Updated May 15, 2010

In late 2008 and early 2009, Truth Wins Out wrote two brief articles about David Alex Nahmod, a gay San Francisco man who expressed concern for an ex-partner, Beecher Goodwin, who was said to be a learning-impaired man who had sought and received housing from a couple in Arizona that Nahmod contends is antigay and isolating Goodwin from friends.

In those stories, TWO corroborated what information we could.

However, we warned Nahmod that, in the preceding year, he had undermined his own credibility by harassing Arizona reporters; by making unsupported claims about his critics; and by failing to hire a lawyer both to resolve his own legal difficulties and to determine his options going forward.

As news director for this site and as a former journalist, I made my expectations clear. In order for me to work with him to ascertain the merits of his concerns for Goodwin, Nahmod would have to:

1. hire a lawyer

2. clear the damage that he had done to his own reputation

3. document Goodwin’s situation via objective third parties and stick to material facts

4. avoid accusation, threats, and strawman argumentation against witnesses and reporters

5. stop using Goodwin’s situation as an excuse to rant about unrelated concerns

6. refrain from using Truth Wins Out to write about Goodwin, since Nahmod was sorely lacking in objectivity and balance.

Initially, Nahmod accepted the advice and was grateful for my support in unraveling the drama and seeking out documented facts. Because he had written gay entertainment news for other publications, I allowed him to write similar articles about LGBT-affirming role models in the mass media for Truth Wins Out, provided that he not write about Goodwin due to his lack of objectivity.

However, despite several months of friendly e-mail messages and many supportive hour-long conversations on the telephone, Nahmod declined to meet these requirements. As a consequence, Truth Wins Out gradually severed ties with Nahmod.

Regarding Nahmod’s subsequent public allegations:

1. We repudiate Nahmod’s misquotations and false paraphrasings of us.

2. Neither I nor Truth Wins Out conducted a “smear campaign” against convicted pedophile and registered sex offender Nelson Garcia, though I did warn a half-dozen bloggers about Garcia’s criminal record when I saw Garcia trolling their blogs, pretending to be a gay rights activist.

3. Neither Truth Wins Out nor — to our knowledge — the pedophile watchdog site Wikisposure, are affiliated with or supportive of antigay activist Peter LaBarbera or any other antigay cause.

4. Truth Wins Out welcomes article submissions, by reliable writers, about people like Judy Shepard and many other noteworthy people.

Some years ago, Nahmod’s behavior in an Arizona court (audio recording) set himself up for failure. The reasons for that failure remains unresolved. That is regrettable. As a result of his weak evidence and his intimidation of witnesses and reporters, Truth Wins Out no longer trusts Nahmod’s claims regarding the welfare of Beecher Goodwin.

We make this statement in public to clear the record regarding our mistaken judgment in reporting Nahmod’s claims last year, and to state for the record that Nahmod’s accusations against Truth Wins Out are factually erroneous.

We all know that when Cliff Kincaid takes pen to paper, you’re about to come face to face with a level of mouth-foaming crazy that mere haters like Tony Perkins can only dream of. In that spirit, Cliff Kincaid has released a “report” (I’m sure he used the hell out of that scientific method) which claims that the repeal of DADT will put American troops’ lives in danger. Apparently, in Cliff Kincaid’s mind, our troops are weaker than the Israeli, Canadian, and British militaries, and all of the other militaries where gays serve openly. Why does Cliff have so little faith in our troops?

A change in policy would put our soldiers in a confrontation with another deadly enemy — not the homosexuals themselves, but the health problems and life-threatening diseases associated with their lifestyles,” says Cliff Kincaid, the veteran journalist who heads the public policy group, America’s Survival, Inc. (ASI). The 60-page ASI report, written by writer and researcher Dale O’Leary, is available at www.usasurvival.org.

Wait, what? First of all, sexually transmitted diseases are not caused by the “homosexual lifestyle,” and you’ll find no actual doctor (who actually abides by their Hippocratic oath) who’ll support that idea. Secondly, is Kincaid’s hired wingnut saying that if you allow gay troops in, the straight troops will naturally have sex with them? Are we gays really that powerful? Again, why do these men think our troops (gay or straight) are such milquetoast pansies?

Kincaid asked, “How can gay men be admitted into the Armed Forces, where they might be called upon to save the lives through blood transfusions of their fellow soldiers, when they are already prohibited from donating blood because it might be tainted?”

Uh, somebody military help me out here. Does the United States Military have a policy of just giving out blood transfusions all willy nilly? And of course, Kincaid is using the fact that gay men still cannot donate blood (a policy that should have been changed yesterday at the very latest) to insinuate that all gay men have tainted blood. Well, guess what? Mine’s clean, as is the blood of most gay men I know. And I still wouldn’t donate blood if I knew Kincaid might benefit from it.

The report demonstrates that:

• Numerous large well-designed studies have found that gay men and lesbians are far more likely than the general public to have a number of psychological disorders.

Which have been shown time and time again to be the direct result of societal stigma of the kind fostered by Cliff Kincaid, which trickles down into average well-meaning wingnut families, whose rejection of their gay kids sends those kids into spirals of depression, my god! Put more simply — if anti-gay wingnuts stop being anti-gay wingnuts, depression in the LGBT community will go way down.

• Gay men and women are far more likely to have substance abuse problems.

See above, re: depression.

• Cruising, bathhouses, circuit parties, Internet hookups, prostitution, pornography, and Tearoom sex are all defended by gay men as essential to their identity and freedom.

WTF? Defended by which gay men? Because I’m pretty cute and I’ve never been to a bathhouse or a circuit party or to a “cruising spot” or hired a whore. I’ve looked at porn, but then again, all men look at porn. The ones who say they haven’t are lying. Also, what is Tearoom sex?

• Changing the rules on sexual minorities or sexual orientation could open the door to the transgendered and transsexuals.

Oh, and what would happen then? A transgender person would then be able to kill someone with her bare hands, and yet Cliff Kincaid would still be hiding under the bed?

“A change in current policy is not worth the risk,” Kincaid said. “A policy change made in the face of this overwhelming scientific [sic] and medical [sic] evidence will be done for political reasons, in order to appease a special interest group. It could cause lasting damage to our Armed Forces.”

Yeah, like the way it’s destroyed the Israeli military, known to most as the fiercest fighting force in the world.

Fail, dumb wingnut, fail.

Oh, one more thing: I just Googled “tearoom sex,” and found out that it’s the kind that goes on in public restrooms. Um…most of the people who engage in that kind of anonymous sex, or the “public park” kind, or whatever else, identify as straight, and are married to women. In other words, they’re more likely to be friends with Cliff Kincaid than they are to be friends with me or any of the other writers at Truth Wins Out.

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

Now on to the governor’s desk. She’s a Republican, but the Senate has enough votes to override her if she does. The House is still a few votes short of veto-proof.

As Joe Sudbay points out, though, civil unions, in the year 2010, are a very moderate thing to support. So we shall see.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 29, 2010

Contact: Wayne Besen, TWO Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org

We are Relieved That The Mayor Did Not Honor A Hate Group, Says TWO

NEW YORK — Truth Wins Out (TWO) thanked Washington, DC mayor Adrian Fenty today for quickly clarifying that a certificate of appreciation given to Regina Griggs, an activist with Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays, (PFOX) was a clerical error. PFOX had breathlessly touted the certificate in a press release and proudly displayed a copy of it on its website. Today, the mayor’ office issued the following statement

A staff level error was made when the request for the certificate in question was fulfilled. We apologize for the error as it runs contrary to the Mayor’ vision of a more open and inclusive city.

The Mayor is proud of his ardent support of the LGBT community as illustrated in his championing of the Marriage Equality legislation which he signed into law on December 18, 2009.

“We appreciate Mayor Fenty’ rapid response and for clarifying this troubling issue,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “The mayor took an affirmative step to stop PFOX from touting the certificate as a stamp of approval from the DC government. We are pleased that no such recognition was given and that the mayor did not endorse a hate group that deliberately spreads misinformation against LGBT people. Additionally, we thank GLAA’ Richard Rosendall for bringing the issue to our attention and for their efforts to resolve this matter.”

According to a gushing PFOX press release:

The government of the District of Columbia has awarded a certificate of appreciation to Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). The certificate, signed by D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, recognizes Griggs for her “dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.”

Truth Wins Out also took PFOX to task for its overwrought excitement over a certificate it was mistakenly given.

“This pathetic publicity stunt shows how desperate PFOX is for attention and how delusional they truly are,” said TWO’ Besen. “Now they look doubly ridiculous, because the they were never meant to have this certificate.”

UPDATE: Mayoral candidate and Council Chair Vince Gray today issued the following statement about Mayor Fenty’ Certificate of Appreciation honoring the work of Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays:

“For the Mayor to issue a certificate of appreciation honoring an organization that has done so much to alienate so many is not only an insult to the LGBT community, it is yet another example of the insensitivity of his administration. It is an embarrassment to our city that he would make such an offensive mistake. It was the Mayor’ signature on the certificate, not a staff-member’, and I hope the Mayor will personally take responsibility.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Contact: Wayne Besen, TWO Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Web: www.TruthWinsOut.org

“Ex-Gay’ Lobby Group Peddles Junk Science and Misleads Public On LGBT Issues

NEW YORK — Truth Wins Out (TWO) called on Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington, D.C., to quickly explain how Regina Griggs, an activist with Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays, (PFOX) received a certificate of appreciation. PFOX touted the honor in a press release and is displaying a copy of it on its website.

“We call on mayor Fenty to explain how a pusher of anti-gay propaganda and junk science received a certificate of appreciation,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “It is outrageous and surreal that one of the most dishonest and divisive organizations in Washington would be honored.”

According to a gushing PFOX press release:

The government of the District of Columbia has awarded a certificate of appreciation to Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). The certificate, signed by D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, recognizes Griggs for her “dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.”

“Regina’ award is well-deserved,” said Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays. PFOX presented the award to Griggs last week in honor of her ten years of volunteer service to parents and the ex-gay community.

“Regina has served as executive director without pay. Instead, she prefers that donations be used to develop resources for families and teens, to promote unconditional love for all regardless of sexual orientation, and to seek equal access and protection for the ex-gay community. Her dedication is unparalleled.”

PFOX is a dangerous organization that promotes reparative therapy, a fringe practice rejected by every respected medical and mental health organization in the nation. Attempts to change sexual orientation are condemned by the American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association and The American Academy of Pediatrics.

PFOX’ is an irresponsible organization that potentially places children in harms way. The organization’ speaker’ bureau is run by Arthur Abba Goldberg, a former Wall Street criminal mastermind who was sent to prison in 1987 for committing bond fraud. PFOX’ former President, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for malpractice.

PFOX is a political front group founded by the Family Research Council in an effort to use so-called “ex-gays” to lobby in favor of discriminatory laws. The group’ first executive director, Anthony Falzarano regularly smeared gay people claiming, without supporting evidence, that, “70-percent of homosexuals are molested as children.” He also said on CBS News that, “AIDS comes directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.”

“PFOX is a group that has long attracted undesirable elements who disseminate demeaning and dehumanizing anti-gay lies,” said TWO’ Besen. “It is mind-boggling that Griggs has been given this honor. Only Mayor Fenty can clarify what happened, take responsibility, and ensure this kind of grievous insult won’t be repeated.”

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.

Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington, D.C., was a strong ally in the successful fight for marriage equality in DC. However, there is word that the mayor signed a certificate of appreciation for PFOX leader Regina Griggs. According to a gushing PFOX press release:

The government of the District of Columbia has awarded a certificate of appreciation to Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). The certificate, signed by D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, recognizes Griggs for her “dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.”

“Regina’ award is well-deserved,” said Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays. PFOX presented the award to Griggs last week in honor of her ten years of volunteer service to parents and the ex-gay community.

“Regina has served as executive director without pay. Instead, she prefers that donations be used to develop resources for families and teens, to promote unconditional love for all regardless of sexual orientation, and to seek equal access and protection for the ex-gay community,” said Quinlan. “Her dedication is unparalleled.”

GLAA’s Richard Rosendall is looking into this astounding story. More at The Edge. Let us hope that this all turns out to be nothing. It would be remarkably offensive and surreal for DC to celebrate a purveyor of hate and misinformation.

I wrote last night about Ceara Sturgis, the latest lesbian teenager to give Mississippi the heebie jeebies, what with her intelligence, integrity, and ability to look good in a tuxedo. The people of Mississippi, of course, responded by scrubbing all records of Ceara from her high school yearbook, because you can’t expect any more from the sort of “adults” they breed down there, apparently.

So when I saw this tweet from rising (and for good reason) singer Janelle Mon?°e, I smiled:

I love it. The comments she’s referring to are at Dan Savage’s place, where one person posted the letter they sent Ceara Sturgis’s principal:

Dear Mr. Hawkins,

I can’t believe that you and your administration made the decision to exclude an honor student from this year’s yearbook just because of her sexual orientation and her wish to dress in a different type of formalwear than the other girls in the senior class. How could you be so small-minded and thoughtless? It’s 2010, you should be able to deal with the image of a woman wearing a tuxedo. For example, Janelle Monae looks great in hers and so do her other women dancers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xktMnfb0Q… so maybe you should learn to respect your students’ awesome sartorial choices?

I suggest that everyone else spam him with the “Tightrope” video too.

Heh. Here’s that “Tightrope” video. Janelle and the dancers DO look amazing in their tuxedos, and so do Mississippi girls who happen to love other girls.

Hop on over to Janelle’s website to hear “Cold War” as well. You won’t be sorry.

Truth Wins Out has discovered that Focus on the Family’s “ex-lesbian” activist Melissa Fryrear no longer works for Focus on the Family. She was one of the featured speakers at Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out conference. She is best remembered for her melodramatic, tear-filled presentation and for claiming that, “I never met one (gay) woman who had not been sexually violated or sexually threatened in her life. I never met one woman. And I never met one (gay) man either, that had not been sexually violated or sexually seduced in his life.”

Fryrear was also noted for discussing in great detail her transformation from luberjack-to-lipstick lesbian. According to Fryrear:

“During my years of restoration, I also began to learn about this thing called womanhood. Goodness! Who knew there was so much to learn: plucking eyebrows, hair bleaches, hair waxings, facial mud masks, eye lash curlers, manicures, pedicures, push-up bras, tummy tuckers, rear-end boosters, last year’ colors, and next year’ fashions?

I also began to learn about boys. Let me say that if anyone thinks puberty is tough at fifteen, try it in your thirties!”

This afternoon, I was was browsing Exodus International’s shiny, new Love Won Out website and noticed that Fryrear was not listed as one of the featured speakers. I called to see if she was still working at Focus on the Family and a receptionist confirmed that she was not. Her departure is recent, with her last identified as a Focus on the Family employee on March 30.

It appears that she may have been a victim of cutbacks. Focus on the Family’s budget has fallen from $151 million in 2008 to $136 million this year. In 2004, there were 1,400 employees; today, there are 830.

Fryrear’s departure signals Focus on Family’s gradual shift away from the ex-gay industry (although they still do actively promote the ex-gay myth). I can’t imagine what Fryrear will do now, considering her job for the past several years was trying to convince people that she is a heterosexual (although she had never had relationships with men). I’m glad I’m not her career counselor, but she might consider beauty school with all her practice at eyebrow plucking and facial mud masks.

Back to Exodus, I’ll give them credit for creating an exciting, new website to peddle its scientifically bankrupt misinformation. Interestingly, they barely seem to focus on real, live “ex-gay” people. According to the site:

Of course, there are no “experts” on the panel as advertised. And, a plausible case can be made that there are no real Christians either. But, I will concede that there are a number of “nationally known” talking heads who are pretending to have a clue about the lives of LGBT people.

But, where are the real “ex-gays”? You know, people with real jobs and real lives who have actually gone from gay-to-straight. Why does the new version of LWO use the same tired, over-exposed handful of paid, highly-trained spokespeople we have seen 100 times before? It seems that Exodus has trouble finding genuine success stories to share and settles on a recycled cast of slick characters who inevitably have products to sell on the lucrative right wing speaking circuit.

One wonders if the conference should be renamed “Loot Wins Out”.

Guest post by Bryan H. Wildenthal
Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

As a liberal who rarely agrees with anything Ross Douthat writes, I must commend his thoughtful column on the South Park Muhammad controversy (April 26). He rightly skewers both the pathetic cowardice of American self-censorship and the thuggish hypocrisy of Muslimextremists like Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee (of RevolutionMuslim.com), who claim not to be issuing death threats against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, even while warning them that they deserve to die under Islamic law and that indeed they will die by someone’s hand (while fanning the flames of incitement, not to mention engaging in callous gloating over a vicious murder, by posting a photo of the corpse of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker fatally stabbed by a Muslim extremist).

Mr. Douthat does not mention, however, an amusing parallel between the extremist bloodthirsty garbage on RevolutionMuslim.com and the often thuggish and violent rhetoric of many self-proclaimed Christian extremists in America. Yes, just like their “Tea Party” brethren across the religious aisle, RevolutionMuslim.com trumpets a picture of President Obama with a Hitler moustache. Clearly, great minds think alike! While the Tea Partiers accuse the President of somehow wanting to murder Grandma by guaranteeing health insurance to millions of Americans, RevolutionMuslim.com complains (with considerably more justification) about his ill-conceived Afghan War policies.

Meanwhile, Mr. Al-Amrikee may be (more likely not) an expert on Islamic law, but I, as a constitutional law professor expert on the American law that actually governs in this jurisdiction, would note that he is mistaken if he thinks a verbal evasion protects him from prosecution for criminal death threats.

A leading case on punishable threats under the First Amendment, Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists (9th Cir. 2002) (concerning threats to abortion providers by rightwing Christian extremists), properly rejects the idea that a threat is protected speech simply because the speaker himself (as opposed to unnamed others) is not identified as the one who will carry out the threatened violence. And while some imminence and likelihood of harm are necessary to punish a speaker for the crime of inciting others to violence, neither is a required element, under the First Amendment, to prove the entirely separate crime of uttering a “true threat.”

That same First Amendment, which emphatically does NOT protect death threats against satirical cartoonists, most certainly DOES protect the cartoons and cartoonists themselves. One can only marvel at the paranoid hypersensitivity of some religious adherents, who evidently think their religion and prophet so fragile and vulnerable that any criticism or satire must be furiously (and violently) stamped out, like a red-faced child in a shrieking tantrum. If Mr. Al-Amrikee wishes to live under his twisted playground-bully version of Islamic law, instead of under the Constitution of the United States, well, hopefully he will find the door and not let it hit him on the way out. Saudi Arabia, which is currently threatening to behead a harmless Lebanese man for “sorcery” (hawking harmless mystical cures on TV), should suit him just fine.

An anonymous blogger has offered a perceptive reply to RevolutionMuslim.com:

Those who advocate lethal power, to punish expression merely offensive to the feelings of some, should be careful what they ask for. What makes them think they will always be on top?

Of course, dimwitted bullies never think of things like that.

The majority of the “pro-family” movement is simply anti-gay. They do virtually nothing to assist parents with child rearing or creating marriages that last. The one organization that occasionally seemed to offer some value to Christian parents was Focus on the Family.

However, in recent years, the somewhat constructive work was largely overshadowed by the destructive, aggressively political agenda of the organization’ founder James Dobson. His addiction to bullying leaders in Washington, purification purges of the Republican Party and an obsession with attacking gay and lesbian people branded the organization as mean-spirited and intolerant.

“Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies,” House majority leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) once complained.

Fortunately, Dobson recently left Focus on the Family and has been replaced by Jim Daly (pictured), who pledges to take the organization in a new direction. One of the first things he did was dump the group’ obnoxious “ex-gay” road show Love Won Out. Over the years, it became a fountain of fabrication and a mountain of misinformation on LGBT issues.

Daley claims to hold similar social views to Dobson, but he does not appear to want to shove his religion down peoples’ throats. At least that is the message he is trying to sell us. On the surface, he seems more open to dialogue and not quite as arrogant at his predecessor.

For example, instead of the propaganda-spewing Love Won Out conference, Focus on the Family actually participated in a Colorado Springs panel discussion where dissenting views were allowed. AOL News reports that some panelists were openly gay, while Focus on the Family provided “ex-gay” employee Jeff Johnston, who discussed his “journey out of homosexuality.”

Daly was out of town for the panel, but taped a welcome message. “We’re not always going to agree,” he said on the video, but added, “I’m not here to tell you what to do.”

The fact that Focus on the Family is still pushing the tired and tragic ex-gay myth is dispiriting. But, allowing openly gay people who actually live fulfilling lives to speak is a definite step in the right direction.

More important, Daly seems to be moving away from Dobson’ quest for Christian dominion over government. “The Christian label means a lot to me,” Daly said in the AOL interview. “We don’t want a theocracy. We want a government informed in moral principle.”

While we hold different viewpoints on marriage, Daly, seems to understand, on some level, that allowing gay couples to wed isn’t catastrophic.

“I’m not fearful that change will happen in America. It will happen. … I don’t know what will happen with same-sex marriage, but I’m not going to be discouraged if we lose some of those battles,” he said, noting that for “98 percent” of people, traditional marriage will remain relevant. “It’s going to be difficult in this culture and the way the demographics are going right now,” he continued. “You look at the under-35 age group. I think it’s splitting 60-40 support for same-sex marriage. There’s a lot of people in the U.S. [who] basically come to the conclusion that this is something between two adults. I will continue to defend traditional marriage, but I’m not going to demean human beings for the process.”

Compare this to the doomsday response to marriage equality from Dobson: “Homosexuals are not monogamous,” Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman on Oct. 23, 2004. “They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.”

Focus on the Family is also striking a different tone on abortion. It ran a controversial feel-good ad during the Super Bowl featuring football star Tim Tebow. Strategically, it seems like a wise move to persuade mothers to “choose” to give birth, rather than have angry zealots browbeating pregnant women in front of abortion clinics. (Of course, Focus on the Family would have more credibility pushing the “choose life” message if it actually weren’t cynically working to overturn Roe v. Wade.)

Additionally, Daly has started a program to reduce the number of legal orphans in foster care by recruiting families to adopt hard-to-place children. His Wait No More program has expanded to five states and has already halved the number of children in foster care in Colorado.

Daly’ cheerful style is particularly welcome at a time when many fundamentalist organizations are losing their marbles. For instance, Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition is running around Capitol Hill demanding that Congress defeat the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) to keep “she-males” from becoming gym teachers.

Eugene Delgaudio the executive director of the anti-gay organization, Public Advocate of the U.S, sent out an insane fundraising letter this week. It warned that “Radical homosexuals will terrorize day care centers, hospitals, churches and private schools…Wedding-gown clad men smooching before some left-wing clergy or state official is just the beginning….You’ll see men hand-in-hand skipping down to adoption centers to “pick out’ a little boy for themselves.”

Still, not everyone is sold on the surface changes at the Colorado Springs-based mega-ministry.

“There is clearly a concerted rebranding effort within FOtF, with the communications team placing a focus on creating a nicer, sweeter, less hostile Focus on the Family,” wrote blogger Jeremy Hooper on his popular Good As You website. “But they seem to want this change in impression without actually creating any change within their own operation… We on the side of LGBT equality buy into the “nicer, softer” myth at our own peril!”

Hooper (pictured) points out that, “This is still the group that, just two weeks ago, declared that an openly gay SCOTUS nominee is automatically a non-starter, regardless of merit and qualifications. This is still the outfit that donates hundreds of thousands whenever gay rights are up for contention at any one of our state’s polls.”

Will Focus on the Family actually start helping real families rather than fixating on gay people? With Daly’ leadership, there is at least hope that the culture war will eventually turn into a civil cultural discussion.

But if this is all spin and no substance his plan will sow distrust and backfire. It won’t take long to know if Daly’ hugs are thinly disguised headlocks. While outspoken homophobes are unpleasant, they are always preferable to insincere hypocrites.