“What is it about gay sex that makes U.S. health officials want to play Chicken Little with AIDS prevention and public safety?” Tony Valenzuela writes in the latest Poz magazine, where he criticizes, “The clueless tabloid and public health hysteria over man-on-man sex.”
Valenzuela points to “an imaginary ‘super strain’ of HIV to the sci-fi MRSA superbug.” And, he is correct that it seems the media and society seem to always take on the absurd posture that gay sex is a mysterious ticking time bomb.
It is important to remember that gay bashing is a multi-million dollar industry. There is a vested interest by fundamentalist groups to convince the public that gay people are morally inferior and diseased, thus a threat to children, society and themselves.
The notion that AIDS is a punishment from God is a staple of right wing literature. Instead of focusing on the condemnation of unsafe sexual practices, extremist groups say that the very nature of being gay makes one a candidate for an early death. For example, the so-called “ex-gay” group Exodus International uses the Bible to justify their belief in God’s wrath and fury against homosexuals.
“Those who practice these sins ‘receive in their own persons the due penalty of their error,’” writes former Exodus Executive Director Bob Davies in ‘A Biblical Response to the Pro-Gay Movement.’ “In today’s society, homosexuality is reaping a bitter harvest…homosexual involvement reaps deep devastation in the lives of many who practice it.”
The Traditional Values Coalition has published what they call a “fact-based report on the dangers of homosexuals and homosexual behavior to children and to our society.” One “fact sheet” is called, “Homosexual Sex = Death From HIV Infection.”
Focus on the Family offers that, “solid, irrefutable evidence proves that there are lethal consequences to engaging in the defining features of male homosexuality…”
Of course, blaming victims for deadly diseases is nothing new and has ushered in some of the most shameful and horrific acts in world history. In a recent New York Times magazine article, epidemiologist and physician Gary Slutkin (the article was about gang violence, not HIV) spoke of how Chinese Americans were once thought to be inherently prone to disease.
“Chinatown, San Francisco in the 1880’s,” Slutkin said. “Three ghosts: malaria, smallpox and leprosy. No one wanted to go there. Everybody blamed the people. Dirty. Bad habits. Something about their race…And people come up with all kinds of other ideas that are not scientifically grounded – like putting people away, closing the place down, pushing people out of town. Sound familiar?”
John Kelly’s book, “The Great Mortality” explains how Jews were blamed for the “Black Death” that wiped out an estimated one-third of fourteenth century Europeans.
“In January 1349, Basel burned its Jews on an island in the Rhine, while hygiene-conscious Speyer, fearing pollution, put its dead Jews in wine barrels and rolled them into the river,” wrote Kelly. “Strasbourg marched its Jews to a local cemetery and burned them…In Worms the local Jewish community, faced with death at the hands of Christian neighbors, locked themselves in their homes and set themselves ablaze.”
What I find bizarre is how the right continues to portray HIV as a gay disease when more than 80 percent of people infected worldwide are heterosexual. If God really wanted to punish the so-called “gay lifestyle” and send a message, wouldn’t He use a smart bomb – like blowing up gay bars on Saturday nights – instead of an indiscriminate shotgun blast that claims the lives of hemophiliacs and babies? The last time God was this inefficient, He placed George W. Bush in the Oval Office to carry out his will.
For reasons of political convenience and conservative correctness, anti-gay groups pick and choose who gets blame. In Washington, DC, black residents account for 81% of new reports of HIV infection and 86% of people with AIDS, though the city’s population is only 57% African-American. Based on anti-gay “logic,” this would mean that the “black lifestyle” is dangerous and should be condemned. Interestingly, they only focus on homosexuality and ignore other demographics and the largely hetero International AIDS epidemic because the inconvenient facts don’t mesh well with the right’s anti-gay storyline.
Gay people were around for thousands of years before AIDS and will still inhabit this planet long after the disease subsides or is eradicated. In the grand scheme of the universe, HIV does not define homosexuality any more than past syphilis or gonorrhea outbreaks in Europe defined heterosexuality.
Illnesses, like natural disasters, are not God’s wrath, but ordinary phenomena that affect different populations at any given time. History, however, teaches us that the most enduring disease is divisiveness in the name of the Divine, that predictably rears its ugly head at the very moments when healing is needed instead of hatred.
Exodus claims to love homosexuals, but their message to those infected with HIV: “You are getting what you deserve and God is punishing you for being gay.” On Exodus’ website, there is a commentary by former Executive Director Bob Davies, “A Biblical Response to the Pro-Gay Movement.” In this screed he says:
Those who practice these sins “receive in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (v. 27). In today’s society, homosexuality is reaping a bitter harvest. Homosexual men are six times more likely to have attempted suicide than heterosexual men. Between 25 and 33 percent of homosexual men and women are alcoholics (the national average is 7 percent). Currently, 70 percent of Americans with AIDS are male homosexuals or bisexuals. Homosexual involvement reaps deep devastation in the lives of many who practice it.
It was certainly convenient for Davies to ignore that heterosexuals make up more than 80 percent of cases worldwide - so this is hardly a product of homosexual behavior. Many of the new infections are caused by right wing squeamishness to teaching comprehensive sex education - including condom use.
For political convenience, Exodus also skirts the obvious. In Washington, DC, black residents are hardest hit, accounting for 81% of new reports of HIV infection and 86% of people with AIDS, though the city’s population is only 57% African-American. Based on Exodus “logic” this would mean that the “black lifestyle” is dangerous and should be condemned. Interesting, how they only focus on homosexuality and ignore other demographics and the International AIDS epidemic because they don’t mesh well with the group’s bigotry.
The fact is, Exodus is a bona fide hate group that will say anything to smear homosexuals. Gay sex, when practiced safely, is no more dangerous than any other form of sexuality. Gay people have been around for thousands of years before AIDS and will be on this planet long after the disease subsides or is eradicated. In the grand scheme of the universe, it does not define homosexuality any more than syphilis outbreaks in Europe defined heterosexuality. It is time for Exodus to stop the blame game and act responsibly.
Exodus Increasingly Resorts To Delusional and Paranoid Attacks Against GLBT Community
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) criticized Exodus International after Stephen Black, an organizational spokesperson, compared “ex-gay” watchdog organizations to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Black, the leader of First Stone Ministries, an Exodus affiliate in Oklahoma City, used his personal blog to opine that “gay activists, liberal blog bullies and the liberal anti-Christ media machine…and Darwinism,” were determined to make ex-gay ministries illegal.
“Exodus International is becoming more desperate and shrill as they lose their war against homosexuality,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We call on Exodus to take action against Black and apologize for the group’s outrageous slander against GLBT advocates. These paranoid, mean-spirited and unfounded attacks are unethical and undermine Exodus’ claim that they love homosexuals.”
“There are actual GAY hate groups who wish to silence the voices of ex-gays,” wrote Black on his blog. “These groups are like the brazenly named ‘Ex-Gay Watch’ and their klan of bloggers who use hatefully sarcastic words in addressing ex-gays.”
Black went on to compare the work of ex-gay watchdog groups to Nazis and say – without evidence – that ex-gays were somehow being “stalked.”
“One merely need to lightly read over blogs like the “Ex-GAY WATCH” (yes, they are WATCHING and STALKING ex-gay leaders) and/or Wayne Besen’s blog and you will know we are living in very dark days….A very successful attorney friend of mine recently told me he felt it was like 1933 in Nazi Germany for Christians and Exodus type ministries in the USA. He seriously joked with me and said, ‘Stephen it is like 1933 and your last name isn’t Black, but Bernstein. Your ministries will be on the front-line of the next demonic wave of an anti-Christ movement in history. It is coming.’ WOW! It was a sobering moment.”
Black also claimed that gay activists and the media are, “silencing their great stories about overcoming homosexuality.” He makes the bizarre case that there are so few ex-gay stories from people not on the payroll of right wing organizations because they are, “afraid to come out from fear of persecution.”
“Black must live in a delusional bubble,” said Besen. “The mainstream media has featured Exodus International countless times, even though the group provides no statistics and offers no concrete evidence of change. The reason that we see so few ‘ex-gays’ who are not on the payroll of political organizations is because they don’t exist. To say, without evidence, that it is because of persecution is a copout and a transparent excuse for Exodus’ astronomical failure rate.”
TWO also took Black to task for his dishonesty. His blog states that he is “not associated with any organization,” yet, he directs an Exodus Ministry.
“This was a radical hit piece with the intent of character assassination,” said Besen. “The question is, what does Exodus intend to do about it?”
If Mohler and Throckmorton really wanted to have a debate, and if, as they say, they are not afraid of open debate, why don’t they just host it themselves?
There certainly must be enough room for this panel (or one like it) to speak at Mohler’s Baptist Theological Seminary, or at the Focus on the Family headquarters (Mohler is on the Board), or perhaps at a Love Won Out conference?
If they do not issue invitations for APA views to speak at their centers, then perhaps it is actually they who are afraid to debate in front of a wide audience? And, perhaps what everyone is saying, that they are just looking to make publicity to cast APA in a bad light is true. Maybe they are afraid that if their flocks are presented with real scientific views it will be more difficult to manipulate and brainwash them?
So, right wingers, when are the invitations coming?
Watch the video: Truth Wins Out and local GLBT equality advocates protested against Focus on the Family’s ex-gay roadshow in Mountain View, California, on April 12, 2008.
Truth Wins Out, a representative of the Metropolitan Community Church, a former “ex-gay,” and local GLBT groups conducted a prayer vigil, protest and discussion forum in conjunction with Focus on the Family’s ex-gay road show, titled “Love Won Out,” in San Jose, Calif.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that 700 people attended the ex-gay event. About 25 people protested outside.
Sadly, some attendees of “Love Won Out” sought to learn about gay people, not from actual gay people who stood peacefully nearby, but from Focus on the Family speakers who wage political and cultural warfare against a so-called gay “lifestyle”:
Anthony Jones, a church minister from the Pearly Grove Baptist Church in Fresno, said he came to learn to improve his ministry.
“I’m hoping to learn approaches on how to minister to homosexuals,” he said, “to know and understand what their lifestyle is.”
“We’re not saying you’re going to hell for being a homosexual,” he said. “We want to embrace them and love them but understand the sin of same-sex attraction.”
Buffy of The Gaytheist Agenda provides a detailed first-hand account and pictures of the protest and discussion forum. Joe.My.God has an overview with reader comments.
Truth Wins Out will air video from the events later this week.
UPDATE: Truth Wins Out posted the following video from the event:
Please join us at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 12, in Mountain View, Calif., for a prayer vigil in front of the church that is hosting Focus on the Family’s ex-gay Love Won Out road show.
Also on Saturday, the Billy DeFrank GLBT Community Center will host a panel discussion on the ex-gay industry at 1 p.m.
The panel will feature Aejaie Sellers, DeFrank Center’s CEO/Executive Director; Bill Roth, Catholic Democrats of California; Gloria Nieto, Santa Clara County LGBT Democrats; the Rev. Michael Ellard, Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose; ex-gay survivors; and Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out.
Love Won Out is a quarterly ex-gay symposium sponsored by Focus on the Family. John Paulk, an ex-gay leader who was on the cover of Newsweek and appeared on Oprah, 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, originally ran the program. Love Won Out suffered a major setback after Paulk was photographed in a Washington, D.C., gay bar by Besen.
TruthWinsOut.org is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life.
Ex-Gay Watch Founder Michael Airhart To Blog Daily On Site
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) launched its innovative new website today, enhancing its ability to fight the ex-gay myth and right wing propaganda. The site will be a leading educational resource and an all-encompassing look at the dangerous world of conversion therapy. For years, the ex-gay industry had dominated the flow of information on this topic. With this site, our movement has finally surpassed our opponents and we now have the means to counter ex-gay lies and reach vulnerable people with messages of truth and hope.
“TruthWinsOut.org is a one-stop-shop for information on the ex-gay myth and an action center for those who want to fight back against this insidious industry,” said TWO’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We believe this site will help people come out, keep families together and even save lives. This is a great day for those who have long wanted to stop the spread of ex-gay misinformation and help people escape the ex-gay trap.”
Michael Airhart, who founded Ex-Gay Watch in 2002, will publish daily on TWO’s blog, offering his penetrating insights and a deep understanding of this topic. Airhart formerly worked as senior business editor for McClatchy-Tribune news wires in Washington. In 2005 he became a director for a leading blog syndication company. He also co-founded Men Can Stop Rape in 1997. (Read More)
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) unveiled four new Internet videos today featuring prominent molecular biologist Dean Hamer, notable mental health expert and author Dr. Jack Drescher, ex-gay survivor Brent Almond and Nick Cavnar, who after decades left an ex-gay cult. This is the final week that the organization has released new educational videos addressing the “ex-gay” myth leading up to the March 3 launch of TWO’s updated website.
In today’s first video, molecular biologist Dr. Dean Hamer discusses biology, genetics and homosexuality. He also debunks the misinformation put forth by “ex-gay” organizations, such as Exodus and Focus on the Family.
In TWO’s second video, Dr. Jack Drescher, America’s foremost expert and scholar on GLBT mental health, answers questions on the efficacy of ‘ex-gay’ therapy. Drescher is a renowned scholar on issues of sexual orientation and a celebrated author.
Our third person featured is Brent Almond, who suffered through the ‘ex-gay’ ministries. In this video, he opens up to TruthWinsOut.org about his harrowing experience.
Finally, TWO interviews Nick Cavnar, a man who suppressed his sexuality, married and joined a Michigan cult that promised to cure him. This exclusive video details his long road to self-acceptance.
TruthWinsOut.org is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life.
TruthWinsOut.org expressed concern today over a Reuters news story about a drug-resistant strain of MRSA bacteria that is more prevalent among gay men in urban centers, such as Boston and San Francisco. The organization also slammed extremist groups for exploiting the news in order to smear the GLBT community and advance an agenda of pure prejudice and discrimination.
“The comments by Concerned Women for America is hatred in its rawest and ugliest form,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of TruthWinsOut.org. “These wing nuts wasted no time seeking the spotlight and creating a climate of panic and fear. They are factually wrong, morally wrong-headed and tragically addicted to bigotry.”
Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues with Concerned Women for America, used the news to viciously attack gay people. “Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, ‘No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically correct cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle,’” Barber said. (Read More)
Comments Off
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."
