Antigay Iowa Group Misleads on Funding

The Iowa Family Policy Center, which advocates against marriage equality and wants to remove the state supreme court justices who ruled for it, continued to receive federal funding long after it told media that it had declined the money.

According to The Iowa Independent, the IFPC only notified government officials in August that it no longer wanted to receive funding for a marriage mentoring program, although the group's spokesman had told reporters that the group decided not to take funding in September 2009. The Independent filed a Freedom of Information Act in July seeking confirmation of funding relinquishment.

"Even if the Iowa Family Policy Center made the decision to relinquish funding at their September 2009 board meeting, they had already received the $550,000 award for 2009-2010. According to the Tracking Accountability in Government Grants website, the IFPC received the $550,000 on Sept. 17, 2009," reported the Independent.

While IFPC said the funding was only used for the Marriage Matters program, observers believe that overlap with the group's antigay initiatives, such as a campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices who decided to legalize marriage equality, is inevitable. Earlier this month, IFPC president Chuck Hurley denounced politicians who put economic concerns above social issues.