Ex-Gay Watch

Addendum: The above graphic is REAL. But here are some show topics I would like to suggest for Bennett’s show. Yes, these are JOKES but they are based on real things Bennett has done and said.

Stopping The Homosexual Invasion Of The Home And Garden Network So Heterosexuals Like Me Can Learn To Decoupage In Peace

Get Your Hair Did!

“Gay Christians:” You Can’t Have Your Cake And Eat It Too.

An Extra Special Rant On Why Time Magazine’s Radical Homosexual Sex-Orgy Crazed Activist Author Should Have Interviewed Me Rather Than One Of The Other “Hundreds of Thousands” Of Exgays Out There.

Excorcists: They Love Exgays Like Me Too!

Gay People: Not Just An Abomination To God But Also A Putrid Stench In His Nostrils!

When Passing Out T-Shirts Make Sure To Get Gender Appropriate Colors.

In all fairness, I’m in no position to be making fun of people for their hair.

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Jim Johnson of Straight, Not Narrow thoughtfully analyzed exgay Tim Wilkins and his organization, Cross Ministry, on Oct. 13.

Johnson applauds Wilkins for his openness to healing and for emerging from the heartbreak of youth. But he faults Wilkins for insisting on delivering all homosexual persons from their “lifestyle.”

Looking beyond Wilkins’ good intentions, Johnson suspects that Wilkins once identified as homosexual due to psychological trauma, while for many or most same-sex-attracted persons, same-sex attraction is a natural instinct. Johnson also questions Wilkins’ bizarre and illogical association between same-sex attraction and violent crimes such as child molestation, domestic abuse, and rape.

Straight, Not Narrow hopes God will bless Cross Ministry, but he also prays that naturally same-sex-attracted persons are delivered from exgay ministries without lasting damage.

GayLife of Maryland profiles Peterson Toscano, a former Love In Action live-in client who now performs several spiritual and comedic one-man plays, including “Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo’ Halfway House” — a personal look into the experiences of ex-gay live-in program participants.

Toscano’s upcoming performances include appearances in Boston, Mass.; Huntington and Oneonta, N.Y.; Middletown and Hartford, Conn.; and Madison, N.J.

The political religious right, of course.

Peterson Toscano explains.

The Exodus media blog promoted the following propaganda pieces by antigay political allies this week, and withheld alternative viewpoints from the Exodus readership. (Exodus does not technically “endorse” what it promotes. But the half-truths that Exodus reprints — and the truths that it neglects to share with readers — are an indication of the integrity of the Exodus national office, or lack thereof.)

1. A LifeSite criticism of TV’s Dr. Phil for “promoting homosexuality.” LifeSite criticizes Dr. Phil’s reliance upon facts to criticize inaccurate claims of success issued by the abstinence-only sex-ed movement. LifeSite also mischaracterizes Dr. Phil’s position regarding Planned Parenthood. And LifeSite criticizes Dr. Phil for using a doctorate to imply expertise in unrelated fields, even as James Dobson and Warren Throckmorton have done the same. Because Dr. Phil weighs the available science, he is accused of “promoting homosexuality.”
2. A Concerned Women for America defense of Robert A. Jason, a Canadian from Fonthill, Ontario, who was confronted by local police (but not arrested) after he distributed hate mail about homosexuals. Samples of Jason’s tirades are available online. He regularly and broadly accuses anyone who supports tolerance, or who declines to reprint his venom, of being pro-gay, pro-abortion, anti-faith, anti-family, and anti-country. Jason offers no specific facts to support his accusations — and neither Concerned Women for America nor Exodus share the specific e-mail that got Jason in trouble with police. Even Jason acknowledges that the United States has a First Amendment to guard against Canada-style crackdowns on venomous foul-mouths. But Jason, and CWA, illogically conclude that the United States is at risk anyway.

   Exodus also misidentifies the writer of the CWA article, Lee Duigon, who is affiliated with the Chalcedon Foundation, an organization dedicated to evolving the U.S. government and population into an ostensibly Bible-based theocracy. The organization was founded by Christian Reconstructionist R.J. Rushdoony. Memo to Exodus: Consider your sources.

3. A Concerned Women for America article cheering the removal, from an unrelated Senate bill, of a provision adding sexual orientation (both heterosexual and homosexual) to existing hate crimes legislation. Neither CWA nor Exodus explain their failure to oppose existing hate-crimes laws that toughen sentencing for offenses against certain social demographics but not others. In the view of CWA, some minorities are more equal than others — and Exodus seems content to promote that view (without officially endorsing it).
4. WorldNetDaily propaganda promoting antigay Massachusetts parent David Parker’s battle to prevent public schools from opposing antigay prejudice and violence. Exodus promotes WND’s accusation that “angry homosexual activists” somehow dominate the town of Lexington and its schools. WND neglects to explain why Parker has been banned from the town’s schools, and Exodus seems content to aid in that factual omission. WND and Exodus also seem to be transferring their own anger to their opponents: A site that monitors Massachusetts antigay group Article 8 reports regularly that it is Parker and his few supporters who are not only angry, but venting hatred of gay people and seeking to silence those who expose and oppose antigay violence.
5. An American Family Association endorsement of Repent America’s harassment of the city of Philadelphia. (Previous XGW coverage of Repent America and Exodus’ past endorsement of this hate group.) Repent America leader Michael Marcavage recently advocated for a future fundamentalist U.S. government that will legally and methodically put homosexuals to death.
6. A WND promotion of culture-war venom in the form of a new book whose title rants against the marketers of “evil” and “corruption”: “radicals, elitists, and pseudo-experts” — in other words, anyone who isn’t a social conservative. Exodus reprints an excerpt from the book that contends it was a conniving homosexual 12-year-old who “seduced” antigay conservative former congressman Robert Bauman, when he too was a youth, into growing up to have sex with male prostitutes.
7. An interview with Janet Folger, hosted by Focus on the Family. Folger, a former Coral Ridge Ministries activist who supports the imprisonment of homosexuals under sodomy laws, accuses equality and tolerance advocates of seeking to do likewise: jail “Christians” like her. But Folger offers no evidence of such efforts. Instead, she cites Swedish authorities’ efforts to limit the antigay public protests of pastor Ake Green. Folger neglects to note that Green’s freedom of speech was defended by homosexual activist Peter Tatchell — and Exodus complies with the factual omission. For more supposed proof of persecution against antigay Christians, Folger illogically cites conservative Muslim theocrats’ intolerance of Christians; Folger fails to indicate any similarities between Muslim theocrats and liberal equality advocates. For that matter, Folger fails to indicate any differences between those theocrats’ intolerance and her own. Coral Ridge Ministries, headed by D. James Kennedy, is sympathetic to the Christian Reconstructionist movement, which seeks to grow a Bible-based U.S. government that harshly punishes homosexuals, feminists, and other presumed heretics.
8. An American Family Association accusation that unseen “homosexual activists” hiding behind civil-liberties advocates are “pulling the strings” of Ohio youths who seek to reduce antigay violence and prejudice within their own school. AFA’s accusation is recycled from antigay Ohio activist Linda Harvey, and is unsupported by any facts. Harvey redefines “homosexuality” to be one specific high-risk behavior, and then smears anyone with same-sex attraction by attaching the redefined label to them. Exodus offers no objections.
9. The lawsuit of Exodus vice-chairman and Love In Action leader John Smid — recycled via the American Family Association through the religious-right Alliance Defense Fund — against the state of Tennessee for requiring that Smid’s exgay live-in therapy center and boot camp obey state laws regarding live-in facilities, particularly those that counsel the mentally ill.
10. Allegations by Alan Sears and Baptist Press — unsupported by evidence — that same-sex-attracted people pose a mortal threat to children in foster care.
    The allegations have been frequently disproven by experts in child care and criminal justice, but Sears and Baptist Press withheld that information from readers, and Exodus complied with the omission and declined to cite what the experts actually say about sexual orientation and child care.

So much half-truth and misinformation, in just one very ordinary week at the Exodus media blog.

Published today in The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. (free subscription required):

A federal judge denied a motion Friday that would have permitted Love In Action to treat mentally ill patients who are taking prescription medication.

The order does not seem to affect LIA’s ability to counsel emotionally stable patients.

Unfortunately, the newspaper article does not ask LIA officials why, exactly, they demand the right not only to house and counsel the mentally ill with poorly educated and uncertified staff, but also to confine unstable patients on LIA property, out of reach of professional help.

The newspaper does report:

Despite Friday’s ruling, group leaders remain optimistic.

“We’re still very encouraged and we believe the court will eventually rule in our favor,” said Nathan Kellum, counsel for LIA. “There are no disputed facts, it’s just a question of the state misapplying the statute of licensure.”

Kellum refers to LIA’s clients repeatedly as “patients” and boasts that LIA patients have the freedom to self-medicate.

The newspaper reports that the state attorney general will file for dismissal of LIA’s lawsuit on Oct. 24.

Whatever Exodus lobbyist Randy Thomas was doing in Washington and Chicago this week, he isn’t ready to share with the public.

Instead, on his vanity blog, Thomas asks for prayers of support for his ongoing mystery activities with unnamed “folks.”

Thomas makes his trip sound as innocuous as a hay ride. A Hee Haw cast reunion, perhaps?

Focus on the Family co-founder James Dobson has maintained that White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not give him assurances about how a Justice Miers would vote on abortion cases.

But conservative columnist John Fund of the Wall Street Journal (via Dispatches from the Culture Wars) finds that Dobson may have received assurances from two close friends of Miers, both sitting judges, both recommended to Dobson by Rove, in an Arlington Group conference call. The Arlington Group is a coalition of the political leaders of the major religious-right organizations.

In other words, Dobson is counting on a technicality to mislead social conservatives and the public.

One of the call participants took extensive notes, and Fund obtained the notes.

Fund says:

Mr. Dobson says he was surprised the next day to learn that Justice Hecht and Judge Kinkeade were joining the Arlington Group call. He was asked to introduce the two of them, which he considered awkward given that he had never spoken with Justice Hecht and only once to Judge Kinkeade. According to the notes of the call, Mr. Dobson introduced them by saying, “Karl Rove suggested that we talk with these gentlemen because they can confirm specific reasons why Harriet Miers might be a better candidate than some of us think.”
What followed, according to the notes, was a free-wheeling discussion about many topics, including same-sex marriage. Justice Hecht said he had never discussed that issue with Ms. Miers. Then an unidentified voice asked the two men, “Based on your personal knowledge of her, if she had the opportunity, do you believe she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade?”
“Absolutely,” said Judge Kinkeade.
“I agree with that,” said Justice Hecht. “I concur.”
Shortly thereafter, according to the notes, Mr. Dobson apologized and said he had to leave the discussion: “That’s all I need to know and I will get off and make some calls.” (When asked about his comments in the notes I have, Mr. Dobson confirmed some of them and said it was “very possible” he made the others. He said he did not specifically recall the comments of the two judges on Roe v. Wade.)…

Ed Brayton of the Dispatches blog concludes:

So both sides play this dishonest little game of saying one thing to supporters and another to the Senate, using highly parsed language to give just a little wiggle room so they can claim that they weren’t technically lying. And it’s the same thing Dobson is doing here. The secret information he was given was the assurances that she would vote to overturn Roe, not the other nonsense he revealed. But he was careful to discuss only the conversation with Rove on October 2nd, so he can say that technically he wasn’t lying. But it’s still a deceitful game and everyone knows it, or ought to. And it’s played by both sides.

Exodus President Alan Chambers doesn’t say what the proper sentence for a teen-age consensual sex offender should be.

But — given Exodus’ past support for sodomy laws — one may reasonably suspect that Chambers’ opposition to unequal prison sentences for homosexuals might coincide with support for tougher prison terms for all sex offenders.

And at least two liberal bloggers support such a crackdown.

But are these Big Government, law-and-order taxpayers willing to pay higher taxes to support ever-growing prisons — or will they continue to borrow trillions from future generations to build the prisons of today?