Ex-Gay Watch

Anti-gay activists spend millions of dollars every year to promote the idea that “change is possible”. Although there is no empirical evidence to support their claims and although their most touted “study” only claims that a miniscule percentage of gay people might be able to reorient, countless hours and small fortunes are spent to give the impression that gay people could be heterosexual if they just tried.

The reason for this deceptive effort is demonstrated in a decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington today. Writing for the majority in a 5-4 decision that gay couples are not entitled to equal protection under the Constitution, Judge Barbara Madsen justified her upholding of discrimination based on ex-gay arguments:

Laws challenged on the basis of race or sex discrimination are generally subjected to more searching review. But Justice Madsen wrote that the plaintiffs were not entitled to such review because they had not demonstrated that homosexuality is an immutable characteristic like race or gender.

It is for this reason that it is ever more necessary that XGW continue to point out the lies, distortions, and deceiptful efforts employed by those who make claims about reorientation. And too, as the ex-gay movement continues its direction towards a purely political machine, we need to be ready to help and care for those wounded struggling individuals who are cannon fodder in the anti-gay culture war.

Papers around the country are picking up an AP article by Ling Liu in which heterosexuals complain about mistreatment in Provincetown, Mass., a gay resort town on Cape Cod. The list of abuses consists of:

1. One gay man accused a straight woman in a grocery store of being a “bigot” because she signed a petition to take marriage rights away from gay people.

2. A straight woman who had signed the anti-gay petition found dog manure by her car and claimed that a gay person put it there (this appears to be an unsupported assumption).

3. A printed list of petition signers (available online) was found on a windshield, presumably by a signer.

4. Some tourists complained of being called “breeders”.

The residents of Provincetown consider this to be a serious matter and held a meeting to discuss ways to live together civilly. The community, including the only person identifiably gay in the article, all condemned the rude behavior.

I believe that persons should not be harassed or maligned because of their sexual orientation. I believe that terms such as “breeder” are offensive because they go the very core of a one’s identity and condemn them for something that is an intrinsic immutable aspect of their person. This is hurtful and wrong.

It is the appropriate response of a community to identify those members who are being hurt by the callous name-calling of others and discuss ways to live in harmony. And the police chief and town manager did exactly that.

Similar to Provincetown’s experience, schoolyards across the nation are places where derogatory comments fly about sexual orientation. “That’s so gay” and “you’re a fag” are part of the daily vernacular on most campuses. And these glibly shouted insults are hurtful and destructive in the same way that “breeders” is.

Some communities are starting to recognize the pain – and sometimes death – that results from their inaction and callous disregard and are starting to take steps to create an environment in which all students can learn in peace. This is the right and appropriate response and it is hard to imagine that anyone would oppose these efforts.

But some do. Some groups and individuals do not wish to discourage abuse against gay children. They argue that any effort to stop the harassment and abuse of gay kids is an “endorsement of homosexuality”.

The leader in the efforts to keep anti-gay abuse in the schools is PFOX, a group claiming to represent the parents of ex-gays (although there do not appear to be any parents of ex-gays that are actually members). They lobby school boards and oppose all efforts to identify bullying against gays or to address this specific problem.

I commend the citizens of Provincetown, both gay and straight, that seek ways to live in civility and harmony. I commend the school administrations that seek the same for their schools.

But I condemn those who use hateful words to attack others because of their sexual orientation, be it “breeders” in Provincetown or “faggot” on a schoolyard. And I especially condemn those such as PFOX who seek to excuse or justify cruelty and who fight against those who seek peace and harmony.

From Jim Brown over at the Agape today:

Transgenders are individuals who have changed their sex through surgery, or at least have tried to.

Hmm… Let’s surf on over to the dictionary at the National Library of Medicine which offers a more accurate and less… how shall I put this? less-madeup definition than Jim.

Read more…

The AgapePress begins with apples:

Students looking to enter the Harvard Business School MBA program are asked to fill out an online profile that offers three choices of gender: female, male, or transgender.

And then talks to Bob Knight about oranges:

“I’m not surprised it’s coming out of Harvard,” he says, “because they’ve flirted with the idea that, in terms of sexuality, anything goes, and they’ve given intellectual respectability to it.” Knight continues, sharing that he feels it is “harmful” that Harvard, one of the most prestigious colleges in America, now thinks there are three sexes instead of two. “That kind of thing trickles down to other institutions,” he laments.

Because of the paraphrasing, it’s not clear if Knight or the Agape is ignorant of the differentiation between sex and gender. There’s a reason why they exist as two different words. I’m not sure if there’s any hope of the fundies “curing” the transgendered when they lack even this level of rudimentary knowledge.

Cindy Rodriguez, columnist for the Denver Post, attended the peace vigil that Soulforce organized to pray for the end of James Dobson’s persecution of gay people. She spoke with Mike Haley, Focus on the Family’s head ex-gay, about his anti-gay activism and his reorientation. Rodriguez was not impressed.

I wonder: If Haley found a man he loved who was willing to commit to him, would be have remained gay?

Rodriguez is dismissive of Haley and his claims. Perhaps this may be because of her particular political or religious views. But what struck me as most interesting is what Rodriguez said next.

He claims that gay men don’t have long-lasting relationships, but I know many gay men who are in long-term relationships.

As there are ever more gay people willing to live their lives openly, it is ever more likely that people like Rodriguez will know and love them. And when they hear Haley and his tales of woe, they have living examples to contradict his stereotypes and hyperbole.

FOTF has bet on the idea that putting forward people to say “I was once a homosexual” will give them credibility in their culture war against the rights and freedoms of gay people. However, with each passing year it becomes clearer and clearer to the public that the extreme claims made by political ex-gays like Haley are not based on truth.

These callous actions on the part of FOTF may have a devestating impact on those non-political supporters of reorientation. Public perception is now fairly established that all ex-gays are also anti-gay activists. And because the bizarre and extreme nature of anti-gay rhetoric, many now have come to believe that all ex-gays are also dishonest. Clearly, neither of these are true.

But as more people publicly mock the obvious lies of Haley and his crew of politicians, those ex-gays who seek nothing other than understanding for their decisions and their struggles become ever more marginalized.

With the culmination of the Gay Games VII in Chicago, so too ends the protest led by IFI’s LaBarbera and his crew of less-than-reputable ex-gays. Although there was a full schedule of protest planned throughout the Gaymes, very little was reported in the press; even the religious press did not seem to much notice IFI’s efforts.

The Chicago Tribune, in its article about the closing ceremonies, did mention the following:

Some people traveled hundreds of miles to protest the Games, but they seemed to have little impact on participants. The Illinois Family Institute staged a week of lectures in a downtown hotel to state their case that homosexuality is immoral, but few people attended , Executive Director Peter LaBarbera said.

‘

Elsewhere LaBarbera called the Gaymes a “flop” but this does not seem to be a sentiment shared by many others.

Other than IFI’s press releases, the ex-gays did not seem to get any notice at all.

My family came to town for my birthday and we saw the Indian film Water. (official site / apple.com trailer) It’s the story of 8-year-old Chuyia (pictured) who after being widowed is forced to live in a house for widows, all outcasts under the Hindu religious tradition. The widows of Water aren’t subjected to this (many times against their will) for their own benefit or that of society but because a 2000 year old religious text declares it so.

The most memorable line of the movie is an older widow’s exchange with Chuyia:

To even think of re-marriage is a sin.

Why?

Ask God.

Are you starting to get the parallel to the prevalent Christian logic regarding sexuality?

We reported earlier that Peter LaBarbera was to be in town to “counter the upcoming Gay Games events in Chicago with a ‘Truth and Love Offensive.’” Described as an “outreach”, his stated goal was to “tell homosexuals there is freedom in Christ.”

Part of that offensive was a press conference featuring three ex-gays and several anti-gay speakers. However, fearing that gay activists might protest their love offensive, LaBarbera announced that “only credentialed reporters will be allowed to attend this event.” He did not explain how restricting gay people from attending this event fit into his overall plan of outreach. Perhaps the “outreach” portion of his offensive is restricted to his plans at a bathhouse later in the week.

I did not see any media coverage of this press conference in either the religious or secular press and was uncertain whether it had, indeed, occurred. However, I had overlooked Jason Page who, as a host for Sirius Satellite Radio’s Sports 123 Channel, had press credentials. Jason, a gay man, is covering the Gay Games for PlanetOut and attended LaBarbera’s event.

I attended an event run by Peter LaBarbera and his ultra-conservative Illinois Family Institute. Charming people, I must say. They brought a bunch of “former homosexuals” to educate me and the rest of the gay world on how to become straight. “Find Jesus,” they say. I plan on taking their advice, well, maybe just screaming His name after I get it on with one of the cute athletes from Thailand.

But I digress. I notice when they cameras are shut off and the microphones disappear, a lot of the right-wing nuts become a little softer spoken, and they seem to let their guard down a bit. It was the first time I have attended one of their press conferences. How much of what we see from them is a big act? Just pawns moving around in the political game.

I would have liked to have presented a more serious and professional response to LaBarbera’s press conference but this was the sole reference I could find. So while it seems that LaBarbera’s message did reach at least one gay man, it seems not to have accomplished their stated goals. It also seems that his efforts to get media coverage also was for naught.

Perhaps the trip will not be completely a waste of time, however, if he is able to get more photographs to document his outrage at perversion.

UPDATE: upon reviewing the itinerary for the “Love and Truth” Offensive*, I noted that the peaceful informational outreach portion of the offensive is limited to “media availability in front of Steamworks bathhouse” at 5:30 pm on Saturday. It isn’t clear to me why LaBarbera thinks that peak visiting hours would be at 5:30 but perhaps it’s based on his history.

Also available to the media at the bathhouse will be Dr. John Riggs to discuss “The severe health risks of homosexual behavior” and two ex-gays: James Hartline and Greg Quinlan. Presumably, the informational outreach will occur primarily outside the bathhouse.

* Although I think the quotation marks around “Love and Truth” are appropriate, they are theirs not mine.

I’ve unpublished three recent articles:

1. My item on the Taiwan hospital and parents that incarcerated a gay youth for 56 days on false claims of mental disorder.
2. Peter LaBarbera parody infographic
3. Whose Life Is Sacred

My question to readers: Are we doing enough to substantiate our posts, and demonstrate clear links to specific exgay individuals, groups or philosophies? We may republish the items for reasons of transparency, but I thought I would raise the issue.

Marriage equality has been legal now in the State of Massachusetts for over two years. In Vermont, civil unions have been open to gay couples for six years.

Those who oppose legal recognition of same-sex couples often predict horrible consequences unless government bars these couples from equal treatment under law. It is reasonable to assume that if such dire events were taking place, those closest both geographically and in temperament would notice it first.

The New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are the states that are most likely to be impacted by the social experiments in Vermont and Massachusetts. And the recent attempt to amend the US Constitution to forbid gay marriage and overturn both marriage in Massachusetts and civil unions in Vermont would seem like the perfect time for them to declare their opposition if they had any concerns.

While New England can be considered liberal in temperament, its representation is far from partisan. Of the 12 senators from these states, 6 are Democrat, 5 are Republican, and 1 is an Independent. Of the 22 representatives, there are 16 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 1 Independent.

Of these 32 officials elected to represent New England in the Federal Government, only one, Rep. Jeb Bradley R-NH, voted in favor of the amendment.

UPDATE It should also be noted that since October 2005, same-sex couples in Connecticut have been able to enter into civil unions that are virtually identical (for state rights, benefits, and obligations) to marriage.