DES MOINES, IOWA — Progress Iowa today released Do the Right Thing, an online video featuring former Aryan leader and author of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead, Frank Meeink of Des Moines, Iowa. In the video, Meeink emphasizes the need to oppose the efforts of Bob Vander Plaats and the Family Leader in next week’s judicial retention election. Click here to watch Do the Right Thing.
“They may have some really good slogans, but I know hate when I see it,” said Meeink. “If Bob Vander Plaats and the Family Leader win this battle again, what’s next? They’re going to come after our school boards, science, sex education, and women’s rights — that’s what’s next if we don’t do what’s right as Iowans.”
“The divisive messages coming from Bob Vander Plaats fly in the face of Iowa’s proud tradition of equality,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. “Iowans face a stark choice this election: we can let Bob Vander Plaats continue to intimidate our judges for upholding the Iowa constitution, or we can stand up for David Wiggins and Iowa’s judges for ruling in favor of equality for all Iowans.”
Vander Plaats and the Family Leader have made removing Iowa’s Supreme Court Justices a top priority, ever since the court upheld the Iowa constitution by ruling unanimously in 2009 that all Iowans have the freedom to marry. The Family Leader has long standing associations with anti-gay hate groups such as the Family Research Council, who lists the Family Leader as a ‘State Policy Organization,’ and the American Family Association. They have also received significant funding from the National Organization for Marriage, a prominent anti-gay organization known for spreading ‘lies’ in order to promote their agenda.
Do the Right Thing was produced and directed by Kristian Day, of Modern American Cinema. To watch Do the Right Thing click here.
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About Frank Meeink
Frank Meeink became a skinhead at age thirteen. He roamed the country as a skinhead leader and Neo-Nazi recruiter with gangs that would beat people indiscriminately. By eighteen, he was doing hard time in an Illinois maximum security prison. While behind bars, Frank began to question his hatred, thanks in large part to his African-American teammates on a prison football league. Shortly after being paroled and desperately needing work, a Jewish antique dealer showed him compassion and offered him a job. This led Frank to defecting from the white supremacy movement. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing inspired him to try to stop the hatred he once had felt. He is a member of the group Life After Hate and has appeared on MTV, CNN, and other major television networks. His book Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead was released world wide in 2010 by Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts. He most recently was on “Hard Ball with Chris Mathews” on August 7th, 2012 talking about the Sikh Temple shooting in Wisconsin.
Background on Bob Vander Plaats and the Family Leader
Confidential memos reveal strategies to fight same-sex marriage in Iowa
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/04/02/confidential-memos-reveal-strategies-to-fight-same-sex-marriage-in-iowa
Outside groups spend to oust Iowa justice who voted for gay marriage
http://www.omaha.com/article/20121028/NEWS/710289957/1685
Religious leaders urge Vander Plaats to denounce American Family Association
http://globegazette.com/news/iowa/article_96c4605a-d71d-11df-bca4-001cc4c03286.html
Southern Poverty Law Center: National Organization for Marriage continues to spread lies about gays
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/summer/shading-the-truth
Family Research Council: The Family Leader listed as a ‘State Policy Group’
http://www.frc.org/state-policy-organizations
The Family Leader is “in association with the Family Research Council”
http://www.thefamilyleader.com/inside-tfl/missionbeliefs.html
Southern Poverty Law Center: Active Anti-Gay Hate Groups (including the Family Research Council and the American Family Association)
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/ideology/anti-gay/active_hate_groups
Family Leader: Gay behavior is ‘personally harmful and societally harmful’
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/03/22/449755/family-leader-gay-behavior-is-personally-harmful-and-societally-harmful/
Des Moines Register Editorial: Opponents make a mockery of courts
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121017/OPINION03/310170023/1024/