From the American Family Association’s hilarious “news” arm, OneNewsNow:

A prominent pro-homosexual group isn’t satisfied with benefits already being offered by 337 major American businesses to their homosexual employees. General Motors, Bank of America, IBM, Ford Motor, AT&T, Walgreen Co., Target, Citigroup — those companies (and scores more) got a 100-percent favorable rating on the 2010 Corporate Equality Index [PDF], an annual business ranking published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual activist organization in the country. [Caution: The previous link goes to a pro-homosexual website]

OMG! Caution! What if the rubes who read OneNewsNow for informational purposes accidentally clicked a clicky and fell under the spell of gayness?! Caution: the above link goes to one of the most unintentionally funny websites on the entire internet. Proceed with giggles, y’all!

But HRC is now demanding those corporations offer unlimited healthcare coverage for transgender employees — or lose the highest ranking offered under the Corporate Equality Index. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality tells OneNewsNow the group is simply escalating “its blackmail campaign against businesses.” “In order to get a 100-percent rating, you now have to provide funding for sex-change operations for transsexuals,” he explains. “So…they keep ramping up the demands to get the 100-percent rating, knowing that companies are bragging about having the rating.”

If companies brag about having the rating, that implies that they know it’s good for their business to have a good rating from the HRC, and Peter LaBarbera, as a conservative, should understand that businesses in the Free Market should never be criticized for doing things that influence their bottom line in a positive way.*

Here’s another funny part from the ONN piece:

In an interview with CitizenLink, the president of the National Association for Research and Therapy for Homosexuality urged caution regarding HRC’s costly new requirement. “Medical treatments for transgender issues are very risky procedures — and it’s an irreversible path to take,” said Dr. Julie Hamilton. “There should be a lot more research done before these types of procedures become the main path to take.”

Um, shouldn’t the president of NARTH be spending a little bit more time monitoring her board members’ for signs of Luggage Lifting and spending a little less time pretending she represents a respected medical association? I mean, really, guys…

Joe Jervis got a response from the Human Rights Campaign on this issue:

The new CEI requirement is for insurance coverage to pay for medically necessary treatment for transgender people including sex affirmation surgeries. These surgeries are medically necessary according to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and have been endorsed by the AMA among others. It is our hope that the new CEI criteria will make a difference in the lives of transgender people.

Funny, how their response cites endorsements from grown-up medical organizations. Oh wait, no it’s not. Science and medicine are always on our side in these battles.

*Oh, shush, you know I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate and pointing out how inconistent and stupid conservatives are when it comes to understanding their own purported ideology.