crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

huckcam

Yesterday, a post pointed out rude comments Mike Huckabee said about lgbt parenting:

He also affirmed support for a law in Arkansas that prohibits same-sex couples from becoming adoptive or foster parents. “I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family,” Huckabee said. “And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults.”

“Children are not puppies,” he continued. “This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?”

The picture above should give a good idea of why Huckabee has such a low opinion of lgbt families. That's him with Brian Camenker at the right-wing “Take Back America” conference held late last year. Camenker is head of Mass Resistance, a viciously anti-gay group in Massachusetts.

Or should I echo the words of the Southern Poverty Law Center and call them an anti-gay hate group?

Camenker bragged on his meeting with Huckabee on the group's webpage:

When told Brian was from MassResistance, Gov. Huckabee said, “I know. I get your emails.”

Mass Resistance has a long history of demonizing the lgbt community and even stooping to coordinating phony moral panics, including:

Manufacturing a phony panic about “schools teaching children about homosexuality,”

Claiming in 2005 on Comedy Central's Daily Show that if given time, he would be able to connect gay marriage in Massachusetts to the “reduction” of the quality of life in the state, a spike in homelessness rates, or and a lowering the quality of the air in the state, or

Making a claim in 2006 that “gays were trying to get legislation passed to allow sex with animals” in Massachusetts.

Continuing a vindictive campaign of misinformation against the transgendered community (whom the organization refers to as “men in dresses) .

Most recently, the organization was key in manufacturing inaccurate claims about Obama appointee Kevin Jennings in an attempt to get him dismissed. The watchdog site Media Matters published a list of the lies Camenker and Mass Resistance spread about Jennings.

In one post, Media Matters goes on to say:

  . . .conservative commentator Dean Barnett has stated that the organization “verges on being a hate group.” Camenker himself reportedly denied that gays and lesbians were targeted during the Holocaust and has compared the gay rights movement to the Nazis.

It's no wonder that Huckabee has such a low opinion of lgbt families, seeing whom he chooses to associate with.  He tries to come across as cordial and warm even with those he disagrees with, but it is always good to remember that the most dangerous forms of ignorance and hatred are those which are wrapped in a soft glove.

Related post:

Brian Camenker, Matt Barber create anti-gay hot mess