Legalisation of same-sex marriage – an orchestrated international campaign funded by national governments

According to recent reports the US government and European Commission (the executive body of the European Union) are funding attempts to legalise same sex marriage worldwide.

Britain is coming under increasing pressure to legalise same-sex marriage. A consultation on same-sex marriage closed in Scotland in December 2011 and a new consultation is being launched in February in Westminster to consider legalisation in England and Wales.

The legalization of same sex marriage has the backing of leaders of all three main parties – David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband.

But these moves in Britain are actually part of an international campaign.

Since 2001 ten countries have legalized same sex marriage: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Sweden. As of 2012, proposals exist to introduce same-sex marriage in at least ten other countries.

Many more (including Britain) have legalized ‘civil unions’ (or civil partnerships) which give same sex couples essentially all the rights and privileges of married couples.

In addition six US states have legalized same sex marriage since 2004 (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont), although, as of June 2011, 12 states prohibit it via statute and 29 via the state's constitution.

This dramatic shift over the last ten years has occurred as the result of a carefully orchestrated and heavily funded international campaign.

But many will be surprised at how much of this money comes from national governments.

As part of a worldwide campaign to promote global acceptance of homosexuality, the Obama administration has just established a $3 million ‘Global Equality Fund’ to fund homosexual political ‘advocacy’ around the world at taxpayers’ expense.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton trumpeted the formation of the group in a speech she delivered in Geneva in December.

The Global Equality Fund is only one small part of an ambitious agenda to recast all U.S. foreign policy to support the LGBT cause around the world. Also in December, Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum instructing foreign embassies to ‘expand efforts to combat discrimination, homophobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBT status or conduct’ in their host countries.

According to another report last month, national governments are also funding similar moves in Europe.

European human rights lawyer J.C. von Krempach has taken a close look at the funding stream of the International Gay and Lesbian Association – Europe (ILGA) and concluded that most of their money comes indirectly from national governments.

ILGA is an advocacy group promoting homosexual rights for whom the legalization of same sex marriage is a key campaign objective (See map on the ILGA Europe website).

Writing in the foreign policy blog Turtle Bay and Beyond, von Krempach found a vast majority of ILGA’s funds come from just two governmental entities, the European Commission and the Dutch government.

Von Krempach discovered (from information on the IGLA website) that in the year just ended, the European Commission, an intergovernmental entity, provided fully 68% of ILGA’s budget. The Dutch government provided an additional €50,000 bringing ILGA’s governmental funding up to 71%. The rest of ILGA’s funding comes from left-wing donors George Soros, Sigrid Rausing, and one anonymous donor.

Von Krempach also points out the anomaly of the European Commission being the largest sole funding source for a group set up to lobby the European Commission and the European Parliament. He says this is basically the European Institutions lobbying itself.

In light of this new information, it is expected the UN NGO Committee, which previously blocked ILGA’s accreditation, will take up the issue once more. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accredited to the United Nations must show actual people or non-profits, such as foundations, fund them. The UN holds that if their money comes mostly from governments that would make them governmental entities.

To what degree does the UK government contribute indirectly to this state of affairs?

The European Union’s 2011 budget shows that out of a total income of €126.5 bn , €12.9 bn, or just over 10%, comes from the UK. 75% of the total budget comes from the 27 member countries’ governments.

Far be it from me to suggest any restriction on the freedom of gay rights activists to campaign democratically for same sex marriage legislation wherever they might choose.

But shouldn’t they be using their own money to do it – rather than being given funds derived from national governments’ tax receipts?