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
The Daily Agenda for Thursday, June 13
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
Posts 
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Priya Lynn
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
Wayne Besen’s blog says Isabella is 7 – is she 6 or 7?
Either way, this attempt to deny a child access to one of her parents has gone on far too long. May justice prevail as soon as possible.
Timothy Kincaid
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
She was born April 16, 2002, so that makes her seven.
David Farrell
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
many fundamentalists believe that given the choice between following civil law and “God’s law” they will chose “God’s law”. I am not a betting man, because I stink at it, but if I were I would bet that she won’t show on Friday.
GreenEyedLilo
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
Holy s***. I am not at all surprised by this. I will only be surprised if they show up on Friday. If Lisa Miller had treated Janet Jenkins the way women normally treat men they’ve grown apart from, it would have been so much better for everyone involved, including Isabella. My heart is breaking. I really, really, really hope this can end well. Right now, I’m not seeing it.
Trovore
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
What you need to remember is that as soon as there is evidence that she has committed a transgression (kidnapping) the religious right will dump her. The same people who were her most ardent supporters will turn on her for fear of bad press. The alternative would be even more delicious for our side. That being: the religious right would whole-heartedly support her and her seditious acts. Hopefully they do so the ring leaders can be rounded up and thrown in prison.
Emily K
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
Check Debbie Thurman’s house.
Priya Lynn
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
I think you’re wrong Trovore, the religious right will rationalize the kidnapping and say “god’s” law supercedes man’s law and activist judges forced Miller to take this action.
Elise
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
Miller really is doing everything her power to screw that poor child up for life, isn’t she?
I’m inclined to agree that Miller fleeing at this point will probably only endear her to the religious right (“Godly woman makes daring midnight escape to protect her child from the clutches of a fascist homosexualist government!”– she’s like Corrie Ten Boom and Dietrich Bonhoeffer put together!) The religious right has proven that it doesn’t care whether you break a few laws or violate normal ethical behavior as long as you maintain the correct beliefs and behaviors where it matters: in the culture wars.
Regan DuCasse
December 29th, 2009 | LINK
If religious conservatives REALLY believed that ‘god’s law’ trumps ‘man’s law’, they would remember Christ’s commandment of treating a person the way THEY want to be treated and they wouldn’t hide behind the very Constitution they want gay people to be excluded from.
Especially when it comes to ’1st amendment rights’, there are no first amendment rights specified in the Bible.
On those two things alone, the bs is piled very high.
Trovore
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
“I think you’re wrong Trovore, the religious right will rationalize the kidnapping and say “god’s” law supercedes man’s law”
/shrug. I hope they say exactly that. Furthermore I hope they start to act on those traitorous sentiments and further alienate the American people.
Brad
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
Surely there are similar precedents to draw upon involving hetro couples. Namely, situations where the mother’s male partner/husband is not the biological father, and has not adopted the child, but at some point had a supportive relationship to the child as a stepfather.
I can think of anecdotal cases involving people I’ve known (in which case the former stepfather has no rights), but I’m not a legal scholar so I’d appreciate any info on the matter. Anyone?
JeffreyRO5
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
It is amusing to see these conservative groups latch on to someone who turns out to be a train wreck: Carrie Prejean as spokesmodel for the inappropriately named National Organization for Marriage (which actually is just against same-sex marriage, not for marriage) and now this Miller woman who has apparently kidnapped a child. What crazy things being a “Christian” does to the mind!
Christine
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
Don’t forget that Mat Staver (of Jerry Falwell’s) Liberty Counsel – Staver was a keynote speaker at the 2009 NARTH conference- was Lisa Miller’s attorney, and that PFOX and Liberty Counsel co-sponsored this “Protect Isabella” campaign.
I wonder if Staver would approve of Miller running off with Isabella instead of complying with the law.
Debbie Thurman
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
“PFOX and Liberty Counsel co-sponsored this “Protect Isabella” campaign.”
Says who?
TJMcFisty
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
Making an assumption based on the web page:
http://protectisabella.com/links.php
Debbie Thurman
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
“Making an assumption based on the web page:”
An incorrect one. I won’t repeat the old adage about assumptions.
Richard W. Fitch
December 30th, 2009 | LINK
Protecting Children By Making Them The Centerpiece of Anti-Gay Campaigns
Submitted by Kyle on April 7, 2009 – 3:25pm http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/protect-isabella-coalition
TJMcFisty
December 31st, 2009 | LINK
It’s a fair one, Debbie. The links are there implying endorsement and possible sponsorship.
nomasfdrqs
December 31st, 2009 | LINK
There are many nations on earth without extradition treaties with the United States. There are even more whose only treaties operate under “Dual Criminality” provisions, and since “Parental Kidnapping” is not an offense in the majority of nations, Extradition is impossible. Hopefully, Lisa and Isabella are safe in one of these countries as we speak.
nomasfdrqs
December 31st, 2009 | LINK
As for Trovore’s pathetic insane rantings, I really hope that he/she/it realizes that the overwhelming majority of people are not on your side. The Constitution doesn’t allow the “rounding up” of members of the “religious right” no matter how much his Hitlerian fantasies wish otherwise.
Neither does the Second Amendment Veto.
Around the web, December 31
December 31st, 2009 | LINK
[...] comment on whether client has kidnapped child in pursuit of continued defiance of court order [BTB, WSJ Law Blog, [...]
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December 31st, 2009 | LINK
“Hopefully, Lisa and Isabella are safe in one of these countries as we speak.”
Safe? SAFE? How the hell can a child be safe with a mentally-unstable, brainwashed woman like Lisa? Go back to FreeRepublic, imbecile.
Emily K
December 31st, 2009 | LINK
nomasfdrqs just lost the argument – he invoked Godwin’s Law:
Well, nice try, thanks for playing, anyway.
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