Ron Hill’s site Republicans 4 Freedom‘s slogan is “Advocates For The Rational Wing of the Republican Party.” And that he is. Hill wrote for conservative CNN commentator David Frum’s web site, and has advocated for repeal of “DADT” and for marijuana legalization. He wrote this in response to Mike Signorile’s Advocate commentary, “Lessons Learned,” about GOProud, the Tea Party and the grip of the fundamentalists on the Republican party. This piece is cross-posted with permission.

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the largest workplace giving program in the world, and if you’re a federal civilian employee or member of the military, you can give to certified hate groups through it.

You can even arrange to make donations on government time. Federal employees are given time off from their usual duties (and paid by the taxpayers) to attend meetings on organizing the local CFC campaign and also take time during the work week to encourage and assist their fellow employees in giving through the CFC.

In essence, your tax dollars help make the CFC possible, and when someone gives to a hate group like the American Family Association or the Family Research Council, government employees will help make it possible to deduct the donation from federal employees paychecks and send it to the respective organization of hateful bigots.

Your tax dollars hard at work.

When I contacted the CFC, Ms. Mary Capule of the U. S. Office of Personnel Management (which is responsible for managing the CFC), replied:

“An organization which meets the requirements of the regulations may participate in the CFC regardless of its political views or expressive message…by law, the CFC is a limited public forum and OPM can restrict participation without offending the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  However, OPM’s ability to restrain participation is limited to minimizing disruption to the federal workplace, ensuring the success of the fund-raising effort, or avoiding the appearance of political favoritism without regard to the viewpoint of excluded groups.  An organization’s viewpoint or position on controversial issues does not, in and of itself, support exclusion from the CFC.  See Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, 473 U.S. 788 (1985).

Does this mean the OPM would allow the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan or the Aryan Nations to raise funds through the CFC, with the help of government employees? One would think that inclusion on the list of certified hate groups would exclude an organization from the CFC. Would a pro-pedophile group be able to raise funds through the CFC? I would hope not. Some organizations are so morally reprehensible to civilized societies they should not be allowed to participate in the CFC; and the AFA and the FRC are certified hate groups just like the KKK and the Aryan Nations. What are they doing in the CFC? (See CFC’s “Charity Eligibility & Participation” page)

It’s important to remember why the American Family Association (CFC charity#12037), and the Family Research Council (CFC charity# 10523), are considered hate groups.

The two organizations weren’t listed as hate groups because they merely oppose equal rights for gay Americans —  indeed, thousands of organizations in America oppose gay rights and are not listed – only a handful are listed as hate groups and it’s only because they repeatedly tell documented lies about and demonize gay Americans.

AFA spokesman Bryan Fischer has said that gays created Adolf Hitler and are responsible for the deaths of six million Jews. Family Research Council leaders have called for gay behavior to be a criminal offense and repeatedly claim – contrary to research and contrary to what medical and scientific organizations claim - that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia. This is one of the worst lies told about our fellow American citizens, and contributes to a climate that encourages violence and hatred against our fellow Americans. The lies of the AFA and the FRC have been thoroughly discredited by the overwhelming preponderance of scientific research accepted by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association.
Moreover, the AFA and FRC spokesmen are allowed to appear on TV and  in print to argue against equal rights for all Americans despite having absolutely no scientific or academic expertise or credentials that qualify them to speak as experts on human sexuality, behavior, or psychology. Yet they are quoted in the media as somehow being “experts” in debates on equal rights for gay citizens. They are not.
So would the Combined Federal Campaign allow an organization who claims that blacks are responsible for Adolf Hitler and caused the deaths of six million Jews to fund-raise through the CFC?  Somehow I think the CFC would find a way to exclude them. So why is it ok for a certified hate group to make such claims about gay citizens and still fund-raise with the CFC?
Let your elected Representative and Senator know how you feel about this.