Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbySeptember 17th, 2011
Bachmann in Costa Mesa: "Don't bother me. I'm running for President."
CBS News reports that while on the campaign trail in Costa Mesa, California, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann quickly dismissed anti-gay bullying as an important issue yesterday:
Alex Limon says he came to a Michele Bachmann rally here for one reason: To ask the Republican presidential candidate what she intends to do about school bullying in her district that reportedly targets gays.
He got to ask his question, but he didn’t get a lengthy answer.
“That’s not a federal issue,” Bachmann said, before moving on to the shake the hand of the next person waiting to speak to her.
Tammy Aaberg, mother of the Justin Aaberg who hanged himself after the Anoka-Hennepin, Minnesota school district failed to intervene against persistent anti-gay bullying, met for an hour Thursday with Bachmann’s congressional staffer to talk about problems with anti-gay bullying in Bachmann’s district. The staffer promised to take Aaberg’s concerns to the congresswoman, and Aaberg expressed hope that Bachmann would “come up with a positive response for the country.” I think we now have an answer for her.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
tavdy79
September 17th, 2011
When I see Bachmann avoiding the issue by claiming that bullying in schools is not a federal issue, my instinctive reaction is to view the excuse she uses as somewhat irrelevant: any good political representative should take an active interest in problems within his/her constituency.
Admittedly this may just be due to my British perspective – in the UK, we judge our MPs based not only on how effectively they represent us in Parliament, but also on how active they are in relation to local issues outside their remit as a national-level politician.
Nevertheless, for a national-level political representative to be so dismissive of a social problem of this magnitude within their district – one so serious that people are dying – should raise alarm bells irrespective of your political persuasion. For that person to be running for the presidency makes it even more disturbing.
Bernie
September 18th, 2011
The woman is reprehensible.
JohnAGJ
September 18th, 2011
Her personal motives and my dislike for her aside, I have to say that she is right: this isn’t a Federal issue.
Priya Lynn
September 18th, 2011
John, it may not be but that’s a damn cheap excuse to avoid adressing the topic. She’s acting like a twelve year old, she knows her true beliefs will make her look bad so she desperately clings to a technicality to pretend she doesn’t have a moral obligation to respond.
Lucrece
September 18th, 2011
How is it not a federal issue? Do you think that anti-gay bullying isn’t a widespread phenomenon in the US?
WMDKitty
September 18th, 2011
It’s people like Bachmann who’d have left people like me (disabled) to rot away in institutions.
On that principle ALONE, I feel that I am morally obligated to oppose this … person.
JohnAGJ
September 18th, 2011
Priya: Agreed. As I said, I do not care for the woman and her attitude about gays is certainly part of the reason why.
Lucrece: So are murder, rape and theft yet in most cases those are state issues and not Federal. Well, unless they take place on Federal property of course. Public schools are run by the states and it is at that level that matters such as bullying should be addressed, not the Feds.
Donny D.
September 18th, 2011
Anti-LGBT bullying is a federal issue if federal officials choose to make it one.
Bachmann claims it isn’t a federal issue partially so she can wrap it in states’ rights rhetoric, but mostly because she’s a hardcore fundamentalist who probably believes that anti-LGBT bullying should flourish because it “discourages homosexuality”.
The Department of Education has its hands in all kinds of things. Anti-LGBT bullying is something it may have a responsibility to address. And indeed, I think it’s done so under Obama, through Kevin Jennings’ office when he was there.
Legally, I don’t see why Congress couldn’t pass and the president sign a law requiring schools to address anti-LGBT bullying.
Donny D.
September 19th, 2011
This article talks about some ways that anti-LGBT bullying is at present “a federal issue”:
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2011/09/17/bachmann-anti-gay-bullying-not-a-federal-issue/
I don’t think she’s stupid, but she may be as weird and crazy as some people say. It may be that she just doesn’t think on her feet very well. She already has a reputation for making more off the cuff erroneous statements than other politicians. This one wasn’t a random mental vagarie, though, it clearly has an ideological motivation.
—————–
As to responsibility to help one’s constituents, isn’t that referred to as constituent services? There’s nothing wrong with a congressperson intervening appropriately in a state or local matter to help constituents.
But the constituents she is helping here are the bullies, and bigoted parents and school officials.
Donny D.
September 19th, 2011
This is so depressingly typical of what passes for political discourse these days. The conservatives, of course, take the initiative, and spew out some surprising, new false claim about reality. And everyone else reflexively spends time and effort debunking it. The mainstream media treat it seriously, as though there really is some real question or debate.
In a way, though, I’d like to see this debated. I’m sure there are some conservatives that will try to push this as an issue. But it might not be a winning issue for them.
iDavid
September 19th, 2011
Her platform is “hate the gay away”. Twinkle toes hubby’s is “pray the gay away”. As some stats would have it, they’re both very sick, and very gay.
Leave A Comment