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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AJD
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
What I want to know is, what ever happened to the concept of using condoms? After celibacy, that’s the most sure-fire way to prevent HIV whether you’re gay or straight…
I’m concerned that the following scenario will become increasingly common:
“Wait a minute, do you have a condom?”
“No need for condoms, babe, I’m circumcised!”
Coxygru
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
AJD is right. Only condoms offer complete protection. Circumcising adult men on a large scale is 1.) costly, 2.) a significant medical expense, and 3.) perhaps dangerous in areas where clinics lack many basics.
What about the broader issue of fluidity in human sexuality and sexual practices? My brother is 100% hetero but tells me he enjoys lots of anal sex with his many female partners. He’s circumcised but his practices put him at risk.
In terms of HIV transmission, how different is a female rectum from a male rectum? Are there any studies on that?
Timothy Kincaid
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
Per the CDC:
Unfortunately, I have found it difficult to identify the extent to which such HIV transmission occurs. Urban legend says very rarely, but it’s not easy quantifying this risk.
Burr
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
Yeah this whole circumcision thing is a red herring, and a bit insulting in a way. It’s sort of throwing your hands up and saying “Well they’ll never learn to use condoms, so let’s find this other way that will at least reduce it a bit that they don’t have to think about.” Not a great solution
I doubt there’s any difference between female/male rectums. Anal sex is anal sex. It’s the anal part that’s the problem as far as ease of transmission goes, there’s less protection so to speak.
One thing that’s bugged me is that all the tests of microbicides to prevent HIV transmission are only done in heterosexuals and focus on women using it. There’s no explanation in the media I’ve seen as to why this wouldn’t work for others.
Timothy Kincaid
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
Coxygru,
I did find some additional information:
Burr,
I don’t think that this is a red herring or an instance of throwing up one’s hands.
The more information that is available about this disease, it’s transmission risks, it’s “safer” options, the extent to which – for example – Coxygru’s brother is at risk, etc., the better.
I, for one, want to know whether there is a difference in insertive risk by circumcision. The less we rely on urban legend and what we heard from that guy that one time talked to someone who once met this really cool scientist guy so he knows all the inside info – the better.
And, yes, I want to know about microbicides as well.
Zeke
August 26th, 2009 | LINK
All of this circumcision prevents AIDS is total BULLSH*T! I haven’t found a single person who can explain to me why America has a higher AIDS rate, Gonnarhea rate, Clamydia rate, Herpes rate and EVERY other sexually transmitted disease that EVERY country in Europe, NONE of which routinely circumcise their boys.
Here’s a report by a doctor that says many of the things I’ve been saying for years. He points out some of the very clear flaws with the Africa “study” that I noticed when I ACTUALLY READ the study’s methodology, instead of blindly repeating the bogus claims the way most people have.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/male-circumcision-and-the_b_249728.html
And by the way, I’m ALL for circumcision if that’s what a grown man or woman chooses to do with their genitals. But I believe “My body my choice” should apply to EVERYONE.
Thomas Kraemer
August 27th, 2009 | LINK
The study the CDC refers to is a meta-analysis that combines multiple studies and methods, such as reporting or not reporting separate data for tops and bottoms:
(See Gregorio A. Millett, et al., “Review: Circumcision Status and Risk of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex With Men,” JAMA, Oct. 8, 2008, 1674-1684, corrected Mar. 18, 2009, p. 1126-1129, DOI:10.1001/jama.300.14.1674)
Even for heterosexuals, the supposed benefit of circumcision is marginal at best.
The same type of data could be used to justify cutting off baby girls’ breasts to prevent future breast cancer, which is more common than HIV infections in the U.S.
My last two postings on the CDC bias were: Circumcision promotes promiscuity? (8/27/09) and CDC may recommend circumcision (8/24/09)
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