Controlling the argument

Apparently this is the week for anti-gay industry gathering.

Fresh from the so-called "values voters" debate, some members of the anti-gay industry will be gathering tomorrow for a three-day Family Impact Summit in Florida.

They claim that the event is to "enable those who have become the "next generation" of national and grassroots Family Values Leaders to pass on their know-how to people wanting to make a difference and needing some guidance in how to do it."

Just who are they kidding.

These folks are going to gather together, whine about how everything should go their way because they are the "chosen people," and most of all tell a bunch of lies about lgbts.

Don't think so? The list of speakers is a plethora of who's who amongst anti-gay industry heads and spokespeople including Donald Wildmon, Gary Bauer Tony Perkins, Harry Jackson, and Richard Land. Even Robert Knight is coming out of his MRC cave to be there.

I also see that former Congresswoman Katherine Harris will be a speaker there.

But folks attending the conference will be facing opposition. Equality Florida is teaming up with Truth Wins Out head Wayne Besen to hold a press conference.

I am all for the press conference but I have a question.

Will there be specifics regarding their opposition to this phony family summit?

Too many times, the argument regarding lgbts and the anti-gay industry is framed in a way that gays and lesbians seem like the outside aggressors. We look like a harassing horde while folks like Knight, Perkins, and others look like upstanding Christians.

And that is not the truth of the matter.

No matter what is said, this is not a pro-family summit.

Knight has consistently used the work of discredited researcher Paul Cameron. He has on occasion distorted legitimate studies and further had the nerve to attack the authors of the studies when they complained. I would love to see him questioned on these points.

Jackson has falsely claimed that gays will use hate crimes legislation to have pastors arrested in their pulpits, even after he has been told the truth of the matter. I definitely want to see him having to answer questions about this.

Will these specific incidents like these be mentioned? Or will there be yet another protest filled with righteously indignant gays with no ammunition?

I can just see Harry Jackson, Gary Bauer and Robert Knight holding a joint press conference in which they innocently claim that all they are doing is trying help gay people and framing the argument into a religious one.

The point is that this argument is not about religious condemnation of homosexuality but how a group of demagogues continue to lie and distort in order to make life harder for lgbts. That is why we are angry .

It is not enough to scream about homophobia. We should show proof as consistently and often as we can.