Three major anti-gay activists have sent letters to Illinois lawmakers arguing against marriage equality, equating gay sex with AIDS and stating that anti-bullying efforts shield gay kids from moral disapproval.
Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, Wayne Lela of Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment and John McCartney of Citizens Concerned About Media issued the missive, titled "An open letter to the legislature's gay activists," some time in late May.
The letter chastises pro-gay lawmakers for "jeopardizing religious freedom," and goes on to state that same-sex marriage is "an anthropological and anatomical absurdity."
"A father can't marry his daughter; a man, six wives; a woman, a robot," the letter states.
It also argues that lawmakers who support increased AIDS funding "are seeking more and more advantages for the very behavior that is shortening their own lives and that of the people they represent."
Finally, it denounces LGBT anti-bullying efforts, claiming that such measures seek to "insulate self-labelled [sic] 'gay' students from moral disapproval."
Openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris received the two-page letter and shared it with Windy City Times.
"Clearly having read the letter, I understand that pushy moms and 'Glee' are responsible for all of society's ills," said Harris, adding that he senses the letter was sent because anti-gay activists are getting increasingly desperate and angry as LGBT people in Illinois make progress towards securing equal rights.
Harris said he gets "tons" of anonymous letters that he believes are from the three anti-gay groups and their supporters.
LaBarbera said that the letter was sent to counter what he believes is a media bias against anti-gay groups.
"If you were to listen to gay activists, everything we do is an act of desperation," LaBarbera told Windy City Times. He said the letter's intent was to both inform lawmakers and to challenge increasing claims that LGBT equality is inevitable.
Oddly enough, of the legislature's three openly gay representatives, the letter only appears to have made it to Harris. Staffers for Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Deb Mell did not believe that either lawmaker had received the letter. The same was true of state Sen. Heather Steans, a strong LGBT ally.
LaBarbera said he believed that the letter went out to the entire General Assembly, but that he did not send it personally and therefore could not be certain who it was addressed to.