Daring to stand against the gay lobby (Freeper-written op ed)

How much of your life willing you part with to make gay activists happy? Let me introduce you to some people who’ve already paid price in personal trouble or lost civil liberties because they dared express politically incorrect views on the subject.

Let’s start with the most recent victim. Leo “Skip” Childs is a dedicated volunteer firefighter in the town of North Truro, Massachusetts. He is known for spending every spare hour assisting his neighbors. He’s the department’s mechanic, and until recently was on the local Board of Fire Engineers and was about to be appointed to another term.

But then a local selectman decided to publicly humiliate Childs because he had signed a petition in favor of a gay marriage referendum. Paul Asher-Best said that if Childs opposes gay marriage he must believe that “less than fully human,” and he is said to have “gone ballistic” when Childs responded by saying he was just opposing undue influence by “special interests” and would have no problem if the people approved gay marriage with their votes. After a decade of exemplary service, Childs was booted from the board under the absurd assumption that wanting to protect marriage made him an unrepentant hater of homosexuals.

Ask Ake Green. He’s a Swedish pastor who was jailed for preaching against homosexuality in 2003. He was later released on appeal, and his preaching was industrial strength (the words “cancer” and “perverts” were used) but the case boils down to this: He was arrested because prosecutors believed that saying homosexuality is a sin is the same as advocating the killing or beating of gays. Sure guys, let me know the next time a preacher says “Stop looking at porn, it’s a cancer on our society” and the congregation marches off to lynch the guy running the local adult bookstore.

Then there’s Scott Brockie. He’s a printer who was dragged into court by the Ontario Human Rights Commission because he declined a request to print stationery for the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Surely, Brockie was a major league homophobe, right? Actually, he had plenty of gay customers, he simply drew the line—for religious reasons—at work that would help an organization promote homosexual activity. As of 2004, he was liable not only for his original $5,000 fine, but for about $35,000 in court costs. He was also ordered to print the materials. Yes, in enlightened Canada, the government can force you to do business with someone who hates everything you stand for, so they avoid the ordeal of going down the block to another printer.

How about Ene Kiildi (pronounced Ay-nay Killdee) of Portland, Maine? Kiildi ran indirectly afoul of Portland’s law preventing discrimination against gays. A lesbian co-worker (apparently hunting for thoughtcrimes) initiated a conversation with her about Christianity, asking whether Kiildi’s faith has “a problem” with homosexuality. Kiildi replied “I don't have any problem as long as you do your work,” but yes, homosexuality is a sin under Christian doctrine. The co-worker reported her for creating a “hostile work environment” and Kiildi nearly lost her job because her employer was worried about being prosecuted by the city. Kiildi told M.D. Harmon of the Portland Press Herald that she might be fired for talking to him. She said she had probably been singled out as a potential homphobe because—brace yourself—she had a “Jesus Loves You” bumper sticker on her car and had occasionally been seen reading the Bible on her lunch hour. Whoa, what a monster.

Ready for the final irony? Kiildi emigrated to Portland from Estonia in 1990 to escape religious persecution.

Another Portlander literally had the book thrown at him for his traditional views. Steve Whiting was forced out of his law firm (where he was a full partner) because he provided legal assistance to outgunned-but-innocent pro-family activists petitioning to put the human rights law to a referendum. The trouble started before that, when he gave the other partners Bibles, and one of them hurled the gift back at him.

Oh, and let’s not forget the eleven Christian activists from who were arrested in Philadelphia for serving up Bible verses during “Outfest.” For this “hate crime,” they faced up to 47 years in prison and $90,000 in fines. Fortunately a sane federal judge intervened and they were released. At the top of their web page, these terrible people have the following words: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Yep, that’s definitely the kind of stuff you hear right before the lynch mob gets out the rope.

The more the gay lobby gets the upper hand in government, the more we’ll see of their versions of “equality” and “tolerance.”

I'm noticing a bunch of typos in this column...I seem to have saved my pre=proffreading version and not saved the post proof version. For completeness, here's the repaired version:

How much of your life willing you part with to make gay activists happy? Let me introduce you to some people who’ve already paid a price in personal trouble or lost civil liberties because they dared express politically incorrect views on the subject.

Let’s start with the most recent victim. Leo “Skip” Childs is a dedicated volunteer firefighter in the town of North Truro, Massachusetts. He is known for spending every spare hour assisting his neighbors. He’s the department’s mechanic, and until recently was on the local Board of Fire Engineers and was about to be appointed to another term.

But then a local selectman decided to publicly humiliate Childs because he had signed a petition in favor of a gay marriage referendum. Paul Asher-Best said that if Childs opposes gay marriage he must believe that homosexuals are “less than fully human,” and he is said to have “gone ballistic” when Childs responded by saying he was just opposing undue influence by “special interests” and would have no problem if the people approved gay marriage with their votes. After a decade of exemplary service, Childs was booted from the board under the absurd assumption that wanting to protect marriage made him an unrepentant hater of homosexuals.

An isolated incident, right? Wrong.

Ask Ake Green. He’s a Swedish pastor who was jailed for preaching against homosexuality in 2003. He was later released on appeal, and his preaching was industrial strength (the words “cancer” and “perverts” were used) but the case boils down to this: He was arrested because prosecutors believed that saying homosexuality is a sin is the same as advocating the killing or beating of gays. Sure guys, let me know the next time a preacher says “Stop looking at porn, it’s a cancer on our society” and the congregation marches off to lynch the guy running the local adult bookstore.

Then there’s Scott Brockie. He’s a printer who was dragged into court by the Ontario Human Rights Commission because he declined a request to print stationery for the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Surely, Brockie was a major league homophobe, right? Actually, he had plenty of gay customers. He simply drew the line—for religious reasons—at work that would help an organization promote homosexual activity. As of 2004, he was liable not only for his original $5,000 fine, but for about $35,000 in court costs. He was also ordered to print the materials. Yes, in enlightened Canada, the government can force you to do business with someone who hates everything you stand for, so the customer can avoid the ordeal of going down the block to another printer.

How about Ene Kiildi (pronounced Ay-nay Killdee) of Portland, Maine? Kiildi ran indirectly afoul of Portland’s law preventing discrimination against gays. A lesbian co-worker (apparently hunting for thoughtcrimes) initiated a conversation with her about Christianity, asking whether Kiildi’s faith has “a problem” with homosexuality. Kiildi replied “I don't have any problem as long as you do your work,” but went on to confirm that yes, homosexuality is a sin under Christian doctrine. The co-worker reported her for creating a “hostile work environment” and Kiildi nearly lost her job because her employer was worried about being prosecuted by the city. Kiildi told M.D. Harmon of the Portland Press Herald that she might be fired for talking to him. She said she had probably been singled out as a potential homphobe because—brace yourself—she had a “Jesus Loves You” bumper sticker on her car and had occasionally been seen reading the Bible on her lunch hour. Whoa, what a monster.

Ready for the final irony? Kiildi emigrated to Portland from Estonia in 1990 to escape religious persecution.

Another Portlander literally had the book thrown at him for his traditional views. Steve Whiting was forced out of his law firm (where he was a full partner) because he provided legal assistance to outgunned-but-innocent pro-family activists petitioning to put the human rights law to a referendum. The trouble started before that, when he gave the other partners Bibles, and one of them hurled the gift back at him.

Oh, and let’s not forget the eleven Christian activists who were arrested in Philadelphia for serving up Bible verses during “Outfest.” For this “hate crime,” they faced up to 47 years in prison and $90,000 in fines. Fortunately a sane federal judge intervened and they were released. At the top of their web page, these terrible people have the following words: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Yep, that’s definitely the kind of stuff you hear right before the lynch mob gets out the rope.

The more the gay lobby gets the upper hand in government, the more we’ll see of their versions of “equality” and “tolerance.”

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