Radio host, ‘Christian’ activist met by crowd of 200-plus LGBT people in Michigan appearance
She Applauds Holocaust Revisionist Scott Lively and Claims To Have Worked On Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill
By Todd A. Heywood
GROSSE POINTE, Mich. — Linda Harvey, leader of Mission America, claims legislation pending in Uganda , the anti-homosexuality bill, does not include a death penalty provision for homosexuality. Instead, Harvey says, the bill was designed to stop “Western homosexuals” from exploiting Uganda children.
“This has been mis-portrayed– and please clear this up. Uganda is criminalizing rape of children, and I think that a lot of people would say hmmm maybe death penalty for rape of children — heterosexually or homosexually,” Harvey said in an interview following the speech in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
(Audio recording of the interview, 13 minutes)
“The fact they are re-criminalizing homosexuality is (a) their business, (b) it is patronizing for white Westerners to be telling these folks — they are seeing George Soros funded gay groups going into Uganda. They are all through the schools, lots of promotion to kids. Poor kids, poor kids are being offered money and favors and gifts to have sex. That’s exploitation. That’s sex trafficking. And it’s being done mostly homosexually. By Western homosexuals coming in and trying to get involved in Uganda.”
The actual bill includes a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is described in part as “serial homosexuality” or multiple convictions. There is nothing in the legislation which specifically addresses the alleged “exploitation” and “sex trafficking” Harvey claimed.
Harvey said the Southern Poverty Law Center was wrong when it recently classified several anti-gay groups, including Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries, as “hate groups.”
“I can’t stand the Southern Poverty Law Center. They are such a hypocritical organization. They don’t cover any of the violence that happens to any of the conservatives.I love what they do with the Klu Klux Klan and racial issues, . They need to go back stay out of this other stuff. They need to get out of classifying hate groups, family groups. I mean I am a normal ordinary person I just happen to have conservative values. I don’t hate anybody. I don’t go on anybody’s websites. I don’t picket funerals. I can’t stand Fred Phelps. I think he is funded by the gays,” Harvey said. “I think he is.”
She said she and Lively have both worked on the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, and that she “loves” Lively.
Harvey also launched into a spirited defense of abstinence-only education. She said such programs did work — even though nearly every study has shown otherwise — and that they did not discriminate against gay youth. When confronted with the fact the message is abstain from sex until marriage was in itself discriminatory to LGBT youth, as most are not allowed to be married in the United States. She said that was untrue.
“They can still marry some one of the opposite gender,” Harvey said.
In addition, Harvey painted a picture of gays as being disease riddled. Specifically, she focused on CDC numbers. She used the following quote from a recent CDC report on HIV cases in the U.S.
“The data, presented at CDC’s 2010 National STD Prevention Conference, finds that the rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) is more than 44 times that of other men and more than 40 times that of women.”
What Harvey did not mention, or discuss, was that same study’s conclusion about why the HIV numbers in men who have sex with men are so high.
“Research shows that a range of complex factors contribute to the high rates of HIV and syphilis among gay and bisexual men. These factors include high prevalence of HIV and other STDs among MSM, which increases the risk of disease exposure, and limited access to prevention services. Other factors are complacency about HIV risk, particularly among young gay and bisexual men; difficulty of consistently maintaining safe behaviors with every sexual encounter over the course of a lifetime; and lack of awareness of syphilis symptoms and how it can be transmitted (e.g., oral sex). Additionally, factors such as homophobia and stigma can prevent MSM from seeking prevention, testing, and treatment services.”
Harvey also touted the number of men dead in California from HIV, a number she put at 69,000. Asked what role the Reagan administrations failure to act on the HIV epidemic in the first six years and its impact on those numbers, Harvey brushed that off and focused on new infections– which do not necessarily translate to deaths with improved medications and understanding of HIV infections.
Harvey came to Grosse Pointe from her Ohio home on Thursday to speak to a Christian group called Point of Relevance. Her speech was billed as a discussion on the gay agenda. But when local activists and groups got wind of her appearance, they launched a Facebook campaign to fill the War Memorial room where she was speaking. Nearly 200 pro-LGBT activists showed up. But Harvey and Point of Relevance decided that with so many LGBT people in the audience, they were better off witnessing to the group, then proceeding with the program as advertised.
For her part, Harvey stood up and told how she went from being a liberal to a conservative, how she had worked for Planned Parenthood, and her work in the health care field as an advertising and marketing executive as the AIDS epidemic ratcheted up. She was questioned several times by audience members about presenting her powerpoint presentation, “Homosexuality: Is the Debate Over,” and she said she didn’t think it was right for “this audience.”
Harvey and Point of Relevance explained to the audience that they change in program was because they were “moved by the Holy spirit.”
After nearly two hours of delay — including 30 minutes of music worship — Harvey finally launched into her powerpoint, speeding through it and only presenting a portion of the entire hour long program. She ended on a slide introducing the Day of Silence, saying “I am sure you all know what that is.”
The dialog Point of Relevance had advertised for the evening consisted of three questions from the audience.
“Southern Poverty Law Center does amazing work and they should keep their eye on people like her,” said Alicia Skillman, executive director of Triangle Foundation, an LGBT rights group in Michigan. “I think it’s horrible that she is working in Uganda on the bill for the killing of LGBT people.”
Skillman said, “Her argument was basically change then we’ll love you.”
CDC link: http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/Newsroom/msmpressrelease.html
Tags: Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Grosse Pointe, Linda Harvey, Michigan, Mission America, Point of Relevance, Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni35 Comments »
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As a lifelong resident of Michigan, as a transsexual man, and as a tax-payer, this makes me so upset. It is obvious to me that this person has neither the knowledge nor the bravery to actually learn about people who have truly been exploited.
The exploitation of children, whether heterosexually or homosexually, is wrong. It happens everywhere–not just in countries like Uganda. But when it becomes something that discourages recognition of the true problem, it takes a back seat to the greater issue of hatred for a group of people who have been chronically and unfairly misunderstood and misrepresented as criminals.
I would challenge this person to learn and if she thinks being conservative means criminalizing GLBT people, then other conservatives with the true knowledge of the values presented there should have a serious conversation with her. Knowledge is power and of this she has none. She has easily demonstrated that to all of us.
Comment by Eric — March 29, 2010 @ 11:32 am
“They can still marry someone of the opposite gender.”
Yes, because it’s just that simple. If anything betrays her utter contempt, her utter hatred of gays, it’s this dismissive, thoughtless response. It’s the homobigot’s equivalent to “Let them eat cake.” Every time I hear that, I want the ex-wives of closeted gay men-wives whose lives were ruined by years of deception-to form a line and take turns punching the person who said it.
Comment by Bill S — March 29, 2010 @ 6:09 pm
This bitch ought to be publicly horsewhipped for her lies about the Ugandan Gay Murder bill. And again, the old canard about innocent children and those nasty gays. Anything to whip up hatred against us. I’m from Grosse Pointe and I feel dirty from her presence in my home town. I feel nauseated just knowing that such a woman exists
I hate that “You can marry someone of the opposite sex”–it is indicative of her hatred and utter contempt for us. No, dingbat, we are not attracted to the opposite sex–or would you want us to marry the 0posite sex and make their lives miserable”
Hope the
Comment by Merlyn — March 29, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
I hope the SPLC keeps an eye on this person. She is nothing more than a hateful homophobic creep!
Comment by Merlyn — March 29, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
“They can still marry someone of the opposite gender.”
I’d like to ask Harvey: Would you be okay with a homosexual man marrying your daughter? No? So I presume it’s okay when it’s someone else’s daughter, right?
Comment by Richard Rush — March 29, 2010 @ 7:47 pm
Great article on substance, but does this site have any copy editors? The CDC quotes don’t really prove your point. It needs to be clearer. And what’s with all the typos and sentence fragments? This reads like a high school newspaper.
Comment by Carrie — March 29, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
If she read the SPLC’s web site more carefully, she’d notice that their criteria for anti-gay hate groups are rather stringent. You have to do a hell of a lot more to get on their list than simply express moral disapproval of homosexuality.
But apparently she has difficulty understanding what she reads, as her remarks about the Ugandan Kill the Gays Bill make clear.
Comment by Frijondi — March 29, 2010 @ 8:03 pm
I’m with ya Bill. And I’m glad our community showed up and put the brakes on this runaway liar.
Comment by banshiii — March 29, 2010 @ 8:03 pm
Well, Wayne, you have done it again…and thanks a lot, Todd, for the wild distortion here. Remember that I hugged you at the end and said, “Don’t do a number on me!” and you laughed? Well, here it is…You never identified yourself as being with TWO, which I consider just as virulent at SPLC…I never would have talked with you if I had known. You were just looking to do that number on me, not to really communicate.
I made a point, Todd of saying I could not speak for Uganda…remember that part? That means I am just commenting on the issues there. That is the extent of my involvement.
And how is Scott Lively a “Holocaust revisionist”? Don’t get that one. Are you trying to imply anti-semitism that does not exist? Listen to my daily radio show and hear my support for the state of Israel, much more than you’ll get from most of the left these days, including the Obama administration.
TWO is a professional hate “label” site. Name-calling, bullying…oh, wait. You are against all that stuff, right? This is all very sad.
I really feel for all of you. We had a civil evening, and you have twisted into something otherwise. Why are you so vicious?
Prayers are needed for you guys, and I truly mean that.
Comment by Linda Harvey — March 29, 2010 @ 8:15 pm
Oh, Linda:
You say: And how is Scott Lively a “Holocaust revisionist”? Don’t get that one.
Um, he wrote a book called The Pink Swastika that blamed the Holocaust on gays. Does that not sound like revisionism to you? And you think Mr. Lively is a swell guy! Nice.
As a Jewish American, I don’t need any lectures from you on Antisemitism or Israel. Thank you very much.
Ms. Harvey, don’t pray for us. Please pray for the LGBT Ugandans you and your cronies are placing in harms way. They are the ones who need your prayers – not your persecution.
I’m sure you have no use for us and SPLC because you are filled with so much venom and hate. The fact that you have an anti-gay roadshow that demeans and debases an entire class of people is indicative of your antipathy towards LGBT people.
So, please don’t pretend that you are just a loving Christian who is misunderstood. You are a bigot with a deeply troubling, homophobic agenda. Own it.
Comment by Wayne Besen — March 29, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
[...] Link: http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressreleases/2010/03/7850/ [...]
Pingback by Linda Harvey is just plain crazy | WTFundies.org — March 29, 2010 @ 9:12 pm
Linda,
SERIOUSLY you have problems, plenty of ill will with vengence for innocent people. How does that fit into Christ’s Commandment: To Love One Another.
You must have given up being a Liberal when Liberals realized you wanted to control everything rather than share. SPLC’s Designation is Appropriate.
TWO – Thanks for this update on Linda Harvey’s Misadventures in this Life.
Comment by RDR — March 29, 2010 @ 9:40 pm
We really should install a frickin’ alarm, Jesus Christ…
Comment by Evan Hurst — March 29, 2010 @ 11:33 pm
Oh, and Linda, “Holocaust revisionism” does not only apply to direct anti-semitism. Of course, it could be argued that Scott Lively is anti-semitic since he co-opts the Holocaust in order to lie about gay people, to satisfy whatever mental illness he suffers from. In fact, yes, now that I think of it, his work IS anti-semitism, because it belittles the reality of the Holocaust in order to score points. And by supporting him, you are supporting that strain of anti-semitism.
(Then again, all fundamentalist Christians are anti-semitic at their core, considering the fact that they actually believe their apocalyptical horseshit.)
And you just parrot right along with it, because you’re too virulent to see that if your Jesus was here, he’d probably lay you out like the Pharisee you are.
Hello, reader[s] who clicked the clicky from AFTAH. If you’d like to see a further exposition on this comment, which was, admittedly, poorly worded, click THIS clicky! I really coulda said that better, I know that’s right. Anyway, click it and also, have a blessed day!
Comment by Evan Hurst — March 29, 2010 @ 11:35 pm
Linda, the complete audio of the interview is embedded. Clearly no one believes this was a hack job, except you. Perhaps your own words presented to you in writing shock you because they trouble you. Why is that?
And how exactly is presenting the ENTIRE audio interview for folks “doing a number” on you?
You said you were involved in the Uganda legislation, are you now withdrawing that statement, as it is recorded from our conversation?
You said the bill did not have a death penalty provision, are you know withdrawing that statement?
You said the bill was to address “Western homosexuals” funded with “George Soros” money and their “exploitation” of children. Are you recanting that statement as well?
I told you I was a freelance reporter for many outlets. This is one of them. You never asked me to identify the outlets.
Comment by Todd Heywood — March 30, 2010 @ 12:01 am
Thank you Wayne and Evan!
Linda, our lives would be so much easier and more pleasant if you would leave us alone, but you won’t–you can’t because that’s not the way of a Pharisee, now is it. The only reason I had to go to Canada to wed was because you and people like you think you have committment and love down pat, and they do not include GLBT people. Kindness would cost nothing, but in your insane desire to make sure Michiganian marriage law follows your narrow way of thinking, you have lied and distorted GLBT people to keep them from marrying.
My late mother was a real Christian, certainly the best she could be by her lights. Yet, she said that when she died, she wanted me to be happy and that if a woman made me happy, then so be it. Before she died, she attended our wedding in Canada and fully accepted my spouse as her daughter-in-law. How different from someone like yourself who can only see people happy if it fits into your idea of what is right and proper.
But you aren’t just satisfied with making GLBT people miserable here in America. No, you’ve teamed up with known Holocaust Revisionist and homophobe Scott Lively to carry the war to the GLBT people of Uganda. I don’t care what Lively and his band of liars in Uganda have told you, there are no American homosexuals assaulting little kids. Those men are pedophiles, and pedophilia has about as much to do with homosexuality as it does heterosexuality. And so far as I am aware, the death penalty is still part of the law. Who are you, Lively. Sssempa, Musaveni or anyone else to foment the governmemt of Uganda to JUDICIALLY MURDER innocent people whose only “crime” is to be GLBT.
I don’t know–I don’t want to know–know how you live with yourself. It must take a rare sort of person to advocate the prejudice and hstred that you do and still call yourself a Christian.
Comment by Merlyn — March 30, 2010 @ 12:22 am
It’s entirely possible that this woman is insane.
* Fred Phelps, funded by “the gays”? That would make sense if, you know, he actually wasn’t trying to destroy our way of life.
* It has been statistically proven, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, that heterosexual males (and females) are statistically much more likely to engage in pedophilia than are homosexuals. Pedophilia is not the same thing as homosexuality, nor it is a subset. A subset, by very definition of the word, requires that all members of the subset are also members of the main set — which is untrue, given that heterosexual pedophiles are far more abundant (both numerically and per capita, so to speak) than homosexual pedophiles.
* Since crimes of prejudice against homosexuals are considered hate crimes, groups which speak prejudicially against homosexuals are, by extension of definition, hate groups. The only difference between anti-homosexuality “faith-based” groups and the KKK is who’s being targeted. Your hate-filled rhetoric against homosexuals is no more righteous than when a Klansman speaks against African Americans.
And before you try to shield yourself with religion, the very book you’re using was also used to show that allowing African Americans their freedom — and later desegregating — were immoral actions. Interracial marriage was, according to people holding that very book, a sin against God. Then, women’s suffrage and freedom to work for a living was immoral — the misogyny, again, defended by the same book.
* Using the “they can marry someone of the opposite gender” excuse? I thought that tired old bit of ridiculousness was thrown out by now. The GLBT community isn’t trying to get access to marriage for the kicks of being in one; we’re not trying to get the ability to marry so that we can poke fun at everyone else. If we just wanted to make a big joke out of it? Then yes, yes we *could* marry someone of the opposite gender. And that’s all it would be, just a big joke at your expense, or a way to get discount health care.
The REAL reason we’re interested in gay marriage is the commitment, and in some cases the security, that only comes with being married to the one person you’ve elected to spend the rest of your life with.
And before you claim that gay people are incapable of monogamy, one last question: What, exactly, is the divorce rate amongst “good Christian” heterosexual couples? It’s a lot higher than the divorce rate amongst gay couples in those few areas where marriage is available to us, I can guarantee you that.
Comment by Mychyl — March 30, 2010 @ 2:09 am
Linda Harvey claims not to hate homosexuals (all evidence to the contrary) but defends the bill in Uganda by smearing gays as a bunch of child molesters. AND lying about what the bill actually says (unless she hasn’t bothered to read what it says, in which case she’s being willfully ignorant.)
Comment by Bill S — March 30, 2010 @ 6:34 am
Yep, that Linda Harvey is either ignorant or deceitful. Or, maybe a bit of both. In any case, she does her religion a great disservice by posing as one of its representatives.
Comment by Wayne Besen — March 30, 2010 @ 7:20 am
All these RRW types either cannot see or do not care that these people they set up in positions of honour do nothing to honour the Christ or his true followers. The arrogance, hatred, and just plain EVIL of this woman are mind blowing! Maybe this is the “making evil appear as good” that many Christian clairvoyants have claimed to forsee.
I would suggest from now on that these people be called Christianists or Christianist jihadis to differentiate them from decent, fair-minded Christians of good will.
Comment by Merlyn — March 30, 2010 @ 8:49 am
When people such as Linda Harvey claim not to hate homosexuals, I wonder: How different would they appear if they DID hate homosexuals? How would we recognize the difference? What is the desired results of their claimed NON-hate campaigns compared to what they would be if they WERE hate campaigns?
Linda said “I can’t stand Fred Phelps” in the context of claiming “I don’t hate anybody.” But the only difference I see between Linda and Fred is one of style. They are seeking the same results. She is not substantively different just because she doesn’t shout, “God Hates Fags.”
Comment by Richard Rush — March 30, 2010 @ 8:53 am
So, Linda…..if you had a gay child, heaven forbid, you would be comfortable knowing that he or she should be subject to discrimination and equality? You’d be ok knowing that his or life would be subject to the very villification, denigration and dehumanization that you yourself espouse? You need to seek therapy, fast. You’re one sick lady.
Comment by Robert, NYC — March 30, 2010 @ 9:06 am
If Linda were a man, she’d be a cardinal at the vatican by now.
Comment by Gary (NJ) — March 30, 2010 @ 10:37 am
[...] her propaganda-laced presentation, Harvey (pictured) portrayed gay men as living an unhealthy existence. She cherry-picked medical [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - A Word On Dangerous Lifestyles — March 30, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
Robert, if she had a gay child, she’d probably drag him to one of those “reparative therapy” groups. Assuming he’d be comfortable coming out to her, which is doubtful. I’m sure she’d still love him, AS LONG AS HE’S COMPLETELY FILLED WITH GUILT AND SHAME AND SELF-LOATHING. Just as God intended.
Comment by Bill S — March 30, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
Why is it they try to claim every bigot who makes them look truly bad is a left wing plant, and “not a real Christian”? Are they truly incapable of admitting their own failures and the bad apples in their midst?
Rhetorical questions, of course.
Comment by Buffy — March 30, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
I had the great displeasure of this vile bigot emailing me in confrontation over social commentary on my blog concerning Ayn Rand. Needless to say this dangerous and viperous mental midget has her meme firmly in place and there is no hope of moving this creature from the Cults of Jesus Hate and Fear Mongering because they have nothing else to rant about.
There is nothing “Christian” about any of the Cults of Jesus Inc hate mongers.
A great part of the funding for the current resurgence of the pogroms of hate and fear mongering from these Cults of Jesus Inc of Catholic, Evangelical and LDS/Mormon flavors is the George W Bush “Faith-Based Initiative” and it is in the destruction of this vile and repugnant piece of legislature that we will strike the most damaging blow against these creatures.
We keep getting the truth out there and it is a much better world that we’ve created for LGBT youth but the battles are not over.
Comment by Kevin Andrews — March 30, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
What is it in this crazy bitches dark recesses of her mind that scares her so much about homosexuality? Could it be that she secreetly wants to bump donuts? Could this scare the hell out of her or into her? If her views are true christianity then you can count me out! I don’t want any part of it. As for most of her comments they are lies designed to scare ignorant christions that are truely questioning their sexuality to self hate. This creats an atmosphere where people will do anything to throw suspission from them selves.
this woman is dangerous and needs to be stopped. I hope that every LGBTQ person and their supporters that are able will protest and hound this bitch until she climbs back under the rock from which she came!
Comment by RADFAG — March 30, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
[...] everybody up to speed on where the comment came from, and then I’ll explain it further. This press release is from a talk Linda gave wherein, among other things, she defended her friend and SPLC-certified [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Peter LaBarbera’s Got An Issue With Something I Said, So How About I Explain It Further? — March 31, 2010 @ 1:43 am
i think that you people have shown just how
hateful you really are, calling Linda Harvey a
b—- amoung other vile names, attacking her so
v1rulently. You are so blind you cannot even see your own hatred and malice. as I have said before, please remove the log from your own eye first. and evan?
ibeleive what you did would be called a freudian slip
when you used the word “all”. you showed your true
hatred of christian fundamentalists.
Comment by brad anderson — March 31, 2010 @ 10:50 pm
I am shocked that you spelled “Freudian” correctly, Brad.
But if you’re capable of reading multiple paragraphs, you are free to click on the post where I expounded on it. Or you can continue to be intellectually dishonest to yourself (without yourself even knowing that yourself is being dishonest to yourself! You fooled you!) and pretend that that didn’t happen.
Also? “Virulently” does not have a “1″ in it. And they are nowhere near each other on the keyboard.
Comment by Evan Hurst — March 31, 2010 @ 11:19 pm
OMFG, just reading about this woman made me want to vomit.
Comment by Mykelb — April 7, 2010 @ 8:35 pm
Justice will find her one way or another.
Comment by Stephen Kay — April 11, 2010 @ 7:57 pm
[...] giving aid and comfort to the Ugandan authors of the infamous “kill the gays” bill when she lied thusly: Linda Harvey, leader of Mission America, claims legislation pending in Uganda , the [...]
Pingback by Truth Wins Out - Linda Harvey Has Never Said Anything Hateful, Dishonest, Disgusting or Homophobic — October 27, 2011 @ 4:10 pm
[...] she wasn’t giving aid and comfort to the Ugandan authors of the infamous “kill the gays” bill when she lied thusly [except it sort of seems like she is!]: Linda Harvey, leader of Mission America, claims legislation [...]
Pingback by Linda Harvey Has Never Said Anything Hateful, Dishonest, Disgusting or Homophobic | My Blog — October 27, 2011 @ 9:02 pm