Box Turtle Bulletin

Box Turtle BulletinNews, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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Latest Posts

French President Hollande Signs Marriage Bill

The Daily Agenda for Saturday, May 18

Fox News Ignores Marriage Equality Wins

The Era of Civil Unions Is Coming To An End

Orthodox Priests Lead Violent Attack On LGBT Rights Rally in Tbilisi, Georgia

France's Marriage Equality Bill Clears Final Hurdle

The Daily Agenda for Friday, May 17

Marriage Equality Made This Maryland Legislator Drive Drunk

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

Daniel FettyThe 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.

NOM Doubles Its Maine War Chest, Claims Special Rights

Jim Burroway

October 24th, 2009

The Bangor Daily News reports that Stand for Marriage Maine, the group pushing to strip LGBT Mainers of their right to marry, has almost doubled its war chest in the past three weeks. They raised $1.4 million in October, bringing their total amount raised to $2.6 million, according to reports filed Friday with the Maine Ethics Commission. Guess where the money came from:

But $1.1 million of the $1.4 million raised by Stand for Marriage Maine in October came from a single source: the National Organization for Marriage. In fact, the Washington, D.C., organization has bankrolled more than 60 percent of the campaign to ban same-sex marriages in Maine.

The No on 1 campaign, meanwhile, claims to have received contributions from more than 22,000 donors, compared to slightly more than 700 donors to the opposing camp.

This brings NOM’s total investment to $1.5 million, according to the Associated Press. By my calculations, that’s actually 58% of the total. But still, that’s pretty amazing. One out-of-state special interest group is trying to purchase an election, lock, stock and barrel.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has contributed a total of $550,000 to the “yes” campaign. Another $114,500 came from Focus On the Family. Together, these three groups alone account for 83% of Stand for Marriage Maine’s total budget.

And yet, despite the fact that the National Organization for Marriage is paying the lion’s share of the bill, they are in court demanding that they be held above Maine’s financial disclosure laws:

NOM’s financial role in the Maine campaign will be discussed in federal court in Portland on Monday when a judge hears arguments in a complaint the group filed against the state.

Earlier this month, the Maine Ethics Commission voted 3-2 to investigate whether NOM was skirting campaign finance laws in order to avoid disclosing the identities of contributors. A complaint against NOM alleges the organization, which played a key role in overturning California’s gay marriage law last November, funnels money to Stand for Marriage Maine while promising donors confidentiality.

NOM responded earlier this week by challenging the constitutionality of Maine’s law requiring “ballot question committees” to file detailed campaign finance reports.

Protect Maine EqualityMeanwhile, campaign finance reports also show that Protect Maine Equality has raised more than $4 million so far. This includes $1.4 million raised in October, matching Stand for Marriage Maine’s fundraising from the same period. While the nearly 80% of the Yes side’s money during that period came from NOM, most of Protect Maine Equality’s fundraising came from individual donors during the same period.

Protect Maine Equality also reports some large donors, but nothing like the outright attempted purchase of an entire campaign by NOM. According to the Bangor Daily News, Portland resident Donald Sussman has contributed more than $500,000. The Human Rights Campaign kicked in $220,000 in donations and in-kind goods and services, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has contributed about $140,000 in funds, goods, and services.

Altogether, these three major donors make up only 22% of Protect Maine Equality’s total take. The rest, as they say, comes from people like you. Please donate today.

Comments

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thetroubleis
October 24th, 2009 | LINK

Thank you for posting this. As a Mainer, I’m pissed that at all the lying that is happening by the opposition.

I can only hope that hate won’t win.

Emily K
October 24th, 2009 | LINK

Now that I have regular full-time employment, I’ll donate some $$. I was also approved for Food Stamps recently. So my belt is getting a bit looser. I can almost breathe again.

Richard Rush
October 24th, 2009 | LINK

Perhaps I’m missing something, but I think we were led to believe there was a legally mandated deadline for donations earlier in October. I recall the deadline was a specific day and time. What was that all about?

Eddie89
October 24th, 2009 | LINK

I wonder if the Mormons are funneling money into NOM and then NOM sends it to Stand for Marriage in Maine?

I suppose that the LDS church learned it’s lesson from Prop. 8 and is now funding anti-marriage equality campaigns more discreetly.

Anyone know if the council of the 12 has put out the call for Mormons to contribute to SFM?

Dan
October 25th, 2009 | LINK

Richard:

No one ever said there was a deadline after which you couldn’t donate. I believe that you are thinking about reporting deadlines. On certain specific dates, both sides have to report what they have received and what they have spent. One deadline was midnight on September 30. The campaign asked for people to donate in advance of that deadline in order to show the media and the world that they had strong financial support. But that was not the last opportunity to donate.

David
October 25th, 2009 | LINK

“The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has contributed a total of $550,000 to the “yes” campaign.”

First the Mormons taint the Prop 8 campaign in California and now the Roman Catholic Diocese is donating over half a million to the anti-gay referendum in Maine.

So much for separation of church and state. I hope this is challenged in court if it’s approved and I hope the suit makes the church influence an issue for overturning it.

Richard Rush
October 25th, 2009 | LINK

Dan: Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t know the full meaning of “reporting deadline.”

Chris McCoy
October 26th, 2009 | LINK

David said:

First the Mormons taint the Prop 8 campaign in California and now the Roman Catholic Diocese is donating over half a million to the anti-gay referendum in Maine.

So much for separation of church and state. I hope this is challenged in court if it’s approved and I hope the suit makes the church influence an issue for overturning it.

Unfortunately, the law as it stands currently, is that Churches are only barred from supporting specific individual candidates financially.

They are not barred from contributing financially to any propositions or measures, or to PACs, or to the political parties (RNC/DNC) themselves.

Additionally, they can give verbal support to candidates, including, hypothetically, telling church-goers that they will reap eternal punishment for not voting for a specific candidate.

Timothy Kincaid
October 26th, 2009 | LINK

Additionally, they can give verbal support to candidates, including, hypothetically, telling church-goers that they will reap eternal punishment for not voting for a specific candidate.

Chris,

You are mistaken. Churches cannot give verbal support to a candidate (though, of course, many do). That is in violation of IRS code and technically they could lose their tax exemption for contributions (a real biggie).* They cannot tell you to vote for Joe Smith, but they can tell you that you will burn in eternal torment if you vote for a candidate that supports the evil homosexual agenda.

* Interestingly, the only church I know of which the IRS pursued is Pasadena’s All Saints Episcopal – a liberal church that supported a Democrat.

Chris McCoy
October 26th, 2009 | LINK

Timothy Kincaid said:

You are mistaken. Churches cannot give verbal support to a candidate (though, of course, many do). That is in violation of IRS code and technically they could lose their tax exemption for contributions.

Thanks for the correction. Mea Culpa. Had I done a little digging, I would have found this resource.

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