Value Voters Summit full of anti-LGBT activists

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

This weekend, the ultra-conservative, and anti-LGBT, Family Research Council is hosting their annual Value Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. In addition to a host of speakers, on a variety of conservative topic, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump gave a speech.

Also featured at the Summit, according to Towleroad.com, are groups like the Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality, Family Watch International, Watchmen on the Wall, and the Liberty Counsel. In addition, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays will also appear.

Among the workshops offered is “Behind closed doors: Fighting for safety and privacy after government bathroom directives. A synopsis on the Summit’s website says, “The Obama administration's radical interpretation of "sex" to include "gender identity" has the nation at the crossroads of political correctness and personal privacy.

“According to the Administration's May 13, 2016 ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to schools across the country, a boy claiming gender confusion must now be allowed in the same changing room, bathroom, locker room, or other private facility with a girl.

“Just as it did with immigration, the federal government has bypassed Congress entirely and crafted national policy from its own subjective interpretation of the long-standing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. In so doing, and without requiring so much as a medical diagnosis for transgender students, it has created the perfect predatory environment for those seeking to take advantage of the new regulation.

“For the nearly one in eight high school girls that have been a victim of sexual abuse, the potential consequences of this new policy could be particularly damaging. The safety, security, and privacy of every public school student is at risk. But state officials and private citizens are fighting back.”

Another workshop looks at Trump’s ‘First 100 Days’, saying one of the things on the list is overturning the school bathroom and locker room directive.

Todd Starnes, host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations, wrote a summary of the importance of the Summit, saying, “We are living in very  dangerous times.”

Among his comments: “Wrong is right. Right is wrong. The Supreme Court has redefined what God defined.” He was speaking about the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision in 2015.

He also hates the transgender student guidance from the federal government, saying, “Our public schools have been turned into radical indoctrination centers for the left — leading the charge in massive assault on the family. 

“A lawsuit filed this week by Alliance Defending Freedom should alarm every parent in America.

“A group of girls say their privacy was sacrificed for the sake of a boy who identifies as a girl. They were exposed to all sorts of debauchery in the locker room and the school district turned a blind eye. They did nothing. One girl told her coach she could not play on the basketball team with a transgender teammate. So the coach told her to turn in her uniform and leave the team.”

Starnes called on attendees to “Support groups like Family Research Council and American Family Association. Ask your pastor to start a team dedicated to staying informed on the issues of the day.”

Both of those organizations are named as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

As examples, RightWingWatch.com said, “Tony Perkins, the president of Family Research Council (FRC), has described supporters of LGBT rights as pawns of Satan.

“Donald Trump is set to appear Friday at the Values Voter Summit, a Washington, D.C., conference organized by the Family Research Council that brings together what we’ve called ‘some of the country’s most extreme opponents of LGBT rights, vocal conspiracy theorists and outspoken critics of the separation of church and state.’

“Several of the summit’s organizers and speakers are so radical that they have even backed laws criminalizing homosexuality.”

The website also discusses the Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), saying, “PFOX is dedicated to promoting ex-gay conversion therapy and ‘educating society on the facts about sexual orientation in order to eliminate negative perceptions and discrimination against ex-gays and those trying to overcome same-sex attraction.’

“The group’s materials have described coming out as ‘a kind of murder of the family’ and railed against ‘homofascism.’”

The entire focus of the Summit appears to be stressing what they call “Our Christian Heritage.”

These are the kinds of groups that Donald Trump associated with when he spoke to the Summit. He said, “Let me state this upfront: in a Trump administration our Christian heritage will be protected, defended like you have never seen before.”

The Gayly – September 10, 2016 @ 4:50 p.m.