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
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Hyhybt
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
Maine was 2009, wasn’t it?
Not that it changes your point, of course, especially when that one was fairly close.
Lucrece
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
There’s also voter turn-out. The sectors that support marriage equality most reliably happen to be the sectors that vote the least.
I’ve been a poll worker several times. I can count on my two hands the amount of people below late middle age that voted in my precincts.
The young and people up to 30 might be overwhelmingly in our favor, but they don’t vote, at all.
Hunter
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
I was going to make the point, or nearly the point, that Lucrece made: I remember seeing an analysis of the figures from North Carolina — just over 30% of registered voters voted in that election, of which about 60% supported Amendment One — which means that about 20% of North Carolina voters put that amendment into the state constitution.
That’s not really very impressive, but it is indicative of how important GOTV efforts are.
Ryan
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
The article is overstating it, but it’s hard to deny there is a bit of a “Bradley Effect” at work, here. Even in the most recent votes, we knew we would lose NC, but not by 20 points. And in Maine, most polls projected a win for us there in 2009. Even the brilliant Nate Silver thought we had it, and he subsequently conceded afterwards that the Bradley Effect is real. Voter turnout isn’t the issue, either. Most good polling measures likely voters only. However, the fact that we’re gaining ground is undeniable. I suspect we’ll see are first wins this November, in at least Washington and Maine.
Jay Jonson
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
We may have lost North Carolina in any case, but one contributing factor to the blow-out was a fatally flawed election strategy in which our side basically failed to say anything good about same-sex marriage. We asked people to vote against Amendment One because it might cause “collateral damage” against others, while the other side said to vote against Amendment One because Jesus wants you to. We were lying because our concern with Amendment One had everything to do with same-sex marriage and very little to do with collateral damage. And by not defending same-sex marriage, we allowed the crazies to define homosexuality as perverted and dangerous. It was a stupid strategy because it was dishonest and because it signalled that we were ashamed of gay people and because it wasted an opportunity to educate people.
Stefan
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
Ryan,
Nate Silver never conceded to the Bradley Effect. He said the reason his prediction was wrong was because in Maine (like California), gay marriage was already legal. His model to predict success was based on states which were voting to ban in when it wasn’t explicitly legal yet.
As for North Carolina, the ban was passed during the election primary, where turnout was significantly lower then an election year. Same was the case in Maine. For the latter that alone will benefit us around 1 to 2 percentage points.
Michael K
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
They may win in the voting booth but they have to lie to do it. The only way to combat the lie is to face it head on. Our children, our families should be in every add. We must find the adult children GLBTs have raised and put them front and center. The couples raising the discarded special needs children adopted in loving homes fighting against all odds to have a family. The couples raising biological children in partnership with their ex-husband/wife. You know the real us!
Our adds should say “Our 18 year old child can marry any time he/she wants but we his/her parents together 20 years are barred from doing so.”
We will not win playing nice trying to get others to represent the real lives, real families and our real truths. We need to represent Our True Selves and our Real Truths or we will continue to let them define who and what we are and what we want and we will continue to loose to their lies about us.
Ryan
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
Stefan, he did indeed concede to the Bradley Effect. I remember reading it specifically. And again, good pollsters take into account likely voters, so the fact that it was a off year may have effected the overall results, but wouldn’t have effected the polling.
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