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From Daily Kos:

Rachel Maddow has completed one of her patented epic takedown interviews. This one was with Richard Cohen author of Coming Out Straight and Gay Children, Straight Parents. Cohen’s work is one inspiration for the proposed homosexual death-penalty law in Uganda.

. . . As soon as the interview commenced Cohen condemned the proposed Ugandan law, claiming that he was a proponent for tolerance and understanding of gay people. Maddow pointed to a section of Coming Out Straight in which Cohen quotes a debunked study claiming that most molestation of children by teachers is by gay teachers, that gays target children for recruitment and so on and so forth. Cohen promised to remove that section of his book when the 3rd edition is released, and acknowleged the faultiness of the study’s. Score one for Maddow.

And it gets better:

Maddow also asked Cohen to justify a quote from Gay Children Straight Parents in which Cohen lists a series of reasons on why children may be gay. Amongst those reasons were divorce, and race. Maddow asked how race could possibly be a factor and initially Cohen denied that was in the book. Maddow held the book up, read the page number and the list again at which point Cohen pleaded that she was reading out of context. Maddow read the preceding paragraph from the book, in which Cohen explains there are several reasons children may be gay etc etc… Cohen then challenged Maddow to read the passage following the list, and it had no pertinence to the question. Finally Cohen just came out and admitted that race has no influence on whether or not a child may be gay.

One of the most electric moments in the interview came when Maddow told Cohen that he had “blood on your hands” because his work was being used to justify the persecution of gays. It was just riveting.

I’ve seen the interview and the words of Daily Kos do not do the interview justice. To borrow an old term, Maddow figuratively “ripped out Cohen’s heart and held it front of him so he could watch it beating while slipping away.”

I especially liked the part where she takes Cohen to task for using discredited researcher Paul Cameron ( if Maddow wanted to do a future show on Cameron and how the religious right continues to use his work, she could have a series of shows).

It just goes to show that having a “fierce advocate” is nice but nothing beats having one of your own take down the right.

It’s like a narcotic. I need more of it.

Cross-posted from Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

I got an interesting comment on my website last night.

Now while I rarely like to focus attention on those who comment on my posts, this is a special case.

It’s about that awful anti-lgbt Ugandan bill:

I suppose, we all know that Uganda can never be USA or EU etc etc. We are all missing the point by trying vilify Ssempa and Rick Warren. These two guys only just became friends recently. Ssempa has been in the strong fight against immorality in his country since 1988. His ministry has hardly seen any downfall in the fight against immorality in Uganda. We should then focus more on how to help Uganda rid out what she doesn’t like since homosexualty is a dehumanizing act. In fact in Africa where most of you have never lived for more than a week, homosexuality is absolutely unacceptable. It will always be fought ferociously. There is no room for such here. So let’s all join arms and support Uganda in its quest to maintain there moral culture. Thank you.

One more thing, Warren has never funded Ssempa. I was even shocked that the many times Warren has come to Uganda, he has never visited Ssempa’s ministry. Ssempa has built up himself on Righteousness, Justice, Dedicated Service to his God and Generosity.

It’s amazing how this man sidestepped the content of the bill in order to justify it. I don’t see any morality in persecuting a group of people and frankly when I read what he wrote, it reminds me of when the late Ugandan leader Idi Amin persecuted Asians. It’s an old but effective formula – scapegoat a group of people for a nation’s problem, persecute them via violence or laws, and then claim that you are doing “God’s work.”

Naturally I gave him a reply but if any of you would like to, feel free. I must say that no matter how angry the letter gets you, please do not stoop to baseless name-calling or attacks on individual heritages.

One more about about the Ugandan bill – please watch MSNBC’s excellent video of Rachel Maddow going into more detail regarding the bill and members of the Republican party.

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

I didn’t attend yesterday’s National Equality march because of personal feelings and family obligations. I did manage to catch it on the news channels and shows.

I also saw many of the pictures and read the stories from those participating.

And I noticed something that needs to be put on record.

Now I can say a lot of things about the marchers and what they did, but allow me to dwell on the things they didn’t do:

They didn’t lie about attendance numbers,

They didn’t post any phony photographs,

They didn’t carry offensive signs about the president’s place of birth or racial heritage,

They didn’t need to call themselves “patriots,”

They weren’t led by an astroturfing groups, venomous think tank lackeys, phony news networks, or millionaire demagogues.

They weren’t led by the nose with conspiracy theories involving Kenya, Acorn, or death panels,

And none of them were given to annoying weeping jags regarding about how “they wanted their country back.”

These people who came to Washington yesterday was the true cross section of the country. They were mothers, fathers, and children who, while some may say that they had every reason to be rude and ugly (being denied your basic rights tends to bring the monster out in some people), came with reverence and respect.

And most of all, they came with the belief that sooner or later, America will fulfill its promise of equality for all, even if the President has to be prodded to push the country in that direction.

Not to totally put down the teabaggers, but one cannot escape the contrast between them and the participants of yesterday’s National Equality March.

The teabaggers came to Washington demanding that the ill-conceived status quo be preserved. And they did it rather rudely.

Lgbts and their allies came to Washington in pursuit of what should have been theirs in the first place. And they did it with dignity.

When it’s all said and done, which group best represents the true spirit of America?

We are now seeing that the idea of a black president seems to drive some white folks crazy.

In comparison, the quickest way to drive the black community nuts is to mention the subject of the lgbt community.

African-American gospel singer Tonex recently became the first black gospel singer to come out publicly.

Granted, he is not the first African-American gay gospel singer (i.e. James Cleveland and others), but he is the first to have the guts to be honest about his sexual orientation.

These are his words in an exclusive interview with Black Voices:

I’m studying daily on the subject of same-sex matters. I’m tired of echoing what I’ve been told. I want to know for myself the true interpretation of scriptures in Biblical text and well as scientific documentation.

You know, it’s not easy growing up in a Pentecostal/Evangelical church, where everyone is pretty much anti-gay, although it’s common knowledge that some of the most anointed musicians and singer-songwriters have, or have dealt with, same-sex attraction at some point. For me, it was particularly taboo because of my upbringing and the ministerial call on my life. I then had to think about the repercussions of this revelation. But I knew I had to get free.

… There was so much more in that interview that I thought was, unfortunately, overlooked. So much more to my story then the sexuality part, but most church folks are sexually repressed anyway, so they naturally gravitate right toward that type of subject matter. I noticed parts one and three weren’t juicy enough for the church or the public, yet they were the key to the whole puzzle. I talked about my same-sex attraction. I don’t think that there was any new information here. I’ve addressed this issue in my music for years. But for many, I guess, it was a shock of sorts. But believe me, it wasn’t for shock value. The real story is not cute, ladies and gentlemen. Freedom, my friends, is not for cowards.

There is a sad part to this entire situation as far as I am concerned. Tonex says that 96 percent of the responses he received have been positive. That enough confirms a belief I’ve had about the black community.

Approval or disapproval of gays and lesbians in the black community is far more complex than folks realize.

The simplistic belief that the black community automatically does not approve of homosexuality is driven by three factors:

• The religious right’s eagerness to exploit the ignorance of the African-American community regarding its lgbt members.
• The cowardice of influential black leaders who tackle the issue with the force of a baby licking the tip of icing off of a cake.
• And the self absorption of the lgbt community at large which refuses to acknowledge that the lgbt struggle for self-determination is present in some form or another in every ethnic group, every culture, and every country.

It’s a question that deserves far more attention than it is getting (hello Advocate magazine!).

However, I know that waiting for a major lgbt magazine to do a serious story on gay issues in the black community is like waiting for BET or Ebony or Jet to do a serious story on the issue.

I’ll probably be waiting so long for this to happen that my credit will become good.

Still, Tonex should be commended for his pioneering step. It’s not his fault that both of his communities are way behind on the issue.

Crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Pam Spaulding breaks the situation down with her usual excellence and candor:

A black teen-ager who was verbally assaulted and “exorcised” by his pentecostal church earlier this year tells a skeptical Tyra that he is cured of his sexual orientation.

Basically my feelings are this: Unless the black community comes to grips with the fact that lgbts of color exist and talk with us instead of looking at us as outsiders, expect more nonsense like this.

(Crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters)

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

I was reading an excellent piece in Newsweek as to why some people were quick to believe the lie about health care death panels even after they were informed of the truth:

Some people form and cling to false beliefs about health-care reform (or Obama’s citizenship) despite overwhelming evidence thanks to a mental phenomenon called motivated reasoning, says sociologist Steven Hoffman, visiting assistant professor at the University at Buffalo. “Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief,” he says, “people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.” And God knows, in the Internet age there is no dearth of sources to confirm even the most ludicrous claims (my favorite being that the moon landings were faked). “For the most part,” says Hoffman, “people completely ignore contrary information” and are able to “develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information.”

And naturally my mind began thinking about those lovely individuals and groups concerned with supposedly winning “America for Christ, ” colloquially known as the religious right.

Specifically, my mind began thinking about a certain conservative bastardization of the popular site Wikipedia.

I’ve written about Conservapedia before; about how the site used repeated and bad information to claim that “gay bowel syndrome” is an actual medical term rather than an antiquated term used to denigrate the lgbt community.

Well this new thing I found on the site tops that one.

This is what Conservapedia says about discredited researcher Paul Cameron:

Dr. Paul Cameron, Ph.D. is a scientist who has presented disturbing information about homosexual behavior in the United States. Professional associations have responded by making vague, unsupported accusations about his personal character.

. . . The APA and ASA have issued statements denouncing Cameron for holding positions contrary to theirs. They have not, however, pointed out any specific flaws in his published peer-reviewed scientific papers. So it is patently obvious that they are trying to suppress his findings for political reasons.

Conservapedia’s explanation is extremely inaccurate.

The APA (American Psychological Association) dismissed Cameron for not cooperating when the group began investigating his research methodology. Various psychologists complained about how he was distorting their data.

I sincerely doubt that Conservapedia did any research into the matter, so to help the site out, I’ve attached the link of the letter from the APA officially dismissing Cameron.

And the (ASA) American Sociological Association denounced Cameron because of his bad research techniques. The group was concerned that Cameron was inaccurately being labeled as a sociologist.

The ASA’s statement came after a task force looked at Cameron’s history and techniques. You can read the findings here. And I might point out, the ASA task force did point to specific flaws regarding Cameron’s work and specific complaints made about him.

The irony of Conservapedia’s whitewash of Cameron is felt when one takes into account one of the guidelines of the site:

Everything you post must be true and verifiable.

I found a bigger irony when I looked over the list of Conservapedia Administrators. A good many of them have on their profile that they “have accepted Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior.”

Apparently they love their version of Christian principles so much that they are willing to lie for them.

Editor’s Note – APA letter and ASA report taken from the webpage of Dr. Gregory Herek.

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Coral Ridge Ministries writer Robert Knight has written an interesting(and I use that word very, very loosely)piece against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The gist of Knight’s attack is the following:

ENDA is profoundly dangerous. It turns private sin into a public right and brings the force of government against morality itself. Any such law is a violation of our unalienable rights as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. To put it more simply, a statute that directly contradicts God’s moral law is illegitimate. Laws embody and reflect morality, or they are not laws. They are tyranny. That’s why so-called same-sex “marriage” laws are absurd and treacherous. Forcing citizens to accept a counterfeit as the real thing is an act of despotism.

ENDA adds not only “sexual orientation” but “gender identity” to federal workplace anti-discrimination law. Thus, it takes an ax to the idea that sexual behavior has a natural normalcy or any relation to morality. It falsely equates a changeable condition (sexual desire) with race and ethnicity. Worse, it turns traditional values into a form of bigotry punishable under the law.

So to Knight, ENDA should be opposed because homosexuality is a sin. Well I’m glad he cleared that up.

Whether Knight knows it or not, his attack on homosexuality as a “behavior” that should not be protected is really opening the door to declare that religious beliefs in the workplace should be not be protected because after all, religion is a behavior.

To tell the truth though, I am disappointed with Knight’s piece. I can always count on Knight to go to extremes with opposing any anti-discrimination laws.

For example when he said the following in 2003 about Nashville’s attempt to add sexual orientation to it’s nondiscrimination code:

Few public officials and businessmen realize that when they allow the addition of “sexual orientation” to their nondiscrimination codes, they are tying their own hands when it comes to objecting to:

¬? A man in a highly visible sales job coming to work in a dress and high heels;
¬? A woman in a highly visible position coming to work in men’ clothes;
¬? A person of indeterminate sex who insists on using either the men’ room or the women’ room;
¬? A person of either sex who indulges a taste for extreme sexual promiscuity and pornography during working hours despite being charged with representing the company’ tone and character;
¬? A man who frequents prostitutes while on business trips and claims that it is none of the company’ business, regardless of the company’ public image.

Knight, who used to be employed with the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, has on occasion manipulated facts in his written and verbal pieces. He also freely cited discredited researcher Paul Cameron, even citing Cameron data in front of Congress in an attempt to defeat ENDA.

From the site Wired Strategies under the section, Gays are diseased, die early, and are less productive than heterosexuals comes this:

“homosexual behavior is extremely unhealthy, contributing to the spread of AIDS, hepatitis A, B and C and other sexually transmitted diseases….A study of more than 6,400 obituaries in homosexual publications reveals that homosexuals typically have far shorter life spans than the general population. Other reports indicate that homosexuals are more likely to have drug and alcohol abuse problems. It is unfair to force businesses to pay the extra insurance expense and lost productivity that inevitably results from homosexual behavior.” [Editors note: the source for this "research" is the discredited Dr. Paul Cameron - see below for extensive information about his extreme beliefs]

- Robert Knight, Family Research Council, testifying at ENDA Hearings, July 29, 1994 – committee on Labor and Human Resources, US Senate.

In my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, I recount meeting Knight and his “so what” answer when I pressed him about using Cameron’s work even after he knew of the discredited researcher’s reputation.

So naturally, Knight has no problem distorting the facts and conjuring up ugly images of “godless gays on the attack” when it suits his purpose.

But the fact that Knight didn’t conjure up these false images against ENDA may mean that he and others on his side have already given up the fight against it.

Then again, knowing the religious right, they could be saving their ammunition until the time when the vote actually comes up.

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

One of the greatest hypocrisies of ex-gay groups is how they seek victimhood status against the alleged gay agenda that discriminates them for daring to want to “be free from homosexuality,” while simultaneously allowing themselves to be a funnel/conduit for some of the most extreme anti-gay propaganda in existence.

PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) is a perfect example of the hypocrisies of the ex-gay movement.

On it’s webpage, PFOX has this huge section called “Equal Rights,” where it posts articles pushing the lie that ex-gays are somehow discriminated against. Such articles include: Are Ex-gays Next?, Ex-Gay Declaration of Independence, Hear our message, then judge, and Ex-Gays Face Double Discrimination.

And a few of these articles have huge errors. Such as the piece Putting Adolescents at Risk.

This article pushes the notion that:

Males who self-identify as “gay” before age 18 are highly likely to have been victims of sexual abuse and/or to suffer from untreated Gender Identity Disorder (GID). This puts them at high risk for a number of negative outcomes. When these problems are untreated, the boys often act out in ways that draw negative attention to themselves. The strict restriction of bullying and other mistreatment by fellow students is, of course, important, but it is equally important to address the underlying problems. Even if an adolescent boy does not suffer from sexual abuse or GID, sexual activity combined with the predictable adolescent irresponsibility carries a high risk.

However one of the sources which PFOX uses to prove this claim is being distorted:

The following is the conclusion of a study of the association of health risk behaviors and sexual orientation: “GLB youth who self-identify during high school report disproportionate risk for a variety of health risk and problem behaviors, including suicide, victimization, sexual risk behaviors, and multiple substance abuse use. In addition, these youth are more likely to report engaging in multiple risk behaviors and initiating risk behaviors at an earlier age than their peers.” (Garofalo 1998)

The study PFOX is referring to is The association between health risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a school-based sample of adolescents, by Massachusetts pediatrician Robert Garofalo.

PFOX is implying that the study says that the lgbt orientation is causing bad behavior in youth.

PFOX was not the first group to use Garofalo’s work to make this claim. In 1998, the Family Research Council and 14 other so-called religious right groups, including the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family, ran a full-page ad in The Washington Post using Garofalo’s study to claim that “homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle.”

When Garofalo found out how his research was being used he got angry because you see, his study never faulted the lgbt orientation for bad behavior amongst gay youth.

Garofalo contended that his research was saying that when gay teenagers abuse drugs or contemplate suicide, it is because of the unaccepting culture they face. – Boston doctor says ads distorted his work on gays, Anne E. Kornblutt, The Globe Staff, The Boston Globe, August 4, 1998

Another article in PFOX’s Equal Rights section, African Americans: Same Sexuality & Race, cites a study by discredited researcher Paul Cameron:

According to the Omega Journal, a leading publication on death and dying, the median age of death for a homosexual man without AIDS And With a long-term sexual partner is only 41 years of age. The median age of death of heterosexual married men is 75 years. The average age for a married, African American male is 69 years. Given these statistics, this is not only a moral issue, but an emerging public-health crisis. Passing laws that would institutionalize a lifestyle that could cut the lives of our young men by nearly a third is unthinkable.

But the one thing that takes the proverbial cake when it comes to the hypocrisies of PFOX is this link.

The link above is a diagram from that lovely anti-gay group, the Allied Defense Fund, that outlines supposedly how we lgbts are slowly taking over the world in color coordinated splendor.

I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that someone loony enough to think this up is getting gainfully employed or the fact that I wish lgbts could get as coordinated as we are shown to be in the diagram.

You can’t have it both ways, PFOX. If you want “tolerance” from our community, then you don’t put ugly and untrue things about us on your webpage.

No one should have to tolerate being kicked in the teeth.