Posts for 2009

LaBarbera Award: Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars

Jim Burroway

February 18th, 2009

This is what LGBT people in Utah and in the Mormon church are up against. Utah State Senator Chris Buttars has joined Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern in citing gays as the greatest threat to America, in a comment he made in an upcoming documentary about Proposition 8. In late January,

Buttars sat for an interview with documentary maker and former ABC4 (KTVX, Salt Lake City) reporter Reed Cowan, in which he cited gays as possibly the greatest threat to America, and compares LGBT leaders to radical Muslims:

Homosexuality will always be a sexual perversion. And you say that around here now and everybody goes nuts. But I don’t care.”

…”They’re mean. They want to talk about being nice. They’re the meanest buggers I have ever seen.”

And just seconds later, Buttars draws a comparison between some gays and radical Muslims. “It’s just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people and their religion is anti-war. But it’s been taken over by the radical side.”

…Buttars: “What is the morals of a gay person? You can’t answer that because anything goes.”

And finally, this is how senator Buttars refers to the “radical gay movement.” “They’re probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of.”

Butters also claimed credit for killing every gay rights bill in the state legislature for the past 8 years.

Just one year ago, Buttars became the center of controversy when, during a debate over an education bill, he said, “This baby is black…this is a dark, ugly thing.” That drew condemnation from the NAACP. In this interview, he wasn’t much better, saying “the ACLU — bless their black hearts…”

Buttars was the director of the Utah Boys Ranch, (now West Ridge Academy), a Mormon reeducation camp located in West  Jordan, Utah, for fifteen years before retiring in 2005. Described by critics and former staff members as a Mormon Gulag, the LDS-affiliated camp has come under charges of sanctioning and promoting abuse among its inmates — err, clients:

Upon arrival, children are changed out of their regular clothes and into either a wool blanket – to be worn like a dress, with a rope leash to be tied around the waste – and t-shirt, or a t-shirt and Army pants. They are then delivered to what is called the “work crew” which, interestingly enough, is entirely missing from the Gulag’s marketing material and program description.

On Work Crew, despite the name, a lot of the time is spent standing completely still, facing a wall. Talking of any kind is certainly out of the question, as is moving – including scratching your nose – without permission. When children aren’t being forced to stand with their noses against a wall, they are often led around the facility – those donning Army surplus store wool blankets are led by their rope leashes – to do inane, demeaning types of labor. For example, gathering hundreds of rocks and boulders in a pile – just to move the pile to another location immediately after. Or digging ditches, and filling them back in, with plastic spoons.

Once a child is released from work crew – which could be weeks or months – they are given a pair of blue jeans to go with their green t-shirt. As a “green shirt” there is a considerable amount of time that is no longer spent facing the wall, but there is still no talking whatsoever. In order to earn the privilege of monitored verbal communication a child must carefully read the first book of the Mormon scriptures – First Nephi – and prove they have done so by “passing it off” to one of the Mormon missionaries on staff.

The child must also confess their sins to a Mormon Bishop in a “bishop’s interview” before changing into a “blue shirt” – which is as good as it gets in the Gulag. Green shirts are not allowed to sit on furniture or read anything besides Mormon canon.

Among specific allegations:

Chris Buttars ordered two large men to violently rip my clothes off, shave my head bald and made me walk around naked (my underwear was torn in struggle) with nothing but an army blanket for 2 weeks. My room mates whom I was locked in with were there for sexually molesting their younger brothers. I was 13 and I never recovered from my experiences there.

It was much worse than that but I can’t stand to describe it. I’d give anything to ask him ‘why?’

He allowed mentally ill children to grow up without any psychological treatment (mental illness in the boys ranch was defined as “the crazy act for attention”) He also turned a blind eye to prison justice against these kids in his boys ranch.

Update: We have the entire transcript of Buttars’ award-winning remarks here.

Utah Legislators Kill Two More Common Ground Bills

Jim Burroway

February 18th, 2009

Giving further evidence to the lie that the LDS church doesn’t object to some minimal protections for gay and lesbian citizens, Utah lawmakers killed two more bills which were a part of the Common Ground initiative. After lengthy public hearings yesterday, House committees rejected two more bills: HB288, which would have allowed same-sex couples and other unmarried pairs to adopt and foster children; and HB267, which would have protected LGBT people from discrimination in housing and employment. Both bills were badly needed. As it is right now, a lesbian mother cannot cannot empower her partner to make medical decisions for her child, which can set up potentially life-threatening situations. And then there’s this:

Pleasant Grove resident Bryan Horn said his own experience with losing his job for being gay has been a “recurring nightmare.” Horn, who was not out as gay at work, said he was fired from his credit-union job after he asked a human-resource manager whether his partner could be included in the company’s health-insurance plan.

“I have not been able to find work since that day over a year ago,” he said. “You will never know the pain and heartache of what I have dealt with. An attorney once told me that criminals and prison inmates have more rights in the state of Utah than a gay man.”

There is only one bill left in the Common Ground initiative. It would allow expand protections for same-sex couples so they can visit a partner in the hospital, inherit property and make medical decisions. How much do you want to bet that even that minimal protection will be shot down?

Wisconsin Governor Calls for Domestic Partnerships

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

In a budget address today, Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin (D), called for the implementation of Domestic Partnerships:

The governor called for a domestic partner classification and offering limited legal protections for same-sex couples, such as allowing domestic partners to take family and medical leave to care for a seriously ill partner, make end-of-life decisions and add health care coverage.

Domestic partners would register with counties and they would be treated like other vital records.

Salt Lake County Employees Get Benefits

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

In contrast to the Utah State Legislature’s all-consuming desire to make sure that gay couples know their place (hint: it’s not in Utah), the county government of Salt Lake County has been trying to find ways to meet the needs of their citizens. Now “adult designees” of city employees will be eligible for some benefits. (SL Trib)

The County Council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to extend health insurance, dental coverage, extended funeral leave, life insurance and a variety of other protections to unmarried partners or other “adult designees” of county employees.

All five Democrats voted for her measure, along with Republican newcomer Max Burdick, who said the council’s decision shouldn’t be based on personal judgments about race, religion or sexual orientation.

These employees will join their neighbors in the city of Salt Lake who have participated in the Mutual Commitment Registry. Surely the capital area has become an oasis in a very dry and desolate desert.

Utah House Business and Labor Committee Endorses Anti-Gay Discrimination in Employment and Housing

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

Utah House Bill 267 would have banned discrimination in employment and housing based on sexual orientation. Naturally, Utah legislators couldn’t have that.

Sponsored by Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, HB267 is part of the Common Ground Initiative, a legislative push for legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Utahns. Johnson called the decision to kill her bill in committee an “endorsement of discrimination.”

…Opponents argued the bill was part of a wider gay “agenda” aimed at undermining Utah’s Amendment 3, which forbids same-sex marriage.

According to Republican representatives James Dunnigan, Gage Froerer, Kevin Garn, Francis Gibson, Todd Kiser, Michael Morley, Patrick Painter, and R. Curt Webb, it is perfectly acceptable to fire someone because you suspect they may be gay. And that person should have no recourse whatsoever.

It’s an odd feeling to know that some people don’t want you to be able to support yourself or have a roof over your head because you are gay. And its frightening to know that a majority of Utah’s legislators support those people.

Utah is a very scary place.

Utah’s America Forever Ad Update

Jim Burroway

February 17th, 2009

We just found a clean, crisp copy of the America Forever ad that appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune and the Deseret News over the weekend. To see the full sized ad, just click on the thumbnail. This way, you can see what passes for logical thinking and reasoned discourse on the part of our opponents: comparing homosexuality to prostitution, drug use, and so on. In fact, as Timothy Kincaid highlighted yesterday, they just want us to go away altogether. Just by the fact that gays and lesbians are visible “is stating and displaying that he or she practices sodomy.”

They also claim that they found a “Homosexual Declaration of War,” which, according to the ad, goes like this:

We will sodomize your children. All churches who condemn us will be closed. The family unit eliminated. Any man contaminated with homosexual list, will be automatically barred from any position of influence.

That, of course, is a very loose paraphrase of a satire written in 1987 by one Michael Swift — a nom de plume inspired by the great satirist Jonathan Swift. And in case anyone missed the reference, the author prefaced his satire with this:

This essay is an outré, madness, a tragic, cruel fantasy, an eruption of inner rage, on how the oppressed desperately dream of being the oppressor.

Somehow, anti-gay extremists never include that disclamer when they quote the essay.

When a Gay Man Votes Against Equality

This commentary is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect that of other authors at Box Turtle Bulletin.

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, has introduced the Marriage and Family Protection Act, a bill that would open the definition of marriage in Minnesota to same-sex couples.

Minnesota is generally considered to be a blue state and state politics are dominated by the DFL (Democratic) Party, with Democrats holding a two-thirds majority of both houses. Even so, it appears that Marty’s bill hasn’t got a chance.

Acknowledging the setback of California’s Proposition 8 vote of last November, Marty said his bill is not going to pass this year, but he said he hopes it wins the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee after a hearing later this month.

Yet I’m very appreciative of Marty’s efforts. Even beginning the conversation moves us closer to our goals of equality under the law.

But I am also frustrated and annoyed.

I am frustrated that the Democratic leadership in a state that prides itself in its liberal tradition will not make equality for gay citizens a priority. I understand why – it’s because they don’t have to. In a state in which they have zero chance of losing power, no promises have to be made or kept, especially to an unpopular minority.

But I’m even more frustrated by gay State Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley (pictured). Koering has announced that he will not be voting for Marty’s bill.

He says even though he’s gay, he will vote against the legislation because lawmakers have bigger fish to fry dealing with a budget deficit estimated at five to seven billion dollars.

While “we’re too busy with the economy” is certainly the excuse of choice this year for every legislator unwilling to fight for equality, it really is awfully stupid. It is based on the ridiculous notion that all of a legislator’s time will be spent dealing specifically with the economy – a notion that some of us would find admirable, but is far far from reality. And how on earth could voting “yes” take up more time than voting “no”.

But, as with the Democrats, I understand Koering’s decision. He is the representative of a very conservative district, one that would almost certainly respond to a pro-marriage vote by replacing him with a homophobe. And I can sympathize with a guy who sees no point in political suicide when there’s no up-side to such a choice.

He would have sacrificed his carreer for nothing. And why should he sacrifice when others won’t support marriage even though it would cost them nothing?

And I certainly don’t favor reprisals against Koering. Our community is advantaged by having him in office. He has shown himself to be willing to take a risk to protect gay Minnesotans when his vote mattered.

In April 2005, Koering provide the crucial vote needed to kill an effort to force a constitutional marriage ban vote onto the floor of the Senate (a quarter of Democrats were unwilling). As a result, anti-gay conservatives ran a campaign of homophobia against him in support of a primary opponent, highlighting his opposition to the anti-gay amendment.

I think Koering will be with us on the day that his vote will be needed. But it galls me that announcements of this sort give permission to those looking for a reason not to support equality today. It allows them an out, “why should we vote for marriage when the gay guy won’t”?

As I said, the whole situation is frustrating and annoying and irritating.

Colorado Designated Beneficiaries

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

Colorado voters passed an anti-gay marriage ban in 2006 and during that same vote, the electorate declined to provide for domestic partnership. However, civil unions or other forms of partner benefits are not banned in the Colorado Constitution.

The House Judiciary Committee in Colorado has now passed (7-3) a bill allowing for the establishment of designated beneficiary agreements. Considering that sixteen years ago Colorado voters passes an amendement to their constitution (overturned by the US Supreme Court) that would have institutionalized discrimination against gay citizens and banned them from even appealling to their government for relief.

The proposed designated beneficiary agreements would allow individuals entering such an agreement to:

  • Be a conservator or guardian for the other designated beneficiary;
  • Be treated as a beneficiary under the other designated beneficiary’s benefits for life insurance;
  • Be treated as a dependent under the other designated beneficiary’s benefits for health insurance if the designated beneficiary’s employer elects to provide coverage to designated beneficiaries;
  • Have the right to visit the other designated beneficiary in the hospital or in a nursing home;
  • Inherit through intestate succession upon the death of the other designated beneficiary;
  • Have standing to sue for wrongful death of the other designated beneficiary;
  • Act as an agent to make, revoke, or object to anatomical gifts involving the other designated beneficiary;
  • Direct the disposition of the other designated beneficiary’s last remains.

The bill would also recognize those individuals who are in civil unions, domestic partnerships, or marriages that Colorado does not recognize as having the rights of a designated beneficiary. Designated beneficiaries would not be limited to gay couples but appears to be open to any two adults that are not otherwise married.

Should this bill pass, Designated Beneficiaries would join Marriage, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships and Reciprocal Beneficiaries as the various forms by which states have used to provide various levels of recognition and protection to the families of their gay citizens.

Heterosexual Menace: Forced Conversions

Jim Burroway

February 17th, 2009

This just in from Toledo:

A Toledo man accused of kidnapping, handcuffing and holding captive in an adult diaper a 22-year-old woman he picked up off the streets in Detroit may have been trying to save her, authorities say.

Troy Brisport, 34, also read the Bible to Shykea Boykin, the Detroit woman who told investigators Brisport handcuffed her by the wrists and ankles in his West Toledo apartment. He also took off her clothes and dressed her in an adult diaper, and gave her little to eat and drink, she told investigators.

Three days later, Boykin sneaked out of the apartment, still handcuffed by the wrists, in a diaper and a t-shirt, banging on neighboring apartment doors and finally on doors outside, police said.

Now who exactly is trying to “force” others to accept their lifestyle choices?

There’s more heterosexual outrage here and in our report, “The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing the Myths.”

New Mexico Breaks Senate Committee Block on Domestic Partnerships

Timothy Kincaid

February 17th, 2009

nm-flag.jpgIn January 2008 the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a bill to establish Domestic Partnerships. However, that bill became locked up the the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This year, supporters started with the Senate, though acknowledging that they did not supporting votes in the Judiciary this time either.

But something unusual has happened. The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to send the bill to the full Senate without either a favorable or negative recommendation. This allowed Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, to continue to deny her support while allowing the bill to advance.

It is uncertain if the Senate will approve the bill, but Governor Bill Richardson has made it a priority.

“I feel strongly that it’s a matter of human rights and civil rights,” Richardson said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We should strongly support it and I’ll work very hard to get it done.”

Christine Bakke: Dreams Of A Daughter

Jim Burroway

February 17th, 2009

Ex-gay survivor Christine Bakke recently discovered a post that her mother wrote for PFOX, an ex-gay organization. While Christine has left the ex-gay life behind, her mother, quite obviously, is still clinging to the hope that Christine will someday cast aside her integrity to live in the pretend world of the ex-gay movement.

Understandably, Christine’s relationship with her mother is strained, although she points out that her living as a lesbian isn’t the only issue. While Christine doesn’t want to play out the details of their estrangement over public blogs and web sites, she nevertheless recognizes that “my parents didn’t have a choice in me going public with my story. So they’re well within their right to write about me.”

I’ve often wondered how I would respond if my own mother had spoken out publicly against me. I hope that I, too, would recognize that she has the right to do so. But it’s hard to imagine what sort of interpretations I’d put on her motivations. Rejection? Certainly. And fear, probably. But I do think I’d see a misguided love underneath all that. I don’t know whether it would make it easier to understand (she does love me, after all, no matter how misguided) or harder (sensing a love with conditions will never be easy to deal with). But mostly, I think my reaction would be anger — at those who are encouraging her on the path of estrangement, people who have neither her nor my best interests at heart

But I don’t know what my reaction would be. Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with that situation. Perhaps that’s because I didn’t try to go through the organized ex-gay route. There wasn’t anyone there to hold out false hope to my mother that I could change.

Every family is different. And in Christine’s case, while she has left the ex-gay movement and has become an outspoken critic of it, her mother is still fully ensconced in one of the more rejecting and confrontational expressions of that anti-gay movement. She is still being encouraged to look for magic signs and snow angel wonders to show that someday Christine will forget all she knows and go back to a life of denial and misery.

I’ve known Christine for more than two years now, and I have always found her gentle heart to be filled with thoughtful consideration for other people. So I couldn’t help but be moved by how she responded to her mother’s post.

Although saying that they love me unconditionally, in the Glamour article my mom said, “When you rock your baby in your arms, you never think one day my daughter will be homosexual and want to have sex with another woman, never have children. No one holds their baby and says maybe they’ll grow up to be a rapist, or this or that. You have dreams for your children.”

Well you know what? Children have dreams for their parents, too. You don’t lay in your parent’s arms and think that you’ll have to defend yourself from them thinking you are lost and damned eternally. You don’t cuddle up and think that one day you’ll find out that they believe that who you are is synonymous with being a rapist. I certainly didn’t have those dreams for my parents. What I did dream instead was that I might be able to express my concerns and be heard. I dreamed that I would be always cherished and deemed worthy of their love and respect, no matter my beliefs. I dreamed that I would be supported in living a life that was truly authentic and truly mine, without the haunting thoughts about what a disappointment I am to them. Those dreams have had to die.

Christine is willing to meet her parents where they are. “I’ve often told people that I don’t mind if they think I’m going to hell, just treat me with respect, love and dignity and we can have a relationship regardless,” she wrote. Obviously, that’s not enough. For many ex-gay survivors, the only route to reconciliation is total capitulation. If only her parents — and the ironically dubbed “pro-family” anti-gay forces which are sustaining a key component of this estrangement — could meet her where she is. If they did, they would find an amazing daughter that any parent would be proud of.

Why must that be so hard?

Unacceptable to Mormon Eyes

Timothy Kincaid

February 16th, 2009

Update: This post has been updated to include a clean, legible version of the full page ad.

Today the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News ran full page ads by an anti-gay activist group called America Forever. This is the same group that was wearing “Homosexuality is Anti-Species” t-shirts last week.

The ads are being called “hateful” by both friends who find them disgusting and foes who fear they may reflect badly on their own more socially acceptable brand of anti-gay behaviors and attitudes.

Gay-rights opponent Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, agrees with America Forever’s stance on upholding “traditional marriage” but condemns the group’s tactics and rhetoric, including the ad.

“There’s no need to have hateful discourse,” Wimmer said. “Quite frankly, they make those of us who are on the side of traditional marriage — they make a lot of us — look bad.”

Yes, Wimmer, mirrors can be disconcerting.

But what I find more interesting than the bile splattered accross newspapers in Utah is what was not included in the Deseret News, a newspaper owned by the Mormon Church.

The Deseret News recognizes that their readership has a set of values and they established publishing guidelines so as not offend their sensibilities. Therefore, the Mormon paper had a slightly different version of the ad.

First, let’s see what was completely acceptable for Mormon eyes:

For example: by holding hands and kissing in the public area of: an apartment complex playground, in a family neighborhood, at a party, or to present one’s self as a homosexual person in the workplace, is stating and displaying that he or she practices sodomy, and backed by law, will force the acceptance of homosexuality as a relationship equal to a man and woman relationship.

and

If a hooker displays her conduct, a druggie displays his conduct and a homosexual displays his conduct, it is our right to not have them part of our lives: in our businesses, living in our basements, barbecuing in our yards, or in common living areas.

and

Gays should be forced not to display their sexual conduct to our children as role models in school as school teachers and principals, in our streets, shopping centers, and in our lives.

All of the above passes the test of acceptable text for Mormon eyes. However, not all things are allowed in Deseret News.

MediaOne made the decision to run both ads — and removed a photo of two gay men kissing from the LDS Church-owned News version — Low said, consistent with publishing guidelines from both papers.

Yep, undeniable hate speech that seeks to coerce one’s gay neighbors and remove their constitutional rights is perfectly acceptable. But a picture of two men kissing is forbidden – even when in an anti-gay ad.

Gay Snipers Stalking WV Families

Jim Burroway

February 16th, 2009

At least that’s the image being promoted in this wv4marriage.com video, by a group pushing for an anti-gay constitutional amendment for West Virginia. Over the course of five minutes, we learn that a married gay couple from California could move to West Virginia (no, seriously! That could totally happen!) and open up that state toward recognizing same sex marriages. Which is just a stones-throw away from having an unsuspecting bubble-blowing families sitting innocently on their all-American front porches being put in the crosshairs and blown away.

And to think that this irresponsible image went out right as Jim David Adkisson was sentenced for training his scope on a gay-friendly church. Images matter, especially in a well-armed state like West Virginia. This conjured image of a “homosexual threat” has clearly crossed the line.

By the way, we also learn that public schools no longer celebrate Father’s Day. Wait a minute. That couldn’t be because it’s celebrated on the third Sunday in June while school’s out, could it? Naah, it’s a much better story when it’s all the gays’ fault.

Larry King’s Caretakers Seek to Profit from his Murder

Timothy Kincaid

February 14th, 2009

Lawrence King was adopted at age three by Gregory and Dawn King. According to the Kings, he never bonded with them. In November 2007 he was removed from their home and placed in a group home after he complained that Gregory King was physically abusive.

But none of that is stopping the Kings from seeking to be paid for their loss. And they are not above trashing Larry in order to get some cash.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Larry’s death, Gregory and Dawn king have filed a wrongful death lawsuit assigning the blame for Larry’s murder on Larry himself and faulting everyone in sight. (SJ Merc)

The 18-page lawsuit filed by King’s parents and brother names nearly two dozen defendants. It claims that everyone from King’s teacher to his social worker failed to urge the effeminate teen to tone down flamboyant behavior. The suit also claims they failed to heed McInerney’s alleged threat to kill King a day before the shooting.

In addition to his teacher and principal, the suit names McInerney and his parents; the nonprofit Casa Pacifica, a shelter for troubled children where King had been living; counselors; a county social worker, and the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance.

The school and shelter knew that King’s behavior was “sexually assertive” and threatening but failed to take action, the suit contends.

The shelter gave him “cross-dressing clothes and makeup and women’s boots,” and the Rainbow Alliance encouraged King to make sexual advances on McInerney, the suit claims.

While the Kings can sue anyone they think has cash for wrongful death in every state in the Union, in Utah gay people don’t have the right to sue anyone at all for the loss of their devoted and much loved and cared-for partner.

Happy Valentines Day

Jim Burroway

February 14th, 2009

Mario Lanza was my great grandmother’s favorite singer in the 1950’s. She really liked tall, dark and handsome, not that Lanza necessarily fit all of those bills. She also had a flair for the dramatic. Aside from that, I always thought we had a lot in common, Easter and me. (Wait… why are you laughing?)

So I thought of this song for Valentine’s Day. It’s very corny, but isn’t that true for Valentine’s Day generally?

« Older Posts     Newer Posts »

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.

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.

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.