A history of 'worthless fluff' courtesy of the anti-gay industry

Two days ago, Matt Barber (Concerned Women for America) dismissed a 2001 letter from six researchers. The researchers had complained the anti-gay industry was distorting a 1997 study they conducted in order to say that gays have a short life span.

Among other things, Barber said the letter was "worthless fluff."

I will not speculate how Barber, who has no training in such matters, can dismiss the complaints of researchers about the misusage of their work.

I want to examine the history of "worthless fluff."

In this case, "worthless fluff" is defined as all the times legitimate researchers and physicians have complained that the anti-gay industry has distorted their work.

Let's take a trip down the timeline:

1998 - Pediatrician Robert Garafalo complains that the anti-gay industry distorted his study regarding at-risk behavior amongst gay youth. He said the groups omitted the part of his study that said the at-risk behavior is the result of a homophobic society. Curiously enough, Robert Knight (Barber's predecessor in Concerned Women for America) dismissed Garafalo's complaint, calling him a "thrall of political correctness."

- Assistant Professor of Sociology Lisa Waldner tells Frank Rich of the New York Times that the anti-gay industry is distorting a study she wrote while in 1992 in order to claim that lesbians relationships have a high rate of domestic violence.

2001 - Patrick Letellier complains that Gary Glenn of the American Family Association cherry picked passages from his book (Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them) in order to assert that domestic violence is high in gay relationships. Years after this, the book continues to be cited by the anti-gay industry in the same way Glenn cited it.

- Robert Spitzer publishes a study that says a small number of people can change their sexual orientation. The anti-gay industry cites the study as proof that homosexuality is a choice. Spitzer complains as to how his work was being used, even publishing a piece in the Wall Street Journal complaining about how his work was being distorted.

2002 - A. Nicholas Groth writes a letter to the Family Research Council claiming that the group distorted his work in a study to prove that gays molest children at a high level. Groth, in 1983, complained that anti-gay researcher Paul Cameron had done the same thing. The study published by the Family Research Council is almost similar to the one published by Cameron.

2006 - Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc of the University of British Columbia complains that Focus on the Family distorted her study on lesbian teen suicide.

- Dr. Kyle Pruett, a clinical professor of psychiatry in the Yale Child Study Center and School of Nursing accuses Focus on the Family head James Dobson of distorting his work.

- New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, Ph.D. writes Focus on the Family head James Dobson a blistering letter accusing him of distorting her work.

Gotta love the "worthless fluff."

Sooner or later, it will be the very thing that exposes the anti-gay industry for the liars they are.

UPDATE: Definition of pitiful

A commentator disagreed with what I said. And he took it upon himself to try and correct me.
What makes it so funny is that he repeats the same error that Gary Glenn made when distorting Patrick Lettelier's work.

Apparently he wasn't aware that I have in my possession a letter by Mr. Letellier outlining just HOW Gary Glenn distorted his work.

It's all in the comments section of this post.

First Kevin McCullough's flimsy defense of his ENDA lie and now this.

These so-called "Christians" can't accept the fact that their beliefs can't turn their bullshit into facts.

Lord, if these are truly Your people called by Your name, then why do they lie so much?

Editor's note - Please keep my mother in your prayers as she is in the hospital for a surgical procedure today and tomorrow.

Also, Kevin McCullough responded to yesterday's post about him, ENDA, and Barack Obama. He says his claim that ENDA would make it difficult to fire a youth pastor found to be in inappropriate relationship with a young boy is correct. He says he consulted "three legal experts."

Read his response to my post and my response to him in the comments section of yesterday's post.

One News Now distorts a story- should we be surprised?

Usually in the case of gay/straight alliances in schools, the lgbt community has come out consistently on top.

However, we lost in a recent case.

And One News Now claims to know why:

Federal judge K. Michael Moore has said a Florida high school was within its rights when it banned a student-led pro-homosexual club.

That's the lead. Further down, the story says:

Also, David Gibbs, founder of the Christian Law Association, says a long-standing school policy helped administrators make the right decision. "The Okeechobee High School has a policy that bans all sex-based clubs. Any club that deals with sexual orientation or identity are [sic] not allowed. In this case, the students lost interest and the clubs dissolved, and the federal court recognized that there was no issue to continue pushing," Gibbs contends.

He also says the school board had a policy in place to teach abstinence. "School boards nationwide need to realize that they do have the opportunity to indeed act in the best interest of their students. And in this particular case, Okeechobee high school's decision to honor abstinence and stand against the promiscuity that is so encouraged in so many quarters of our land was honored by this federal court decision, completely dismissing the lawsuit that had been filed against them," Gibbs points out.

But neither of these assumptions are true. The article also says:

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Moore said since the student has already graduated, she is no longer affected by the school's decision to ban the club.

You got that? Judge Moore did not say the school was well within its rights to ban the gay/straight alliance. And also, that ridiculous explanation that the school's policy against "sex-based" clubs helped Moore to make this ruling is also a lie.

Judge Moore ruled that since the student (i.e. plantiff) has graduated, she is no longer affected by the school's policy, thereby making the lawsuit useless.

Perhaps One News Now feels that since they are fighting against the forces of the supposed gay agenda, little things like accuracy and news integrity are light casualties.

Kevin McCullough attacks Barack Obama with an ENDA lie

Barack Obama scares the right-wing.

Obviously, everyone figured this campaign was going to be a coronation for Hilary Clinton. Everyone but Obama and his supporters.

I like what's going on. It puts everyone in a tailspin. And it teaches folks to not take the American voter for granted.

And it seems that no one is more surprised than the right-wing. I'm sure they had a lot of slings and arrows ready for Clinton. But with Obama looking like he is going to be the nominee, they have to scramble hard to get the "goods" on him.

That doesn't mean that they aren't trying. I have been paying slight attention to the Reverend Wright situation. I'm not too sure about what has been going on, but one thing that I do know is the right-wing has written so much about the situation that my head is spinning.

The conservative site Town Hall probably set a record with the number of hit pieces formulated to hurt Obama.

And speaking of which, conservative writer Kevin McCullough has written his own hit piece.

Apparently he is not happy that Obama supports ENDA. His entire piece is best served by focusing on the following lie:

So stifling would ENDA be in fact that if a Youth Pastor who works with young boys in a church program got caught in an inappropriate relationship with them, ENDA would make it nearly impossible for the church involved to fire the youth pastor. ENDA would directly challenge and seek to limit religious expression, doctrine, theology, and practice.

McCullough obviously thinks that people are stupid enough to fall for that faulty line of "logic." ENDA does not protect someone against unlawful behavior (i.e. a youth pastor having an inappropriate relationship with young boys).

In fact, no anti-discrimination law does. No law barring discrimination on the basis of race, religon, or national origin gives anyone cover to engage in unlawful behavior. And the same is for laws barring discrimination on the basis on sexual orientation.

The funniest thing is that McCullough is getting taken to task by the comments on the site. I rather like this one:

I'm pleasantly surprised to find some TH readers criticizing McCullough for his utterly loony rants. He assumes that whatever he fears or hates must be something liberals support--like school shootings, for instance.

Read stuff like this and weep, conservatives, because this is what conservatism has come down to. Your glory days of intelligent commentary are far behind you now, and McCullough is now what passes for a real conservative.

Actually, I would suggest that he, and his style, are quite appropriate for the present day. Today a conservative is very, very likely to be a theocratic hate-monger like McCullough. Today's conservatives, after all, are really right-wing populists, combining in equal amounts crudity, ignorance, and meanness in one very unattractive package. So, embrace McCullough; today he really does speak for most of you.

How true indeed.


Matt Barber tries to disavow credible researchers

I have talked several times about how the anti-gay industry distorted a 1997 Canadian study in order to claim that gays have a short life span.

They always omit the fact that in 2001, the researchers of the study went on record saying that their work has been distorted.

Matt Barber from Concerned Women for America has finally addressed this situation in a new piece written today:

Not surprisingly, that same homosexual lobby and its codependent enablers in the mainstream media moved quickly to sweep the IJE study under the rug. Under tremendous pressure, the researchers who conducted the study even jumped into the political damage control fray issuing a statement which read, "[W]e do not condone the use of our research in a manner that restricts the political or human rights of gay and bisexual men or any other group."

Naturally Barber does not go into detail talking about what "tremendous pressure" the researchers received.

I'm curious to see how much pressure, if any, was exerted in a four-year-period. The study came out in 1997. The letter was written in 2001.

Then to top it off, Barber (who is not a researcher) says this:

Of course, that's all just worthless fluff. All the political spin in the world doesn't change reality, nor does it eliminate the study's disturbing conclusions or practical implications. The research left ZERO wiggle room for anyone who would argue that homosexuality is a "perfectly normal and healthy alternative sexual orientation."

Barber's claim is bullshit. More than that; it's not only a blatant lie but a repeated drumbeat that the anti-gay industry is always sounding when they are caught lying:

No, we aren't wrong. It's those evil gays exerting pressure and forcing people to change their words.

The audacity of the anti-gay industry drives me insane. From Peter LaBarbera to Barber to James Dobson and even to those who cite their lies (Sally Kern), why is it that these people can't admit when they are wrong?

Oh no. They can't be wrong. They have a special pipeline to God so anything they say, no matter how incorrect or stupid it is, becomes correct.

It's happened so many times; a researcher or physician goes on record claiming that the anti-gay industry has distorted their work and then the anti-gay industry attacks the physician or researcher. Or downplays the complaint.

Or in some cases, totally ignores it.

Keep it up, guys. You can only tell a lie so long before it bites you in the ass. And I'm going to make sure I am around to point out the bite marks.

The webpage goodasyou.org has tracked this story , including posting the letter from the researchers crying foul over the distortion of their work.

Forgive me for copying, but I want to do the same thing:

Gay life expectancy revisited

Robert S Hogg, Steffanie A Strathdee, Kevin JP Craib, Michael V O'shaughnessy, Julio Montaner and Martin T Schechter

Over the past few months we have learnt of a number of reports regarding a paper we published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on the gay and bisexual life expectancy in Vancouver in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From these reports it appears that our research is being used by select groups in US and Finland to suggest that gay and bisexual men live an unhealthy lifestyle that is destructive to themselves and to others. These homophobic groups appear more interested in restricting the human rights of gay and bisexuals rather than promoting their health and well being.

The aim of our research was never to spread more homophobia, but to demonstrate to an international audience how the life expectancy of gay and bisexual men can be estimated from limited vital statistics data. In our paper, we demonstrated that in a major Canadian centre, life expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 21 years less than for all men. If the same pattern of mortality continued, we estimated that nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently aged 20 years would not reach their 65th birthday. Under even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men in this urban centre were experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by men in Canada in the year 1871. In contrast, if we were to repeat this analysis today the life expectancy of gay and bisexual men would be greatly improved. Deaths from HIV infection have declined dramatically in this population since 1996. As we have previously reported there has been a threefold decrease in mortality in Vancouver as well as in other parts of British Columbia.

It is essential to note that the life expectancy of any population is a descriptive and not a prescriptive mesaure. Death is a product of the way a person lives and what physical and environmental hazards he or she faces everyday. It cannot be attributed solely to their sexual orientation or any other ethnic or social factor. If estimates of an individual gay and bisexual man's risk of death is truly needed for legal or other purposes, then people making these estimates should use the same actuarial tables that are used for all other males in that population. Gay and bisexual men are included in the construction of official population-based tables and therefore these tables for all males are the appropriate ones to be used.

In summary, the aim of our work was to assist health planners with the means of estimating the impact of HIV infection on groups, like gay and bisexual men, not necessarily captured by vital statistics data and not to hinder the rights of these groups worldwide. Overall, we do not condone the use of our research in a manner that restricts the political or human rights of gay and bisexual men or any other group.

B. Brian Blair distracts me

As a child of the south, I love my pro wrestling.

My love of professional wrestling dates back to when Ric Flair had just begun to dye his hair and Ricky Steamboat was a rookie.

So imagine my confusion when I read the following:

Hillsborough County commissioner Brian Blair has picked up Ronda Storm's gay-bashing mantle. The The Former Bubble Bee is venting mock outrage that Tampa high school students will protest violence against LGBT.

The April 25th Day of Silence was started in tribute to Lawrence King, whom was gay and murdered at age 15. Students will not speak and hand out cards explaining their silence. All this sounds rather harmless and hardly a disruption to schools. Blair is running for re-election against Kevin Beckner. The latter is openly gay and heavily-backed by the Democratic establishment. Blair is also being investigation for a possible ethics violation. Time for Blair to play the religious card.

"I have always believed that all citizens are equal and should be treated accordingly. On the other hand, no group of citizens should be given government sanction and support to promote their social and sexual agenda upon the rest of us and especially, on our children."

B. Brian Blair is a former professional wrestler. He was never up to the level of fame that reached Hulk Hogan, Flair, Steve Austin or the Rock.

His claim to fame was being a member of the Killer Bees, a tag team that included (much more talented and more title-winning) "Jumping" Jim Brunzell.

I want to talk about just how stupid his claims are.

I want to say that the Day of Silence usually doesn't cause any problems until folks like Blair start with their "gay agenda" nonsense.

I want to talk about how the Day of Silence is a student-led event that no one is required to participate in.

But I can't.

When I first heard of what Blair said, my mind pushed back to the point I have always thought of about the Killer Bees long before Blair even became a council member.

Those shorts were too damned tight.

I know my mind should be on the ignorance flowing from Blair's mouth, but . . .

Those shorts were too damned tight.

But my mind tends to gravitate. Blame it on my gay sensibilities.

Those shorts were too damned tight.

I hear that not only is Blair a council member but he is also the chaplain.

I don't care if he is the Pope. I can't take his words seriously.

Every time I read the following words:

"I have always believed that all citizens are equal and should be treated accordingly. On the other hand, no group of citizens should be given government sanction and support to promote their social and sexual agenda upon the rest of us and especially, on our children."

My mind can't help but to gravitate to the following link.

Maybe I'm getting desperate in my approaching middle-age.

Despite the fact that the words coming out of his mouth are dumb as hell, it would be more interesting if more anti-gay industry spokespeople wore such tight trunks.

Then again scratch that.

I may be desperate and I may think that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill are hot . . .

But no one could get me drunk enough to drool over Peter LaBarbera or Matt Barber in tight trunks.

Hat tip to Pam Spaulding and Pushing Rope.

A little bragging for Thursday

I apologize for the short post today. I am due to hear my little cousin sing at a concert.

So I thought I would pat myself on the back real quick.

I apologize for the indulgence.

My other webpage, Anti-Gay Lies and Liars reached over 1,000 hits a while back.

While compared to other blogs, this may not seem much, but it is a success as far as I'm concerned.

Anti-Gay Lies and Liars began in January and it is my way of breaking down the distortions of the anti-gay industry into easy-to-understand points for use by those who are concerned with the well-being of lgbts.

Central to this page is my time-line of how the anti-gay industry have relied on bad studies, lies, and out-and-out deceptions to dehumanize lgbts and deny us what is rightfully ours.

I periodically add more examples of lies and distortions. This year has been very fruitful so far thanks to Sally Kern, Matt Barber, and Peter LaBarbera.

And I find it interesting that no one has challenged any of my assertions.

Every now and then, I get challenges on this blog, but for some reason no one challenges me on the veracity of the information on Anti-Gay Lies and Liars.

I wonder why that is.

Seriously, thank you everyone who made Anti-Gay Lies and Liars a success.

And by all means, use it to educate yourself and others.

Lastly, if there is something that you wish for me to add, please let me know.

Apparently we are winning the culture war

I would be remiss if I did not mention the new item about our friend Sally Kern.

It would seem that PFLAG has a tape of its meeting with her. And this tape contradicts her claims that PFLAG took her statements out of context.

Well duh.

Still, it's good to have this thing on record. But what else can I say about this woman, who has lied, distorted, attacked an innocent group of people and then hid behind her faith when called to the carpet?

Not a thing, so I will just direct you all to the link. It's a doozy.

And on that topic, I have been ignoring our friend Peter since he has been busy with his "I wanna be just like Sally" fest.

But it would seem that he is playing the "Oh we are going to lose to those nasty homosexuals" game again:

My friend Laurie Higgins below has hit on a microcosm of why our movement is on the brink of an astounding cultural defeat — the triumph of immoral same-sex behavior as a “civil right.” In the last decade, some of our leaders, and many conservatives, chose to “downplay” the very force — homosexualism — that was leading the assault on marriage, normalcy and children in our culture.

About three years ago, I sat in a roomful of evangelical leaders at a major ministry where it was taught that you should not criticize homosexual behavior in advocating against “same-sex marriage.” The “expert” speaker cited poll data and negative audience reaction to the issue being raised.

Meanwhile, with each passing year, the other side CELEBRATES homosexual and gender-confused lifestyles with ever greater fervor, and happily promotes the same to kids, as if they are doing God’s work (when it is actually Satan’s). Their play book is simple: always stay on the offensive, even when it comes to advocating “transgender” identity/behavior to children (e.g., the 2nd-grade Colorado boy who was encouraged to come to school in a dress). We moral-minded express the requisite shock and horror; they continue to move forward.

Tell me: which side is destined to win the Culture War according to these lopsided Rules of Engagement?

So we are winning against Peter and company. Who knew?

Well all I can say is that if we are winning, then we should thank Peter and company.

If people are turning against them, it's because they are seeing through their bullshit, particular on the issue of lgbt rights.

But tell me, just how long can anyone push the following degree of propaganda before they are caught in their lies:

Religious right: Homosexuality is a sin

Okay, that is your right to believe that.

Religious right: Gay men have a short life span because of the diseases they catch.

Say what!

Religious right: Lesbians have a high rate of alcohol abuse. Generally all gays and lesbians have a high rate of alcohol abuse and suicide.

Now hold up. Where are you getting that?

Religious right: Gays and lesbians are trying to recruit children into their lifestyle.

What in the hell are you talking about?

Religious right: Gays have an organized campaign going to silence Christians and destroy marriage.

Hold it! Where is your proof of these claims about homosexuality? What’s the difference between what you are saying about gays and what the Nazis said about Jews?

Pause

Religious right: I believe that homosexuality is a sin. Why are you calling me a hater when all I am doing is speaking God’s word.

Let's talk about Mass Resistance for a second

This situation regarding Paul Ash (see yesterday's post) underscores just how bullheaded some people are.

I read that Ash, despite being threatened, will continue the curriculum. And I hope he does.

But it amazes me that throughout all the comments I read on various pages, no one wants to answer the following question:

What is wrong with teaching children the truth that other family situations exist? It has nothing to do with sexual intercourse.

I don't see the answer to this question. What I see is the following (taken verbatim):

visit www.massresistance.org. Also google Boston Children's Hospital Sex Change Clinic. See for yourself what sick people these devaints really are.

I guess I am a homophobe, It must be a good and nessecary emotion as it keeps me clean, not like the homosexuals whom deceive children about human sexuality, of the family nature and marriage. two men, two women that have intimate relations, are mutiplating the natural course of sex and family.

Children must be afforded respect and protection of their innocence and childhood. Respectful adults do not involve children in talk of devaint sexual practices, nor do they involve children in adult sexual concerns. Responsible and intelligent adults realize children are not sexual creatures, they need time to grow and mature before they learn about adult matters

Hello, Hello, Hello, James, Reality is A man and a woman, come together as one to produce children the family. This is real reality as you see life cannot be without this reality. This is the reality of life itself. So tell the children the truth, man and woman= children= family. And when man realizes this truth and bonds with woman then he will live in reality. Amen!!! Praise Jesus!!!

We seem to be dealing with people who don't want to even admit that their ideas of family aren't the only ones. They seem to want to evade the question and push the conversation into the realm of sexual intercourse.

And helping them along with the way is the group Mass Resistance.

For many who don't know, Mass Resistance is a vile group in Massachusetts whose reputation for lying is so bad that I think even our buddy Peter won't vouch for them.

They are responsible for some of the most mean-spirited attacks on lgbts that I have ever seen. The only thing that separates them from Fred Phelps group is lack of notoriety.

Yesterday, I said that they were behind the David Parker controversy but I didn't go into detail about it.

When Parker was arrested (he eventually refused to leave his son's elementary school after a meeting.) Mass Resistance members just happened to be there to take pictures of him being led away in handcuffs.

Coincidence? You tell me.

Then a year after the initial nonsense, the group sent out a press release claiming that Parker's son was attacked because of his dad's stance. Mass Resistance claimed that the child was dragged behind a building and beat up by a bunch of students who were angry at the controversy Parker started.

The press release got significant play throughout many anti-gay industry web pages and blogs.

The incident was investigated by the school, the area police, and the area social services.

The results of the investigations are here and here.

There was no gang attack.

The real story was that Parker's son had gotten into a fight with a friend over a cafeteria seat.

And furthermore, Parker was told of the incident after it happened, so he had full knowledge of the incident before Mass Resistance's press release went out.

His son and the friend made amends and even had a "play date" after the incident.

Mass Resistance conveniently omits this distortion of truth when they talk about the Parker situation. And to make matters worse, they continue to tell the lie that Parker's son was gang attacked.

Go on their page now and see the claim. When caught in that lie, they spin more lies.

And just so you know, none of the anti-gay industry groups or bloggers who ran the Mass Resistance press release issued any type of retraction.

Luckily, there are two things that work against Mass Resistance.

Their antics have pretty much alienated them from the majority of the public in Massachusetts.

Also, there is a group constantly watching them and making sure people know the truth - Mass Resistance Watch.

But still, it's sad to see a how a bunch of liars can prey on the fears and insecurities of so many.