Michele Bachmann and Minnesota Family Council

Madame Bachmann is not going to like this...

Taken from her own Wikipedia page

According to Bloomberg.com news, evangelical conservative leader James Dobson put the resources of his organization behind her 2006 campaign. Dobson's Focus on the Family planned to distribute 250,000 voter guides in Minnesota churches to reach social conservatives, according to Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, a local affiliate of Dobson's group. In addition to Minnesota, Dobson’s group also organized turnout drives in Pennsylvania, Maryland,Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Montana.^[27]

Franken takes on Family Council, anti-LGBT bullying

Sen. Al Fraken

Sen. Al Franken called the words of Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard “unbelievable” in an interview with the Advocate on Tuesday. Prichard wrote last week that “homosexual activists” share in the blame when LGBT students commit suicide because “they’ve embraced an unhealthy sexual identity and lifestyle.”

To that quote Franken said, “After all the tragedy that Anoka-Hennepin school district students have endured this year, I find unbelievable that anyone would suggest that bullying is not a problem.”

Also on Tuesday Franken wrote in an article posted at the Huffington Post that the string of suicides by LGBT students around the country this year is “inexcusable.” He said he’s working with groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network to pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which prohibits schools from ignoring harassment and bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

“It is inexcusable that toxic school environments have been contributing to the deaths of innocent children,” he wrote. “We must act now to prevent these tragedies.”

Franken introduced the bill this spring. A companion to the bill has been submitted in the House and is sponsored by Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum and James Oberstar.

“Some view this epidemic of suicides as a wake-up call and are looking for ways to prevent future tragedies,” Franken wrote. “We firmly believe that if schools work to create positive cultures and if Congress passes the Student Non-Discrimination Act, those steps will be a huge stride forward in protecting LGBT students from the bullying and harassment that is all too common in schools today.”

At least three LGBT students have taken their own life in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, the state’s largest school district, and concerned parents and teachers have begun to pressure the school to make changes. The district has seen at least six student suicides within the past year, with the most recent coming Sunday night, according to a Fox 9 report.

At a press conference last week in the district, Franken sent a statement saying, “In what should be an unthinkable scenario, some of these children and young people end their own life.” He added, “Anoka-Hennepin has witnessed too many tragedies this year. We need to do more to protect our children from bullying. It’s time we extend civil rights to LGBT students.”