Homosexual activist Jim Burroway is upset that we highlighted Russell Groff’s tragic death from AIDS at the tender age of 26 — a consequence of his embrace of the homosexual lifestyle.

There’s an interesting piece on Stacy Harp’s blog about the wacky homosexual fringe. Stacy’s a friend and a pretty smart cookie — she’s way too intelligent to think you can actually make any sense of the lunatic ranting of Joe Brummer, “GayLeftBorg,” Wayne (“Anything But Straight”) Besen, and other homosexual extremists. But hers is a worthwhile read to get a glimpse of the lies, hatred and outright nuttiness we have to endure from the homosexual Left.

Memo to Joe: for the twelve thousand, three-hundred and sixty-second time, we abhor violence against homosexuals, or anyone for that matter. (See my piece, “Stoning Homosexuals: Which is the Real Voice of Hatred,” contrasting how radical Islam and Biblical Christianity treat homosexuality.) … Anyway, click HERE for Stacy’s article.

Bad Boys 

Speaking of militant homosexuals attacking, we’re sorry that due to summer doldrums — and yes, my own procrastination — we have yet to put up a post on the latest clever little attack (in their own obsessed minds) on yours truly by Jim Burroway and Boys at Box Turtle Bulletin. (Try saying that ten times fast.) Seems Jim created a “LaBarbera Award” to spoof me — after I dared to write about a young man, Russell Groff, who died prematurely — at age 26 — of AIDS after entering the homosexual lifestyle.

Jim says that I engaged in reckless rhetoric and he even called me a “despicable coward” for writing about Russell (I unwisely linked to a pro-homosexual tribute of Groff to provide background about him). Ouch. We’ll have more on “Fact-Checker” Burroway’s distortions later. Suffice it to say that Russell’s grieving mother feels otherwise and wants to use his tragically cut-short life to warn other parents and children about the dangers of homosexuality.

Then there’s the unfunny graphic on the Box Turtle site that mocks me, perpetuating the tired, “queer” activist theme that because I expose homosexual excesses, I must secretly be perverse myself.

Yawn. How many variations of “Kill the Messenger” can the homosexual activists come up with to discredit us? And all this time people on both sides of the debate have been saying how creative “gays” are. Go figure. Regardless, I’m sure Jim and the Box Turtle Boys were quite taken with their own wit.

Apologies to all for ever calling Burroway’s site, which strangely gets promoted by Christian therapist and psychology professor Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College — yes, that Grove City College — “high minded.” Warren assures me that Jim is a nice guy but somehow I’m not seeing it. 

Please pray for these poor souls who spend their lives defending a lifestyle that God clearly rejects. — Peter LaBarbera

Here’s how FOXNews.com lead with its story on the Dallas Cecil Sinclair story (emphasis added). The story ends up including a fair representation of the church’s viewpoint, but the headline and lead paragraphs unfairly make the church look cruel and petty. The true story is that the church could not abide a memorial service that would glamorize the homosexual lifestyle. Here’s the headline and beginning of the FOX story, which unfortunately is all many busy people wil read:

Texas Megachurch Cancels Memorial for Gay Navy Vet
Saturday, August 11, 2007

ARLINGTON, Texas —  A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,'” she said Friday….

Click HERE for the rest of the FOXNews.com story on the Cecil Sinclair controversy

*WARNING EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT*

More proof below of the zero-sum game between homosexual “rights” and the freedom of conscience for Christians and other traditionalists:

San Diego Firefighters Forced to Participate in “Gay Pride” Parade Subjected To Gross Sexual Gestures and Obscenities: Thomas More Law Center Files Claim

Mon, Aug 6, 2007, Thomas More Law Center

ANN ARBOR, MI – Four respected San Diego firefighters were ordered, against their wishes, to participate in uniform on their city fire truck in the city’s annual “Gay Pride” parade. During the course of the ensuing three hour long ordeal, the firefighters were subjected to vile sexual taunts from homosexuals lining the parade route. This included the following statements: “show me your hose,” “you can put out my fire,” “you’re making me hot,” “give me mouth-to-mouth,” “you look hungry, why don’t you have a twinkie (from a man wearing a “Girth and Mirth” t-shirt),” and “blow my hose.” These firemen are devoted husbands and fathers. When they refused to respond to the crowd, some in the crowd turned hostile and started shouting, “F–k you firemen” and others began “flipping them off.”

San Diego area attorney, Charles LiMandri, the West Coast Director of the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is representing the firefighters in their legal claims against the city. LiMandri was also the lead counsel in the successful Mt. Soledad Cross case in San Diego. A 52 year native San Diegan, LiMandri stated: “What happened to these dedicated public servants was inexcusable. The City should have known from past experience the kind of offensive activities that go on at this event. This was a clear case of sexual harassment in violation of state and federal law as well as the City’s own code of conduct.”

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center added, “These firefighters dedicated their lives to save the lives of others. They did not sign on to become unwilling props to a controversial political and social agenda.”

San Diego Firemen Ordered Against Their Wills to Participate in “Gay Pride” Parade 

Concerned Women for America 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUST 7, 2007

FOR MORE INFORMATION: JENNIFER FEDOR, (202) 488-7000 ext. 126

CWA Calls for Openly Lesbian Fire Chief to Cease On-The-Job Activism or Resign  

Washington, D.C. — Four San Diego firemen were recently ordered against their will to participate in San Diego’s annual “gay pride” parade.  They were then subjected to three hours of crude sexual harassment by homosexual parade-goers who exposed their genitalia, mimicked sex acts and yelled obscenities at the four men.  Prior to the event, Fire Chief Tracy Jarman — an open lesbian — said, “This is a fun event, and all employees are encouraged to participate.”  When the four firefighters tapped to drive the fire truck down the parade route objected, they were threatened with disciplinary action.

Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA), said, “This is an egregious violation of these four public servants’ civil rights.  Through their actions, the city of San Diego and Fire Chief Jarman have subjected these men to sexual harassment of the worst kind and violated their constitutional rights.  To say that this parade was sexually charged is an understatement.  This and other ‘gay pride’ events are simply pagan celebrations of hedonism and sexual deviancy.  This is just another example of tyranny of the ‘gay’ minority.  It raises questions relative to Fire Chief Jarman’s suitability for the job.  If she does not immediately cease her established activism in the workplace relative to her chosen lifestyle, and demonstrate that she can properly serve all her employees and all the citizens of San Diego, she should either resign or be fired.”      

Penny Harrington, Director of Legislation for CWA of California, observed, “Unfortunately, the concerns about lewd behavior common at ‘Pride’ conveyed to the Council earlier in July by CWA and others were realized once again, not only to the detriment of the children and unwitting adults present, but also to these fine public servants. 

“We have to wonder how many other members of law enforcement or employees of corporate sponsors were similarly coerced to participate.  Simply put, the ‘Pride’ events are purely sexual in nature.  Standard civic festivals like holiday parades do not include public nudity, fetishes and other fare inappropriate for the general public.  Perhaps this regrettable yet predictable incident will help the Council see the light,” concluded Harrington. 

The four firefighters have retained legal counsel from the Thomas More Law Center and are suing the city of San Diego for sexual harassment and violation of their civil rights.

Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.

–30–

 Brazilian family advocate Julio Severo had his website taken down by Google for three days after a smear campaign by homosexual militants.

The following article is reprinted with permission from Lifesitenews (http://www.lifesite.net/), which has become one of the world’s leading pro-family sources for news. (To sign up for Lifesite e-updates, click HERE.)

Call it homo-fascism, homo-totalitarianism, homo-supremacy or whatever you will, but the “gay” activist movement’s drive to silence opponents is intensifying worldwide. Yet American liberals and homosexual activists alike –with rare exceptions such as lesbian Georgetown University professor Chai Feldblum — play dumb, as if they cannot comprehend how homosexuality-based “rights” (in the guise of sexual orientation “equality”) will erode the freedoms of those who regard homosexual behavior as wrong.

We welcome homosexual (and liberal) activists who are not afraid of freedom and the battle of ideas to denounce the growing pro-“gay” trend of silencing opposing speech — whether it’s GLAAD threatening to sue a news producer to squelch a report on lesbian bullying; Britain trotting out the “anti-homophobia” police to crush that grave threat to democracy of a Christian passing out tracts at a “gay” event; or pro-homosexual militants claiming that decent religious people who agree with God about sexual sin are causing the murders of homosexuals like Matthew Shepard.

Where else but in the Orwellian world of pro-GLBT “multiculturalism” would you see politically correct bureaucrats squelching faith-based dissent in the name of “diversity” and “tolerance”? The time to speak out against the coming tyranny is now. We would do well to read Feldblum’s paper (delivered last year at a Becket Fund for Religious Liberty symposium): at least she acknowledges that the struggle between “gay rights” and religious freedom of conscience is a “zero-sum game.”

P.S. Take a guess which side Feldblum says deserves to win.– Peter LaBarbera 

___________________________ 

Here is the LifeSiteNews report on Brazil; for Part One, “Brazilian Homosexual Activist Luiz Mott Confesses to Pederastic Love for Boys,” click HERE:

Brazil Attacks Against Family Defenders Backed by Pro-Homosexual Regime of Nation’s President
Part 2 of Lifesite’s report on Brazil’s aggressive homosexual movement

See Part 1 – Leader of Brazil Homosexual Movement Under Investigation for Pedophilia
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07073011.html

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

BRAZIL, July 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In recent months other Brazilians have been subject to the wrath of Brazil’s pro-homosexual regime. 

In June of this year a coalition of protestant church groups, the National Vision for a Christian Conscience (VINACC), was ordered to halt their campaign “In Defense of the Family”, which displayed billboards that said “Homosexuality: God made them man and woman, and saw that it was good!”  A court order decreed the removal of the billboards and the cancellation of a public event scheduled by VINACC to further the defense of family values, claiming that it was “homophobic”.

On May 29th of this year, a Lutheran pastor in the Brazilian town of Rancho Queimado; the Rev. Ademir Kreutzfeld, was subject to a criminal investigation when he was accused of calling local businesses in an effort to inform them that a newspaper they were sponsoring was promoting the homosexual agenda. The homosexual activist who owns the paper filed charges against the pastor for “defamation.” 

Although no further steps have been taken against the minister as yet, homosexuals are agitating for his prosecution. “What have I done?” asks Kreutzfeld. “I just made some phone calls to shops, alerting that they were, without perceiving, sponsoring a newspaper of homosexual ideology. As a Christian committed to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, I could not fail to inform them. Of course, I am not ‘homophobic.’ As a Christian, I love sinners. I am also one of them. But I cannot remain silent before sinful practices”.

Julio Severo (see his English-language blog HERE), who is seen as the principal opponent of Brazil’s militant homosexuals, and who has written a book called “The Homosexual Movement” warning against the political goals of the movement in Brazil and worldwide, states that, since he began his efforts against the homosexual movement in Brazil, he has suffered persecution and has been forced to flee his hometown.  According to Severo, a homosexual government official used his refusal to involve his children with vaccines against him and had a court order to remove his children from their home (Severo and his family believe that vaccines are dangerous and often ineffective). 

“In my opinion, the taboo and repression of sexual relations between adults and youth is supported by two prejudices, that sex has a particular legal age to begin and that every relationship between someone older and younger always implies violence and oppression.”

“[I]if I could choose freely, what I would like for myself would not be a man but a boy, an ‘adolescent’ of the type that the nobles of ancient Greece said was the thing most handsome and pleasurable to be loved and [expletive].”                 

— Brazilian homosexual activist Luiz Mott

The following is Part One of a two-part series by LifeSiteNews, the excellent pro-family web news service (sign up for Lifesite e-updates HERE), about escalating pro-homosexual activist bigotry and repression in Brazil. Click HERE for Part Two, “‘Homo-Fascism’ in Brazil: Pro-Family Advocate Julio Severo Is Targeted”:

Leader of Brazil Homosexual Movement Under Investigation for Pedophilia

Plan to Shut Down Blog of Brazil Pro-Family Leader Backfires

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

BRAZIL, July 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent attempt by Brazilian homosexuals to silence two weblogs failed when Google, the hosting service, restored them after blocking them for several days.  Now the contents of the blogs have drawn the attention of Brazilian prosecutors, who are investigating Luiz Mott, the leader of Brazil’s homosexual movement, for pedophilia.

The first blog, by the anonymous author Jael Savelli, was blocked for only a few hours several weeks ago, but the second, authored by Brazilian Christian activist Julio Severo and hosted by Google’s “Blogger” service at http://juliosevero.blogspot.com, was blocked from July 16 to July 19. 

The site’s contents were removed and replaced with a statement that read: “This blog is being reviewed for possible violations of the Blogger Terms of Service, and can only be opened by the authors.”  Although Severo states that Google never informed him of its reasons for blocking the site, the removal occurred after a bitter campaign against him by homosexual activists on Google’s partner service, Orkut.com.  The service is widely used by Brazilians to socialize and exchange information, and became an organizing point for opposition to Severo and his site.

Three days after Severo’s site was suppressed, the eminent Brazilian philosopher Olavo de Carvalho blasted the campaign against Severo in his regular column for the newspaper Jornal do Brasil.

“A group of militant gays has secured the removal of the site http://juliosevero.blogspot.com, ” wrote de Carvalho. “The method was to spread through Google a storm of denunciations against the author of the blog, the writer Julio Severo, accusing him of preaching violence against homosexuals.  ‘He wants us to remain masked, without the right to defense,’ bellows one of those who incited the attack in the Orkut community used as the headquarters of the initiative.  ‘He wants us to be subject to beatings without our aggressors paying for it.'”

“The accusation is manifestly false,” Carvalho continued.  “Anyone who reads the blog without deformed lenses perceives that.  Severo limits himself to arguing against homosexuality based on Christian morality, which doesn’t command that anyone be beaten. I defy the militant gays to show where he affirms that homosexuals should subject to such violence without the right of protection of the laws.”

 Will the Church of England be forced to hire John Reaney, a homosexual man, as a youth worker despite its beliefs about sex and marriage?

We’ll have much more on this case and other cases evincing the growing threat of homosexual legal activism to basic religious freedoms:

Bishop Loses Gay Employment Case

BBC, July 18, 2007 

A gay man has won his case for unlawful discrimination after he was refused a youth official’s job by a Church of England bishop.

The employment tribunal said John Reaney, 42, was discriminated against “on grounds of sexual orientation” by the Hereford diocesan board of finance.

Mr Reaney, from Colwyn Bay, Conwy, said he was “delighted” at the decision.

The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Rev Anthony Priddis, said he was “naturally disappointed” and may appeal.

During the tribunal in Cardiff in April, Mr Reaney said he was questioned by Bishop Priddis on his previous gay relationship during a two-hour meeting on 19 July 2006

It came after he was told he had emerged as the outstanding candidate for the job during an eight-man interview, the hearing heard.

Mr Reaney, whose case was supported by Stonewall, also told the tribunal he was left “very embarrassed and extremely upset” following the meeting and said he felt like “a total waste of space”.

During his evidence, Bishop Priddis said he had made clear to Mr Reaney that a person in a committed sexual relationship outside of marriage, whether they were heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgender, would be turned down for the post.

But the tribunal found that the bishop should only have considered the present lifestyle of Mr Reaney, who is single, and he should have not questioned his future relationships.

Delivering the judgement, the tribunal said the case would now be listed for a remedy hearing.

“The respondents discriminated against the claimant on the grounds of sexual orientation,” said the judgement.

To read the full BBC story and watch related BBC videos on the case, click HERE

TAKE ACTION:  Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or e-mail them at www.congress.urg and ask them to reject the “Hate Crimes” amendment that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) cynically added to the National Defense Authorization Act.   

 Mary Stachowicz: not the right kind of victim to the media

We favored the death penalty for alleged homosexual Nick Gutierrez for murdering Mary Stachowicz — and then effectively blaming her for “attacking” him (see story below) — just as we called for the death penalty for Matthew Shepard’s killers. But isn’t it interesting how the media have devoted so much coverage over the years to the heinous crime against Matthew, and so little to that against Mary? (Associated Press failed to even cover Gutierrez’s trial.)

How can reporters, producers and editors justifty their double-standard? These days it can be presumed that the Fourth Estate will lavish coverage on “gay” victims, while pious victims like Mary often get ignored. And it seems the media have even less interest in the latter when the murderer is a homosexual — imagine AP ignoring a story about a ‘christian’ who killed a lesbian and stuffing her in his crawl space? I cannot.

In a way, the media’s blatant pro-homosexual bias in covering terrible crimes shows the perils of the “hate crimes” concept in general — both affirm a politically correct hierarchy of victims that is unjust and un-American, no matter how well-intended. Surely, press bias also helps to perpetuate the lopsided prosecution of “hate crimes” against approved classes of victims (like Shepard) by mobilizing government resources through the pressure-generating power of the media spotlight. 

The homosexual lobby named its “thought crimes” bill the “Matthew Shepard Act” — even though he wasn’t killed “just because he was gay,” as the liberal myth goes. But there will never be a “Mary Stachowicz Act” because in the eyes of the same liberals, she was not the right kind of victim.

Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or e-mail them at http://www.congress.urg/ and ask them to reject the “Hate Crimes” amendment that Sen. Ted Kennedy tacked on to the Naional Defense Authorization Act.  — Peter LaBarbera

____________________________

Nicholas Gutierrez, murderer of Mary Stachowicz, deserves death penalty but gets life in prison 

By Allyson Smith, Americans For Truth

CHICAGO — Nicholas Gutierrez, who in November 2002 gruesomely murdered Mary Stachowicz, a devout Chicago Catholic mother of four, was sentenced July 3 to life in prison, even though his crime made him eligible for the death penalty. The sentence was handed down by Cook County Circuit Judge William Lacy following sentencing arguments made by defense and prosecution attorneys the previous week.

“I think the judge was fair, but as the daughter of the victim, knowing what he [Gutierrez] did to my mother, he absolutely, 100 percent deserved the death penalty,” Angie Ruffolo, Mrs. Stachowicz’s daughter, told the Chicago Tribune.

Last November, Gutierrez, who had worked with Mary Stachowicz at the F. J. Sikorski Funeral Home on Chicago’s Northwest side, was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering her. Days after her murder, authorities found Stachowicz’s raped, battered, stabbed and strangled body in a crawl space beneath the floorboards of Gutierrez’s apartment above the mortuary.