This photo was widely shared on Facebook yesterday after it was posted in a group called “Wipe Out Homophobia.” According to the initial posting, Vanessa Raymond, one of the group’s members, spotted an awful sign in front of a church on her way to work yesterday that read, “Two Men are Friends, Not Spouses.” She was so upset that she made a sign of her own with a pro-LGBT message, bought a rainbow balloon, and affixed both the sign and the balloon to a fence in front of the anti-gay message. Raymond’s handwritten sign reads:
You may not be welcome in this church, but ALL people are welcome in this community! Spread LOVE, not hate!!!
I wasn’t able to get in touch with Ms. Raymond to confirm the location or denomination of the offending church (although I assumed it was a Catholic parish, as Francis Xavier is a Catholic saint), so I held off on posting about it at that time.
Today, Andy Belonsky over at Towleroad was kind enough to fill in the gaps: the church in question is St. Francis Xavier Catholic Parish in Acushnet, Massachusetts, and malicious message was written and posted by the parish’s pastoral services director, Steven Guillotte, who insisted that it wasn’t really anti-gay at all. Said Guillotte, ““We don’t feel that there’s anything hateful in it.”
Two local women protesting outside St. Francis Xavier disagreed. One of them, Kim Miska, told the paper: ““I think it was bigoted … very ignorant. You can believe in what you want to believe in, but there’s no reason to shove it down everybody’s throat.”
Of course, the church removed Raymond’s balloon and sign, but interestingly, it also replaced the patronizing anti-gay quip with an inane reminder about tomorrow’s daily Mass. The pastor of St. Francis Xavier, Monsignor Gerard O’Connor, denies that the uproar over Guillotte’s divisive message factored into that decision.
This sign might not be remarkable except for the fact that it unmasks, in my opinion, the deep contempt that Catholic leaders have for the loving marriages of same-sex couples like my husband and me. Slick, media-savvy personalities like New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan can talk about how much they love LGBT people until they’re blue in the face, and church employees like Guillotte can pretend they’re not haters all they wish, but it’s all a lie. The sign in Massachusetts speaks to an ugly truth: Catholic leaders don’t simply oppose the recognition of our marriages, they deny even the fact that our marriages exist.
Enjoy that denial while you can, dudes. That whizzing sound you’re hearing is the sound of society blowing past you, discarding your Stone-Age views about LGBT people in the landfill of history where they belong. Or is it the sound of pro-equality Catholics scrambling for the doors?
Today, during an interview with nationally-syndicated progressive radio host David Pakman, crackpot Paul Cameron — a discredited “researcher” who was kicked out of both the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association for peddling virulently anti-gay junk science — served up an especially nutty word salad in which he claimed, among other things, that he knows President Obama to be a gay man because of a remark Elizabeth Taylor once made about gays in Hollywood and that he was “seduced” and “raped homosexually. . . as a three-year-old,” which he said caused him to be attracted to men. But never fear, America, because Paul Cameron wants you to know that he is not, not, not gay anymore. “On a scale of 1 to 100, it’s zip,” he reassures Pakman’s viewers after chortling uncomfortably. (You believe him, right?) “As a matter of fact” says Cameron, “if anything, I’m repelled by it. I’m probably about a minus 100 (-100).”
That’s basically how the entire interview transpires: Pakman asks Cameron a simple question, i.e. “Why do you think President Obama may be gay himself?”, and Cameron responds with an extended romp through the garden of free association. In this case, he initially cited a press conference in which “homosexuals [claimed] that they had sex” with the President. (I believe he was referring to a tabloid-worthy incident in June 2008, where a man of dubious mental stability named Larry Sinclair rented out a room at the National Press Club and held a press conference in which he made wildly fantastical allegations of gay sex, drugs, and murder against then-candidate Obama, ignored a request from an incredulous reporter to release his mental health records, and told the assembled throng that he preferred not to wear pants because of the disproportionate size of his genitalia. According to Ben Smith at Politico, Sinclair was promptly arrested after the event concluded.)
After Pakman attempts to bring Cameron back on task by reminding him that unsubstantiated allegations do not, in fact, equate to proof, Cameron agrees, then redirects, this time alleging that the President’s homosexuality can be confirmed by the fact that — I kid you not — the Denver Post has gay reporters on its staff and writes about LGBT issues. And by the way, “If you look at [President Obama's] church, where he went to church with [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright and so forth, uhh, hmmmmm…” And then there’s the President’s connections with Hollywood, which must mean he’s gay, because “as Liz Taylor said, ‘Without gays, there is no Hollywood.’”
And so it goes. We “learn” that Cameron doesn’t get very excited downstairs anymore at his age, Harvey Milk had relationships with several teenagers, over half the children in Afghanistan and Pakistan are molested by their teachers because of the “fair degree of prominence” homosexuality has in those societies, the heinous crimes of Jerry Sandusky were caused by American acceptance of homosexuality, only 20% of gay men abstain from anal sex, and that men in general are incapable of thinking sexual thoughts that they don’t act out. As proof, Cameron cites the biblical story of randy ol’ King David, who “looked out and he saw a good-looking broad [sic], [but] he didn’t have to… invite her in…”
I’m not exaggerating. Watch the video. Before you simply write Cameron off as a quack, though, realize that his bogus research is stillcitedby major anti-LGBT hate groups including the Family Research Council, American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America. And do you remember that thoroughly debunked wingnut canard about the supposed “health risks” of homosexuality? You know, the one about how gay men, on average, live only half as long as their heterosexual counterparts? The lie that, although it’s been discredited for years, still resurfaces today in legislative testimony, city council hearings, and public comment forums across the country? You guessed it, that whopper originated in the so-called “research” of Paul Cameron. So while the man may be a nuttier than a fruitcake, he’s still — almost unbelievably — a menace.
So here’s a video for y’all to watch. It features a guy walking around outside, as he declares that he, too, will wait to have sex, just like Tim Tebow. At one point, he starts taking about Tebow as a man “any woman would want to be with.” It’s kind of gay. Also, it’s a project being promoted by the Family Research Council hate group.
Joe points out that the group offering a reward for proof that Timmy is NOT a virgin is offering said reward to ANYONE. Not “any woman.” Details, details…
Truth Wins Out readers haven’t been too much apprised of the goings on the past week, at least in terms of my personal life, but I care about all y’all who come here and read every day, so I just wanted to share my joy with you. I almost lost my best buddy this week. My black lab/blue heeler mix, Lula. She’s only eight, but a couple of major health problems came together this week that really, if she hadn’t been in the hands of some of the best vets I’ve ever met, could have ended differently. She’s back now, if by “back,” you mean “totally drugged up on pain meds and has no clue what’s going on,” and I don’t get her back until Friday, but guess what? She’s back. She’s gonna be okay.
And you all may not have known this, but along with Wayne’s various animals, Lula is one of your TWO mascots. So.
This is the note I just stuck on my Facebook wall, to my silly, dumb dog, who will live to be a silly, dumb dog for years more:
hey stupidhead dog. you are totally recovering from surgery right now, in Mississippi. we dodged a bullet, I think, me and you. you had a damn corn cob in your intestine and also a giant infection affecting several of your best organs. i’m gonna see you soon, and I’m really glad, because I was definitely not ready to lose your dumb ass, and also because I know you have many more millions of things to bark at and poop toward, and also because I love you and you’re my best buddy.
And I want her to be y’all’s buddy too. Here’s Lula, totally not caring enough to really pose for the camera.
My girl. Gonna be okay.
I’ll be back with my trademark snarky whatever in a few. Until then, hug your furry buddies if you have them.
Reparative therapy, which seeks to “cure” homosexuality, is a destructive form of consumer fraud, where avaricious practitioners try to profit off their victims by instilling a deep sense of shame and guilt. There is not one shard of evidence supporting such efforts, while there is a long trail of blood and tears from the human casualties who bought into the lie that they were abnormal and needed to be converted into heterosexuals.
Traditionally, efforts to curtail this scam have focused on decreasing demand. Vividly highlighting the shattered lives and crushing heartbreak that results when people try to live a lie has helped keep some gay people out of such clinics. This is important because reparative therapists not only hurt their clients but they often upend the lives of spouses. These unfortunate individuals marry so-called “ex-gays” who mistakenly think they have been converted – but later find that their “progress” was a mirage brought on by wishful thinking and pressure from their therapist. This form of therapy also encourages clients to blame their parents for allegedly causing their homosexuality, leading to resentment, broken bonds, and the disintegration of previously close families.
With overwhelming evidence that reparative therapy is a fraud, legal organizations and legislative bodies are finally beginning to focus on cutting off the supply. In California, Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) introduced a bill that would prohibit children under 18 from undergoing “sexual orientation change efforts.” The measure would also require adults seeking such treatment to sign informed-consent forms indicating that they comprehend the possible dangers inherent with this kind of therapy, including depression and suicide.
Furthermore, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sent a complaint last week to two professional psychiatric associations urging them to investigate the unethical use of conversion therapy by a Portland psychiatrist. The complaint was sent to the Oregon Psychiatric Association (OPA) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) charging that the Portland psychiatrist unethically subjected Max Hirsh, a 22-year-old University of Oregon student, to conversion therapy.
It is difficult to understand why such quackery is still legal. The American Psychiatric Association claims, “The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self hatred already experienced by the patient.”
Yet, despite the warnings, a handful of opportunistic therapists are still profiting from their clients’ pain and enriching themselves by trafficking in junk science. It is a pockmark on modern psychiatry and a disgrace to the medical profession that these quacks are allowed to operate in the 21st Century.
Reparative therapists should be stripped of their college degrees, expelled from professional associations, and banned from practicing. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declared that homosexuality is not a mental illness. So how does the American Psychiatric Association or the American Counseling Association or the American Psychological Association justify the existence of a rogue cottage industry that promises to heal people who are not sick and fix clients who are not broken?
At its core, reparative therapy is about making money off desperate and vulnerable people and confirming the religious worldview of the therapist, instead of helping the client. This was made clear by Charles Socarides, the late co-founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), who once told the Washington Post: “Homosexuality is a psychological and psychiatric disorder, there is no question about it. It is a purple menace that is threatening the proper design of gender distinctions in society.”
Does this man sound like a serious practitioner that cares about his clients?
In lieu of respected doctors with scientific backgrounds, most reparative therapists are aggressive entrepreneurs with products to sell. Exhibit A is David Pickup, who until recently ran a counseling website that offered a $250 a month program called The Workout. Pickup described his con as “a unique program that helps a man who is dealing with homosexual issues to go deep and to understand that below the homosexual issues lies a lack of his own inherent masculinity.” Pickup now represents NARTH as an outspoken foe of the California bill. He said it would prevent therapeutic help to young rape victims with sexuality questions.
Pickup should be disbarred for wrongly conflating homosexuality with sexual abuse, deliberately confusing stereotypes with science, and falsely advertising that he has the ability to influence a client’s sexual orientation.
Psychological organizations need to stop trying to have it both ways. On one hand they claim that homosexuality is not a mental illness, while on the other hand they give a green light to ideological charlatans who treat gays as if they are pathological. This is an irrational and incoherent position that is not based on evidence, but cowardice. The mental health establishment’s leaders appear terrified that Rush Limbaugh or Focus on the Family might call them names if they ban this obvious form of malpractice. However, it is their solemn duty to “do no harm” and the false practice of reparative therapy is harm by definition.
Today, nationally-syndicated progressive radio host David Pakman interviewed Michael Brown, a self-proclaimed “expert” on the issue of marriage and why loving same-sex couples should be excluded from it. For those of you not familiar with Michael Brown (we’ve covered him before), he’s one of the most vile homophobes in America. He spreads his toxic bigotry on his daily radio show, “Line of Fire,” and through his catalog of more than twenty books, including his latest, A Queer Thing Happened to America, which Brown self-published in 2011 because no publishing house thought it was fit to print. Perhaps most insidiously, Brown also likes to invade LGBT Pride festivals with gangs of fundamentalist Christian theocrats who wear anti-gay T-shirts and hand out homophobic religious tracts, attempting to shame LGBT people on what is supposed to be a day of affirmation and celebration.
As usual, David’s done his homework, calmly citing, among other things, the oeuvre of prominent Yale historian John Boswell, who wrote prolifically about the intersection of LGBT issues and religion. Brown’s only response is to dismiss Boswell completely, because after all (as Brown says), he “practically died of AIDS.”
And it only goes downhill from there. When Pakman challenges Brown’s tired (and totally discredited) talking point about the immutability of the historical definition of marriage, Brown resorts to condescension. Check out the video below — he tries to lecture Pakman on how to prepare for an interview, seizing the opportunity to hawk his self-published book (which, apparently, must be a respectable source, despite the fact that no publishing house — reputable or otherwise — would print it, because it includes “1500+ endnotes and massive research.” (Hmmmm, overcompensating much?) When Pakman presses Brown further to cite the specific sources he drew upon to formulate his exclusionary “historical definition of marriage,” he suddenly chickens out remembers that he has something else to do, saying that he didn’t realize this wasn’t a “serious interview” and mischaracterizing Pakman as a ‘gotcha’ journalist out to “[set] people up for quotes.” Then, after essentially telling Pakman again to read his book before he conducts any further interviews with him, Brown hangs up.
I’ve long been appalled by Michael Brown’s putrid bigotry, but after watching his disgustingly smarmy performance on today’s episode of the David Pakman Show, I’m also aghast at such a blatant, cowardly display of ageism. I highly doubt Brown would have behaved nearly as dismissively to a journalist closer to his own age, but apparently, when it’s a young person handing his you-know-what to him, Michael Brown has no problem resorting to ageist, ad hominem attacks.
Kudos to David Pakman for keeping his cool, sticking to his guns, and being persistent in his attempt to hold Michael Brown accountable for his distortions of the truth. Watch the video below — you won’t believe it.
One of Maggie’s home-brahs at The National Reviewreports that a new, non-traditional-family supporting wasp has been discovered:
The scientific name of a newly described insect is an homage to H.P. Lovecraft. Behold: Nanocthulhu lovecrafti. It’s apparently a bisexual wasp.
Oh, great. It’s a bisexual.
Well, go on, Maggie! We all know that wasp nookie belongs in a one wasp dude, one wasp lady marriage, and that fight awaits your endeavors, and god knows the rest of us could use a break.
There is now a street in San Diego named after legendary, early gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Randy Thomasson, head of the “Save California” hate group, is so very angry about this:
Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, is disappointed that opponents of the renaming did not voice their disapproval.
Ha ha ha, the City Council voted 8-0. What’s he disappointed about? That people who don’t exist failed to register their whining?
“It’s sad that hardly anybody showed up to protest this naming of a street after a sexual predator and the sexual anarchist named Harvey Milk,” he laments.
Well, that’s your revisionist retelling of the story, Randall, but here in the real world, you are literally being quoted by the “news” division of the American Family Association hate group, complaining that literally no one cares what you think about. I cannot believe you even agreed to this interview, as it is simply embarrassing for you.
“All four candidates for mayor in San Diego are in favor of homosexual activism. Carl DeMaio, a homosexual himself who lives with his homosexual man boyfriend, he voted for Harvey Milk Street,” the activist reports. “Nathan Fletcher, who’s a state assemblyman, he’s voted for a third homosexual agenda bill in the state legislature. Bob Filner, a Democrat congressman, has been promoting the homosexual agenda his entire career. Bonnie Dumanis, the county district attorney, is an open lesbian and even has a homosexual marriage herself.”
Yes, again, Randy Thomasson, hate group leader and whiner ad nauseam, we get it. You are alone in the world. Again, why did you agree to this interview? The time for your sort of bigot has passed. Get used to the new normal, or continue to complain. Either. Won’t make much difference in the real world.
