"Light Wins" Recycles Old, Tired Homophobic Arguments

Religious Right activist Janet Porter, president of Faith2Action, released an anti-LGBTQ documentary earlier this year. Light Wins: How to Overcome the Criminalization of Christianity is a confused, convoluted piece of homophobic propaganda, featuring Religious Right figures such as Mike Huckabee, David Barton, and Peter LaBarbera. The film argues that LGBTQ equality is a threat to Christianity, freedom, and children, and must be resisted by people of faith.

Right Wing Watch has posted several excerpts from Light Wins on YouTube, revealing how much homophobic rhetoric is contained in the film. In Light Wins, Porter and her fellow commentators depict gays as diseased, predatory, and fundamentally opposed to American Christian values.






In one excerpt of the film, Religious Right author David Barton applauded a Bible passage in which "sodomites" were forced into exile. He seems to be referring to 1 Kings 22:45-46, in which King Jehoshaphat "rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes".

BARTON: Very interesting thing we're told in the Book of Kings. When they had a revival, it says that they chased the sodomites out of the land. That is, they addressed the homosexual issue. They confronted it head-on. If you think we can have a revival and not address the issue of homosexuality and marriage, then you're denying the authority of the scriptures, and you're denying what history tells us across all the great revivals America's had in its own history.

1 Kings 22:45-46 refers to a king stamping out pagan worship. By likening the gay community to pagans, was Barton suggesting that LGBTQ persons are opponents of the Christian faith? Was he suggesting that LGBTQ people should be driven out of the U.S. like Jehoshaphat drove out the shrine prostitutes? I found the implications of Barton's statement disturbing. 

Light Wins depicts sexual diversity as a vector for deadly disease. The film likens "homosexual behavior" to a "lethal product" that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Gays, quite literally, are a plague in the eyes of the filmmakers.

No, idiots. Disease transmission makes people sick, not being gay. People of all orientations can contract disease through unprotected sex, not just gay people, I thought.






In another segment of the film, Porter condemns same-sex marriage as a threat to children alongside Thomas Peters of the National Organization for Marriage and AFTAH's Peter LaBarbera. Porter claims that church-state separation in public schools created a "void" that wicked LGBTQ rights activists quickly filled. The implication, it seems, is that LGBTQ people are predators waiting to corrupt children, a dangerous myth that homophobes have used to demonize LGBTQ persons for years.

PORTER: Our children are the picture of innocence. They are by nature trusting, impressionable, and vulnerable. Prayer, God, and his commandments were kicked out of the classroom because they might influence children not to lie, steal, and kill. But ushered into that void was a dark agenda that robs children of their innocence and puts their life at risk ... In states like Massachusetts that redefined marriage back in 2004, we now know that with the redefinition of marriage comes a state invitation to indoctrinate your child.

PETERS: If you change the public law about what marriage is, then you change what the public education system does when it talks about it.

LABARBERA: It leads to children being taught dangerous sexual practices in the guise of equality.

NARRATOR: We've abandoned, we have left people who may have homosexual tendencies to adults to step in and so-called groom them, perhaps with their purposes down the line.

In a third segment, Porter depicts LGBTQ rights advances as a threat to American freedoms, framing LGBTQ equality and First Amendment rights as mutually exclusive.

PORTER: This is where the battle is the hottest, and right now, our freedoms are on fire. The attack against the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the freedom of religion has come to Main Street, to the business you own and the place where you work.

A few moments later, the film shows a map of the United States on fire, with Porter warning viewers that business owners will suffer due to LGBTQ equality. Mike Huckabee used Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson (who made homophobic and racist statements in a 2013 GQ interview and who defended child marriage in a 2009 speech) as an example of a Christian man persecuted by pro-LGBTQ "political correctness".

PORTER: When the government mandates public endorsement of sin, it's not just the bakers and photographers who suffer. It's the printers, the fire chiefs, adoption agencies, bed and breakfasts, facility owners, counselors, broadcasters, students, teachers, and groups like Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the Knights of Columbus, and the Salvation Army. And now under attack is anyone who ever ran for public office, and anyone who ever will.

HUCKABEE: Phil Robertson from the famous and successful show Duck Dynasty made some comments that, well, they might have been a little on the edge in terms of the manner in which he said them, but they were consistent again with Christian beliefs of people all over America and the world. A&E, the network that had made a lot of money off the Robertson family, initially decided to yank them off the air, but the outcry was such, they finally had to reverse that decision. In both of these cases, it was a matter of people who were politically correct somehow wanting to tell Christians to just shut up and go away. Jesus told his disciples that they weren't supposed to shut up and go away, and he told them right here at Caesarea Philippi, so I couldn't think of any better place to say it than here.

Light Wins also endorses conversion therapy and the so-called "ex-gay" movement. The implication, it seems, is that LGBTQ people are not entitled to equal rights if they can simply transform into straight people.

The film's website features contact information for so-called "ex-gay" organizations so as to provide "help for those with unwanted same-sex attractions". In the film, Porter criticizes state bans on conversion therapy for minors, depicting conversion therapy as a legitimate counseling practice for those who want to transcend "same-sex attractions". She conveniently fails to mention that medical expects have condemned conversion therapy as dubious and potentially harmful, and that the practice is not supported by research.

PORTER: In The Criminalization of Christianity, I warned that counseling people out of homosexuality would be made illegal, and now, licensed counselors in California and New Jersey are forbidden from giving hope to minors who do not want same-sex attractions. If they do anything other than encourage homosexual behavior, they will lose their license to counsel, even if they are a pastor, so for those who want help leaving homosexuality, that door is closed.

If the Right Wing Watch excerpts are anything to go by, Porter's film merely rehashes old, tired myths about the LGBTQ community. The film's attempts to demonize LGBTQ people fall flat in 2015, when most people know that gays are not diseased, predatory vermin. Porter's defense of conversion therapy is unconvincing at a time when ex-gay ministries are closing their doors and losing court battles. The film's assumption that LGBTQ people are enemies over there ignores the reality that LGBTQ people can be found among our friends, colleagues, and loved ones. The Religious Right is losing the culture wars, and propaganda films like Light Wins remind us why.


To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

Salon: This anti-gay movie is true evil: What are Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee doing in the vile “documentary” Light Wins?

Unicorn Booty: All The Lies (And Republican Presidential Candidates) In the Despicable Anti-Gay Doc ‘Light Wins’

Raw Story: Mike Huckabee and a passel of pastors star in hilariously over-dramatic trailer for anti-gay film

News Tidbits

Politico: Rogue pastors endorse candidates, but IRS looks away

Washington Post: Arizona schools ordered to remove page in biology book with ‘morning after’ pill section

Associated Press: Evangelical college gay rights stand causes uproar

Gay Star News: Anti-gay activists Bill Whatcott, Peter LaBarbera on trial in Canada

Commentary Tidbits

Cracked: 5 Insane Lessons from My Christian Fundamentalist Childhood

CNN: Why God Does Not Belong at Graduation

Towleroad: Anti-Gay Wingnut Peter LaBarbera Chats with Harlem’s ‘Jesus Would Stone Homos’ Pastor

Religion Dispatches: Duggar Daughters Talk Sex, Courtship, and Fear of Ungodly Men

Politico: Rick Santorum bucks Republican orthodoxy in book

Relevant Magazine: How Not to Talk About Purity

Homeschoolers Anonymous: Why the Distance Between “Christian Patriarchy” and “Complementarianism” Is A Sleight Of Hand

Think Progress: How A New Book About Gay Christians Is Reviving Evangelical Homophobia

Godless in Dixie: Anti-human Theology: Learning to Hate Yourself

Scott Lively and Peter LaBarbera Announce New Anti-LGBTQ Group

Two anti-gay activists have just announced the formation of a new far-right coalition. During a February 21st press conference at the National Press Club, Scott Lively of Defend the Family International and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) announced the formation of the Coalition for Family Values. Greg Quinlan of PFOX and Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania were also on hand for the event, the Washington Blade reports.

According to a press release, the purpose of the Coalition for Family Values is "to unify and coordinate pro-family groups around the United States and the world to more effectively oppose the now global LGBT agenda." In a statement posted at LifeSite News, the Coalition for Family Values complained that "the LGBT agenda has already gone too far", urging "family-friendly nations" to resist advances in LGBTQ rights. Calls for LGBTQ equality are merely an imposition of "inverted morality" by westerners, the statement insisted.

"The Coalition for Family Values will be encouraging our current and future affiliates throughout the world to lobby their own governments to follow the Russian example. While the LGBT agenda has seemed like an unstoppable political juggernaut in North America and Europe, the vast majority of the people of the world do not accept the notion that sexual deviance should be normalized. It is time that these voices are heard on the world stage before the so-called elites of the Western powers impose their inverted morality on everyone through the manipulation of international law, which they clearly intend to do." 

The new coalition is receiving support from organizations and figures among the Religious Right. The Washington Blade reports that Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern, Brian Camenker of MassResistance, and Matt Barber of Liberty Council Action are among the more than 70 far-right figures from around the globe who have joined the coalition.

The Coalition for Family Values has taken an approving stance toward Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, although it is not alone among far-right groups in doing so. The first action of the organization will be to release a statement in support of Russia's "pro-family laws". Scott Lively spoke warmly of Russia's anti-gay legislation at the press conference. “We want to praise the Russian Federation for providing much-needed leadership in restoring family values in public policy,” he said at the event, according to the Washington Blade.

“By taking these steps in the face of intense criticism and hostility by some Western governments and NGOs, the Russians have demonstrated the high value that they place on their children and the natural family model of society. We believe that God will bless the Russian people for their faith and courage.”

In a transcript of her speech at the press conference, Diane Gramley stated that the U.S. "could learn from Russia and stop the homosexualization of our nation ...  It is time for the United States to stop using our children as lab rats to see how they react to the homosexual propaganda they are exposed to in the public school classroom, in many children's books, in video games and the entertainment industry."

Video footage of the press conference shows that Scott Lively endured heckling from a member of the audience. Lively responded by insisting that "homofascism" is seeking to "suppress all other perspectives about the homosexual issues except those that favor your position".





Lively was not amused at being interrupted.





The Coalition for Family Values is the latest reminder that the American Religious Right has global ambitions and global networks. As the far-right grow increasingly open about its work abroad, LGBTQ rights supporters have both the opportunity and responsibility to monitor the right's international activism



To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

Right Wing Watch: Scott Lively's New Anti-Gay Coalition: Governments Should Suppress LGBT 'Propaganda'

Mother Jones: Anti-Gay Evangelical Calls Protesters "Homo-Fascists"

O-blog-dee-o-blog-da: Activists ejected from Scott Lively anti-gay press conference

News Tidbits

Religion News Service: Bob Jones University fires firm hired to investigate sex abuse

Christian Post: Petition to Ban Controversial Christian Parenting Book From Amazon Nears 100,000 Signatures

Huffington Post: Thomas S. Monson, Mormon President, Faced with Fraud Charges

Pennlive: Gun rights proponent Ted Nugent spares no indictment of the liberal left during Harrisburg visit

The Tennessean: Former SNL star Victoria Jackson may run for Williamson County Commission

Los Angeles Times: ACLU, religious leaders sue L.A. County over cross on seal

LGBTQ Nation: Josh Duggar, failed Lt. Gov. candidate headline anti-gay rally outside Virginia court

Associated Press: Vatican surveys find Catholics reject sex rules

Reuters: Disgraced Catholic order denounces founder, apologizes to victims

Christian Science Monitor: Real-life Philomena presses Pope to open Ireland's forced adoption files

News-Press Now: Missouri same-sex couple denied Communion

Raw Story: Peter LaBarbera calls for U.S. version of Russian ‘gay propaganda’ law

Gay Star News: Spanish prosecutors investigating Cardinal who called gay people 'defective'

News Tidbits

Aljazeera: Anti-abortion pregnancy centers thrive in Texas as real clinics close

Talking Points Memo: Gay Marriage Opponents Call For Uprising In Utah

CNN: RNC winter meeting to make time for anti-abortion rights rally

The Advocate: Anti-LGBT Activist Peter LaBarbera Links Trans People to Satan, Calls Robin Roberts 'Tragic'

Los Angeles Times: Vatican says pope's comments on gay couples don't mark policy change

Edge Boston: Christian Programs Offer Alternative to Gay-Friendly Boy Scouts

My Fox 4: Mayor of Flower Mound declares 2014 Year of the Bible

Pink News: Catholic Bishop says Maltese Catholic MPs will commit a ‘grave moral act’ by voting for civil unions

Religious Right Promotes Homophobia at Jamaica Conferences

It's no secret that the America Religious Right has applauded and even encouraged homophobia across the globe. Journalists and bloggers have reported on American anti-gay activism in Uganda and other parts of Africa, Russia, and Belize, among other countries. Recently, American Religious Right figures have promoted homophobia in Jamaica, a country where several high-profile cases of homophobic and transphobic violence have rocked the LGBTQ community. (Hat tip to Dadland Shut Up)

First, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) and the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship hosted a conference in Kingston on December 7th, 2013 entitled "International Law and the Welfare of the Family: The Impact of the Secular Worldview on Children". The workshop offerings included the following titles:

• New Rights and the War on Family

• The Education System: The Final Frontier of Contending Worldviews

• Parental Responsibility and the Rights of the Child: The Necessity of Balance

• The Institution of Marriage and its Social Implications

• The Social and Economic Costs of Fatherlessness

Conference speakers included Religious Right activists from across the globe, including Andrea Minichiello Williams (founder of Christian Concern) and Peter LaBarbera (president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality). Buzzfeed reports Christian Concern and AFTAH are lobbying against the repeal of a Jamaican law criminalizing same-sex sexual relations.

“Do not be like us, do not be like Britain, do not sit idly by as so-called ‘LGBT activists’ manipulate words and laws to achieve dominance in your country," LaBarbera said at the conference, according to Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed also quoted LaBarbera as defending ex-gay ideology and speaking of LGBTQ people and pedophiles in the same breath.

"The dirty little secret that the media and homosexual activists are desperate — desperate — to squelch is that people are coming out of homosexuality every day. This is the work of God, this is the work of Jesus ... It’s another secret that American activists don’t like to tell is that NAMBLA, the North American Man-Boy Love Association, used to march in gay pride parades."

LaBarbera called LGBTQ equality efforts a "sin movement", discouraging Jamaica from repealing its anti-gay law.

"I do not stand with my government. I’m a patriotic American, but I do not stand with the current United States government in its promotion of homosexuality and gender confusion. But I do stand with the Jamaican people ... I pray that you will learn from our mistakes and from lessons of history and avoid the inevitable moral corruption and health hazards and the danger to young people that come from capitulating to this sin movement that calls itself gay. It is almost now can be predicted with 100 percent accuracy, if the law is a teacher: If you take down this law, it will only lead to more demands. Appeasement does not work."

Similarly, Andrea Minichiello Williams of Christian Concern slammed LGBTQ equality efforts as an attack on Jamaican families, according to Buzzfeed.

"Might it be that Jamaica says to the United States of America, says to Europe, ‘Enough! You cannot come in and attack our families. We will not accept aid or promotion tied to an agenda that is against God and destroys our families' ... If you win here, you will have an impact in the Caribbean and an impact across the globe."

Like LaBarbera, she spoke of LGBTQ people and sexual predators in the same breath. “They hate the line of homosexuality being linked to pedophilia. They try to cut that off, so you can’t speak about it,” she said. “So I say to you in Jamaica: Speak about it. Speak about it.”

Later, LaBarbera was unrepentant about his participation in the conference. In the December 17th edition of The Janet Mefferd Show, LaBarbera praised JCHS as "wonderful believers who are trying to preserve their anti-sodomy law, essentially, under pressure by the United States, the European Union and other western powers to get rid of it." He applauded anti-LGBTQ activists in Jamaica for resisting international calls for equality.

"America has become a force promoting, exporting sexual immorality. We've long done it with abortion. Now it's sexual immorality, and what's happening is the United States is using its money, its foreign aid dollars, and its power to push the gay agenda on small countries like Jamaica. And the Jamaicans are saying no ... The European Union is also pressuring them."

LaBarbera insisted that the Jamaica's anti-gay law isn't harmful because it's allegedly not enforced. Rather, he defended the law as a tool for teaching morality, warning that LGBTQ activists would make more demands for equality if the law were repealed.

"[The anti-gay law is] not enforced. It has a hard labor provision, but it's not enforced. I mean, there's gay activists that operate in Jamaica. There are homosexuals operating in Jamaica, so it's not like they're sentencing homosexuals to hard labor. But they understand that the law is a teacher, and if you take away this law, it's the first step leading to the the next gay activist demand, then the next demand, until you're like here in the United States where we have homosexual so-called marriage spreading from state to state."

Actually, LGBTQ people have been arrested, detained, and prosecuted in Jamaica because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, according to Human Rights Watch. Whether or not the anti-LGBTQ law is enforced, it remains an unjust law that has no place in an enlightened society.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Additionally, Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance was a guest speaker at a JCHS event in Kingston's Emancipation Park on December 10th, 2013. (Hat tip to Buzzfeed and Bartholomew's Notes on Religion.) In a video excerpt from the event, the announcer praised Mass Resistance as a group fighting the "sexual rights agenda". At the 2:28 mark, Camenker warned his Jamaica audience that repealing Jamaica's anti-gay law would have "terrible consequences".

"Here in Jamaica you are facing pressure by special interests to repeal the buggery law, which is being pushed hard both in the courts and at your prime minister. I am here to warn you that it will have terrible consequences. A law that contradicts God's law is the beginning of a slippery slope that you cannot imagine."

Camenker claimed that legalization of same-sex relations in the U.S. has resulted in gay pride parades "parading down the streets of cities are all kinds of bizarre, perverse activities, vulgar and profane signs, cross-dressers, sadomasochism, people mocking the church, and much more." He lamented non-discrimination laws that have frustrated anti-gay businesses, as well as gay adoptions and pro-LGBTQ lessons in schools.

At the 7:45 mark, Camenker complained that state governments have to spend money on HIV and other diseases he associated with gays. Outrageously, he claimed that most violence against gays is perpetrated by other gays. His anti-gay words deflect from the fact that anti-LGBTQ hate violence is a serious problem, and that intimate partner violence among gays, lesbians, and bisexuals is comparable to that of heterosexuals.

"The state and federal government are being asked in Massachusetts to spend enormous amounts of money on HIV and AIDS and other diseases associated with homosexual behavior.  Gay-on-gay violence has become so epidemic that there's now considerable money allocated in the Massachusetts state budget to deal with it. You will hear a lot of talk about violence against gays. What they don't tell you is that it's overwhelmingly from other gays."

At the 9:00 mark, he claimed that same-sex attraction and gender nonconformity supposedly result from sexual abuse, framing dubious "conversion therapy" as a form of much-needed help for minors that is being banned by U.S. states.

"What about kids who are sexually molested early on and as a result have homosexual and cross-dressing feelings? Suppose they want help and counseling to deal with those issues? The radical homosexual movement will have none of that. They're saying that kids shouldn't be allowed to get counseling or help because they say the kids are really 'born that way' and that homosexuality is natural and normal, so they are pushing for laws in Massachusetts and other states to make it illegal for licensed mental health professionals to give children the help they desperately need in those situations."

At the 10:01 mark, Camenker claimed that the ascendancy of LGBTQ rights is allegedly extinguishing free speech in America. He incorrectly claims that churches can no longer speak freely or hold events on LGBTQ matters, when in reality, churches and religious organizations can and do promote anti-gay messages.

"But what's particularly chilling is what happens to free speech when all this is imposed. At first, we were free to talk about what we think. After a while, anyone who publicly or even privately disagrees with these things can now expect to be relentlessly labeled as a hater, a bigot, and other disgusting things I won't mention here. Just Google me if you don't believe it. Churches are no longer free to speak out or even hold events that discuss these issues."

In short, Religious Right figures are fueling homophobia in Jamaica using the same strategies they have used in the U.S. Anti-gay voices tell Jamaican audiences that gay rights are an affront to God, a danger to children, a disease vector, and a threat to free speech. In their efforts to prevent the repeal of anti-gay legislation, American Religious Right voices are networking with their Jamaican counterparts and spreading pernicious stereotypes. This is unethical and unacceptable.



For additional commentary, visit the following links.

O-blog-dee-o-blog-da: Mass Resistance Spreads Anti-Gay Hate in Jamaica

SPLC Hatewatch: Peter LaBarbera Spreads Anti-LGBT Propaganda at Jamaican Conference

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Peter LaBarbera blames Jamaican LGBTs for their own persecution

LGBTQ Nation: U.S., British anti-gay activists spread homophobic messages at Jamaica conference

News Tidbits

The Republican: Anti-gay minister Scott Lively running for Mass. governor

Edge Boston: Right Wing Coalition Targeting Trans Youth Protections

MPR: University of Minnesota Students Draft Ban on 'Gay Conversion Therapy'

Buzzfeed: U.S., U.K. Activists Urge Jamaicans To Keep Same-Sex Intercourse Illegal

The Telegraph: Book on 'submissive wives' becomes hit in Spain

Ghana Web: Gays destroying Ghana, says, Pastor Opambour

News Tidbits

Pennlive: Pennsylvania bill would require schools to post 'In God We Trust' motto

Huffington Post: Peter LaBarbera Bashes Pro-Gay Christians For 'Same Sex-Marriage Tsunami'

Associated Press: Judge Who Changed Baby Name Could Be Disciplined

Springfield State Journal-Register: Illinois bishop bans gay marriage supporters from Cathedral

Go Upstate: Spartanburg Soup Kitchen turns away atheist volunteers

Washington Post: Air Force Academy may drop religious reference from honor code oath

KCTV 5 News: Anti-gay customers refuse tip to server, other patrons rally around him

Ms. Magazine: Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli Gave Thousands to CPCs

The Advocate: NOM's New Attack on Trans Students: Nudity Trumps Sincerity

On Top Magazine: Lesbian Teacher Fired On Her Wedding Day Wants Apology From Catholic School

Gay Star News: Grove City College professor claims same-sex marriage part of Marxist plot to destroy the family

Gay Star News: Australian state parliament passes motion against ex-gay therapies

Commentary Tidbits

Philly Now: PA House Declared April 30th ‘National Fast Day’ Because of Effort to ‘Erase’ God

Green Eagle: The Look of Lunacy?    (Hat tip to Infidel 753)

Church and State: Sects And Sex Ed

Salon: Reddit targets crisis pregnancy center over deceptive anti-choice practices

Right Wing Watch: World Congress of Families Praises Russian Laws 'Preventing' Gays from 'Corrupting Children'

BuzzFeed: Inside The Meltdown At America’s Most Conservative, Most Christian Political Consulting Firm

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: When third-rate anti-gay activists protest the Human Rights Campaign ...

Good As You: Photo: HRW Welcomes Peter LaBarbera and Protesters, HA!

Huffington Post: Rep. Earl Blumenauer: Let's Stop This Charade

News Tidbits

Bloomberg Businessweek: The Secret Gingrich-Santorum 'Unity Ticket' That Nearly Toppled Romney

Pennlive: On gay marriage issue, Pennsylvania pastors group urges Supreme Court to uphold God's law

MSN: Creationist offers $10K to prove Bible wrong

Pink News: Kentucky overrules veto on bill protecting actions motivated by religious belief

Gay Star News: Peter LaBarbera: Gay people are ‘at war with God’

Raw Story: Pat Robertson complains LGBT people just want to flaunt ‘their way of doing sex’

Raw Story: Fox News radio host: LGBT rights make Christians ‘second-class citizens’

On Top Magazine: Tony Perkins: Gay Marriage Debate Is About 'Fundamentally Altering Society'

The Advocate: Dirty Money

MSNBC: Although discredited, gay conversion therapy remains an option for minors

Philly Magazine: Philadelphia State Senator to Introduce Legislation that Would Ban Conversion Therapy for PA Minors

Think Spain: Spanish university professor: Pregnancy through rape is compensation from God, and homosexuality is curable

Commentary Tidbits

The Atlantic: For Gay Catholics, an Alternative to the Collection Plate

Box Turtle Bulletin: Anti-Homosexuality Bill Appears On Parliament’s Agenda for Today

Towleroad: Drag Queen RAs Are On the Loose, Says NOM Activist in Thanksgiving Message

Salon: Conservative legal group advises Christian clerks on gay marriage licenses

The Bilerico Project: Alliance Defending Freedom Should Clean Its Own House

Washington Post: Where are the so-called "family" organizations on Black Friday? Not where they should be.

Hollywood Reporter: Russell Brand Surprises Westboro Baptist Church With Gay Men on His FX Show

The Advocate: Dan Savage Explains The Origins of Porno Pete

World Congress of Families VI Held in Madrid, Spain

The World Congress of Families hosted its annual summit  from May 25-27 in Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1997, the World Congress of Families project hosts regular global symposiums on "pro-family" issues, namely demographic winter, homosexuality, and abortion. As discussed in a prior post, WCF summits offer an opportunity for Religious Right figures to network with counterparts across the globe. Among the WCF's partners are American Religious Right groups such as the American Family Association, AFTAH, the Alliance Defense Fund, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and Focus on the Family.

Life News reported on the conference, adding that the event took place at a time of "perilously" low fertility in Europe. This low fertility and population decline is allegedly contributing to Europe's economic woes, the article claimed. Life News quotes WCF managing director Larry Jacobs dismissing overpopulation. "[T]he demographic challenge of the 21st century won’t be overpopulation but declining and aging populations.  Long-term economic growth and population growth go hand-in-hand," he said.

The Madrid Declaration, a statement of the conference's values, enshrines family as the core unit of society and defines marriage as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. The Madrid Declaration laments supposed "assaults" on the family such as "statism, atomistic individualism, and sexual revolution." Furthermore, it decries policies that have allegedly "confused sexual identities," fostered depopulation," and encouraged promiscuity. The document affirms that men and women are allegedly "different in function," and that the calling of boys is to be husbands and fathers, while the calling of girls is to be wives and mothers. (Apparently singles, asexuals, LGBTs, and childfree people do not fit into this paradigm.) Furthermore, it emphasizes that the supposed "complementarity" of men and women, allegedly exhibited in psychological and biological differences, is a "source of strength." In short, the document promotes a heteronormative view of the family as a reproductive unit, emphasizes alleged differences between the sexes, and endorses conservative sexual mores.

Schedule to speak at the 2012 World Congress of Families VI were Religious Right figures such as anti-abortion activist Alveda King, anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson.

The conference schedule devoted a plenary session to the alleged threat of demographic winter, with talks with titles such as "Demographic Winter as a Threat to World Peace" and "Large Families and the Way Out of Demographic Winter." Other talks suggested that the family as under attack, such as a session entitled "Natural Family and the Revolution Against the Family." Alveda King delivered an anti-abortion talk entitled "Culture of Live vs. Culture of Death: The Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Today." Workshops such as "Authentic Women and Rediscovering Homemaking" featured conservative speakers such as Baptist author Dorothy Patterson and Susan Roylance of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society.

Not surprisingly, the conference contained anti-gay content, as suggested by a plenary session entitled "The Homosexual Lobby." The session features not only Alliance Defense Fund president Alan Sears and ADF attorney Benjamin Bull, but a controversial "ex-gay" therapist named Richard Cohen. Cohen, the author of Coming Out Straight, delivers a workshop entitled "Solutions to Homosexual Behavior."

The WCF summit demonstrates how multiple right wing issues are interconnected, such as anti-LGBT activism, anti-abortion activism, and alleged demographic winter. In this worldview, homosexuality, abortion, and demograhic changes are seen as threats to family and society. To boot, the WCF summit is a reminder that the Religious Right is not just an American problem, but a global network of activists.


To read the conference schedule, click here. 

To read additional commentary, visit the following links.

NOM Exposed: Come for ‘Solutions to Homosexual Behavior’, stick around for NOM’s president

Right Wing Watch: Peter LaBarbera Pledges to Forever Fight the 'Hydra-Headed Monster of the Homosexual/Transsexual Lobby'

Truth Wins Out: Travel Advisory: Porno Pete Does Spain!

Commentary Tidbits

AlterNet: How Deep Is the Republican Christian Right's Connection to the Anti-Gay Bills Sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa?

Whatever Works: The bishops and the 70 million Catholics here – not on the same page, yet again

Equality Matters: WA Family Policy Institute Promotes Claim That Gay Parents Molest Their Children, Turn Kids Gay

Media Matters: Fox's Crowder: Obama "Should Go Back To Burning The Taxpayer-Funded Incense To Whatever Pagan, Foreign Deity He's Worshipping"

Media Matters: CBS To Receive Award From Fringe Group At CPAC

Epiphenom: Simply being near a church makes people more hostile to outsiders

Daily Kos: Turns out Komen Foundation Senior VP Karen Handel is a fundie anti-gay bigot

RH Reality Check: Mammograms, Contraception, and Abortion are Always Political, Even Religious. We Ignore This At Our Peril

Box Turtle Bulletin: Another Ex-Gay Ministry Attempts Stealth Mode

Pam's House Blend: LaBarbera, Wooden tell me to find Jesus – and a man to breed with to ‘rock my world'

Salon: Jesus versus the GOP

Feministing: Santorum misses the days of back-alley abortions. Don’t you?

Commentary Tidbits: Anti-Gay Protest at SPLC Edition

On January 17th, Hatewatch reported that several anti-gay activists protested outside of the Southern Poverty Law Center headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama. The protest, organized by Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), condemned the Southern Poverty Law Center for categorizing anti-LGBT faith organizations as hate groups. According to Hatewatch, participating organizations included Abiding Truth Ministries, the Illinois Family Institute, and Mass Resistance, and scheduled speakers included Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber and Linda Harvey of Mission America.

Several LGBT and progressive blogs commented on the gathering, and for your reading pleasure, I've included links to their commentary below.

Right Wing Watch: While Protesting Southern Poverty Law Center, AFTAH Proves Why It's A 'Hate Group'

Truth Wins Out: Porno Pete Goes To SPLC For Whining Purposes, Brings Friends

Box Turtle Bulletin: Yes, Hate Groups Have African Americans Too

LGBTQ Nation: Anti-gay hate groups protest SPLC for calling them anti-gay hate groups

The New Civil Rights Movement: Anti-Gay Hate Groups Protest SPLC, Mislead About Why They're Labeled Hate Groups

Def Shepherd: Hate Groups Rally Outside Southern Poverty Law Center To Protest Being Labeled As Hate Groups

Joe. My. God: Photo of the Day: SPLC Protest

Commentary Tidbits

The DV8: Ugly American Christians

SPLC Hatewatch: Anti-Gay Haters Plan Press Conference Today at SPLC

Chicago Tribune: I was (almost) a teenage Mormon

Washington Post: Climate and the culture war

The Daily Beast: Will Evangelical Christian Voters Save Rick Santorum?

Think Progress: Santorum Staffer Says Women Shouldn’t Be President Because It’s Against God’s Will

Right Wing Watch: Anti-Choice Activists use Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to Attack Abortion Rights

Throwing Bricks: A Christian School Hosting AFTAH and Scott Lively Vandalized

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that on October 15th, a Christian school scheduled to host an appearance by anti-gay activist Scott Lively was vandalized. Early that Saturday, someone threw bags of bricks through the windows and glass door panels of Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, IL. The bags reportedly contained messages such as "Shut Down Lively" and "Quit the Homophobic S___."

AFTAH founder Peter LaBarbera reportedly called the vandalism a hate crime. Someone using the pseudonym "Pissed" posted a statement at Chicago Indymedia claiming responsibility for the vandalism, writing that the incident was meant to demonstrate the consequences of homophobia.

Lively, author of the anti-gay book The Pink Swastika and a nominee for Human Rights Watch's Homophobia Hall of Shame, was scheduled to speak that weekend at a banquet for Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). The Gay Liberation Network, which organized a protest of the banquet, said in an online statement that it did not know who perpetrated the vandalism.

Several LGBT rights advocates have voiced opinions about the incident.

Commentary Tidbits

Anti-Defamation League: Clergy and Community Leaders Express Concerns over Governor's Official Call for Prayer

Wall of Separation: Yielding To Censorship: Missouri School Board Bans Books That Are ‘Contrary To The Bible’

Ex-Gay Watch: IRS Revokes Peter LaBarbera’s AFTAH Tax Exempt Status

Media Matters: The Bigotry Of Pat Buchanan

The Advocate: Where to Find "The Gay Gospels"

God's Politics: Family Research Council Attacks Evangelical and Catholic Leaders

RH Reality Check: Jim Bob Duggar Against Abortion -- Go Figure

Politicus USA: Rick Warren Derides The Tax Paying Poor As His Church Pays No Taxes

Right Wing Watch: Is Wendy Wright Out At Concerned Women For America?

Right Wing Watch: Scott Lively: Gay Marriage Is A Sign Of The End Times

Pro and Anti-Gay Demonstrators at St. Peter's Church in Chicago

On Friday, May 27th, anti-gay advocates held a rally at St. Peter's Church in Chicago, IL, drawing supporters and detractors from around the region. Organized by anti-abortion group Americans for Life, the rally not only protested an Illinois civil unions measure, but brought attention to the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative, which calls for marriage to be legally defined as the union of one man and one woman. Indeed, according to the Windy City Times, Bob Schwartz of the Gay Liberation Network believed that the anti-gay rally was primarily about organizing people around an anti-gay marriage amendment.