Cathi Herrod, a heavyweight lobbyist and president of the Center for Arizona Policy, believes there is a grand conspiracy afoot for gays to "gain access to our schools and to our children."
We're not sure what is supposed to happen after this "access" is gained, but it seems like something awful. Perhaps they will start forcing the children to build landing strips for gay martians?
Her fears prompted her to work behind the scenes and squash SB 1462, an anti-bullying measure that was approved in the state Senate with bi-partisan support. With calls to her lackeys friends in the House of Representatives, she ensured the bill would not see the light of day.
And, now, it's dead.
She wrote in a blog, "The Bully Agenda" that while the "bill seems well-intentioned," when you "look behind the curtain at what is driving this nationwide dialogue, you find ... the same organizations working to redefine marriage and to force cultural acceptance and affirmation of homosexual lifestyles."
Also disturbing is Herrod's dodging of questions.
Watch her skedaddle from 12 News' Brahm Resnik when he tries to ask her about her views. You can hear her say she's not available -- too busy with a photo shoot to explain why bullying is "agenda-driven propaganda."
What's bizarre is that the now-dead bill doesn't mention anything about the bullying of any specific group, whether LGBT youth or special needs children or students with certain religious convictions.
And, she complains in her blog that a parent wrote to her because his daughter was forced to watch a video that followed one student's "ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today."
The father is also upset, Herrod writes, because the school didn't get his permission to subject his daughter to the film. And yet, the proposed law would have required school to obtain expressed parental consent for students to participating in any training to raise awareness and prevent bullying.
Bullying is an issue of personal interest to Nicole France Stanton, wife of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. During a press conference today, she expressed her "utter disgust" at the gay conspiracies.
She promised that the bill would be revived during the next legislative session and that "we will not yield to the homophobic rhetoric that killed the bill."
