Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
Though this video is two years old, it accentuates a point we should all remember.
In spite of the opinions of some folks, gay Muslims exist. Rather than generalizing and attacking their religion, the lgbt community needs to give them love and support:
The Truth About The Massive New Study That Has Captivated Anti-LGBT Groups- Zack Ford of Think Progress provides more proof that the recent "study"/report attacking the lgbt community is yet another anti-lgbt industry fraud. But we all need to start paying attention to the fact that it probably won't be the end of fake studies coming from Catholic universities and right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation with the goal of exploiting science to smear us. In the past, anti-lgbt groups such as the Family Research Council manufacture their own in-house "studies." Now they seem to be relying on these new, albeit, still fraudulent entities. Don't just insult it. Call it out.
Even with bad research they can manipulate for their own aims, members of the anti-lgbt industry cannot resist heaping on more lies.
This week, I've published several posts dealing with a research report - not a study - with a severe anti-lgbt bias. The paper, reviewing over 200 other studies, came to the conclusion that no one is born gay or transgender. Even though the report received negative critiques over its missteps, (such as the journal which published it, The New Atlantis, was not peer reviewed, and the fact that one of the authors, Dr. Paul McHugh, has a history of anti-lgbt animus) conservatives and the anti-lgbt industry have been pumping it up as some sort of shocking new development, as well as feeling free to make additions to the report's so-called finding.
The American Family Association's fake news site One News Now had this to say:
Two distinguished scholars at Johns Hopkins University have released a lengthy, three-part report
concluding that there's not sufficient evidence to prove homosexuals
and transgenders are born in that condition – in other words, there is
no "gay gene."
The site then proceeded to get quotes from a member of the conservative Heritage Foundation and anti-lgbt activist "Porno" Pete LaBarbera - but not medical professionals - to further it's narrative about a gay gene. But there is nothing in the report, as politically motivated as it is, about a "gay gene." For those who are not aware, the idea that there may or may not exist a "gay gene" is a straw man argument furthered by the anti-lgbt industry when they attempt to refute the notion that people are born lgbt.
The Killing of Khalid Jabara is an American Tragedy - And before you think that lgbts wouldn't fall for the lure of neo-nazis, this tragic story reminds you that ANY person in ANY community is susceptible to the lure of prejudice and hate. A gay man's Islamophobia led him to terrorize a family and finally murder one of them.
A friend of mine sent me the following article featuring the above comic:
A Christian group has amended the Bible with comic books that support
‘gay cure’ therapy – and they’re giving them out to children. The American Family Association,
which is strongly opposed to LGBT rights, has partnered with Revival
Fires International to give away 65,000 copies of the ‘Truth for Youth’
Bible across the US, encouraging evangelical teens to “commit to give
the Bibles to their unsaved friends in school”.
However, the new Bible’s teachings appear far from child-friendly.
. . . The six-page comic appears to take place during a violent clash
between stereotypically-drawn LGBT activists and Christian protesters,
seeing the “queers” throwing rocks and tear gas at the Christians. The
group is later confronted by a ‘doctor’ who endorses gay cure
therapy … despite the practice being disavowed in real life
by every major medical authority in the US . . ..
The article says that the comic then encourages children to seek "counseling" with an "ex-gay" therapy group Pure Life Ministries.
And they say we "recruit" children?
I should also point out that several states,
including California and New Jersey have outlawed the practice of
subjecting children to ex-gay therapy citing its dangers and fraud.
A member of the anti-lgbt industry is catching a lot of attention because of an negative study he co-authored but it's not the attention he probably wanted.
Former John Hopkins professor Paul McHugh co-authored a paper which claimed that there is no evidence that people are born gay or transgender. This study was trumpeted by several religious right and anti-lgbt publications even though others were quick to point out how its credibility is damaged by the motivations its publishers and authors.
There is plenty of evidence to show that this isn’t McHugh’s first anti-LGBT rodeo.
In 2006, he was quoted as saying that sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was the result of “homosexual predation on American Catholic youth,” as GLAAD noted. Four years later, he filed an amicus brief supporting California’s same-sex marriage ban, arguing that “sexual orientation is, in part, a choice.”
In 2014, McHugh wrote a widely-cited anti-transgender op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that contradicts position statements from several major medical organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association.
Most recently, in the spring of 2016, he helped write a position paper for the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), a small Gainesville, Florida-based organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called “an anti-LGBT hate group.”
That position paper called health care for trans youth a form of “child abuse.”
“It may be an intrinsic problem of American psychiatry to fall into a craze or cult-like misdirection once a decade,” McHugh previously told The Daily Beast about his involvement with that ACPeds paper. “Transgenderism seems to be this decade’s version.”
So it’s no surprise to see McHugh’s name crop up yet again in connection with another round of headlines questioning LGBT identities.
In their new paper, McHugh and Mayer express skepticism over the concept of “sexual orientation,” writing that “we may have some reasons to doubt the common assumption that in order to live happy and flourishing lives, we must somehow discover this innate fact about ourselves that we call sexuality or sexual orientation, and invariably express it through particular patterns of sexual behavior or a particular life trajectory.”
The Daily Beast article then goes through a long process of featuring statements and work of several more legitimate medical bodies who refute McHugh's position, including the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Professional Association of Transgender Health.
All in all, it's an article which our community should remember because we know how the anti-lgbt industry operates. Regardless of any refutation, we will be seeing and hearing them cite McHugh continuously.
One thing the lgbt community must take into account about the anti-lgbt industry is how relentless members try to be. They feel that they are being divinely led to stand against homosexuality so with that regard, they ignore general rules of practice.
That is to say to them, any demonizing lie told about the lgbt community gets repeated no matter how many times it has been refuted. And any positive fact about our equality gets disputed, no matter how outrageous the stream of argument may sound.
We saw an example of the former yesterday when they came out with yet another study distorting science to demonize the lgbt community. Like so many others, this study has been called out for falsehoods and misrepresentations.
And we see an example of the latter with this video of the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver. claiming that the Obergefell decision by SCOTUS, which legalized marriage equality, is not the law of the land.
While the anti-lgbt industry and other anti-transgender activists gloat over today's ruling blocking the Obama Administration from enforcing transgender guidance in schools, here is some thought of who is really at stake and at harm - our transgender youth
Need any more proof that a. Donald Trump isn't a friend to the lgbt community like he claims to be and b. all of the talk from religious right groups and figures about "traditional values " is just a bunch of bunk? Watch the following video in which religious and anti-lgbt figures former Focus on the Family head James Dobson and his wife, Shirley endorse Trump for president. Apparently to them, a racist, xenophobic, egotistical man who lies at the drop of a hate (such as when he claimed Obama founded ISIS) is exactly the man America needs as president to "preserve" morality:
Pastors rarely asked to wed same-sex couples - Another anti-lgbt lie (pastors will be forced to perform same-sex weddings) meets truth. Not that it will stop anti-lgbt activists from repeating the lie, but there nothing wrong with creating a paper trail of truth to refute the lie.
It's relatively easy for us to get distracted by the madness of this election. But let's not forget that there are some who are still declaring war on our community and our kids. Such as Linda Harvey:
Linda Harvey
"Be wary. While much of America is over here protesting the invasion of
bathrooms, homosexual behavior is quietly being inserted into the school
curricula while few are looking, as if it did no harm, as if it truly
were an inborn identity like race. Especially watch for outrageously pornographic sex ed programs to be
launched, the details of which you as a parent are unlikely to receive
unless you push past all the roadblocks the school will erect. The latest trend is to enact “inclusive” sex ed under the banner of
being “comprehensive.” But that means they will just be ramping up the
normalization of teen sex and abortion and now, homosexual behavior as
well."
Ignorance and hate never sleeps. And neither should we. Figuratively speaking, of course.
The American Family Association's fake news site, One News Now, seems to be successful in its practice of pushing phony positive articles about Trump..
The poor dears. Well that's one delusion I strongly agree with them having. Just as long as the rest of us who don't want Trump to win keep up the momentum and not fall victim to complacency
Here's What We Can Learn From Tracey 'Africa' Norman's Triumphant Return to Modeling - I read this story and felt it needed a wider audience as possible. I love the fact that in this case, a pioneer in the lgbt community who suffered because of ignorance makes an awesome comeback. The first African-American openly transgender model proves the adage that "black don't crack."
The people Trump has selected to get him in the White House are a motley crew of bottom feeding, racist, Islamophobic individuals. The fact that many of them are also homophobic is shockingly - or not so shockingly - something which could get lost in the shuffle. But it shouldn't be because their homophobia runs deep.
Kellyanne Conway served as a senior adviser and pollster for the Trump campaign, and was recently named campaign manager.
What You Need To Know
Conway has long been involved
in conservative politics, mostly as a pollster working with
conservative groups like the NRA, Family Research Council and Republican
candidates like Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann.
Conway once said
that people “don’t want their kids looking at a cartoon with a bunch of
lesbian mothers” and suggested the representation of same-sex parents
in children’s programming was a “corrupting” influence.” She also once
argued that “political correctness” could create a situation where there
were “air traffic controllers who don’t speak great English” leading to
“two planes crashing in the sky.” She also argued that “revulsion towards men” is “part and parcel of the feminist movement” and that “baby girls [are] being killed just because they’re girls” in America.
The problem I have with African-American oriented movies is that the good ones are mostly historical and the comedic ones are too proud. And hardly any of them feature any lgbts of color.
Moonlight, a movie coming out in October looks like it's going to be good. It's a contemporary story about a young gay black man grappling with his orientation. The trailer is simply devastating. This movie looks like it could win some awards. That would be nice
because then we could simultaneously start a conversation about lgbts of
color in the black community and focus on the next step in motion
pictures - featuring an lgbt of color ALREADY content with his or her
sexuality.