Liberty Sunday Sham!
The anti-gay industry is having a huge simulcast event this Sunday entitled Liberty Sunday. To put it in the words of Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, the event is taking place because:
"The expansion of non-discrimination laws to include homosexuality inevitably constricts our right to express and act on our religious beliefs. Recently, there has been a string of incidents involving government intolerance against those who live out their faith in the public square. "
In other words, Mr. Perkins is saying, "yes we believe that gays should be denied jobs, housing, etc because of their orientation. Our religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin should supersede any rights that gays have as U.S. citizens. In addition, we are going to either manipulate current events or make up stories about gays are keeping Christians from expressing their beliefs."
Indeed on the Liberty Sunday webpage, people are encouraged to write in and tell stories of how they have been discriminated against. These stories, unsubstantiated of course, will no doubt be peddled in future mailings of anti-gay industry groups or on news programs by their spokespeople.
This is yet another tactic of the anti-gay industry: 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.
In April 2005, several hundred people gathered together at the state house in Maine. Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, called what was going on “an hour of deep crisis.” Several individuals, Heath included, talked about how they were angry at the legislature and how marriage is a sacred institution.
Heath even said, “Gone forever will be the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman for life. Marriage will have been destroyed, the family as we know it will disappear, and the long-desired goal of social disintegration will be complete.”
So what exactly were these people angry about?
Believe it or not, they were angry at a bill that had nothing whatsoever to do with same sex marriage. The bill, which was signed by Governor John Baldacci, prohibited discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and other areas based on sexual orientation. Nothing in the bill addressed same sex marriage.
Heath and his supporters attached same sex marriage to the argument because they were seeking to overturn the bill via a referendum. However, none of them said how the prohibition of housing, credit, or job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation could lead to same sex marriage.
Robert Knight from the Concerned Women for American attended the same rally. He claimed the following:
“If the gay activists succeed at everything they do, you will see the criminalization of Christianity.”- Politics, religion simmer at anti-gay rights rally, Bangor Daily News, April 29, 2005
By threatening that the anti-discrimination bill would lead to gay marriage, the Christian Civic League was able to get enough signatures to force a repeal referendum.
Luckily Maine’s voters did not fall for this subterfuge. By a large majority, they voted to turn back the referendum.
Liberty Sunday is what the anti-gay industry tried to do in Maine on a larger scale.
I noticed that one of the speakers of this simulcast will be David Parker. Last year in Massachusetts, Parker was arrested at his son's elementary school for not leaving a school meeting. He was angry that his son brought home a book that talked about same sex households.
Parker tried to claim that any conversation about same sex households constituted a talk about sexual behavior and pressed that his son be opted out of such discussions, even if they happened by chance.
No doubt he will talk about how he was handcuffed and put in jail merely for being a concerned parent.
I go into detail about Parker in my upcoming book. I won't give away much of what I dicovered, but I will say this: Parker's claim is a lie. Not only did he intentionally get arrested but a year later, he falsely claimed that his child was beaten up because of his stand against the school. When it was discovered that this was not the the case, neither Parker nor the so-called "pro family" groups apologized for the press releases they sent out.
The entire story is here (http://www.lexingtoncares.org/ChildsAltercationUnrelated.html)
I hope Parker recounts the lie of his son getting beaten up because if he does, then I know what my post will be on Monday.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Paul Cameron, the Traditional Values Coalition, a little game that I like to call "Time Line" (revised and revisited)
I see our friend Lou Sheldon is frothing at the mouth again about gay people and pedophilia:
"Homosexual activists from the Log Cabin Republicans and other liberal radicals are making the TV talk show rounds claiming that pedophilia has nothing to do with homosexuality. This is a half-truth designed to confuse the viewer into thinking that adult homosexuals have no interest in boys." - (http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2883)
In honor of Mr. Sheldon's "mission" to stamp out "homosexual pedophilia," I would like to reprint a time line I wrote a month ago about him, Paul Cameron and truth. Revisions have been made to correspond with recent dates:
July 31, 2005
"(Paul) Cameron's work is controversial even among conservative groups. For example, the Traditional Values Coalition claims to speak for 43,000 churches. For three years, the coalition has quoted Cameron's studies on its website in an article headlined, ''Report Shows Homosexual Foster Parents Apt To Molest Children," and has told its membership to 'read and distribute Dr. Cameron's report.'
But when The Boston Globe asked the Traditional Values Coalition last week about Cameron, the group responded within minutes by removing all references to Cameron from its website. The group's spokeswoman, Daniella Lopez, said Cameron's research had been ''mistakenly' put on the website." - Beliefs Drive Research Agenda of Think Tanks, The Boston Globe
March 31, 2006
I order a copy of Traditional Values Coalition head Lou Sheldon's The Agenda. One of the passages from The Agenda is as follows:
"In 1993 and 1994, Dr. Paul Cameron conducted an important study of the mortality rates of homosexuals . . . what he found ws that the median age of death was the late thirties for those who acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). For those who had not developed AIDS, the median age of death was only slightly longer, in their early forties."
Sheldon refers to Cameron's work several times in The Agenda.
October 11, 2006
While The Agenda was published before the Boston Globe interview, neither Sheldon nor his organization has made any type of public comment regarding the usage of Cameron's work in The Agenda. Nor is it known whether or not the Traditional Values Coalition issued any type of recall of The Agenda.
October 11, 2006
The report, Exposed: Homosexual Child Molesters, remains on the Traditional Values Coalition webpage. The report contains these two passages:
“Drs. Freund and Heasman of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto reviewed two studies on child molesters and calculated that 34% and 32% of sex offenders were homosexual. In cases these doctors handled, 36% of the molesters were homosexual.”
“In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin of Whitman College conducted a ten-state study of sex abuse cases involving school teachers. He studied 199 cases. Of those, 122 male teachers had molested girls, while 14 female teachers had molested boys. He also discovered that 59 homosexual male teachers had molested boys and female homosexual teachers had molested girls. In other words, 32 percent of those child molestation cases involved homosexuals. Nearly a third of these cases come from 1-2 percent of the population.”
This study can be found here - http://traditionalvalues.org/urban/one.php
Now check out these two passages from Paul Cameron's study, Child Molestation and Homosexuality (http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_EduPamphlet2.html):
“Drs. Freund and Heasman of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto reviewed two sizeable studies and calculated that 34% and 32% of the offenders against children were homosexual. In cases they had personally handled, homosexuals accounted for 36% of their 457 pedophiles"
“In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin, associate professor of psychology at Whitman College, conducted a 10 state survey and found 199 sexual abuse cases involving teachers. 122 male teachers had abused female pupils and 14 female teachers had abused male students. In 59 cases, however, male teachers had abused male pupils and in 4 cases, female teachers had abused female students (overall 32% were homosexual).”
What do you think of a man who will castigate gays for being immoral and sick but does not relying on information (which his own organization admits to not being credible) in order to prove his opinions about gays?
Can you say hypocrite, boys and girls?
I see our friend Lou Sheldon is frothing at the mouth again about gay people and pedophilia:
"Homosexual activists from the Log Cabin Republicans and other liberal radicals are making the TV talk show rounds claiming that pedophilia has nothing to do with homosexuality. This is a half-truth designed to confuse the viewer into thinking that adult homosexuals have no interest in boys." - (http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2883)
In honor of Mr. Sheldon's "mission" to stamp out "homosexual pedophilia," I would like to reprint a time line I wrote a month ago about him, Paul Cameron and truth. Revisions have been made to correspond with recent dates:
July 31, 2005
"(Paul) Cameron's work is controversial even among conservative groups. For example, the Traditional Values Coalition claims to speak for 43,000 churches. For three years, the coalition has quoted Cameron's studies on its website in an article headlined, ''Report Shows Homosexual Foster Parents Apt To Molest Children," and has told its membership to 'read and distribute Dr. Cameron's report.'
But when The Boston Globe asked the Traditional Values Coalition last week about Cameron, the group responded within minutes by removing all references to Cameron from its website. The group's spokeswoman, Daniella Lopez, said Cameron's research had been ''mistakenly' put on the website." - Beliefs Drive Research Agenda of Think Tanks, The Boston Globe
March 31, 2006
I order a copy of Traditional Values Coalition head Lou Sheldon's The Agenda. One of the passages from The Agenda is as follows:
"In 1993 and 1994, Dr. Paul Cameron conducted an important study of the mortality rates of homosexuals . . . what he found ws that the median age of death was the late thirties for those who acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). For those who had not developed AIDS, the median age of death was only slightly longer, in their early forties."
Sheldon refers to Cameron's work several times in The Agenda.
October 11, 2006
While The Agenda was published before the Boston Globe interview, neither Sheldon nor his organization has made any type of public comment regarding the usage of Cameron's work in The Agenda. Nor is it known whether or not the Traditional Values Coalition issued any type of recall of The Agenda.
October 11, 2006
The report, Exposed: Homosexual Child Molesters, remains on the Traditional Values Coalition webpage. The report contains these two passages:
“Drs. Freund and Heasman of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto reviewed two studies on child molesters and calculated that 34% and 32% of sex offenders were homosexual. In cases these doctors handled, 36% of the molesters were homosexual.”
“In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin of Whitman College conducted a ten-state study of sex abuse cases involving school teachers. He studied 199 cases. Of those, 122 male teachers had molested girls, while 14 female teachers had molested boys. He also discovered that 59 homosexual male teachers had molested boys and female homosexual teachers had molested girls. In other words, 32 percent of those child molestation cases involved homosexuals. Nearly a third of these cases come from 1-2 percent of the population.”
This study can be found here - http://traditionalvalues.org/urban/one.php
Now check out these two passages from Paul Cameron's study, Child Molestation and Homosexuality (http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_EduPamphlet2.html):
“Drs. Freund and Heasman of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto reviewed two sizeable studies and calculated that 34% and 32% of the offenders against children were homosexual. In cases they had personally handled, homosexuals accounted for 36% of their 457 pedophiles"
“In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin, associate professor of psychology at Whitman College, conducted a 10 state survey and found 199 sexual abuse cases involving teachers. 122 male teachers had abused female pupils and 14 female teachers had abused male students. In 59 cases, however, male teachers had abused male pupils and in 4 cases, female teachers had abused female students (overall 32% were homosexual).”
What do you think of a man who will castigate gays for being immoral and sick but does not relying on information (which his own organization admits to not being credible) in order to prove his opinions about gays?
Can you say hypocrite, boys and girls?
Monday, October 09, 2006
Who Dawn Stefanowicz? A headless monster in the making
On her webpage (http://www.dawnstefanowicz.com/aboutdawn.php), Dawn Stefanowicz says the following:
Dawn has been married for 22 years and was raised in a homosexual household. She acknowledges that children are impacted and influenced long-term by various family structures and living arrangements. Dawn addresses the impact of legislation affecting children. These center around the areas of marriage, adoption, sexuality, and education. She has testified in Boston, Massachusetts, in Tallahassee, Florida, to the Washington Supreme Court Justices, and to The Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in Ottawa. Dawn speaks to a wide range of groups and wrote the article 'Same-Sex Marriage: Have the Best Interests of Children Been Considered?' Her media experiences include television, radio and print. Her book, Out from Under: Getting Clear of the Wreckage of a Sexually Disordered Home, will be published in 2007.
It sounds terrible, don't it? A person who was raised in a gay home telling how it negatively impacted her life.
I don't know whether or not Ms. Stefanowicz is telling the truth. If she is, then my heart goes out to her.
But I can't help but be suspicious about her and her motives.
For one thing, she did not come virtually from nowhere.
In this article in Agape Press (http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/152005c.asp), she recounts her tale, but using the verbage the anti-gay industry uses against us:
"According to Stefanowicz, the liberal media in Canada has done a 'very poor job' of presenting evidence on the influence the homosexual lifestyle has on children. 'Scientific data and negative personal experiences related to this issue that are obviously relevant -- they're ignored, they're not discussed,' she says."
And what studies are these? I noticed that on her personal webpage, she recounts her life. It is pretty much the same story she repeated in the August 2005 American Family Association Journal (http://www.afajournal.org/2005/august/805Stefanowicz.asp).
But there is one difference.
Her American Family Association story contains endnotes and references to studies and columns by various so-called "pro family" groups and spokespeople including Family Research Council's Timothy Dailey (debunked on this and other sites), Stephen Bennett, and our friend Paul Cameron.
The version of her personal story present on her webpage have the endnotes and references conveniently omitted.
I don't know if Ms. Stefanowicz is telling the truth about her life. But I do know that she is obviously tailoring her personal story to suit pretty much every stereotype, talking point, and lie the anti-gay industry spreads about us.
You know what? That kinda makes me mad.
I am sorry if Ms. Stefanowicz had a bad life but if what she claims is true, it was her father's fault, not the gay community. There are many homes in which there are gay parents and the children are not suffering because of it. For that matter, there are many homes with heterosexual parents and the children are being abused. This is not meant to be an indictment on heterosexual homes. I am just making a point.
And my anger is not just for myself. I have a good friend who took it upon himself to take in two young boys who had no sense of family. Hopefully he will be able to adopt those two boys and the other three children he took in.
He is a good man from a large loving family. He has a good head on his shoulders and is currently trying to start his own business. He also happens to be gay.
Because of this woman's possible need to blame someone else for her bad life, he may have problems giving those children a good home. Ms. Stefanowicz's story (probably omitting the endnotes and references) will probably be spread throughout every anti-gay industry webpage. She will probably be able to appear on Fox News, the 700 Club, and various other places peddling her story unchallenged.
A female Paul Cameron if you will.
Meanwhile my friend and countless other gays and lesbians who are raising children to be upstanding citizens will have more stigma thrown their way.
That is the real tragedy.
On her webpage (http://www.dawnstefanowicz.com/aboutdawn.php), Dawn Stefanowicz says the following:
Dawn has been married for 22 years and was raised in a homosexual household. She acknowledges that children are impacted and influenced long-term by various family structures and living arrangements. Dawn addresses the impact of legislation affecting children. These center around the areas of marriage, adoption, sexuality, and education. She has testified in Boston, Massachusetts, in Tallahassee, Florida, to the Washington Supreme Court Justices, and to The Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in Ottawa. Dawn speaks to a wide range of groups and wrote the article 'Same-Sex Marriage: Have the Best Interests of Children Been Considered?' Her media experiences include television, radio and print. Her book, Out from Under: Getting Clear of the Wreckage of a Sexually Disordered Home, will be published in 2007.
It sounds terrible, don't it? A person who was raised in a gay home telling how it negatively impacted her life.
I don't know whether or not Ms. Stefanowicz is telling the truth. If she is, then my heart goes out to her.
But I can't help but be suspicious about her and her motives.
For one thing, she did not come virtually from nowhere.
In this article in Agape Press (http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/152005c.asp), she recounts her tale, but using the verbage the anti-gay industry uses against us:
"According to Stefanowicz, the liberal media in Canada has done a 'very poor job' of presenting evidence on the influence the homosexual lifestyle has on children. 'Scientific data and negative personal experiences related to this issue that are obviously relevant -- they're ignored, they're not discussed,' she says."
And what studies are these? I noticed that on her personal webpage, she recounts her life. It is pretty much the same story she repeated in the August 2005 American Family Association Journal (http://www.afajournal.org/2005/august/805Stefanowicz.asp).
But there is one difference.
Her American Family Association story contains endnotes and references to studies and columns by various so-called "pro family" groups and spokespeople including Family Research Council's Timothy Dailey (debunked on this and other sites), Stephen Bennett, and our friend Paul Cameron.
The version of her personal story present on her webpage have the endnotes and references conveniently omitted.
I don't know if Ms. Stefanowicz is telling the truth about her life. But I do know that she is obviously tailoring her personal story to suit pretty much every stereotype, talking point, and lie the anti-gay industry spreads about us.
You know what? That kinda makes me mad.
I am sorry if Ms. Stefanowicz had a bad life but if what she claims is true, it was her father's fault, not the gay community. There are many homes in which there are gay parents and the children are not suffering because of it. For that matter, there are many homes with heterosexual parents and the children are being abused. This is not meant to be an indictment on heterosexual homes. I am just making a point.
And my anger is not just for myself. I have a good friend who took it upon himself to take in two young boys who had no sense of family. Hopefully he will be able to adopt those two boys and the other three children he took in.
He is a good man from a large loving family. He has a good head on his shoulders and is currently trying to start his own business. He also happens to be gay.
Because of this woman's possible need to blame someone else for her bad life, he may have problems giving those children a good home. Ms. Stefanowicz's story (probably omitting the endnotes and references) will probably be spread throughout every anti-gay industry webpage. She will probably be able to appear on Fox News, the 700 Club, and various other places peddling her story unchallenged.
A female Paul Cameron if you will.
Meanwhile my friend and countless other gays and lesbians who are raising children to be upstanding citizens will have more stigma thrown their way.
That is the real tragedy.
Headless Monsters just don't stop
One day, I am going to sit down and compile a list of the top headless monsters (i.e. myths) that the anti-gay industry puts out about us.
A perfect case in point is how they have attemtped to connect pedophilia with homosexuality due to the Mark Foley controversy.
Apparently Family Research Council head Tony Perkins just can't leave well enough alone. He has come out with The Politically Incorrect Truth, a piece that supposedly proves the connection between pedophilia and homosexuality.
Rather than link to that lying piece of propaganda, I think it would be better to link to Jim Burroway's excellent smackdown of Perkins's lies via Box Turtle Bulletin (http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/)
However, now that Perkins has put out his lie, it will now be repeated ad nauseum via sources where it cannot be refuted i.e Agape Press. I expect to see The Politically Incorrect Truth showcased on many so-called "pro family" webpage unchallenged.
And it will be until it is refuted. Then Perkins and company will dig up and distort another study that they can pervert for their own purposes.
It is happening already. Another wanna be pastor, S. Michael Craven, repeats Perkins's lies almost verbatim on Crosswalk - a so-called "pro family" webpage (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mCraven/?adate=10/09/2006)
I sent Mr. Craven a nice letter detailing how his column has distortions, but he probably won't answer me back.
As long as people like Perkins can repeat lies in places where they can go unchallenged, guillible Christians like Mr. Craven will believe them.
One day, I am going to sit down and compile a list of the top headless monsters (i.e. myths) that the anti-gay industry puts out about us.
A perfect case in point is how they have attemtped to connect pedophilia with homosexuality due to the Mark Foley controversy.
Apparently Family Research Council head Tony Perkins just can't leave well enough alone. He has come out with The Politically Incorrect Truth, a piece that supposedly proves the connection between pedophilia and homosexuality.
Rather than link to that lying piece of propaganda, I think it would be better to link to Jim Burroway's excellent smackdown of Perkins's lies via Box Turtle Bulletin (http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/)
However, now that Perkins has put out his lie, it will now be repeated ad nauseum via sources where it cannot be refuted i.e Agape Press. I expect to see The Politically Incorrect Truth showcased on many so-called "pro family" webpage unchallenged.
And it will be until it is refuted. Then Perkins and company will dig up and distort another study that they can pervert for their own purposes.
It is happening already. Another wanna be pastor, S. Michael Craven, repeats Perkins's lies almost verbatim on Crosswalk - a so-called "pro family" webpage (http://www.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/mCraven/?adate=10/09/2006)
I sent Mr. Craven a nice letter detailing how his column has distortions, but he probably won't answer me back.
As long as people like Perkins can repeat lies in places where they can go unchallenged, guillible Christians like Mr. Craven will believe them.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The Anti-Gay Industry and Sexual Health
I promised an excerpt from my upcoming book and though some wrote asking about Paul Cameron and exact deception techniques of the anti-gay industry, I decided to focus on something not entirely talked about: how their attempts to connect being gay with bad sexual health actually hinders the community from receiving good medical care:
The use of the term "gay bowel syndrome" is just one of the many ways the anti-gay industry attempts to push the notion that gays on the whole are more promiscuous than heterosexuals and are therefore more susceptible to diseases. In his first sentence of the same study, (Glenn T.) Stanton makes the statement:
"HIV is the most notable infection associated with homosexual sex and other promiscuous behaviors . . ."
On the Focus on the Family website is the following question:
"Is AIDS God’s punishment on gays, lesbians, and other promiscuous people?"
Even the Traditional Values Coalition gets into the act:
"Contrary to what groups like ACT UP would have us believe, it is not "silence" about AIDS that spreads the disease or other homosexual- related STDs. It is homosexual behavior that spreads HIV infection and death. Health officials have stated that an estimated 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 24 are infected with HIV each year in the U.S."
These statements are deliberate distortions. There are no legitimate studies that say homosexual sex is in itself a promiscuous behavior.
Also, HIV is associated with "unsafe sexual behavior," be it homosexual or heterosexual intercourse. It is an especial distortion the way TVC phrases the sentence about "homosexual behavior" before the sentence, "Health officials have stated that an estimated 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 24 are infected with HIV each year in the U.S."
The organization makes it sound as if unprotected sex between gays is responsible for each and every one of these new infections. It conveniently forgets the heterosexuals, hemophiliacs, and intravenously drug users who are infected by HIV.
In a general sense, sex has a very dual effect on Americans. It is the veritable hornet’s nest at the top of the tree and Americans are the children with the stick constantly prodding it in order to see what happens next. As with the actual case of the child prodding the hornet’s nest, when activity builds, Americans run for cover.
The anti-gay industry exploits this dual effect by using the supposed promiscuity of the gay community like a sort of Joseph McCarthy list, changing the numbers to suit whatever audience they are talking to:
"One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population." - The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values - Matt J. Barber
"Fidelity is almost unheard of in homosexual relationships; the average number of partners for each person is eight. These relationships are not open -- they are wide open. A homosexual publication, The Advocate, reports that 57 percent of its homosexual readers claimed they had sexual relations with 30 or more partners. Twenty-nine percent of their readers had anonymous bathhouse sex. A 1991 study of homosexual men in New York revealed an average of 308 sexual partners per man." - Supremes Ruled Wisely: Arizona Can’t Afford Same Sex Marriage - The Arizona Conservative
An article in USA Today in November 1984 reported that homosexuals have an average of 50 different sexual partners each year. - Offering Hope to Homosexuals -http://www.firststone.org/articles/topics/homosexuality/offering_hope_to_homosexuals.htm
"Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?"- a "loaded" question on the Focus on the Family web page
"Studies in Sexual Preference (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1981) indicated that only 3% of homosexuals had fewer than 10 lifetime sexual partners. Only about 2% could be classified as either monogamous or semi - monogamous." - The Catholic Family Association of America - http://www.cathfam.org/Hitems/HMonogamy.html
"A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, in their classic study of male and female homosexuality, found that 43 percent of white male homosexuals had sex with five hundred or more partners, with 28 percent having 1,000 or more sex partners." - Timothy Dailey - The Negative Effects of Homosexuality
How the anti-gay industry perverts statistics can act as a stumbling block to the gay community receiving adequate health care.
In the case of STDs, some in the anti-gay industry would blame the "culture" for any outbreak in the heterosexual community. However, in the case of gays and lesbians, they are quick to blame the identity of being gay rather than the sexual behavior of individual gay people or how societal rejection contributes to the sexual behavior of individual gay people.
According to the article Health Care Screening for Men Who Have Sex with Men, gay men can be at a high risk for preventable diseases. The article also said that gay males do not receive appropriate medical information for a number of reasons, including
the patient being fearful to come out to his or her doctor,
the personal discomfort the doctor may feel about having a gay or lesbian patient,
possible open hostility of the doctor to having a gay or lesbian patient, and
concern that the patient’s employer may learn his or her orientation and terminate their employment.
Furthermore, the article also said that younger men are possibly at a higher risk for diseases but due to low self-esteem, depression, or lack of peer support.
Now in the hands of an objective medical practitioner, this information would be geared to providing solutions to these problems.
In the hands of so-called "pro family" groups, the sole purpose of this information would be demeaning the gay community. No matter how it is presented, the connotation would be "look at those filthy, nasty homosexuals."
Consider these facts:
More than half of all people will get an STD at some point in their lives
The estimated total number of people living in the US with a viral STD is over 65 million.
Every year, there are approximately 15 million new cases of STDs, some of which are curable.
One in two sexually active persons will contact an STD by age 25
When the anti-gay industry throws the possibility of catching diseases in the mix, they are not only exploiting America’s unfamiliarity with homosexuality, but also its uncomfortability with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The truth of the matter is that many people do not know about sexually transmitted diseases and they will not take it upon themselves to get informed about them.
In almost every study, talking point, research paper, or anything the anti-gay industry puts out regarding the gay community is the notion that gays are increasingly promiscuous. These studies continue to say that gays are susceptible to all sorts of diseases.
Bear in mind that a large number of these studies consists of small sample studies (like studies of gays with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases or a small number of gays in a city).
And members of the anti-gay industry will omit any part of a study that say outside factors (i.e. rejection because of orientation) make it difficult for members of the gay community to sexually mature.
Then Robert Knight, Timothy Dailey, James Dobson, etc. claim that creating situations that are gay friendly (i.e. same sex marriage, passage of anti-discrimination laws) will put people, particularly children, at risk for "HIV, hepatitis A,B, and C, "gay bowel syndrome," human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, gonorrhea, and other sexual transmitted diseases . . ."
There is no logic in this line of reasoning; only fear tactics.
I promised an excerpt from my upcoming book and though some wrote asking about Paul Cameron and exact deception techniques of the anti-gay industry, I decided to focus on something not entirely talked about: how their attempts to connect being gay with bad sexual health actually hinders the community from receiving good medical care:
The use of the term "gay bowel syndrome" is just one of the many ways the anti-gay industry attempts to push the notion that gays on the whole are more promiscuous than heterosexuals and are therefore more susceptible to diseases. In his first sentence of the same study, (Glenn T.) Stanton makes the statement:
"HIV is the most notable infection associated with homosexual sex and other promiscuous behaviors . . ."
On the Focus on the Family website is the following question:
"Is AIDS God’s punishment on gays, lesbians, and other promiscuous people?"
Even the Traditional Values Coalition gets into the act:
"Contrary to what groups like ACT UP would have us believe, it is not "silence" about AIDS that spreads the disease or other homosexual- related STDs. It is homosexual behavior that spreads HIV infection and death. Health officials have stated that an estimated 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 24 are infected with HIV each year in the U.S."
These statements are deliberate distortions. There are no legitimate studies that say homosexual sex is in itself a promiscuous behavior.
Also, HIV is associated with "unsafe sexual behavior," be it homosexual or heterosexual intercourse. It is an especial distortion the way TVC phrases the sentence about "homosexual behavior" before the sentence, "Health officials have stated that an estimated 20,000 people between the ages of 13 and 24 are infected with HIV each year in the U.S."
The organization makes it sound as if unprotected sex between gays is responsible for each and every one of these new infections. It conveniently forgets the heterosexuals, hemophiliacs, and intravenously drug users who are infected by HIV.
In a general sense, sex has a very dual effect on Americans. It is the veritable hornet’s nest at the top of the tree and Americans are the children with the stick constantly prodding it in order to see what happens next. As with the actual case of the child prodding the hornet’s nest, when activity builds, Americans run for cover.
The anti-gay industry exploits this dual effect by using the supposed promiscuity of the gay community like a sort of Joseph McCarthy list, changing the numbers to suit whatever audience they are talking to:
"One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population." - The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values - Matt J. Barber
"Fidelity is almost unheard of in homosexual relationships; the average number of partners for each person is eight. These relationships are not open -- they are wide open. A homosexual publication, The Advocate, reports that 57 percent of its homosexual readers claimed they had sexual relations with 30 or more partners. Twenty-nine percent of their readers had anonymous bathhouse sex. A 1991 study of homosexual men in New York revealed an average of 308 sexual partners per man." - Supremes Ruled Wisely: Arizona Can’t Afford Same Sex Marriage - The Arizona Conservative
An article in USA Today in November 1984 reported that homosexuals have an average of 50 different sexual partners each year. - Offering Hope to Homosexuals -http://www.firststone.org/articles/topics/homosexuality/offering_hope_to_homosexuals.htm
"Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?"- a "loaded" question on the Focus on the Family web page
"Studies in Sexual Preference (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1981) indicated that only 3% of homosexuals had fewer than 10 lifetime sexual partners. Only about 2% could be classified as either monogamous or semi - monogamous." - The Catholic Family Association of America - http://www.cathfam.org/Hitems/HMonogamy.html
"A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, in their classic study of male and female homosexuality, found that 43 percent of white male homosexuals had sex with five hundred or more partners, with 28 percent having 1,000 or more sex partners." - Timothy Dailey - The Negative Effects of Homosexuality
How the anti-gay industry perverts statistics can act as a stumbling block to the gay community receiving adequate health care.
In the case of STDs, some in the anti-gay industry would blame the "culture" for any outbreak in the heterosexual community. However, in the case of gays and lesbians, they are quick to blame the identity of being gay rather than the sexual behavior of individual gay people or how societal rejection contributes to the sexual behavior of individual gay people.
According to the article Health Care Screening for Men Who Have Sex with Men, gay men can be at a high risk for preventable diseases. The article also said that gay males do not receive appropriate medical information for a number of reasons, including
the patient being fearful to come out to his or her doctor,
the personal discomfort the doctor may feel about having a gay or lesbian patient,
possible open hostility of the doctor to having a gay or lesbian patient, and
concern that the patient’s employer may learn his or her orientation and terminate their employment.
Furthermore, the article also said that younger men are possibly at a higher risk for diseases but due to low self-esteem, depression, or lack of peer support.
Now in the hands of an objective medical practitioner, this information would be geared to providing solutions to these problems.
In the hands of so-called "pro family" groups, the sole purpose of this information would be demeaning the gay community. No matter how it is presented, the connotation would be "look at those filthy, nasty homosexuals."
Consider these facts:
More than half of all people will get an STD at some point in their lives
The estimated total number of people living in the US with a viral STD is over 65 million.
Every year, there are approximately 15 million new cases of STDs, some of which are curable.
One in two sexually active persons will contact an STD by age 25
When the anti-gay industry throws the possibility of catching diseases in the mix, they are not only exploiting America’s unfamiliarity with homosexuality, but also its uncomfortability with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The truth of the matter is that many people do not know about sexually transmitted diseases and they will not take it upon themselves to get informed about them.
In almost every study, talking point, research paper, or anything the anti-gay industry puts out regarding the gay community is the notion that gays are increasingly promiscuous. These studies continue to say that gays are susceptible to all sorts of diseases.
Bear in mind that a large number of these studies consists of small sample studies (like studies of gays with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases or a small number of gays in a city).
And members of the anti-gay industry will omit any part of a study that say outside factors (i.e. rejection because of orientation) make it difficult for members of the gay community to sexually mature.
Then Robert Knight, Timothy Dailey, James Dobson, etc. claim that creating situations that are gay friendly (i.e. same sex marriage, passage of anti-discrimination laws) will put people, particularly children, at risk for "HIV, hepatitis A,B, and C, "gay bowel syndrome," human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, gonorrhea, and other sexual transmitted diseases . . ."
There is no logic in this line of reasoning; only fear tactics.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The power of aggressive voices
Tomorrow, i will put out an excerpt from my book. Today, however, I want to speak about something that bothers me and yes it's another dynamic of the Mark Foley controversy.
I got a transcript via email today detailing an appearance of conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on MSNBC'S Scarborough Country (I think I know the person who sent me the email but I am not sure because he only sent me his email address, which I won't publicize without his permission:
"Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Rodham Clinton, marched in gay pride parades in New York, in which I believe that NAMBLA floats were moved right along.. and these are child predators who are arguing for getting rid of laws between men and boys they’re marching with that, that will go into..."
Buchanan also accused U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi of marching with NAMBLA.
On the Media Matters webpage, I picked up this transcript interview with religious conservative leader Paul Weyrich:
NORRIS: Now before we go on, I think I can say, Mr. Weyrich, that there are quite a few people who would take exception to the statement that homosexuals are preoccupied with sex.
WEYRICH: Well, I don't care whether they take exception to it. It happens to be true. I mean --
NORRIS: That is your opinion.
WEYRICH: Well, it's not my opinion. It's the opinion of many psychologists and psychiatrists who have to deal with them.
It has been documented on this blog that Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council have spoken untrue comments about gays and pedophilia.
What we are seeing here is an anti-gay industry propaganda technique that is crucial to the survival of their lies: repetition.
It does not matter how many times how these lies about our community has been debunked. If they are constantly repeated unchallenged, then they have life.
And that is the crucial component that is present in all of the examples I have just listed; the fact that these lies went virtually unchallenged.
Where in the hell were the aggressive gay spokespeople willing to stop the program and say something to the effect of "hold it! give me examples! Give me proof of your charges."
Someone needed to demand proof from Weyrich, Buchanan and company and give them hell when they would not be able to provide it. We see that the so-called objective news media are not doing this. I am personally disappointed (and really not surprised in the case of Joe Scarborough) at members of the media who did not do their damn jobs and let these charges go unchallenged.
You gotta do more than look pretty and speak perfect diction boys and girls. Where is the hell is your integrity?
It does not matter how many times we bloggers go after Perkins, Buchanan and company because if they are able to appear on programs like Scarborough Company, like the O'Reilly Factor basically by themselves and are able to list a tissue of lies without the courtesy of correction, we are going to have problems.
We need to demand more of a gay presence on these news programs. And lastly, we need to demand that those who speak for us know what the difference between speaking politely and not taking any shit.
Tomorrow, i will put out an excerpt from my book. Today, however, I want to speak about something that bothers me and yes it's another dynamic of the Mark Foley controversy.
I got a transcript via email today detailing an appearance of conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on MSNBC'S Scarborough Country (I think I know the person who sent me the email but I am not sure because he only sent me his email address, which I won't publicize without his permission:
"Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Rodham Clinton, marched in gay pride parades in New York, in which I believe that NAMBLA floats were moved right along.. and these are child predators who are arguing for getting rid of laws between men and boys they’re marching with that, that will go into..."
Buchanan also accused U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi of marching with NAMBLA.
On the Media Matters webpage, I picked up this transcript interview with religious conservative leader Paul Weyrich:
NORRIS: Now before we go on, I think I can say, Mr. Weyrich, that there are quite a few people who would take exception to the statement that homosexuals are preoccupied with sex.
WEYRICH: Well, I don't care whether they take exception to it. It happens to be true. I mean --
NORRIS: That is your opinion.
WEYRICH: Well, it's not my opinion. It's the opinion of many psychologists and psychiatrists who have to deal with them.
It has been documented on this blog that Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council have spoken untrue comments about gays and pedophilia.
What we are seeing here is an anti-gay industry propaganda technique that is crucial to the survival of their lies: repetition.
It does not matter how many times how these lies about our community has been debunked. If they are constantly repeated unchallenged, then they have life.
And that is the crucial component that is present in all of the examples I have just listed; the fact that these lies went virtually unchallenged.
Where in the hell were the aggressive gay spokespeople willing to stop the program and say something to the effect of "hold it! give me examples! Give me proof of your charges."
Someone needed to demand proof from Weyrich, Buchanan and company and give them hell when they would not be able to provide it. We see that the so-called objective news media are not doing this. I am personally disappointed (and really not surprised in the case of Joe Scarborough) at members of the media who did not do their damn jobs and let these charges go unchallenged.
You gotta do more than look pretty and speak perfect diction boys and girls. Where is the hell is your integrity?
It does not matter how many times we bloggers go after Perkins, Buchanan and company because if they are able to appear on programs like Scarborough Company, like the O'Reilly Factor basically by themselves and are able to list a tissue of lies without the courtesy of correction, we are going to have problems.
We need to demand more of a gay presence on these news programs. And lastly, we need to demand that those who speak for us know what the difference between speaking politely and not taking any shit.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
A request from me
I am all Foleyed out so until there is something pressing (i.e. another headless monster from the anti-gay industry), I am going to give the situation a rest for a while
But I do have a request and I am going out on a limb on this one.
As you all know, this site is to preview and publicize my upcoming book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters. My book is the culmination of a two year odyssey into the so-called research of the anti-gay industry.
It also sprung from my incomplete series of reports that is present on Joe Brummer's site (i.e. The Six Roads of Deception).
Saturday, I am going to put out another excerpt of my book. My question is to you all: What would you like this excerpt to focus on?
My book is 11 chapters and focuses on Paul Cameron, the six propaganda techniques of the anti-gay industry, as well as how their lies hurt the sexual health of the gay community.
I am going out on a limb because this would require some of u to write in and respond. I hope someone does. LOL
Let me know what you think.
I am all Foleyed out so until there is something pressing (i.e. another headless monster from the anti-gay industry), I am going to give the situation a rest for a while
But I do have a request and I am going out on a limb on this one.
As you all know, this site is to preview and publicize my upcoming book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters. My book is the culmination of a two year odyssey into the so-called research of the anti-gay industry.
It also sprung from my incomplete series of reports that is present on Joe Brummer's site (i.e. The Six Roads of Deception).
Saturday, I am going to put out another excerpt of my book. My question is to you all: What would you like this excerpt to focus on?
My book is 11 chapters and focuses on Paul Cameron, the six propaganda techniques of the anti-gay industry, as well as how their lies hurt the sexual health of the gay community.
I am going out on a limb because this would require some of u to write in and respond. I hope someone does. LOL
Let me know what you think.
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