Family Policy Council Still Bearing False Witness Against Gays

Like numerous other far right organizations, Orlando's Family Policy Council is always prepared to bear false witness against same-sex couples in its quest to spread anti-gay propaganda.  Last week, the "Christian" group sent out an Action Alert to its members about the recent court ruling in which a Florida judge allowed a lesbian couple to adopt a child.  (Florida is the only state in the country where prospective parents must sign an official document swearing they are not homosexual or bisexual. This isn't the first time a court has ruled that the state's gay adoption ban is unconstitutional.)

Determined to portray same-sex relationships as scary and different, the Family Policy Council attached an image to its alert that had nothing to do with the case.  (See top left.)

Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel:  The couple look so odd (you literally can't tell whether they are male or female) that one might wonder how any judge could place a young child with such a disturbing-looking duo.  Except the judge didn't.  The abnormal-looking couple that the Policy Council chose to illustrate this story is not the same couple granted the right to adopt the child.  No, the two-woman couple awarded custody of the 1-year-old — South Florida trade-show executive Vanessa Alenier and her partner, Melanie Leon — look more like J.Crew models: all-American with catalogue clothes and smiles.  The picture that the Policy Council chose was a grotesque caricature. 

These are the dirty tactics of Christianity's far-right warriors.  Not the majority of mainstream Christians, mind you. Not those who are focused on caring for their own families and practicing their own faith, but those who are obsessed with homosexuality.  These extremists wage their campaigns of intolerance based on deception and misrepresentation.  And they have the gall to do it in God's name.

When called out about the misleading image, Family Policy Council head John Stemberger said his group made an honest "mistake" and he claimed the photo was "not intended to demean" LGBT families. 

Yeah, right.  And if you believe that, Stemberger has a hurricane-proof beach house he wants to sell you.

Bilerico's Alex Blaze makes a valid observation: (T)he Florida Family Policy Council isn't just being mean-spirited towards Leon and Alenier, but they're being terribly cruel to the unknown couple in the photo.  While Leon and Alenier are a traditionally beautiful couple, that's just another factor, like their sexual orientation, that's unrelated to their ability to parent.  The unknown couple could be loving and responsible parents just as easily.

Comments

[Brian]

I smell a future at FOX for someone.

[Ames]

"The couple look so odd (you literally can't tell whether they are male or female) that one might wonder how any judge could place a young child with such a disturbing-looking duo."

So there's some kind of test we should have to make sure that "disturbing-looking" people won't be able to adopt? Wow, that leaves out a whole giant swath of queers, wouldn't you say, given what main street Americans think is "normal-looking"? Who exactly will be on that committee to decide what "disturbing" and "odd" look like? Pretty sick idea, eh?

This writer is not an ally for GLBT folks if the support he offers is to reassure everyone that it's the photogenic lesbians who are the ones trying to adopt. It's a specious argument.

You're pointing out the lie by the fundies, which is accurate, but the lie they are telling is based on hatred of what lesbians might actually look like. Do we want to win the battle and lose the war? Lesbians can adopt in the future, but only if they pass the "normal-looking test"? The real argument is that anyone who is prepared to love and care for a child should be able to do so without passing a such a test. And the fundies who would use such a test are proving that they will just keep moving the bar to stay in charge of who gets human rights in this country.

[Trent]

I thought the Sentinel using the word "abnormal" was offensive. But that's not the point. The fact that Family Policy Council chose this picture on purpose is much more offensive. If the FPC was sending out one of their "alerts" about two men wanting to adopt a child and they had chosen a coupla guys in full leather regalia rather than the men who really planned to adopt that would be just as bad. I think they were just looking for what they considered to be a bizarre looking lesbian couple to frighten their Xstian sheeple.

[2cents]

Sorry, but that IS a scary pic. They chose it for shock value. I also can't tell for sure if it's 2 men or 2 women. SHould all gender-bending folks be allowed to adopt? Sure, but that's not the world we live in. Kids have a hard enough time with 2 mommies. That shouldn't be the case, but it is. But 2 mommies that look like daddies?

[Bee Girl]

It shouldn't matter what people look like. If they can provide loving homes to unwanted kids they should be able to do so. Having said that, this 'Family Policy Council' is despicable.

[Jerome M]

Strange, doesn't the Christian right warn about "moral relativism" of the left? Do they even see the irony?