FRC's Tony Perkins's attack on D.C. gay marriages is in line with his other false claims

To say that Family Research Council head Tony Perkins isn't happy about the fact that gays and lesbians can marry in Washington, D.C. should be considered a huge understatement.

He makes this incredibly ridiculous statement about the marriages:

 The last census counted 3,678 same-sex partner homes in D.C. Assuming that number has stayed roughly the same, then the 150 who applied for marriage licenses yesterday would amount to a whopping four percent of the local homosexual population--hardly the stuff of economic recovery. For the Post's $52.2 million projection to come true, all 3,678 of those D.C. couples would have to get married and spend over $14,000 per wedding. (I don't know about you, but my wife and I spent a LOT less!) These "marriages" (which have yet to meet financial expectations in other states) may make a fast buck in the short term, but they will do nothing but drain the economy down the road. Consider the massive health care expenses incurred by taxpayers every year to cope with the diseases spread by homosexual behavior. According to the Kaiser Foundation, federal funding grew to more than $18 billion in 2004 to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Over half of all U.S. infections are in men having sex with men! That means taxpayers spend roughly $10 billion a year treating the diseases caused by a behavior celebrated in same-sex "marriage." So much for economic development!

And where is the proof of this because Perkins doesn't provide any. I guess he figures that since he "sits on the right hand of God," any comment he makes about the gay community, no matter how rude or untrue, will suddenly become true.

But in actuality, Perkins's comments doesn't surprise me because of his history of wild inaccuracies about the gay and lesbian community. For example:

In February, he implied that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell would cause soldiers to be sexually harassed by their fellow gay service members. While Perkins didn't come out and say it, his claim echoed the discredited research of Paul Cameron who claimed (to the derision of sensible people) that a "new study" of his proves that gay service members are four to seven times more likely to rape their fellow service members.

In October of last year, Perkins spoke out against the Obama Administration's plan to create a national resource center for lgbt seniors. Perkins said at the time:

HHS has no idea how many LGBT seniors exist. No one does! The movement is only a few decades old, and people who are 80- or 90-years-old didn't grow up in a culture where it was acceptable to identify with this lifestyle.

Of course, the real tragedy here--apart from the unnecessary spending--is that, given the risks of homosexual conduct, few of these people are likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America.

Perkins's statement was contradicted by data supplied by the Obama Administration as well as the magazine Newsweek.

Of course I should also mention that in his claim, Perkins again echoed the discredited research of Paul Cameron who once (using fallacious research) claimed that gay men have short life spans.

In September of last year, Perkins submitted to testimony Congress in opposition of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In his testimony, when he wasn't supplying anecdotal evidence, Perkins misrepresented medical research to claim that the lgbt orientation itself is indicative of dangerous health behaviors. He used pro-gay publications to "prove" this point. However, Perkins omitted the fact that the research he was citing at no time blamed the lgbt orientation for the negative health behaviors in which some gays and lesbians were partaking of. The research placed the blame solely on the effects of gays and lesbians having to deal with a homophobic society.

So basically it all comes down to this - Perkins is yet another religious right phony "expert" whose statements about the lgbt community should be viewed as a flight of fancy created by a preconceived belief that homosexuality in itself is evil, despite evidence to the contrary.