DES MOINES – A liberal Iowa political group said this week that Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds will host the Family Leadership Summit on Saturday, alongside the Family Research Council (FRC), an organization recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an anti-LGBT hate group.
The Family Leadership Summit is planned by the Family Leader, an extreme conservative organization, and their President, Bob Vander Plaats. According to Progress Iowa, in past years the summit has been a forum for hateful rhetoric by politicians and talk radio hosts. The Family Leader is also affiliated with the FRC as their Family Policy Council for the state of Iowa.
“Governor Branstad should be ashamed to be hosting this event alongside an anti-LGBT hate group,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. “The FRC and their hateful positions do not represent Iowa’s values, and we deserve better from our elected leaders. Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds should request that their names be removed immediately, and refuse to speak at the conference on Saturday.”
According to the SPLC, the Family Research Council’s “specialty is defaming gays and lesbians” and they do so by making “false claims about the LGBT community based on discredited research and junk science” with the goal of denigrating “LGBT people in its battles against same-sex marriage, hate crimes laws, anti-bullying programs and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.”
Progress Iowa has provided live updates and acted as a watchdog during every past Family Leadership Summit, and will do so again on Saturday. Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds are scheduled to speak at the Summit on Saturday in Ames, as are FRC President Tony Perkins, Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats, Joni Ernst, Steve King, and other national politicians.
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