World Congress of Families Suspends Russia Conference
The anti-LGBT hate group World Congress of Families (WCF) was scheduled to hold its 2014 gathering this September , with the opening session slated to take place in the Kremlin. WCF announced a change in those plans today in a , stating that planning for the meeting 鈥渉as been suspended for the time being.鈥�
The press release further noted that the 鈥渟ituation in the Ukraine and Crimea (and the resulting U.S. and European sanctions) has raised questions about the travel, logistics, and other matters necessary to plan WCF VIII.鈥� WCF went out of its way to 鈥渁pplaud the moves of the Russian people鈥� to protect 鈥渓ife, the family and the innocence of children.鈥� According to WCF, 鈥淲estern governments are moving backward to a pagan worldview鈥� while Russia is leading the charge to save the 鈥渘atural family.鈥�
WCF fully embraced Russia鈥檚 anti-LGBT law against 鈥渉omosexual propaganda,鈥� passed in 2013, which made it a crime to disseminate information about LGBT rights among minors (effectively banning public dissemination). WCF executive director Larry Jacobs a 鈥済reat idea鈥� and hailed Russian officials for preventing gay people from 鈥渃orrupting children.鈥� WCF also a letter of support for the Russian law, decrying opposition to it. In 2009, a UN statement that called for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. WCF argued that this was a 鈥渟pecial rights measure鈥� for homosexuals.
Two Russians who have been heavily involved with WCF are on the U.S. sanctions list following Russia鈥檚 annexation of Crimea. Parliament member was the driving force behind the nationwide push for the anti-gay propaganda law. As the head of the Russian parliament鈥檚 Committee on Family, Women and Children, she has pushed for other policies, including punishing online cursing and imposing a tax on divorce. The other is , CEO of Russian Railways, who sits on the planning committee for WCF. His wife, Natalia Yakunina, heads up the Sanctity of Motherhood program.
as a project of the Illinois-based Howard Center for Family, Society and Religion by conservative activist Allan Carlson, who has a long history in the Religious Right and served during the Reagan administration as an appointee to the National Commission on Children. WCF hosts major conferences in cities around the world and counts U.S. conservative groups among its allies. The list of partners for its Sydney, Australia conference (held in 2013) included the Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned Women for America, Family Watch International, Focus on the Family, National Organization for Marriage and United Families International. Partners from 2012 included Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, the Family Research Council and the American Family Association.
U.S.-based groups that are involved of the Moscow conference include Focus on the Family, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). Austin Ruse, C-FAM鈥檚 president and a longtime WCF organizer, recently that liberal university officials should be 鈥渢aken out and shot.鈥� A C-FAM board member resigned in response.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) withdrew from the Russian conference two weeks ago as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated. , a senior fellow at CWA鈥檚 Beverly LaHaye Institute, sits on the board of the Howard Center. CWA president Penny Nance that she didn鈥檛 want to appear to be 鈥済iving aid and comfort to Vladimir Putin.鈥� WCF does not appear to share her concern.
