men make up about four to six percent of the population. When the CDC reports on African-American women, it says black women have an HIV infection rate that is nearly 15 times higher than that of white women. And Hispanics, who make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, account for 17 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S. each year, according to the CDC.

According to a 2006 CDC report, 13,230 white MSM were estimated to be newly infected with HIV, followed by African-American MSM at 10,130 and then black heterosexual women at 7,340 new infections. The CDC estimates more than 56,000 Americans become infected each year; throughout the HIV Prevention Conference, the CDC stressed that number represents one person every nine-and-a-half minutes.

“If you ask 10 people in this room,” Senterfitt said at the conference with hundreds of people in attendance, “it’s likely only one person will answer correctly [that white MSM are the hardest hit by HIV].

“I think the CDC is finally trying to put out accurate information so the community can collectively respond — and these numbers help to show that HIV/AIDS never left the gay community.”

Kevin Fenton, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD & TB Prevention at the CDC, said in opening remarks at the conference Aug. 23 that “gay and bisexual men account for half of new infections and are at greatest risk.”

But Fenton, who is gay, also noted that just 20 percent of gay and bisexual men report hearing of HIV prevention campaigns.

President Barack Obama’s new Office of National AIDS Policy has the mission of putting HIV/AIDS in the U.S. back on the radar after, as many speakers said at the conference, the country has become complacent about the disease. …. [continued on Blade website]

Click HERE to read the entire article in the “gay” newspaper, Washington Blade

“San Francisco is a microcosm of the illness called liberalism. It’s the least tolerant city in the country. It’s the meanest city in the country.”

– Conservative talk show host Michael Savage, on his radio program “Savage Nation,” August 25, 2009. Savage is based in San Francisco.

Above is the twisted 2009 promotional poster for the annual Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco — a huge outdoor event celebrating sadomasochism and various perversions — at which hundreds if not thousands of men walk the streets fully or partially naked. At Folsom (scheduled for Sunday, Sept 27), it is commonplace to see men being publicly whipped and flogged to the delight of onlooking crowds. Nothing illustrates Savage’s quotation better than San Franciscans’ double standard on “tolerance.” Even many straights in the city take pride in its laissez faire embrace of Folsom and other perverse spectacles that to date have been coddled by the police, who do not enforce decency laws.

Curiously, even as they enable public nudity, the SFPD does a poor job of protecting dissenters’ rights in the city. Last year, the police failed to use their authority to allow a small Americans For Truth-led pro-family press conference condemning Folsom to go on civilly outside City Hall. Our outdoor press conference was shouted down in classic leftist fashion by veteran “queer” militant Michael Petrelis — as police ignored our request to give our free speech a forum to be heard. (In most big cities, police separate opposing protesters so that each side can exercise its free speech rights.) As you can see, Petrelis and fellow “queer” activists were allowed to shout over our press event with impunity; note his immature mimicking of oral sex and emphatic endorsement of nudity and sex in San Francisco’s streets.)

Proceeds from Folsom go to the anti-Catholic hate group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — which doubles as a pro-homosexual “charity” in San Francisco. The “Sisters” are homosexual men painted in drag who call themselves nuns (with perverted names) and who are insulted when you don’t treat them as a serious “religious order”; see photo of “Sister” at right and click HERE for more on the notorious church-bashing “charity.”

Let’s review … “Tolerance” for open-air perversions and public nudity — but none for peaceful, pro-family dissenters. Mean, sadistic sex in the streets, as cops stand idly by and politicians look the other way. Mean and intolerant activists like Michael Petrelis. Heck, even the “charities” are mean and blasphemous in the City by the Bay. (That includes the shocking, annual “Hunky Jesus Contest” mocking Jesus Christ every Easter Sunday.)

Michael Savage is right: San Francisco epitomizes all that is wrong with modern liberalism. — Peter LaBarbera, www.afthah.com

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The 2007 Folsom promotional poster (below) pushed the envelope even by jaded San Francisco standards in mocking Da Vinci’s painting of Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples. Those are “sex toys” on the table including a red fist representing the bizarre and dangerous sadistic act of “fisting.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), a Catholic, couldn’t bring herself to denounce this blasphemous artwork in her own congressional district — much less the annual Folsom Fair itself that represents the worst of those much-derided “San Francisco values.” Click on photos to enlarge.

Folks, take a look at the shocking photo at left and the Idaho Statesman article sent our way by conservative blogger Clayton Cramer — about a transsexual prisoner who received a state-funded “sex-change” operation. I agree with Gary Glenn of American Family Association of Michigan about the absurdity of how words are twisted to accommodate the “trans” agenda.

Glenn remarks:

“One of the both most inane and insidious aspects of the ‘transgender’ issue is the mainstream media’s depiction of delusion as if it were reality…

“She cut off her own testicles.”

“She amputated the tip of her penis.”

These reporters must either have mush for brains or, in rare cases, feel like total idiots for being forced to report something so obviously inane.

But this is a delusion that the opposition will compel us all by force of law to treat as reality.  And subsidize with our tax dollars.

Hmmm. I didn’t know “she’s” had testicles, but then again, Gary and I (and Clayton) are just a bunch of “transphobes” (another preposterous GLBT term).

Glenn was reacting to conservative blogger Clayton Cramer, who wisely points out that body-disfiguring “sex change” operations are already funded by the taxpayer, making it likely that they ultimately would be covered under “Obama-care” (just like abortions, by the way). That is, unless Americans stand up and say, “NO!” — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

TAKE ACTION: Call your Congressman and Senators (202-224-3121; 202-225-3121; www.congress.org) and urge them to reject Obama-care with its likely result of taxpayer-paid abortions and sex-change mutilations operations.  

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Cramer writes:

Why I Get Real Nervous About Government Health Care

By Clayton Cramer

Here’s a purely elective medical treatment being done for convicted felons because a judge ordered it done. From the August 6, 2009 Idaho Statesman:

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Correction has settled
lawsuits with two transgender inmates who castrated themselves after
they were denied feminizing hormone therapy.

The terms of the settlements were not disclosed, but the department
has changed its policy for identifying and treating transgender
inmates. The policy now limits the time inmates must wait for
treatment, specifies how they may be diagnosed, and clarifies when
they qualify for hormone therapy.

Josephime Von Isaak sued the state in 2006 and Jenniffer Ann Spencer
sued the following year. Both inmates, who were born with male
anatomy but consider themselves female, contended they were
subjected to cruel and unusual punishment because they were denied
treatment for gender identity disorder.

Spencer was serving time on a 2000 conviction for possession of a
stolen car and escape when she cut off her own testicles with a
disposable razor blade in 2004 an apparent effort to rid her body of
testosterone. Spencer survived the self-castration, and prison
doctors prescribed testosterone replacement therapy – refusing to
prescribe the estrogen Spencer wanted.

Isaak, who is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, said
she was also compelled to remove her own testicles with a razor in
2004 after the state failed to diagnose and treat her disorder. Even
then, Isaak said in the lawsuit, she went without the estrogen
treatment she wanted, and a year after self-castrating she amputated
the tip of her penis with a razor blade.

The state cited Isaak’s birth gender and schizophrenia diagnosis
when it denied her female hormones and a surgical sex change. In
Spencer’s case, the state said a diagnosis of gender identity
disorder wasn’t warranted and that Spencer had lied about living as
a woman and taking birth control pills before her incarceration.

These are convicted felons — and a judge orders the state to provide them with medical treatment to assist them with self-inflicted sex changes.

What do you suppose the chances are that judges are going to order the “government option” to cover this?

Editor’s Note: we have received several letters in response to this post asking us to clarify that the “Lutherans” in question represent only the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) — and not the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, which is the Lutheran denomination that rejects homosexual clergy and remains faithful to Scripture and the historic tenets of the Christian faith. 

By Peter LaBarbera

The recent vote by liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) — the liberal “Lutheran” denomination — to embrace homosexual clergy is yet another sign of America’s spiritual and moral confusion, and how far down the of road of social decay we have traveled. [Click HERE to read the response to ELCA by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.] The New York Times reports:

By a vote of 559 to 451, delegates to the denomination’s national assembly in Minneapolis approved a resolution declaring that the church would find a way for people in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships” to serve as official ministers. (The church already allows celibate gay men and lesbians to become members of the clergy.)

If you take the Bible seriously and thus reject as unscriptural the modern, “gay” activist construct of homosexuality as a benign “sexual orientation,” then you might join me in asking: would the ELCA ever have a vote on hiring pastors addicted to pornography? Would the ELCA deliberate on whether pastors practicing adultery or incest should be welcomed into the fold? Certainly not, yet all of these, like homosexuality, are sexual sins. Once again, homosexuality gets a special indulgence from liberals who, sadly, have lost faith in the Bible as inerrant, divinely authored Truth — and Jesus Christ’s ability to help lift people out of sin.

There are some important lessons from the ELCA story:

1. The folly of putting God’s law up for a vote — especially in a morally compromised church: Alan Medinger, a former homosexual and dean of Christian ex-gay ministry (with Regeneration), once opined that there is no need to have a church dialogue on homosexuality because the Bible has already spoken clearly on the subject. Medinger is right: the ELCA vote is as preposterous as the liberal “Jesus Seminar” scholars taking votes on which portions of Scripture are legitimate (”true”) — in their quest to identify the “historical Jesus” as opposed to the Christ of the Bible. If Lutherans can vote for special treatment of this particular sin, why not others? (How about shoplifting in these economically troubled times?) That the self-styled “queer” movement and media have succeeded in changing the terms of the debate does not alter the truth that we are talking about sexual misbehavior that God calls an abomination (detestable) in the Old Testament — and a sin that is changeable through Christ in the New;
2. The role of radical feminism and shared victimology in the church’s embrace of homosexuality: note the linkage of the alleged victim status of women and homosexuals to serve the GLBT agenda. However, even if one accepts female ordination, it has nothing to do with the GLBT agenda, as the latter (sexual behavior) is changeable while the former (one’s biological sex) is not;
3. The practical, direct role of lesbian feminists and homosexuals in subverting historic Biblical teaching: Note the lesbian Bronx pastor, “Rev.” Katrina Fostor, in this AP story [see photo below]: for Foster to accept biblical truth, she would have to shed an artificial “identity” based upon her proud embrace of sinful sexual impulses. As it stands now, she is on the road to hell and I hope and pray that she repents. (Can I still say that or is it a hate crime?) There are many homosexuals in various denominations working to undermine Biblical truth. If you believe in politically-driven, “democratic” “morality,” changing creeds becomes a numbers game. And politically-driven morality is precisely what is behind the “Gay” Lobby’s recent foray into Christian theology: they know that religious people who agree with God about marriage and sexual sin are the last impediment to achieving their overall agenda. And so they set out to radically redefine Christianity itself;
4. The role of “proud” homosexuals and their desperate need for approval in destroying good organizations: so often homosexuality is presented as a personal issue — as if opposing “gay rights” means sticking your busybody’s nose in someone else’s private business. Such notions now seem quaint given the far-flung demands of the “Gay” Lobby — including giving first-graders propagandistic lessons on homosexuality — and its adherents’ willingness to trample over the First Amendment freedoms of traditionalists.  The homosexual activists’ relentless drive for approval, coupled with their deep resentment of God’s Word (or at least historic Judeo-Christian wisdom) as it applies to their pet sin, leads them to elevate their supposed “rights” over the best interests and beliefs of the targeted institution. Case in point: the Boy Scouts of America, which had no “sexual agenda” except to live by its own “morally straight” code. No matter: “gay” activist lawyers went all the way to the Supreme Court in their unsuccessful attempt to force the BSA to abandon its creed. To this day homosexual activists are maligning the poor Scouts — and punishing them financially — even if it means harming the welfare of boys. Who are the real victims here? Of course, the most compelling example of homosexual infiltration nearly destroying an institution is the homosexual-priest-predator scandal in the American Catholic Church: read author Michael Rose’s Good Bye Good Men to learn the whole sad story;
5. The pivotal role that (false) “LGBT” (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) identity plays in negating traditional norms and fueling the homosexualist “civil rights” charade: again, nomenclature and semantics are key here. (Allegedly unchangeable) “gay” “orientation” is the shaky foundation for the homosexuals activists’ bogus claim that their cause is a continuation of “civil rights.” If they are wrong and the Bible is right — and same-sex sexual behavior is but one of many changeable sin patterns — then their entire movement crashes to the ground. This is why professional homosexual zealots like Wayne Besen work so hard to demonize and deny the existence of “ex-gays”: every changed homosexual is a reminder that homosexuality is nothing like race and that “gay and lesbian” activists, too, can leave the lifestyle;
6. Lastly, if ever there was an exercise in futility, this was it: moral truth comes from a holy God, not sinful man. Make no mistake: the homosexual activists act as if they possess absolute truth — that’s what makes them so dangerous. These dedicated social revolutionaries — with their naive (albeit often well-meaning) straight allies in tow — do not flinch at dismissing Biblical Christianity as “hateful” and “discriminatory.” Seems our overly judgmental God is Himself a bigot. Go figure. In their minds and hearts, the GLBT ideologues are morally superior to us, even though their radical truth claims come up empty, resting as they do essentially on subjective feelings and sexual/gender confusion. This is indeed a “Culture War” to define Truth — yet so many Christians are AWOL. But at least they are not traitors: shame on the ELCA majority for passing this measure that does great violence to the Word of God. There are atheists with a better understanding of Christian sexual morality than these religionists with their trendy heresies. Political and cultural power — and the ability to organize a vote — does not equate with truth. It’s time for faithful Christians to come out of their church closets and get busy reinstating God’s Word as the true standard of morality in America.

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Associated Press and AFA’s One News Now report:

Evangelical Lutherans Abandon Bible teaching on homosexuality
Patrick Condon – Associated Press Writer – 8/22/2009

MINNEAPOLIS – Even though the Rev. Mark Chavez believes the leaders of his church made a decision in direct contradiction of the Bible by lifting a ban on sexually active, monogamous gays and lesbians as clergy, he said he’s staying with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

“I’m not leaving,” Chavez said Friday night, promising an effort to keep the church moving even further toward what he sees as an embrace of behavior condemned by Scripture.

Chavez, of Landisville, Pa., is director of Lutheran CORE, a conservative group within the ELCA that fought the homosexual clergy policy. The group will hold a convention in Indianapolis in September to review its next steps, but Chavez said he thinks some ELCA clergy, congregations and individual members will walk away from the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination.

The change to gay clergy policy passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA’s national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to abandon the authority of God’s Word on homosexuality.

“I have seen these same-gender relationships function in the same way as heterosexual relationships — bringing joy and blessings as well as trials and hardships,” the Rev. Leslie Williamson, associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Plaines, Ill., said during the hours of debate. “The same-gender couples I know live in love and faithfulness and are called to proclaim the word of God as are all of us.”

But the change may be too much for some Lutherans. Conservative congregations will not be forced to hire gay clergy, but opponents nevertheless warned there could be spiritual consequences for a church that strays from Scripture.

“This will cause an ever greater loss in members and finances. I can’t believe the church I loved and served for 40 years can condone what God condemns,” said the Rev. Richard Mahan, pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, W.Va. “Nowhere in Scripture does it say homosexuality and same-sex marriage is acceptable to God. Instead, it says it is immoral and perverted.”

Mahan said he believed a majority of his congregation would want to now break away from the ELCA.

Other leaders indicated they might leave as well. The Rev. Tim Housholder, pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Minn., described himself during the debate as a rostered ELCA pastor “at least for a few more hours.” The Rev. Marshall Hahn, pastor at St. Olaf Lutheran Parish in Dubuque, Iowa, said he’d need to talk to his bishop “to discuss what this means for my future with this church.”

Other Christian denominations in the United States have struggled to remain united in the face of such debates. In 2003, the 2 million-member Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, a move that alienated American Episcopalians from its worldwide parent church, the Anglican Communion. The divide has led to the formation of the more conservative Anglican Church in North America, which claims 100,000 members.

But ELCA supporters of its denomination’s change said failure to ratify it ran just as great a risk of alienating large portions of the membership, particularly younger ones.

The Rev. Katrina Foster (pictured at left), pastor at Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Bronx, N.Y., said Lutherans heard similar warnings about flouting Scripture when they made past changes that are now seen as successful — chiefly, the ordination of women.

“We can learn not to define ourselves by negation,” said Foster, a lesbian. “By not only saying what we are against, which always seems to be the same — against gay people. We should be against poverty. I wish we were as zealous about that.”

Under the new policy, heterosexual clergy and professional lay workers must still abstain from sex outside marriage. The proposed change would cover those in “lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.”

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

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

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

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Matt Barber writes:

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

By Matt Barber, August 5, 2009

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

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

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

She did not.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But don’t hold your breath.

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

Then sit back and watch them squirm.

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

Tom Dart, Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, shows his support for the homosexual agenda by fielding a float and marching in the 2009 Chicago Gay Pride Parade (June 28, 2009). Ten minutes later in the parade, a radical leftist homosexual organization holds up a banner that reads, “Gay Pride Means Fight Cops.” Note that the faces of the young men holding up the cop-hating banner are covered with Intifada-like headdresses.  More description is after the jump and under the video ….

… This footage was shot by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, as we make our belated entrance into the world of YouTube. As is typical, the 2009 Chicago “Pride” parade featured participants violating the Chicago Public Morals Law, e.g., a presumed transsexual “female” baring his/her breasts riding atop a float block after block on Halsted St (much like I witnessed at the 2007 Chicago “Pride” march). Keep in mind that there were many children at the parade — and this year children from Chicago’s Nettelhorst Elementary School actually participated in the homosexual parade at the request of their parents.

Also, this footage of Sheriff Dart’s float was shot directly in front of a 24/7 homosexual bathhouse called “Steamworks,” (at 3246 Halsted in Boystown, Chicago), where men go for anonymous, deviant sex with other men. Perhaps Dart should focus less on “gay pride” and more on enforcing decency laws — and closing down Chicago perversion centers like Steamworks that  facilitate the spread STDs by enabling reckless homosexual promiscuity. Call Sheriff Dart at 312-603-6444, or e-mail: sheriff@cookcountysheriff.org. Thanks for taking action. — Peter LaBarbera, www.americansfortruth.com

TAKE ACTION: call or write House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and urge her to denounce this blatant attack on the family coming out of her district: 202-225–4965 or 202-225-0100.

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, take a look at what the sadistic pervs over at Folsom Street Fair came up with for their promotional poster this year. And to think that in all their “leather pride” they think of themselves as “progressive.” (PETA might disagree.) The good news is that thanks to the efforts of Americans For Truth and others who have exposed the open-air perversions that have been allowed to take place year after year at Folsom and at another San Francisco “street fair,” police are finally promising to crack down on the nudity and public sex [see this report in California Catholic Daily]. Will House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) denounce this new attack on the natural family, or will she continue to pander to her homosexual base– as she did by refusing to condemn a version of the above that mocked the Last Supper? Few Americans have any clue about just how deviant America’s Queer Mecca is.

Now here’s another reality about Folsom, International Mr. Leather (coming up this Memorial Day weekend in Chicago), and the über-depraved poster above: such vileness could only emerge from a “GLBT” (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender”) movement that celebrates sexual deviance in the first place. Homosexual sodomies have more in common with the above picture than they do with natural family and marriage. In other words, domesticated homosexuality (Heather Has Two Mommies) is itself a revolutionary assault against God and Nature. And that is why sadomasochists, “genderqueers” and she-males (transsexuals half-way through their “transition”) are all welcome under the self-described “queer” umbrella. They’ll tolerate Folsom, but they won’t tolerate Californians voting in Prop 8 to defend marriage.

It’s the behavior, stupid. And it’s awfully tough for a “Sexual Liberation” movement to boot out any “perverted” group or lifestyle when homosexuality itself is a perversion that was once universally taboo. (Which makes the concept of homosexuality-based “marriage,” well, about as ridiculous as calling what is depicted in this poster a “family.”) We’re talking gradations of immorality — how utterly foolish for “conservatives” to embrace “same-sex marriage” (or “civil unions”) in the name of commitment, monogamy and tradition — or Christianity. Did you know that NAMBLA (the pedophilic North American Man/Boy Love Association) once marched in “Gay Pride” parades?

So don’t hold your breath waiting for the Human Rights Campaign or the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force or PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) to denounce this sick display. They can’t, and we doubt Speaker Pelosi will either, even though it might help her politically to do so. Privately the “gay” activists may be upset at how Folsom hurts their cause strategically, i.e., from a PR perspective. But outwardly they’re far more apt to attack Carrie Prejean than their comrade-cousins on the Leather fringe.

Folsom Street Fair’s press release announcing the new twisted poster follows:

_______________________________________________

http://www.folsomstreetevents.org/fair-info.php

May 15, 2009

FOLSOM STREET EVENTS® LAUNCHES POSTER DESIGNS FOR ANNUAL FAIR AND EVENTS SEASON
Folsom Street Fair poster image draws inspiration from 1950’s style household

San Francisco, CA – May 15, 2009 – Folsom Street Events has released its latest poster designs for the annual events: Bay of Pigs™, Up Your Alley®, Magnitude®, and Folsom Street Fair®. This year, the official Folsom Street Fair poster was inspired by a classic 1950’s “nuclear family” photo. In light of the passage of Proposition 8 last fall, the organization felt it was important that the Folsom Street Fair – and San Francisco – take a stand about what family is and how we experience those similar bonds in our community. Folsom Street Events wanted to juxtapose the traditional and iconic imagery from that “era of innocence” against the irreverent diversity of the fetish community.

According to Demetri Moshoyannis, Executive Director, “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this poster, and we are looking forward to a particularly inspirational event season. The poster is an attempt to portray an alternative to the archetypal image of the family; it’s our way of saying: ‘This is our family.’ It is a distinctive representation of leather and fetish diversity with people of all genders, sexual orientations, ages, interests, etc.”

According to Russell Brown, Administration and Special Projects Manager, who managed the creative process of producing the poster, “I really wanted a fun poster, maybe a little bit lighter than what Folsom has produced in the past with the hope of attracting some potential new fair-goers who may have been reluctant before. Especially with the downturn of the economy, I wanted the poster to reflect the three tenants of Folsom Street Fair: Fun, Frolic and Fetish.”

The poster was made possible in part by Brian Mills of Titan Media who brilliantly photographed the images. Titan Media generously volunteered their studio for the photo shoots. Additionally, all of the models volunteered their time, including: Troy Weakley (“dad”), Bianka Stevens (“mom”), Tony Buff of TitanMen.com (“son”), Sparkly Devil (“daughter”), Trevor Wayne (“younger son”) and Justin Morgan (“family dog”), all of whom brought energy and life to the picture.

Posters for Bay of Pigs, Up Your Alley, and Magnitude as well as Folsom Street Fair are available online at www.folsomstreetevents.org . The Bay of Pigs and Up Your Alley posters were illustrated creatively by Axel and Rob Clarke, accordingly. The Magnitude poster features TitanMen.com models Eduardo and Korben, and it was also photographed by Brian Mills.

Folks, the greatest threat of violence to homosexual men comes from … other homosexual men. The stabbing murder of WABC reporter George Weber in New York is a terrible tragedy and yet it is instructive about the perils of promiscuous “gay” life. There is simply nothing that approaches the deviance of male homosexuality — especially at its sexual fringes — as other victims of gay-on-gay violence over the decades testify from the grave.

The New York Times reported March 24:

Officials said the teenager apparently answered a Craigslist ad in which Mr. Weber, 47, sought a sexual partner. The police believed Mr. Weber planned to pay [John] Katehis for sex. The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said that the two had arranged to meet on Wednesday, March 18, but rescheduled the meeting for Friday evening.

We don’t have all the details, but surely Mr. Weber — despite being a reporter — was unaware that he was meeting with a16-year-old satanist, John Katehis, who described himself on his MySpace page [see it on Gawker.com HERE] as an “extremist, an anarchist and a sadomasochist.” One can only wonder how this mere boy came to identify himself as a “sadomasochist,” but the New York homosexual and “leather” subculture surely played a role. Evil ideas — like linking unnatural sex to violence and humiliation — have evil consequences.

Alleged murderer John Katehis’ (left) MySpace profile was: “Buying swords, playing video games, fighting, and sex.” Click on photo to enlarge.

Here is part of Katehis’ bio posted on Gawker .com:

My name is John, I am sixteen years of age and live in Queens, New York. I enjoy long conversations, drinking, bike riding, hanging out, roof hopping, hanging off trains, any type of Parkour exercise, Extreme Violence (chaos, Anarchy, etc.) Video Games, Violent Movies and listening to my ipod. I am a very easy person to talk to. I like to do crazy and wild things. im like an adrenaline junkie, I’m always looking for a big thrill, I’m a big risk taker and like to live life on the edge. I am an Extremist, an Anarchist, and a Sadomasochist. As long as you show respect for me i will show respect for you, if you disrespect me, then i will [f--cking] break your neck.

– Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com

_____________________________________

A former homosexual’s perspective:

“David,” a former homosexual who wishes to remain anonymous, offered the following thoughts on the Weber murder:

The brutal stabbing murder of WABC reporter George Weber should come as no surprise to anyone in the homosexual community.  Mr. Weber reportedly was seeking out a one-time sexual encounter with a male he had met on Craigslist.com — and whom he had never met before.  The 16-year-old boy and “alleged” murderer maintained a MySpace.com page where he claimed to be into sadomasochism.

Instant gratification, orgy sex, and anonymous sexual “hook-ups” are part and parcel of the male homosexual lifestyle. I know this, because I lived that life for more than 20 years.  I am a 48-year-old man recovering from homosexuality. (Yes, I am a former homosexual.)  It is a desolate, emotionless, self-focused, self-destructive  life — in which instant, anonymous sex is easily available, very common and an integral part of what it means to be “gay.”  Go to any male homosexual website (e.g., “Manhunt), “leather bar,” circuit party [huge drug-and sex-heavy dance parties for homosexual men], etc., and you will find that quick, one-time hook-ups — and multiple sex partners — is central to that way of life. 

Even in so-called homosexual “marriages,” the overwhelming majority have “open relationships” or a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about extracurricular sexual escapades.  It took me over 20 years to realize this sad fact, and if I were to remain in the life I would have had to accept it.  I myself was violently abused and nearly strangled by one of my partners, as the relationship was nearing its end. This, coupled with other events and afflictions in my life, drove me to cry out to God and beg Jesus for forgiveness for my sins, and He helped me walk out of the “gay” life. I have no regrets, no apologies, and have never looked back.

David
Atlanta

All about “getting off”: Gay hook-up websites like Manhunt (slogan: “Get on, Get off”) make it easy for homosexual men to find casual, deviant sex. Many men show photos of their genitalia to lure prospective sex partners.

“There are over 200 weekend-long BDSM [bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism] events that take place every year in America – we bring in a lot of revenue in these hard times. We like to stay at hotel chains where we have been welcomed when we’re traveling on personal or business travel.” – National Coalition for Sexual Freedom Alert sent out in response to AFTAH and pro-family efforts to stop a “Winter Wickedness” deviant-sex event at a Holiday Inn Hotel in Worthington, Ohio

Dear Readers,

We received an interesting email – our first ever from an “ex-sadomasochist” – which contained an e-alert from the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), a group devoted to: normalizing “BDSM” (bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism); creating legal rights based on sadomasochism; and advocating for sexual “swingers” and practitioners of “polyamory” (multiple-partner relationships).

The NCSF message by spokeswoman Susan Wright blasted AFTAH as “religious extremist group” and rallied NCSF  followers to defend a sadistic, deviant-sex event called “Winter Wickedness” that was held at a Holiday Inn Hotel in Worthington, Ohio, Friday and Saturday.

Perversion Stimulus?
Taking advantage of tough economic times, Wright hailed the sadistic celebrations as good for the hotel business, saying that over “over 200 weekend-long BDSM events” take place annually across America.  Appropriating the tendentious language of homosexual and social left activists, she accused opponents of “Winter Wickedness” of “hate and ignorance.”

Below is the anti-NCSF message sent to Americans For Truth by “John Doe,” who sympathize with our efforts against the “Wickedness” event, followed by Wright’s NCSF Alert:

I am writing this e-mail to you as an insider who has recently turned their life around after being subjected to the horrifying world of BDSM. I am attaching a post and I will offer you further posts [on] this group. I hate this group. I want you to make [public the activities of this] group and others like it in [Ohio] because they are expanding.

__________________________________________

Following is an e-alert sent out by the sadomasochist advocacy group National Coalition for Sexual Freedom:

From: Susan Wright
To: ncsf-announce@ serve101.org
Sent: Wed, 4 Feb 2009 3:49 pm
Subject: NCSF Action Alert – Support Winter Wickedness Action Alert
National Coalition for Sexual Freedom

Support the Holiday Inn Worthington, the Host Hotel for Winter Wickedness

Please make a phone call now to support the Holiday Inn Worthington, the host hotel for Adventures In Sexuality\’s (AIS) Winter Wickedness Event taking place February 6-8th (www.adventuresinsex uality.org/ wicked09. html). The religious extremist group, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, along with a local religious radio station in the Columbus, Ohio, area are running a smear campaign against this pansexual BDSM event. Peter [LaBarbera] of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality calls the event \”a freakish sadomasochistic perversion-fest\” and urges people to call the hotel\’s corporate headquarters to pressure them into canceling \”for the sake of decency and public health.\” (www.aftah.org).

Bob Burney, a religious extremist Talk Radio DJ, devoted an entire segment of his show slamming Winter Wickedness and attempting to link the event with non-consensual and criminal activities. He urged his listeners to call and mount a campaign against the hotel. (Tuesday, Part 3 starting at 10 min 42sec: http://www.home. wrfd.com/ WRFDInsiderPage. htm) It will only take a minute for you to help! It doesn\’t matter where you live or if you\’re not going to attend this event. Please call the Intercontinental Hotels Group Corporate Customer service line at 800- 621-0555, then press option 1, then option 5, and thank them for not discriminating against groups, and for being willing to face minor adversity for the sake of our freedom. You can also call the Holiday Inn Columbus-Worthingto n today at 614-436-0700 b they\’ll be very glad to hear a friendly voice to counter the hatred of the religious extremists.

Suggested points to make:

1. Thank you for upholding the Fair Accommodations Act and choosing not to discriminate against legal events.
2. Please don\’t let a small number of religious extremists manipulate you by drumming up fear with their misinformation campaigns.
3. There are over 200 weekend-long BDSM events that take place every year in America b we bring in a lot of revenue in these hard times. We like to stay at hotel chains where we have been welcomed when we\’re traveling on personal or business travel.
4. Organizers of BDSM events such as Winter Wickedness at The Holiday Inn comply with state and local laws prohibiting public sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual intimacy. Demonstrations, lectures and discussion groups as well as dinners and evening parties compose the variety of offerings to guests, nothing different from any of the other hundreds of conventions hosted by your franchisees on a weekly basis.
5. Thank you for standing strong against hate and ignorance. Please pass this on to your friends to call now! February 4, 2009

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is a national organization committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory [multiple-partner] communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual expression. National Coalition for Sexual Freedom 822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127 Baltimore, MD 21202-3707 917-848-6544 media@ncsfreedom. org www.ncsfreedom.org