The Daily Agenda for Saturday, May 25
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
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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The main argument against allowing gay couples the same civil benefits and obligations as hetero couples is that “Marriage is a Religious Institution”.
Charlotte
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
Knowlege is key with this issue. For the truth about gay marriage check out our trailer. Produced to educate & defuse the controversy it has a way of opening closed minds & provides some sanity on the issue:) http://www.OUTTAKEonline.com
David Weintraub
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
I particularly enjoyed the part where Shank argues that making the situation identical for everyone would be “creating a situation for one special interest group.”
Of course they feel that the right to marriage for everyone would “diminish” its value for them. That’s what makes it a “special right.”
Pure comedy gold.
Emily K
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
right now marriage is a “special right” for heterosexuals ONLY. How would making a legal civil partnership between two people equal for everyone, no matter who those two people are, make it a “special right” just for gays?
Steve - Geneva, IL
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
I would think the religious right would jump at this. Gay marriage is coming. As hard as they fight it, many see the writing on the wall. This is a good out for them.
If they truly believe marriage is a sacrament, why aren’t they asking why the government is in it in the first place? How would they feel if the government wanted to define and regulate baptism or communion? I am surprised that many of the bible believing christians aren’t up in arms about the government control of marriage.
The problem is, they hate gay people more than they truly believe in the sacredness of marriage.
Ben in Oakland
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
Steve– you are bang on in your posting. But you see, I don’t think this is really only about marriage. It’s also about ending this particular prejudice once and for all. That is why the sands of the argument are ever-shifting. It sounds much nicer to say it’s about marriage than it does to say ‘I hate queers.’
Erica B.
February 5th, 2008 | LINK
Technically my “marriage”, performed by a JP rather than a rabbi, is a “civil union” (although, since it was in Massachusetts, the distinction was utterly pointless). I do have a “marriage” license, though. I don’t particularly care what it’s called — it’s my intention to stick with my spouse for as long as possible, and I have no interest in what we call the relationship. However, I also know that my meh-whatever attitude is much easier to hold as a heterosexual.
Mainly, it’s interesting to watch the reaction when I mildly point out that I’m in a “civil union” during a gay marriage conversation — lots of people never thought of it that way :)
I am also highly amused by Steve’s speculation about government involvement in the sacraments… though it would be funnier if it wasn’t a little bit plausible…
Ephilei
February 6th, 2008 | LINK
I’m very much in favor separating marriage and government. I think it would solve every legitimate concern. The government doesn’t keep track of personal status in things like religious affiliation or baptism, which were once standard in European records. I’d also like to see the government stop tracking people’s sex as well.
I’ve already decided that I won’t get legally married until the same sex marriage issue is resolved, but if I go thru a wedding, I’ll use the word “marriage” regardless. And that’s regardless of the sex of my spouse; I haven’t decided that yet.
Barry
February 6th, 2008 | LINK
From my blog on MySpace dated Saturday, November 04, 2006:
“{T}he USA has as its foundation the principles of men fleeing religious oppression. They wrote into The Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights, Article I ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’
“In its own exercise of marriage, the church is at odds with the Biblical precedent, yet while making its own rules to suit their purpose, they presume to impose restrictions on others who would marry. By making the church into an arm of the political right, they also seek to violate The Constitution of the United States of America by imposing ‘an establishment of religion, [and] prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ for those who do not hold to their same religious beliefs.
“Since marriage is a church rite, it should not be a matter of governmental concern, even for heterosexual marriage. The government has no right licensing marriage at all. Since the marriage vows constitute a covenantal contract, often recognized by religious authority and ceremony, the only part the government should play is recording marriages, however formed, and under whatever religious belief exercised, including lack thereof, and the only reason the marriage should be recorded at all is for tax or other verification purposes.
“The church should only be involved in the decision of who they will marry within the context of their own beliefs. The government and other religious organizations must not have any right to interfere. If another church has differing beliefs and would marry members of the same gender, it is none of the business of your church or of the government.”
Anni
February 6th, 2008 | LINK
I’d support such a bill. What a church decides to do is not the government’s business.
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