Anti-gay organizations and politicians like Rick Santorum have long argued against marriage equality by saying it would create a slippery slope leading to the legalization of polygamy. It turns out they were wrong, as they tend to be about virtually everything.
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize marriage equality for same-sex couples. On Nov. 23, 2011, British Columbia’s highest court ruled that Canada’s 121-year-old criminal law banning polygamy is constitutional. Canada is significantly more liberal than the United States, and British Columbia is more liberal than most of Canada — yet the imagined slippery slope failed to materialize. If Vancouver isn’t buying it — it won’t happen in Kansas.
Wake up fundies — your arguments are baseless and useless.
Social conservatives are very dishonest about this topic. First, they conveniently fail to point out that the issue of polygamy has been around significantly longer than the the issue of marriage equality for same-sex couples. Indeed, the Mormon church had to officially abandon polygamy to pave the way for Utah statehood.
Clearly, this is a longstanding topic of debate that preexisted gay issues in a political context. Arguments for and against polygamy historically have, and will continue, to be fought on its own merit, irrelevant to and regardless of LGBT marriage equality. This point is factual and incontrovertible.
Social conservatives have once again failed to demonstrate the danger of allowing LGBT couples to wed. The Canadian ruling places one more of their flawed and felonious arguments in history’s dumpster. What bizarre talking point will their depraved imaginations come up with next?
Bachmann’s Billing Appears As Unethical as His ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt. – Attorney Norm Kent sent a letter to Bachmann & Associates today on behalf of Truth Wins Out demanding that he cease and desist from harassing the organization. TWO has also launched a petition on Change.org urging people to contact Bachmann and tell him to stop his petty and vindictive threats against the LGBT organization.
“Marcus Bachmann’s billing practices appear to be as unethical as the ‘ex-gay’ therapy offered at his clinic,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We will not be intimidated or bullied and do not intend to pay Bachmann’s phony bill.”
On Monday, Bachmann personally called the group’s Communications Director, John Becker, leaving a voicemail in which he demanded $150 for cancelled July sessions of “ex-gay” therapy with a counselor at his practice. He threatened that if TWO did not pay him by Friday he would turn the phony bill over to a collection agency. This morning, the Law Offices of Kent & Cormican faxed a letter to Bachmann’s Minnesota clinic. According to the letter:
“If you are persistent in this claim, and attempt to employ the collection agency you have threatened to, you should know that my firm and our associates in your jurisdiction would take legal action against you,” wrote attorney Norm Kent. “Specifically, and you should make no mistake about the same, we consider your therapy and practices fraudulent. We have concluded your services are dubious and questionable, not worthy of any billing at all. We consider your fees and charges part of a larger civil conspiracy to defraud vulnerable individuals.”
In July, Truth Wins Out went undercover and exposed Bachmann & Associates for practicing a form of discredited “pray away the gay” therapy. The revelation rocked Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign. After TWO’s John Becker, who went undercover, had enough videotape evidence to prove that “ex-gay” therapy occurred at Bachmann’s clinic, he called the clinic and cancelled his remaining appointments. Despite widespread circulation of TWO’s video footage, Marcus denied the therapy had taken place.
“I cancelled my remaining appointments in compliance with Bachmann & Associates’ stated procedure,” said John Becker, TWO’s Director of Communications and Development, “yet Marcus Bachmann himself called me and threatened to send the fraudulent $150 ‘bill’ to a collection agency by Friday. I find it odd that Bachmann handled this matter personally rather than through his billing department. This is certainly an unorthodox way of doing business, much like the spurious ‘ex-gay’ therapy offered at his clinic.”
Becker returned Bachmann’s call on Tuesday and spoke with him for nearly seven minutes in the presence of a reporter from the local ABC/FOX affiliate in Burlington. The video of the tense exchange can be viewed at Truth Wins Out’s website.
“We saw firsthand that the ‘ex-gay’ therapy practiced by Bachmann & Associates is unethical and unhealthy for clients,” said Becker. “What goes on in that clinic is rejected by every respected medical and mental health organization in America.”
Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to create a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly and true to themselves. TWO fights anti-LGBT religious extremism, monitors anti-LGBT organizations, documents their lies and exposes their leaders. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Contact: John Becker, Director of Communications & Development
Phone: 920-265-6023
E-mail: john@truthwinsout.org
To help counter the religious right’s claims of “thousands healed,” the website “Beyond Ex-Gay” has set up a survey for former ex-gay people to take.
We have begun to implement strategies to let others know the realities and damaging effects of ex-gay and religious abuse. We need your help to do this.
We’ve all heard the declarations that “thousands and thousands of people have been healed of their homosexuality.” Where do those numbers come from? At Beyond Ex-Gay (bXg) we know firsthand that the thousands who have attended ex-gay groups never “changed.” Worse yet, our ex-gay experiences caused us tremendous harm. So to counter the rhetoric, we have created a new survey specifically for ex-gay survivors.
It’s short, and you can stay as anonymous as you’d like. If you can’t find answers that fit your experience, we provide plenty of empty boxes for you to express yourself as accurately as possible. Your willingness to be counted will ultimately stand in stark contrast to the misinformation that ex-gay promoters use to convince people that “change is possible” and harmless to pursue.
They’re also archiving the stories of ex-gay survivors, so if you’ve written your experience down, they want to read it. In the meantime, click here to take the survey.
As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of so-called “ex-gay” Chad Thompson. I think he’s an aging creep who dresses up like a teenager to appeal to youth and “twinks” with his deceptively destructive message. His schtick is just alarming, eyebrow raising, and weird.
Thompson was forced this week to apologize to his small flock after he wrote an article laced with anti-gay invective titled God’s Light or Lady Gaga’s?
Personally, I think Gaga is much more in tune with God than Thompson, who has this cloying habit of hating LGBT people while pretending that he actually loves them. Anyone who has read his writings knows that he has great disdain for all LGBT people, particularly himself.
Anyway, his anti-gay jeremiad was so nasty that it caused many people to flee his e-mail list. Did the LGBT dupes and suckers who call him a “friend” really believe that Thompson, author of Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would, truly cared for them? Some people are so gullible that they will believe anything.
Here is the apology letter that Thompson sent his e-flock:
Many of the folks who receive my email newsletter felt misrepresented, stereotyped, and alienated upon reading my most recent article “Gods’ Light or Gagas” (which has been deleted from the web site and replaced with this letter). Those of you writers out there know that, often times, you have something on your heart to share but the words you use do not effectively communicate what you were trying to say. In fact, in some cases choosing the wrong words may even cause you to communicate exactly the opposite of what you had intended to say! That was the case with this article.
The truth is, I published this article on my web site without giving it a proper edit, or thoroughly combing through it to take out all the things that were “accidentally offensive”. The things I wrote were not the things I meant. For starters, I made the statement: “Try to have a conversation with anyone of the homosexual persuasion about the morality of such behavior and you will instantly be shut down with the mantra ‘I was born this way’.” This is a broad generalization about an entire group of people, and I talk over and over again in my book about the importance of not stereotyping or generalizing LGBT folks. Certainly not all LGBT individuals believe they were born that way.
Additionally, some felt that the article equated all same-gender unions with animalistic sex in a way that suggested LGBT relationships do not consist of emotional connection, but are only in it for the act of sex. In fact, I was not trying to suggest that at all; rather I was trying to point out that the SONG “Born This Way” seems to suggest that.
One friend indicated that my article also suggests that every single gay person agrees with Lady Gaga’s beliefs about morality, which could be looked at like saying every straight person believes and behaves as Hugh Heffner believes and behaves.
Another good friend wrote: “This is just such a departure from the content, spirit, and tone of your book…it just left me scratching my head…”
Indeed, the article was full of poorly phrased paragraphs and concepts taken far beyond the context of what is truly in my heart towards those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions as well as those who have embraced the gay identity; both are my friends and both deserve an apology for having to read this article.
For those of you who unsubscribed from my list because of this article, you are still unsubscribed. This will be the last communication you receive from me (unless you choose to re-sign up).
All the best,
Chad Thompson
Too bad he took down the original letter. It must have been a doozie. Attention self-loathing homosexuals: Now that the mask is off, do you still think this creep “loves” you?
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) Board member and NARTH follower Christopher Doyle had this to say in a letter to The Washington Post:
Putting ‘ex-gay’ in quotes suggested that such a sexual orientation is not valid, not recognized or both. But thousands of former homosexuals collectively identify themselves as such. The D.C. Superior Court ruled in 2009 that ex-gays are a protected sexual orientation class in the District. Not all persons who experience same-sex attractions choose to live gay lives. Many of us have voluntarily left a homosexual life through therapeutic work or behavioral choice. I did, and I have been happily married to a woman for nearly five years; we have two children. I no longer experience same-sex attraction and have no desire to return to the homosexual life. Please respect this choice.” – Christopher Doyle, board member of Parents & Friends Of “Ex-Gays” (PFOX), in a letter to the Washington Post.
Doyle has an issue with so-called “ex-gays” not being recognized by the LGBT community. Yet, the cynical Doyle belongs to NARTH, where the group’s co-founder Dr. Joseph Nicolosi preaches, “There is no such thing as a homosexual, just heterosexuals with a homosexual problem.”
So, Doyle wants to be respected and acknowledged as a so-called “ex-gay” without the dreaded quotation marks — but the group he represents denies the very existence of LGBT people. Doyle’s dishonest double-standard is quite obvious and it is clear that he has an agenda to falsely present himself as a victim. Instead, of course, he is a victimizer that pretends the lives of millions of people are make believe and can be “fixed” by quack therapy and prayer.
Why do we put quotation marks around the word “ex-gay”?
Maybe it is because such activists admit, when pressed, that they have simply changed their behavior, not their sexual orientation. Perhaps, the constant scandals and outings of activists who claimed to be “ex-gay”, but weren’t living as advertised, affects the decision to use quotation marks. And how about the inconvenient fact that every respected medical and mental health association in America says there is NO EVIDENCE supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy, while there is evidence that shows attempts to change can be harmful? There is also the growing body of research that increasingly shows biological components to sexual orientation. Of course, there are many victims of these programs who are speaking out, as well as spouses that were harmed by such unwise marriages to alleged, purported, so-called “ex-gays”.
Frauds like Doyle claim there are “thousands of former homosexuals” — but from what source does he get this statistic? Groups such as Exodus, PFOX and NARTH purposely do not keep statistics — because they are acutely aware the truth about their failure rate would have put them out of business decades ago. Interestingly, for all of their bravado, “ex-gay” activists refuse to take physical tests, such as the No Lie MRI, to prove they have changed their attractions. If they want the quote marks removed, why not take such tests? Maybe it is because telling tales for anti-gay political organizations pays better than telling the truth or a real job?
Finally, if there are thousands or tens of thousands of such people — where are they? It seems the only people who claim that they have prayed away the gay are professional, paid political activists with books and seminars to sell. Where is the “ex-gay” March on Washington to show the masses of “ex-gays” that allegedly exist?
If hucksters like Doyle want the quote marks removed, they should begin by acknowledging the existence of LGBT people who cannot change. He should also put his money where is mouth is and prove that such people truly exist outside the staffs of homophobic political organizations and avaricious therapists profiting from unnecessary pain.
No Lie MRI, Mr. Doyle? Polygraph? Penile plethysmograph?
Until such physical proof is provided — all I can say is:
Contact: Wayne Besen, TWO Executive Director
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org
Given Awful Record, Exodus Should Stay Away From Youth, Says TWO
Burlington, Vt. – Truth Wins Out (TWO) expressed alarm today that the world’s largest “ex-gay” organization, Exodus International, announced that its top priority in 2011 was to target students, including those in Middle School. The organization plans to lure youth though slick social media programs and offering high tech gadgets, including an I-phone App.
“We are alarmed because Exodus has a substantial predator problem and a history of placing youth with unsavory characters who are often unqualified as counselors,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Exodus’ message is also destructive because it tells vulnerable youth that they are sexually broken, sinful, and perverse. Hearing such harmful messages can increase the likelihood for depression, substance abuse and even suicide.”
In an online letter to members and donors, the organization’s Executive Director, Alan Chambers, writes,
“…the greatest area of need in our culture is outreach to young people. We will be changing the name of Exodus Youth to Exodus Student Ministries in order to encompass middle school thru [sic] college age students. We have listened to youth pastors, parents and especially students and we want to amplify our message in a way that they will best receive it: via web communication, YouTube, podcasts and short to the point booklets. We are also in the process of creating an App for iPhone users.”
Many Exodus “counselors” have virtually no professional training and the organization does not employ rigorous standards when they pair up youth with adults. The results of such unprofessional and unethical behavior have, at times, been devastating, including the placement of youth with sexual predators.
“Parents should be extremely cautious and take great care to avoid the programs of Exodus International,” said TWO’s Besen. “The fact that Exodus is now targeting eleven year old Middle school students is horrifying and unacceptable.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.
Does the World Bank think that your sexual orientation can be cured? Well, maybe not officially, but that’s not stopping the World Bank from funneling money to an organization that not only tries to convert people from homosexuality to heterosexuality, but also has ties to Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. Perhaps the World Bank is adjusting their mission statement: “Working for a World Free of Poverty … and Free of Gay People.”
As Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner writes, the World Bank has allowed a controversial ex-gay group — Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) — to join the ranks of its Community Outreach Program, a workplace-giving campaign that allows employees of the World Bank to give money to an organization, and have that money matched by a contribution from the World Bank. Depending on how many employees decide to give money to PFOX, the World Bank will give anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent in a matching donation.
Which means that in the months ahead, the World Bank will be giving money directly to an organization that believes homosexuality can be cured. On top of that, as Truth Wins Out notes, a former PFOX board member, Richard Cohen (who still serves as a therapy guru to the organization), was intimately involved in efforts to create legislation in Uganda that would punish homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment.
And it gets even shadier. The director of PFOX’s Speakers Bureau, Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon who was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for bilking poor communities with bond schemes. And PFOX has also had its tactics condemned by the worldwide psychological and medical profession, with leaders from the organization being thrown out of professional groups like the American Counseling Association for violating ethical protocols.
Wow, if the World Bank is willing to lend credence to an organization like PFOX, what does it say about their overall credibility? For the World Bank, it looks like corporate social responsibility equals corporate endorsement of curing gay people.
What’s also particularly troubling about the World Bank’s endorsement of PFOX is that it looks like the Bank made an exception in order to squeeze PFOX under its Community Outreach Program guidelines. Under those guidelines, a qualifying organization is supposed to have “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.” But a 2009 report by the Washington City Paper revealed that PFOX has no presence in D.C.; moreover, the organization’s headquarters are in Reedville, Virginia — a whopping 127 miles from Washington, D.C.
“It is factually incorrect to say that PFOX has a ‘substantial local presence in DC’”, said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Either PFOX is committing fraud against the World Bank, or they are receiving special rights from the organization and inexplicably allowed to pass as a local organization.”
The World Bank has some serious explaining to do, Lucy. Of course, if you listen to World Bank spokespeople, they say that their support of PFOX shouldn’t be considered an endorsement of PFOX’s work. And if you believe that, I think there’s a bridge in Alaska that’s for sale, too.
“‘Because Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) met the minimum criteria for inclusion on the Community Connections campaign, they were included this year,” said a spokesperson for the World Bank, according to Metro Weekly. Ah, such bureaucratic speak for such a serious issue.
Send the World Bank a message that their decision to include PFOX in the Community Outreach Program is as offensive as it is tactless. This is an organization that uses manipulation and discredited psychological tactics to “cure” people of their sexual orientation, has ties to an anti-gay bill in Uganda that could wipe out an entire population of gay people, and who has a leadership that includes people with shady criminal ties. Is that really the type of “charity” the World Bank wants to lend credence to?
That’s right, the World Bank has put its name behind a “Sexual Reorientation Coach” — Richard Cohen –who was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association (March 22, 2002) for multiple ethics violations.
World Bank Must Investigate PFOX For Fraud, Says TWO
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out today called on the World Bank to immediately take the “ex-gay” hate group PFOX off of its list of approved charities and demanded they launch a thorough investigation to see if PFOX conspired to defraud the bank.
“It’s as sickening as it is scandalous that the World Bank is helping to fund an organization that is tied to a worldwide eliminationist campaign against gay people,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “The World Bank should urgently reject PFOX before it sullies the institution and makes a mockery of its claim to be diverse and inclusive.”
Metro Weekly reporter Chris Geidner discovered yesterday that PFOX was slated to become part of the World Bank’s Community Outreach Program, which coordinates an annual workplace-giving campaign that includes World Bank matching funds given to various community groups and international nonprofits. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
PFOX’s former board President is Richard Cohen, (pictured during racket therapy) who still serves as the “therapy” guru of the organization. Cohen runs the International Healing Foundation and sent his protégé, Caleb Lee Brundidge, to Uganda. The result of his visit was the introduction of the deadly and draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
The director of PFOX’s speaker’s bureau is Arthur Abba Goldberg (pictured), who had been sentenced to 18 months in jail for bilking poor communities with complicated bond schemes and served six months in prison. An October 1, 1989 story in the Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that Goldberg jokingly described a bond issue the firm had underwritten in Guam as “selling bonds to the cannibals” and nearly crippled Guam’s economy.
“Is this the kind of organization that the World Bank wants to be associated with?” asked Besen.
Truth Wins Out believes that PFOX may have qualified for the charitable status by lying about its location and activities. To be included in the World Bank’s Community Outreach Program, an organization is required to have, “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.”
PFOX fails to fulfill the criteria. The organization is based in Reedville, VA — placing the town 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. Indeed, Richmond is significantly closer to Reedville and is a mere 85 miles away from PFOX’s headquarters.
“It is factually incorrect to say that PFOX has a ‘substantial local presence in DC’”, said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Either PFOX is committing fraud against the World Bank, or they are receiving special rights from the organization and inexplicably allowed to pass as a local organization.”
The truth is, PFOX does not meet in the metro area and has almost no local footprint, other than an occasional lobbying foray or an advertising buy. The Washington City Paper confirmed that PFOX has no local DC presence in a 2009 report, “The Ex-Gay Movement That Wasn’t”. According to the news report:
Unfortunately for PFOX and reporters on the sexual-orientation beat, ex-gay Washingtonians are hard to come by. Since each of my dozen or so calls to PFOX headquarters went unanswered, I am unable to confirm any of the group’s purported ex-gay offspring or friends. J. Matt Barber, a member of the PFOX board of directors, tells me that he has “a number of very close friends who are former homosexuals”—none of whom live in D.C.
“The World Bank needs to answer why it is bending the rules to accommodate an ideological organization that, under any objective measure, does not meet the criteria of working in the DC metro area,” says TWO’s Besen. “It is outrageous that PFOX tried to pull a fast one and they should immediately pull the plug on this scheme. We call on The World Bank to launch a thorough investigation to see if PFOX and some World Bank employees conspired to misrepresent PFOX’s location in an effort to defraud the bank.”
PFOX also does not list any legitimate chapters in DC or Virginia. The only “contact” e-mail listed in DC or VA is that of the national organization.
Additionally, PFOX work is rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization in America, including the American Psychological Association, The American Medical Association, The American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Instead of helping clients, so-called “ex-gay” therapy harms them and can lead to anxiety, depression and self-destructive behavior.
Here are a few videos of PFOX activists and the bizarre therapy that the World Bank wants to support:
Anti-gay organizations and politicians like Rick Santorum have long argued against marriage equality by saying it would create a slippery slope leading to the legalization of polygamy. It turns out they were wrong, as they tend to be about virtually everything.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of so-called “ex-gay” Chad Thompson. I think he’s an aging creep who dresses up like a teenager to 
So, Doyle wants to be respected and acknowledged as a so-called “ex-gay” without the dreaded quotation marks — but the group he represents denies the very existence of LGBT people. Doyle’s dishonest double-standard is quite obvious and it is clear that he has an agenda to falsely present himself as a victim. Instead, of course, he is a victimizer that pretends the lives of millions of people are make believe and can be “fixed” by quack therapy and prayer.
Which means that in the months ahead, the World Bank will be giving money directly to an organization that believes homosexuality can be cured. On top of that, 
Metro Weekly reporter Chris Geidner 
The director of PFOX’s speaker’s bureau is Arthur Abba Goldberg (pictured), who 
