Focus on the Family plucked a video from its Web site today that urged people to pray for “rain of biblical proportions” during Barack Obama’s Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field at Mile High to accept the Democratic nomination for president. This, of course, would be about as effective as their attempts to have people “pray away the gay” at their “ex-gay” Love Won Out freak shows.
Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the video he wrote and starred in was meant to be “mildly humorous.” But complaints from about a dozen Focus members convinced the organization to pull the video, said Tom Minnery, Focus Action vice president of public policy.
“If people took it seriously, we regret it,” Minnery said Monday.
Who is Focus on the Family kidding? They are a nasty group that portrays God as a right wing bully who is molded in James Dobson’s dictatorial image. The only joke here, was that Focus on the Family is covering up their true colors by portraying their ugliness as a parody.
You can only feel bad for people who have such an authoritarian, hideous view of spirituality. I hope, even pray, that they get the help they need to escape this miserable mindset in which they are trapped.
‘We Will Stop Focus on the Family’s Destructive Lies Wherever They Are Spread,’ Says TWO
Truth Wins Out (TWO) announced today that its founder, Wayne Besen, would appear in Anchorage to oppose Focus on the Family’s notorious “ex-gay” Love Won Out road show on Sept. 13. Besen is the author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the ‘Ex-Gay’ Myth.” TWO shadows this anti-gay seminar across the nation to ensure that the public is armed with the facts and aware that Focus on the Family is deliberately disseminating misinformation about gay and lesbian people.
“We appear wherever Focus on the Family spreads lies and fear,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Love Won Out distorts gay life and conflates stereotypes with science, while selling false hope to vulnerable people. We are looking forward to working with Alaskan advocacy groups to counter Focus on the Family’s false and destructive messages.”
More details about Besen’s trip will be forthcoming. The Love Won Out conference will take place on Sept. 13 at the Abbott Loop Community Church.
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Focus on the Family Admits That Dobson Twists Research, Says TWO
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out (TWO) today condemned the introduction of a United States Senate resolution to “congratulate” Focus on the Family’s James Dobson for his selection into the Radio Hall of Fame. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) sponsored the controversial measure that says Dobson’s program has “benefited the lives of families and individuals across the United States and around the world.”
“It is disgraceful that Senators would consider congratulating James Dobson for his reprehensible radio broadcasts that damage families and promote discrimination,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Honoring a man who distorts research and misrepresents facts sends the wrong message to youth who are looking for role models. Do we really want young people to think lying and cheating are acceptable ways to promote a viewpoint?” (Read More)
I knew something was up when I received more than a dozen e-mails last night from irate religious fanatics who insulted me in their special “loving” way. To their credit, these zealots were slightly more polite than the despicable people who sent 50+ hate mails following my appearance on The O’Reilly Factor the night before. Most of these lovely folks wished me a painful death from AIDS or an eternity in Hell. While such letters don’t bother me, as it is part of the job - I’m always impressed by conservative manners and morality.
I soon learned that the new batch of e-mails were generated from Focus on the Family, which had launched a sleazy personal attack against me and my integrity on their online tabloid Citizen Link. I’ve often said that a Focus on the Family ad for the website should read: “Citizen Link: For People Who Don’t Think.” Here is what the tabloid said:
It looks like there will be a few uninvited guests when Dr. James Dobson officially is inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in November. Gay activist Wayne Besen, who reportedly preferred Howard Stern to win the popular vote, plans to protest the Chicago event. He’s called Dr. Dobson “an extremist who has built his empire on the backs of gays and lesbians” and “a bigot who distorts scientific research. Gary Schneeberger, vice president for media and public relations (PR) at Focus on the Family, called Besen “a PR pro of the first order.” “He puts words into sentences very colorfully,” Schneeberger said. “And that attracts the media’s attention. Unfortunately, he’s a little less adept at putting truth into sentences.”
The most outrageous lie told in the story was that it was gay activists, not James Dobson, who distorted research. I have written two books and hundreds of press releases and articles, yet I have not once been accused by a scientist of distorting his or her work. Meanwhile, Dobson has been taken to the woodshed by seven scientists in two years for twisting their science to fit his version of Scripture. Talk about spin! Here is what Focus on the Falsehoods had to say:
As for “distorting research,” Schneeberger said it’s the gay activists who are doing the distorting.
In 2006, Dr. Dobson was invited to write an opinion piece for TIME magazine about the benefits of traditional marriage to children and society. In the article, Dr. Dobson pointed to a handful of scientific studies that found mothers and fathers parent differently.
“He never said the scientists agreed with his conclusion that gay marriage is bad for society,” Schneeberger said. “He merely said their data could be used to reach his conclusion — which is 100 percent true, but something the scientists didn’t appreciate because of their ideological leanings.”
Here are the facts: The seven scientists from three countries who said that Dobson distorted their work were not so-called gay activists. Indeed, I have no idea about their political leanings any more than Dobson does. When I cold called each scientist to let them know Dobson bastardized their work, they did not even know who I was. Yet, they were grateful at the opportunity to set the record straight and upbraid Double-Talk Dobson for manipulating their research.
Clearly, Dobson is the one lying, not me. By saying otherwise, Focus on the Family is bearing false witness. They are also trying to shoot the messenger (me) because they can’t stand up to the seven scientists who accused Dobson of misrepresenting their studies for political gain.
Memo to Focus - this is not about me, this is about Dobson refusing to address the concerns of these scientists. These esteemed doctors ALL tried to address Focus on the Family and they were met with silence. What is Focus on the Family so afraid of? Why won’t they take the calls or answer the letters from the very scientists that they misquote?
Make no mistake - what Dobson did was lowbrow. He wanted to make the point that gay people are inherently worthless, so he cherry picked work from respected researchers to make it look like their secular, scientific conclusions bolstered his religious opinions. As a former child psychologist, he has the training to splice and dice this legitimate research to make it appear as if it supported his erroneous and unsubstantiated conclusions. Thus, it is fair to conclude that Dobson knew exactly what he was doing and therefore his distortions were likely deliberate.
Dobson should apologize for his outrageously immoral behavior. Notice that in the Citizen Link article, he did not mention that there were SEVEN researchers who took him to task in a period of two years. Notice, that he and his PR puppet Gary Schneeberger did not link to any of Truth Wins Out’s videos.
By withholding such crucial information, Focus on the Family ensured that their members who read the tabloid story were unable to judge the veracity of Dobson’s claims. Leave it to Focus on the Family to give their fans half the story and a quarter of the facts so they are unable to come to their own conclusions. Sometimes, it seems this organization disrespects their own members and donors, even more than the gay community.
Focus on the Family must realize that Truth Wins Out is determined to expand its Respect My Research program in the coming year. We are only going to make lying more difficult for this organization. Dobson and Schneeberger are playing a game they are not going to win - as the Truth is a powerful weapon that can overcome the money-changer amounts of money that flow through their luxurious castle in Colorado Springs.
The youngest daughter of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says she’s gay, but didn’t come out to her parents until after lawmakers voted to kill a proposal to outlaw gay marriage.
Katherine Patrick made the revelation public in an interview with her father in Bay Windows, a weekly Boston newspaper aimed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.
Patrick, who supports gay marriage, said he was proud of his daughter. The two will march in Boston’s gay pride parade Saturday.
This is an example of love truly winning out, not the bogus snake oil Focus on the Family peddles to desperate and confused parents.
The parents of PFLAG reached out June 7 to attendees of “Love Won Out,” Focus on the Family’s ex-gay roadshow in Orlando, Florida. The parents offered a message of unconditional love and hope to counter the conditional love and damaging stereotypes of the ex-gay conference.
Earlier, Truth Wins Out participated in a press conference with Dr. Kathryn Norsworthy, licensed psychologist; Joe Saunders, Equality Florida; Rev. John Middleton, Joy Metropolitan Community Church; Pastor Brei Taylor, Oasis Ministries; and Linn Possell, Hope Unites United Church of Christ. The press conference was hosted by the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central Florida.
Vicki Nantz and her partner, Mary Meeks, shot this wonderful video at our press conference yesterday - where we spoke out against Focus on the Family’s “ex-gay” Love Won Out road show. The two women also filmed a documentary about Ryan Skipper, a man who was murdered in Florida because of his sexual orientation.
In Exclusive New TWO Video, A Survivor Tells Of His Escape From ‘Ex-Gay’ Ministries
ORLANDO - A coalition of gay and lesbian community leaders held a media conference today to counter Focus on the Family’s ex-gay Love Won Out symposium, which will take place on Saturday. The ex-gay road show was specifically planned to coincide with Gay Days at Disney and to push Focus on the Family’s election year political agenda, says TruthWinsOut.org (TWO).
“Love Won Out distorts gay life and confuses stereotypes with science, while selling false hope to vulnerable people,” said TruthWinsOut.org’s Executive Director Wayne Besen, at the media conference. “The symposium promotes outdated ideas that are rejected by every reputable mental health association in America. Unfortunately, the real goal of this conference is to pass anti-gay laws and stigmatize gay men and women.”
The conference is strategically timed in a presidential year that will include a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriage and domestic partnership benefits. The event also coincides with Gay Days at Disney and takes place in the shadow of the monumental California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Focus on the Family has exploited these opportunities and promoted this conference by placing offensive billboards in Orlando.
“This is a hurtful symposium that sends the toxic message that some people are inferior and need to change,” said Besen. “Love Won Out divides communities and pits people against each other for political gain.”
To highlight the trauma ex-gay ministries often cause families, TWO released an exclusive video today documenting the story of “ex-gay” survivor Robert Elster, who participated in ex-gay programs for 20 years. Convinced by these groups that he was cured, he married his wife Judy for 15 years and they had two children. Unfortunately, the marriage ended because Robert had not become straight. He had been sold false hope and bought into what he now calls his “inauthentic self.” Today, he lives as an out, proud openly gay man in California.
Additionally, TWO will participate in a Saturday PFLAG-sponsored prayer vigil in front of the Love Won Out conference at 7AM. (First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, 106 East Church Street).
Today’s media conference was held at The Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central Florida. Speakers included: Dr. Kathryn Norsworthy, licensed psychologist; Garrett Granger, Survivor of ex-gay ministries; Rev. John Middleton, Joy Metropolitan Community Church; Pastor Brei Taylor, Oasis Ministries; Linn Possell; Hope Unites United Church of Christ; Wayne Besen, Executive Director, TruthWinsOut.org.
Love Won Out is a quarterly ex-gay symposium that preys on vulnerable and desperate parents. John Paulk, an ex-gay leader who was on the cover of Newsweek, founded the program. Love Won Out suffered a major setback after Paulk was photographed inside a Washington, DC gay bar by Besen in 2000.
TruthWinsOut.org is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life.
In a WorldNetDaily article promoting the Love Won Out ex-gay road show, writer Bob Unruh reports:
One organization, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, said the term “ex-gay” threatens the homosexual community because “it implies that one remains homosexual by choice. That the gay person need not continue in the homosexual lifestyle is an unsettling message.”
[Gary] Schneeburger [of Focus on the Family] agreed. He said the one thread that runs through all the testimonies of speakers at Love Won Out conferences is the revelation individuals had when they realized that change was possible.
“That message is what folks [in the homosexual community] are intolerant about. They don’t want to have the discussion,” he said.
Various web sites periodically voice the false hope that the ex-gay movement is moderating its dishonest rhetoric of undefined “change”; PFOX and Focus on the Family, however, demonstrate a steadfast commitment to the failed rhetoric of the past. (Read More)
In 1998, fifteen socially conservative groups launched a huge “ex-gay” advertising campaign that was billed as the “Normandy Landing in the cultural wars.” The attack began with full-page ads in The New York Times and USA Today. Now, ten years and several scandals later, it appears that the right wing may be reconsidering its strategy.
Last Saturday, TruthWinsOut.org, joined local organizations at the Billy DeFrank Center in San Jose to counter Love Won Out, Focus on the Family’s ex-gay road show. The anti-gay conference only drew 700 participants, down from past events, which drew thousands of mainly confused parents who were dealing with children who had come out.
More important, this was the second consecutive symposium where Focus on the Family chose not to market to the general public. As in Memphis, the group’s usual “ex-gay” billboards did not hover over major highways. The group also did not solicit press from major media outlets until days before the event. Instead, they concentrated their marketing efforts in right wing churches.
The subdued atmosphere of Love Won Out follows a decision by the largest “ex-gay” group, Exodus International, to recall their Washington lobbyist. It is too early to know if the right wing is rethinking the “ex-gay” issue or simply regrouping to launch another major ad blitz. Perhaps, the twin disasters of Sen. Larry Craig and Rev. Ted Haggard may have severely eroded the already shaky credibility of the ex-gay industry.
Focus on the Family plucked a video from its Web site today that urged people to pray for “rain of biblical proportions” during Barack Obama’s Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field at Mile High to accept the Democratic nomination for president. This, of course, would be about as effective as their attempts to have people “pray away the gay” at their “ex-gay” Love Won Out freak shows.
