Cobus Fourie of South Africa’s Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has helpfully translated an article that appeared yesterday in South Africa’s Sunday As It Is tabloid.

Since the entire article is one big ex-gay profanity, I am taking the liberty of publishing the entire translation here for the purpose of educating readers as to how ex-gay proponents and their media helpmates communicate messages when they let their guard down — or assume that the Afrikaans/English language barrier will protect them. Bracketed remarks below are contextual observations by Fourie.

–Mike Airhart

PRAY HIM ‘STRAIGHT’

FAGGOTS CAN BE CURED BY PRAYER

That was the message last week from an actor to who placed his own gay life behind him. Now he is chasing the pleasures of the female body.

Dries Botha – an actor who was already on “Inherited Sin” on SABC2 [B-grade TV] — was for many years a screaming queen who chose sex with men over the bodies of voluptuous Eves.

But now he is walking a path with God and now looks with new, lustful eyes at women. And he realised he was not born gay.

“I have a penis and the penis is made for a vagina,” the 29-year-old said on Sunday.

And to shut the closet’s mouldy door still more he said: “I do not preach to other gays, but I want them to begin to listen to my arguments. I still have gay friends, and I do not judge, but God did not make a groom and a groom…”

He said being gay is like smoking – you will have an urge every now and then. “I still find myself sometimes looking for a man, but I try to control lust. I steer my thoughts in another direction,” he said. Almost sad.

“The more you hang out with faggots, the greater the chance that you will be gay. I was definitely not born gay.”

“I was exposed to gay men in high school for the first time. The gay community is much freer and have other moral codes. I enjoyed the freedom of being gay. I have always regarded women as useless objects.” (Read More)

Be warned: Those new National Organization for Marriage anti-GLBT  actor auditions videos Wayne reported about this week are gone. NOM noticed that its evil ruse had been exposed and demanded that YouTube take them down. Even a clip of a recent MSNBC Rachel Maddow clip that included the audition tapes is gone. NOM’s reason:  copyright infringement.  

YouTube has to develop a bigger pair. The fact that a national organization is working to deny equality under law to millions of certain citizens makes the story newsworthy.  Showing at least excerpts is fair use — under law. 

Why are people so afraid of the anti-equality crowd? It’s so obvious that the organized fundies are the ones to fear. NOM was willing to lie, manipulate, and terrify the ignorant segment of the public, low-info types who can be compelled en masse to do what is right for their brand of Christianity, but wrong for anyone who really believes in basic American ideals. The tactic is cynical, selfish, immoral, and destructive. And it works: Remember Proposition 8?

At HuffPo, Lambda Legal’s Evan Wolfson provides a description opf the ads and refutes their vicious claims, so that at least some of those unable to view the outrage can see clearly the threat with which we are dealing. It’s a long excerpt, but it is an important one:

Consider what the actors in the NOM ad pretend to be:

A doctor who wants to discriminate against her patients, despite civil rights laws and medical ethics that the California Supreme Court upheld – in a case having nothing to do with marriage.

An officer of a New Jersey group that for years voluntarily operated a beachside pavilion with special tax-breaks that required it be open to the public – but then tried to turn down a lesbian couple. The case did not turn on marriage, since New Jersey doesn’t yet allow gay couples to marry, but, rather, basic civil rights laws about open access to public accommodations.

A Massachusetts parent who sought to dictate public school curriculum about the diverse families children will need to be aware of to thrive in a diverse world, and then wanted to remove her child from classes in a way that would have disrupted class and imposed unreasonable burdens on the school and other kids.

The law in California, as elsewhere, is that doctors can’t discriminatorily refuse to treat patients — Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, gay or non-gay; that has nothing to do with marriage, and yet NOM incites fear. The law in New Jersey, as elsewhere, says that organizations running public accommodations such as restaurants or rental halls cannot discriminatorily exclude people — African American, Latino, or Asian, gay or non-gay; that has nothing to do with marriage, and yet NOM says that the discriminators are somehow the victims. The law in Massachusetts, as elsewhere, of course allows parents to teach their kids whatever they want, and even to send them to private schools or do home-schooling. The law also rightly sets rules for determining public school curriculum without having every parent, or special interest with an agenda, coming in and imposing their views on everyone else’s kids — yours or mine, gay or non-gay.

I encourage you to read Wolfson’s entire piece — he has worked on the front lines of this fight and knows the terrain.  And he’s a lawyer.

National Organization for Marriage may believe that its copyright trumps our right to know the truth, but the group is wrong. Here is an opportunity to dtake action and do some good: Anyone with a thirst for a truly equal US will share descriptions of the ad — along with the truth about marriage equality and the fact that is is no threat to anyone, save those who need legal supremacy — with everyone they know. It is particularly urgent that we talk with those who question the need for civil-marriage equality. If we can’t trust YouTube to stand up to transmit the truth, we must do it.

Here is a debate between NOM’s Maggie Gallagher and Human Rights Campaign Joe Solmonese on CNN’s “Hardball,” where the HRC chief handily obliterates his opponent’s position using truth and fact.

HRC\’s Joe Solmonese on Hardball 04/08/09

I’m sorry that we missed this last month:

Sacramento’s newsreview.com published a Nov. 27 puff piece about local ex-gay activities.

The article interviewed no former ex-gays, asked no speakers whether they or their peers remain predominantly same-sex-attracted, cited none of the ex-gay movement’s activities to deny equality to gay Californians, and informed readers of none of the mainstream mental-health community’s concerns about emotional, relational, and spiritual harm done by ex-gay “ministries.”

The article also falsely inaccurately described sexually flexible actress Anne Heche’s relationship with comedian Ellen DeGeneres as a “lesbian affair.”

The NewsReview article has a comments section. Please feel free to make constructive use of it.

Box Turtle Bulletin says:

It is indeed possible to support Prop 8 civilly. But [Rick] Warren did not do that. Instead, he not only lied about what it would do, but he further insulted his “many gay friends” — and the rest of us — when he described their relationships as being on par with the lowest form of criminals. Even the most vile criminals — convicted rapists of old ladies, serial killers of defenseless orphans, and baby torturers — they all look down on child molesters, and they don’t think twice about killing them in the most sadistic way. But Warren thinks that the deeply held relationships among his “many gay friends” are no better than child rape. Or incest. Or polygamy.

That is the outrage. Maybe some day Rick Warren will see the need to apologize deeply for that offense. But it won’t happen until everyone — including the mainstream media — calls him on it. It’s not just about Prop 8. It goes much, much deeper, to that “model of civility” that Warren lacks.

In the wake of Newsweek’s forthright article acknowledging the Bible’s conflicting and evolving definitions of marriage, here are more examples of prooftexting and cherry-picking of Bible verses by three ex-gay activists:

Randy Thomas, vice president of Exodus International, responded saying the musical showed a “sincere misunderstanding of Scripture.”

Tim Wilkins, a former homosexual who heads Cross Ministry, argued that gay marriage supporters “are doing the very thing they accuse Christians of.”

“They focus on Leviticus and ignore New Testament passages that forbid homosexuality. WHY? Because Leviticus provides easier arguments with its prohibitions against certain foods.”

SBC’s [Bob] Stith also denounced Hollywood’s attempt to make biblical arguments. “Anyone who cares to spend thirty minutes of serious study would see the many flaws in Black’s argument,” he said.

Clearing up some of the confusion, Stith called it a “factual error” to claim that Scripture nowhere says homosexuals are an abomination.

Thomas presumes to possess the sole correct understanding of the Bible. Both he and Wilkins fail to cite any actual Bible verses. Meanwhile, Stith cherry-picks verses that seem to smear same-sex-attracted persons while he ignores neighboring verses that condemn Stith’s chosen lifestyle.

Source: Christian Post, Dec. 9

Newsweek’s Dec. 15 cover story about the Bible and marriage offered readers:

• a comprehensive overview of the Bible’s various conflicting definitions of marriage,
• an observation that Ozzie-and-Harriet couples are absent from the Bible,
• a recognition of evolving Jewish and Christian history and traditions regarding marriage

Religious-rightists have invested decades of effort into cherry-picking a handful of Bible verses, in order to redefine church-goers’ perception of “Biblical” marriage. In the new fundamentalist world order, divorce and serial remarriage are taken for granted. Meanwhile, fundamentalists have effectively suppressed public discussion of Bible verses that forbid divorce, mandate celibacy and non-marriage among Christian men, accept polygamy, and allow husbands — under certain circumstances — to commit honor killings or sell wives and children into slavery.

On Dec. 10 — showing no sign that it had read the Newsweek article — Exodus released a statement that falsely accused Newsweek of “abandoning the truth of the Bible” and “maligning and manipulating Scripture.” Exodus president Alan Chambers falsely described himself as a “former homosexual” and falsely described the Bible’s “teaching” (singular, sic) on sexuality and relationships as one of “freedom.”

Exodus says Newsweek does a disservice “to those looking for spiritual and intellectual honesty.” Despite its claim to defend the Bible, Exodus fails to cite a single Bible verse.

Exodus leaves the impression that it believes readers would be better-served with cherry-picked Bible verses which excuse a social-conservative lifestyle of sex-orientation dishonesty, feigned abstinence, unsafe premarital sex, unwed pregnancy, shotgun marriage, divorce, remarriage, and rigid Protestant rules for husband and wife which disrespect both tradition and individuals’ skills and personalities.

For more information:
Politico.com: Newsweek draws fire on gay marriage

The U.S. radio airwaves are government property, owned by the taxpayers and licensed to private entities on the condition that broadcasts will somehow serve the public interest.

Since 1987, protection of taxpayer property has been eroded by reactionary and politically partisan interests who have steadily bought up licenses with the intention of denying access to the public airwaves to an honest, equitable, and balanced cross-section of the American public.

With the demise of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, and protections against defamatory personal attacks in 2000, media conglomerates have filled the publicly owned airwaves with ethnic, religious, and sexual slurs from divisive, profane, and sometimes anti-Semitic egotists like Howard Stern, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh.

Focus on the Family now defends this cesspool of indecency — fearful that President-elect Barack Obama and a new Congress will restore regulations requiring that the taxpayers’ airwaves be used fairly and not abused by potty-mouths.

Queers United reported earlier this week that talk-show host Tyra Banks has invited ex-gays to appear on her show.

“I WANT TO BE AN EX-GAY”

Are you a gay man or lesbian who wants to be straight? Do your friends or family disagree with your gay lifestyle and wish you were straight? If you ever wish you could erase your same-sex attractions and not be gay?”

The failure of the show to invite survivors of ex-gay programs is a bit disappointing: It’s a sign not only of sloppy talk-show producers, but also of the failure of ex-gay activists (thus far) to share the public spotlight with the individuals and families who have been harmed by their quack cures.

Former ex-gays need not settle for exclusion: They can use the Tyra Bank Show’s contact form to sign up to appear on-air with the ex-gays.

How about it, survivors? If you’re feeling grounded, self-confident, articulate, and willing to face some media, consider making a difference: Share your experiences, and help protect others from prejudice, family turmoil, and years of ineffective and expensive “therapy.”

Focus on the Family sent a “Special Alert” to supporters this afternoon:

Dr. Dobson to Appear on Glenn Beck Tonight

Dr. James Dobson is scheduled to discuss California’s marriage amendment tonight on the Glenn Beck Show at 7 ET (4 PT). It airs on CNN Headline News. Check your local listings to learn when the program will re-air.

Please be in prayer for Dr. Dobson, as he takes this responsibility very seriously. And please tune in tonight.

I suggest a different approach than simply watching (and obeying) Dobson:

Please write polite letters to Glenn Beck’s radio and TV shows.

Describe, from your own experiences and objective examples, how Dobson’s propaganda has promoted doomed ex-gay marriages, discouraged healthy and lifelong gay relationships, advocated the denial of equal access to public facilities and services, and prevented brave and well-qualified men and women from serving in the armed forces.

Perhaps most important: Politely tell Mr. Beck how Dobson’s ex-gay conferences and antigay lobbying have fueled misunderstanding and division among your own families and friends. Ask Mr. Beck to invite ex-gay survivors, medical professionals, and researchers onto Beck’s program to offer the audience a look at the consequences of James Dobson’s war against families and science.

An article published last week by the Christian New Man Magazine claims to interview Exodus president Alan Chambers, but a careful reading suggests that the questions could easily have been written by Chambers or his handlers.

The answers are boilerplate ex-gay rhetoric; what makes the interview interesting is the narrowmindedness and political correctness of the questions. (Read More)