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
The Daily Agenda for Monday, June 17
The Daily Agenda for Sunday, June 16
The Daily Agenda for Saturday, June 15
The Daily Agenda for Friday, June 14
South Africa Teen’s Death Shows It’s Time to Ban Ex-gay Therapy Everywhere
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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occono
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
The comments on that article are heartening :)
werdna
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
It’d be nice if you could link to the article…
Chris McCoy
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
Here’s the link to the JS statement.
lurker
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
wow. what an outpouring of love and outrage in the comments to the JS statement. I particularly like Wayne’s:
“I assume the Standard will also stop running articles about women who work outside the home, wear immodest clothing, or sing in the presence of men, since those people might behave in way that offends the delicate sensitivities of a few readers? . . . pushing certain people back into invisibility in order to avoid being ‘divisive’ is, in itself, a horribly divisive stand. Shame.”
occono
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
I should have linked to it, I didn’t notice it wasn’t, sorry.
TampaZeke
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
They probably caved to 5-6 Orthodox rabbi’s but won’t be swayed by hundreds of outraged readers.
Aconite
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
So far, of all the responses to the new exclusionary policy posted on the website, there is ONE agreeing with the policy. And that person posted anonymously.
ONE.
Every. single. other. response condemns the bigotry, often in quite sharp and pointed language. My favorite response states that if the announcement of a joyous life event causes you pain, you need therapy.
WMDKitty
October 5th, 2010 | LINK
Of all communities, the Jews?
Oy…
werdna
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
Thanks for the links, y’all, and, yes, I do know how to use the google! I just wish Timothy would be a little more careful about linking to his sources in his posts.
MattNYC
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
“publication of the announcement caused pain”
Unless their eyes started bleeding from it, I fail to comprehend how mere publication caused anyone pain. Retracting it–especially so conspicuously–certainly did.
Ben in Oakland
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
I posted this there yesterday:
I am a Jewish, gay man, legally married in california to my partner of 9 years. When I was a boy, my aunt bell’s only son was going to marry a goy. Aunt Bell was ready to sit shiva for him. My father talked her out of it, pointing out that she was going to lose her son. When Howard died a few years later from cancer, Wanda was with him until the end, and Aunt Bell loved her like the dutiful daughter she had been.
Aunt Bell chose love instead of “pain and consternation”. She was rewarded for it, even in the depths of her sorrow.
Let’s fast forward. Would you also refuse to run a wedding announcement between a Jewish woman and a non-religious man, lest it cause pain to someone who does not know the people and is not involved in their lives? Let’s suppose that a secular newspaper refused to run a wedding announcement for a Jewish couple on the off chance that their bigoted readers might object? That would be just fine, right?
It always amazes me when fundamentalist (or otherwise) Jews manage to come up with excuses for bigotry. Gay people and Jews have been subject to Christian persecution for 2000 years. It is hard to tell which group has been hated more. There is a simple solution for those orthodox Jews who are so bothered by the existence of gay people that even the announcement of their existence causes “pain and consternation”.
It’s called live and let live.
If you don’t like gay people– excuse me, if your religious beliefs are offended by gay people– don’t be gay. don’t go to same-sex weddings. If you are so deeply offended that you cannot just skip that particular wedding announcement, then stop taking the Jewish standard.
Your problem is solved. the standard may lose a few readers, but it has contributed to the light in the world, not pervasive bigotry, whether it is admitted for what it is, or dressed up in its Saturday-go-to-Shabbat’ drag of “sincere religious belief”.
If the orthodox are so offended by the existence of gay people, maybe they should start their very own newspaper, where they can then exclude anyone they want.
Maybe they could call it “The Shtetl”.
darkmoonman
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
Always amazing how those who have suffered at the hand of prejudice are only too eager to practice it themselves.
Timothy Kincaid
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
I looked through some of the comments on their announcement. As expected, the Jewish Standard has found itself the target of some really angry Jews.
I have noticed that among the most vocal and determined supporters of our community you will always find Jews: rabbis, community leaders, politicians, and grandmas.
Emily K
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
I’m proud so many of my people have spoken up for the right side of history. The comments section is gold.
Ray
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
Ben. Brilliant.
It seems such a short time ago when Christians were saying there weren’t any gay Jews. Funny how I sort of believed that until I encountered an Orthodox Jew wearing the standard uniform with a fur hat walking down Santa Monica Blvd. holding hands with an enormous black man at the Pride Parade.
Mark F.
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
Well, the comments section after that statement really cheered me up. We are winning!
Tommy
October 6th, 2010 | LINK
Well, looks like they attempted to diffuse the overwhelming animosity they generated, while not actually backing down from their position, by really listening to an anonymous group of people.
Ben in Oakland
October 7th, 2010 | LINK
Thanks, Ray.
Mark F.
October 8th, 2010 | LINK
Well, the paper may pull a Linda Lingle (Jewish , by the way). Listen to both sides and then spit in our face.
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