Jeb Bush Supported Evangelical Anti-Gay Group With Taxpayer Money

[John Poet]

While governor of Florida, Jeb Bush delivered a lucrative tax break to subsidize an evangelical group’s efforts to block Internet users from learning about homosexuality or accessing pornography. The taxpayer money was directed to a company owned by the American Family Association (AFA), a prominent grass-roots organization representing a social conservative base that could prove pivotal in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

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$600,000 Tax Subsidy

It was May 2001, only a few years after a hot-button debate over congressional legislation aiming to censor the Internet of indecent content. Bush’s administration and Florida county officials agreed to award a $600,000 tax subsidy package to Bsafe Online, a subsidiary of the AFA. That company produced Web filter technology to prevent Internet users from seeing pornography or information about homosexual relationships or transgender identities.

“I welcome this high-tech, pro-family business to Florida,” Bush said in a news release. “As the Internet continues to influence our daily lives, parents have an increasingly difficult time monitoring what their children are exposed to on the computer. BsafeOnline.com is a great example of how the private sector can assist families to protect their children from aspects of the Internet which they deem negative.”

At the time, AFA was leading a boycott against the Walt Disney Co. for promoting the “gay agenda” and hosting “Gay Days” at its theme parks in Orlando, Florida. Liberal activists called on Bush to reverse his support for the AFA-backed company, BSafe, accusing the AFA of bigotry, recently released emails show. The organization was later labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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In 2005, Bush faced criticism from the same AFA he helped subsidize -- the group would slam him for supporting an investment in a movie rental company that distributed pornography. And leaders of the religious right have lately questioned Bush’s commitment to their agenda. Since announcing he may run for president, Bush has sought to distance himself from some of his own past statements on homosexuality. In January, he disavowed an editorial he wrote in which he argued against creating “special legal protection” for “sodomy.” A Bush spokesperson told BuzzFeed the editorial “does not reflect Gov. Bush’s views now.”

Read all:
http://www.ibtimes.com/jeb-bush-supported-evangelical-anti-gay-group-taxpayer-money-1912790


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[okaawhatever]

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