Ex-Gay Leader Sentenced For Criminal Sexual Assault of Male Clients
Andrew Comiskey Doesn't Believe In Apologies
Murkowski makes three
Massachusetts GOP Senate Candidate goes to Pride
The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, June 19
Another Exodus Conference Is Upon Us. Let's Review.
For Our Opponents: Talking to Your Kids About Same-Sex Marriage
The Daily Agenda for Tuesday, June 18
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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werdna
March 13th, 2010 | LINK
Here’s a link to the full story. The article said that some opposition to revising the donation rules is coming from hemophiliac patient groups, which was something I hadn’t been aware of before.
A look at the comments reveals just how much support for the ban is based on ignorance and groundless fears. It’s going to take a lot of patience and careful explaining to get the public comfortable with this change.
Burr
March 13th, 2010 | LINK
The FDA is just going to sit on it like they do just about everything in need of change. It’s going to take a lot more sustained pressure to change their tune.
And yes, most of the opposition comes from hemophiliacs and their families, and that includes within the FDA. Nevermind that the blood products they use are created from plasma donations that are paid for, not voluntary red blood cell or platelet donations.
David C.
March 13th, 2010 | LINK
I suppose this is based on the fact that hemophiliacs were some of the first people to became infected with HIV not through sexual contact but from contaminated blood transfusions near the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Their paranoia might be assuaged through education but it will take time and may never fully be supported by such groups. Everybody concerned needs to become better informed.
andrew
March 14th, 2010 | LINK
I’m of two minds here. On the one hand, I think it’s ridiculous to single out every man who has had MM sex since the 70′s — that’s just absurd — screenings today are far far better than that. That said, it’s unreasonable to try to convert donating blood into some kind of civil right — we need to be mindful of balancing perceived slights against the need not to be “pretty sure”, but to be absolutely certain – 99.9999% – that the blood products aren’t carrying something that can harm / kill the recipient. 99.99% seems pretty good, but if you’re 1 in 10,000 people who loses someone because their cancer surgery resulted in hepatitis complications, well, 1 in 10,000 suddenly is a bit high. We need to be more like 99.9999% sure, and that’s just not easy (and often results in sweeping rules that seems arbitrary and stupid).
I’m thinking perhaps ANYONE who has had risky activities within 90 days(new partner of either gender, tattoos, drug use, invasive medical procedures) might be excluded (although there goes your college blood drives). 90 days should give the body enough time to produce the antibodies to allow the screeners to protect the blood supply. In this case we’re talking HIV, HCV, STDs, etc.
As always the questionnaire should be behaviors-based, and respondants need to feel totally secure in answering questions honestly and completely — something (in my experience) the well trained nurses at most blood drives have accomplished with a fair amount of grace — although I’m sure this varies by region.
By the way, I know someone personally who acquired HCV from tranfusions in the 80′s before it was well-understood. It’s not just paranoia, and it’s not just HIV that should concern us. Questions need to be tied to real risk, not perceived risk.
ebohlman
March 14th, 2010 | LINK
werdna: You’re correct about patient and careful explanations being needed. This is a classic case where framing is important: the FDA needs to frame it as “we’re trying to bring the way we treat MSM in line with the way we treat other potentially risky groups.”
Burr
March 14th, 2010 | LINK
There are deferrals for tattoos, piercings, etc. already and unlike the MSM deferral they’re quite reasonable and not indefinite. So yes, the change in policy being debated would just bring it in line with other risky behaviors.
Joel
March 15th, 2010 | LINK
PLZ DO reexamine this… this is simply based of ignorance and paranoia as has been well presented by earlier posters. This policy is in need of change to reflect the real risk presented by MSM and other risky behaviors. As it is, it seems that MSM is the most risky behavior by a long shot.
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