AFA of Michigan - Strongest Taliban like group in the US?

[ck4829]

AFA of Michigan's anti-gay and anti-pornography work in MI is heavily funded by right-wing extremists.

First of all, most of the campaigns they have been involved in have been directly subsidized by AFA National in Tupelo, MS. For example, when anti-gay activists fought to repeal the Human Rights Ordinance in Ferndale, Michigan the only contribution made to their campaign was $5,000 from AFA in Mississippi.

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The AFA of Michigan has frequently used the conservative petition firm National Petition Management in its campaign to put the basic human rights of GLBT people up to a vote. NPM has been hired to advance several right-wing initiatives around the country, including vouchers, and English-only laws.

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Gary Glenn, AFA Michigan President, has been on the payroll and staff of the notoriously right-wing think tank The Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The MCPP is another bottomless pit of money that works tirelessly to dismantle the American promise of free public education. Glenn moved to Michigan to work on the impending voucher issue headed for the Michigan ballot in 2000. Glenn still lives within walking distance of the MCPP in Midland, Michigan where Glenn runs the AFA out of his home.

The voucher movement ("school choice" as the right-wing calls it; "parochi-aid" as we call it) was founded soon after the 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision that mandated the desegregation of public schools. Vouchers were created to "rescue" white children from ever-diversifying public schools. Vouchers were the racist panic response to Brown. Vouchers remain to this day a beacon for the religious right. They work to defund public schools and try to re-route taxpayer, public money to fund private and religious schools which are allowed to discriminate. These schools are not accountable to any government oversight, and have the freedom to discriminate against GLBT students, the students of GLBT parents, students with disabilities, students of color, non-Christian students...In short, Glenn was working hard on a movement that is very unpopular, very right-wing, and integrally tied to racism, homophobia, and Christian supremacy.

http://www.afaexposed.com/friends.html

AFA have violated their tax-exempt status when they attacked openly gay Republican candidate for Midland County Commission, Paul Wright just before his primary. They attacked him publicly on the sole basis of his sexual orientation.

AFA Michigan attacked several moderate Republicans right before their primaries in 2000 like State Reps. Judith Scranton, Pan Godchaux, Mike Pumford, Sandy Caul and others because they did not vote for an anti-gay measure in the legislature.

AFA works agressively to support internet filters in libraries. AFA Michigan President Gary Glenn feels so strongly about the influence of "adult" material on the internet that he told people at an Ann Arbor gathering that "...the most dangerous place for a child today is in a public library." Trying to argue that "adult" material is dangerous is a stretch for many people. Stating that libraries with unfiltered internet access are the "most dangerous" place for a child is radical, inaccurate and panic-ridden.

The AFA of Michigan has said they want to repeal the state's hate crime law. This law is the only tool in Michigan to address tougher penalties for hate violence against women, and racial and religious minorities. Over 40 states have hate crime laws and they enjoy high levels of public support. AFA's effort to repeal hate crime laws should concern everyone. Why would they want to remove the protections that African-Americans, Jews and others have worked so hard to obtain?

http://www.afaexposed.com/closet.html

[MichiganVote]

1. AFA and DeVos go hand in hand