Leaders of an organization threatened for posting a message on a billboard that essentially was affirmed by Barack Obama in a YouTube interview after his State of the Union address – that homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice" – say they are glad to have the president's endorsement.
But "gay" groups have remained virtually silent about Obama's language, and one "gay" publication charged he was "getting a pass."
WND reported this week that Obama told YouTube personality GloZell Green that homosexuals make a "lifestyle choice," and even if people disapprove of it, they should be willing to treat them fairly.
His answer was considered out of line, according to a report in the "gay"-themed Washington Blade, where Chris Johnson wrote the language "is widely considered unacceptable and offensive because it suggests that sexual orientation is a choice."
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The White House declined to respond to a request from WND for comment. Several "gay"-rights organizations, such as the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and the Human Rights Campaign, also declined to respond to WND requests for comment.
The Blade's Johnson reported homosexual activist Richard Socarides spared Obama any condemnation.
"I think he was no doubt speaking in shorthand, and I'm sure he knows that 'lifestyle' is not a good word choice in this context," Socarides told Johnson. "I also think that given his record, even us purists can give him a pass on this one."
WND reported GloZell's question for Obama: "Do you think same-sex marriage will be legalized in all of the United States during the time that you're in office, and what can you do to push that along?"
"I'm hopeful the Supreme Court comes to the right decision, but I will tell you peoples' hearts have opened up on this issue," he replied. "I think people know that treating folks unfairly – even if you disagree with their lifestyle choice, the fact of the matter is they're not bothering you.
"Let them live their lives and under the law, they should be treated equally and as far as me personally, just to see all the loving gay and lesbian couples that I know who are great parents and partners, the idea that we would not treat them like the brothers and sisters that they are that doesn't make any sense," Obama said.
See the video (Obama's comments come between the eight and 10-minute marks):
Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, or PFOX, told WND she is appreciative of the president's confirmation of a message her group has encouraged for years.
"I certainly agree with President Obama's beliefs and statement that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice," she said.
"Studies have consistently demonstrated that nobody is born gay," Griggs said. "Homosexual behavior is chosen; one makes a conscious decision to act out sexually. However, the president failed to mention that thousands of men and women make the decision to leave the homosexual lifestyle. All people deserve the right to self determination and to seek help or support in whatever form best meets their personal needs."
She said, her organization "believes every person seeking positive life change needs the love and support of family, friends, the community and the church."
"PFOX believes people deserve to know the truth, and respecting the lives of those who have made a decision to seek change is part of building a tolerant society," she said.
Such tolerance is something she hasn't experienced often. She said multiple threats have been made against PFOX because of the group's decision to post a billboard.
The billboard, which is prominently displayed on Virginia's I-95 near one of the country's largest "gay" communities, features a pair of identical twins and says, "Nobody is born gay."
The ad challenges the claim of a so-called "gay" gene that supporters say shows homosexuality is genetic.
The ad features what appears to be a pair of identical twins, with the description: "Identical twins: One gay, one not." It then goes on to say, "Nobody is born gay."
The basis for PFOX's claim is several studies, including one by Dr. Michael Bailey, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who conducted studies on "gay" twins.
Bailey discovered that in only 52 percent of the cases of an identical twin who was "gay" was the other twin "gay."
The figure was 22 percent for fraternal twins.
Bailey admitted that the study shows that since the number was not 100 percent for identical twins, homosexuality is not completely genetic.
In an interview with WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia, Bailey said those who posted the billboard have a valid point.
"In my opinion there's room for both forces," Bailey said. "One, if you want to believe that you're gay and born that way, all right. But if you believe that there's a causation there, there's something that can be changed, that … deserves a voice as well."
Multiple Web searches by WND found almost no comment about Obama's comment from "gay" organizations about Obama's characterization.
The Blade said "virtually no one cares" about Obama's "faux pas."
"The Washington Blade reached out to various LGBT groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force and GLAAD, to ask whether they objected to Obama's use of the phrase. None of those groups responded to a request to comment on that language, which is widely considered unacceptable and offensive because it suggests that sexual orientation is a choice."
The report said when other politicians have expressed the same sentiment, there's been a huge reaction.
For example, Johnson reported onetime GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain expressed the opinion that homosexual behavior is a choice. Then-Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese described the comment as "frankly, jaw-dropping and certainly unbecoming of a presidential hopeful."
Log Cabin Republicans spokesman Gregory Angelo told the Blade he simply expects the White House to issue a correction and confirm the president "misspoke."
National Review Online reported last year that even asking the question can stir up a hornet's nest.
For example, when homosexual columnist Brandon Ambrosino suggested that there are "other factors" that go to "informing our sexualities" in addition to genetics, the "gay" community condemned him.
Headlines that followed included "Vox hires Falwell-loving gay-bashing 'gay'" and "Vox's Unbelievably Terrible New Hire."
Wrote one critic: "Brandon Ambrosino is the Allen West of homosexuality. He's your go-to guy, if your goal has nothing to do with finding a legitimate minority voice on the issue of the day."
Media Matters said Ambrosino was "whitewashing anti-gay bigotry."
However, the Family Research Council issued a report on myths regarding homosexuality.
The author, Peter Sprigg, explained racial discrimination is irrational and invidious "because of what I call the five 'I's' – the fact that, as a personal characteristic, race is inborn, involuntary, immutable, innocuous and in the Constitution."
"Homosexual activists would have us believe that the same is true of their homosexuality. They want us to believe their homosexual 'orientation' is something they are born with, cannot choose whether to accept or reject, and cannot change; and that it does no harm (to themselves or to society), while being protected by the principles of the Constitution."
He continued: "However, these are empirical questions, subject to being verified or refuted based on the evidence. And the evidence produced by research has simply not been kind to this theoretical underpinning of the homosexual movement. It has become more and more clear that none of the 'five-I' criteria apply to the choice to engage in homosexual conduct."
Obama's description of the "gay" lifestyle as a "choice" was unexpected since he has advocated for homosexuality, lesbianism and transgenderism at virtually every step of his presidency. He over saw removal of the ban on openly declared homosexuals in the U.S. military and refused to defend the federal law defining marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
One publication posted his picture on the cover, labeling him the "1st gay president."