AFTAH in the News: LaBarbera tells Jamaicans to ignore U.S. scoldings on homosexuality

The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) is fighting against the misguided idea — advanced by the United States, U.K., and international organizations — that repealing the country’s anti-buggery law will make it easier to control the spread of HIV in Jamaica. This is a slide from a new video, “Sex, Lies and Rights,” released by  JCHS. (MSM stands for “men who have sex with men.)

Folks, I was blessed and energized by my trip to Jamaica, in support of a wonderful conference put on by Christians working under the name Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society . [See their outstanding educational video on the anti-buggery law (which is not really enforced) HERE; see also the Jamaica Gleaner article reprinted below about the conference.]

I loved the moral clarity of the Jamaican family advocates whom I met. Contrast that with the U.S. State Department and the European Union (EU), which along with the U.N. are backing the country’s main LGBT group, J-FLAG.

My message to the the Jamaicans was that the United States government has nothing to teach you about sexual morality but you, Jamaicans, have a lot to teach us. We should support the Jamaican Christian majority and expose the new US/EU imperialism that uses foreign aid to undermine biblical morality in sovereign nations. More coming on this story. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

PS. All this this UN, EU, and international propaganda has a LOT more influence in a tiny nation like Jamaica than it does in the US. Below is an article on the conference from the Jamaican Gleaner, one of country’s two major newspapers:

‘Don’t Bow To Gay Pressure’ – Crusaders Urge Jamaicans To Stand By Buggery Law

Published: Monday | December 9, 2013 46 Comments

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, speaks to the audience during a presentation at the Jamaica Conference Centre on Saturday. – Photo by Gladstone Taylor, Jamaican Gleaner

Jodi-Ann Gilpin, Gleaner Writer
Folks,

Peter LaBarbera, president of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), in the United States of America (US), has encouraged Jamaicans to be grounded in their Christian beliefs and not to be lured by other countries in repealing the buggery law.

“The United States has no business lecturing anybody about sexual morality. America has rampant abortions, rampant promiscuity, and I stand wholeheartedly with Jamaicans and encourage you all to hold to your beliefs, ” LaBarbera told The Gleaner.

LaBarbera made the comments Saturday following The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society International Human Rights conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

“We are all watching Jamaica to see what happens [regarding the buggery law], and I believe if Jamaica can stand up and not bow to the pressure, you can be an example to the world. There is no need to follow anybody,” LaBarbera said.

United States, European Union use foreign aid to pressure small Caribbean nation to make pro-homosexual change

Folks, this is a well-done video by the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, which is co-sponsoring a pro-family conference in the capital of Kingston tomorrow. Jamaica is being pressured — by pro-homosexual forces worldwide (including the United States, which supports the main LGBT group in the country) — to rescind its laws against homosexual behavior. I will be speaking for AFTAH at tomorrow’s event, titled “International Law and the Welfare of the Family.” The U.K.-based Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship (affiliated with Christian Concern) is the other co-sponsor. I cannot help but think that millions of American young people — and their parents! — would benefit greatly by watching this 55-minute video. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth

Besen unleashes hate on man who left homosexualism behind; calls Glatze a “fake Christian” with a “reprobate mind”

Michael and Rebekah Glatze at their recent wedding. Homosexual hatemonger Wayne Besen calls their marriage a “sham” and refers to Rebekah as Michael’s “prop.” For an old photo of Michael as a “gay” man, see below.

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, my friend Michael Glatze — as one of the most prominent former homosexuals in the world (and no, he decidedly does NOT wish to be known as a former homosexual or ‘ex-gay’) — is again a target of LGBT malcontents. That’s because a few weeks ago, on October 26, Michael — a one-time up-and-coming “gay youth” activist — married his lovely bride, Rebekah, at a ceremony in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Now for most sane people (read: those who haven’t drunk the “gay” Kool-aid), the Glatze’s wedding was a joyous occasion deserving of celebration. But for homosexual activist Wayne Besen and his grotesquely named “Truth Wins Out” (TWO)– and for many of his snarky comrades on the LGBT Left — it has become an opportunity to mock and malign this beautiful Christian couple.

I call Besen and his ilk “Focus on the Failures,” because they love to highlight “former homosexuals” who stumble back into sin — and then project those failures onto all efforts to “change sexual orientation,” which they deem impossible. How odd. Think about it: in what other area of life would we celebrate failure? Can you imagine highlighting only those who tried but couldn’t overcome, say, a drug or porn addiction:

Headline: Drug activists exulted as Joe Smith lapsed back into his narcotics habit Tuesday — saying it offers further proof that NOBODY can ever overcome drug addiction (Courtesy ‘Drugs Win Out’)

This is silly, of course. In the real world, we cheer the success stories, of which Michael Glatze is but one. Moreover, Christians of all people should celebrate — just as their Heavenly Father does — when a man or woman accepts Jesus Christ and leaves sin behind:

[Jesus said:] “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Yet for obvious reasons, Besen & Co. ignore happy and successful former homosexuals, except to lie about them, as is the case here.

‘Gay’ hate, Christian love

Take a minute if you can stomach it to read Besen’s petty and cruel web post on the Glatze’s wedding, and the Comments, mostly from other homosexual activists, that follow it. Poor, bitter Wayne can’t seem to stifle his seething resentment toward Michael for his godly metamorphosis. The “Truthiness Wins Out” founder wickedly calls Rebekah Michael’s “prop” and his “victim.” And Besen curiously describes Michael in his wedding clothes as being in “fundie drag” (a shirt, tie and slacks — go figure). Then Wayne puts on his “gay psychologist” hat (see the Comments section) and pronounces Glatze’s transformation away from homosexuality the result — not of the miraculous hand of God — but of Michael having a “mental disorder.” (Since homosexuality was once diagnosed as a “mental disorder” by the American Psychiatric Association — before “gay” activists bullied the APA into removing the designation in 1973 — some LGBT militants get a perverse joy out of accusing their foes of having a “mental disorder.”)

For his part, as you can read HERE or below, Michael Glatze takes all the homosexualist hate in stride and continues to reach out with the grace of Christ to those who malign him. Pray that he would have many opportunities in the years ahead to share the love of God with people who need it! 

Presuming failure

Old life: photo of Michael Glatze (left) as a young “gay” activist with his then-boyfriend and fellow activist Benjie Nycum.

Sin definitely has its cheerleaders these days. Besen and his reactionary followers (again, read the TWO Comments) for the most part presume that Michael’s and Rebekah’s marriage is destined to fail — and most are probably rooting for it to fail. Not all homosexuals are this fanatical and mean-spirited; some even accept the possibility of leaving (overcoming) homosexuality. But most lack the influence of Besen, who works the liberal media hard with his pseudo-scientific schtick that homosexuality “orientation” is unchangeable. Funny how even as Wayne hastens to proclaim the death of the “ex-gay” movement, those pesky, happy former homosexuals keep popping up here and there, giving the lie to his “queer” narrative.

(Even the wife of New York City’s Mayor-elect, Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray, is a former lesbian. I wonder if she gets a pass from the Haters of Ex-Gays at TWO because she’s a Democrat.)

Lastly, as many of you know, Besen and his “Truthless” crowd just love to call me “Porno Pete” (maybe they’re projecting, given the over-abundance of pornography in the “gay” male world). It’s quite evil how these lost fellows love to name-call and demonize — all the while fancying themselves the voices of love and tolerance! Sadly, in all his meanness and over-the-top nastiness, Wayne is just one of many homosexual activists who are on the “wrong side of history” — the side that hates and defies God.

Please write to congratulate Michael and Rebekah at michaelglatze@gmail.com. God bless. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

_______________________________

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.

‘Gay’ activists use Thanksgiving to be “thankful for” homosexual advances

“[I]t is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” — George Washington, in his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, Oct. 3, 1789

The ACLU and secular leftists would seem to be at war with the Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of our nation’s first President, George Washington, who declared that “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

By Peter LaBarbera

As we enjoy Thanksgiving Day tomorrow with our families, we should remember that the original purpose of Thanksgiving was to thank God for our blessings as Americans. This is clearly demonstrated by two of the “founding documents” of Thanksgiving (reprinted below) – George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamations. Both pay homage to God (so much for ACLU’s vision of separating God from State).

As secularism and – dare I say – godlessness deepen in these United States, many are leaving God out of Thanksgiving Day. Language always follows the heart: have you noticed the habit that has crept in of people being thankful for this and that – without being thankful to God?

Now homosexuality advocates (and others) have taken this regrettable phenomenon a step further: using Thanksgiving as an opportunity to be “thankful for” developments that are decidedly ungodly – e.g., the advance of out-and-proud homosexualism, including “same-sex marriage,” in the United States.

I came upon this homosexual website article timed for Thanksgiving about homosexuals being thankful for various “gay rights” achievements, including more lesbians on TV! We know as Christians and Bible-respecting Jews that Our Heavenly Father is not smiling on that: here is some eternal, unchanging biblical truth on the sin of lesbianism and homosexuality:

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1: 24-27)

And here is some eternal, unchanging Good News for lesbians and all sinners [emphasis added]:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) 

Thanking God for sin?

And so, we have come full circle: citizens of a nation founded “under God” use our annual day of gratitude — conceived to humbly give thanks to God — to celebrate sin. How insidious is the “Progressive” Left’s radical redefinition of everything noble – patriotism, liberty, equality, and now even God Himself – to advance their destructive agendas?

The following is Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s (D) elaborate signing ceremony for the legalization of homosexual “marriage” in Illinois. This occurred at the UIC Forum at the University of Illinois-Chicago, on November 20, 2013. Quinn’s main speech, in which he invokes the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13) begins around the 56 minute mark. (This is not the place to address the folly of Quinn’s actions, nor his shameless appropriation of God and Christianity to celebrate immorality; for a great website on the Bible and homosexuality, see our friend Prof. Robert Gagnon’s site at www.RobGagnon.net):

Vicious GLN exemplifies left-wing hatred; refused to condemn 2011 brick attack against AFTAH

The radical “Gay Liberation Network is again targeting AFTAH’s banquet this Saturday for one of its protests. GLN’s leaders are so hateful that they refused to condemn the 2011 “gay” activist brick attack against AFTAH.  The above notice is filled with misinformation. To view it on GLN’s site, go HERE. To view GLN’s Facebook entry about its protest, go HERE.

Special Note from AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera:

Folks, as you can see from the graphic above, copied off the website of the Chicago group Gay Liberation Network (GLN), we just received word that radical homosexual activists are again planning to protest our annual banquet (this Saturday, Nov. 16^th; see AFTAH banquet information page; get a printable PDF banquet flier HERE).  The GLN banquet protests have become sort of an annual tradition for AFTAH. But it appears that this year in their rush to publicize their protest, this motley crew of left-wing fanatics got their facts wrong. (Imagine that: the Left caught fibbing.) So I’ve taken the liberty to correct GLN’s mistakes below:

1) YES, Americans For Truth is holding its fund-raising dinner banquet this coming Saturday evening at Christian Liberty Academy (CLA), 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL. Doors open at 5:30; dinner is served at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $25 at the door or just $20 if you buy them online by midnight Thursday (tomorrow). And you can still sponsor a Table of 10 for $200.  AFTAH banquets are wonderful, informative celebrations of truth, so please come and support us, and bring your friends and family!

(Interesting fact: AFTAH holds our annual event at CLA because several years ago, when we used to hold banquets in hotels, the petty homo-fascists at GLN would harangue the hotel about hosting a “hate group.” Twice we were booted out of hotels based on these malicious misinformation campaigns. Now we hold our banquet at CLA – and even there we were targeted with a glass-shattering brick attack by homosexual militants in the early morning of our banquet in October 2011 [more on this below]. Nobody is more “intolerant” than homosexual activists.)

This poor fellow stood outside Christian Liberty Academy during one of GLN’s protests against Americans For Truth. The Chicago media pretty much give the GLN a free pass by not exposing its extremism.

2) NO, this is NOT a joint fund-raiser between AFTAH and Illinois Family Institute. As much as we love our good friends at IFI and applaud them for all the great work they do throughout the state, they just had a fund-raiser last month! But we understand: all “homophobes” look alike to “progressives” like the GLN. (Of course, I jest: “homophobe” is the smear-term of choice for “gay” activists and their elitist fellow travelers on the Left – meant to deride and demonize their (mostly Christian) opponents as irrational, fearful bigots. The jaundiced term homophobe itself is so discredited that even the liberal-leaning Associated Press has largely given up using it in AP news stories.)

3) YES, our keynote speaker, Sandy Rios, claimed that the (media-hyped) Matthew Shepard “story was a fraud,” but she did so only after interviewing this writer on her AFR Talk program, “Sandy Rios in the Morning.” We discussed the findings of an amazing book by openly homosexual author Stephen Jimenez, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths about the Murder of Matthew Shepard. In the book Jimenez reveals that, YES, pretty much the entire, convenient “Matthew-Shepard-was-murdered-just-because-he-was-gay” story was fraudulent. And what a coincidence: this “hate crime” tale was cynically exploited to demonize religious conservatives and link defenders of traditional sexual morality with “hate” and even violence toward homosexuals.

The bogus Matt-Shepard-hate-crime story was also repackaged as a tendentious play (The Laramie Project) that has been used to propagandize hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren and young adults in the same false “gay”-activist narrative. In fact, exploiting the false Matthew Shepard story has become big business on the Left.

4) So, indeed, YES, Sandy and I have publicized Jimenez’s well-researched findings that Shepard’s tragic 1998 death was very much “drug-related” – and hence was not a “hate crime.” Jimenez reveals the following about Shepard and his killers, fellow Laramie, Wyoming residents Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, and the circumstances of the case:

• McKinney and Shepard knew each other (as opposed to McKinney meeting Matthew for the first time on the night of the murder);
• McKinney and Shepard were both involved in using and dealing drugs, especially methamphetamines (meth);
• The two had partied with each other and possibly even had sex with each other as part of the same Laramie drug and social scene; and
• Neither McKinney nor his accomplice and friend, Henderson (both are in jail for life for murdering Shepard), were known for hating homosexuals. (In fact, Henderson’s girlfriend’s mother was in a lesbian relationship and Russell lived with her for months and “there was no evidence whatsoever of Aaron or Russell expressing anti-gay feelings,” Aaron’s father, Bill McKinney, told Jimenez [p. 48].) Compare that to the liberal media/LGBT-promoted story line that McKinney and Henderson – somehow fueled by Religious Right homophobia, which fostered a “climate of anti-gay hate” – murdered Shepard “just because he was gay,” after the latter made a sexual pass at McKinney. [To order Jimenez’s fascinating book on Amazon, go HERE.]

5) Lastly, NO, Sandy Rios never asserted that there was some kind of “pro-gay” conspiracy – a “plan by liberals to kill Matt to use him as ‘propaganda’ for LGBT acceptance.” This is sheer GLN nuttiness. Nobody in his right mind (pardon the pun) would suggest that liberal activists are so diabolical that they would plot to kill the young homosexual Shepard to create a “gay” martyr and thus advance the LGBT agenda!  But within hours of the bloody assault, as the Wyoming college student was fighting for his life in a hospital bed, the crime was quickly seized upon – first by close friends of Shepard, then by homosexual advocates, then by the media – as an alleged crime of “anti-gay hate.” Thus it became a pivotal “moment” in America for the Left to advance the LGBT agenda while stigmatizing moral-minded Americans as dangerous bigots.  (Jimenez also reveals that even some Laramie police officials joined in promoting the “anti-gay hate crime” theme, perhaps as opportunists caught up in the gay-liberal media spin, or maybe to draw attention away from Laramie’s criminal drug culture.)

Radical homosexual media activist Michelangelo Signorile writes that it is “abhorrent” that under the ENDA bill, “a Catholic school teacher who’s done a great job for years could still be fired under ENDA if the school’s principal discovers that she is a lesbian.”

By Matt Barber            

The religious liberty death spiral continues.

One of the most dangerous and discriminatory pieces of legislation in modern times – the ironically tagged “Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” or ENDA – passed the U.S. Senate on Thursday by a vote of 64-32. Ten Republicans disgracefully joined liberal Democrats in this effort to ultimately outlaw the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic.

According to its leftist proponents, ENDA would merely insulate people who choose to engage in homosexual conduct (sexual orientation) or those who suffer from gender confusion (gender identity) against employment intolerance. In truth, however, this legislation effectively would codify the very thing it purports to combat: workplace discrimination.

Writing in the Huffington Post, popular homosexual radio personality Michelangelo Signorile confessed that, of any potential ENDA legislation that might reach President Obama’s desk for his pledged signature, “none should include any religious exemptions” whatsoever.

If Signorile and other “LGBT” activists get their way, this would mean that churches, mosques, synagogues, religious schools, Bible bookstores, as well as any and every other business in America with 15 or more employees, would be forced, under penalty of law, to abandon the biblical and traditional-values viewpoint on human sexuality, and hire (and otherwise not offend) those who openly flaunt expressly sinful and demonstrably self-destructive sexual behaviors.

Though in its current form ENDA contains an extremely weak religious exemption that might – and I mean might – partially protect some churches and religious organizations (until they’re sued by “gay” activists), this so-called exemption would leave most others – such as the aforementioned Bible bookstores and many Christian schools and para-church organizations – entirely unprotected. It would additionally crush individual business owners’ guaranteed First Amendment rights.