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“Anti-bullying” bill now moves on to Mass. House – text is still troubling
Congratulations to the vigilant pro-family activists over at MassResistance for stopping this proposed “hate speech” provision in an “anti-bullying” bill (see the proposed text in box at right). It is victories like this that made it easy for me to praise this gutsy organization and its founder, Brian Camenker (and MR blogger Amy Contrada) as a speaker at their recent fund-raising banquet.
For years — no, decades — homosexual activists have been telling us that their agenda (oops, I forgot…there is no “gay agenda”) does not pose a threat to freedom. Then we watched in Canada as religious critics of homosexuality were forced to defend themselves against “discrimination” suits brought through Orwellian government “human rights” tribunals — simply for expressing their beliefs against homosexuality. To label these state-sanctioned spectacles “nuisance suits” would be to trivialize the great harm they have done to their innocent victims. Meanwhile, in Britain and Sweden, Christians also faced government oppression for opposing homosexuality. Other countries stand poised to criminalize “homophobia.”
The silence among American homosexual activists against this escalating PRO-“gay” oppression has been deafening. After all, justifying state censorship of your critics isn’t easy when you’re playing the victim card.
And now we see the first, rudimentary attempts at legislating a “hate speech” regime here in the United States. Consider the removed paragraph above in light of the common homosexualist accusation that groups like Mass Resistance and Americans For Truth “hate gays.” Self-described “queer” militants routinely equate traditional religious tenets or moral beliefs with hatred (all the while demonstrating consistent “malice” of their own with abundant lies and nasty smears against pro-family opponents).
Folks, I mistakenly implied that GOProud — the aspiring “gay conservative” group whose co-sponsorship of CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) this February has sparked talk of a social conservative boycott — endorses the full agenda of other GLBT groups. Actually, it opposes “hate crimes” laws, as Damien Geminder of the blog http://conservathink.blogspot.com writes below. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org
Damian Geminder’s letter to AFTAH:
From: Damian G. [——-]
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 1:53 PM
To: americansfortruth@comcast.net
Subject: [AFT Web Site] RE: GOProud article
The following message was sent from the Americans for Truth Web site:
——————————————————————————– In your article about CPAC’s sponsor GOProud, you questioned libertarians for supporting “redefin[ing] criminal prosecution to factor in people/s thoughts (hate crimes).” Actually, GOProud was largely formed as a result of homosexual conservatives who opposed the Log Cabin Republicans’ pro-hate crimes stance. GOProud is for many pro-gay causes, but hate crimes is not one of them.
We’re proud to have Matt Barber as our keynote speaker at Americans For Truth’s fund-raising banquet on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. Below is Matt’s appearance at AFTAH’s pro-family coalition’s press conference in Chicago June 17, 2009 calling attention to President Barack Obama’s radical homosexual agenda. More information beneath video:
This pro-family press conference — largely ignored by the dominant liberal media — was organized by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs at the Liberty Counsel (and an AFTAH Board Member), was fired by Allstate Insurance Company in 2005 because he wrote an online article — on his own time — critical of organized homosexuality. Since then, he has risen to his current position as one of Americas leading defenders of natural marriage and family. He will be the keynote speaker at AFTAH’s fund-raising banquet outside Chicago on Oct. 24, 2009.
Imagine if this Scenario Were Reversed: One might suppose that homosexual militant Wayne Besen would be the last fellow to question the idea that “gay” activism threatens religious freedom in America. At left, Besen is photographed harassing a Boston church hosting an ex-“gay” conference — by yelling through a bullhorn into the window of the church during the conference. (Click HERE for MassResistance’s full story on the homosexual protest, and HERE for a report on a much larger and more violent pro-homosexual protest against another Boston church in 2005.) What if a bunch of Christian activists terrorized a meeting at a homosexual church in a similar manner? We suspect that Besen and fellow “gay” advocates might accuse them of using fascist tactics, and rightly so. Go HERE to read Besen’s hate-filled screed against Christian activist Michael Brown and his “God Has a Better Way” Gospel outreach at the Charlotte, NC “gay pride” festival.
By Laurie Higgins
Homosexual activist Wayne Besen of the oddly named Truth Wins Out described Dr. Michael Brown’s group of evangelists (the “God Has a Better Way” campaign responding to the Charlotte, N.C. “gay pride” parade) as “uninvited locusts” descending on Charlotte. With that description in mind, I wonder how conservatives should describe the thousands of participants in “pride” parades and “fairs” who pollute our streets with illegal nudity and public sex acts to which law enforcement agents, who are paid by the public to enforce laws, turn a blind eye.
When Besen said that “the notion that gay people in conservative North Carolina needed Brown to educate them about religious fundamentalism was farcical,” he revealed his ignorance about Biblical and Historical Theology. Although the belief that homosexual acts violate God’s will is a belief held by “fundamentalists,” it also integral to all orthodox theological traditions and has been since the beginnings of the church. His ignorance is not surprising, however, since Besen is a member of the homosexual activist movement that regularly makes numerous ludicrous exegetical claims, including the claims that Ruth and Naomi and David and Jonathan had homosexual relationships.
“Coalition of Conscience” crowd of more than 500 prepares to offer Gospel witness at homosexual “pride” event in Charlotte, N.C. Their message: “God has a better way.” See www.godhasabetterway.com.
Dear Readers,
I commend to you my friend Dr. Michael Brown’s and the Coalition of Conscience’s response to the “gay pride” movement in Charlotte, N.C. In a speech last week to Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, I said that the appropriate Christian response to homosexual/”trans” activism and homosexual strugglers is a tightrope walk — balancing a witness for truth on the one side and the gracious love of Christ for sinners on the other. I too often fall off that tightrope, but Michael hangs on it as well as any pro-family leader I have observed in the last 20 years. (My only cautionary note is Brown’s use of the term “homophobia” [see this excellent NARTH analysis] — an artificial construct that is now so elastically defined that almost any rejection of homosexualist goals (including same-sex “marriage”) can be and is deemed “homophobic” by “gay” activists and the liberal media. That said, his point it correct: it is wrong to fear and hate men and women trapped in homosexuality — people who need God’s love and grace.)
Hate Crimes Amendment Will Face More Hurdles After Passing Senate in Late Night Vote
July 17, 2009
Senator Harry Reid’s bullying tactics paved the way for the Senate to pass the so-called Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill late last night. The cloture vote taken late last night was 63-28, with every Democrat voting for the amendment, except Senators Byrd (WV) and Kennedy (MA), who were not present. Approval of the cloture motion meant that the hate crimes amendment was adopted.
The hate crimes amendment will not become law unless the $680 billion Defense Authorization bill passes and the amendment is reconciled with the version of the hate crimes bill passed by the House. The Senate Defense Authorization bill includes funding for F-22 jets. President Obama has threatened to veto the Defense bill if it funds the F-22.
A watered-down version of the “hate crimes” amendment passed the Senate last night. I watched on CSPAN as Sen. Brownback (R-KS) offered a successful amendment adopting language from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — protecting all speech except that specifically intended to incite violence. Brownback’s amendment would make it harder for overzealous, pro-homosexual prosecutors to use the “hate crimes” law to suppress moral speech and Bible preaching against homosexuality.
AP reports: “Republicans will have the opportunity to propose several more changes to the hate crimes bill on Monday, but that will not change its status as part of the must-pass defense bill.” The “hate crimes” measure — outrageously attached by the Democrats to a DoD spending bill — remains a dangerous Trojan Horse.
TAKE ACTION: Urge your Senators to challenge other portions of the “hate crimes” amendment, such as language that would make it the first federal law to create federal “civil rights” protections based on gender confusion (“gender identity”). Call Congress at 202-224-3121 or write your Senators through www.congress.org.
TAKE ACTION: Sen. John McCain has denounced Majority Leader Harry Reid for attaching the “Hate Crimes” amendment to a defense appropriations bill (see McCain’s floor remarks HERE). Hate crimes could be voted on TONIGHT, July 16th. Call your U.S. Senators right now and urge them to oppose the Hate Crimes amendment (S. 909); call 202-224-3121 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET — or call toll-free at 866-659-9641. Write using www.congress.org.
The following is Part II of Prof. Robert Gagnon’s series, “Why a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity “Hate Crimes” Law Is Bad for You.” Click HERE for Part I (“Hate Crimes Bill Promotes Hatred of People Opposed to Homosexual Behavior“) and HERE for Gagnon’s web page containing links to all three parts (scroll down on page).
Part 2: The irrelevant and inaccurate claim that this bill will not abridge your freedom of speech
by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.
June 17, 2009
Note: To print a clean copy with proper formatting and pagination go to the pdf version HERE.
Proponents of the current “hate crimes” bill before the U.S. Senate argue that it is a lie that this bill will abridge in any way free speech protections for those who publicly express opposition to homosexual practice without causing, or attempting to cause, bodily harm. This claim is both irrelevant and inaccurate.
The first step of getting “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in federal law
It is irrelevant because, as noted in Part I, this bill does most of its damage in creating, for the first time in federal law, the special legal-protective categories of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” The first hurdle is the biggest: getting the categories of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” on the books. A “hate crimes” bill functions as — no double entendre intended — the Trojan horse of an aggressive gay/transgender lobby, offering to the public the “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” law least likely to meet with massive public resistance.
Congratulations to the vigilant pro-family activists over at MassResistance for stopping this proposed “hate speech” provision in an “anti-bullying” bill (see the proposed text in box at right). It is victories like this that made it easy for me to praise this gutsy organization and its founder, Brian Camenker (and MR blogger Amy Contrada) as a speaker at their recent fund-raising banquet.
