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
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
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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Lindoro Almaviva
December 21st, 2010 | LINK
I am very happy to see John McCain become more and more unelectable, even as a republican.
Anyone wants to take bets on the fact that he doesn’t get elected to office in 2012?
Mario Marin
December 21st, 2010 | LINK
Well, he certainly won’t be elected to any office in 2012…. the term he was elected to in this last election ends in 2017…
Alex 0_0
December 21st, 2010 | LINK
Jim– how much damage can geezer-bigot McCain and closet-case Tony Perkins really do to repeal? Can they really screw it up for us?
Tone
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
John McCain has jumped the shark.
Bernie
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
@Alex, good question.
And as far as McCain goes, his electability is done for. He doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell.
As far as Perkins goes, his credibility is next to none.
KZ
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Of all the trials and difficulties the United States is facing these days, THIS is the ‘problem’ Perkins and McCain choose to fix. The American public as a whole wanted DADT gone. Most service members don’t see openly gay men and women in the military as an issue. Many US allies allow gays to serve openly in their militaries with little to no problems. Why would anyone be this adamant about keeping DADT?
Chris McCoy
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Bernie wrote:
John McCain was re-elected for the 4th time this just this past November (with a staggering 24 point margin over his General Election rival). He will be starting his 5th term in the Senate next year. That means he won’t be up for re-election untill 2016 (for the term that will begin in 2017).
Bernie wrote:
6 years from now there will be all new controversies for people to complain about, and most people will have completely forgotten about December 2010.
Gus
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
McCain ever expected “the leadership of the military” to come out in favor of repeal. He got cover blaming the military leadership. The first ‘reasonable’ DADT position was purely political during a campaign. He never wanted repeal in the first place. He came out against the Christianists when it was politically to his advantage.
McCain’s actions and positions have always about McCain. We bought the ‘maverick’ nonsense, we have the problem. Because we didn’t like Goldwater, we didn’t take seriously Goldwater’s distain for this political opportunist.
As for his re-election prospects, he will say anything necessary to win and go all mavericky again.
L. Junius Brutus
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Bernie: “And as far as McCain goes, his electability is done for. He doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell.”
What planet do you inhabit? One where people are actually sane?
BlackDog
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Personally, I think John McCain might just be too senile to remember where his office is by 2017.
Since he lost the election in ’08 he’s done nothing but make an ass of himself. It was his good fortune that the Republicans in Arizona put up someone even less electable than him in the primaries.
jpeckjr
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
McCain now cuddles up to the smearmongers because he lost in South Carolina in 2000. He thought changing his approach would help him win, and it did in 2010 in Arizona. By 2016, when he runs again, he’ll be 84, I believe, not too old to be re-elected though. Can anyone say Robert Byrd?
As to Tony Perkins’ assurances to his constituency, that is all about raising money. I’m sure his “we’re going to be monitoring the situation” was followed with “we can’t do it without your money.”
BlackDog
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Robert Byrd was at least somewhat useful (Well, to people in WV anyway) and was known for having principles occasionally. I think John McCain is simply a bitter, vengeful old man who hasn’t gotten over losing the presidential election in ’08.
Why he keeps throwing in with the same religious nuts that lost him the election, I don’t know. I might even have voted for him except for who his VP pick was.
I could not see voting for an old guy who (by election night) looked like he might keel over at any moment, not with Sarah waiting in the wings. That just did not seem like a wise decision, and I think his behavior since has shown a lot of other reasons why it wouldn’t have been.
justsearching
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
“One way to do that is demanding specific measurables–like tracking the sexual assaults, dips in recruitment and retention, combat distractions, and more.”
Yeah… as if sexual harassment is currently not a part of the US armed forces. ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23636487/ns/us_news-military/ ) Roughly 1/3 of women serving have been sexually harassed. The figure for men is around 6%. My guess is that a woman is fair game for some rowdy men, but a guy being too forward to another guy would be utterly unacceptable. Any form of sexual harassment from anyone of any sexual orientation against anyone else is unacceptable, but I feel that there will be a double standard on this issue.
As for recruitment and retention, I have a feeling that in the services will quit and give whiny interviews to sites like WND or drudgereport saying how their strong Christian faith prevents them from serving in the forces anymore. Overall, I doubt it will have much an effect on recruitment or retention. And if we lose or don’t obtain individuals who can’t adapt to new circumstances, so be it.
As for combat distractions… what are they looking for? Reports from men on the front lines saying that the dude next to them was hitting on them in the midst of combat?
Titus
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
I suspect that the Religious Right is going to try and *generate* problems in the military.
David
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
Titus, the religious right are already a problem in the military. All you have to do is to read the newspapers and look online to see that they have infiltrated the highest levels and even the WH (don’t forget that “gawd is in the mix).
Christopher Mongeau
December 22nd, 2010 | LINK
This report suggests that FRC and Tony Perkins were lying about McCain’s joining up with their camp:
“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others will be working with FRC to put a strict evaluation process in place”…
But a McCain source tells us that’s just not true, noting that “the law has been changed,” and that’s that.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/12/frc_claims_mccain_will_keep_leading_pro-dadt_fight.php
Not that I’m a McCain supporter at all, but seems even he doesn’t want association with a hate group.
AdrianT
December 23rd, 2010 | LINK
Be consistent in not trusting what you read on an FRC site.
Just like everything else they say, it seems the story about the collaboration with McCain is based on nothing but wishful thinking!
FRC always ceases to amaze me.
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