Another researcher cries foul over anti-gay industry misuse of study
Last week, I talked about how the phony news site One News Now distorted a study to claim that the lgbt orientation in itself leads to depression and substance abuse.
I pointed out not only how the study was distorted but also the fact that One News Now cited researcher discredited researcher Paul Cameron.
Well today brings part two of the story, courtesy of my friends over at Box Turtle Bulletin:
A British researcher has denounced two North American anti-gay web sites for distorting his research. University College London professor Michael King, in a statement to Box Turtle Bulletin, clarified the findings of his research on depression and suicide among LGB people, and emphasized the importance that “all sectors of society welcome them as equal and valuable citizens.”
Professor King spoke out in response to an article that appeared last Wednesday in LifeSite, an unofficial Catholic web site, which claimed that the “homosexual lifestyle [is] strongly linked to depression [and] suicide.” The same article by Kathleen Gilbert appeared again Saturday on the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow.
. . . We asked Professor King for his reaction to the LifeSite/OneNewsNow article. This was his reply:
"LifeSite News and OneNewsNow have misinterpreted our review. Evidence from around the world identifies the main stressors leading to mental distress in gay and lesbian people as discrimination, prejudice, bullying in schools and colleges, and the consequent need for many LGB people to keep their homosexual identity secret, even from their families.
Our review did not examine links between mental disorder and homosexual “behaviour” or “lifestyle”. Our work reviewed studies of the mental health of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, and sadly, those studies showed that it is people (not behaviour) that are discriminated against, and not least by religious groups and organisations.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexuality is even more devastating than other forms of discrimination such as racism, as it reaches right into families and leaves no refuge for its victims.
We suggest in our review that the availability of alcohol and drugs at gay social venues may be a factor in the greater risk of drug and alcohol misuse in LGB people. Reducing this problem is something for which LGB people must take greater responsibility. However, the fact that discrimination still exists in our societies means that many are forced to use such venues to meet each other rather than through more common ways available to heterosexuals, such as at work, during the pursuit of hobbies and past-times, or at church.
There is now abundant evidence that homosexuality is not itself a mental disorder and that it is compatible with a healthy lifestyle. We shall only begin to see a reduction in mental distress and deliberate self harm in LGB people when all sectors of society welcome them as equal and valuable citizens."
Now we all know the modus of operation of the anti-gay industry. They are going to either ignore the rebuke or claim that King is biased and pro-gay.
Their tactics are beginning to sound like a broken record.
But one thing is clear and everyone had better take note of it - members of the lgbt community are getting highly savvy in pointing how just how the anti-gay industry distorts legitimate studies.
And sooner or later all of their tactics, every lie they told, every study they misused, every discredited study they used will come back to bite them in the ass.
Payback is a bitch and I hope to be around to enjoy every minute of it.
Hell, I hope to be right in the middle of it all, directing traffic.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I got dem Folsom Street Fair blues
There's a crazy guy in Illinois
Bum bum bum bum bum
Who's really anti-gay
Bum bum bum bum bum
And he won't rest
Bum bum bum bum bum
Until everyone else
Bum bum bum bum bum
Is the same way
Ugh. I was not born the sing the blues.
The WWE has Wrestlemania.
Malls have the Christmas holidays
And our friend Peter has this period; the time where he attends California's Folsom Street Fair, takes pictures of gays engaged in frivilous activity (while ignoring the heterosexuals doing the same thing), and tries to paint the entire community with a broad nasty brush.
This year, he and others, including Linda (I can't tell you why but I am a pro-family expert) will be holding a press conference designed to bring attention to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Of course the press conference will conveniently ignore the fact that Republican Arnold Swarzeneggar is the governor of California and as such, should have attention devoted to him. After all, San Francisco is a state in California.
Frankly, Peter leaves me weary. I am three-days away from one of the most successful prides in South Carolina where families (including children), lgbts of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and their allies came together for good clean fun.
As such, I really don't have the mental patience to deal with Peter's grandstanding.
All I can say is I hope no one is fooled by it. What Peter and company are doing is no different than a racist distorting FBI crime statistics to make the case that African-Americans are more criminal than whites.
From my conversations with Peter, I gauge that he knows fully well what he is doing. And he knows fully well that sometimes people on his side of the argument (himself included) skirts rules of accuracy for the sake of shock.
So why does Peter do it? Why does he knowingly attempt to paint the lgbt community with a broad brush of lies? Why does he concentrate on things that puts the lgbt community in a bad light with the full knowledge that what he is doing is unfair?
Because Peter is a fanatic. Some of you know this already, but up until this moment, I shirked away from extreme namecalling.
But the fact of the matter is that Peter is so convinced that homosexuality is a sin that he is willing to bend the rules to prove this point. He seems to think that "robbing Peter to pay Paul" is a Christian virtue.
Hmmm. I think America should fear his attitude more than that of a gay man in a leather harness.
There's a crazy guy in Illinois
Bum bum bum bum bum
Who's really anti-gay
Bum bum bum bum bum
And he won't rest
Bum bum bum bum bum
Until everyone else
Bum bum bum bum bum
Is the same way
Ugh. I was not born the sing the blues.
The WWE has Wrestlemania.
Malls have the Christmas holidays
And our friend Peter has this period; the time where he attends California's Folsom Street Fair, takes pictures of gays engaged in frivilous activity (while ignoring the heterosexuals doing the same thing), and tries to paint the entire community with a broad nasty brush.
This year, he and others, including Linda (I can't tell you why but I am a pro-family expert) will be holding a press conference designed to bring attention to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome and U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Of course the press conference will conveniently ignore the fact that Republican Arnold Swarzeneggar is the governor of California and as such, should have attention devoted to him. After all, San Francisco is a state in California.
Frankly, Peter leaves me weary. I am three-days away from one of the most successful prides in South Carolina where families (including children), lgbts of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and their allies came together for good clean fun.
As such, I really don't have the mental patience to deal with Peter's grandstanding.
All I can say is I hope no one is fooled by it. What Peter and company are doing is no different than a racist distorting FBI crime statistics to make the case that African-Americans are more criminal than whites.
From my conversations with Peter, I gauge that he knows fully well what he is doing. And he knows fully well that sometimes people on his side of the argument (himself included) skirts rules of accuracy for the sake of shock.
So why does Peter do it? Why does he knowingly attempt to paint the lgbt community with a broad brush of lies? Why does he concentrate on things that puts the lgbt community in a bad light with the full knowledge that what he is doing is unfair?
Because Peter is a fanatic. Some of you know this already, but up until this moment, I shirked away from extreme namecalling.
But the fact of the matter is that Peter is so convinced that homosexuality is a sin that he is willing to bend the rules to prove this point. He seems to think that "robbing Peter to pay Paul" is a Christian virtue.
Hmmm. I think America should fear his attitude more than that of a gay man in a leather harness.
Monday, September 22, 2008
SC Pride 2008 - a Monster successI know, I know . . . McCain's chief of staff is allegedly gay. And this is going to cause a mad blogsphere rush of speculations, accusations, etc.
And you can get the dish on any blog, so allow me to indulge a bit about something that I feel is equally important.
My state celebrated its 19th gay pride and it was awesome. It was largest, most diverse, most enthused crowd of lgbts, our families, our allies, and our children that I have ever seen.
You see, this is the what gay pride is all about; not some subcultural event that our friend Peter will attend in order to demonize the entire community, nor some spooky "other" that other members of the anti-gay industry try to portray us as.
Whether some folks like it or not, we are America. And we are God's children, created exactly as we are supposed to be. Other pictures can be seen here under SC Pride 2008 and Pride 2008. A special no-prize to anyone who can spot me in one of the pictures below.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
One News Now distorts another study AND cites Paul Cameron
SC Gay Pride is over and it was a huge success. But more on that later.
As I sit here, an item from One News Now hit me:
A new study in the United Kingdom has revealed that homosexuals are about 50% more likely to suffer from depression and engage in substance abuse than the rest of the population, reports Health24.com.
After analyzing 25 earlier studies on sexual orientation and mental health, researchers, in a study published in the medical journal BMC Psychiatry, also found that the risk of suicide jumped over 200% if an individual had engaged in a homosexual lifestyle.
Warning signs went off in my head when I read this due to One News Now's penchant for distorting news items (which has been chronicled on many occasions on this site).
Warning sign 1: One News Now did not give the name of the study.
I found the study here. And the first paragraph says the following:
Homosexual and bisexual men and women may face higher risks of depression, substance abuse and suicidal behaviour than heterosexuals do, a new study suggests. The reason for this may lie in discrimination and rejection often associated with being homosexual or bisexual.
Warning sign 2: One News Now acknowledged what the study was saying about discrimination and reject and then tried to dismiss it:
While the Health 24 article suggested that homosexuals may be pushed to substance abuse and suicide because of anti-homosexual cultural and family pressures, empirical tests have shown that there is no difference in homosexual health risk depending on the level of tolerance in a particular environment. Homosexuals in the United States and Denmark - the latter of which is acknowledged to be highly tolerant of homosexuality - both die on average in their early 50's, or in their 40's if AIDS is the cause of death. The average age for all residents in either country ranges from the mid-to-upper-70s.
The first problem with this is the fact that One News Now claims that Denmark is "highly tolerant" of homosexuality without giving actual proof of the assertion. This is only to create a straw man argument that homophobia has nothing to do with gays engaging in negative behaviors.
But even if One News Now's assertion regarding Denmark is correct, the study talks about this factor too:
This study could not examine the reasons for the higher-than-expected rate of mental disorders and substance abuse. However, (Michael) King told Reuters Health, it is likely that lifelong stress is involved.
Even in relatively liberal societies, he said, gay, lesbian and bisexual people face both overt and subtle discrimination. They may also have to deal with social exclusion and rejection by their own families.
Warning sign 3: One News Now cites the work of discredited researcher Paul Cameron:
These findings strongly support the results of similar studies conducted in the United States, which have unveiled the severe physical and psychological health risks associated with homosexual behavior. Drs. Paul and Kirk Cameron of the Family Research Institute revealed in 2007 that research shows that the lifespan of a homosexual is on average 24 years shorter than that of a heterosexual. As a health threat, even smoking pales in comparison, as studies show smoking can shorten one's life by only 1 to 7 years on average.
No, sorry. One News Now is telling a boldfaced lie. The study in question was actually conducted in the early 1990s. In addition, the study is indicative of why Cameron has been discredited, censured, and mocked by so many legitimate physicians, researchers, and other folks (this blogger included. )
Let's go into more detail regarding Cameron's study:
What he did was count obituaries in various gay community publications and claimed to be able to use them to calculate the average life expectancy for homosexuals.
The conclusion – that homosexual men and women have a shorter life span than heterosexual men and women – provides a textbook example of the perils of using data from a convenience sample to generalize to an entire population.
Most city newspapers include a section containing death notices for community residents. These notices – which can carry a small fee for printing – typically list the name, age, address, and survivors of the deceased, along with information about funeral or memorial services. Funeral directors often assist the loved ones of the deceased in submitting such notices.
Gay community newspapers do not have sections of death notices. When the AIDS epidemic began to claim the lives of so many gay and bisexual men in the 1980s, however, many gay newspapers began to print obituaries. Except in the case of prominent community figures, these obituaries are typically written by (or based on information from) the loved ones of the deceased.
Assuming that the deceased person wasn't famous, an obituary appears in a gay community newspaper only if (1) a loved one or friend notifies the newspaper about the death (and, in many cases, writes the obituary) and (2) the editor decides to print the obituary.
Consequently, many gay men and lesbians who die never have an obituary in a gay community publication. Here are just a few examples of who is left out of gay newspapers' obituaries.
gay men and lesbians who were not involved in the gay community
gay men and lesbians who were in the closet about their sexual orientation
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones or family didn't want their homosexuality to be known
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones or family simply didn't think of sending an obituary to a gay community newspaper
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones did not write an obituary for some other reason (e.g., they were too grief stricken)
gay men and lesbians who died without leaving anyone to write an obituary for a gay publication (e.g., those whose loved ones and relatives died before them).
An accurate estimate of the life span of gay men and lesbians would have to count such people. By restricting their analysis to obituaries in gay newspapers, however, the Cameron group systematically excluded them from the sample.
In later years, Cameron tacked on more data but the general reasonings as to why his study has been discredited remain unchanged.
Frankly, I am surprised that One News Now would have the nerve to cite Cameron. Maybe the phony news service thought that no one would be paying attention.
For more details about Cameron's lies, go here or here.
Or if you don't feel so inclined, allow me to give you a partial timeline of the man that One News Now feels is an expert on gay issues. This is taken from the timeline of my Anti-Gay Lies and Liars blog:
1982 - He invented a story about a child being mutilated in the bathroom by a gay man in Nebraska. When the police investigated and found the story to be false, he admitted to making it up.
1983 - He was kicked out the American Psychological Association after an investigation that he distorted the work of six researchers to prove negative theories about gay men.
1984 - A. Nicholas Groth, director of the Sex Offender Program at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, complained to the Nebraska Board of Examiners of Psychologists about Paul Cameron’s usage of his work to make the claim that gays molest children at a high rate.
1985 - The Midwest Sociological Society censures Paul Cameron. Also, the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems both pass resolutions against him.
What does it say about One News Now as a supposed Christian news service to cite a discredited researcher?
What does it say about One News Now as a supposed Christian news service to use a study against gays while at the same time discarding the part of the study that does not fit their stereotype of gays?
The sad thing is that what this phony news service did most likely contributes to more gays feeling isolated and abused which will most likely lead to more negative behaviors.
And when that happens, there will be studies to say so. And when this happens, One News Now will be there to distort the studies.
I think we are getting in a rut here.
SC Gay Pride is over and it was a huge success. But more on that later.
As I sit here, an item from One News Now hit me:
A new study in the United Kingdom has revealed that homosexuals are about 50% more likely to suffer from depression and engage in substance abuse than the rest of the population, reports Health24.com.
After analyzing 25 earlier studies on sexual orientation and mental health, researchers, in a study published in the medical journal BMC Psychiatry, also found that the risk of suicide jumped over 200% if an individual had engaged in a homosexual lifestyle.
Warning signs went off in my head when I read this due to One News Now's penchant for distorting news items (which has been chronicled on many occasions on this site).
Warning sign 1: One News Now did not give the name of the study.
I found the study here. And the first paragraph says the following:
Homosexual and bisexual men and women may face higher risks of depression, substance abuse and suicidal behaviour than heterosexuals do, a new study suggests. The reason for this may lie in discrimination and rejection often associated with being homosexual or bisexual.
Warning sign 2: One News Now acknowledged what the study was saying about discrimination and reject and then tried to dismiss it:
While the Health 24 article suggested that homosexuals may be pushed to substance abuse and suicide because of anti-homosexual cultural and family pressures, empirical tests have shown that there is no difference in homosexual health risk depending on the level of tolerance in a particular environment. Homosexuals in the United States and Denmark - the latter of which is acknowledged to be highly tolerant of homosexuality - both die on average in their early 50's, or in their 40's if AIDS is the cause of death. The average age for all residents in either country ranges from the mid-to-upper-70s.
The first problem with this is the fact that One News Now claims that Denmark is "highly tolerant" of homosexuality without giving actual proof of the assertion. This is only to create a straw man argument that homophobia has nothing to do with gays engaging in negative behaviors.
But even if One News Now's assertion regarding Denmark is correct, the study talks about this factor too:
This study could not examine the reasons for the higher-than-expected rate of mental disorders and substance abuse. However, (Michael) King told Reuters Health, it is likely that lifelong stress is involved.
Even in relatively liberal societies, he said, gay, lesbian and bisexual people face both overt and subtle discrimination. They may also have to deal with social exclusion and rejection by their own families.
Warning sign 3: One News Now cites the work of discredited researcher Paul Cameron:
These findings strongly support the results of similar studies conducted in the United States, which have unveiled the severe physical and psychological health risks associated with homosexual behavior. Drs. Paul and Kirk Cameron of the Family Research Institute revealed in 2007 that research shows that the lifespan of a homosexual is on average 24 years shorter than that of a heterosexual. As a health threat, even smoking pales in comparison, as studies show smoking can shorten one's life by only 1 to 7 years on average.
No, sorry. One News Now is telling a boldfaced lie. The study in question was actually conducted in the early 1990s. In addition, the study is indicative of why Cameron has been discredited, censured, and mocked by so many legitimate physicians, researchers, and other folks (this blogger included. )
Let's go into more detail regarding Cameron's study:
What he did was count obituaries in various gay community publications and claimed to be able to use them to calculate the average life expectancy for homosexuals.
The conclusion – that homosexual men and women have a shorter life span than heterosexual men and women – provides a textbook example of the perils of using data from a convenience sample to generalize to an entire population.
Most city newspapers include a section containing death notices for community residents. These notices – which can carry a small fee for printing – typically list the name, age, address, and survivors of the deceased, along with information about funeral or memorial services. Funeral directors often assist the loved ones of the deceased in submitting such notices.
Gay community newspapers do not have sections of death notices. When the AIDS epidemic began to claim the lives of so many gay and bisexual men in the 1980s, however, many gay newspapers began to print obituaries. Except in the case of prominent community figures, these obituaries are typically written by (or based on information from) the loved ones of the deceased.
Assuming that the deceased person wasn't famous, an obituary appears in a gay community newspaper only if (1) a loved one or friend notifies the newspaper about the death (and, in many cases, writes the obituary) and (2) the editor decides to print the obituary.
Consequently, many gay men and lesbians who die never have an obituary in a gay community publication. Here are just a few examples of who is left out of gay newspapers' obituaries.
gay men and lesbians who were not involved in the gay community
gay men and lesbians who were in the closet about their sexual orientation
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones or family didn't want their homosexuality to be known
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones or family simply didn't think of sending an obituary to a gay community newspaper
gay men and lesbians whose loved ones did not write an obituary for some other reason (e.g., they were too grief stricken)
gay men and lesbians who died without leaving anyone to write an obituary for a gay publication (e.g., those whose loved ones and relatives died before them).
An accurate estimate of the life span of gay men and lesbians would have to count such people. By restricting their analysis to obituaries in gay newspapers, however, the Cameron group systematically excluded them from the sample.
In later years, Cameron tacked on more data but the general reasonings as to why his study has been discredited remain unchanged.
Frankly, I am surprised that One News Now would have the nerve to cite Cameron. Maybe the phony news service thought that no one would be paying attention.
For more details about Cameron's lies, go here or here.
Or if you don't feel so inclined, allow me to give you a partial timeline of the man that One News Now feels is an expert on gay issues. This is taken from the timeline of my Anti-Gay Lies and Liars blog:
1982 - He invented a story about a child being mutilated in the bathroom by a gay man in Nebraska. When the police investigated and found the story to be false, he admitted to making it up.
1983 - He was kicked out the American Psychological Association after an investigation that he distorted the work of six researchers to prove negative theories about gay men.
1984 - A. Nicholas Groth, director of the Sex Offender Program at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, complained to the Nebraska Board of Examiners of Psychologists about Paul Cameron’s usage of his work to make the claim that gays molest children at a high rate.
1985 - The Midwest Sociological Society censures Paul Cameron. Also, the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems both pass resolutions against him.
What does it say about One News Now as a supposed Christian news service to cite a discredited researcher?
What does it say about One News Now as a supposed Christian news service to use a study against gays while at the same time discarding the part of the study that does not fit their stereotype of gays?
The sad thing is that what this phony news service did most likely contributes to more gays feeling isolated and abused which will most likely lead to more negative behaviors.
And when that happens, there will be studies to say so. And when this happens, One News Now will be there to distort the studies.
I think we are getting in a rut here.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Peter LaBarbera tries to regain relevancy through lies
I think our friend Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth (in name only) is scrambling for attention.
Fresh from the disappointment of Hurricane Gustav killing his attempts to take pictures of "naked gay men" during Southern Decadence, Peter has been mute for a while. That is except for pathetic attempts to make Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin the new Christian martyr.
And now low and behold comes the Ray Boltz situation.
Boltz, a gospel singer who has come out as a gay man, seems to have gotten LaBarbera's undivided attention:
Ray Boltz Buys the Lie, Says God Made Him Homosexual
An excerpt reads as follows:
(Self-styled “queer” activists will say that Boltz was living a lie, but his four children do not owe their existence to a “gay” lifestyle.) I read the entire Blade story, but all you really need to know is in the final paragraph:
“This is what it really comes down to,” [Boltz] says. “If this is the way God made me , then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”
Wow, talk about presumption! This talented man is lost and he needs our prayers. Boltz may “feel” closer to God, but if you believe the Scriptures, he’s farther than ever from Him. We understand that the radical “gay” movement exalts its collective “feelings” over the Bible’s clear teaching — and certainly they are not alone in that regard — but each of us must choose between the truth and lies every day, and homosexual behavior is egregiously sinful, according to God’s Word. (See www.robgagnon.net if you are tempted to rationalize away the Bible’s clear condemnation of homosexual practice.) You just can’t sugarcoat that verdict, although these days even many Christians try.
Peter seems to go out of his way to bring up "success stories" of gays who have "changed" as if that negates Boltz's life story.
The fact of the matter is they don't. But that's not what attracted me to Peter's screed.
The subject of this blog has to do with how the anti-gay industry distorts studies and science to make some sort of case that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle."
And Peter's piece perfectly illustrates my point. Particularly this part:
Would society ever hold up the men and women who tried to overcome addictions but then failed and returned to their destructive habit as the norm and role models for others? (Yes, homosexual practice is a destructive habit, as attested by the drastically shortened lifespans and high incidence of disease among men who practice same-sex sin.)
No Peter.
Now the links that Peter uses to make this case comes from earlier posts on his blog.
The link about "high incidence of disease" comes from a post where former Concerned Women for America spokesman Matt Barber castigated former National Gay and Lesbian Task Force head Matt Foreman because Foreman called HIV/AIDS a "gay disease" in a speech at the time. Barber infers that Foreman was admitting that homosexuality is a "deadly lifestyle."
In actuality, Foreman was challenging the gay community to take the initiative to prevent HIV/AIDS in our community.
Much like NAACP head Julian Bond wanted the black community to do when he called HIV/AIDS a "black disease."
Later in the post, Barber says the following:
To the consternation of “gay” activist flat-earthers and homosexual AIDS holocaust deniers everywhere, one such study - conducted by pro-”gay” researchers in Canada - was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) in 1997.
While the medical consensus is that smoking knocks from two to 10 years off an individual’s life expectancy, the IJE study found that homosexual conduct shortens the lifespan of “gays” by an astounding “8 to 20 years” - more than twice that of smoking.
“[U]nder even the most liberal assumptions,” concluded the study, “gay and bisexual men in this urban centre are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871. … [L]ife expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men.”
That is only half the story.
In 2001, those same researchers went on record complaining that folks like Barber was distorting their work.
And Barber knows this because he says a few paragraphs later:
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.”
Matt Barber is a liar. There was never any "pressure" on these researchers.
And please bear in mind that Barber never went into detail as to what the pressure was. He tries to dimiss the letter as "political spin.
The letter is here. Read it and determine if it sounds like spin.
The second link Peter uses to try in order to refute Boltz's declaration of his homosexuality is one having to do with the controversy regarding Bush's pick for Surgeon General, James Holsinger.
You will remember that the Holsinger nomination failed because of intense scrutiny regarding his personal opinions about homosexuality and a paper he wrote about it. Holsinger disavowed the paper to the intense consternation of the anti-gay industry, LaBarbera in general.
In attacking Holsinger's decision to disavow the paper, Peter said:
So desperate are pro-”gay” advocates to force their Bible-rejecting myth on the culture that they downplay even serious health risks that result from embracing behaviors that a loving God proscribes. The result is that children in schools across the country are NOT being taught that there are special dangers, including HIV/AIDS, associated with homosexual behaviors. (See Dr. John Diggs’ paper, “The Health Risks of Gay Sex,” for more information.)
I talk about Diggs' paper in my book and have mentioned it several times in this blog. But the truth always stands repeating. This is the caliber of work that Peter finds credible regarding lgbts.
For those who have not read my book, let me give you an excerpt:
Twice, John R. Diggs includes the study done by Alan Bell and Martin Weinberg in their book, Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women, as indicative of the entire gay population. In one passage, he even refers to it as “a far ranging study of homosexual men . . .” But Bell and Weinberg never said that their findings were indicative of all gay men. They actually said “. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator willever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”
Diggs cites a Canadian study twice in order to claim that gays have a shorter lifespan than heterosexuals. But his citation of the study is a mischaracterization. In 2001, the six original researchers (Robert S. Hogg, Stefan A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael V. O’Shaughnessy, Julion Montaner, and Martin T. Schechter) who conducted that study have gone on record saying that religious conservatives (like Diggs) was distorting their work. - That's right. Just like Barber, Diggs is distorting the Canadian study.
In another section entitled Physical Health, Diggs claims that gays are victims of “gay bowel syndrome.” The term is an obsolete medical term. exist and even the CDC does not use it. In fact, if one was to look at the endnotes of Diggs’ study, he would find that two of the sources he quoted concerning “gay bowel syndrome” were from articles in published in 1976 and 1983, which is consistent with the years that the term existed. One last source was a letter to the editor printed in 1994 but Diggs does not make it clear as to whatwere the circumstances surrounding it.
Diggs generalizes convenience sample studies as indicative of the gay population at large. Diggs takes studies done in foreign countries and claims that they are indicative of the gay population at large.
Diggs claims that there are five distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual populations including levels of promiscuity, physical health, mental health, lifespan, and monogamy. However, he spends very little time comparing the two dynamics. He uses all of his time castigating gay populations.
Diggs uses an out of date book, The Gay Report (published in 1979) to claim that gays are engaging in deviant sexual practices. Only once does he attempt to tie the alleged deviant practices of gays in 1979 to present day; and to do so, he cites two events that took place regarding bondage workshops. However, there is a strong indication that heterosexuals took part in these events as well as gays. Diggs ignores this dynamic.
Nothing that I am saying is new to Peter. He knows that he is using bad sources because I as well as others have pointed it out to him.
But he continues to ignore what we say as if that will make his distortions true.
I think in the case of his attack on Ray Boltz, he has taken a page from the McCain campaign: repeat a lie even after the truth has been discovered.
Sorry Peter but it's not working for them. What in the world makes you think it will work for you?
I think our friend Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth (in name only) is scrambling for attention.
Fresh from the disappointment of Hurricane Gustav killing his attempts to take pictures of "naked gay men" during Southern Decadence, Peter has been mute for a while. That is except for pathetic attempts to make Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin the new Christian martyr.
And now low and behold comes the Ray Boltz situation.
Boltz, a gospel singer who has come out as a gay man, seems to have gotten LaBarbera's undivided attention:
Ray Boltz Buys the Lie, Says God Made Him Homosexual
An excerpt reads as follows:
(Self-styled “queer” activists will say that Boltz was living a lie, but his four children do not owe their existence to a “gay” lifestyle.) I read the entire Blade story, but all you really need to know is in the final paragraph:
“This is what it really comes down to,” [Boltz] says. “If this is the way God made me , then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”
Wow, talk about presumption! This talented man is lost and he needs our prayers. Boltz may “feel” closer to God, but if you believe the Scriptures, he’s farther than ever from Him. We understand that the radical “gay” movement exalts its collective “feelings” over the Bible’s clear teaching — and certainly they are not alone in that regard — but each of us must choose between the truth and lies every day, and homosexual behavior is egregiously sinful, according to God’s Word. (See www.robgagnon.net if you are tempted to rationalize away the Bible’s clear condemnation of homosexual practice.) You just can’t sugarcoat that verdict, although these days even many Christians try.
Peter seems to go out of his way to bring up "success stories" of gays who have "changed" as if that negates Boltz's life story.
The fact of the matter is they don't. But that's not what attracted me to Peter's screed.
The subject of this blog has to do with how the anti-gay industry distorts studies and science to make some sort of case that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle."
And Peter's piece perfectly illustrates my point. Particularly this part:
Would society ever hold up the men and women who tried to overcome addictions but then failed and returned to their destructive habit as the norm and role models for others? (Yes, homosexual practice is a destructive habit, as attested by the drastically shortened lifespans and high incidence of disease among men who practice same-sex sin.)
No Peter.
Now the links that Peter uses to make this case comes from earlier posts on his blog.
The link about "high incidence of disease" comes from a post where former Concerned Women for America spokesman Matt Barber castigated former National Gay and Lesbian Task Force head Matt Foreman because Foreman called HIV/AIDS a "gay disease" in a speech at the time. Barber infers that Foreman was admitting that homosexuality is a "deadly lifestyle."
In actuality, Foreman was challenging the gay community to take the initiative to prevent HIV/AIDS in our community.
Much like NAACP head Julian Bond wanted the black community to do when he called HIV/AIDS a "black disease."
Later in the post, Barber says the following:
To the consternation of “gay” activist flat-earthers and homosexual AIDS holocaust deniers everywhere, one such study - conducted by pro-”gay” researchers in Canada - was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE) in 1997.
While the medical consensus is that smoking knocks from two to 10 years off an individual’s life expectancy, the IJE study found that homosexual conduct shortens the lifespan of “gays” by an astounding “8 to 20 years” - more than twice that of smoking.
“[U]nder even the most liberal assumptions,” concluded the study, “gay and bisexual men in this urban centre are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871. … [L]ife expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men.”
That is only half the story.
In 2001, those same researchers went on record complaining that folks like Barber was distorting their work.
And Barber knows this because he says a few paragraphs later:
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.”
Matt Barber is a liar. There was never any "pressure" on these researchers.
And please bear in mind that Barber never went into detail as to what the pressure was. He tries to dimiss the letter as "political spin.
The letter is here. Read it and determine if it sounds like spin.
The second link Peter uses to try in order to refute Boltz's declaration of his homosexuality is one having to do with the controversy regarding Bush's pick for Surgeon General, James Holsinger.
You will remember that the Holsinger nomination failed because of intense scrutiny regarding his personal opinions about homosexuality and a paper he wrote about it. Holsinger disavowed the paper to the intense consternation of the anti-gay industry, LaBarbera in general.
In attacking Holsinger's decision to disavow the paper, Peter said:
So desperate are pro-”gay” advocates to force their Bible-rejecting myth on the culture that they downplay even serious health risks that result from embracing behaviors that a loving God proscribes. The result is that children in schools across the country are NOT being taught that there are special dangers, including HIV/AIDS, associated with homosexual behaviors. (See Dr. John Diggs’ paper, “The Health Risks of Gay Sex,” for more information.)
I talk about Diggs' paper in my book and have mentioned it several times in this blog. But the truth always stands repeating. This is the caliber of work that Peter finds credible regarding lgbts.
For those who have not read my book, let me give you an excerpt:
Twice, John R. Diggs includes the study done by Alan Bell and Martin Weinberg in their book, Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women, as indicative of the entire gay population. In one passage, he even refers to it as “a far ranging study of homosexual men . . .” But Bell and Weinberg never said that their findings were indicative of all gay men. They actually said “. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator willever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”
Diggs cites a Canadian study twice in order to claim that gays have a shorter lifespan than heterosexuals. But his citation of the study is a mischaracterization. In 2001, the six original researchers (Robert S. Hogg, Stefan A. Strathdee, Kevin J.P. Craib, Michael V. O’Shaughnessy, Julion Montaner, and Martin T. Schechter) who conducted that study have gone on record saying that religious conservatives (like Diggs) was distorting their work. - That's right. Just like Barber, Diggs is distorting the Canadian study.
In another section entitled Physical Health, Diggs claims that gays are victims of “gay bowel syndrome.” The term is an obsolete medical term. exist and even the CDC does not use it. In fact, if one was to look at the endnotes of Diggs’ study, he would find that two of the sources he quoted concerning “gay bowel syndrome” were from articles in published in 1976 and 1983, which is consistent with the years that the term existed. One last source was a letter to the editor printed in 1994 but Diggs does not make it clear as to whatwere the circumstances surrounding it.
Diggs generalizes convenience sample studies as indicative of the gay population at large. Diggs takes studies done in foreign countries and claims that they are indicative of the gay population at large.
Diggs claims that there are five distinctions between heterosexual and homosexual populations including levels of promiscuity, physical health, mental health, lifespan, and monogamy. However, he spends very little time comparing the two dynamics. He uses all of his time castigating gay populations.
Diggs uses an out of date book, The Gay Report (published in 1979) to claim that gays are engaging in deviant sexual practices. Only once does he attempt to tie the alleged deviant practices of gays in 1979 to present day; and to do so, he cites two events that took place regarding bondage workshops. However, there is a strong indication that heterosexuals took part in these events as well as gays. Diggs ignores this dynamic.
Nothing that I am saying is new to Peter. He knows that he is using bad sources because I as well as others have pointed it out to him.
But he continues to ignore what we say as if that will make his distortions true.
I think in the case of his attack on Ray Boltz, he has taken a page from the McCain campaign: repeat a lie even after the truth has been discovered.
Sorry Peter but it's not working for them. What in the world makes you think it will work for you?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday fall out and other gay stuffToday's post is dedicated to the memory of Alvin S. Glenn. He was a 29-year Army veteran who served in the Korean War and gave his life in 2000 to protect the citizens of South Carolina.
He was my father and a MAN in every sense of the word.
We have gotten all sorts of positive comments from yesterday's press conference. I also noticed a very interesting exchange on SC Politics Today including the following comment:
Being a sodomite is nothing to be gay or proud of. It's an immoral, disgusting chosen lifestyle. They should be classified with all the other sexual perverts and pedophiles and run out of SC.
Of course I had to jump on the responder in a dignified fashion. One cannot take off one's shoes and earrings in every situation.
The lady's comments don't bother me. For one thing, we have supporters who let her know her comments were stupid (for those who watch Designing Women, feel free to channel Dixie Carter's'pronunciation of the word "stupid").
For another, I like the fact that we are getting the state to talk about OUR issues. Debate is the first step in finding solutions.
And on another front . . .
I haven't messed with One News Now in a while (and when I do, it's only because the phony news service makes it so easy), but something caught my eye.
It seems that a popular gospel singer, Ray Boltz , has come out of the closet. Personally, even though I have never heard of him, I support the guy. He is being honest.
Please take a tip from him anonymous black male gospel singers who shall remain nameless.
Anyway, One News Now is all up in arms about this. Particularly offensive to me is the comment by columnist Matt Friedeman:
Boltz' addiction apparently is men . . .
Excuse me? Boltz came out of the closet. That does not denote an addiction.
It is here that we can see the semantics of the anti-gay industry. It is not enough for them to disagree with homosexuality on a religious basis. With their words (including discredited and misrepresented studies), they try to cast the image that being an lgbt is an addiction.
That's why you hear them talk about the supposed "gay agenda" or the "gay lifestyle."
It reminds me of "welfare queen" or "reverse discrimination."
Not a bad idea on a cynically political basis, but very petty when it comes from supposed Christian people.
As usual, Jeremy from Goodasyou.org breaks down the situation better than I ever could:
So let's see here: Molesting a kid, uncontrollably wacking it to porn, boozing it up in excess, hitting a crack pipe, burning down a house, having a crippling addition to intercourse, or -- loving someone of the same sex in the way that others love someone of the opposite sex?! These are all birds of the same feather that deserve similar form of address? Wow, we don't know who should be more offended by that: Gay people who know it's far more apt to compare their orientations to their heterosexual peers, or credible counselors and therapists whose authentic work is far too important to be hampered by biased fallacy!
But hey, why choose? There's enough offense in the "pro-family" community's self-created, self-propagated, highly unscientific views to offend multiple groups of people.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
SC Pride press conference goes well
The press conference was over hours ago and it went well. The media was all over the place. We had television news, the State (area newspaper) and the AP there asking questions, filming, and taking notes.
I was going as a supporter and spectator but the chairman of Black Pride called and asked me to read a statement because he couldn't attend.
Talk about a minor shock. I think I did well though. While our president (Ryan Wilson - an absolutely incredible young man who will do a lot of positive things for our community) read his statement, I stood in the background giving off my "I'm security so don't fuck with me" look.
My statement was brief so I was able to go through it without peeing in my pants.
But wouldn't you know it. I was shopping for shoes (yeah, yeah, its a gay thing to do) and missed the newscasts. Oh well. My aunt called and told my mother everything.
At this point, my mother doesn't freak out over any of my community activities. Of course she worries that some dumb ass may take it upon himself to try and be physically homophobic. She has mentioned it slightly on more than one occasion.
But she knows I will be safe. My mother is one of those old fashioned black women from the country, where they have more churches than houses. I know she prays for my well being.
It's good to have a mother like that.
So as you can tell, I am psyched for Pride this year. It's going to be fun.
UPDATE - I was emailed a clip of the press conference. Everyone did well. I especially liked what Harriet Hancock (the founder of SC Pride and PFLAG in Columbia) said.
The press conference was over hours ago and it went well. The media was all over the place. We had television news, the State (area newspaper) and the AP there asking questions, filming, and taking notes.
I was going as a supporter and spectator but the chairman of Black Pride called and asked me to read a statement because he couldn't attend.
Talk about a minor shock. I think I did well though. While our president (Ryan Wilson - an absolutely incredible young man who will do a lot of positive things for our community) read his statement, I stood in the background giving off my "I'm security so don't fuck with me" look.
My statement was brief so I was able to go through it without peeing in my pants.
But wouldn't you know it. I was shopping for shoes (yeah, yeah, its a gay thing to do) and missed the newscasts. Oh well. My aunt called and told my mother everything.
At this point, my mother doesn't freak out over any of my community activities. Of course she worries that some dumb ass may take it upon himself to try and be physically homophobic. She has mentioned it slightly on more than one occasion.
But she knows I will be safe. My mother is one of those old fashioned black women from the country, where they have more churches than houses. I know she prays for my well being.
It's good to have a mother like that.
So as you can tell, I am psyched for Pride this year. It's going to be fun.
UPDATE - I was emailed a clip of the press conference. Everyone did well. I especially liked what Harriet Hancock (the founder of SC Pride and PFLAG in Columbia) said.
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