June 10th, 2011
Welcome to those joining us from CNN or from other links. Many of you are here to read the details of our investigation into Kirk Murphy’s life, and you can find our coverage here:
This is our central site for our seven part investigation, touching eulogies from Kirk’s friends and family, documentation on the “Kraig” case study, statements from professional organizations, a epilogues.
Additional related articles can be found through the following links:
BTB Original Investigation: The True Story of George Rekers And “Kraig” – June 7, 2011 synopsis
CNN’s “Sissy Boy Experiment” – June 7, 2011
Rekers Responds In CNN’s “Sissy Boy Experiments” Tonight – June 7, 2011
The other option – June 7, 2011
My Top Five Surprises While Investigating The Kirk Murphy Story – June 7, 2011
Follow-up On Rekers’s Rentboy Scandal and UCLA Therapy Program – June 8, 2011
What You Didn’t See On CNN’s “The Sissy Boy Experiment” – June 8, 2011
No that is NOT Kirk in a dress – June 8, 2011
The Truth Behind George Rekers’s “Independent Evaluations” – June 9, 2011
Kathleen Gilbert, writer for anti-gay Catholic LifeSite, twists Kirk Murphy story – June 9, 2011
NARTH’s Joseph Nicolosi on Rekers’s “Pioneering Research” – June 10, 2011
Chuck Colson v. Warren Throckmorton on preventing homosexuality – June 10, 2011
We are honored to have been entrusted with Kirk’s story and hope that it informs and inspires you. We also invite you to stay and join the BTB community.
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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.
Iamposterity
June 10th, 2011
I wanted to let you know that growing up in a “James Dobson Values” Family felt very similar to this story. I can not express enough thanks for this website. I feel connected and slightly less isolated. Growing up during the eighties in a Texas Nazarene home was horrific and I am still mending many of my “perceived trauma” as my mom likes to call them.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!
P.S. – Can James Dobson’s “Hate the sin, love the sinner” be connected to this, is this religious emotional blackmail of children?
Jaft
June 10th, 2011
While I try to make it a habit to not speak for others, I think I can safely say that we’re all happy and glad for you to join us, Iamposterity
Kerry
June 10th, 2011
Thank you so much for your work on this. What Rekers has done is so horrific that I really hope that law enforcement and other agencies are brought in to assist in the investigation. On CNN, Rekers just pleaded “But I wanted to help them”, but that doesn’t cut it. He comes across as incredibly bizarre, almost an effeminate caricature of Tony Perkins in ‘Psycho’. Can abuse (sexual?) of minors be conveniently excuses just because someone claims it was done under academic authority?
David
June 10th, 2011
I’m very impressed by your research and sorry that more didn’t make it to CNN.
What I would really like to see NARTH held accountable for are the beatings that comprised the conditioning. Even in those days, it was well understood that punative conditioning had a terrible effect.
I’m troubled that CNN didn’t put Reker’s work in context: Outdated, unsupportable Freudianism mixed with behaviorism. Experiments like these that have led to the rise of ethics panels.
Ben in Atlanta
June 10th, 2011
It’s always nice to hear from other Nazarene survivors. I’ve run across a couple on the Soulforce forums. Apparently Nazarene homes haven’t changed all that much since the 50’s although some of the people in them have.
How about a rousing round of “It’s a small world after all”.
Kerry
June 10th, 2011
When CNN finally found Rekers, why didn’t they ask him the obvious: “Dr. Rekers, if your treatments are so successful, why are you more effeminate than Kirk ever was?” I find it hard to believe that Rekers is into any sports or manly pursuits at all. Please, please delve more into how Rekers lives his daily life and what in his own upbringing led to such swishy mannerisms.
AM
June 10th, 2011
I have to confess I was unable to watch more that a few minutes of the first installment. I was horrified and nauseated. My Republican dad, who lives across the country, was also watching CNN, and also had to turn away in disgust, and called me instead.
My dad– who won’t be able to find this site on that new-fangled komputer– asked me to thank you for exposing these monsters, and to express his admiration for your ability to face down such evil. I join him in this; I don’t know who you do it, I know I couldn’t.
But on behalf of my entire family, mom & dad & bros & sises & cuzins, we want to remind people that there are families–like mine–where there was love and acceptance from a young age, no attempt to “change” or shame. That too needs to be remembered and expressed. Families like mine are united in the fight to protect those not as fortunate.
It’s not even a gay-straight issue anymore, it’s now an American civil rights issue. Thanks again for exposing these evil monsters.
anteros
June 12th, 2011
i love BTB!
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