April 13th, 2016
We’ve lost about 48 hours of updates to the web site (which is not much of a loss at this point) due to an errant WordPress plug-in and a not-entirely successful restore from a back-up.
So here’s the deal. I currently have a general overall refurbishment in work to fix some of the longstanding problems we’ve been having here. Until then, I will go ahead and suspend any further updates, which lately have been limited to minor updates to the Daily Agenda. I’m going to give myself a May 1 deadline to get the site back up and fully functioning. At that point, I also hope to resume more-or-less full-time blogging on a refreshed blog. See you then.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Troy Conrey
April 13th, 2016
I enjoy your website and appreciate you. Good luck. Would it be nice if you got the Facebook plug in to work, sure, but no matter what I appreciate you.
I suppose I should say “you all”
instead. I don’t know how many of you there are.
Raymond
April 13th, 2016
Looking forward to May 1 (or thereabouts).
K in VA
April 13th, 2016
Good luck with the big job on the web site.
You will be missed the next few weeks!
Mark
April 13th, 2016
Thanks for your time on this site. I read it almost first thing every morning. It’s important to preserve and remember our history; so much is lost and forgotten. You are doing a great service. xo
Mary in the ABQ
April 13th, 2016
Come back soon, please!
Lynn David
April 14th, 2016
Sounds fabulous! ;)
Eric Payne
April 14th, 2016
Jim,
As used to be said to persons beginning a new endeavor: “Good luck and godspeed!”
BTB has become an integral part of my daily reading. Your absence, however brief, will be missed.
dave
April 14th, 2016
I enjoy the site and look forward to May!
Hunter
April 14th, 2016
Ah, WordPress! Let’s not go there.
And let me join the others in noting that BTB is my first read in the morning. Although I miss the broader range of posts that appeared in the past, the Daily Agenda is worth a read.
Hurry back.
Richard Rush
April 14th, 2016
The first thing I do after breakfast every morning is check my email, and the second thing I do is check-in at BTB.
Looking forward to the refresh on May 1 +/-.
Shawn David
April 14th, 2016
BBB has been my homepage for so many years . . . and I absolutely love the content. I’ll be missing you while you’re gone – looking forward to May!
Ben in oakland
April 14th, 2016
Ditto for me. First the chronicle, then BTB.
David McCain
April 14th, 2016
Thank you for all the work you do in informing us of our heritage and reminding us that our struggles for recognition and equitable consideration are both long-standing pursuits and as recent as yesterday. Along with others, I’ll welcome your return in May.
Spunky
April 14th, 2016
See you on the flip side! May 1st it is!
John Ozed
April 14th, 2016
Looking forward to more Box Turtle Bulletins!
Daniel
April 15th, 2016
You’ll be missed – Enjoy! :)
Timothy Kincaid
April 15th, 2016
Hey guys, I haven’t died or been captured by space aliens. I’ve just been working 10 to 14 hour days and haven’t had a moment to talk about progress in Colombia and Mexico or my take on the “religious freedom v. right to pee” battle.
Priya Lynn
April 15th, 2016
“my take on the “religious freedom v. right to pee” battle.”.
I already don’t like it how you’re phrasing it as though there are two equally valid positions on this.
Paul Douglas
April 17th, 2016
Will miss you!
Cowboy
April 21st, 2016
Personal to Ben in Oakland:
Your recent response in that Salt Lake Tribune guest editorial/commentary should be printed and laminated. (Stuart Reid)
And I would love to tack one to the doors of all my local LDS Churches but it conjures up something a man named Luther did one time and we don’t want to start a church of “Ben” do we?
But, I believe, enough of the Brethren have read your response by now.
Thanks for your efforts!
Mark
April 21st, 2016
Missing BTB 😭
Looking forward to May.
Mike Michaels
May 1st, 2016
It’s May 1 ;) Enjoy your blog and look forward to its return. No rush and no pressure, however….
Timothy Kincaid
May 1st, 2016
Ahem! It’s May!
Ben in oakland
May 5th, 2016
Hi,Cowboy!
I didn’t see this. I’ve been visiting Das husband’s family in Germany.
Thanks so much for the very kind words. It’s why I write.
I’m not sure which response to Reid you are referring to– the one where he admitted that he was more interested in being antigay than a True Christian (TM), or the one where he admitted to being a victim of Those Darned Secularists (TM).
Anyway, I enjoyed writing them. Feel free to nail them to whatever doors you like. I doubt that anyone would start a church with them, though I would be very flattered if they did.
We could call it The Church of the Unbeliever.
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