Box Turtle Bulletin

Janelle Hallman Cites Paul Cameron

Also joining the list of Cameron supporters is Janelle Hallman. She’s the ex-gay therapist who reached for discredited “researcher” Paul Cameron in her brand new book, The Heart of Female Same-Sex Attraction: A Comprehensive Counseling Resource.

Hallman is a frequent speaker at NARTH and Exodus conferences. When social conservatives like Hallman reach for Cameron, they breath new life into his Nazi sympathizing agenda. At the very least, when they confuse his unethical and illegitimate faux “research” for the real thing, it rightly calls into question their own judgment as professionals.

LifeSite Continues to Cite Paul Cameron

The unofficial Roman Catholic LifeSiteNews is an amazing piece of work. They managed to turn a study about large families into an anti-gay tract. And Paul Cameron was right there to help them:

While the UM study shows the health benefits of the traditional large family, other recent studies have revealed the health dangers of non-traditional social relations.

A recent study found that individuals taking part in legal same-sex “marriages” in Norway and Denmark lived 24 fewer years than individuals in traditional marriages, Drs. Paul and Kirk Cameron reported at the 2007 annual Eastern Psychological Association convention.

The man has no shame whatsoever. Not only was his so-called “study” completely bogus and easily refuted, Cameron is still repeating the lie that he “reported” his study at the 2007 annual Eastern Psychological Association convention. You may remember we obtained a statement from EPA president Dr. Phil Hineline exposing Cameron’s boldface lie just a little over a year ago.

But LifeSite really seems to like Cameron. This is the eighth time they’ve turned to him. Like I said, they’re a real piece of work.

The Real Threat Of Same Sex Marriage

The New York Times Magazine has a very illuminating story on young gays getting married. It turns out that they have a lot of goofy and ordinary similarities to their straight counterparts. They meet, fall in love, and then they start to figure out what that means to them. For many, that means “settling down,” which comes as a surprise to those who had no intention of settling down — just like a lot of straight couples.

And I think that this the real “threat” that social conservatives find in same-sex marriage: it humanizes us.

They’ve established a massive multi-million dollar industry to convince Americans that gays and lesbians are evil monsters threatening western civilization. Focus On the Family has 1300 employees. Think of it: that’s larger than many factories. And they use their massive resources — their broadcast outlets and their print publications — to portray us as being a part of an evil agenda bringing America to its knees. And until now, they’ve had free reign to say whatever they want about gay people. When few Americans were able to see real world examples to counter their false stereotype, it represented a very powerful wedge.

But gay couples getting married and setting up households couldn’t be more conventional. It is tangible evidence that we’re not all that different in many important ways. We get together for all the same reasons — good and bad — that straight couples do. Some of our relationships are long lasting and monogamous (something that social conservatives say is impossible) and some fall apart or experience a series of affairs (just like straight couples’ marriage.) Some should never have gotten together in the first place.

But for many of us, we are yet another household on the same block with dozens of other families. We’re attending PTA and homeowner association meetings. We go to block parties and neighborhood Christmas parties. We go to each others’ homes and play cards or have barbecue. We send graduation gifts, we wave goodbye when people move away, and we call on our neighbors to offer condolences when tragedy strikes.

And nothing could be more threatening to social conservatives than that.

Norwegians Support Marriage

According to Aftenposten, the citizens of Norway support the government’s plan to bring about marriage equality.

Left-wing voters of the Socialist Left (SV) and Red parties were particularly supportive, with over 90 percent saying they favored the new Act, which gives equal rights to gay and heterosexual married couples.

The Act gets solid majority backing from Labour and Liberal Party voters as well, just over 50 percent support from Conservative Party voters, and 50 percent of populist Progress Party voters say no.

Christian Democrat Party voters stand out with about 90 percent opposition to the new law proposal.

Hutch’s Disrupting Protest

One of the consistent (and consistently stupid) claims of the anti-gay wacktivists is that the Day of Silence is “disrupting” of schools. Sitting there silent (unless called on in class) disrupts the education process by (silently) shoving your views down the throats of other students (the other frequent but oddly chosen catch phrase), ya see.

So Rev. Ken Hutcherson decided to protest, along with 1,000 of his prayer buddies.

Well, the Day of Silence has come and gone at the Mount Si High School. And how did Hutch do in quelling the disturbance?

Well, let’s see…

Around 7 am about 80 parents and supporters of the Gay-Straight Alliance came and silently stood to welcome those students observing the DOS.

“We want to let students in the GSA know they have support in the community,” said Lucinda Hauser, a parent of a Mount Si student.

Then at 9:30 am, Hutcherson’s bus showed up with him, his bodyguards, and about 100 supporters. Although he had placed an add in the local newspaper and was hoping for 1,000 angry anti-gays, he didn’t come close to meeting his goal. Hutcherson’s group began to pray and sing and wave signs with messages such as “Silence for Unnatural Behavior? Not ME”.

The parents and supporters had left around 8, not wanting to deal with Hutch and crew. But another group of about 150 counter-protestors were there to challenge the anti-gays. Some, it seems, were from Tolt UCC Congregational Church who ran an ad of support for the students in the same newspaper.

Ken Lauren, a Redmond parent whose son-in-law teaches at Mt. Si, shouted, “Are these the values you want your kids to grow up with — bigotry, intolerance, hatred.” He carried a sign that said, “I believe in separation of church and hate.”

The chaos outside was in contrast to the silence inside. About 200 of the 1,400 students took part in the effort to honor Lawrence King and to draw attention to discrimination and violence against gay kids.

But theirs was not the only message. The Mt. Si Conservative Club passed out red, white and blue ribbons to display their opposition to the silent students.

Inside the school, students and administrators said there were many T-shirts expressing opposing views and some intense discussions.

And to avoid all the conflict (or, more likely, because they could get away with it), about 500 students stayed away from school.

So how well did Rev. Hutcherson do in his quest to stop the disturbing effect of the Day of Silence at his daughter’s high school? Perhaps it would do to compare Mt. Si to other schools in the area.

Seventeen of 19 high schools in King County participated in the National Day of Silence, but none of the other schools had any of the tense moments seen in Snoqualmie.

So I guess we can say that Hutch didn’t succeed in his goal of bringing order from chaos. But some have doubts that this was his goal anyway.

Reverend Hutcherson and his supporters said they were there because they didn’t think school is the place for a demonstration about sexuality.

However, school officials think Hutcherson’s stand may be pay-back after teachers, since disciplined, heckled him at a civil rights assembly. And the school says Friday’s tolerance should be a lesson to both students and parents alike.

“The reverend is going to do what he’s going to do,” said Mt. Si High School principal Randy Taylor. “We certainly are disappointed that he’s taken this form of protest on a student-initiated, student-organized activity.”

I’ll bet Taylor is praying that Hutch decides on private schooling soon.

Some Lovin’ From Stacy Harp

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

Hutcherson Supporters Speak Out

Ken Schram at KOMO TV in Seattle has been critical of Ken Hutcherson’s campaign against Mt. Si High School. He’s provided a sample of some of the responses to him.

They are all worth a chuckle or a cringe, but my favorite is

Elaine Biggerstaff writes: “You are the perpetrator of hate when you refuse to tolerate the obligation Christians have to believe what God has revealed.”

I’m not sure exactly what Ms. Biggerstaff thinks that God has revealed about the murder of Lawrence King.

Arizona House Still Hasn’t Scheduled Anti-Marriage Vote

There’s still time to contact your Arizona state representatives. The Arizona House has still not given its final approval to the proposed anti-marriage constitutional amendment (SCR 1041).

We reported that the Arizona House of Representatives brought the proposed anti-marriage constitutional amendment (SCR 1042) to the floor on Wednesday and that the final vote was expected to take place as soon as Thursday. Well, it didn’t happen, and last I heard the vote wasn’t expected to take place today either.

Please note: A lot of bloggers and out-of-state web sites are erroneously reporting that the House has approved the measure and it has gone on to the Senate. It hasn’t. The House has only given its preliminary approval to bring the bill to the floor. That means there’s still time for you to act.

Remember: there are two representatives for each legislative district. If you don’t know who your representatives are, the Equality Arizona web site can find them for you and provide you with their phone numbers and contact information. You can call then directly, or you can even send a message via Equality Arizona.

Please let your representatives know how much you appreciate their work in opposing this divisive and anti-family measure. And if they happen to not be working in your favor, please politely inform them of what they are doing to you and your family.

Scientists Pessimistic on AIDS Vaccine

Britain’s The Independent newspaper surveyed more than 35 leading AIDS scientists in the U.K. and the United States found that most of them blieve that a vaccine against HIV may never be possible. Only four were more optimistic than they were five years ago. Thirty-five seems like a very small sample to go on, but The Independent, ever proud of its own exclusive polling, is touting this as “the latest in a series of setbacks in the 25-year struggle to develop an HIV vaccine.”

Moscow’s Banned Pride Day Becomes Pride Month

Russian gay rights advocate Nikolai Alexeyev’s bid for a gay pride parade during the May Day holidays was rejected by Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Segei Tsoi, the mayor’s spokesman, warned that if they went ahead with the march, there “could be blood, which no one wants. He also accused Alexeyev of trying to “spoil” a traditional labor holiday, a charge which Alexeyev adamantly rejected:

“As if gays don’t support peace and don’t work,” said an incredulous Alexeyev. “Don’t we pay the taxes that support this government? I don’t understand this at all.”

In response, Alexeyev has announced that he will submit notifications for five marches per day for each day in May on different streets around Moscow’s city center. Anticipating that none of these marches will be permitted to take place, Alexeyev says it will demonstrate to the Council of Europe that “homosexuals are not allowed to freely express their opinions in Moscow — in any day in any form, in any street and in any time.” Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights, which obligates Russia to observe the rights to peaceful assembly and demonstrations. A complaint has been filed in the European Court in Strasbourg.

Mayor Luzhkov has branded gay pride parades as “satanic” and vowed that they would never be permitted in the capital.

Last year’s Moscow Pride gathering was broken up by violent thugs, Russian Orthodox clergy and police. None of the anti-gay assailants who instigated the violence were arrested. Instead, police hauled off Alexeyev, British gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell, Right Said Fred singer Richard Fairbrass, Italian Member of European Parliament Marco Cappato, German Member of Parliament Volker Beck, and 27 others.

Homosexuality was legalized in Russia in 1993, but discrimination against gays and lesbians remains widespread.

A Shameless Plug

A slightly edited version of my article on ONE Magazine’s 1958 Supreme Court victory has been published in the March-April 2008 Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide. I’m excited for a couple of reasons. I’m proud of having raised awareness of the very first pro-gay Supreme Court ruling in history. And I’m a huge fan of the Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide because of the intelligence and depth of coverage of the important issues facing us. Since I let my Advocate subscription lapse, this is the only remaining LGBT print subscription I have. Believe me, the G&LRW is no Advocate; there are no fluff celebrity profiles here.

Okay, I stand corrected. Noël Coward is on the cover — but you GET the picture.

Paul Cameron Testifies As “Expert Witness”

We were able to obtain a copy of Paul Cameron’s March newsletter from one of our favorite readers. And it looks like he’s still capable of quite a bit of dangerous mischief:

I was invited as an expert witness to present evidence as to why one state’s use of homosexuals as foster parents should be halted. Since a continuance was issued at the court hearing, I’ll keep you informed of further developments.

I received a tip which suggests that his testimony may have been in Beckley, West Virginia. According to that tip, a lesbian couple have been providing foster care for children in Fayette county for several years. Apparently, they and/or the WV Department of Health and Human Resources are being sued to force the removal of all the children from their home.

Cameron, of course, is utterly incapable of telling the truth no matter what oath he may have taken. In 1985 he was censured by Judge Jerry Buchmeyer of the U.S. District Court of Dallas, who wrote:

Dr. Paul Cameron…has himself made misrepresentations to this Court … There has been no fraud or misrepresentations except by Dr. Cameron.

Since then, he’s been kicked out of the American Pshychological Association, and he’s been reprimanded by the Nebraska Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, and more recently, the Eastern Psychological Association. All of this is for his continued and persistent ethical violations and for getting caught in boldfaced lies.

If anyone knows where Cameron might have testified or the particulars of the court case, please let me know either in the comments or by email.

Bahrain’s Anti-Gay Witch Hunt

We’ve reported on the anti-gay witch hunt that’s been taking place in Egypt under the cover of an anti-HIV witch hunt. Now we learn that there’s an anti-gay witch hunt going on in Bahrian, one of the U.S. administration’s allies in the “war on terror.” This witch hunt extends to school children:

School students could soon be spied on under a campaign to stamp out homosexuality, under demands made by MPs yesterday. Parliament also demanded that the Interior Ministry stop granting any residence permits to foreign homosexuals. Any already here should be deported as soon as they are detected, MPs said at parliament’s weekly session.

MPs also called for regular inspections to root out homosexuals at massage parlours, health clubs and hair salons. It also called for monitoring in schools and for pupils who veer towards homosexuality to be punished.

Hutcherson and Barber Talk About the Day of Silence and Reveal Hutch’s Paranoia

Rev. Ken Hutcherson spoke with Matt Barber on a Concerned Women for America podcast about Hutcherson’s protest of the Day of Silence. Barber and Hutcherson both make some claims that do not seem to be fact based and, in Hutcherson’s case, appear to demonstrate paranoia:

Barber claims

• GLSEN is an “adult homosexual activist group” that uses children as “pawns to futher their very deceptive agenda”.
• some Christians are taking a “very soft approach” to the Day of Silence rather than “challenge it head on” because they want “the path of least resistance”. [I assume this refers to the Golden Rule pledge]

Hutcherson claims

• kids who are kept out of school on the DOS may make up an excuse rather than “stand up”.
• he was invited to speak at Mt. Si because it was “a great time to ambush the Christian”.
• he’s been labeled the “number one homophobe in the United States”. He told “them” that as long as Dr. James Dobson is alive then Dobson’s number one and he’s is number two. [I can’t find any reference anywhere to Hutcherson being labeled as the number one homophobe, much less that he responded in any way to “them”]
• there is a million dollar award out for information that would destroy his ministry.
• the minute his daughter introduced him on MLK day, white teachers booed [although news reports indicate that one teacher booed, Hutcherson repeated referred to “white teachers”, plural]
• the school promised him that there would be nothing controversially done about his appearance
• four or five teachers run the whole school, along with the principal and assistant principal and they are all afraid of the homosexual agenda
• if you look through the Bible you cannot find one word in the Bible that relates to tolerance
• the reason Jesus didn’t condemn the woman at the well was because was “set up to sin” and the man she committed adultery with wasn’t also brought. He implied that otherwise Jesus would have condemned both of them.

Barber also seems to imply that Hutcherson should engage in violence against the school authorities. Hutcherson said, “now you’ve got an angry dad”, to which Barber replies, “I don’t blame you and I seem to recall that you played a little football”. [Hutcherson played in the NFL in the 70’s].

All in all, I have to conclude that Hutcherson is either paranoid or not particularly concerned about the accuracy of his statements.

(hat tip to Good-As-You)

T-Shirt Wars: A Temporary Victory for the Mean Spirited

Alexander Nuxoll sued his school district in order to be allowed to wear the slogan “Be Happy, Not Gay” on a t-shirt on the Day of Silence. Twice now courts have upheld the school’s right to ban insulting and discriminatory messages.

But now the Naperville Sun is reporting that appeals Judge Richard Posner has validated Nuxoll’s right to wear his message of condemnation – at least until he has his day in court.

But on Wednesday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reversed the lower courts’ rulings against Nuxoll, saying the district court must order Neuqua to suspend its ban on the shirt while the civil rights lawsuit filed by Nuxoll and Neuqua grad Heidi Zamecnik proceeds.

“We cannot accept the defendants’ argument that the rule is valid because all it does is protect the ‘rights’ of the students against whom derogatory comments are directed,” states the court’s opinion, authored by Judge Richard Posner. “Of course a school can – often it must – protect students from the invasion of their legal rights by other students. But people do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or for that matter their way of life.”

Now that everyone can wear “criticism of beliefs” on their t-shirts, I wonder how Nuxoll would feel if he showed up to his class on the “Day of Truth” and found that all of his other classmates were wearing t-shirts that criticized his beliefs. But I don’t recommend that… it wouldn’t be the way I’d want to be treated.

See also:
T-Shirt Wars: Appeals
Arizona House Passes Bigot Protection Act
Anti-Gay T-Shirt Wars