Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), on Monday
delivered his second annual “State of the Family Address,” where
he claimed that allowing gay couples to marry had led to “havoc in
our homes and blood in our streets.”
Among those attending the event was
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, whose unsuccessful attempt to keep her
office from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples
turned her into a Christian celebrity.
Perkins criticized President Barack
Obama for supporting marriage equality while talking about the
importance of fatherhood.
“The promise of strong efforts these
past seven years to restore fatherhood and reestablish family life in
our poorest communities has faded completely,” Perkins
said. “Instead, national policies have sown confusion about the
very definition of family. President Obama has extolled the virtues
of fatherhood even as he has fought for same-sex marriage, in essence
saying two same-gendered persons can parent as well as a mom and a
dad. This contradictory message is more than disappointing. For our
children throughout the country, it is devastating. It reduces
mothers and fathers to genderless caregivers. Our children deserve
better: They deserve a mom and a dad.”
“And we pay a price for this
incoherent, ideological campaign by havoc in our homes and blood in
our streets.”
“That’s why we have to re-empower
American parents. The decision of our courts on contraception for
minors, abortion on demand and redefining marriage have gravely
weakened the family,” he added.