This photo of ACLU activist (or should we say actress?) Sarah Loy crying at the rally where she falsely accused pro-family advocate Larry Cirignano of violently assaulting her, appeared in the December 17, 2007, Worcester Telegram and Gazette’s initial report of the incident. Telegram Reporter Richard Nangle (rnangle@telegram.com) wrote that Cirignano “pushed [Loy] to the ground, her head slamming against the concrete sidewalk.” But a jury rejected this story, which echoed Loy’s account. (The jury found that Loy tripped rather than being pushed.) Nangle, testifying in court, could not find himself among enlarged photos of people at the center of the rally crowd — casting into doubt whether he could have seen what actually transpired.  Nevertheless, a defiant Nangle says he “stands by everything” that he originally reported. Telegram photo is by Paul Kapteyn. 

By Peter LaBarbera

This is a fascinating case involving media bias: a reporter whose story was proven false — or at least not credible — in a court of law is “stand[ing] by everything ” he originally wrote.

On December 16, 2006, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette published a story under reporter Richard Nangle’s byline, regarding a pro-marriage rally in Worcester protested by Sarah Loy and the local ACLU. Nangle, an ACLU Board Member, reported that Catholic family advocate Larry Cirignano had “pushed [Loy] to the ground, her head slamming against the concrete sidewalk.”

Nangle’s vivid depiction of the alleged attack echoed Loy’s own charges of assault and battery against Cirignano, and helped created an impression in the public’s mind that she was a victim of violence (and that he was violent man who attacks women). A photo accompanying Nangle’s story (see above) showed Loy in tears at the rally scene. However, on October 22, a jury found Larry Cirignano innocent of assault and battery against Loy, a week after presiding Judge David Despotopulos had thrown out Loy’s “civil rights” complaint against him. See our story relaying MassRessistance’s account of the case and trial.

Here are the first three paragraphs in Nangle’s story, under the headline (which he did not necessarily write), “Worcester Rally Takes Ugly Turn; Gay Marriage Backer Pushed,” with emphasis added:

WORCESTER- Tempers boiled over at an anti-gay marriage rally yesterday when the executive director of the Boston-based Catholic Citizenship emerged from behind a lectern outside City Hall, rushed toward a female counter-demonstrator, and pushed her to the ground.

 

Sarah Loy, 27, of Worcester was holding a sign in defense of same-sex marriage amid a sea of green “Let the People Vote” signs when Larry Cirignano of Canton, who heads the Catholic Citizenship group, ran into the crowd, grabbed her by both shoulders and told her, “You need to get out. You need to get out of here right now.” Mr. Cirignano then pushed her to the ground, her head slamming against the concrete sidewalk.

 

“It was definitely assault and battery,” said Ronal C. Madnick, director of the Worcester County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Police interviewed Mr. Madnick and several others moments after the incident.

This is a wonderful piece by Scott Lively, founder of Abiding Truth Ministries and Defend the Family International, and one of the early pro-family leaders opposing the homosexual activist agenda. — Peter LaBarbera

By Scott Lively

Hate has a pretty bad name in the world today. No one wants to be called a hater, especially Christians, which is probably why we get accused of it all the time by our opponents. Homosexuals are especially fond of calling people haters. They even invented the word homophobia, which means hate and fear of homosexuals, envisaged as a mental illness (a phobia is an anxiety disorder).

I hate being called a homophobe. It has such an ugly connotation. Its especially unpleasant because, as a Christian, I’m supposed to have a reputation for loving people, not hating them. So I’ve worked really hard over the years to try to get the homosexuals to stop calling me a homophobe.

I’ve pointed out the difference between hating people and hating their behavior (loving the sinner but hating the sin). They hated that. Then I tried “walking my talk” by taking an ex-“gay” man who was dying of AIDS into my family. My wife and I and our children loved and cared for him during the last year of his life. They hated that even more.

Then I began asking for guidance from homosexuals themselves: “Tell me, where is the line between homophobia and acceptable opposition to homosexuality?” I asked. “What if I just agree with the Bible that homosexuality is a sin no worse than any other sex outside of marriage?”

“No, that’s homophobic,” they replied. “Suppose I talk only about the proven medical hazards of gay sex and try to discourage people from hurting themselves?” “No, you can’t do that,” they said. “How about if I say that homosexuals have the option to change if they choose?” “Ridiculous” they answered. “Maybe I could just be completely positive, say nothing about homosexuality, and focus only on promoting the natural family and traditional marriage?” “That’s really hateful,” they replied.

After I while, I realized that the only way I could get them to stop calling me a homophobe was to start agreeing with them about everything. But here’s my dilemma: I honestly believe the Bible which says that homosexuality is wrong and harmful and that all sex belongs within marriage. I’ve also read the professional studies and know that “gay” sex hurts people because it goes against the design of their bodies. And I’m friends with a number of former homosexuals who are now married and living heterosexual lives. Do I have to give up my religion? Ignore scientific facts? Betray my friends? Is that the only way to avoid being called a hater and a homophobe?

There’s no escape. A homophobe is anyone who, for any reason, disapproves of homosexuality in any way, shape, manner, form or degree. This leaves me with just two choices: agree that everything about homosexuality is natural, normal, healthy, moral and worthy to be celebrated OR be labeled as a mentally ill, hate-filled bigot.

Am I wrong? Is there any way to openly disapprove of homosexuality without being a homophobe? “Gay” leaders, please set me straight on this.

Because if I’m right, that means the “gay agenda” is to stop everyone from following the Bible regarding sexual matters. It is, after all, their stated goal to “stamp out homophobia.” No more religious freedom. It’s also to suppress scientific research that has reached conclusions they don’t like, especially if it helps people to change their homosexual orientation back to a heterosexual one (ask the doctors and scientists at narth.com what they’ve had to endure). If it discourages homosexuality, even by implication, it’s homophobic and can’t be used.

There’s a queer reasoning behind all of this. Homosexuals call me names like bigot and homophobe, condemn my religion, mock my rational conclusions about social issues, impugn my motives, display intense hostility toward my actions, and curse my very existence, all under the justification that I’m a “hater.” But if I’m a “hater” for civilly opposing what they do, why aren’t they haters for uncivilly opposing what I do? Such a double standard, in the context of a public debate on “civil rights,” is not just hypocritical, it is surreal.

I admit I have some hate. I hate watching people kill themselves with preventable diseases like AIDS. I hate seeing children being steered toward unhealthy lifestyles. I hate having my pro-family views distorted by dishonest journalists, politicians and academics. And I hate seeing my God being treated like a homophobe for what He teaches in His Bible.

So if you’re not going to stop calling me a “hater” for wanting homosexuals to be saved and healed, or for opposing their political agenda, let’s at least see a little more of that famous “American sense of fair play” in the public debate on this issue. Hatred of “haters” is hateful too.

Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.
Defend the Family International
PO Box 891023
Temecula, CA 92589
www.defendthefamily.com

Larry Cirignano (with yellow tie in bottom photo) with attorney Mike Gilleran, after their triumph over ACLU activist Sarah Loy’s harassing lawsuit. At top, ACLU Board Member Loy (in middle, holding sign) describes her phony “assault” to police after she disrupted Cirignano’s rally and then lied about him pushing her down. If you look closely, you can see Loy’s nose growing in the photo — not really. You can congratulate Larry for his court victory over the ACLU at larryvote@aol.com.

“That’s what hate does!”
— Massachusetts activist Sarah Loy’s chant after she had fallen to the ground at a pro-family meeting she was disrupting; a judge and jury found no basis for her claim that Larry Cirignano had pushed her in an attack on her “civil rights.”  

By Peter LaBarbera

Every freedom-loving American owes a debt of gratitude to Larry Cirignano and all those like him who refuse to give up or “settle” in the face of the radical Left’s lies, dirty tricks and intimidation tactics. Cirignano is a Catholic family advocate who was “set up” by an ACLU activist at a pro-marriage rally in Worcester, Massachusetts, turning the pro-family event into a 10-month personal nightmare. (See below, or go HERE to Mass Resistance’s excellent background story on the case; their final write-up is HERE.)

You simply won’t believe this case: alleged “victim” and pro-homosexual protester Sarah Loy invaded a pro-marriage rally on December 16, 2006; then, as Cirignano was leading her away from the rally that she was trying to disrupt, she fell to the ground and started screaming about “hate” as if he had attacked her! (You can view a sample of the leftist tripe on this website, which identifies Loy as a Board Member of ACLU.)

Loy claimed that Cirignano shoved her to the ground but the jury found that she tripped and fell. You can watch some amateur video footage of the rally HERE. (The video, which is of low quality, might be called, Anatomy of a Smear; a longer version of it, along with still photographs, was used in court to show that some of the government’s key “witnesses” to the alleged assault — including Richard Nangle of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, who reported it as fact — were not in the crowd but standing dozens of feet away.) 

The whole case is further proof — as if we needed it — that nobody lies like the pro-homosexual, pro-abortion Left, whose members are so consumed with hatred for those defending life and the natural family that they will stoop to evil tactics like this in their ends-justify-the-means crusade to destroy them.

Loy’s story was a complete fabrication, but Worcester’s prosecutors — in bed with the ACLU, the liberal media, and the state’s powerful “gay” lobby — took it seriously, wasting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars and smearing a good man’s reputation in the process. 

 The same Gay Liberation Network that lied about Americans For Truth’s banquet numbers and tried to pressure the Embassy Suites Hotel to drop our reservation once called Chicago’s historic Moody Church (in background) a “House of Hate” — because Moody pastor Dr. Erwin Lutzer wrote a book critical of “same-sex marriage.” The anti-Christian GLN claimed that “40-50” people attended AFTAH’s banquet, when in truth over 110 showed up, packing the room. Photo courtesy Illinois Family Institute. 

By Peter LaBarbera 

The same homosexual activist group, Gay Liberation Network (GLN), that led a pressure campaign to oust Americans For Truth from the hotel where it held its successful banquet Friday night, is now spreading lies about the number of attendees — saying that “40-50” people came when in actuality over 110 people packed out the banquet room at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lombard for the successful event.

GLN’s lie has surfaced on lesbian blogger Pam Spaulding’s site and presumably others as well. (We’re anxiously awaiting “The Pam’s” correction….) As you might imagine, the prodigious Gay Fib Machine is quite busy when it comes to smearing Americans For Truth, about which they are quite obsessed.

The GLN’s Andy Thayer — who led a contingent of what looked like about 10 or fewer scruffy protesters at our event Friday, somehow determined that “There were only about 40-50 people in attendance” at our banquet. But Thayer and his small band of followers were kept off the Embassy Suites property; they were forced to hold their protest signs (one slammed the “Bigot Banquet”) on the nearest big road (Butterfield Rd.), at least 50 yards from the hotel — so we’re not sure how they got their curious crowd estimate.

A couple of homosexual men did come to the banquet room to harass us after the event had ended and many people had left, so maybe that explains it.

The Gay Liberation Network has some warped priorities, to be sure: while it crusaded against the “hateful” Americans For Truth — even trying to knock us from our hotel — it recently praised Miller Beer for sponsoring the deplorable, sadomasochistic “Folsom Street Fair,” at which hundreds of men walked around totally nude and where orgies on the streets and various “consensual” beatings went undisturbed by San Francisco police.

Here’s more falsehoods from GLN’s Thayer, as relayed by Spaulding:

I doubt they were getting anywhere near $50/person from their paltry attendance, as one of our people went in to scope it out and was told by a person at the door that all that was needed to get in was a free reservation.  No way they covered their overhead, let alone raised any money.  

Truth be told, all of our guests paid their $50, and many much more, so thankfully we had a good night raising funds for our cause of answering “gay” activist lies in the culture.  

I did have an interesting conversation with one GLN protester. As I was in the parking lot, a woman popped out of her car, hugged me and proclaimed — smirk on her face — that she loved me. I hugged her back and told her that I loved her, too. But when I touched her, another woman (perhaps her partner?), still sitting in the car, called out: “Don’t touch him, he’s diseased.”

Diseased? I wish that poor, deluded woman would have come in to hear Charlene Cothran’s wonderful presentation about overcoming homosexuality rather than stand outside with the GLN’s ridiculous signs: she’s welcome to call me any time and I’ll put her in touch with Charlene, who once, too, let anger and ideology keep her from the truth.

By Katherine Tomasi and Allyson Smith

Despite millions of dollars in sexual abuse claims–the vast majority of which are homosexual in nature–that have bankrupted some U.S. Catholic dioceses, and in defiance of a recent U.S. Bishops’ document stating that Catholic ministers must not advocate behaviors contrary to Church teaching, a San Francisco parish notorious for its promotion of homosexuality participated in that city’s “gay pride” parade Sunday, June 24.

Catholic blogger ‘Catherine of Siena’ of the Threshing Grain blogspot reported that Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in San Francisco’s homosexual Castro district planned to march in the perverted procession, with the theme “Pride Not Prejudice,” now in its 37th year  and unarguably the mother of all “gay pride” parades.

Most Holy Redeemer’s home page at http://www.mhr.org/ greets visitors with the message, “During the month of June we welcome in a special way our many LGBT visitors to MHR . . . Happy PRIDE!”

According to its June 17 bulletin, MHR planned several events in conjunction with the pride parade, from asking for volunteers to man an AIDS support group beverage booth near the main stage to hosting a “pride parade dance rehearsal” and sign-making party for its young adult group.

An MHR parade contingent “send off” occurred after the Sunday 10:00 a.m. Mass, on the same day Catholics worldwide celebrated the Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, who called sinners to repentance and was beheaded for publicly rebuking King Herod and his brother’s wife Herodias for adultery. Most Holy Redeemer was the only Catholic parish listed on the 2007 pride parade lineup.

The raunchy, nudity-filled Folsom Street Fair occurs every year in San Francisco, which is in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) Eighth Congressional District.

The following news release was issued September 28 by Concerned Women for America. the statement by the Speaker’s press secretary was given to the Bay Area Reporter, a homosexual newspaper:

Pelosi Refuses to Denounce Hateful, Anti-Christian Ad

Washington, D.C. — Concerned Women for America (CWA) broke the story on Tuesday about an anti-Christian promotional advertisement put together by organizers of San Francisco’s partially taxpayer-funded and hedonistic Folsom Street Fair–sponsored by Miller Brewing, Co.– which will take place this Sunday. More than 400,000 people are expected to attend. The ad replaces Christ and his Disciples with homosexual sadomasochists in a twisted portrayal of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

“As if the ad itself isn’t offensive enough,” said Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, “we have photographic evidence that the San Francisco government suspends indecency and child abuse laws for a day, allowing fair goers to parade the streets of San Francisco fully nude, engaging in illegal public sex while taxpayer-funded police stand by and do nothing. Children are allowed to – and do – attend this event and are exposed to this activity, which is illegal child abuse. We’re a nation of laws, and we’re calling on Mayor Gavin Newsom to enforce the law and for San Francisco police to arrest lawbreakers on Sunday.”

“Furthermore,” continued Barber [who is a Board Member of Americans For Truth], “on Tuesday we requested that California’s elected officials, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, publicly condemn this anti-Christian, anti-Catholic ad. Instead, Nancy Pelosi responded to our request with a condescending and dismissive quip.”

Media are reporting that Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s press secretary, responded to CWA’s request by saying, “As a Catholic, the speaker is confident that Christianity has not been harmed.”

Pelosi, who is a major supporter of the “gay” lifestyle, will be receiving an award from the radical homosexual group, Human Rights Campaign, on October 6th.

(Click Here to View “Gay” Last Supper Advertisement)

 “Novitiate” Sister of Perpetual Indulgence “Sister Bambi Dextrous” wears a “Bottom for Jesus” shirt at the perverse ‘Folsom Street Fair’ in San Francisco Sunday. Referring to the dominant and submissive positions in homosexual sodomy, he said he usually “tops,” but that he “bottoms for Him” (Jesus). As they do every year, the Christianity-mocking “Sisters” welcomed Folsom Street Fair attendees at the various entrances to the Folsom Street Fair and were a major financial beneficiary of it.

WARNING: GRAPHIC AND SEXUAL DESCRIPTIONS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN

By Peter LaBarbera and Allyson Smith

SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of men yesterday bared their genitals and some engaged in open sex acts and orgies on city streets, as police stood by and did nothing, at the “Folsom Street Fair,” an annual celebration of sadomasochism. 

These two reporters for Americans For Truth videotaped and photographed open sex acts on city streets — including orgies involving men fondling and sometimes fellating one another, as crowds looked on and took photos at this celebration of “kink” that reportedly drews over 200,000 visitors. The relatively small number of police present took a “hands off” approach toward the sadistic “fair” — and did not stop the public sex and nudity.

One police officers agreed with us that public indecency laws “apparently” were not being enforced at the Fair — saying that it is expected every year that this is what will be seen at Folsom.

The Folsom event has received more attention than usual this year after Concerned Women for America exposed Folsom’s promotional artwork — a sadistic mockery of Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting, with fetishists and “leathermen” replacing Jesus and his 12 disciples, and sex toys sitting atop the table. After protests from the Catholic League, Miller Brewing asked that its logo not be used on the “Last Supper” promotional poster, but it continued to sponsor the event.

The following were witnessed and filmed by these Americans For Truth observers at the Folsom Street Fair yesterday — with no arrests or police action taken despite their occurrence on crowded public city streets:

• (Mostly older) men walking down the street completely naked, and posing for photos;
• Men masturbating themselves in public, sometimes with a crowd gathering to watch;
• Male group orgies in which men masturbated other men, or stimulated them orally (fellatio) on the streets as hundreds of people either watched or passed by;
• Men and women whipping and beating each other with floggers, causing red welts;
• “Master-slave” couples, both heterosexual and homosexual; 
• Women walking with their breasts exposed;
• Fetishists such as “pony-play” (people dressed as horses) and “puppy play” (people dressed as dogs);
• People posing for pictures with public exhibitionists

A full photo report will follow.

 Miller Brewing Company has been catering to the perverted sadistic sex movement for years; here they’ve created a “leather” version of their “Miller Lite” logo for use at largely homosexual “S&M” events.

Americans For Truth alerted the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and its director, Bill Donohue, to the Folsom Street Fair’s annual funding of the anti-Christian and Catholic-mocking ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,’ and the now the Catholic League has launched a boycott of Folsom sponsor Miller Brewing Company.

The following statement was issued Wednesday by Donohue and the Catholic League emphasis added):

September 27, 2007

National Boycott of Miller Begins; over 200 Religious Groups Contacted  

Catholic League president Bill Donohue announced a national boycott of Miller Beer on this morning’s “Fox and Friends.” He explains why today:

“Never have we experienced greater corporate arrogance than in this dispute with the Miller Brewing Company. Miller is sponsoring an incredibly outrageous and palpably anti-Christian event in San Francisco: the Folsom Street Fair (see its website at folsomstreetfair.com and be prepared to see the shocking photos of what goes on). Be sure to access our website at catholicleague.org to see the pictures not only of the fair, but of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic group that is holding a mock Last Supper dinner tonight in San Francisco. The Sisters is one of the organizations that is receiving funding from this Miller-sponsored event.

“This all started when we learned that Miller was sponsoring an event that featured an obscene ad thrashing the Last Supper. After being pressured, Miller offered a lame statement of regret and said it was pulling its logo from the ad. Not only has it not done so—it is still posted on the website of the street fair—Miller refuses to withdraw its sponsorship. To top it off, when we informed them that some of the money being raised at this festival was being funneled to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they were unimpressed.

“Accordingly, Miller leaves us with no options: we are calling on more than 200 Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations to join with us in a nationwide boycott of Miller beer. We feel confident that once our religious allies kick in, and once the public sees the photos of an event Miller is proudly supporting, the Milwaukee brewery will come to its senses and pull its sponsorship altogether. If it doesn’t, the only winners will be Anheuser Busch and Coors.”

Contact: Miller spokesman Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com