French President Hollande Signs Marriage Bill
The Daily Agenda for Saturday, May 18
Fox News Ignores Marriage Equality Wins
The Era of Civil Unions Is Coming To An End
Orthodox Priests Lead Violent Attack On LGBT Rights Rally in Tbilisi, Georgia
France's Marriage Equality Bill Clears Final Hurdle
The Daily Agenda for Friday, May 17
Marriage Equality Made This Maryland Legislator Drive Drunk
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
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Theo
January 7th, 2011 | LINK
MD is a referendum state, so the big obstacle will be the inevitable ballot fight. All signs point to MD as the next big Prop 8-style battle. This should take place in 2012.
A May 2010 poll indicated support for marriage at 46-44. Despite the 2-point edge, this poll result points to a likely defeat with a margin comparable to that of Maine’s Question 1 (assuming of course that this result is accurate and continues to hold true through 2012).
I assume that the opposing forces will retain Frank Schubert Public Affairs and run a campaign similar to the ones in ME and CA. To have a chance at winning, we will need to take Schubert’s own sage advice and appeal to the voters’ selfish interests, and not merely rely on appeals to fairness or other high ideals.
The second thing that we absolutely must do is come up with a succinct and effective response to the completely bogus school curricula argument. We have had 2 passes at this and apparently failed both times.
Timothy Kincaid
January 7th, 2011 | LINK
Theo,
The more important number:
Still a difficult sell, but a bit better.
My idea: work on the theme “your children will think you are a bigot.” Play up the way that they are embarrassed about the racism or sexism that their parents had in the 50′s and 60′s and tell them that their kids will be ashamed of them some day if they support anti-gay discrimination.
L. Junius Brutus
January 7th, 2011 | LINK
“My idea: work on the theme “your children will think you are a bigot.” Play up the way that they are embarrassed about the racism or sexism that their parents had in the 50’s and 60’s and tell them that their kids will be ashamed of them some day if they support anti-gay discrimination.”
That only compounds the argument of the bigots. Just imagine:
Anti-marriage side:
“Schools will indoctrinate your children into believing that marriage can be between any two adults.”
Pro-marriage side:
“If you don’t vote NO, your children will one day be ashamed of you for supporting anti-gay discrimination.”
That only seems like an extra incentive for the other side to absolutely make sure that it is defeated.
L. Junius Brutus
January 7th, 2011 | LINK
I also think that it’s inaccurate, as I even see gay and lesbian people justifying the bigotry of their friends and family members. How much more understandable will it seem to straight people? Furthermore, the ‘generational’ argument seems to be the only one used lately to argue for gay rights and the like, instead of substantive arguments. It seems that demoralizing the opposition is more of a priority than winning over swing voters.
While I don’t think I’m owed anything by anyone, I would also immediately cut ties with anyone who treated me like I’ve seen described by some people.
Stefan
January 8th, 2011 | LINK
I say they should make ads which show that some of those behind Question 1 in Maine had ties to the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda. At the end say, “Are these the kinds of people you want to associate with?”
I believe in Maine we would’ve likely prevailed had it not been for the fact that it was an off election year (why didn’t they wait until 2010 to pass marriage equality?).
Theo
January 9th, 2011 | LINK
My idea for an appeal to voter self-interest is to do what was done in WA and what is being done right now in RI – push the economic benefits. In WA, our side didn’t just line up civil rights leaders and politicians, they also lined up all of the major WA employers, including Boeing and Microsoft. It shouldn’t be hard to get all of the major MD employers to line up, including many government contractors.
I certainly hope that our side focus groups your idea and my idea and others. That is the way that Frank Schubert came up with the schools theme.
I don’t think that we have been well served by the polling and research firm retained for both Prop 8 and Question 1, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. They made a boat load of money off of these 2 campaigns but it isn’t clear that we got much in return.
There was a failure of issue and theme identification and they produced at least one internal poll in ME that was wide off the mark. And they certainly failed to help either campaign focus group an effective response to the schools issue. If they get hired in MD or in a 2012 CA re-match, it won’t bode well.
Leave A Comment