Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver appeared on conservative Christian radio show Crosstalk last week to continue the Religious Right’s dishonest drumbeat against a non-binding resolution passed by the California General Assembly that calls on religious and other leaders to promote equitable and compassionate treatment of LGBTQ people in the state.
Staver claimed that the non-binding resolution was “essentially a directive” that “targets pastors and churches” and “discriminates” against Christian counselors and people who have “overcome” unwanted sexual attractions. Staver noted that the resolution’s sponsor, Assemblyman Evan Low, had offered but then withdrawn legislation last year that would have labeled conversion therapy fraudulent; Staver repeated the lie that the legislation would have “banned” portions of the Bible dealing with homosexuality.
But Staver went even further, charging that the addition of the “Q” to “LGBT” in the text of the resolution meant that it was promoting a “spectrum” that includes not only those who are homosexual or “gender confused,” but also “minor-attracted individuals” which he described as “somebody who wants to have sexual relationships with someone under the legal age.”
Staver repeated that charge when the conversation shifted to talk about federal legislation and cases awaiting Supreme Court action on whether the Civil Rights Act’s ban on discrimination on the basis of sex applies to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Staver denounced the Equality Act as “an LGBT propaganda bill” and the Do No Harm Act, which he said would “gut” the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
And when host Jim Schneider asked him about the more than 200 corporations that have signed a brief urging the Supreme Court to find that discrimination on the basis sexual orientation and gender identity is banned by the Civil Rights Act, Staver accused those companies of trying to get the Supreme Court to force Americans to support people who want to have sex with minors:
They’re trying to use their corporate clout to send a message to the United States Supreme Court to do what the Equality Act would do. And that is elevate sexual orientation and gender identity—and that’s this whole spectrum, by the way, that’s a huge spectrum, which includes gender identity, includes minor-attracted individuals. Now what is that? That’s someone who believes that sex with minors is OK, that it should not be stigmatized, or criminalized, that having multiple relationships, not being monogamous, is OK. They are really on board with all of that, that whole agenda. And they’re wanting to force it on the rest of the country, but they’re wanting to do it through a 5-to-4 vote at the United States Supreme Court.
