Box Turtle Bulletin

Surgeon General Nominee Wrote Anti-Gay Tract

President Bush’s nomination of Dr. James Holsinger to be the next Surgeon General has raised red flags across the LGBT community. Dr. Holsinger, a Kentucky cardiologist and professor, was nominated on May 24, but his past writings and activities seem to indicate an egregious anti-gay bias, which would be a very troubling background for one who is to become the advocate-in-chief on all health matters.

Concerns were first raised when we learned that Dr. Holsinger and his wife were founders of Hope Springs Community Church in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the pastor, Hope Springs operates an ex-gay ministry. It’s unclear to me how involved Dr. Holsinger is in this ministry, if he’s involved at all. But he appears to be very active in the church overall, and so his views on the ex-gay movement are certainly worth examining.

But there is another fact that has surfaced which I find far more troubling. Holsinger is one of nine members of the United Methodist Church Judicial Council. As a member of the council he opposed a decision to allow a lesbian to be an associate pastor, and supported a pastor who would not permit an openly gay man to join the church.

But he did not arrive at that opinion on theological concerns alone, and this is where his nomination as Surgeon General takes on an especially sinister turn. The Human Rights Campaign has revealed that Holsinger wrote a white paper for the United Methodist Church titled, “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality.” In that paper, he gives his purportedly scientific opinion of the inherent inequality of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgenders.

I find this especially troubling. There is an active genre of anti-gay literature which purports to offer scientific evidence that the gay “lifestyle” is inherently unhealthy. The problem with this genre is that it is easy to go to the medical literature to prove that any population poses a health threat to society. I did it when I wrote my parody of this literary genre, “The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing the Myths. Several anti-gay extremists have discovered how easy it is to do this, even though the methods behind this genre are demonstrably worthless from a scientific standpoint.

We look to the Surgeon General to set aside personal biases to be an effective advocate for the health of all Americans. One of the best examples of this in recent history is Dr. C Everett Koop, an evangelical Christian who bravely battled strong anti-gay forces in the Reagan Administration in his attempts to give rational, scientifically sound information about the nascent AIDS crisis. While Dr. Koop may have had strong personal opinions on the morality of homosexuality, he took seriously his position as health advocate for all Americans.

At this point, I am not confident that Dr. Holsinger will be able to do this.

However, without seeing the paper myself, I cannot know exactly what he wrote. If someone can forward me a copy of the paper or tell me where I can find it, I’d be extremely grateful. I have access to a great medical library and would love the opportunity to give this paper a good vetting. If you have javascript enabled in your browser, you’ll find my e-mail address at the top of the sidebar at left.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who wrote in to provide links. You can find a PDF version of the article at the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader web site under his photo. And the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Religion Editor Frank Lockwood posted an HTML browser-friendly version on his blog.

UPDATE: For more information on Holsinger’s paper, see A Closer Look at Dr. James Holsinger’s “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality”.

Former Exodus Missionary Speaks Out

Jose Luis Maccarone lived as an ex-gay for over 10 years. Peterson Toscano met him during his stay  at Love in Action, an ex-gay residential program in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2000 Jose Luis moved from his home in Argentina to Madrid to serve as Exodus Interational’s first missionary. After a few years, he left Exodus and came out gay.

Peterson recently traveled to Madrid to meet with Jose Luis. While they met, Peterson talked to Jose Luis about his experiences with the the ex-gay movement. It’s an enlightening and moving testimony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7AWZyypZcg
Jose Luis shares some of the reasons why he became ex-gay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFzFFB8pfaY
Jose Luis talks about life as an Exodus leader and missionary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqOsFEUhFiA
Jose Luis talks about the good and the harm from his ex-gay experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xdCfdLxvhM
Jose Luis talks about his recovery from the ex-gay movement and speaks to the people who he had ministered to as a missionary and ex-gay leader.

[Hat tip: Peterson Toscano]

Enrique Can Be Your Hero

Heartthrob Enrique Iglesias often picks a beautiful woman out of the crowd to serenade during his concerts. When he recently performed at a gay club in London, he reached out for someone else in an electrifying performance of his hit, “Hero.” Watch the young man’s thrill and disbelief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Co7_06iBo
If that doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, then you have a cold, cold heart. Enrique is one class act.

Vigil for Sean Kennedy

A candlelight vigil in Greenville was held Sunday evening to remember 20-year-old Sean Kennedy, who was a victim of an apparent hate crime. Vigil organizers wanted to draw attention to hate crime bills before th South Carolina legislature and the U.S. Congress which would provide protections on the basis of gender expression and sexual orientation.

Kennedy died last month after being punched outside of a Greenville bar. According to witnesses, Stephen Andrew Moller, 18, made a comment about Kennedy’s sexual orientation before punching him. Moller is charged with murder. Kennedy’s death is being investigated as a hate crime, but there is no law on the book that currently deals with the prosecution of hate crimes.

A foundation, Sean’s Last Wish, has been set up to support passage of legislation to protect everyone regardless of sexual orientation.

Three Massachusets Teens Charged in Beating

Three Lowell, Massachussets men were charged yesterday morning in an apparent gay-bashing.  The teens alledgedly saw the man in a residential neighborhood at about 3 a.m. on Friday, and used anti gay slurs before beating him, according to authorities. James Nickola was bruised and suffered a severely cut lip.

The three men, Jonathan Artis, Jeffrey Buchanan, and Jules Rugges, all 19, were charged with  violation of constitutional rights with bodily injury, assault and battery, and mayhem. They were then released on their own recognizance.

Sticks and Stones

Peter LaBarbera doesn’t like his nickname.

For several years now, it’s been reported that Peter LaBarbera has made it his quest to attend various leather and S&M events, report on what he sees, and claim that it somehow is representative — or even relevant — to the gay community at large. Whenever he goes to events like these, he takes several salacious photos and posts them on his website. Then he exhorts his readers to “take action” of some sort (which usually involves harassing the hosting venues) and demands that everyone in the gay community condemn the event.

He takes this work very seriously. He even compares his mission to those of Simon Wiesenthal and Mother Theresa. That’s pretty serious.

It’s been reported that Peter LaBarbera has a collection of leather outfits to wear to these events. It’s also been reported that he likes to go undercover to gay bathhouses — Chicago’s Steamworks seems to be a favorite. And it’s been reported that LaBarbera maintains an impressive collection of gay porn — for research purposes, of course. In fact, LaBarbera’s storied reputation for being inordinately fascinated by all things pornographic — well, not all things, just gay male things — has led to his being dubbed with the well-earned moniker of “Porno Pete.”

LaBarbera credits Wayne Besen for the nickname, one that has spread LaBarbera’s fame far and wide. When I mentioned Peter LaBarbera to my partner over the weekend, he didn’t know who I was talking about. As soon as I said “Porno Pete” though, he knew instantly. “Oh, that guy.” It has now reached the point where you have to refer to his nickname at least once just so everyone will know who you’re talking about.

But Porno Pete doesn’t like his nickname. He calls it a smear. He brought his objections up in a comment on this web site, and he repeats his objections on his own site.

By the way, he also generously mentions this humble web site on his blog, describing us as alternating “between high-minded critiques of pro-family research and mean-spirited name-calling.” The “high-minded” part is quite a compliment. Thanks. We do try. Sorry about the name calling though. We try to be high-minded, but it’s hard to stay focused when dealing with low-minded people, particularly those who go through more exclamation marks in a single post than normal people do in a lifetime. But I’ll give it my best shot.

At any rate, Porno Pete, err… Mr. LaBarbera attended an “International Mr. Leather” event in Chicago recently, and he’s all up in arms because of how awful the whole thing was. If I had gone, I might have agreed with him. That’s probably why I didn’t go. I have no interest in these things whatsoever. What’s more, none of my friends went. I don’t think they were interested either.

Now that I think of it, if someone were to point a gun to my head and demand I give the names of all the people who went, the only name I could give would be Mr. LaBarbera’s, and I’d have to pray that that would be enough to save my life. Otherwise, I’m doomed.

Several years ago, I did happen to attend an event where public nudity was on display everywhere I turned. It wasn’t pretty. I had gone along with some (straight) friends and rented a sailboat to cruise around the British Virgin Islands. We anchored one afternoon off of the tiny island of Sandy Cay for a day of hiking and just generally hanging around the pristine beach. We had been on that island for no more than an hour when we saw a Windjammer-style sailing vessel on one of those “barefoot cruises.” It dropped anchor and began to discharge its passengers onto the beach. Except this was no mere barefoot cruise. This was a “bare all” cruise of mostly retired Minnesotan nudists — heterosexuals all. On our beach. In public. In blindingly broad daylight.

They were very nice and friendly. I talked to one kind lady who reminded me of my grandmother, except of course for the no-clothes thing. They invited us to join them, but we decided to leave when we saw them organizing what looked to be a game of nudist leapfrog. We didn’t stay around long enough to learn the rules.

I don’t know what horrors Mr. LaBarbera saw at International Mr. Leather that weekend, but I would have dared him to take pictures of these pasty-skinned, gray-haired (yes, even there!) naked Minnesotan retirees. I doubt he would have made it off that island alive.

I bring this up because I think there’s a simple lesson to be learned. If you don’t like something, don’t go. Or if you’re there by accident, leave.

Mr. LaBarbera doesn’t like International Mr. Leather, which I totally get because neither would I. So next time it comes to town, he should do what I did. Or didn’t do — whatever. Don’t go. I mean really — they had a sign at the door saying the event was closed to the general public, didn’t they? Mr. LaBarbera even took a picture of it. I wish there had been a sign on Sandy Cay, but there wasn’t. Mr. LaBarbera should consider himself lucky to have been forewarned.

But no, he barreled right past that sign (after pausing to take a picture of it first) and went right in. And then he took lots more pictures. He even took pictures that he said he couldn’t post on his web site. I’m not sure why he took those pictures — but hey, different strokes, right?

And now that he’s posted his “report,” he wants the rest of us homosexuals to condemn the event. Well heck, I didn’t even know about it, and I don’t know what responsibility I have for it. Why should he call me out on it? I don’t hold Mr. LaBarbera — or even heterosexuals in general — responsible for spoiling my afternoon in the Virgin Islands. Why should I be tied (get it? That’s a joke!) to that thing in Chicago?

But okay. I’ll set aside that complete breakdown in logic and offer my condemnation for something I have nothing to do with:

I don’t think I’d like it. I don’t like any public display of fetishes, even though this wasn’t entirely public. Next year, I will be sure to boycott it.

(Can you boycott something if you don’t know about it? Do I have to join the International Mr. Leather mailing list just so I’ll know what not to go to? I’ll have to think about that one.)

But as long as we’re on the topic of demanding that people condemn things that have nothing to do with them, I’d like to point out to Mr. LaBarbera that this year’s Fetish Con will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Tampa this coming August. Even though this is a heterosexual event, this should be right up Mr. LaBarbera’s alley. There’s even bondage among the plethora of commodified sexual pleasures. He can take pictures and describe everything he sees. (He can even take some more of those pictures he can’t put on his web site.) And he can preface his report with a warning:

WARNING: *** NOT FOR CHILDREN ***

Graphic photos below with offensive depictions of real-life heterosexual depravities

And he can demand that all heterosexuals “condemn the perversion.”

If past performance gives us any indication of future behavior, we won’t see anything like this. Americans for Truth never comes close to being “high-minded.” I’m sorry I can’t return the compliment. The only thing Mr. LaBarbera is interested in is finding weaponry he can use against every LGBT person on the planet, and he doesn’t care where he finds it.

I doubt we’ll see Porno Pete in Tampa, and that’s a terrible shame. I think Mother Teresa would be very disappointed in him.

Riga Pride Peaceful and Safe

Sighs of relief were let across Europe as Riga’s first sanctioned Pride parade went off without problems amid exceptionally tight security.

Riga’s Pride parade was more like a short walk around a sealed-off park than a typical Pride event elsewhere. But after last year’s excrement- and egg-throwing disruption — and last week’s violence in Moscow — nerves were on edge. There was only one reported disruption; a skinhead had infiltrated and began shouting slogans before being hustled away by riot police.

There were only an estimate 1,200 participants at Riga Pride this year, and many compared the mild festivities to a visit to the zoo. Some carried Tinky Winky dolls in a poke at neighboring nearby Poland. Several political and NGO dignitaries were also in attendance, raising its profile considerably.

Comments

You may notice that comments appear differently on this web site now. You may also notice that some of the older comments are missing. That will be temporary. I’m in the process of transitioning all the comments from Haloscan to WordPress. I have re-loaded all of the comments that have been left here since May 1 so far. Since there are nearly 600 comments altogether, this will take a while. But the effort will be worth it since the new system will allow greater flexibility for new features in the future.

What a Mother

The MTV reality show Real World is premised on the idea of getting seven people of questionable morals and unstable personality to live together for a summer.  Generally they include at least one gay person.

This year’s gay guy, Davis, was a recently out southern boy with very conservative parents who was trying to be faithful to his boyfriend (he lasted until the last week, unlike two of the girls who didn’t last the first night).  Like all MTV reality characters, he had plenty of flaws and foibles and was far from an angel, but it was interesting to watch him deal with his self-discovery and to see him interact with a housemate who came in with homophobic beliefs.

However the moment that caught my attention came off camera, after the season, and only was mentioned in passing at the “reunion” show.  Davis’ mother was having difficulty accepting Davis’ orientation and suggested they get family counseling on how to cope.  Davis readily agreed – only to find when he showed up that his mother had booked him with a Reorientation Therapist.

Next year think of Davis’ mother and give your mom something extra special on Mothers’ Day.

Scott Lively Speaking in Riga in March

Jeremey Hooper from Good As You found this video. Here is holocaust-revisionist Scott Lively speaking at a workshop at New Generations church in Riga, Latvia last March.

This is what the extremists of No Pride Riga are spreading.

It’s Not Special If Everyone Can Have It

The Washington Blade reports that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will support domestic partner benefits for gay employees in the next state workers’ union contract. Concerned Woman Matt Barber thinks that move will cheapen marriage for everyone else:

[Barber] contends that domestic partner benefits devalue traditional marriage much the same way introducing counterfeit money into commerce devalues the dollar. “[When] you water down something enough, eventually it becomes unrecognizable,” he asserts, “and we have counterfeit marriage here; we have the government subsidizing counterfeit marriage.”

I’m terribly sorry to learn that Barber’s marriage is devalued by domestic partner benefits. Who knew the value of marriage was subject to the laws of supply and demand?

American Anti-Gay Extremists In Collusion With Riga Pride Opponents

Last weekend, we watched in horror as anti-gay violence broke out with police backing in the streets of Moscow during a peaceful demonstration. This weekend, all eyes will turn to Riga, Latvia, for their third Riga Pride. No Pride Riga, which staunchly (and in the past, violently) opposes Riga Pride, has warned on its web site that foreigners should stay away. But UK Gay News reports that they aren’t following their own advice.

American Scott Lively, author of the holocaust-revisionist book, The Pink Swastika is already in Riga. Lively goes beyond the small cadre of anti-gay extremists who deny that gays were victims of the holocaust. He claims that ‘homosexualism’ itself was responsible for the rise of the Nazi party and led directly to the Holocaust. He writes that “homosexuality is primarily a predatory addiction striving to take the weak and unsuspecting down with it.”

Despite the crackpot theories manufactured largely from rumor, conjecture and the recycling of popular myths, Lively’s book has become something of a best seller. It’s now in its fourth edition. While it has been dismissed by historians, it has gained a significant following among anti-gay activists, particularly among European neo-Nazi groups who have been responsible for several anti-gay assaults in recent years.

Lively has been active in Latvia recently. On March 21st, he was invited to speak at a Kaunas Police Academy about “the effects of sexual ‘freedom’ that is promoted by the homosexual movement.”

Another American anti-gay extremist rumored to be in Riga is Rev. Ken Hutcherson, of Redmond, Washington’s Antioch Bible Church. You may remember him for persuading Microsoft in 2005 to withdraw support for bill before the Washington state legislature that would have made it illegal to fire an employee due to their sexual orientation. After a huge outcry, Microsoft reversed its decision.

In recent years, Hutcherson has formed an alliance with Seattle- and Sacramento-area Slavic evangelical churches, as well as Latvian pastor Aleksey Ledyaev of Riga’s New Generation megachurch. Both Lively and Hutcherson were in Riga in March to speak at New Generation during Sunday services. It was on this visit that Hutcherson claimed to speak as a “special envoy” of President George W. Bush, a claim that was denied by the White House. Janis Smits, chairperson of the Latvian Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, was among the dignitaries who attended the anti-gay rally and spoke at the event. Also attending were Janis Pujats, Cardinal of the Latvian Roman Catholic Church; Inta Feldmane, member of Parliament; and Aina Krukle, representative of the Riga City Council.

Lively told that audience:

I have studied homosexual movement now for 17 years and with all responsibility state that currently Latvia a zone of intense confrontation between Christians and homosexuals…

This nation will be our main battlefield against this counter Christian culture. God gave Kenneth Hutcherson and me to see that [New Generation pastor] Alexei [Ledyaev] is the very man God placed to direct this battle, and church should support him in all respects. We are going to help you consistently and effectively to fight those who violate Christ’s rights and target his ministers for their insults.

Last year, Riga officials banned the Pride parade. Indoor events went ahead, and No Pride protesters showed up and pelted participants with excrement and eggs. Two years ago, No Pride supporters tried to physically block the path of the parade. This year, with a new administration in city hall, officials are reportedly much more proactive in providing protection for Riga Pride participants.

Nikolai Alekseev, one of the organizers of last weekend’s Moscow Pride, is hoping to be in Riga. It’s uncertain if he can make it as his own legal problems stemming from his arrest last weekend may prevent him from leaving Moscow.

Exodus Continues To Associate With Vitriol-Spewing Bishop For Day Of Youth Prayer

(Advertisement posted by Exodus Youth on MySpace)

Exodus has joined a coalition of various religious right groups in some sort of vague day of prayer for youth or possibly sexual purity for said youth. Their website isn’t very clear and doesn’t even give a formal name for the event or coalition.

Included in that coalition is Wellington Boone Ministries. Let’s review what Boone had to say at the Family Research Council’s “Liberty Sunday” (official transcript) last October.

We know what a family is. My wife said to me this morning, she said, “Well, okay then. It’s sodomites because they’re not gays; it’s a misnomer. They’re sodomites.”

…If God calls homosexuality an abomination, if he calls it vile affections, if he calls it wickedness, I can’t call it inappropriate behavior. (Applause.) So if this is just a small matter, I’ll tell you what — let two women go on an island and a whole bunch of – all women, if you’re sodomites, go on an island, stay by yourself, all women, put all the men on another island – this is my wife talking to me this morning – let them stay. I’ll tell you what: “We’ll come back and see you about 100 years.”

I say Exodus is partnering with Boone again because at “Liberty Sunday” Exodus president Alan Chambers was the second speaker following Boone.

See my previous coverage of Boone at XGW.