Misrepresentation 1: “Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver says LGBT young people have “confusion because of ‘the likes of a Jerry Sandusky abuser,’ so they need to be cured by dangerous attempts to change their sexual orientation—a practice that has been condemned by every major medical and mental health organization in the country.”
False. Staver never said Jerry Sandusky caused gay people to be confused. He said when a young boy is sexually abused by “the likes of a Jerry Sandusky” it is not uncommon that the young boy blames himself, may develop unwanted same-sex sexual attractions, and sometimes tries to abuse other boys in the way he was abused.
Misrepresentation 2: “Liberty Counsel actively and aggressively defended exporter of hate Scott Lively in U.S. District Court when he was defending himself against charges of ‘crimes against humanity’ for his involvement pushing Uganda’s odious anti-LGBT law, which promises life in prison for Ugandans convicted of being gay. Lively told Ugandans that ‘predatory gays’ are ‘looking for other people to be able to prey upon’ and bragged that ‘our campaign was like a nuclear bomb against the ‘gay agenda in Uganda.’ Liberty Counsel called the suit an attempt by the ‘intolerant homosexual lobby.’”
False. Liberty Counsel is representing Christian pastor Scott Lively, who has been sued for accepting an invitation to speak to family leaders in Uganda many years ago regarding homosexual sexual activity and abortion. This suit alleges “crimes against humanity” for mere speech. Moreover, Lively publically spoke against the Ugandan law, which, by the way, was never passed anyway.
Misrepresentation 3: “Liberty Counsel supports and defends archaic laws criminalizing homosexuality with harsh punishments around the world, and has condemned President Obama and the U.S. government for speaking out against such laws, saying America should not be trying to make that country act in an immoral way.”
False: Liberty Counsel has not supported such laws. Liberty Counsel has criticized the Obama administration for using the State Department to force some countries to change their laws on abortion and marriage.
Misrepresentation 4: “Liberty Counsel says that judges and magistrates in marriage equality states who go rogue and refuse to marry same-sex couples are basically like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks.”
False: Liberty Counsel supports the right for religious accommodations where those accommodations are possible.
Misrepresentation 5: “Even better—Liberty Counsel compared marriage equality to slavery and forced sterilization. ‘Enter Mat Staver: It’s shameful for the Supreme Court for what they have done to marriage as it has been shameful in the history of the court with regards to the Dred Scott decision and the Buck v. Bell decision, where they said that the state of Virginia can forcibly sterilize her because of this eugenics idea that they want to eliminate the undesirables of the world. That was the shameful day that we ultimately look back with shame upon and I think this is going to one of those same kind of situations.’”
False: Liberty Counsel did not compare “marriage equality to slavery and forced sterilization,” but mentioned two Supreme Court cases involving slavery and forced sterilization that lacked constitutional or historical support.
Staver said that the 5-4 opinion issued by the Supreme Court in Obergefell will be regarded to be poorly reasoned, and lacking in Constitutional support. Referring to this opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said it was not based on the Constitution or on the Court’s precedents. The Chief Justice himself compared Obergefell to Dred Scott because of the lack of constitutional support. The Chief Justice went on to state that the marriage opinion was made by “five lawyers,” who “imposed their will, not a legal judgment,” and “not based on the Constitution or the Court’s precedents.”
Misrepresentation 6: “Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber attacked U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s son for living an ‘abhorrent lifestyle’ (being gay). Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver referred to Portman as being one of ‘the cockroaches within the Republican Party’ for standing with his son and supporting marriage equality.”
False: No one associated with Liberty Counsel made those statements. Matt Barber is not employed by Liberty Counsel; nor does he speak for Liberty Counsel. Matt Barber own website describes himself as “founder and editor-in chief of BarbWire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law.” (See http://barbwire.com/author/mattbarber/)
Staver did not call Portman a “cockroach” for standing with his son.
and should support them. Support does not mean that parents need to change their views, but parents should continue to love and respect their children even if they have sharp disagreements. In referencing cockroaches “that start running,” Staver was criticizing manner in which certain Republicans who have started running away from conservative values (like cockroaches when the lights are turned on) and towards same-sex “marriage,” alienating the conservative base. Staver’s statements do not question Portman’s support for his son.
Misrepresentation 7: “Liberty Counsel thinks being LGBT is not only a health hazard, but is also just like being a drug addict, which justifies legal discrimination. They actually said, ‘Both are about protecting children and society. Laws that single out those who want to engage in a harmful behavior, like drug laws that discriminate against heroin users, are not unlawful discrimination but rather compassionate public policy.’”
False: Liberty Counsel has not said that “being LGBT” is a health hazard and has not said that discrimination against those who are “LGBT” should be legal.
Misrepresentation 8: “Liberty Counsel advocated on behalf of a woman named Lisa Miller, who claims to have ‘renounced homosexuality’ thanks to her religion and then kidnapped and fled the country with her child in order to avoid her same-sex former partner-the child’s other parent- from seeing her. She fled after she was found in contempt of court for denying a Vermont court order that she grant the child’s other mother visitation. Coincidentally, it was reported in 2011 that Miller and her child were living in Nicaragua in a home owned by Mat Staver’s administrative assistant’s father.”
False. Liberty Counsel represented Lisa Miller in a dispute regarding custody of her child. Liberty Counsel has had no contact with Ms. Miller since 2009, when she suddenly and without warning disappeared.
Misrepresentation 9: “Liberty Counsel has claimed that LGBT hate crimes protections are part of the ‘radical homosexual anarchist agenda.’ Laws aimed at preventing anti-LGBT bias motivated crimes ‘trample the free exercise of religion,’ according to Mat Saver [sic]. ‘Pedophiles find refuge in this so-called hate crimes bill, while veterans and grandmas are left to fend for themselves.’”
False: Liberty Counsel has opposed all hate crimes legislation, even those that include religion, because of the potential infringement on speech and the fact that the underlying substantive penalties already available are sufficient.
Misrepresentation 10: “Liberty Counsel calls a bill that would protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination, ‘one of the most dangerous and discriminatory pieces of legislation in modern times.’ According to them, prohibiting employers from discriminating against an employee for being LGBT is actually forcing them to ‘abandon the biblical and traditional values’ in order to protect ‘those who openly flaunt expressly sinful and demonstrably self- destructive sexual behavior.’ AKA Tim Cook.”
False: Liberty Counsel has spoken against poorly worded laws that fail to sufficiently define terms so as to protect the religious freedom and free speech rights of all citizens. Even HRC now opposes this bill because HRC does not want any religious accommodations.
Serious news sources and journalists should ignore HRC and similar groups that continue to post and repeat false information about Liberty Counsel. As this response clearly shows, HRC has posted misquoted, inflammatory and misleading information about Liberty Counsel, and deserves to be discredited.
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1 Feldblum, Chai R., "Moral Conflict and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion" (2006). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. Paper 80. (Last visited 9/16/15 at: http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/80).