[News] [TN, USA] Tennessee Democrats: Primary winner is a member of anti-gay hate group

[Stephanie Stevens]

LGBTQ Nation, USA


Filed: Sunday, August 5, 2012

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Tennessee

Tennessee Democrats: Primary winner is a member of anti-gay hate group

Staff Reports


NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Democratic Party on Friday disavowed
the winner of its primary for U.S. Senate because they claim the
candidate is a member of an anti-gay hate group.

Mark Clayton, a Nashville-area Democrat, “is associated with a known
hate group in Washington, D.C., and the Tennessee Democratic Party
disavows his candidacy, will not do anything to promote or support him
in any way, and urges Democrats to write-in a candidate of their
choice in November,” the party said, in a statement.

[Photo: Mark Clayton]

Clayton is vice president of the group “Public Advocate of the United
States” — Public Advocate has been labeled an anti-gay hate group
<http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/03/splc-reports-marked-increase-in-anti-gay-hate-groups-in-2011/>
by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

An anti-gay-marriage activist and flooring installer with a penchant
for fringe conspiracy theories, Clayton believes the federal
government is secretly building a massive, superhighway from Mexico
City to Toronto as part of a plot to establish a new North American
Union that will bring an end to America as we know it, reported Mother
Jones <http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/mark-clayton-tennessee-democrats-senate>
:

On his issues page, Clayton sounds more like a member of the John
Birch Society than a rank-and-file Democrat. He says he’s against
national ID cards, the North American Union, and the “NAFTA
superhighway,” a nonexistent proposal that’s become a rallying cry in
the far-right fever swamps.

Elsewhere, he warns of an encroaching “godless new world order”
and suggests that Americans who speak out against government policies
could some day be placed in “a bone-crushing prison camp similar to
the one Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sent or to one of FEMA’s prison
camps.” (There are no FEMA prison camps.)

In April 2008, Clayton issued a press release accusing Google of
censoring his campaign website on behalf the Chinese government

According to a party statement, Clayton only won the primary because
“Democrats in Tennessee knew nothing about any of the candidates in
the race, so they voted for the person at the top of the ticket.”

“The only time that Clayton has voted in a Democratic primary was when
he was voting for himself,” according to the statement.

The state Democratic Party said it will not back Clayton nor allow him
to use any of the party’s resources in the general election.

At a news conference on Saturday, Clayton defended his relationship
with “Public Advocate,” and said the group focuses on pushing pro-life
legislation, defending marriage between a man and a woman and even
advocating for the Boy Scouts of America.

Public Advocate, you may recall, has come under fire recently for
hijacking an engagement photo of a gay couple
<http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/07/southern-poverty-law-center-demands-hate-group-stop-using-gay-couples-engagement-photo/>
from their wedding blog, and altering the photo to include anti-gay
propaganda to attack a Colorado state senator who supported civil
union legislation.


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