Adele Starr, a Brentwood mother of five who overcame dismay at her son’s homosexuality to become a leading voice for gay rights and marriage equality, has died. She was 90.
Starr died in her sleep Friday at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, where she had been convalescing after surgery, said her son Philip Starr.
In 1976, Starr founded the Los Angeles chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a gay rights and acceptance organization known then as Parent FLAG, now as PFLAG.
In 1979, she spoke on the steps of the U.S. Capitol at a march for gay rights — a seminal event often credited with uniting a then-nascent movement.
Two years later, she became PFLAG’s first national president; she served in that capacity until 1986 and remained a forceful advocate for civil rights and, in later years, for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently spoke at PFLAG’s annual dinner and, in light of the awful spate of gay teen suicides and anti-gay attacks in New York and elsewhere, gave a wonderful speech on equality and what all parents should want for their children. David Mixner reprinted the whole thing, and so will I, after the jump.
Continuing its insane strategy of harassing corporations, the hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is urging PepsiCo shareholders to vote in favor of Shareholder Proposal No. 4 — the Charitable Contributions Report. While PFOX claims to represent ex-gays, they have virtually none in the organization, strongly suggesting they are a political and legal front group.
The nutty PFOX resolution demands that PepsiCo to explain its standards for donations. PFOX is upset because it claims PepsiCo is contributing to Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). This is a group that helps families accept loved ones who happen to be gay.
“Why does PepsiCo fund organizations like PFLAG which issue religious publications urging readers to undermine other religions with which PFLAG disagrees?” asked Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX. “Is this the best use of PepsiCo funding?”
“In response to a similar proposal last year, PepsiCo claimed that it is “committed to diversity and inclusion without imposition of personal judgment.’ So why does PepsiCo continue to fund organizations which hate the ex-gay community?”
“The PepsiCo Shareholder Proposal No. 4 asks PepsiCo to divulge its standards for funding and account for how the Company’ charitable contributions are actually used, a reasonable request,” said Griggs. “PepsiCo’ actions adversely affect its public image, goodwill, and stock value.”
PFOX is once again playing victim and angry (aren’t they always?) that PFLAG refers to so-called “ex-gay” conferences as “anti-gay”. Well, maybe because they portray gay relationships as sinful, counterfeit and as sexual brokenness. Any reasonable person would conclude that such depictions of an entire group of people are, indeed, anti-gay.
Once again, PFOX is coming across as unglued and divorced from reality by pursuing a bizarre strategy of portraying so-called “ex-gays” as hapless victims. In reality, PFOX is an aggressively dishonest organization that singles out LGBT people for ridicule and persecution.
PFOX was founded in the late 1990′s by Anthony Falzarano, with political and financial backing from the Family Research Council. He was replaced by Richard Cohen (pictured with tennis racket), the discredited therapist who was expelled for life from the American Counseling Association. The group also has close ties to Arthur Abba Goldberg – the founder of JONAH and a former Wall Street con artist who served hard time for bilking investors.
Metro DC Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the Rainbow Youth Alliance (RYA) sent the following letter this week to the Montgomery County Public Schools’ Board of Education.
The school district — located in an otherwise liberal area of Maryland adjoining Washington, D.C. — falsely claims to be required by court rulings to host the antigay fliers of an organization whose leaders call for the imprisonment of all LGBT people, including parents and students. (TWO encourages the SPLC to take note.)
Visit Teach The Facts for complete local background, or check out Truth Wins Out’s articles about PFOX efforts to undermine public education in Maryland.
Media Contact: Wayne Bessen, American Prayer Hour Coordinator Phone: 917-691-5118 E-Mail: wbesen@truthwinsout.org Website:www.AmericanPrayerHour.org
Multi-City Prayer Hour Offers Alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast Whose Leaders Have Apparent Ties to Uganda’ Draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill
What: On Tuesday, February 2, 2010 key religious leaders will hold a press conference to announce the formation of The American Prayer Hour, a multi-city event on Thursday, February 4, 2010, with key events in Washington, DC, Dallas, Chicago and Berkeley. The American Prayer Hour events will affirm inclusive values and call on all nations, including Uganda, to decriminalize the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The American Prayer Hour provides an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast, which is sponsored by The Family (aka The Fellowship), a group with disturbing ties to those spearheading Uganda’ oppressive Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
When: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 — 10:30 a.m. (EST)
Where: The National Press Club (Washington, DC) Murrow Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor – Washington, DC 20045
Who: Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church
Frank Schaeffer, author, “Crazy For God: How I Grew Up
As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take
All of it Back.”
Harry Knox, The Human Rights Campaign, Director of Religion and Faith
Moses, A gay Ugandan man seeking asylum in The United States
Rev. Elder Darlene Garner, Metropolitan Community Church, Vice-Moderator, Board of Elders
Bishop Carlton Pearson, Senior Minister at Chicago, Illinois’ Christ Universal Temple
Background: Uganda is considering the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, put forth by parliamentarian David Bahati and initially backed by President Yoweri Museveni. If passed, the new law would unleash a vicious campaign of persecution against LGBT citizens. Bahati and President Museveni are members of The Family and are among their “key men” in Africa. The Family hosts the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. The American Prayer Hour will show that such cruelty and extremism does not represent most people of faith.
Sponsors:
National Black Justice Coalition
Religion and Faith Program
Human Rights Campaign Foundation
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
National Religious Leadership Roundtable
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
On Nov. 7th, Focus on the Family brought its absurd “ex-gay” roadshow Love Won Out to Birmingham Alabama. This is a conference that tries to help people “pray away the gay”. (Cue uproarious laughter)
Truth Wins Out joined several local groups in protest. More than 50 people greeted conference attendees as they entered the church parking lot. Movie star Glenn Shadix, who had once undergone shock therapy in a failed effort to become straight commented on Joe Openshaw’s blog about what he saw at the demonstration:
“An image that will always stay with me is that of a young teenager being driven by what seemed to be his parents, into The Metropolitan Church of God,” said Shadix. “He slowly raised his hand and, hidden from those in the front seat of the car, waved at us as he was driven into the all day seminar. His sad face haunts me. I have been there. My prayers are with him.”
Truth Wins Out joined The Alliance for GLBT Equality at UAB, Covenant Community Church, Equality Alabama Birmingham, Central Alabama Pride and PFLAG.
Special thanks to Bob Palmatier, Joe Openshaw and Rev. J.R. Finney (and many others) for a powerful action against the intolerance and bigotry of Focus on the Family.
Today was Focus on the Family’s final Love Won Out road show, which took place in Birmingham, Alabama. Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen joined more than 75 people to protest the misinformation being spread at the mega-church where the “ex-gay” extravaganza took place.
If you like the fact that Truth Wins Out is fighting back against such lies, please consider a tax-deductible contribution today. Only with your help can we continue our efforts exposing lies and anti-gay distortions.
Today’s protest included members from: The Alliance for GLBT Equality at UAB, Equality Alabama Birmingham, Central Alabama Pride, Covenant Community Church and PFLAG. Several media outlets covered the presentation. Movie star Glenn Shadix, an Alabama native was on-hand. On Thursday, he shared his story of undergoing shock therapy in his youth to unsuccessfully become heterosexual.
We will provide video of the protest later. In the meantime, here are a few pictures.
The Anchorage Press, wrote a large feature story on the so-called “ex-gay” ministries. It did so after TWO and local Alaskan activists squared off against Focus on the Family, which brought its “ex-gay” road show to town last week. TWO Executive Director, Wayne Besen, flew to Alaska to help organize a response. The anti-gay symposium took on national interest after GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s house of worship – the Wasilla Bible Church – promoted the event. Besen spoke at the Anchorage Metropolitan Community Church with local clergy and mental health experts to counter Love Won Out.
“The Anchorage Press article was in-depth and did a very good job of getting to the essence of the ex-gay industry – which is politics,” said Besen. “Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out road show is a political vehicle used to make people feel better about themselves when they vote for anti-gay legislation. Other than that, the glitzy event has no practical purpose.”
Thanks to E. Ross of the website Bent Alaska and Edie Bailey of the Metropolitan Community Church and PFLAG, there was a powerful response to the “ex-gay” road show.
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) today responded to reports that U.S. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s church promoted Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out” ex-gay road show. The ex-gay propaganda day, which mobilizes antigay parents and pastors to oppose equality and sexual honesty for gay members of their families and churches, will commence later this week in Alaska’s state capital, Juneau. (Read More)
The parents of PFOX wrote to me yesterday to alert me to the “Political and Social Oppression of the Ex-Gay Community.” How horrible, I thought, that the sprawling Ex-Gay Community is treated that way!
I feared for the lives and the rights of my “no – longer – identified – as – anything, free-from-freedom, no – news – here, move – along” friends in the teeming ex-gay ghettoes of Colorado Springs and Orlando. So I tore open the PFOX e-mail envelope and read the following dispatch from suburban Washington, D.C. …
As you can see from the below local ABC news video, many ex-gays are afraid to come out of the closet because of the harassment they will receive — their names, phone numbers and personal information posted on gay websites; attacked at ex-gay exhibit booths; press releases issued against them, etc. The tactics of gay activists are to go after anyone who comes out publicly as ex-gay, force them back into the closet, and then claim that ex-gays don’t exist because there aren’t any out in public:
PFOX radiates fear and paranoia — blaming critics of the ex-gay industry for ex-gay homophobia, prejudice, and fear of legitimate mental-health professionals. These fears result in ex-gays, and the antigay families of gay people, living in fear of their own shadows.
Thankfully, open-minded parents and school officials in Maryland were also watching WJLA-TV on May 5.
David Fishback, for example, is a former chair of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools Citizens Advisory Committee for Family Health and Human Development. He also is on the board of Metro-DC PFLAG.
The full text of WJLA’s video report is here; Fishback’s full analysis is here. (Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, is featured in the WJLA report.)
Here are some brief bullet points that I culled from Fishback’s analysis: (Read More)
Continuing its insane strategy of harassing corporations, the hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is urging PepsiCo shareholders to vote in favor of Shareholder Proposal No. 4 — the Charitable Contributions Report. While PFOX claims to represent ex-gays, they have 
