Ireland's comments come on the heels of the so-called "Coming Out of Homosexuality" media campaign -- a cynical assault against lesbians and gay men, which charges that homosexuality is a choice, not a sexual orientation -- launched yesterday by a coalition of radical right-wing groups. "As the elections heat up, religious political extremists are trying to hide their hateful agenda behind a benign mask of ‘hope and healing'. It's time for Focus on the Family and their cohorts to take off the masks and show the bigoted anti-woman, anti-gay agenda lurking just beneath the surface. Feminists will not swallow sugar-coated gay-bashing. And we will not let ourselves or our issues be shut out of Congress by their manipulative use of homophobia as a wedge issue in November," Ireland said.
As part of its ongoing national Lesbian
Rights Program, NOW is organizing the national Lesbian Rights Summit:
A Feminist Strategy Session, to be held in Washington, D.C., April 23-25,
1999. Lesbians and their allies will come together from across the
country to develop a political agenda for the next millennium.