News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, June 19
Another Exodus Conference Is Upon Us. Let's Review.
For Our Opponents: Talking to Your Kids About Same-Sex Marriage
The Daily Agenda for Tuesday, June 18
The Daily Agenda for Monday, June 17
The Daily Agenda for Sunday, June 16
The Daily Agenda for Saturday, June 15
The Daily Agenda for Friday, June 14
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Never one to pass an opportunity to put a “Christian” face on things, the anti-gay Phelpsian cult has announced that they will be protesting Heath Ledger’s funeral:
… God hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! …
Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there — beside which, nothing else about Heath Ledger is relevant or consequential.
A lovely bunch.
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David
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
Didn’t that multi-million dollar judgment against them teach these people anything?
Would I be exceeding BTB standards too much if I say I sincerely hope some of Heath’s fans [deleted -- ed.] these creeps?
Jim Burroway
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
I’m afraid so David. I perfectly understand your outrage though.
Graham Shevlin
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
What a delightful collection of bigoted mean-spirited little shits.
Timothy Kincaid
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
James Hartline – darling of Pete LaBarbera and Christian news outlets for his wacky protests and trouble making in San Diego – shares the Phelps’ sentiments.
Classy people, the whole bunch of them. They delight in the pain of others and I really can’t think of a better definition of evil.
TJ McFisty
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
Does anyone counter protest them with “God Hates Phelps” signs? I believe some have in the past, but I’m not sure how often that happens. I mean, we should do it every time they do, but I suspect we aren’t as coordinated or focused as they are being that they have nothing better to do and all.
Which should be their first clue that their priorities are messed up, but when will anyone of them have that cathartic moment of pure clarity and reason?
Ben in Oakland
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
What i have been curious about for quite some time, but have never seen anyone address, is…
WHERE DO THEY GET THE MONEY?
They are constantly flying here and there, often on relatively short notice. That’s expensive. Who funds this? Some rich nutcase? Or someone who wants to appear more mainstream, so maintains Phelps in order to look moderate by comparison?
Samantha Davis
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
IIRC, Ben, they get their money by suing people they don’t like. In other words, don’t even shake their hand at a protest, it might be construed as battery.
Benton
January 23rd, 2008 | LINK
I think it is great what the Aut Bar in Ann Arbor, MI has done. They had people pledge money for every minute Fred protested. The money went to glbt concerns. The longer Fred protested, the more money he earned for glbt concerns! Classic!
Michigan Daily
Andrea D
January 24th, 2008 | LINK
What we need with this one and other protests the Phelps Klan is what was done when they showed up at the trial for the murder of Matthew Shepard we need the angels. People dressed as angels with wings tall enough to cover their signs to stand silent surrounding these hate mongers. For those of you who may agree with me and either know people in the area or are in the area and can get folks to do this. It’s needed we need to counter their protest and be the better people for it.
Miles G
January 24th, 2008 | LINK
We’re very much hoping that the WBC sends a contingent to Australia for the funeral – not only will they find the Australian freedom-of-speech laws dramatically more restrictive than in the USA, they will also encounter many, many Australians hurling abuse, eggs and feces at them. And they can’t say they haven’t been warned…
brandon
January 28th, 2008 | LINK
Ok, first of all, Heath Ledger IS NOT IN HELL because his role as a gay actor has absolutely nothing to do with his own personal life. In case you guys were too preoccupied with pissing of the rest of America, he was married twice and has a 2 year old baby girl, therefore making him VERY straight. Don’t hate on him just because he was more successful than you will ever be. Second of all, it clearly states in the Bible, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, FOR YOU ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS” – Galatians 3:28. So please grasp a hold of that concept before you try to preach any more of your mindless evil.
Renea
January 29th, 2008 | LINK
It is people like Phelps that gives Christians a bad name…. Does “What would Jesus Do?” mean anything…
You think Jesus is in heaven happy that Heath died?
This Phleps is sick. If Heath is in Hell, it is nothing to stand around and yell about like it is a good thing.
I am a Christian and I liked Heaths movies. I am praying for confort for the family. And for humilation and repentants for Phelps…. while he still can.
Janie
June 28th, 2008 | LINK
this is about the dumbest thing evr. when i saw this i started crying. how can people be like that. Especially when he died. Get over it. So what he PLAYED as a gay guy, doesn’t mean he was. Just because that was a role he played does not mean anything. I loved heath ledger he was an amazig actor. What if your child played as a gay guy in a movie, think about what your about to say before you say it. I’m a christian and guess what my best friend is gay and i dont look at him anyother way. Thats how they choose to live there lives and its not up to them.
Sheilah
August 26th, 2008 | LINK
After reading this I am ashamed to say I am Baptist. Heath loved to act. It was a movie people….A MOVIE…I will admit as a fan of Heaths that Brokeback mountain is my least favorite movie of his….BUT WOW….who are you to know Heaths heart and soul? If you read the same Bible as I do, then you know it says only GOD knows your heart and to love your neighbor and not judge….ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS A MOVIEEEEEE..Who are YOU to say where Heath is??? HE is someones son, brother…Unless you lived inside his heart, body mind and SOUL then YOU DO NOT KNOW!!!!!!AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY!!!!!!!
Mad
June 26th, 2009 | LINK
WTF. Heath Ledger was a great person. You think calling people “Fags” and attempting to strip someone’s civil rights is Righteous????? Well, I got news for you, and guess what? All those who hurt others and go out of their way to ruin other’s lives will be the ones “Burning in Hell.”
So F**k you.
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