Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Bombardment!

I thought I could take a day off and obviously I was wrong.

I've noticed that our friend Peter LaBarbera is engaging in a new tactic: listing new entries on his page in rapid succession. These entries are articles from so-called "pro-family" sites, which means they are biased, claiming that Christans are being persecuted.

Ususally the articles are about incidents that have not gotten much notice in the mainstream press, meaning that Peter and company can twist the articles around to suit their lies before the truth comes out.

Peter's latest entries are no different:

Sex Worker “Art” Show Hosted by College of William and Mary

UK Religious Schools Must Not Teach that Homosexuality Is Sinful or Morally Wrong

Deerfield High School Uses GLSEN’s “Lunchbox” Series — What’s in the Box?

Irish Boy, 14, Arranges Sex with Adult Men Using Gaydar


Peter received these articles from Lifesite, an anti-gay industry online publication from Canada. Other online sites are going to be repeating these articles verbatim from Lifesite and other so-called "pro-family" news sources, i.e. OneNewsNow and WorldNetDaily.

This is how lies and rumors are started. And these sites doing just like Peter, heaping all of these stories one after the other all at once so that it is almost impossible to respond.

An excellent communication tactic, but not very Christian.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Frustration and Elation

Frustration

I took a break from doing work on my book Saturday and headed to the bookstore.

And got supremely pissed.

I didn't realize just how much the conservatives dominate the current events section of Barnes and Noble. It's as if every conservative commentator has three books each out.

What really pissed me off was a book entitled Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies.

I just knew that there was a section in it on the gay and lesbian community so I took a look. And it was as bad as I thought.

All of the cherry picked studies I cover in my book was included, but there was something else. The author freely cited Paul Cameron; in fact he cited about three of Cameron's discredited studies.

Why in 2007 are people still citing Cameron as a correct source? I have talked so many times about the stubborness of people citing headless monsters but now I am convinced that there is something else in play: the Dukakis factor.

In the 1989 election, George Bush played dirty politics, attacking Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis's character; calling him a card-carrying member of the ACLU and the like. Dukakis's inability to hit back fast and aggressively ended up costing him the election.

In that spirit, I have to ask just what are the gay rights organizations doing to attack the right's ability to demonize us. Why haven't those groups who are always calling me or sending me letters for donations taking more of an aggressive role in making the anti-gay industry explain themselves and their studies.

I have enjoyed writing this book and I hope to get people talking, but in all honesty, I should not have been in the situation to write it. I feel as if I am doing the work that HRC or the Gay and Lesbian Task Force should do.

Where is the big expose on Paul Cameron? Where is the truth to the lies that gay men have a short life span or gays molest children at a high rate?

While it is true that the religious right have been lying about our lives, we should ask just how much are we to blame for those lies being told over and over again?

Evil men prosper when good men do nothing.

And it is the same for organizations.

Elation

It's gone.

My manuscript is at the publisher's and and in a few months, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters will be in print. Thank you all for your support and I hope that you continue to support my efforts. In the coming weeks, I will be sending out press releases announcing the findings of my book. For now, like I promised, I am now going to reveal my chapter list. If anyone has any questions at all, please email me at CharleKenghis@aol.com

Introduction -Meeting Robert Knight

Chapter One - From Anita to James

Chapter Two - Paul Cameron

Chapter Three - If you can't prove a point, then generalize

Chapter Four - Then Repeat

Chapter Five - Conspiracy Theory

Chapter Six - Dire Consequences

Chapter Seven - Phony Experts

Chapter Eight - Dehumanizing Semantics

Chapter Nine - Lies About Sexual Health

Chapter Ten - What It All Means

Friday, March 02, 2007

Endgame

After over two years of research and work, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry is finished.

(applause)

I will be sending the manuscript to my publisher Monday morning. Then the work really starts. I am going to promote this book to death.

My goal was to create a document that will accurately show how so-called "pro-family" groups lie about the gay and lesbian community. This purpose of this book is to give gays and lesbians a guide to go by when combatting anti-gay lies as well as provide a testament on what Dobson and company has done to us.

When it is all said and done, history will show that these phony moral groups engaged in tactics worthy of the Nazis in Germany to deny lgbts our right piece of the American pie.

For now, I am going to reveal what I have discovered to be the top lies of the anti-gay industry. My book will demonstrate why these claims are not true:

Top Anti-Gay Industry Lies

1. Homosexuality is a lifestyle more harmful than cigarette smoking.

2. Gay men have a short life span.

3. The gay and lesbian community have a high rate of domestic violence.

4. Unhealthy behaviors (i.e. substance abuse, promiscuous sexual behavior) is indicative of the gay or lesbian orientation.

5. Gay men molest children at a high rate.

6. Gays and lesbians want to silence Christians.

7. Gays and lesbians recruit people, particularly children, to their "lifestyle."

8. Gays and lesbians are following a six-point plan to take over America.

9. Any judge who rules in favor of the gay and lesbian community in a case is an "activist judge."

10. Anal sex is "homosexual behavior."

11. Robert Spitzer’s study confirms that gays and lesbians can change their orientation.

12. Gays and lesbians want to force acceptance.

13. Gay bowel syndrome is a legitimate medical term.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Hate Crimes Act Distortions

The anti-gay industry is spooked by the possibility of a federal hate crimes law that will include the gay and lesbian community.

They have already began telling lies and I am sure that their efforts will culminate in a huge effort to either kill the legislation in Congress or get President Bush to veto it should it get to his desk.

The anti-gay industry is going to repeat their lies about how lgbts want to put Christians in jail for speaking out against homosexuality and how we also want to "recruit" children.

To combat these distortions, we must know and expose their tactics as quickly and as frequently as possible.

In that spirit, I am going to post something I found online. The following has to do with how the Family Research Council lied in its attempts to kill the 1999 Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Trust me when I say that the following tactics will be used again by the anti-gay industry. That is if they aren't already being used:

BEARING FALSE WITNESS: THE FRC'S SIX BIG LIES ABOUT THE HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

The Family Research Council, in an effort to shift public focus away from the tragedy of hate crimes in America, has issued an "action alert" to its members in which it fabricates six myths about the Hate Crimes PreventionAct of 1999. These myths -- and a short refutation -- are as follows:

FRC lie 1: "Hate crimes legislation could severely restrict Americans' freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of religion. This legislation would give the government the power to interpret and classify certain speech, thought, theology, and moral belief as unlawful or contributing to crime. Will pastors, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders who preach and teach against homosexual conduct be prosecuted for inciting a hate crime?"

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would only prohibit acts of violence, not speech. The Act would notinfringe upon anyone's First Amendment rights. In this manner, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act would operate justlike the current hate crimes statute, which does not punish protected speech because it requires that any coveredincident include criminal acts involving force. The changes to the statute proposed by the Hate Crimes Prevention Act would only apply to cases involving death or bodily injury; in other words, they would only come into play when violent crimes have been committed -- not in matters involving speech protected by the First Amendment.

FRC lie 2: "President Clinton stated that he would include words perceived as inciting an act of violence - without proof of direct correlation - as evidence of a hate crime."

The truth: Again, the legislation does not target speech.Organizations such as the FRC would remain free to condemn homosexuality. Only when a crime victim is targetedfor a violent act because of his or her sexual orientation, gender or disability status could the law be applied.

FRC lie 3: "Talk radio, religious broadcasting and television programs could be subject to censorship."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would not restrict the media. Again, it would come into play only whensomeone commits a violent crime on the basis of someone else's race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

FRC lie 4: "Hate crimes legislation could give priority to homosexuals as being more protected victims than other victims of crime."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act does not create a category of "more protected victims." It simply addresses the fact that state and local authorities sometimes cannot or will not prosecute violent crimes committed against gays and lesbians. Under current law, the federal government is often unable to intervene in these cases. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would permit federal authorities to bring the perpetrators of these horrible crimes to justice.

FRC lie 5: "Hate crimes legislation, accompanied by the President's 'tolerance education' crusade, will hinder parents who seek to protect their children from a lifestyle that is unhealthy and which they recognize to be morally and spiritually wrong."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would not interfere with the rights of parents to teach their children according to their own sets of values. The Act would merely prohibit acts of violence against individuals on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. It would not preclude parents from teaching their own values to their children.

FRC lie 6: "Students could be forced to learn homosexual diversity training in public schools."

The truth: This legislation has nothing to do with school curriculum.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Tuesday musings . . . .

I see that some bloggers still can't let go of the fact that David Parker lost his case.

I can't help but feeling a little concerned as to how many of these so-called people of faith are allowing themselves to be taken in by the anti-gay industry propaganda machines. Many blogs that I have read are claiming that all sorts of calamities will happen, including:

Elementary school children will be taught homosexuality, including having tests complete with connect-the-dots,

High schoolers will be forced to memorize parts from Mildred Pierce, All About Eve, and (gasp) songs from Cher albums,

Whitney Houston may go back to Bobby Brown,

Britney Spears will win an Oscar,

Ann Coulter will win a Pulitzer Prize - Okay that last one scares even me!


As you can tell, I am in a light mood today. But I really shouldn't be because I have yet another reason to despise the gay community.

Today I went to the local library to look up a bit of information for my book. To find what I was looking for, I had to go to the third floor, via an escalator. It wouldn't be too bad except for the fact that I have a bad case of vertigo and whoever built my public library obviously liked those movies with single bridges overlapping huge valleys of land.

Let's just say that I dug my nails in the handles of the escalator so hard that I went through the rubber and hit metal.

And when it was over, I had to sit down for 10 minutes.

Not to worry though because I did find what I was looking for. The ironic thing is that it will probably add up to at least two or three sentences in my book. But they are an important two or three sentences.

It will be another example in my book of how the anti-gay industry cherry picks information in order to harm our community.

And speaking of my book, I hope to send it to the publisher on Monday. Not exactly March 1, but my index is a killer. I want to make sure that I include all of my sources.

When I send it off, I hope to list the chapters by name on this blog. Keep your fingers crossed!

Monday, February 26, 2007

Clarification thanks to Joe Brummer

Yesterday, I mentioned that I did not know that much about the American College of Pediatricians (the group that wrote a junk science study trashing gay parenting. See yesterday's blog entry.) Thanks to my friend Joe Brummer, I know a little about this group:

The American Collage of Pediatricians are a small group of conservative, religious pediatricians whose research is not rigorously tested and reviewed by peers.

The Boston Globe writes:

“Created as counterpoints to large, well-established medical organizations whose work is subject to rigorous review and who assert no political agenda, the tiny think tanks with names often mimicking those of established medical authorities have sought to dispute the notion of a medical consensus on social issues such as gay rights, the right to die, abortion, and birth control.”

“The tiny American College of Pediatricians has a single employee, yet it has been quoted as a counterpoint to the 60,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics."

This goes beyond anti-gay distortions. We are dealing with organizations who, when they don't like the conclusions of certain studies, create their own scientific bodies with political agendas.

I am curious as to just how many people of faith have been fooled by this chicanery. It's very scary when propaganda machines are masquerading as credible and objective scientific bodies.


Maybe a solution to this problem

Wayne Besen has done it again and I have to give him his props:

Truth Wins Out unveiled a new campaign today encouraging scientists to report right wing distortions of their research on the website www.RespectMyResearch.org.

Truth Wins Out will also join the gay right's group SoulForce today in a media conference call featuring a panel of experts who will discuss how groups, such as Focus on the Family, manipulate social science to help justify discrimination.

"This website is a powerful response to the brazen and outrageous manner in which the far right has hijacked science to support their discriminatory aims," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "Our goal is to make it easier for legitimate researchers to fight back and demand their work be respected and not co-opted for an extreme political agenda."

This is something that should have been done a long time ago. I personally think that all major gay rights groups should make exposing anti-gay industry distortions a goal in the future. We can't win hearts and minds when we are being blocked by lies.
So I am a 'sodomy advocate" now? Unbelievable nonsense

Apparently I am getting a little infamous. A blogger wrote an entry about me.

It began when I posted a comment to his blog in response to his entry about the David Parker situation.

This is what he said:

Recently a sodomite advocate with a screen name of Black Tsunami (AKA A. McEwen) sent a comment to the latest entry on this blog.I went to his blog, called "Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters" and saw that he has lost all contact with reality.

Look at what his description says:

For two years, I have studied "so-called" pro family "research" regarding the gay community and have found a disturbing pattern of deception. In 2007, my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters will be published, detailing all of my findings. The purpose of this blog is to give updates of my work and to show some of my findings.McEwen wants to see deception to document in his book? Here's some for him!

So what was the deception he had for me? Why nothing. He then goes on a tangent about the same-sex marriage situation in Wisconsin.

Which confuses me because my post was about the David Parker case.

I would like to think that he looked at my blog and couldn't refute anything on it.

When some people go on a tangent, it's always better to sit back and let them go. On some occasions, it can be funny.