Kline said it’s good to remember “the importance of Judeo-Christian values that are at the core of our great country and it’s important that we remember those and if they are slipping away, and many people think we are, that we recapture them.”

“I’m standing here on this stage with a document [the United States Constitution] that was founded on those Judeo-Christian principles of belief in the almighty and belief in an all powerful God,” he added. “We opened this rally with prayer to that God, but we have many people sometime — nameless, faceless people — who are literally trying to erase God from the public square, from the nation’s capital.”

Kline recalled a situation where the Capitol Visitor’s Center was undergoing revisions to their display of the House, and the Center had left the words “In God We Trust” off of it’s replica. He said the Congressional Prayer Group worked to get the words included.

“We won that battle,” he said. “God is back in the speaker’s seat. But that was a battle not the war.”

Here are Kline’s full remarks courtesy of TheUptake:

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Patrick Caldwell

Rep. Michele Bachmann is listed on the Values Voter Summit’s 2012 presidential straw poll along with 16 other potential candidates, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty. When asked, Bachmann hasn’t said she’s running for president; she simply says she’s focused on getting reelected, but if God asks her to run, she will.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Family Research Council — a group founded by James Dobson — announced a list of presidential contenders that religious right leaders and summit attendees will see on the ballot next week:

The ballot will feature 17 possible presidential candidates, several of whom will be speaking at the Summit – Michele Bachmann, Jan Brewer, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Jim DeMint, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Rick Santorum.

The Values Voter Summit is put together by Dobson’s FRC, the American Family Association, the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and the Heritage Foundation.

“The first 2012 presidential primaries may be more than a year away but values voters are already surveying the very wide field of possible candidates,” said Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins in a statement Tuesday. “This early test of the presidential field will provide an early indication of who might be the candidate of real change in 2012.”

Bachmann is listed as a confirmed speaker, but Pawlenty, who spoke at the event in 2009, is not listed as invited or as a speaker.

Protests over alleged harassment last year. Photo: Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent

The woman sobbed as she told her son’s story to the Anoka-Hennepin School Board on Monday. “Hi, I’m Tammy Aaberg, the mother of Justin Aaberg, who was a gay student at Anoka High School who committed suicide July 9th of this year.” The school district has become ground zero in the battle between those who want safe spaces for LGBT students and those who want any mention of homosexuality banned from high school campuses.

According to LGBT advocates, Justin’s death is one of three suicides by gay students in the last year, and while the district says it takes bullying seriously and has beefed up discipline against harassment, it has spurned invitations by LGBT groups to do anti-bullying education. To make matters more complicated, a group of parents opposed to homosexuality has formed to put pressure on the board not to bow to LGBT interests.

The district — the state’s largest, with around 40,000 students — made headlines last year when the Minnesota Department of Human Rights alleged that two teachers conspired to harass a student, Alex Merritt, who they thought was gay. The news led to protests at school board meetings urging the district to adopt stronger anti-bullying policies and offers by LGBT groups to provide education. The school board rebuffed those efforts.

Now, with news of three suicides by LGBT students within a year, family and friends who have lost loved ones are demanding the district make changes.

“For those of you who have never had a gay child, you need to know it is one of the scariest things to learn because you know that they will need to deal with a lot of criticism and harassment in their lives, and it makes me worry,” Aaberg said.

Justin’s family and friends told the board that he had been bullied at Anoka High School before he took his own life. “Do you think my son Justin deserved to die because there are other kids who feel superior by picking on him and no staff member will stop them?” she asked the board.

Two LGBT students also used the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting to describe their feelings of isolation at school.

Christina, who graduated from Anoka High School and who was friends with Justin, said, “When experiencing these problems, you can’t go to your parents, where you face rejection from those you love the most.” She continued, “You can’t go to your church if you are in condemnation from a religion you’ve always embraced.”

“You can’t go to your community.” She added, “Even in parks we have experienced harassment from people shouting ‘lesbian’ at us until we eventually got in the car and drove away.”

Megan, another 2010 graduate, took issue with the school’s policies. “It says that it is better for students to go to their home or their community or their church. I can’t go to any of those. I go home and my parents tell me I am cursed. I go to my church and I am rejected and condemned. I go to my community? What community do I have to go to?”

Megan was referring to a 2009 school board policy that says sexual orientation is not to be taught in the district.

Teaching about sexual orientation is not a part of the District adopted curriculum; rather, such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches, or community organizations. Anoka-Hennepin staff, in the course of their professional duties, shall remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation including but not limited to student led discussions.

That policy, the AH District 11 Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy, has become the battleground for LGBT advocates and members of the religious right.

Parents Action League doesn’t disclose its membership, funding

In July, a shadow group of parents formed in the district with the intention on staving off any advances for LGBT students. The Parents Action League launched its website in June along with a petition that reads, “Whereas homosexual behavior exposes participants to many life-threatening health risks; and whereas the classroom environment needs to be solely focused on academics; Therefore, we the undersigned citizens of Anoka-Hennepin School District No. 11 do whole heartedly support and desire that the School Board adhere to … the AH District 11 Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy.”

When the Minnesota Independent asked who founded the group and if it had any connections to other “pro-family” groups in the state, an unsigned email came back: “We think our website explains very well what we’re about and who founded it – citizens in the Anoka Hennepin School District.”

When questioned about ways to get more information about the group’s activities, the Independent was told via email, “We do not see your name on our on-line petition. Once you sign the petition, we may be contacting you” [emphasis theirs].

The group’s domain name registration doesn’t include identities of any group members, nor is the Parents Action League registered with any entity in Minnesota such as the Secretary of State’s office.

What is clear from the group’s website, however, is its ideology.

It wants the district to “respect traditional family values” and to “provide valid resources for students (and their families) struggling with sexual identity and/or same-sex attraction.” It seeks to “ensure that all health curriculum teach healthy sexuality and promote abstinence until marriage.” The group also wants the district to “promote the Day of Truth” each year.

The Day of Truth is an event organized by Exodus International, a group that says it can turn gay people straight through Christian prayer. It encourages students to bring the Exodus message into schools one day before the Day of Silence, an event that draws attention to violence against LGBT people.

The Parents Action League also has concerns about the district. It bemoans a “lack of resources and assistance for those students seeking to leave the homosexual lifestyle” and “an increase in pro-gay curriculum materials and resources used in our schools.”

The group is also concerned about “the health risks to students who are affirmed and labeled as ‘gay’ and who may participate in homosexual acts” and “the pro-gay activist teachers who fail to abide by district policies and use their classroom to promote their personal agendas.”

Gay Equity Team targets bullying

On the opposite side of the spectrum, another group has formed in response to the alleged harassment of Alex Merritt by two teachers. The Anoka Hennepin Gay Equity Team or GET is “committed to creating a safe, affirming, welcoming and empowering climate in the Anoka-Hennepin School District for all people regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Over the last few months, the group has been responding to the troubling news of LGBT students taking their own lives. Peter Gokey is a member of GET and a former teacher in the district. He said the district has made positive steps to address bullying. It has added LGBT themes in its anti-bullying training videos, and the teachers union has created a training for teachers in the district as well.

But, Gokey says, until the district addresses the the AH District 11 Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy, also known as the “neutrality policy,” the hands of teachers, staff and students are tied when trying to create a welcoming environment for LGBT students.

“It is the lack of cultural competency on gay issues that fosters an environment where bullying is possible, and the neutrality policy is a reflection of that lack of competency,” Gokey said. “Being reactive to bullying is necessary but not sufficient to reverse the suicide trend in the district. Proactive measures to be more affirming are needed; sadly, such measures are prohibited under the neutrality policy.”

The policy is also problematic because it is hardly neutral, he says.

“The policy is general to all issues of sexual orientation, but is only used against GLBT issues. In practice, no one is expected to remain neutral on the straight identity,” said Gokey. “The gay population is the only population that the district singles out in policy, creating stigma in how staff perceive and even interact with gay kids.”

Gokey said that anti-bullying policies are important but insufficient; the neutrality policy should also be changed. “It would remove just one more isolating factor, besides depression and bullying, that contributes to the suicides happening up there.”

Gokey also said that the Parents Action League will not deter GET from its mission to create a school where LGBT students feel safe. If anything, he said, it’s motivated the group to work even harder.

“Their aims are perfectly consistent with many other groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as hate groups, so on one hand it’s easy to blow them off, yet on the other hand, such extreme views as this are troubling,” he said.

Of most concern, he said, is “how [members of the Parents Action League] have worked so carefully to hide their identities. That level of secrecy suggests insecurity to me, and suggests nefarious intentions.”

He added, “We have nothing to hide about who we are or what our goals are. We’re all proud of what we’re doing.”

Anti-bullying measures not enough

While the two sides gear up to lobby the district to see their side, it’s little consolation for those who have lost friends and loved ones due to isolation, bullying and harassment. At Monday’s school board meeting, comments were directed at the neutrality policy.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t learn of this unfair school sexuality policy until after Justin died,” Tammy Aaberg told the board. “I was reading some information online which other parents had posted. There are some people who think parents should have rights not to have their kids exposed to homosexuality.”

“Well, news flash: There are homosexual people all over the world. Having your kid meet a homosexual in school and possibly even having a nice conversation with one isn’t going to turn your kid into one.”

School board Chairman Tom Heidemann thanked Aaberg for her testimony. But he said the neutrality policy and the bullying policy were two separate things.

“Just so you know, there are two distinct policies,” he said. “One is a curriculum policy and the other is a bullying policy. Under no circumstances should anybody in Anoka-Hennepin be bullied. It is the expectation of this school board that a teacher or administrator would take immediate action and if they don’t we would expect disciplinary action.”

Gokey agrees with Heidemann; the district is giving much attention to the issue of bullying in the district’s schools. But it is still not enough.

“The school board is very clear that they are taking the bullying issue very seriously, and by all accounts they are,” he said. “The problem is that they myopically fail to see a connection between their neutrality policy and the poor environment for GLBT kids that exists.”

Marcus Bachmann. Photo: Karl Bremer for the Minnesota Independent

The watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says it’s opening an investigation into taxpayer funds going to Bachmann and Associates, Inc., a Christian mental health counseling clinic owned by Rep. Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus. The Minnesota Independent first reported on the clinic’s receipt of public funds, totalling nearly $30,000, back in June.

“[W]e would like to think that Bachmann, as a member of Congress, knows better than to take state funds to run a sectarian organization,” wrote Sandhya Bathija on the group’s blog. “Catholic Charities and other groups may receive government funding, but they must keep their religious activities separate from their social services.”

She added, “It doesn’t look like the Bachmanns are doing that. If the clinic wants state funds, it must perform secular social services – not proselytize or discriminate in hiring. It’s as simple as that.”

According to Jason Wilson, a legal intern with Americans United, the group is investigating “Bachmann and Associates’ funding and how they receive their funds from the state and/or federal government.”

Granite City Baptist Church

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a group targeting Minnesota as a battleground over same-sex marriage this summer and fall, is hosting an anti–gay marriage rally at Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud on July 29. The church and its pastor, Dennis Campbell, were at the center of controversy earlier this year over an ad it placed in the St. Cloud Times that claimed “Moslems [sic]… will destroy the constitution.”

“What happens when Moslems take over a nation?” asked Campbell in the ad. “They will destroy the constitution and force the Moslem religion on the society, take freedom of religion away, and they will persecute all other religions.”

The ad continued, “How do Moslems seek to take control of a nation? “Moslems seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs and by supporting the gay agenda.” (Campbell later said the ad wasn’t racist, but showed his desire to convert Muslims to Christianity.)

Campbell and Granite City are bringing in the National Organization for Marriage to fight that “gay agenda.” NOM says the tour aims to protect “the institution of marriage” which “has been under attack by radical activists who want to redefine its very meaning.”

Dennis Campbell

And the strategist behind the 20-stop tour, Louis Marinelli, says that gays are seeking “prostitution, pedophilia, and polygamy.”

NOM did not respond to repeated requests for comment by the Minnesota Independent about the tour stop at Campbell’s church.

Campbell’s ad this spring prompted members of Minnesota’s Muslim community to respond with their own ad. The Council on American-Islamic Relation of Minnesota bought an ad in the St. Cloud Times.

“Fear mongering only furthers the anti-Muslim hysteria we are seeing in St. Cloud and nationwide,” said Lori Saroya, president of CAIR-MN. Saroya says her group first heard of Campbell’s ad when Christian groups called her office saying they were appalled by it.

OutFront Minnesota staff attorney Phil Duran said it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that NOM would be in partnership with a pastor that espouses anti-Muslim views.

“It would not seem particularly astute of NOM to ally itself with an institution currently infamous for targeting Muslims, but I do seem to recall that it is said that those who openly espouse one form of bigotry often espouse various others,” he said. “It speaks volumes about the agenda that motivates NOM and its supporters.”

“Today, that agenda openly targets GLBT people,” he added. “But who will it be tomorrow?”

Bachmann’s campaign manager, Gina Countryman, told the Strib that she “has absolutely no reason to question the president’s citizenship, as much as her detractors wish was the case. She’s attending so she can share her passion for our nation’s founding and belief in fiscally responsible, limited government with those in attendance.”

Farah said the newspaper unfairly tarnished Bachmann for her appearance in a “Socialism: A Clear and Present Danger,” a documentary created by Coral Ridge Ministries which has come under fire from a Jewish group, the Anti-Defamation League, for its statements about the Holocaust.

Farah wrote, “Rep. Michele Bachmann is a target of the local and national media for one very good reason – because she’s an extremely effective advocate of the uniquely American-style of liberty, justice and morality.”

He continued, “Bachmann, who will be a speaker at WND’s ‘Taking America Back’ conference this fall, is the real deal – guts, convictions, the ability to articulate the vision, fearless, uncompromising. We need to support incumbents like her when we take the Congress back in November.”

“For over a decade, the institution of marriage, the very bedrock on which civilized society rests, has been under attack by radical activists who want to redefine its very meaning,” the group says on its website. “The tour will criss-cross the east coast, mid-west and southern states to hold a series of 20 rallies to encourage supporters to stand up for marriage. Many of the states we are visiting are the key battlegrounds in this critical debate.”

Marriage equality advocates have announced a counter tour to coincide with NOM’s tour:

“As part of Freedom to Marry’s Summer for Marriage, we are working with our supporters, as well as local and state partners, to plan rallies and other events wherever NOM is planning to push discrimination and distort the truth about gay couples and their families,” said the Freedom to Marry Foundation in a press release last week. “In 17 states and the District of Columbia, we will share our stories and demonstrate how the denial of marriage harms same-sex couples and their families, while helping no one.”

The NOM tour will be in St. Paul on July 28, in St. Cloud on July 29, and in Rochester on July 30.

Photo: Simax105, Flickr

Brian Johnson and his family will be allowed to hand out Bibles and preach against homosexuality at the Twin Cities Pride Festival on Saturday and Sunday in Minneapolis’ Loring Park, according to a ruling by district court Judge John Tunheim. Twin Cities Pride sought an injunction to prevent the Johnson’s from handing materials out at the park after the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board decided to allow the Johnson’s. Pride’s injunction was rejected on Friday afternoon.

“The court’s task here is to balance these competing interests to the greatest extent possible–to enable all speakers to exercise their constitutional rights–and then to depend on reasonable and law-abiding people to stay within proper limits,” wrote Tunheim.

He said Johnson’s plans to preach and hand out Bibles were “quintessential activities protected by the First Amendment, so long as he remains undisruptive.”

Last year, Johnson and his wife Lois, were arrested for refusing to leave the park after handing out Bibles. Those charges were later dropped.

Twin Cities Pride Parade, 2008. Photo: Andy Birkey

Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans will gather along Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis Sunday for the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade. Mayor RT Rybak says the parade is the largest in the city, so it’s no wonder dozens of politicians hit the campaign trail there each year. This weekend four of the five major party candidates for governor will be at Pride, and while one important Republican — Tom Emmer — will be missing, a fellow GOPer is taking the opportunity to show that not all Republicans share views with the religious right.

Candidates for governor will have a high profile at the parade. Democrats Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza have their own spots in the parade, and Margaret Anderson Kelliher will be marching with the Stonewall DFL, which endorsed her at the state Democrats’ convention in April. The campaign of Tom Horner, Independence Party gubernatorial candidate, says they’ll be in the parade as well.

GOP-endorsed candidate Tom Emmer won’t be attending. A campaign spokesman tells the Minnesota Independent he’ll be in Lake City for Lake City Water Ski Days on Sunday.

And though Republicans are generally a rarity at the parade, a GOP-endorsed candidate for House District 60A will proudly be marching this year. Brian Gruber, who is looking to replace Kelliher, says in Minneapolis being a Republican and supporting LGBT rights isn’t that out of the ordinary.

“Most people associate Republicans with the religious right, and while that perception may be true of many of the national and state party leaders, it certainly does not describe myself or a number of the Republicans in Minneapolis,” he told the Minnesota Independent.

He said the pride festival and parade are great events.

“I want to show my support for the LGBT community, and ask for their support as well,” he said. “I have a difficult time understanding why the DFL enjoys such high levels of support from the LGBT community, considering that the DFL has controlled the legislature for the past four years without making any progress on equality issues.”

Brian Gruber, via Facebook

On Monday, Gruber tweeted that he’s “100% behind GLBT equality,” but that stance directly conflicts with the GOP platform (pdf), which is opposed to: a repeal of the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy; same-sex marriage and civil unions for LGBT people; and schools teaching or providing resources about — or even discussing — “the topic of family structure, human sexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgenderism.” The GOP’s Emmer is the only candidate for governor opposing gay marriage.

Though Gruber acknowledges he’s taken some flak from some people in the state GOP, he said that locally the party has been supportive.

“I do realize that most people are surprised to see a Republican who supports LGBT equality. The two-party system has had a severe polarizing effect among politicians,” he said. “I am fortunate that the Republicans of Minneapolis were reasonable enough to endorse a candidate who wants to reduce spending and bring careers to Minnesota, while not embracing the traditional conservative social stances.”

On his political philosophy, Gruber says it’s a matter of liberty.

“Each one of us are in the best position to make decisions regarding our personal and private lives,” he said. “The more personal and private a decision, the less the government should be involved.”

He added, “Choosing who you will share your life with is just about as personal a decision as there is.”

Along with Gruber, the Minneapolis City Republican Committee and the Log Cabin Republicans will also be participating in Pride this year.

Other politicians making their mark on the parade with their own contingent are Minneapolis City Council member Diane Hofstede, Mayor Rybak, Hennepin County Commissioners Peter McLaughlin and Gail Dorfman, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, state Sen. Scott Dibble and Minneapolis school board candidate T Williams.

The film combines clips from speeches by President Obama and interviews by individuals like Bachmann with images of the Communist Manifesto and of figures like Stalin, Castro, Mao and Hugo Chavez.

In the first part of the video, Bachmann says that Americans should pay taxes because Jesus said so, but only 10 percent.

“What Jesus said, ‘Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto God that which is God’s,’ so there certainly is a place for us to pay taxes to government. That’s legitimate. We should do that as Jesus instructs,” she said.

A still from the documentary

She continued, “But we render to God that which is God’s and the Bible calls for, approximately we are thinking of tithe, maybe 10 percent that we are giving to God, but beyond that we also give to charity. Jesus didn’t ask government to be the charity; he asks the the individual and the church to be charitable.”

In the second segment, Bachmann says Americans have become slaves to government.

“We’ve become indentured servants to the government. That’s not what the founders envisioned for us,” she said. “They envisioned that we would work for ourselves, for our families, grow the nation. The new view that government has of those of us who are citizens is that now we exist to serve government. We need to reverse course so we can get back to freedom.”

Coral Ridge Ministries is a religious right group that has made it a mission to oppose Obama’s policies. The group also raised the ire of Jewish groups for saying Hitler committed the atrocities of the Holocaust because be believed in evolution.