The Iowa Family leader is now publicly distancing itself from the “gays are a public health hazard like smoking so they should ‘change’ their lifestyles” programs that its host organization, the Iowa Family Policy Center, proudly hosted. This from Iowa Independent:
A link to a seminar series that presents homosexuality and its “second-hand effects” as a public health threat has been removed from the website of The Family Leader.
Julie Summa, director of marketing and public outreach for The Family Leader, said the seminar series has not been offered for around two years. However, up until Tuesday, a link to the seminar’s website was made available to anyone who signed up for e-mail updates on the group’s 99-county “Capturing Momentum Tour.” The Family Leader’s phone number is listed as contact info for anyone interested in booking the seminar.
When asked by The Iowa Independent why, if the series has not been offered for two years, it continues to be advertised on The Family Leader’s website, Summa said it was a mistake.
“The Second Hand Effects link shouldn’t be on our ‘Capturing Momentum Tour’ web page, which was created from an old template,” she said. “We plan to remove it as you are correct, we do not currently offer the seminar and have not had a full seminar in about two years.”
The Family Leader has removed link to anti-gay seminars [Iowa Independent]
Right, the link should’t be on the Family Leader’s page. But here’s the thing: This particularly heinous anti-gay program shouldn’t be ON ANYONE’S PAGE, ANYWHERE, EVER! But it was part of this collective Iowa effort for quite some time: Created by the same staff, stewarded in the same mindset, and used to rally the same locals that the Family Leader is currently hoping to grab. So The Family Leader can’t just kill the link and expect it to be all better. They have done great damage to the discourse, while giving us all an open window into how this organization thinks.
Oh, and as for Bob Vander Plaats striving to put distance between himself and the program? Well yes, as we’ve mentioned before, the program does predate his official time with this organization. But the truth is that former candidate Vander Plaats has long been part of this movement. He was speaking with them long before he was speaking for them:
So yea, okay, good that they’re essentially repudiating this connection. But are they sorry they made it happen, or are they simply sorry they got caught?