Michael W. Chapman is still using his Media Research Center-provided platform to rage against the LGBT community.
By Terry Krepel Posted 6/13/2018
Michael W. Chapman
CNSNews.com managing editor Michael W. Chapman has ably demonstrated his homophobia with the anti-gay items and writers he has put on the CNS website, as ConWebWatch documented last year. Chapman hasn't really stopped -- presumably because Brent Bozell and his Media Research Center bosses are totally down with the hate.
Indeed, he's continued on where we left off, On Sept. 6, Chapman posted two articles -- quoting "liberal Camille Paglia" and "feminist Germaine Greer," respectively -- critical of transgenders. CNS, however, has previously published conservative-friendlypronouncements by Paglia, including a previous attack on transgenders, which tells us she's not the "liberal" Chapman claimed she is. CNS has also published a previous attack on transgenders by Greer.
On Sept. 13, Chapman uncritically repeated a rant by anti-gay Rev. E.W. Jackson in which he asserted that the LGBT community "hates Christianity" and that gays who "brag about their sin" are responsible for "all kinds of disorder and chaos and, yes, natural disasters and so forth."
Chapman then deliberately failed to get Chelsea Manning's name correct in a Sept. 14 article, referring to her as "Bradley 'Chelsea' Manning."Chapman did it again the next day, adding that Manning is "a former U.S. Army soldier who now identifies as a 'woman'."
Most media outlets identify transgender individuals as the gender in which they present themselves publicly, but Chapman has decided he knows better than those biased, respectful journalists.
Chapman was at it again in a Nov. 8 blog post defending a "faithful" Catholic bishop for denying funerals to gays:
Because Robert C. Morlino, the Catholic bishop of the Madison Diocese, adheres to Church teaching and opposes funeral rites for homosexuals that would cause "scandal and confusion," gays and pro-sodomy advocates have launched a petition that calls on Pope Francis to remove Bishop Morlino from his position.
Simply, the LGBT activists do not want a Catholic bishop to actually believe in and follow Catholic teaching. They are in effect demanding that he celebrate sexual depravity.
But in all the Catholic canon law and allegedly authoritative statements from other Catholic officials that Chapman referenced, the word "depravity" is not used at all -- which means Chapman is freelancing from Catholic doctrine and hating on gays once again.
In a May 25 post, Chapman was more than happy to recount an anti-gay freakout in Belarus over a rainbow flag at the British embassy there:
After the British Embassy in Belarus flew a rainbow-gay flag above its front door on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, the Interior Ministry issued a statement denouncing the U.K.'s actions as contrary to the "traditional family" and the "Christian" values of Belarusians.
The Interior Ministry also stressed that "same-sex relationships" are "fake" because only a man and a woman together can produce children, and added that the Belarus government will protect traditional marriage and give it exclusive rights in the law.
In a May 17 Instagram post showing the rainbow flag, the U.K. Embassy said that it had posted "a rainbow flag today to support the LGBT community and draw public attention to the discrimination that LGBT people are constantly facing."
In reaction, the statement by the Belarus Interior Ministry said that Britain was challenging the country's "traditional values," reported the BBC.
"The overwhelming majority of Belarusians stick to traditional family values, including Christian ones," said the Interior Ministry. "And such statements [by the British] are a challenge to these values."
Relationships between men and women are the "only way of reproduction," said the Ministry. "No matter which way you look at it, a same-sex relationship is a fake. And the essence of the fake is always the same -- the erosion of the truth."
"The LGBT community and the whole struggle for its rights and this community’s [homophobia] day itself are all just fake!” said the Interior Ministry.
Chapman curiously didn't mention something that was in that BBC article: "In a report last year, human rights group Amnesty International said the LGBT community faced growing discrimination in Belarus as a result of repressive government policies." Then again, he's probably down that that type of repression.
Homophobia for the holidays
Chapman devoted a Dec. 20 blog post to whining about a new book that "tells the story of a black Santa, his white husband, and their life in the North Pole," complaining that it arrives "just in time to further sexualize (and homosexualize) children."
After quoting the book's author stating how its aim is to mock the "war on Christmas" meme promoted every year by conservatives, Chapman huffed: "Apparently, depicting two 'married' male Santas who presumably anally sodomize each other as pretend-love -- and deliver gifts to children! -- is in no way an attack on Christmas." Looks like someone isn't getting the joke. (And how does Chapman know that gay relationships are "pretend-love"? Has he ever talked to a gay person in his life?)
Chapman concluded his tirade by whining, "Maybe next Christmas the publisher Harper Collins can gift the world with a transgender Santa." Given that such a book will most certainly set off humorless homophobes like Chapman into paroxysms of rage -- a perverse entertainment unto itself -- we wouldn't be surprised if that's in the works.
More Catholic-framed gay-bashing
Judging by the amount of Catholic-related stuff he posts, Chapman is Catholic as well, and -- as indicated by his above defense of the bishop who denied funerals to gays -- he's tickled to death whenever a Catholic Church cardinal or priest is as anti-gay as he is.
On Dec. 19, Chapman touted a Mexican cardinal ranting about, among other things, "gender ideology, which with its package of perversions aggresses against family and life, with the unconfessed purpose of ruining societies, subjugating and plundering them."
On Jan. 4, Chapman highlighted how "Catholic Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis who now serves on the Vatican's highest court, said the 'homosexual condition' is an 'abnormal condition,' and that there is no reason for the Catholic Church to 'ask forgiveness for teaching the truth about sex and sexuality.'" Chapman's article also included a picture of a gay-pride march, which was curiously described as a "gay pride resistance march." There's also a picture of "David Kirby, a homosexual activist who died from AIDS in 1990," apparently near the end of his life; Chapman did not explain why the picture was used given that Kirby is mentioned nowhere in his article. Perhaps Chapman wanted to exploit Kirby's gaunt appearance as an apparent illustration of how he thinks all gays should be punished.
In a Jan. 10 article, Chapman found even more anti-gay rantings by that Mexican cardinal:
In an exclusive interview with the Catholic news service LifeSiteNews, the Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara, Mexico, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, said that "homosexuality is a psychological illness which can be cured," but for those who practice it they will face the same fate as those in Sodom and Gomorrah, who were "destroyed" by God for their sin.
[...]
He continued, "Even more so, knowing that homosexuality is a psychological illness which can be cured. Let them seek a cure, because homosexuality is never permitted."
"That's what Genesis is about, Gomorrah," said the Cardinal. "What happened with Sodom and Gomorrah? What happened? He destroyed them."
Chapman added, "The Catholic Church operates a very successful program for homosexuals who want to live chaste lives called Courage." Chapman offered no evidence to back up the claim about the program being "very successful."
When Catholics don't hate gays as much as Chapman does, however, he lashes out. He huffed in a Jan. 18 post:
Georgetown University, founded in 1789 and ostensibly a "Catholic" school, will offer a "gender & sexuality" housing complex for students starting in the 2018-19 academic year, which will operate as a residential center for homosexual, transgender, and "questioning" students, according to Campus Reform. The center was the brainchild of Georgetown senior Grace Smith, who leads the student government's LGBTQ+ Inclusivity Policy Team.
[...]
Although Georgetown University on paper is a Catholic school overseen by Jesuits, in practice it gave up its Catholic identity many years ago. The new LGBT housing community is further evidence of Georgetown's moral decline.
And in a Jan. 26 post, Chapman ranted that a German priest who suggested that the Catholic Church should offer some recognition of same-sex relationships was acting "in contradiction to 2,000 years of Catholic teaching on sex and marriage," later putting scare quotes around "marriages" when referring to the same-sex variety. Even recognition of couples involving partners who were once married in the church but later divorced and "civilly remarried" was a step too far for Chapman, declaring that those couples are "living in adultery."
In a stunning example of moral sanity and common sense, the Department of Education will now reject any cases dealing with bathroom complaints by transgender students, reported BuzzFeed, and which leftist Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed in a tweet with #ProtectTransStudents.
On Monday, BuzzFeed ran a storyheadlined, "The Education Department Says it Will Reject Transgender Bathroom Complaints."
The story noted that the Trump administration, back in February 2017, rescinded Obama-era rules that said public schools should allow transgenders to use the bathroom of their choice, e.g., a male student who imagines he is female may use the ladies room. Since then, liberals and LGBT activists have demanded that the Trump administration clarify its position on this issue.
On Feb. 8, Education Department spokesman Liz Hill told BuzzFeed that the federal Title IX law "prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity."
Note Chapman's highly biased language, portraying the right-wing policy change as dripping with "moral sanity and common sense" while dismissing critics of it as "liberals" and "leftists."
Chapman went on to quote his favorite anti-trans doctor, Paul McHugh, claiming that "transgenderism is a 'mental disorder' that can be treated and sex change is 'biologically impossible' because one cannot change one's chromosomes." He didn't mention that McHugh's views have beendiscredited.
Chapman concluded: "Clearly, the proper response to transgenderism is mental health treatment, not bathroom reassignment." Meanwhile, Chapman's employer (and, one can assume, Chapman himself) thinks the proper response to homosexuality is discredited conversion therapy.
When Pope Francis reportedly refused to condemn a gay man, Chapman was on it. Chapman complained in a May 21 CNS blog post:
Juan Carlos Cruz, who as a boy was sexually abused by the Chilean priest -- abuse that reportedly was covered up by the bishops of Chile -- said that in a recent meeting with Pope Francis, the Holy Father told him that God made made him gay and "loves you like this." The Pope apparently did not say that Cruz should seek to avoid homosexual behavior, which is "intrinsically disordered" and a serious sin, according to the 2,000-year-old teaching of the Catholic Church.
The Church also teaches that sodomy -- homosexual behavior, not the inclination -- is one of the four sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance.
[...]
Apparently, the Pope did not advise Cruz to try to avoid homosexual behavior and seek therapy that could help him to live a celibate life or be healed from his affliction.
The next day, Chapman further complained that "several LGBT activists have praised the pontiff" for his reported remarks, huffing that "The Catholic Church does not teach that God made certain people homosexual." He also quoted a right-wing cardinal ranting that homosexuality "defiles everything, stains everything, pollutes everything. And as for itself, it permits nothing pure, nothing clean, nothing other than filth.…"
On May 23, Chapman had another follow-up quoting Cardinal Timothy Dolan calling for a "clarification" of what the pope said, adding that he does not think the Pope "would feel competent to speak" on whether one is born a homosexual. Chapman wrote that "It is the teaching of the Catholic Church that persons with same-sex attractions must be treated with the same dignity and respect accorded to all people" -- then quoted St. Bernardine of Siena calling homosexuality a sin that "has always been detested by all those who live according to God" that reduces people to "vile and useless and putrid things." He then quoted another saint calling sodomy "disgustingly foul."
Chapman didn't explain how these statements mesh with that whole "dignity and respect" thing.
Giving a platform to anti-trans writer
As befits a "news" organization with an unrepentant homophobe as managing editor, CNSNews.com gives a lot of space to people with anti-LGBT views. One of them is Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation.
Anderson is an anti-LGBT activist who tends to rely on shoddy research and dishonest attacks to back up his work, and he get lots of right-wing press because he presents himself as reasonable, though he really isn't.
Last July, CNS gave Anderson space to rant that, as summarized in the headline, "Biology Isn’t Bigotry: 5 Reasons Why Trans Accommodations Aren’t Compatible with Military Realities." Anderson also promoted "my forthcoming book 'When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.'"
When that book came out earlier this year, CNS gave Anderson a lot more space. A Jan. 22 column touted the work of anti-trans doctor Paul McHugh, despite the fact that his work has been widely discredited. (Not that it has stopped Chapman from promoting McHugh as well.)
Anderson's Feb. 1 CNS column perfectly illustrates the faux-reasonable attitude he purports to bring to the transgender debate:
Properly understanding sex, gender, gender identity, and gender dysphoria will continue to be pressing concerns in 2018.
A proper understanding is a prerequisite for properly forming people in the truth and properly ministering to people in need.
As new gender ideologies are promoted throughout America, their lies will impact not only those who suffer from gender dysphoria, but all children who need to mature in their self-understanding as a boy or girl, man or woman, a potential husband or wife, father or mother.
Anderson then claimed that "My book provides a nuanced view of our sexed embodiment, a balanced approach to policy issues involving transgender identity and gender more broadly, and a sober and honest survey of the human costs of getting human nature wrong." Given that he's already dismissed anyone who disagrees with his viewpoint as liars, it's unlikely there's much actual nuance involved.
Indeed, his Feb. 9 column huffed that "at the heart of the transgender moment are radical ideas about the human person," adding: "A transgender future is not the 'right side of history,' yet activists have convinced the most powerful sectors of our society to acquiesce to their demands. While the claims they make are manifestly false, it will take real work to prevent the spread of these harmful ideas."
Anderson's Feb. 19 column huffed that "Parents in Ohio lost custody of their 17-year-old daughter Friday because a judge ruled that she should be allowed to receive therapy, including testosterone therapy, to identify as a boy" -- but he declined to comment specifically on the case, meaning he didn't have to discuss the fact that the parents' attitude toward their child was reportedly inducing suicidal feelings -- then used that story to go on another anti-transgender rant.
Finally, Anderson's March 9 column denounced sex reassignment surgery, citing McHugh once again and engaging in more faux reasonableness: "Thoughts that disguise or distort reality are misguided—and can cause harm. In 'When Harry Became Sally,' I argue that we need to do a better job of helping people who face these struggles."
Anderson's anti-trans campaign has also gotten the endorsement of Chapman's Media Research Center bosses. Tim Graham and Brent Bozell's Feb. 9 column touted Anderson's book for making the right enemies in their eyes: "Anderson's book is dismissed as 'hate speech,' and let's not kid ourselves: The LGBT folks would like to ban a book like this, especially when he discusses that which they wish were silenced.
Graham and Bozell even used the book as an excuse to ignore President Trump's history of immorality: "That's a strong reason for the churchgoing conservatives to look past Trump's 'Access Hollywood' braggadocio and affairs from before he became a politician and vote against the extremism — the evil extremism — that Hillary Clinton endorsed."
Talk about demonizing people you oppose. No wonder CNS and the MRC love Anderson and his book.
Remember: Chapman is doing all this gay-bashing as an MRC employee, meaning that these views are effectively the MRC's as well. And since Chapman remains an MRC employee, Brent Bozell and Co. clearly have no problem with that.
