Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJanuary 16th, 2010
Although the voters in the state of Washington have long since elected to reaffirm the legislature’s decision to provide Domestic Partner benefits equal to marriage to same-sex couples, the issue over whether the signatories are public information is still unresolved. On Friday the Supreme Court announced that it would take up the issue. (LA Times)
The high court will consider whether Washington state officials can release more than 138,500 names on a petition seeking a vote on overturning the state’s domestic partnership rights.
Protect Marriage Washington, which unsuccessfully opposed the law giving gay couples expanded rights, wants to shield from disclosure the signers of the petition for a referendum on that law. The group says it fears harassment by gay rights supporters, some of whom have vowed to post signers’ names on the Internet.
The objection to making the names public is based on the often asserted but rarely supported reports of “threats”, “intimidation”, and “retaliation”.
In case you don’t speak the lingo of anti-gay activists, “retaliation” is when gay customers find out that the profits from their purchases are being used to take away their rights and freedoms and refuse to continue to patronize the business establishments that harm them. “Intimidation” is when gay citizens, their friends, and their families discover that their neighbors want to harm them and consequently snub, shun, or speak disparagingly to those who are actively trying to harm their lives.
“Threats” tend not to exist at all outside of vague and highly improbable internet venting or solely in the fevered imagination of those who want to see themselves as victims.
Anti-gays genuinely believe that gay people should be barred from knowing who seeks to do them harm and, if they should find out, are not entitled to object.
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.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Lindoro Almaviva
January 16th, 2010
And you know? it might just happen that 5 of the judges might buy into their bull and give them special rights.
Joe in California
January 16th, 2010
Public disclosure of signatories should have been from the very beginning.
I should be able to know if The Gas Company or The Power Company are supporters of gay rights. Then I should have the right to have my gas turned off and use candles!
Perhaps women should never have gotten the right to vote through the legislative process either. Nor interracial couples the right to marry through the legislative process. It should have been mob rule! Referendums are mob rules and give rights to only some of the people and not ALL THE PEOPLE… Remember, it reads “WE THE PEOPLE”…..
WTFWJD
We need to separate church & state!
Sparky
January 16th, 2010
Having a belief that you truly believe in, you would be proud for everybody to know about, and would have no shame in letting others know. Just ask John Hancock, whom wrote his name in huge letters on the Declaration of Independence.
The Founding Fathers that so many revere and invoke without much thought, were said to be traitors to England, and were to be killed on sight.
Many of them were financially ruined, and unable to return home because of their opposition to England. (Luckily, their families were spared, something that I do not believe would happen under todays US anti-terror laws)
So tell me again, why is it that people that are against Gay Marriage are doing everything they can to hide their names from public view?
Burr
January 16th, 2010
How can we be sure that “Mickey Mouse” didn’t sign the petition a few thousand times if we don’t see the list of names on what SHOULD be a public document?
If the names are illegally kept private, then it’s clear the only recourse for the next petition drive for hate is to send people with cameras to photograph everyone who signs and crowdsource their identification. Or take an image of the documents themselves wherever signatures are collected.
Rob Lll
January 16th, 2010
Totally agree, Burr. I would add that this case has potentially huge implications that go way beyond LGBT issues. Anyone who cares about transparency in politics should be concerned about the possibility of initiatives going on the ballot without a public record of voter signatures. The potential for fraud and manipulation is truly scary.
Lynn David
January 17th, 2010
I’m surprised they’d let a man into the country who wanted to revoke a class of people’s first amendment right to free speech.
Lynn David
January 17th, 2010
Whoops…. thought sure I was on the Bahati/NPB thread…
homer
January 17th, 2010
First it will be the petitions, and then we won’t be allowed to know who contributed to campaigns, and then who knows what. It would not be that difficult for the political party who controls the Secretary of State’s office to submit fraudulent petitions. How would anyone ever know?
Scott P.
January 17th, 2010
Gee, homer, that’s so cynical. Something like that would never happen in say, Florida, would it????
Neon Genesis
January 18th, 2010
Doesn’t the bible tell Christians that they should not be ashamed of the gospel? If these homophobic Christians believe that the gospel promotes homophobia, then if they truly believe in the bible, why are they ashamed of it?
Paul
January 18th, 2010
Neon… because they are exactly that, hypocrites.
Leave A Comment