Bob Vander Plaats, head of Iowa-based
The Family Leader, has compared opposition to marriage equality to
efforts to abolish slavery.
Speaking with conservative radio host
Steve Deace, the pair criticized Republican governors who have
refused to appeal decisions knocking down state marriage bans,
including Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Chris Christie of New Jersey
and, most recently, Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania.
The Family Leader has made little
headway in its 5-year fight against an Iowa Supreme Court decision
which legalized marriage equality in Iowa.
Nevertheless, Vander Plaats, a three
time failed gubernatorial candidate, insisted Republicans should not
give up the fight against LGBT rights.
“We actually stand for what God has
designed because, just like with slavery, the truth is on our side,”
he
said. “We can win this battle.”
In 2012, The Family Leader suggested
that African-American families were better off under slavery, stating
that “a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be
raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an
African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first
African-American president.”