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
How To Spot A Swivel-Eyed Loon
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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AJD
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
This is the sort of thing that reminds me why I have lost respect for religion, and I’m sorry if this counts as “hate speech,” but for the Middle Eastern monotheisms in particular. The evil that has been done in their name cancels out any good that has been done in their name. Any ideology that leads people to behave in such horrible ways is undeserving of even the slightest respect, as far as I’m concerned.
Pomo
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
Fundamentalism is dangerous. Thankfully in our country in this day and age Christian fundamentalism is mostly bark and little bite. But islam is an evil religion. And how anyone can think its tolerant to not speak out against such attrocities for fear of offending muslims is beyond me.
Where are the liberal and moderate muslims speaking out against these things as we liberal and moderate Christians speak out against the abuses done in the name of Christ?
Alex
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
That’s not hate speech at all, AJD. It’s the truth. These barbarians can rot, for all I care.
Jason D
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
okay, I thought I could watch, but as soon as they started to put the first guy over the ledge, I had to stop. This is just plain insane.
Hey Jim, did you notice that Obama just tossed the US Support behind that UN resolution on decriminalizing Homosexuality?
Patrick
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
another powerful reason to declare oneself unashamedly an atheist. thanks gods for answering all those selfish prayers while ignoring the real outrages on this planet. you’re f**king useless as always. sorry to all those who feel compelled to defend you. what a job.
Regan DuCasse
March 18th, 2009 | LINK
I still can’t get the pictures of those teen Iranian boys being lynched in public from my mind. And I’m a crime scene photog with a VERY strong stomach and a lot else.
Gay children aren’t safe in OUR country either. The sweet faces of Freddie Martinez, Scotty Joe Weaver and Sakia Gunn and how brutally they suffered their deaths keeps up my gumption.
The religious fundamentalists who hide behind denial of human and civil rights don’t care to answer the simple question: how does the life and liberty and happiness of a gay person deny you yours?
Anyone who pretends you didn’t ask it, is a coward.
They don’t even own their own lack of courage. Yeah, it takes REAL GUTS to throw someone from a roof, stab them through the heart and lynch them…how CAN one or a few fight an armed mob after all?
AJD
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
It’s not about gay people having any personal effect on others; the issue is that the existence of gay people is offensive to God, as far as these Iranian mullahs are concerned. More specifically, Abrahamic homophobia is an outgrowth of those religions’ general aversion to any form of sexual activity not meant strictly for reproduction.
It’s really baffling: If two guys have sex with each other, it’s an unforgivable affront to all that is holy, but it’s perfectly acceptable to beat them up or kill them.
I’ve come to agree with Hitchens and others — it’s nice that there are religious moderates and liberals out there, and I appreciate that they have the wisdom to think for themselves, but the problem is that the Bible and Koran will always contain justification for fundamentalism.
I became atheist after being raised Catholic, practicing Celtic Paganism and trying Buddhism and deciding in the end that none of it ever made any sense to me. However, I admit that I have a particular animus toward Christianity and Islam (not necessarily those who practice them — I even dated a guy who was Muslim once) because they account for a disproportionate amount of religiously motivated wars, brutality, bigotry and sexual repression throughout history.
Most religions, especially the European Pagan religions and the Dharmic religions in India, have historically been tolerant of other belief systems — the Romans considered the Celtic gods to be the same as their own, just under different names, and the reason why so many religions evolved in India was because Hinduism tolerated differing interpretations. They’ve also been a lot more forgiving of human nature and natural human impulses. I’m not excusing any of these religions of their own histories of brutality, such as human sacrifice and the caste system, but they don’t even come close to the horrors that have been committed in the names of Islam and Christianity. There’s a reason why you never hear about Wiccan suicide bombers or even the angriest Tibetan Buddhist monks flying airplanes into skyscrapers in Shanghai.
For all the bliss they give those who practice them, Christianity and Islam both have something seriously broken about them. Again, I fully acknowledge that there are plenty of liberals and moderates in both faiths, but the number of crazy and violent people who do and say all sorts of horrible things in the names of those religions are too many for me to think that the Osama bin Ladens, Scott Livelys and brutal executions of innocent people as portrayed in the above video are mere anomalies.
I’m sorry to rant like this, as I’m sure a lot of people will take offense, but I had to get that off my chest.
L. Junius Brutus
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
Zoroastrianism, also from Iran, is the best religion on this earth. At least, in its early form. It only had three commandments: do good deeds, say good words and think good thoughts.
Steven Milverton
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
The vid is from the CNN news of the year 2003. It shows a scene in Iraq and there is no evidence that the men thrown down from the roof are gays (nevertheless is terrible).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Sg1k1hlGg
AJD
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
I see… However, it should be noted that one of the punishments for homosexuality in Iran is execution by being tossed from a precipice.
B.
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
Thank you Jim for the inquiry you did about this video.
It have been removed from GWB site.
Jim Burroway
March 19th, 2009 | LINK
B.
I’m glad I was able to be be of service.
Attmay
March 20th, 2009 | LINK
AJD,
I have an extreme animus towards Christianity and Islam. I am both gay and Jewish, and those religions are specifically devoted to attacks on my people. I will never forgive the Catholics for the Spanish Inquisition or its complicity in the Holocaust (for which Germany got off too lightly). Muslim anti-semitism and homophobia is in a class by itself, and enough for me to support war not only with the make-believe lands of “Afghanistan” and “Iraq”, but all Islamic “nations” whose sovereignty I do not respect. Forget about spreading “democracy” (a concept that I abhor because it is nothing but mob rule, and we all know what that means for gays) to these benighted hell holes unless they can be fully progressivized and westernized. Nor will I support even the idea of a “Palestinian” state while Islam is in the mix.
I refuse to respect the sovereignty of any nation where homosexuality is illegal. Christian and Islamic fundamentalism are scourges that must be wiped from the earth by any means necessary.
Urgent: Important Update About the Publication of a Video Wrongly Identified « Gays Without Borders
March 27th, 2009 | LINK
[...] “Box Turtle Bulletin” explains in his post, the right identification of this segment can be called: “Iraq’s Fedayeen Saddam throwing [...]
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