Testicle transplants and dildos - 'gay cures' from the past and present

A man in China once believed that a ghost parrot was making him gay.

Aside from persecuting lgbts, Russia claims to be developing a sure fire way of "treating" us.

From Buzzfeed:

The Russian Ministry of Health is proposing new regulations that would mandate the creation of dedicated exam rooms throughout the country for the treatment of people with “gender identity disorders,” “disorders of sexual preference,” and pedophilia.

The recommendations are part of a package of amendments to rules that govern care for “mental and behavioral disorders” published last week on a government website where the ministry will take public feedback before putting the regulations into effect. The draft would require “sexology exam rooms” in psychiatric hospitals and primary care clinics where clinicians would counsel “patients with conditions related to gender identification problems… sexual disharmonies and deviations.” They would also be able to diagnose and treat “sexual deviations among children and youth” and “consult youth about their sexual education and knowledge of gender.”

The proposed facilities would also be a place to provide “forced treatment” when ordered by a court, which the regulation states is intended for cases of people accused of pedophilia.

 . . . The regulations specify that the sexology exam rooms must be equipped with “at least one dildo.” Though it is unclear why dildos were asked to be placed in the exam rooms, the Russian Society of Psychiatrists has in the past discussed using them to treat women who experience pain during intercourse.

So combine lgbts with pedophiles and use dildos on us. I'm sure Franklin Graham will continue to approve.

Strangely enough, in the history of people attempting to "cure" homosexuality, what Russia is doing may be nauseating but hardly the strangest thing. Unicorn Booty has chronicled at least six bizarre attempts in the past, including:

Many early 20^th century physicians believed that male homosexuality was caused by a lack of testosterone. Therefore, they reasoned, giving gay men more male hormones would turn them heterosexual. But how could doctors accomplish this in the age before synthetic hormones? Scientists in Germany (where else?) came up with a solution: put dead heterosexual men’s nards in the bodies of gay men.

And then there is this:

 In Beijing, a man named Chen eschewed China’s more common gay “conversion” therapies (like electroshock) in favor of alternative medicine. After a consultation, the Chinese medical practitioner Zhong told Chen what was making him gay: Chen was being haunted by the ghost of a dead pet parrot. Of course.

For more details on these two examples and even stranger ones, you can read this article on Unicorn Booty on the six bizarre ways people tried to cure homosexuality.

'Anti-gay activist fears that evangelicals could make Trump president' & other Tue. midday news briefs

Anti-gay activist fears that the religious right could make Trump president

Will Evangelicals Put an Unrepentant Serial Adulterer in the White House? - It's rare - I mean like never - that I like to anti-lgbt publications in my news briefs, but this is too delicious. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association is petrified of the idea of Donald Trump as president. Dr. Frankenstein, meet the monster you helped to create.

Charlotte council votes to extend transgender rights - Charlotte failed to get the job done last year but did it this year. But we aren't out of the woods yet because the fraudulent ridiculous bathroom argument has North Carolina's governor screaming foul.  

Benham Brothers: Passage Of Charlotte LGBT Protections Bill Will Allow Us To Become WNBA Stars - And of course, ignorant folks are coming out of the woodwork to condemn it.

 Governor Says Changes in Works on Religious Exemptions Bill - Looks like Georgia is scared of getting a little taste of what Indiana got when that state passed one of those bills.

 Telecom company abandoning Georgia after sweeping anti-gay bill passes: ‘We don’t tolerate that crap’- Too late, Georgia. Take a big gulp of wormwood.  

Does anti-gay marriage bill threaten Georgia’s film industry? - And I mean a BIG gulp.

Anti-gay right exploit fears of gays harming children but no one calls them out on it

1977:

"As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children." - Anita Bryant during her "Save Our Children" campaign. The "Save Our Children" campaign was extremely successful in overturning a pro-gay ordinance in Florida.






 

2016:

"Does the president have the right to force your daughters or granddaughters to share a public restroom with a man? . . .Do you think government officials should have the right to punish a school for not allowing a male student to wear a mini skirt, high heels, and a pink wig to class?" - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins in an fundraising email request. FRC and several other like-minded groups are targeting fears and ignorance about the transgender community in order to hinder lgbt equality.


According to Michelangelo Signorile, there is a serious backlash against lgbt equality by religious right groups in the wake of legalized marriage equality. He also said that lgbt groups are scrambling to catch up. As you can see by the two quotes-  decades apart but very similar - history seems to be repeating itself.  We gain a victory and those opposing lgbt equality exploit fear in order to take it way from us. Meanwhile, we either scramble or stand in the wake of the possibly coming hurricane with no way to fight its onslaught.

So here is the big question. What's more depressing?  That anti-gay groups and figures can successfully exploit the same fears about children and lgbts over 35 years apart?

Or that  even after dealing with the same modus operandi of anti-gay groups and figures over and over again, our community and leaders seem to still be behind the curve rather than riding it?

If you know how your enemy will lie in order to combat your success, you don't wait until he or she begin their lies. The fact that these so-called Christian groups and individuals exploit fear about children is a story in itself which begs to be told.

That is if we can get off our asses and demand the conversation to begin.

'Backlash, leftist drivel harming lgbt community' & other Monday midday news briefs

How a Ferocious Backlash to LGBT Equality Is in Full Force While Leaders Have No Strategy - Michelangelo Signorile's wonderful piece is a serious call to action that our community MUST heed. Perhaps the problem lies with the fact that we are not more aggressive in calling out the forces of homophobia. We tend to let them start the fight, begin the argument, and then we are left scrambling to catch up.

Why This Radical Leftist is Disillusioned by Leftist Culture - But our lgbt leaders aren't totally to blame. Part of the blame has to be given to the group who is the subject of this wonderful piece which resonated with me from the first paragraph. We can't fight the anti-gay right if we are only interested in pretentious bullshit such as academic words and terms like - “the patriarchy”, “white privilege," or “heteronormativity” - the vast majority of lgbts, the ones who need someone to fight for them, don't know what the hell we are talking about. 

North Carolina Governor Wages A Preemptive Strike Against Transgender Equality - If the city of Charlotte passes an pro-lgbt nondiscrimination ordinance, NC's governor has promised to make an ass of himself by intervening in an ugly way.

 Cruz Campaign Quietly Admits 'It Was A Mistake' To Attend Radical 'Kill-The-Gays' Conference - Really? Thanks for the sour persimmons, Ted.

The New Yorker: Scalia made democracy less admirable, America less tolerant

Editor's note - I am posting later than I usually do this morning because I am also fighting a serious cold. Bear with me.

Scalia

The death of SCOTUS justice Antonin Scalia has led to a lot of outpouring of wonderful accolades for the man. Certainly, Scalia deserves these accolades. But they don't tell the true story of Scalia's tenure on the Supreme Court. In all honest, he was not a popular or liked figure and for good reason. Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker staff writer and CNN legal senior analyst, can put it better than I:

Antonin Scalia, who died this month, after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. Belligerent with his colleagues, dismissive of his critics, nostalgic for a world where outsiders knew their place and stayed there, Scalia represents a perfect model for everything that President Obama should avoid in a successor.

 . . .  His revulsion toward homosexuality, a touchstone of his world view, appeared straight out of his sheltered, nineteen-forties boyhood. When, in 2003, the Court ruled that gay people could no longer be thrown in prison for having consensual sex, Scalia dissented, and wrote, “Today’s opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct.” He went on, “Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a life style that they believe to be immoral and destructive.”

Check out Toobin's entire piece here in The New Yorker.

'Homophobic bills could damage lgbt health' & other Fri. midday news briefs

Yes, South Dakota’s Anti-Transgender Bill Really Is That Bad - How bad is the South Dakota bill targeting our transgender children? THIS BAD:

"The consequences of this legislation cannot be overstated. It endangers every single school’s funding and budgets, and it endangers the mental health of every transgender kid in the state. Daugaard would be requiring every school district to violate federal law for the sole purpose of marginalizing transgender kids, possibly endangering their well-being to such an extent that they experience massive depression and even consider suicide."

MISSISSIPPI: House Panel Advances Sweeping Bill To Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination Because Jesus - And as bad as the above bill is, THIS one is worse and just for the transgender community. It also targets the entire lgbt community, unwed mothers and veterans:

 "Under H.B. 1523, religion could be used by most any individual or organization to justify discrimination against LGBT people, unwed mothers, veterans and others. Faith-based organizations could refuse to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples; deny children in need of loving homes with LGBT families; and refuse to sell or rent a for-profit home to an LGBT person — even if the organization receives government funding. As introduced, H.B. 1523 would also give foster families the freedom to submit an LGBTQ child to the dangerous practice of “conversion therapy,” and shame a pregnant unwed girl, without fear of government intervention or license suspension. It would even allow individuals to refuse to carry out the terms of a state contract for the provision of counseling services to all eligible individuals, including veterans, based on the counselor’s beliefs about LGBT people or single mothers."

Facebook Executive To Headline Anti-LGBT Religious Conference - Dear Facebook, what the HELL?!

 Magic Johnson condemns Manny Pacquiao as former sponsors distance themselves - Alright, Magic Johnson!!!! 

 These Giant Portraits Show The Kids Behind The Same-Sex Parenting Debate - Wonderful!! We need to talk more about same-sex families.

Mothers of the transgender community speak out against the hate

One thing I absolutely loath about this religious right war on the transgender community via their "bathroom bills" is how it works to dehumanize our brothers and sisters. Part of the problem is that a lot of folks don't understand that members of the transgender community are simply normal human beings. And they also have family who love and accept them as their authentic selves. The following two videos come from a series by the Human Rights Campaign called Mothers for Transgender Equality. The series spotlights the transgender community and their family: