HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN OF HATE AGAINST FORMER HOMOSEXUALS
HRC’s denouncements of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) reek of hypocrisy
NEWS RELEASEApril 29, 2003
Contact: Regina Griggs at 804-453-4737
http://www.pfox.org
WASHINGTON DC – Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) today called on the Human Rights Campaign [HRC] to stop its denouncements of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) for his alleged derogatory remarks about gays.
“This same group that berates others for remarks against gays itself makes those same remarks -- against ex-gays,” said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs.
The Human Rights Campaign is a national gay rights organization with a long history of undisguised prejudice against former homosexuals. For example, an HRC official sent hateful emails to ex-gay Greg Quinlan, director of the Ohio Pro-Family Network, calling him a “drag queen out of drag” and urging him to “butch up, Mary” because he “made Richard Simmons look butch” and “normal people” would not think he is ex-gay.
An HRC representative organized a group picket against an ex-gay conference, using bullhorns to shout discriminatory remarks and carrying an effigy of a nude woman as the group marched in front of the church where the conference was being held. Indeed, HRC has even demanded that a contributor reconsider her sizeable donation to a children’s school merely because it had indirect ties to an ex-gay ministry.
“HRC’s irrational phobia of those who have overcome unwanted same sex attractions perpetuates misunderstanding and harm against the ex-gay community. It also demonstrates a disregard for diversity and a refusal to respect a basic human right to dignity and self-determination. If Human Rights Campaign truly cared about compassion and equal rights for all Americans, it would stop its campaign of hate against former homosexuals,” said Griggs.
“The harassment of ex-gays by gays themselves is a sad end to the long struggle for tolerance by the gay community. That ex-gays are now oppressed by the same people who claim to be victimized themselves demonstrates how far the gay rights movement has come. We now need to face the other side of sexual orientation -- intolerance of ex-gays. HRC and other gay rights groups must acknowledge that former homosexuals are also worthy of respect.”
Each year, thousands of men and women with unwanted same sex attractions make the personal decision to leave homosexuality. However, HRC and others refuse to respect that choice. As a result, ex-gays are subject to an increasingly hostile environment where they are reviled simply because they dare to exist.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is a non-partisan organization that supports families, educates the public on sexual orientation, and advocates for the ex-gay community.
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