The Daily Agenda for Saturday, May 25
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
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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Matt
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
I have a related question regarding the boycott and wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts.
I get e-mails from Liberty Travel. I think they are national and every storefront I pass has a rainbow flag on it. They are part of IGLTA as far as I know.
And yet, they are always promoting vacations to Jamaica and the obnoxiously heterosexist Sandals resorts. How can they promote themselves as gay-friendly and participate in promoting these locations. Furthermore, has IGLTA taken a stance one way or the other on the boycott?
unusualmusic
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
how about exposing and going after the conservative churches/orgs in the US who are going down in Jamaica and bankrolling some of the homobigots? Has anyone contacted JFLAG and asked them specifically how they would like your help? What has been the response? I mean, this question should have been the first thing, not an after thought.
Adam Kautz
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
Actually Matt Sandals Resorts aren’t heterosexist anymore, they do now allow gay couples to stay at their resorts whereas before it was straight couples only.
Timothy Kincaid
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
For me this is a two-parter.
1. I’m not really invested in the boycott of Jamaican beer and rum. I don’t drink the stuff and I was under the impression that these companies were not ragingly homophobic.
I’ll support the effort if it’s determined that this is an important and necessary part, but if the boycott on the beer and rum were lifted I wouldn’t object.
2. However, I can not in good conscience support anyone traveling to this country. Not only as a matter of protest, but also as a matter of protection.
I have read enough responses to my articles here to know that Jamaicans as a whole do not feel that there is anything wrong with beating gay men to death. It’s part of their culture and HOW DARE I object.
So there is no way I would let a gay friend – or really anyone – go to this horrid violent hate-filled evil place. And there’s no way I’ll stop warning others of the attitudes, culture, and behavior of those on the island for as long as they hold their homophobic traditions to be of more importance and value to them than the safety of visitors and the respect of the world.
Ephilei
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
I have no opinion, mainly because it doesn’t affect my life. I don’t drink beer or rum and my vacations are all domestic and the same is true of those around me. Is there anything left for me to boycott?
Priya Lynn
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
Well Ephilei, I don’t drink or take vacations either but I most definitely have an opinion. Just because I am not directly affected doesn’t mean I won’t oppose evil wherever it exists. I fully support this boycott and the attempts to encourage Jamaicans to abandon their evil ways.
David C.
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
My favorite rum is Myers’s Rum, which is a brand of Jamaican dark rum produced by Diageo PLC. This is the rum that got “dumped” in front the Stonewall Inn a day or so ago.
The only reason I mention this is that the parent company, Diageo, is based in the UK. Perhaps it would be helpful to work through the parent company to use its influence on the subsidiary to come out against persecution of gay people in Jamaica, and for that matter, everywhere their products are produced and distributed.
I’m pretty sure even the most assiduous teetotaler could get behind such an initiative, and in the case of Jamaica, perhaps even JFLAG.
AJD
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
You misspelled the acronym for the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, Allsexuals and Gays as “JFAG.”
Jim Burroway
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
Oh dear! I’ve fixed the typo, and I apologize for the error.
Jason D
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
why is there a boycott of Red Stripe? They’re owned by diageo which got a PERFECT SCORE from the HRC.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5CNB/is_2008_Sept_9/ai_n28093552/
Don’t we generally want to CONGRATULATE our allies?
Attmay
April 15th, 2009 | LINK
Perhaps higher-ups at Red Stripe can be persuaded to put pressure on the Jamaican government to do something about the violence.
Tom in Lazybrook
April 19th, 2009 | LINK
A couple of thoughts on this. I think that the people at Diageo (I’ve been in contact with them for years) are willing to do reasonable actions in order to work with us.
Here’s what we should be doing.
1) Certainly go after those in our community that sell space on cruises stopping in Jamaica.
2) Substitute Ocean Spray (who continues to support anti-Gay concerts in Jamaica for Diageo)
3) Get in the bigots faces. I like the pr campaign … Jamaica = violence. Do that in NYC and South Florida. Do it if possible in straight venues. That will get their attention. And more free PR.
4) Go after US companies that aid Jamaican tourism. Ocean Spray is one. US airlines are another.
5) Think locally. Perhaps the Fort Lauderdale Airport Authority could be convinced to put up a sign at the Air Jamaica check in counter saying ” The City of Fort Lauderdale deplores the level of violence and lynchings in Jamaica. Think twice before travelling”. It would really be embarrasing for the Ja govt if something like that happened.
6) International festivals and government sponsored festivals that promote and celebrate Ja culture in the USA should be protested. Raise hell when your tax dollars go to support the Buju Banton Caribbean Fest this summer. For example, the City of Chicago taxpayers have PAID money to sponsor Beenie Man the last two summers (throught the City of Chicago Parks Board). The City of San Diego paid for Buju Banton (through a grant from the SD Port Authority to the World Beat Foundation). These should be protested vigorously. Those actions should wait until after the events have been announced. That way, the protest against those events and taxpayer funding get maximum attention that can be used to highlight J’can oppression. It isn’t just about murder music. But it can be a way to focus on murder country.
Usually events at public venues simply cannot be cancelled (even the Klan has a right to rent out the civic center or a public park). But what about getting 10 or 12 people to protest the event with 35 or so coffins, each bearing the names of a lynched Jamaican (that has gone unpunished). That would make a PR splash.
7) Get acquainted with the travel sections of newspapers and websites. Never let an opportunity pass to rebut the assertion that a J’can vacation is a great value or a relaxing tranquil choice.
This could be done on the cheap.
Tom in Lazybrook
April 19th, 2009 | LINK
Oops. Ocean Spray is not a part of Diageo. They sponsor Jamaican tourism through their promotion of Buju Banton and Beenie Man concerts in Jamaica (geared towards tourism). Diageo agreed to stop sponsoring violence promoting concerts. Ocean Spray never responded.
Its about keeping Jamaica in the press. And one final nagging item. Why is Kat Melua’s song “whine up” played in Gay Bars? It is featuring Elephant Man, who celebrates genocide against Gays in his music. I say that we might be able to direct a little anger towards her (and get PR in the process) by banning her music unless she condemns Elephant Man publically in the J’can press.
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