10/8/2014::Extras

Businessman at Center of Lesbian Custody Case Charged With International Kidnapping

A prominent Christian direct-mail guru with former ties to an anti-Semitic publication now faces federal charges for his alleged role assisting a woman flee the United States with her biological daughter after losing custody of the child to a former lesbian partner.

Philip Zodhiates, whose direct-mail business, Response Unlimited, targets conservatives and Christians, is scheduled to voluntarily appear for arraignment next Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. A grand jury there returned a two-count indictment on Sept. 19 charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States and international parental kidnapping.

Lisa Miller, who became in international fugitive after fleeing the U.S. in 2009 with her daughter, is also charged in the indictment, along with Timothy David Miller, 37, a Crossville, Tenn., pastor. The current whereabouts of Lisa Miller and her daughter, who is now 12, are unknown.

Timothy Miller initially was charged with international kidnapping in May 2011 in Vermont, but Justice Department prosecutors dismissed the charges five months later after his attorneys challenged the admissibility of statements he made when arrested.

Matt LaPorta, a spokesman for Zodhiates, told Hatewatch today that Zodhiates would have no comment and referred queries to Robert Hemley, a Burlington, Vt., attorney who also declined comment.

The New York indictment is the latest development in a complex case that has received wide-spread attention because it focuses on the rights of non-biological parents in same-sex unions, while becoming a lightning rod for conservative Christians who condemn homosexuality.

Minnesota Anti-LGBT Activists Turn To Scare Tactics, Religious Persecution Rhetoric In Opposing School Trans-Inclusive Policy

Opponents of a proposed framework for allowing transgender students to participate in school sports in Minnesota has come under fire from anti-LGBT activists in the state, including from the Minnesota Child Protection League, which ran a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week with the message: “A male wants to shower beside your 14-year-old daughter. Are YOU ok with that?”

At a hearing yesterday, the group that oversees high school sports in Minnesota tabled the proposal until December after speakers warned that the policy would amount to “transgender promotion” and because some students may have religious objections to transgender identity, it would “intentionally endorse one particular religious view over another.”

The Minnesota Child Protection League claims that its transphobic ad generated over 10,000 emails to the sports board. Andy Birkey with The Colu.mn reports that “most of the speakers in opposition” at yesterday’s hearing “had a connection with either the Child Protection League or the Minnesota Family Council,” a state affiliate of Focus on the Family’s political arm.