[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update (2/2)

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

In this second part, the AFA points to CultureDefense.org, a new  
theocon organisation of the usual sort - presumably. Right now, it's  
stupid and broken because whoever is running it hasn't finished  
figuring out WordPress and there are still labels like "META" and  
notes about how this is the default sample page and such. But that'll  
be filled in later, no doubt.

It other organisational updates, it looks like AgapePress - the  
American Family Association's theoconservative news organisation -  
has reinvented itself as One News Now. There's no announcement, per  
se', but I've noticed the same employees, slant, and rhetoric. But I  
presume it wants to look more independent than AgapePress did - or  
they've decided that AgapePress is too well known as the AFA house  
organ, so are trying to come up with something new. It'd probably  
help if their graphic look wasn't straight out of 1994.

Anyway, onto the topic! Now that it's less in the news, there're more  
attacks on the HPV vaccine; lots of ACTION ITEMS to support General  
Pace's attacks on GBLT people - mostly, they want people to write Mr.  
Bush supporting his comments and telling him not to apologise.

And now, today's news.

Concerned Women for America cheer General Pace's condemnation of GBLT  
people as immoral;

CWA's version of the Deerfield, Illinois school "Pro-'Gay'  
Propaganda" story seen in the Focus on the Family section of the  
previous CWU;

CWA lists HPV vaccine as maybe it's _first_ state priourity - so I  
guess it's not just Focus on the Family moving towards outright  
opposition to an anti-cancer vaccine;

Concerned Women for America's "talking points" against the HPV (anti- 
cervical-cancer vaccine);

CWA's Janice Shaw Crouse pushes the idea that women don't really want  
careers and allege that women are abandoning careers for babies en  
masse;

LifeSite has an ACTION ITEM to protest the court decision striking  
down COPA as unconstitutional; also quotes Concerned Women for  
America's Matt Barber saying that government needs to "protect  
children" through intervention;

LifeSite goes after Mitt Romney as part of the whole Terri Schievo  
thing - yes, that's still going;

CWA talks about how the HPV anti-cervical-cancer vaccine is bad  
because it "could give a false sense of security to girls in making  
responsible and moral decisions regarding their sexual integrity and  
personal health";

Ohio governor drops abstinence-only education; and as a note, Ken  
Blackwell - failed Republican candidate for Ohio governor and  
architect of the Republican capture of Ohio in 2004, is now "a fellow  
with the Buckeye Institute in Columbus and Family Research Council in  
Washington, D.C.";

Family Research Council wants more Bible study classes in public  
schools since official organised prayer is still out; says it's  
required for good citizenship. "The time has come for our nation to  
experience a true revelation on the Bible's relevance--not only to  
our personal lives but to our identity as Americans";

FRC president Tony Perkins got to write an op-ed in _Stars and  
Stripes_ commending General Pace for his attack on the morality of  
GBLT soldiers, and rightly points out that lesbian and gay people are  
_banned outright_ from military service. He, of course, thinks this  
is a good thing; says that allowing any GBLT people in the military  
could destroy it; that sexual orientation is something that can be  
easily "changed" or "avoided," and on, and on, and on;

AFA ACTION ITEM talking about how amending Federal hate crimes law to  
include attacks on GBLT people will "be the first step toward  
limiting your freedom to speak out against open homosexual activity."  
The key point of this, of course, being that they want queers gone,  
or at least back in the closet;

A second version of the AFA ACTION ITEM against the same bill;

Virginia passes law mandating internet "filtering" for all libraries  
receiving state funds;

The Sacramento (CA)-based Pacific Justice Institute brings a lawsuit  
against Seattle mayor Greg Nickels; OneNewsNow is brought to you buy  
American Family News Network, and their rhetoric is theoconservative  
standard (lots of "pro-family" references and scare-quote around  
words like "marriage" where GBLT people are involved), so I think  
we've got their slant;

OneNewsNow pushes the "women are abandoning careers for homemaking"  
line, and also claims growing international co-operation with  
theological conservatives;

Courtesy cubes.murkworks.net; after six hours of public testimony,  
the Largo, Florida city council takes five minutes to confirm firing  
of Steve Stanton, who is undergoing gender reassignment; this is the  
blog entry which was being updated throughout the testimony;

Traditional Values Coalition rails against the "Pro-Homosexual/Drag  
Queen 'Hate Crimes' Bill Introduced";

TVC rails again about the hate crimes legislation amendment which  
would add sexual orientation to existing hate-crimes law; they call  
it "anti-Christian" and claim it would "make it illegal to publicly  
express the dictates of their religious beliefs"; this illustration  
for the story is their new "comic strip" containing a photoshop put- 
together of a baby with a naked gay man, so you've got the  
paedophilia angle in there as well;

Traditional Values Coalition: "homosexuality kills, pure and simple."  
This is part of their continuing effort to make sure that queers are  
seen solely as diseased perverts;

TVC ACTION ITEM against Montel Williams for a show critical of "ex- 
gay" conversion therapy quackery;

TVC does more diseased-fags rhetoric, this time against GBLT people  
in the military and supporting General Pace's commentary against gay  
people;

TVC ACTION ITEM to write Chief Executive Bush in support of General  
Pace's anti-gay commentary;

TVC whites that "religious groups" are "treated like second class  
citizens";

Macleans reports that the Institute for Marriage and the Family - one  
of the Canadian theoconservative groups I monitor - is not too  
unhappy with the Federal budget, but is displeased with funding for  
HPV vaccinations that prevent cervical cancer because it might  
encourage promiscuity, thus showing that the whole brutally evil  
"have SEX get CANCER and DIE you WHORE" meme crosses borders;

Canada Family Action Coalition reports on religious schools in the UK  
no longer being allowed to teach that "Christian sexual morals" are  
"objectively true," referring specifically to teaching that t3h  
qu33rs are 3v1l. I don't support this, but, well, the UK has an  
official state church, and that's the kind of thing you're going to  
get when you combine religion and politics. Now if only our own  
fucking theoconservative asshats would _read the articles they're  
reprinting_, maybe we could stop some of this bullshit - but since  
the real complaint they have is that they aren't the one whose  
religious rules are being enforced, that'll not happen;

Canada Family Action Coalition quite critical of the HPV vaccine,  
calling it "forced vaccinations of a drug not fully proven";

Canada Family Action Coalition reports on a law in Poland that would  
fire teachers who "promote gay rights" by presenting "homosexuality  
as an alternative lifestyle," and also paedophiles, which CFAC and  
similar groups love to conflate;

National Review Online's David Frum makes the "gay rights destroys  
religious freedom" argument;

Focus on the Family Canada reports disapprovingly that the UK  
parliament has declined to mandate that doctors inform parents of  
advice given to underage patients about contraception and abortion;

Focus on the Family Canada talks about opposition to HPV, saying -  
again, falsely - that the vaccine was made mandatory in Texas (you  
could opt out), makes a point of noting that HPV is sexually  
transmitted, and that it is "sending teens the false message that  
they can safely engage in premarital sex";

Concerned Women for America's Matt Barber talks about the HPV vaccine  
and suggests that the appropriate time to get it is just before  
getting married;

CWA's Matt Barber unhappy about the COPA (Child Online Protection  
Act) being struck down as unconstitutional. It's interesting that the  
"judicial tyranny" rhetoric keeps not showing up, even though they  
attack the judge's judgement. One speculates it's because the judge  
is a Reagan appointee.


----- 1 -----
What about the Morality of Homosexual Behavior?
General Pace Plants His Flag on Moral Ground
Concerned Women for America
3/19/2007
By Janice Shaw Crouse

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12601/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm

Pity poor Peter Pace. When asked point blank by the Chicago Tribune  
if he thought that homosexual behavior was immoral, he had the  
temerity, the audacity, the impertinence, the gall and the bad  
judgment to respond - get this - in the affirmative. Predictably, he  
set off shock waves among the politically correct. Can you imagine  
someone of his level of experience -- you don't get to be Chairman of  
the Joint Chiefs of Staff overnight or by making off-the-cuff remarks  
-- painting himself into such a corner? What was he thinking, poor  
fellow? Surely he knows better than to give his personal opinions  
when asked for his personal beliefs on a matter.

I suppose it just goes to show what can happen to a person's thinking  
if he spends his professional life in the military with all those  
rules and stuff about obeying orders. Too much Marine discipline can  
influence the way you think. I mean, calling homosexual behavior  
immoral is so old fashioned, so rigid, so moralistic, so Judeo- 
Christian. What a throwback to the antiquated ideas of the nineteenth  
century or earlier. You have to wonder how someone at his level could  
be such a quaint, old fashioned, fuddy-duddy straight arrow.

[...]

In the face of all the self-righteous outrage, General Pace has  
refused to issue a fake apology. His decision was supported by  
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) who said, "We should not expect  
someone as qualified, accomplished and articulate as General Pace to  
lack personal views on important moral issues. In fact, we should  
expect that anyone entrusted with such great responsibility will have  
strong moral views." Such views are part of our nation's history all  
the way back to George Washington. We used to call leaders with  
strong morals "statesmen."

Marines don't retreat without orders. It would be a crime if General  
Pace were given such orders in this case. The Marine motto is "Semper  
Fidelis" - Latin for "Always faithful." As the daughter of a Marine,  
I am proud of General Pace for being faithful to Biblical truth as  
well as having the courage to espouse sound military policy.

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
CWA: School Tells Kids to Hide Pro-‘Gay’ Propaganda From Parents
Concerned Women for America
3/13/2007

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12546/MEDIA/family/index.htm

Washington, D.C. — In a shocking and brazen act of governmental abuse  
of parental rights, Deerfield High School (DHS) in Deerfield,  
Illinois, has required fourteen-year-old freshmen to attend a  
“Straight Gay Alliance Network” (GSA) panel discussion led by “gay”  
and “lesbian” upperclassmen during a “freshman advisory” class which  
secretively featured inappropriate discussions of a sexual nature in  
promotion of high-risk homosexual behaviors.

Not only has DHS required that its young and impressionable freshmen  
be exposed to radical homosexual propaganda, the school has further  
required that students sign a “confidentiality agreement” promising  
not to tell anyone – including their own parents – about the discussion.

Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women  
for America (CWA), said of the scandal: “This is unbelievable. It’s  
not enough that students at Deerfield High are being exposed to  
improper and offensive material relative to unhealthy and high-risk  
homosexual behaviors, but they’ve essentially been told by teachers  
to lie to their parents about it.

“This goes to the heart of the homosexual agenda. The professional  
propagandists in the ‘gay-rights’ lobby know the method all too well.  
If you can maintain control of undeveloped and impressionable youth  
and spoon-feed them misinformation, lies and half-truths about  
dangerous, disordered and extremely risky behaviors, then you can  
control the future and ensure that those behaviors are not only fully  
accepted, but celebrated. That’s what homosexual activists from GSA  
are attempting to do, and that’s what DHS is clearly up to as well.”

Dr. George Fornero, superintendent of DHS’ Dist. 113, told CWA that  
the district “made a mistake” by requiring children to sign the  
confidentiality agreement and that it would be entirely aboveboard  
and honest with parents in the future. However, as Barber noted, the  
damage has already been done: “Until DHS and other government schools  
across the country are made to stop promoting the homosexual agenda,  
kids will continue to be exposed to — and encouraged to participate  
in — a lifestyle that places them at high risk for life-threatening  
disease, depression and spiritual despair,” said Barber.

Remarkably, even after the school district’s surreptitious actions  
were exposed, parents were nonetheless told that they were not  
welcome to sit in on the “freshman advisory” and were not permitted  
to have access to materials used in compiling its activist curriculum.

For Information Contact:
Stacey Holliday
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org


----- 3 -----
CWA: State Activists Tackle Social Issues
Not all the action is in D.C. – State bills debate tough issues
Concerned Women for America
3/22/2007

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12618/MEDIA/misc/index.htm

Washington, D.C. — Abortion limits, HPV vaccine mandates, approval of  
sexual aberrations and even the twice-dead Equal Rights Amendment are  
among the issues being debated and decided by states that directly  
impact families. Concerned Women for America (CWA) has experts  
available at both the national and state levels to discuss how these  
bills would harm or help families.

CWA President Wendy Wright said, “State legislatures and governors  
have a tremendous impact on moral issues, and they are grappling now  
with a variety of bills that will protect or harm life and liberty.  
Advocates for family and ethical values can influence the direction  
of our country by promoting moral laws in their states. CWA provides  
information on what these bills would do and networks for people to  
join to learn about and influence these issues.”

Current state legislation that would affect families include:

HPV vaccine mandates/regulations

Abortion regulation

“Hate crimes”

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Polygamy

Religious freedoms

Human trafficking and prostitution

Marriage

Illegal immigration

Sex offender regulations

Embryonic stem cell research

Human cloning

To schedule an interview with our national or local CWA experts,  
please contact Stacey Holliday at (202) 488-7000, extension 126.


For Information Contact:
Stacey Holliday
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org


----- 4 -----
Talking Points: The HPV Vaccine
CWA urges lawmakers to resist mandating this vaccine.
Concerned Women for America
2/12/2007
By Penny Harrington

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12333/CWA/misc/index.htm

1. It is a governmental overreach. Bills being introduced to mandate  
the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for young girls prohibit any  
female student from enrolling in the sixth grade unless she has  
received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. While there is no  
objection to the new vaccine that protects against certain strains of  
HPV, a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can cause cervical  
cancer in women, proponents of the vaccine wrongly wish to compel  
every young girl from 9-11 years old to be vaccinated before she  
attends school. Clearly, a mandate that 11-year-olds receive an  
immunization for an STD as a prerequisite for school attendance is an  
overreach by the state.

2. A family decision, not a state decision. Because HPV is spread  
only through sexual contact, no child is going to be infected with  
HPV by sitting in a classroom. Therefore, this vaccine should not be  
listed among those immunizations required for school attendance. Even  
an opt-out clause is merely the state placing an improper burden on  
the parents who will feel they must follow the general guidelines of  
the law rather than search out a way to object on moral or religious  
grounds. This must be a family's decision, not the state's.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Off-ramping: Women jumping off the career track
By Janice Shaw Crouse
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Send an email to Janice Shaw Crouse

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2007/03/22/off- 
ramping_women_jumping_off_the_career_track

The public square is still filled with those who argue that women are  
at a disadvantage when it comes to employment; even more believe  
women face a glass ceiling when it comes to promotion. New facts,  
though, indicate that the playing field at work is quite level;  
indeed, in some instances women have a distinct advantage both in  
hiring and in promotion. Studies also show that highly-qualified  
women can jump off the fast track and then catch up when they are  
ready to jump back on. It’s called “off-ramping;” increasingly,  
talented women who want to balance career and family are taking that  
route.

Thirty years ago, women earned far less than 10 percent of the  
medical, law and M.B.A. degrees awarded in the U.S., now they earn at  
least 40 percent of those advanced degrees. The big accounting firm,  
Ernst & Young claims that at least half of their new hires are  
women. Among workers under age 30, according to the Census Bureau,  
slightly over 25 percent of men hold bachelor’s degrees as compared  
with slightly over 32 percent of women. These credentials prove an  
open door for women to have lucrative careers, many with a distinct  
advantage over their male competitors.

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Federal Judge Strikes Down Law Protecting Children from Porn as  
Violating Free Speech
By Peter J. Smith
LifeSite

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032207.html

PHILADELPHIA, March 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A US district court  
judge stuck down a 1998 law passed by Congress against Internet  
pornography that made it a crime for commercial website operators to  
let children under 18 view pornographic materials.

Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over the  
four-week trial last fall, ruled in favor of the American Civil  
Liberties Union that the 1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA)  
violated a constitutional right to free speech.

The judge ruled that while the law intends to protect children from  
commercial pornography, parents can protect their children through  
software filters and other less restrictive means that do not impinge  
upon the rights of others to unrestricted access to pornography.

[...]

COPA would have criminalized US-based websites that allow children to  
access material deemed "harmful to minors" according to "contemporary  
community standards." The law required pornographic sites to require  
a credit card number or other proof of age, and remove "teaser"  
pornographic images from their access pages.

Penalties included a $50,000 fine and up to six months in prison,  
however the ACLU representing a cadre of "sexual health" sites,  
Salon.com, obgyn.net, the Philadelphia Gay News, and others objected  
that more than just pornographers would be subject to the  
restrictions of COPA.

"This law was carefully crafted to address hardcore pornography and  
raise a wall of protection between children and these hardcore  
pornographers who seek to exploit them by exposing them to this  
obscene material," Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues  
for Concerned Women for America (CWA) told LifeSiteNews.com.

[...]

"Parents can't be everywhere at once, we need additional layers of  
protection. COPA is a very basic, non-restrictive, and common-sense  
way to protect these children from hard-core pornographers."

[More at URL]


----- 7 -----
Politicians Still Wrong on Terri Schiavo Case Two Years Later
by Bobby Schindler
March 22, 2007
LifeSite

LifeNews.com Note: Bobby Schindler is the brother of Terri Schiavo,  
who was killed by her former husband Michael two years ago this  
month. Bobby and the rest of the Schindler family now run a  
foundation dedicated to helping disabled patients like her.

http://www.lifenews.com/bio2039.html

Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney  
recently stated, "My view was a case like this would normally be left  
in the hands of a court."

Romney was referring to the attempt by Congress to help save the life  
of my sister, Terri Schiavo. He mistakenly assumed passing the buck  
on this issue would gain him political capital. He could not be more  
wrong, morally or politically.

Thomas Jefferson said, "The care of human life and happiness, and not  
their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."  
Sadly, many of our politicians have abandoned this basic principle,  
and in so doing have abdicated their most crucial role as public  
servants.

But not all of the blame lies with them. Romney's comments and  
similar remarks made by other politicians about Terri's situation  
have, in my opinion, been prejudiced by a media that have  
oversimplified what Congress did by spinning it as "meddling in a  
private family affair."

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Canada's Conservative Government Distributes $300 Million to  
Provinces for Controversial HPV Vaccination
Concerns that provinces could follow example of some US states and  
mandate vaccine for young girls
By Meg Jalsevac
LifeSite

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07032106.html

OTTAWA, March 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada’s federal  
government 2007-2008 budget, announced yesterday by the Harper  
Conservatives, includes $300 million to be distributed to the  
individual provinces to fund the new HPV vaccination – a vaccination  
aimed at preventing the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes  
cervical cancer in women.

[...]

CWA also states such a vaccination could give a false sense of  
security to girls in making responsible and moral decisions regarding  
their sexual integrity and personal health.  “There is concern that a  
vaccine involving STDs may give those receiving the immunization a  
false sense of protection against such diseases, particularly if they  
are not adequately informed about the vaccine's limitations. It is  
important, but unfortunately not required, that recipients receive a  
strong abstinence message so that they understand that the only real  
protection from the broad range of STDs comes from refraining from  
sexual activity prior to marriage.”

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Gov. to end abstinence program
But births to teens down, backers argue
BY JON CRAIG
Cincinnati Enquirer

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070323/ 
NEWS01/703230419/1077/COL02

COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed $53 billion budget  
eliminates an abstinence-only sex-education program.

Removal of $1 million in state aid over two years marks a shift in  
Ohio support for abstinence-only programs, which advocates call a  
national model.

The federally subsidized program encourages schoolchildren to abstain  
from sex until they're married.

Strickland said he thinks abstinence programs don't work well in the  
long run and does not plan to apply for federal money after current  
funding ends Sept. 30.

[...]

Ken Blackwell, the former Cincinnati mayor whom Strickland defeated  
for governor last year, stressed the importance of abstinence-only  
education Thursday before a speech about marriage.

"Unless you're totally giving up on character development of our  
young people, abstinence education is a must," Blackwell said. "I  
believe that young people of character can overtake instincts to  
engage in premarital sex."

[More at URL]


----- 10 -----
Time for God
March 23, 2007 - Friday
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07C15&f=PG03I03

"It's not just 'The Good Book'," said Georgia State Sen. Tommie  
Williams. "It's a good book." Williams was referring to the Bible in  
an interview about the state's decision to introduce Bible literary  
classes in the public schools. The movement to bring the world's best- 
selling book back into the classroom is gaining ground across the  
U.S., demonstrated, in large part, by a thoughtful Time magazine  
cover story on the subject. The article, "The Case for Teaching the  
Bible," argues that the social and cultural benefits of secular Bible  
classes outweigh any hypersensitivity about Church and State. Drawing  
on polls that show over 60% of Americans favor teaching about  
Scripture in a secular setting like public schools, writer David van  
Beima discusses the consequences of our nation's Biblical illiteracy.  
Among them, he notes the lack of knowledge and understanding about  
Western civilization at large. Van Beima writes, "[In the end], what  
is required in teaching the Bible in our public schools is  
patriotism: a belief that we live in a nation that understands the  
wisdom of its Constitution clearly enough to allow the most important  
book in its history to remain vibrantly accessible for everyone."  
What was lost in the sweeping 1963 Supreme Court case that removed  
prayer from public schools is the reality that the Constitution does  
not bar an objective treatment of the Bible and religion in schools.  
It encourages it. Yet the case triggered a mass exodus of any  
reference to Christianity in education. The time has come for our  
nation to experience a true revelation on the Bible's relevance--not  
only to our personal lives but to our identity as Americans.

[More at URL]


----- 11 -----
Our Founding Fathers would applaud Gen. Pace
This Op-Ed originally appeared in the March 23, 2007 edition of Stars  
and Stripes.
by Tony Perkins
Family Research Council

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PV07C01&f=WX06L01

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  
should be commended for speaking out against allowing homosexuals to  
serve in the military. His views may have scandalized gay-rights  
activists and the media elite, but they reflect the convictions of  
those in the armed forces and a majority of the American public. The  
Military Times reports that 59 percent of active-duty military  
subscriber respondents oppose allowing open homosexuals to serve in  
the military and less than a year ago a Gallup poll indicated that  
over 50 percent of Americans thought homosexuality was immoral.

Contrary to the perception given by some in the media, the "don't  
ask, don't tell policy under President Clinton did not make even  
closeted homosexuality acceptable in the military. The National  
Defense Authorization Act of 1994 that Clinton signed states: "The  
presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity  
or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable  
risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and  
unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

In an interview, Sen. Hillary Clinton said that no one should be  
excluded from the military because of "who they are." But  
homosexuality is not an immutable characteristic like race; it is a  
sexual behavior that can be avoided and even changed. She called for  
allowing homosexuals in the military, and said that the Uniform Code  
of Military Justice should decide what conduct is "inappropriate or  
unbecoming."

Sen. Clinton appears unaware that sodomy remains a crime under the  
Uniform Code of Military Justice (Section 925, Article 125), which  
states that "any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a  
court-martial may direct."

The prohibition of homosexual behavior in the armed forces goes back  
to the earliest days of our country. The Continental Congress  
expected military leaders to be vigilant to "discountenance and  
suppress all dissolute, immoral, and disorderly practices." At Valley  
Forge in 1778, George Washington, then commander of the Continental  
Army, approved the swift dismissal of a soldier for homosexual activity.

Perhaps the only weakness in Pace's remarks was that he mentioned the  
immorality of homosexual behavior without explaining that such  
behavior would directly undermine the effectiveness of the military  
as a fighting force. As a Marine Corps veteran, I am aware of how  
little privacy the troops have when they live, sleep and shower  
together. In addition, the potential for destructive personal  
relationships among soldiers threatens a basic principle of military  
life: the need for unit cohesion.

Some who favor homosexuals in the military argue for such a policy  
based on the recruiting needs of the services. It is naive to think  
that out of the 2 percent of the population that is homosexual or  
bisexual [some data show], the small number that might enlist would  
make up for that part of the remaining 98 percent who might be  
deterred from enlisting by such a policy.

Homosexuals who genuinely wish to serve their country can and do find  
many ways to do so - as civilians. America's armed forces exists,  
however, to fight and win wars - not to conduct politically correct  
social experiments.

This Op-Ed originally appeared in the March 23, 2007 edition of Stars  
and Stripes.


----- 12 -----
American Family Association ACTION ALERT
March 20, 2007

http://www.afa.net/hatecrimesbill032007.htm

Video shows activity that would receive even more protection under  
new "hate crimes" law

If you protest the kind of public activity shown on this video, the  
proposed federal "hate crimes" law may be the first step toward  
limiting your freedom to speak out against open homosexual activity.

A new "hate crimes" bill further protecting homosexual activity has  
been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Local Law  
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would increase protection for  
the kind of activity shown on this video.

The bill is the first step toward silencing any opposition to the  
homosexual lifestyle. This video will show you the kind of activity  
this bill protects. The video was shot during an actual homosexual  
pride parade in Dallas.

[...]

If this "hate crimes" bill is passed, and you publicly protest,  
complain or oppose the type of activity in this video, your action  
could be eventually construed to be subject to prosecution for a  
criminal act.

To stop this bill, please take these actions today.

Take Action

Click here to send an e-mail to your representative asking him or her  
to strongly oppose the "hate crimes" bill.

Please forward this e-mail to friends and family.  The average person  
has no clue about this "hate crimes" bill.  The only way we have of  
getting the word out is with the help of individuals like you.

[More at URL]


----- 13 -----
House of Representatives set to vote on “hate crimes” giving  
homosexuals special rights
American Family Association
ACTION ALERT
Contact Your Representative In Opposition to HR 254 Today!

http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/issues/alert/?alertid=9395716&type=CO

The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on HR 254, which  
establishes “hate crime” legislation. HR 254 will create new special  
rights for homosexuals under the guise of enhancing law enforcement.  
It would make “sexual orientation” a protected class alongside race,  
religion and gender.

The only way this bill can be defeated is with a real grassroots  
uprising by those who care about the future of their children,  
families and marriages!

The intent of this law is to force the acceptance and approval of  
homosexuality on every American, regardless of their religious views.  
Here is a short summary of HR 254.

For a more in-depth review of where we are headed, click here.

Here is a partial list of what homosexual activists are trying to  
force on every American. While HR 254 will not, in and of itself,  
accomplish these goals, it will open the door to such regulations.  
Once the elephant gets its trunk under the tent, the way is open for  
the elephant to move inside and do whatever he wants.

* Preaching that homosexuality is a sin from the pulpit will result  
in the preacher being charged with “hate speech.”
* Churches will have their tax-exempt status revoked if they oppose  
homosexuality.
* Homosexual marriage will be legalized and recognized in all states.
* Polygamy will be legalized.
* Landlords will be forced to rent to homosexuals.
* Scouts, and all non-profit organizations, will be required to hire  
homosexuals as leaders.
* Biblical language used to define homosexuality will be considered  
“hate speech.” City officials have already had a billboard removed in  
Long Island, NY, because it was classified as “hate speech.” The  
billboard read: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a  
woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” (Leviticus 20:13)
* Employees will not be allowed to say anything negative about  
homosexuality in their workplaces.
* Classes promoting the homosexual lifestyle will be included in  
school curricula beginning with the lower grades.
* Employers will be forced to hire homosexuals.
* Adoption by homosexuals will be legalized in every state.

To read HR 254, click here.

Let me say again: HR 254 will not, in and of itself, accomplish  
everything the homosexual activist’s desire. But it is the first step  
is to position their cause where they can achieve all their goals.

If they are successful with HR 254, rest assured they will pursue  
their next goal and will not stop until they achieve all their goals.

Take Action
Enter your zip code above or below and click “GO” to create and send  
the e-mail to your representative urging him or her to vote AGAINST  
HR 254. It all boils down to who is dedicated to their cause more —  
homosexual activists or Christians. Right now the homosexual  
activists are winning.

Please forward this to all your friends and family. The only way to  
stop this onslaught on Christian values and Christianity is a  
national uprising against HR 254, saying enough is enough!

Thanks for caring enough to get involved. If you consider our efforts  
worth supporting, would you consider making a small donation to help  
us continue? Thanks.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association


----- 14 -----
Virginia gets its library protection for children
Ed Thomas
OneNewsNow

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/ 
va_gets_its_library_protection_for_children.php

The Family Foundation of Virginia says it's seen its top priority of  
this legislative session accomplished, with the signing by the  
state's governor yesterday of a bill that makes it mandatory for  
public libraries to install Internet filters if they receive state  
funding.

The bill, signed into law by Governor Tim Kaine, will also provide  
monies through a fund of $190,000 to help offset the cost of  
libraries acquiring filtering technology, while waiting for federal  
funds. The Virginia legislation, which passed the Legislature with a  
33-7 majority several weeks ago, is modeled after the U.S. Children's  
Internet Protection Act.

Family Foundation spokesperson Victoria Cobb says her group is  
extremely pleased to see a common-sense measure finally become law,  
without the long-running argument of filters prohibiting free speech  
for minors or adults.

[More at URL]


----- 15 -----
Mayor's anti-DOMA effort meets legal opposition
Allie Martin
OneNewsNow.com
March 23, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/mayors_anti-doma_effort_meets_.php

The Pacific Justice Institute is challenging the mayor of Seattle for  
recognizing and promoting same-sex "marriage."

Three years ago, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels issued an executive order  
recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions for the  
purpose of providing employee benefits and supporting the  
legalization of same-sex unions in Washington State. The mayor's  
action came despite the fact that state lawmakers had approved a  
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limits marriage to one man and  
one woman.

Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) had sought legal action to stop  
Nickles from defying the state DOMA law, but that lawsuit was delayed  
while the Washington Supreme Court considered the constitutionality  
of the law. With that court's upholding of the DOMA last summer,  
PJI's case now moves forward.

Kevin Snider, chief counsel with the Sacramento-based Pacific Justice  
Institute, says the mayor's motives are clear. He points out that in  
the "wind-up" to his executive order, Nickels voices his support for  
"gay marriage" and his desire for marriage laws to be changed.

[More at URL]


----- 16 -----
Pro-family group says 'radical feminist ideal being modified'
OneNewsNow
by Jim Brown
March 23, 2007

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/profamily_group_says_radical_f.php

Pro-family groups and activists are hoping the growth of their  
movement in countries like Poland will spread to the rest of Europe  
and beyond.

More than 40 pro-family groups are sponsoring the World Congress of  
Families IV in Warsaw, Poland. Participants at the May event plan to  
discuss strategies for protecting children and traditional marriage  
and address issues like declining birth rates and the impact of  
pornography on family unity.

[...]

"The radical feminists' ideal of work rather than family, of career  
rather than marriage, is now being modified," Fagan said. "They can  
see that you can't have both at the same time; you've got to make a  
priority between one and the other. And I think increasingly we see  
here in the United States that more and more women are choosing to  
put the family and the marriage and the children first -- it's not to  
abandon career, but it is to get the priorities correct."

[More at URL]


----- 17 -----
Steve Stanton makes his case
March 23, 2007
TampaBay.com

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2007/03/largo_police_cl.html

12:05 a.m.

Decision is final: Stanton is fired

After six hours of speakers, commissioners take less than five  
minutes to reaffirm a decision to fire Steve Stanton. Voting to  
dismiss Stanton were Mary Gray Black, Andy Guyette, Gigi Arntzen,  
Harriet K. Crozier and Gay Gentry. Mayor Pat Gerard and Commissioner  
Rodney Woods dissented.

12 a.m.

Motion made to terminate Stanton

Commissioner Mary Gray Black made a motion to accept the resolution  
to terminate the city's contract with Stanton. Commissioner Andy  
Guyette seconded the motion and indicated he had lost the ability to  
trust Stanton. "Without trust, there's no longer a foundation for a  
relationship," he said.

[...]

10:10 p.m.

Commissioners hear from detractors

Several speakers in a row endorsed the firing of Stanton.

One Largo resident complained that Stanton had made a "laughingstock"  
out of the city, adding "Who would want to live in a weirdo town but  
a bunch of weirdos?"

The Rev. Charlie Martin, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of  
Indian Rocks said Stanton and his attorney had played "the race card"  
by focusing on Stanton's status as a transgender as opposed to his  
inferior performance. Martin told commissioners they could fire  
Stanton without cause and urged them to relieve him of his duties as  
city manager.

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
Pro-Homosexual/Drag Queen ‘Hate Crimes’ Bill Introduced
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3052

March 22, 2007 – Far left Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John  
Conyers (D-MI) has once again introduced his so-called “hate crimes”  
bill to provide special federal protection for homosexuality, cross- 
dressing, and transsexualism.

H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of  
2007, is a rehash of his 2005 bill, according to sources in Congress.

H.R. 1592 claims there is an epidemic of “hate” against homosexuals  
and cross-dressers that is so pervasive throughout our nation, that  
local law enforcement officials are overwhelmed in dealing with the  
problem.

In addition, Conyers’ and his congressional cohorts claim – without  
any evidence whatsoever – that homosexuals, cross-dressers, etc., are  
so persecuted in their home states that they are fleeing into  
neighboring states to avoid persecution.

[Editor's note: This Update has linked to a variety of stories  
documenting migration of GBLT people away from particularly hostile  
states like Virginia.]

[More at URL]


----- 18 -----
TVC Issues Press Release On Conyers’ Bill
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3051

March 21, 2007 -- As Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan)  
introduces the anti-Christian hate crimes bill (Local Law Enforcement  
Hate Crimes Prevention Act) in Congress this week, only one person  
can stop it – President George W. Bush and his veto pen.

[Insert paedophilia-implying TVC comic strip here; URL:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/comics/032207/index.php ]

“Sadly, this new Congress will probably vote in both the House and  
the Senate to pass this anti-Christian hate crimes bill,” said  
Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) Executive Director Andrea  
Lafferty.  “If there was ever a bill which needed to be vetoed – this  
is it.

“Most Christians might as well rip the pages which condemn  
homosexuality right out of their Bibles because this bill will make  
it illegal to publicly express the dictates of their religious beliefs.

“It will elevate homosexuality, which is defined by how its adherents  
engage in sex, to the same level of those who have fought hard and  
sacrificed to end discrimination based on race and other factors.

“According to Conyers’ ‘Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention  
Act,’ homosexuals, cross-dressers and other minority groups are so  
fearful that they are fleeing across state lines to avoid persecution  
by violent hate mongers.  Conyers’ bill claims that these homosexuals  
and cross-dressers also can’t buy goods or services in their home  
states because of this persecution.

“The fact is that Conyers’ so-called hate crimes bill is a fraud and  
designed for only one purpose: to add homosexuals, cross-dressers  
drag queens and transsexuals as federally-protected minority groups.   
There is no ‘epidemic’ of hate crimes – and no mass migration of  
homosexuals and cross-dressers across state lines.

“The FBI’s 2005 hate crimes statistics reveal that one-third of the  
cases of so-called “sexual orientation” bias, were nothing more than  
name-calling. There were a total of 1,171 such cases. Of those, 301  
were listed as “intimidation,” defined in law as name-calling or  
threats.

“The ultimate objective of this legislation is to claim that ‘hate  
speech’ – criticism of homosexuality – incites individuals to  
violence and must be suppressed and punished.  This will violate the  
First Amendment rights of any person or group that opposes the  
normalization of homosexuality in our culture.

We oppose passage of this dangerous anti-Christian bill and urge  
President Bush to veto it.


----- 19 -----
NBC/HRC JOINT EFFORT TO PROMOTE HOMOSEXUALITY MEANS NEXT GENERATION’S  
“TRUE COLOR” WILL BE BLACK
Homosexuality Still Greatest Predictor of HIV/AIDS Death

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3031

March 9, 2007 - Washington, DC – The Traditional Values Coalition  
released the following statement today after the homosexual lobby  
Human Rights Campaign announced it would unveil its new promotion  
tour on the NBC Today Show on Monday. The spokesperson for the new  
campaign will be singer Cyndi Lauper.

“NBC is performing a great public disservice by promoting  
homosexuality on its popular morning show.   It is one thing for  
Cyndi Lauper and her HRC handlers to promote this behavior-based  
lifestyle as ‘edgy’ and ‘cool.’  But it is an entirely different  
matter when the network which warns us regularly about the hazards of  
practically everything ignores the substantial health risks of  
engaging in homosexual behavior.

“For many confused young people, homosexuality kills, pure and  
simple.  Setting aside the moral considerations, it is a great risk  
to public health, and NBC has a responsibility to its viewers to warn  
them about it not cheer mindlessly for the epidemic.

[More at URL]


----- 20 -----
Montel Williams Show To Smear Ex-Gay Ministries
Focus on the Family

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3034

March 15, 2007 – On his March 15 show, Montel Williams will feature  
“Homosexuality … Can It Be Cured?” His show is a set up to smear ex- 
gay ministries. It features “Mike” the male prostitute who outed  
Pastor Ted Haggard, two homosexuals who claim they were harmed by  
therapy to help them overcome same-sex attractions; Alan Chambers,  
President of Exodus International; and therapist Richard Cohen.

Montel Williams’ “after care” director, Dr. Alicia Salzar will also  
be on the show to promote her new video, “Abomination: Homosexuality  
and the Ex-gay Movement,” which attacks efforts to help homosexuals  
overcome their same-sex desires.

“Just knowing that Salzar is Williams’ after care director reveals  
how biased the show will be against ex-gay ministries,” said TVC  
Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “We urge our supporters to watch  
the show and flood Williams’ office with complaints about the obvious  
smear directed against legitimate ex-gay ministries.”

TAKE ACTION: After watching the show, write a letter of protest  
against this smear job against ex-gay ministries and therapists who  
are treating unwanted homosexuality. Use TVC’s Homosexual Urban  
Legend materials in your letter. Contact Williams here: Montel  
Williams ( http://www.montelshow.com/about/mail )


----- 21 -----
TVC Chairman Urges Support Of General Pace
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3038

March 15, 2007 -- General Peter Pace Need Not Apologize For His  
Comments About Homosexual Behavior

By TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon

Shortly after Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Peter Pace made  
comments about homosexuals serving openly in the military, radical  
homosexual web sites around the world were expressing outrage and  
demanding an apology or his resignation.

General Pace told the Chicago Tribune: “I believe homosexual acts  
between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone  
immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well served by a  
policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.”

The general noted that he supports the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy  
that requires the removal of openly-admitted homosexuals from the  
military. Pace considers homosexual conduct on the same level as  
adultery. He doesn’t believe the military should condone either  
behavior.

General Pace has now expressed regret that he didn’t focus more on  
current military policy than his personal beliefs. However, the  
general has no reason to apologize for his own moral beliefs about  
homosexual behaviors.

[...]

George Washington ordered the court martial of a man judged guilty of  
sodomy. He described his feelings about sodomy as “abhorrence” and  
“detestation.”

Our nation’s laws and the military code of justice were both  
fashioned upon biblical principles. William Blackstone, whose  
Commentaries on the Law were used as the basis of our own laws,  
described sodomy as an “infamous crime against nature” – a behavior  
that ought to be “strictly and impartially punished.”

General Pace’s views on homosexual conduct are correct and his  
discussion of the morality of homosexuality is much needed in this  
age of “tolerance.”

[...]

Homosexual sodomy, for example, results in the spread of a whole  
range of diseases – including HIV. How effective can our military be  
if male-to-male STDs spread throughout a unit?

As Colonel Ron Ray noted in Military Necessity And Homosexuality that  
military effectiveness will be damaged because of a “breakdown of  
mutual trust and cohesion, and from the absence of key personnel due  
to injury or medical disability [due to diseases]. The evidence shows  
plainly that homosexuals as a group are an unnecessary medical risk  
for the military.”

[More at URL]


----- 22 -----
Joint Chiefs Of Staff Against Repeal Of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy
Traditional Values Coalition
ACTION ITEM

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3039

March 15, 2007 – General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of  
Staff said he supports the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy  
on homosexuals openly serving in the military.

According to Pace, “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals  
are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not  
believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is  
OK to be immoral in any way.”

“As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to  
be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if  
we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else’s  
wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We  
prosecute that kind of immoral behavior.”

Take Action:  Please contact the White House and express your support  
for General Pace, (202) 456-1111.


----- 23 -----
Religious Groups Treated Like Second Class Citizens
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3050

March 22, 2007 – TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty is calling  
upon Americans to support the ability of faith-based groups to  
receive federal tax dollars for charitable work.

Writing in a recent commentary, which ran in several newspapers  
around the country, Lafferty notes that the Supreme Court has heard  
arguments from the Freedom from Religion Foundation claiming that  
President Bush’s faith-based initiative is a threat to religious  
liberty.

[More at URL]


----- 24 -----
Flaherty gets generous
Budget pledges billions for provinces, environment
Kady O'Malley, Macleans.ca | Mar 19, 2007 | 6:42 pm EST

http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp? 
content=20070319_160030_6396#commentcommentcommentcomments

The followup:

[...]

The budget appears to be playing well with social conservatives, with  
David Quist of the Institute for Marriage and the Family telling  
Macleans.ca that "the elimination of the marriage penalty is a good  
start." Quist did not take issue with funding for HPV vaccinations,  
criticized by some religious groups in the United States for  
encouraging promiscuity. But he did express regret over the decision  
to transfer child care funding to the provinces, saying that he would  
"rather see more money get into the hands of parents so they can make  
those choices," or failing that into the hands of businesses rather  
than government.

[More at URL]


----- 25 -----
UK: Religious Schools may not Teach Christian Sexual Morals "As if  
they were Objectively True"
LifeSiteNews.com
Reprinted by Canada Family Action Coalition
March 5, 2007
By Hilary White

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/education/objectively- 
true.htm

LONDON (LifeSiteNews.com) - After this April's implementation of the  
Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR's), British religious schools may  
no longer be allowed to teach school children that the Christian  
viewpoint on sexual morality is "objectively true," a government  
report says. The Joint Committee on Human Rights, made up of members  
from Parliament and the House of Lords, has issued a report on the  
implementation of the Regulations recommending that religious schools  
be required to modify their religious instruction to comply with the  
government-approved doctrine of "non-discrimination".

Although religious schools will be allowed to remain open and may  
continue to give instruction in various religious beliefs,  
instruction must be modified "so that homosexual pupils are not  
subjected to teaching, as part of the religious education or other  
curriculum, that their sexual orientation is sinful or morally  
wrong." The report says the Regulations will not "prevent pupils from  
being taught as part of their religious education the fact that  
certain religions view homosexuality as sinful," but they may not  
teach "a particular religion's doctrinal beliefs as if they were  
objectively true".

[More at URL]


----- 26 -----
Budget Question
Canada Family Action Coalition
By CFAC's Brian Rushfeldt

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/politics-law/government/ 
budget-question.htm

CFAC is asking how it is that $300 million dollars for Merck’s drug  
for HPV got itself into a budget with so little discussion of the  
issue before being funded. I would have to ask – who lobbied for this  
and how was lobbied for?

In view of the questionable actions by the drug maker Merck in the US  
and their expensive lobby of the US government to make it mandatory  
for vaccination of all young girls – starting at age 9, we ought to  
know if the same tactics were used in Canada.

[...]

In the US concern is rising about the powers of government over the  
rights of parents when children are involved. John W Whitehead said  
in his column March 22, “… it is becoming increasingly clear that the  
government considers itself a greater authority on the welfare of the  
family than parents themselves. For example, an increasing number of  
state legislatures want to call the shots on juvenile medical care by  
mandating that school-aged girls be vaccinated against the sexually  
transmitted disease, human papillomavirus (HPV).”

Is this our Conservative government at work in Canada? Parents ought  
to be aware of the dangers of forced vaccinations of a drug not fully  
proven. This by the admission in the Canadian Communicable Disease  
Report.

Do you want your daughter forcibly vaccinated , at her school of all  
places, with substances not fully proven?

[More at URL]


----- 27 -----
Promote gay rights and be fired
Canada Family Action Coalition
March 15, 2007

http://www.familyaction.org/Articles/issues/sexuality/promote-gay- 
rights.htm

Warsaw - Teachers who promote gay rights in schools risk losing their  
jobs under draft regulations currently being drawn up by Poland's  
Ministry of Education, Polish Radio reported Thursday.

Poland's Deputy Education Minister Miroslaw Orzechowski told Polish  
Radio the proposed regulations do not sanction the firing of  
homosexual teachers. Only teachers who present homosexuality as an  
alternative lifestyle to students could lose their jobs.

Teachers who promote or have been convicted of paedophilia will also  
be fired should the proposed legislation be approved.

The controversial news comes on the heels of news that the Polish  
Ministry of Education is also preparing legislation to sanction  
school principals who allow members of gay rights organisations to  
speak with pupils.

[More at URL]


----- 28 -----
Can Religious Freedom Survive Gay Liberation?
David Frum
National Review Online
Friday, March 09, 2007

http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/? 
q=NGY0ZmRkNmU1YTY2YWM5NTdmZjRjM2U0MzRhOTg5MGI=

You may already have heard that the British Parliament voted earlier  
this year to require all adoption agencies, including Catholic  
agencies, to place children with homosexual couples if requested.

Now an influential committee of the British Parliament is  
recommending that Britain take the next logical step. The Joint  
Committee on Human Rights, made up of 12 MPs and Lords, released a  
report on Feb. 26 that advocates drastic further increases in state  
supervision of religious organizations and religious schools.

[...]

That is precisely why the gay rights movement is inherently an  
illiberal one. When you decide to extend your nondiscrimination  
principles to behavior condemned by your society's majority religion,  
you are embarking on a course that will sooner or later require the  
state to police, control, and punish adherents of that religion.

That was (or should have been obvious) from the start. And it's the  
reason for the question posed in the title of this post - a question  
Andrew dismisses with uncharacteristic glibness.

[More at URL]


----- 29 -----
UK MPs vote to keep parents in the dark
Today's Family News
Focus on the Family Canada
March 21, 2007

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/2007/070321_02.html

British MPs have decided doctors should not have to tell parents that  
they have offered their underaged daughters advice on abortion or  
contraception, BBC News reported.

By a vote of 159-87, MPs defeated a bill by Conservative MP Angela  
Watkinson that challenged the current policy guaranteeing the  
confidentiality of the medical advice given to children under 16.

Watkinson argued that “a different approach” was needed to counter  
what she called the current “shamefully high” rates of abortions,  
pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among young teens.

[More at URL]


----- 30 -----
MPs back funding for anti-cancer vaccine
Focus on the Family Canada
March 14, 2007

http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/family/stories/2007/070314.html

MPs on the House of Commons’ finance committee want the government to  
include in the budget priority funding to immunize young women with a  
new vaccine against the virus that causes cervical cancer, the Ottawa  
Citizen reported.

“We believe there is an urgent need to ensure the existence and  
adequate funding of a universal vaccination program for Canadians of  
all ages residing in all regions, including – as one component – the  
vaccine against human papillomavirus,” the all-party committee said  
in a pre-budget report.

[...]

Last month, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization  
recommended that every female aged nine to 26 be immunized against  
HPV – a sexually transmitted disease – with a new vaccine called  
Gardasil. Studies have shown it to be 100 per cent effective at  
preventing 70 per cent of the HPV-type viruses that cause cervical  
cancer.

[...]

But for some parents, the issue is not so simple. In Texas, where  
Governor Rick Perry has ordered that all Grade 6 girls be vaccinated  
with Gardasil, a family is suing on grounds that they and not the  
state should decide what is best for their daughters.

Social conservatives worry that the state could also be sending teens  
the false message that they can safely engage in premarital sex.

“[The authorities in Texas are] hitting two nerves,” Linda Klepacki,  
a sexual health analyst with Focus on the Family told the Dallas  
Morning News. “They’re not only taking away parental rights, but  
they’re talking about a vaccine against a purely sexually transmitted  
disease.

[More at URL]


----- 31 -----
Update on State HPV Vaccine Mandates (4:54)
Concerned Women for America
3/15/2007

Five states, Texas, California, Virginia, New Mexico, and Illinois,  
are debating the issue of mandating the HPV vaccine for school girls.  
Mike Mears, CWA’s Director of State Legislative Relations, says  
momentum for laws mandating the vaccine is starting to slow in some  
states while gaining steam in others.

[Editor's note: The "mandates" that have passed to date have _not  
been mandates_, in that you can opt out. The "mandate" language is a  
lie.]

[Transcription below. Material in quotes is verbatim, or at least my  
best attempt at it. Comments in [] are summations.]

[Mike Mears, Concerned Women for America: In Texas, Governor Parry  
signed an order mandating HPV for young girls entering the seventh  
grade. They must get this vaccine... before they can enter the  
seventh grade. In New Mexico, it passed both the House and the  
Senate... [will be signed]. Governor Kaine has indicated he is going  
to sign the bill [that has already passed in Virginia]. Yesterday in  
Texas, good news, the House passed a bill [...] overturning the  
governor's mandate. Basically they're saying look, this needs to come  
back to the house, we need to debate this, and basically what the  
governor did is circumvent the system. So that's one piece of good  
news. [...] In California, of all places, yesterday, the bill was  
postponed in committee because there's quite a bit of questions [sic]  
about the vaccine. One gentleman, a doctor, some of the men, Dr. Naka 
[illegible], said that very quickly for a reason, he's a doctor in  
Stockton, here's what he had to say about the HPV vaccine. 'It's poor  
policy for the state mandate that half of our children get vaccinated  
with a drug that has been on the market for less than a year. We need  
more time to see the efficacy [ed note: I think. Mr. Mears actually  
aid "efficy"] and safety of this drug.' And we couldn't agree more  
with Dr. Nakashini[?]'s statement there. [...] We do not object to  
this vaccine. What we object to is the mandate. [...] There are still  
a lot of questions about this vaccine, and I think parents have the  
right to know about that as well."

Martha Kleider: "These possible mandates also will have the effect of  
driving girls out of public school, especially if parents have  
serious concerns about this vaccine."

Mike Mears: "You know, there're a lot of implications about this  
[...] but the number one issue I keep harping upon is this is a  
parental rights bill. This is a bill that is a vaccine that is being  
forced upon parents and their children whether they agree with the  
age-appropriateness or not. [...] The FDA said this, that this  
vaccine is okay for children nine years sold. So then why aren't we  
mandating nine year olds? And the reason is the public would not  
allow that to happen. So why 11-12 year olds/ Why not 16-17 year  
olds? Why not... just before you get married? There's a lot of  
questions that I think ought still to be answered."

Mike Mears: "One of the authors of the Texas bill, he pointed out,  
that this is the first non-communicable disease that is being, that  
the vaccine is being mandated; it's the first vaccine that is  
mandated that is for a sexually transmitted disease, right? And then  
finally - and this is one I didn't even think about - it's the first  
drug, the first vaccine that is gender-only. I mean, we're only  
targeting young girls. We're not asking young boys to take this  
vaccine, as of yet. In Australia, young boys are taking this drug.  
And there's a lot of questions about that. And that's why the FDA did  
not approve it for young men."]


----- 32 -----
Judge Blocks Child Online Protection
Concerned Women for America
3/23/2007

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/12643/CFI/pornography/index.htm

A federal judge has blocked the Child Online Protection Act, a law  
that would require web sites to take moderate steps to protect  
children from online obscenity and pornography. This law was passed  
in 1998 and has been repeatedly challenged in the courts by the  
American Civil Liberties Union and the pornography industry. Matt  
Barber, CWA's Director of Cultural Issues, has more.

[Martha Kleider's lead in calls it "pornography in libraries."]

Matt Barber: "This seniour US District Judge, Lowell Reed, Jr, has  
ruled that COPA, the Child Online Protection Act of 1998, is  
unconstitutional. This is really just unbelievable. Apparently the  
judge is labouring under the misconception that people have an  
unfettered right, protected by the first amendment, to disseminate  
all form of obscenity and pornography, and, in fact, any efforts to  
shield or protect children from that hard-core pornography would be a  
violation of the first amendment, which just boggles the mind."

Martha Kleider: "Now this is a law that passed back in 1998, isn't it?"

Matt Barber: "Right, and it's been lingering in the courts have  
people have, the ACLU and other organisations, primarily the porn  
industry, have been trying to get the type of ruling that they got  
today from this judge. Hopefully it will be overturned, it will be  
appealed and overturned, because... it simply raises a barrier of  
protection, it's very reasonable, it was a well-crafted law, it's  
very reasonable, and non-restrictive to free speech, and it's amazing  
that some how we have McCain-Feingold that demonstrably has a  
chilling effect on free speech and peoples' right to support certain  
candidates and to speak politically, which the constitution expressly  
says is unconstitutional to try to quell free political speech,  
[Editor's note: _this is a lie_; political speech, despite theocon  
rhetoric, is not specifically pulled out as better speech than other  
speech] but here, the courts have somehow determined that pornography  
somehow is speech, which just doesn't make any sense, and secondly,  
it's given an additional layer of protection as speech than political  
speech, which just stands reason and logic on its head."

Martha Kleider: [tries to make it a "marketplace issue," "like  
checkout lanes and magazines, where covers need to be shielded." Note  
that the shields don't stop you from buying the magazine.]

Barber, continued: "Sure it is. And liberal activists - and for some  
reason, these judges - makes you wonder if they really don't  
understand technology. I know my dad, for instance, just, he doesn't  
even know how to send an email. He doesn't use computers. It makes  
you wonder if they really understand how pervasive hardcore  
pornography is on the internet. And with just one click, your six  
year old kid can do a Google search on something, and all this  
pornography pops up on just any word - my younger brother was a kid  
and did a search on the word 'frogs' and a bunch of pornography sites  
popped up. [Ed. Note: Spyware yay.] So the judge here says there are  
ways to protect children from hardcore pornography without this law  
in place by using filters and so forth. But first of all - and I  
don't want to discourage people from using internet filters, they're  
very good, but they're not foolproof, and they're faulty. They let a  
lot of objectionable material though. They're not fail-proof. So this  
law is just another layer of protection, just an additional help to  
parents who can't be everywhere at once to help protect their  
children from online pornography. And it's not at all unreasonable."

Kleider: "You can even get porn on cell phones now."

Barber, continued: "And we need to be clear. The courts have already  
ruled that obscenity is not protected speech. And that's what this  
law addresses, is obscenity. So this judge has now circumvented  
priour precident, and said that obscenity is protected by the first  
amendment. That's simply not the case. Your local environment  
determines what is and is not obscene, but this judge has ruled that  
apparently all obscenity is protected by the first amendment, and  
children are required to have equal access to that obscene  
material." [Ed. Note: this last equal access bit is a lie.]

Kleider: "It's in the courts, it's in the hands of judges - what can  
you do to fight something like this?"

Barber: [Government hasn't decided whether to appeal; Barber thinks  
they will appeal] "But I think that again people need to let their  
legislators know, people need to let the executive branch - their  
governor, and President Bush's office know that this is unacceptable,  
that we have to protect our children from this dangerous material,  
and this judge is not even recognising the reality that it's not just  
about pornography; sexual predators use hardcore pornography - not  
just child pornography, use hardcore pornography to get to these  
kids! This is a tool that they use to desensitise children and lure  
them in so that they can actually assault them! So we're not just  
talking about protecting children from hardcore pornography, we're  
talking about protecting children from sexual predators."