NOTE: To download a PDF version of this report, please click here.
Rural Action
In 2020-21, Rural Action received a $70,000 grant (it’s first, ever) from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).
Founded in 1991, Rural Action has worked to strengthen community in the foothills of Appalachian Ohio. While from the outset this sounds like a good organization, on its website Rural Action openly supports and promotes homosexual and transgender ideologies.
One event that they host is a workshop called LGBTQIAlteration where LQBTQ people are encouraged to come and learn how to make cloths that fit their body and personality.
In July 2021, Rural Action’s online newsletter featured a man with apparent breast implants named Emma Loomis-Amrhein who was hired as the new manager of the Community Makerspace.
LGBTQ Center Ally
In addition to promoting LGBTQ events and actions, Rural Action was named as one of the LGBT Center’s “Community Allies”. These allies collaborate with the LGBT Center which has a list of resources that enable people to connect with the “rainbow awesomeness in our area.”
Pride Fest
In June 2017, the first Pride Rally and 3rd Annual Athens Pride Picnic was hosted by Ohio University LGBT Center celebrating Pride Month. This rally was a chance for LGBTQA+ SE Ohioans to be “loud and proud” as they celebrated “all things rainbow and queer!” Among the list of volunteers at the event, Rural Action was named as the group working with the LGBT Center to provide compositing and recycling stations.
According to the Perry County Tribune, “Rural Action and other local groups have approached the organizers asking how they could be involved,” showing that Rural Action is pro-actively involved in the advancement of LGBTQ ideologies.
Leadership
Not only does Rural Action support these issues that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, but those in leadership positions for Rural Actions are openly supportive of these and other immoral issues, as well.
One of the founders of Rural Action was Mary Anne Flournoy. While many people saw in her a woman of love who sacrificed so much of her time and energy to helping other people, an article on the Rural Action website acknowledged that “local organizations ranging from Rural Action to Planned Parenthood to Christ Lutheran Church all benefited from her tireless effort.”
Currently, the Chief Executive Officer of Rural Action is Debbie Phillips whose social media accounts display an open support for LGBTQ.
In June 2015, a Facebook post by David Donofrio thanked Debbie Phillips and others for their legislative effort to ban conversion therapies for kids.
According to the article:
“Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus, reintroduced an Ohio Senate bill in February that would ban reparative or conversion therapy for minors after a similar measure failed in 2013. Last week, a companion House bill was introduced by Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Albany, and Rep. Denise Driehaus, D-Cincinnati.
…
Phillips said she realizes that the ban wouldn’t stop reparative therapy for children in Ohio, but she hopes it would start a valuable conversation on its more-negative effects.
“It is brutal, and torture in a way, to get people to change their behavior,” Bautista said. That therapy “for an adolescent, I just think adds more to the confusion. Here I am in my 30s, and I’m still figuring things out.”
Phillips is also openly supportive of Planned Parenthood.
On April 18, 2012, a press conference was held by the Ohio Democratic Women’s Caucus in support of Planned Parenthood.
Phillips was seen standing with and supporting Rep. Nickie Antonio who informed the press that: “more than 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is provide life-saving cancer screenings, breast exams, sex education, birth control, and counseling to more than 100,000 Ohio women and families.”
Another post on Ohio Democratic Women’s Caucus Facebook page show Phillips standing with Rep. Kathleen Clyde who talked about the states that have already defunded Planned Parenthood, and that Ohio was becoming the ‘epicenter of GOP attacks on women’s health.”
Additionally, Phillips was pictured with Laura Smales, an OSU student and PPOH student who talked at the conference about how she received preventive health care services at Planned Parenthood clinics.
The fact the Phillips openly supports organizations that attack the right to life shows that Catholic funds should not be going to her nor Rural Action.
In 2012, the Heartbeat Bill died in the Senate. The bill would have made abortion illegal if the heartbeat of the fetus was detected. However, as other states were passing the same bill, some in Ohio thought that another similar bill might come up again soon. In an April 2013 article published in the Petersburg News and Sentinel, State Rep. Phillips, admitted that she had voted against the bill on the grounds that it was “controversial.” She said:
“It seemed like it posed some very deep questions about constitutionality under (Roe v. Wade). And the Right to Life community was deeply divided because of concerns that it could end up in the Supreme Court and the outcome there would be impossible to tell.”
She furthermore hoped that more would be done to help prevent “unintentional pregnancies.”
On Nov 2, 2012, the Athens Messenger had an article covering the event when President Obama spoke in Athens, Ohio. He was welcomed by many people, including Debbie Phillips. According to the article, Phillips voiced her support for Planned Parenthood while being joined by NARAL Pro-Choice and other radical abortion advocates:
“I think it’s really neat actually that we’re having this visit with a focus on women’s issues here in this office because we’re standing in the same building that houses the Planned Parenthood here in Athens,” said State Rep. Debbie Phillips (D-Albany).
Phillips and Strickland were joined by Nancy Keenan, president of National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) — Pro-Choice America, and democratic strategist Valerie Jarrett.
Phillips said that access to basic healthcare for women has been under attack by the far right. “That’s one of the reasons it is so incredibly important that we re-elect President Obama, Senator Sherrod Brown and other folks that are going to stand up for women,” she said.
In 2013, there was talk in Ohio that a Bill might come up which would place bans on abortion rights. Protesters rallied on the Statehouse to voice their opposing view. In discussing this issue in a debate, Phillips, who was then State Representative, said “It forces the government into the most private and difficult situation a woman could face.”
Furthermore, Phillips also supported those protesting the bill in Ohio that defunded Planned Parenthood. This bill also placed restrictions on other abortion laws. In October 2013, Phillips attended a rally that spoke out against the Bill at the “We Won’t Go Back” rally.
Phillips was also very active in the same-sex marriage movement. In 2012, she was named as a supporter of the Freedom to Marry organization in Ohio which promoted the legislation needed to make same-sex marriages legal. According to the article published in The New Political:
State Rep. Debbie Phillips (D) believes the voters of Ohio will play a strong role in deciding whether the amendment will be on the November 2013 ballot.“[Marriage equality] will be in the hands of the people through ballot initiative,” said Phillips.
A tweet from Phillips in June 2015, shows her supporting the SCOTUS decision that would make same-sex marriages legal and protect them under the 14th Amendment.
Conclusion
Rural Action is directly involved in the promotion of homosexual and transgender ideologies, including through its participation in PRIDE events. Furthermore, while proudly employing a man with apparent breast implants, it is endorsed by the LGBTQ Center and is named an ally of the Center. In addition to this, Rural Action’s founder and current CEO are active supporters of Planned Parenthood, abortion, and homosexual and transgender ideologies. As such, Rural Action should not be given support from the Catholic Church, nor should it be given a grant by the CCHD.
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