Official Pre-Press Release of My Book

This press release has already gone out to various folks:

Upcoming book exposes religious right’s love of junk science

Author claims “pro-family” groups rely on bad studies for their claims about the gay and lesbian community

March 29, 2007 - - According to an upcoming book, the religious right routinely smear the gay and lesbian community through junk science and distortions.Freelance author Alvin McEwen spent two years studying religious right claims regarding the gay and lesbian community. He claims to have found a disturbing pattern of deception which he will reveal in Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Anti-Gay Industry.

“James Dobson and other members of the religious right claim to operate from a Biblical standpoint,” McEwen, ‘but their behavior has been anything but Christian. They have created a litany of lies which they use to defeat pro-gay laws and ordinances."

One item McEwen’s book examines is the religious right’s dependency on the work of researcher Paul Cameron. Cameron’s studies supposedly prove that the majority of gay men are pedophiles who have a short life span. However, his work has been discredited on a number of occasions and led him to receive a dismissal from the American Psychological Association, censure by other organizations, and public rebukes by such people as former Secretary of Education William Bennett.

“But the religious right constantly cite his work while omitting his sordid history, which they are fully aware of,” McEwen said. “The majority of their claims about the gay and lesbian community are rooted in some form or another from his distortions.”

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters also reveal several incidents in which legitimate researchers, psychologists, and physicians have gone on record complaining as to how the religious right distorts their work.

One case, McEwen said, involves a claim that a 1997 Canadian study proves that gay men have a short life span.

“The religious right always fail to mention that in 2001, the authors of the study said that their work was being distorted,” McEwen said.

And this is not an isolated incident.McEwen said that other times in which there have been complaints about distortions, so-called “pro-family” groups either ignored the researchers or accused them of having a “pro-gay” bias.

Other topics covered in Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters are the six distortion techniques of the religious right and how they distort sexual health information.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters will be available for sale later this year through various online bookstores.

“At the very least, this book is a way for the gay and lesbian community to educate themselves,” McEwen said.

Anyone wanting further information, including how to receive press packets and excerpts or to be put on a list so they can be informed when the book is available for sale can email Alvin McEwen at CharleKenghis@aol.com

Progress of the book can be checked via http://holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com/

Wipe your mouths, boys. Your drool is showing.

Word came down today that something many thought was a hate crime may not have been so:

The cousin of a 72-year-old gay man whose death became a national focus for gay rights advocates and a catalyst for legislation said Thursday she won't stop asking questions even if police have.

Athena Fedenis said she was stunned to learn that Detroit police have closed their probe into last month's death of Andrew Anthos after the department was unable to find witnesses to a beating. It also stopped the investigation after the Wayne County medical examiner's office ruled Anthos fell because he had an arthritic neck, not because he was struck by an assailant during a hate-fueled attack.

According to Fedenis and other family members, Anthos said he was riding a city bus home from the library on Feb. 13 when a young man asked him if he was gay and called him a "faggot."

Naturally, our friend Peter at Americans For Truth (in name only) is spinning what happened as a plot by the gay community to force hate crimes protection. And I am sure that in the coming days, assorted bloggers and anti-gay industry groups will be sounding the drumbeat.

But don't get to happy, guys.

While they seem to be salivating over the possibility of catching the gay community in a degree of unchecked stridency in which some of us may have jumped the gun, I am not worried.

The anti-gay industry will overplay their hand in this matter. They always do.

Whatever the truth is about Mr. Andros's case, it still does not take away the fact that hate crimes protections still exists and this new law being pushed through Congress will merely add sexual orientation to the list of protections (the others being race, religion, and natural origin).

Why is it so hard for Focus on the Family, the Traditional Values Coalition, etc. to explain how adding sexual orientation to hate crimes legislation will cause Christians to be persecuted when the other categories have not caused any problems.

For those wanting more information, John Aravois nails the anti-gay industry over their lies

I guess it is easier to lie and distort even if you consider yourself a Christian.

And speaking of lies, while Peter and company are bitching about the Andros case:

The American Family Association is still selling It's Not Gay, featuring Michael Johnston claiming that he is no longer gay. Keep in mind that while he was making this claim, Johnston was having unprotected sex with gay men, despite the fact that he is HIV positive.

And Americans For Truth (in name only) still features the new phony study from Paul Cameron, ignoring his history of distortion and censure.

So boys, before you attack the gay and lesbian community for the Andros case, look to yourselves.

Even wannabe Christians who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.