Political Crossfire Forums

[F'losrix]

I don't usually copy and paste whole articles, but decided this one needed to be viewed as one complete piece. The emphasis added is mine.

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/02/020906bush.htm

Washington) With leaders of some of America's leading anti-gay marriage groups looking on President Bush has signed legislation giving $500 million to faith-based programs to promote and strengthen opposite-sex marriage.

The provision is part of the deficit reduction bill passed by Congress. "[It] allows faith-based groups that provide social services to receive federal funding without changing the way they hire," Bush noted at the White House signing ceremony.

Under the law faith-based groups are able to circumvent local and human rights laws that are supposed to protect LGBT workers.

Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn said that the financial windfall is not intended to specifically oppose same-sex marriage, although the President is a major supporter of a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage in the Constitution.

Horn said, however, that none of the money could be used to promote or support same-sex marriage in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal.

The money also could not be used to support gay families where civil unions or domestic partnerships are allowed.

Horn cited the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as "the union of one man and woman" for all federal programs and services.

The White House's so-called marriage initiative has been under fire for the past year after it was learned the administration had secretly paid journalists to promote the plan.

Last October the US Attorney's office started an inquiry into the use by the Bush administration of anti-gay commentator Armstrong Williams to promote the initiative. (story)

Last year 3675Gay.com reported that Williams was paid nearly a quarter million dollars by the White House to promote the President's agenda in his columns and nationally syndicated talk show. (story)

Williams is a former aide to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In a column following the 2004 election Williams linked gay rights advocates with organized crime.

"Despite the rhetoric that you hear from the homosexual Cosa Nostra, the lack of support for the gay marriage amendment has nothing to do with prejudice," he wrote.

After Williams was exposed two other cases came to light where the administration hired journalists to promote its agenda in the guise of unbiased commentary and news.

Syndicated conservative columnists Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus were paid by the administration to promote the marriage initiative.

In 2003 Gallagher testified before a Senate subcommittee in support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage but failed to mention she was on the White House payroll. (story)

McManus, whose syndicated column, "Ethics & Religion," appeared in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Your tax dollars at work, and illustrative of why the faith-based initiatives may not be what they're represented to be. I cannot remember a time in my lifetime (43 years) when any other White House administration so blatantly signed on to promote a one-sided agenda against an entire group of American citizens.

I think I'd like to go back to the Reagan years when we were mostly just ignored, rather than the current situation where it feels like they're on a very public campaign aimed at stuffing us back into the closet and painting us as criminals.

[StrangerWitCandy]

Just one reason why I don't trust these faith based initiatives. Its simply code for "religious right agenda" initiatives.

[Sage Orator]

Separation of church and state has gone AWOL. This reminds me of a Thomas Nast cartoon where a woman is sewing one quilt saying church and another saying state together.