Government Promotion

The Story Stalls Here: Media Ignores Naugle on Broward County-AIDS Connection

Friday, August 31st, 2007

From Townhall.com

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RobertKnight/2007/08/30/the_story_stalls_here

The Story Stalls Here
By Robert Knight
Thursday, August 30, 2007

As Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was figuratively dragged out of the restroom and into the spotlight this week, the media have been ignoring another compelling story about sex in public toilets.

Fort Lauderdale’s Democratic mayor, Jim Naugle, has incurred the wrath of homosexual activists for publicly addressing the problem of men having sex in public places. 

It all came to a head, so to speak, in July, when the mayor backed an idea that would frustrate the thrill seekers: switching to automated stalls.  Automated stalls make it difficult for trolling swingers to hook up, and they protect small boys from walking in on lewd behavior

The reaction was brutal.  The local South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran a piece effectively accusing Naugle of gay-bashing.  Predictably, the “gay community” came out of the woodwork, attacking the mayor as “homophobic,” “bigoted” and full of “hate.”  Critics said Naugle was undermining Broward County’s carefully cultivated reputation as a “gay-friendly” vacation destination.

Responding to the media-fed flood of criticism, the mayor, like so many pols before him, announced that he would apologize at a press conference on July 24.  The local press gathered, notebooks ready and cameras rolling, to enjoy the latest example of self-immolation on the pyre of political correctness.

Naugle delivered an apology all right, but not the expected groveling before the rainbow flag.  Instead, he apologized to “the children and parents of our community” for not being informed about “how serious the problem was of sexual activity that’s taking place in bathrooms and public parks.” Then he made a shocking assertion: that Broward County leads the nation in new AIDS cases

Say what? Did he just do what we think he did? How many Americans do you suppose would have found this interesting: a newsy city’s mayor under siege who, instead of kowtowing, comes out fighting and even raises the stakes? 

National press coverage of the Naugle saga has been skimpy.  CNN finally covered the story on August 6.  In a news segment of 5 minutes, 10 seconds, CNN gave Naugle a total of 35 seconds to speak. Reporter Susan Candiotti noted Naugle’s explosive claim that Broward has “a record increase of new AIDS cases in the county, the highest in the nation,” but she didn’t explore the significance of the statistics.

Here’s what Candiotti ignored:  According to the Broward County Health Department, AIDS Surveillance data, in 2006, 70.2 percent of new HIV cases involved men having sex with men (MSM) and another 2.8 percent involved MSM who inject drugs intravenously, for a total of 73 percent.

On August 13, CNN gave the story another 5 minutes, 12 seconds. Anchor Rick Sanchez affected a skeptical, aggressive tone, but to his credit, Sanchez gave Naugle time to make his case.  Sanchez showed no interest in the public health concerns. ….

Click HERE to read the rest of Bob Knight’s column on Townhall.com

Renegade Judge Strikes Down Iowa Defense of Marriage Act

Friday, August 31st, 2007

From Focus on the Family’s Citizenlink

County Judge Robert Hanson decided Thursday that he will make the laws for Iowa. He struck down the state’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional and ordered Polk County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Roger J. Kuhle, an assistant county attorney, argued the issue is not for a judge to decide. The county, home to state capital Des Moines, is expected to appeal the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family Action, called it another example of a judge legislating from the bench.

“Once again, we see an activist judge handing liberal activists what they have not been able to achieve legislatively or at the ballot box: government sanctioning of same-sex marriage,” he said. “This purely political ruling proves yet again that nothing short of a federal marriage-protection amendment is sufficient to preserve one-man, one-woman marriage in our nation.

“By striking down Iowa’s DOMA, Judge Robert Hanson has shown he believes the desires of adults should trump what’s best for children. His ruling represents social engineering at its worst.”

Click HERE to read the whole Citizenlink article

Americans For Truth Says Sen. Craig Should Resign, Cites Lambda Legal and Gay Task Force for ‘Enabling and Promoting’ Homosexual Public Sex

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

little-black-book-ii-final.bmp In its online “Little Black Book,” the homosexual legal group Lambda Legal tells homosexual men seeking sex partners in parks and public restrooms to “Cruise Safely.” See our story, Lambda Legal’s ‘Little Black Book’ Helps Homosexual Men ‘Cruise Safely’ for Public Sex in Parks and Bathrooms.

Americans For Truth News Release 

Contact Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631

CHICAGO, Aug. 30 – Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera issued the following statement today on Sen. Larry Craig’s ‘homosexual toilet sex’ scandal:

“First of all, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) needs to step down, and spare himself and the Senate any further embarrassment. As Roll Call reported, ‘Craig was arrested by a plainclothes police officer who accused the Senator of seeking sex in a men’s room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, [and] pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct earlier this month.’

“It is hard to conceive of police officers – trained to spot these perverse ‘toilet sex’ solicitations – somehow misinterpreting his odd behavior outside a bathroom stall.

“The Republican Party needs to clean its house of all secret perversions and adulterous lifestyles – gay, straight and in between – if it is to have any credibility as a “pro-family” party. The Democrats are worse off: they need to stop pandering to homosexual activists and the radical abortion lobby and become a pro-family, pro-life party.

“As to charges by homosexual activists such as National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman of Republican ‘hypocrisy,’ they should know that ‘h-word’ well: the Task Force and another homosexual group, Lambda Legal, have enabled and promoted homosexual ‘public sex’ – of the type alleged against Sen. Craig – for years.

“Lambda Legal publishes a ‘Little Black Book,’ which is linked to on a homosexual ‘Cruising for Sex’ website, as a helpful tool for “cruising” men to stay out of legal trouble. Click HERE to view the PDF. “Cruising” is a “gay” male term describing the search for sexual partners, including in public places such as parks and store restrooms.

“Rather than tell men outright not to engage in such reckless depravities, Lambda Legal’s “Little Black Book” features headlines like “Cruising Safely,” and advises, “If you cruise in parks, bathrooms or other spaces open to public view, trust your instincts, be aware of your surroundings — and know your rights.”

“As for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, before calling others hypocrites, Foreman should check the speakers’ logs for past Task Force conferences. In its 1998 “Creating Change” conference, the Task Force invited as a panelist the webmaster for the ‘Cruising for Sex’ website – which lists thousands of locations across the country where men can find sex with other men – including so-called ‘cruisy toilets’ like the one in Minneapolis that will help end Larry Craig’s Senate career.”

Americans For Truth exposes and opposes the “gay” activist movement.

LISTEN ONLINE CWA: No Room at the (Holiday) Inn for the Truth

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

Our good friends at Concerned Women for AmericaBeverly LaHaye’s organization, which does so much to defend life and the family across these United States — have posted an online radio interview with Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera regarding Holiday Inn’s cancellation of our banquet. (We have secured another venue for the banquet, but the date is changed to Friday, October 5 — more information HERE.) 

TAKE ACTION:  1) To complain about Holiday Inn Select’s discriminatory treatment against people of faith and conservatives (another Holiday Inn cancelled an event for the Minuteman Project) — and their abrupt cancellation of Americans For Truth’s banquet reservation, write dennis@naperselect.com or call the hotel at 630-505-4900.
 

2) Call AFTAH’s Banquet Coordinator at 312-315-6152 to reserve a spot at the banquet on Friday, Oct. 5; or use our new and improved online credit-card donation page to sign up (there are more options and we no longer require you to use the Paypal system!);
 

You can also send your check for the banquet ($50/ticket or table of ten for $500) to AFTAH, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522. Please pray that this event will be a success.

Click HERE to listen to the CWA interview online, or you can go to the CWA website to listen to the report. CWA writes:

No Room at the Inn

There is no room for Americans for Truth (AFTAH) at the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville, Illinois. The pro-family group was well into planning a fundraising banquet at that facility for October 6, when the Inn’s General Manager Dennis Igoe cancelled the group’s reservation citing safety issues for the hotel’s patrons. Those concerns stemmed from the possibility that homosexual activists would protest the event and resulting negative publicity for the hotel, not from AFT’s planned activities. Igoe’s actions were upheld by the Holiday Inn corporate offices, leaving AFT to scramble for alternate accommodations. Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, speaks with Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, on this situation putting it in context with the chain’s past actions.

AFA: Holiday Inn Dumps ‘Americans For Truth’ Banquet: Is Anti-Christian Discrimination at Play

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
holiday_inn_select.jpg In case you were wondering why Americans For Truth had to change our banquet date from Oct. 6 to Friday, October 5, here’s the explanation: Holiday Inn Select Hotel in Naperville, Illinois, dropped our reservation due to the possibility of a “gay” protest against us. Here’s the story from American Family Association’s “OneNewsNow.” You can also listen to their story on the OneNewsNow website
_______________________________

Holiday Inn Dumps Christian banquet; Group Says Anti-Christian Discrimination at Play

By Jim Brown, OneNewsNow.com
August 29, 2007
      

CLICK TO HEAR THIS STORY AT ‘ONE NEWS NOW’

Holiday Inn is being accused of anti-Christian discrimination for refusing to allow a Christian non-profit group to hold its annual banquet at one of its suburban Chicago locations.
Americans for Truth (AFTAH) had reached a verbal agreement with the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville, Illinois, to hold its October 6 banquet at the hotel. AFT had the reservation for several weeks, and both parties had even discussed the menu for the event.      

But when AFT executive director Peter LaBarbera told the banquet coordinator the event might draw a protest from homosexual activists, general manager Dennis Igoe dropped the reservation due to what he called “potential negative publicity to the hotel.” Florida-based Liberty Counsel then sent a letter to Igoe, informing him that his “cancellation of Americans for Truth’s reservation raises serious concerns of unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of religion.”

According to LaBarbera, Igoe’s decision to reject AFT was then ratified by Holiday Inn’s corporate offices. LaBarbera says he cannot imagine the hotel treating homosexual activists in the same manner. He calls this another example of Christians being treated as second-class citizens in U.S. society.

“It seems that there is now a sort of politically correct homosexual ‘heckler’s veto’ that’s forcing or persuading businesses to do things to decent people that they wouldn’t normally do,” he says.

LaBarbera states that it seems like America is becoming a “nation of cowards” due to political correctness.

“When a hotel chain is willing to cancel a Christian group’s event, due to a potential protest by a homosexual activist group, it’s a sad day in America,” says LaBarbera.

He says that although he believes his organization has grounds for a lawsuit, they probably will not because they have “plenty of other things to do,” he states. The AFT banquet will now have to find a new venue for the event, which has been rescheduled for October 5. The banquet will feature speaking appearances by former homosexual Charlotte Cothran and parents’ rights advocate David Parker of Massachusetts.

Mr. Igoe did not return OneNewsNow’s requests for an interview. A Holiday Inn hotel in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake recently succeeded in getting a judge to bar the Illinois Minuteman Project from holding a scheduled seminar at the hotel. The hotel cited concerns the anti-illegal immigration group might attract protests that would jeopardize the safety of its employees and customers.
Editor’s Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.

Sen. Larry Craig Arrested for Lewd Conduct in Minneapolis Airport Restroom

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

larry-craig.jpg Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)

Since this story broke, the Idaho affiliate of the American Family Association has called for Sen. Craig’s resignation if the sordid allegations are true. Below are excerpts from a WorldNetDaily report:

GOP senator arrested for lewd conduct
Larry Craig pleaded guilty to incident at airport bathroom

——————————————————————————–
WorldNetDaily.com
Posted: August 27, 2007 

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call.

The Capitol Hill publication said Craig was arrested just after noon June 11 and pleaded guilty Aug. 8 in the Hennepin County District Court to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Later today, Craig responded to the Roll Call story with a statement, declaring, “At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.”

“I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter,” the senator said. “In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.”

Craig, who is married, paid more than $500 in fines and fees and was given one year of probation with the court that began Aug. 8, Roll Call reported. A 10-day jail sentence was stayed. …

The incident report, according to Roll Call, said the plainclothes officer, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, was investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal. A number of arrests already had been made there.

Karsnia took a seat in a stall, and about 13 minutes later, a man later identified as Craig lingered in front of the stall for about two minutes.

The report states: “I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes.”

Karsnia reported Craig then entered the stall next to him and placed his roller bag in front of the stall door.

“My experience,” the officer stated, “has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall. From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”

Karsnia wrote:

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area.”

Click HERE to read the full WorldNetDaily report

Click HERE to read the statement by the Idaho affiliate of AFA calling for Craig’s resignation

Get Taxpayers Out of the Homosexual Tourism Business: Chicago’s ‘Market Days’ Promotes ‘Gay’ Promiscuity

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

steamworks_bathhouse_chicago_market_days_2005.jpg 

Steamworks, a 24/7 homosexual bathhouse — where men go for anonymous sex with other men — in the heart of Chicago’s homosexual Boystown neighborhood, had a booth at the city’s 2005 “Market Days” street fair. The fair was promoted by Illinois’ tourism agency. Other booths at the event hawked “gay” porn and an anti-traditional-Catholic homosexual organization. More photos at: Illinois Family Institute’s website.
  

By Peter LaBarbera 

We missed Chicago’s “Market Days” earlier this month in the city’s homosexual neighborhood of Boystown. So will have to rely on an account I wrote in 2005 for the Illinois Family Institute to illustrate the perils of using taxpayer dollars to promote homosexual tourism.

When states like Florida and cities like Chicago promote “gay” tourism, invariably they promote (mostly male) homosexual sexual promiscuity and anti-Christian homosexual activism — such as the counterfeit Catholic homosexual group ‘Dignity Chicago,’ which had a booth at Market Days, as shown in the IFI story. 

Where else but a homosexually-oriented street fair would you see a bathhouse sponsor a booth in which people (presumably including children) lined up to play “Skeeball”; a booth right on the street hawking hundreds of “gay” porn videos; a sadistic sex store table featuring to its own life-sized wax dummy — a fat, hooded “leatherman” standing in a cage; a heretical “gay Catholic” booth — and a “health” group passing out booklets informing teenaged “boyz” that “BEING QUEER is something SPECIAL. Something to CELEBRATE”?

All that and more was found at the 2005 Chicago “Market days.” Yep, sounds like a great use of tax dollars to me.

The truth is, “gay” tourism — and homosexual events sponsored by major corporations — are unlike most other special interest promotions because they celebrate sexual immorality. Pushing the sexual (and now gender) envelope is part and parcel of the modern “GLBT” movement.

Mayor Naugle is right

Ft. Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle is urging his state’s tourism officials to stop promoting homosexual bathhouses — 24/7 walk-in sex clubs where men go for anonymous sodomitic encounters with other men — as a way to reduce HIV infections (apparently, at his urging, Florida is now going to remove the bathhouses from their “gay”-oriented travel guides). He is right. But the larger problem with governments promoting “gay” tourism is that it puts the average citizen in the position of financing — and, thus, in a way, condoning — homosexual lifestyles. Governments act on behalf of citizens.

For Americans and politicians who worship at the shrine of the Almighty Dollar, sponsoring homosexuality-oriented events is not a  problem. “Gay” dollars are green, not lavender, and broke cities need cash, while local businesses benefit, they say. But I suspect that most taxpayers would not want to subsidize and celebrate pro-homosexuality events with their hard-earned dollars.

So let the private sector finance these dubious festivals — and the sex-filled “gay” tourism industry — on their own dime. Moral-minded and fiscally prudent taxpayers want out of the homosexuality promotion business.

 

Teacher Calls School Use of Profane ‘Angels in America’ an ‘Arrogant Challenge to Conservative Parents’

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

angels_in_america_not_appropriate_for_schools.jpg 

The perverse, homosexuality-themed play ‘Angels in America’ contains lines like “Holy Orifice!” and “You [f—–d] this angel?” The blasphemous and vulgar play was taught in a Chicago area high school.

Americans For Truth has learned that the vulgar, homosexuality-themed play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, was chosen for study last year at a Chicago area high school.

I must ask after reading a few profane, pornographic excerpts from Angels in America — with highly artistic lines like, “Holy Orifice!” and “You [f—-d] this angel?”: what is wrong with liberals? What good comes from foisting this blasphemous garbage on students? The use of this play in the classroom borders on mental abuse — it constitutes the corruption of minors — and I suspect that educationists could only continue with this sort of malpractice if parents remain ignorant. — Peter LaBarbera 

(emphasis added below):

WARNING: Offensive sexual language, of the sort that should not be forced on impressionable students in our schools. 

By Laurie Higgins

I have just read Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner which is currently being taught in some high schools.  I am dismayed that any high school teacher would choose this highly polemical, vulgar, pro-homosexual play. It is egregiously profane and obscene with references to “fellatio” and “blowjobs,” and casual and frequent use of profane and obscene language.

I reject the anticipated caterwauling from teachers about censorship. Parents who object to this and other offensive texts are not recommending prior restraint or removal of a text from a library. Rather, they are arguing for reasonable respect for parental values and community standards of decency when selecting texts to be taught to minors in public schools. Apparently, what teachers actually mean when they squawk about censorship is that they will never take into account vulgarity, profanity, obscenity, or the deeply held beliefs of conservatives on arguably the single most divisive, contentious issue facing American society. Evidently liberal teachers will continue to promote the normalization of what many, including virtually all Muslim traditions, Orthodox Judaism, the Roman Catholic Church, and many Protestant denominations, as well as many secularists consider sexual perversion. Do faculty members, school boards, and administrations think that Muslim families want their sons and daughters discussing oral sex and homosexuality at school at all, let alone in mixed groups? Certainly, I, as a Protestant, would not want any of my children to discuss these topics in their classes.

I find it nigh unto impossible to believe that this play was chosen simply because of how critically well received it has been within the amoral, arrogant, elitist intelligentsia of American culture who purvey cultural collapse. I believe this text was chosen in order to take on the philistines who contend that traditional values deserve respect and that there should be an end to the advocacy of liberal views on sexual orientation and identity. Choosing an odiously vulgar “gay fantasia” constitutes an insult and an aggressive, arrogant challenge to conservative parents.

What a repugnant and diabolical irony it is that teachers are often prohibited from discussing, even in an intellectual (as opposed to proselytical) way, religion, but they may ask students to read and discuss “blowjobs” and homosexuality. If nothing changes, and teachers continue to ask adolescents to read and discuss texts like this, there is no reason for public school administrations to prohibit students, staff, faculty, or administrators from using obscene and profane language or discussing fellatio in the halls of higher learning.

The curious thing is that those liberal educators who with obsessive vigilance monitor public school classrooms for violations of the separation of church and state don’t seem to object to the presence of religion in Kushner’s gay fantasia. His theology touches on the nature of God, Heaven, angelology, and theodicy. I guess it’s okay to commingle the church and state as long as religion is treated in a perverse, blasphemous kind of way.
 
Laurie Higgins who works full-time in a suburban public high school writing center in the Chicago area.


Support Americans for Truth about Homosexuality

Americans For Truth
P.O. Box 340743
Columbus, OH 43234

Peter's Lifesite News Articles'

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Peter's Lifesite News Articles'


Americans for Truth Radio Hour

Americans for Truth Academy

Peter's Lifesite News Articles'