Report: Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill To Be Discussed In Parliament Next Week
The Definition of Megalomania
Ohio Teen Speaks About Bullying
The Daily Agenda for Friday, February 3
NOM Lies to the Media
Rolling Stone takes on Anoka-Hennepin
NJ Senate Panel Approves Marriage Equality Bill
Christie to Republicans: put marriage on the ballot, the people will vote for it
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 therapist 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 450 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.
Mike A
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
Small nitpick :-)
Steve Rothaus works for The Miami Herald, not the Miami New Times.
justsearching
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
Is this a normal level of payment for expert testimony before a court of law? I mean, I knew supposed experts would be compensated handsomely for their time, but I wouldn’t expect the rates to be quite so high…
One wonders, what on earth did he spend his time doing? How much time does it take to fabricate all the terrible ways that a gay parent will damage a child? I hope this story helps trigger the overturn of Florida’s ban on gay couples adopting.
justsearching
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
Strike the last bit. That happened in 2008.
Timothy Kincaid
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
justsearching:
Actually that happened in 2008 due in part to Rekers’ dismal testimony. The case is under appeal.
A QUESTION TO ALL
Rekers was paid his capped 60,900 in 2007 for his testimony in the case.
The second payment wasn’t until 2009, after the state lost. But the case is under appeal.
I am assuming that the additional payment was for Rekers’ work/testimony for the appeal. Does anyone know if this is correct?
Richard Rush
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
“Our attorneys handling this case have searched long and hard for other expert witnesses with comparable expertise to Dr. Rekers and have been unable to identify any who would be available for this case.”
If there were some credible science to justify preventing gays from adopting, wouldn’t you expect there to be someone else on earth with “comparable expertise”? And if it was a matter of other “experts” refusing to testify, why would that be? The state was certainly willing to pay plenty.
And if Rekers had such “incomparable expertise” and was witness-ready, then what could he possibly have been doing to earn $120,693? He’s been “researching” this all of his life, so it was not as if he was starting from scratch.
Richard Rush
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
Maybe other potential witnesses with “comparable expertise” to Rekers’ refused to testify because they were smart enough to know that spouting/defending bullshit-science in a courtroom under oath and under scrutiny would pose risks to their fragile careers. And maybe Rekers was the only one greedy enough to do it for the right price. After all, renting boys can get expensive.
And I have to believe that Rekers has been renting boys for years. You just don’t go to rentboy.com for the first time in your life at age 61 and rent a boy for a ten-day trip to Europe. Rekers had to have developed some comfort level via previous experiences.
B John
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
Honestly, given McCollum’s insistence that no one else could do this, then given that fact that, with no additional paperwork (can you say “change order”) he doubled the fees paid to Rekkers, it sound like to me there was a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayers of Florida, and an investigation should ensue.
The fact is, Rekker’s testimony had, in another case prior to this one, been totally dismissed by another judge, so McCollum had every reason to know the guy was no expert.
Maybe he just wanted to funnel some money to an anti-gay friend. I think I’m calling my FL House Representative.
anteros
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
$120,693 at $300 an hour, that’s a lot of hours… especially for a dude who’s supposed to know stuff. i guess taking his sweet time worked to his advantage. maybe they included hours he spent on relevant work before he signed up. all that expertise, all those hours, all that money… and he still couldnt fool the judge into believing that he knew what he was talking about. actually, i dont think he fooled anybody with what he had to say about gay couples adopting kids.
i’d say he’s no expert and he didnt spend all those hours doing what he claimed he did. that’s called fraud.
if Lucien’s story brought this fraud to light, then Lucien deserves more credit – and not just from the LGBT community.
George
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
William Tam wasn’t available?
To what other use might the Florida Department of Children and Families have been able to put $120,000?
And this guy (McCollum) wants to become Governor?!?
Ben in Oakland
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
I just read somewhere– I can’t find it now– that the head of family services in Florida was someone who had helped Rekers found asomething like FOF or NARTH or something.
Tres weird, becuase that very same guy was saying that it was too much money, and the AG forced it on him.
Tres weird. I thought it might have been corruption, but now I realize that it might have been just the opposite– some moral honesty?
Not McGollum, of course.
Money Man
May 12th, 2010 | LINK
How much money would an average college philosopher make?
Lynn David
May 13th, 2010 | LINK
Rekers gets $300 an hour from the state and only paid Lucien $75? a day? Add cheapskate to his crimes.
anteros
May 13th, 2010 | LINK
Lynn David:
that’s messed up.
2.5 rekers hours would pay for 10 lucien days. i bet lucien works much harder for his survival than rekers… and lucien’s line of work is a lot more noble than rekers’. and lucien couldnt ever possibly be half the monster rekers is… he’s probably a nice guy.
it’s all upside down.
Leave A Comment