FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Basic Fact Remains That PFOX’s Greg Quinlan Fabricated Two Stories to Smear Truth Wins Out
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Truth Wins Out expressed disappointment today that its defamation lawsuit, Wayne Besen vs. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gregory Quinlan, was dismissed by the United States District Court in Richmond because Besen was deemed a “public figure,” which raises the bar on proving malice in defamation lawsuits. While TWO disagrees with the ruling, it does nothing to negate the original charge that PFOX’s Greg Quinlan fabricated two stories in an effort to smear Truth Wins Out and Besen, asserts TWO.
“We disagree with the ruling but knew it was an uphill battle given the extremely high bar set to win a defamation lawsuit for people determined to be public figures,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “However, we are proud of the fact that we hauled PFOX into court for its blatant lies, stood up to Quinlan’s odious smear campaign, and we would not hesitate do so again in the future.”
Quinlan’s first lie occurred on October 7, 2011 when Quinlan was interviewed on News-Plus with Mark Segraves (WDCW-TV). At the 10:38 mark of the show, Quinlan fabricates an alleged hit on his life. According to Quinlan:
“Truth Wins Out if you look further, including Wayne Besen. He’s asked for people, you know, somebody needs to run Greg over. He needs to be hit with a bus. Somebody should inject him with AIDS. Those are the things that Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out says about me. That’s pretty hateful rhetoric.”
Quinlan’s second lie occurred when he falsely claimed that Besen was fired from the Human Rights Campaign, where he served as Deputy Director of Communications from 1998-2003. In reality, Besen left HRC after five years on good terms to pursue a new career opportunity. A letter from the Human Rights Campaign unequivocally proving Quinlan lied was included in our lawsuit.
According to the court ruling: “A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) tests the sufficiency of a complaint….[I]t does not resolve contests surrounding the facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses. So-called “public figure” plaintiffs-individuals “involved in issues in which the public has a justified and important interest”- are held to an even higher standard.”
The publication Courthouse News wrote: “As the Fourth Circuit has observed, ‘establishing actual malice is no easy task, because the defamation plaintiff bears the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence.”
While the lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality, TWO says that PFOX has yet to defend itself in the court of public opinion and prove that Greg Quinlan had not lied. This is a rather tenuous position to be in for an organization that purports to represent wholesome Christian morality and family values.
“Let’s be crystal clear that the outcome of this case did not exonerate Greg Quinlan from our central charge that he outright fabricated his story of me asking people to kill him,” said TWO’s Besen. “I strongly reiterate my call for Quinlan to take a polygraph or a No Lie MRI to prove his innocence. Why is he so afraid to take up this straightforward challenge? What is he hiding?”
The following is a statement by Truth Wins Out’s attorney Michael Hamer:
“The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, has dismissed Wayne Besen’s defamation suit against Greg Quinlan, President of PFOX and PFOX itself for outrageous and unfounded statements made by Quinlan last year. The key to the result was the court’s finding that Besen is a “public figure” which triggers a very high burden to prevail in defamation cases. As the Court noted, “so-called “public figures’ plaintiffs…are held to an even higher standard…The New York Times standard is a difficult one for libel plaintiffs to meet and its application may sometimes produce harsh results.” In TWO’s view, this dismissal is one such harsh result.
Besen and TWO continue to believe that Quinlan’s statements were knowingly false. However, as the court further noted in its finding that Besen is a public figure, Besen and TWO have sufficient access to media avenues and other means to address and refute the falsehood of Quinlan’s statements. While the Court’s decision was not totally unexpected given the current case law surrounding public figures, Besen and TWO believe that filing the legal action was still the right course of action to underscore the falsity of the statements made against Besen. Besen and TWO will continue to work to expose the falsehood not only of Quinlan’s statements but the entire ‘ex-gay’ myth promoted by PFOX and its financial backers. This task will be made easier in light of Dr. Robert Spitzer recent recantation of his 2001 study that PFOX so frequently likes to cite to support its snake oil.”
To see the dishonesty of PFOX, one has to look no further than the Homepage of its website. On the bottom right-hand side is video from Dr. Robert Spitzer asserting that some gay people can go from gay to straight, even though Spitzer has now disavowed his study. Right below that is a “Certificate of Appreciation” from the District of Columbia, even though the former mayor, Adrian Fenty said in 2010 that the “honor” was a clerical error.
PFOX’s former board President, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations.
Convicted felon Arthur Abba Goldberg runs the group’s speaker’s bureau. The late Anthony Falzarano, who had derisively referred to hate crime victim Matthew Shepard as a “predator to heterosexual men” founded PFOX. He once told CBS News, “AIDS comes from the devil, directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.” Quinlan, the current board President, calls homosexuals claimed that while he was an out of the closet as a gay man he wasn’t “a limp wristed, flaming faggot.”
Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
This isn’t a technicality. The higher standard for public figures is an essential part of our First Amendment protections and what allows us to openly criticize our opponents, and allows them to criticize back. In the marketplace of free speech, our side wins. It might not have worked our well for your suit, but it serves us well in the long run.
That PFOX and the entire ex-gay industry are liars is not doubt in my mind.
What is most disappointing is that PFOX won’t be put under the judicial microscope – and we know when that happens, mere opinions shrivel and facts shine. The dearth of facts on PFOX side would be horribly exposed.
The other disappointing thing is having to see yet one more crazy-assed post from Slartibartfast of the Church of Magrithea or Marantha or something…
Men Unique High Fashion Suit L1126…
[...] y unexpected given the current case law surrounding public figures, Besen and TW [...]…
At the very least, the dishonesty (among other thigns) of those who promote anti-gay bigotry is out in public for all to see. With that, it is clear that we will indeed win out after all. Disappointing yes, but in the bigger picture, a minor setback. However, it will be interesting to see how the aforementioned group (specifically the Magrathean) will spin this. I predict strutting and boasting that sounds like it came from madmen.
I can’t understand how Quinlan got away with it. I mean, he lied, he accused Mr Besen of trying to murder him. Surely there is a case here. Surely he should be made to prove there had been threats been made against him.
Of course, US law is different, I suppose a lot freer, and TWO is allowed to speak up and defend themselves and in the long run those on the side of honesty and decency and fairness will win.
Surely Quinlan should realise he has made a mistake and apologise. But then these ex-gays are not known for their high standards when it comes to the truth.
If Mr Quinlan or Charles M or whoever is reading this;
How can ex-gay be an orientation? Surely you mean straight? Unless you mean constantly fighting the desire for intimacy with a member of the same sex?
HAHAHAHAHA! I warned you Wayne Besen! I tried to help you so many times to avoid this humiliation! How many times did I instruct you in the name of the Spirit to abandon this doomed lawsuit? But you would not listen! You hardened your heart against the LORD and now you have paid a terrible price.
Quinlan stands victorious over you and your demonic army at TWO. You are defeated. Will you appeal Wayne Besen? No! Your own statement admits this. You know you have been completely destroyed by Quinlan and have been forced to kiss the ground before Quinlan’s feet in front of the entire world!
The best thing you can do now is to learn from this humiliation that you are under the authority of Jesus Christ and his agents. Seek out a godly man at any true church and he will take power over the demons that afflict you!
Wayne, I am so proud of you and TWO for the work that you did on this case. Make no mistake about it, you proved that you are willing to fight when it is called for. You have given a voice to millions of LGBT people that you represent through your fine organization. Even though this lawsuit was dismissed, you did the right thing. You served notice on our adversaries that you will hold them accountable. That’s a great thing.
And right on cue, our Magrathean friend shows up.
A technicality is indeed very humiliating. Of course, considering how much ground you lot lost over the course of this battle I suppose any situation that isn’t a total loss for you is cause for gloating and preening.
Come on, he’s a pretty blatant Poe.
I never claimed we would win every fight. But I do promise Truth Wins Out will fight every fight. I’m proud that we took these creeps on. We will do so again.
Getting away with blatant lying in the court does not mean we did not win in the court of public opinion. We caught Quinlan in a blatant lie. We shined a spotlight on it. He has yet to produce evidence that backs his false assertions. He refuses to take a lie detector test.
Odds are this will embolden him and you’ll win the lawsuit when he inevitably says something even more outrageous.
That could be. Quinlan is incredibly truth challenged. He will go too far and he might not like the results next time. If he thinks we are through he is as mistaken as he was when he claimed we were bluffing last time. We weren’t.
Charles B., congregant, Maranatha True Church.
How do you defend such lying? Quinlan said Wayne Besen threatened him with death/harm. There is evidence of this for all to see. You must know, unless your fear blinds you to the facts.
Is that what your true church teaches you? To lie, use your liberal laws to get away with it, then laugh and mock people who call you on that lie?
I’m still not convinced you are anything but a sockpuppet of Quinlan.
Mr Besen, any right thinking person knows TWO is in the right. Keep on watching these ex-gay liars. They will eventually trip up and won’t be able to hide behind your liberal laws anymore.
So Charles, God’s okay with lying huh?
Charles, why did you lie and say your god would never allow this lawsuit to be initiated?
Wayne is the winner in this and Quinlin the loser. Quinlan has been exposed to millions as the desperate liar he is while Wayne has been shown to be a man of truth and principles. Your imaginary friend Jesus has utterly failed to have any impact on your behalf.
The Bible does not allow lying! It is a sin like sodomy. Quinlan is a Bible-believing Christian and knows that lying a sin. So if he had lied, he would have confessed his sin and repented. He did not confess and repent because he did not lie!
I will tell you reprobate sinners one more time about the lawsuit – God sometimes allows the unbeliever, the pagan, and the follower of the Enemy to move against His people. He does this in order to expose these evil people and to smash them, thereby magnifying His power and glory on the Earth. This is exactly what He did to Pharaoh, who was allowed to pursue the Hebrews, only to lose all of his soldiers and chariots. This is what has happened to Wayne Besen and his army called TWO. They are now drowned in the Red Sea. Wayne Besen is even now crying in the arms of his male wife. Too bad that Wayne Besen did not listen to the counsel of a Christian man trying to help him!
At first, I thought that God was staying Wayne Besen’s sinning hand and would prevent this lawsuit. Why did it take months and months and months for Wayne Besen to bring this lawsuit? Wayne Besen, perhaps you should ask your lawyer this question!!
This was my belief and it is because I am a man and do not know the plans of God. Only a prophet can say this and I was not prophesying and I did not say that I was prophesying. So I was not lying!
Do not accuse God’s messengers of lying. This is sin.
Charles said “I will tell you reprobate sinners one more time about the lawsuit – God sometimes allows the unbeliever, the pagan, and the follower of the Enemy to move against His people.”.
Charles, before the lawsuit was initiated you repeatedly insist your god would not allow it to be initiated – why did you lie?
You have also lied through ommission about your bible. God hardened Pharoah’s heart so pharoah wouldn’t let the israelites go. Then god punished not only pharoah for what he forced pharoah to do, he punished all the innocent egyptians for what he forced pharoah to do. Your god is unjust, your god is a monster and your bible is full of lies:
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/science/long.html
Wayne provide proof that your beloved Quinlan lied through his teeth Chucky. Why are defending someone you claim is violating your bible?
Charles, you are such an easily led fool. It’s quite sad.
Popcorn, anybody? As mad as he is, you all have to admit, the Magrathean does provide surprisingly good entertainment. Of course his master, Quinlan would not repent. Petulant children such as he and his puppet refuse to ever admit they are wrong.
Charles, you’re a kook without any knowledge of how the legal system works. But then, no one who’s been reading your posts is surprised by that.
@ Charles B.
I find it difficult to believe that I found an actual living, breathing human being that could utter the words “I warned you Wayne Besen” — there is something surreal about someone who wants us to think he speaks for the almighty declaiming like the villain on a preteen adventure show.
Regardless, I quite well remember you asserting that “God” would never allow the law suit to be initiated, but it was, wasn’t it? Technicalities are what they are – and often derail not only civil law suits but criminal charges. the existence of technicalities do nothing to make your claim that the law suit would never be initiated correct — and as I recall — a prophet of “God” can NEVER make any error, otherwise he is a false prophet, a cloud, etc.
But I suppose if you don’t care about someone blatantly lying, you don’t care about lying yourself, or being a false prophet. I also suppose that you don’t care much about being an effective preteen villain. After your screed there was supposed to be an evil cackle. Where was the evil cackle?
Practice that.
Regards,
Reyn
Eh, I think evil cackles are out of style these days. Perhaps he’s taking a page out of the Evil Overlord’s List?
Priya Linn, you attack God as unjust, but how can a perfect sovereign God be judged by a filthy sinner? No, Priya Linn, it is He who will judge you! You are a homosexual who lies with other men. If you are using your real name, you are probably a Hindu, the most demonic of the false religions. Instead of judging God, the best thing you can do is find a true church and beg for salvation! You might be spared an eternity in hell fire.
In other words, Chucky doesn’t have an excuse for why his god punished people for the very things his god made those people do.
You seem to have a fixation with wanting people to beg and feel as miserable as you, Magrathean. A bit of advice: that makes one evil. That (among many other reasons) is why you, your master, and your deity are evil.
Charles, you said:
“If you [Priya Lynn] are using your real name, you are probably a Hindu, the most demonic of the false religions. Instead of judging God, the best thing you can do is find a true church and beg for salvation! You might be spared an eternity in hell fire.”
Please provide some compelling evidence of your religion’s validity. You might have a smidgen of credibility if you could demonstrate that the adoption of your religion came as a result of exhaustive comprehensive unbiased research into all of the world’s religions. Although the research would take many years, I don’t know how else anyone could legitimately conclude that a particular religion is the correct one. Two possible outcomes of the research would be 1) to reject them all, or 2) reject them all an then invent a new one (lots of people have done that).
Otherwise, I assume that you simply adopted the religion of your parents, a prevalent religion in your geographic location, or maybe you just picked one that felt compatible with your personality. And, if so, your arguments come merely from indoctrination bolstered by the contents of a holy book. But all religions involve indoctrination and holy books, so why should I accept yours and reject the others?
You need to understand that if you had been born in Saudi Arabia, it is overwhelmingly likely that you would now be worshiping Allah, and extolling the Magic Truth of the Quran instead of the Magic Truth of the Bible. Or, if you had been born in Utah, it is overwhelmingly likely that you would now be extolling the “truth” of Joe Smith’s gold-plates tale. Or, if you had been born in India, it’s quite likely you would be Hindu.
So let’s see the evidence that your religion is the correct one.
Sorry to burst your bigot bubble Charles the heretic, but you said the lawsuit would never be filed…it was…(that takes time, as any lawyer would tell you). It was dismissed on a technicality, that does not mean that the truth was not the truth. The queen lied about him, and he rightfully filed charges. Maybe he will appeal, maybe he wont, but the truth is still the same…
you were wrong. The lawsuit was filed, and God did not prevent it.
God does not like liars fundy boy… and more and more of American society knows a liar and closet queen when it sees one, which is why your side is losing the war :)
Have a great one! lol bye!
Charles, first I’m a woman and yes that’s my real name. No I am not a hindu, I was raised in the abuse of Catholicism.
Secondly, your god eternally tortures people for behaving exactly as he knew they would when he created them – your god is evil. It is your god who is the filthy sinner, I am infinitely more moral than your god and I will mock your imaginary god until my fingers tire and my throat is raw, day after day until I die. Your impotent god can do nothing to stop me.
And charles, you repeatedly insisted it was impossible for Wayne to initiate this lawsuit. You knew that wasn’t true – why did you lie Charles? Why do you falsely proclaim you and your bible are about truth when you are both about falsehoods?
Gene:
If the lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality, then Wayne Besen and his lawyer would fix the technicality and continue the lawsuit. Or they would appeal to a higher court. But they are not doing either of these things. The entire lawsuit is dismissed and Wayne Besen is giving up and going home to cry in the arms of his male wife. What this should tell you is that this was no technicality. It was a fatal error that doomed the lawsuit forever and humiliated Wayne Besen.
Priya Linn:
You are no woman. God decides this, not you. Hear me – you were not raised a Christian. The Roman Catholic Church is not a Christian church. It is a defilement of the true church. It is the w***e of Babylon and it is destined for desolation. Rev. 17:1.
Do not reject God just because the Roman Catholics abused you and made you think you were a girl! If you go to a true church, they will show you the narrow path to salvation. But if you dilly dally, your eternal soul will pay the price.
Chucky how stupid are you? That’s not how the legal system works.
Charles, I am a woman but you are no man. Your imaginary god has no say in this. The Catholic church is the only true Christian church. All other churches are just as abusive. I will not be a slave sacrificing my happiness to bronze age bigots pretending to be a god.
So Charles, what we’re learning is that you’re completely ignorant of legal process. I think someone said you’re a kook. I will amend that to say you’re a kook with a computer.
Go Priya! You tell him. I stand with you in mocking Charles’s sad, pathetic conception of a deity. Charles, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is an infinitely preferable spaghedeity. Explain to me why we should worship your god when the FSM’s noodly appendages have been clearly shown to be more reasonable? His Noodliness is watching you and awaiting your answer. Do not mock your noodly creator, Charles B.! You have been warned! The FSM is the true god! Get yourself a plate of spaghetti and a pirate eyepatch immediately. The word is “Arrrrrrgh”.
Wow. That was fun. How was my Charles impression?
What does it matter what church one goes to? In case you haven’t noticed yet, they are all corrupt. Fueled by nothing more than greed, hatred, and lust for power. I too was raised as a Christian. Not only did I see it create large rifts in my family, but I saw the cruelty, fear, and depravity it inspired in those I used to associate with. You are a prime example of that Magrathean, imagining people in anguish because they won’t submit to your whims. As I said, that makes you a villain, not a hero.
Great Charles impression Emma ; )
Thanks Priya. I’ve been practicing in case I meet any Mormons. The Gospel of the FSM tells us that we must match our techniques to the people with whom we are speaking.
Hey Charles, if you really want to be a member of THE true church, God is sending signals that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) is the one to join. Think about it:
Which states does God batter with tornadoes every year? That’s right, it’s the Bible Belt states, but not Utah. And God has blessed the Mormons with exceptionally high levels of prosperity. And, as a bonus, Utah may be the most beautiful state in the US.
And did you notice how God showed his sense of humor by telling three sanctimonious buffoons – Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum – to run for president, and then made fools of them by choosing a Mormon, Mitt Romney, as the Republican nominee?
God couldn’t be more clear: After thousands of years of human religious fumbling and stumbling, the Mormons are the people who finally got it right – thanks to the true prophet, Joseph Smith, and his true tale of the gold plates.
And since the the Mormons developed the strategy of sending out a veritable army of handsome wholesome clean-cut boys across the globe to spread the Good News, how can they possibly lose the battle for religious supremacy?
Poor heretic charles… :)
No..the judge called it what it was..a technicality. There is no such thing as a male wife..a male who is married, either to a man or a woman is a husband. (I see your English classes went as well as your theology ones :) And there is no humiliation here that I see. It was the result of case law, duh.
The fact remains “God wont all him to file this suit!”, which you said, was shown as false. Be a man and admit you were wrong…somehow, I doubt you will.
And the truth of what was being sued about, well…the truths the truth. The queen said what he said, and you know it. :) And so does more and more of America.
Go find a better Church Charles. You really need to raise your standards.
OMG!
The catholic church is the red w***e of baylon. I love it. I haven’t heard that slander/truism/hyperbole/misinterpretation of history in more than 30 years. Oh, wait, I did hear from a few, a very few, baptists.
Charlie dear, are you a baptist?
@Emma-Great to see another Pastafarian on here. :-)
Ben, growing up Mormon we were often taught that the Catholic Church was the w***e of Bablyon or “The Great And Wicked Church”.
I don’t think much of the Catholic church and I do think its evil but somehow I find it especially bigoted for other christian churches to say its evil or un-christian – those churches have no claim to being better than or significantly different from the Catholic church.
Tim, we Pastafarians congregate in places of reason and rational thought, so TWO is a good thing for us. Have you been touched by His noodly appendage today?
Charles: somehow your Gawd decided slavery was a great thing and millions of Africans suffered & died being shipped over to the new world by christians from Spain, Portugal, England, France and Holland. Your Holy Babel justifies slavery in both testaments as you would well know if you were biblically literate. How come your Gawd, if he is so all-knowing and all loving and all powerful and so just plain awesome, could condone slavery for thousands of years? Why did he change his mind (because churches almost universally embraced emancipation today)? Why didn’t your heavenly friend just put a little prophetic message in his Holy Babel telling his followers “SLAVERY IS ALWAYS WRONG. DO NOT OWN SLAVES!” Might have saved a lot of misery for a lot of people for a lot of years. I mean he is such an awesome Gawd.
I’ll tell you why he didn’t do this simple, just and loving thing thousands of years ago Charles. Because he doesn’t exist. Any human being today with a modicum of insight and compassion can figure out that slavery was and is a horrible breach of ethics and morality. If your omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent deity could not demonstrate the same depth of understanding and discernment that the average middle class citizen of the 21st century world can, then it shows him up for what he is: Charles’ imaginary, bronze-aged concocted friend.
Oh well, I guess that is just the price you pay for being a STAR Wayne.
Priya, I agree with you that it’s hypocritical for one church to call another one evil–but they all do it even if they don’t do it in front ot outsiders. I wasn’t saying it was right–just that it’s so.
Daniel, I didn’t mean to imply that you were saying it was right and I didn’t think you were saying it was right.
Most everyone I know is Catholic but I’ve never heard any Catholic put down any other christian religion with the sort of venom that some christian churches put down the Catholic church
Priya, no problem, I just wanted to clarify my statement.