Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 8th, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA:
The Sissy Boy Experiment: CNN. Tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360 will air the second part of their three-part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment: Uncovering the Truth.” This series is the result of several month’s of investigating the truth behind the UCLA program to turn effeminate boys into straight men. (For full disclosure, I was interviewed by CNN as part of their investigation, although I doubt that my interview will make it on air.) If you haven’t done so already, you can read up about it in our report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” AC360 starts at 10:00 p.m. EDT. The timing of this special investigative report is perfect because…
Exodus International “Freedom Conference”: Ridgecrest, NC. That’s right. As the world learns the true story behind ex-gay therapist George Rekers’s most famous patient, North America’s largest ex-gay ministry kicks off the gayest event in the greater Asheville area today. This year’s theme, “The Reality of Grace,” is puzzling, considering the true reality of what comes out of the ex-gay experience for so many people. This annual conference is Exodus International’s flagship event of the year, and it draws hundreds of participants from all across North American and other parts of the world. But Exodus won’t have the last word in North Carolina because…
The Reality of Will and Grace: A Refutation of the Ex-Gay Movement: Asheville, NC. This counter-conference begins today with the opening of an exhibit at Tressa’s, 28 Broadway, Asheville at 5:30 p.m. Then at 7:00 p.m. at Tressa’s, Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen joins Asheville city councilman and congressional candidate Cecil Bothwellon for a discussion of the religious right and the ex-gay movement. Given recent revelations, they should have plenty to talk about. The counter-conference runs through Saturday.
Premiere of “OUT In America”: PBS. Emmy award-winning director Andrew Goldberg, in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting, will premiere the new PBS special, OUT in America. It features interviews with Armistead Maupin, Chely Wright, Andy Cohen, Kate Clinton, Rev. Peter Gomes, among many others as they explore the many ways of being gay and/or transgender today and in the past. Not all PBS stations are carrying this special, so check your local listings.
EQCA Town Hall: Sacramento, CA. Equality California will host a “Back to the Ballot?” Town hall meetingin Sacramento discuss whether we should wait for the courts to restore the freedom to marry — a decision which could have a nationwide impact — or whether Californians should try to overturn Prop. 8 through a ballot measure in 2012. The town hall will take place this evening at the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, 2791 24th Street, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
UNAIDS 2011 High Level Meeting: New York. Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world will come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.
Pride Celebrations This Week: Albany, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Blackpool, UK; Boston, MA; Brisbane, QLD; Brooklyn, NY; Des Moines, IA; Edmonton, AB; El Paso, TX; Erie, PA; Key West, FL; Long Island, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Newark-Essex, NJ; Olympia, WA; Oxford, UK; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Rome (Europride); San Antonio, TX; Saskatoon, SK; Shreveport, LA; Spokane, WA; Talin, Estonia (Baltic Pride); Tel Aviv, Israel (Friday); Thunder Bay, ON; Tulsa, OK and Washington, DC.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Florida Bans Gay Marriage and Adoption: 1977. Florida’s gay community took a triple whammy today. On the very day after Miami voters overwhelmingly sided with Anita Bryant to rescind that county’s anti-discrimination ordinance, Florida governor Reubin Askew signed into law two anti-gay measures. The first one banned same-sex marriage and the second one banned gay adults from adopting. State Sen. Curtis Peterson, (D-Eaton Park) sponsored the measures, and said that the new laws tell homosexuals “We are tired of you and wish you would go back in the closet.” He continued, “The problem in Florida is that homosexuals are surfacing to such an extent that they are infringing on average, normal people who have a few rights, too.” The bills sailed through the legislature with little opposition and became effective immediately upon Askew’s signing.
In 2008, Florida voters made same-sex marriage even more illegaler when they passed Amendment 2. In 2010, a Florida appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that found the adoption ban unconstitutional.
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Featured Reports
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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james
June 8th, 2011
The mention of Ridgecrest, where the Exodus conference is being held, brings back many memories. Ridgecrest is a Southern Baptist-owned conference center east of Asheville. It is a truly beautiful setting. I went there several times as a Southern Baptist teenager and college student.
Lost my virginty there in 1974, and, yes, it was with another man. What a great kisser! Ridgecrest that year was a life-changing experience indeed.
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