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 lobbyNovember 8th, 2010
ABC’s Nightline will feature ex-gay group Journey Into Manhood tonight:
The retreat called “Journey to Manhood” offers therapeutic peer counseling over 48 hours to help men like Preston, who voluntarily come to learn how to deal with what they call “same-sex attractions.” For the first time ever, the retreat allowed cameras inside their controversial organization and ABC News was granted exclusive access.
Built on the premise that gay men are really just wanting to connect with their fathers, JIM is a hodge-podge of psychobabble and Cohen-style cuddling. It will be interesting to see how ABC handles this story, but the practices of Journey Into Manhood do not lend themselves to the light of exposure.
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:
Frijondi
November 8th, 2010
New T-shirt — “I journeyed into manhood, and all I got was this lousy drum.”
Liam
November 8th, 2010
What always gets me is when these groups bend over backwards and lie: “Oh, we have nothing against gays. We just want to help those who seek to leave the lifestyle.” Once you scratch the surface, you find out how dishonest they really are. If they truly just wanted people to be happier, would’t it be much more productive to get a struggling man to accept his gay orientation than to fight it? That would seem to be common sense according to the statistics alone. Once you ask them blatantly: “Is it sinful for a man to suck the penis of another man and enjoy it?”, they start telling the truth.
justsearching
November 9th, 2010
If you’re interested in a detailed description provided by a straight guy who went undercover into a “Journey into Manhood” retreat, check out the following link: http://www.alternet.org/story/146557/?page=entire
There’s some pretty amusing stuff in there.
Ben Mathis
November 9th, 2010
Shame you can’t watch it online outside the US. Anyone found a summary of the episode online somewhere?
Emily K
November 9th, 2010
depends what kind of “exposure” you mean.
Ivan
November 9th, 2010
“Journey Into Manhood”
Freud lived too soon.
cowboy
November 9th, 2010
I missed the ABC Nightline presentation…though I’m sure I can get it online somewhere. But, we had our local Utah FOX channel start last night a series of “Gays Can Change or Not†news items (with the focus on the Mormons).
It must be sweeps week.
oh, and by the way, a recent Salt Lake Tribune poll found 55% of Utah Mormons believe gays can change. I just wish they had a poll done before the General Conference speech of Elder Packer. What affect did Elder Packer’s rant about God didn’t make us gay had an influence on the opinions of certain people?
When a religion starts to ignore science it tends to bend towards cultism.
Fergie
November 9th, 2010
I watched Nightline and cringed. It was so brief and superficial that it just ended up being a commercial for Rich Wyler and People Can Change. The takeaway for the average uninformed Middle American was gays could change if they only wanted to.
Nightline (which I usually enjoy) focused on one obviously hand picked photogenic poster boy with an attractive young wife in suburban Salt Lake City (spoiler alert..the big final reveal was she’s pregnant…so yes Red State America, he is cured from the gay, and having sex with women!).
Why didn’t ABC ask how many men drop out of the program; or demand to see the programs statistics of success? It was all so one sided that it was pointless.
Fake, untested “therapies” administered by unlicensed hacks to emotionally unstable and religiously conflicted men is a serious story, and five minutes on late night doesn’t cut it.
BlackDog
November 9th, 2010
@ JustSearching
Ack, I only made it about halfway through that article before I had to stop reading, it hella creeped me out.
That dude is a better man than me, I’d of run out of there like somebody lit my ass on fire.
John in the Bay Area
November 9th, 2010
I watched the segment. It was pretty clear in the segment that “Preston” (the Utah guy) was still gay. At the end of the segment, the pregnant wife is talking about how both she and her husband are scoping out guys while driving down the street. I am sure that every good Mormon girl dreams about scoping out guys with her husband after their temple ceremony. Utter fail.
andrew
November 10th, 2010
Does this group bear any relatioship to “Boys to Men” (not the boyband, but a men’s group thingie someone I know belongs to).
Bart
November 10th, 2010
For those who didn’t watch the show here’s another take: I watched it, but did everyone get that although he got married (yawn), his wife pregnant (yawn 2), they share checking out other guys together? and she encourages him to be open about it? In other words, after all that, he didn’t change at all, he’s just found another willing partner to share in his passion for men! Now he gets to go hundreds of miles away from his wife and feel the touch and embrace of several men without the presence of women. They are holding on to each other for dear life hoping for something. Truly sad. If you’re truly straight, you don’t go out with your girlfriend, wife, or gay friends lusting after other men.
I would modify Frijondi’s suggestion with all due respect: “New T-shirt — “I journeyed into manhood, and all I got was this spectacular HARD-ON.â€
Message: Be happy with your orientation and life experience.
Leave A Comment