Gay Blackmail Campaign Over Marriage
By Cliff Kincaid (07/14/04)
A proposed constitutional amendment to protect marriage between a man and a woman will probably not receive the two-thirds vote it needs to pass the Senate. Senators John Kerry and John Edwards will vote against it. A supporter of the proposal says, “A two-thirds vote is a difficult margin to achieve in the current Senate on anything even remotely controversial.” But if and when it goes down to defeat, the outcome should be attributed at least in part to a vicious and nasty “outing” campaign against closeted gays in the House and Senate, including members and staffers.
The Washington Post ran a matter-of-fact story about this campaign, never once using the terms “bribery” or “blackmail.”
One target of the campaign, Maryland Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, has been subjected to a similar campaign in the past. The Washington Blade, a homosexual paper, reports that when homosexual activists previously attacked Mikulski for concealing her sexual identity, her voting record on gay issues improved. This time, the Blade said that, within days after being outed on a controversial website, Mikulski “issued a statement declaring her intention to vote against the amendment.”
The main targets, however, are Republicans. The campaign has targeted and identified homosexuals working for Republicans at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate offices, and Reps. Michael Oxley, Melissa Hart, and Peter King. These staffers are threatened with exposure unless they pressure their members and offices to oppose the amendment. One GOP member of the House has also been outed. He, too, will vote against the marriage amendment.
The campaign follows the national convention of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), which featured 650 journalists from across the country and a panel discussion on how to facilitate gay marriage. The panel was titled, “Out at the Altar: The Marriage Story,” and featured three pro-homosexual panelists. One was Evan Wolfson, founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, a pro-gay marriage group that recommends NLGJA as an objective source of information on the gay marriage debate.
One session at the convention was about how “ex-conservatives” were taking on the right-wing. The star was former conservative David Brock, who abandoned the conservative cause and announced he was a homosexual. Brock may have some inside information on other closeted homosexuals in the conservative movement and on Capitol Hill.
It should be obvious that this organization of “journalists” is designed to further the gay rights agenda in the press and society at large. Making sure that their fellow journalists toe the party line, the NLGJA maintains a “journalist-to-journalist” program, ostensibly designed to “work within the industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.” NLGLA members are asked to email to the “Rapid Response Task Force” a link to any “inaccurate or unfair news coverage” of their “community.”
NLGJA President Eric Hegedus, who works for the Philadelphia Inquirer, explains that the “rapid response” team targets news organizations guilty of “unfair or inaccurate” coverage that is evident in “tone or balance.” When that happens, he says, “A committee of journalists then discusses whether we should do outreach to the news organization publishing or broadcasting the coverage.” For example, he said that if a reporter uses the term “gay lifestyle,” which is perceived to be offensive, the team tells the writer or organization that it is an “inaccurate term” and should no longer be used. Another group, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), works to keep conservatives critical of the gay agenda off the air and out of print.
Board members and officers from the NLGJA come from the San Francisco Chronicle, CBS News, New York Newsday, National Public Radio, Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press.
CBS Evening News anchorman Dan Rather was a scheduled speaker at the NLGJA convention but didn’t show because he had been sent to Iraq. CBS sent John Roberts, who substitutes for Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, to take his place. In a surprising development, a Fox News Channel personality was advertised as the host of a dinner at a lesbian-owned restaurant.
Rep. Barney Frank was another featured speaker. Described by the NLGJA as America’s first openly gay congressman, he was in fact reprimanded by the House of Representatives for using the resources of his congressional office to help a gay prostitute. Most people don’t know that because the media no longer report it. And if you did report this aspect of the congressman’s “lifestyle,” you might get a call from the NLGJA “rapid response” team.
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