WND Publishes 19-Year-Old Who Wants To Criminalize Homosexuality

On Tuesday, WND posted some “exclusive commentary” by Josh Craddock, a 19-year-old rising sophomore at King’s College in New York who isn’t too happy with the way things are going in the fight over LGBT equality.

Craddock criticizes social conservative groups like Focus on the Family for refusing to advocate for the criminalization of homosexual behavior, arguing that the fight over same-sex marriage has been a “diversion” away from the “real battle” over the “morality of homosexuality itself”:

America's Founding Fathers would be shocked, since they followed lock-step with Christian Western tradition that criminalized homosexuality.

Today's conservative Christian leaders believe what was scandalous just 30 years ago: that homosexuality should be legal. Back in the Dark Ages, way back in 1986 when the Supreme Court upheld Georgia's anti-sodomy law, Christian leaders actually believed that homosexual behavior should be criminal. Their beliefs have changed rather quickly with the culture, preferring to garner social acceptance through a moral fluidity that reminds me of Groucho Marx's quip: "If you don't like my principles, I have others."

Despite victories for traditional marriage in states across the Union, social conservatives are losing because they've missed the heart of the issue. Same-sex marriage is a diversion. The real battle is over the morality of homosexuality itself. [emphasis added]

Craddock – who also appears to support Uganda’s “kill the gays” legislation -- doesn’t bother mentioning Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court decision that found laws criminalizing gay sex to be unconstitutional (the kind of research oversight you might expect from a 19-year-old).

The undergrad is also wrong when he claims that social conservatives have “missed the heart of the issue” by failing to attack the “morality of homosexuality itself.”

In fact, as ridiculous and embarrassing as Craddock’s position is, it actually isn’t that far from the messages promoted by America’s current prominent anti-LGBT groups.

• The American Family Association’s (AFA) Bryan Fischer has suggested that “we impose the same sanctions on those who engage in homosexual behavior as we do on those who engage in intravenous drug abuse.”
• The Family Research Council’s (FRC) Peter Sprigg told Chris Matthews he would be in favor of criminalizing homosexual behavior. The FRC also filed an amicus brief in Lawrence v. Texas defending state anti-sodomy laws.
• A prominent board member at the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has also called for maintaining laws against homosexual behavior.

Even when they aren’t directly calling for the criminalization of homosexuality, these groups work to advance anti-LGBT propaganda that leads to the type of hate promoted by Craddock. They promote myths about the dangers of the gay “lifestyle,”  compare gays and lesbians to terrorists, and claim that those who engage in “sodomy” may have lost their “souls.”

This kind of hateful and amateurish “commentary” is to be expected from WorldNetDaily, which has a long history of over-the-top anti-LGBT bias.

The real tragedy is that groups like the AFA, FRC, and NOM are treated as reasonable and legitimate by a number of major news networks that consistently provide them with on-air opportunities to spread anti-LGBT misinformation. 

So here’s some advice for major news outlets: if you’re trying to get someone like Tony Perkins or Maggie Gallagher to comment on LGBT issues, you might as well just save yourself the effort and invite a homophobic 19-year-old onto your program. Maybe they’ll receive college credit for it?

Previously:

What Will It Take For News Networks To Stop Inviting Anti-Gay Hate Mongers On The Air?

NOM Pushes Anti-Gay Poll, But Not About Marriage?

WND Can't Let Go, Fills Magazine With Homophobic Falsehoods About DADT