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The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has asked the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination (people over whom they can be presumed to have very little, if any, influence) to denounce and disavow anti-gay reparative “pray-away-the-gay” therapy as practiced by “Dr” Marcus Bachmann at Bachmann Associates, the mental health practice he co-owns with his wife, presidential candidate and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Today, HRC is calling on the GOP candidates for President to disavow the dangerous “ex-gay” or “reparative therapies” endorsed by Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus, a practicing, but unlicensed Minnesota psychologist whose clinic has been known to practice these therapies.
The very next day, Fred Karger, the gay contender for the GOP nomination and founder of Californians Against Hate who successfully sued the Mormon Church for its misleading campaign filings during Proposition 8, said this:
“She’s a liar and now that she’s been busted, she’s trying to divert attention away from her lies,” Fred Karger told the Michigan Messenger. “She is just another hypocrite and bigot.”
So, yay, HRC! Winning!
At today’s White House press briefing, the Washington Blade asked press secretary Jay Carney what President Obama’s opinion is of reparative therapy.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined comment Monday on questions on President Obama’s position on widely discredited “ex-gay” reparative therapy aimed at changing gay individuals into being straight.
Under questioning from the Washington Blade, Carney said he hasn’t had any conversations with the president on reparative therapy — or whether Medicaid funding should support the practice — and deferred inquiries to the Department of Health & Human Services.
HRC has endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2012. Therefore, HRC can be presumed to have some influence over his thinking and views on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. Shouldn’t the HRC pursue the president and his team for an answer on this question? Having endorsed the president for re-election, does HRC really expect to get an answer from any of the (other, non-gay) GOP candidates?
I mean, it’s fun to put the GOP candidates on the spot for how one of their own earns her living, but don’t LGBT supporters of the President deserve to know his views, too?
HRC, ask your endorsed candidate: does he support anti-gay reparative therapy? Or does he not support it?
37 Comments
It would be interesting to know, and you’d think HRC would have the access to get the answer. Right?
Recommended, and I’ll repost it at Progressive Alaska, with your kind permission, Teddy…?
Groups should hold both parties to the same rigorous standards and questions before issuing endorsements, otherwise we end up with “lesser of two evils.” I hope Jay Carney asks Obama the question and comes back with answer, regardless of HRC’s stance. America needs to know!
The HRC is just like too many other organizations: It’s all about the game to them. They’ve chosen a banner to march under and actual results in the fight for equality would put them out of business. GOProud, NARAL, NAACP, you name it, they each become an entity that wants to survive for it’s own sake and that’s a fundamental conflict of interest.
And “no comment” on “reparative therapy”? WTF Carney? “Reparative” isn’t even a word, much less an accepted medical practice. Pretty silly for a fierce to not know that, don’t ya think?
Recommended.
Obama seems to favor all kinds of harmful, discredited economic ideas…why not throw in a little bigot psychotherapy for good measure?
Agreed. It’s very relevant. I’d like to know if he believes in biological evolution.
Obama doesn’t take a firm position on ANYTHING so we will never know how he feels about this. He could use some “reparative” therapy himself.
Of course, though I’d appreciate a link too. *g*
Recc’d.
I would not be surprised if he does believe in reparative therapy. Why would Carney stumble on this if there weren’t some sort of locker-room off-the-cuff talk behind closed doors about this?
After all, way back when, that NC rally featured Pray-Away-Teh-Gay Donnie McClurkin.
Obama on
reparative therapyeverything.This struck me as a very partisan move for the HRC to make. I mean, I know they are an arm of the DNC but aren’t they supposed to pretend they actually aren’t? And why should only the GOP candidates have to disavow how Michele Bachmann’s husband earns his living? Shouldn’t ALL candidates for president have the chance to go on record opposed to this quackery?
I think they poorly served their already-endorsed candidate by not asking Obama to weigh in also.
Thanks. It will be a couple hours. Taking garden pictures while the sun is actually out.
They won’t press him on this.
Exactly.
He was against it until he was for it.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined comment Monday on questions on President Obama’s position on widely discredited “ex-gay” reparative therapy aimed at changing gay individuals into being straight.
Owh! that sg=hould have been a no brainer instead its another Obama sucker punch.
Obama is a fraud.
He doesn’t believe in anything but the political expedience of empty rhetoric… except when he is bashing the left.
De-elect the president in 2012…
ABO – anyone but Obama.
Yes.
“… these therapies” — probably the Ludovico technique:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_technique
Carney said he hasn’t had any conversations with the president on reparative therapy
Actually, I believe that.
Bill Clinton picked gun control as his sop to the base while he pushed for deregulation and NAFTA.
I think Obama picked gay rights. He is probably mildly in favor of gay rights, though he certainly seems to struggle with saying he supports gay marriage. It isn’t something that actually matters to him, it’s just politics. Obama probably doesn’t know any more about reparative therapy than Clinton knew about semi-automatic firearms.
I believe that too but that was a weasely answer first and second, the fact that it doesn’t matter to him is almost as bad as if he fully embraced it.
Believing in a few things–really caring about them. Transmitting that passion. FIGHTING for those things. That would be refreshing.
I think he believes in the fight for US military and economic pre-eminence. And he clearly is more passionate about the budget deficit than the two in five kids going to bed hungry each night, and those losing their homes, because he certainly accords the debt more of his time.
Being more passionate about the debt and undoing entitlements for Wall St than America’s kids is. . . scary.
Since HRC has ALREADY endorsed Obama, they have lost any leverage they may have had to get an answer.
Not that Donnie ended up particularly “repaired” if what I’ve heard is correct….
I thought of you when I wrote that.
Shouldn’t the HRC pursue the president and his team for an answer on this question?
Yes they should next question will the Feds keep funding Michelle’s husband pray away the gay quack clinic.
Alan Turing was driven to suicide by just such a clinic he invented the Turing test for artificial intelligence.
It would be an uncomfortable question to reconcile with his view on gay marriage, if he said he didn’t think being gay was a choice.
Obama has lost the right to be given the benefit of the doubt regarding his stance on any progressive issue unless he, either personally or via his authorized spokesperson, makes an explicit, documented statement in support of the issue. His actions have diverged from his words too consistently for any such benefit.
No, gosh darn it, he does not. Think, please!
If the GOP supports something, Obama supports it. Or at least kind of supports it. He’s not sure. He’ll get back to ya. He has to talk to Boehner and Cantor first before he can take any position.
Barry is a fascist goon, so one would imagine this is right up his street. My guess is, yes, he supports it. Barry should be in jail.
HRC only exists to hold fundraisers to keep funding its existence, so its members can keep looking cute at their black tie fundraisers. What? You expect them to DO something?
I believe it too. He doesn’t give a damn about it either way. And frankly I don’t care what he thinks about the matter, and I’m a gay man. I’m much MUCH rather see him schooled in economics. You know, the basics you learn in your first college class: cutting spending in a recession leads to more joblessness. That kind of stuff. For such a supposedly smart man, he doesn’t seem to get a lot of important things.
as if flat earth gay haters are gonna vote for ANYONE who isn’t a flat earth gay hater – what a typical 0bummer slime ball thing – I suppose it is part of his post partum delusion shtick?
reminds me of the National Education Association endorsing 0bummer a few weeks back – typical 2nd grader approach to politics -
“I want the world to be like teletubbies” lisps the immature 7 year old girl, “so I’m going to live in teletubby land myself”
(oh yeah – and since we have millions of dues paying members, and if we rock the boat we’ll lose that seat at the rubber chicken banquet of lies and bullshit, we better not rock the boat!)
rmm
HRC is a very bad joke. And Barack Obama is a coward.
Link, please.
Well, they are ginning up a petition and making noises at all the presidential candidates but one. I’m simply asking them to find out the opinion of the candidate they have actually endorsed, with whom they might be presumed to have some influence. I hardly expect the GOP contenders to give their request a moment’s thought.
But since they actually endorsed Barack Obama, doesn’t he owe them an answer? So why not ask him?