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 lobbyJune 3rd, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA (OURS):
Smithsonian Observes 30 Years of AIDS: Washington, D.C. and online. Beginning today, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will observe the 30th anniversary of the first reports of what became known as AIDS with a three-part display and website. At the National Museum of American History’s “Science in American Life” exhibition, “HIV and AIDS Thirty Years Ago” will examine the early scientific and political reactions between 1981 and 1987. The Smithsonian’s Archives Center will host “Archiving the History of an Epidemic: HIV and AIDS: 1985-2009,” which includes archival material and quotes from oral histories of those who were affected by the epidemic, along with a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt honoring Roger Lyon, who died of complications from AIDS in 1984 shortly after testifying before Congress. The online website, “HIV and AIDS: 30 years ago,” can be accessed here.
Pittsburgh Pride Advocacy Rally: Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh Pride will hold a rally on he steps of the City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, in downtown Pittsburgh beginning at 6:00 p.m. The rally will feature:
EQCA Town Hall: San Diego, CA. Equality California will host a “Back to the Ballot?” Town hall meeting in San Diego to discuss whether we should wait for the courts to restore the freedom to marry — a decision which could have a nationwide impact — or whether Californians should try to overturn Prop. 8 through a ballot measure in 2012. The town hall will take place this evening at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre Street, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
NGLTF Pink and Purple Weekend: Washington, DC. This event takes the place of the former DC Leadership Awards and DC Recognition Evening. The goal of Pink & Purple is to bring together different facets of the LGBT community in one weekend with a series of events. The weekend will include a woman’s event, a mini-power summit to include Academy for Leadership and Action participants, a dance event and an awards brunch to honor community leaders and allies. For details and a complete schedule, please see the event’s web site.
Pride Celebrations This Weekend: Athens, Greece; Albuquerque (Los Ranchos), NM; Boiling Springs (Spartanburg) SC; Bucharest, Romania; Buffalo, NY; Cambridge/Kitchner/Waterloo, ON; Columbia, MO; Cork, Ireland; Davenport (Quad Cities) IA; Dayton, OH; Detroit, MI; Ft. Collins, CO; Greensboro, NC; Guerneville, CA; Hampton Roads, VA; Honolulu, HI; Huntington/Charleston, WV; Kalamazoo, MI; Kansas City, MO; Queens, NY; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Spencer, IN; Staten Island, NY and Winnipeg, MB.
Other Celebrations This Weekend: Gay Days, Orlando, FL and Razzle Dazzle Dallas, TX.
AIDS Walk This Weekend: Boston, MA; London, UK; Long Beach, CA, and Syracuse, NY.
TODAY’S AGENDA (THEIRS):
TheCall Alaska: Wasilla, AK. Lou Engle’s TheCall goes to Wasilla because “We believe that Alaska is key for the future of this nation.” The last time Engle put on TheCall was in Uganda last year, in which he lent support to that nation’s Kill-The-Gays effort. Feel free to expect similarly-sinister hatred expressed as “love” here, as well as the usual bats-in-the-belfry craziness we’ve come to expect from Engle. The two day event continues tomorrow.
Eagle Forum Collegians Summit: Washington, D.C. Phyllis Schlafly parties with conservatives one-fifth her age. as her Annual Eagle Forum Collegians Summit winds up its second and final day. The shindig at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. features former Virginia Sen. George “Macaca” Allen, Stanley “The Scandinavian Marriage Sky IS Falling” Kurtz, and Tea Party Express leader Amy “No Social Agenda” Kremer, and Kevin Williamson, Deputy editor of The National Review. It all culminates with a final address by the grande dame herself before ushering everyone onto awaiting buses for the…
Faith and Freedom Conference and Strategy Briefing: Washington, D.C. Put on by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, this conference (and strategy briefing!) opens this morning for a two-day confab at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown. The line-up is a veritable who’s who of anti-gay politics: House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Reps. Alan West (R-FL), Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Mike Pence (R-IN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Steve King (R-IA), Tom Price (R-GA), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Vicki Hartzler (R-MO), and Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN). Add to that bill Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbor, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Family “Research” Council’s Tony Perkins and former Sen George “Macaca” Allen (R-VA), and you’ve only reached lunchtime. The evening session features Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Grover Norquist, and the national coordinators of the Tea Party Patriots Jenny Beth Martin & Mark Meckler (remember: no social issues!).
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Aversion Therapy in Management of 43 Homosexuals: 1967. An article under that title by M.J. MaCulloch and M.P. Feldman appeared in the June 3, 1967 edition of the British Medical Journal. While electric shock aversion therapy was an expensive form of therapy, it was surprisingly common. The authors reported the results of 41 men and two lesbians who they treated at Crumpsall Hospital in Manchester, U.K. The treatment consisted of administering painful electric shocks while projecting photos of attractive men (or women, in the case of the two lesbians). Of the 43 subjected to this torturous treatment, five were between the ages of 15 to 20. Eighteen were being treated under court order. Seven dropped out without completing the treatment, and 11 were “unimproved.” That left 25 who claimed that they were “improved” after twelve months. The “failures,” they said, tended to have a higher Kinsey rating — in other words, they didn’t have a basis in bisexuality to work with.
The authors concluded that “In our opinion the approximately 60% rate of improvement achieved in our series (over other reported studies) is mainly due to the use of an aversion therapy technique which has been carefully designed to make the most effective use of the findings of the experimental psychology of learning.” Ten years later, researchers from Hollymoor Hospital in England would present the results of their own study which failed to replicate MacCulloch and Feldman’s findings. Among the second group’s problems was a very high dropout rate which was much higher than what MacCulloch and Feldman reported. “It appears that the Feldman and MacCulloch group had undergone some clinical preselection before referral,” they wrote. Ten years later still, aversion therapy would finally be largely abandoned — for ethical reasons as well as the growing realization that it simply didn’t work.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Alla Nazimova: 1879. The larger-than-life Russian-born Hollywood silent film star was as exotic and flamboyant off the screen as on. Her screen debut in 1916 led to eleven more films in two years. Her specialty was outrageously exotic yet tragic characters. Her most famous role was that of the title character Camile, a 1921 film which featured Rudolf Valentino. It was at about that time that she became a producer, specializing in experimental artistic masterpieces which, unfortunately, were commercial flops. 1923’s Salome was particularly scandalous, as was her thinly concealed bisexuality off screen. Her “marriage” with gay actor Charles Bryant didn’t fool anyone. Her home, which she named “Garden of Allah,” was the scene for many glamorous private parties, and her name was connected with several Hollywood starlets and women of the arts. She is the credited with coining the phrase “sewing circles” to refer to lesbian or bisexual actresses who concealed their true sexuality. Her career ended in 1925 with the advent of the Hayes Code, although she had some minor film appearances in the 1940s (she was Doña Maria in The Bridge of San Luis Rey). She died in 1945.
Other Birthdays Today: Josephine Baker: 1906; Allen Ginsberg: 1926; Anderson Cooper: 1967.
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Theo
June 3rd, 2011
Dear Jim and Timothy:
I am a big fan of your site. It is unique, though-provoking, and insightful. However, IMO it really needs to be re-formatted.
When you come to BTB, you get 2 columns, one white on the left hand and one yellow on the right. But either column could contain a current news item or an old series or in-depth piece from months or years ago.
The right-hand column starts out with a list of the “latest posts,” then shifts to your special coverage on Uganda, then shifts to current news items, then shifts back to featured reports. If you enter into a post for a particular item, the contents of the right-hand column will reappear, but the contents will change.
The left-hand column now mixes current news and news analysis with historical items, community event announcements, acknowledgment of prominent persons’ birthdays recognition, and special reports.
It is all amazing content and it puts BTB on my favorites. But the chaotic format makes it a bitch to try to read. I can’t imagine that new readers do well with this layout. Couldn’t you create 3 sections, one for current news and analysis, one for prior special reports and series, and one for historical events, birthdays, and events?
Anyway, I’ll continue to be your fan regardless, but I thought I would offer my 2 cents.
Leonardo Ricardo
June 3rd, 2011
Once I read here (BTT) something about Colin Coward, of ¨Changing Attitudes¨ United Kingdom, being a ¨unrelieable source¨ (or some such nonsense)…please the Reverend Cowards most recent comments published in the Guardian U.K. (where he has been actively exposing, along with others, a nasty anti-lgbt coverup by the Archbishop of Canterbury and York)…unlike some of the Episcopal Church ¨Integrity¨ crowd, Colin Coward usually isn´t afraid to confront those who harm lgbt Episcopalians/Anglicans at Church, face to face and call a spade a spade (and avoids the puffy prudent posturing) …our other Anglican Heros are beloved Ugandan Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (whom you coverly wisely and authentically). Thank you.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/03/homophobia-church-of-england-bishops
Timothy Kincaid
June 3rd, 2011
Per Reuters
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