The Daily Agenda for Thursday, June 20
BREAKING: Exodus International is Shutting Down
Liveblog of Exodus Conference
First Impressions Ahead Of Exodus 2013 Conference
Arizona group to put marriage back on ballot
Exodus International Issues Apology, Hints At Further Developments Tonight
Ex-Gay Leader Sentenced For Criminal Sexual Assault of Male Clients
Andrew Comiskey Doesn't Believe In Apologies
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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SharonB
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
From 40 to @73% official support.
Judaism, in the main, can said to be religiously in support of marriage equality. Why is the GOP hindering the religious free exercise of the Jewish faith? Why are the discriminating against marriages performed in accordance with the Jewish faith?
TampaZeke
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
It’s a huge step in the right direction but it’s a Jewish Covenant of Loving Partners and not a Jewish marriage even if they call it a Jewish wedding. It’s another “separate but equal” offering.
Still, it is a big and much appreciated move in the right direction.
Timothy Kincaid
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
Zeke,
I kinda was thinking in that direction, but then noticed the differences were not so much exclusions as they were sexist and outdated.
And there’s this:
“The result is still a Jewish marriage,” the legal opinion on gay marriage states.
But (not being Jewish, this is just a guess) I suppose it would have been better without a separate name.
DN
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
I’d never even heard of Reconstructionist Judaism until I went to my first bar’mitzvah at the age of 33 (I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood until I was 12 – guess how PISSED I was to miss all the parties when we moved…)
I was like “OK finally this’ll be interesting”
And then people are wearing tie-dye tallits and they’re talking about all sorts of crazy lib’rul stuff.
Coincidentally, it was the day of the vote on DADT and Carl Levin was related to some of the folks there and the rabbi made a few comments about why he couldn’t be there because he had some VERY important work to do.
For someone who is generally not into religion, I gotta say, the Reconstruction synagogue in Rockville is awesome.
MsRowena
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
Oy gay!
Truthspew
June 1st, 2012 | LINK
It’s amazing that 73% of religious Jewish bodies believe it’s ok for same sex partners to marry.
If only the Catholic church were to have such an epiphany!
james
June 2nd, 2012 | LINK
But, but, but the Leviticus thing about abomination is, is, well, it’s a Jewish law!
What will happen when the Christians find out the Jews are rejecting their own laws?
Although I guess since it’s their law they can do with it as they want.
Palmer
June 2nd, 2012 | LINK
What many non-Jews fail to understand is that the Torah, is only the beginning of Jewish law, that there the Talmud, Halacha and one other part (I can see my rabbi shaking his head, this is the problem with only being part Jewish) and NOTHING is really set in stone, all of the rabbinical schools teach a method called “pilpul” which means pepper. The point of pilpul is to take a single phrase or word and see if you can find a new way of interpreting it. This is how the elaborate Kosher laws came about. Take a few chapters in Leviticus and Numbers, add some Talmud, a few grinds of pepper and you’ve got separate dishes for meat and for dairy.
Some Ultra-Orthiodox Jews go so far as to argue they can engage in anal sex with another man so long as it’s standing up and not lying down.
Andrew
June 2nd, 2012 | LINK
I tell people I was lost in the suburbs and raised by Jews – it’s nearly though not entirely true, but where I grew up, it was on the order of 30-50% Jewish. My Italian dad hasn’t set foot in a church in 40 years, but he has a prayer shawl and a yarmulke (and yes, I know how to spell yarmulke).
This removes a great disappointment I have felt for many years. Even though my Jewish friends – including the Conservative Jews – have always been supportive, it’s nice to make it official.
Mazel Tov!
tavdy79
June 2nd, 2012 | LINK
That leaves the Orthodox branch as the last remaining major Jewish group that hasn’t accepted marriage equality – but I believe it’s only a matter of time. There are already orthodox rabbis working towards it, and what’s promising is that they tend to be young, so their influence can only grow.
DN
June 2nd, 2012 | LINK
Andrew, if only I could find a handy link to the Arrested Development scene where George Sr. tries to stop a prison riot…
“guys come on! There are may ways to spell ‘Channukah!’”
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