NOM's star speaker attacks me, says 'unrepentant' gays are 'perverts,' repeats belief that 'homosexual practice' is more unnatural than incest

« Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post »

05/01/2013

by Jeremy Hooper

The National Organization For Marriage's Ruth Institute has held four "It Takes A Village..." conferences, and exceedingly anti-gay speaker Robert Gagnon has spoken at every one. Every year he speaks, folks like myself and Equality Matter's Carlos Maza take time to remind everyone that Mr. Gagnon is one of the most proudly anti-LGBT voices around, with one of his most oft repeated claims being that homosexuality is worse than incest or bestiality. Despite our public exposure campaigns, NOM and its minders keep Gagnon at the top of the bill.

This year is no different. Gagnon is already listed as a speaker for the 2013 conference, with one of his multiple slots scheduled right before NOM's own Jennifer Roback Morse (who heads the Ruth Institute) and Thomas Peters (NOM's Comm. Director):

[ITAF Syllabus]

There is no debate: Gagnon is the star of this annual show. A show, I should remind you, that works under the umbrella of the National Organization For Marriage's Education Fund (its c3 arm).

So what is Mr. Gagnon saying now, just a few weeks before he is scheduled to address this NOM conference? Well, check out the following email from that same conservative email chain that I wrote about yesterday. To this e-list of over seventy social conservatives (*to which Exodus International head Alan Chambers publicly added me because he's sick of the anti-gay rhetoric and wanted me to see it; more on that later), Mr. Gagnon called me someone who has a whole objective of "promoting sexual immoral behavior" and [abusing] those who uphold what Jesus and Scripture regarded as sacred," repeated his belief that homosexuality is "more severely unnatural" than even incest, and defended the idea of labeling "unrepentant" gay people as "perverts." Take a look:

THIS. IS. WHO. NOM. IS. PAYING. TO. SPEAK. TO. YOUNG. CONSERVATIVES. ON. THE. SUBJECT. OF. MARRIAGE. Is there any lingering question on how NOM, senior staffer Jennifer Roback Doc-1 Morse (who, again, heads this c3 offshoot of NOM; seen at left with Gagnon), and the associated "protect marriage" agenda truly sees us? I mean, how can NOM possibly deny animus when their FIVE-TIME STAR SPEAKER says this kind of thing about people like us?

If Robert Gagnon retains his summer gig with NOM, then this organization will have crossed a new line. I will see to it that it sticks to them.

**UPDATE: An earlier version of this post's headline said Mr. Gagnon repeated his belief that homosexual practice is worse than bestiality. I believe that is, in fact, what Mr. Gagnon was implying when, after mentioning both bestiality and incest in the fourth paragraph above, he claimed in a third, clarifying line that "Scripture treats homosexual practice as even more severely unnatural." I'm not sure why anyone would interpret it differently. I mean, when a writer mentions two notions and then uses a "But…even more severely unnatural" setup to round out his thoughts, the logical reader believes he or she is referring back to the points that immediately precede that closing.

Mr Gagnon, however, claims my read was "incompetent." This being the case, I will gladly limit his belief to just incest, since he has on many different occasions claimed that "homosexual practice" is worse than than inter-familial practice. I don't mind making this change (while leaving Gagnon's full text to your own interpretation) because I hardly see how it's better for Gagnon's cause.

space