The Daily Agenda for Friday, May 24
Boy Scouts of America Votes To Allow Gay Members, Retains Ban On Gay Leaders
Nevada House votes to reverse marriage ban
The Daily Agenda for Thursday, May 23
It's Not the Principle, It's the Prejudice
Congratulations Mitch!
Gay Couples Excluded from Immigration Bill Markup
How To Spot A Swivel-Eyed Loon
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
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
Morons. What party?
Oh, of course
Lindoro Almaviva
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
Off the record? Excuse me, what the hell does that mean? “Oh he did say those things but they are part of his jokes routine he was rehearsing. The part you didn’t hear was the end, where he said: and that’s when I stood up and told her ma’am I am not going to stand here and take your insults against science lightly.”
These people think that “off the record” means off limits, or not to be judged, or it was just a joke. Apparently these people think that we do not know that your true colors show when you are in front of an audience of adoring fans, where you do not have to guard yourself and can speak openly because you know you are going to see lots of heads moving up and down.
You know what? The most disgusting part of this is not the feat that he said them, we should hardly be surprised. The disgusting part is that we know this should be enough to send this guy packing from that committee on the grounds that he could use his vote to undermine scientific advances; AND NOTHING WILL BE DONE ABOUT IT.
Effing disgusting.
Timothy Kincaid
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
“Off the record” doesn’t mean that you can’t report what you discover. It doesn’t mean “oh, I don’t want anyone else to know that about me.” It doesn’t mean “No one is allowed to know what I believe about the things I’m voting on”.
“Off the record” is information provided in confidence – usually to a reporter – to help them with the context of a story, but not to be disclosed for personal reasons. It allows a reporter to not mis-quote or make a false assumption while not going public with something private.
For example, “my daughter was in surgery” might give a reporter an answer about why a legislator missed a vote but – as a matter of respecting privacy – isn’t something that the public needs to know.
But finding something out that was said to a meeting of people to which the public was invited… that isn’t “off the record”. That’s trying to hide the record.
Richard Rush
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
His right about needing a savior. If Broun would just open his heart and mind he could find freedom from the bondage of superstition by accepting reason as his personal savior.
JFE
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
God said we needed this many deer heads on this wall and so I believe it. AMEN.
F Young
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
I’m shocked. I can’t believe someone like that was elected.
Given his wilful ignorance of basic science, I can’t imagine how he could not be guilty of malpractice and ethical violations as an MD. Yet, his website still tacks MD to his name.
Interestingly, his website bio says that in 2002 he started working full-time doing house calls, which suggests to me that he did not have hospital privileges (which would require him to attend patients in hospital and be on call). Hospital privileges can be denied due to incompetence or ethics violations. I wonder if he even still has his MD license.
Incredibly, he is running for re-election and will win! There is no Democratic challenger! And Broun even defeated a Primary challenge!
So, I guess the people of Georgia get the Representative they deserve. He is wilfully ignorant, and so are they.
Blake
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
Now here’s one that’s smarter than y’all seem to think.
He’s pandering. He was trying to do it with impunity. Thank God he was caught.
His district also includes Athens, GA & I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s evidence of him appearing very intelligent/reasonable to the university crowd.
Especially considering he’s the republican safe-seat incumbent due to a backlash against the establishment republican opponent from democrats in a special-election run-off back in ’07.
Don’t underestimate the brains on this one. He’s appealing to a low denominator, for sure, but he’s no moron.
tristram
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
@ F Young – I agree that Broun is willfully ignorant. I assume that some of his constituents are genuinely ignorant and others are willfully so. The Daily Dish (Andrew Sullivan) observed –
“Broun is not stupid. He has an M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Georgia at Athens. He’s on the House Committee on Science and Technology and chairs of one of its subcommittees on investigations. Fundamentalism is not about being dumb; it is an act of will to over-ride reality with totalist faith, so that nothing is left unresolved and everything can be explained by a single text, or a single religious leader. It is, in some ways, a neurotic response by many educated, intelligent people to live their lives according to something that cannot admit uncertainty or doubt. It’s religion fused with the the totalist claims of modern political ideology.”
This is how totalitarianism takes root. One cedes reason, then conscience, to the Supreme Book or Supreme Leader.
Steve
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
It’s 6000 years! Damn heretic!
Emily
October 8th, 2012 | LINK
As a Christian, I believe that the Bible loses so much of its beauty, truth, and meaning when you view it as merely (and I quote) a “manufacturer’s handbook.” That view completely ignores the dialogue of many different voices (sometimes even different authors within the same book of the Bible) across a span of thousands of years of the evolution of a faith (more than one faith, really). It misses out on the poetry, the narrative, the pastiche, the comedy and tragedy, the love, hope, pain, and despair, and turns this wonderful and historic collection of texts into a rule book. The Bible isn’t primarily about rules, and it pains me to see it depicted that way as if it’s a positive thing.
gsingjane
October 9th, 2012 | LINK
@Emily – +10.
My rector likes to say, “we Episcopalians don’t take the Bible literally, we take it seriously.”
Hyhybt
October 9th, 2012 | LINK
I *really* hate having him for a representative… but he seems to be running unopposed!
jerry
October 9th, 2012 | LINK
In the 19th century there was a political party called the “Know Nothing Party” when anyone asking questions of a political nature to a member of the party he would reply, I know nothing. Today it seems we are rapidly approaching a point where we have a real know nothing party and they really know nothing about anything.
Hyhybt
October 9th, 2012 | LINK
…and are proud of it, all the stranger.
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