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06/29/2011
Bob Vander Plaats greets folks at front door; we look at tools still tucked away in the shed
In obvious reaction to the "Second Hand Effects of Homosexuality" links that we first uncovered in January and that others like Think Progress' Igor Volsky continued to bring up throughout the winter and spring, Bob Vander Plaats and his Iowa Family Leader group are now trying to turn over a nice, new, "Ah shucks" leaf. This is the video that now greets visitors to the Family Leader website:
Which is probably smart strategy, this nice approach, especially considering the slate of GOP candidates that this group continues to host (Gingrich on July 11). Only problem? It's completely disingenuous. And fortunately for us, the Internet has a long, often unflinching memory.
For instance: If one goes to the Family Leader's newly refreshed "issues" page, one will see a scrubbed page with pending text:
It's near-certain that the forthcoming text will be more pragmatic, less overheated. However, a simple change of URL will revert the "issues" page back to its original (more honest?) form, where "distorted sexual orientation" is once again condemned:
Oh, and then there's the big smoking gun: That uber-nasty, "ex-gay"-promoting "Second Hand Effects" program itself. While one will find no mention of this outrageous seminar program on the new, Bob-Vander-Plaats-greets-ya-at-the-front-door site, it's still incredibly easy to make the connection. A curious reader just has to enter The Family Leader's old URL (http://web.me.come/thefamilyleader), which still upconverts to the "Second Hand Effects" still-active online home, smoking wedding rings and all:
And in fact, if one enters http://www.secondhandeffects.org or http://www.secondhandeffects.com into a browser, one will see that these also automatically convert to the Family Leader's site. Because of course they do: The Family Leader and its Iowa Family Policy Center associates own these URLs. Then, now, and always.
So they must also own all of this noxious smoke that they blew at gay humans' expense.
*For backstory on the whole thing, here's a handy video we put together a few months back: