Earlier this month, phony historian David Barton and WallBuilders Live co-host Rick Green went on a tangent about (what else) the supposed gay agenda in schools during a radio program. According to Right-Wing Watch:
Right-Wing Watch also said that Barton alluded to how the ACP sent a letter to over 14,000 school superintendents regarding so-called "gay indoctrination."
An online buddy of mine, Bernie Keefe, got angry at what Barton said, so he emailed both Barton and Green asking specific questions about the American College of Pediatricians. He received the following very flippant response from Green:
Let's talk about the "paper" in question which ACP sent to schools. As luck would have it, I wrote an article about it. Allow me to rehash just what exactly is Green's idea of "facts" and "truthful research."
In February of last year, over 14,000 school district superintendents in the country were sent a letter by ACP inviting them to peruse and use information from a new site, Facts About Youth. The site claimed to present "facts" supposedly not tainted by "political correctness." Alleged facts such as:
And the site gets more interesting in terms of the errors and distortions it contains, including:
1. Facts About Youth repeats the claim that Dr. Francis Collins stated that homosexuality is not hardwired by DNA. The truth is that Francis Collins never said that. In fact, Dr. Collins said his words were being distorted:
2. Facts About Youth repeats the lie that the Robert Spitzer study proves that homosexuality is changeable, excluding the fact that Spitzer has said on more than one occasion that his research was being distorted.
3. Facts About Youth mentions the term "gay bowel syndrome," even though it does not exist.
4. Facts About Youth repeats the lie that a Canadian study proves that gay men have a short life span, even though the researchers of the study said that their work was being distorted.
5. Many of the studies cited by Facts About Youth are over 10 years old and some even go back to the seventies.
6. Many studies cited by Facts About Youth are convenience samples not meant to be indicative of the entire gay community in general. One example of this is the citation of the 1979 book The Gay Report, which was the result of 2500 responses which came from a gay magazine questionnaire. The magazine, Blue Boy, was a softcore porn magazine which is now defunct. However, Facts About Youth cites this book on several occasions when claiming to give accurate details on gay sexual behavior.
The plain fact of the matter is this - my friend Bernie, myself, and everyone else who are bothered by Barton's and Green's citation of ACP's phony webpage aren't doing so because we simply disagree with the information it contains.
We are bothered by the information because it's wrong.
Not that it matters to Barton and Green, though. It's always amusing to me how some religious right characters who talk about "moral absolutes" seem to change their minds when the facts get in their way.
Barton cited the American College of Pediatricians, a right-wing group that split off from the much larger and mainstream American Academy of Pediatricians because of the ACP’s stringent opposition to LGBT rights, particularly the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children. According to the AAP, the ACP’s “campaign does not acknowledge the scientific and medical evidence regarding sexual orientation, sexual identity, sexual health, or effective health education.” The ACP also endorsers 'ex-gay' reparative therapy, saying, “therapy to restore heterosexual attraction can be effective for many people.”
Barton wrongly cites the ACP as “the leading pediatric association in America” and then repeats its anti-gay rhetoric, arguing that courses against bullying and that affirm non-heterosexual orientations are simply “indoctrination.”
Right-Wing Watch also said that Barton alluded to how the ACP sent a letter to over 14,000 school superintendents regarding so-called "gay indoctrination."
Barton: The American College of Pediatricians is cautioning educators about what they do with same-sex attraction or symptoms of gender identity or gender confusion in schools.
Green: You’re kidding, this is the Pediatric Association?
Barton: Got it, get this. The letter reminds school superintends that it is ‘not uncommon for adolescents to experience transient,’ that’s a big word, ‘transient confusion about their sexual orientation,’ and is telling 14,800 superintendents that ‘most students will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged.’ And they’re saying, guys, back off. This indoctrination you’re doing—
An online buddy of mine, Bernie Keefe, got angry at what Barton said, so he emailed both Barton and Green asking specific questions about the American College of Pediatricians. He received the following very flippant response from Green:
I am not aware of anything from our broadcast that was inaccurate. Nothing in the transcript you sent is wrong or false. We may disagree on what constitutes "leading," but neither David or I said the ACP was the largest. As often happens, the larger associations become either stagnant or politically correct and lose the leadership qualities that make an organization "leading" in their profession. Meanwhile, a perhaps smaller, but more professional and cutting edge organization begins to lead by stating facts and putting forth truthful research the older organization is afraid to release due to political correctness.
Perhaps this explains your "harsh foray" mischaracterizing our opinion as a "prevarication" simply because you disagree with our opinion of which association is "leading" or maybe because you disagree with the political impact of the paper released by ACP?
Let's talk about the "paper" in question which ACP sent to schools. As luck would have it, I wrote an article about it. Allow me to rehash just what exactly is Green's idea of "facts" and "truthful research."
In February of last year, over 14,000 school district superintendents in the country were sent a letter by ACP inviting them to peruse and use information from a new site, Facts About Youth. The site claimed to present "facts" supposedly not tainted by "political correctness." Alleged facts such as:
Some gay men sexualize human waste, including the medically dangerous practice of coprophilia, which means sexual contact with highly infectious fecal wastes
And the site gets more interesting in terms of the errors and distortions it contains, including:
1. Facts About Youth repeats the claim that Dr. Francis Collins stated that homosexuality is not hardwired by DNA. The truth is that Francis Collins never said that. In fact, Dr. Collins said his words were being distorted:
The words . . . all come from the Appendix to my book “The Language of God” (pp. 260-263), but have been juxtaposed in a way that suggests a somewhat different conclusion that I intended. I would urge anyone who is concerned about the meaning to refer back to the original text.
2. Facts About Youth repeats the lie that the Robert Spitzer study proves that homosexuality is changeable, excluding the fact that Spitzer has said on more than one occasion that his research was being distorted.
3. Facts About Youth mentions the term "gay bowel syndrome," even though it does not exist.
4. Facts About Youth repeats the lie that a Canadian study proves that gay men have a short life span, even though the researchers of the study said that their work was being distorted.
5. Many of the studies cited by Facts About Youth are over 10 years old and some even go back to the seventies.
6. Many studies cited by Facts About Youth are convenience samples not meant to be indicative of the entire gay community in general. One example of this is the citation of the 1979 book The Gay Report, which was the result of 2500 responses which came from a gay magazine questionnaire. The magazine, Blue Boy, was a softcore porn magazine which is now defunct. However, Facts About Youth cites this book on several occasions when claiming to give accurate details on gay sexual behavior.
The plain fact of the matter is this - my friend Bernie, myself, and everyone else who are bothered by Barton's and Green's citation of ACP's phony webpage aren't doing so because we simply disagree with the information it contains.
We are bothered by the information because it's wrong.
Not that it matters to Barton and Green, though. It's always amusing to me how some religious right characters who talk about "moral absolutes" seem to change their minds when the facts get in their way.