The Daily Agenda for Friday, May 24
Boy Scouts of America Votes To Allow Gay Members, Retains Ban On Gay Leaders
Nevada House votes to reverse marriage ban
The Daily Agenda for Thursday, May 23
It's Not the Principle, It's the Prejudice
Congratulations Mitch!
Gay Couples Excluded from Immigration Bill Markup
How To Spot A Swivel-Eyed Loon
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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A lone gunman burst onto the playground at Kelly Elementary school in Carlsbad, California last Friday. Two girls were shot, but fortunately neither were seriously injured. Brendan Liam O’Rourke, 41, was restrained by witnesses as he fumbled to reload his pistol. He was arrested and charged with six counts of attempted murder.
Bryan
October 11th, 2010 | LINK
We are reaching the point where anti-gay forces are getting more and more desperate and some will resort to much more extreme methods. Sadly, I think things will get worse before they get better. Gays are more visible than ever before, and with each degree of acceptance we gain will come violent backlashes by desperate fanatics. I think this trend is something Timothy has mentioned on this blog in the past
Ryan
October 11th, 2010 | LINK
So, we should definitely not allow any churches to be built within ten blocks of this school, amirite?
Rob San Diego
October 12th, 2010 | LINK
I agree with Ryan. I live here in San Diego and didn’t hear anything about what he said when he started shooting. That bastard, that would make sense. With all the recent coverage about gay kids being bullied, it pushed him over.
Ryan
October 12th, 2010 | LINK
I was being ironic, Rob. Of course no one would object to a church being built near the school, because people know most Christians aren’t killers like this man. If he were Muslim, it would be seen as an indictment of his whole religion.
BlackDog
October 12th, 2010 | LINK
Whether it’s Fundamentalist Christianity or Fundamentalist Islam…the two have far more in common with each other than they do with liberal or mainstream strains of either religion.
I would absolutely not say “most Christians aren’t killers” for that reason. I would say most NON-FUNDAMENTALIST Christians are not violent, but Fundamentalists and right-wingers ARE becoming more aggressive. I would not be suprised to see riots or terrorist attacks by rightwing groups in the US in a couple years at the rate things are going, the recent violence in Serbia comes to mind. I don’t wanna see that here, but we might.
Of course, those who pour gasoline on the fire for money won’t take any responsibility for it, even though I’ve seen stuff on TV that could lead to charges of incitement if anything like that were to happen.
Rob San Diego
October 12th, 2010 | LINK
Ryan, do churches have to be 1000 feet from abortion clinics? Do churches have to be 1000 feet from gay community centers? The problem on this planet is religion, each pitted against each other, except for Buddhism. Did anyone care that Westboro Baptist picketed Mathew Shephards funeral? NO. Oh but they started to care when they started to picket dead soldiers funerals. There will never be tolerance for us because the seeds of hatred start in the church and spread to the families from there.
I mean do we all believe that all the crimes, murders, abortion bombings, gay bashing’s, anti-gay bullying is being done be atheists? NO, here in America it’s all the Christians and Catholics, and maybe a few sprinkled Mormons here and there.
Timothy Kincaid
October 12th, 2010 | LINK
Rob,
You are mistaken. When the Phelps family was protesting just gay people, many many local churches showed up to counter rally. They didn’t wait for the soldiers’ funerals.
It is true that the bikers and the politicians waited until the Phelps’ expanded their hate campaign, but – as I recall – churches (mostly liberal mainline churches) were there from almost the beginning.
As for “the crimes, murders” … “gay bashing’s, anti-gay bullying”, no those are not “the Christians and the Catholics” or the Mormons.
Generally those are people who do not attend church at all and are not much affiliated with a belief system at all, be it Christian or atheist.
TampaZeke
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
Timothy, can you please provide references to back up your claim that “many, many churches showed up to counter rally”?
I’m a member of a very progressive mainline church and I don’t remember it the way you do. In fact I remember desperately begging other mainline churches to stand up and speak up and getting NO support at all.
I would love to be proven wrong in my memory. Perhaps you can find and provide evidence of these many, many churches taking a stand.
Timothy Kincaid
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
Zeke,
I’m going from my recollection on this one. I remember reading repeatedly of Westboro coming into some town to protest and local churches counter protesting. Some few were pro-gay churches and others were offended by the “God Hates” message.
This sort of peaked at the time when Phelps was protesting mostly gay supportive churches or highschools with a gay prom or a gay play. Other churches would come out in support.
Unfortunately google isn’t so great when it comes to searching for something like the Phelps family. There are way too many hits; it would take a week to narrow them down.
So I guess we’ll just have to have conflicting memories of this time.
Priya Lynn
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
[citation needed]
Priya Lynn
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
Here’s my citation:
http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm
As you can see the vast majority of prison inmates in the U.S. are Catholic or protestant
Timothy Kincaid
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
Priya,
Don’t play word games. Yes, Americans are generally “Christian” or “Catholic” if their affiliation is asked. You and I both know that this wasn’t what we’re talking about.
I’ve not researched the murder rate by church attendees, but here’s a google quickie:
If you want to do research to contradict and show that most murderers and gay bashers are regular church attendees, knock yourself out. I’ll not be getting into another atheist war with you.
Priya Lynn
October 13th, 2010 | LINK
Timothy, the line following the section you quoted was:
“Religious salience (the perceived importance of religion in one’s life), however, is not significantly linked to reductions in juvenile delinquency.”.
If you were not referring to criminals then I’m completely mystified as to why you referenced crimes and murders. My citation was not to address your suggestion that criminals aren’t regular churchgoers but to address your claim that criminals aren’t particularly affiliated with a belief system at all (christian or atheist). Sorry I didn’t clarify that.
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