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Bradlee Dean Never Calls For The Persecution Of Gays, Except All The Time

Bradlee Dean, once known for being a Christian metal rocker, now runs an incredibly homophobic ministry in Minnesota called the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Ministry. Dean has many close ties to Minnesota social conservatives like Michele Bachmann, who he invites onto his “School of Hard Knocks Roxx”/”The Sons of Liberty” radio show, on which he regularly attacks gays and lesbians. This week, Dean filed a $50 million lawsuit against Rachel Maddow and Andy Birkey from the Minnesota Independent for highlighting radio tirades in which he supports the execution of homosexuals, calling the coverage “defamation” and “false accusations.”

According to the lawsuit, there’s a “very clear disclaimer” on the ministry’s website making it clear that it does not support the execution of homosexuals and claiming otherwise “seriously has harmed” Dean and the ministry. Maddow read that disclaimer in her coverage, but the lawsuit does not seem to acknowledge this fact. Though he now says “We are against anyone, anywhere, at any time, who executes homosexuals for being homosexual,” here is a round-up of some of his clips condemning homosexuality on the radio:

EXECUTING HOMOSEXUALS IS MORAL: Dean is suing over a clip pulled from his radio show in May 2010. In it, he cited that Sharia Law calls for the execution of homosexuals, which he praised as being “more moral” than American Christianity. He also made the absurd claim that “On average, [homosexuals] molest 117 people before they’re found out”:

DEAN: Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.

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– INCARCERATING GAYS IS MORAL: Only a week later, Dean was broadcasting live from the Heritage Foundation, and he and his ministry’s co-leader, Jake McMillian, praised Malawi for arresting a gay couple who got engaged:

MCMILLIAN: They are very conservative. They sentence people for crimes against nature.

DEAN: They are very moral; they uphold the laws.

MCMILLIAN: We have got countries all over the world that are standing for what’s right and what’s wrong. In Rwanda, there’s legislation right now that repeat offenders of homosexuality will spend their life in prison.

DEAN: Yes!

HOMOSEXUALITY IS AGAINST THE LAW: Back in January, 2010, Dean railed against President Obama for appointing Sharon Lubinski, a lesbian, as a U.S. Marshal in Minnesota. Citing Leviticus 18:22 (which calls homosexuality an abomination punishable by death), he blurred Old Testament Law with federal law and ignored the fact that Lawrence v. Texas overturned all “sodomy laws,” saying:

DEAN: Sodomy is against the law in the United States. Homosexuality is against the law in the United States. Statute 609.293 is sodomy in the state of Minnesota.

– FOREFATHERS CALLED FOR PROSECUTING HOMOSEXUALS: Dean triumphed Leviticus 18:22 again last November, but this time claimed Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were on his side:

DEAN: The question I wanted to know is: “What did our forefathers have to say about it?” And I’m beginning to tell ya, I mean, for example, I went back to Thomas Jefferson. He was writing a bill to penalize sodomy by castration. George Washington would basically send forth the pipers and the drummers and he would drum them out shamefully, never to come back again. And then I began to read off state statutes, and they absolutely did not tolerate crimes against nature whatsoever. Again, all the way up until 1961, you’d go to prison for 20–21 years if you were caught in the act of sodomy. In Rhode Island, it was considered a mental illness, and folks, it is.

– HOMOSEXUALS ARE COMING FOR CHILDREN: Just this week, Dean had an “epic rant” against “The Homosexual Agenda” for trying to fight bullying in Anoka-Hennepin School District. His co-host Heather cited pro-pedophilia gay and lesbian groups and cited an “actual statistic” that “homosexuals commit more than 33% of all reported child molestations in the United States.” Dean went off:

DEAN: See folks, this isn’t a fire to be played with. These are crimes… You need to understand, you’ve got to get off the sympathy train, if you’re on that sympathy train folks, because… they are not the victims. Who are the victims? The children are.

If the notion that Dean supports death for gays is causing him so many problems, perhaps he should stop reinforcing it on the air.

Update:

Dean was scheduled to appear on Sirius XM’s Michelangelo Signorile show this afternoon, but canceled his appearance after claiming he was “overwhelmed” by interview requests. Listen to Signorile school Dean:

Update:

The Village Voice has video of Dean’s press conference announcing the suit this morning. In it, he claims that MSNBC caters to “progressives, meaning a generally secular, frequently atheist, pro-gay rights, socialist, and big-government market among its viewers.” Watch it:

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Update:

April 10, 2012 — Through his attorney, Dean has accused ThinkProgress of making “”false and defamatory claims” in this post. We stand by our reporting, but have agreed to publish his attorney’s letter so that his words can speak for themselves:

March 28, 2012

Re: Bradlee Dean and You Can Run International

Dear ThinkProgress/Zack Ford:

Bradlee Dean and You Can Run International concerning the false and defamatory statements published in ThinkProgress on July 27th, 2011 have retained our law firm. The article, “Bradlee Dean Never Calls for the Persecution of Gays, Except all the Time” falsely states that Bradlee Dean and has expressed agreement with an extreme Muslim position that calls for the execution of homosexuals. In your article you give a quote from Bradlee Dean’s radio broadcast to support your false and defamatory claims. This quote must be given in its entirety if you choose to use it in your article; you will find the text below.

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination. And I continually reach out to the homosexual communities on this radio show, and I warn them, which one’s love? Here you have Obama condemning it behind the backs of the homosexuals but to their faces he’s promoting it. Because he’s the one that said that he would never, no matter which way the winds go, Obama said he is not going to condemn or go against the Muslim nation. He’s also the guy that said we are no longer a Christian nation, we’re a Muslim nation … The homosexuals, they need to listen… I say this to my gay friends out there, the ones that continuously nitpick everything I say in their defense and for t heir eternal destination, Hollywood is promoting immorality and God of the Heavens in Jesus’ name is warning you to flee from the wrath to come, yet you have Muslims calling for your execution.”

Neither Bradlee Dean nor You Can Run International have ever called for the execution of homosexuals nor have they in any way expressed agreement with the statement that homosexuals should be executed.

Bradlee Dean and You Can Run International have sued Rachel Maddow and MSNBC for creating this false claim by deliberately deleting portions of a statement made by Bradlee Dean to make it appear that he was in agreement with this extreme Muslim position. Furthermore, your coverage of this lawsuit in the article is false as you fail to mention the second report done by Rachel Maddow highlighting Bradlee Dean. This second report done in August of 2011 is the subject of the lawsuit and should be acknowledged in your report. The reporter should understand and know the facts about this case before reporting.

If you contend that you have facts to support your false and defamatory claim, please produce those facts. If you have no facts supporting your false statement, then promptly remove the statement from your webpage or promptly make the corrections needed in order for this article correct and truthful.

Any further publication will be with full knowledge that the statements and claims are false and with a reckless disregard of the truth and will result in further legal action.

Very truly yours,

PATRICK T. TIERNEY

PTT/ejr