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07/29/2010
What's in Ruben's closet? A group that pushes gays into their own!
Some facts:
- Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel and Associate Dean with Liberty University School of Law, is among the most incendiary voices in the "pro-family" movement. Examples: There was the time Matt said that gay male relationships constitute "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love’”; the time Matt called President Barack Obama an anti-american enemy; the time he accused Obama and Barney Frank of being anti-religious bigots; the time he suggested there are "sinister motives" in the Obama White House; the time he agreed with TVC's Andrea Lafferty that homosexuality is "among a litany of...sexual deviances" that include things like sex with an amputee's stump and sexual behavior involving feces and urine; the time he likened pro-equality progressives to Fred "God Hates F*gs" Phelps; the time he referred to marriage equality advocates as "purveyors of evil"; the time he compared gay unions to marrying a house plant; the time he said Ellen Degeneres "guides her many adoring housewife fans into rebellion against God's divine and explicit natural order"; etc., etc.
-The Liberty Counsel has an offensive program called "Adopt a Liberal," wherein everyone from Mike Bloomberg to Republican Senator Olympia Snowe to talk show host Rachel Maddow are painted as too progressive for their own good, and are therefore in need of the Lord to "move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead 'a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.'
- In 2009, Liberty University (LC's academic home) went so far as to remove their name from their College Democrats club. In an email to a student, Liberty University's VP of Student Affairs, Mark Hine, declared that "The Democratic Party Platform is contrary to the mission of LU and to Christian doctrine."
- Liberty Counsel has created "Proud to be a Right-Wing Extremist" membership cards.
- Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, has made the anti-scientific claim that there are more than 30 sexual orientations, saying that the label "include[s] pedophilia and every imaginable deviant fetish."
- Staver told the Concerned Women For America that, due to things like pro-gay activism, his anti-LGBT side should engage in a "another American Revolution." In the same segment, he claimed that all pro-gay legislators are unfit for office.
- In April of 2009, Matt Barber and Steve Crampton (both of The Liberty Counsel) agreed with a caller that civil laws really don't even exist without belief in God.
- LC prez Matt Staver has encouraged Prop 8 supporters to riot in the streets if that flawed measure is ever overturned, and suggested that Gov. Schwarzenegger in particular deserves the protest because he has "governed immorally" (which Mat also claims has led to CA's fiscal problems).
- In June of 2008, prez Staver was so into his mission of drumming up fear that he quite literally declared that gay couples in an equal world would be able to get a marriage, a civil union, and a domestic partnership concurrently, saying that the California Supreme Court's marriage ruling "effectively legalized polygamy."
- Director Matt Barber called Google "satanic" for supporting marriage equality.
And so on, and so on.
Okay, so why do we recount all of this now? Well, because our pals at Fight Back NY have our minds on New York state senator Ruben Diaz (D-Surprisingly) and the need for the LGBT community to more fully highlight his anti-equality record. And for this site, there is no better place to start that digging than with the Liberty Counsel.
So why LC? Well, because on at least two separate occasions, Sen. Diaz has relied on this very far right, very over-the-top legal group to represent him in court. The first was back in 2003, when Sen. Diaz took it upon himself to challenge the Harvey Milk School, a small public NYC high school designed to serve the city's vulnerable LGBT teen population. When Diaz needed legal assistance, he immediately turned to Matt Staver's organization:
Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit legal defense organization based in Orlando, Fla., which describes itself as dedicated to preserving religious freedom, is representing Mr. Diaz.
Mathew D. Staver, the president and general counsel of the organization, said the Harvey Milk school violated the rights of students who are not gay. ''Under the New York City school system's own policies it is blatantly discriminatory,'' he said. ''What's next if you start this? What does this lead to?''
Lawsuit Opposes Expansion Of School for Gay Students [NY Times]
The other time was in 2004, when Diaz and his anti-equality allies once again turned to The Counsel in order to reject gay and lesbian Liberty:
On March 12, same-sex couples filed suit against the Orangetown Town Clerk and the New York Department of Health under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the New York State Constitution, demanding the state to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Liberty Counsel sought to intervene to defend the case on behalf of state Sens. Ruben Diaz Sr. and Richard Meier, Rep. Daniel Hooker, the New York Family Policy Council, and Michael Long, co-owner of a small business and chairman of the Conservative Party of New York.
New York Court Upholds Marriage Laws [NewsMax]
Of all of the places Diaz could turn, he, a Democrat, went to a group that stands out as being one of the most hostile to gays and Democrats that anyone could possibly find. Remember: This is the same group that quite proudly rejects the Democratic party platform. That point alone should concern Diaz's supporters within the party, whether or not they support LGBT rights or not!
And of course if you do support basic peace (even if not marriage) for gay people...
Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays Launch the Change is Possible Campaign
Virginia – Today, Liberty Counsel and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (“PFOX”) kicked off their joint “Change is Possible Campaign.” Liberty Counsel is a national public interest law firm with offices in Florida and Virginia and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all fifty states. PFOX is a national organization that supports families touched by homosexuality, advocates for the ex-gay community, and educates the public on sexual orientation.
...
Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated: “We are confident that this project will help root out intolerance that exists under the guise of tolerance and diversity. There is an ongoing battle over the hearts and minds of our youth. We have an obligation to protect them from the harmful message that people are “born gay” and cannot choose to change.” [LC Press Release]
...there are number of other reasons that this Diaz/Liberty Counsel coziness should come with raised eyebrows!
