Reverend Lou Sheldon, who in 1980 founded the Traditional Values Coalition, a Christian conservative activist group dedicated to opposing homosexuality and abortion, has died at 85.

The OC Register reports: “Sheldon, a former Anaheim resident, died in Southern California of a longstanding condition, son-in-law James Lafferty said. He did not provide details. … He founded the Traditional Values Coalition in 1980 to uphold conservative positions, including opposing abortion and homosexual rights. The group had a significant impact in anti-gay rights circles in the 1980s and 1990s. Sheldon and his daughter visited the White House nearly 70 times and personally met eight times with President George W. Bush, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which in 2010 designated the Traditional Values Coalition as an anti-LGBT hate group.”

Southern Poverty Law Center reports: “In 1985, Sheldon suggested forcibly rounding up AIDS victims into ‘cities of refuge,’ like leper colonies, to protect the general population. After a hate crime bill was signed into law in the 1990s, Sheldon told a reporter that the new law would “protect sex with animals and the rape of children as forms of political expression,” which was completely false. The law did no such thing and could not legally. In 1992, columnist Jimmy Breslin reported that Sheldon told him that ‘homosexuals are dangerous. They proselytize. They come to the door, and if your son answers and nobody is there to stop it, they grab the son and run off with him. They steal him. They take him away and turn him into a homosexual.'”

They add: “Three years later, in 1995, Sheldon successfully lobbied for a congressional hearing on gay activists’ alleged infiltration of public schools in an attempt to garner support for Senator Jesse Helms’ bill to cut federal funds for public schools ‘encouraging or supporting homosexuality.’ The hearing, however, was a disaster for Sheldon and his supporters. The hearing’s main witness was Claire Connolly, a lesbian who falsely accused gay male activists of using federal AIDS funds to host orgies.”

Some quotes from Sheldon, via SPLC:

“As homosexuals continue to make inroads into public schools, more children will be molested and indoctrinated into the world of homosexuality. Many of them will die in that world.”

“Americans should understand that their attitudes about homosexuality have been deliberately and deceitfully changed by a masterful propaganda/marketing campaign that rivals that of Adolph [sic] Hitler. In fact, many of the strategies used by homosexuals to bring about cultural change in America are taken from Hitler’s writings and propaganda welfare manuals.”

“The hate crimes language passed in the House is a threat to free speech, freedom of religion, and association. Homosexuality is a behavior, not a fixed identity. It is similar to smoking or drug use, not an immutable characteristic like race or ethnicity. There are no ‘former’ Blacks, but there are ex-homosexuals. The existence of ex-homosexuals is clear evidence that homosexuality is behavior-based, not an unchangeable characteristic. It should not receive special minority rights protections in federal law.” – 2005

“LGBT activists are doing a victory dance over conquering our U.S. military – but this is only a skirmish in a long battle to homosexualize our entire culture. I expect to see an effort down the road to include ‘transgenders’ in the military. That should be an interesting debate.” —Traditional Values Coalition, press release, 2010