News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
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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.Some Lovin’ From Stacy Harp
Timothy Kincaid
April 25th, 2008
Can it be that Stacy Harp has fallen for Box Turtle’s Jim Burroway?
In a rather weak article on her blog site, anti-gay activist Stacy Harp has this to say about our website:
Or how about Jim, Dan and Tim at the Box Turtle Bulletin…can these homosexual men succeed at being silent for one day? Probably not…and it’s such a shame that some women won’t be able to marry any of them and have a good looking husband. I know a few women who would really enjoy Jim and his handsome good looks. Oh well, his loss…
Wow. I think Stacy has a little crush on our Jim.
So what do ya think, Jim? Want to take Stacy up on her offer? It’s your loss if ya don’t, he he
Another Reason To Love Arizona
Jim Burroway
April 22nd, 2008
It’s a proven fact: our skies are just more colorful than yours.
Health Rubs
Jim Burroway
April 17th, 2008
Did you know that masturbation can prevent prostate cancer? It appears so, according to this new study:
Frequent sexual intercourse and masturbation protects men against a common form of cancer, suggests the largest study of the issue to date yet.
The US study, which followed nearly 30,000 men over eight years, showed that those that ejaculated most frequently were significantly less likely to get prostate cancer. The results back the findings of a smaller Australian study revealed by New Scientist in July 2003 that asserted that masturbation was good for men.
In the US study, the group with the highest lifetime average of ejaculation - 21 times per month - were a third less likely to develop the cancer than the reference group, who ejaculated four to seven times a month.
I wonder if John Smid has heard about this? He’s the outgoing Executive Director of the Memphis-based Love In Action ex-gay residential program who gave an entire workshop on the evils of masturbation at the 2007 Exodus conference last summer. It was definitely the single most bizarre talk have I ever attended in my lifetime. Especially when he bragged, “My wife’s vagina is enough… God created her for my fit” to a room full of struggling celibate ex-gays.
The “good part” is at the 2:18 mark.
Smid also told his audience that he heard from a Brazilian physician that masturbating actually harmed the immune system. This is how Smid described that conversation:
He said, men actually, when they live in sexual self-control and restraint, actually those hormones and those secretions are reabsorbed into the body, which stimulates the immune system of the male. This is a physician. He said that’s something that’s not often taught because the physician world is built up of a lot of men that don’t want to teach things like that because they don’t want to let people know that they can’t, you know, it’s really kind of a secret. He said we really don’t let that out as physicians.
… And I thought okay, now, think about, who are probably the most unhealthy people? Sexually addicted people. Physically unhealthy. You know, because first of all we’re not taking care of ourselves, we don’t feel good about ourselves. But we’re also possibly eliminating a source of our own immune system boosters. I mean it was very interesting when he said that.
I think we’ve met the very definition of “junk science” here.
Meanwhile, back in the world where real science takes place, Dr. Michael Leitzmann at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda found that spankin’ it about every other day ought to do the trick:
More than 12 ejaculations per month would start conferring the benefit - on average every second day or so,” he says.
However, whilst the findings are statistically significant, Leitzmann remains cautious. “I don’t believe at this point our research would warrant suggesting men should alter their sexual behaviour in order to modify their risk.”
But on the other hand, it couldn’t hurt.
Aussie Ex-Gay Humor
Timothy Kincaid
April 4th, 2008
Peterson Toscano has competition in Australia.
COMMENT (1) | LINK
We’re Everywhere
Jim Burroway
April 2nd, 2008
Including Sioux Fall, South Dakota. Sioux Falls is home to about 125,000 people, five television stations, four minor league sports teams, three interstate highways — and now, two gay bars.
Easter Wishes
Jim Burroway
March 23rd, 2008
My great-grandmother was born on April 10, 1898. That just happened to fall on Easter Sunday, which is why her parents named her Easter Mary Nash.
Easter was a very important person in my life. I called her “Easter” and not grandma because she said she wasn’t old enough to be a grandma. She was pushing seventy when she said that. She also hated to be defined by any label, which may be another reason I called her Easter instead of grandma.
Yes, she was a remarkable woman. She was a working woman in the 1920’s and an entrepreneur throughout the rest of her life — at a time when women simply didn’t do these things. Living in Appalachian Ohio, this was doubly unusual. She hated being told that she couldn’t do something. More often than not, she’d take such a statement as a personal challenge and she’d go out of her way to prove the challenger wrong. She took up oil painting and she got a short story published, all because someone told her she wouldn’t be able to do it. The only challenge she didn’t meet is that she never learned to drive. It didn’t bother her though — that was my long-suffering great-grandfather’s job. And besides, she was a great story-teller and she loved to regale her audience with the hilarious misadventures of her lone spin (literally) behind the wheel.
But that small failure didn’t slow her down. Easter took pride in being an independent and shrewd business woman. She operated shoe stores, and she owned a grocery store and rented houses all over town — all on her own. She was also told that women couldn’t do these things, but she proved them wrong as well. You’d be tempted to say that she was a feminist but she’d just scoff at you for it. Remember, she didn’t like labels. And furthermore, I never heard her talk about politics. The only political statement I ever heard her offer was that she thought JFK was very sexy. Other than that, she regarded feminism as silly and politics boring. She just couldn’t be bothered. Her only interest was in the things that she wanted to do, and she was determined never to allow anyone to stand in her way.
I guess you could say that Easter was a post-feminist woman in a pre-feminist world.
Easter also loved the age in which she lived: 1898 to 1990. We lived just a few blocks from her house, and I’d often go over there and ask, “Easter, tell me about the olden days.” That would always get a laugh out of her. She’d tell me about her childhood and the many things she did and saw. Her stories were as captivating to me as any movie. And she’d always end with the observation that she couldn’t have been born in a more fascinating time. “I’ve seen us go from the horse and buggy to the moon. No one will ever witness a greater span of progress than that.”
My Easter was very special to me. She’s been gone for eighteen years and I can still hear the sound of her chuckle. As I grow older, I appreciate and honor her more and more. I hope your Easter is just as precious.
Scottish Catholic Bishop Spews Homophobia
Timothy Kincaid
March 14th, 2008
A dodering senior level Bishop is convinced that there’s a secret gay “huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy” against Christian values.
Rt. Reverend Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, said, “Rant rant rant vent drool spittle…”
Well, really I don’t care what he said. I just marveled at the idea that there actually is a Bishop of Motherwell and that his name is Rt. Reverend Joseph Devine. I mean, really, isn’t that the sort of name and title you’d expect of a nefarious chuchman in a Shreck movie?
But if you want to know more you can check out the bile that abides in the brain of Father Devine or the response of the non-drooling crowd.
And enjoy your weekend.
“The Only 100% Effective Treatment for Curing Homosexuality”
Jim Burroway
March 10th, 2008
COMMENTS (21) | LINK
American Idol Contestant David Hernandez’ Revealing Past
Timothy Kincaid
March 4th, 2008
Rumors have been flying about American Idol contestant David Hernandez. And now they have been confirmed by the Associated Press:
The 24-year-old finalist from Glendale, Ariz., once worked as a stripper at Dick’s Cabaret, appearing fully nude and performing lap dances for the club’s “mostly male” clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan said Monday.
The themes of the first two weeks were Songs from the 60’s and Songs from the 70’s. If today’s theme is Songs from the 80’s, I’d like to recommend that he perform You Can Leave your Hat On as performed by Joe Cocker.
(warning: some may find Kim Basinger’s spectacular strip scene from 9 1/2 Weeks to be offensive)
You give me reason to vote
you give me reason to vote
you give me reason to vote
Bobby Sherman’s Alright
Jim Burroway
February 29th, 2008
When I was about ten or eleven years old, I had a fierce crush on Bobby Sherman. Andrew at Queerty dug this up on Youtube and took me back. Now that I’m looking at this again I’m reminded that tastes change a lot with age. Bobby was cute … but I don’t remember him being so, I dunno, white. But still, not too shabby.
A Completely Useless Legislator
Timothy Kincaid
February 1st, 2008
WE WERE DUPED
The story below is, as best we know, accurate. But the photo we originally used was photoshopped. We’ve replaced it with Stacey Campfield’s official photo.
A Tennessee legislator doesn’t much like the gays. Per the Memphis Flyer
Representative Stacey Campfield of Knoxville filed a bill last week that would prevent public elementary and middle schools from allowing “any instruction or materials discussing sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.”
However, it’s not much worth getting riled up about. Campfield biggest contribution to the Tennessee House is warming his chair. As the Knoxville News Sentinel noted (on an unrelated but no less ridiculous issue)
Campfield has failed to win passage of any legislation, much of it controversial, that he has sponsored in recent years.
I guess Campfield is Tennessee’s official state loon.
‘Family Guy’ to Explore Gay Gene and Ex-Gay Therapy
Timothy Kincaid
January 30th, 2008
In an interview with the Advocate, Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Family Guy discusses an upcoming episode:
What can we expect from the as yet unscheduled episode titled “Family Gay”?
That has to do with Peter being injected with the gay gene as part of a scientific experiment to determine whether or not it’s a learned trait or something that you’re born with. The good news is that at the end of the episode we establish that it’s the latter. Basically, Peter’s in a gay relationship for an episode and winds up in one of those straight camps.
Undoubtedly this will be presented with their usual tact and unerring good taste.
Read the full interview here.
COMMENTS (7) | LINK
LaBarbera Babbles on about MRSA
Timothy Kincaid
January 29th, 2008
Peter LaBarbera has yet further musings about MRSA. But because there’s nothing new and they really aren’t very interesting, I think I’ll just illustrate for you the limitations of my artistic abilities.
Four Letters
Jim Burroway
January 25th, 2008
That’s the rule. No more than four letters.
It may be an unwritten rule, but the rule goes that acronyms can have no more than four letters. I know some people push five. But for all practical purposes, if you can’t fit an acronym into four letters, then you need to re-think your acronyn.
GLBTTQQI? We need to nip this one in the bud. The English language hangs in the balance.
And, Such As…
Jim Burroway
January 1st, 2008
Happy New Year! As always, we hope your new year will be better than the last.
One improvement for the new year that I think we can all hope for would be this: that some of those phrases we heard in 2007 don’t make it into 2008. The title of this post is my favorite candidate. What’s yours?
Be a Manly Man in 2008
Timothy Kincaid
December 27th, 2007
Do the ex-gays really set out to be parodies of themselves?
There’s a new movement to make church-going men more masculine. And in Florida, Michael Brewer, an ex-gay for 15 years, is going about telling these men about how he’s become oh-so-straight due to his clothes, watching sports, and manly activities.
You see, if you identify as a man, you’ll be hetero.
Oh, it’s well worth reading. It’s almost as good as a Britney Spears story or an episode of Janice Dickenson’s Modeling Agency. You’re not sure whether to laugh, feel pity, or think it’s all staged.
I had asked one brother to teach me some carpentry, he said no so I went to a different brother who is also a carpenter & asked if he & I could do a project together – yes! We built a bookcase for me together and that brother patiently answered my many questions about woodworking as our relationship developed!
OK, it’s probably not fair for me to mock too heavily! Sure my first job was helping in the family housing construction company, but I’m sure that a bookcase is a very manly project! For some!
Now I invite our gay readers to suggest what fun “masculine” activities they enjoy (or feminine activities for our Girly Girls) and whether they make you feel more hetero. And our straight readers might want to let us know if their non-gender conforming activities are leading them to try a little walk on the wild side.
Or maybe you have a Manly Man resolution for the new year.
Dan’s Christmas Past Wish List
Daniel Gonzales
December 25th, 2007
Letter to Santa from Christmas Future
A letter from 2027
Jim Burroway
December 25th, 2007
Dear Santa,
I have to admit that I’m not very good at writing these kinds of letters. It’s not that there aren’t things I want for Christmas, but the kinds of things I’m usually tempted to ask for aren’t the sort of things that elves are equipped to deliver. You know, things like world peace and brotherhood among all people, stuff like that.
I remember the last time I wrote a Santa letter was probably back in ‘14, or ‘15 or so, when I thought things were getting kinda boring and complacent in this country. It’s not that things were going swimmingly well, but that we were losing our energy. It seemed we were tired of arguing over the same things year after year. The culture war had taken its toll and people were looking for peace wherever they could find it.
Little did we know that by January of 2017, we’d be looking at the start of the Rick Scarborough administration and the newly formed Christocrasts muscling their way into Capital Hill. Good Lord, what a disaster! I’m just glad it was mercifully short. I don’t think we would have survived a whole term of that mess, let alone a second one.
And so here it is, 2027, and even though president Afleck’s second term is about to enter its last full year, we’re just now starting to see things getting back to normal. Normal, I’ve learned, may be relative, but it’s also not too bad.
It just goes to show, you should always be careful what you wish for. That’s a lesson we all should learn.
It’s like when the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco emptied itself of its gay and lesbian population due to assimilation. There were an awful lot of people lamenting the end of gay culture and were looking for a way to preserve some remnant of it. For posterity, I suppose. But I still can’t get over the sheer stupidity of having Universal Studios buy up all the property so they could turn it into “Castro USA!” If I could ask for anything, it would be for the whole thing to end up in bankruptcy court with its chorus line of Harvey Milk impersonators and all.
But like I said, these aren’t the kinds of things that traditionally emerge from elfin workshops. If I had to stick to those sorts of things, I guess I could ask for a real disco ball now that disco is making it’s fourth comeback. I’ve decided I’m not going to pretend that I’m too good for it like I did the first three times it came around. Or I might ask for a ‘18 Ford Crown Victoria. Not that Crown Vics were ever my style, but who knew people would get so teary-eyed over the last production gasoline-powered car in North America?
But if I had all the material tchotskies in the world, I still wouldn’t feel satisfied. And I guess that brings me to my real point in all this. Christmas isn’t about personal satisfaction, is it? We can lament our lack of material goods, and we can decry the current state of culture or politics, But no matter how bad they may be they’re still only a symptom of a much larger issue.
So if there was just one thing I’d really want to ask for, it’s something to take care of that big picture problem: for everyone to treat each other the way they would want to be treated. It’s such a simple request. Not to get too preachy here, but “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” is a pretty good rule to live by. And that fits no matter who you are or what side of any issue you’re on.
Just think, if everyone were to take it to heart (and I include myself in this), imagine how much better off we all would be. And think of how much heartache, anger, and strife we all could have avoided in our lives — not just as individuals, but as a nation. We wouldn’t have avoided the culture wars, but we might have been able to find a third way through it if we had remembered that simple little rule.
So in the end, that’s really all I want for Christmas. The Golden Rule. Come to think of it, that’s what I ever wanted. Good luck with that one, Santa. I’m afraid that’s something we’re going to have to work on ourselves.
Maybe it’s time to start a list of New Year’s resolutions instead.
Timothy’s Wishes For The Christmas Present
Daniel Gonzales
December 24th, 2007
Ho-Ho-Homo No Mo
Jim Burroway
December 20th, 2007
Here’s a touching and true Christmas story from performance artist and ex-gay survivor Peterson Toscano. It’s not Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but the Isle of Misfits certainly comes to mind. Here’s Christmas at the Homo No Mo Halfway House.
