Six Distortion Techniques of the Anti-Gay Industry

Over a two year period, I looked over various research papers, studies, and claims that the anti-gay industry has written pertaining to the gay community. I found a disturbing pattern of deception that can be broken down to six distortion techniques.

Let me preface my claim by saying when I make mention of "the anti-gay industry," I am not talking about Christians and other people of faith in general. The anti-gay industry are the organizations and groups who claimed to stand for "traditional values" or "morality," such as Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, the Traditional Values Coalition, etc.

I am also referring to people like James Dobson, Lou Sheldon, Peter LaBarbera, DL Foster, or any person who seek to exploit the religious beliefs of people of faith for their own personal agendas.

I refer to them cynically as an "industry" because their very existence relies on fears, lies, and stereotypes about the gay community. And fears, lies, and stereotypes are not indicative or any group or persons who claim to stand for morality and values. I have gone into detail about these propaganda techniques in other writings and will continue to do such in my upcoming book.

At least two of these techniques are present in almost every "religious right" claim or study about the gay community.

Distortion Technique 1 - Using nonrepresentative or out of date studies to make generalizations or distorting legitimate to give misleading conclusions
Anti-gay industry studies often rely on convenience samples (individuals who are easy to reach for the research being done) in order to stigmatize the entire gay community. Many of these studies consist of gays in STD clinics or foreign research, such as those from the Netherlands. So-called "pro family" groups often push the incorrect idea that the Netherlands is the most gay-tolerant place in the world and subsequently, if they could take studies from that area and show that "promoting homosexuality" there has caused problems, and then it would demonstrate that homosexuality on the whole is a bad concept. Lastly, the anti-gay industry routinely manipulate the findings of certain studies to reach a conclusion that had nothing to do with the studies’ original objective.

Distortion Technique 2 - Repetition
In addition to distorting legitimate studies, so-called "pro family" groups are also aided by the constant repetition of these distortions. Once they find something that can be construed as a negative fact about the gay community, it is repeated over and over again. These "facts" are often repeated in front of legislative bodies or on media interviews. One of the most dangerous avenues that these lies can channel is being cited by well-meaning people of faith or by television program commentators as proof of the so-called dangers of homosexuality.

Distortion technique 3 - Conspiracy Theory
The anti-gay industry have on many occasions accused the gay community of being the masterminds of a huge plot to overturn "American values." In the absence of concrete proof, they create theories linked together by the strings of paranoia. So-called "pro family" groups claim to speak for and to people of faith. Unfortunately many of these people of faith are not familiar with the gay community. All the anti-gay industry has to do is pull up a "questionable" quote from at least one gay or lesbian leader to exploit this ignorance and they easily have these people of faith convinced that an "agenda" is afoot.

Distortion Technique 4 - Dire Consequences
One of the most effective tactics of the anti-gay industry is to claim that pro-gay laws will lead to dire consequences. They say that laws created to protect gays would either a: cause homosexuality to be "forced" on everyone, particularly children or b: cause those who supposedly speak out against homosexuality to be jailed. Possible coercion by an "aggressive homosexual lobby" is a constant theme in anti-gay industry data.

The "dire consequences" argument is an old fear tactic that was used in other battles. Just as white racists claimed that any elimination of Jim Crow laws would lead to mixed couples and "mongrelization," the anti-gay industry claim that any law or ordinance that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination or give them any form of visibility is a capitulation that would lead America down a pathway to destruction.

Distortion Technique 5 - Phony Experts
The anti-gay industry generally don’t recruit third, unbiased parties in their fact gathering. They create their own experts on the subject of homosexuality. And these phony experts, usually in-house employees or some with affiliations to so-called "pro family" groups, already have anti-gay biases. Certainly everything they say and do will put homosexuality in a bad light, whether deserved or not, because that is what they are getting paid for. These so-called experts (i.e. Timothy Dailey, Robert Knight, Peter LaBarbera, etc.) have no training or background in what they claim to have expert opinions in. It seems that their titles are dependent on how well they look in the media, or how adept they can apply spin.

Distortion Technique 6 - Dehumanizing Semantics
In order for their arguments to gain more power, the anti-gay industry seeks to strip gays and lesbians of their humanity in the eyes of the public. To them, it is not enough to declare that homosexuality is against God’s will. These organizations manufacture illusions of cabals and invisible enemies; nameless and faceless gay legions out to "destroy" American values and morals.

To further this incorrect notion, members of the anti-gay industry often use sound bites that are repeated until they become part of the verbal lexicon. They skillfully employ phrases that covertly push the idea that gays are outside of the mainstream. This serves to dehumanize their opposition. The following phrases have been used over and over again to describe the actions of the gay community and those viewed as their supporters:

"promoting homosexuality"
"marketing homosexuality"
"endorsing homosexuality"
"teaching homosexuality"
"homosexual activists"
"radical gay agenda"
"activist judges"
"forcing their agenda on us"
"pro homosexual"
"sodomy advocates"
"sodomy lobby"
"sexual anarchists"
"special rights"
"homosexual behavior"
"legitimizing their lifestyle"
"lifestyle"
"deadly lifestyle"
"death style"
"counterfeit marriage"

I invite anyone to look at any study, quote, or research paper by any member of the anti-gay industry. See if any of these distortion techniques are present.