2 On his own, LaBarbera is a laughing stock, an obje ct of amusement in the gay community who has given him the moniker of Porno Pete However, he and his organization are a minor part of a large network of organizations. These groups include the Family Research Council, the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, and a myriad of federal and state- wide organizations which all claim to stand for America’s supposed Judeo-Christian heritage. But

their

idea of Christian values seem to rely heavily on forgetting the ninth commandment against bearing false witness because these groups have declared war on the gay community and their weapons are propaganda designed exploit fear and religious beliefs. Through a clever use of junk science, misrepresented scientific work, outright lies, or – as seen by LaB arbera’s photo of Frank – demeaning images, they work to stand as a roadblock to any advancement of gay equality by stigmatizing the gay community and falsely labeling homosexuality as a threat to societal order and wellness. And what’s worse, they use the religious belief which designates homosexuality to be a sin as a free license to sugarcoat their tactics as mere “expressions of their personal religious beliefs” and label every question regarding these tactics as an “attack on their religious liberty” or an attempt to “silence” them. What these groups do is nothing new and it’s certainly nothing Christian or moral about it. When any group spreads propaganda, it’s always “in defense” of something and it usually scapegoats a group undeserving of such hostilities. Whether it be the defense of “Southern culture,” the “German homeland,” or “Judeo-Christian values,” it all add s up to the same th ing - isolating an innocent group as the essence of evil and claiming that if only said group were put in its place, the world would be a better place. It’s a big lie and unfortunately, no one tells the lie better than religious right groups.

A Hard Look at Anti-Gay Propaganda