Gov. Sean Parnell traveled out of state this week at the request of anti-gay, anti-choice Focus on the Family to discuss their theories on domestic violence, foster care and adoption - and Alaska paid for his trip, according to two reports in the Alaska Dispatch. FotF pushes dangerous pray-away-the-gay methods, opposes any recognition of same-sex relationships, and called children raised by gay parents "human guinea pigs."
Parnell left Anchorage Monday afternoon to travel to Colorado, where he had been invited by Focus on the Family leadership, according to spokeswoman Sharon Leighow. Although the invitation was extended by Focus on the Family, the trip was paid for by the state, and Parnell was accompanied by a state aide. Leighow said she didn't know yet how much the trip cost."Focus on the Family shared many good ideas that the governor could utilize in Alaska," Leighow said. "That was the purpose of the trip." (We didn't ask Leighow whether the governor has received similar invitations from, say, PFLAG or the Colorado Springs Pride Center.)Leighow said she didn't know whether the organization identified particular areas of interest when it invited Parnell to Colorado, but was able to say that the governor traded ideas about domestic violence, foster care and adoption with Focus on the Family CEO Jim Daly and other senior staff. Focus on the Family and its political arm, CitizenLink, are active in the anti-abortion movement, but Leighow said as far as she knew, the issue of abortion was not discussed at the meeting.
FotF's ideas about domestic violence, foster care and adoption do not include anything positive for LGBT families. In an article against same-sex families, FotF's Glenn Stanton drew dire conclusions from a few studies on kids in heterosexual step-parent families, declared that all same-sex families are comparable to heterosexual step-parent families, and wrote that children of same-sex parents may be at higher risk for abuse because non-biological parents have no real connection to their children.
So, we must ask, "Is it wise to enter the same-sex family experiment with a generation of children so we can learn how it will turn out?" Is it ethical to turn thousands of children into human guinea pigs? The answer must be a resounding "no."
The hate watch site Good As You wrote last week:
Focus on the Family dedicates much time to keeping same-sex couples away from adoption, foster care, and a whole host of protections that strengthen LGBT families. And of course they work every day to deny a fair shake to gay kids and/or the kids of gay parents... [They] talk only about the kind of "strong family environment" that's defined by evangelism and heterosexuality.
Is Parnell planning an election campaign based on taking away adoption and foster care rights from same sex parents?
Who knows? Mayhaps the Gov. was making a campaign funding deal. Fundamentalist agenda for cash, it's an old church custom.
ReplyDeleteChances are good that oil money will be unpopular in the next election, so perhaps a less visible source of money?
Good point about the oil money. We might not see his new FotF agenda items until after the election... or until after he begins doing whatever damage he promised them. Or maybe he won't win.
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