Ann Coulter vs. World Net Daily Over GoProud's HomoCon

The publication of emails exchanged between Ann Coulter and the editor of anti-gay site WorldNetDaily regarding Coulter having been dropped as a keynote speaker at a WND event has sparked Coulter's ire. The right-wing icon launched into WND editor Joseph Farah, calling him a "swine," and suggesting that the content of the fringe-right site is selected as a matter of publicity seeking.

The roots of the disagreement between Coulter and the fringe news site began with Coulter accepting an invitation to speak at the first "Homocon," an event hosted by right-wing gay group GoProud. Once WND got wind of the upcoming appearance, they struck Coulter off their list of speakers for an event scheduled to take place in Miami. The Sept. 17 event, called "The Taking America Back National Conference," is slated to include speakers such as Alan Keyes and Tom Tancredo, as well as assorted comedians, talk radio personalities, and a home-schooling advocate. The event's land-based activities will be followed by a weeklong Caribbean cruise.

A few months ago, Coulter reacted to words of advice from a Canadian University official with stringent claims that she was being silenced and was the victim of a "hate crime." Nor did Coulter hold her fire when the muzzle was wielded by the political right: to Farah's suggestion that she was "legitimizing a group that is fighting for same-sex marriage and open homosexuality in the military--not to mention the idea that sodomy is just an alternate lifestyle?," Coulter fired back a missive that dismissed Farah's claims--though her response to Farah was far milder than the thrashing she delivered last March to University of Ottawa provost Francois A. Houle for what Coulter characterized as his attempt to "silence" her. Houle had cautioned Coulter about the legal differences in what is considered to be hate speech in Canada, as opposed to the U.S.

"That's silly," Coulter responded to Farah's emailed query. "I speak to a lot of groups and do not endorse them. I speak at Harvard and I certainly don't endorse their views. I've spoken to Democratic groups and liberal Republican groups that loooove abortion.

"The main thing I do is speak on college campuses, which is about the equivalent of speaking at an al-Qaida conference," Coulter continued. "I'm sure I agree with GOProud more than I do with at least half of my college audiences. But in any event, giving a speech is not an endorsement of every position held by the people I'm speaking to. I was going to speak for you guys, [even though] I think you're nuts on the birther thing (though I like you otherwise!)."

The "birther thing" Coulter referred to is a persistent belief among the right-wing fringe that President Obama was not, in fact, born in the United States. So-called "birthers" claim that in absence of a "long form" birth certificate from the state of Hawaii, they will not be convinced that Obama was born here and not in Kenya. The Obama campaign provided a so-called "short form" birth certificate during Obama's 2008 campaign. Hawaii officials say that there is no so-called "long form" certificate, and that the "short form" is the only legal document Obama--or anyone else born at the time in Hawaii--would have to prove their place of birth.

After WND published passages from the email exchange, Coulter told another news site, The Daily Caller, that "[T]his was an email exchange [between] friends and even though I didn't expressly say 'OFF THE RECORD' and I believe everything I said, he's a swine for using my private emails politely answering him," a WND follow-up article reported on Aug. 18 "[W]hy would he do such a despicable thing?" added Coulter, going to on to say it was "for PUBLICITY."

Coulter went on to question Farah's commitment to the conservative cause, writing that the editor "could give less than two sh-ts about the conservative movement--as demonstrated by his promotion of the birther nonsense (long ago disproved by my newspaper, human events, also sweetness & light, american spectator and national review etc, etc etc)." Added Coulter, "He's the only allegedly serious conservative pushing the birther thing. [F]or ONE reason: to get hits on his website."

Coulter told The Daily Caller that her appearance as keynote speaker being scrubbed by WND would not affect her bottom line, since the event did not have the capital to offer her an honorarium for the engagement.

For its part, GoProud has expressed delight at having Coulter speak at Homocon 2010, which is scheduled to take place Sept. 25 in New York City. "I'm so tickled that she agreed to do it," Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of GOProud told the media. "Think about it: She's hilarious, she's provocative and, honestly, our folks just love her."

To GoProud's invitation, Coulter reportedly replied, "Of course I'll do it. I'm the right-wing Judy Garland!" That exclamation has found its way to the event's poster, which features a caricature drawing of Coulter and is emblazoned with the slogan, "The right wing Judy Garland!"

"We did not invite Ann Coulter to speak at Homocon 2010 because we believe she has 'evolved,' " stated GoProud chair Christopher Barron. "Quite the contrary, we invited Ann Coulter because of who she is, who she has been, and who we know she will continue to be--the smartest, funniest, most provocative conservative author and columnist around. If anyone needs to evolve, it's the uber-PC gay left and their enablers, not Ann Coulter."

Homocon has drawn sponsors from the rightward end of the political spectrum, noted Christopher Taylor in an Aug. 17 op-ed piece at the Washington Examiner. Taylor questioned the purpose of Homocon and GoProud, promoting a version of conservatism that the rightward fringe might not have recognized. "One of the most basic principles of conservatism as opposed to the modern left is that we treat everyone as Americans in America, not as any form of hyphenated-American," wrote Taylor. "Conservatives shouldn't care what color you are, how tall you are, if you're male or female, they don't care if you are left handed or ambidextrous, it simply doesn't matter."

Scraps and Flaps on the Right

In describing its "Taking Back America" conference, WND posted text reading, "The choice is simple: the world of standards and morality, self-government and accountability to God or the world of tyranny and ever-changing moral codes enforced by government." Continued the text, "The only way we can reestablish our freedom--our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--is to break the hammerlock of statism and the notion that moral relativism holds the answers to ordering people's passions and behavior." The text did not indicate what agency, if not government, would enforce this brand of freedom.

WND had condemned GoProud's sponsorship of a conservative conference earlier this year, and Farah said that dropping Coulter was the only thing to do given that she was, he suggested, lending credibility to the gay conservative group.

"Ultimately, as a matter of principle, it would not make sense for us to have Ann speak to a conference about 'taking America back' when she clearly does not recognize that the ideals to be espoused there simply do not include the radical and very 'unconservative' agenda represented by GOProud," Farah told his own news site.

"Earlier this year, GOProud was permitted to sponsor the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, the biggest event of its kind," Farah noted, going on to recall that various anti-gay groups dropped out of the conference rather than attend an event that had been partially underwritten by a gay organization. "GOProud is about infiltration of the conservative movement and dividing it from within with twisted and dangerous ideas way out of the mainstream of American public opinion," Farah continued. "Ann Coulter is, I'm afraid, validating this effort for money."

In the follow-up article, Farah defended his position once again. "Ann is angry," he said. "I hope she calms down and there can be some restoration, repentance and forgiveness. She said some mean things about me, but I can sleep at night knowing I did the right thing in God's economy."

"Ann Coulter's a hero to many, but her angry accusation that we were motivated by publicity couldn't be more off-base," said WND managing editor David Kupelian. David Kupelian. "This wasn't Farah's sole decision; our executive team, including me, discussed this at length in a serious and thoughtful manner, and in the end, we went with what we considered to be the principled decision."

Anti-gay blogger Peter LaBarbera of the site Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) defended WND, telling The Daily Caller, "As a fan of Ann Coulter, it pains me to see her cave into political correctness and lend credibility to the phony homosexual 'conservatives' over at GOProud."

Speaking about Coulter's comments regarding Farah, LaBarbera wrote, "Coulter's is a baseless charge to level at Farah--who showed his commitment to conservative principles by dropping Coulter. But what's odd is that it comes after Coulter admitted to Farah that she's doing the GOProud speech pretty much for the money (i.e., as just another speaking gig)."

Added LaBarbera, "We at AFTAH have an idea: how about if Coulter donates her GOProud speaking fee to two worthy pro-family organizations whose mission (we hope) Coulter agrees with more than that of the phony 'conservatives' over at GOProud, who put 'gay rights' above traditional values." LaBarbera then suggested that Coulter donate the proceeds from her GoProud appearance to anti-gay group the Center for Military Readiness, and to "ex-gay" organization Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.

Indeed, the situation between Coulter and WND is reminiscent of another controversy that erupted between LaBarbera's AFTAH and "ex-gay" organization Exodus International--once again, with GoProud in the middle. LaBarbera had reported that anti-gay pundit Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel had threatened a boycott of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual gathering of conservatives, because GoProud was one of the event's sponsors. In the course of the article, LaBarbera quoted Barber as reducing same-sex relationships to a crude description of a single sexual act presumed by many to be the primary expression of intimacy between gay men. "It boils down to this: there is nothing 'conservative' about--as Barber inimitably puts it--'one man violently cramming his penis into another man's lower intestine and calling it "love," ' " LaBarbera wrote.

The quotation came from a private conversation between LaBarbera and Barber, LaBarbera clarified in a follow-up posting, though not before the quote had shocked and angered some of their fellow conservatives, including Exodus International's Randy Thomas, who responded in a blog posted at the Exodus International Web site, saying that the inclusion of the Barber quote at LaBarbera's site was "unnecessary, hurtful and foolish."

Wrote Thomas, "I say foolish because homosexual behavior is never just about behavior or even about attractions. It encompasses something deeper that goes to the core of who you believe you are --your personal and relational identity." Thomas went on to add, "Quotes like the one [used by LaBarbera in his posting] were all to [sic] frequent and hurtful. They have left a bitter legacy that characterizes a vast majority of politically engaged Christians in a false light and alienates gay identified people, like I was, from hearing the gospel."

Added Thomas, "While Exodus is not a part of the CPAC event, we regularly say in the office that public policy matters only because people do--but how can we convey such a message when we stigmatize the very individuals we seek to reach with such a crude, horrible depiction?"

LaBarbera dismissed Thomas as having had a "politically correct overreaction," and went on to critique Liberty Counsel, which had distanced itself from the offensive quotation attributed to Matt Barber, for having issued "an apologetic statement that that was not fully accurate in that it left out a key fact: Matt's ownership of the bold sodomy description. This could create the impression that Barber might not have made the comment, which he did."

Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver issued a statement in which he made it clear that, "Liberty Counsel promotes the traditional family of one man and one woman because we believe that such relationships are best for society and for children. While we strongly disagree with the sexual politics and agenda of activist organizations and individuals, we also believe that each person is entitled to respect."

Continued the Liberty Counsel statement, "While there are some that hate us because of our message of sexual integrity, redemption, change, and hope, we have never, and will never, confuse the person with the agenda. We have never sought to dehumanize people to promote our message. Our message is one of redemption through the power of Jesus Christ."

LaBarbera posted Barber's own statement on what Barber called the "faux controversy" surrounding the description of the sexual act that Barber had suggested constituted the sum total of same-sex couples' relationships. Wrote Barber, "This is for clarification only. As affirmed in Liberty Counsel's statement, neither I nor anyone with Liberty Counsel ever publicly 'wrote or made' the comment in question--an unapologetically direct and accurate depiction of the sin of sodomy (a sin that God directly and accurately calls both an 'abomination' and 'detestable')."

However, Barber did admit to having made the remark in private. "Some years before I began working with Liberty Counsel, I made the comment in private conversation with Peter LaBarbera. At the time, Peter asked if he could 'quote me on it' and I said yes."

Reputable mental health professionals view such claims with skepticism, warning that programs of so-called "reparative therapy" are liable to do more damage than good. Some individuals who say that they have "converted" to heterosexuality claim that such programs have helped them embrace mixed-gender marriage and produce offspring; others say that such programs have given them tools to suppress their sexual longings, but say that denying their essential attraction to others of the same gender remains a struggle.