News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America, by Mel White
The Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right by Didi Herman
Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality, by Simon LeVay
Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, by Wayne Besen
Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement, by Tanya ErzenFotF’s Fictional Fears
Timothy Kincaid
June 4th, 2009
Responding to New Hampshire’s marriage equality bills which also expressly protect religious freedoms, Focus on the Family had the following to say:
“While the debate over the lack of religious-liberty protections revealed the dangers to the First Amendment rights of citizens, the language added to the bill is pitifully ineffective,” he said. “Not only will the law create family situations where children will be deprived of either a mother or a father, but citizens are being deprived of significant First Amendment rights, as well.”
Under similar statutes, Christian business owners and churches have been forced to violate their religious beliefs.
No. They haven’t.
Only two other states have similar statutes: Connecticut and Vermont; and in Vermont, same sex marriages won’t be effective until September. And I am perfectly confident in stating that there are NO INSTANCES in Connecticut in which Christian business owners or churches have been forced to violate their religious beliefs.
So don’t look down FotF, but your pants are on fire.
Wingers On Parade: Reactions To Vermont
Jim Burroway
April 8th, 2009
We did this following the Iowa Supreme Court decision. Now it’s time to look at reactions to the Vermont legislature’s decision to allow same-sex marriage. Wouldn’t it be great if this could become a regular series?
Anti-gay activists pounced immediately with their talking points when the Iowa Supreme Court released their opinion, but Right Wing Watch noticed that it took quite a while for anti-gay activists to react to the Vermont vote. Probably because couldn’t reflexively blame “activist judges.”
But several hours later, reactions slowly began to trickle in. So guess what? It’s not “activist judges,” it’s a breakdown in democracy. Focus On the Family detects a “mysterious” conspiracy afoot:
Thanks to several legislators who mysteriously changed their votes over the weekend, Vermont has become the first state to radically change the definition of marriage through the legislative process.
Sounds nefarious, doesn’t it. Like it’s some sort of threat to destroy democracy or something. The Liberty Counsel’s Matt Staver is also reading from the same playbook, calling a vote by two legislative chambers made up of duly elected representatives of the people “tyranny”:
By redefining marriage, the Vermont legislature removed the cornerstone of society and the foundation of government. The consequences will rest on their shoulders and upon those passive objectors who know what to do but lack the courage to stand against this form of tyranny.
The Catholic League’s reaction defines the word “apoplectic.” Vermont’s exercise in democracy apparently doesn’t count because it’s Vermont:
Vermont is a lily-white state populated by left-wingers who are anti-traditional marriage and anti-family. Exactly what we would expect of a population where more people believe in nothing than anywhere else in the nation.
But not everyone was on the same page. Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, took a different route.
The institution of marriage has predated the legislature and government and the United States, and it’s not the prerogative of anybody to redefine it. It is the prerogative of every state and U.S. citizen to uphold the institution as it has always been defined, as one man and one woman.”
As it was always defined? I think Nimocks needs to study up on his Bible, because just off the top of my head I know that King David, who unlike Nimocks was divinely appointment, had eight wives. Solomon had seven hundred.
Matt Barber isn’t thinking representative democracy either. He labors under the mistaken impression that we’re in a theocracy:
“How long can a nation founded on the laws of nature and nature’s God expect to find favor in his eyes when we continue to mock God?”
…”I believe that the purveyors of evil around the country feel emboldened right now with the current political climate in Washington, DC,” Barber states, what with both the Oval Office and Congress inhabited by “people who are bent on thumbing their nose at God.”
But at least we can count on Peter LaBarbera to know exactly where to lay the blame. It’s not activist judges or rogue legislators. It’s the American people:
A northeastern state, Vermont, has voted in homosexual “marriage” — through an override of the governor’s veto, no less. This profane legislative act cannot be blamed on reckless judges or “unelected courts.” No, this instead is reckless, godless liberalism in action…
Most Americans have gotten too comfortable with same-sex perversion (we at AFTAH reject the activist concept of innocuous, innate “sexual orientation”) and extramarital sex. … It’s asking too much of God to “bless America” when America is blessing the counter-Biblical idea of state-sanctioned, homosexually-redefined “marriage.
COMMENTS (5) | LINK
Heterosexual Menace: They Really Are After Your Kids
Jim Burroway
April 6th, 2009
Juan Alberto Ovalle, a heterosexual recruiter for Focus On the Family, wearing an interesting shade of orange.
A staffer at Focus On the Family was busted for soliciting a 15-year-old girl:
Do you like older guys?” a 42-year-old Colorado Springs man who listed his employer as evangelical ministry Focus on the Family asked 11 minutes after initiating contact in an Internet chat room with a girl he believed to be younger than 15, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday by the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
Turns out the “teenager” was really an investigator with the district attorney’s office, as Juan Alberto Ovalle discovered the next afternoon when he was arrested on two felony counts in Lakewood after arranging to meet the girl for sex, according to the affidavit.
..Ovalle told the girl to describe what she liked to do when she had sex and then wrote, “I like all my face to get wet.”
Does that pick-up line work for heterosexuals these days? Sheesh!
We’re trying to keep tabs on them here and in our report, “The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing the Myths.” It’s not easy, nor is it for the feint of heart. But somebody’s got to do it.
[Hat tip: Pam Spaulding]
James Dobson Resigns As Chairman of Focus On the Family
Jim Burroway
February 27th, 2009
James Dobson (Mike Simons/Getty Images)
The Associated Press is reporting that James Dobson is resigning as chairman of Focus On the Family, but he will continue to play a prominent role in the organization. Dobson, 72, notified the board of directors on Wednesday, and the 950 remaining employees were told this morning at a monthly worship service at their Colorado Springs headquarters.
Jim Daly, the who succeeded Dobson as president and CEO six months ago, said that Dobson will continue to speak out on political matters. He will also continue to write his monthly newsletter. Dobson will continue to host FOTF’s radio program for the time being, although there is some indication that the program may be retooled with a new host or group of hosts in order to reach a younger audience. Focus officials have acknowledged difficulties in raising money from younger families recently. But with Dobson continuing to play a prominent role in the organization, this latest move likely won’t signal a change in FOTF’s positions or tone in the short term.
Dobson described his resignation as the last step in their transition plan:
“One of the common errors of founder-presidents is to hold to the reins of leadership too long, thereby preventing the next generation from being prepared for executive authority,” Dobson said in a statement. “… Though letting go is difficult after three decades of intensive labor, it is the wise thing to do.”
Focus On the Family has undergone a series of layoffs over the past few years. At its peak, FOTF employed some 1,500 employees. As of September 2007, FOTF reported an $8 million budget shortfall. Daly said they are now “right on track” with a revised annual budget of $138 million, a budget which dwarfs that of the Human Rights Campaign and the HRC Foundation, representing the largest LGBT advocacy group, by 3.6 to 1.
Focus On The Closet
Jim Burroway
February 10th, 2009
Natalie Davis, at the Truth Wins Out blog, found a real gem a poll taking place on the Focus On the Family web site. The question asks, “How do you plan to spend valentine’s Day?” Forty percent answered simply “spending extra time with a loved one,” which she thought was sensible. The second place answer was, well, probably truer than what Focus would normally admit.
Layoffs at Focus On the Family
Jim Burroway
November 17th, 2008
Focus On the Family today announced the elimination of 202 jobs at its Colorado Springs headquarters — 149 through layoffs and another 53 through attrition. This is in addition to another 46 job cuts announced last month to take place in the start of 2009. Altogether, this represents a 20% reduction Focus On the Family’s workforce, bringing the total number of employees down to 950. At its peak, Focus had more than 1,500 employees.
This action comes after Focus On the Family spent nearly $600,000 in cash and non-monetary support to pass Prop 8. Focus was also a major contributor to Arizona’s Prop 102 and Florida’s Amendment 2. Focus board member Elsa Prince contributed an additional $450,000 to prop 8.
Well gee, I guess same-sex marriage really is a threat to some families.
Love Won Out To Be Held Saturday In CO Springs
Daniel Gonzales
October 23rd, 2008
And a coalition of local gay organizations have planned a response which is cutely called “Love Came Out.” Here’s a poster for the event:
Family “Research” Council: Racism for Sale
Jim Burroway
September 13th, 2008
![](http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/btb/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/obamawaffles1.jpg "Obama Waffles, available at the Family \\"Research\\" Council\'s summit")
The Family “Research” Council is putting on its Values Voters Summit right now in Washington, D.C., and it appears that among the “Voter Values” they’re pushing is Aunt Jemimah-like racial caricatures:
Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.
The FRC claims they didn’t know that the packaging was offensive. It’s hard to imagine what world they live in where these images don’t conjure ugly racial stereotypes from the earliest part of the 20th century. The horribly racist images run rampant throughout the packaging, proving this FRC-sanctioned vendor to be an equal-opportunity offender:
While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama’s politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.
Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.
On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for ”Open Border Fiesta Waffles” that says it can serve ”4 or more illegal aliens.” The recipe includes a tip: ”While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?”
Co-sponsors of the summit include Gary Bauer’s American Values, Focus On the Family Action, the Alliance Defense Fund, and — most ironically — Rev. Harry Jackson’s High Impact Leadership Coalition. Confirmed speakers include Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Glenn Beck, Bill Bennett, Jeb Bush and Lou Dobbs. Dobbs, reportedly saw the box and loved it:
According to the the site’s blog, Lou Dobbs, who was also speaking at the convention, lauded the product Friday.
“My wife will love this,” Dobbs purportedly said. A photograph of Dobbs with a box and one of the sellers is online here.
The seller has since removed the online post.
The Books-A-Million bookstore is reportedly set to sell these boxes on their shelves.
Update: TalkBytes.com has the photo of Lou Dobbs posing with the Obama Waffles box that was pulled from the seller’s web site:
[Hat tip for the update: Pam Spaulding]
Who Is Behind Arizona’s Marriage Amendment?
Jim Burroway
August 6th, 2008
This woman: Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy. CAP is an official state policy council of Colorado Springs-based Focus On the Family.
This is the lobbyist who Arizona Senate President Timothy Bee (R-Tucson) denounced from the Senate dias — just before he crumpling himself under the pressure and casting the deciding 16th vote to put yet another anti-marriage amendment before the voters. Arizonans already said no to a previous attempt in 2006. Herrod didn’t like that answer, so she’s trying again for 2008.
Here’s shorter video featuring Cathi Herrod. Notice the message discipline. You can help to defeat Arizona’s Prop 102 here.
[Hat tip: Tucson Observer]
COMMENTS (2) | LINK
Dobson Nominated for Radio Hall of Fame
Jim Burroway
July 9th, 2008
Imagine my surprise on learning that Focus on the Family’s James Dobson has been nominated to the Museum of Broadcast Communication’s Radio Hall of Fame. I wonder, is Father Charles Coughlin also a member? If so, then Dobson might make good company. But no, I don’t see Coughlin on the list, so I don’t see how Dobson deserves the honor. Not after such gems like this:
“Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.”
Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out is organizing a campaign to remove Dobson from consideration.
To fight back against this offensive decision, TWO strongly urges fair-minded people to take three actions. First, sign TWO’s formal request to have James Dobson removed from consideration. Second, contact Museum of Broadcast Communications CEO Bruce DuMont directly, brucedumont@museum.tv, to express your displeasure. Third, as an option, vote for nominees other than James Dobson or Laura Schlessinger (the general public may vote, and the other nominees are Bob Costas and Howard Stern). It is urgent to act now, as voting comes to a close on July 15.
TiVo’s FOTF Web Page: Did It Stay Or Did It Go?
Jim Burroway
June 11th, 2008
The plot thickens. Some people report that TiVo’s web site promoting FOTF’s affiliation returns a “page not found” error, while others say it loads fine for them. It’s a mystery. Here are some questions we’d like you to answer in the comments:
1. Does TiVo’s page load for you?
2. Is this the first time you tried accessing the web page at TiVo?
3. Did you clear your browsers’ cache and/or deleted cookies? Do you get a different result if you do?
4. Please specify which browser, operating system, and internet provider is giving you your results.
And here’s something else to try. When I click on this link, I get redirected to this page, which gives me the “page not found” error. Someone else wrote that the first page loaded up fine for them, but they noticed the two different URL’s. So they went to the second link manually and got the same “page not found error.” But after visiting that second link once, now the first link won’t load for them. Any ideas?
TiVo Pulls Web Page Promoting FOTF’s SuperDads Contest
Jim Burroway
June 10th, 2008
Apparently, TiVo has been getting a lot of grief over the TiVo/Focus On the Family SuperDads contest. That’s the contest where everyone is supposed to submit an essay explaining why their dad is a “SuperDad,” with winners throughout the month of June receiving free TiVo’s. The problem is that several LGBT folks have been submitting essays explaining why their dads are SuperDads, only to find their submissions disappear into the ether. This has prompted tons of complaints to TiVo, as well as an online petition at the Family Equality Council.
Partnering to promote a discriminatory contest in which LGBT contestants are silently disqualified can set the company afoul of several states’ anti-discrimination laws — nevermind the public relations fiasco this move has caused. It looks like TiVo’s fealing the heat though. The web page on TiVo’s web site promoting FOTF’s contest affiliation used to be here, but now it’s missing — even though the contest goes on through the end of the month. (The contest page is still up at Focus On the Family.) But TiVo’s silent removal of a web page won’t be enough to gloss over the outrage. That will take a public apology and a reassessment of TiVo’s partnering relationship with FOTF.
Meanwhile, here at BTB we’re holding a truly inclusive SuperDads contest. Tell us why your dad is a SuperDad. You can send photos, essays, letters, drawings, videos, podcasts, or whatever else conveys a sense of what your father has meant to you. Your only limitation is your imagination. Just send it to Superdad@boxturtlebulletin.com.
The best submission gets a free BTB T-shirt. I know it’s not much, but maybe next year we’ll be able to afford a TiVo.
[Hat tip: Good As You]
Update: Some people are reporting that the site is up, while others say its down. A mystery. Here are some questions we’d like you to answer in the comments:
1. Does TiVo’s page load for you?
2. Is this the first time you tried accessing the web page at TiVo?
3. Did you clear your browsers’ cache and/or deleted cookies? Do you get a different result if you do?
4. Please specify which browser, operating system, and internet provider is giving you your results.
Love Won Out in Orlando
Jim Burroway
June 10th, 2008
Exodus International and Focus On the Family pulled their roadshow into Exodus’ home turf of Orlando last weekend. A reported 500 people turned out for this edition of Love Won Out, which puts this attendance on the smallish side. Maybe too much competition from Orlando’s Gay Days, which was going on at the same time. At any rate, the good parents and friends at PFLAG were there to greet the struggling parents of gays and lesbians with coffee and donuts.
COMMENTS (3) | LINK
Colorado Gets Non-Discrimination
Timothy Kincaid
June 2nd, 2008
The Denver Post reports
Gov. Bill Ritter today quietly signed a controversial bill expanding the prohibition of sexual-orientation-based discrimination, over the vocal opposition of conservative Christian groups like Focus on the Family.
The bill bans discrimination based on a person’s religious belief or sexual orientation - including transgender people - in places of public accommodation, housing practices, family planning services and 20 other public spheres. Such prohibitions are already in place with regard to race.
Ah, poor Dr. Dobson. He’s just not as influential as he once was. I guess if you are willing to sell out your integrity for some skirmish in a culture war you lose the reputation necessary to influence public policy.
Opponents said the bill would have serious consequences, such as opening up Colorado public restrooms and locker rooms to all genders and transgender people, exposing children and women to sexual predators.
I guess Coloradans saw that none of these things happened in any of the other states to ban discrimination and figured Dr. Dobson was just lying again.
Pot, Meet Kettle
Jim Burroway
May 8th, 2008
Those so-called “professional journalists” at Focus On the Family’s CitizenLink are repeating that tired old theme again — that the “homosexual lobby” is so incredibly well-funded that its a miracle that anti-gay activists can get a word in edgewise. If only it were true.
This time, they’re upset over the Human Rights Campaign’s “Year to Win” initiative, specifically HRC’s plan to train 1,500 advocates in thirteen cities to participate in the upcoming elections.
Wow. Thirteen cities. Imagine that.
CitizenLink then enlisted Matt Barber to complain:
“Their main purpose for existence is to influence public policy and politics, and to get people elected to office who are going to push their militant homosexual agenda,” said Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America.
Of course, nobody at Focus and none of the Concerned Women are at all interested in public policy, politics or getting people elected.
Oh, wait a minute. Wasn’t it just a few months ago that the world held its collective breath wondering who Dobson would endorse for the GOP primaries?
And isn’t Focus On the Family in its third year of flogging its own so-called “Truth Project”, a series of regional and local training sessions they’ve been putting on across the country? And what about Dobson’s radio program and Focus’ own “Family News In Focus” program, both going out daily to hundreds of radio stations across the country — all of it to push their militant anti-gay agenda?
But then, HRC does have a weekly radio program on XM Satellite, or so I hear. I don’t get satellite radio.
But that’s not the only thing that CitizenLink is worried about. They’re terribly upset over HRC’s massive bankroll:
Brad Miller, director of the Family Policy Council department at Focus on the Family Action, said family advocates could face an uphill battle. HRC has an annual budget of more than $50 million.
True, when you add up the revenues of the Human Rights Campaign, Inc and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, you end up with a figure of about $50 million.
But go to GuideStar and look up the financial statements from Focus On the Family and Focus On the Family Action. Add those figures together and you’ll end up with revenues in 2006 of some $157 million.
That’s more than three times the size of HRC’s combined budget.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe two will help.
I think Focus On the Family should spend some of their money on math lessons.
COMMENTS (4) | LINK
Another Researcher Blasts Focus On the Family
Jim Burroway
May 1st, 2008
Focus On the Family has a long history of misrepresenting legitimate social science research, and researchers are starting to raise their voices in protest. The latest to join the chorus of outrage is Dr. Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. When he discovered that Focus On the Family was misrepresenting his 1992 paper, he wrote an open letter to Focus on the Family’s James Dobson to stop misrepresenting his work. That open letter has been posted at Truth Wins Out:
I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of “Focus on the Family” In the third paragraph of the article, “Myths and Facts,” our research is cited in support of the statement: “During early adolescence, many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can easily be influenced in either direction.”
First, please note that the citation itself is incorrect. The original article was published in Pediatrics, not Journal of Pediatrics. … More important, had the authors of “Myths and Facts” actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that “many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction.” The word confusion does not appear in our article; nor did we find that anyone can influence a young person’s sexual identity.
Focus On the Family’s Familiar New Logo
Jim Burroway
May 1st, 2008
Focus On the Family has finally retired its old, tired logo in favor of this new one:
Right away, I thought that logo looked familiar:
So there you have it: more evidence of their total embrace of their sinister agenda.
See also:
The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing the Myths
Truth In Upcoming “Day Of Truth” Hard To Find
A Box Turtle Bulletin Original Video
Daniel Gonzales
April 21st, 2008
The religious right legal group Alliance Defense Fund started an anti-gay “Day of Truth” in response to the pro-gay “Day of Silence.” The “Day of Truth” is little more than an excuse to push ex-gay misinformation on queer youth in public schools which prompted me to make a video examining and mocking ideas promoted by the “Day of Truth.”
A Young Man Fights Back Against The Christian Counselor He’s Sent To By His Parents
Parents Had Found Counselor Through 'Focus On The Family' Referral
Daniel Gonzales
March 24th, 2008
When Jeff Williamson of Denver came out to his parents a year ago they sent him to see Christian counselor [name removed] whom they had been referred to through Focus On The Family. Jeff, who knew there’s nothing wrong with being gay, researched the ex-gay movement and pro-gay theology before his appointment, during which he ceded no ground to his counselor’s agenda. Jeff’s story is presented as a triumphant model for all too many youth who are sent, by their parents, against their will to ex-gay programs.
Update 03/26/08: After realizing the ramifications of having certain aspects of his story in the public domain Jeff has requested I pull his video with the intent of re-shooting a more focused version of his story this weekend. My editorial concerns with pulling content are far outweighed by my desire to respect Jeff’s right to control the way in which his own story is told.
Update 03/31/08: As promised Jeff and I re-shot the video this weekend. This new video appears above in place of the old one. Per Jeff’s request I have removed the name of the counselor he saw from the post.
Ex-Gay Watch Corrects Stanton’s Error
Jim Burroway
March 20th, 2008
Last Tuesday, Focus On the Family’s Glenn Stanton explained to us why CitizenLink unceremoniously changed their entire “anthropologists agree” article. Given what we know now, it appears that CitizenLink’s thin veil of “professional journalism” has utterly disintegrated. I know of no professional news service that completely re-writes their article. In fact, I know of at least one blogger who makes its own corrections very public for all the world to see.
Stanton also said this:
Ex-Gay Watch insinuated that the paper was cobbled together quickly to answer the complaints generated from the first article. Not quite. I worked on this research for quite a few weeks.
Ex-Gay Watch’s David Roberts and David Rattigan both disputed Stanton’s charge in comments left here at Box Turtle Bulletin. Rattigan also set the record straight on Ex-Gay Watch:
Ex-Gay Watch in fact made no reference (even indirectly) to the paper, and focused solely on the Citizenlink article. A commenter made the suggestion Stanton refers to, which may have confused him.
