Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director Phone: 917-691-5118 E-mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
PFOX President, Greg Quinlan, Falsely Alleged on Television That Gay Advocate Tried to Have Him Killed, Says TWO
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out announced today that it has filed a defamation lawsuit against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and its President Greg Quinlan after he claimed on a television show that Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen tried to have him killed. The lawsuit (Case number: CL12000008-00) was filed in Virginia’s Northumberland County Circuit Court where PFOX is headquartered. Norfolk attorney Michael Hamar will represent TWO.
“We will not let PFOX’s outright lies and bizarre fabrications go unanswered,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Greg Quinlan’s false allegations were deviously designed to damage my reputation and that of Truth Wins Out. We look forward to vigorously challenging Quinlan’s delusional version of events and debunking them in a court of law.”
On October 7, 2011 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.”
TWO sent PFOX a letter offering the group an opportunity to apologize for their smear campaign. Unfortunately, instead of taking the high road and expressing regret for his false and misleading charges, Quinlan angrily lashed out in a statement posted to the organization’s website:
“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, Besen left HRC after five years on good terms to pursue a new career opportunity.
“When people engage in smear campaigns they are usually smart enough not to write lies on their website or make false allegations on television,” said TWOs Besen. “That Quinlan would so brazenly lie in social and mainstream media is incredibly reckless and irresponsible.”
Earlier this month, Truth Wins Out sent an open letter to Montgomery School Superintendent Joshua Starrstrongly urging him to stop disseminating “ex-gay” fliers by PFOX. The virulently anti-gay group distributed 8,000 sheets at five Montgomery County schools, even though Starr calls the fliers “reprehensible and deplorable.”
The letter points out that PFOX board member Peter Sprigg, who works for Southern Poverty Law Center hate group the Family Research Council, once said that he wanted to “export” LGBT people and that he supports criminalizing homosexuality.
In August 2010, PFOX president Greg Quinlan spoke at a conference organized by another SPLC- certified hate group, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. In his speech, Quinlan made an outrageous and offensive anti-LGBT slur:
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan said. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.” (Comment at 8:00-8:13)
At the same-conference, PFOX public speaker and convicted felon, Arthur Abba Goldberg, smeared LGBT people with ugly stereotypes disguised as scientific observation:
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Furthermore, the former president of PFOX, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. Cohen is the individual most associated with the discredited mental health techniques trumpeted by PFOX.
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.
“Ex-gay” Greg Quinlan, who needs you to know that, even when he wasn’t repressing his natural desires, he wasn’t a “flaming faggot,” is really, really, well, really flaming upset about what’s going on with marriage equality in these here United States. One might even say he’s queening out over it. One would think that as the president of a hate group he wouldn’t get so breathlessly hysterical, but then again his screed is posted on the blog of another breathlessly hysterical hate group leader. Let’s look at what he has to say:
On Monday, the New Jersey Senate voted 24-16 to corrupt the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. Many called it a civil right. Homosexuality is NOT a civil right. It simply does not measure up to the criteria of a civil right.
It would be too much to ask for Greg to define the criteria of a “civil right,” wouldn’t it?
Thursday (today) the Democrat-controlled New Jersey Assembly (lower Chamber) voted. There was a slim chance that it would not get the required 41 votes for passage. [But the "same-sex marriage" bill passed the by a vote of 42-33; New Jersey governor Chris Christie has vowed to veto the bill.]
Please pray for us and that the elected officials nationwide will do the right thing. And that the Lord God will accomplish His will any way He sees fit. May HE have mercy on this state, and this nation, which seems to have forgotten Him.
What if the way God accomplishes His will runs counter to Greg’s self-loathing bigotry?
Please pray for the other states facing the lie of homosexual “marriage.” A bill has just been introduced in Illinois to legalize counterfeit “gay marriage.’ It is mischievously titled the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.”
The bill is “mischievously” titled. One might even call it “fierce!”
Maryland is under a more imminent threat of homosexual “marriage” as well as a bill that would enable transsexual, cross-dressing men to use the restrooms of women and young girls. INSANITY.
Now this is one of those moments where the utter brainwashing of being a wingnut really shines through. As a “former gay activist,” even if he still really needs us to know he wasn’t a nelly queer, Greg Quinlan should know full well that the Religious Right fearmongering about “cross-dressing men” using the little girls’ room is absolutely disgusting and simply not based in fact. He theoretically should have an understanding, at least, of what the issue is about, even if he disagrees with it. But he’s become his own abuser and apparently needs to please his new wingnut gods, so he just lies. He’s a man of stellar character.
In Washington State, legislators passed homosexual “marriage” and imposed it upon their citizens, with the help of the state’s governor, Christine Gregoire, a new “gay marriage convert who ignored the dictates of her own Catholic religion to usher in this radical redefinition of an ancient institution. However, the people of Washington State are now working to get the issue on the ballot so that citizens decide whether to reverse the homosexual “marriage” law.
And if they get it on the ballot and the voters uphold marriage equality, expect a hysterical screed from Greg condemning the activist voters of Washington state.
New Hampshire is in a similar situation to Washington State (conterfeit “gay marriage” has been legal since 2009; see this Concord Monitor article on the GOP-led effort to repeal homosexual “marriage”). Minnesota voters will be able to vote on a statewide referendum this November to amend their state constitutions to preserve man-woman marriage, while North Carolina has a pro-traditional marriage amendmet vote in early May.
Iowans fired three of the judges that imposed homosexual “marriage” on them at the ballot box. They are now trying to reverse their dictatorial decision by putting it on the ballot.
Blah blah blah, more good news, and some gross news from Minnesota and North Carolina. On balance, though, we’re so winning.
California’s marriage battle will likely go to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Barack Obama appointed potential lesbian Elena Kagan and ultra liberal Sonia Sotomayer – who will both likely will decide against natural, God-ordained marriage.
Elena Kagan, the “potential lesbian.” If she would only apply herself!
The assault on natural marriage and rebellion against God is so vicious now that we need prayer for these individual states and our nation.
God save us from ourselves.
That last line…something about it…it just sums up what it means to be a wingnut. To be so frightened of one’s own inner desires, urges, hopes and dreams that they need authority figures [in this case God, but it can just as easily be the Pope or Tony Perkins or some wingnut pastor] to protect them from themselves.
Anyway, from Greg’s report, we can see that things are actually going pretty well on the marriage equality front. We already knew that this “culture war” was basically won, simply due to demographics, but it’s nice to see a bird’s eye view of how fast things are moving. Thanks, Greg!
Truth Wins Out applauds Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr for telling the truth about the message of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX). He was moved to comment after TWO criticized his school system for allowing PFOX to distribute 8,000 fliers to students. According to Pink News Starr reportedly told pupils: “This group has figured out how to use that law to spread what I find to be a really, really disgusting message, frankly.”
PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs responded with a typically foolish statement: “We call on the Montgomery County Board of Education to enforce its Nondiscrimination Policy and censure Starr immediately. The Policy mandates that schools provide ‘an atmosphere where differences are understood and appreciated, and where all persons are treated fairly and with respect in an environment free of discrimination and … abuse.’ Clearly Superintendent Starr has violated the Board’s Policy. Starr’s verbal abuse, disrespectful behavior, and slurs against the ex-gay community amount to hate and illegal sexual orientation discrimination, which are all forbidden by the Policy.”
You have got to be kidding me. The president of PFOX, Greg Quinlan, refers to LGBT people as “flaming faggots” and a board member, Peter Sprigg, supports imprisoning LGBT people and once claimed we should be “exporting” homosexuals. The despicable organization even has a “prayer” on its site that says: “Father, I want to thank you for the awesome change you have wrought in MY life. How you allowed me to survive while I was trapped under the deception of homosexuality, that it even resembled ‘life’.”
PFOX’s former President, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. Prior to his stint at PFOX, Cohen was a Moonie and once even belonged to the Wesleyan Community Church, a Vashon Island cult that practiced naked “therapy” in churches. Cohen’s therapy outfit, The International Healing Foundation, sent a representative to Uganda to speak alongside a holocaust revisionist at a conference with the goal of “wiping out” homosexuality.
The man who is currently listed on the group’s Speaker’s Bureau, Arthur Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon who was jailed for billion dollar bond schemes. The founder of PFOX, Anthony Falzarano once told CBS News, “AIDS comes from the devil, directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.” Another time, he called hate crime victim Matthew Shepard a “predator to heterosexual men.”
Clearly, these are just lovely people at PFOX who exist to oppose discrimination and appreciate and understand differences in humanity. (Yes, you can stop laughing anytime) Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr should just ignore these clowns.
Earlier in the week, TWO sent an open letter to Starr urging him to stop the distribution of PFOX fliers. While non-profit literature must not be blocked based on viewpoint, it can and should be prohibited if it contains blatant misinformation that jeopardizes the health and well being of students. The PFOX flier easily fits this description and the group has a dubious history that includes bizarre and bigoted practices that have no place in the public school system.
Truth Wins Out will soon be suing PFOX and Greg Quinlan for defamation.
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
TWO Addresses Concerns with Montgomery School Superintendent Joshua Starr in Open Letter
WASHINGTON – Truth Wins Out sent an open letter to Montgomery School Superintendent Joshua Starrstrongly urging him to stop disseminating “ex-gay” fliers by the discredited organization Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX). The virulently anti-gay group distributed 8,000 sheets at five Montgomery County schools this week, even though Starr calls the fliers “reprehensible and deplorable.”
“While non-profit literature must not be blocked based on viewpoint, it can and should be prohibited if it contains blatant misinformation that jeopardizes the health and well being of students,” wrote TWO’s Executive Director Wayne Besen in the letter to Starr. “The PFOX flier easily fits this description and the group has a dubious history that includes bizarre and bigoted practices that have no place in your public school system.”
The letter points out that PFOX board member Peter Sprigg, who works for Southern Poverty Law Center hate group the Family Research Council, once said that he wanted to “export” LGBT people and that he supports criminalizing homosexuality.
In August 2010, PFOX president Greg Quinlan spoke at a conference organized by another SPLC- certified hate group, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. In his speech, Quinlan made an outrageous and offensive anti-LGBT slur:
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan said. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
At the same-conference, PFOX public speaker and convicted felon, Arthur Abba Goldberg, smeared LGBT people with ugly stereotypes disguised as scientific observation:
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
“Let’s not beat around the bush: If an unsavory organization insulted other minorities with despicable epithets and demanded that they be ‘exported’ or jailed – no school in Montgomery County would be distributing their leaflets,” TWO’s letter said. “The fact that you would allow this politically motivated organization to spread its noxious message about LGBT people shows an unreasonable and unfathomable double standard.”
Furthermore, the former president of PFOX, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. Cohen is the individual most associated with the discredited mental health techniques trumpeted by PFOX.
“Why would Montgomery County want to place LGBT youth, already at an elevated risk for bullying, depression, and suicide in dangerous situations that can lead to tragedy?” TWO’s letter asks. “To continue allowing this specific organization into your school system is to court disaster. It is grossly irresponsible, reckless, and a dereliction of the primary duty of administrators to protect students from harm.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
To: Montgomery County Public Schools
Attn: Superintendent Joshua Starr Re: PFOX flier distribution
Dear Sir:
We write with great concern today about a grossly misleading flier that was disseminated to Montgomery County students by the organization Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX).
While non-profit literature must not be blocked based on viewpoint, it can and should be prohibited if it contains blatant misinformation that jeopardizes the health and well being of students. The PFOX flier easily fits this description and the group has a dubious history that includes bizarre and bigoted practices that have no place in your public school system.
The flier in question is highly deceptive because it falsely states that PFOX “promotes diversity” and “supports tolerance.” Indeed, PFOX board member and spokesperson, Peter Sprigg, played an instrumental role in the Southern Poverty Law Center declaring the Family Research Council, where he works, a certified hate group in 2011. Sprigg has called homosexuality “unnatural and unhealthy,” and an attack on the “natural family.”
In March 2008, Sprigg responded to a question on Hardball with Chris Matthews about uniting gay partners during the immigration process by saying: “I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them.” He later apologized, but then went on to tell MSNBC host Chris Matthews, “I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions on homosexual behavior.” “So we should outlaw gay behavior?” Matthews asked. “Yes,” Sprigg replied.
In August 2010, PFOX president Greg Quinlan spoke at a conference organized by another SPLC- certified hate group, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. In his speech, Quinlan made an outrageous and offensive anti-LGBT slur:
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan said. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
(8:00-8:13)
At the same-conference, PFOX public speaker and convicted felon, Arthur Abba Goldberg, smeared LGBT people with ugly stereotypes disguised as scientific observation:
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Clearly, PFOX mischaracterized itself when it claimed that it “promotes diversity” and “supports tolerance.” Do you want LGBT students under your jurisdiction to contact a group that browbeats them with guilt and shame and believes they should be “exported” or criminalized? Are you inadvertently encouraging pupils to reach out to a group that undermines their mental health by hurling demeaning, homophobic slurs and hurtful stereotypes? More important, are you prepared to face legal action if a student is harmed or commits suicide as a result of being subjected to the destructive “therapy” pushed by this viciously anti-gay outfit?
Let’s not beat around the bush: If an unsavory organization insulted other minorities with despicable epithets and demanded that they be “exported” or jailed – no school in Montgomery County would be distributing their leaflets. The fact that you would allow this politically motivated organization to spread its noxious message about LGBT people shows an unreasonable and unfathomable double standard.
Furthermore, the former president of PFOX, Richard Cohen, was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. Cohen is the individual most associated with the discredited mental health techniques trumpeted by PFOX.
We have provided video so you can see Cohen in action. Mr. Starr, I seriously doubt that you can watch these surreal “therapeutic” antics and not wince at the thought of the students under your charge – or your own children — coming under Cohen’s “care.”
Certainly, you are aware that so-called “ex-gay” therapy is rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization in the nation, including the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Psychiatric Association says that attempts to change sexual orientation can lead to “anxiety, depression, and self-destructive behavior.”
Why would Montgomery County want to place LGBT youth, already at an elevated risk for bullying, depression, and suicide in dangerous situations that can lead to tragedy? To continue allowing this specific organization into your school system is to court disaster. It is grossly irresponsible, reckless, and a dereliction of the primary duty of administrators to protect students from harm.
This is absolutely not about free speech, but about the distribution of blatantly false speech by an organization that brazenly misrepresented itself as a benign group promoting tolerance and diversity. In reality, it is advocating for outright discrimination and even criminalization, pushing junk science, and referring youth to unqualified therapists.
Judging by news reports, it appears that you disagree with PFOX’s flier – yet it was still handed out. We are assuming that at the time of distribution you were simply unaware of the full scope of PFOX’s anti-LGBT activities and its direct ties to hate groups that demonize and dehumanize LGBT people.
Well, now you know the facts. The question is what are you going to do about it?
Truth Wins Out looks forward to your response and is available to answer any questions you might have about PFOX and the trauma caused by “ex-gay” therapy.
Sincerely,
Wayne Besen
Executive DirectorTruth Wins Out
917-691-5118
The Washington Blade reports that PFOX has been distributing ex-gay propaganda fliers at Albert Einstein High School in Rockville, Maryland.
According to district policy, any organization that can prove that it is a non-profit “community entity” can send materials home with students quarterly when report cards are distributed.
It isn’t mentioned in the article, but there’s a reason they have that policy: this isn’t the first time PFOX has done this, not by a mile. Montgomery County Public Schools and PFOX go back a long and unfortunate way, at least to 2005, when PFOX and Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum won a federal lawsuit against the school board that claimed the school’s new sex-ed curriculum promoted homosexuality. Their victory surprised even them.
CRC President Michelle Turner, who has five children in public schools, has led the effort to stop the curriculum since November, when the county school board voted unanimously to approve it.
“This is beyond our wildest dreams. Who could ever have imagined this?” she said. “The board totally capitulated. We won big-time.”
Capitulated is right, and it emboldened the ex-gay activists big time. Another lawsuit in 2006 led the school to develop the aforementioned policy and allowed PFOX to distribute these fliers. In 2007, PFOX filed an Appeal and Request for Stay to block pilot testing of a new sex-ed curriculum because it didn’t include PFOX’s views on “ex-gays.” The resulting settlement compelled the school to rebuild its curriculum from the beginning, and the group has continued to distribute fliers over and over. Looks like they’ve circled back again, just in time for Valentine’s Day, lest any gay kids get any ideas about kissing their crushes.
TeachTheFacts.org, a MCPS-based group of parents who are appalled by PFOX’s attempts to introduce hatemongering and pseudoscience to their children’s public educations, keeps a blog containing a passionate history of these battles. In one widely-read entry from February 14, 2010, written after yet another flier distribution, the author entreats the school district to grow a pair:
Some schools set up special trash cans on PFOX flyer days, which coincided with report cards, so students could throw their anti-gay materials out immediately.
Let the school principal, the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools, and home-room teachers be responsible for what they give the children. Consider the quotes from principals who have said things like “If I had my druthers, [the flier] would not have gone out.” Why is the principal not held responsible for the literature his school is giving to the students entrusted to him? Give the guy his druthers! Take the disclaimer off all the flyers, and let the school district take responsibility for the information it is giving to our students.
Ah, you say, they’re afraid of lawsuits. Yes, there is an inevitable lawsuit if they refuse to distribute the PFOX hate literature. The schools have a little problem with bullying, I wonder where the kids picked that up? Okay, PFOX is going to sue, the school district will have to fight back. If there is a legitimate reason that the school district should have to give anti-gay materials to schoolchildren then PFOX will win and the case will only be wasted money. Is it really possible that distributing hateful literature is a legitimate function of a public school? Okay, back if down a step or two, is it really possible that distributing every group’s opinion is a legitimate function of a public school? Of course not, the school is there for education, it is patently absurd for them to be giving children a message that is the direct opposite of what they are taught in class.
This is a moment when we need leaders. Somebody at the top needs to identify this as something indecent and wrong and put a stop to it. The school district is hiding behind a legal opinion instead of acting like grown-ups and confronting the issue.
Weird quote from “ex-gay” PFOX leader Greg Quinlan:
“I want to talk first of all about something I heard from the very beginning by people of this Legislature that we are bigots as people of faith, because we do not hold that homosexual marriage should be codified. That somehow we are bigots and we are ideologues because we are people of faith. I want to address that hate. Everyone in this room who is a person of faith deserves an apology from one of the sponsors of this bill for calling us bigots.
“To date there is zero evidence that anyone is born a homosexual, zero. In fact it’s homosexual researchers and scientists that are proving that homosexuality is not innate and had no biological ideology. Homosexuality is not immutable. There are many ex-gays; Anne Heche, to name one, Sinead O’Connor and myself. I left the homosexual lifestyle almost 20 years ago. Lived as a homosexual activist for 10 years of my life.”
Wait, I’m confused. Did Anne Heche and Sinead O’Connor go through brutal, discredited “ex-gay” ministries, the patients of which often end up driven to deeper levels of depression and sometimes suicide, in order to pray themselves straight. Or did their lives just change? I don’t know about Anne, but I highly doubt Sinead O’Connor would appreciate her name being used in that way by such an ignorant, hateful bigot.
Anyway, the rest of it is just the usual whining. “Tolerate our unhinged hatred!” Whatever.
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
TWO Demands ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Apologize For Defamatory Remarks Within Five Days Or Face Legal Action
PFOX President Greg Quinlan’s Fabricated Tale Claiming TWO Tried to Have Him Murdered is Unconscionable and Unacceptable, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out sent a letter to Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays today sternly warning PFOX that it would face legal consequences if it did not publicly apologize within five days for defaming TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. The letter from Virginia attorney Michael Hamar outlined four concrete demands that PFOX would have to satisfy to avoid having the matter settled in a court of law.
On October 7, 2011 Quinlan was interviewed on News-Plus 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.”
“Greg Quinlan deliberately and maliciously fabricated a story with the sole purpose of smearing Truth Wins Out and damaging my reputation,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “These defamatory actions are unconscionable, unacceptable, and I refuse to let these vicious lies go unanswered.”
Hamar sent his letter to PFOX outlining the necessary steps to ameliorate the situation:
1. A written retraction be issued by Gregory Quinlan on PFOX letterhead admitting he fabricated the incident(s) and made untrue statements during the television interview. The retraction must be signed by PFOX’s Executive Director Regina Griggs and Mr. Quinlan.
2. A YouTube video of Mr. Quinlan apologizing for the false and defamatory statements.
3. Mr. Quinlan will offer to immediately make an apology on the very television show in which the defamatory statements about Mr. Besen were made.
4. PFOX will send out a press release, first approved by Mr. Besen, announcing the apology.
“These terms must be accepted within five business days of receipt of this letter,” wrote TWO attorney Michael Hamar. “Should Mr. Quinlan and PFOX refuse to accept these terms, Mr. Besen will have no alternative other than to seek relief in court and in the process of the litigation subject Mr. Quinlan and/or PFOX to depositions, interrogatories and other discovery processes.”
The veracity of PFOX has long been questioned. Its former president, Richard Cohen, was expelled for life from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. A key member of the organization’s Speaker’s Bureau, Arthur Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon sent to prison for financial fraud. In 2010, Quinlan attended a conference organized by Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, a group that is listed as a certified Southern Poverty Law Center hate group. During his speech at the meeting, Quinlan disparaged LGBT people and said that when he used to live as an openly gay man he wasn’t a “flaming faggot.”
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to Truth Wins Out today to help us fight this critical legal battle with PFOX. If we don’t stand up to such blatant lies, we are giving our opponents a green light to smear the entire LGBT community.
It is critical that we finally push back and say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” If we won’t fight back when they accuse us of attempted murder — when will we? The time to take a stand against these dishonest bullies is NOW!
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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 
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out 
The veracity of PFOX has long been questioned. Its former president, Richard Cohen, was expelled for life from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethics violations. A key member of the organization’s Speaker’s Bureau, Arthur Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon sent to prison for financial fraud. In 2010, Quinlan attended a conference organized by Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, a group that is listed as a certified Southern Poverty Law Center hate group. During his speech at the meeting, Quinlan disparaged LGBT people and said that when he used to live as an openly gay man he wasn’t a “flaming faggot.”
