By 
Denver Newsroom, Aug 23, 2021 / 03:00 am (CNA).
U.S. President Joe Biden’s choice for ambassador to Switzerland is Scott Miller, a leading figure at the LGBT advocacy patron The Gill Foundation. The foundation has funded groups that have split Christian denominations and threatened religious freedom in the U.S. Miller’s same-sex partner is Tim Gill, a vocal LGBT activist and strategist who after the 2016 election claimed his movement was headed into conservative states to “punish the wicked.”
Miller is a former finance executive and co-chairs the board of directors of the Colorado-based Gill Foundation with Gill.
Among the critics of the foundation’s work is John Lomperis, United Methodist Director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Lomperis told CNA Aug. 13 that the Gill Foundation “has gone beyond just supporting Democratic sides of traditional Democratic-Republican political divides or even pushing civil redefinition of marriage.”
“The foundation has shown an extremist hostility to basic freedom-of-conscience protections for those who do not morally approve of same-sex unions. This is fundamentally totalitarian and anti-American,” Lomperis charged. “The Gill Foundation’s opposition to religious liberty and freedom-of-conscience protections represent the extreme opposite of America’s greatest traditions and highest ideals of freedom and tolerance, no matter how many misleading slogans they may hide behind.”
“Ambassadors are supposed to represent the best of America, not hostility to the values of faith, family, and freedom that have made America great,” he said regarding Miller’s appointment.
If confirmed by the Senate, Miller would also serve as the ambassador to Liechtenstein, a German-speaking principality of about 38,000 people. The U.S. embassy to Switzerland is based in Bern, the Swiss capital, while there is a separate U.S. mission to international organizations in Geneva.
Miller is a former vice president at UBS Wealth Management in Denver, where he provided financial advice and portfolio management to “high-net-worth families and charitable foundations,” his biography at the foundation website said. The Biden administration’s Aug. 6 announcement described him as “an LGBTQ rights activist and philanthropist.”
“The Gill Foundation has been given a lot of credit for radical shifts in American politics and society in the last decade or so,” Lomperis told CNA. This includes the area of religion.
In 2014 comments to CNA, Lomperis placed the Gill Foundation in the context of a patronage network of LGBT activist groups engaged in what he described as a “hostile takeover of religion.”
The Boulder, Colo.-based Movement Advancement Project, itself launched with the help of the Gill Foundation, in 2006 convened a coalition of LGBT groups to discuss strategy within Christian dominations and in other religions. The foundation’s annual report that year said this effort conducted a study that “detailed work underway in denominations, seminaries, clergy coalitions and media to counter religious opposition.”
The report noted the project’s collaboration with billionaire heir Jon Styrker’s Arcus Foundation in “funding work involving religion and values.” Stryker’s foundation has helped back efforts to limit religious freedom and has backed Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim groups that reject the immorality of homosexual acts and relationships, its website, grant listings and tax forms show.
Lomperis voiced deep concern “about the lack of ethics and integrity in how some wealthy and apparently secular liberal donors have externally undermined American Protestant denominations, including my own United Methodist Church, by essentially paying activists to tear these churches away from their own official, historic doctrinal standards, in service of lesser gods of secular political agendas.”
“One mainline Protestant American denomination after another has been officially taken over by the non-Christian LGBTQ liberationist movement, which has shown a callous willingness to insist on getting what they want no matter how many people and valued institutions they bully and damage along the way,” he said.
As CNA previously reported, in 2012 the Gill Foundation made a $100,000 general support grant to the Catholics United Education Fund, almost the entire annual budget of the group. With its 501c4 partner Catholics United, the group had begun to lobby for same-sex marriage and criticized Catholic groups and schools that followed Catholic teaching on the subject. In 2013, the group claimed the Catholic men’s organization the Knights of Columbus was funding a “far-right political agenda” against “marriage equality.” In fact, the men’s group was following the lead of the U.S. bishops and its work to defend marriage was praised by Pope Francis in a letter to its 2013 international convention.
Ahead of the 2012 elections, Catholics United sent a letter to Florida pastors saying it was monitoring Catholic churches for reputed illegal political activity. Officials with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said the letter was inaccurate and appeared to be “an attempt to silence pastors on issues that are of concern to the Church this election season.”
In April 2012, Catholics United and its allies protested the withdrawal of a Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant to the Colorado-based immigrant aid group Companeros. The Catholic campaign, an initiative of the U.S. bishops, withdrew the grant because the group maintained membership in a coalition that supported the legal recognition of homosexual relationships. The Gill Foundation subsequently gave a $30,000 matching grant to the immigration aid group while the Catholics United Education Fund gave $7,000.
The White House’s announcement of Miller’s nomination described Miller and Gill as “the largest contributors to LGBTQ equality in history, having donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the cause.”
Miller had introduced Biden, then the U.S. vice-president, as a speaker at the 2015 OutGiving conference, an invitation-only gathering of major LGBT donors. Miller praised Biden, who was the first sitting vice-president to declare support for same-sex marriage, as “a true friend and ally, an agent of change for the LGBT community.”
The announcement of Miller’s nomination noted his role directing the Gill Foundation’s “national giving strategy to advance LGBTQ equality,” citing its campaigns to “end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans” and to “ban conversion therapy.” Such bans have drawn concern that legitimate counseling for those with unwanted same-sex attractions or gender dysphoria would be affected.
Anti-discrimination law that makes LGBT identity a protected class has ensnared Christians and others with objections to same-sex relationships, including those in the wedding industry. Similar laws and policies have forced Catholic adoption agencies to close because they cannot place children with same-sex couples.
The Gill Foundation has helped promote a narrow vision of religious freedom. With $100,000 in funding from the San Francisco-based Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the Gill Foundation worked with the Movement Advancement Project on “research to develop messaging around gay rights and ‘religious liberty’ issues.”
Last year the Movement Advancement Project published a report on the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia Supreme Court case, claiming that religious exemptions would “harm millions of children.” It argued against even a narrow ruling in favor of Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia, which could not in good conscience place children with same-sex couples despite the city’s new anti-discrimination rules.
The Gill Foundation is a funding partner of the Massachusetts-based Proteus Fund’s Rights, Faith & Democracy Collaborative, which advocates a narrow view of religious freedom. This donor group opposes “the inappropriate use of religious exemptions to curtail reproductive health, rights and justice, discriminate against members of the LGBTQ community, and otherwise undermine fundamental rights and liberties essential to a healthy democracy.”
Further, the Gill Foundation was among the backers of the Civil Marriage Collaborative, a previous Proteus Fund-based effort. This funding group worked to recognize same-sex unions as marriages. The collaborative closed in 2015 after spending more than $153 million over 11 years on various U.S. groups, projects, and campaigns.
The foundation’s tax forms and grant listings show it made grants to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation to support a “religious exemptions project.”
CNA sought contact from Miller and the White House, which did not comment. The Gill Foundation told CNA it is not involved in the personal and political activities of its board members.
Gill, Miller’s same-sex partner, helped change the political landscape of Colorado. In the 2000s he was a close political collaborator with current Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, and billionaire heiress Pat Stryker, whose brother Jon founded the Arcus Foundation. Gill has implemented a political strategy to target outspoken critics of LGBT causes who run for local office in competitive races. Defeating potential political foes in entry-level races, he reasoned, prevents them from rising to greater influence and drains their talent pool.
In June 2017 the magazine Rolling Stone profiled Gill, mentioning Miller in passing. Rolling Stone described Gill’s strategy of focusing on business interests to back LGBT political causes. The Gill Foundation is a donor to and collaborator with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its local branches on LGBT issues.
Gill, speaking the wake of President Donald Trump’s election victory, drew criticism for his comments that he would double-down on an anti-discrimination campaign.
“We’re going into the hardest states in the country,” he said in Rolling Stone’s profile. “We’re going to punish the wicked.”
Critics said this meant targeting Christians and creating further religious freedom conflicts that have resulted from strict anti-discrimination laws. A commentary in The Federalist cited examples like Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Gill’s home state of Colorado, which became tangled in legal disputes for declining to make cakes for same-sex wedding ceremonies or gender transition celebrations. They noted threats to burn down a pizza shop in Indiana that said it would serve gay customers but not gay weddings.
Andy Kroll, the author of the Rolling Stone profile, defended Gill. He said reaction to Gill’s remark was “complete nonsense.”
“Not once does Gill so much as hint at singling out Christians or adherents of any other religion,” said Kroll, who said that these criticisms resulted in vulgar emails and voicemails to the Gill Foundation and anonymous death threats on Twitter.
At the same time, Kroll rejected religious freedom protection bills and Gill considers “the wicked” to be “anyone who stands in the way of progress on equal rights for LGBTQ people: politicians, activists, lawyers, some people of faith, and plenty more with no religious affiliation whatsoever.”
“This isn’t a Democrat-Republican thing: Some of the most brutal and effective campaigns mounted by Gill’s operation have targeted Democrats who opposed marriage equality,” Kroll said in a July 2017 essay for Rolling Stone.
Switzerland, Miller’s prospective post, is preparing for a referendum that would recognize same-sex unions as marriages. In December, the Swiss bishops criticized the proposal. The term ‘marriage’ should not be “extended to any connection between two people regardless of their gender. Such a use of the term would bring about an equality that, in (our) opinion, cannot exist,” they said.
In February 2020, 63% of Swiss voters passed an anti-discrimination measure giving sexual orientation the same discrimination protections as race and religion.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Well, I see they didn’t send him to Kabul.
Too many people are unaware of the big money pushing the LGBT agenda. I consider this article important but too long.
Smaller chunks (in frequent doses) would be more digestible.
Gilberta, a valid observation and very pertinent to those who’s priority in life is to follow Jesus and remain true to a faith that is pure.Our priority is to follow Jesus and we are virtually being pulled to the left and pulled to the right by those who’s agenda is other that to follow Jesus but who use the Body of Christs to tag on and further their agenda. In these instances, follow the money is an appropriate adage! I have this image of Jesus being pulled apart by the arms, his head bloodied and bruised and his followers in disarray……
Keeping this in mind it is sad to say that the Catholic Right also suffered from this tragic game of manipulation as does the Catholic Left and big money funding campaigns and organisations not related to the Catholic church.
I found this article interesting as an introduction acknowledging need to always look further incase of left or right bias in any presentation: https://newrepublic.com/article/161626/big-money-dividing-american-catholicism
It has become a habit of mine to look up Allsides to check media bias and note, the New Republic has a rating to the left:
https://www.allsides.com/news-source/new-republic
The site also has a Media Bias Chart that is very well thought out.
https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart
As an instance of some concern is the big money that funds and is associated with The Council For National Policy (CNP)
… Unlike the cowardice of the mitre’d’s, at least they are upfront about what they are doing and what they want..
Still biden gets communion because “who are we to judge”..
While F1 condemns the TLM people who are clear about where they stand as well..
World upside down..
F1? May he be the first and last of his name!
Let’s thank Cardinals Cupich, Gregory and Tobin, as well as Bishop McElroy and other like minded “shepherds” who shilled for Biden. Way to go, hirelings! We are reaping what you have sown. I guess it’s all part of the seamless cloth you have concocted.
The news propaganda about the amb-ass-ador is incomplete…
What is the public to think? Which one is the “husband” and which the “wife?” And, speaking of w(h)i(t)ches, do we have here the wickens versus the so-called “wicked”? Instead of the Abbot and Costello comedy line of “who’s on first?” it’s the parody of who’s on top, or, does each have the back of the other? Very confusing, this thingy about also “going into the…hardest…states in the country.”
Will the forever-independent and neutral Swiss have the presence of mind to reject “ideological colonization” by the Abbot-and-Costello jokesters (Mill and Giller, or whatever) sent over from the dis-United States?
Neither of them look like the poster child for mental health.
The Biden Administration is morally bankrupt. Doesn’t say much about alleged Catholics who support it now does it?
To assert moral bankruptcy to the Biden administration and moral conformity to the Trump administration is an absurdity of the simplistic mindset that has taken hold of one wedge issue over the opposing political parties own wedge issue. There is no wisdom in this. There is need for right thinking, with respect to leadership and teaching with respect to the subject of separation of church and state not partisan hacks regurgitating a co opted mindset of the left nor the right. Unfortunately it suits the agenda of too many in the Catholic Church to take seriously a non partisan appraisal of the vital issue of separation of church and state in negotiating the application of the broad spectrum Catholic Teaching in the political arena. As stated in my post above follow the money.
Oh, please, Christopher. By all means. Tell us simpletons how we can properly reflect the complexity of true Christianity by accepting the Biden administration’s anti-Christian gaygenda.
Then do abortion, euthanasia, and legalization of prostitution, okay?
Because we are too simple to see the complexities of these and so many other issues that true Christians like you and our president are able to grasp so easily and so completely.
brineyman, communication is difficult at the best of times especially when one reads something into another’s comment. I never suggested that anone accepts “the gay agenda” I do not accept “the gay agenda” however I do not reject gay individuals. I do not support gay marriage and i affirm most the Christian notion of marriage and the right of every child to have and remain in relationship with their biological father and mother and these two to be committed ,in the application of love, with all its reward and difficulty, for life.
I endeavour to communicate in a linear fashion, responding to the comment above or the one i refer to, in my first comment’s case, Deacon Edward Peitler’s comment. My point being that both Democrat AND Republican administrations will have elements of moral bankruptcy. For this reason one can not simply have a go at Catholics who vote for “the other” party as Deacon Peitler has done.
I will add that I see no one else as a simpleton and while i burrow down into issues and try and apply critical thinking etc, this makes me no better a person that anyone else, and no better than the person who’s viewpoint i disagree with. I affirm people’s right to be “traditional” in their approach to our Catholic faith but i do not support the attack mentality that can sometimes go with it and has expression in all manner of negative judgemental condemnatory comments here on CWR. Nor do I support the attack mentality of those who advocate gay marriage. I share some perspectives common to both left and right. This is why I’m often seen as not one of “us’ in the “us and them” polemic that is a rampant disease in the Body of Christ, left and right, and i would hope my mediation would be an antidote. This is my manifesto.
And, while you’re at it, Christopher, could you also explain how Mr. Miller’s group’s desire to “punish the wicked” who disagree with them is reflective of the “broad spectrum” Catholic view you’re urging us simpletons to adopt?
To my mind Mr. Miller’s group’s desire to “punish the wicked” who disagree with them is in no way reflective of the “broad spectrum” Catholic view, and I can not see where I even implied Catholics had to accept his point of view. I certainly do not!. I am pointing to the use of wedge issues by all political parties and the need to think beyond the wedge issue. And please note i said ALL political parties. It is simplistic to narrowly focus on the wedge issue as the determining factor.
To be honest I don’t know enough about the issues of Separation of Church and State and how they apply to the USA constitution. I also don’t know much about what Aquinas had to say, I’m not a student of the history. What I do know is things are not in a good way in the US with respect to Partisan influence that overshadows and manipulated the focus of Catholics. By no means are Catholics the only denomination under the influence of parties who’s focus is other than the Gospel call to follow Jesus.
The Koch Brothers are a major influence on the US Catholic Church in this battle for the allegiance of the faithful and so it seems is Rupert Murdoch who is the recipient of a Papal Knighthood. Now there’s a man who does not hold to Catholic teaching on Marriage, how many dimes is it?? I’ve lost count but his latest is Jerry Hall, Mick Jaggers ex. Yet he is seen as a fit and worthy recipient of a Papal Knighthood? Is it a case of follow the money? or am I being unfair? He featured topless women in his British tabloids…since 2019 approximately ‘the page 3 girls are now clothed in underwear. So Rupert is a Knight of St Gregory. Lucky man. Privileged man…..definitely sought after….. I wonder what his position is on the abortion debate? Conveniently irrelevant perhaps? How about his position on…… whatever. Who cares?
There is no ‘Separation of Church and State’ mentioned anywhere in the founding documents.
Indeed, nowhere — in that or any other language — does the Constitution forbid religious beliefs or precepts from occupying the public square.
What *is* forbidden in the Constitution is the ‘establishment of religion’. In other words, our government is not allowed to advocate, support or sponsor any particular religion, as the British government has with Anglicanism since the 16th century.
Although, how in heaven’s name you conflate this with Biden’s appointment of a gay, anti-Christian ambassador to Switzerland is beyond me.
Your countermeasure decoys are insufficient. Apart from the outliers (liars?), the truth, as you say, is that you/we can never know enough about so-called separation of Church and State, or about history, or about Aquinas, or much else including the complete Gospel.
Wasn’t it the Christ of the Gospel (?), whom some would use as a fig leaf, who taught: ““Do not think that I have come to abolish Law [the Commandments/natural law] or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Are homosexuals exempt from the 6th or 9th Commandments simply because there’s more than one way to skin a cat?
Still unclear? What, then, about this instruction which might be taken literally: “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant [!!!], or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass [!!!], or anything that is thy neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).
Peter, what counter measures and decoys am I employing to dodge whatever it is I am accused of dodging? And your second sentence is hard to fathom. As for stealing land, ( oil, overturning democratically elected governments and land grabbing in Latin America ) we could really have a discussion on the morality of both Democrat and Republican administrations.
What’s the secont
d commandment? Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
I would assume that also means not misrepresenting the character of The Lord? Who is Jesus that he would justify going to war in a so called pre emptive strike on a foreign people of Iraq? Just war theory? What was that saying about eyes splinters and logs?
My contribution to this discussion is not in support of the Homosexual agenda nor is any view I have expressed in contrary to any of the 10 commandments. Perhaps a re reading of my first comment in reply to Gilberta should place my following comments in context for you. Hint, it has something to do with big money:
“Gilberta
AUGUST 23, 2021 AT 11:26 AM
Too many people are unaware of the big money pushing the LGBT agenda.”
Christopher Hallam
AUGUST 23, 2021 AT 4:45 PM
“Gilberta, a valid observation and very pertinent to those who’s priority in life is to follow Jesus and remain true to a faith that is pure. Our priority is to follow Jesus and we are virtually being pulled to the LEFT and pulled to the RIGHT by those who’s agenda is other than to follow Jesus but who use the Body of Christ to tag on to and further their agenda. In these instances, follow the money is an appropriate adage! I have this image of Jesus being pulled apart by the arms, his head bloodied and bruised and his followers in disarray……”
Its hard to understand exactly how much scandal Biden has to commit before the US Bishops will take a reasoned stand for Catholic morality and deny him Communion.Their cowardice is painful to observe. Across the board in all areas, as has been made clear over and over, Biden is no Catholic. He OWNS rosaries so he can rattle them for the press. It would be interesting to know if he actually ever PRAYS the Rosary.
Excellent question, LJ.
And you’re right, the cowardice of the bishops seems limitless. Far from protecting their flocks, many of them seem to cower behind them.
Just one question – is there ANYONE out there who can honestly say that he or she is actually surprised by this?
Joe Public is constantly fed the LGBT propaganda that it’s all about the marginalized, misunderstood and victimized.
And by addressing the needs of the marginalised, misunderstood and victimised you/we, are not necessarily supporting the LGBT agenda.
Maybe the ethicists here can elaborate on this statement with respect to the appointment of the ambassador.
Support cannot come without acceptance, but acceptance can come without support.
The democrats and Biden “pick” are fooling LGBT people. He “picks” them so that the democratic party can get their vote..period. If the democrats had any compassion they would helping these poor people find their true humanity by supporting laws concerning conversion therapy. I know many that “hate” the learned feelings they have and would like conversion therapy but cannot get it. The democrats are using them for their own gain. Disgusting!
The photograph is vomit inducing.
Repeating a comment from another article, “I die the king’s faithful servant but God’s first.” St.Thomas Moore. Simple and succinct but profoundly sound guidance.