Anti-gay pundit complains that gays are guilty of "cyber-bullying" Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum has had a "spreading Google problem" — that is, because of search engine optimization techniques that include linking to a website such as Santorum.com, the site can appear in the number one position of Google search results.  In other words, the more links to a site, the better it will fare in search engine visibility.  When people search for "Santorum," the number one result is "Santorum.com."  "SpreadingSantorum.com" comes up as #2 on Google, when searching for "Rick Santorum."

Santorum has compared homosexuality with bestiality, called for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the military, promised to annul all same sex marriages in the country if he is president, and likened the "war against homosexuality" to the "war on terror."  Santorum has spoken out against the execution of gays in Iran, but as to the Obama administration's decision to withhold aid to countries that execute and otherwise deny human rights to gays and lesbians, claimed that the decision "promoted an agenda."

Peter LaBarbera, another far right Christian who, like Santorum, thinks that gay rights need to be reversed, is angry about Santorum's "Google problem," characterizing it as cyber-bullying.  As president of "Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality," LaBarbera wrote:

Today, I appeal to homosexual activist Dan Savage: take down your anti-Rick Santorum hate-site, Santorum.com.

Admittedly, it seems ludicrous to appeal to man who would go to such hateful lengths to sabotage religious conservatives that he would intentionally try to give a Republican presidential candidate a cold (Gary Bauer, 2000), or use Google to demonize an opponent in such a despicable way. Nevertheless, I make the appeal because bullying is bullying, and it must stop.

We get it, Dan, you HATE Rick Santorum, and you want to punish him for comments he made about the Supreme Court's decision legalizing sodomy. But as a prolific writer and advocate, surely you have abundant opportunities to address Santorum's arguments civilly — without resorting to cruel, twisted campaigns designed to destroy a man's name and reputation by associating it with perversion.

"Santorum.com" (like its malevolent cousin, "Spreading Santorum") is advanced cyber-bullying, pure and simple. You are a role model for "gay" youth, and your "It Gets Better" video campaign to help kids overcome bullying in their teen years has gained international attention. Yet bizarrely, with apparent ends-justifies-the-means rationale, you yourself have employed heinous bullying methods to malign Mr. Santorum – tactics you would strongly condemn if used against a self-identified "gay" kid. [AFTAH opposes all bullying of youth without regard to special criteria; we disagree with the "It Gets Better" campaign because it seeks to normalize homosexuality and celebrate immoral LGBT identities.]

Is this the lesson you want to teach young people? That if they encounter a person who disagrees with homosexual behavior, it's OK to use the slimiest tactics imaginable to go after that person?

You and your homosexual partner have an adopted son. What did or will you tell him about Santorum.com? Have you no compassion for Rick Santorum's wife, children and extended family, who too must bear the brunt of your high-tech smear?

And to the media I ask this: please hold Dan Savage and his homosexual and liberal supporters accountable for this heinous and malicious web slander. Stop joking about it, and do not act as if Rick Santorum's "Google problem" just appeared out of nowhere. This is calculated character assassination engineered by a "gay" activist who, ironically, crusades against hate. Do not reward Savage with media appearances. In fact, treat him as you would, say, a deranged, far-right activist who had created "BarbaraBoxer[dot]com" and "redefined" her name in a similarly evil manner.

LaBarbera has remarked that gays exploit AIDs for power an characterized gays and lesbians as part of a "truly evil" movement that is part of "Satan's plan."  LaBarbera's Americans for Truth About Homosexuality has been characterized as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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