Vice President Mike Pence
Vice President Mike Pence is set to become the first sitting vice president to speak at an anti-LGBTI conference this weekend.
Pence will be addressing the Values Voter Summit, an annual conservative conference in D.C. The Values Voter Summit is hosted by anti-LGBTI hate group Family Research Council (FRC).
The Values Voter Summit
Pence will be joined by other members of the Trump administration including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
While Pence, the former governor of Indiana, attended this conference back in 2016, this is the first time he will be doing so as a White House staffer. Last year, President Trump became the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit.
Pence is set to speak on a Saturday (22 Sept) morning panel titled ‘How Gender Ideology Harms Children’. Featured on this panel are anti-LGBTI figures such as Dr. Paul McHugh and Peter Sprigg. The panel is hosted by Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds).
ACPeds is an illegitimate medical organization which argues that allowing trans kids to transition is ‘child abuse.’
Both the FRC and the ACPeds are designated hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In the past, the Family Research Council has claimed that LGBTI activists seek to ‘normalize pedophelia.’ They also have stated that same-sex households are more violent, and that the It Gets Better campaign is ‘disgusting.’
Speakers at the conference
Other speakers at the Summit include former Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Additionally, there will be talks by Masterpiece Cakeshop plaintiff Jack Phillips, TV-hosts-turned-activists David and Jason Benham, ‘Activist Mommy’ blogger Elizabeth Johnston, and International Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback.
All the people listed above have come out against LGBTI rights. For instance, the Benham brothers claimed that gay people cause hurricanes. Elizabeth Johnston has supported conversion therapy. Ted Cruz has argued that trans people shouldn’t use the bathroom in public. And Sam Brownback has supported a rollback of workplace protections for LGBTI people.
Anything else?
Roughly 2,000 people are expected to attend the conference and hear these speakers. The conference, which lasts through Sunday, will include book signings, movie screenings, and workshops for anti-LGBTI activists.
