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 lobbyMay 17th, 2007
It may be possible that in some select group of patients the HIV virus may be eliminated entirely. Or at least that is the hope of scientists, including Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
AIDS may be cured in a select group of patients who now have extremely low levels of virus in their bodies by aggressively dosing them for a year with new HIV drugs from Roche Holding AG and Merck & Co., according to the top U.S. infectious disease scientist.
For those who are religious, please keep these efforts in your prayers. Perhaps it is fitting that this announcement of hope comes on the same day as the death of a man who once called AIDS “the wrath of a just God against homosexuals”.
May 17th, 2007
One entry found for homophobia. Main Entry: ho·mo·pho·bia
Pronunciation: "hO-m&-'fO-bE-&
Function: noun
: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals
Today is IDAHO – the International Day Against Homophobia – and Exodus International President Alan Chambers has blogged that he is a supporter. He, after all, is “not homophobic.”
However, to come to that conclusion Mr. Chambers has to use an outdated and very limited definition of homophobia: fear or hatred of homosexuals. But homophobia is part of the family of traits-based bigotry and the more accurate definition is easier to understand when compared to its siblings: racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Catholicism.
I love Negros, especially my maid, but I think they just aren’t mentally sophisticated enough to vote.
I don’t fear or hate Jews — I work with many at the studio — but I just don’t want them buying a house in my neighborhood.
Catholics are fine but I couldn’t vote for a one, they answer to Rome not the American public.
Women are just too emotional to be in charge of making executive level decisions.
None of these statements show hatred or fear, per se, but each of them demonstrates bigotry that was at one time socially acceptable in this country. Each displays an attitude of superiority and a willingness to discriminate against others — in many instances to go in violation of the principles of our Constitution or the Christian notion of equality before God. And all are now recognized as abhorrent and evil.
Bigotry, you see, goes beyond hatred and fear. It incorporates a willingness to discriminate or enforce on others an inferior station in life. And every dictionary I consulted included within it’s definition of “homophobia” a component of discrimination.
And Alan has proven over and over to be willing to support discrimination.
When HR 1592 sought to give sexual orientation the same protections in regards to hate crimes as race or religion, Alan opposed the bill and falsely claimed, “This legislation says that we, as former homosexuals, are of less value and worth less legal protection now than when we were living as homosexuals.” (actually, the bill would assist law enforcement for crimes committed against Alan because of his ex-gay status). Alan held a press conference with other opponents in which he claimed “We’re going to see Christians persecuted for their beliefs, for simply stating that they oppose homosexuality.”
When legislators sought to change the Constitution to forever exclude gay citizens from the benefits of marriage, Alan championed the cause, arguing “Marriage has become a counterfeit means of validation to the small percentage of ‘gay’ men and women who are fighting to co-opt it.” He traveled the country, including a trip to the White House, in an effort to ensure that gay persons could not marry.
In March of this year, General Peter Pace declared that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy should remain in place because “homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” Alan immediately jumped to Pace’s defense saying “General Pace’s comments were true and firmly rooted in his upbringing and faith.” When cornered on whether he (unlike the vast majority of this country) believes this discriminatory policy should remain, Alan’s response was quite telling: “I am not sure where I stand on gays serving in the millitary. I think the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy is a passive one.”
In fact, I could not find a single instance in which Alan did not support bigotry and discrimination against gay people and their lives, dreams, and relationships when it was proposed. Perhaps there is some instance in which Alan has said, “That goes too far.” But if so, I’ve not found it.
So while I agree with Alan that, “I still see true homophobia at work each and every day,” I would suggest that Alan take a hard look in the mirror and ask himself whether that might be where he sees it.
May 17th, 2007
If we were to believe the rabid “Christian” media, we’d think that all Christians, or at least the conservative ones, are quivering in fear of being jailed for expressing their disapproval of homosexuality. While I’m quite certain that the authors of the articles are well aware that no such danger exists, one might understand if decent but uninformed everyday church-going folk were troubled by these reports of impending doom.
But they’re not. According to pollster Gallup (as reported in the Christian Post), every demographic identifiable supports the hate crimes legislation.
…no group identifiable in Gallup’s standard categories – including the Republicans, Independents, Democrats, conservatives, moderates, liberals, Protestant and those with no religious identity – expressed less than majority support for the legislation that some Christians fear could strip away their right to express a biblical view on homosexuality, according to the poll report.
May 17th, 2007
The legendary gay-rights leader Frank Kameny has released a statement in which he claims that he is “not dead.”
Next week’s issue of The Advocate, which will hit the newsstands Tuesday, reports that Frank Kameny is one of the leaders we’ve “lost to AIDS.” But Frank Kameny has come forward to deny that he has AIDS or that he is dead. He even says he will turn 82 on Monday, May 21.
Dr. Kameny was fired from his job as an astronomer at the Army Map Service in 1957 when they discovered he was gay. This began his twenty year fight against Civil Service regulations which barred gays from federal employment. He co-founded Washington’s Mattachine Society in 1961 and was part of the first picket line of gays and lesbians at the White House on April 17, 1965. And even though Frank is “not dead,” you can still read a fitting tribute by Jonathan Rauch. Kameny’s papers were recently donated to the Library of Congress.
A commentary
May 16th, 2007
Note: These opinions are mine and mine alone.
Just as I expected, anti-gay activists are appalled at the number of “sodomites” who greeted Jerry Falwell’s death with a less-than-somber attitude. In fact, some of them have responded to his death with undisguised glee.
I understand the celebrations, and I understand why some would be offended. In my own defense I didn’t break out in song when I heard the news — although to be honest, my first thought ran along the lines of “one down, so many more…” My second thought was to phone my partner and ask nonchalantly, “have you heard the news by any chance?” He hadn’t. “Falwell died,” I said. And that was about it. It was as if we ran out of coffee that morning and I wanted him to stop at the grocery store. In fact, I reminded him that we really had run out of coffee before hanging up.
But it’s true, some responded with celebrations and dancing. It’s probably not the most mature or civil way to act when someone dies, but since when have maturity and civility been hallmarks of the give and take between Jerry Falwell and the gay community?
In the 1980’s, as the gay community was facing the greatest calamity it had ever faced, there was Falwell’s visage on television, thundering, “AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
This was a time when thousands of men were being cut down in the prime of their lives, felled by a new and frightening disease. Many were fired from their jobs, kicked out of their apartments by fearful landlords, abandoned by their families, cursed by their neighbors, and reviled by national leaders. This adversity brought the gay community together in a way nothing else could. And it was other gays and lesbians who took them in, walked their dogs, cooked their meals, cleaned up their vomit and their soiled sheets, and generally did all the things that no one else would.
And when they had a chance to look up from the hard work and the horrors around them, there was Jerry Falwell, bellowing, “AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers.”
These images are impossible to forget, especially for those who lived through those darkest of days.
When that darkness began to recede with more effective medications, we still couldn’t shake Falwell’s blame whenever something when horribly wrong. There he was again, just a few days after 9/11, saying that God had lifted his veil of protection and allowed those atrocities to go forward all because of us, among others.
He apologized shortly afterward, but then just last week he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he stood by those remarks. What a class act.
So yeah, I imagine that some are offended by the celebrations of this man’s death. I don’t blame them. After all, these celebrations really are offensive, no doubt about it. But while I can understand why they’d be offended, I cannot share their outrage. I can’t even muster a shrug. Instead, I’ll just confess my sin of indifference and maybe with God’s Grace I can overcome it with time.
Christ said, “All men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” St. Augustine well understood this when he said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, using word when necessary.” They understood how important it was for preachers of the Gospel to set an example. Proclaiming the Gospel is more a matter of how one lives than it is the words that one uses.
But all too often, Falwell’s example consisted of using injurious words while remaining stingy in deed. And with those words, the gay community was often the target of his ire whenever there was death and destruction.
And so with Falwell’s death, some in the LGBT community are responding in kind. No, it’s not the best response, but look at it this way: If Falwell did set the example, then I’d say those who are celebrating are following his example pretty well. Granted, Falwell never celebrated anyone’s death as far as I know, but he certainly knew how to exploit grief and suffering. And in that sense, it could be argued that those who are celebrating are taking a page out of his playbook. They’re just running a different play. Tacky, offensive, inappropriate and ill-mannered — all of this is true, but there you have it. Offense is repaid with offense; outrage with outrage; an eye for an eye and all that.
As for me — and I’m not making any promises here — but I may try to follow a different example. I’m not sure that Falwell would approve, but at times like these I have a tendency to fall back onto my Catholic roots. It’s the tradition in Catholicism to pray the Rosary whenever someone dies.
I did this just last January, when my family gathered to pray the Rosary on the evening before my grandmother’s funeral. I used my old rosary to guide me in the prayers, a rosary that had belonged to my grandfather. My grandmother gave it to me after he died thirty-seven years earlier. That rosary has carried me through an awful lot over the years.
If I think of it — if I find a quiet moment and if my better nature retains the upper hand — I may pray the Rosary while meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries sometime this weekend. If I do, I’ll pray for Jerry Falwell (my guardian angel has already admonished me for imagining this Baptist preacher’s reaction to a gay Catholic praying for his deliverance from purgatory), and I’ll pray for his family. His family most certainly deserves our prayers and condolences during their time of sorrow.
But I gotta be honest here — and this is not something I’m proud of — but if a parade should happen to pass by, I may get distracted and go outside instead. I don’t think I’d join in necessarily, but I’d probably at least stand in the doorway and watch.
May 16th, 2007
Monday, I revealed Paul Cameron’s chillingly sympathetic accounts of how the Nazi’s “dealt with” homosexuality. I also started a list of Cameron collaborators who spread his message by using his “science.” Thanks to your inputs, it grew so large that I had to put the complete list on a separate page. Prominent additions include Robert A. J. Gagnon; James Kennedy; Christian Medical and Dental Associations; Eternal Word Television Network; the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society; Leadership U.; and Regent University.
A surprising find was Exodus Global Alliance, the worldwide arm of Exodus International (which would be more accurately thought of as Exodus North America). While Alan Chambers removed all references to Cameron’s work from Exodus International’s site, they remain on the Exodus Global Alliance site.
Meanwhile, Paul Cameron has issued a very strange press release which recycles most of the best gems from his letter to Warren Throckmorton, including his Höss-ian, “parasitic lives.”
May 16th, 2007
In today’s show Daniel examines some of the gay and ex-gay activist groups that sent out press releases today regarding the passing of Jerry Falwell as well as a clip of NPR asking tough questions of Paul Weyrich, a friend of Falwell.
[audio:http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/podcasts/07-0516.mp3]NPR story
Falwell’s claim of millions of exgays
CNN’s interview last week
May 15th, 2007
Jerry Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and the face of the Religious Right during the 80’s, is dead at 73.
Falwell was known for his opposition to gay rights and his harsh language towards gay people. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, he blamed the attack on “the pagans, the abortionists, and the feminists and the gays and lesbians”.
However in his later years he did mellow some and in August 2005 he made some statements that seemed to endorse some limited protections for gay and lesbian citizens. Falwell stated that equal access to housing and employment are basic rights, not special rights and said that he supported civil rights for gay people.
“I may not agree with the lifestyle,” Falwell said. “But that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that… part of our constituency.
“Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value,” Falwell went on to say. “It’s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.”
We send our best wishes to the family and loved ones of Jerry Falwell and hope that they find peace during this time of grief.
May 15th, 2007
Here are some more additions to the list of Cameron collaborators. The complete list will be maintained here. Many thanks to those of you who left links via e-mail or comments. If you find someone using Cameron’s junk science, please send them to me.
May 14th, 2007
Dr. Warren Throckmorton has also posted about Paul Cameron’s disturbing views expressed in Cameron’s article, “Gays in Nazi Germany.” Dr. Throckmorton concludes:
Suffice to say that Dr. Cameron is not simply ideologically opposed to homosexuality, he is fixated on “solutions” that I find abhorrent. I call on fellow social conservatives who still refer to the Camerons’ work to take a hard look at these posts and reflect on whether someone with such extreme animosity could possibly approach social science data with sufficient objectivity to be trusted.
When Ex-Gay Watch pointed out that Exodus was using Cameron’s research, Exodus finally responded by removing those web pages from their web site. On the other hand, NARTH has so far failed to act.
I wonder how many of these individuals, organizations and publishers agree with Paul Cameron’s Solution for those who live “parasitic lives”?
E-mail me or leave a comment if you find someone who is using Cameron’s “science” and I’ll add them to the list.
Let me know if you find any others.
May 14th, 2007
… of all of Paul Cameron’s publicity outlets — anyone who is complicit in spreading the so-called “science” of someone who is even willing to use the events of the Holocaust for his own aims. Included in this list are Psychological Reports and the Journal of Biosocial Sciences. Also included are NARTH, Evergreen, the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Peter LaBarbara, Richard Cohen, and so many others. I’ll have an early draft of that list posted by the end of today.
You can help. If you know of someone who’s using Cameron’s junk science, please pass it along with a link. You can do it either in the comments or via E-mail. Thanks.
May 14th, 2007
Last night as I was putting the finishing touches on my exposé of Paul Cameron’s “Gays in Nazi Germany,” Michael Petrelis emailed me to remind me that today is a profoundly important date in LGBT history.
On this day in history, exactly 110 years ago on May 14, 1897, Magnus Hirschfeld, the modern world’s first “homosexual activist” organized the Scientific Humanitarian Committee for the expressed purpose of advocating for the repeal of Paragraph 175, the German statute which criminalized sodomy. Paragraph 175 was the law that the Nazi’s would later use to send upwards of 15,000 gay men to concentration camps. The Scientific Humanitarian Committee is the first documented formal group to advocate for the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
Actually, Michael Petrelis emailed me to say that today is Magnus Hirschfeld’s 139th birthday. Born in Kolber, Germany (now Kolbrzeg, Poland), he became a prominent physician, sexologist and the pioneering gay-rights advocate. He recognized early on the importance of gays and lesbians to come out of the closet, believing that the nascent movement wouldn’t make much headway otherwise:
…(I)n the last analysis, you must carry on the fight yourselves….(T)he liberation of homosexuals can only be the work of homosexuals themselves.
The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee managed to gather over 5000 signatures from prominent Germans from all walks of society for a petition to overturn Paragraph 175. But none of the signatories were openly gay.
The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee’s work continued when he founded the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin in 1919. But the Institute’s work came to an abrupt end with the rise of the Nazi party in 1933. On May 6 of that year, the Nazi’s attacked and destroyed the institute and burned its valuable library. Dr. Hirschfeld was away on a speaking tour at the time, and so that act was the start of his permanent exile.
Dr. Hirschfeld died two years later — again on this date — of a heart attack in Nice, France on May 14, 1935. He was 67 years old.
Paul Cameron’s Nazi revisionism reminds us that Dr. Hirschfeld’s work is just as relevant today as it was a century ago.
Hat tip: Michael Petrelis
May 14th, 2007
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report saying, “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany in that these disparaging descriptions of homosexuals are reminiscent of themes found in the ugly history of anti-Semitism…” It turns out that the SPLC didn’t know half the story.
Paul Cameron, of the Family Research Institute, inhabits a very dark and sinister world. A review of his web site gives us ample evidence of what that world looks like. It’s a world of gay “parasites,” vast conspiracies, and shadow organizations, posing a dangerous threat to all of Western civilization.
And there’s something else too. There’s a strange report on “Gays in Nazi Germany” in which he whitewashes a part of the holocaust to support his theories on homosexuality. You can read it all in our latest report, “Paul Cameron’s World.”
May 11th, 2007
We previously reported about the Navy linguist who was called back for another year’s service after having been drummed out because of our nation’s increasingly indefenseable Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell policy. Well, he’s DADTed again:
Late Friday, the Navy confirmed that it is again separating Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight, this time with a DD-214 reflecting separation due to admissions of homosexual conduct.
For those unaware, “homosexual conduct” includes any verbalization of same-sex attraction.
May 9th, 2007
Last week, we told you about Christopher Gaines, who pleaded guilty to the grisly murder of Scotty Joe Weaver. On July 22, 2004, the 18-year-old’s burned body was found at the side of a rural Alabama road. He had been beaten, strangled, cut, burned and robbed of between $65 and $80.
Today, the judge in the case sentenced Gaines to life in prison without the possibility of parole. By pleading guilty, Gaines was able to avoid the death penalty. Gaines’ girlfriend Nichole Bryars Kelsay, and Robert Porter have pleaded not guilty. Their trials are set for September.
Because Alabama law requires that a jury must hear evidence for capital murder cases — even when the defendant pleads guilty — several new details came out in Gaines’ trial. On July 18, 2004, Gaines, Kelsay, and Porter plotted Weaver’s death because Gaines and Kelsay thought that Weaver was interfering in their relationship. Weaver had let Gaines and Kelsay stay with him in his home for a while. Porter simply didn’t like Weaver because of his sexuality. So that evening, Porter and Gaines snuck up on Weaver as he slept. Weaver woke briefly and begged Gaines to stop as Gaines wrapped a rope around his neck while Porter held Weaver’s feet. Weaver struggled to get away, but was overpowered.
After Weaver died, Gaines, Porter and Kelsay drove around town, stopping in at Wal-Mart, Dairy Queen and Arby’s. They even stopped into Kelsay’s mother’s house and played cards for a while before returning to Weaver’s trailer where his body still lay.
Gaines and Porter wrapped Weaver’s body in a blanket and loaded it into the trunk of a car. They stopped at a service station and filled a 3-liter bottle with gasoline before driving out to a lonely stretch of road. There, they laid Weaver face up on the blanket, poured gasoline on his body, urinated on him, then set his body on fire.
Scotty Joe Weaver’s body was found four days later.
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.
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