Craig L. Parshall wrote a pseudo-intellectual histrionic screed for the National Religious Broadcasters today comparing Apple nixing Exodus International’s “ex-gay” app to the sinking of the Titanic. Incredible Pinocchio-like exaggerations and heaps of hyperbole are the norm for special interest groups that represent intolerant sects of Christianity. Amusingly, the fundies are so petrified of losing their cherished right to dump on gays, that they are studying the trumped up, War on Christmas-like fake issue:
Here at NRB we are so concerned about potential anti-Christian censorship over new media platforms that we formed the John Milton Project for Religious Free Speech.
In other words, NRB is organizing campaigns to bully private enterprise into accepting bigoted products that violate the consciences of fair-minded business owners.
If there is one group that is not suffering from a lack of “free speech” it’s religious extremists. I know because I was just on a 12-state speaking tour and I noticed something. One could be in the middle of nowhere — on a moonscape highway — and pick up two things on the radio: banjos and hate spewing preachers. So, rest assured, the vacuous and vicious voices represented in darker corners of religious broadcasting are being heard loud and clear.
Indeed, one can easily make the case that NRB — given the ubiquity of religious radio and television stations — has significantly greater opportunities to disseminate messages than average Americans do. However, since they think they are superior to non-believers and mainstream Christians — such a wide national reach will not sate their carnivorous appetite. They want dominion over all media platforms and will stop at nothing to ensure they control the airwaves.
What struck me in Parshall’s article is his remarkable arrogance and cloying sense of entitlement. He essentially demanded special rights and unadulterated freedom for fundamentalist businesses, while imposing onerous, anti-business rules governing secular ones.
In a self-serving manner, Parshall states that the industry he represents is not subject to government intervention — while companies like Apple are:
Of course, some will raise a query concerning the fact that Apple and other private communications platforms, like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, web search engines like Google and Bing, and big Internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T, are all private commercial entities. The question, then, is whether that fact alone should allow them the license to discriminate against certain content simply because it contains a Christian viewpoint. I would strongly suggest that it does not.
Unlike newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites, or TV and radio stations for that matter (activities that qualify for the Founders’ First Amendment vision of “freedom of the press”), the communication companies I listed above are not in the business of providing, themselves, editorial content, viewpoints, opinions, news, or information. Instead, they simply provide a technological platform (for a fee) that enables American citizens to exercise their free speech rights.
First, it is clear that Apple does not discriminate against the Christian viewpoint. Jeremy Hooper of the blog Good As You looked at the app store and found a plethora of Christian apps. Jeremy rightfully concludes:
Nine pages of Christian apps (as of 1/10/11). And there’s certainly other search criteria (“God”, “faith,” “religion”, etc.) that would turn up even more Biblical hits, if we took the time.
So it aint anti-Christian bias that caused the app to be pulled: It’s one business’ concern about a scientifically discredited movement that quite undeniably works to stigmatize and delegitimize millions of people! The “ex-gay” backers have every right to make their case in regards to the apps merits. They have every right to boycott all things with a little “i” in front of them. But the iTunes store as “anti-Christian”? It’s empirically false!
Second, it was fascinating to watch the intellectual dishonesty of Parshall — when he declared Internet based companies “platforms” and the television and radio stations represented by NRB to be creators of “editorial content.” Apple did make an editorial statement when it exercised its First Amendment right to distance itself from region-based bigotry.
Furthermore, microphones and television cameras do not create content, viewpoints or opinions on their own. Like Apple’s iStore, this technology is a also platform. It is the human beings that speak into the microphones and look into the cameras that create the content.
So, if Apple’s app store is nothing but a “platform”, than Pat Robertson’s 700 Club television studio is also just a platform waiting for faces and voices to fill the airwaves. And, if this is the case, I want a to do a show and express my opinions by hosting the 700 Club.
What? I can’t use this platform to discuss Truth Wins Out?
Censorship! The Titanic! The end of free speech!
The point is, groups like the NRB have no interest in fairness, justice or free speech. They carry the yoke of fundamentalism and feel compelled to do whatever it takes to gain the upper hand so they can proselytize — even if this means pretending they suddenly care about diversity of viewpoints and equal access, when they have no problem excluding LGBT people from virtually every aspect of life.
I’m pleased that the Apple debate revealed the rift between social conservatives — who want to dictate their views to the marketplace — and business conservatives who still believe entrepreneurs have a right to choose their own products.
Update: I thought Lisa Ling did a better job last night — and it was good to see a reporter follow-up on the “ex-gay” myth. If she continues to check-in on the “ex-gay” subjects she featured, it will not bode well for Exodus, as people rarely complete the dead-end curriculum of this fraudulent program.
In terms of the segment, the utter misery of the poor “ex-gay” man named Christan shone brightly through Exodus’ propaganda. Ling successfully showed how he was going through trapeze-artist-like contortions to be something that he is not.
After scrapping his beloved art, practically living in the gym (yeah, that’s so straight) and avoiding gay bars — Christian still came across as queer as a three dollar bill stuck in Perez Hilton’s leopard skin g-string. It is obvious to all but the most brainwashed fundamentalists how unsuccessful and strained the entire de-gaying process truly is.
Ex-Gay minister Janet Boynes also came across as a control freak, hovering ominously in the background over her struggling “poster boy” to make sure he did not fall off the hetero-wagon. It was apparent that she would destroy Christian’s life without blinking to justify her self-serving religious delusions. I hope the ever-enterprising Boynes sells enough books to make undermining Christian’s life worth her while.
Finally, there was a gigantic contrast between the sorrowful and hopeless life led by Christian and the genuine hopefulness and happiness exhibited in another segment about a person who transitioned from female to male. This individual looked completely fulfilled (and very attractive) and headed towards a new, bright future. Meanwhile, the tunnel seemed to only get darker for the sad “ex-gay” who was eliminating every trace of individuality to conform to Janet Boynes twisted view of heterosexuality and manhood.
In my view, Ling should strongly consider doing another show from the perspective of “ex-gay” survivors. What is it like to be a teenager and be bombarded by negative images of your sexual orientation? How does propaganda from the “ex-gay” industry affect these teenagers? What are the motivations that would cause a person to enter an “ex-gay” program? What are the psychological effects of going through these sham ministries? Are “ex-gay” programs making false promises and misleading clients with deceptive advertising? Why do they talk so much about demons in their books and other products they peddle to desperate people? Would Exodus activists be willing to take No Lie MRI’s, polygraphs or penile plesymographs to back up their fanciful tales with hard (no pun intended) facts?
It is clear that Ling has learned a bit from her initial story — and is more attuned to the nuances of this explosive issue. There is so much more for her to explore on this topic, and I hope she will take the opportunity to do so responsibly, using all the research and resources at her disposal.
Jeremy has a fun graphic posted, of all the Christian apps available, which will show you just how much Apple is doing to silence Christians in the app store. Truly, they are victims. Weep for the way Apple is silencing Christians.
[I would post the graphic but WordPress just told me it doesn't have enough memory to handle an image that's the same size as many mp3s.]
Peter LaBarbera apparently hasn’t noticed that he’s gaining no traction with his “I know you are but what am I?” approach to having his organization labeled as a hate group, because in his response to the Exodus iPhone app controversy, he gives Truth Wins Out an entire bolded sub-section where he again asserts that we are the real haters and that Wayne is mean. The “I know you are but what am I” starts way before that though:
[T]he Homosexual Lobby’s hardball strategy is built on lies, intimidation and even bullying of well-meaning, compassionate Christians and religious people who simply disagree with the practice of homosexuality.
I often wonder whether or not Peter is truly a fool. Because see, this is the thing: it is beyond question that radical anti-gay extremists lie constantly about gay people, demonize gay people, bully gay people [sometimes to death! We still are the only side with a bodycount, of course.], etc. This is not a “point of view.” It is a verifiable fact. Fundamentalist Christians whine about the same four or five sob stories constantly — did you hear about the time the wedding photographer in New Mexico had to abide by state law? — but that’s just a bunch of crybaby whimpering compared to gay teenagers killing themselves. And please either drop the adjectives “well-meaning” and “compassionate,” or add “brainwashed” to the list. Either way would be more accurate.
Incredibly, a tiny Sexual Sin Lobby
Always labeling things with words he can’t prove are accurate.
presumes to dictate to the rest of us what is and is not acceptable speech, ideas, and conduct with regard to homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”
Why don’t you just use the word “uppity” and get on with it, Pete?
(They even claim to be the arbiter of what is ”love” and “hate.”)
Nah, we’re just not brainwashed by the Fundamentalist definitions of those words and thus use them as the English language intends.
The failure of the national media — stuck in “gays-as-victims” mode – to question the growing pro-LGBT intolerance, demonization, and oppression of adherents to Judeo-Christian moral teachings, itself contributes greatly to the persecution of people of faith.
If you were an alien and the first thing you read on Planet Earth was a screed from an anti-gay wingnut, you would get the oppression, I mean impression that gay people are hauling fundamentalists off to concentration camps, wouldn’t you? Such is the anguish they feel over living in a country which is finally starting to chip away at the pedestal they have put themselves on ever since their/our ancestors landed and started massacring Native Americans.
Even more ridiculous is the idea of affixing a ”civil rights” label to homosexual militants like ”Truth Wins Out” (TWO) who are devoted to crushing the civil rights and voice of opposing pro-family advocates.
What “civil rights” are being taken away from extremist Christians, Peter? Please use the accepted definition of “civil rights,” as opposed to the “whatever wingnuts want to do” definition. And please do it quietly, as we are trying to crush your voice by quoting your word salad verbatim, again, as we frequently do.
The next section is Peter complaining that Exodus is too nice to gays, which is to be expected coming from a hate group leader. This is humorous:
Christians and moral-minded Americans MUST actively defend truth on this issue against the many “gay” lies (even the activist term “gay” is a lie…)
Did you know that “gay” was an “activist term”? I had no idea. Since the great majority of Americans refer to gay people as, um, gay people, I guess the great majority of Americans are gay activists now. Win!
Aggressive homo-fascism hates dissent, religious or otherwise.
Totally true, as I reported at Wonkette the other day.
For goodness sake, 31 out of 31 states provided the opportunity have voted down “same-sex marriage,” and yet opposition to same sex marriage is now widely derided as “hate” by all major homosexualist organizations!
Now that we’re reaching the tipping point [of no return] with public acceptance of gay people, it’s going to be really fun when they can’t use that line anymore. Enjoy it while it lasts!
What Exodus’ well-intentioned leaders — and millions of “ministry-minded” Christians — do not understand regarding this cultural debate is that no matter how “nice” you are to the likes of TWO, the only thing that counts is that you oppose homosexual behavior.
Um, yeah, because grown-ups understand that hate, dressed up all sweet-like with Bible words, is still hate.
The expanding list of victimized Christians [click HERE and HERE] makes clear…
Link one is about a bed and breakfast owner who doesn’t want to comply with the laws of the state where he lives. Link two is about a counseling student who is unqualified to enter the profession she seeks to enter because she’s not enough of an adult to maintain the standards of that profession, and instead wants a standing hall pass to give inferior, harmful care any time there’s a gay client involved. These are their “victims.” Get back to me about “victimhood” when one of them commits suicide, or is murdered for being a wingnut, or has to endure years of psychological care because of the scars left by Militant Homosexual Activists, or whatever.
No need to quote the rest of that passage, because the “expanding list of victimized Christians” only makes clear that these people will whine about anything at all, to anyone who will listen, at any time.
(Of course, LGBT activists claim to support religious freedom, but what good is liberty if we cannot publicly proclaim and act upon our historic biblical beliefs about sex, marriage and family?)
You have all the right to proclaim whatever you want. No one is taking that away from you. When you say “act upon,” though, I’d prefer that you have your fundamentalist Christian, within-the-bonds-of-marriage Not Sex as far away from Public as possible, but that’s just me. Seriously, on what planet do these people live wherein “acting upon” their beliefs about marriage and sex and family includes encroaching on other peoples’ lives (people who don’t even want to KNOW them!), and other peoples’ abilities to have whatever beliefs about sex, marriage and family that they want? Really. What planet?
Far from being victims, the best way to think of name-calling homosexual activists like TWO’s Wayne Besen is as bullies.
You are SO MEAN, Wayne. Why do you upset Peter so?
Take special note of “Truth Wins Out’s” preposterous characterization of Exodus as “hateful and bigoted.”
Um, well, they defame gay people on a daily basis by lying about us, misrepresenting scientific research regarding gays [and doing so knowingly], lying to the people who come to them for “counseling,” lying to the world about their own success rate, saying one thing to the world about how they don’t actually try to “change” anyone’s sexuality [because they know smart people will laugh] but telling their clients something altogether different, and just generally by being snakes. Sounds like “hateful and bigoted” to me, but then again, I’m not warped by fundamentalist Christianity.
Any rational observer who compares TWO’s and Exodus’ rhetoric will see who the real “haters” are
Exodus, because a rational observer would, by definition, be an adult, and would be able to see through the “freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ” pablum to uncover the hatred and bigotry [and also the lies] underneath. TWO, on the other hand, doesn’t mince words and doesn’t feel the need to treat people like toddlers. Also, we don’t lie. And we fight for actual victims. And our work doesn’t lead to people suffering lifelong depression or taking their own lives because of what we’ve taught. Yeah. Keeping trying this “I know you are but what am I?” thing, though. It wins more people to our side every time you say it.
TWO regularly engages in extreme, ad hominem, and blatantly anti-Christian rhetoric. (Wayne Besen proudly came up with the ugly “Porno Pete” smear to tar this writer.)
It had nothing to do with all the leather sex photography Peter posts. Man, that’s a good nickname, though. Gays who don’t pay that much attention to the news don’t know the name “Peter LaBarbera,” but lots of people know “Porno Pete.” Warms my black militant homo-fascist heart, it does.
Substituting “gay” ideology for reality
[I know you are but what am I?]
they simply deny the existence of former homosexuals
Because they all end up back out of the closet/on Craigslist looking for gay sex! Alan Chambers, tell us about how you’re still into dudes again.
TWO actively demonizes anyone who goes public about overcoming homosexuality in their life – and especially mocks those who claim to have done so with the divine help of Christ.
Remember that time the “ex-gay” leader got caught knowingly giving guys HIV? That was quite a moment for the industry. Remember the time the poster-boy for the “ex-gay” industry got caught cruising guys in a DC gay bar, by THAT MEAN OLD WAYNE BESEN? But you’re right, Peter, we should focus on whichever “ex-gays” are currently getting paid to spread fundamentalist propaganda, and then forget about them the second they get caught in a New Orleans bathhouse doing lines of coke out of a twink’s belly button.
(Besen’s snarky attack-slogan for Christian, ex-homosexual overcomers is “Pray Away the Gay.”)
Maybe we should retire that one since Exodus now admits they don’t change anyone’s sexuality. Haha, nah. They’re only doing that right now because the spotlight’s on ‘em.
Precious few journalists are willing to call out the Homosexual Lobby on its totalitarian-like, censorious approach to ideas and biblical/religious truths that it does not like, so we must.
Well, let’s be fair. The shrinking group of Americans wingnutty enough to think that Peter LaBarbera makes sense are the only ones who actually see this “totalitarian homosexualist” thing going on, so, by definition, they HAVE to be the ones to call it out. They’re also the only ones who think their air conditioning vents are talking to them, most likely. You know who IS calling out the media, though? Victoria Jackson, that paragon of sanity.
Fellow advocate of godly morality, please understand this: militants on the homosexual-bisexual-transgender Left hate you enough to shut down your voice anywhere they can.
Jeff Buchanan has written a lengthy piece about the removal of the Exodus iPhone app, where he repeats the same whining about “freedom of speech” we’re fairly used to by this point, from religious fundamentalists. They are being “silenced,” you see, yet for some reason my Google alerts continue to bombard me with their nonsense. Catch up, Google, we are silencing the Fundamentalists and you Are. Not. Helping!
Anyway, amidst the usual bullroar, he quotes this:
And while we have a responsibility to [hate gays or whatever] in a way that radiates the compassion and love of Christ to all regardless of differing views on any given subject, we must remember that no matter how tender our words or how loving our actions, Jesus predicted that the outcome may not always be pleasant. He said in Luke 6, “Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.”
We exist and therefore, we will not always be liked.
Jesus knew that and in the very same chapter, He tells us what to do when that happens. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
I was wondering when one of them was going to throw the “Jesus said we would be hated for his sake” card. I always find it funny because these people are not like their Jesus, at all. I also find it funny because Jesus did not immediately follow that statement with “So GAME ON with the lying, the defaming, the hurting people and the general dickishness, y’all!,” which is the message Jeff Buchanan and his fundamentalist handlers seem to have taken from that verse. I mean, maybe my translations aren’t up to date, but I do not think Jesus said that.
A story in the news this week proves once again what we’ve been saying for years. Liberals want to silence pro-family conservatives like you and me. In a stunning decision, Apple withered under pressure from homosexual activists and censored an application that offers help to people struggling with homosexuality. The app for ex-gays was created by Exodus International–and before this week, it had a 4+ rating from the iTunes store. Exodus is another victim of the growing campaign to silence Christianity in America. As a reader of my emails, you know that the Southern Poverty Law Center falsely labeled FRC a “hate group” for standing for biblical norms regarding sexuality. Liberal activists use this label and demand that media outlets censor FRC staff and research.
We are honored to serve on these frontlines, but we need your help. Please help us stand for marriage and healthy human sexuality with your gift today.
Apple’s censorship has nothing to do with “tolerance.” This is about silencing anything and anyone who challenges homosexuality. Americans need to wake up and realize that religious liberty is heading in the same direction as Exodus’s app-extinction! In this environment, it doesn’t matter what the facts are. If they contradict the homosexual agenda, the Left will do everything it can to muzzle them. The radical Left demands that we hand over control of our nation, our families, our children, and our freedoms to them. They demand big government intervention in every area of life. They rewrite history to hide our Christian heritage. To all of this, Family Research Council says, “No Surrender!”
You hear that, you guys? They are being SILENCED by us! They are shouting through their loudspeakers that they are being SILENCED! Also, send money!
Tuesday night, Apple dumped Exodus International’s “gay cure” iPhone app after more than 150,000 people joined Truth Wins Out and Change.org in calling for its removal. The app was pulled by Apple, as they apparently recognized that Exodus demonizes LGBT people, calling them perverse and saying that homosexuality will “make your heart sick.”
To make this moment possible, Truth Wins Out applied tremendous pressure in the form of a sustained, two-week-long multimedia campaign that caught the attention of media outlets around the world, from CNN and MSNBC to the Wall Street Journal and Guardian UK.
This major victory for the Truth Wins Out community means that Exodus has one less platform through which to expose LGBT youth to their dangerous, hateful, and scientifically bankrupt message.
As the tide of public opinion shifts in favor of LGBT equality, you can be sure that our opponents will redouble their efforts to dehumanize the LGBT community. For example, within minutes of Apple’s removal of the Exodus app, anti-gay extremist Peter LaBarbera tweeted “H-O-M-O-F-A-S-C-I-S-M!!! Gays win, freedom of speech loses!!”
Investing today in Truth Wins Out will help provide us with the resources we need to continue fighting back against the misinformation and dangerous lies of groups like Exodus International. To help us launch our next campaign, please click on the link below to make a critical and timely contribution:
Mike Airhart posted a blog entry on TWO’s Facebook page earlier, and as I am wont to do, I clicked on it, and found a blog writer I had never heard of, saying really sane things about our very recent fight to have the Exodus app removed from Apple’s store. I recommend that you read all of it, but here was the piece that hit me (the bolded part):
Taking their stance of being able to provide a “gay cure” and laying it in front of you – it doesn’t take much of a leap to see that it rings bells with other bigotry in the history of our not so peaceful planet. How fast would Apple have pulled the app if it stated to be a Jew cure? A black cure? A Muslim cure? Of course, the creators of this software probably would like to release all of those apps as well, as is their mentality. Small minded, petty fools who believe that there is nothing in this world worth living for apart from their misguided indoctrination into hate of everything and anything that doesn’t exist in (their understanding of) a book that calms their nerves when they think of their own mortality. A book that was rewritten many times through the ages and, no doubt, has the creative input of a few closet homosexuals added into the mix of gospels they so revere today.
I’m not going to ramble on about this, as hopefully most of the people who have made it this far have the intelligence to be equally as appalled as I am and are adding their names to the petition to kick Apple up the arse.
I’m not gay, black, Muslim, Jewish or even pro-Christian but, as no god is my witness, wouldn’t Earth be a far bleaker place without the more fulfilled people who live on this rock that are genuinely happy to say “I may not be, but I’m blessed to stand alongside those that are.”
If you need to invest in an iPhone app that goes one step to curing crimes against nature – I would suggest you start with Angry Bigots. There’s nothing more satisfying than catapulting them full force into pigs in glass houses.
Indeed.
Go give the writer some love, because he gets it. Whoever is reading this, you may not be. You may not be Christian. You may not be atheist. You may not be gay. You may not be transgender. You may not be Muslim. You may not be Republican. You may not be liberal. You may not be Jewish. You may not be a democratic socialist. You may not be a die-hard capitalist. You may not be bisexual. You may not be…
You get the damn idea.
There are a lot of unrepentant assholes, of all stripes, who disrespect the dignity of all human beings. But there are also people of all stripes who do love people, regardless of what category they fit into. [Hint: If it's the Christian fundamentalist form of "love," it's false, fake love. We're talking about the real thing here.] So go give some love to the people in your lives, no matter what labels apply to them, who actually get it, and tell them that you respect their dignity as they respect yours. (And that is the key, dear, sweet wingnuts who might read this and get their own ideas: this is about TRUE mutual respect, and none of you Christian extremist wingnuts have it.)
If you are a business owner, beware. Social conservatives want to tell you what products you can sell and what ideas you must disseminate, whether you like it or not.
These totalitarians think that their beliefs are superior and if you don’t support them, you are violating their First Amendment rights. However, after a close reading of the U.S. Constitution, I found nothing that said, “thou shall be forced to sell obnoxious and offensive products by religious cults that prey on youth.”
Nonetheless, social conservatives are up in arms because Apple exercised its right to choose what products are in its online store when it dumped a scientifically bankrupt and defamatory “ex-gay” app by the group Exodus International. Not surprisingly, these anti-business and anti-free speech thugs are whining and playing the victim card. Ironically, they are using the language of business with catchphrases like “the marketplace of ideas” — even as they work to dictate what the market can sell to consumers.
“It’s about freedom of speech, the ability to participate in the marketplace of ideas,” Prison Fellowship’s Chuck Colson disingenuously wrote today. “The gay-rights groups have shown their fangs. Victory in the courts or in the legislatures is not enough for them. They want to silence, yes, destroy those who don’t agree with their agenda. So they target Christian groups and corporate America to do just that.” (We must be winning. Colson said “gay” and not “homosexual”)
The Exodus App histrionics continued with Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council huffing and puffing in a fund-raising letter:
“Our form of democracy will not long survive if the freedom of speech and religion are lost.”
And, I’m sure the absence of racist and anti-Semitic apps at Apple’s online store have decimated democracy, religion, freedom of speech as well.
I suppose Perkins might have a point, because he worships at the altar of hate. This is the guy, after all, who runs a Southern Poverty Law Center certified hate group and once tried to further his political career by purchasing former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke’s mailing list.
The most ridiculous statement, as usual, came from Exodus President Alan Chambers, who’s about as bright as the bottom of the sea.
“We are extremely disappointed to learn of Apple’s decision to deny equal representation in the public square,” said Exodus President Alan Chambers in a statement. “Discrimination of thought and belief obstructs essential dialogue and authentic diversity.”
Chambers appears to be an ignoramus. As the leader of an organization, he surely must have some clue that Apple is a private company and in no way part of the “public square”. And, what does his organization have to do with diversity? Are there any openly gay people working at his outfit?
Aside from the attack on business and confusion of what constitutes the public sphere, Exodus is making the outrageous and patently dishonest claim that it does not promise to cure anyone. What a bunch of lying, oleaginous snakes. Here is what Peterson Toscano, founder of the “ex-gay” survivor group BeyondExGay wrote today:
“Only after 15 years of attending a variety of Exodus-member programs, I finally heard one of their leaders admit that actual change in orientation was not a realistic goal. During my first week at the Love in Action ex-gay residential program in Memphis, TN (what would become a two year stint) the director informed us that we would never be heterosexual. Wait! What about the big fat slogan on their website and brochures–Freedom from Homosexuality through Jesus Christ? Turns out it’s just PR. They have a public message and then a private reality.”
Toscano also pointed out why the Exodus App was pulled — it harms people:
“Being an ex-gay survivor myself and personally speaking with over 1,500 fellow survivors, I can say that Buchanan is correct on one point—Exodus has no cure to offer. Instead they issue a curse for those who submit or are forced to submit to their teachings. They offer harm—psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage. They tamper with their clients’ relationships, careers, personal development, and finances. They make a mess of our lives in Jesus’ name.”
Anyway, back to where we started. If Exodus, Tony Perkins and Chuck Colson truly believe in forcing private entities to carry views they find offensive, they should put their money where their mouths are — by publishing my weekly column.
What — they don’t want to be forced to disseminate my views? What about the new found commitment to “diversity” these phonies have hid behind this week?
Welcome to America fundies — if you don’t like Apple’s policies get rid of your electronic typewriters and go back to cave drawing.
As you all know, Apple pulled the bigoted Exodus iPhone app after our petition drew over 150,000 signatures from customers demanding that the company treat anti-gay apps the same way they would racist or anti-Semitic apps. In reality, it never should have been approved in the first place, but mistakes are made sometimes, and Apple has corrected it. Unfortunately, a writer at another gay blog seems to have a problem with that, so I’d like to take a few minutes to set the record straight by responding to any misunderstandings they may have about what this was and was not about, starting with our old, original logo, with its completely wrongheaded accompanying caption:
Here is the oh-so-cute caption they placed beneath that graphic: “…But only if opposing viewpoints are effectively silenced?”
Um, no. The entire Religious Right has a louder voice in this country than their numbers would suggest, and no one is taking anything from them that falls under the category of “freedom of speech.” But more on that later. Let’s have a look-see at the article:
So why are we not exactly celebrating here at AfterElton? First, we’re bracing for the inevitable: complaints from groups like Exodus, AFA and NOM that this is yet another example of “gay activists” bullying and trying to silence Christians.
Yes, that’s what they say every single time their fee fees get hurt, on every loud speaker they can find. Their views, somehow, are never silenced, especially by Truth Wins Out and the other gay news sources which actually are experts on the Religious Right, who make a daily practice of quoting these people’s words verbatim. If we were trying to “silence” their voices, we’d hide under a rock and hope that makes them go away. Moving on:
Second, and more importantly, as vehemently as we might disagree with Exodus International’s mission and beliefs, we think they should be allowed to express them.
And they do. Moving on:
Exodus International’s smartphone app was basically a platform for their blogs, podcasts, latest news and FAQs – essentially the same material you could find if you went to their website. It’s not as if the thing was marketed as some sort of magical/religious gay cure in and of itself.
AND what does Exodus International do for a living?! They market “freedom from the homosexual lifestyle!” If one spent any time with the app itself, one would have found that the app opened up a world of false information and defamation of LGBT people. Indeed, Dr. Gary Remafedi specifically wrote a letter to Apple, stating that the Exodus app featured misrepresentations of his own scientific research, and that therefore they should remove the app.
And even if it was, anybody offended and yes, disgusted even, by the Exodus International app could of course choose not to download and install it.
Ah, yes. Freedom of choice. Just like you can choose not to go to a website you don’t like/are disgusted by. We’re winding up to the smackdown here, folks, give me two more paragraphs.
But honestly, how many people were offended by the application itself? How many people even saw the thing? Certainly not 150,000. It’s more likely that most of the people signing that Change.org petition simply didn’t like Exodus International and all that they stand for.
Would 150,000 people signing a petition against a KKK app need to actually see/download it to express their outrage?
Apple says the app was removed because it was “offensive to large groups of people.” But lots of things are offensive to large groups of people. Does the GLBT community really want that to be the standard for what is allowed on Apple’s increasingly pivotal app store? How soon until Apple gets a petition to remove Grindr? What if The Trevor Project tried to release an app to assist gay teens?
Indeed, and I wish Apple had worded that better, but the reason we petitioned for its removal is because it went against Apple’s own corporate policies in that it was defamatory against an entire minority group, and moreover, it spread false information about that group. So, if a bunch of wingnuts whine and start a petition against Grindr, they’re going to have to prove that Grindr defames them in some way, and it doesn’t. There are thousands of Christian apps available, and it’s important to note why we petitioned against this app. It has nothing to do with “opposing viewpoints,” and it certainly doesn’t have a damn thing to do with the First freaking Amendment.
Speaking of gay teens, Truth Wins Out claimed that a key rationale for the petition was “stopping a virulently anti-gay organization from peddling false speech at the expense of vulnerable LGBT youth.” This has an ironically familiar ring to it. The right is forever saying it is teens and children who should be protected from gay content. With this precedent established those Christian activists can now make the exact same case in opposing any gay apps they don’t like.
Oh, well, I don’t know how much time you spend covering things like gay teen suicide and the damage religious extremists do to gay teens and young adults, because I don’t read your blog, but we’re sort of the experts on that, seeing as it’s in our Mission Statement. So you might think it sounds “ironically familiar,” but whereas the Right doesn’t have the moral authority or the concrete evidence to show that they have a good reason to protect youth from gay people, we have both the moral authority and the concrete evidence, and the statistics on bullying and suicide, and a treasure trove of testimony and reporting on the effects of so-called “reparative therapy,” and unlike the Religious Right, we can back up our assertions with the findings of every single major medical and mental health organization in the United States.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court in an 8-1 decision ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church had a First Amendment Right to wave their vile “God Hates Fags” signs outside of military funerals.
And the court got it exactly right.
Of course, you can distinguish the Westboro decision from the facts here in that Westboro was spewing their hateful message in a public space. Apple’s online app store is a private space, and thus they have the right to include/exclude whatever organizations and applications they want.
Well, if I had known you were going to win my side of the argument for me, I wouldn’t have wasted all this time.
But it seems clear that Apple’s dominance in the smartphone and tablet markets means that their App store has become a substantial channel for communication. How confident are you that the next public outcry and petition that Apple responds to won’t be to kick off a pro-Gay app?
We’re not very confident at all.
Are you scared? I mean, we’ll be there to fight it if that happens, but I’m a bit stunned that a blog purporting to represent the interests of the LGBT community is so willing to defend an organization with a proven track record of hurting gay people and their families. Yes, the App store is a “substantial channel for communication.” It’s also a private corporation, and as long as their policies are what they are, we will fight for people to recognize that true defamation against LGBT people has no place where racism, anti-semitism and other forms of bigotry would otherwise not be tolerated.
It is really that simple. I will allow that Apple often applies its policies inconsistently, and that this is a situation that will probably be revisited at some point in the future, for some reason, but that is not an excuse to tuck tail and run when something as egregious as this slips by their filters. Obviously over 150,000 petition signers agree.
UPDATE: If anyone is not quite clear on who the victims of reparative therapy are, what it does to them, and why Exodus’s “ministry” is really just a front for a hate organization against the LGBT community, please read this in its entirety. An excerpt:
Being an ex-gay survivor myself and personally speaking with over 1,500 fellow survivors, I can say that [Exodus's Jeff] Buchanan is correct on one point—Exodus has no cure to offer. Instead they issue a curse for those who submit or are forced to submit to their teachings. They offer harm—psychological, emotional, and spiritual damage. They tamper with their clients’ relationships, careers, personal development, and finances. They make a mess of our lives in Jesus’ name.
So what exactly does Exodus do? They now publicly admit that no one changes from gay to straight. They claim they don’t offer a cure. They say they don’t therapize. What services do they provide? Basically they will undermine your sense of self as they reinforce the notion that you are not good enough as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer person. They will demonize your desires, and will not even be satisfied if you choose to be celibate yet insist on honestly calling yourself lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. To add insult to injury they have fought to deny happy homosexuals and transgender people legal rights and protections. They malign LGBTQ people, our relationships, our desires, our dreams, and then they export this message to Uganda, South Africa, Croatia, Singapore, Costa Rica and beyond.
As I said, read it all.
UPDATE DEUX: I just took a gander at AfterElton’s homepage, seeing as, as I said before, it’s never a blog that’s seemed remotely useful to me in any way. As I expected, their piece on this was the only one which even approached an attempt to speak about something of actual import to the LGBT community outside of pop culture or Lady GaGa or Glee or whatever the hell else. Ya know, there are some who can do both. Joe does. Andy does. But then there are some who can’t and shouldn’t try, those who should leave it to the grown-ups.
Craig L. Parshall wrote a pseudo-intellectual histrionic screed for the National Religious Broadcasters today comparing Apple nixing Exodus International’s “ex-gay” app to the sinking of the Titanic. Incredible Pinocchio-like exaggerations and heaps of hyperbole are the norm for special interest groups that represent intolerant sects of Christianity. Amusingly, the fundies are so petrified of losing their cherished right to dump on gays, that they are studying the trumped up, War on Christmas-like fake issue:
