Another update on the National Council on Family Relations debacle -- the group that's breaking its own rules and banning its own research to deliver a heterosexual-only online clearinghouse on marriage resources for the Bush White House for the tidy sum of $5 million.
AMERICAblog readers and their friends have been reaching out to Michael Benjamin, NCFR's executive director (mbenjamin@ncfr.org , (202) 659-1190) to ask him why NCFR has done this. According to reader reports, the person who answers the phone (some think it's actually Mr. Benjamin, others aren't sure) says NCFR will address the issue in June at its next meeting and then has nothing else to say. He's also set up an auto-reply email -- when his email is working -- that basically says as much.
Of course, the website is scheduled to go live in June.
So much for transparency and opening the lines of communication, as NCFR said it would do in its letter to members.
We've also heard reports from AMERICAblog readers -- and from some NCFR members -- that the person at NCFR says the exclusion of research on gay marriage remains "in negotiation."
If that's what they're saying, that's just false and misleading. Some random details may not yet be in place, but NCFR is crystal-clear on excluding research on gay marriage. In the letter they send to members, NCFR also includes a summary of the clearinghouse:
As defined by ACF [the Administration on Children and Families at the Dept of Health and Human Services], the project has an exclusive focus on heterosexual marriages.There's no negotiating with this administration on gay issues. Maybe we should all reach out to Mr. Benjamin again and make sure we have the facts, umm, straight. And see if they've changed their rules on discrimination.
And see if maybe we could get an answer this month.
C'mon NCFR, if Microsoft can come clean, so can you....
