Posts on Andrea Lafferty

ABC News has an article about a sociologist at Rutgers University who questioned 157 scientists about "their work at the crux of a 2003 political clash between several members of Congress, a Christian lobbyist group called the Traditional Values Coalition and the National Institutes of Health" and found, not surprisingly, that TVC's rabble-rousing put enough pressure on them that "nearly a quarter of respondents said they either modified their studies to seem less controversial or abandoned controversial grant proposals."

I was particularly impressed by this statement by Andrea Lafferty, executive director of Traditional Values Coalition, who admits that she sees no "abuses of science" but plans to continue her crusade against science nonetheless: 

Andrea Lafferty, executive director of Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) in Washington, D.C., sees no "abuses of science" but agrees that with the new administration, the content of grant proposals is likely to expand.

"My main idea is the NIH ATM machine is going to re-open in 09," said Lafferty. "It's some guys in their jammies at universities drinking beer asking, 'hey, how can we study how prostitutes spread disease?' Then they take it to the NIH" ... "NIH has always been treated like a sacred cow ... scientists overall don't believe in God, and they don't want to be questioned," she said. "These people want to say it's just TVC but you take what we find is being studied, go to any grocery store and ask people what they think. Taxpayers would be outraged."

So the NIH is primarily just a slush fund for drunken, PJ-clad atheists looking for a way to consort with prostitutes? How come I didn't know about this? More importantly, how do I apply for a grant?

Say what you will about the Traditional Values Coalition, they refuse to tone-down or in any way moderate their militantly anti-gay agenda – here they are weighing in on the right-wing boycott of McDonalds, complete with an attack on Levi Strauss for ending its funding of the Boy Scouts:

"McDonald's has partnered with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC),” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “It also gave this activist group a $20,000 grant to support its efforts to influence corporate America.

“When my son bounds out of kindergarten at his school, a typical request is to go to ‘Old McDonald’s.’ It’s not about the cuisine, the first question he asks when we get there is which toy are they giving away that day. Now, we are settling for a lemonade at another restaurant because, as our son says aloud every time a McDonald’s commercial airs on television or as we drive past one, – ‘McDonald’s is bad,’” said Lafferty.

…

“Like Levi Strauss, McDonald’s has become an open and aggressive supporter of the homosexual agenda,” said Lafferty. “As such, it will no longer receive my business until it rejects the homosexual political agenda and returns to what it does best: selling Happy Meals and fun to America’s children.”

…

“Hungry patrons should beware of how they spend their hard-earned dollars,” said Lafferty. “When buying a ‘Sad Meal’ from McDonald’s, they’re now helping fund the homosexual agenda. By purchasing a pair of jeans from Levi Strauss, they’re helping destroy the moral foundations of our society.”

While “Americans face rising gasoline prices; and brave American soldiers are being killed on the battlefield to fight Islamic terrorism,” Andrea Lafferty wonders, “Why is the House of Representatives wasting taxpayer dollars to discuss whether or not drag queens or she-males are offended because of their cross-dressing or sexual behaviors in a business environment?” Of course, “I already know the answer: Because liberals…are aggressively promoting the normalization of cross-dressing and transsexualism in our culture.”

House Resolution 431 was introduced to commemorate the 40-year legacy of Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court decision putting an end to racist anti-“miscegenation” laws. And while the text of the resolution does not mention gays or same-sex marriage, Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition claims it is part of a diabolical homosexual plot to seize control of the nation’s calendars:

The goal of this resolution is to equate interracial marriage to homosexual marriage as part of a larger propaganda campaign being launched by the so-called “Freedom to Marry” group. This coalition of homosexual activist organizations is running full-color ads in magazines and newspapers to compare the legalization of interracial marriage to the effort by homosexuals to have same-sex marriages legalized. …

“The homosexual hijacking of the civil rights movement is an insult to every person who fought against racism and segregation during the 1960s,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “Homosexuals have no shame when it comes to exploiting every noble social movement in our culture. These radical groups routinely come up with a new ‘holiday’ or special week in order to push their agenda upon the rest of us—and if you protest against this callous exploitation of important historical events, you’re labeled a homophobic bigot.”

Claims hate-crimes protections “about special treatment.” TVC: Bill provides “framework to investigate, prosecute and persecute pastors.”

With the reintroduction of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the House and the prospect that it may pass in a Democratic Congress, religious-right groups are waging a sizeable campaign to portray the bill as part of a mythical persecution of Christians. Although hate-crimes laws expand penalties for violent crimes causing bodily injury or death (as well as attempts through firearms and explosives), the Religious Right is labeling them “thought crimes” laws the “only effect” of which “is to gag people of faith.” Although federal law has punished hate crimes based on race for more than a decade, the Religious Right is incensed at the prospect of using the law to protect gays as well.

This reaction follows a pattern of asserting that gay rights – or a so-called “homosexual agenda” – will lead to the “repression” of religion in America, an anti-gay marketing effort typified by last year’s “Values Voter Summit” in Washington, where speakers from Mitt Romney to Tony Perkins claimed that, in the words of Alan Sears of the Alliance Defense Fund, “The homosexual agenda and [freedom of] religion are on a collision course.” “They know they must silence the church,” warned Perkins. At that time, the issue was same-sex marriage; the co-sponsor of the federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), said that “"If we have gay marriage, our religious liberties are gone!”

Would prevent most cases of cervical cancer. Stanek: “Why not mandate condoms for boys?” Also: CWA says “opt-out” is unacceptable. Weyrich: “It makes no sense at all.”

Going into the final two weeks before the election with their party facing daunting losses, their appeal to Christian conservatives dimmed, and their anti-gay mobilization tactics falling flat, the Religious Right is looking at the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex unions as a glimmer of hope that they might maintain their influence in Congress.

"Pro-traditional-marriage organizations ought to give a distinguished service award to the New Jersey Supreme Court," said Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Ethics group asks for list meetings with religious-right leaders; they cry “Christianophobia.”