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
How To Spot A Swivel-Eyed Loon
The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, May 22
House of Commons officially passes marriage equality
British Commons Approves Marriage Equality Bill
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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Patrick
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
How nice, he’ll work with congress on doing something he doesn’t need congress to do – he can do it all by himself. But he hasn’t and is now passing the buck. What a friend we have!
Burr
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
While it’d be nice if he did a stop loss order, he’d still need Congress to make it permanent. That’s not passing the buck, that’s reality. Acting alone won’t solve it once and for all.
That said I ain’t holding my breath.
Jim Burroway
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
Actually, he cannot repeal a law all by himself. What he can do is temporarily halt investigations under DADT, but all that would do is relieve the pressure off of Congress from doing anything. Then when Obama is gone, a future president can just as easily rescind the order.
While I know a lot of people are pushing for Obama to issue an executive order, I think it would actually hinder DADT’s repeal rather than hasten it.
Timothy Kincaid
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
Hmmm… his first step in working with Congress was apparently asking Congress not to hold hearings until he could announce that he was working with Congress.
Kristie
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
While it’s true that he could not repeal DADT on his own, he could have issued the stop loss order last year & used his bully pulpit to put the pressure on Congress to do the work of repealing it for good. Since a repeal is something supported by the majority of Americans (including a majority of conservatives) it shouldn’t have been hard to get it done. Instead he did nothing, paid a little lip service and then trotted this DADT repeal schpiel out again when he knows he needs to regain some lost support of LGBT voters. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Trevor
January 27th, 2010 | LINK
Ready…set…PUNT to the do-nothing Congress which can’t pass a bill with a super majority. If you thought the Republicans would filibuster a healthcare bill just to score political points what do you think they’ll do now that you’re handing them a “culture war” issue? Its a no-brainer: they’ll filibuster it and use it to whip their tea-bagger base into an angry, stupid frenzy.
andrew
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
I’ll repeat what my household has been telling the increasingly desperate Democratic party every time they’ve called us for donations in the past month: I be taken for granted, and pretty words won’t cut it. You’ll get my cash when I see some action, and not a penny until then.
andrew
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
Ummm… no patois intended… that should have said “won’t be”… taken for granted.
I may, however, be taken for illiterate.
Matt
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
To quote the intelligence community, “Trust but verify”
Dan
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
After a year, Obama is still doling out bits and pieces. In the campaign, he promised a lot of things: an inclusive ENDA, a repeal of DOMA and DADT, the list went on. Now, it’s just DADT. We don’t need a crumb here and there. We need the same rights that other citizens take for granted!
Timothy Kincaid
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
I got an email “from President Barack Obama” asking for donations within an hour of the speech.
oakland753
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
This president fixated on one thing and one thing only. He wants health care reform. He will live and die politically on this one thing. After the Massachusetts defeat, he has tried to appear as if moving more to the center, but make no mistake, he is STILL ONLY interested in this screwed up health care reform.
Democrats need to learn from we independents. Just because he is a democrat does not mean he is on “your side.” Obama is FOR gays when they VOTE for him…after elected, his actions speak the truth about Obama. He is a typical politician and NOTHING more.
Ray
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
The only appropriate response to appeals for donations is “When we can marry, when we can serve in the military, when our jobs are secure, when DADT and DOMA are history, THEN ask me for a donation.”
Lt. Choi’s post speech arrived in email this morning. He said DADT is “immoral” and that he was disappointed with the lack of substance in the President’s remarks and called his words “unacceptable.”
Ditto for me, too.
CLS
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
Talk is cheap in Obamatown, very cheap. Obama prides himself on his ability to sway people with rhetoric. I prefer reality myself. So when the reality comes we’ll see but in the meantime shouldn’t we all be happy that we got a nice, shiny ambassador and a few other token appointments?
Audrey the Liberal
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
I’m a fan of your blog CLS, so it’s really nice to see you posting here on Box Turtle Bulletin. Have you thought of becoming a regular contributor?
Mark F.
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
Prediction: no repeal of DADT anytime before 2013. $100 bet anyone?
Mark F.
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
And here’s some insight about Obama’s character: he’s ordering the murder of *suspected* terrorists. No trial, no nothing. Just like the Nazis and Communists used to do. but hey, continue to pretend he’s a good, well meaning guy.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2010/01/27/yemen/index.html
AlexH
January 28th, 2010 | LINK
I would rather see some action on getting rid of DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) and giving couples Federal benefits.
Right now, we keep fighting over the “word” marriage and while I agree we should be able to have the term etc., it still doesn’t give same-sex couples true Federal rights even if they are allowed to marry in their state.
DADT would be great and should be repealed so I hope it is done this year. And when it is, it should be retroactive so that all those who were bounced out of the military just for being gay get their full honors and stuff.
Our armed forces are stretched so thin that you’d think that they would welcome anyone who wants to enlist and maybe they wouldn’t have to go on these 3-4-5 tours of duty.
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