IOWA: Anti-Gay Christianists Attempting Sioux City Government Takeover

According to the Des Moines Register, anti-gay Christianists are getting themselves appointed to the Sioux City Human Rights Commission and then suing pro-gay advocates for religious discrimination.

Protecting rights has taken an odd turn in Sioux City, where a faction on the city's Human Rights Commission has itself been filing religious discrimination charges with the state - against its own director, a fellow commissioner and a newspaper. Critics allege an anti-gay agenda linked to members' affiliations with a particular church. By law, the commission must protect gay civil rights. Director Karen Mackey, married to her female partner, was reportedly charged and cleared in what some call a witch hunt. Efforts against her included a retention vote, though she was retained 10-0 after city attorneys warned of the potential for a costly lawsuit.

These activities, some claim, are part of a broader mission to pack city boards and elective offices with people who share a religious viewpoint that homosexuality is a sin, and are intolerant of other religions. Three of 11 commissioners and a City Council member, Aaron Rochester, reportedly belong to the Cornerstone Church, which holds that view. Rochester is also co-founder, with a Cornerstone pastor, of the PeaceMakers PAC. Calls to Rochester and two commissioners were not returned.

Cornerstone World Outreach is 120-acre church complex and teleministry on the outskirts of Sioux City.

(Tipped by JMG reader Tim)