Gay rights advocates are criticizing Gov. Sam Brownback for speaking at a conference sponsored by an organization that seeks to promote marriage as between a man and a woman.
Brownback, a Republican, participated in a panel Wednesday at the World Congress of Families conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reportsthe Human Rights Campaign criticized Brownback for speaking at the conference and says WCF is a hate group for its efforts against gay rights.
Eileen Hawley, Brownback's spokeswoman, says the governor was invited to the event to discuss "strategies to lift individuals out of poverty."
WCF says it supports what it calls the "natural family," or the lifelong marriage of a man and woman. WCF also says implications that it hates the LGBT community are untrue.
