Amanda Marcotte got an annoying, misinformed letter from a bigot. Here’s what it said:
Dear Ms. Marcotte:
No one is born “gay” or “transgender.”
These conditions arise as a result of faulty bonding and identification with the same-sex parent, starting in early life. They indicate deep-seated gender self-alienation (TG’s cross-identify with an opposite-sex figure), and are preventable and treatable.
The writings of well-known figures like Chastity Bono, James Morris, and Richard Raskind confirm this pattern.
Psychiatrist Richard Fitzgibbons’s articles “Gender Identity Disorder in Children” and “The Desire for a Sex Change” are instructive.
The Left has been lying to the public for decades, with false science and false argument. “Gays” are a manufactured “minority” used for political purposes.
The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality has the real information (http://www.narth.com).
More and more Americans are learning the truth. GayScam, this fraud, will be ended. The laws will be adjusted accordingly.
–Sharon Kass Washington, D.C.
Oh, they think they’re so smart. They quote known quacks, but they somehow think they’re the ones with the correct information, and that the rest of us and the mainstream scientific community are collaborating against them, just to make them look stupid, when in reality, they don’t need our help to make themselves look stupid. Anyway, Amanda’s response is pitch-perfect:
Well, you weren’t born an asshole, either, but I still think it’s wrong to take your computer away.
She, of course, elaborated on that response in a second reply, in case the wingnut didn’t get the joke, and you should read her piece in its entirety, but sometimes I think the above answer more than suffices.
So this ad from Exodus International is running in newspapers in Trinidad and Jamaica right now. It’s indicative of their troubles at home that the only places they feel like they’ll get any bang for their buck are already among the most homophobic nations on earth:
Their graphic designer apparently isn’t as good as ours either.
Awwww, this is too bad. Poland unfortunately lags behind the rest of the European Union when it comes to abandoning medieval views about sexuality, so Joseph Nicolosi and NARTH were able to book one of their weird little “Reparative Therapy: How To Without Leaving Visible Wounds” conferences at a medical school in that country. But then the school canceled. The source article is LifeSiteNews, so you’ll have to filter this out of wingnut speak and into grown-up reporting in order to get the gist:
A conference on the treatment of homosexuality has been denied use of facilities at a medical school in Poland, after the school had initially given approval for the event. The decision by the Medical School (UM) Foundation not to host the September 16 Reparative Therapy Conference, featuring psychologist Dr. Joseph Nicolosi of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), followed front-page criticism of the conference by leading Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.
“We received a reservation request for the organization of this conference and we granted it,” said UM Foundation President Roman Dworzynski at the time. “I see no (problem). (Reparative therapy) is a scientific theory like any other … When Louis Pasteur spoke about the existence of bacteria, no one believed him.”
Obviously Roman Dworzynski hasn’t been introduced to the wonders of Google or he would understand why he sounds like a product of the Texas school system with that remark.
Gazeta Wyborcza’s (GW) coverage of the conference has stressed that the American Psychological Association (APA) expresses concern about the effects of treatment for same-sex attraction. The APA also states, however, that there is “insufficient evidence” to either approve or discredit such therapy.
Actually, the APA resolution moreso says that there’s insufficient evidence to approve the therapy. The “discredit” part is really you all being cute with language. But again, we’re used to crappy reporting from right wing sources.
Here’s the female Polish wingnut version of Joseph Nicolosi, whining about censorship:
The Foundation for Health and Psychotherapeutic Education head, psychologist Bogna Bialecka, said that her Poznan-based organization has been planning the conference for several months so that Nicolosi could share his professional experience helping men deal with their unwanted same-sex attraction.
“The decision of the Medical University’s governing body is a sad example of censoring the freedom of speech,” she said.
Yes, well, Ms. Bialecka, in the United States we have a word for people like you: quack. She showed up in the comment section to the piece and said this:
It’s still hard time. We are fighting for the right to free speech. And happygael is right. The worst part of it are thousands of homosexuals who don’t identify with gay activism, who are looking for change, but can’t receive it, because of lack of trained, fully professional reparative therapists.
No, you’re fighting for the right to hurt people based on your own bigoted, uneducated, ill-trained notions of psychology. And without unqualified hacks like you and Joe Nicolosi, spamming the public with your perpetual nonsense on sexuality, there wouldn’t BE “thousands of homosexuals” who are unhappy with their sexual orientation. People like you must first inject hate into the discourse for people to be unhappy with their natural sexuality. That said, Bialecka’s complaint about “trained, fully professional reparative therapists” and the “lack” thereof are not the result of censorship of free speech, but more about the fact that no such thing exists.
This crap might fly in Poland, but ask your friends at NARTH how well they’re doing in the United States.
Hong Kong’s government has hired quack psychiatrist Hong Kwai-wah to “re-wire” LGBT people through cold showers and prayer. Hong Kwai-wah is chairman of the New Creation Association, which is directly linked to North American organizations Exodus International and Exodus Global Alliance.
“Scandal-prone ‘ex-gay’ programs have become a joke in the West, so these charlatans are exporting their scientifically-bankrupt theories overseas,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “As they opportunistically look for new global markets to exploit, we will put a cold shower on these fraudulent efforts. There is not a single acre on the map in which these slippery groups can hide from our work to spotlight and expose their quack therapies.”
The link to North American groups is robust and incontrovertible. On its website, the Canadian-based Exodus Global Alliance writes:
Kelvin and Tammy are the directors of New Creation Ministries. They say, “We are thankful for the encouragement from Dr. Melvin Wong, Anita and Frank Worthen, Jenny Li, Dr. Kwai-wah Hong, and Exodus Global Alliance. Thank God! He sees the needs of the gay community in Hong Kong and He prepares the hearts of the workers. We believe God will accomplish the works that He has begun.” May God bring new hope to those who want to become free from sexual addiction and bondage.
According to news reports, the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department issued a statement saying it presents a variety of viewpoints to staff members and that it has had gay rights advocates speak to the department in the past.
“Apparently, promoting harmful therapy rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health association in the world is considered a ‘viewpoint,’” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “In truth, the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department is disgracefully promoting anti-gay propaganda that that is harmful and ineffective.”
Gay Groups To Protest ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy Organization NARTH In Philadelphia, Saturday, Nov. 6
Demonstration Takes On New Urgency Following LGBT Teen Suicide Crisis
What: A coalition of local and statewide LGBT organizations will protest the annual conference of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), on Saturday, Nov. 6 (noon-1:30 PM). The so-called “ex-gay” group falsely believes that homosexuality is a psychological condition that can be cured through prayer and therapy. The organizations protesting want to send the message that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are fine just the way they are, and that you can’t “pray away the gay.”
The LGBT advocacy groups will be joined by mental health professionals, survivors of “ex-gay” therapy and nationally known LGBT bloggers. The demonstrators will point out that “ex-gay” therapy is harmful, ineffective and a fringe practice that is rejected by every respected medical and mental health association in America. The protest takes on new urgency, following a series of teen suicides due to anti-gay bullying.
Theme: The notorious “ex-gay” group NARTH is hoping that Americans have amnesia and don’t remember that its most “prominent” board member, George Rekers, was forced to resign in May. Rekers stepped down after he was caught vacationing with a male escort he met on RentBoy.com. When asked why he had hired the young man, Rekers said it was to, “lift his luggage.” The theme of this event is “Lift My Luggage” and protesters are urged to bring luggage to the protest (pink luggage would be ideal).
Who: The Lift My Luggage demonstration is co-sponsored by Truth Wins Out, Equality Pennsylvania, PFLAG, Equality Forum, The William Way LGBT Community Center, MCC Philadelphia, The Mazzoni Center, ex-gay therapy survivor Chaim Levin, Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend), Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God), Jeremy Hooper (Good As You) and Zack Ford (ZackFordBlogs.com).
Bonus: November 5th-7th Soulforce will host a symposium exposing ex-gay quack therapy that will feature Jay Bakker, Dr. Daniel Helminiak, Peterson Toscano, Christine Bakke. It will be a great weekend of protest and learning about the ex-gay myth.
Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118
E-Mail: wbesen@TruthWinsOut.org
Demonstration Against ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Takes On New Urgency Following LGBT Teen Suicide Crisis
PHILADELPHIA – Truth Wins Out launched the website, Lift My Luggage.org, today and announced a Saturday, Nov.6 protest against the “ex-gay” organization, The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), at their annual convention in Philadelphia.
The notorious “ex-gay” group is hoping that Americans have amnesia and won’t remember that its most “prominent” board member, George Rekers, was forced to resign in May. Rekers stepped down from NARTH after he was caught vacationing with a male escort he met on Rent Boy.com. When asked why he had hired the young man, Rekers said it was to, “lift his luggage.”
“As the infamous quacks at NARTH gather for their annual convention, let’s remind America that NARTH is a pseudo-scientific organization that is more about luring Rent Boys than conducting legitimate research,” said Truth Wins Out’s founder Wayne Besen. “In light of recent gay teen suicides, we must stand up and show how NARTH’s lies harm LGBT youth and create an intolerant climate where persecution, bullying, and violence occur.”
The Lift My Luggage demonstration is co-sponsored by the Equality Forum, The William Way LGBT Community Center, MCC Philadelphia, Pam Spaulding (Pam’s House Blend), Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God) and Jeremy Hooper (Good As You), Zack Ford (Zack Ford Blog). If your organization would like to consider co-sponsoring this event, please contact Wayne Besen, wbesen@truthwinsout.org.
Protest Information:
What: Protest of NARTH’s annual convention. We are asking that you bring your own luggage to the demonstration (pink luggage would be ideal).
Please consider attaching signs to the luggage such as:
NARTH = Junk Science
“Ex-Gay? No Way”
“Rent Boy Rekers”
Where: Renaissance Philadelphia Airport Hotel
500 Stevens Drive
Philadelphia, Pa.
On Friday, I appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show.
We discussed Delaware’s bizarre and extreme GOP Senate nominee, Christine O’Donnell and her deep roots in the so-called “ex-gay” industry. As the director of The Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth (SALT), she had an ex-gay program led by Wade Richards. He came out of the closet and O’Donnell, like a loving Christian, abandoned him, showing that she is cruel, unforgiving and mean-spirited.
A nationally known antigay psychologist who testified for the state in its defense of Florida’s gay adoption ban recently took a trip to Europe with a gay male prostitute from Miami who advertised himself online.
George A. Rekers — an officer of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) and a retired University of South Carolina professor — hired the young escort known as Geo on Rentboy.com, a gay-sex website.
Miami New Times reported the story on Tuesday and it quickly went viral on the Internet. By Wednesday, Rekers had taken down his Facebook page and Geo had removed his Rentboy profile.
Both Rekers and Geo, who declined to give his real name, deny they had a sexual relationship during their 10-day journey to Spain and England.
“In all honesty, I did go on the trip with him,” Geo, 20, told The Miami Herald on Wednesday. “He was setting me up as a companion. In all honesty, he’s a very kind family-values man.”
Rekers, 61, said via e-mail that he hired Geo as “an assistant to lift his luggage in his travels because of an ongoing condition following surgery.”
Gay activists seized the opportunity, though.
“He’s not a credible witness,” said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, the state’s leading gay-rights group. “The hateful rhetoric he spews in court is very damaging to the children being denied permanent and loving homes because of this adoption ban.”
Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, a national group that opposes the ex-gay movement, said it doesn’t matter whether or not Reckers and Geo had a sexual relationship.
“Who cares? It’s even creepier if they didn’t have sex,” said Besen, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale. “If you go to Rentboy.com to have the company of a sex worker and not have sex, I think that shows a pattern of repression and delusion. That’s just not normal behavior.
“Rekers is driving the story right now with his comical denial. He could have just as easily given someone a big tip to carry his bags, like everyone else does.”
The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is back in the news after its most prominent board member, George A. Rekers, was discovered by the Miami New Times with a male prostitute he met on RentBoy.com.
This has put a searing spotlight on an organization that works hard to portray itself as reputable and mainstream. However, a closer examination of NARTH reveals that it has long been a refuge for disreputable characters, extremists and even criminals. It is a thoroughly discredited “ex-gay” fringe organization that peddles fraudulent “cures” for homosexuality. Sadly, a lucrative market still exists for anti-gay stereotypes disguised as science and the greedy ideologue “therapists” eager to profit from unnecessary pain. They take advantage of vulnerable people who want to “fit in” and exploit suffering families who are desperate to believe they can cure a loved one.
Here are 13 Key Facts to know about NARTH:
1) Dr. George Rekers is on NARTH’s Board of Directors. He is the author of numerous books including, “Shaping Your Child’ Sexual Identity” and “Growing Up Straight: What Every Family Should Know About Homosexuality.” A major anti-gay figure that used to work at University of South Carolina, Rekers is also a founder of the Family Research Council and testified as an expert witness in favor of gay adoption bans in both Arkansas and Florida.
On May 5, 2010, Miami New Times reporters Penn Bullock and Brandon K. Thorp discovered that he had vacationed with a male escort in Europe that he had met on RentBoy.com. When the anti-gay doctor and his hooker arrived at Miami International Airport, reporters photographed them with a little pink camera. Confronted with the evidence, Rekers said he learned that his companion was a prostitute only midway through their vacation.
“I had surgery,” Rekers told the New Times, “and I can’t lift luggage. That’ why I hired him.”
2) Arthur Abba Goldberg was a prominent member of NARTH’s Board of Directors. He is also the co-founder of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH). On February 15, 2010, a Truth Wins Out (TWO) and South Florida Gay News (SFGN) investigation revealed that Goldberg was a Wall Street criminal mastermind who was convicted in 1987 of “fraud of spectacular scope”. Goldberg was sentenced to 18 months in jail for bilking poor communities with complicated bond schemes and served six months in prison. Upon completing his parole, he secretly reinvented himself as a moral leader who “cures” gay and lesbian people. As a result of this investigation, Goldberg was removed from NARTH’s Board of Directors in March 2010.
3) In 2006, Gerald Schoenwolf, PhD, also a member of NARTH’ “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a polemic on the group’ website that seemed to justify slavery: “With all due respect, there is another way, or other ways, to look at the race issue in America,” wrote Schoenwolf. “It could be pointed out, for example, that Africa at the time of slavery was still primarily a jungle, as yet uncivilized or industrialized. Life there was savage, as savage as the jungle for most people, and that it was the Africans themselves who first enslaved their own people. They sold their own people to other countries, and those brought to Europe, South America, America, and other countries, were in many ways better off than they had been in Africa. But if one even begins to say these things one is quickly shouted down as though one were a complete madman.”
4) In 2006, NARTH psychiatrist Joseph Berger, MD, a member of its “Scientific Advisory Committee,” wrote a paper encouraging students to “ridicule” gender variant children. “I suggest, indeed, letting children who wish go to school in clothes of the opposite sex–but not counseling other children to not tease them or hurt their feelings,” Dr. Berger wrote on NARTH’ website. “On the contrary, don’t interfere, and let the other children ridicule the child who has lost that clear boundary between play-acting at home and the reality needs of the outside world. Maybe, in this way, the child will re-establish that necessary boundary.”
5) NARTH associates with known extremists. At one NARTH convention, Richard Cohen (see Cohen and Nicolosi videos below) served as a therapy trainer. Cohen once belonged to a cult that practiced nude therapy and was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association in 2003 for malpractice. Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a NARTH therapist, has written that Prozac may cure gayness. Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, has been a frequent contributor to NARTH’ website. Lively’ book, “The Pink Swastika” blames the holocaust on gay people. NARTH therapist Christopher Austin, (mugshot left) who taught seminars for NARTH, was convicted for sexually abusing his clients.
6) NARTH habitually distorts research. In 2008, Dr. Lisa Diamond, University of Utah, publicly rebuked NARTH in a Truth Wins Out YouTube video. Diamond claimed that Dr. Nicolosi deliberately twisted her work for political gain. NARTH also uses outdated studies from up to 100 years ago and repackages these invalid studies as new.
7) NARTH recommends “treating” males as young as three years old, referring to them as “pre-homosexual boys.” In our view, this is consumer fraud since parents are unlikely to see results, despite expensive therapy sessions. We also believe forcing children to undergo traumatic, shame inducing “therapy” is child abuse that may cause lasting psychological scars.
8) Reparative therapy is not considered a legitimate and accepted form of psychological care. It is soundly rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization in America. The American Psychological Association says attempts to change sexual orientation can cause, “anxiety, depression and self destructive behavior. In August 2009, the American Psychological Association produced a landmark report that said, there was “no evidence” that ex-gay therapy was effective, and many cases it was linked to harm. There are survivor organizations to help the victims of such therapy, as well as support groups for spouses who married a gay partner who could not change sexual orientations.
9) The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) is a discredited “ex-gay” fringe organization that peddles fraudulent “cures” for homosexuality. Sadly, a lucrative market still exists for anti-gay stereotypes disguised as science and the greedy ideologue “therapists” eager to profit from unnecessary pain. They take advantage of vulnerable people who want to “fit in” and exploit suffering families who are desperate to believe they can cure a loved one.
10) NARTH believes that heterosexuality is quite malleable. The group’ founder, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, claims that if a straight male suffers “defeat or failure” he could become vulnerable to homosexuality.
11) NARTH is not a secular organization, as it often claims. For many years, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi served as a spokesperson for the far right Christian organization Focus on the Family. On CNN’ 360 Degrees with Anderson Cooper, (April 14, 2007), Nicolosi said, “We, as citizens, need to articulate God’ intent for human sexuality.” At the Feb. 10, 2007 Love Won Out conference in Phoenix, the “secular” therapist told the audience, “When we live our God-given integrity and our human dignity, there is no space for sex with a guy.”
12) Upon co-founding NARTH, its co-founder, Dr. Charles Socarides, who has a gay son that once served as President Bill Clinton’ gay liaison, told The Washington Post, “Homosexuality is a psychological and psychiatric disorder, there is no question about it. It is a purple menace that is threatening the proper design of gender distinctions in society.”
13) NARTH’ co-founder, Joesph Nicolosi encourages male clients to become more masculine by drinking Gatorade and referring to friends as “dude”. NARTH therapists have been known to practice rubber band therapy, where a gay client is made to wear a rubber band and snap it on his wrist when sexually stimulated. It is a mild form of aversion therapy meant to “snap” the client out of the moment of attraction. NARTH members have also been known to practice “touch therapy”, where a client sits in the therapist’ lap for up to an hour, while the therapist caresses him.
Arthur Goldberg’ damage-control campaign has begun, says Dave Rattigan of Ex-Gay Watch. His strategy is to portray himself as an innocent man who made a mistake, and is now the victim of a ruthless personal attack by the purveyors of the much-feared gay agenda.
Click here to read Rattigan’s excellent refutation, “I’m the victim: Arthur Abba Goldberg versus the world.”
Theme: The notorious “ex-gay” group NARTH is hoping that Americans have amnesia and don’t remember that its most “prominent” board member, George Rekers, was forced to resign in May. Rekers stepped down after he was caught vacationing with a male escort he met on RentBoy.com. When asked why he had hired the young man, Rekers said it was to, “lift his luggage.” The theme of this event is “Lift My Luggage” and protesters are urged to bring luggage to the protest (pink luggage would be ideal).
5) NARTH associates with known extremists. At one NARTH convention, Richard Cohen (see Cohen and Nicolosi videos below) served as a therapy trainer. Cohen once belonged to a cult that practiced nude therapy and was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association in 2003 for malpractice. Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a NARTH therapist, has written that Prozac may cure gayness. Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, has been a frequent contributor to NARTH’ website. Lively’ book, “The Pink Swastika” blames the holocaust on gay people. NARTH therapist 
