It's Not the Principle, It's the Prejudice
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House of Commons officially passes marriage equality
British Commons Approves Marriage Equality Bill
Email address of Attorney General prosecuting 18 year old Florida lesbian
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.
Priya Lynn
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
I wonder why Mccollum was so keen on hiring Rekers given that he had reason to believe Rekers’ testimony would be counterproductive to the anti-gay cause?
Lindoro Almaviva
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
You know Priya, that is a very good question. Could it be his way of sabbotaging the defence or could it be that the guy is just a bumbling idiot who could not recognize bias because his own had him blind?
Candace
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
Priya said: “I wonder why Mccollum was so keen on hiring Rekers given that he had reason to believe Rekers’ testimony would be counterproductive to the anti-gay cause?”
NOTHING is counter-productive to the anti-gay cause in Florida. We call Florida the “Sunshine Hate” because of the discrimination aganst gay people here. From adoption to hospital visitation to food stamps to domestic partnerships to ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING GAY, Florida leads the way in state-endorsed hatred and discrimination.
Priya Lynn
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
“NOTHING is counter-productive to the anti-gay cause in Florida.”.
Uhhh…I’m not buying that.
Regan DuCasse
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
You beat me to it, Priya Lynn. McCollum, regardless of the high cost, and dubious veracity of what Rekers could offer, you’d think that McCollum would just bag the idea and move on to something else.
To echo other points here, no expense was spared because it was other people’s money, and no sacrifice was too great as long as it’s gay people and their lives that are sacrificed.
The war on gay people has no boundaries. It’s worth exploiting public funds (which gay Floridians contribute to, big time), it’s worth the risk of revealing scandalous issues like Rekers and throwing him to the wolves as (the reason why gay people can’t be trusted).
The real shame is all this expense, risk of exposure and all other manner of costs waging a war on gay people, doesn’t save children, marriage or get a very serious problem solved in FL.
Like, having homes for children in need.
It’s not like McCollum has any in HIS house.
I don’t think I’ve seen anything so wasteful, arrogant and cynical as this folly against gay people.
Were such energy directed elsewhere and the agenda of engaging gay people as allies to solve problems were involved, a lot more problems WOULD be solved.
Is there a name for such obsession that wastes so much and does nothing good?
I’d like to hear it.
And this pustule wants to RUN the state?!
Who does he think he is that he should?
Burr
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
Kinda old but I didn’t see it mentioned..
Bill McCollum’s gay senior adviser adopted children
WTF is wrong with both of these guys..
Candace
June 4th, 2010 | LINK
“Uhhh…I’m not buying that.”
Uhhh…. that’s because you don’t live in South Florida.
Do you really think that we haven’t fought back against the anti-gay right wingers here? Of course we have. What have we accomplished? Not much of a damn thing, even though 2 days in a row don’t go by without me getting solicitations from a dozen FLA organizations “fighting anti-gay discrimination.”
McCullom’s attitude is typical of Floridians.
btw, this is my all-time favorite dirty- politics-as-usual from Florida anti-gays:
http://www.newser.com/story/83442/anti-gay-adoption-org-mixes-lesbian-photos.html
Nice mullet, huh?
Swampfox
June 5th, 2010 | LINK
Where is Rekers these days. Is he still denying everything? Meanwhile, Ted Haggard is going to establish a new church.
Priya Lynn
June 5th, 2010 | LINK
Candace losing the case on gay adoption was a setback to the anti-gay cause in Florida. A civil union law would be a setback to the anti-gay cause in Florida. The idea that nothing in Florida would be a setback to the anti-gay cause is nonsense.
Candace
June 5th, 2010 | LINK
This is what I said: NOTHING is counter-productive to the anti-gay cause in Florida.
You said that’s nonsense because McCollum lost the adoption case.
Oh my, they lost the case on adoption. How many times is it now? Twice? Three times? And are gays allowed to adopt in Florida? Why no, they’re not.
The reality is that h8ters continue to win every contest on gay rights in Florida. Oh, every now and then some county passes a non-discrimination ordinance. Key West treats gays decently. It’s better than nothing.
Why are the campaigns so unequal? Because they’re so smart and strong and god is on their side and they have the strength of ten because their hearts are pure? Hell, no. It’s because most gay people here don’t give a rat’s ass about politics.
I spent WEEKS talking to gays and lesbians before the vote 2 years ago that banned civil unions in Florida. I stressed how important it was to vote, begged people to vote, and stood in line myself for over 4 hours to cast a vote. Not a ONE of the gay people I spoke to, voted. NONE of them. They were just too tired to stand in those long lines. That’s what they told me, they didn’t want to stand in line. And the church devils passed a proposition that not only enforces the state DOMA, it bans civil unions and domestic partnerships too. And my wonderful black neighbors and friends took the opportunity to wave to me and my partner –as we stood in line beside them, electing our first black President– and went inside to vote against gay rights, to keep me a second-class citizen. Thanks a bunch for that.
It’s the perfect storm: ignorant fundie homophobes throw themselves into every campaign and the gay people talk a lot of talk but that’s about as far as it goes. Feh.
Priya Lynn
June 6th, 2010 | LINK
Candace you said nothing is counterproductive to the anti-gay cause in Florida – that’s nonsense.
When gays are allowed to adopt that will be counter-productive to the anti-gay cause. If a civil union law were to be passed that would be counter-productive to the anti-gay cause. Any advancement for gays in Florida would be counter-productive to the anti-gay cause. The idea that nothing is counterproductive to the anti-gay cause is obviously nonsense.
Candace
June 6th, 2010 | LINK
Good god, priya…. “that will be” and “is” are two different things.
Feel free to continue to tell me how great it will be for the gay cause when all those future-tense things happen and I’ll continue to tell you how sh*tty it is for the gays who live here NOW.
“will be”
“is
Try hard to get this concept, k?
Priya Lynn
June 7th, 2010 | LINK
Candace in your context there is no distinction between nothing is counterproductive and nothing will be counterproductive. If you had said nothing has been counterproductive then you might have had a point. As it is the way you said it its implicit that nothing can be counterproductive to the anti-gay cause in Florida and that is nonsense.
Burr
August 10th, 2010 | LINK
Looks like he’s doubling down on his idiocy.
McCollum: Ban gays from being foster parents
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