Jonathan Rowe of Positive Liberty and Ed Brayton of Dispatches from the Culture Wars catch Concerned Women for America’s Matt Barber issuing lies about ex-gay fugitive Lisa Miller, gay persons’ lifespans, and researchers’ concerns over religious-right disinformation about life-expectancy data.

Concerned Women for America and “Citizens for Responsible Government,” a Maryland antigay group connected with PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays), have been battling a suburban Washington, D.C., ordinance that aims to reduce discrimination by public facilities against gender-variant and intersexed individuals.

In an interview with CWFA, a representative for the Maryland group admits faking an incident at a public restroom in order to incite public opposition to nondiscrimination.

MARTHA KLEDER [of CWFA]: Well Theresa, I also heard that someone tried to test this. Was there some event where a transgender or a shemale or someone tried to use the opposite sex bathroom?

THERESA RICKMAN: Yes, at Rio Sport and Health up in Germantown. A guy dressed as a girl went into the ladies bathroom. And, ah you know, essentially what uh, that was meant to get some media attention, you know, and the guy left immediately apparently, I mean but there was, this is the Rio Sport and Health Club, you know and Sport and Health has steam rooms, and there are ladies changing in those locker rooms, people in various stages of undress [laughing] all the time, so there’s lots a guy can see.

According to Teach The Facts, a Maryland group of pro-tolerance parents and teachers, Washington-based ABC affiliate WJLA-TV recklessly reported the staged incident as if it were real, and has yet to retract its false reporting.

TruthWinsOut.org expressed concern today over a Reuters news story about a drug-resistant strain of MRSA bacteria that is more prevalent among gay men in urban centers, such as Boston and San Francisco. The organization also slammed extremist groups for exploiting the news in order to smear the GLBT community and advance an agenda of pure prejudice and discrimination.

“The comments by Concerned Women for America is hatred in its rawest and ugliest form,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of TruthWinsOut.org. “These wing nuts wasted no time seeking the spotlight and creating a climate of panic and fear. They are factually wrong, morally wrong-headed and tragically addicted to bigotry.”

Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues with Concerned Women for America, used the news to viciously attack gay people. “Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, ‘No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically correct cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle,’” Barber said.
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