The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, May 22
House of Commons officially passes marriage equality
British Commons Approves Marriage Equality Bill
Email address of Attorney General prosecuting 18 year old Florida lesbian
Gay Man's Murder Sparks Massive Rally
The Daily Agenda for Tuesday, May 21
Connecticut Scouts simply announce that they are accepting gay scout leaders
Church of Scotland allows ministers in relationship
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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Edwin
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
At that rate the catholic church might be out of people to keep the pope and all those cardinals rich. They are some of the biggest homophobs around.
Edwin
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
I am not catholic. Fact is I no longer go to any church. I will not listen to a preacher preach hate and call themselves better than anyone else.
How can you consider your self a christian and take away the freedoms of a group of people you disagree of their way of living. (I hate that life style thing). When the supposed straight people say their life style is the correct one how do they know for sure.
The catholic life style isn’t what I want.
Richard W. Fitch
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
More and more it places Roman Catholics who aspire to elected office in a moral dilemma. Since the RCC refuses to acknowledge the civil rights bestowed by political sovereignties and democratic states, their stance of “either – or” revokes the rights of those who have no affiliation with their demagoguery. Politicians, who obey the RCC, are then forced to respond to the mandates of those who have elected them at the peril of their spiritual convictions. Rome is too blind to see that the dwindling of ‘faithful’ is the result of their attempt to remain living in the medieval worldview.
Burr
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
So I guess there’s going to be a lot fewer Catholics in Massachusetts, Spain, and Portugal.
The Church needs to stop having political opinions. Worry about YOUR religion, not MY government.
Scott P.
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
Evil is as evil does.
Timothy Kincaid
February 17th, 2010 | LINK
When John F. Kennedy was running for President, many Protestants of all parties were worried. Some feared that he’d preference his faith over all others; some worried that the President of the United States might make his decisions based on the dictates of the head of a foreign country, the Vatican.
On September 12, 1960, Kennedy made a speech to protestant leaders. He said,
Sadly, that belief no longer holds valid. Now, time after time I hear elected officials vote against decency and equality and preference their remarks with, “As a Catholic…”
I am beginning to believe that there are two types of Catholic elected officials, the Kennedy Catholics who value separation of church and state, and the Santorum Catholics who dream of a time when the Pope dictated law and kings kneeled in the snow begging their favor.
And sadly, I find myself wondering, ‘can I vote for this man or woman knowing they are Catholic’. But unlike Kennedy’s detractors, my hesitation is not based in bigotry or baseless fear; my hesitation is based in the knowledge that there is a growing group of bishops, politicians, and lay political activists who put their church’s dogma over the Constitution and who owe allegiance not to the American people and our nation but to the Pope and the church heirarchy.
Donnchadh
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
In Italy, most people -even non-believers- are willing to follow the Catholic Church in all matters that do not affect them. On issues like gay rights, that have never been big and do not affect the majority, they will take the Church’s stance. But they ignore its doctrines against contraception, as can be seen from the birth rate, and plenty took part in national politics back when the Republic was declared illegitimate. So once the issues gain prominence and everyone knows an openly gay friend, marriage and adoption should not take long.
Amicus
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
When they say “politicians” they mean Supreme Court Justices, right? wink wink nudge nudge
customartist
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
The Cardinal of Bologna whishes to withhold not only Holy Care, but also Governmental Benefits, by intimidating Publicly Elected Legislators into acting upon their Religious Tennants rather than upon their Governmental Committments.
In November 2009, the Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse reported its findings in which it concluded that the Church was pre-occupied with:
“the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets.
All Other Considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities. The Archdiocese did not implement its own canon law rules and did its best to avoid any application of the law of the State”.
The Pope publicly condemns other countries for abuses of children whilst his own house isn’t quite finnished cleaning out the dirt of the latest, only months old (2009) Irish abuse court settlement.
Globally-encompassing Abuse, Denial, Coverup, Hypocracy, Self-righteousness, and ignoring the factual history of the Roman Catholic Church: all appropriate descriptors. Widespread abuse that the Vatican continues to treat as a lesser sin than those of others’, seemingly because it is its own. Where does Confession, Repentance, and a dedication to moving in another direction come in here? Zis does not apply to Ze Pope!
The Catholic Church now “bends” its own rules by newly allowing Married Protestant Priests into the RCC Priesthood beacuse of failing growth. Dedication?
Consenting Gays are are still at the end of the pointing finger.
Clean up your own house! and stay out of Secular Government “Cardinal of Bologna”.
customartist
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
Following up on Timothy Kincaid,
Sadly, this now applies to the highest arbiter of American Justice:
The United States Supreme Court
TonyJazz
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
Civil marriage is not a religious statement, so what has that got to do with Catholicism?
The church has often said that the act of gay sex is the sin (of course, there is no justification for that view…), so why would a legal construct that has nothing to do with the number of gay sex acts be considered immoral?
Nevada Blue
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
That’s rich. The Catholic church is expert at circumnavigating their own rules (hello anullment). They could do it here as well. But then again, doing what is right has never been relevent to them.
CPT_Doom
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
Timothy, as a former Catholic who was raised in a very Irish household, I totally agree. We were taught to venerate Kennedy, not because he was a perfect person, but because he represented the pinnacle of success for Roman Catholics, especially Irish ones.
Anti-Catholic sentiment in this country has been strong enough that, shockingly, Joe Biden is the first Roman Catholic since Kennedy elected nationwide. It pains me to say it, but pronouncements like these, and those of the Rhode Island bishop regarding Representative Patrick Kennedy, are likely to reinflame that anti-Catholic bigotry, but this time from the left. Although most such pronouncements have been regarding abortion and birth control, if they were broadened to all Catholic theology, they could prevent RC Justices of the Peace from officiating at weddings of the previously divorced, for example.
I believe in the separation of church and state, and if these pronouncements continue, I feel we will have to get a commitment to that from all Roman Catholics running for office or important appointments. The question will have to be asked, “if caught between an issue of theology and civil rights for non-Catholics, will you risk excommunication to support the Constitution, or will you resign your office.” Legislating from a specifically RC theological point of view is simply unAmerican.
Elphaba
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
The Catholic Church made similar comments when Canada was in the process of legalizing same-sex marriage, with some even going so far as to threaten excommunication of any Catholic politition who supported it. And, suprise, suprise, when we legalized it, the Church did nothing.
Rene van Soeren
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
This is really nothing new, as far as I know. In 2003 the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – headed by then still cardinal Ratzinger – published a document in which it is alreaddy stated that it is the duty of catholic politicians to do anything possible to block legalizing or even to sabotage legal same sex relations. Not doing this was considered a sign that those politicians where questionable catholics. As far as I know excommunicaton of such questionable catholic politicians is mentioned in this document.
That does not make this a part of the official catholic teaching – that is right, but – as far as I can see – it is part of the official Vatican policy.
By the way – almost immediately after the publication of this document a Dutch gay christian-democrat MP married his male partner quiet deliberately as a political sign of protest against this Vatican document. Of course – nothing happened…he was not excommunicated.
Jimmy Mac
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
Dowager empresses might want to be careful when they bash others. Their backgrounds may not be squeaky clean.
Frijondi
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
It seems to me the Roman Catholic hierarchy used to be a lot more cautious about using excommunication as a political tool. (At least in recent decades; I’m not talking about the middle ages.)
But for some reason, they appear to have lost a lot of their inhibitions about it in recent years. The optimist in me hopes it’s a sign of desperation; as a pessimist, however, I’m more inclined to think it’s a sign the hard-line traditionalists are becoming bolder.
soren456
February 18th, 2010 | LINK
. . . “God forbid, we will, at the proper moment, give the necessary directives”
. . . .he hissed.
This, coupled with such things as the Manhattan Declaration and the Catholic decision to quit aspects of its charitable activity in Washington, D.C. in response to gay marriage, grants permission to attack us. Physically.
When “spiritual leaders” vow openly to ignore law (and deliberately misstate the law in their vowing), the effect is tacit permission to their followers also to ignore law.
This God-vs.-law tripe is new, cancerous and very worrisome ways.
Edward Miessner
February 21st, 2010 | LINK
The RCC needs to research its old, old documentsto see if there are any ecclesiastical documents sanctifying same-sex unions. If there are (and there definitely are, HAHAHA) the RCC needs to lead, follow or get out of the way.
But I don’t expect them to do what they need to do. I fully expect them to declare the actual state of being LGBTIQQ (homosexual in RCC lingo) to be an unrepentable and unforgiveable sin.
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