Ex-Gay Watch

The Boston Globe has a story [free registration required] on Richard Land, the Souther Baptist Convention’s lobby in Washington.

Gay leaders are particularly alarmed about Land’s promotion of ”reparative therapy” to transform sexual orientation. At the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in June, Land unveiled a video in which former gays and lesbians attribute their life paths to childhood sexual and physical abuse. (The men and women also condemned the intolerance of many religious figures they encountered.) More than 300 copies were distributed to churches as instruction on how to minister to gays and lesbians.

The article covers some of the action he’s taken in Washington, and some of the connections he has in the current administration. It mentions that Land was a personal friend of Bush in the late 80′s. While it should come as no surprise that the head of the SBC’s public policy arm forwards ex-gay rhetoric, the article does not mention how often those specific talking points come up in Land’s work. Considering how much of the article is devoted to Land’s work on gay issues, however, the ex gay line probably gets a good amount of attention.

Dr. Throckmorton and Exodus Media are touting a new study that shows reorientation therapists rating well amongst their clients. Exodus brags for several paragraphs about how it was published in the Journal of Psychology & Christianity, which they note “is a peer-reviewed journal published by the Christian Association of Psychological Studies” and is “…edited by American Psychological Association Fellow, Peter Hill, PhD.”

The study is available for download in Word (.doc) format here. The study is composed of 28 individuals who rated 80 therapists. All the clients rated themselves as more homosexual than heterosexual before therapy, and 82% rated themselves as more heterosexual than homosexual after therapy. 89% said religion was “extremely important” to them.

Frankly, this kind of study doesn’t even need peer review. Anybody can look at those numbers and figure out the bias. I would hope anyone would be shocked by drawing conclusions from a sample of 28 people. Throckmorton admits that the study should be reconducted with more representative sample techniques, and I would hope he aims to include more former clients who don’t have so much incentive to be nice to their conversion therapists. Maybe even find some former clients who aren’t white protestant males.

The fact is that with such a small and biased sample, this study is meaningless. That hasn’t kept Exodus clear of proclaiming how scientifically valid the study is, however, and I expect this will join the Spitzer study in the ex-gay library of self-refuted reference material.

WorldNetDaily published this wacky, factless diatribe on Banned Books Week, and how libraries are really banning the Christian view by not including antigay scripture tracts with all their young adult fiction. We also have AgapePress highlighting the efforts of exgay Deb French to remove two homosexual magazines from the Upper Arlington Public Library in Arlington, OH. We also have the month-old story whereby Laurie Taylor is trying to get homosexual literature banned from an Arkansas public library. Go back a couple of months and you find more.

I suppose ex-gays like Ms. French would feel awkward about libraries having much more homosexual literature than ex gay literature. I’m surprised there’s not more exgay literature in our libraries, seeing as how hundreds of thousands of people have become ex-gay. With that many exgays and only 2.3 percent of men declaring themselves as gay, you would think the number of authors and books would be a little more even.

I guess this battle will continue just under the radar for as long as the imbalance between gay and antigay literature exists. It rarely gets hot enough to make national headlines, but it seems like every few months another concerned parent decides that certain books are too tabboo for libraries and must be eliminated. Now that the ex gay crowd is getting in on the action, we might be seeing more demands for ex gay literature, rather than just the classical Farenheight 451 Christians.

Fox News reports on the splitting of famous gay penguins Silo and Roy at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Apparently, Silo left Roy for Scrappy, an exotic SeaWorld girl who’s never had chicks. Fox references an article [not free] from the New York Post.

What does it mean for the greater cause of gay rights that animals can apparently become ex-gay? Absolutely nothing. This is one case, which certainly hasn’t been studied long-term. But let’s see if the ex-gay echo chambers pick it up that way.

Update: Warren Throckmorton obviously wants to bite, but tries to hide it.

The Boston Globe has an article explaining the Pope’s latest stance on why homosexuals should not be allowed to become priests, even if they are celibate. Why? Because people with same-sex attractions are pedophiles.

The church is looking into the question of homosexuality because some church officials believe there is a link between a high number of gay men in the priesthood and a high incidence of sexual abuse. But specialists say there is no evidence for such a link.

”There is no evidence that a male homosexual is any more risk to a boy than a male heterosexual is to a girl, and one of the problems within the church is that they are confusing the issue of homosexuality with the issues of child abuse and pedophilia,” said Dr. Fred S. Berlin, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The Pope has launched this investigation as a belated response to the child abuse scandals the church suffered, but has conveniently decided to blame the whole affair on homosexuals rather than fix the cover-ups and manipulations of the clergy. Since the Roman Catholic church does not advocate reparative therapy, but relies entirely on celibacy, this new development constitutes nothing less than educational and employment discrimination. The investigation also has the tantalizing possibility of becoming the new witch hunts, since individual clergy will be looking for “evidence of homosexuality” at seminaries rather than relying on personal testimony.

It seems to me that Pope Benedict is really hoping to capitalize on condemning homosexuality in much the way John Paul II did, except he plans to go further with it than his predecessor. Introducing reorientation therapy as a Catholic doctrine seems to be a logical next step, as being outwardly celibate is no longer enough.

Family.org’s magazine, Citizen, recently published an article responding to some of Soulforce’s claims of spiritual violence. Their response, however, requires a very illogical manner of thinking to debunk anything.

1. “DOBSON SAYS THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS A MENTAL DISORDER CAUSED BY FAMILY
PROBLEMS AND BAD PARENTING.”
Facts:
Soulforce greatly distorts Dr. Dobson’s views on the root causes of homosexuality. In fact, Dr. Dobson and many others in the mental health field see homosexuality as a developmental condition stemming from a combination of
factors—including, but not limited to, dysfunctional familial relationships.

The fact is, Citizen isn’t debating anything here. The point of Soulforce’s claim is that Dobson sees homosexuality from a clinically false viewpoint – that it is a changeable condition. So arguing about the exact semantics of it is pointless.

Thousands of men and women who have left behind their gay and lesbian identities are living testimonies of the reality that homosexuality is a condition which can be overcome.

Really? Thousands? Wasn’t it hundreds of thousands? And where are they, and where are their testimonies published and reviewed as clinical evidence?

Even the pro-gay American Psychological Association admits that the current scientific consensus is that homosexuality results from a combination of biological, psychological and social/environmental factors.

Does the APA admit that homosexuality is a changeable condition that people should undergo therapy to rid themselves of? Again, semantics.

More homosexuals than heterosexuals engage in smoking, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, mental illness and promiscuity.

Where do these numbers come from? How does one define “promiscuity?” How exactly does one “engage in” mental illness?

Recent studies in the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands reveal a link between homosexuality and mental illness. Gay researcher J. Michael Bailey says “these studies contain arguably the best published data on the association between homosexuality and psychopathology” and that homosexuals are at “substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional problems, including suicidality, major depression, anxiety disorder, and nicotine dependence.”

Is this the same J. Michael Bailey that was linked to the Human Biodeiversity Institute and eugenics? The one who lost his chair at Northwestern amid allegations of sexual misconduct? Now, where were those other studies published?

Honestly, the whole article goes on like this. Spitzer is cited, non-sequitor questions are asked, and other malfunctions of logic are presented as arguments. They deride Soulforce for refusing to debate with them. Get the July 2005 edition of Citizen Magazine to read the whole thing; or don’t waste your time.

It seems to me that Focus is using propaganda tactics to fight the idea that homosexuality should be tolerated. They repeat, over and over, the same distortions, half-truths, discredited ‘facts,’ and outright lies in the hopes that people will believe them. Whether the research is good or not, whether the arguments are valid or not, Focus is hoping to get their ideas across through constant, loud repitition. Unfortunately, the only way to answer such a tactic is with repitition of our own, using facts and valid arguments to counter the propaganda that Focus is spreading.

The Tennessean reports on a woman whose reparative therapy counselor became a “friend” and then a domestic partner to a woman attempting to change her orientation.

“Shortly after I went to them, Phyllis Garrison became my friend and said she couldn’t be my friend and therapist both,” Grubb said. “We became friends, and I moved in with her. You never imagine you will be friends with your therapist. I went to her for professional help.” TrueHope is one of two places listed on Exodus International’s Web site as offering counseling to homosexuals in Middle Tennessee.

Despite the assertion of the Tennessean and AP articles, it doesn’t appear that TrueHope is in fact listed under Tennessee on Exodus’ site (it may have been taken down to avoid the scandal). I can’t seem to find TrueHope’s web site, so they may be under the radar as well. The web site for The Sight Ministry, whose director was quoted in the article, also doesn’t provide much information about the ministry or its affiliates. Phyllis is a licensed social worker, and TrueHope is a faith-based ministry rather than a legitimate psychiatric institution.

MSNBC has an AP story, sans the exgay angle.

From 365Gay.com, a rumor that the Vatican will become even more anti-gay:

The Vatican is preparing to bar gays from entering the priesthood and is considering removing those gays who are already priests.

Of course, 365Gay.com is quoting “People within the church who are familiar with the workings of the Vatican,” so it is just a rumor at this point. But with this Pope, it is certainly a believable one.

The Catholic institution set the new ex-gay guidelines before they became popular: you cannot do anything about being gay, but having gay sex is evil. Catholics have groups like Courage rather than Exodus; they focus on chastity rather than change. But it appears that chastity will not be enough for Pope Benedict XVI; apparently, he is aiming to reverse the Vatican II ordinances that permit Catholics to be homosexual at all.

Southern Voice released an article yesterday highlighting Jerry Falwell’s newfound support for equal housing & employment rights for gays & lesbians, as shown on “The Situation with Tucker Carlson.”

Says Falwell:

FALWELL: But civil—civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or a conservative value. It‘s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.

Southern Voice credits Soulforce‘s long-term lobbying of Falwell for the turnaround. Falwell says he still “doesn’t agree with the lifestyle,” but supports antidiscrimination laws protecting gays & lesbians. The argument in the past has been that since gays & lesbians do not exist (only heterosexuals with “SSA Disorder”), no laws should exist to protect them. Now, Falwell eschews that position, favoring the right to privacy instead.

There’s some buzz going about on the right about a death threat being put out against exgay activist James Hartline. Red State forwards this quote:

“The moment was never riper for the San Diego (LGBT) community to push for the elimination and suppression of the James Hartline’s (sic) of the world. We currently have an openly lesbian (interim) mayor of San Diego and an openly gay mayor of Chula Vista; PEOPLE….WE are in POWER! WE are IN CHARGE!”

The quote was originally published in World Net Daily, who did not deign to link to the source or cite where and when it was released. It is not on the Hillquest web site, whom they alleged published it. There is essentially no proof that this quote was ever published outside of World Net Daily.

If this quote was actually published by anyone, then that is very regrettable, and whoever said it should apologize. Calling for “elimination” of people and suppression of free speech is a bad thing. But since World Net Daily doesn’t have anything to go on but reactionary invective, there’s no way to know.