GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Peter LaBarbera’s Wealthy Friends

by

Jeremy over on Good As You the other day had a post commenting on a recent email by Peter LaBarbera of the virulently anti-gay AFTAH. LaBarbera was complaining in his email to a reporter about what he saw as the appearance of “media bias” when it comes to homosexuality. That didn’t really interest me much for while it may have a ring of truth to it, such claims are a regular staple from political activists of all stripes. It was the list of “pro-family leaders” he cc’ed in his email that caught my eye:

CC: PRO-FAMILY LEADERS: John Stemberger, Florida Family Policy Council; David Caton, Florida Family Association; Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family; Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America; Robert Knight, Culture and Media Institute; Timothy Graham, Media Research Center; Tony Perkins c/o Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council; Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media; Wendy Wright, Concerned Women for America; Sandy Rios, FOX News contributor and Culture Campaign; Phil Burress, Citizens for Community Values; Matt Barber, CWA; Linda Harvey, Mission America; Alan Chambers, Exodus International; Andrea Lafferty, Traditional Values Coalition; Pastor Ken Hutcherson, Antioch Bible Church; Janet Folger, Faith2Action; Joe Glover, Family Policy Network; Gary Glenn, AFA-Michigan; Don Wildmon, Buddy Smith, and Tim Wildmon, American Family Association; Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel; Mike Heath, Christian Civic League of Maine.

Given LaBarbera’s past complaints about how well-funded the pro-gay lobby was, while the poor lil’ anti-gay groups are just struggling along, I previously examined this here but was curious how much money was represented in just this one email. So how much dough (i.e., total revenue last reported to the IRS) do LaBarbera’s friends bring in? Why, a staggering $194,947,494.80! Apparently anti-gay advocacy pays well as this breakdown, courtesy of the helpful site GuideStar, shows:

  • Accuracy In Media: $942,825
  • American Family Association, Inc.: $16,953,326
  • Christian Civic League of Maine, Inc.: $235,846
  • Citizens for Community Values, Inc.: $331,640
  • Christian Civic League of Maine, Inc.: $235,846
  • Concerned Women For America: $10,640,810
  • Culture Campaign, Inc.: $90,796
  • Exodus International North America, Inc.: $1,110,870
  • Faith 2 Action, Inc.: $19,587
  • Family Research Council, Inc.: $10,858,374
  • Florida Family Association, Inc.: $241,040.80
  • Florida Family Policy Council, Inc.: $215,283
  • Focus On The Family: $142,279,843
  • Liberty Counsel, Inc.: $1,371,795
  • Media Research Center: $9,344,288
  • Mission America: $18,157
  • Traditional Values Coalition: $5,689,807

    • Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the financial documents for all of LaBarbera’s friends from this email. The above, however, should be enough to demonstrate that the next time you hear a so-called “pro-family” advocate whine about well-financed gay activists, remember how much they themselves are raking in.

    UPDATE: Btw, the GuideStar website is very useful for checking out the finances of most political parties, PACs, advocacy groups, etc. Registration is free. The amount of money injected into politics by all sides is incredible and something of an issue itself. This is most definitely not to say that so-called remedies like McCain-Feingold are the answer, but transparency for the voters certainly does help.

    — John (Average Gay Joe)

    Comments

    1. Well, well. Maine’s own Michael Heath is on the list. The CCL seems to be doing quite well, despite rumors of financial hard times. North Dallas & Michigan Matt already know about the following (via IndependentGayForum) so I will fill in folks what is happening in Maine. The CCL is proposing a referendum to appear on the ballot in November 2009. It will do the following: ban gay marriage (despite Maine law already declaring marriage as 1 man & 1 woman), declare civil unions unlawful, ban adoptions by any unmarried couple (gay or straight), strip funding for civil rights teams, & the crowning glory: repeal of the civil rights law that was approved by the voters in November 2005 55%-45% & has been on the books since December 2005. In short, each & every right that gays enjoy will be stripped away. The CCL is roaming the state now gathering signatures (55,000 are needed to be collected by January). Obviously, I hope they fail.

    2. I think I”m going to puke. The truth is that most people in the media have gay friends and colleagues and can see the anti-gay right wing agenda for what it is…a lot of lies and a few half-truths. No, the anti-gay agenda does not get a fair hearing in the MSM any more. Neither do people who believe the earth is flat or that the sun orbits the earth.

    4. No, the anti-gay agenda does not get a fair hearing in the MSM any more. Neither do people who believe the earth is flat or that the sun orbits the earth.

      Those spots are reserved for folks who preach Global Warmism instead.

    6. This didn’t surprise me at all. Every email screed I have ever seen from these “pro-family” groups ALWAYS ended with a plea for donations to fight the big, evil gay machine. Funny how that works.

    7. I wonder when GayPatriot, Bruce, or Dan will get such mentions from him.

      Probably never. Jeremy is very liberal in his politics, that’s for certain. Yet he wasn’t the focus of my post nor were his political views. I mentioned him because it was a courtesy “hat tip” for pointing out to Pete L.’s email. Regardless of how others choose to behave, I see no reason to follow suit. Besides, I hold no personal animus for Jeremy even though we have clashed at times due to our very different views on some matters. In fact, the most recent was last month.

    8. Wow! This whole blog is devoted to internalized self-hatred under the guise of conservatism. How did I stumble upon this? Awesome!

      When you finally get over this sham (gay conservative= blind), as I did years ago, you’ll have a real life born again experience. I’ll keep hoping that happens for you mister.

    11. For the record, I would give a positive mention to anyone of any political stripe who was working towards the common cause of LGBT equality. My cause on G-A-Y is LGBT rights, not Democratic politics. It’s funny how people always want to define my politics, when I am HARDLY a liberal flamethrower.

      John: What does “Regardless of how others choose to behave, I see no reason to follow suit” mean? And why do you have to qualify that you “hold no personal animus for [me]”? Personally, I would’ve thought that went without saying.