Rep. King won’t let the facts get in the way of his homophobic campaign against Kevin Jennings.
Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)– Last night on Fox News, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) continued his homophobic attacks on Kevin Jennings, the head of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. During an interview with Sean Hannity, who has also been going after Jennings hard, King attempted to link the safe schools adviser to NAMBLA — or the North American Man-Boy Love Association. "I think Kevin Jennings has got to be the poster boy for NAMBLA," King declared.
HANNITY: Well, you just heard about the group NAMBLA. You heard about this guy that Kevin Jennings has praised, a guy that always inspired him that was associated with this group. What are we to conclude?
REP. KING: Well, I think we can conclude that President Obama’s agenda, and his associates and their fellow travelers have been appointed to influential positions in the United States government. But this is a breathtaking reveal [sic] that you’ve done here, Sean. To think that — I mean, I’ve said before that I think Kevin Jennings has got to be the poster boy for NAMBLA.
Watch it:
This line of attack is absurd; Jennings has absolutely nothing to do with NAMBLA (much less is he the "poster boy" for the group). The "guy that Kevin Jennings has praised" is Harry Hay, "who started the first ongoing gay rights groups in America." Hay was also not a member of NAMBLA. "I am not a member of NAMBLA," Hay said in 1994, "nor would it ever have been my inclination to be one."
Here’s the quote that has King and Hannity calling for Jennings’ head:
One of the people that’s always inspired me is Harry Hay, who started the first ongoing gay rights groups in America. In 1948, he tried to get people to join the Mattachine Society [one of the first gay rights groups in America]. It took him two years to find one other person who would join. Well, [in] 1993, Harry Hay marched with a million people in Washington, who thought he had a good idea 40 years before.
In other words, Jennings, a gay man, said he was inspired by a widely recognized pioneer of the gay rights movement. That’s all — not exactly shocking stuff.
Source: Media Matters for America
