Sign for 'Gender Neutral Restroom" at the recent "Creating Change" conference in Minneapolis for homosexual-bisexual-transsexual grassroots activists, put on by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. The signs covered "Male" and "Female" restrooms on the main floor of the conference. Photo: Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

News Release

www.aftah.org

March 21, 2011; contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631; americansfortruth@gmail.com

Truth Academy in Columbus Examines New Liberal Trend Labeling Christians as ‘Haters’ for Opposing Homosexual Agenda

CHICAGO— Americans For Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH) is joining with Mission America to co-sponsor an educational “Truth Academy” April 1-2 in Columbus, Ohio, on how to respond to the aggressive homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda.

The theme is: “The Hate Labeling of Christians: Why It’s Happening and What We Can Do.” Key details follow:

When:  Friday, April 1 (1:00 – 9:00 PM) and Saturday, April 2 (9:30 AM-3:30 PM); Truth Academy doors open Friday at noon; Friday evening dinner-lecture by award-winning journalist David Kupelian, WorldNetDaily editor and author, “The Marketing of Evil,” and “How Evil Works,” (Dinner is included in registration; see full hourly schedule HERE]

Other Featured Speakers: Matt Barber and Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen, Liberty University Law School; Greg Quinlan, PFOX; Prof. Rob Gagnon, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Where:  Columbus, OH. Discover Christian Church, 2900 Martin Rd., Dublin, OH 43017; near intersection of Sawmill Rd. and Rt. 161.

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Greg Quinlan

Here is Part Two of my radio interview [click HERE to listen] with Greg Quinlan, president of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) and a speaker at next month’s Truth Academy co-sponsored by Americans For Truth About Homsexuality and Mission America (April 1-2, in Columbus, Ohio). This pre-recorded interview aired March 5, 2011. Quinlan walked away from homosexuality years ago and now helps others do the same. He also testifies across the nation (most recently in Maryland) against legalizing homosexual “marriage” and other LGBT activist agenda goals. You’ll want to listen to the interview for Greg’s informed answers to some common pro-homosexual objections to idea of leaving homosexuality (ex-“gays”). For example, he responds to those who say, “I prayed for God to remove my homosexuality and he didn’t answer my prayer.” (He stresses that homosexual strugglers who are committed to change can do so.)

Greg calls homosexuality a “wounding” — i.e., it develops as a maladaption to trauma, abuse or emotional wounds in a person’s life.  Of course, as a very public former homosexual and one-time “gay” activist, Greg has been targeted by hateful LGBT militants like “Truth Win’s Out” founder Wayne Besen (who derides people trying to — as he mockingly puts it — “pray away the gay”). Today’s young people (and the rest of us) are inundated with “gay”-positive messages that glorify sin and undermine God’s Word. What a blessing it would be to expose a young person to the Truth Academy to hear Greg’s uplifting story in person. RSVP or make inquiries at americansfortruth@gmail.com. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

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3-5-11, Greg Quinlan

“Civil Unions” law cynically named “Religious Freedom Protection Act” now used to force Christians to violate their moral conscience

Jim and Beth Walder and their five children. The Walder's, owners of a Paxton, Illinois bed and breakfast, believe homosexuality is sinful and do not allow "civil union" ceremonies to be held at their establishment. Because of that they now potentially face years of litigation after a homosexual activist couple filed a legal complaint againt them with state authorities.

Dear AFTAH Readers,

On Tuesday, March 1, I and an AFTAH volunteer visited Jim Walder, who with his wife Beth is owner of the Timber Creek Bed & Breakfast [e-mail: info@timbercreekbb.com] in Paxton, Illinois and the latest victim of the homosexualist legal-political agenda in the United  States. Below is an article by my friend Laurie Higgins of Illinois Family Institute about how Walder and another Illinois bed & breakfast owner are being sued by a homosexual activist couple because they will not allow a same-sex “civil union” ceremony to be held at their establishments.

The well-financed, big-city “gay” agenda is rolling into small town USA, and it will crush religious freedom in its path if it is not defeated. Paxton is a quiet farming community in central Illinois with a population of 4,600 — and here it is embroiled in the “culture war” battle of our day: whether homosexuals’ supposed “right” to have their sexual lifestyle and relationships affirmed supersedes moral-minded citizens’ First Amendment right to disagree with sexual immorality. (And their right to live out their beliefs: freedoms for beliefs that must be kept “personal and private” and that cannot be acted upon are not real freedoms.)

Here’s the bitter irony: the law being used by the homosexual couple attempting to force Walder and all Illinois B&B owners to allow homosexual “union” ceremonies on their property was named the “Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act.” It doesn’t get much more cynical and dishonest than that; no wonder Americans don’t trust politicians.

Walder is being represented by Alliance Defense Fund, and he is not doing interviews at this time, but his disturbing case classically illustrates why “sexual orientation” laws — especially combined with “civil union” or “gay marriage” laws — are so dangerous to our God-given liberties, and why they must be repealed. Legal “rights” based on changeable, aberrant and unhealthly sexual misbehavior (sin) are destined to collide with genuine First Amendment liberties, which are rooted not in government but in God Himself.

Illinois' Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed the ironically named "Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act" into law Jan. 31. Photo: Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth.

As Gary Glenn correctly said in my recent interview with him — confirmed by homosexual legal activist and Obama appointee Chai Feldblum below — pro-homosexual “sexual orientation” laws naturally discriminate against people of faith. A few weeks ago, Jim and Beth Walder hadn’t given that much thought. Now they and their family (see photo below) are living out this painful reality caused by modern secular liberalism. All who cherish religious freedom and American liberty must stand with the Walder’s. AFTAH will closely follow this story. God bless you. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; copy me with your encouraging notes to Jim and Beth at americansfortruth@gmail.com.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Please pray for the Walder’s;
2. Send Jim and Beth a note of encouragement (info@timbercreekbb.com) and pass this article on to your friends and family. Better yet, stay a night or two at the Timber Creek Bed & Breakfast in Paxton (it is wonderful and comes highly recommended);
3. Write or call Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and urge her to respect the Walders’ freedoms of religion and association; and
4. Inside llinois: call your Illinois state representative and senator (217-782-2000) and educate them on the Walder’s victimization at the hands of aggressive “gay” activists, and urge them to REPEAL both the Illinois “sexual orientation” law and the “civil unions” law — each of which was passed in a lame-duck session and signed into law by Democratic governors. Outside Illinois: call your federal, state and local representatives and urge them to oppose ALL homosexuality-based “sexual orientation” legislation because the evidence is in: these laws will destroy religious freedom in America.

Gay Liberation Network activists marched in front of Catholic Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago Sunday morning, chanting against the church's supposed "hate." Pro-perversion militants like the GLN classify church opposition to homosexuality as "religious-motivated bigotry."

Following is an account by Renew America writer Matt Abbott of AFTAH’s silent “counter-protest” against the radical Gay Liberation Network’s outrageous protest Sunday, February 13, 2011, directly in front of Holy Name Cathedral in downtown Chicago. Homosexual activists chanted against the supposed “hate” of Cardinal Francis George — a preposterous accusation given George’s soft-spoken manner. Of course, the mere defense — any defense — of historic church beliefs proscribing homosexual conduct is enough to earn one the “hate” label from the likes of GLN.

Following the article is George’s statement about the GLN protest, and then a reply by the Gay Liberation Network. We must all stand together to defend against the aggressive secular “gay” assault on marriage and the Judeo-Christian values that have served America well as the foundation of our freedoms. If you still believe that hard-core homosexual activists as represented by GLN actually respect the Church and the right of people to disagree with their sinful yet changeable lifestyle, it’s time for you to wake up and start defending Marriage, Truth — and your religious liberty to live out your faith. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

TAKE ACTION: Thank Card. Frances George for his and the Catholic Church’s defense of marriage — and strong stance against recently passed “civil unions” legislation in Illinois. You can write him at archbishop@archchicago.org [see contact page HERE]. Or call the Office of the Archbishop at 312-534-8230 (hit #4).

Democratic “hate speech”? What if someone made a vicious public comment like this against a homosexual activist?

In a podcast, Democrat Joe DiSano, a host on the Michigan political podcast "Two Guys Named Joe," said he hoped Republicans would go over to pro-family advocate Gary Glenn's headquarters and "beat the hell out of this guy" with a sock full of quarters.

Gary Glenn of American Farmily Association of Michigan

Part Three of our interview [click HERE to listen] with Gary Glenn of AFA of Michigan. We play some audio from a hateful podcast (Oct. 29, 2010) by “Two Guys Named Joe” — Michigan political consultants Democrat Joe DiSano and Republican Joe Munem. In a discussion railing against Glenn for exposing a homosexual Republican candidate’s pro-“gay” record (using radio ads quoting pro-homosexual sources), the Democrat, DiSano, gets so worked up that he says: “I would hope the Republicans would go over to Midland [Mich.] where he lives, take a whole bunch of quarters in a sock and beat the hell out of this guy.”  Glenn notes that had he said the same about, say, a homosexual activist, there would be a huge outcry. (Surely he’d be accused of committing a “hate crime.”) AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and Glenn discuss the immense health risks associated with practicing homosexuality, and the absurd idea — fostered by the Southern Poverty Law Center (which has cynically labelled both AFTAH and AFA “hate groups”) — that educating the public about this is “hateful.” [See Part Two of Glenn interview HERE and Part One HERE.]

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2-12-11, Gary Glenn

This is Part 2 [click HERE to listen] of our 4-part interview with Gary Glenn, president of American Family Association of Michigan [see Part 1 HERE]. It was pre-taped and aired Feb. 6, 2011. AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and Glenn discussed how “sexual orientation” laws are inherently discriminatory against people of faith and anyone who opposes homosexuality. Glenn ticks off case after case of Christians and moral organzations like the Boy Scouts being victimized by pro-homosexual “sexual orientation” laws. Glenn also holds a mini radio “Truth Academy” on the proper mindset for pro-family work — urging activists not to use defensive language that suits the Homosexual Lobby’s debate frame but rather to put homosexual activists on the defensive by “telling the truth” that the “homosexual agenda itself discriminates against people.” Glenn and LaBarbera agree that the idea of “civil unions” as a supposed compromise is a non-starter — noting how the concept was regarded as “radical” in Vermont just a few years ago, while today leading liberal elites easily jump from backing “civil unions” to “gay marriage.”  Glenn also discusses school bullying laws, urging an approach that protects ALL students without “segregating” them by singling out “sexual orientation.” 

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2-5-11, Gary Glenn

AFTAH Joins Liberty Counsel, Vision America, other pro-family groups in defending Reagan’s vision

See text of the Washington Times ad in the text of this article.

MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 7, 2011 /Christian Newswire/

In a full-page ad in today’s Washington Times, a group of conservative leaders say they are deeply troubled by the direction of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) – which opens on February 10. Click HERE to see the ad as it appears in today’s Washington Times” (including a list of signers).

Vision America President Pastor Rick Scarborough, who initiated the project, noted: “For the third year in a row, GOProud will be participate in CPAC. GOProud seeks repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, without which judges will ultimately legislate homosexual ‘marriage.’ Last year, GOProud advocated for homosexuals serving openly in the military, which will devastate our armed forces and sacrifice unit cohesion on the altar of ‘inclusiveness.'”

Some of the most prominent conservative groups and leaders are boycotting CPAC, due at least in part to the presence of GOProud. They include American Family Association, Liberty Counsel, Family Research Council, the Heritage Foundation, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Jim DeMint and Sean Hannity.

“Ronald Reagan spoke at CPAC in 1977. But would Reagan be comfortable at CPAC 2011?” Scarborough asked. “Our 40th president spoke of conservatism’s three-legged stool, economic, defense and social (family values) issues. Remove one, and the entire structure collapses.”

Chaps Klingenschmitt

Part Two of our  interview with “Chaps” Gordon Klingenschmitt of the Pray in Jesus Name Project. This was pre-recorded and aired Jan. 22,  2010 on WYLL-AM 1160 in Chicagoland. This is the second of a two-part interview; click HERE to listen to Part One. AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and Chaps discuss the next steps in the debate over “homosexualizing” the U.S. military — following the lame-duck congressional repeal of the ban against homosexual servicemembers. They discuss the prospects of Republicans in Congress making a serious move to thwart or reverse the implemtation of the new plan to open up the Armed Forces to open homosexuals. Chaps also rebuts left-wing accounts that accuse him of deceit in his public efforts as a then-Navy chaplain to “pray in Jesus’ name.”

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1-22-11, Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt