A few days back, we had a little fun with Dr. Michael Brown, who was bellyaching about the fact that he wrote a 700 page book on how much he hates gay people [he calls it "love," but we're all about accuracy here], but nobody cared. Indeed, publishers wouldn’t even touch it, probably because it was boring. If I were in the mood to read 700 pages of blah blah blah, discredited “research,” fundamentalist bigotry euphemized as “Christian love,” I would review it for you. I, however, would rather pick up sticks in the backyard and poke myself with them repeatedly. As you know, I’d probably snark it up, do a little skewering, etc.
Fortunately, Kathy Baldock has done the painful work of reading and reviewing it, and it’s funny. Kathy takes a very different approach to things from me, but she reaches basically the same conclusions. Kathy is a deeply committed Christian, and as she goes, chapter by chapter, through the book, she keeps looking for genuine love from this man, but can only go so far as to find that he thinks he loves people.
Most egregious is the chapter where he starts by saying he’s not equating homosexuality with pedophilia, but then, according to Kathy, spends a good forty pages talking about pedophiles. At times like these, it’s useful to remember that Michael Brown and his ideological cohorts know their audience. They know how to blow dogwhistles that will send anti-gay wingnuts clutching their misunderstood Bibles in fear of The Gays. Here’s Kathy’s summary of that section:
The chapter starts with : “MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT EQUATING HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE WITH PEDOPHILIA. MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT CALLING ALL HOMOSEXUALS PEDOPHILES”
However, the next FORTY pages are about pedophilia. So repulsive, it amazed me that Dr. Brown would include it. Why does he say he included it then? Pedophiles say they are born that way and the slippery slope to including homosexuals with equal status will open the doors to pedophiles wanting equality and acceptance too.
This section made me angry. Just because you say “I am not saying this . . . ” and then publish FORTY pages of trash in the midst of a book on the dangers/damage of/by homosexuals does not negate the impact of the natural association that people will make to homosexuality. This is one of the most disgusting ploys, intentional or not, of the entire book. Dr. Brown could have stated his concerns in one paragraph, yet, I was subjected to reading the NAMBLA boy-love trash???
How many already anti-gay readers will duct tape the whole yucky mess onto the GLBT community? How many potential GLBT readers will you thoroughly offend by this most egregious, don’t-think-about-the-pink-elephant tactic? So offensive and incredibly subtly manipulative. Completely gratuitous porn. No wonder no publisher would touch this manuscript. This may have been one of the two major disqualifiers from options other than self publish.
Yes, I know: “MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT EQUATING HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE WITH PEDOPHILIA. MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT CALLING ALL HOMOSEXUALS PEDOPHILES” but, what will your readers hear? What will they remember? Horrid. You should have left it unspeakable.
This is classic Michael Brown, though. He’s probably one of the most vitriolic anti-gay voices out there, but he’s been taught [brainwashed] to believe that if he “reaches out” wanting “dialogue,” and is moreover “polite” about it, then he is blameless for spewing unrepentantly incorrect anti-gay bullshit to his drooling readers, because he was “nice.” This is a fundamental difference between religious conservative wingnuts and reality-based dwellers. THEY are obsessed with tone. WE are obsessed with truth, and some of us do it in a nice way, others hurl F-bombs, and everything in between, but at the end of the day, what matters is what is actually, verifably correct. Michael Brown, on the other hand, sweetly insinuates that homosexuality and pedophilia are inextricably linked [something EVERY grown-up real-life study on the subject has shown to be false] by writing a million words about it in a book that’s supposed to be about gay people. What a troll.
Elsewhere, he devotes a chapter to the consumer fraud known as the “ex-gay” industrial complex, citing sources like NARTH [RentBoy say what?] and the gay-obsessed shame of the Presbyterian church, Rob Gagnon. According to Kathy, though, that sort of takes second billing to his whiny recounting of all the times Wayne Besen has been mean to him over the years. [Why you so mean to Michael Brown, Wayne?] Here’s Kathy’s section on “ex-gay”ness in Brown’s book:
It is a fact that the ex-gay movement does exist. It is a fact that some people find reconciliation of faith and sexuality in these groups. It is a fact that some people do get heterosexually married or remain celibate for the rest of their lives.
It is fiction however, that people change their orientation. When I see the footnotes and quotes citing Nicolosi, NARTH and Gagnon, I know Dr. Brown has gone to the extremes for his research. Even Alan Chambers of Exodus would have told Dr. Brown that no one can change their orientation and Alan Chambers is supposed to be the Christian church world expert. Anything out of NARTH as a resource? Rent Boy ring a bell? Please Dr. Brown, call Michael Bussee and talk to him. One of Exodus originals. Ask him why he got discouraged by the lies of those around him. Or Darlene Bogle, one of the Exodus speakers, leaders, author of two or their books, counselor for fifteen years. She lives with her wife in San Jose. Or John Smid who ran Love in Action, a residence program for reparative therapy for twenty two years.
Dr. Brown instead focuses on Wayne Besen, Truth Wins Out, gay activist extraordinaire and recounts the tiffs he and Wayne have had.
Well, if you know you’ve got no argument, might as well try to paint the experts in a bad light. Or maybe Brown just has a crush on Wayne.
Anyway, that’s just two of the chapters of this, again, SEVEN HUNDRED PAGE BOOK on how gays are icky. Go read the rest of Kathy’s review to see what else she found.
I suppose that NARTH was jealous that Exodus was the only “ex-gay” business being humiliated this week, and decided to thus reassert their relevance in a world that cares less and less each day. NARTH persistently misrepresents the research of noted geneticist Francis Collins [who happens to be an Evangelical], and Collins has the audacity to respond to it forcefully, so therefore NARTH will stomp their feet like this:
The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is once again attacking the veracity of noted geneticist Dr. Francis S. Collins. For a review of the history of this issue, please see the summary and links in our previous post. The original NARTH article that started this is “Homosexuality Is Not Hardwired,” Concludes Dr. Francis S. Collins, Head Of The Human Genome Project” from 2007.
This latest effort comes in the form of an article identified as submitted to the NARTH website by David C. Pruden, NARTH’s Vice-President of Operations. We will assume from here on out that Pruden is the author unless or until we receive information to the contrary. In it, this writer is painted as having wooed Dr. Collins into making statements favorable to a pro-gay position by “misinforming” him about NARTH. Supposedly, by not telling him what a good and wholesome organization it is (cough), we hoodwinked Dr. Collins into perverting the science in our favor.
That is how sneaky gay bloggers are! All we have to do is snap our fingers and the leading scientists of the nation do what we say! Come on, now.
David Pruden provides no evidence, or clear argument to support that I “misinformed” Dr. Collins. Dr. Collins is a smart man and can clearly draw his own conclusions. The latest article is defensive and divisive, providing nothing new. Furthermore, Pruden’s claims are not relevant because XGW is not responsible for “representing” NARTH in a way that fits their own PR. I simply asked Dr. Collins questions and he answered after reading the original NARTH article himself.
[...]
Dr. Collins stated that the words used in that NARTH piece were “juxtaposed in a way that suggest[ed] a somewhat different conclusion than [he] intended.” If Pruden had a beef with that, then why point fingers at me, rather than just go to the source?
And on and on it goes. Read the whole thing, because it’s a demonstration of just how little of a commitment to or relationship with the truth NARTH [and all related ex-gay religious extremist organizations] have. They simply lie, and they hope that people are dumb enough not to notice.
Lisa Ling was duped by Exodus President Alan Chambers and failed to ask him key follow-up questions.
This was particularly glaring when it came to Chambers spinning what really went on sexually between he and his wife when they first married.
On Ling’s “Pray the Gay Away” segment on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Chambers portrays his marriage as true bliss. He tells the “reporter”, “It (sex with a woman) felt natural, absolutely, and has every day for our entire marriage.”
What? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Chambers admitted at a 2007 Love Won Out conference in Phoenix, “I realize that I do live a life of denial. Not denial of who I used to be, not denial of who I could be today, but I deny what comes naturally to me.”
Why didn’t Ling ask Chambers, “If your experience with your wife was so natural, then why are you saying that you deny what comes naturally to you?”
It also took Chambers nine months to consummate his marriage, hardly a ringing endorsement of his heterosexuality. Yet, Ling never pointed this out to her audience.
Basically, Alan Chambers lied through his teeth, spun the truth, inverted reality — and Lisa Ling and OWN enabled this charade. If the reporter would have done her homework, she would have known about Chambers’ honeymoon horror.
Shame on Ling for not doing her job and telling the real story. Shame on the Oprah Winfrey Network for allowing this shallow puff piece to air.
KC and Larry met at Exodus International’s “ex-gay” ministry Love in Action while trying to “pray away the gay”. The two men fell in love and are now legally married. The Jansson’s story was featured recently in the Dallas Voice’s Valentine’s Day issue. Truth Wins Out invited KC and Larry to Memphis to speak at Rhodes College on the closing night of TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen’s Winter Tour. The speaking engagement brought KC & Larry back to where it all began — at the Memphis “ex-gay” ministry!
Enjoy this beautiful three-part story of true love and genuine acceptance. This is real love in action.
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:
Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen speaking in Lincoln, at University of Nebraska on the “ex-gay” myth.
In this video, he discusses how Exodus harms its clients when it claims that the group does not heal people — only God can. But, the group does set itself as the middleman and conduit to God.
When Exodus fails to deliver and the promised “change” does not occur — Exodus’ victims often blame themselves and feel abandoned by God. This can cause trauma and psychological damage.
Besen also discusses how so-called “ex-gay” groups do not keep statistics. They simply make them up as they go along.
To their credit, when it was pointed out to the provinicial government in Alberta that homosexuality was still listed as a mental disorder, the health minister immediately recognized it as a relic of less civilized, less educated days and ordered it removed. Predictably, though, the Pro-Family Wingnuts of Alberta are not happy:
“It’s just a political decision based on avoidance of political pressure and has nothing to do with common sense, nothing to do with the well-being and welfare of homosexuals at all,” said Gwen Landolt, national vice president of REAL Women Canada.
[...]
The fact that the province’s diagnostic codes still included homosexuality shocked many, as the deviance had been removed by most jurisdictions and the major health bodies many years before – the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, the Canadian Psychological Association in 1982, and the World Health Organization in 1990.
It looks like it was more of an oversight than anything else.
However, Dr. Julie Harren Hamilton, president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), told LifeSiteNews that many are “dissatisfied” with unwanted same-sex attractions and seek help from therapists to “avoid homosexual behaviors and increase their heterosexual potential.”
But with the removal of homosexuality by the APA in 1973, she said, “many therapists have come to incorrectly believe that growth and change for those experiencing these feelings is not possible. This is not true.”
Damn scientific/medical organizations and their facts that don’t jibe with fundamentalist Christian bigotry!
We’ll give the last word to the first wingnut quoted above:
Landolt stated: “Common sense says that homosexuality’s not natural.”
“It is a deviation from the normal and you cannot change that. You can put it down on paper, but everyone knows instinctively that it’s not acceptable.”
Reality disagrees with your “common sense” and your deeply imprinted, bigoted instincts, Gwendolyn.
The “ex-gay” organization, The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) announced this week that its 2011 annual conference will take place in Phoenix. The organization’ event will take place Nov. 4-6 at the Marriott Phoenix Airport. This year’s conference in Philadelphia was protested by Truth Wins Out and a host of organizations including Equality Pennsylvania. (More on protest from Edge Philadelphia). SoulForce also held a symposium to set the record straight.
On February 19, 2011 the largest “ex-gay” organization, Exodus International, will bring its Love Won Out roadshow to Phoenix. The anti-gay extravaganza will take place at the Church for the Nations.
I sure hope LGBT activists in Phoenix are up to the challenge of refuting the lies that are about to come their way. From my past experience, they will do a great job of exposing these groups as dangerous frauds.
Here are a few news clips about the Phoenix Love Won Out Conference in 2007. This was back when they were hosted by Focus on the Family. Last year, Exodus took over.
This week, the “ex-gay” organization Exodus International posted a cruel and misleading video on its blog where the group’s president, Alan Chambers, made the outrageous claim that, “Homosexuality will disappoint you.”
In reality, it is Exodus that will disappoint, with its remarkable failure rate and potential for real psychological harm. (There is a good reason Exodus does not keep statistics) The only way, it seems, clients “change” their sexual orientation is to join the Exodus staff and get paid to say they have converted.
Chambers’ claim is patently absurd. Neither homosexuality, nor heterosexuality, can disappoint. Both orientations represent sexual arousal and love — both wonderful feelings of joy and satisfaction. I suppose what Chambers is inartfully alluding too, is that if a person comes out, they will be let down by some who they want to share a sexual and romantic relationship.
Of course, this is true. When you come out, I can guarantee that there will be sexual and emotional interests that will not reciprocate. This will, no doubt, be disappointing.
Surely, Chambers can’t be suggesting that such disappointments are exclusive to LGBT people. How then does he explain the high divorce rate in America? How does he rationalize the jukeboxes filled with songs for the love sick and broken hearted? How does he justify the existence of online dating sites and personal ads if heterosexual happiness is so magically easy? If heterosexual marriage is so perfect, who is frequenting the prostitutes walking the street or selling their wares on the Internet?
Obviously, both sexual orientations can bring bliss or brokenness; ecstasy or despair. For Chambers to suggest that gay people have a monopoly on loneliness and relationship troubles is disingenuous. What he is really trying to do is scare LGBT teenagers into believing that if they come out they will be miserable. This is simply untrue and such lies are why it is difficult to trust or respect Alan Chambers.
If the first lie was not bad enough, Chambers resorts to biblical blackmail and spiritual abuse when he says:
“In God’s word, it says, ‘this is not what I created you for. I didn’t create you for this. This is a counterfeit of my best.’”
If Chambers’ sexuality is so real, why was he impotent for the first six months of his marriage? It seems he was trying to be someone that he was not meant to be. Indeed, Box Turtle Bulletin’s Jim Burroway recorded Chambers at a 2007 Love Won Out conference in Phoenix saying that each morning he wakes up and prays, “Dear Lord, I can’t make it today without you. I choose to deny what comes naturally to me.’”
And he calls the love of LGBT people counterfeit?
Next, Chambers offers this bit of advice:
“Don’t defer hope by getting involved in homosexuality. Or continuing in homosexuality. It is deferring hope and it will make your heart sick….homosexuality is a poor substitute.”
Deferring hope of what? The Exodus activist told the Los Angeles Times on June 18, 2007, “By no means would we ever say change can be sudden or complete.”
Is he seriously peddling sexual repression as “hope”? And, with endless examples of happy LGBT couples, how exactly will one’s heart get sick? Again, Chambers is trying to spook young people into signing up for his useless “pray away the gay” seminars, which fund his salary.
Alan then goes on to say:
“Many of you people would not be here if your hearts weren’t sick.”
I would agree with his assessment. When one denies reality and subjugates his or her real sexual orientation — the result can be sickness. Lying to oneself about something so fundamental can do serious emotional and psychological damage. The fact that the audience paid to listen to this charlatan, does increase the chance that they are internally ripping themselves to shreds. Unfortunately, Chambers false and destructive message is not the panacea, but the root of the pain. Exodus is the problem. not the solution.
The “ex-gay” activist then cunningly offers a disclaimer that absolves himself and his failed organization from the eventual, dare I say, “disappointment”:
“God is here. He will meet your need if you trust him. If you ask him to do something in your life, he’ll do it. It may not be exactly the way you wanted it to be done. It may not be exactly what you, um, think he was going to do. Or in the time that he, you expected him to do it. But he’ll do something in your life.”
If you read between the lines, Chambers is covering his ass by essentially saying, “You will be a paying customer in my racket for a real long time and don’t expect to see any tangible signs of heterosexuality.”
Of course, the silly claim that “God is doing something” is deceptive and unverifiable. It could be claimed that God made the sun shine today, thus he did “something” in your life. But, the truth is, the vast majority of people who attend Exodus retreats are desperately trying to go from gay-to-straight. If they were simply trying to find Jesus, they could have just as easily have done so by staying home and saving money by praying at the local church. But, no, they fly off to the Exodus event not simply to have God do “something”. They usually want God to do something very specific, which is change their sexual orientation.
Interestingly, Chambers continues his speech by basically saying that his organization has no real product and it is all in the Lord’s hands.
“If your heart is sick, you can find healing here. Not because this is Exodus International and we cure people, because we don’t. We simply stand up here as facilitators in a process and point to the only one that can help you, the only one that can save you. the only one who can heal you.”
How convenient. When the paying customers don’t get what they came for, it’s not Exodus’ fault. It’s the customer’s fault for not pleasing the man upstairs. Is this not the perfect scheme?
Chambers reiterates — even though he is the one who cashes the checks — that God is the only one who gives the green light to leaving the gay behind.
“You are not going to get cured this week. We can’t cure you. I can’t cure you. But the truth is, God can.”
So, the questions often asked by Exodus’ distraught and disillusioned religious clients are: “How come God chose not to cure me? Does God not love me? What did I do wrong?”
Clearly, it is not a leap to see how Exodus’ message can lead to suicide, depression and self-destructive behavior. It’s even sadder that Chambers runs a program called Exodus Youth, in which he peddles his guilt-inducing lies to impressionable teenagers who are told by family members that they are bad people and going to hell if they are gay.
Exodus is an organization that thrives on slick marketing campaigns, selling half-truths, fudging facts, and playing semantic games. It takes advantage of vulnerable and desperate people and exacerbates their trauma. This video is Exhibit A in showing how Exodus is a destructive organization that should close its doors before more innocent people are harmed.
TWO Pledges To Help Educate The World Bank About PFOX’s Record of Hate and Harm
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out today praised the World Bank’s plan to eliminate matching funds for the “ex-gay” hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), and called it a “positive step in the right direction.” The bank took this extraordinary step after learning more about PFOX’s reprehensible record and strong objections from staff who were upset PFOX had been included on the World Bank’s list of approved charities.
“We are grateful that the World Bank ensured that taxpayers will not be subsidizing PFOX’s anti-gay campaign,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We pledge to continue educating the World Bank on this vital issue. The more they learn about PFOX’s history of hate and harm, the less likely they will consider PFOX a legitimate charity.”
Last week, Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner discovered that a small number of anti-gay staff-members at the World Bank had recommended PFOX as a charity for this year’s Community Connections Campaign. World Bank matching funds were to be given to the chosen charities. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
Truth Wins Out and Change.org launched an online petition to drop PFOX from the list of charities. World Bank staff also made a persuasive case against using taxpayer funds to assist PFOX. The World Bank decided to take another look at PFOX and elected to change their guidelines. According to the new rules:
Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year’s campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15, 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.
Truth Wins Out preferred that PFOX be completely dropped from the list this year, but is satisfied with this interim measure that starves the hate group of taxpayer funds. In 2011, TWO will disseminate key information to World Bank staff and management to ensure they are aware of PFOX’s dubious record.
“It is a shame that other first time charitable organizations will have to suffer because of PFOX’s unseemly presence,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Sadly, the PFOX baby is so toxic that the bathwater had to be flushed to avoid contaminating the entire program’s reputation.”
In August, two key members of PFOX spoke at the “Truth Academy”. The conference was hosted by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s founder Peter LaBarbera, whose website was listed as an official “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At the Truth Academy, PFOX Board President Greg Quinlan raised eyebrows with an offensive speech. Quinlan explained how he allegedly went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church that accepted him because he allegedly was not effeminate.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
At the same conference, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the convicted Wall Street thief who runs PFOX’s speakers bureau, demonstrated PFOX’s unscientific use of stereotypes.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Abba Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
“PFOX is a dangerous organization that traffics in ugly slurs and crass stereotypes,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Given PFOX’s level of vitriol, it would seem reckless and irresponsible to give this group charitable status in the future.”
PFOX’s former board President is Richard Cohen, 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. Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association on March 23, 2002 for multiple ethics violations.
PFOX is an anti-gay political organization founded in 1998 by Anthony Falzarano with the help of an $80,000 Family Research Council grant. Falzarano once called University of Wyoming hate crime victim Matthew Shepard a “predator to heterosexual men.” He also said on CBS News that, “AIDS comes directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.”
“PFOX likes to claim that they ‘love’ LGBT people,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “But their syrupy rhetoric does not match their record, nor reality. From the moment this organization was founded, it showed open hostility and extreme animus towards LGBT people.”
There are also lingering questions as to whether PFOX should have been listed as a charity, given that 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 PFOX 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. 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 based in Reedville.
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.
With a gift of $35 to Truth Wins Out, you can receive an autographed copy of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."
A few days back, we had a little fun with Dr. Michael Brown, who was bellyaching about the fact that he wrote a 700 page book on how much he hates gay people [he calls it "love," but we're all about accuracy here], but nobody cared. Indeed, publishers wouldn’t even touch it, probably because it was boring. If I were in the mood to read 700 pages of blah blah blah, discredited “research,” fundamentalist bigotry euphemized as “Christian love,” I would review it for you. I, however, would rather pick up sticks in the backyard and poke myself with them repeatedly. As you know, I’d probably snark it up, do a little skewering, etc. 
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.
The “ex-gay” organization, The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) announced this week that its 2011 annual conference will take place in Phoenix. The organization’ event will take place Nov. 4-6 at the Marriott Phoenix Airport. This year’s conference in Philadelphia 
Surely, Chambers can’t be suggesting that such disappointments are exclusive to LGBT people. How then does he explain the high divorce rate in America? How does he rationalize the jukeboxes filled with songs for the love sick and broken hearted? How does he justify the existence of online dating sites and personal ads if heterosexual happiness is so magically easy? If heterosexual marriage is so perfect, who is frequenting the prostitutes walking the street or selling their wares on the Internet?
Last week, Metro Weekly’s 
