FRC Action Conference Focuses on Defending Religious Liberty, Preserving the Family

Sen. Ted Cruz speaking while being heckled by liberal protestors at the 8th Annual Values Voter Summit

Over 2,200 people attended the eighth annual Values Voter Summit held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. On Friday, an enthusiastic crowd cheered as key Republican lawmakers delivered impassioned speeches in the midst of a government shutdown. Senator Marco Rubio, Representative Michelle Bachmann, Senator Rand Paul, and Senator Ted Cruz, who was the winner of the Presidential Straw Poll, were among the social conservatives who took the stage on day one. Former Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins University, Dr. Ben Carson, also addressed the Summit. Dr. Carson, whose profile rose last year after making critical remarks about the Affordable Care Act at the National Prayer Breakfast while standing next to President Obama, won the Vice-Presidential Straw Poll.

Sen. Ted Cruz spoke about the need for conservatives to not back down in the face of oppression from the current Obama administration. Cruz, considered by some to be the most disliked politician in America because of his efforts to shut the government down in order to block the new healthcare law from taking effect, was heckled several times by liberal protestors during his speech.

“You know, the nice thing, the nice thing is the left will always, always, always tell you who they fear. And they fear you,” exclaimed an emboldened Cruz as the audience cheered enthusiastically while several protesters were escorted out of the crowded ballroom.

In the afternoon, Rep. Michelle Bachmann continued where Sen. Cruz and Dr. Carson left off, highlighting the Affordable Care Act as one example of the larger loss of freedom at the hands of an oversized, out-of-control government:

“This fight that we’re in right now is far bigger than even the ‘Obamacare’ fight – far bigger. It’s far bigger than the national bankruptcy that we’re – is impending upon our nation right now that is putting our children’s future at risk. It’s bigger than the debt. It’s bigger than the spending because I submit to you today what is at risk in all of this is whether we will be the police line state or whether we will be a constitutional republic.”

American Family Radio’s Sandy Rios speaking about the dangers of Christians speaking against homosexuality

The conference also featured an all-star group of conservative champions, including radio and TV personality Glenn Beck, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, the Duggar Family, stars of the hit TV show “19 Kids and Counting” on The Learning Channel (TLC), as well as American Family Radio and Fox News Contributor Sandy Rios.

Rios, whose remarks focused largely on the threat of gay activism to our culture, decried the Southern Poverty Law Center’s effort to bully lawmakers not to speak the Summit:

“It is a dangerous time to be a Christian conservative . . . there are threats being made, and we all know a little more than a year ago, Floyd Corkins went into the Family Research Council with the idea that he was going to commit mass murder (due to their listing of FRC a hate group) . . . their main business is attacking and suing conservative organizations.”

Rios went onto discuss the dangers of speaking out against risky homosexual behavior in the public forum and the fact that most Americans don’t hear about ex-gays because of their marginalization from the liberal media:

“We are fighting against a barrage of propaganda, and there is punishment if you dare speak out and say ‘wait a minute, I’m not sure this is right’ . . . the CDC just published evidence to say that 94-95 of new HIV cases among young men are linked to gay sex. The other thing we don’t know is that there is an ex-gay movement. Did you know that September was ex-gay awareness month? They are everywhere and the reason you don’t hear of them is because they are maligned and threatened . . . there are tons of ex-gays with fabulous stories but the American people don’t know about that!”

In a speech titled: “The Red Line of Liberty,” Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver warned of the government taking away our religious freedom. Referencing the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, Staver remarked:

Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver ignited the crowd with his speech titled “The Red Line of Liberty” at the 8th Annual Values Voter Summit

“I suggest to you that the decision by the Supreme Court will find itself in the same dust bin of history as Dred Scott and Buck vs. Bell . . . Martin Luther King Jr. was asked in the 1960’s while he was in jail (for civil disobedience): ‘why do you obey some laws and disobey others?’ He said, ‘it’s obvious because some      laws are just and some laws are unjust . . . when there is a clear conflict between God’s law and the magistrate, then you have no choice, you have a duty, and he said ‘that is why I’m sitting here in this Birmingham jail, I cannot comply.’ There are situations that we are facing today that I believe crosses that red line, it is Obamacare forcing religious and moral employers to fund abortion. That is a line we cannot cross. When they force a photographer in New Mexico to choose between their profession as a wedding photographer or choosing to violate that belief by photographing same-sex marriages, or when they force the Catholic Charities in the commonwealth of Massachusetts to execute their religious beliefs and put orphans and children in same-sex households, that is a red line we cannot cross either. We cannot sacrifice our religious freedom!”

As day two of the conference progressed, speakers focused more on family values and the necessity to invest our priorities on being aware and getting involved in politics and electing conservative leaders into office. JimBob Duggar, whose family stars in the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting” spoke of his experiences serving two terms in the Arkansas state house of representatives and following God’s call for him to run for U.S. Senate.

JimBob Duggar and the Duggar Family, stars of the TLC Reality Show “19 Kids and Counting” Performed Vocal and String Selections

“Every person in this room can either run for political office or can easily support someone who runs for office . . . you need to get involved . . . when I ran for U.S. Senate, I was outspent $2 million to $100,000 and I only won about 22 percent of the vote. But out of that tough experience came a tremendous opportunity. A New York Times article reported that a man running for Arkansas Senate with thirteen children lost. But not long after, I was approached by a parenting magazine that wanted to do a story on our family, and Michelle agreed. After that article appeared, TLC approached us wanting to film a documentary on lives.”

Radio and TV personality Glenn Beck highlighted Saturday afternoon with a passionate speech, focusing on family values and individual responsibility. “It’s not hard to fix our world, because we are each broken.” Beck decried the lack of focus in Washington and forward thinking:

“The problem with the Republicans is there’s no vision . . . we are finally standing up and saying this is what we believe! But we might lose? Yes, but we might just win?”

Radio and TV Personality Glenn Beck gives the audience a history lesson on his famous chalkboard

Beck also spoke of his own family’s struggle to connect, and how he came to the decision that no one in his house would ever play another video game again. Instead, they would focus more on each other, their values, and faith.

“One day my son said, ‘Dad, let’s make a fort. I got excited, and said ‘yeah’ let’s go check out the barn and see what kind of materials we have. Then he said, ‘no dad, it’s so much better on the computer’.”

That’s when Beck decided to make a rule that no one in the house was to ever play another video game, and instead, get back to the basics. “The only time we could figure out that we would all be together was dinner, so that’s when we would bring our scriptures and read together.” He concluded his remarks with a strong plea to all those in attendance by telling a story of how he held onto the only compass George Washington ever used, during a very tough day in his life. He pleaded with the audience to follow Washington’s example: “Stay true to your principles and chart your course carefully!”

To watch any of the speeches from the 8^th Annual Values Voters Summit, click here.

Christopher Doyle is the Co-Founder and President of Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info 

Earlier this week, Ohio became the sixth state to introduce legislation to ban therapy for minors who seek to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA). S.B. No. 188, sponsored by State Senator Charleta Tavares, would make it illegal for a licensed mental health practitioner in Ohio to help a client under 18 change sexual orientation, but would permit that counselor to affirm a client’s homosexual orientation and/or help a client “transition from one gender to another.”

In an interview with WTVN Columbus, Tavares commented:

“What we’re fearful is that this is going to be more destructive to the young person that somehow they need to change themselves . . . what we’re trying to do is to ensure that we’re not harming young people and making them feel like there’s something wrong with them, that we’re trying to cure a problem so to speak.”

This bill, which is modeled after similar legislation introduced in Washington, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as well as the laws in California and New Jersey, fails to cite any peer-reviewed literature to back up its claims that SOCE for minors is “destructive” to a young person, while at the same time upholding the right of transgender minors to receive counseling on how to change their gender, despite the documented health risks that exist for this population.

In the same Columbus article, I am also quoted:

“There’s no studies and scientists can’t confirm that there’s a simple biological explanation for development of homosexual feelings . . . It’s a direct assault on the freedom of speech, on the freedom of religion, and a self-determination of a family, the parents, and a child.”

The article went onto to quote both of us, saying that:

. . . Tavares says the bill wouldn’t keep parents from taking their children out of state to get the treatment, and claims that in many cases the parents are forcing the child to undergo the therapy. Doyle says that’s a situation he wouldn’t get involved in. He thinks the ban will actually hurt children by forcing them to keep having to deal with unwanted homosexual feelings.

Once again, we see politicians making unsubstantiated claims that parents are forcing their children into therapy against their will, without any legitimate evidence to back this up. We can only hope that rational, levelheaded politicians in Ohio will ask the tough questions that New Jersey and California legislatures failed to do.

Christopher Doyle is the President and Co-Founder of Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info

Illustration by Katryna Henderson

Biased LGBTQ University Resource Center Director Suppressing Ex-Gay Resources

Earlier this week, George Mason University’s (GMU) official student newspaper, Fourth Estate, reported on the discrimination happening at their LGBTQ Resource Center. “During his experience at Mason’s LGBTQ resource center, Doyle said he witnessed discrimination in these centers that he thinks has been going on at college campuses across Virginia. Doyle also said he received medically inaccurate advice and biased counseling.”

In his defense, Ric Chollar, Director of GMU’s LGBTQ Resource Center said the following:

“We don’t give students advice, we give options, and I did that with him. As soon as someone asks me for information about these groups, I tell them we have the information and if they would like some, I’ll get that for them. He (Doyle) and I sat in the office and I turned and I pulled the file drawer out and I have them sitting in my file drawer.”

You can listen to the audio recordings of Chollar’s “options” by clicking here. What Chollar stressed was that ex-gay therapy was harmful, and a better choice would be to attend a gay-affirming place of worship such as the Metropolitan Community Church, accept one’s homosexual feelings, and read a book called “The Lord is my Shepherd and He Know’s I’m Gay.” Click here to listen to the audio recording.

In the interview with Fourth Estate, Chollar went onto say:

“What groups like his are asking, in fact demanding, is that written information like brochures be displayed publicly. I will admit that is not what we do. However he also says that he had to aggressively ask over and over again. That is just not my memory at all. He would have had a different reception with me if from the very beginning he said he didn’t want to [be gay]. He presented as neutral and unknowing and that he was experiencing these feelings and he didn’t know what to do about them.”

Director Ric Chollar in front of George Mason University LGBTQ Resource Center

Rose Pascarell, the vice president of University Life at GMU, said that “Chollar handled the situation in the gentlest way possible, performing his duties as a licensed clinical social worker by explaining his concerns with reparative therapy.” According to Pascarell, prominently displaying the ex-gay resources would interfere with the goal of providing students support and would be giving them information that mainstream associations have said can be harmful to an individual.

But providing students support is exactly what the university is failing to do by limiting the LGBTQ Resource Center to only one viewpoint on homosexuality. In fact, one of the brochures that Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) gave GMU to display was a set of brochures on tolerance for the ex-gay community, and none of the brochures were actually about therapy.

“While the LGBTQ Resource Center educates the entire university on gay issues with its activities, events, and messaging, they are, at the same time, discriminating and marginalizing students who experience unwanted same-sex attraction and may want to seek change,” commented Estella Salvatore, President of PFOX. “Therefore, the focus should be on diversity and tolerance for formal homosexuals (and students with unwanted SSA), because the center was founded for tolerance and diversity on sexual orientation.”

The larger issue here is the inherent bias against those whose faith and values guide them not to act on homosexual urges, but rather, encourage them to explore the origins of those feelings and seek change.

“At the very heart of this issue is discrimination and bias towards those who do not believe in the so-called mainstream view that people are born gay,” commented Doyle. “The GMU officials are justifying their discrimination based on the so-called prevailing attitude, yet they will fight against the prevailing attitude on other issues as long as it suits their political agenda.”

By claiming that “mainstream associations” are against therapies to change, GMU fails to acknowledge organizations like the American Association of Christian Counselors and the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, both of whom support the rights of counselors to assist a person who does not want to act on homosexual feelings and seek change. Collectively, these two organizations represent tens of thousands of licensed mental health professionals.

“Public funded universities are supposed to be a place where students are given equal access and neutral information so they can live their lives according to their own values. But at George Mason University, apparently the only ‘option’ a student with same-sex attractions has is to live a gay life. The actions of GMU are illegal and constitute viewpoint discrimination. If they refuse to make reforms, they are opening themselves up to a lawsuit.”

Christopher Doyle is the President and Co-Founder of Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info