AFTAH Exclusive: Glatze responds with grace to homosexual attacks on his marriage

Michael and Rebekah Glatze at their recent wedding.

We are happy to pass along this statement by my friend Michael Glatze, a former “gay” activist who left the lifestyle and recently married his bride, Rebekah. Their marriage has attracted the scorn of hateful homosexual activist Wayne Besen (who cruelly called Rebekah Michael’s “prop”) and the skeptical interest of other LGBT advocates. More is coming on this story. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

[To congratulate or contact Michael, write him at michaeleglatze@gmail.com]:

Note from Michael Glatze:

Dear friends and prayer warriors: I am so grateful for all the prayers that have gone up to God for myself, and for Rebekah, as we have been so blessed to have gotten married in the past month. It has certainly been a journey! Going from being involved in the gay community, to traveling through various spiritual searches, to finding myself (personally) in many tumultuous situations, to meeting the woman that God provided for me, to being able to have a healthy relationship, to building relationships with parents and friends, and to finally have our families and friends converge in a beautiful wedding… all has been a difficult, powerful, and awesome journey!

I am SO grateful for the fact that God has allowed me the privilege of being married. I am 38 years old. I live, every day, with a sense of profound gratitude for His provision, and His protection on my life. I am grateful that, though I have failed time and time again, He continues to pick me back up, dust me off, and show me HOW MUCH He truly loves me. And, now, praise God, I am able to share that divine love with Rebekah. This is the greatest present Our Father has given me… it is unspeakably awesome.

There are so many who have wanted to “pick apart” my life. Heck… there are people who pick apart every subtle appearance in every photograph of me ever taken! It is strange to say the least. But, I guess when you become an individual that seems to “stand for” something larger, you can expect that kind of treatment. For instance, it was never my intention to be labeled a “racist” or a “homophobe,” let alone “deranged,” and “crazy.” But, all of these things continue to travel through the airwaves of our strange world – without any of those accusers ever seeing fit to contact me, directly, whether it could be possible for them to express their concerns to me or not. Has anyone asked me what I *really* said about President Obama back in 2009? No. It is easier for them to paint me as a radical racist, which I am not. [Editor’s Note: Michael recommends listening to his 2011 podcast interview with the Theopologetics blog for his take on what he really said regarding the “racist” accusation and other attacks by LGBT activists.] Has anybody ever contacted Rebekah, or myself, to ask us how we *really* feel about each other? No. And, in some cases, even if they did contact us directly, they would doubt that we were telling “the whole truth.” They would assume that in our “Christian blindness,” we were only saying what we were supposed to say, or “wanted to believe.” In a world where people REFUSE to listen to other people, there is not a lot of room for legitimate harmony.

Is the pope using language that is easily exploited by the aggressive Sin Movement that calls itself “gay”? Read his full interview HERE.

Dear AFTAH Readers,

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality works closely with conservative Catholics from across the nation, indeed the world, in opposition to the homosexual activist movement. It is my experience that wherever the Catholic Church still has influence, if the Church or its leaders takes a strong stand against pro-“gay” legislation, the bills usually fail — but if Church leaders compromise on doctrine or go AWOL (public policy-speaking), homosexual activists triumph.

Having said that, I acutely recognize — from my perspective as an evangelical (who was raised Catholic) — that there has always been a “friendly distrust” or competition between ministry and the defense of morality. Between Christians who believe that the primary role of believers is compassionate Gospel outreach to lost homosexuals — and “culture war” Christians who (although also loving the Gospel) see religious traditionalists as a crucial force resisting the Sin Movement of homosexuality that so profoundly threatens our culture.

In this context we ponder the meaning and ramifications of Pope Francis’ new rhetoric on homosexuality. Below we reprint portions of an article from our good friends at LifeSiteNews — a Catholic pro-life, pro-family news site and one of the top social conservative websites in the world — on Pope Francis’ much-discussed interview released yesterday [available HERE or as a PDF document HERE]. We note LifeSite’s apprehensive take that:

“Most major media are reporting the statements [by Pope Francis] as a direct challenge to the Church’s way of operating on the moral issues. The comments are very different from those of his two predecessors.”

Yesterday, I sent out the following cautionary tweet in response to the pope’s comments — both in the new interview and a previous one — about the Church being more “welcoming” and less judgmental toward homosexuals:

The tragic reality is that a lack of proper moral “judgments” toward and vigilance regarding homosexually-inclined priest candidates contributed greatly to the horrifying homosexual-predator crisis that has so devastated the Catholic Church. This was exacerbated by liberals such as Milwaukee’s notorious homosexual Archbishop Rembert Weakland (see my report for America’s Survival on Fox News’ pro-“gay” bias).

I dare say that a more sinister plot to undermine the Catholic Church and its reputation could not have been carried out had Satan’s earthly minions spent $100 million devising one:

1. Homosexual men take advantage of more lax standards to enter priesthood.
2. Homosexual priests and male Catholic school officials use their authoritative role to seduce and molest mostly male teenagers and boys.
3. Homosexuals like then-Archbishop Weakland and their sympathizers in the Church cover up priest abuses and transfer predators to new, unsuspecting parishes, where they molest more boys.
4. The homosexual-predator scandal blows up in the media — alienating millions of Catholics from the Church and doing untold damage to its reputation and moral, spiritual and political influence.
5. Homosexuals and liberal allies who advocate for acceptance of homosexuality turn around and say Church is now discredited because it harbored “pedophiles.” Meanwhile, Church officials resist full disclosure of the scandal, thus perpetuating it.
6. Lastly, “gay” activists and their liberal allies continue to insist that the male-on-boy priest abuse scandal has little or nothing to do with homosexuals — but rather was a “pedophile” or “ephebophile” (adult who is sexual attracted to adolescents) problem.

My hunch is that each and every one of those complicit Church apologists for homosexuality, like Weakland, would consider himself “more compassionate” and “more Christ-like” than “anti-gay Catholics” who have been scandalized by the homosexualist advances in their Church. Such is the arrogance of liberals. This despite the untold suffering of boys victimized by sexual deviants masquerading as pastoral guardians of others’ souls. (See Catholic writer Randy Engel’s Rite of Sodomy: Homosexuality and the Catholic Church — one of the best books ever written on homosexuality — and Leon Podles‘ Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church [available through AFTAH; see below to order].)

I will be appearing as a guest for five consecutive programs on “Faith & Freedom,” the online TV program of Liberty Counsel, a leading defender of Christian liberty in the United States. Here is the first of my five-part interview with Matt Barber, Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action (and an AFTAH Board Member). We discuss the Left’s latest effort to subvert biblical Christianity, Dan Savage’s NALT (Not All Like That) campaign. Along with the extremist Savage, NALT is co-sponsored by a number of pro-homosexual organizations, including “Truth Wins Out” run by Wayne Besen (a hater of ex-“gays” and a man not exactly known for his application of the Golden Rule). This aired September 19, 2013; AFTAH will post each segment daily. [Watch on YouTube HERE.] — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

Unfair, Unbalanced and Afraid:

Fox News’ Growing Pro-Homosexual Bias and the National Gay & Lesbian Journalists Association

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly: new hero to the “Gay” Lobby. Here she is shown appearing at “gay journalists” fundraiser. To read a PDF version of this report, go HERE. Photo: WireImage.

This is a Special Report published by America’s Survival, Inc.; www.usasurvival.org; 443-964-8208 (Cliff Kincaid, president), and authored by AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera, in advance of ASI ‘s August 20, 2013 conference, “The Crisis in American Journalism and the Conservative Response.” Following is an HTML version of the ASI report, or see the PDF version here: Fox_Report-PDF. The Endnotes contain live web links. Click on photos and graphics to enlarge.

_____________________________

Unfair, Unbalanced, and Afraid: Fox News’ Growing Pro-Homosexual Bias and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

By Peter LaBarbera, exclusive to America’s Survival

Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera; for a printable PDF version of this report, click HERE

News Corp., the parent company of Fox News and Business Channels, has heavily funded the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), a pro-homosexual advocacy organization in newsrooms. Here a News Corp endorsement ad appears in the program for the 2009 NLGJA “LGBT Media Summit.”

It is difficult to overstate the impact of wide-scale liberal media bias in the advancement of the pro-homosexual and pro-“transgender” revolution in American society. In the last two decades, media imbalance (and de facto censorship) on the issue has morphed into frequent media celebration of homosexuality — thus leaving citizens starved for impartial and accurate information on this critical topic. “Journalism” has become pro-homosexual propaganda, with many media stories appearing as if they were written by LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) activists. By effectively joining the “gay” activists’ crusade, major media outlets – and even “conservative” Fox News — have contributed greatly to the growing pro-homosexual political correctness in U.S. culture. This in turn has fueled even more aggressive militancy among pro-LGBT groups and bloggers who are lobbying the media to block social conservatives from TV appearances, etc., on the grounds that such anti-homosexual-agenda voices are “hate groups.” The result is the further degradation of journalism that has contributed to Republican and conservative ambivalence on issues like same-sex “marriage” and allowing open homosexuals in the military. So bad is the media groupthink on homosexuality that even self-described “conservatives” like Glen Beck and Tucker Carlson have either endorsed or made positive soundings on “gay marriage,” or gone silent on LGBT issues.¹

The degree to which the “mainstream” media have become promoters of the homosexual- and transgender activist movements is astonishing. Below is a graphic from a recent Pew Research Center study analyzing media coverage surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing in March 2013 of two cases related to homosexual “marriage.” Pew labeled a story as “supportive” of homosexual “marriage” if it included at least twice as many pro-“gay marriage” statements as opposing statements – and vice versa for stories labeled “opposing”²:

Note the extreme one-sided bias in favor of homosexuality-based “marriage” in most of the categories – and the finding that all media (including Fox News) except conservative talk radio were heaving biased toward “gay marriage.”

With pro-“gay” attitudes dominating newsrooms, few journalists seem willing to pursue stories that might offend America’s powerful and well-funded homosexual activist lobby.³ This would include investigating:

• how escalating “gay power” represented by pro-LGBT “nondiscrimination” laws subject even very young children to inappropriate pro-homosexual “lessons” in school, thus undermining both children’s innocence and parental rights⁴;
• the growing HIV crisis among “gay youth” (a study of young “men who had sex with men” in 21 cities found that one in 10 tested positive for HIV in 2008);⁵ and
• how pro-homosexual laws including legalized “civil unions” and homosexual “marriage” negate Americans’ cherished religious and First Amendment liberties.

On the latter point, there is now a large and growing body of evidence that pro-homosexual laws and corporate “diversity” policies oppress Americans’ freedom of conscience to oppose homosexualism and live out their religious and moral beliefs, including the once universally-held Western idea rooted in the Judeo-Christian teachings that marriage is between one man and one woman (see below).

Schieffer gets a lesson on the growing ‘gay’ tyranny

CBS’ Bob Schieffer was unaware that Christians across the nation are being prosecuted by the state for living according to the dictates of their faith by refusing to participate – through their own businesses — in immoral homosexual “marriages.”

A recent appearance by Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” exposed how ill-informed the major media are when it comes to the threat that government-backed “gay marriage” (and pro-homosexual “sexual orientation”) laws pose to religious liberty. Perkins writes that with the Supreme Court’s de facto invalidation of California’s Proposition 8 amendment defining marriage as one-man, one-woman [emphasis added]:

“…people are about to experience (if they haven’t already) the profound loss of liberty that accompanies this march down the same-sex “wedding” aisle. … “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer — like so many Americans — was surprised to hear that business owners (and wedding vendors in particular) are being persecuted, and in some cases prosecuted, for refusing to participate in a same-sex “marriage” ceremony. .. “I must say this is under my radar,” Bob told me. “I haven’t — I haven’t heard this.” And he’s not alone.”[6]

Perkins writes that “the media isn’t covering the stories of these victims — not because they don’t exist — but because liberals recognize their potential to swing the debate.” See this footnote for the examples he provided of moral-minded Americans whose freedom has been jeopardized by their opposition to homosexual “marriage” and State-enforced “gay rights.”[7]

This report for America’s Survival, Inc., documents the rampant and often egregious media bias in favor of the homosexual-bisexual-transgender activist agenda. It puts special focus on the growing (and sometimes radical) pro-homosexual bias of Fox News personalities like Megyn Kelly and Bernie Goldberg. Why concentrate on Fox? Because Fox News has inordinate influence with conservative Americans and with the Republican Party — which is also retrenching its opposition to “gay rights.” And because Fox holds itself to a high standard of being “Fair and Balanced” – i.e., not sharing the notorious bias of the dominant liberal media.

This report will also investigate the role of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA; motto: “We’re Here, We’re Queer, We’re on Deadline”) in distorting and molding news coverage on homosexuality- and transgender-related issues. Like other major media, Fox News through its parent company, News Corp., is a long-time funder of the NLGJA.

Homosexual protest boomerangs as targeted Texas pastor slams Political Correctness and winsomely proclaims the Gospel

New York Jets QB and public Christian Tim Tebow backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at a Texas mega-church following “gay” protests that falsely and maliciously labeled that church and its pastor as motivated by “hate.” Tebow missed an opportunity to defend biblical truth.

By Peter LaBarbera, Special American For Truth Report

Many Christians and pro-family advocates were disappointed to learn that New York Jets QB Tim Tebow had backed out of a scheduled speaking engagement at the First Baptist Church in Dallas – following an online lobbying blitz by homosexual activists urging him to cancel because the church’s pastor is “anti-gay.”

Last Thursday, Tebow tweeted that he was pulling out of the April 28 appearance with First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress “due to new information that has been brought to my attention.” A conflicted Tebow reportedly told the Texas pastor that he would like to speak at the Dallas mega-church at some point in the future, but “he needed to avoid controversy right now for personal and professional reasons,” the liberal Daily Beast reported.

The Daily Beast article is gratuitously headlined: “Tim Tebow’s ‘Hate’ Pastor Responds to Quarterback’s Withdrawal.”

Turns out that Jeffress not only preaches that homosexual behavior is a sin — he also opposes Mormonism and some Catholic teachings. And, because he asserts that Jews (like everyone else) also need to have faith in Christ to go to heaven, Jeffress was also slandered as “anti-Semitic.” Translation: he is squarely within the long tradition of the Southern Baptist preaching, which holds that regenerative faith in Christ alone is required for salvation.

[Watch Pastor Jeffress’ powerful response to the Tebow controversy HERE, addressing his First Baptist Church of Dallas congregation last Sunday.]

Of course, Evangelicals, Catholics and Mormons have serious theological differences (although each teaches that homosexual behavior is wrong). But let’s be clear: the instigators of the controversy that culminated in Tebow’s unfortunate cave-in were the ‘Gay Thought Police’ – my name for the powerful and well-funded homosexual activist lobby that demonizes people who speak out against homosexuality as bigots, haters and “homophobes.”

Curiously, Tebow himself attends a Southern Baptist church in Jacksonville, Florida, First Baptist Church Jacksonville, which holds the same biblical beliefs as Jeffress’ church. With the Texas pastor ably refuting the absurd “gay” polemic that his is a “hate church,” even some secular liberals opined that Tebow had blown it with his First Baptist cancellation. In a remarkable interview with Jeffress, celebrity reporter (and Jewish homosexual) Harvey Levin, founder of the Hollywood-oriented TV show TMZ – hardly a right-wing sympathizer – concluded, “It sounds like Tebow wussed out on this one to me.”

Thus Tebow joins the list of other celebrities, conservatives, and Christians leaders who have succumbed to homosexual pressure campaigns. (Recently, Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio pulled out of the President Obama’s Inaugural ceremony, for which he had been invited to give the benediction, after pro-“gay” activists uncovered one of his sermons from the mid-90s critical of homosexual activism. Under attack from homosexual activists, Giglio opted not to defend Christian teaching on homosexuality — and took pains to assert that he hasn’t made the homosexual issue a priority in his ministry work and did not wish to be part of the national debate on the topic.)

This article was not easy for me to write. As a Tebow fan, I sincerely hope he reverses course and returns to speak at First Baptist. He is young and has a lot to learn — all the while being under the liberal media’s microscope. Nevertheless, I think Tebow also owes a public apology to Pastor Jeffress, who was put in a bad situation but handled it masterfully.

“You will not acknowledge the freedom of those who seek change”

Homosexual activist Wayne Besen of "Truth Wins Out" viciously attacks people who have overcome homosexuality in their lives--like former lesbian Janet Boynes. To order Boynes' book, go to www.JanetBoynesMinistries.com.

The following is an open letter to “Truth  Wins Out” (TWO), a homosexual activist organization that attempts to discredit the observed truth that people practicing homosexuality can change their dominating sexual attractions (and behaviors). This letter was sent to members of the California state Assembly, which is considering SB 1172 — passed in late May by the state Senate — banning “sexual orientation” change therapy (also know as “reparative therapy”) for homosexual youth. The letter’s signers are: myself [Peter LaBarbera, Founder and President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH)], Wayne Lela, Founder of H.O.M.E. (Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment), and John McCartney, Jr., an AFTAH Board Member and advocate with the Citizens Concerned About Media, also based in Chicago.

TWO viciously demonizes “ex-gays”; typical is TWO founder Wayne Besen’s crass and demeaning characterization HERE of former lesbian Janet Boynes as an “ex-gay fraud” and “con artist.” Significantly, much of Besen’s and TWO’s efforts are directed at denying media visibility to people like Boynes who have overcome homosexuality in their lives. You can also listen HERE to Besen’s embarrassingly unprofessional appearance last year opposite me on liberal radio host Barry Lynn’s talk show, “Culture Shocks”: in addition to repeatedly calling me “Porno Pete” (a nasty smear he concocted) on air, Besen exposes his own folly of trying to “prove” homosexuals cannot change by admitting that he hasn’t (and of course cannot) monitor every former homosexual. (Besen and his small outfit evidently hadn’t been tracking successful Chicago former lesbian Linda Jernigan.)

I wish to add, for myself personally as a Christian who has monitored the homosexual movement for two decades, that some people trapped in homosexuality HAVE experienced rapid and, many would say, miraculous change away from homosexuality — mostly (but not always) through spiritual regeneration in Jesus Christ. However, that should not be the expectation of every person seeking sexual healing and transformation. As in all areas of life, each person brings his or her own unique circumstances, struggles, beliefs and personality to the process of overcoming adversity, sin and addictions in their life. And the lingering effects of temptation, abuse/family dysfunction and indulged, habitual sin — of whatever stripe — usually last a lifetime.

Wayne Besen, homosexual propagandist.

I posted this comment today on the homosexual website “Truth Wins Out,” in response to an article they posted about a nasty video targeting yours truly as “Porno Pete”:

Wayne, you are a hater and hypocrite of the highest order, though you do a good con-job on TV playing a respectable, decent gay activist. (I still remember the days debating you back in DC before you left HRC — how you would obnoxiously talk over your opponents whenever they brought up inconvenient truths like the disproportionate rates of sexual disease for Men Who Have Sex with Men.)

It’s too bad now, as one who should be a mature man, that you have to resort to such crude demonizations, sophomoric slanders and character assassination to advance your dubious cause. What a waste of writing talent, but Saul Alinsky would be proud.

The jig is up: despite the Gay Left’s campaign to smear Christian, pro-family opponents as “haters,” more and more everyday people are recognizing that the nastiest, cruelest and most intolerant activists in America are homosexual militants like you, Dan Savage, Evan Hurst and the comically-named “Truth” Wins Out. All of you would be exposed as phonies if the “mainstream” media were anything close to impartial.

As for me, I wear Truth Wins Out’s hatred and very “queer” putdowns like this as a Badge of Honor.

Peter LaBarbera

Founder and President
Americans For Truth About Homosexuality
www.aftah.org

Assails homosexual hate group Truth Wins out and “gay” lobby’s harassment of ex-gays

The following is reprinted from PFOX’s (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) website. Greg Quinlan was a presenter at both AFTAH Truth Academies:

I Am a Man

By Greg Quinlan

Why have gay activists instigated media attention over ex-gays and the husband of Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann?

Apparently, Mr. Bachmann, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, operates several counseling centers which also offer services to homosexual clients seeking to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions.  But because even one ex-gay proves that homosexual behavior is not innate or immutable, the gay lobby’s fear of their former members results in false claims and attacks aimed at preventing homosexuals from exercising their right to self-determination. They cannot bear to have even one homosexual leave homosexuality, hence their outrage at Dr. Bachmann.

I know because I am ex-gay myself.  I suffer more harassment as a former homosexual than I ever did as an out and proud homosexual.

The ex-gay community includes thousands of former homosexuals like myself who benefited from counseling.  We did not choose our homosexual feelings, but we did exercise our right to seek help to change those feelings.  As a registered nurse, I saw hundreds of gay men die of AIDS before I finally left the gay lifestyle.

Contrary to the myths being generated by outraged homosexuals, counseling for unwanted same-sex attractions is not prohibited by any medical association.  Unhappy homosexuals are not children in need of parental permission and can freely choose their own therapeutic treatment just like anyone else.

The Bachmann incident demonstrates that as homosexuals gain more civil rights, heterosexuals are losing theirs.  Because gays are a wealthy and politically powerful minority, they claim access to media attention, political power and corporate influence that middle America does not have.