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
Murkowski makes three
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.
Lindoro Almaviva
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
And this reinforces what we already know, Romney will say anythingsolongas it benefits him. The issue here is not what Romney did,as this is his modus operandi, the issue is that LCR were so desperate for relevancy that they believed him against the mountain of evidence against his credibility.
Steve
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
When Romney’s lips move you know he is lying
Timothy Kincaid
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
talk about how to make the presidential candidate more likable among gay voters
Sure… of course… that had to be what Cooper was there for. It isn’t at all possible that he was there for what he said he was there for, is it? It couldn’t be an actual honest attempt to get concessions from the governor that were the result of a year-long effort, could it?
sigh
I hate the culture war
Sami
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
What’s untrue about his description Timothy? Is their job not to make Republican candidates more appealing to LBGT people and their straight allies? Am I wrong in remembering the LCR writing articles supporting Republicans like Scott Brown and Paul Ryan that gloss over their anti-LBGT hyistories and try to paint them as friends of our community? If I remember right the one for Paul Ryan had the nerve to hold up his vote for ENDA as proof he loves us while conveniently leaving out that it was immediately after he’d voted to kill it.
Asked if there was any portion of the current version of the legislation to which Romney objected, Cooper said Romney didn’t express concern about any particular language and did not object to protecting people from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
I hope someone, maybe Bryan Fischer will oblige me, asks Romney to ‘clarify’ his non-opposition to ENDA with gender identity included. I suspect the answer would be both depressing and hilarious, like a dead clown.
Jim Burroway
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
Concessions? Where are the concessions? A head nod and a few tisks over inconsistent state protections against job discrimination are not concessions.
I hate the culture war too, but this isn’t a culture war “god hates fags” moment. This is rank politics.
One simply cannot ignore Cooper’s position on the RNC’s Finance Committee and pretend that he is just there only as a gay advocate. Well, I guess one can, but that takes a lot of wishful thinking to do so.
If there’s one thing that I cannot stand, it’s someone who heads an organizaiton that purports to represent LGBT people while using the resources of that organization to give a pass for those who either fight against, or refuse to support the very people that the organization pretends to represent.
I hate it when they do that for Republicans, and I hate it when they do it for Democrats.
But I guess not everyone shares my refusal to give people passes when they don’t deserve them.
Timothy Kincaid
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
Jim,
Perhaps in another space you might find it to be a strategic advantage to our community that Cooper is on the RNC’s Finance Committee, just as it has been to our great advantage for Andrew Tobias to be the DNC Treasurer since 99. I’m sure that by now you know that access isn’t given be standing outside and screaming.
Jim Burroway
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
I do agree that it is advantageous for Andrew Tobias to be DNC treasurer. But he’s not doing that with the dual role of speaking for LGBT Dems as head of Stonelwall Dems.
And you can safely bet your last dollar that if Tobias were endorsing a candidate with largely anti-LGBT views, I would be screaming from the rooftops — what I’ve written about Cooper would be positively flattering by comparison.
I also do agree that it can be advantageous to have Cooper on the RNC’s Finance Committee. But his presence there is incompatable with his position at LRC as as advocate for LGBT people — even LGBT Republicans.
Just as Solmonese’s shilling for Dems was incompatable with his advocacy for LGBT people while heading HRC. And I believe I was very clear about that. These are precisely the kind of people whose actions deserve special scrutiny along with an extra heaping dose of skepticism.
Nathan F
October 24th, 2012 | LINK
Timothy said:
“It isn’t at all possible that he was there for what he said he was there for, is it? It couldn’t be an actual honest attempt to get concessions from the governor that were the result of a year-long effort, could it?”
If it truly were about getting concessions, then wouldn’t you expect upon not receiving *any* that LCR would withhold its endorsement? The only evidence of concessions here is on behalf of the LCR to Romney.
Jay
October 25th, 2012 | LINK
The most ironic thing about this clandestine meeting comes here: “And when Kolbe talked about his inability to sponsor his foreign national partner for residency, Romney nodded ‘but offered no further response.’”
Please do not forget that the reason Kolbe was outed by activists in 1996 was because he voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. How richly ironic it is that that very act will probably lead to his partner being deported, especially if Romney wins the election and his Justice Department defends DOMA in the Supreme Court.
Sorry, Kolbe gets no sympathy for me. The bastard doesn’t seem to even learn anything from his own experience.
Robert
October 25th, 2012 | LINK
Timothy, if you hate the culture war, why do you keep it going? One can hardly claim innocence in the “war” if they are firing off their own shots. Don’t cry about the things you participate in, especially when trying to shame someone else for participating in it. You surely seem to blame Jim for “the culture wars” or his participation in it, while doing so yourself.
Just saying, Man Up Buddy. If you take shots yourself, don’t bitch about it when others do it, as if you are somehow immune from the participation.
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