Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
Email: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
More than 4,000 People Have Already Signed TWO’s Petition Urging George to Step Down For Comparing LGBT Community to Ku Klux Klan
CHICAGO – Truth Wins Out stepped up its campaign calling on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to resign today by placing a full-page ad in this upcoming Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. The ad is headlined, “Hey, Cardinal Francis George, Gay is not like the KKK,” and slams the Cardinal for foolishly comparing the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. It satirically includes a picture of a rainbow-robed Klansman and debunks the lies and misinformation disseminated by the Archbishop about the LGBT community. The ad comes as an online TWO petition calling on George to step down has reached more than 4,000 signatures.
“We felt compelled to place this ad after Cardinal George compounded his initial smear with further insults disguised as an apology,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It seems the sin of pride is keeping George from saying he is sorry for his outrageous and misleading remarks about Gay Pride. At this point, the only road to redemption is his resignation.”
George’s offensive remarks first came during a dispute over the scheduled starting time of the annual gay pride parade in June. The event was originally set to begin at 10am, but a priest bitterly complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services. In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”
Instead of backtracking this week, George tried to rationalize his below the belt smear with an offensive statement from the Archdiocese: “When the pastor’s request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940′s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.”
“This is not a legitimate fight over religious liberty as George wrongly implies, but a vivid example of religious bigotry fueled by a mean-spirited analogy that linked innocent, law abiding families with the KKK,” said Besen. “We will stand up against such lies and speak out when LGBT people are unfairly maligned.”
Earlier in the year, TWO launched a 160,000-signature Change.org petition that helped persuade Apple, Inc. to eliminate an “ex-gay” iPhone app by the group Exodus International.
Truth Wins Out (TWO) is a nonprofit that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
Last week, Chicago Archbishop Francis George compared the LGBT community to the KKK. TWO launched a petition on Change.org that has already been signed by 4,000 people. I discussed this controversial topic on WGN radio with Bill Leff.
Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George foolishly compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. He has crossed so far over the line of basic decency that he couldn’t see it with a pair of binoculars. George’s over-the-top remarks were extreme to the point where they shredded his credibility and permanently damaged his ability to serve as a respected voice of reason.
This outrageous comparison of the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan was so degrading and hurtful that apologizing will not be sufficient. George’s only road to redemption is handing in his resignation. If he has a shred of dignity and a shard of class he will immediately step down.
George’s offensive remarks came during a dispute over the scheduled starting time of the annual gay pride parade in June. The event was originally set to begin at 10am, but a priest bitterly complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services.
In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”
Such backward and bigoted remarks cannot stand. We must stand up, speak out and fight back against the intolerance displayed by Cardinal George. If we don’t take a stand when we are compared to the KKK – when will we? The time to act is now by demanding that George immediately leave his post.
Letter to Archbishop George and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Greetings:
I am calling on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to step down for his hideous and hurtful comparison of the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. How could a sane human being place law-abiding, peaceful citizens in the same category as a notoriously violent hate group?
Clearly, he has crossed so far over the line of basic decency that he couldn’t see it with a pair of binoculars. George’s bizarre and radical remarks were so “out there” that they undermined his credibility and permanently degraded his ability to serve as a public figure and as a respected voice of reason.
George’s statement was so extreme that apologizing will not be sufficient. The Cardinal’s only road to redemption is handing in his resignation. If he has a shred of dignity and a sliver of class he will immediately step down.
If the Roman Catholic Church truly stands for the dignity and respect of all people, they will immediately ask George to leave his post.
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
Email: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
George’s Only Road to Redemption is Resigning, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out called on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to leave his post today after he foolishly compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. George’s over-the-top remarks were so extreme that they shredded his credibility and permanently damaged his ability to serve as a respected voice of reason.
“Cardinal George’s outrageous comparison of the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan was so degrading and hurtful that apologizing will not be sufficient,” said Wayne Besen, Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director. “George’s only road to redemption is handing in his resignation. If he has a shred of dignity and a shard of class he will immediately step down.”
George’s offensive remarks came during a dispute over the scheduled starting time of the annual gay pride parade in June. The event was originally set to begin at 10am, but a priest bitterly complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services.
In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”
The parade’s starting time has been changed to noon.
Contact: John Becker, Director of Communications
Phone: 920-265-6023
Email: john@truthwinsout.org
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The heated standoff between Truth Wins Out and Marcus Bachmann abruptly ended today after the therapist agreed to stop trying to collect $150 from TWO for canceled “ex-gay” therapy sessions. The voice message, left by a Bachmann & Associates’ billing representative, informed TWO Communication’s Director, John Becker, that “[his] account is at a zero balance” and that the charges were written off “per Marcus Bachmann.”
“The last thing we expected was for Marcus Bachmann to behave rationally and abandon his specious and spiteful claim that we owed him money,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It is a shame that he wasn’t foolish enough to allow a $150 billing dispute to turn into free publicity that highlighted the harm caused by ‘ex-gay’ programs.”
“We feel vindicated that Marcus Bachmann has ended his vindictive campaign to punish us for exposing his clinic’s ‘ex-gay’ therapy practice,” said Truth Wins Out’s Communications Director John Becker. “Reason triumphed over retaliation today — Bachmann made a wise decision to move on with his life and avoid further damage to his reputation.”
The clinic, which Bachmann co-owns with his wife Michele, was exposed last summer for practicing a form of discredited “pray away the gay” therapy by a TWO hidden-camera investigation – a charge both Bachmanns had previously denied. The revelation badly disrupted Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign at a time when she was surging in the polls. In November, Marcus Bachmann personally phoned Becker, demanded $150 in no-show fees for two canceled appointments, and threatened to send Becker’s account to collections if he failed to promptly remit payment.
TWO responded with a cease-and-desist letter and promised a lawsuit if Bachmann persisted. TWO launched a Change.org petition that gathered more than 4,000 signatures demanding that Bachmann stop haranguing the organization.
“Ex-gay therapy is rejected by every respected medical and mental health organization in the nation,” added Becker. “This includes the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association.”
The idea that one’s sexual orientation can be changed through therapy is a dangerous lie, and has been discredited by medical and counseling organizations. Please join the Southern Poverty Law Center, GetEqual, and Truth Wins Out to learn from experts about this fraudulent practice, share stories about “conversion therapy,” and understand how we can protect LGBT rights. This is an event that you will not want to miss!
BALTIMORE, MD
Thursday, Dec. 15
6-8 pm · 2640 Co-op
2640 Saint Paul Street
TWO’s Wayne Besen will be joined by “ex-gay” survivor Chris Camp. Free Refreshments Provided
splcenter.org/conversion-therapy
RSVP appreciated but not required. Call 855.841.8356 or email ashley@splcenter.org
Help expose the lies behind “conversion” therapy and help other LGBT people who have undergone or are considering “therapy” to “cure” themselves.
In June, I penned a column, “The Fall of the Ex-Gay Myth,” which predicted that so-called “ex-gay” programs would crumble from internal rot. “It’s time for the discredited ‘ex-gay’ myth to simply go away and be rightfully viewed as an experiment that was tried and failed,” I wrote at the time.
In the months since this column was written the decline of these “pray away the gay” organizations has only accelerated. Here are the Top 10 ex-gay-related stories of 2011:
1)Bachmann Scandal: Nothing brought the idiocy of reparative therapy into the spotlight more than Truth Wins Out’s undercover operation that proved the clinic of Marcus Bachmann, husband of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), practiced this form of discredited therapy. Prior to the investigation, Marcus had lied to the American people by denying his practice engaged in such quackery. The story made a mockery out of such practices and was featured in media across the globe.
2) John Smid: Love in Action “ex-gay” ministry leader John Smid went public with a startling confession: “I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.” The honest words of this “ex-gay” poster boy sent shockwaves through the entire “ex-gay” industry. Observers of these groups asked: “If Smid’s hardcore regimen of prayer and therapy did not work for him, whom would it work for?”
3) Exodus SOS: Ex-Gay Watch’s David Roberts reported that a Nov. 16 secret summit took place in New York City, where Exodus President Alan Chambers desperately plotted how to “keep Exodus International from social and financial oblivion.” The report discussed how an ill-advised real estate deal and increasingly convoluted messages have brought Exodus to the precipice of total failure.
4) Rekers Study Unmasked: Prior to getting caught with an escort from RentBoy.com, Dr. George Rekers was the “ex-gay” industry’s most prominent therapist. Much of Rekers reputation was based on a study where he cited the alleged sexual conversion of a boy named “Kraig.” Box Turtle Bulletin’s Jim Burroway undermined this claim by discovering that “Kraig” had grown up to be a gay man and his family alleged the therapy with Rekers led to his suicide. This story, covered in an excellent CNN AC360 series, demolished a key pillar of “ex-gay” research.
5) Exodus iPhone app: Exodus International created an “ex-gay” iPhone app to promote people using their mobile phones to “pray away the gay.” It was so obnoxious that the website Fierce Mobile Content listed it in the Top 5 most offensive apps of 2011. Fortunately, Truth Wins Out launched a 160,000-signature Change.org petition drive to persuade Apple Inc. to remove the “ex-gay” iPhone app.
6) Lisa Miller Saga: Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins had a Vermont civil union in 2000 and Miller then gave birth to a daughter, Isabella, conceived through artificial insemination. Miller became a born again Christian and fled to Virginia with her daughter. When a judge handed custody of Isabella to Jenkins, Miller fled the country with her daughter. Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., was recently arrested for assisting Lisa Miller as she absconded to Nicaragua. This story is not yet finished and may ensnare anti-gay figures that may have aided and abetted international kidnapping. Keep your eye on this story!
7) Sergio Viula: This man was the leading provider of “ex-gay” quackery in Brazil. In an interview he gave to the Secular Humanist League of Brazil, Viula called such programs “brainwashing” and said, “In fact, ex-gays don’t exist – it’s pure self-suggestion.”
8)Ex-Gay Goes International: As the “ex-gay” industry fails at home, they are opportunistically searching for fresh markets to exploit overseas. A perfect example occurred in Hong Kong, which hired a therapist, Hong Kwai-wah, to cure gay people by urging them to take cold showers when aroused. The controversial hire caused protests from Hong Kong to New York City.
9) Dr. Warren Throckmorton: This Christian therapist from Grove City College has surprisingly emerged as a leading critic of “reparative therapy.” A former member of The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), his knowledge of this topic has made him a ruthlessly effective foe of NARTH’s quack-like theories. Even more damaging, he has created a competing therapy model that gives LGBT Christians the option to come out of the closet or hold onto their fundamentalist beliefs – but it does not lie to them by promising that they can pray away the gay.
10) PFOX Lawsuit: Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), appeared on television and fabricated an incident that never occurred: “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.” As a result of Quinlan’s fake story, I am preparing a defamation lawsuit against PFOX that will play out in 2012.
There are many more possibilities I could have chosen — but these 10 stories really impacted the “ex-gay” issue in 2011 — which was a really bad year for such programs.
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
PFOX’s Greg Quinlan Compounds Original Defamation With Second Act of Defamation
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out announced today that it intends to launch a defamation lawsuit against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) as soon as possible. The lawsuit is a result of PFOX President Greg Quinlan’s comments on a Washington, DC television show claiming that TWO Executive Director, Wayne Besen, tried to have him murdered.
“We are preparing a lawsuit and PFOX will soon realize that this is no bluff,” said TWO’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “PFOX will not be able to pray away this lawsuit any more than they can pray away the gay. The outcome of this disturbing matter will be settled in a court of law.”
On October 7, 2011 Quinlan was interviewed on NewsPlus with Mark Segraves (WDCW-TV). At the 10:38 mark of the show, Quinlan (pictured) 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.”
TWO sent PFOX a letter last week giving them an opportunity to apologize for their smear campaign. Unfortunately, instead of taking the high road and expressing regret for making false and misleading statements, Quinlan angrily lashed out in today’s statement:
“Once I was able to stop laughing and realized that the letter wasn’t intended to be parody, I thought: Okay; Wayno wants a response to his list of comical demands? Here’s my formal response: Grow up…So, Wayne, if you really feel you must waste money you could be using to bash ex-gays, bully Christian churchgoers and spread the lie that people who are trapped in unwanted homosexuality can never escape it, I say knock yourself out. We’re happy to countersue and expose the hundreds of smears you and TWO have lodged against me and other pro-family advocates. Smears that actually amount todefamation. Little man, I’m calling your bluff.”
In Quinlan’s bizarre response, he defended his original character assassination with a second calumny that will be included in the defamation lawsuit. PFOX’s President falsely claimed that Besen was fired from the Human Rights Campaign, where he served as Deputy Director of Communications from 1998-2003.
“In reality, I left HRC after five years on my own volition to take a new job,” said TWO’s Besen. “The year I left I received a raise, and on my final day at HRC they threw me a party. That Quinlan would publicly lie about something so easily provable is incredibly reckless and irresponsible.”
Quinlan also lied when he claimed: “First of all, Besen blatantly mischaracterized what I actually said on the program, claiming that I suggested he solicited my assassination. This is a bald-faced lie and Besen knows it. The truth is that Besen once said to me in a private conversation that someone should run me over with a bus or inject me with AIDS. Did I think he was serious? No. I knew it was just Wayne being Wayne; one part bluster, two parts hyperbole and three parts hot air.”
“This alleged conversation never occurred and these words were never spoken,” said Besen. “As for Quinlan’s clear statements being ‘mischaracterized,’ people can watch the show and see with their own eyes that Quinlan is being less than honest. I challenge Quinlan to a lie detector test to see who is telling the truth. I seriously doubt he is willing to take one, while I am.”
“Basically, everything Quinlan said in his response was untrue and TWO will see PFOX in court,” added Besen.
Obviously, such a lawsuit is out of budget — so please consider a tax-deductible contribution to help us fight PFOX’s lies.
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Contact: John Becker, Director of Communications
Phone: 920-265-6023
E-Mail: john@truthwinsout.org
TWO Debunks Fake ‘Religious Freedom’ Lie With Groundbreaking Full-Page Ad
Ad Is In Response To New York Marriage Clerk Who Refused To Marry Lesbian Couple Under the Guise of ‘Religious Freedom’
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out announced today that it would place a groundbreaking full-page ad (see below) in the Ithaca Journal on Saturday that debunks the Religious Right’s latest strategy of claiming they are victims of religious discrimination when asked to follow the same laws as other citizens. TWO’s hard-hitting ad is headlined “Special Rights Masquerading as Religious Freedom” and signals that this fraudulent argument, increasingly used by anti-gay activists, will be vigorously challenged and exposed as a lie.
TWO’s ad is in response to the unethical actions of Ledyard, NY town clerk Rose Marie Belforti, who refused to issue a marriage license to a lesbian couple. Belforti disobeyed the law and then justified refusing to do her job by claiming she was a victim of religious discrimination.
“The private religious beliefs of public workers should be respected,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “However, agents of the state are not entitled to pick and choose which members of the public they serve or which laws they obey. Refusing to serve entire classes of people based on religious objections will lead to chaos. It creates a slippery slope where self-appointed moral scolds serve as the gatekeepers to our freedom.”
Until recently, anti-gay activists argued that LGBT people were not entitled to equality because it was contrary to the will of the people. As recent polls show a sea change in support for marriage equality, particularly among younger demographics, the extreme right has switched its strategy. They now try to pose as martyrs whose beliefs give them the special right to discriminate and ignore the law.
“Belforti’s twisted version of ‘religious freedom’ comes at the expense of liberty for everyone else,” said TWO Communications Director John Becker. “It creates a balkanized nation that divides people based on sectarian differences. We must reject the unfair notion that some people have a special right to discriminate based on religious beliefs.”
TWO’s ad points out that allowing fundamentalists to follow their own rules would create chaos and undermine societal cohesion. The ad gives several examples of where this false notion of “religious freedom” might lead:
Will town clerks use their fundamentalist beliefs to refuse issuing marriage licenses to divorced people who wish to remarry?
Will town clerks use religion to justify turning away interfaith or interracial couples who want a marriage license?
Will postal workers refuse to carry mail they find objectionable, or refuse to deliver to households whose religious beliefs they disagree with?
Will religious public school teachers choose to educate only students who share their faith?
This latest effort is part of TWO’s Center Against Radical Extremism (TWOCARE), which debunks right wing propaganda and misinformation campaigns. TWOCARE also monitors and reports on extremist organizations and launches campaigns to spotlight their dangerous views.
(This ad is costing $2,500. If you like it, please kindly consider a tax-deductible contribution to help us pay for it)
On this beautiful snowy morning, Jamie Brundage and I got married at City Hall in Burlington, VT. We had an amazing Justice of the Peace, Gloria Gil, (pictured below)who was just incredible and made the ceremony at her home a joyous occasion. She has a wonderful cat and a really cool exotic bird too – and they get along.
So….It’s official — I’m hitched!!!
I met Jamie, who is originally from Cairo, Nebraska, five years ago in New York City online and the rest is history. We will be having an exciting party in the summer when Vermont is pretty and green. Thank you to friends and family (Shout out to my mother and father and grandma) for your love and support. We greatly appreciate it and it means a great deal to us.
And a major THANK YOU to the marriage equality advocates in Vermont and at the national level, particularly Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson, who made this dream-like day possible.
So, here’s to hoping I’ll be a better husband than Newt! :)
CHICAGO – Truth Wins Out stepped up its campaign calling on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to resign today by placing a full-page ad in this upcoming Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. The ad is headlined, “Hey, Cardinal Francis George, Gay is not like the KKK,” and slams the Cardinal for foolishly comparing the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. It satirically includes a picture of a rainbow-robed Klansman and debunks the lies and misinformation disseminated by the Archbishop about the LGBT community. The ad comes as an online TWO petition calling on George to step down has reached more than 4,000 signatures.
complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services. In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out called on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to leave his post today after he
The idea that one’s sexual orientation can be changed through therapy is a dangerous lie, and has been discredited by medical and counseling organizations. Please join the Southern Poverty Law Center, GetEqual, and Truth Wins Out to learn from experts about this fraudulent practice, share stories about “conversion therapy,” and understand how we can protect LGBT rights. This is an event that you will not want to miss!
2) John Smid: Love in Action “ex-gay” ministry leader John Smid went public with a startling confession: “I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.” The honest words of this “ex-gay” poster boy sent shockwaves through the entire “ex-gay” industry. Observers of these groups asked: “If Smid’s hardcore regimen of prayer and therapy did not work for him, whom would it work for?”
!
College has surprisingly emerged as a leading critic of “reparative therapy.” A former member of The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), his knowledge of this topic has made him a ruthlessly effective foe of NARTH’s quack-like theories. Even more damaging, he has created a competing therapy model that gives LGBT Christians the option to come out of the closet or hold onto their fundamentalist beliefs – but it does not lie to them by promising that they can pray away the gay.
Ex-Gays (PFOX), appeared on television and fabricated an incident that never occurred: “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.” As a result of Quinlan’s fake story, I am preparing a defamation lawsuit against PFOX that will play out in 2012.
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out announced today that it intends to launch a defamation lawsuit against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) as soon as possible. The lawsuit is a result of PFOX President Greg Quinlan’s comments on a Washington, DC 
On this beautiful snowy morning, Jamie Brundage and I got married at City Hall in Burlington, VT. We had an amazing Justice of the Peace, Gloria Gil, (pictured below)who was just incredible and made the ceremony at her home a joyous occasion. She has a wonderful cat and a really cool exotic bird too – and they get along.
