Mitchell Gold, friend of Truth Wins Out and founder of Faith In America, went on MSNBC this afternoon and discussed anti-gay bullying, and the root cause of it, which is spiritual terrorism inflicted by the Religious Right, on the kids of this country. Refusing to mince words, he called the religious messages of hatred against LGBT people exactly what they are: “child molestation of a child’s mind.”  Here’s the pull-quote:

I would say this, that clergy people who stand at their pulpit and they speak about gay people as sinners and an abomination, that is bullying a young kid. That is really — and I know this may sound exaggerated — but that is nothing less than child molestation of a child’s mind. [...] It is devastating to a 14-year-old-kid to hear their rabbi or their imam or their priest or clergy person say that they are a sinner or an abomination…and I’m here to tell them, they are full and whole and wonderful and they will learn as life goes on that there are many, many people who feel that way.

Preach it. The Religious Right doesn’t particularly like to hear that they are at the root of the higher rates of bullying, depression and even suicide that gay teens experience, but we at Truth Wins Out aren’t in business to make the bigots feel better. Here’s the video:

It’s got to be pretty painful for hate group leader Tony Perkins when these days, he even loses debates on Fox News.  Watch as Bernard Whitman of Faith In America, a gay father himself, clearly calls Tony out for his lies regarding gay parenting and the anti-gay Arizona adoption bill.  I hope the anti-gay Religious Right is making plans for their coming irrelevancy, because if this is all they’ve got, the clock is ticking.

[h/t Alvin]

In the 1980’s Mitchell Gold moved with his business partner Bob Williams from New York City to rural North Carolina to start a furniture company. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams became incredibly successful and Gold turned his efforts to philanthropy and gay activism.

The move to the south made it abundantly clear that the main obstacle to LGBT equality was resistance by people of faith. Bible verses were routinely cherry picked and used like clubs to cause a significant amount of damage – particularly to youth who were most vulnerable to anti-gay rhetoric.

For years, Gold was involved with various LGBT organizations, but found them squeamish about tackling what he calls “religion-based bigotry”. The reluctance stemmed from a fear of being perceived as anti-religious, or of getting bogged down in circular arguments that relied on competing Bible verses.

Gold was also frustrated by these organizations’ reluctance to flat out say, “homosexuality isn’t a choice.” These LGBT groups did not want to make this case, because they felt that people should have equal rights regardless of whether it was a choice or not.

Of course, this is true on a philosophical level, but Gold explains that this line of thinking does not consider political reality. He points to the hard facts: “If a person believes sexual orientation is a choice, they are 70% more likely to be against LGBT equal rights. If a person believes sexual orientation is part of how you are created, they are 70% more likely to be in favor of LGBT equal rights.”

In an effort to get to the heart of the problem by forthrightly addressing religion-based bigotry, Gold launched “Faith in America” in 2005. This month, his group released a comprehensive report, “Addressing Religious Arguments to Achieve LGBT Equality.” The strategy memorandum boldly confronts religious arguments head on and offers solutions.

The most important recommendation is to let people of faith understand the enormous harm they are causing. The report highlights statistics showing that, “gay youth who experience family rejection are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide and 6 times more likely to report high levels of depression.”

Based on numerous advertising campaigns, focus groups, polling, and face-to-face contact, Gold recommends asking our adversaries, “Can the immense harm caused to gay and lesbian individuals exist comfortably with the principles of your faith?”

The biggest obstacle to this tactic is that most fundamentalists and evangelicals are deluded into thinking their persecution is helpful, because it will keep the targeted homosexual out of Hell. Gold’s answer is to vividly explain to such individuals the trauma and mental scars left by their intolerant preaching. Gold’s book, “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America”, is a strong and convincing testament to such personal appeals.

Of course, there are many people who these stories will not reach as they are too entrenched in fundamentalism or derive great satisfaction in bullying or causing pain to LGBT people. Such scripture-toting sadists can be found working at most anti-gay organizations. But, the idea is that you don’t have to win over everyone – just a majority in order to achieve equal rights. With polls showing more evangelical youth sympathetic to gay and lesbian equality, this trend is already happening.

Past efforts to counter religious extremism have revolved around reinterpreting scriptural passages to show how they are actually not anti-gay. I believe this is important because it demonstrates how various religions take the scriptures out of its historical context and mangle the Biblical stories to fit their agenda. The downside of this practice is that arguing with opponents often devolves into dead end conversations of competing verses.

Faith in America advises against this tactic and says: “Instead of telling people that their interpretation is wrong, you can remind them that other religious texts have been used in the past to justify attitudes and laws that are recognized today as morally wrong and unjust – such as discrimination against women, people of color and religious minorities.”

I happen to agree with Faith in America and have long used this argument. The weakness comes in that many people embrace their bigotry and see it as a lifestyle. A sizable portion of the population wants to wave the confederate flag, bash immigrants, hate the fact we have a black president, and prefer that women remain in the kitchen. But, as I stated earlier, you can’t win over everyone.

The focus on historical narrative makes sense and such reasoning may (or may not) work in converting bigots into allies. There is no doubt, however, that such common-sense appeals make people think and plants seeds for future enlightenment.

Faith in America should be applauded for addressing a really difficult issue in an intelligent and thoughtful manner.

Our friends at Faith In America just refreshed the website and it looks great. The organization’s crucial mission is to educate the public about the harm caused to LGBT Americans when religion-based bigotry and prejudice is used to justify condemnation, discrimination and violence.

Keep up the good work, Mitchell Gold, Brent Childers and Steve Hildebrand!! We love your efforts and recognize how important they are for the LGBT community. Good luck with the exciting, new site.

Check out the site.

It seems that Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham are at least trying to get messages out to counter the bile spewed forth by Tony Perkins last week in their “On Faith” column.  First there was Sirdeaner Walker, mother of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, the eleven year-old who took his life after being driven to the edge by anti-gay bullying.  Walker is now on the board of GLSEN, whose noble work Tony Perkins spit on in his WaPo column.

Now Mitchell Gold, friend of Truth Wins Out and founder of Faith In America, is adding his words to the discussion in the same space:

Across the country, parents, school officials, legislators, religious leaders, and others are recognizing that young people are deeply harmed by the message that being gay is sinful and wrong. For the first time, many voices are calling for accountability from groups and public figures who misuse religion to justify anti-gay bigotry.

Not surprisingly, those who have made careers of promoting anti-gay views are fighting back. Last week, Tony Perkins, the director of the Family Research Council, attacked those who “lay blame at the feet of conservative Christians who teach that homosexual conduct is wrong.” In an guest voices column for On Faith, Perkins cynically denied any connection between the harassment of gay youth and the belief that gay people are sinful and disordered. According to Perkins, all responsibility must be placed on the bully, and not on religious teachings that condemn homosexuality as a threat to society. Incredibly, Perkins claimed that if gay youth commit suicide, it is because they “recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal,” not because of rejection by family, friends, and religious leaders.

Perkin’s distortion of scientific research and callous disregard for the harm caused by his anti-gay views have been widely condemned, and rightly so.

Gold goes on to point out, though, that aside from religious leaders like Perkins himself, many of the people who hold similar views are essentially good-hearted people who don’t actually wish harm on people, and who, when confronted with the harm that such beliefs and teachings cause, are often surprised and dismayed to learn the true results of that worldview:

During my visits with people of faith in all parts of the country, I have spoken with Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants and Jews who have been taught that homosexuality is immoral and wrong. Almost invariably, they are surprised and concerned when they hear about the harms caused by those teachings. Many have told me they had not fully considered the impact on a gay young person of being told that he is sinful and abnormal, or that he will be cut off from God’s love unless he can do the impossible and change who he is.

It’s incumbent upon religious leaders like Tony Perkins to stop cynically lying to their people about the reality of LGBT people. For whatever reason, good people around the country actually respect Perkins, Focus on the Family, and similar groups and leaders. What I’ve found over the years is similar to what Gold states in his piece — many people of the conservative persuasion simply don’t know how awful and dishonest their leaders really are.

That’s part of why we do what we do.

Dear Friends:

If you are like me, you believe that fighting religious extremism and anti-gay bigotry is vitally important to achieving equality.

I proudly support Truth Wins Out (TWO) because this no-nonsense organization consistently shines a bright spotlight on our foes, debunks their harmful lies, punctures their dangerous myths and ensures that Americans know the truth about the lives of LGBT people.

This is why I am personally offering Truth Wins Out a matching $5,000 grant. This means, for every tax-deductible dollar you donate, I will match it up to $5 K. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to support a non-profit organization that I strongly endorse and deeply believe in.

I was inspired to invest in Truth Wins Out after the group’ Executive Director, Wayne Besen, created the American Prayer Hour (APH). This amazing effort was an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast, which is hosted by The Family, a secretive fundamentalist group linked to Uganda’ notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Exposing The Family, and their National Prayer Breakfast, matters to each and every one of us. The Family is a virulently anti-gay group made up of powerful and influential lawmakers that harm our families. A snapshot of the membership includes: Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Mark Pryor (R-AK), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), John Ensign (R-NV). Key House members include: Reps. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn) Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), Heath Shuler (D-NC), Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joe Pitts (R-PA).

Working diligently, Besen helped bring together more than a dozen organizations to fight back. This coalition created APH events in more than twenty cities, on the same day (Feb. 4) as The National Prayer Breakfast. The result of this extraordinary effort was an avalanche of international attention to The Family’ role in Uganda’ “Kill the Gays” bill. This included stories in The New York Times and MSNBC’ Rachel Maddow Show. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both condemned the bill at The National Prayer Breakfast!

As a businessman, I am thoroughly impressed with how much Truth Wins Out has accomplished with its modest resources. Just imagine how much TWO could achieve with the funding it deserves.

This is an organization that is innovative in its advocacy and consistently presents fresh ideas. More importantly, they follow through — turning these cutting-edge ideas into reality. When you invest in Truth Wins Out, you get a big vision, but also tangible results.

I hope you will join me in offering your steadfast support for Truth Wins Out. Please make a tax-deductible contribution today.

Sincerely,

Mitchell Gold
Co-Founder and CEO, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

Truth Wins Out

33 West 19th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10011

Op-ed excerpt from Faith In America’s Founder Mitchell Gold in the Washington Blade:

“As thousands converge on the nation’ capital this weekend for the National Equality March, our demand is simple: We want full equality.

Now. Although there has been great progress in the last 50 years, the equality movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans has not moved forward as quickly as we should and could have. In the final analysis, it is because we have not effectively addressed the biggest barrier between us and our equality: religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

For those who do not realize the significance of religion and the impact religion-based bigotry has on our struggle for equality, they will continue to wander about aimlessly, dragging the pink elephant in the room behind them, holding them back.”

Read More Here