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So-called LGBT “Equality Act” will surely escalate State oppression against people of faith
Will Speaker Ryan Back the Anti-Christian LGBT Agenda? As a Republican Congressman, Paul Ryan voted in 2007 for the pro-homosexual ENDA bill–the precursor to today’s HR 3185 (Homosexual Superiority Act aka LGBT “Equality Act”). Contact House Speaker Ryan at 202-225-0600 and urge him to OPPOSE the radical “Equality Act” (HR 3185)–which would only escalate State oppression against people of faith across America.
The following is an excellent summary by Matthew Kacsmaryk of dangerous new LGBTQ legislation, HR 3185 (S. 1858), which AFTAH is labeling the “Homosexual Superiority Act”–or perhaps the “Criminalizing Christianity Act”–but which congressional sponsors (all Democrats) propagandistically refer to as the “Equality Act.” Kacsmaryk’s analysis first appeared in the outstanding website, “Public Discourse,” which I highly recommend (sign up for their emails HERE).
NOTE: I do have one quibble with the writer: the phrase “sexual liberty” is unfortunate Newspeak and the latest semantic invention by “progressives” that perverts historic notions of ordered liberty. It does so by attaching immoral and unnatural sexual conduct condemned in the strongest terms by God Himself to “liberty.” That connection–which is now employed by the most extreme libertines in the LGBTQueer coalition–e.g., the pro-sadomasochism National Coalition For Sexual Freedom–should be avoided at all costs, especially by social conservatives. Postmodern “sexual liberty” is in reality sexual license. Also, we usually affix quote marks to the word homosexual “marriage” but did not add them in Kacsmark’s article below.
Words matter. A lot of leftist harassment, intolerance and oppression is now being carried out in the lofty name of “equality.” The bottom line: when people caught up in homosexuality and/or gender rebellion are given superior (special) rights based on their aberrant lifestyles, moral-minded people lose their free-conscience rights. We already see escalating government prosecution–read: persecution–of faith-motivated Americans–mostly people who do not want to participate in same-sex “marriage” ceremonies–under local and state “sexual orientation nondiscrimination” laws. Now try to imagine the expanded assault on citizens’ religious freedom and First Amendment liberties if the ACLU and the rest of the Homosexual-Transgender Lobby were to be given the added power of the federal bureaucracy and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to enforce their pro-homosexual-transgender groupthink.
This “LGBTyranny” bill must be stopped if Americans are to remain free to be moral and follow God as they see fit. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @PeterLaBarbera
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TAKE ACTION: 1) Contact Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (202-225-0600) and urge him to oppose HR 3185–the “Homosexual Superiority Act,” aka the LGBT “Equality Act.” (The other phone numbers for Speaker Ryan–who is now “America’s Congressman”–can be found HERE.) In 2007, as a Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, Ryan voted FOR the pro-homosexual Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the precursor bill to HR 3185. It is disturbing that Ryan, a self-styled “conservative,” would support growing federal homosexual-agenda power at the expense of faith-based Americans who defend natural marriage and Judeo-Christian morality. Ominously for Bible-believing Americans, the LGBT “Equality Act” is ENDA on steroids–and even more dangerous than ENDA to our cherished religious and First Amendment liberties.
2) Call Your Congressman and Senators, too: and urge them to oppose HR 3185. Find your Congressman HERE.
Target Corporation has backed the anti-Christian homosexual activist “Equality Act”–which AFTAH has dubbed the “Homosexual Superiority Act.” Contact Target at 800-440-0680 or write them at guest.relations@target.com.
3) Contact Target Corporation [(800)440-0680; guest.relations@target.com], which just endorsed HR 3185, and urge them to reverse their support of this anti-Christian “Equality Act”; suggest to Target that they would be smarter to at least stay neutral in the Culture War over redefining marriage and civil rights rather than side with homosexual and transgender activists. The latter now openly embrace anti-Christian bigotry and make shameful comparisons between anti-women “transgender” behavior (e.g., men in dresses using Female restrooms) and racist Jim Crow persecution of Black Americans. [AFTAH will have more on this story.]
4) Support FADA! Contact all the same legislators above and urge them to SUPPORT the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), HR 2802, which would prohibit the federal government from taking any punitive action against an American who believes that marriage solely between a man and a woman.
If enacted, the deceptively titled Equality Act would punish dissenters, giving no quarter to Americans who continue to believe that marriage and sexual relations are reserved to the union of one man and one woman.
On June 26, 2015, five justices of the Supreme Court found an unwritten “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage hiding in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—a secret knowledge so cleverly concealed in the nineteenth-century amendment that it took almost 150 years to find. Facebook and the White House were awash in rainbow flags proclaiming the arrival of “marriage equality.”
Just three weeks after Obergefell, congressional Democrats filed House (H.R. 3185) and Senate (S. 1858) versions of the “Equality Act,” seeking to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the protected classes listed in the federal code. Americans are on an “equality” roll. What could go wrong?
As it turns out, quite a bit. If enacted, the deceptively titled Equality Act would punish dissenters who disagree with same-sex marriage by using the enforcement tools of the amended Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with even greater force and scope. The Equality Act seeks to weaponize Obergefell, moving with lightning speed from a contentious five-to-four victory on same-sex marriage to a nationwide rule that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are privileged classes that give no quarter to Americans who continue to believe and seek to exercise their millennia-old religious belief that marriage and sexual relations are reserved to the union of one man and one woman.
The Contents of the Law
So, in concrete terms, what would the proposed law do? Here are just a few of the potential areas of impact, given how the Equality Act would amend various provisions of the Civil Rights Act:
Employment: would amend Title VII to create new protected classes for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” with no countervailing exemptions for faith-based organizations that maintain internal standards of sexual conduct rooted in longstanding religious tenets.
Federal Programs: would amend Title VI, historically limited to race, color, and national origin, to create new protected classes for “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,” with no countervailing protections for faith-based providers who willingly serve every program-eligible person but maintain internal standards of sexual conduct rooted in longstanding religious tenets.
Public Accommodation: would drastically expand the Title II definition of “public accommodation” to cover “gatherings” and facilities historically owned and operated by churches or religious organizations—“shelters,” “food banks,” and “care centers”—extending far beyond the categories at issue during the Civil Rights Movement: common carriers (freight, bus, taxi, train, and air lines), public utilities, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
Public Education: would amend Title IV definitions of “desegregation” to include new protected classes for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” placing in the litigation crosshairs all sex-restricted facilities like dormitories, restrooms, or locker rooms.
Religious Freedom Restoration Act: would omit exemptions for religious organizations contained in prior drafts of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and expressly state that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) may not be used as a defense or a basis for challenging the Equality Act.
Sex: would enter a congressional finding that “federal agencies and courts have correctly interpreted [] prohibitions on sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes,” thereby adopting the EEOC’s most aggressively extra-textual recent rulings.
Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications: would amend Title VII exemptions for employers who have sex-based “bona fide occupational qualifications” (BFOQ) for specialized jobs—for example, male security guards in a maximum security prison or female undercover officers in a sex-trafficking sting operation—to require recognition of persons “in accordance with their gender identity.”
Order Bob Reilly AFTAH Speech and Book: To order a DVD copy of Reilly’s outstanding speech at AFTAH’s Fall banquet (Oct. 17) in Chicago–combined with a paperback copy of his “Making Gay Okay” book–send $49 postpaid to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Or give a $49 gift on our new online donor form: https://give.cornerstone.cc/aftah
AFTAH is postponing our Washington, DC area banquet, which was scheduled for Nov. 21, due to delays and special circumstances surrounding our relocation to the nation’s capital. The banquet likely will be held in the Spring and will still feature conservative author Robert Reilly, author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.” Stay tuned.
Special Offer: To order a DVD copy of Reilly’s outstanding speech at AFTAH’s Fall banquet (Oct. 17) in Chicago–combined with a paperback copy of his book–send $49 postpaid to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Or give a $49 gift on our new online donor form: https://give.cornerstone.cc/aftah.
To make a general donation to Americans For Truth to help us in our move to the DC area, go HERE.
November 6, 2015; contact: Peter LaBarbera: 312-324-3787; americansfortruth@gmail.com
Who Is the Out of Touch Bigot on Transsexuals in Public Bathrooms: Ben Carson or the Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin?
WASHINGTON — Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera today accused Chad Griffin, president of the high-powered homosexual lobby group Human Rights Campaign, of “reverse bigotry” after Griffin smeared GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson for allegedly acting like a “segregationist.” Griffin made the absurd and ugly charge after Carson said that cross-dressing men and women should have their own “transgender restrooms” rather than make people uncomfortable by using bathrooms not designated for their biological sex. [AFTAH release continues after video clip below]:
Asked by journalist-activist Jorge Ramos, “Should transgender men and women use any public bathroom they choose,” Dr. Ben Carson calmly responded, “How about we have a transgender bathroom?”
Carson continued: “It is not fair for them [cross-dressing “transgenders”] to make everyone else uncomfortable. It’s one of the things I don’t particularly like about the [LGBT] movement. I think everybody has equal rights, but I’m not sure anybody should have extra rights—extra rights when it comes to redefining everything for everybody else, and imposing your view on everybody else, when the way this country was designed was live and let live.”
“Ben Carson’s hateful comments are out of touch and all candidates should immediately make clear that they disavow his dangerously transphobic views,” he fumed. “Ben Carson can’t go a week without invoking reckless and irresponsible stereotypes about the LGBT community, and his suggestion that transgender people be required to use segregated bathrooms echoes an ugly past our country should never revisit.”
LaBarbera responded:
“Shame on Chad Griffin for invoking racist Jim Crow laws against an African American man to justify the insanity of allowing gender-confused men to use female restrooms. The bottom line here is that a rich, powerful white homosexual activist in Washington, D.C., Chad Griffin, is a accusing a thoughtful black man, Dr. Ben Carson—who rose from humble roots to become a prominent neurosurgeon and a role model for youth everywhere—of being the moral equivalent of a Jim Crow racist. Why? Simply because Carson believes that girls and women should not be forced by ‘transgender rights’ laws to suffer the indignity of having their private spaces invaded by sexually confused men in dresses who think they’re women.”
On Tuesday, Houston voters overwhelmingly rejected—by a 61-39 margin—the city’s proposed LGBT “HERO” ordinance, which would have banned so-called “gender-identity nondiscrimination,” thus allowing gender-confused men and boys to use female-designated restrooms, and vice versa. Pro-family advocates who won the landslide “No” vote campaigned heavily on the dangers to women and girls of letting men into private female restrooms.
Chad Griffin of Human Rights Campaign
Said LaBarbera: “I ask you: who is truly out of touch here regarding men in female restrooms? Dr. Ben Carson with his common sense yet regrettably necessary solution–or Chad Griffin—the powerful lobbyist for a pro-Democrat Washington homosexual organization? Ask any woman: I think most would side with Carson.”
LaBarbera added that the danger of the proposed federal LGBT “Equality Act” (HR 3185)—which he dubbed the “Homosexual-Transgender Superiority Act” and the “Criminalizing Christianity Act”—is that it would put federal government power behind the brand of “reverse bigotry” espoused by Griffin.
“It’s bad enough that decent people are being accused by vicious homosexual zealots of ‘hate and bigotry’ simply because they uphold historic Judeo-Christian norms for sex and marriage and defend their First Amendment freedoms,” he said. “But imagine the mom-and-pop owners of a family business facing federal ‘civil rights’ prosecution merely because they won’t allow a big-boned, sex-confused guy wearing pumps and a skirt to enter the female restroom in their establishment? Are we really going to force women to have their private spaces violated in the name of LGBT ‘Equality’?! Are Chad Griffin and HRC anti-women?”
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Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH.org) is a non-partisan Christian group that does not endorse political candidates. AFTAH is moving its operations to the Washington, D.C. area. Its debut dinner-banquet in the nation’s capital featuring “Making Gay Okay” author Robert Reilly will be held Saturday, November 21 at Patriot Hall in Vienna, VA. Details HERE.
AFTAH Honors Bob Reilly: AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera presents 2015 “American Truth Teller Award” to Bob Reilly at the Americans For Truth Chicago banquet Oct. 17. Reilly is author of “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything”–which advances a principled argument against homosexualism. Reilly is speaking at a second AFTAH banquet in the Washington, DC area on Sat. Nov. 21. [Click HERE for more info and HERE to sign up.] Click on photo to enlarge.
Folks, here is a report on Americans For Truth’s dinner banquet Oct. 17–by Nancy Thorner of Illinois Review. Thanks to all who came to the banquet at Christian Liberty Academy. It was a wonderful evening, with author Bob Reilly (“Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything“) brilliantly expounding on Natural Law.
How shameful it is to the pro-family “conservative” movement that Bob’s principled work–cutting to the core of this vexing issue–has not been promoted enthusiastically at all levels (National Review refused to review it). If you make a gift to AFTAH of $100, we will send you both the book and a DVD video of the Oct. 17 banquet.
Thank you, AFTAH supporters–old and new–it is your generosity that enables our ongoing work of answering Big Sodomy’s cultural lies with facts and Truth. If you could not make it Oct. 17, please send a gift to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Or go to our new AFTAH Donate Page HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
Thorner: Robert Reilly Keynotes Annual AFTAH Dinner-Banquet
By Nancy Thorner –
The Americans for Truth annual dinner-banquet was held on Saturday, October 17 at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. The Church of Christian Liberty, Calvin Lindstrom, pastor, provides oversight for the Academy as one of its ministries, though students and parents are not required to be members or attend the church. Pastor Lindstrom succeeded his dad, Dr. Paul Lindstrom, in 2002, who was the founder of Christian Liberty Academy and the Church of Christian Liberty.
Peter LaBarbera is founder & president of “Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH),” a non-profit group, founded as a part-time venture in 1996, but later reorganized in August of 2006. AFTAH remains a rare single issue group that seeks to apply the same single-minded determination to opposing the radical homosexual agenda and standing for God-ordained sexuality and the natural family, as countless homosexual groups do in promoting their agenda.
John Kirkwood, Pastor at Grace Gospel Fellowship in Bensenville, Illinois, and a weekly contributor for Clash Daily, was on hand to assist LaBarbera in the night’s activities.
In his opening remarks, Peter LaBarbera informed attendees that his organization, “Americans for Truth” will be moving from its Illinois headquarters to Washington D.C. where there is a greater media platform to get his message out. Despite the change of name, the group’s purpose will not change. LaBarbera used to work in Washington, D.C., so he has a network of friends to draw upon. LaBarbera, however, did promise to come back to Illinois every year hold the annual AFT banquet at Christian Liberty Academy.
Following the “Pledge of Allegiance” led by LaBarbara and the prayer by Pastor Lindstrom, two short clips were shown prior to dinner being served. By far the most disturbing one was a clip about Emily who is now Emmett. View here the imbalanced 6-minute segment on the sad story of a 17-year-old teen from Gurnee, Illinois. “Emmett” Paschal (née Emily), who attends Warren Township High School, is a girl who wishes she were a boy. “Emmett” recently underwent a double mastectomy and began taking the cross-sex steroid testosterone in her quest to conceal her objective biological sex.
Peter LaBarbera reasoned that medical decisions requiring body disfiguring operations should be delayed until adulthood. Further comments by LaBarbara mentioned 1) the existence of a Chicago Leather Archives which is referred to in tourist guides as a museum, even though this facility contains pedophile information, and 2) the sponsorship of this year’s gay parade in New York City by Walmart to which many children viewed when brought by their parents.
Linda Harvey of “Mission America” condemns “Inequality and Injustice Act”
Linda Harvey, founder of “Mission America”, was introduced by Peter LaBarbera as the night’s first speaker. LaBarbera used the occasion to announce that Harvey would be the keynote speaker at next year’s “Americans For Truth” banquet.
“Mission America” is an American Christian organization based in Columbus, Ohio founded in 1995 that seeks to “cover the latest cultural and social trends in our country and what they might mean for Christians. This media ministry of Linda Harvey is an outgrowth of her Christian faith and a successful career in journalism, marketing and public relations. Her articles have appeared in national publications, including the Internet news site World Net Daily.
Harvey spoke about the “Inequality and Injustice Act” [pro-LGBTQ “Equality Act”] which cannot be permitted to pass. Its purpose is to change the 1964 Civil Rights codes. The bill in the House is designated as HR 3185, while in the Senate it is listed under S 1858. So far there are 170 sponsors in the House, no Republicans, but they are vulnerable to caving in. If enacted, the deceptively titled Equality Act would punish dissenters who disagree with same-sex marriage by using the enforcement tools of the amended Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with even greater force and scope. The Equality Act seeks to weaponize Obergefell, moving with lightning speed from a contentious five-to-four victory on same-sex marriage to a nationwide rule that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are privileged classes that give no quarter to Americans who continue to believe and seek to exercise their millennia-old religious belief that marriage and sexual relations are reserved to the union of one man and one woman, Harvey said.
On Thursday (Oct. 22, 2015), I appeared as a guest on Stacy Harp’s “Bible Radio News” show. Stacy is the hard-working founder of Active Christian Media and a longtime Christian pro-family advocate–a sort of one-woman dynamo for Biblical Truth. As you can hear from listening to the podcast below, Stacy overcame homosexual thoughts and temptations in her own life as a child and teenager (but never embraced them). As a clinical trained marriage and family therapist with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology, she is well-equipped to analyze the factors underlying homosexual confusion. We discuss: how homosexualist propaganda works; the proper Christian attitude toward people struggling with homosexual desires; false (anti-) Christian theology that is embracing the idea of positive “gay” “sexual orientation” (in the name of Gospel outreach); the power and tactics of the homosexual activist movement; the homosexual “10 Percent” population myth; and the largely untold story–in the increasingly pro-LGBTQ media–of “ex-gays,” men and women who have overcome the pull of homosexuality in their lives. See Stacy’s Facebook page HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH
P.S. Here is the Amazon link for the book I mention–Gay…Or Not? One Christian Man’s Journey–by former homosexual Jerry Heacock. Please support him by buying and promoting this important book. It will also bless you and help you grow as a Christian believer.
Check Out Christianity Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Bible News Radio on BlogTalkRadio
AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera (left) presents Robert Reilly with the 2015 American Truth Teller award. Reilly is author of the book, “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything.” View other recipients HERE.
Author Robert Reilly joins other pro-family heroes as a recipient of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) “American Truth Teller” award for 2015. Here is the full list of honorees:
2009 – Don Wildmon, founder and chairman, American Family Association and American Family Radio
2010 – The late Dr. Ken Hutcherson, founder and senior pastor, Antioch Bible Church
2011 – Dr. Scott Lively, founder, Abiding Truth Ministries; author, Pink Swastika book series
2012 – Dr. Judith Reisman, author, Kinsey, Sex & Fraud; Kinsey, Crimes & Consequences; professor, Liberty U. School of Law
2013 – Sandy Rios, host, “Sandy Rios in the Morning,” AFR Talk; former president, Concerned Women for America
2014 – Dr. Michael Brown, author, A Queer Thing Happened to America; founder and president, FIRE School of Ministry
2015 – Robert Reilly, author, Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything; former director, Voice of America
This list of common sense truths and reality-based, biblically faithful observations is not comprehensive, and we’ll be adding to it. There is some overlap in the points. Send us your ideas to americansfortruth@gmail.com. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH.org
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By Peter LaBarbera
It’s the Behavior, Stupid…And the behavior is dangerous. This 2011 CDC slide shows the disproportionately high correlation between homosexual behavior and HIV among young men ages 13-24. See this AFTAH article. Nature itself discriminates against homosexual behaviors. Click to enlarge.
1) It’s always about the behavior, stupid. No, I’m not calling you stupid. This is a variation on the political slogan regarding voters’ motivations: “It’s the economy, stupid.” What we can observe and what we can analyze is behavior: we cannot decipher people’s thoughts. “Orientation” is a self-serving homosexual activist construct. It is homosexual *behavior* that is destructive, unnatural and spreads disease, e.g, the direct connection between male homosexual behavior and HIV and syphilis. People change their behavior all the time. That must be our focus.
2) Homosexuality is what you do, not who you are. (Gary Glenn, Michigan pro-family legislator)
3 Defending historic Judeo-Christian morality is not bigotry or “hate.”
3a) Corollary: Those who hate Truth, call Truth “hate.” (origin unknown)
3b) Corollary: To label the defense of biblical and moral truth “hate” is itself hateful.
3c) Corollary: There are few groups as hateful and intolerant as LGBTQueer activists.
3d) The people who are quickest to falsely charge others with “hate” are often the most hateful activists in society.
4) Apply the “Sexual Sin Substitution Test” for Moral Clarity: Substitute another sin for the word *gay* in any debate, discussion or media story about homosexuality and see if it makes sense, biblically-speaking. Also apply it: “sexual orientation,” “homophobia,” “transgender,” etc. (You can also substitute a non-sexual sin.) Most of modern thinking in the culture, politics and the Church fails this Substitution Test. For example, when was the last time you heard a major Christian leader apologizing to pornography-users and porn activists–as Southern Baptist leaders recently did to homosexuals. Here in Chicago, “progressive” Christian Andy Marin takes this to an extreme with his Marin Institute’s “I’m sorry” campaign–holding signs with that message at the city’s annual debauched homosexual Pride Parades.
S-S-S Test applied: There are no “Adultery Pride Parades.” Nobody gets accused of being of being an *incest-phobe.* I’ve never heard a guy appeal to his *lustful orientation.* There are no Porn-using Republicans groups that draw the support of leading conservatives and GOP politicians (like the homosexual activist Log Cabin Republicans). And the president doesn’t make official declarations and speeches celebrating annual *Fornicators Pride Month.*
6) Don’t deny Jesus Transforming Power: Every person ever born, except Jesus Christ, has or had a sinful “orientation.” (Jeremiah 17:9) To deny that we are sinners is to deny God. To deny that homosexual behavior is a sin is to deny God’s Word, the Bible. To deny that God can help people overcome the sinful pull of homosexuality is to deny Jesus Christ and His transforming power.
7) Never concede language to LGBTQ revolutionaries. Deconstruct “Gay-Speak”–because he who controls the language controls the debate: When you hear *Equality* think radical, government-imposed egalitarianism. *Equality* has become the politically correct buzzword for a leftist social agenda that eliminates natural distinctions between man and woman. LGBTQueer “equality,” so-called, undermines historic behavioral and moral, biblical normal norms by promoting sexual perversion and extreme gender confusion and rebellion as *civil rights.*
