Box Turtle Bulletin

The Truth Behind George Rekers’s “Independent Evaluations”

In this episode, CNN tracks down George Rekers, the therapist who treated four-year-old Kirk Murphy and turned him into Rekers’s poster boy for ex-gay therapy. Here we see Rekers learning about Kirk’s suicide at the age of 38. He responds by saying that there is no evidence that Kirk’s suicide was the result of Kirk’s treatment. He also tries to exonerate himself by saying:

Two independent psychologists of me had evaluated him and said he was better adjusted after treatment. So it wasn’t my opinion.

According to Rekers’s writings, two psychologists followed up with Kirk when Kirk was fifteen. As I wrote in our newest epilogue, The Doctor’s Word:

Buried in a footnote, Rekers wrote, “I express my appreciation to Drs. Larry N. Ferguson and Alexander C. Rosen for their independent evaluations.” By 1979, Ferguson was working as a research psychologist at Logos Research Institute, a conservative religious-based think tank that Rekers had founded in 1975. With Rekers as his employer, Ferguson’s participation in such an evaluation could not be seen as independent. As for Rosen, he had been Rekers’s longstanding colleague at UCLA: the two of them co-wrote at least fourteen papers — including three defending the kind of treatment Kirk received at UCLA against growing criticism. Rosen may not have been as personally invested in Kirk’s reported outcome as Rekers, but he was certainly invested in UCLA’s reputation.

Rosen has since passed away. Ferguson told CNN that the family was well-adjusted and he didn’t see any “red flags” with Kirk. But when Kirk was fifteen, the family was falling apart, with Kirk’s father was drinking heavily and leaving the family — hardly the picture of a well-adjusted family. As for not seeing any red flags with Kirk, his sister Maris had a ready answer: “He was conditioned to say what he thought they wanted to hear.”

But there was one set of independent evaluations that Rekers wasn’t a part of. Those occurred when Dr. Richard Green interviewed Kirk at the age of seventeen and eighteen for his 1987 book, The Sissy Boy Syndrome. That’s where we learn that at Kirk was still attracted to men, was deeply conflicted over those attractions, had engaged in an anonymous sexual encounter with a man, and tried to commit suicide because of it. For the remainder of Rekers’s career, he would never acknowledge what was uncovered in the The Sissy Boy Syndrome interviews. As far as Rekers was concerned, those interviews never happened and “Kraig”, his pseudonym for Kirk, remained a success story.

You can learn more about those so-called independent reviews and the perils of accepting a researcher’s writings at face value in our newest epilogue, The Doctor’s Word, the latest addition to our investigative report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?”

The Daily Agenda for Thursday, June 9

Today’s Daily Agenda is abbreviated due to yesterday’s outage.

TODAY’S AGENDA:
The Sissy Boy Experiment: CNN. Tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360 will air the final part of their three-part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment: Uncovering the Truth.” The first two parts of this series were the result of several month’s of investigating the truth behind the George Rekers’s treatment of his most famous patient, four-year-old Kirk Murphy. Tonight’s installment shifts to another former ex-gay patient, except this one is a survivor. Ryan Kendall is a former patient of Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, the past president if the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH). Kendall testified at the Prop 8 trial that Nicolosi had Kendall meet his perfect patient “named Kelly, who (when the doctor left the room) told me that he was going to a gay bar that night and was pretending success in conversion for his family.” Since Anderson Cooper said that they will have Kendall’s therapist on tonight, this will definitely be a must-see.

If you haven’t done so already, you can read up on Kirk’s treatment by George Rekers in our report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” AC360 starts at 10:00 p.m. EDT.

The Reality of Will and Grace: A Refutation of the Ex-Gay Movement: Asheville, NC. Out in the woods outside of Asheville, Exodus International is holding its annual ex-gay conference, bringing in hundreds of people across America and around the world. A counter-conference, The Reality of Will and Grace continues today with an exhibit at Tressa’s, 28 Broadway, Asheville at 5:30 p.m. Then at 7:00 p.m. at Tressa’s, Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen joins a panel of ex-gay survivors for a discussion of their experiences in the ex-gay movement. Given recent revelations, they should have plenty to talk about. The counter-conference runs through Saturday.

Hate Crimes Forum: Shreveport, LA. The U.S. Department of Justice will present a hate crime forum this evening at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road in Shreveport beginning at 6:30 p.m. Participants at the forum include members of the FBI, Shreveport Mayor’s Office, Shreveport Police Department, and local educational and religious leaders. The forum is sponsored by P.A.C.E. (People Acting for Change and Equality), and the Forum for Equality.

EQCA Town Hall: Online. Equality California will host its final “Back to the Ballot?” Town hall meeting, this time to be held via a telephone conference call. if you want to participate, please register in advance. Upon registration, you will be sent the call-in number. The meeting takes place from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Pride Celebrations This Week: Albany, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Blackpool, UK; Boston, MA; Brisbane, QLD; Brooklyn, NY; Des Moines, IA; Edmonton, AB; El Paso, TX; Erie, PA; Key West, FL; Long Island, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Newark-Essex, NJ; Olympia, WA; Oxford, UK; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Rome (Europride); San Antonio, TX; Saskatoon, SK; Shreveport, LA; Spokane, WA; Talin, Estonia (Baltic Pride); Tel Aviv, Israel (Friday); Thunder Bay, ON; Tulsa, OK and Washington, DC.

If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. PLEASE, don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

What You Didn’t See On CNN’s “The Sissy Boy Experiment”

Make no mistake about it, CNN’s riveting documentary is well worth watching. And I don’t mean for this post to be a criticism of their excellent coverage. But when you’re dealing with the kind of time constraints that come with television, the story winds up being streamlined and important information goes missing. That’s just the nature of the medium.

For example, Anderson Cooper, as narrator, says this:

Mrs. Murphy says she saw a psychologist on a local TV program talking about behavior like Kirk’s.

and

The psychologist was recruiting young boys for a government-funded program at UCLA…

The psychologist remained unnamed throughout the entire report, but in the Murphy family’s understanding of Kirk’s therapy, that unnamed psychologist, the very prominent and well-respected Dr. Richard Green, was a central figure in their experience. In fact, Kaytee, Kirk’s mother, didn’t even know who George Rekers was when I first mentioned him during our first interview. It was Green she saw on that television program, listing the characteristics that parents should be worried about and recruiting young boys for the federally-funded program. Kaytee thought Kirk’s care was under Green’s direction, and that Rekers was just a “college aide.” She has good reason to believe that; Rekers was only twenty-two years old when Kirk was being treated, having just earned his bachelor’s degree from Westmont College in Santa Barbara just a few months earlier. Was Rekers really given that much freedom over Kirk’s treatment?

This is the kind of information you will find in our full report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?“. To understand better the question (if not the answer) of who oversaw Kirk’s treatment, check out our epilogue, “Cuius Culpa?”

And don’t forget to tune in tonight for the second installment of CNN’s “The Sissy Boy Experiment,” on Anderson Cooper 360 beginning at 10:00 p.m. EDT.

No that is NOT Kirk in a dress

Maris in her pink dress (Photo courtesy of Maris)

In CNN’s teaser and on the live broadcast last night, when discussing Kirk’s effeminacy, a picture of a child in a frilly dress floated by. London’s Daily Mail presented the picture with the descriptive footer: “His mother says she was concerned about his effeminate behaviour, which included liking girls’ clothes.”

This gave the distinct but false impression that Kirk was the child in the dress. But the picture is not of Kirk; it is of his sister Maris. However this picture is valuable to the family as it illustrates Kirk’s character and selflessness. See the importance of this dress at Maris’ Eulogy

CNN’s Sissy Boy Experiment – Day One

Here is the CNN coverage of Kirk Murphy’s story
Tuesday, June 7, 2011

WE’RE BACK ONLINE

Welcome to those joining us from CNN or from other links. Many of you are here to read the details of our investigation into Kirk Murphy’s life and you can find the report here. We invite you to stay and join the BTB community.

As many of you know, Box Turtle Bulletin has been down for the past several hours. Although moved to a dedicated server, the traffic was in excess of our capabilities. While this has been extremely frustrating to us, it is also testament of the importance of Kirk Murphy’s story.

Thank you for your patience.

Follow-up On Rekers’s Rentboy Scandal and UCLA Therapy Program

Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp, the two Miami New Times reporters who first broke George Rekers’s rent-boy scandal have posted an update on CNN.com, where they are working as freelance reporters on the Kirk Murphy story. I may have missed it, but among the new tidbits that I hadn’t seen before is the contract that Rekers’s allegedly signed with his male escort outlining his duties during that famous European vacation. The first delineated task in the contract does indeed cal on the escort the carry “the suitcases of George Rekers and any other objects when George Rekers request such assistance.” But the fourth item requires the escort tp “provide George Rekers a massage for at least one hour each day of the trip in their shared room, using the same procedures that [redacted] provides to George Rekers in Florida.”

Bullock and Thorp go on to describe how they came to find out about the Murphy family, an account which is very similar to how I found out about them. For my part, it all started with this comment Maris left on BTB right after she found out that Kirk had been the subject of Richard Green’s book and George Rekers’s papers. Bullock and Thorp also want to hear from anyone else who underwent treatment at UCLA or elsewhere:

We now know the fate of Kraig. But what became of the dozens of other children upon whom Rekers conducted his experimental therapy?

What became of “Becky,” a 7-year-old girl with purported tomboy tendencies, who underwent 102 “monitoring” sessions in a lab and a further 96 in her bedroom?

Rekers deemed Becky cured when she became “enamored with the (adult) male examiner and wanted to give him her phone number so that he could call her ‘every night and every day.’ ”

And what of “Carl,” an 8-year-old treated at UCLA for 15 months, whose “sex-role development” was thought to have been “normalized” when he declared that he “used to be a queer, but not any more.”

iReport: Did you participate in similar research?

The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, June 8

TODAY’S AGENDA:
The Sissy Boy Experiment: CNN. Tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360 will air the second part of their three-part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment: Uncovering the Truth.” This series is the result of several month’s of investigating the truth behind the UCLA program to turn effeminate boys into straight men. (For full disclosure, I was interviewed by CNN as part of their investigation, although I doubt that my interview will make it on air.) If you haven’t done so already, you can read up about it in our report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” AC360 starts at 10:00 p.m. EDT. The timing of this special investigative report is perfect because…

Exodus International “Freedom Conference”: Ridgecrest, NC. That’s right. As the world learns the true story behind ex-gay therapist George Rekers’s most famous patient, North America’s largest ex-gay ministry kicks off the gayest event in the greater Asheville area today. This year’s theme, “The Reality of Grace,” is puzzling, considering the true reality of what comes out of the ex-gay experience for so many people. This annual conference is Exodus International’s flagship event of the year, and it draws hundreds of participants from all across North American and other parts of the world. But Exodus won’t have the last word in North Carolina because…

The Reality of Will and Grace: A Refutation of the Ex-Gay Movement: Asheville, NC. This counter-conference begins today with the opening of an exhibit at Tressa’s, 28 Broadway, Asheville at 5:30 p.m. Then at 7:00 p.m. at Tressa’s, Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen joins Asheville city councilman and congressional candidate Cecil Bothwellon for a discussion of the religious right and the ex-gay movement. Given recent revelations, they should have plenty to talk about. The counter-conference runs through Saturday.

Premiere of “OUT In America”: PBS. Emmy award-winning director Andrew Goldberg, in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting, will premiere the new PBS special, OUT in America. It features interviews with Armistead Maupin, Chely Wright, Andy Cohen, Kate Clinton, Rev. Peter Gomes, among many others as they explore the many ways of being gay and/or transgender today and in the past. Not all PBS stations are carrying this special, so check your local listings.

EQCA Town Hall: Sacramento, CA. Equality California will host a “Back to the Ballot?” Town hall meetingin Sacramento 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 Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, 2791 24th Street, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

UNAIDS 2011 High Level Meeting: New York. Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world will come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

Pride Celebrations This Week: Albany, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Blackpool, UK; Boston, MA; Brisbane, QLD; Brooklyn, NY; Des Moines, IA; Edmonton, AB; El Paso, TX; Erie, PA; Key West, FL; Long Island, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Newark-Essex, NJ; Olympia, WA; Oxford, UK; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Rome (Europride); San Antonio, TX; Saskatoon, SK; Shreveport, LA; Spokane, WA; Talin, Estonia (Baltic Pride); Tel Aviv, Israel (Friday); Thunder Bay, ON; Tulsa, OK and Washington, DC.

TODAY IN HISTORY:
Florida Bans Gay Marriage and Adoption: 1977. Florida’s gay community took a triple whammy today. On the very day after Miami voters overwhelmingly sided with Anita Bryant to rescind that county’s anti-discrimination ordinance, Florida governor Reubin Askew signed into law two anti-gay measures. The first one banned same-sex marriage and the second one banned gay adults from adopting. State Sen. Curtis Peterson, (D-Eaton Park) sponsored the measures, and said that the new laws tell homosexuals “We are tired of you and wish you would go back in the closet.” He continued, “The problem in Florida is that homosexuals are surfacing to such an extent that they are infringing on average, normal people who have a few rights, too.” The bills sailed through the legislature with little opposition and became effective immediately upon Askew’s signing.

In 2008, Florida voters made same-sex marriage even more illegaler when they passed Amendment 2. In 2010,  a Florida appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that found the adoption ban unconstitutional.

If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. PLEASE, don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

My Top Five Surprises While Investigating The Kirk Murphy Story

Kirk, in 2003 (Photo courtesy of Tim Lee)

This was a story full of surprises, beginning with the first one: this comment that Kirk’s sister, Maris, left on BTB last October. That was the comment that started it all. And as I interviewed the family and researched the story, I had several other surprises along the way:

Surprise #1: Who’s In Charge?
When I interviewed Kirk’s mother, Kaytee, for the first time and I asked her about George Rekers, she had no idea who I was talking about. She had taken Kirk to UCLA after seeing Dr. Richard Green, a noted expert on childhood gender development, on a local Los Angeles talk show. For all of these years, she beleived it was Green who was in charge of Kirk’s therapy. (The last time I talked to her, she still believes it, and has good reasons behind her belief.) Kaytee remembers Rekers as just a “college assistant.” In fact, Rekers was a grad student who had just earned his Bachelor’s degree a few months before treating Kirk. It’s hard to believe that Rekers was solely responsible for Kirk’s therapy, but getting to the bottom of the riddle proved much harder than I would have guessed.

Surprise #2: How Important Kirk’s Case Really Was
I was surprised at how often Rekers wrote about Kirk’s case and how important it was to behavioral therapists who were trying to change their clients’ sexual orientation. The 1974 paper which broke the case very nearly became a “classic” in the professional literature and was cited more than a hundred times by other journals, books, and even college textbooks. “Kraig’s” case — Rekers’s pseudonym for Kirk, was cited specifically by numerous researchers, and he became the subject of intense debate over the ethics and efficacy of behavioral therapy to change sexual orientation. Yet all the while, the Murphy family new nothing about it.  (I’ll have more on that tomorrow and Thursday).

The last time George Rekers wrote about Kirk was in 2009, nearly six years after Kirk committed suicide. Rekers contributed a chapter to Dr. Julie Harren Hamilton’s Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions. Hamilton is the president of NARTH, and the book is available through NARTH’s online bookstore. It has also been sold at various ex-gay gatherings and conventions. In the book’s final chapter, Rekers wrote:

Follow-up psychological evaluations three years after treatment indicates that Craig’s gender behaviors became normalized. An independent clinical psychologist evaluated Craig and found that post-treatment he had a normal male identity. Using intrasubject replication designs, this published case was the first experimentally demonstrated reversal of a cross-gender identity with psychological treatment, and the journal article on this case was among the top 12 cited articles in clinical psychology in the 1970s.

Surprise #3: The Lack of Independent Verification
Given how important Kirk’s case was in behavioral therapy, I was very surprised at how easy it was for someone to publish a paper and see everyone else accept the report at face value. Peer review is supposed to be the gold standard in science, but this case reveals that peer review has very little ability to guarantee the facts in a case. Rekers claimed that there were independent follow-ups, but his evidence for that is very scant at best. I’ll have more on that tomorrow morning, but suffice it to say, once independent evidence finally came available, it revealed — or at least should have revealed — that Rekers’s assurances that Kirk remained “normal” on follow-up were suspect, to say the least.

Surprise #4: How Kirk’s Therapy Affected Others In The Family
As a gay man myself, it was easy to identify with Kirk’s suffering. What surprised me though was how the therapy he underwent affected the whole family. Especially poignant is Mark’s story. He saw how abusive the therapy was for Kirk, so he moved some of Kirk’s red chips into his own pile and took the beatings for his younger brother. When he told me that over the phone, it took him a long time to work his way through it. It was a very emotional conversation, and he has been carrying that emotion with him for forty years.

Also, while I think it is easy to look at Kirk’s parents as villains in the story, I think I have much greater sympathy for Kaytee and Rod than I thought I would. Sympathy for Kaytee was relatively easy; she did what most mothers in 1970 would have done, and she is horrified at the results. But I am surprised at my sympathy for Rod (he has since passed away), given the fact that he was the one who delivered the beatings. No, I don’t condone the physical abuse at all. He clearly went over the line. But the context is interesting. First, Rod didn’t want to be a part of the therapy to begin with. But also remember, he was being blamed for Kirk’s “condition” according to the theories that UCLA communicated with the family. (and I’ll have more on that Friday). According to Rekers, it was absent or distant fathers that made their sons gay, and it remains one of the main theories behind the ex-gay movement today. Fathers are still the fall guys for their sons’ sexuality.

Surprise #5: How Kirk Managed To Stay Alive For So Long
That’s a paraphrase of Maris’s observation as she came to understand the magnitude of what happened to her brother. The fact that he did survive as long as he did is a testament to the good friends he made along the way, particularly his ex-wife Debbie and his roommate Tim. Getting into the Air Force after high school was probably the best thing that could have happened to him, not only for the self-confidence he must have gotten over becoming a successful linguist, but more importantly for meeting Tim and Debbie. It just goes to show how important close friends can be.

Those were the biggest surprises so far for me. I’m still learning. I wonder what you found surprising. Please let me know in the comments.

The other option

For Kirk’s mother Kaytee in the 70’s, there seemed to be only one responsible way to respond to Kirk’s gender atypical behavior. She sought out help from trusted authorities, doctors at UCLA, who promised that they could cure Kirk of his behavior and thus help him avoid a life of difference and difficulty.

But not every parent chooses to try and change their child; some decide to love them exactly as they are. To love them and to support them, care for them, protect them, and make them strong enough to claim their own place in the world.

One such mother writes a blog about her experiences with her four-year-old gender atypical boy. Raising my Rainbow (“adventures in raising a slightly effeminate, possibly gay, totally fabulous son”) is a real life, real time, honest expression of a gifted storyteller. It has also grown into a community of other moms who have, perhaps for the first time ever, a place to share and compare the parenting of kids who not only don’t fit the mold, but redecorate the mold in pink with sparkly glitter.

Rekers Responds In CNN’s “Sissy Boy Experiments” Tonight

CNN has just posted their online report at CNN.com about

“Kraig, I think, certainly was Rekers’ poster boy for what Rekers was espousing for young children,” said Jim Burroway, a writer and researcher who has studied Rekers’ work.

“We have been wondering where is Kraig? A lot of us have talked about it. Where is he today? Is he married or is he gay? Or specifically does he even know that Rekers has been writing about him?” said Burroway. “I found 17 different articles, books, chapters, that he has written in which he talked about Kraig.”

Rekers’ work with Kirk Murphy helped him build a three-decade career as a leading national expert in trying to prevent children from becoming gay, a career as an anti-gay champion that would later be tainted by his involvement in an embarrassing scandal.

As part of my investigation, I had wanted to speak to George Rekers. But after the rent-boy scandal, he had all but disappeared, and I was unable to find any working contact information from him. CNN was able to track him down:

“Well, I think, scientifically that would be inaccurate to assume that it was the therapy, but I do grieve for the parents now that you’ve told me that news. I think that’s very sad,” he said.

Rekers pointed out that the therapy had been decades earlier.

“That’s a long time ago, and to hypothesize, you have a hypothesis that positive treatment back in the 1970s has something to do with something happening decades later. That would, that hypothesis would need a lot of scientific investigation to see if it’s valid. Two independent psychologists with me had evaluated him and said he was better adjusted after treatment, so it wasn’t my opinion.” he said.

Those independent evaluations are an important part of the story. I will have more about that tomorrow. But I think it’s important to note what Maris, Kirk’s sister, told CNN:

But Maris Murphy says Kirk lied to those examining him. “He was conditioned to say what they wanted to hear,” she said.

CNN’s “Sissy Boy Experiment”

While I was interviewing the Murphy family and putting together our investigative report, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?”, the Kirk’s family were also speaking with CNN about the crude therapeutic attempts to make four-year-old Kirk straight. This video provides a small hint of what you will see tonight on the first installment of CNN’s three part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment,” Anderson Cooper 360, beginning at 10:00 p.m. EDT.

BTB Original Investigation: The True Story of George Rekers And “Kraig”

In the summer of 1970, just before Kirk’s fifth birthday, his parents learned about a new federally funded research program at UCLA for young boys who were showing early signs of being effeminate. Concerned that Kirk was exhibiting some of the behaviors listed by a UCLA researcher on a local television talk show, Kirk’s parents decided to take him in for an evaluation and treatment. Ten months later, Kirk’s therapy was judged a success and his parents were reassured he would now grow up to be a normal, heterosexual man.

When Kirk was undergoing treatment at UCLA, he was under the care of a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. In 1974, Rekers and his mentor, Dr. Ivar Lovaas, published a landmark paper describing “Kraig’s” treatment — “Kraig” being their pseudonym for Kirk. That paper, which appeared in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, was “the first experimental study on the subject of childhood cross-gender problems.” That paper launched Rekers’s career, first as an expert in childhood sexual development, and later as an anti-gay activist.

Kirk survived his ordeal, and he continued to grow up under relative anonymity. Neither he nor his family knew that he was the subject of nearly two decades of discussion among behavioral therapists working to change their clients’ sexual orientation. Through it all, Rekers wrote that Kirk had a “normal male identity, had normal aspirations for growing up to be married and have a family, and was well-adjusted as a teen-age boy in general.” The truth was far different. His suicide attempt at the age of seventeen was unsuccessful. But twenty years later, he took his life on December 21, 2003. He was 38.

Rekers’s career came to an end on May 4, 2010, when two reporters at The Miami New Times revealed that he had been photographed at the Miami International Airport while returning from an overseas trip in the company of a handsome, blond twenty-years-old man who Rekers found on Rentboy.com. Rekers protested that he had hired the escort to help him with his luggage, but his escort himself begged to differ. Rekers’s colleagues began distancing themselves from him, and he eventually resigned from the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a group composed of dissident therapists who believe that homosexuality is a pathology in need of treatment, despite the findings otherwise of every major medical and mental health organization.

Today we can reveal the full story behind the story. In an original BTB investigation, “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” we take you through extensive interviews with Kirk’s mother, brother and sister, ex-wife, friends, and others to bring you up to date on the truth behind Rekers’s “success.” We also investigate the state of psychology in 1970 when Kirk first came under Rekers’s care, and the profound changes that the profession underwent in the forty years since then — changes which Rekers steadfastly resisted. It is all right here.

On Tuesday evening, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 will also present the first installment of a three-part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment,” beginning at 10:00 p.m. EDT. Believe me, you won’t want to miss it.

Daily Agenda for Tuesday, June 7

TODAY’S AGENDA (OURS):
The Sissy Boy Experiment: CNN. Tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360 will air the first installment of a three-part series, “The Sissy Boy Experiment: Uncovering the Truth.” This series is the result of several month’s of  investigating the truth behind the UCLA program to turn effeminate boys into straight men. One young patient was a four-year-old boy by the name of Kirk Murphy. In tonight’s episode, you will meet Kirk’s family as they describe the impact that program had on Kirk and their family since 1970. (For full disclosure, I was interviewed by CNN as part of their investigation, although I doubt that my interview will make it on air.) AC360 starts at 10:00 p.m. EDT. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, this is television you won’t want to miss.

EQCA Town Hall: San Jose, CA. Equality California will host a “Back to the Ballot?” Town hall meeting in San Jose 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 Billy De Frank Community Center, 938 The Alameda, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Premiere of “Courage Unfolds”: New York. “Courage Unfolds” is the culmination of two and a half years of gathering stories from sixteen countries across Asia. LGBT Asians have shared their stories of struggle and survival in the face of police harassment, religious homophobia, job discrimination, and family and community violence. The video showcases courageous individuals fighting for equality, safety, and the decriminalization of their lives. The video’s New York screening will be hosted with a reception by Credit Suisse and will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q & A. The event is free and open to the public.

TODAY IN HISTORY:
Miami Rescinds Gay Rights Ordinance: 1977. With a final tally of 202,319 to just 89,562, Dade County voted overwhelmingly to jump onto Anita Bryant’s bandwagon to repeal a law prohibiting discrimination in housing or employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Bryant responded, “The laws of God and the cultural values of man have been vindicated,” and announced that she would take her campaign to other cities across America. By 1977, about 40 other communities around the nation had similar anti-discrimination laws in effect.

If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. PLEASE, don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

Wyoming Supremes grant same-sex divorce rights

The Wyoming Supreme Court has recognized the right of a same-sex couple married in Canada to divorce in that state. They avoided the larger question of whether out-of-state marriage were recognized as such in Wyoming, addressing instead the narrower issue of divorce.

[R]ecognizing a valid foreign same-sex marriage for the limited purpose of entertaining a divorce proceeding does not lessen the law or policy in Wyoming against allowing the creation of same-sex marriages. A divorce proceeding does not involve recognition of a marriage as an ongoing relationship. Indeed, accepting that a valid marriage exists plays no role except as a condition precedent to granting a divorce. After the condition precedent is met, the laws regarding divorce apply. Laws regarding marriage play no role.

Specifically, Paula and Victoria are not seeking to live in Wyoming as a married couple. They are not seeking to enforce any right incident to the status of being married. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They are seeking to dissolve a legal relationship entered into under the laws of Canada. Respecting the law of Canada, as allowed by § 20-1-111, for the limited purpose of accepting the existence of a condition precedent to granting a divorce, is not tantamount to state recognition of an ongoing same-sex marriage. Thus, the policy of this state against the creation of same-sex marriages is not violated.

This does, however, give encouragement to those who would claim other marriage benefits or rights based on an out-of-state marriage.

Much thanks to reader embarcadero