By Gudrun Schultz

Tony Dungy Friends of Family ad INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 13, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy is receiving complaints from homosexual activists over his scheduled appearance next week at a banquet organized by a pro-family organization, Focus on the Family’s Citizen Link reported yesterday.

Activist Jim Buzinski, who helped found the pro-homosexual sports website OutSports.com, accused the Indiana Family Institute of being a political organization in a column posted on the site.

“He is speaking at the dinner next week in front of [a] group that is very much a political organization,” Buzinski said.

The Indiana Family Institute invited Dungy to speak at the “Friends of the Family” benefit and receive an award from the Institute for his strong Christian example, said IFI president Curt Smith. The IFI is a non-profit Christian organization that opposes pro-homosexual legislation as a threat to the traditional family.

“The purpose of this award is to celebrate those who live out the family ethic that we think is at the heart of a healthy and successful society,” Smith told CitizenLink. “There was no five-point quiz where he had to agree with us on a number of public policy questions. In inviting him and then following up with a letter, we didn’t discuss public policy.”

While the Colts organization said the club doesn’t take positions in political issues, officials stated that Dungy was free to speak to any group he chose.

Dungy’s comments on the importance of his Christian faith, in an interview following the Colts’ February Superbowl win, led to a media furor over the place of personal Christian witness in the secular world of sports.

Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family Action, said the complaints about Dungy were an example of homosexual activists efforts to restrict the speech of any person they see opposing the homosexual lifestyle.

“It’s called ‘Christophobia,'” said Daly.

“Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern for those that oppose Christianity. They want to control our speech in the public square, embarrass us and try to belittle us. It really is a form of fascism.”

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Super Bowl Coach’s Christian Witness Reported by Mainstream Media World-Wide
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020703.html