The Daily Agenda for Saturday, February 11
The Daily Agenda for Friday, February 10
Again anti-gays blindly and gleefully shoot themselves in the foot
Rep. Walsh leads with her heart
Advocate, WaPo, AP Get it Wrong On Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Uganda Executive, Parliament Tussle Over Anti-Homosexuality BIll
The Daily Agenda for Thursday, February 9
Something I'd Like to Know, But Never Can
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 450 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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Ben in Oakland
June 19th, 2008 | LINK
the ads just look stupid. But thanks for the warnin..g
Regan DuCasse
June 19th, 2008 | LINK
Saw a trailer for it and I was cringing THEN. You’d be surprised how few women have the opportunity to make movies, regardless of how brilliant women are you break through the glass ceiling of Hollywood studio flicks.
There is no bottom to what Will Farelle or the Farelly brothers get for a budget.
But Kasi Lemmons, Alison Anders, Jane Campion and Gina Bythewood practically have to beg.
So wrong…so, so wrong.
Bill S
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
Really, the ONLY reason I was even tempted to see it at all was seeing Justin Timberlake with a porn-star moustache and afro, in speedos.
Which might almost be enough to spring for the rental when it comes to DVD, allowing me to skip everything else. Almost.
Richard W. Fitch
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
Hey Folks!! Remember it’s summer, time for mindless fun at the cineplex. For whatever it may be worth, no less than Deepak Chopra has endorsed this flick. ……go figure….. ??
Erica B.
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
I don’t get the joke. What’s “Guru Tugginmypudha” sound like? What’s a Pudha? I don’t necessarily want it explained to me, of course, just sayin’ — I feel old. Or, perhaps, not immature 8)
Sounds like a movie I’m more than happy to miss, anyhow.
AJD
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
I’ve heard nothing good about that movie at all. It’s sad to see as talented an actor as Mike Myers go from “Wayne’s World” and “So I Married an Axe Murderer” to … this.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
An observation that someone once postulated: If a movie is unabashedly promoted in multiple unrelated and incongruent venues (i.e. as Mike Myers was on American Idol) it’s probably going to be a turkey/no-stars/thumbs-down flick.
So, it’s a truism is this case.
Mostly I just rely on the reviews and the consensus @ rottentomatoes before I pull out my wallet and pay to see something on the big screen. I can spend $8 buying two gallons of gas instead! Otherwise, I may just wait for it on Netflix and hopefully watch it when I’m with others who will help me appreciate the humor…of course they’ll be slightly inebriated…which sometimes makes bad movies tolerable.
But thanks for the review, Jim.
And now, look how I will now segue into asking a question about gay/lesbian videos on Netflix, which I just discovered. I have only a very limited library of gay-themed DVDs (Brokeback Mountain, Tales of the City, Love, Valour, & Compassion, The Ritz etc.). And I know I am going to get blasted with asking this question…but here goes:
Any recommendations? And no…I did not like “Latter Days” if that gives you any indication of the level of quality of movies I like.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
Oops..it was Timothy who wrote the review. (sorry)
Timothy Kincaid
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
cowboy,
I’ve seen the following and would see them again. Some are wonderful, some not so much. Some drama, some just silly. All have either a gay theme, a gay subplot, or a solid gay character.
24th Day – James Marsden
And the Band Played On – Alan Alda
As Good as it Gets – Greg Kinnear
American Beauty
Before Night Falls – Javier Bardem
Bent – Clive Owen
The Birdcage – Nathan Lane
Brokeback Mountain – Heath Ledger
Broken Hearts Club – Zach Braff
But I’m a Cheerleader – Kip Pardue
Capote – Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Crying Game – Forest Whitaker
Die Mommy Die – Jason Priestly
Dog Day Afternoon – Al Pacino
Happy Endings – Jason Ritter
Happy Texas – William H. Macy
Heights – Jesse Bradford
Hollow Reed – Martin Donoban
A Home at the End of the World – Colin Farrell
Home for the Hollidays – Robert Downey Jr.
In and Out – Kevin Kline
Interview with the Vampire – Brad Pitt
Johns – David Arquette
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Val Kilmer
Lilies – Matthew Ferguson
Little Miss Sunshine – Steve Carrell
Loggerheads – Kip Pardue
Longtime Companion – Dermot Mulroney
A Love to Hide – Jereme Renier
Maurice – Hugh Grant
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – Kevin Spacey
Mysertious Skin – Joseph Gordon-Levitt
The Night Listener – Robin Williams
The Opposite of Sex – Ivan Sergei
Own Private Idaho – Keanu Reeves
Parting Glances – Steve Buscemi
Party Monster – McCauley Culkin
Philadelphia – Tom Hanks
Priest – Robert Carlyle
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Guy Pearce
Quinceanera – Jesse Garcia
Saved! – Chad Faust
Shallow Grave – Ewan McGregor
Shelter – Brad Rowe
The Sum of Us – Russell Crowe
Velvet Goldmine – Christian Bale
The Wedding Banquet – Winston Chao
I’m sure there are many I’m forgetting.
cowboy
June 20th, 2008 | LINK
I’m impressed. I’m impressed you recall from memory in alphabetical order. :-)
Ok, then, I’ll start on my new discovery at Netflix at the top of the list…with about a week for turnaround with each movie I suppose I’ll be set for quite some time.
Thanks…have a good weekend and pass the unbuttered popcorn…it’s swimsuit season ahead.
Emily K
June 21st, 2008 | LINK
All of the “gay movies” I like are lesbian-oriented. (surprised?)
My favorite “gay movie” is a Swedish film called “Show Me Love.” But calling it a “gay movie” really pigeonholes it and doesn’t give it justice. The original title is “Fucking Åmål.” This is a reference to the town they live in, Åmål, which is so lousy and boring that they all wish they didn’t “live in fucking Åmål.” Get it?
Anyway, it’s a wonderful portrait of restless teenage-hood. I grew up in a crappy small town too – so I can relate on so many levels.
If you want pure fluff, I like “Imagine Me & You,” a British romantic comedy.
“But I’m A Cheerleadeer” is another classic of the genre. Not everyone likes it, but you can’t take it too seriously. It’s an outrageous comedy set in a reparative therapy camp. It’s oftentimes very silly and unreal but it’s almost creepy how closely real reparative therapy programs use the same ideas, such as mandating specific dress and reinforcing 1950′s gender roles – even the most outrageous satire isn’t that outrageous.
“The Hours” is one I haven’t seen but I know there’s a gay subplot, and it was critically praised.
Bill S
June 22nd, 2008 | LINK
Interesting list, but you left out one of my favorites: “My Beautiful Laundrette”(1985). It was the movie that put Daniel Day-Lewis on the map, and he and Gordon Warnecke are actually kinda hot together.
PiaSharn
June 23rd, 2008 | LINK
Well, I don’t have much to add since A) Timothy already listed several titles that I enjoyed, and B) most of what I watch is anime.
However, I will recommend “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” which has to be one of my all time favorites. Also, “Shortbus” and “If These Walls Could Talk II”. I’ve also had several friends recommend “Better Than Chocolate” although I haven’t seen it yet.
If you like documentaries, you might want to find a copy of “The Celluloid Closet” which looks at GLBT characters and themes in movies (and how they are percieved) from the dawn of film through the early 1990s.
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