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Pornography Fight

Pro-Life Issues

Allegheny County Talking Points:

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1.) Boy Scouts could be prohibited from using county/municipal parks and facilities because of their ban on open homosexuals and leaders. The Cradle of Liberty Scout Council is being evicted from the Philadelphia headquarters they built and have maintained since 1929 on property the City gave them free use of in perpetuity (forever). In 1983 Philadelphia added ‘sexual orientation’ to its Fair Practices Ordinance. Because of the Scouts’ ban on homosexuals the city now wants them out.

2.) This ordinance would directly infringe upon religious liberties. In New Jersey the Ocean Grove Methodist Camp is facing discrimination charges from the state because they prohibited a lesbian couple from using the camp’s pavilion for their civil union ceremony

3.) This is not a civil rights issue; homosexual, bisexual and transgender identities are not unchangeable characteristics (there are thousands of ex-gays – in fact right here in Pittsburgh – Harvest USA– ministers to the sexually broken including those wanting to leave the homosexual lifestyle); homosexuals have not been restricted to the back of the bus; there are no ‘gay only’ water fountains. There is no documented history of discrimination because of someone’s sexuality, particularly of homosexuality. This ordinance would extend special rights to these groups of people simply because of their behavior.

4.) According to the Human Rights Campaign, which claims to be the nation’s largest LGBT lobbying organization, 2.9% of the population identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual. This minute percentage is seeking to redefine marriage, family and what is normal.

5.) Federal law known as The Civil Rights Act of 1964 or “Title VII” governs discrimination in the workplace. Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The term “sex” does not include “sexual orientation. The categories listed in Title VII have several points in common: (1) documented history of discrimination, (2) discrimination has caused economic hardship to the class of people, (3) the class is immutable, meaning the class did not chose and cannot change its status. Only religion does not meet each of these three categories, but religion is specifically protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

6.) According to the ordinance’s definition ‘sexual orientation’ includes “male or female homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality, by preference, practice or as perceived by others.” By definition, the term “sexual orientation” is a choice because it constitutes a continuum from heterosexuality to bisexuality to homosexuality. Other than religion, which receives extra protection because of the Constitution, none of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Title VII categories are choices of the people within the class. There is no documented history of discrimination because of someone’s sexuality, particularly of homosexuality. Homosexuals do not face economic hardship – indeed, the fact is that the average annual income of homosexuals exceeds that of non-homosexuals.

7.) The ‘gender identity’ component of the ordinance is all about forcing businesses to allow men who thing they are women in the women’s restrooms and shower facilities. Under Minnesota’s sexual orientation law, a transgendered person filed suit after West Publishing, a large publisher of legal materials, requested the man stop using the women’s restroom after female employees complained that the man, who dressed like a woman, used the women’s bathroom. After several years of litigation, the employer “won” the legal case, but in the end had to pay significant amounts of money to defend this against this claim

8.) "Gender identity” means allowing men who think they are women in women’s changing/shower rooms/department store fitting rooms and vice versa. It means allowing those gender confused individuals to use the facilities of their choice and it doesn’t matter how offended the other users of those facilities are. Examples:

· In May 2008 -- a man who believes he is a woman demanded to use the women's fitting room in a KMart in Philadelphia. Click here to read the story.

· In July 2008 -- a man who thinks he is a woman demands to use the women's locker room at the Cleveland, Ohio city pool. He does not understand why women are upset by this idea! Read the full story

9.) Passage of these so-called anti-discrimination ordinances is laying the foundation for same-sex marriage. In an August 24, 2007 Washington Blade article entitled “Building a House from the Roof Down”, transgender activist Monica Helms wrote “Through all of this, marriage and civil unions should remain silent issues — at least silent to the straight public. Tactics and strategies can be formed behind closed doors, while focusing our primary efforts on the passable issues. When all the various (above) issues have been resolved, think of all the money that would be freed up to focus on marriage. To further illustrate this, think about building a house. Hate crimes is the easiest bill to pass, so it’s our foundation. . . . Civil unions is the roof structure and marriage is the shingles. You don’t build a house upside down.” In this ‘building a house from the roof down’ illustration ordinances such as Allegheny County Ordinance 4201-08 would be considered the walls. Homosexual activist and billionaire Tim Gill said in a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year that homosexual activists must make state and local 'gay rights' laws a national priority because there never has been an advance in the homosexual agenda at the federal level." So, the question is: do the members of the Allegheny County Council want to be a part of advancing Tim Gill’s homosexual agenda?

10.) Additionally homosexual activist and chairman of the PA Human Relations Commission Stephen Glasssman said on November 25^th when he testified here in favor of this ordinance that he thought ‘passage of this by County Council would prompt the state to upgrade their laws regarding this.’ He will use passage of this ordinance here in Allegheny County as a launching pad to push a similar law in Harrisburg and put us one step closer to same-sex marriage. Examples of how these ordinances lead to same-sex marriage: 2006, Lewis v Harris: The New Jersey Supreme Court cited the state’s non-discrimination laws to require the state legislature to either pass a same-sex marriage law or a civil union law.

2003, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health: The Massachusetts state Supreme Court opinion cited the state’s non-discrimination laws as evidence that the state should not discriminate in the area of marriage.

1999: The Supreme Court in Vermont forced the state legislature to pass either a same-sex marriage or civil union law, claiming that the state could not ban same-sex marriages or civil unions despite the fact they had an existing law outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

11.) There are 30 known sexual orientations including pedophilia, bestiality, and sado-masochism. If this ordinance passes, when will the ‘sexual orientation’ definition be expanded to include more of the 30? Click here to read the list. During a September 28, 2008 interview Susan Wright, founder of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) and spokesperson for the San Francisco Folsom Street Fair – where for an entire day thirteen city blocks are barricaded off from the rest of the city to permit public nudity, public whippings and sex acts -- made the claim that for those involved in BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Sadomasochism) it was their sexual orientation. In the future NCSF will work on getting BDSM added to sexual orientation laws. Ms. Wright views today’s BDSM movement as where the so-called gay rights movement was twenty years ago. She is predicting that in that time span Bondage, Discipline, Sado Masochism will become a civil right protected by law.

12.) Passage of this ordinance would validate dangerous lifestyles. (a.) More than half of HIV/AIDS cases are men who have sex with men. In an address on February 8, 2008 to the National Conference on Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Equality in Detroit – Matt Forman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, shocked attendees by calling HIV "a gay disease." Foreman further shocked attendees by himself referring to CDC data, saying that "with 70 percent of the people in this country living with HIV being gay or bi(-sexual), we cannot deny that HIV is a gay disease. We have to own that and face up to that." (b) Jack Hart, author, Gay Sex: A Manual for Men Who Love Men also admitted "Many sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) occur more often among gay men than in the general population. He goes on to say the "most common" sex-transmitted diseases other than HIV confronting homosexual men, included: chlamydia, crab lice, giardiasis, gonorrhea, hepatitis-A and -B, herpes simplex, nongonococcal urethritis, scabies, syphilis, and venereal warts." (c) The April 2007 issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders reports researchers found that homosexual and bisexual men have higher rates of eating disorders. This was according to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. (d) According to the Oxford University International Journal of Epidemiology men who have sex with men shorten their lives by up to 20 years. (e) The editors of the National Gay & Lesbian Domestic Violence Network newsletter write, "The probability of violence occurring in a gay couple is mathematically double the probability of that in a heterosexual couple.”

13.) After the Ball is a book written by homosexual activists Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen and it outlines tactics for homosexuals to use in reshaping America. On page 183 it specifically says, “In any campaign to win over the pubic, gays must be portrayed as victims in need of protection, so that straights will be inclined by reflex to adopt the role of protector.” But mass discrimination of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgenders does not exist. Homosexuals have not been forced to sit at the back of the bus, they have not been considered less than fully human, they’ve not be prohibited from voting, there is no documented history of discrimination because of someone’s sexuality, particularly of homosexuality.

14.) Yes, thirteen municipalities in Pennsylvania have passed such ordinances – the vast majority being in the Philadelphia area – but that means over 2,500 have not and seem to be doing just fine! Councilwoman Greene said at the December 16^th meeting that here constituents want this ordinance -- her constituents already have this ordinance since they all live within the City of Pittsburgh. There is no confusion and saying a ‘uniform policy across the region is needed’ will also be used if this ordinance passes and when homosexual activists are trying to convince Westmoreland, Washington, Beaver and Butler Counties to pass homosexual special rights ordinances.

15.) This ordinance is opposed by constitutional law firms and various pro-life and religious groups and denominations within the county.

16.) Will businesses seeking contracts with the county be required to comply with this ordinance? If not now, how long before they are?