Stop misrepresenting the Lisa Miller/Janet Jenkins custody case
There has been a case going through the courts for the past couple of years regarding two lesbians and a child they agreed to raise.
Or rather, a lesbian, a "former" lesbian, and a child they agreed to raise.
This is how the religious right organization Liberty Counsel has described the case:
Activist judges in Vermont have declared that a legal stranger is a mommy to another woman's biological child. Now, a Vermont judge will decide whether to order the six year old little girl be stripped from the loving arms of the only mommy she has ever known - her biological mother, Lisa.
Lisa Miller left the homosexual lifestyle and became a Christian when Isabella was 17 months old. Janet Jenkins, who was Lisa's same-sex partner when Lisa gave birth to Isabella, then sought full custody of Isabella, claiming she was a parent even though she was not biologically related to Isabella and never sought to adopt her.
Not only did Vermont create new law from the bench to declare that Isabella has two mommies, but appellate courts in Virginia (the state where Isabella was born and has lived all but 13 months of her life) directed Virginia to fully recognize the Vermont orders giving Janet (who lives in Vermont) liberal unsupervised visitation. In doing so, the courts ignored Virginia's Marriage Amendment and marriage laws declaring all rights arising from same-sex relationships void and unenforceable.
However, like always with religious right groups, the Liberty Counsel omitted several things thereby distorting the case in pursuit of its own agenda.
In December 2008, Newsweek magazine featured a long article about the case. Here are some facts that the Liberty Counsel omitted:
Miller and Jenkins agreed to raise Isabella together.
Jenkins said the reason why she did not file for adoption was because she was told she didn't need to because they had the civil union (the two had married in a Vermont civil union before Isabella was born).
When the two broke up, Miller agreed to allow Jenkins to have visitation rights. Jenkins even paid child support. Miller allegedly began keeping Isabella away from Jenkins. Even now, she refuses to allow her to have unsupervised time with Isabella even though she has been ordered to.
The entire controversy is solely because Miller will not allow Jenkins to have unsupervised time with Isabella. Jenkins mainly won her case due to the Federal Kidnapping Prevention Law.
Miller has claimed she witnessed Isabella engage in disturbing behavior after vists with Jenkins. The claims were investigated by Virginia's Child Protective Services and were deemed "unfounded."
I hope that in the long run, things work out for little Isabella.
But in all honesty, how the Liberty Counsel is framing this case is extremely dishonest. These women agreed to raise the child together. And after they split up, they agreed on visitation, with Jenkins paying child support.
It seems that Miller decided that she didn't like what is going on and took it upon herself to void whatever agreement she and Jenkins had. My opinion is that Jenkins has a right to a say in the raising of her daughter.
The Liberty Counsel does no one justice in the way it attempts tug at emotions with inaccurate connotations of a crying child being ripped from the arms of her mother.
It's a shame that this "Christian group" feels the need to stoop so low. In a case where there should be no villains, the Liberty Counsel is doing its best to fill that role.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
More on the Pink Swastika - showing my work
I was reminded by a commentator that if I make a comment that religious right work has been discredited, I should show my proof.
This is true. Yesterday, I said the Pink Swastika, a religious right tome claiming that gays influenced the Nazi Party in Germany, was discredited. However, I neglected to show proof.
Allow me to now:
From the Southern Poverty Law Center:
The Pink Swastika — whose cover has a swastika in place of the "x" in "homosexuality" in the book's subtitle — has been roundly discredited by legitimate historians and was thoroughly debunked in a 2005 Intelligence Report article. Stephen Feinstein, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, said the book was "produced by a right-wing Christian cult and is as correct as flat earth theory."
From that 2005 Intelligence Report:
Written by fundamentalist activists Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams, The Pink Swastika says that rather than being victimized by the Nazis, gay men in Hitler's inner circle actually helped mastermind the Holocaust.
"While we cannot say that homosexuals caused the Holocaust, we must not ignore their central role in Nazism," write Lively and Abrams. "To the myth of the 'pink triangle' — the notion that all homosexuals in Nazi Germany were persecuted — we must respond with the reality of the 'pink swastika.'"
Historians agree that this "reality" is utterly false. But many anti-gay crusaders have used the "gay Nazi" myth as proof that gay people are immoral and destructive.
I was reminded by a commentator that if I make a comment that religious right work has been discredited, I should show my proof.
This is true. Yesterday, I said the Pink Swastika, a religious right tome claiming that gays influenced the Nazi Party in Germany, was discredited. However, I neglected to show proof.
Allow me to now:
From the Southern Poverty Law Center:
The Pink Swastika — whose cover has a swastika in place of the "x" in "homosexuality" in the book's subtitle — has been roundly discredited by legitimate historians and was thoroughly debunked in a 2005 Intelligence Report article. Stephen Feinstein, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, said the book was "produced by a right-wing Christian cult and is as correct as flat earth theory."
From that 2005 Intelligence Report:
Written by fundamentalist activists Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams, The Pink Swastika says that rather than being victimized by the Nazis, gay men in Hitler's inner circle actually helped mastermind the Holocaust.
"While we cannot say that homosexuals caused the Holocaust, we must not ignore their central role in Nazism," write Lively and Abrams. "To the myth of the 'pink triangle' — the notion that all homosexuals in Nazi Germany were persecuted — we must respond with the reality of the 'pink swastika.'"
Historians agree that this "reality" is utterly false. But many anti-gay crusaders have used the "gay Nazi" myth as proof that gay people are immoral and destructive.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday news briefs
Attacks on faith are an opportunity, says Cameron - This is the actor Kirk Cameron, not my favorite phony researcher Paul Cameron. But this Cameron seems to have taken a tip from that Cameron. He claims that assaults on Christian faith is increasing in the public square, but he offer no proof of this.
If anything, it's that self-righteous claim of victimhood that's slowly but surely giving Christianity a bad name in this country. Pretty soon, when people hear the word "Christian," they aren't going to think of individuals who let their faith and love of God show in their daily lives . They aren't going to think of the Good Samaritan. And they are not going to think of Jesus.
They are going to think of a bunch of hypocrites whose talk of religious liberties only mean them and them only. They are going to think of a man like James Dobson in pictures where he holds the Bible like the hammer of Thor.
And they are going to think of intolerant boobs who use the government to hold back the rights of lgbts and ignore the needs of the homeless, hungry, and truly spiritually destitute while they themselves give aid and comfort to the forces of corruption (i.e. Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, and Charles Keating) in pursuit of some bullshit idea of conquest in the name of God.
Okay, enough of my soap box.
Iceland to appoint gay woman minister to PM post - And here we are supposed to be the first in things like this.
Big trouble for Obama nod - Not necessarily a gay issue, but to me, it's taking anti-Obamaism to the extreme.
Anti-Gay Arguments We Don’t Bother With (And Should): Part 1 - The beginning of an excellent series by Box Turtle Bulletin and should be required reading for all lgbts.
Dumbass anti-gay comment of the week:
"Certainly there would be a mass exodus of normal men from a homosexualized military," said Lively, "probably leading to the reinstatement of compulsory service. . . . And yes there would be severe morale problems for normal men forced to live as the objects of sexual interest of other men with whom they share close quarters. However, the much bigger, longer-term problem is the threat of a homosexual takeover of the military branches." - Scott Lively, 'Gays' in the Military: A Revival of The Pink Swastika?
Attacks on faith are an opportunity, says Cameron - This is the actor Kirk Cameron, not my favorite phony researcher Paul Cameron. But this Cameron seems to have taken a tip from that Cameron. He claims that assaults on Christian faith is increasing in the public square, but he offer no proof of this.
If anything, it's that self-righteous claim of victimhood that's slowly but surely giving Christianity a bad name in this country. Pretty soon, when people hear the word "Christian," they aren't going to think of individuals who let their faith and love of God show in their daily lives . They aren't going to think of the Good Samaritan. And they are not going to think of Jesus.
They are going to think of a bunch of hypocrites whose talk of religious liberties only mean them and them only. They are going to think of a man like James Dobson in pictures where he holds the Bible like the hammer of Thor.
And they are going to think of intolerant boobs who use the government to hold back the rights of lgbts and ignore the needs of the homeless, hungry, and truly spiritually destitute while they themselves give aid and comfort to the forces of corruption (i.e. Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, and Charles Keating) in pursuit of some bullshit idea of conquest in the name of God.
Okay, enough of my soap box.
Iceland to appoint gay woman minister to PM post - And here we are supposed to be the first in things like this.
Big trouble for Obama nod - Not necessarily a gay issue, but to me, it's taking anti-Obamaism to the extreme.
Anti-Gay Arguments We Don’t Bother With (And Should): Part 1 - The beginning of an excellent series by Box Turtle Bulletin and should be required reading for all lgbts.
Dumbass anti-gay comment of the week:
"Certainly there would be a mass exodus of normal men from a homosexualized military," said Lively, "probably leading to the reinstatement of compulsory service. . . . And yes there would be severe morale problems for normal men forced to live as the objects of sexual interest of other men with whom they share close quarters. However, the much bigger, longer-term problem is the threat of a homosexual takeover of the military branches." - Scott Lively, 'Gays' in the Military: A Revival of The Pink Swastika?
Anti-Gay Harrassment leads to poor adult health (and in other news, the religious right really doesn't give a %@!)
From Box Turtle Bulletin comes this news:
The Urban Men’s Health Survey (UMHS) has revealed a lot of useful information in the decade since it was conducted. Much of it “dismaying,” in the words of Ron Stall, who worked on the survey at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now at the University of Pittsburgh. Stall was one of four researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (joined by a fifth researcher from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis) who analyzed a subset of that data and concluded that “experience of homophobic attacks against young gay/bisexual male youth helps to explain heightened rates of serious health problems among adult gay men.”
The UMHS was a telephone interview of a probability sample of men who have sex with men (MSMs) living in four cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The survey was conducted between November 1996 and February 1998, with 2,881 UMHS participants being asked a wide-ranging battery of questions resulting in 855 variables. The results of that survey were fed into a database, which scores of researchers have been mining ever since for dozens of studies covering many different topics. Dr, Mark Friedman, who has previously investigated the link between anti-gay hostility and suicide among young gay males, led a team which poured over responses to key questions in that database to see if a link could be established between anti-gay hostility against young gay men and adverse health outcomes as adults.
This study confirms a common sense idea that a child who has his/her self esteem destroyed (via name-calling or any other type of harrassment) will most likely grow up to participate in negative behavior.
It's an idea that isn't necessarily bound to sexual orientation. In his classic novel, Native Son, African-American writer Richard Wright demonstrated, through the turbulent life and death of his protagonist Bigger Thomas, that when society works against building the self esteem of youth, it usually creates criminals and those who engage in negative behavior.
Not that members of the religious right care about Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright, or this study.
To them, any attempt to stop such harrassment is a part of the BIG GAY CONSPIRACY.
Yesterday, Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel railed against an educator for daring to stop homophobic language in her class.
Today, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), is bitching about "No Name Calling Week," a week where students are encouraged to treat each other with respect regardless of their differences:
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), says while the event's name sounds innocent, it is a way of indoctrinating children so that they will support the homosexual agenda after they become adults. A PJI press release reveals the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is a key sponsor of the program.
"They're promoting, all the way down to the first-grade level, children to read and be exposed to books and material that is pro-homosexual -- and it's all under the guise of opposing name-calling," he contends.
. . . "The alleged homosexual kids are not the only ones being bullied," the attorney points out. "There's [sic] kids of faith being called 'homophobic' and 'homophobe,' and yet those words and that name-calling is not under attack and is not being addressed by this alleged week of tolerance that's being pushed."
Dacus urges parents to be aware of what happens in their children's schools and to opt out their children out if necessary.
That's right parents - opt your kids out of this event so that they can name-call other students with impunity. And why stop there.
Why don't you sit down with your child and draw up a list of slurs that he/she can use.
After all, family togetherness is so Christian.
Really though, if there are any incidents of Christian children being called names, they should be addressed. Of course like so many other things when it comes to the religious right, I am sure that this is an anecdotal story with little evidence or one intentionally taken out of context.
In my day, those who pushed conspiracies where there were none were looked at with caution.
Nowadays, it seems that they are given platforms as "pro-family" activists.
Seriously though, a week that encourages children to show respect for differences (religious, sexual orientation, race, or otherwise) should be encouraged, period.
If you ask me, I think it should be a mandatory week for adults also.
From Box Turtle Bulletin comes this news:
The Urban Men’s Health Survey (UMHS) has revealed a lot of useful information in the decade since it was conducted. Much of it “dismaying,” in the words of Ron Stall, who worked on the survey at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now at the University of Pittsburgh. Stall was one of four researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (joined by a fifth researcher from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis) who analyzed a subset of that data and concluded that “experience of homophobic attacks against young gay/bisexual male youth helps to explain heightened rates of serious health problems among adult gay men.”
The UMHS was a telephone interview of a probability sample of men who have sex with men (MSMs) living in four cities: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The survey was conducted between November 1996 and February 1998, with 2,881 UMHS participants being asked a wide-ranging battery of questions resulting in 855 variables. The results of that survey were fed into a database, which scores of researchers have been mining ever since for dozens of studies covering many different topics. Dr, Mark Friedman, who has previously investigated the link between anti-gay hostility and suicide among young gay males, led a team which poured over responses to key questions in that database to see if a link could be established between anti-gay hostility against young gay men and adverse health outcomes as adults.
This study confirms a common sense idea that a child who has his/her self esteem destroyed (via name-calling or any other type of harrassment) will most likely grow up to participate in negative behavior.
It's an idea that isn't necessarily bound to sexual orientation. In his classic novel, Native Son, African-American writer Richard Wright demonstrated, through the turbulent life and death of his protagonist Bigger Thomas, that when society works against building the self esteem of youth, it usually creates criminals and those who engage in negative behavior.
Not that members of the religious right care about Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright, or this study.
To them, any attempt to stop such harrassment is a part of the BIG GAY CONSPIRACY.
Yesterday, Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel railed against an educator for daring to stop homophobic language in her class.
Today, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), is bitching about "No Name Calling Week," a week where students are encouraged to treat each other with respect regardless of their differences:
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), says while the event's name sounds innocent, it is a way of indoctrinating children so that they will support the homosexual agenda after they become adults. A PJI press release reveals the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, is a key sponsor of the program.
"They're promoting, all the way down to the first-grade level, children to read and be exposed to books and material that is pro-homosexual -- and it's all under the guise of opposing name-calling," he contends.
. . . "The alleged homosexual kids are not the only ones being bullied," the attorney points out. "There's [sic] kids of faith being called 'homophobic' and 'homophobe,' and yet those words and that name-calling is not under attack and is not being addressed by this alleged week of tolerance that's being pushed."
Dacus urges parents to be aware of what happens in their children's schools and to opt out their children out if necessary.
That's right parents - opt your kids out of this event so that they can name-call other students with impunity. And why stop there.
Why don't you sit down with your child and draw up a list of slurs that he/she can use.
After all, family togetherness is so Christian.
Really though, if there are any incidents of Christian children being called names, they should be addressed. Of course like so many other things when it comes to the religious right, I am sure that this is an anecdotal story with little evidence or one intentionally taken out of context.
In my day, those who pushed conspiracies where there were none were looked at with caution.
Nowadays, it seems that they are given platforms as "pro-family" activists.
Seriously though, a week that encourages children to show respect for differences (religious, sexual orientation, race, or otherwise) should be encouraged, period.
If you ask me, I think it should be a mandatory week for adults also.
Reminder - I am continuing my experiment of posting three times a day. So please be sure to check back here to see the new posts.
Blackmail and homosexuality in the Palmetto State
From Blogactive via Pam's House Blend:
Quite an interesting story out of South Carolina. It involves alleged police brutality, extortion, secret gay sex and at least one anti-gay Republican elected official.Fitsnews.com has the story. I have decided to link to this story for two reasons. First, the writer has been clear to report only on what he has confirmed with law enforcement sources, not political folks. Second, it does not mention the politician's name.
Of course, coercion and extortion are illegal. From Fitsnews.com:
Law enforcement officials are trying desperately to apprehend - and save the life of - an alleged blackmailer who supposedly met with a bloody rebuke at the hands of state law enforcement officers after attempting to extort $200,000 from a prominent S.C. Republican official, multiple sources have confirmed to FITS.
In addition to these sources, a senior agent at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has confirmed details of the alleged extortion drama to FITS, and sources even closer to the top at SLED tell us that the agency has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting that they look into the matter.
Rumors of the alleged drama have been making their way through South Carolina political circles in hushed tones for several months now, first reaching our ears last November.We initially dismissed the accusations as too far-fetched to be true, however we began to dig deeper after sources at SLED confirmed details of the alleged incident to us.
If this story picks up and continues, things should get very interesting around here. And deservedly so. Between me and you, there have been rumors down here about certain in-the-closet officials for years.
The sky is going to fall - I actually agree with the religious right on something
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
If it's a private Christian school, then it should be allowed to pick and choose who attends. That is private and not paid for by taxpayers.
Of course the question is how long will it be before Matt Staver and company try to link this case to a "gay conspiracy to hurt Christians" despite the fact that some lgbts (me included) actually agree with them here.
Link to article here.
Blackmail and homosexuality in the Palmetto State
From Blogactive via Pam's House Blend:
Quite an interesting story out of South Carolina. It involves alleged police brutality, extortion, secret gay sex and at least one anti-gay Republican elected official.Fitsnews.com has the story. I have decided to link to this story for two reasons. First, the writer has been clear to report only on what he has confirmed with law enforcement sources, not political folks. Second, it does not mention the politician's name.
Of course, coercion and extortion are illegal. From Fitsnews.com:
Law enforcement officials are trying desperately to apprehend - and save the life of - an alleged blackmailer who supposedly met with a bloody rebuke at the hands of state law enforcement officers after attempting to extort $200,000 from a prominent S.C. Republican official, multiple sources have confirmed to FITS.
In addition to these sources, a senior agent at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has confirmed details of the alleged extortion drama to FITS, and sources even closer to the top at SLED tell us that the agency has been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requesting that they look into the matter.
Rumors of the alleged drama have been making their way through South Carolina political circles in hushed tones for several months now, first reaching our ears last November.We initially dismissed the accusations as too far-fetched to be true, however we began to dig deeper after sources at SLED confirmed details of the alleged incident to us.
If this story picks up and continues, things should get very interesting around here. And deservedly so. Between me and you, there have been rumors down here about certain in-the-closet officials for years.
The sky is going to fall - I actually agree with the religious right on something
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
If it's a private Christian school, then it should be allowed to pick and choose who attends. That is private and not paid for by taxpayers.
Of course the question is how long will it be before Matt Staver and company try to link this case to a "gay conspiracy to hurt Christians" despite the fact that some lgbts (me included) actually agree with them here.
Link to article here.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Something worth knowing about NARTH
NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality) is one of those religious right organizations masquerading as legitimate purveyors of science.
Amongst other things, it espouses reparative therapy, or the belief that homosexuality can be changed.
Recently Dr. Phil had the founder of NARTH, Joseph Nicolosi, on his show as a credible voice regarding gender identity.
Naturally a lot of us weren't exactly happy over this. Despite the fact that Nicolosi demonstrated his abject ignorance and was destroyed on the air by the mother of a transgendered child, the fact that he was deemed an expert didn't sit right with a lot of us.
And as far as I'm concerned, it still doesn't.
For the record, NARTH have been in a few controversies regarding the theories of its "experts."
In 2006, NARTH had two major controversies. In the first, psychiatrist Joseph Berger, MD, a member of their “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a paper encouraging students to “ridicule” gender variant children.
In the second controversy, Gerald Schoenwolf, PhD, also a member of NARTH’s “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a polemic on the group’s website that seemed to justify slavery.
(NARTH founder Joseph) Nicolosi is also known for his strange theories, such as encouraging his male clients to drink Gatorade and call friends “dude” to become more masculine. He also believes that “Non-homosexual men who experience defeat and failure may also experience homosexual fantasies or dreams.”
Schoenwolf, by the way, continues to be a member of NARTH's scientific committee.
And so does George Rekers.
You remember Dr. Rekers, don't you?
In 2004, he was an expert witness in a case involving gay adoption in Arkansas. The state had banned gays from adopting in 1999. In January 2005, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy White ruled against the state of Arkansas. Furthermore, he called Rekers' testimony "extremely suspect." He also accused Rekers of testifying solely for promoting his "own personal agenda."
In 2008, Rekers was also an expert witness in a case defending Florida's gay adoption ban. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman ruled against the state. In her decision, she said "Dr. Rekers’ testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy."
Despite this, not only is Rekers currently a member of NARTH's scientific advisory committee, but he is also listed as one of the organization's officers.
Now some people may think I'm trying to "kill the messenger because I don't like his message," but that's a serious breach of logic.
Rekers has been discredited by two different judges in two different cases, but NARTH seems to think nothing of having him as not only an officer but a scientific advisory committee member.
What's next? The APA having a purveyor of lobotomies on its committees?
My links to Rekers are here.
NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality) is one of those religious right organizations masquerading as legitimate purveyors of science.
Amongst other things, it espouses reparative therapy, or the belief that homosexuality can be changed.
Recently Dr. Phil had the founder of NARTH, Joseph Nicolosi, on his show as a credible voice regarding gender identity.
Naturally a lot of us weren't exactly happy over this. Despite the fact that Nicolosi demonstrated his abject ignorance and was destroyed on the air by the mother of a transgendered child, the fact that he was deemed an expert didn't sit right with a lot of us.
And as far as I'm concerned, it still doesn't.
For the record, NARTH have been in a few controversies regarding the theories of its "experts."
In 2006, NARTH had two major controversies. In the first, psychiatrist Joseph Berger, MD, a member of their “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a paper encouraging students to “ridicule” gender variant children.
In the second controversy, Gerald Schoenwolf, PhD, also a member of NARTH’s “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a polemic on the group’s website that seemed to justify slavery.
(NARTH founder Joseph) Nicolosi is also known for his strange theories, such as encouraging his male clients to drink Gatorade and call friends “dude” to become more masculine. He also believes that “Non-homosexual men who experience defeat and failure may also experience homosexual fantasies or dreams.”
Schoenwolf, by the way, continues to be a member of NARTH's scientific committee.
And so does George Rekers.
You remember Dr. Rekers, don't you?
In 2004, he was an expert witness in a case involving gay adoption in Arkansas. The state had banned gays from adopting in 1999. In January 2005, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy White ruled against the state of Arkansas. Furthermore, he called Rekers' testimony "extremely suspect." He also accused Rekers of testifying solely for promoting his "own personal agenda."
In 2008, Rekers was also an expert witness in a case defending Florida's gay adoption ban. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman ruled against the state. In her decision, she said "Dr. Rekers’ testimony was far from a neutral and unbiased recitation of the relevant scientific evidence. Dr. Rekers’ beliefs are motivated by his strong ideological and theological convictions that are not consistent with the science. Based on his testimony and demeanor at trial, the court can not consider his testimony to be credible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy."
Despite this, not only is Rekers currently a member of NARTH's scientific advisory committee, but he is also listed as one of the organization's officers.
Now some people may think I'm trying to "kill the messenger because I don't like his message," but that's a serious breach of logic.
Rekers has been discredited by two different judges in two different cases, but NARTH seems to think nothing of having him as not only an officer but a scientific advisory committee member.
What's next? The APA having a purveyor of lobotomies on its committees?
My links to Rekers are here.
Family Research Council teaches us how to stigmatize lgbts
In commenting on the recent controversy regarding Portland's gay mayor Sam Adams and an admitted affair with a young man, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins said the following:
Another openly gay politician is snared in a sex scandal with a teen. Portland's first openly gay mayor, Sam Adams --- who just took office earlier this month --- has now acknowledge he lied to cover up a sexual relationship he had with a young man he was "mentoring" in 2005.
This is reminiscent of former Congressman Mark Foley, who was caught hitting on male teens who served as pages on Capitol Hill.
While I know that not every homosexual person preys on youth, it sure seems that many of the sex scandals involving homosexual public figures disproportionately involve young, easily influenced and impressionable teens.
Talk about your generalizations, especially in light of a recent incident:
A former Regent University law school assistant dean has been indicted on 13 felony sexual assault charges involving two girls, according to court records.
The allegations against Stephen L. McPherson, 39, of Chesapeake include object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy, and taking indecent liberties with a child by a custodian.
The charges, reported to Chesapeake police in July 2007, stem from events between May 2000 and May 2002, according to the indictments handed up Tuesday by a Chesapeake grand jury. The girls' ages weren't available Friday.
Using Perkins's power of logic, I guess we need to keep children away from religious right-oriented universities.
That is other than the usual reason that they teach distortions in the name of God.
Mike Huckabee pushes one-sided drivel - Good As You takes him down
Last weekend, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee featured Liberty Counsel lawyer Matt Staver in a one-on-one propaganda smear of President Obama's Administration.
I am ashamed to admit this but I refused to watch the show because I knew it would be biased -it was on Fox and Staver seemed to be the only guest.
I figured no sense in pissing myself off over the weekend.
But another on-line friend watched the show.
I have to commend Jeremy from Good As You for his refutations of Staver's lies as well as his strong stomach and disposition to sit through the nonsense.
And it reiterates several points I like to make.
LGBTs have truth on our side in this so-called cultural war, but all of the truth in the world won't help us if we are not permitted to get our stories out to the public.
Here you have Huckabee with a show where he does not have to be fair or accurate. And his guests are pushing bad information.
Where are our shows?
Several things Jeremy says includes the following:
FACT (:12): Including LGBT people within the realm of normalcy is unifying, Mike. Not to you, maybe. But to those of us who have been long-stymied under the cruel thumb of persecution, the idea that LGBT people will be respected as part of the world's spectrum represents both "change" and "unity."
FACT (3:04): The "fluidity" of gender identity is a ridiculous straw (trans)man! An inclusive Employment Nondiscrimination Act would prevent public employers from casting aspersions on the basis of an employee or potential employees' identity. For this purposes, it doesn't matter how "fluid" that concept may be for a particular individual. What matters is that merit, and not gender identity, will be the basis for employment decisions!
FACT (6:15): The Ocean Grove, New Jersey pavilion was NOT a church! The pavilion was open to public usage, without any hesitation in the matrimonial process until gays and lesbians wanted to start using the building for same-sex civil unions. So it's not a religious matter -- it's about allowing the heterosexual public to use your facility, but not the homosexual public!
FACT (6:36): The primary photographer in the New Mexico case is actually a she, not a he. And she was fined for refusing to shoot a gay couple's civil union because her business is a public accommodation (registered with the state as an LLC), much like a restaurant or any other store. Rather than say she wasn't available or make up an excused, the photographer expressly stated that she would not photograph a same-sex ceremony. This led the New Mexico Human Rights Commission to act in the only way they could under fair application of the law: To determine that the public accommodation was being unfair to a certain segment of the local public. If the commission had determined differently, then that would have set a very dangerous precedent (i.e. Could allow this public business to deny other types of faiths, deny on the basis of race).
**It should also be noted that the photographer has every right to file a lawsuit and challenge the constitutionality of the commission's findings.
For a complete breakdown go here.
In commenting on the recent controversy regarding Portland's gay mayor Sam Adams and an admitted affair with a young man, Family Research Council head Tony Perkins said the following:
Another openly gay politician is snared in a sex scandal with a teen. Portland's first openly gay mayor, Sam Adams --- who just took office earlier this month --- has now acknowledge he lied to cover up a sexual relationship he had with a young man he was "mentoring" in 2005.
This is reminiscent of former Congressman Mark Foley, who was caught hitting on male teens who served as pages on Capitol Hill.
While I know that not every homosexual person preys on youth, it sure seems that many of the sex scandals involving homosexual public figures disproportionately involve young, easily influenced and impressionable teens.
Talk about your generalizations, especially in light of a recent incident:
A former Regent University law school assistant dean has been indicted on 13 felony sexual assault charges involving two girls, according to court records.
The allegations against Stephen L. McPherson, 39, of Chesapeake include object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy, and taking indecent liberties with a child by a custodian.
The charges, reported to Chesapeake police in July 2007, stem from events between May 2000 and May 2002, according to the indictments handed up Tuesday by a Chesapeake grand jury. The girls' ages weren't available Friday.
Using Perkins's power of logic, I guess we need to keep children away from religious right-oriented universities.
That is other than the usual reason that they teach distortions in the name of God.
Mike Huckabee pushes one-sided drivel - Good As You takes him down
Last weekend, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee featured Liberty Counsel lawyer Matt Staver in a one-on-one propaganda smear of President Obama's Administration.
I am ashamed to admit this but I refused to watch the show because I knew it would be biased -it was on Fox and Staver seemed to be the only guest.
I figured no sense in pissing myself off over the weekend.
But another on-line friend watched the show.
I have to commend Jeremy from Good As You for his refutations of Staver's lies as well as his strong stomach and disposition to sit through the nonsense.
And it reiterates several points I like to make.
LGBTs have truth on our side in this so-called cultural war, but all of the truth in the world won't help us if we are not permitted to get our stories out to the public.
Here you have Huckabee with a show where he does not have to be fair or accurate. And his guests are pushing bad information.
Where are our shows?
Several things Jeremy says includes the following:
FACT (:12): Including LGBT people within the realm of normalcy is unifying, Mike. Not to you, maybe. But to those of us who have been long-stymied under the cruel thumb of persecution, the idea that LGBT people will be respected as part of the world's spectrum represents both "change" and "unity."
FACT (3:04): The "fluidity" of gender identity is a ridiculous straw (trans)man! An inclusive Employment Nondiscrimination Act would prevent public employers from casting aspersions on the basis of an employee or potential employees' identity. For this purposes, it doesn't matter how "fluid" that concept may be for a particular individual. What matters is that merit, and not gender identity, will be the basis for employment decisions!
FACT (6:15): The Ocean Grove, New Jersey pavilion was NOT a church! The pavilion was open to public usage, without any hesitation in the matrimonial process until gays and lesbians wanted to start using the building for same-sex civil unions. So it's not a religious matter -- it's about allowing the heterosexual public to use your facility, but not the homosexual public!
FACT (6:36): The primary photographer in the New Mexico case is actually a she, not a he. And she was fined for refusing to shoot a gay couple's civil union because her business is a public accommodation (registered with the state as an LLC), much like a restaurant or any other store. Rather than say she wasn't available or make up an excused, the photographer expressly stated that she would not photograph a same-sex ceremony. This led the New Mexico Human Rights Commission to act in the only way they could under fair application of the law: To determine that the public accommodation was being unfair to a certain segment of the local public. If the commission had determined differently, then that would have set a very dangerous precedent (i.e. Could allow this public business to deny other types of faiths, deny on the basis of race).
**It should also be noted that the photographer has every right to file a lawsuit and challenge the constitutionality of the commission's findings.
For a complete breakdown go here.
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