Posted by
PFOX on Monday, December 08, 2008 11:52:45 AM
News Advisory: December 19, 2008
Contact: Regina Griggs, Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX)
804-453-4737 PFOX@pfox.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bankrupt mortgage giants Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae give thousands to homosexual groups
As mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hurtled to financial ruin, their charitable foundations continued to pour big money into homosexual causes.
Their largest single gifts came in the last year — just months before both companies collapsed and were taken over by the government.
Freddie Mac gave more than $20,000 to the 2008 fundraising gala of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG-DC). Fannie Mae gave between $10,000 - $19,000 to the same event.
According to its records, the Freddie Mac Foundation gave over $125,000 to gay-activist groups since 2005. The Fannie Mae Foundation donated about $80,000 to these groups over the last decade.
Both foundations gave money to PFLAG-DC for years.
Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), said, "We support individuals' rights to self-determination. We support families who have homosexual loved ones. We support those who have come out of homosexuality. We provide outreach and educate teens on same-sex attractions."
To Freddie and Fannie, Griggs says, "We would like equal money. We want the same financial opportunity that gay groups enjoy."
Shawn Flaherty, a spokeswoman for Freddie Mac, said she was not sure PFOX would meet the grant guidelines, adding the foundation focuses on three priorities — stable homes, foster care and adoption, and youth development.
The grants have not focused on the gay community, she said. "It's a piece of it."
Yet the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay lobby group, also benefited from the generosity of the government sponsored mortgage giants. During the last two years, Freddie Mac gave $65,000 to HRC to help homosexual couples adopt children.
Fannie Mae has sponsored at least five Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) events for a total of nearly $40,000 since 1998. GLADD’s purpose is to pressure the media to positively portray homosexuality and censor positive portrayals of ex-gays.
Griggs said the process seems agenda-driven: “PFLAG, GLAAD and HRC are gay-activist groups that oppose the civil rights of the ex-gay community.”
Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the openly gay congressman who chairs the Housing Banking Committee charged with oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has received more than $40,000 in campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie since 1989. Frank’s former boyfriend, Herb Moses, was an executive at Fannie Mae from 1991 to 1998 -- the same time Frank was serving on the Committee. In 2003, Frank rejected warnings about the soundness of both Fannie and Freddie as exaggerations and conjuring.
For now, all grants are under review.
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Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX)promotes an inclusive environment for the ex-gay community, and works to eliminate negative perceptions and discrimination against former homosexuals.