Likely presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich are slated to address the Minnesota Family Council’s annual “Reconnecting Faith, Family and Freedom” fundraiser. Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent reports that the event will “be held May 17 at the Minneapolis Hilton. Tickets are $100.” In the invitation, Gingrich lauds the MFC for “vigorously defending our God-given freedom in our communities, schools, at the Capitol and the ballot box” and asks people to “join me and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in rediscovering God and the vital role of faith and family in our American freedoms.”

The MFC is the state’s leading Religious Right group and has increasingly become one of the most strident opponents of anti-bullying bills. Tom Prichard, the MFC’s president, maintained that LGBT youth commit suicide because they live an “unhealthy lifestyle” and that anti-bullying programs are ways to have children “indoctrinated in homosexuality.” Prichard also criticized Gay Straight Alliances, saying “it’s sad and harmful for kids to celebrate homosexuality when in fact it’s not a healthy lifestyle;” he went on to claim that Matthew Shepard’s murder wasn’t a hate crime and that his “death served an important ideological purpose for homosexual activists.”

The MFC’s Barb Anderson told anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera that “the greatest threat to our freedom and to the health and well-being of our children is from this radical homosexual agenda which is just so pervasive” and that she considers it “a badge of honor to be called a hate group.” Anderson also blamed supporters of gay rights for school bullying, saying that they “are the ones that are contributing to an atmosphere that can even increase bullying as more kids get into this kind of a lifestyle” and that “homosexual behavior is one of the most hazardous behaviors that kids could get into and start practicing.”

Anderson also warned of “targeted” students and that “pro-gay training[s]” are coming “like a tsunami.” In January, the organization hosted a legislative summit with pseudo-historian David Barton featuring courses on “Bullying bills: The homosexual agenda in your child’s public school.”