Homosexuals distance themselves from campaign supporting lesbian teen accused of statutory rape
FLORIDA, June 4, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – Not every homosexual activist is willing to stand behind Kate Hunt, the 18-year-old Florida woman accused of statutory rape for engaging in oral sex and mutual masturbation with a 14-year-old girl.
Hunt was arrested in February and charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery against a child between the ages of 12 and 16 for having sex with her then-14-year-old girlfriend (whose name is being withheld because of victim protection laws). Florida’s age of consent is 18, or 15 as long as both partners are 18 and under. If convicted, Hunt faces up to fifteen years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender.
Kate Hunt
Hunt has become a martyr of sorts for homosexual activists nationwide, who have plastered social media with personal pleas and links to a “Free Kate” website and Facebook group started by Hunt’s parents, who claim their daughter’s arrest was motivated by ‘homophobia’ on the part of the victim’s parents.
So far over 300,000 people have signed a petition in favor of Kate on Change.org.
But a local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) has released a statement denouncing the Free Kate movement.
“We have not been able to find where the charges brought against this unfortunate young lady are inspired by homophobia, or are in any way anti-LGBTQ,” wrote Vero Beach PFLAG president David McKinnon, in a statement.
“The problem is that there is a law, and it appears the law was broken,” wrote McKinnon. “This law (adult and ‘child’ involved in a sexual relationship) had to be applied when the parents of the minor issued a formal complaint against the adult. The arrest and subsequent penalties are based on a statute that is current.”
McKinnon pointed out that young heterosexual adults are often prosecuted for the same things, under the same statute.
“The cry of discrimination, unless more facts come out, does not seem to apply here. Some very simple research yields cases where heterosexual kids have been arrested and prosecuted under the same law.”
Other local gay activists have also expressed discomfort with the Free Kate movement to local media, but they have been reluctant to release their names for fear of backlash from Hunt’s more than 50,000 Facebook supporters.
“I’ve already been vilified for my opinion on social media,” one gay activist told CBS-12.
“Kaitlyn Hunt is being portrayed as the victim; she is not the victim. She is the person who committed this offense,” he added. “It is an offense no matter which way the community wants to spin this.”
Added his homosexual partner: “I’m gay, I don’t side with Kate.”
Added his homosexual partner: “I’m gay, I don’t side with Kate.”
The two men, who were until recently high-ranking officials for a local gay advocacy group, told CBS-12 they resigned their positions over the Hunt controversy.
“Some folks in the community, in that organization, were supporting Kate and would not hear the voice of reason,” one of the men told CBS-12. “I resigned as a result of two members in particular who referred to this matter as nothing more than a teenage love story. It is not a teenage love story.”
