New Hampsure results silence NOM's Maggie Gallagher
Mormon/Boy Scout sexual abuse problem
"Not Equal" Flag Debuted in New York DADT Protest
"Not Guilty, Not Ashamed, and Not Finished"
Anti-gay general's comments infuriate the Dutch
ENDA Sit-ins Result in Arrests in DC and San Francisco
Anti-Gay Group Sells Snakeoil
Schumer Argues for LGBT Incusion in Immigration Reform
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
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Teddy Partridge
October 17th, 2008 | LINK
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
John
October 17th, 2008 | LINK
It really calls into question the whole legitimacy of all the other diplomas that BYU grants.
Richard W. Fitch
October 17th, 2008 | LINK
It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming weeks. If BYU actually denies a diploma to a student who has already fulfilled the academic requirements for a degree program, I wonder how the regional accreditation association will rule when a challenge is presented? BYU may find that their standing is suddenly stripped away.
Pomo
October 17th, 2008 | LINK
This issue really ticks me off.
My boyfriend was writing his thesis at a seminary. He had completed all his coursework and was mostly done with his thesis. When they found out he was gay they wouldn’t let him finish. And to this day he still cant go back without letters from a (conservative) pastor saying his gayness is all better.
I don’t see how they can get away with it. And I think something needs to be done. I support freedom of religion but again, if they want government accreditation, they’ve gotta play by the rules…
right?
Lynn David
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
Well, BYU has an “honor code [ http://honorcode.byu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3585&Itemid=4643 ].”
But only “in student housing?” And more under “clarifications of the honor code [ http://honorcode.byu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3578&Itemid=4634 ].”
As with anyone who butts heads with the Mormons, one usually loses. He might have been denied his diploma because he is coming out with a 2009 calendar and a second one featuring Mormon mothers (see: http://www.modbee.com/life/faithvalues/story/444370.html ).
John
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
So, BYU does not accept anyone who is not Mormon? I guess I did not realize that.
I attended Georgetown University (Catholic) with plenty of Protestants, Jews and even a few Muslims. We were never asked about our religion prior to acceptance.
Mirele
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
BYU accepts non-Mormons. They just have to promise to uphold the honor code. (I’ve always tried to figure out how Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans can do that, since the honor code forbids alcohol and the central rite of these three churches involves…you got it…communion wine.) But don’t get excommunicated from the Mormon church while you’re at BYU, because that means your schooling is a waste.
Additionally, the honor code applies to ALL students, not just students in student housing. For example, honor code applies to any “BYU approved” private housing. This impacts non-BYU students (e.g., students who go to UVSC down the hill). To live in these PRIVATE COMPLEXES, they have to agree to live by BYU honor code standards, which to me is insane, but is apparently legal under an exemption to the Fair Housing Act.
Anyway, apparently they’ve got Chad over a barrel. He can’t even transfer his credits to another university because of this honor code thing. His credits are frozen. This is fundamentally debatable, since he was apparently done with school and had walked in graduation before the diploma was yanked. (If I were still a practicing attorney, I’d sure as heck make that argument.) If I were Chad, I’d also ask the accrediting agencies to yank their accreditation or at least couple it with a severe warning that going to BYU could cause you to lose all of your credits if you cross the wrong line.
I’m a profoundly inactive Mormon and I have toyed with the idea of resigning my membership, but this is really getting close to the thin edge of my wedge. You don’t take someone’s degree away from him/her in this way. It’s profoundly vindictive, and for a church that says it follows Jesus, well, yeah…right. NOT.
Maybe I’ll just write a letter to the First Presidency and ask them to cut the crap. Not that it will do anything for Chad (but PUBLICITY will, I think), but it will let them know that some members are irritated at this stupidity masking itself as morality.
Utah Resident
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
The LDS Church is incredibly vindictive and will go out of their way to “get” a member, current or former, who goes against their agenda. Californians, they are flexing their political muscle in the Golden State. I hope you’re listening.
Dave
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
“apparently they’ve got Chad over a barrel.”
I disagree with Mirele. Denying admission or suspending a student for excommunication from the Mormon church is one thing, denying a diploma to someone who has already completed all degree requirements is another.
Chad should sue the school and raise hell with whatever body accredited it.
Dave
October 18th, 2008 | LINK
I should add that I agree with Mirele that publicity should help Chad’s cause.
Writing BYU may or may not be helpful, but I think it a good thing for the University to learn just how nasty such actions make them appear in the public’s eye.
Active Mormon
October 20th, 2008 | LINK
Okay, here’s where all the flaming starts. But, you can’t have a debate with only one side present, right? :-)
I am a Mormon. A devout, active Mormon. I also have gay friends, never went to BYU, and was raised outside of Utah (though I live there now). So I have a unique perspective.
First, BYU is not the Mormon church. Let me repeat that–BYU is NOT, nor has it ever been, the Mormon church. You are bound to run into some extremist views of any religion if you go where they are. For the Mormons, that is BYU and Utah Valley.
BYU’s decisions rarely conform to logic in my opinion. While in high school, I travelled there for a language fair. Not being a Utahn, I had no idea that shorts were not allowed (a policy that has been instated and rescinded so many times I’m not even sure of the current status). I wore shorts, and I was kicked off campus for the duration of the day. So there I was, a 14 year old kid, wandering the streets of Provo for hours, alone.
I’m still a member of the church. Why? Because the church authorities did not kick me off the campus, the narrow-minded, holier-than-thou school administration did.
So, now that the boundary between the Mormon church and BYU is clear…I think what BYU did was wrong. But it doesn’t suprise me. Nor should it surprise Mr. Chad Hardy. If he survived the climate at BYU long enough to almost graduate and then figuratively “spit in their eye”, he had to see it coming. It doesn’t make BYU right, but BYU’s views are spelled out in the Code of Conduct and in their past history of intolerance.
As for the excommunication, well, he had it coming. The Mormon church teaches tolerance and love. But they also teach personal responsibility. If you do something wrong, you don’t get a free pass. You make it right first. We believe faith and works are both essential to salvation. If your works stray far enough from the church’s teachings, you need to step away to think about what you really believe in. It’s as simple as that.
Dave
October 20th, 2008 | LINK
“there I was, a 14 year old kid, wandering the streets of Provo for hours, alone … [because] I had no idea that shorts were not allowed”
Yes, BYU has always impressed me as a nutty place. Why anyone would want to attend it is beyond me.
“If he survived the climate at BYU long enough to almost graduate… he had to see it coming. It doesn’t make BYU right, but BYU’s views are spelled out in the Code of Conduct and in their past history of intolerance.”
A very good point, Active Mormon. Chad should have known whom he was dealing with. But the operative words here are “it doesn’t make BYU right.”
Allowing a student to complete degree requirements and then refusing to give him said degree is something that just isn’t done. Nor is it even contemplated as a course of action by truly decent people.
cowboy
October 20th, 2008 | LINK
It should be noted, we are not privy to the EXACT reason Mr. Hardy was excommunicated. That is where a lot of conjecturing can get us into trouble. It may not have been exclusively the calendar…it could be (speculating again) he wasn’t active but there had to be a reason for inactivity (you don’t get excommunicated for inactivity). It could be (key word here: speculation): he had an immoral encounter. That usually means either disfellowshipment or excommunication depending on his contriteness and/or humbleness…(which is why they hold a court). There are a limited number of ways to get excommunicated and I don’t think it was the calendar business.
But, it seems, like everyone else here said, this was a bit too vitriolic for someone to do all the work and then, poof, it’s gone. That seems a bit too harsh of a punishment. I’m sure you have to acknowledge that?
And Utah (Happy) Valley is not really THAT bad. Hmmmm… Okay…maybe it is.
I’ve worn shorts on campus (even outside the housing and the lower athletic campus) and never had a problem. They just had to be LONG shorts to cover the knees so you can discreetly hide the Temple Garments. (And fortunately, A&F has made that their style in shorts.)
Leave A Comment