Crowd at anti-LGBTQ summit given pamphlet calling homosexuality a 'health hazard' before Trump's speech

Trump is the first sitting President to speak at the conservative Christian Values Voter Summit

President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Shortly before Donald Trump took the podium at the annual Values Voter Summit, attendees received a pamphlet calling homosexuality a "public health crisis".

The pamphlet, distributed by the anti-LGBTQ activist organisation MassResistance, claims the "sexual revolution" and the "mainstreaming of homosexuality" have created a public health crisis in America.

It alleges there is a disproportionate incidence of disease and mental disorders in the LGBTQ community, and claims young people are “increasingly at risk by imitating dangerous ‘gay’ practices.”

Bryan Camenker, the executive director of MassResistance, said the pamphlet was an advertisement for his organization's 600-page book, The Health Hazards of Homosexuality. The book, he said, is a collection of studies on the “public health issue” of homosexuality.

“Most of the stuff published [on this topic] is very difficult for people to read, so we put it all together,” he told The Independent. “I think the media is doing a disservice by ignoring all this, because it’s stuff we’ve seen going on for years.”

He added: “The media propagates this myth that [homosexuality] is just like everything else, and there’s no health effects.”

MassResistance paid to have their advertisement included in the packet of materials attendees received at the start of the conference. The book, Mr Camenker said, has been a “big hit” at the summit.

He added that he had sent an advance copy of the book to the Family Research Council, which hosts the Values Voter Summit, and that they were fully aware he would be selling it there.

The Family Research Council is a conservative Christian group that campaigns against same-sex marriage, civil unions, and adoption. The organisation has previously claimed that homosexuality is “harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large,” and that it is “associated with negative physical and psychological health effects”.

The annual Values Voter Conference draws thousands of people from across the right-wing spectrum. This year’s speakers include Phil Roberston, a professional hunter who has called same-sex marriage “evil” and “wicked,” and Roy Moore, the Alabama Senate candidate who refused to say whether homosexuality should be punished by death.

Mr Trump – the first sitting president ever to attend the conference – was also on the speakers list. In his Friday morning address, Mr Trump assured attendees that he would protect religious organisations and return America to its traditional values.

"How times have changed, but you know what, now they are changing back again,” said the President, who had previously promised to fight for the LGBTQ community.

"I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation's religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before," Mr Trump told the cheering crowd. "Above all else in America, we don't worship government. We worship God."

Mr Camenker, who has been critical of Mr Trump in the past, said he loved the speech. The President hadn’t delivered on all of his campaign promises, he admitted, but the speech proved his heart was in the right place.

Plus, he’s much better than the alternative.

“He could break all of his promises, but at least he’s not Hillary,” Mr Camenker said.