Anti-gay bus tour coming to Wisconsin

The anti-gay Family Research Council and The Heritage Foundation have teamed up for a summer bus tour to spread far-right rhetoric in advance of the Nov. 6 elections.

The so-called “Values Bus Tour” rolls into Wisconsin on June 20 and will make six stops over the following four days in parks and rural parking lots in the state.

The Family Research Council has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its mission of spreading falsehoods about LGBT people with the purpose of marginalizing them.

FRC president Tony Perkins is one of the most visible and outspoken anti-gay pundits on the media circuit. He has blamed the lagging economy on gays as well as the recent Secret Service prostitution scandal. He has blasted LGBT people as terrorists.

“They are intolerant. They are hateful. They are vile. They are spiteful,” Perkins said of gays who lobby for equality.  

Perkins has been part of the Values Bus Tour in the past but it’s unclear whether he will be along for the ride in Wisconsin. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson is scheduled to make an appearance at one of the stops. Thompson is a GOP candidate for U.S. senator who will face off against Tammy Baldwin if he wins his party’s nod.

In addition to whipping up frenzy against LGBT people, single moms and contraception, the tour is intended to denounce “big government” and spread anxiety about the national debt.

The Values Bus Tour’s scheduled stops in Wisconsin include:

Thursday, June 21: rally from 12-1 p.m. at the former Walmart Parking Lot, 616 Highway 54 East, Black River Falls; and 5-6 p.m. at Shell Lake Park, 200 W. Lake Dr., Shell Lake.

Friday, June 22: Tea Party event from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Cranberry Productions Inc. Parking Lot, 703 W. Pine St., Eagle River; Tea Party event from 6-8 p.m. at Rock K Ranch BBQ, 2372 Day Street, Greenleaf.

Saturday, June 23: Tea Party event from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. at Jaycee Park Quarry, 3401 Calumet Drive, Sheboygan.

Sunday, June 24: Tea Party event from 2-3 p.m., Lincoln Park, 7010 22nd Ave., Kenosha.

The tour’s complete schedule is at www.valuesbus.com.