Received via e-mail tonight from the Queer Action Coalition, Memphis, Tenn.:
AS OUTLINED HERE:
LOVE IN ACTION LAW SUIT DETAILS FILLED WITH LIES ABOUT QAC
In the 29-page [PDF] document outlining Love In Action’s lawsuit against the State of Tennessee, the following false allegations have been made:
From Item 40) “Members of QAC publicized the blog entries (of an adolescent participant of LIA) to other groups that support the homosexual lifestyle. “ From Item 43) “Many emails sent to Rev Smid from members of QAC and PFLAG stated their explicit intention to restrict LIA’s ministry or cause it to cease altogether. Members from both groups, among others, expressly stated a goal to cause LIA’s demise” From Item 44) “In their efforts to bring this goal to fruition, upon information and belief, members of both QAC and PFLAG besieged the governor’s office and various state agencies for the State of Tennessee, demanding that LIA come under state regulation or be forced to cease operation.” From Item 45) “As a direct consequence of the pleas made by QAC and PFLAG, as well as other lobbying efforts, various departments of the State of Tennessee began to investigate LIA” .
QAC contends that all of these charges are false, and explains why here. Unfortunately, neither side documents its claims very well, and the result is a he-said-she-said sparring match.
Let me get this err straight QAC which did make protests and noise that led to the attempted shutdown of LIA now wants to distance itself from it’s own handy work. Please….In my opinion the current development is a wonderful turn of events and frankly long overdue. QAC should not back off at this moment. Not to mention the fact the law suit is between Tenn. and LIA.
PFLAG and QAC should stand proud of what they have accomplished. I can not think of why a judge would be swayed. Either LIA is in compliance with the law or not and me thinks they are most defiantly NOT. This is like a restaurant suing the state for not having a license and claiming religious exemption from rules about sanitation, smoking, parking, and capacity.
I do not think that QAC is retreating from its stated position. My observations of the situation since June do not agree with the LIA version.
Consider, for example, line 40. The blog entry from the LIA client in question (from line 38) was beginning to spread around the blogsphere _before_ QAC even formed. LIA admitted that in line 39.
I also do not remember any sign at the protests nor any media contact involving QAC demanding the closure of LIA. The protests were to bring attention to the facility and question its dubious practices. To blame QAC for its problems with the state sounds like shooting the bearer of bad news. In fact, for LIA to claim that they received “hundreds of hate emails” (line 42) from QAC members overestimates the size of QAC. The protests involved dozens, not hundreds of people. Check the media’s pictures of the events to see for yourself. Any large mass of email more likely came from others outside of QAC. Many individuals outside of QAC were monitoring the situation. Any group of them could have even been the whistle-blowers to the state. I would contend that LIA’s claim that QAC or PFLAG themselves orchestrated the state’s actions would have to be proven by LIA in court.
If the LIA/R lawyer’s complaint is full of lies, they had better watch out. If they did not reasonably investigate the allegations, they may well be disbarred.
Actually, I’ve read the LIA/R complaint. In some ways, they sound oddly similar to the Branch Dividians in Waco. Remember them?
QAC is not retreating from our mission, nor our stance, however, we will not allow LIA to tell bold face lies, represented as “FACTS” in an outline of a lawsuit to be presented in federal court. It’s that simple. We’re still as strongly pushing on with what we believe and know to be truth, and will continue to do so, but there are some very strong beliefs that we’ve held since the beginning that stem from our dialogues with clients, and our knowledge on hand. We are in the midst of compiling a huge report to back everything we’ve done, are doing, plan to do, know to be facts, and the like. We will in no way back down, we realize the importance of what’s about to happen, and are investigating it closely.
I remember back in June when I first met Cale, Morgan, Suzie, Alex and the few others from the QAC. This tiny handful of young people (yes, like most under the age of 22) held their organizing meeting on a strip of grass next to the parking lot of First Congo Church.
With great integrity, they discussed how they could proceed in their efforts to protest the injustices done against young people like Zach, many believed to be held against their wills by LIA/R and the young people’s parents. They debated how could they do this without exploiting or hurting Zach and his family.
There was no talk of shutting anything down. The big discussion that evening was whether they should accept CBN’s interview request. They ultimately decided against it, and it was in that same CBN segment that Zach’s dad outed the family’s identity to the world.
LIA would love to paint the QAC as this angry, out of control, well-funded queer activist machine that launced an organized campaign of terror against a struggling Christian non-profit ministry in hopes of destroying it (and God’s ordained work)
I believe there is a commandment that states that one should not bear false witness against a neighbor. LIA’s legal team may do well do check out the “ex-gay” groups accusations before including them in a legal document.
Perhaps this is just part of LIA’s current ministry thrust to impact the lives of young people, the QAC included. I suggest that LIA look inward for some self-inspection before it points an accusing finger towards the few young protesters at its doors.
In the unambiguous words attributed to Jesus:
“You see the sliver in your friend’s eye, but you don’t see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend’s eye.”
Speaking of lies…
From the complaint: “12. LIA was founded in 1973 by Frank Worthen as a Christian ministry.”
Wayne Besen’s book Anything But Straight lists the two founders of LIA as John Evans and Kent Philpott, with Frank Worthen replacing John Evans after John left. What gives?
even if these claims are true, and I don’t know enough to say if they are or not, are the activities of QAC not covered by first amendment rights to freedom of speech, as well as right to assemble?
I am not a lawyer so I would like to know.