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
South Africa Teen’s Death Shows It’s Time to Ban Ex-gay Therapy Everywhere
NJ Assembly Committee Moves Conversion Therapy Ban
Rubio: "I'm Done" If Gays Included In Immigration Bill
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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All of those hundreds of protests scheduled to take place tomorrow — protests which most of our professional LGBT advocacy groups have been completely out of the loop on — are largely the brainchild of one woman in Seattle, Amy Balliett. All it took was a web site:
Jaft
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
To think just two years ago I was reading Out For Good, wishing we’d do something more.
This probably won’t reignite the Civil Rights Movement, or be as strong as I’d like, but it’s good to know we still have the will to go nationally and say something.
I have a feeling we’re in for a long, long fight.
Steve
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
Not entirely true about the national orgs being out of the loop. I’ve been working extensively with Lambda Legal and One Iowa to help plan the Des Moines rally.
There’s no reason to hate on the national orgs just because this started virally.
Sean
Phil
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
This is only slightly germane to the post, but this seems like a reasonable web site to ask this question:
Since a huge number of Dentists contributed to “Yes on 8,” would it be reasonable to call and ask them if they’re willing to voluntarily honor dental insurance for partners who might no longer be covered now that their marriage is not valid or recognized in the state of California?
It seems like an eminently reasonable question, and it can’t hurt to ask, can it?
Here is a list of dentists who contributed:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-143101
Jim Burroway
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
re: “Not entirely true about the national orgs being out of the loop. … There’s no reason to hate on the national orgs just because this started virally.”
Notice I said “most.” That is still true, although I see a number of groups starting to promote it now. It’s good to see.
Although I must say, having worked on the inside this time for a grass-roots effort to defeat Prop 102 in Arizona, it has been a HUGE eyeopener to me to see how much distrust — and even disdain — many of our national groups have toward grass-roots activism. Again, I’, saying many, not all. (Thanks Stonewall Dems!) It was shocking to me to see this firsthand, as it was the last thing I expected to encounter. Quite a contrast to, say, the Obama campaign, which was all about empowering the grass roots and turning them loose.
Which is why I’m pleased to see the grass-roots get out in front like this, and seeing many prominent groups playing catch-up AFTER the campaign went viral. If it appears that I’m taking a little bit of glee from this, then guilty as charged. It’s a learning experience for all of us, and that includes, I suspect and hope, our leaders.
Pender
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
I love that girl. I wish she would start an organization and use that kind of brilliance full-time. There would finally be an equality nonprofit I could donate to without feeling conflicted. John Solomese is so obviously the voice of the past, and she is so obviously the voice of the future.
Mark with a K
November 14th, 2008 | LINK
Anyone know if she is considering a gay-stay-home-from-work day or week?
Imagine what would happen to the industries of travel, tourism, entertainment, health care, retail (etc. etc. etc.) if we all walked away (or “got sick”) for a week?!
This is what they did down south in the 1960s–remember the bus boycott…and then they got their civil rights!
Onward in solidarity!
Fr. J.
November 15th, 2008 | LINK
What the gay community is doing here is immoral. To destroy a person’s livelihood for whatever reason is morally indefensible.
This woman has the legal and moral right to participate in the democratic process. The gay community has the legal right but not the moral right to put her out of business.
This kind of vindictiveness is going to come back and haunt the gay community.
Jim Burroway
November 15th, 2008 | LINK
“What the gay community is doing here is immoral. To destroy a person’s livelihood for whatever reason is morally indefensible.”
Well, now that’s a rather convenient argument. Are you really suggesting that calling for a boycott is immoral?
If so, then I’ve got a bone to pick with you over several so-called “right-to-life” and anti-gay organizations doing precisely the same thing.
I don’t think we need to listen to lectures from those who engage in the very same actions they condemn.
The fact is that everyone has the capacity and the right to decide for themselves where they want to spend their money. And everyone has a right to making an informed decision about the businesses they support. There’s nothing whatsoever immoral about that.
And yes, she has a legal and moral right to participate in the democratic process. Nobody is disputing that. But part of the democratic process is accountability and debate. That too, is part of the process and cannot be shut down. What you are decrying is no different from what Yes on 8 did to small businesses before the election.
North Dallas Thirty
November 15th, 2008 | LINK
Ah, but you see, Jim, what you’re doing is not a boycott in which you’re simply not choosing to spend your own money there; instead, you’re standing out in front of this restaurant deliberately blocking their parking lot [Ed: Although ND30 has made this claim several times, it did not happen. The parking lot was not blocked. When a car came in, protesters moved out of their way.], verbally assaulting their customers, and otherwise trying to make the lives of people who would come eat there miserable.
Meanwhile, you’re also demanding that this individual be fired, which would seem at odds with your complaint yesterday that firing people because of the way they voted or to whom they donated is wrong.
Jim Burroway
November 15th, 2008 | LINK
Well there is a difference — a big one.
A business owner can’t exactly run a public business in a private fashion. Public businesses which serve the public are, well, public — open to public scrutiny, acclaim and criticism. Especially when they engage in the public act of participating in a public political campaign.
And so are you saying that I have no legal right to express my freedom of speech in encouraging others to participate in a boycott?
Are all boycotts wrong? Are public demonstrations wrong? Is this not one of those peaceful assemblies protected by the constitution.
The other example, on the other hand, is that of a private employee who merely had a conversation with a co-worker — the same sort of conversations which take place around water coolers all across America. This is not even close to being in the same category. This employee was in no way the public face of of the company. In fact, her identity remains publicly unknown still.
John
November 16th, 2008 | LINK
Ugh. I gotta be honest: I hate this poster. It looks like something the fascist or Soviets used to make for propaganda purposes. With all the graphics artist talent that exists in the gay community you’d think we could come up with something better than this.
Timothy Kincaid
November 16th, 2008 | LINK
I’m with you there, John. To me it appears like one of old workers’ party or communist symbols.
I did notice that very very few people used this image at the Los Angeles march.
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