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
The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, May 22
House of Commons officially passes marriage equality
British Commons Approves Marriage Equality Bill
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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The decisions that go into whom to vote for can be difficult and emotional. Often conflicting priorities and perspectives can leave one distraught and troubled. So the Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C. Bishop of Peoria, Illinois, has penned a letter to his flock seeking to provide spiritual guidance at this time of civic duty. Or something like that.
Mark F.
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
I hardly see that accepting Catholic doctrine on abortion, divorce, pornography or same sex marriage requires you to support particular government laws or political parties. That makes no sense.
Soren456
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
About American history and current conditions, he is right on one thing, although he misstates it.
Christians have simply assumed an establishment of religion here from the beginning, despite words contrary in the Bill of Rights. And for more than two centuries, their assumption has been indulged and paid unwarranted–even illegal–respect.
Now things are changing for religion in truly unprecedented ways. One result of those changes is that churches now are required to play by the same rules as everyone else. Adoption? Birth control? Family planning? Even abortion? No more religious exemptions; if you enter the public arena, you abide by the public law.
This play-by-the-rules thing is new to them, and they are shocked by it. And so far, they have only lied about it. Like the man above, they claim a breach of religious liberty, but refuse to note that it is a “liberty” they never had.
Lord_Byron
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
First,
I find it funny every time the Catholic Church tries to flex some moral authority on social issues. The decades, at the least, they spent covering up child abuse makes them all credibility.
Lastly,
Now I’m sure many Catholics are troubled by the decisions of the HHS that require Catholic organizations to provide contraception and/or other medical procedures which they believe to be contrary to their moral beliefs.
Actually it looks like the majority of American Catholics have no problem with contraception.
revchicoucc
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
@Soren456. Please recognize that Christianity in America is very diverse and is not defined by the Roman Catholic Church.
Your assessment is essentially correct, of course. Christianity, more specifically, white Protestant Christianity, not Catholicism, has been the culturally established religion in the United States since colonial times, Never officially or legally established but certainly culturally.
Christianity is being culturally disestablished in the United States. I’m supportive of this trend, although I lament growing religious illiteracy. Actually, as a Protestant minister, I think the cultural establishment has been harmful to Christianity. We talk about the “fall of Christendom” all the time in my United Church of Christ circles.
The Roman Catholic Church, tracing its establishment back to Emperor Constantine, has never been comfortable with democracy, greatly preferring imperial forms of civil government. The entire structure of the RC Church is modeled on imperial forms of government.
The moral authority of the American Bishops to make this kind of demand on their parishioners evaporated with the sexual abuse scandal. It is nothing more than an attempt to bolster a crumbling empire, not the last attempt, but ultimately a futile one.
Soren456
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
@revchicoucc:
In no sense did I imply that American Christianity is defined by the Catholic church; I wrote of “Christians” and “religion.” How you see something else is a mystery to me.
Priya Lynn
November 1st, 2012 | LINK
I always get a kick out of it when they say “God is not mocked”. LOL, god is mocked all the time and always will be.
Tor
November 2nd, 2012 | LINK
I believe the Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the Ryan Budget Plan. So which side are they on, or better, how can they choose sides?
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