FRCBlog.com– “Ann Haas, research director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, asked, ‘What if the way we’re talking about these suicides could actually be encouraging vulnerable young people to copycat the tragic behavior?’

A year later, a commentary last month on the website of The Advocate, the nation’s leading ‘gay’ magazine, finally admitted that this is a serious problem. David McFarland……(who) runs a suicide prevention hotline for (homosexual) youth…cited the political and cultural ‘benefit from showcasing the health crisis of disproportionate rates of suicide and incidences of bullying that affect (homosexual) young people.’ However—in an astonishing admission—he also acknowledged that ‘this tactic has also increased suicide risk.’

Got that? Here is a pro-homosexual activist admitting that ‘this tactic’ (‘showcasing . . . suicide and . . . bullying’) ‘has also increased suicide risk.’”

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CITY PULSE– “Tuesday, the (Michigan) Senate passed nearly unanimously a different version of an anti-bullying bill…sending it to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for final approval. …For leaders of Michigan’s gay community, though, the bill falls short of what they sought: Specific protection for Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender individuals and those who are perceived as gay. They say the measure remains but one example of how this Legislature refuses to include protections in state law for LGBT individuals.”

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DETROIT NEWS — “Some conservatives object specifically to the enumeration of gay, lesbian and transgender students. Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan…has called inclusion of such students in the bill a ‘Trojan horse.’

‘We are concerned that if you establish special protected class status expressly on the basis of homosexual behavior, that will be used to promote such behavior,’ said Glenn, who was co-sponsor of the ‘marriage protection’ amendment approved by state voters in 2004.

Glenn noted Iowa enumerated protected groups — including gay, lesbian and transgender students — in its anti-bullying law, and the Iowa Supreme Court used that as evidence of protected class status when it upheld gay marriage in that state.”

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WND COMMENTARY: “All over the country, parents are discovering that “anti-bullying” programs are a carte blanche for sexual-deviance promotion. Kids learn that unless they nod approvingly at homosexuality and gender-bending, they are all complicit in the worst damage that can ever happen to a fellow student.”
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Thanks to your support, AFA-Michigan’s firm opposition over the last five years has succeeded in stopping Michigan’s pending anti-bullying bill from being used as a Trojan Horse for homosexual activists’ political agenda. Make a tax-deductible contribution to AFA-Michigan today.
Gary Glenn

WLNS-TV CHANNEL 6 — “A Senate-passed anti-bullying bill) makes exceptions for ‘statements of religious belief’ or ‘moral conviction.’ ‘It really in a nutshell gives somebody the right to reach out and hurt somebody and then claim, it was against my religious beliefs so…,’ said (anti-bullying activist Kevin) Epling. ‘Right now if a child doesn’t have strong religious beliefs, he’s gonna be picked on by kids who do have strong religious beliefs, and it’s gonna be perfectly okay for them to do that,’ said Epling.

Gary Glenn, the president of the American Family Association of Michigan, says that’s simply not true. ‘It would be an absurd characterization to say that in any way encouraged or allowed bullying,’ said Glenn. ‘It was inserted to make sure that no student is bullied because they simply express their opinions. There is no language in it that even approaches such a ridiculous charge. It equally protects all students from all bullying for all reasons,’ said Glenn.”

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BETWEEN THE LINES — “Ultimately, the ACLU of Michigan Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Project plans to eliminate the constitutional amendment that currently bans same-sex marriage or similar unions in Michigan.

In the interim, they strive to work to amend Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protection against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation based… on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression; push for the enactment of anti-bullying legislation that protects LGBT youth; advocate for the full legal rights of same-sex couples to parent; protect state laws that provide confidentiality of HIV status; and support policies to respect the relationships of LGBT seniors.”

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Brandon’s characterization of the legislation is ridiculously wrong. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite of what he reports.

The bill’s language reaffirming First Amendment-guaranteed free speech rights was inserted specifically to ensure that students are not bullied, or accused of bullying, merely because they exercise their freedom to verbally make statements of religious or moral conviction.

It was likely in response to the Howell High student who last year was ejected from class — by a teacher wearing an anti-bullying t-shirt — because the student dared say that he does not accept homosexual behavior because it violates his religious convictions. The teacher was later reprimanded and suspended for a day for violating the student’s Constitutional rights.

Even Jay Kaplan of ACLU-Michigan agreed that the student’s comments were Constitutionally guaranteed, telling the Associated Press: “We believe, based on those statements — as offensive and upsetting as they were — they were protected speech.”

In other words, a student’s free speech rights cannot be legally censored or muzzled just because someone else who hears his opinion chooses to be offended or upset.

Further, the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2001 unanimously overturned a high school speech code that attempted to ban expressions of opinion just because others find the opinion offensive. Now Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote:

“No court or legislature has ever suggested that unwelcome speech directed at another’s ‘values’ may be prohibited under the rubric of anti-discrimination. By prohibiting disparaging speech directed at a person’s ‘values,’ the policy strikes at the heart of moral and political discourse — the lifeblood of constitutional self-government (and democratic education) and the core concern of the First Amendment. That speech about ‘values’ may offend is not cause for its prohibition.”

Please note that the bill’s language says that verbal “statements” of religious or moral conviction do not constitute bullying. Free speech protections do just that, protect free speech, not physical acts of bullying.
Gary Glenn

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RECORD-EAGLE — “A campaign group that supports Traverse City’s non-discrimination ordinance raised about four times as much money as its opponents. (Homosexual activist group) Traverse City Equality generated more than $25,853 in campaign contributions in its effort to urge a ‘yes’ vote on the Nov. 8 city ballot Proposal 1. A ‘yes’ vote would keep intact a city ordinance that prohibits housing a…nd employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. …Its largest contributor, and the largest donor on either side of the issue, is Washington, D.C.-based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund. The fund gave $10,000 to Traverse City Equality.

The group No Special Rights Discrimination, which opposes the measure, raised $6,459 thus far, according to documents filed with the Grand Traverse County clerk.”

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MIRS — “Anti-bullying legislation stalled in previous sessions as groups like the American Family Association of Michigan claimed it was a ‘Trojan horse’ for gay rights. …While SB 0137 was derided by Democrats and (homosexual activist group) Equality Michigan, AFAM applauded the bill.

‘This all-inclusive protection could have passed years ago had Democrats not insisted — as they still do today — on trying to use anti-bullying legislation as a Trojan Horse for specially protected group rights based on homosexual activity and other personal behavior or characteristics, an approach opposed not only by AFA-Michigan but by Bully Police USA,’ said AFAM President Gary Glenn.”

MICHIGAN MESSENGER — “At the heart of the argument is a belief by Democrats and most advocates that an enumerated bill — which specifically lists protected classes — would be more effective in addressing bullying. However, Republicans and their allies, including Gary Glenn at the American Family Association of Michigan, argue enumeration does not protect every student and that it is also part of the ‘homosexual agenda.’”

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WXYZ-TV — “The staunchest opponent to (homosexual activists’ anti-bullying) bill isn’t in the state legislature. He’s Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, a conservative Christian group that has the ear of many Republican legislators. Glenn fears that if the bill becomes law, it could lead to same-sex marriage or adoption in Michigan. Mentioning gay students in a bullying bill, he says, promotes a ‘homosexual lifestyle.’

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INFOWARS — “Schools are being pressured to report such incidents to authorities and face punishments for not doing so under anti-bullying policies. This is a clear example of how hate crime laws have brazenly been hijacked by the state to get children institutionalized on criminal databases at an early age. This is about the state dictating what your child can think and say – it’s the thought police on steroids.”

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BETWEEN THE LINES — “When pressed with these basic questions – uh, why do you care so much about this (very) particular issue at this particular moment? – Rep. Hooker just said it’s what the American Family Association of Michigan wanted him to do. …This bizarre buffoonery by Bible-thumping bigots has no place in a state full of intelligent, reasonable and caring citizens.”

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