Phony historian David Barton denigrates gay community

David Barton is a so-called historian who has been a guest on Glenn Beck's show on numerous occasions.

I guess that speaks to his "veracity," or lack thereof.

Indeed, Media Matters has documented his errors on more than one occasion. Also according to writer Chris Rodda, Barton has no credentials to speak of:

 . . .  many people have been pointing out that he has no degree in history. His educational credentials consist of a B.A. in religious education from Oral Roberts University, and an honorary doctorate from Pensacola Christian College

As for myself, I seldom paid attention to Barton, though I am aware of his exploits with the Texas school board (Rodda's article is an excellent read). However, my interest perked up today I read that he choose to say a bunch of highly inaccurate things about the lgbt community.

According to People for the American Way's Religious Right Watch, Barton and Rick Green of Wallbuilders was discussing the so-called need to "regulate homosexual behavior" on the radio today. That was when Barton choose to spin his anti-gay yarn.

For one thing, Barton didn't cite any sources for what he claimed, so allow me to do the best I can in disseminating where his distortions came from:

Barton - Homosexuals die decades earlier than heterosexuals. That doesn’t sound healthy.

Truth - Barton may have gotten this from either the discredited work of Paul Cameron or a 1997 Canadian study. Cameron is the same man who had been dismissed or censured from several medical associations for distorting the credible medical information or not cooperating with investigations into his methodology.

Now the authors of the Canadian study, in 2001, went on record complaining about how their work in 1997 was distorted.  


Barton - Nearly one-half of practicing homosexuals admit to five hundred or more sex partners and nearly one-third admit to a thousand or more sex partners in a lifetime.

Truth - Barton could have gotten this from a number of places from Paul Cameron's phony data to statistics from STD clinics. However, it really doesn't matter. The meme that "gays are incredibly promiscuous" is a favorite of religious right spokespeople. Like Joseph McCarthy and his "communist list," they tend to change the number whatever audience they are addressing:

“One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population.” - The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values, Matt J. Barber

“Fidelity is almost unheard of in homosexual relationships; the average number of partners for each person is eight. These relationships are not open—they are wide open. A homosexual publication, The Advocate, reports that 57 percent of its homosexual readers claimed they had sexual relations with 30 or more partners. Twenty-nine percent of their readers had anonymous bathhouse sex. A 1991 study of homosexual men in New York revealed an average of 308 sexual partners per man.” - Supremes Ruled Wisely: Arizona Can’t Afford Same Sex Marriage, The Arizona Conservative

An article in USA Today in November 1984 reported that homosexuals have an average of 50 different sexual partners each year. - Offering Hope to Homosexuals - http://www.firststone.org/articles/topic/homosexuality/offering_hope_to_homosexuals.htm

“Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?” -a biased question on the Focus on the Family web page

I want to group the rest of Barton's statements together:

Barton - Homosexual/bi-sexual individuals are seven times to contemplate or commit suicide. Oooh, that doesn’t sound very healthy.


Homosexuals have an HIV prevalence sixty times higher than the general population.


Homosexuals have Hepatitis B virus five to six times more often and Hepatitis C virus infections about two times more often than the regular population.


Homosexuals are less than three percent of the population but they account for sixty-four percent of the syphilis cases.

Truth - Now while there is some truth to these cases (little truth), Barton's connotation of these health problems is inaccurate. He makes it seem that these problems are indicative of the lgbt orientation.

However, studies have shown that the majority of health problems regarding the lgbt community is indicative of how society stigmatizes them.

Take suicide for example:

Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate than in the general population. The likelihood of depression or anxiety may be greater, and the problem may be more severe for those men who remain in the closet or who do not have adequate social supports. Adolescents and young adults may be at particularly high risk of suicide because of these concerns. Culturally sensitive mental health services targeted specifically at gay men may be more effective in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of these conditions.

As for the other issues, it is a matter of getting access to good medical information and the ability to trust your doctor. Unfortunately too many lgbts are in the closet or don't feel that they can be completely honest with their physicians. Also, there is a serious problem with access to good information regarding STDs, particularly in the African-American gay community.

The sad thing is that someone actually takes Barton's nonsense seriously. The sadder thing is that his words most likely contribute to the problems of lgbt stigmatization rather than the solution.

Barton's claims is a perfect example of just how easily inaccurate negative information about lgbts is spread. They are also an example of just how the lgbt community aren't combatting this misinformation. I have read many places where Barton's claims are repeated verbatim by members of the lgbt community without the courtesy of correction as sort of a way to make fun of his assertions.

That's a mistake. We know that Barton's claims are false. Our allies know that Barton's claims are false. However, the key is demonstrating to everyone else that they are false.

And we aren't doing that.

More trouble for lgbts in Uganda and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Ugandan Tabloid May Have Used Facebook To Obtain Photos In Anti-Gay Vigilante Campaign - This is NOT good.

Pence’s Priorities: Stopping Marriage Equality Is As Important As Fixing The Economy - Win one religious right straw poll and boom, we got another monster.

'I'm nothing you've heard' - Based upon how you have treated the lgbt community, Christine O'Donnell, you are something worse.

Gary Cass' One-Sided Definition of Anti-Christian Defamation - Bear in mind, this is the SAME MAN who defended a church which tried to "exorcise" a gay youth.

Peter LaBarbera calls recent suicide victims 'sexually confused'

"Porno" Peter LaBarbera has weighed in on the recent suicides. And as expected, his comments are highly circumspect:

Enough is enough: from my Facebook page:

No shame: HRC and other homosexual groups are exploiting the tragic suicides of sexually confused kids to attack religion: http://www.hrc.org/14955.htm.

The following is excerpted from Human Rights Campaign’s latest attack on religion– Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org:

HRC to Mormon Apostle: Your Statements are Inaccurate and Dangerous
Mormon Leader’s Inaccurate Statements Yesterday Fuel Anti-LGBT Violence, Teen Suicides
[Human Rights Campaign website] 10/4/2010
Washington – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, today called on Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Mormon Church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, to correct statements he made yesterday calling same-sex attraction “impure and unnatural,” claiming that it can be corrected and characterizing same-sex marriage as immoral. Packer’s inaccurate and dangerous rhetoric comes on the heels of the suicides of at least four teenagers over the past month, all victims of anti-gay bullying or harassment. ….

For the record, LaBarbera is defending the decision by Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer’s weekend speech in which he condemned marriage equality and made the charge that people can change their sexual orientation.

Some, HRC and myself, see the speech as not only inaccurate but a show of bad taste in the wake of the recent suicides of several lgbt youth.

Word to LaBarbera - those "sexually confused youths" as you called them had names. And any "confusion" they had are due to ignorant people like yourself who seem to be obsessed with demonizing and stigmatizing the lgbt community to the point of making us hate ourselves. Those of us who are adults have gotten used to your nonsense. We laugh at your empty press conferences and your "undercover" missions to leatherfests. But those youths are the main reason why you must be exposed as the lying sack of homophobic !#@ you are.

They have yet to develop their survival skills and your words to them are like psychological dynamite. If you had any moral bone in that overbloated body of yours, you would realize just how much damage you do on a daily basis.

But I doubt that you do. You are so obsessed with yourself and your phony, futile mission of "eradicating homosexuality."
 
Related post: 

Peter LaBarbera - the self-destruction of an anti-gay activist

Peter LaBarbera's pictures contradict his ramblings

Blogger takes a nasty shot at Tyler Clementi

If this doesn't tick you off, check your pulse:

That tweet is by Bob Owens, conservative blogger and Washington Examiner contributor.

But really this isn't a situation about conservative or liberal. It's one of common decency.

Tyler Clementi killed himself because he was humiliated beyond belief. Seems to me that we need to focus on solutions so that our children, whether they be lgbt or straight, are not put into a position where they feel the need to end it all.

That would be the decent, human thing to do.

Instead, Owens seems to taken advantage of the situation to be ignorant and self-righteous. His First Amendment right is immaterial. Owens certainly has a right to say what he feels. And I have that same right to call him an inconsiderate, hateful dumbass.



Hat tip to Media Matters.

Religious right determined to stop anti-bullying policies and other Monday midday news briefs

In Minnesota, Religious Right Fights Anti-Bullying Policies, GSA’s - When it's all said and done, what the religious right is doing in the wake of lgbt youth suicides will come back to haunt them.

Comedian Kevin Hart on 'preventing' his two-year-old son from being gay - Just when I thought Hart couldn't do any worse than the movie Soul Plane, he comes across with this "gem." Oh yeah, beating up on a child because you are worried that he is gay. Where have we seen this before?

Student teacher says Beaverton School District discriminated against him - And while we are at it, let's get rid of the potential role models too.

Exodus’ New Book Substitutes Fear for Faith While Undermining the Armed Services - Exodus International continues to lie on lgbts.

Growing Backlash Against Kenyan Gov’t Minister Who Called for Gay Acceptance - This ain't good.

Schwarzenegger expands unemployment benefits for gay couples - Let's close this out with some good news.

New York Times looks at rash of recent suicides

The New York Times had an excellent write up on the recent rash of gay teen suicides as well as showcasing how members of the lgbt community are trying to prevent more. And while I hate to admit it, the best part of the article is that the Times didn't feel the need to seek comments from Focus on the Family or any of those other phony moral values group for some sake of false parity:

When Seth Walsh was in the sixth grade, he turned to his mother one day and told her he had something to say.

“I was folding clothes, and he said, ‘Mom, I’m gay,’ ” said Wendy Walsh, a hairstylist and single mother of four. “I said, ‘O.K., sweetheart, I love you no matter what.’ ”

But last month, Seth went into the backyard of his home in the desert town of Tehachapi, Calif., and hanged himself, apparently unable to bear a relentless barrage of taunting, bullying and other abuse at the hands of his peers. After a little more than a week on life support, he died last Tuesday. He was 13.

The case of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who jumped off the George Washington Bridge after a sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online, has shocked many. But his death is just one of several suicides in recent weeks by young gay teenagers who had been harassed by classmates, both in person and online.

The list includes Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old from Greensburg, Ind., who hanged himself on Sept. 9 after what classmates reportedly called a constant stream of invective against him at school.

Less than two weeks later, Asher Brown, a 13-year-old from the Houston suburbs, shot himself after coming out. He, too, had reported being taunted at his middle school, according to The Houston Chronicle. His family has blamed school officials as failing to take action after they complained, something the school district has denied.

The deaths have set off an impassioned — and sometimes angry — response from gay activists and caught the attention of federal officials, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who on Friday called the suicides “unnecessary tragedies” brought on by “the trauma of being bullied.”

“This is a moment where every one of us — parents, teachers, students, elected officials and all people of conscience — needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms,” Mr. Duncan said.

More here.

Is Senator Jim DeMint attacking gay teachers and unmarried women again?

Did South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint return to a position that got him into trouble when he initially ran for the Senate seat in 2004 - the belief that gay teachers and unmarried women should not be teaching children.

Senator DeMint made those comments in a Friday speech during a Greater Freedom Rally at First Baptist North in Spartanburg, SC where he was addressing conservative issues.

DeMint said if someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn't be teaching in the classroom and he holds the same position on an unmarried woman who's sleeping with her boyfriend — she shouldn't be in the classroom.

“(When I said those things,) no one came to my defense,” he said. “But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion.”

DeMint was alluding to the controversy he caused when he made the same comments during a debate between him and Democratic challenger Inez Tenenbaum. According to the Huffington Post:

Controversy over DeMint's position on this issue first arose in 2004 during a Senate debate, when he was asked whether he agreed with the state party's platform that said openly gay teachers should be barred from teaching public school. DeMint said he agreed with that position because government shouldn't be endorsing certain behaviors.

After significant criticism from LGBT groups, including the Log Cabin Republicans, DeMint apologized for saying "something as a dad that I just shouldn't have said." 

The Post made it a point to elaborate that DeMint never apologized for the substance of his comments, but the fact that they were "distracting."

The Post also said that DeMint's communications director, Wesley M. Denton said that DeMint, in his speech in Spartanburg, was

  . . . "making a point about how the media attacks people for holding a moral opinion." "Senator DeMint believes that hiring decisions at local schools are a local school board issue, not a federal issue," he added.

Senator DeMint has a history of making anti-gay comments.

In December of last year, he found the idea of a gay president "bothersome."

In June of 2009, he sent out an inaccurate letter to several pastors and religious leaders claiming that if lgbt-inclusive hate crimes protection were passed, they were in danger of going to jail for simply preaching that homosexuality is wrong.

DeMint, by the way, is in the middle of possibly the easiest re-election campaign in the history of the country. His challenger is Alvin Greene. And I don't think I need to elaborate any further about Greene.