Michael Glatze emails me

Apparently recently "converted ex-gay" Michael Glatze got online and looked up all the blogs that talked about his story. I received the following email from him:

Dear sir,

This is Michael Glatze. I just want to tell you that, yes, you can be entirely free of the lie of homosexuality. I am a normal, heterosexual man. Yes. It can be done. With true faith and love of Christ.

Amen and God bless.Michael Glatze (P.S. If you don't believe me, pray.)

Now let me state for the record that I have no problems with someone thinking of themselves as "ex-gay." I don't agree with the notion but it's a free country.

I do have a problem with there being an industry of "ex-gay" spokespeople walking hand-in-hand with the anti-gay industry and attempting to make life more difficult for those of us who are comfortable with our lgbt orientation.

I do have a problem with "ex-gays" trying to use their so-called transformation as political leverage to turn back the passage of pro-lgbt laws and ordinances.

And I do have a problem with "ex-gays" who think that their negative experiences with their "former" lgbt orientation gives them the right to make judgements of my lgbt experiences.

Not all lgbts are promiscuous, abuse drugs and alcohol, and engage in all-around negative behaviors. These things are NOT indicative of the lgbt orientation. And I don't care who you are or what you "were," if you try to denigrate me or my lgbt brothers and sisters by inferring that negative behavior is indicative of lgbt orientation, I am going to scream foul because you don't know what you are talking about.

Live your life, but don't blame anyone or anything else for the choices you have made.

With that in mind, I wrote Michael the following as an answer to his letter:

Let me make this simple.

I respect your personal choices, but I resent your inability to accept responsibility for your personal behavior. I further resent you scarlet lettering an entire community of people based on your personal behavior. For the record, I am a happy gay male.

Homosexuality is NOT a lie.

My sexual orientation is as God made me.

And for the record, I acheived this peace with my gay orientation due to my relationship with God. When I was questioning my self, I turned to God rather than an outside source with a bias and He told me that I am as He made me so I should be proud of who I am.

I am sorry that your life has been negative and I wish you luck in your personal decisions, but I will not allow you to denigrate me or my lgbt brothers and sisters.

Good Luck To You but you need to check yourself. Your experiences as a gay man are not my experiences. So please do not disrespect me and mine.

What a drag! I can't get internet access and One News Now distorts like there is no tomorrow

It's Thursday and I'm mad at Time Warner.

To make a long story short, I don't have my DSL connected and I don't know how it is looking for the future. Looks like it's back to dial-up. I am currently looking into wireless connections, so I am optimistic.

And there are always coffee shops.

While I go through my trials and tribulations, I thought I would leave everyone with a little deception courtesy of our friends at One News Now.

The news organization used to be known as Agape Press and back in the day, it frequently cited Paul Cameron as a "pro-family expert."

I think with Cameron's history of lying being made more public, those days are gone.

However this does not keep the "news service" that began through the efforts of another friend of ours (Donald Wildmon and the American Family Association) from practicing some questionable journalistic tactics.

I ran over this recent passage in an article from the site criticizing Maryland State School Board for approving Montgomery County's sex education curriculum:

According to the Washington Post, many parents in Montgomery County oppose the new curriculum, which opponents say presents a favorable viewpoint of homosexuality and restricts religious expression by suppressing the view that homosexuality is a sin. The attorney believes the new curriculum may also be subject to litigation.

This is a misdirection. The original statement from the Washington Post reads as follows:

A spokeswoman for the community group Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, which led a consortium of opposition groups, said it was too soon to say whether it might take the matter to federal court. "There are many parents here in Montgomery County who are opposed to the curriculum," Michelle Turner said. She also said a growing number of parents outside the county are expressing concern with the lessons, which could be adopted in other Maryland counties.

So the Washington Post did state technically say that parents oppose the new curriculum. But the newspaper was quoting a spokeswoman of the group opposing the curriculum.

What One News Now did may not seem like a lie but it is bad journalism.

But hey, who cares about Earthly journalistic standards (i.e integrity and correct quote attribution) when you are fighting for the kingdom of God?

Don't get discouraged by the new model

I knew that something would happen while I am on hiatus.

Apparently one of our own has joined the other side.

Michael Glatze, called a rising star in gay leadership (and I will attribute this to him being former editor of Young Gay America rather than the fact that he is young, thin and blond like so many of our so-called leaders), has become an ex-gay.

Naturally this means that we will be inudated by Peter LaBarbera, One News Now, so-called "pro-family" webpage and blogs talking about how another person has found "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus."

Was Glatze gay in the first place? I don't know because I never met the young man.

But I am disturbed by how he is now beating the drumbeat lies of the so-called promiscuous "homosexual lifestyle" complete with intestinal disorders.

So am I shocked by Glatze's change?

No.

Am I depressed at the company he now keeps?

No. A bit saddened but not depressed.

Let's face facts about the anti-gay industry and their partner in crime, the ex-gay industry. I have seen so many of these ex-gay spokespeople come and go. From Anthony Falzarano to John Paulk to Michael Johnston.

The anti-gay industry goes through ex-gay spokespeople like Henry VIII went through wives.

Glatze is just the latest model; a pretty boy whose story will allow the anti-gay industry to denigrate the lives of lgbts who have happy lives, unencumbered by the stereotypes and lies of oversexed gay men and violent lesbian women.

For the time being that is.

Glatze will have a time in the sun. But remember the light of that same sun also shines on us who are proudly gay and lesbian. So we must never forget who we are.

And by all means, do not fall for the lie that God does not want you to embrace your lgbt orientation. Homosexuality is not the enemy of faith or religion. I speak from personal experience when I say that this.

God created us all; heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered, to be exactly the way we are. What we do with the orientation that God gives us is our choice.

But as long as this cultural war over gay rights continues, we can expect to see more Michael Glatzes and unfortunately the Michael Glatzes of today will probably turn into the Ted Haggards of tomorrow.

But never forget that there are more of us than of them.

Almost there but not quite

Thank you all of those who sent me kind words and emails expressing your sympathy for my situation.

To reiterate the facts: My apartment was burned out. No one was harmed but my mother and I had to find a new place to stay.

We now reside at a new location so I am thankful that we are not homeless. However, it will be later this week before I am able to get my DSL and cable hooked back up. Therefore, I will be posting sporadically via the Public Library.

Nothing pretty much to tell. I hate that I am unable to post but I am patient. I will be roaring soon.

There is another bit of good news about the fire. Definitely the fact that no one was hurt tops the good news chart, but I am also happy to report that we didn't lose that much of anything. We received just a little smoke and water damage.

That means our personal possessions, and especially the notes for my book, are safe and moved to our new apartment.

It also means that my book continues to be on schedule to be published this fall.

Again, I want to thank you all for the support and love you have given me and my mother during this stresful time.

I also want to thank (in a offhand, sarcastic way) the Paul Cameron supporter who posted to my page. While I am not at full strength, I'm glad to see that I can still knock down your lies.

Will post again soon. Keep your fingers crossed as to me getting back online.

Forced Vacation from Culture War

Hopefully you all will forgive me if I take a very small sabbatical from posting.

Yesterday, my apartment building caught on fire. No one was hurt but the building was rendered unlivable.

Luckily, my apartment suffered only water and smoke damage. And also, my notes for my book were not damaged at all.

But subsequently, my mother and I are held up in a hotel room while we are searching for another place to live. We have until Friday before we have to move out.

So as much as I would love to talk about Peter LaBarbera and the anti-gay industry (my post yesterday was going to talk about our lovely friend/enemy Jeff Gannon), I am going to have to take a short leave.

I will hopefully be back later this week or early next. I'm pushing for later this week.

Peace.

George Will gets it wrong

It's bad enough that the lgbt community has to deal with the consistent spin from the anti-gay industry that we are trying to steal the liberty and freedom of Christians.

But when someone who is considered "mainstream" starts that type of spin, we have problems.

George Will is considered to be an intelligent columnist and an esteemed Washington insider. He has the respect of many of his jounalistic colleagues and is also the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, probably the highest honor a journalist can receive.

So why, in his recent column, did he channel our friend and former Concerned Women for America employee Robert Knight.

Will talks about the recent case involving the city of Oakland vs. two Christian employees. I have talked about the case in past postings, but here is the gist:

Gay employees working for Oakland's government formed a group. In response, two Christian employees formed their own group. In the flyer advertising the Christian group, terms like "integrity" and "natural family" were used in ways that attacked gay employees.

The Christian group was told to revise the flyer. They refused and sued the city of Oakland.

Having lost their case in the 9th Circuit Court, the employees are now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And that is the case. It sounds so simple that it involves gays and Christians, which means you have people coming out of the woodwork throwing out claims of a "gay agenda" trying to silence Christians.

Of course the anti-gay industry is trying to use this story in their litany of lies about the gay community.

Now they seem to have a friend with George Will.

In his column, he says:

Some African-American Christian women working for Oakland's government organized the Good News Employee Association, or GNEA, which they announced with a flier describing their group as "a forum for people of Faith to express their views on the contemporary issues of the day. With respect for the Natural Family, Marriage and Family Values."

The flier was distributed after other employees' groups, including those advocating gay rights, had advertised their political views and activities on the city's e-mail system and bulletin board. When the GNEA asked for equal opportunity to communicate by that system and that board, it was denied. Furthermore, the flier they posted was taken down and destroyed by city officials, who declared it "homophobic" and disruptive.

. . . The treatment of GNEA illustrates one technique by which America's growing ranks of self-appointed speech police expand their reach: They wait until groups they disagree with, such as GNEA, are provoked to respond to them in public debates, then they persecute them for annoying those to whom they are responding.

Will puts the same spin on this story that the anti-gay industry put on past situations like the David Parker and Repent America cases i.e. claiming that gays want to curtail the freedom of speech of Christians, but omitting the fact that the Christians in question acted in a way that went way beyond freedom of speech.

And what makes matters worse, he tries to tie the situation in with hate crimes legislation. One guess what position he took.

Will's address is georgewill@washpost.com

If you write him, please don't be rude or ugly. And please don't throw around tired phrases and words like "homophobic" and "bigot." Make your argument in a reasonable manner. The following is my letter:


For years, I have read your columns and many times disagreed with what you have said.

But there was always a respect for your opinion because you never gave the impression that you were feeding readers a line, so to speak.

Your recent column, Free Speech vs.Gay Rights, changes all of that.

You were derelict in your duty as a gatekeeper because you did not tell the entire facts of the case regarding the Good News Employee Association case in Oakland.

If you will forgive me for being so bold, I am of the opinion that you intentionally meant to deceive your readers.

Your first sentence, Marriage is the foundation of the natural family and sustains family values. That sentence is inflammatory, perhaps even a hate crime, can only be called for what it is; a damned lie.

This is from an article in the Oakland Tribune on Feb. 16, 2007:

Rederford and Christy sued, claiming their rights were violated by an Oakland anti-discrimination policy that promotes homosexuality and denounces Christian values. A federal judge dismissed the city as a defendant in March 2004, and in February 2005 granted summary judgment in favor of then-City Manager Robert Bobb and CEDA Deputy Executive Director Joyce Hicks. Senior Circuit Judge Betty Fletcher on Thursday asked Lively whether his clients realize they have "a rather low level of protection" on potentially incendiary or discriminatory language in the workplace, and should "keep away from words that'll rile people up."

"But shouldn't that go both ways?" Lively replied, noting his clients hadn't complained about the National Coming Out Day e-mail.

Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta noted that e-mail had invited readers to "a rally against hatred and bigotry -- is that disparaging to your clients?"

Circuit Judge Richard Clifton said he believes "there are eggshells on both sides" of this argument, yet he doesn't see what the e-mail had done to vilify Rederford and Christy while it's not hard to see how their flier vilified gays and lesbians. "It's hard to avoid the inference, 'We lack ethics, we lack integrity because these people are here.'"

Your explanation, The treatment of GNEA illustrates one technique by which America's growing ranks of self-appointed speech police expand their reach: They wait until groups they disagree with are provoked to respond to them in public debates, then they persecute them for annoying those to whom they are responding, is poorly reasoned and I feel intentionally vague.

The pro-gay group's flyers had no language attacking those who do not agree with homosexuality. Nor did the pro-gay group attack anyone opposing lgbt rights as having no integrity. Nor did they attack their families and accuse them of not being natural, unlike the flyer of GNEA that caused all of this ruckus.

So just how did the pro-gay group provoke Rederford and Christy?

And this case has nothing to do with the "gay agenda" or "hate crimes," but rather what actions an employer should take when employees feel that their religion allows them to demean the families of other employees not sharing their beliefs.

I would expect what you wrote to come from someone like Robert Knight, Brent Bozell, or Cliff Kincaid and not someone who is an esteemed Washington columnist and a Pulitzer Prize recipient.

A Paul Cameron supporter emails me

I wasn't going to post today but something happened that I just couldn't pass up commenting on.

A person who is obviously a supporter of discredited researcher Paul Cameron contacted me today. He sent me two emails. The most interesting of the two is the second:

Ha, 'lies of paul cameron'. Another response to your comment on Box Turtle Bulliten, maybe you should actually read the study, instead of believing (or making up) unfounded and brief statements by 'gay' controlled organizations.

I don't know who this person is (I have my guesses) but I do want to address his or her claim.

Apparently according to him, Paul Cameron's research has been discredited due to "unfounded" statments by "gay controlled organizations."

Oh really?

Let's take a look at these "gay controlled organizations:"

“(Cameron) misrepresents my fi ndings and distorts them to advance his homophobic views. I make a very clear distinction in my writing between pedophilia and homosexuality, noting that adult males who sexually victimize young boys are either pedophilic or heterosexual, and
that in my research I have not found homosexual men turning away from adult partners to children . . . I consider this totally unprofessional behavior on the part of Dr. Cameron and I want to bring this to your attention. He disgraces his profession.” - A. Nicholas Groth, 1984


“Given what I now know, I believe there are fl aws with Paul Cameron’s study. One cannot extrapolate from his methodology and say that the average male homosexual life span is 43 years.”— former Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues William Bennett, the New Republic, February 23, 1998

On December 2, 1983, the American Psychological Association sent Paul Cameron a letter informing him that he had been dropped from membership. Early in 1984, all members of the American Psychological Association received official written notice that “Paul Cameron (Nebraska) was dropped from membership for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists” by the APA Board of Directors.In 1985, the American Sociological Association (ASA) adopted a resolution which asserted that “Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism” and noted that “Dr. Paul Cameron has repeatedly campaigned for the abrogation of the civil rights of lesbians and gay men, substantiating his call on the basis of his distorted interpretation of this research.”

The American Sociological Association officially and publicly states that Paul Cameron is not a sociologist, and condemns his consistent misrepresentation of sociological research. Information on this action and a copy of the report by the Committee on the Status of Homosexuals in Sociology, “The Paul Cameron Case,” is to be published in Footnotes, and be sent to the officers of all regional and state sociological associations and to the Canadian Sociological Association with a request that they alert their members to Cameron’s frequent lecture and media appearances.

In 2005, the Boston Globe spotlighted Cameron in an article entitled Beliefs Drive Research Agenda of New Think Tanks. According to the article, when the Traditional Values Coalition was asked about Cameron, the organization responded by allegedly removing all references to Cameron from its web page. A spokesperson for the organization, Daniella Lopez, said the research had been placed on the web page by mistake.

Cameron and Cameron’s report on “life expectancy” in homosexuals vs heterosexuals is severely methodologically flawed. . . The authors should know, and as PhD’s they presumably do, that this report has little to do with science. It is hard to escape the idea that non-scientific motifs have driven the authors to make this report public. The methodological flaws are of such a grave nature that no decent peer-reviewed scientific journal should let it pass for publication. - Morten Frisch, Danish epidemiologist, April 2007

"We do not support the work of Paul Cameron nor desire to use flawed research"- Alan Chambers, Exodus International, April 26, 2007

I linked only the Alan Chambers comment but if anyone wants the links to other ones, email me.

My point is this: different people from different ideologies and backgrounds have all condemned Paul Cameron's "research."

The only conspiracy that exists is solely in the mind of Mr. Cameron and those guillible enough to support his lies.