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Washington, D.C. — The controversy of the Bush administration using taxpayer money to support independent commentators has heated up again with the National Stonewall Democrats’ announcement that $40,000 was paid to anti-gay activist Maggie Gallagher to write a report advocating marriage discrimination against gay couples. 

According to The Independent, Gallagher admitted she had received an undisclosed payment of $21,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services to promote Bush’s $300 million initiative to enourage the sanctity of marriage. 

"Maggie Gallagher is perhaps the best know advocate for marriage discrimination against gay families," said Dave Noble, NSD executive director. "The White House should not be shadow funding her activities while Republicans call on her to testify before Congress as an independent voice on such matters."

For example, in 2002, she wrote the following for the notoriously right-wing National Review Online: "The Bush marriage initiative would emphasise the importance of marriage to poor couples and educate teens on the value of delaying child-bearing until marriage. [This could] carry big payoffs down the road for tax-payers and children."

Later that year, she publically voiced her support for Bush’s proposal to constitutionally ban gay marriage. Currently, an article on Gallagher’s website claims evidence from Sweden suggests gay couples are more likely to divorce than heterosexual couples. 

Gallagher also received $20,000 by the Bush Administration to write a report titled "Can Government Strengthen Marriage?" The report, published by the National Fatherhood Initiative in 2004 in conjunction with the Instate for American Values and the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, urged the federal government to "protect the boundaries of marriage" by strictly defining marriage for policy purposes. 

While the Bush camp has called for an end to government and taxpayer support of independent commentators, neither side will specifically address the relationship between Gallagher and Bush.

Written By Ross von Metzke
Article provided in partnership with GayWebMonkey.com.

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