Bachmann’s clinic gets glittered over ‘ex-gay’ therapy charges

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Michele Bachmann’s Christian counseling clinic, Bachmann & Associates, became the fourth victim of the “glitterati” on Thursday morning after more than a dozen “barbarians” — to use a term clinic head Marcus Bachmann reportedly used for LGBT people — stormed the facility’s waiting room. The group protested the clinic’s alleged practice of offering “reparative therapy” to “cure” gays and lesbians of their homosexuality and also the fact that the clinic has taken in more than $137,000 in government funds despite Bachmann’s strong opposition to government involvement in health care.The group was attempting to throw glitter on Marcus Bachmann, who was not available. So the activists glittered the waiting room while shouting, “You can’t pray away the gay — baby, I was born this way!”The event was orchestrated by Nick Espinosa, who was behind the glittering of Newt Gingrich at a Minnesota Family Council fundraiser in May and assisted with a glittering of Rep. Bachmann in June. Also in June, an activist in San Francisco glittered Tim Pawlenty at a book signing. Thursday’s action was in response to news of the clinic’s government funding and controversial practices as well as Dr. Bachmann’s 2010 statement on Christian radio in which he appeared to call gays and lesbians “barbarians.” (He has claimed that his words were misinterpreted and that audio of the show was doctored.)“Michele and Marcus Bachmann think gay people are barbarians?” asked Espinosa. Continue Reading

Anoka-Hennepin schools dig in on anti-LGBT policy as lawsuit, federal investigation start

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Anoka-Hennepin School District, the largest in the state of Minnesota, has been at the center of a tug of war between the LGBT community, which says the district is not safe for students, and religious right parents, who want all mentions of LGBT issues stricken from school curricula and programming. At issue is a policy that restricts LGBT content in the schools, a policy the school district said on Monday it would not change. In response, a pair of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday morning. In addition, federal authorities have opened an investigation into the school district.“There is something seriously wrong in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, and district officials know it,” said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). “In school after school, kids who are perceived as gay are harassed mercilessly until they drop out, melt down, or lash back. Continue Reading

MCCL continues pressure to force stem cell research ban in budget talks

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On Monday, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion lobby, stepped up its efforts to get a bans on abortion and funding for certain types of stem cell research included in budget negotiations aimed at ending the state shutdown. In an email alert to supporters, the group claimed that taxpayers “will be forced to pay for cloning” and urged members to contact legislators.MCCL has already sent a letter to Republican leaders demanding that anti-abortion measures be included in the budget talks and warned legislators in statements to the press that the group was “questioning that leadership” of Republicans on abortion policy.On Monday the group started a pressure campaign among its members.“In 2009, pro-lifers across the state worked tirelessly and were successful in implementing a two-year ban on taxpayer funding of human cloning. This year, if the Legislature doesn’t reauthorize the ban, taxpayers will be forced to pay for cloning,” the email said (emphasis theirs).The actual language of that ban would prohibit taxpayer funding somatic cell nuclear transfer, a type of stem cell research that creates a a blastocyst using a patient’s own cells with the purpose of making stem cells that won’t be rejected by the patient’s body.Contrary to MCCL’s email alert, no state-funded (or privately-funded) institution is currently engaged in such research in Minnesota and the University of Minnesota had repeatedly told the media that it has no plans to initiate such research. The ban was included in a higher education budget which was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton.Perhaps noting the inaccuracy, the group changed the language of the email when it posted it to its blog Monday evening. Instead of “taxpayers will be forced,” the group changed the language to “can be forced.”The email continued, “The Right to Life is the most important right of all — and Minnesota can’t move backwards in protecting human life. Continue Reading

‘Ex-gay’ conference headed to St. Paul in 2012

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Amid news that Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Christian counseling clinic performs therapy aimed at “curing” gays and lesbians of homosexuality, the nation’s largest “ex-gay” organization, Exodus International, announced it will hold its annual conference, “Exodus Freedom,” in St. Paul next year. The last time an Exodus conference came to Minnesota, Bachmann gave it a glowing endorsement.According to Exodus International, the conference will be held the last weekend of July 2012 at Northwestern College.Northwestern is a private Christian college with deep connections to Minnesota’s most conservative Christians. Minnesota Family Council CEO John Helmberger was a member of the college’s board of trustees until 2008, and current MFC associate Megan Doyle sits on the board.Bachmann’s been a speaker at the college, and the school has placed interns with her office.Janet Boynes, who describes herself as a “former lesbian” and is close friends with Bachmann and MFC, has also presented at the school.The college seems an apt setting for Exodus’ ex-gay conference. Its student handbook forbids homosexuality, and students who are in same-sex relationships can be expelled.In 2007, the LGBT equality group Soulforce visited the school to convince it to relax its position on LGBT students. Continue Reading

Gov. Mark Dayton to concede to GOP on shutdown compromise

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At a speech at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota on Thursday, Gov. Mark Dayton announced that he is prepared to concede to most of the demands offered by Republican legislative leadership on June 30 in order to end the 14-day government shutdown. The Republican demands included a shift of $700 million in payments to public schools and borrowing another $700 million from the state’s tobacco settlement fund. Dayton will also drop his proposal to tax the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans. He excoriated Republicans for not offering any compromises during the shutdown.The governor and Republicans are $1.4 billion apart in their budgets, and Republicans had steadfastly refused Dayton’s proposal to tax the wealthiest 2 percent of Minnesotans — Dayton’s signature campaign theme — and a subsequent proposal offered by Dayton to make up the $1.4 billion with a tax the state’s 7,700 millionaires.Dayton offered some conditions on his concession. Dayton said he will rely on the Republicans’ public statements that they have dropped the push to include a ban on abortion and certain kinds of stem cell research, as well as the inclusion of private school vouchers. Continue Reading

Catholic bishops seek budget solution that helps poor, includes abortion ban

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Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy wing of Minnesota’s Catholic bishops, said Tuesday that they want a resolution to the state shutdown that protects poor Minnesotans. But their request also contains a slew of controversial social issues, including vouchers for private school students and a ban on certain forms of stem-cell research. The bishops didn’t back either Gov. Mark Dayton or legislative Republicans, but did criticize cuts to the social safety net.The bishops attacked anti-government sentiment prominent in Republican talking points.“Ensuring the welfare of all Minnesotans is a core function of government,” said Jason Adkins, MCC’s executive director, said in a statement. “Although controlling spending and putting the state on sound fiscal footing are important goals, those with limited means should not be shouldering that responsibility, especially as politicians continue to load budgets with tax loopholes, subsidies, and spending projects that serve narrow special interests.”Rev. John M. LeVoir, Bishop of New Ulm, added that private charities such as Catholic Charities depend on partnerships with government in order to help those in need of assistance.“The Church, of course, has a fundamental imperative from her Lord to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless,” he said. “But the state should, when necessary, support the work of upholding the dignity of her citizens, thereby assuring the common good. Continue Reading

Reports: Bachmann’s clinic performs “ex-gay” therapy

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Two witnesses said over the weekend that a counseling clinic founded by Michele and Marcus Bachmann performs a controversial “ex-gay” therapy. A former client of Bachmann’s clinic told The Nation that he was counseled to become straight when he was in high school. And the group Truth Wins Out sent a staffer undercover and was treated for his homosexuality. Bachmann’s clinic has taken in thousands in state and federal money despite its overt Christian conservative message.Undercover video shows Bachmann’s clinic engaging in ‘ex-gay’ therapyAndrew Ramirez was sent to Bachmann & Associates after he told his parents he was gay. A high school senior at the time, he told The Nation that an employee of Bachmann’s told him that his only choice was to renounce homosexuality.“He basically said being gay was not an acceptable lifestyle in God’s eyes,” Ramirez recalled in the interview.Bachmann & Associates also referred Ramirez to a church for “ex-gays” and offered to connect him with an “ex-lesbian” mentor, he said.That was in 2004 when, as  a state senator, Michele Bachmann was ramping up efforts to amend the Minnesota Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Continue Reading

Bachmann, religious right group back off slavery claim

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The Family Leader, an Iowa religious right group that has been active in GOP caucuses of that state, backtracked on a pledge the group released last week that asked candidates to vow to oppose pornography and same-sex marriage. The pledge contained a controversial statement about slavery, and over the weekend, the Family Leader removed that reference. Rep. Michele Bachmann — the first signer of the pledge — said that she wasn’t signing off on the preamble that contained the slavery reference, only the vows themselves.“Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President,” the pledge’s preamble began.The insinuation that children living in slavery were better off than children today sparked outrage from many quarters, including Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson, who called the pledge “offensive” and “unrepublican.”On Saturday, Bachmann’s campaign said it stood by the pledge. Campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart told FoxNews.com that Bachmann “has no second thoughts about signing the pledge.”“She stands by the points that are outlined in the pledge,” she said. “Particularly the ones for strong marriage. Continue Reading

The politics of the anti–gay marriage amendment: A primer

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Activists on both sides of Minnesota’s anti–gay marriage amendment battle have made claims about the politics of the ballot initiative that don’t square with recent research on the issue. For example, conventional wisdom and assertions by DFLers that marriage amendments bolster Republican chances at the ballot box are not borne out by the data. On the other side, Claims that 31 states have passed marriage amendments by anti-gay marriage activists are also overblown. Here’s a primer on the political issues surrounding the proposed constitutional amendment.Legalizing same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is already illegal in Minnesota. In 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that Minnesota marriage laws, though not explicitly barring same-sex marriage, could be interpreted as limiting marriage to one man and one woman. Continue Reading

Is Bradlee Dean Michele Bachmann’s Rev. Wright?

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At the RightOnline Conference last month in Minneapolis, Rep. Michele Bachmann became the third Republican presidential candidate to get glitter thrown on her by the “glitterati.” The reason? Her longtime relationship with Bradlee Dean, head of the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International ministries. Dean’s invective towards Muslims, Democrats and especially the LGBT community has earned him notoriety in Minnesota politics, yet candidate Bachmann has yet to weigh in on her relationship with Dean. As Bachmann’s star rises in the GOP presidential field, the controversial pastor is likely to become a campaign issue in the months ahead, much the way President Barack Obama’s Rev. Jeremiah Wright was seized upon by conservative activists in 2008.Candidate Obama’s pastor came under media scrutiny during the Democratic nominating process for some comments he made in his sermons. The attention forced Obama to speak out against his pastor and for Wright to resign from his position.A strong friendshipWhile arguably not as close as Obama’s and Wright’s relationship, Bachmann and Dean’s ties date back several years. Continue Reading