Tom Campbell responds to "two peas in a pod" ad
Pope said to have facilitated child molestation
Staff and dancers arrested during police raid on the Atlanta Eagle were found not guilty
Exodus VP: "Disney Makes Right Decision Concerning 'Ex-Gay' Policy"
Riding Horses
What Every LGBT Person Should Know About the Census
Nepal Courts Gay Tourism
Police deliberately destroy lesbian's military career out of spite
Featured Reports
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 two hundred 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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Warren Throckmorton
September 25th, 2007 | LINK
While it would be more appropriate for Wayne to apologize to the person he defamed, I do appreciate the post here. Apologies accepted.
Wayne Besen
September 25th, 2007 | LINK
Warren:
Please do not confuse my apology for the term “sociopath” with what I think of your work. I think you owe an apology to the victims of ex-gay therapy.
1) I find it abusive when you claim, “I have never found evidence of electroshock treatment being used anyway.” Would you like to meet some victims?
2) I find it abusive when you claim, “Where’s the evidence for the contention of harm?” Perhaps, you should have joined us at the Ex-Gay Survivors conference.
3) I find it abusive when you dismiss victims by saying, “I submit that there are reasons to be cautious about client reports of dissatisfaction with psychotherapy that are not counterbalanced with reports of the therapists involved.
4) I find it glib when you say, “Most people who stop smoking report cravings but don’t give into them. Does this minimize their status as former smokers?” I resent my love being compared to smoking. I find that extreme.
5) I find your methods bizarre when you suggest that homosexuality can be cured though teaching “self-understanding and assertiveness.”
6) I find it equally odd that you believe that if some homosexuals take anti-anxiety drugs, they can go straight.
Dr. Throckmorton, your views are quite fringe, in spite of how you work to present yourself to mainstream audiences. While I apologize for a word, you must apologize for much more. You can begin by apologizing for your homophobic video “I Do Exist” which opens in front of New York porn shops, signifying gay life.
Now that I have shown you how to apologize…by all means…
Wayne Besen
September 25th, 2007 | LINK
I almost forgot Warren’s infamous quote:
“The last issue that has been advanced to prove conversion therapy is harmful is the supposed link between youth suicide and conversion therapy. Let me say this clearly: there are no data supporting any such link.”
Warren you aren’t seriously suggesting that some youths don’t kill themselves when they realize they are gay. I’m sure there are many readers on this site that might like to share such an experience and educate you on this matter.
Jason
September 25th, 2007 | LINK
“4) I find it glib when you say, “Most people who stop smoking report cravings but don’t give into them. Does this minimize their status as former smokers?” I resent my love being compared to smoking. I find that extreme.”
I quit smoking 3 years ago, and quit drinking. I haven’t had any sort of craving for either of them in over a year….which would be where the smoking analogy falls apart. My cravings ended, the ex-gays never leave their homosexuality behind. The most “successful” still report thoughts and desires for years later.
Jerry
September 25th, 2007 | LINK
“I quit smoking 3 years ago, and quit drinking. I haven’t had any sort of craving for either of them in over a year….which would be where the smoking analogy falls apart. My cravings ended, the ex-gays never leave their homosexuality behind. The most “successful” still report thoughts and desires for years later.”
I’d like to second that. I beat smoking, drinking, and a cocaine addiction almost a decade ago. Today, I don’t experience cravings for any of them. My desire for sex and love, on the other hand, is a built in feature of my species, and it never went away no matter what tricks I tried.
Randi Schimnosky
September 27th, 2007 | LINK
Warren said “Most people who stop smoking report cravings but don’t give into them. Does this minimize their status as former smokers?”
Gays aren’t defined by sexual activity, what makes a person gay is sexual desire. Many virgins are gay. Simply ceasing gay sex doesn’t make one “ex-gay”, the desires remain and the person is still gay.
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