N.C. Senator: Gays “Working to Discredit Me”

Antigay North Carolina state senator James Forrester, accused of falsifying some of his medical credentials, is blaming the whole thing on the gays.

"What has happened is the gay community, the homosexuals, don't like the bill that I pushed through the General Assembly," Forrester told North Carolina LGBT paper QNotes, referring to the measure that put an anti-marriage equality amendment to the state constitution on the ballot for next May. "They don't like the bill. They are trying to kill the messenger. They are working to discredit me, but they can't."

According to QNotes, Pam's House Blend, and other sources, Forrester, a physician, claimed in his official biography to be a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and an associate fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association. Forrester is not a fellow -- the highest level of membership -- or even a member of the former, although he apparently was a fellow in the 1980s, and he let his associate fellow status with the latter lapse in 2005, officials with the groups said. QNotes also questioned his membership in the Christian Medical and Dental Association, but staffers there confirmed he is a member.

Forrester told QNotes that the presence of any misleading information in his bio is "inadvertent." According to the paper, "Forrester also said he had already changed his resume to list 'former' affiliations with groups like the American College of Preventive Medicine, though mentions of the groups remain unedited on his resume at his personal campaign site and at a web page on the Gaston County Republican Party's website. In each instance, Forrester's citations seem to indicate a current and active affiliation with various groups."

The senator said he is receiving "hate mail" and "terrible phone calls" from gay people; also, a campaign on Twitter is demanding his resignation. LGBT people were outraged his backing of the marriage amendment and unsubstantiated statements he made about the life expectancy of gays. He claimed that gay people on average die 20 years earlier than heterosexuals and that he obtained the figure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pam's House Blend contributor Scott Rose contacted the CDC, and he wrote that the agency "has no single statistic indicating that all gay people die 20 years earlier than their heterosexual counterparts." Rose promised a follow-up post on the blog with further information.