The Daily Agenda for Friday, May 24
Boy Scouts of America Votes To Allow Gay Members, Retains Ban On Gay Leaders
Nevada House votes to reverse marriage ban
The Daily Agenda for Thursday, May 23
It's Not the Principle, It's the Prejudice
Congratulations Mitch!
Gay Couples Excluded from Immigration Bill Markup
How To Spot A Swivel-Eyed Loon
Featured Reports
What Are Little Boys Made Of?
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
David Benkof: Behind the Mask
At first glance, David Benkof appears to be a young gay man who believes that same-sex marriage will damage the institution of marriage, that there are better options for gay couples than marriage, that the community should join him in prioritizing other more pressing issues, and that the marriage discussion is harming the efforts of gay couples in red states to get recognition for their unions. He also claims that he’s a gay columnist, that he speaks for an influential collection of gay thinkers, and that he is part of the gay and lesbian community and that he shares our goals and dreams. But none of that is true.
“Repeat After Me”: The Reparative Therapy Echo Chamber
The April 2008 edition of the pay-to-publish vanity journal Psychological Reports featured a new report from NARTH. Written by NARTH president A. Dean Byrd, past president Joseph Nicolosi, and Richard W. Potts, the report carries the unwieldy but self-descriptive title, “Clients perceptions of how reorientation therapy and self-help can promote changes in sexual orientation.” While the title describes what the authors meant to show — how clients describe the benefits of reparative therapy — the report itself actually illustrates something very different: the ex-gay movement’s remarkable ability to instill an almost robot-like parroting of ex-gay rhetoric among their clients.
Testing the Premise: Is MRSA The New Gay Plague?
The Toronto Star said that a new study “discover[ed] a new strain” of a super-bug “hitting gay men.” Headlines in Britain screamed, “Flesh-eating bug strikes San Francisco’s gay community,” and anti-gay extremists across America spread the alarm that gays were introducing another plague into “the general population.” But there was a small problem with all of this: None of it is true!
Paul Cameron’s World
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don't miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Straight From The Source: What the “Dutch Study” Really Says About Gay Couples
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
The FRC’s Briefs Are Showing
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
Review: The Gay Report
When Karla Jay and Allan Young published The Gay Report in 1979, it quickly a favorite source of statistics for many anti-gay extremists. But before you accepts these statistic at face value, you should examine the inner workings of this survey very carefully. What you learn might surprise you.
Daniel Fetty Doesn’t Count
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out reported today that Christopher Austin, an ex-gay counselor and founder of Renew Ministries of Irving, Texas, was convicted of sexually assaulting a client, a second degree felony of “unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly caused penetration of [pseudonym Stephen Trask].” He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but received seven years probation and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
Jeremy
September 6th, 2007 | LINK
“Also, Ex-Gay Watch reports that despite the conviction, Austin is still answering the telephone as “Dr. Austin, Counseling Center.” ”
It is STILL a counselling center. Chris is not the only Psychologist in the office.
What’s your point?
Robguy
September 6th, 2007 | LINK
I’m so (not) shocked!
Benton
September 7th, 2007 | LINK
Does Austin have the degrees to refer to himself as Dr.? Or is this just another “inaccuracy” put forth by the Ex-Gay folks?
Miles Gordon
September 8th, 2007 | LINK
Another proud success for the ex-gay movement.
Pam in Grand Prairie
September 8th, 2007 | LINK
I have known Chris since 1995. At that time he volunteered as a facilitator for a group of survivors of sexual abuse. I joined the group when I came to the DFW area. He worked with our group weekly for many years. Chris has continued as my therapist until he called to inform me that he was losing his license.
In many of the groups that I have been to over the last 30 years, people have talked about falling victim to doctors and therapist who made improper advances toward patients. They had put their trust in professionals to help guide them through the healing process. I am always so shocked and outraged by this kind of behavior!
I know how if feels when no one believes you because your abuser is a prominent, Christian adult. I am especially observant when it comes to noticing children who have been or are being abused. It goes hand in hand with my profession. I believe this is because of my own abuse as a child and teenager. Believe me – I AM on the side of the abused!
One of the adults who accused Chris is NOT a stable person and has an imagination warped by his illness. (These were all adults who could have walked away.) At one point this person placed flyers on all the cars in a church parking lot where Chris was a member. There are hundreds of people who will stand up for Chris. I am just one of them. I personally know of at least 30 people that have gone to Chris for guidance. They are as shocked as I am by this misguided campaign of lies.
Chris is NOT an abuser.
It breaks my heart that this abuse is being perpetrated against someone who has given his life helping anyone that has a need.
Please realize, sometimes accusations, no matter how vivid, detailed or “documented” can be imagined and totally false. Some people have an agenda. It has happened throughout history. You have just proved that this is one of those websites that has a one-sided agenda.
Timothy Kincaid
September 10th, 2007 | LINK
Pam,
I am sorry that this story is so devastating to you. I know that along with the emotional shock of hearing this sort of thing about a friend and an advisor comes a natural inclination to disbelieve.
Of course, none of the authors at this site know for certain all of the details. Nor can we state with authority that the accusations are true.
But we do know that Chris Austin was convicted by a jury of his peers. And we know the defense had the opportunity to present everything they could to discredit his accusors but in the end the jury found Chris guilty.
And, to me, that goes a great way to suggesting that Chris was able to deceive you about things he was doing. Sadly, the history of the world seems to be full of people doing just that. And yet when it happens to us it is so difficult to think that our judgment was not adequate to identify a con-man.
I’m so sorry that you have to experience this disappointment and now find a new counselor. I wish you much success.
But I simply cannot assume that Mr. Austin’s guilty verdict is the result of someone’s “agenda”. And I’m terribly sad that you are incapable of seeing otherwise.
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