The Daily Agenda for Thursday, June 20
BREAKING: Exodus International is Shutting Down
Liveblog of Exodus Conference
First Impressions Ahead Of Exodus 2013 Conference
Arizona group to put marriage back on ballot
Exodus International Issues Apology, Hints At Further Developments Tonight
Ex-Gay Leader Sentenced For Criminal Sexual Assault of Male Clients
Andrew Comiskey Doesn't Believe In Apologies
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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Karen Ocamb, writing for the Advocate, interviewed Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox about the murder of Lawrence King, a 15 boy shot by a classmate because he was gay. Although William Quest, the defense attorney for King’s killer, Brandon McInerney, has been telling the press that the blame should lie with King or with the school district, Fox isn’t buying it.
GDad
May 9th, 2008 | LINK
I wonder if they’ll pull out the old Twinkie Defense.
Didn’t Jeebus’ message include something about personal responsibility? It’s been a while since I paid any attention to that sort of thing, but still…
Joel
May 9th, 2008 | LINK
“.” Any “heat of passion” defense,” Fox said, requires an immediate, unforeseen reaction to an objectively overwhelming provocation and the absence of malice of forethought – the exact opposite of premeditation, which is what McInerney is charged with.”
I just believe that this kid thought he was doing the right thing.
Its like the people that gay bash, they think their doing the right thing. This kid took it a step deeper but… the ‘put in his place’ reaction is not uniquely his. Rather, its socially developed.
I would hate to see this kid go to jail forever because of it. I can’t help to think that his parents/ppl close to him where what primarily influenced him to kill larry. I know of parents that DO encourage their child to beat them up if the opportunity is present, or at least, do not oppose such action(which is agreeing but a different way to show it).
If i was the kid that shot larry, and my family encouraged me to ‘teach him a lesson’. If i chose to kill him i would probably regret it when i was older and wiser, and could think for myself.
adam kautz
May 10th, 2008 | LINK
Joel what he did was pre-meditated, that means thought out and planned, he needs to be locked away for the sake of the community, I’m sorry he’ll probably spend the next 80 years in prison but if he goes to juvie in six years he’ll get out and he will kill again, after all it gets easy after the first. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, in this case one, Brandon McInerey.
Buffy
May 10th, 2008 | LINK
They are indeed pulling the Gay Panic Defense, and it’s despicable.
http://tinyurl.com/4bs5k4
“By allowing King to come to school wearing feminine makeup and accessories, school officials were so intent on nurturing King as he explored his sexuality that they downplayed the turmoil his behavior was causing on campus, Quest said.
Quest claimed McInerney shot King in the back of the head with a handgun as first-period classes were beginning because he was unable to see another way to solve his problem.”
Jason D
May 10th, 2008 | LINK
so he killed him because he couldn’t think of any other options? Surely he knew that murder is illegal, and if not, that’s worse.
That’s a bizarre defense, so if I can’t think of any other way, if no other idea pops into my head, it’s okay to murder someone?
There’s a difference between not having any other options and not choosing any other options. King shouldn’t die because some lunatic doesn’t have critical thinking skills.
Regan DuCasse
May 10th, 2008 | LINK
“…The turmoil his behavior was causing on campus.” Quest said.
WTF?!
Bullying, assault, weapons on campus is the behavior that causes turmoil, NOT asserting one’s identity and wearing girl’s accessories if you’re gay.
I get way past sick of such disingenuousness and lack of perspective on what is acceptable and what is not.
And it looks like being a bully and tormenting other children is more acceptable than being gay, showing casual same sex affection or a good and popular gay student.
Heterosexuals in charge need to pay attention to reality instead of obssessing about the wrong things. When it results in child on child violence to the extent of murder, the urgency in which gay people appeal to legislation is far more legitimate than the desire to maintain the anti gay status quo.
And not incidentally, when such bullying behavior isn’t stopped among adolescents, it can transition into adult workplaces as well. And workplace shootings are an extension of that, DUH.
Nikki
July 21st, 2008 | LINK
Ok so let me get this straight…..He kills this poor kid because his gay and making moves on him or what ever the reason is. So he thinks out the whole thing, brings a gun to school and kills a human being. Takes his life GOD gave him!
Ok….So now his going to prison and is going to get gang raped for the rest of his life and buddy not by women…..by men!
Where is the logic in anything ppl do now a days?
I think if he can kill and has a mind and the ability to act out his desires (as bad as they were) he must be sent away for a long long long time.
And his parents need to be held responsible as well for bring such a low life into this world. All parents with kids that commit crimes should be held responsible, as they are not doing their job right as parents.
Day of Silence
October 24th, 2008 | LINK
It has been a long time since I visited this blog. The first time I visited because my school was having a day of silence for Larry King. Since then I have not gotten this kid out of my head. I think of him constantly and how his short life ended. This poor kid will never grow up and do all the normal things that we take for granted. This may sound vindictive but why should the boy who shot him get to do all those things? Vindicitive though it may be, Im sure Larry’s parent’s agree. I can’t get him out of my head.
Louie
October 24th, 2008 | LINK
D.O.S. – Same here. Even though I never met Larry, the world is a little more empty without him. Who know what he could have achieved later in life?! Doctor, Lawyer fighting for LGBT civil rights, actor, singer, musician, etc.
The case seems to be getting more disgusting because the killers new lawyers are trying to use the “not mentally competent to stand trial” defense.
Here’s the latest news about this case:
McInerney to undergo psychiatric tests
California – Vote “NO” on Prop. 8!
Arizona – Vote “NO” on Prop. 102! AGAIN!
Florida – Vote “NO” on Amendment 2!
Connecticut – Vote “NO” on Question 1!
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