In the not too distant past, most Americans couldn’t tell a Pashtun from a cartoon, a Sunni from a Moonie or a Kurd from bean curd. Then came 9-11 and we learned our very survival depended on securing freedom for people we barely knew existed. Exorcising the region’s demons through democracy was so important, we were told, that America would pay for the effort in blood and bankruptcy.

Despite the bumbling and fumbling of the war effort, the bitter divisions in our country and the wheelbarrows of dough dumped in the desert, there was always the faint hope that a better Middle East might just emerge from the mess. And, whatever one thinks of the two wars, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban were real villains who were vanquished.

The idea, of course, was that once these monsters were slain, they’d be replaced with the sane. But, the monsters have multiplied and Sasquatch has morphed into a bevy of Big Foots (or is it Big Feet?). It appears that for all of our sacrifice – and that of the secular Iraqi and Afghanistani people – the crazies are back in control. Or, at least fanatics have instilled enough fear that “mainstream” Iraqi and Afghanistani politicians are tripping over themselves to please and appease. (Read More)

Anti-Gay Organization Drew False Link Between Sexual Abuse and Homosexuality

NEW YORK – In a letter made available to Truth Wins Out, the authors of a book on the health of gay men have accused Focus on the Family of distorting their research. The researchers publicly repudiated an article written by “ex-gay” activist Jeff Johnston in Focus on the Family’s web magazine, Citizen Link, which falsely linked homosexuality to childhood sexual abuse. This letter marks the tenth researcher in two years who has claimed that Focus on the Family misrepresented their work.

“Focus on the Family has zero credibility when it comes to interpreting or analyzing scientific research,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “This group has serially distorted legitimate studies on human sexuality to score political points and demean gay and lesbian people. We thank these researchers for having the courage to come forward and set the record straight.”

In the article, “Childhood Sexual Abuse and Male Homosexuality”, Johnston wrote, “Many pro-gay researchers, activists and theorists deny that there could be a connection between child sexual abuse and adult homosexuality.” As proof of a supposed connection, he cited a 2008 book, “Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States”, edited by Professors Richard J. Wolitski, Ron Stall (pictured), and Ronald O. Valdiserri.

When approached by Truth Wins Out, the researchers were surprised by the manipulation of their data and agreed to respond.

“We want to respond to a recent Focus on the Family characterization of scientific findings reported in our book, ‘Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States’ that misrepresented findings in the book to suggest that childhood sexual abuse causes male homosexuality,” Stall and Valdiseri wrote in their letter. “The Focus on the Family description of the findings reported in Unequal Opportunity is inaccurate and, in our opinion, a distortion of the scientific literature.”

Focus on the Family has made a habit out of twisting science to back its anti-gay agenda. Melissa Fryrear, a Love Won Out speaker, has also repeated the phony link between abuse and homosexuality.

“I never met one woman who had not been sexually violated or sexually threatened in her life,” said Fryrear at a 2007 Love Won Out conference in Phoenix. “I never met one woman. And I never met one man either, that had not been sexually violated or sexually seduced in his life.”

“We call on the media to stop quoting an organization on gay issues which has proven to be untrustworthy and unethical in its use of research,” said Besen. “It is abundantly clear that this organization will do and say anything in its effort to misrepresent the lives of gay and lesbian people.”

The editors of the book have released the following statement to Truth Wins Out regarding Focus’ portrayal of their publication’s research:

We want to respond to a recent Focus on the Family characterization of scientific findings reported in our book, Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States (Oxford University Press) that misrepresented findings in the book to suggest that childhood sexual abuse causes male homosexuality. The Focus on the Family description of the findings reported in Unequal Opportunity is inaccurate and, in our opinion, a distortion of the scientific literature. (Read More)

In recent weeks, Exodus International and Focus on the Family have promoted a report by Focus on the Family activist Jeff Johnston which claims that research supports the ex-gay contention that homosexuality is caused by childhood sexual abuse.

The editors of the book have released the following statement to Truth Wins Out regarding Focus’ portrayal of their publication’s research.

We want to respond to a recent Focus on the Family characterization of scientific findings reported in our book, Unequal Opportunity: Health Disparities Affecting Gay and Bisexual Men in the United States (Oxford University Press) that misrepresented findings in the book to suggest that childhood sexual abuse causes male homosexuality. The Focus on the Family description of the findings reported in Unequal Opportunity is inaccurate and, in our opinion, a distortion of the scientific literature.

Most basically, the Focus on the Family characterization of the literature on childhood sexual abuse among gay men represents a misunderstanding of scientific approaches to distinguishing between correlation and causation. The book chapter in question reports that gay men are more likely to report childhood sexual abuse by men than are heterosexual men. This correlation does not mean that the reported abuse caused the adult sexual orientation. If that were the case, then the fact that some heterosexual men report sexual abuse by women means that sexual abuse by women “causes” heterosexuality in men. It is also worth noting that the argument that childhood sexual abuse causes homosexuality in gay men is undermined by the fact that the vast majority of gay men are not sexually abused as children.

One potential partial explanation for this correlation, and one that makes the most sense when you consider people of all orientations, is that some youth, particularly post-pubertal youth (who still cannot legally consent to sexual activity) have sexual experiences with males or females, depending on their pre-existing orientation. Let’s be very clear that this does not mean that these experiences are appropriate or healthy. However, it also does not mean that these experiences caused the sexual orientation of the youth. The development of a person’s sexual orientation is a complex and multifaceted process. The research into these processes has barely begun, and the development of sexuality is very difficult to study. Mischaracterizations of the scientific literature on the development of sexual orientation is not helpful to science.

Rather than mischaracterize these findings, we would like to point out the harm to health that can be caused by childhood sexual abuse among boys and girls of all sexual orientations. Childhood sexual abuse occurs to far too many young Americans and a large and growing literature supports that this abuse can cause lifelong damage to the physical and mental health and well-being of men and women of all sexual orientations. We suggest that Focus on the Family and other concerned organizations focus on how to work to ensure that all of our children remain safe from unwanted sexual experiences– whether heterosexual or homosexual.

That said, we want to state clearly that the published research does not support the claim that the development of a homosexual orientation is caused by childhood sexual abuse. Furthermore, adult homosexual orientation is no longer considered a pathology or a maladjustment. We urge those who are interested in trying to better understand some of these complex issues from a scientific perspective to read the discussions in our book, as well as the scientific literature on childhood sexual abuse, and not rely on second-hand interpretations.

Ron Stall
Ron Valdiserri

When a self-proclaimed ex-gay 12-year-old boy named Scott began to post YouTube videos, in which the boy committed acts of violence against himself and threatened to commit violence against others, the ultra-conservative publication WorldNetDaily applauded the boy for conducting his emotional breakdown in a manner that WND considers politically correct:

Scott’s portrayals of self-abuse and irrational confusion drew a legion of YouTube visitors who posted profane remarks and threats of their own in the boy’s YouTube comment section, serving as evidence (in WND’s warped opinion) that civility, tolerance, and non-violent conflict resolution — not to mention parental supervision of a 12-year-old — are evil.

As some observers, myself included, became aware of the problem in the past week or so, we opted not to draw additional attention to Scott and his obvious emotional disturbance because of the additional comment abuse that such attention might bring. Instead, we urged readers of various other blogs that did cover the story to flag the boy’s videos for official intervention and to call upon YouTube to get help for Scott — and for his parents, who were either negligent or abusive in allowing the boy’s crisis to develop.

According to Edge Boston today, help may have finally arrived.

EDGE received an email from an individual claiming to be Sgt. Chris Meehan of Texas’ Collin County, which includes suburban Dallas.

The correspondent claiming to be Sgt. Meehan, who is attached to an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, told EDGE, “I have been working on several cybertips reports that have been received regarding Christianu2uber.

“Several news publications were referenced on this, including your recent article,” the individual who self-identified as Sgt. Meehan added.

“I wanted to update you that we have located this 12 year old, and spoke to him and his parents about this situation,” the correspondent wrote.

“I know many readers expressed concern for his well-being and safety. He has decided to delete his youtube [sic] site and videos, and we will provide him counseling and assistance to get through this situation.”

While it saddens me that sites such as YouTube are full of vile and sadistic commenters, I am glad that authorities were apparently able to track down the boy and that YouTube finally suspended the boy’s account.

I wish such action had occurred in one day instead of ten, but better late than never.

After it was disclosed Friday that New Life Church in Colorado Springs paid money to one of Ted Haggard’s longtime same-sex partners in 2006 in exchange for his silence, Exodus executive vice president Randy Thomas swiftly diverted attention from the church’s abuse of power and instead made Haggard out to be a sexual predator — even though the “other man” was in his 20s.

For better or worse, it has long been commonplace — in both conservative Christendom and Hollywood — for 40- and 50-year-old heterosexual men to seek relationships with 23-year-old women. That potential imbalance of age, privilege, and life experience is insignificant compared to the abuse of power committed by a church that, by its admission, offered untold sums of “compassionate assistance” on the condition that the sexual relationship not be disclosed — even as the church was publicly declaring in 2006 that it knew of no sex partners other than Mike Jones, Haggard’s middle-aged prostitute.

Contrary to Thomas’ claim, there is no evidence that Haggard’s newly disclosed male partner was any more “impressionable” than the average twentysomething woman. And since no illegal sexual activities appear to have happened, Thomas’s call for “proper justice” suggests that Thomas might support the re-enactment and enforcement of antigay sex laws against consenting adults.

Thomas — an opponent of self-disclosure and sexual honesty among homosexual men — expresses no objection to New Life’s attempted cover-up. Like New Life, Thomas equates “compassionate assistance” with secrecy.

For nearly a decade, Thomas and his peers at Exodus’ flagship Love In Action program have sidestepped and excused similar abuses of power against genuinely impressionable youths — perhaps because Exodus believes that secrecy and denial about sexual orientation is all the “change” that one ultimately needs.

Under pressure from the Vatican to deny the existence of homosexuality and to expel same-sex-attracted aspirants, Catholic seminaries are now telling the Vatican what it wants to hear: that “difficulties” regarding seminarian “homosexual behavior” (whatever that is) have been “largely overcome.”

Meanwhile, the prevalence of sexual abuse among priests remains poorly surveyed, as the Vatican falsely believes that the expulsion of gay celibate seminarians and the suppression of gay celibate priests will somehow rid them of priests and seminarians who are attracted not to men or women, but to kids.

The report by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education implies that more should still be done to police seminarians’ thoughts and routine daily behaviors, according to the National Catholic Reporter:

“Laxity of discipline,” unmonitored off-campus trips and use of the Internet were additional concerns, according to the report.

Instead of looking for evidence of sexual abuse, the Vatican advises seminaries to look for “evidence of homosexuality” — whatever that is.

Advocates for clergy and for the victims of sexual abuse criticized the report:

Marianne Duddy-Burke, who heads DignityUSA, a pro-gay Catholic group, said the Catholic Church has “reinforced a climate of secrecy” in the seminaries that existed in the 1940s and 1950s.

“It’s not that gays aren’t going into seminaries,” she said, “it’s that closeted gays are going into seminaries.”

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said “the central problem is, and always has been, chancery offices, not seminaries.”

“Arguing that some Vatican ‘probe’ of seminaries is needed is just more of their finger-pointing and blame-shifting,” said SNAP President Barbara Blaine.

The blog The Lesbian Said What? wrote a point-by-point commentary on May 21 about the strawman arguments and ludicrous stereotypes that are taught by Christine Sneeringer, director of the Exodus ministry “Worthy Creations.” Sneeringer authored the widely circulated antigay essay, “Did God Make Me Gay?”

The commentary on Sneeringer’s essay is direct but polite.

There are lesbians who have been sexually abused. There are straight women who have been sexually abused. Not all lesbians were sexually abused. And the majority of lesbians that were sexually abused would have been lesbians whether they had been abused or not, because that’s who they are: lesbians. [After being raped,] Christine found safety, comfort and warmth in the arms of women as a coping mechanism; some women turn to alcohol or drugs or food to cope with these feelings. Christine is not a lesbian, she is a heterosexual woman. What makes a more interesting Christian testimony, saying that you were a lesbian and “saved,” or saying that you were sexually abused and found healing through God?

Ultimately, Sneeringer comes across as someone who distorts and embellishes her journey away from abuse, while turning real gay and lesbian persons into cookie-cutter caricatures.

Jason Cianciotto, executive director of Wingspan and former research director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, was subjected by his parents and a “Christian lay counselor” to forced isolation, repression, and eventually abandonment when it became apparent that “change” wasn’t really possible.

Columnist Anne T. Denogean writes about Cianciotto’s difficult adolescence in an article in the Tucson Citizen:

His mother and stepfather are evangelical Christians whose attitudes on sexual orientation were honed in the pews of Southern Baptist churches.

“I was raised in the church . . . to believe that nothing else existed besides growing up and getting married to a woman and having kids,” Cianciotto said.

As he entered his pre-teen years, his friends became interested in girls. He didn’t share their excitement. When he was 13 and becoming sexually active with other boys, his parents sent him to therapy.

“My family found a Christian lay counselor, who . . . taught me I needed to go as deep in the back of the closet as I possibly could. And if I just said my prayers, went to church and told my parents what they wanted to hear, I could stop answering embarrassing questions.”

His concerned parents restricted his activities, hoping to prevent or reverse the development of a gay orientation. Cianciotto wasn’t allowed, for example, to perform in school plays or musicals.

“I could be in the marching band because I was a drummer, so maybe that was more masculine,” he said, adding, “I kind of got back at them by being a xylophone player.”

Despite dating girls for appearances, Cianciotto was gay and was sent back to counseling from age 16 to 19 by parents hoping for a conversion. At his lowest point, Cianciotto considered suicide.

“I really wanted to be what my family and what my religion told me I needed to be,” he said.

His parents threw him out, at age 19, after finding gay porn in his bedroom and learning he had attended a LGBT student support group.

“I was at work and came home and found all of my belongings in plastic bags on the front porch,” he said.

Albeit unintentionally, Cianciotto’s mother and counselor acted to crush him — his interests, his skills, his individuality — through extremist gender-role stereotypes, isolation from his peers, intentional ignorance, religious judgmentalism, and sheer bigotry. Far from redeeming Cianciotto from a destructive and suicidal lifestyle, they promoted precisely that sort of lifestyle.

Cianciotto was luckier than some GLBT throwaways; he had a tolerant father and stepmother, and was able to gain support and guidance from tolerant friends — the sort of institutional and peer support that ex-gay activists seek to deny to GLBT youths when they battle against gay-straight alliances, safe-space programs, and Days of Silence.