The website Ranker lists the “Top 10 Anti-Gay Activists Caught Being Gay”. I’m not sure how they left off John Paulk, but even with this horrid mistake, the list is fun to read. Truth Wins Out also has a list of infamous ex-gay scandals.

Enjoy!

(Weekly Column)

Last week, the Texas Board of Education voted 10-5, along party lines, to replace history textbooks with right wing political propaganda. The vote followed a separate, contentious scrum over whether creationism should be taught in science courses.

Would it not have been easier to have simply jettisoned all textbooks and replaced them with episodes of Glenn Beck and Pat Robertson’s 700 Club on a continuous loop during school hours?

In defending his bid to jam creationism into the school science curriculum and rewrite history, ultra-conservative board member, Dr. Don McLeroy, said, “Somebody’s gotta stand up to experts.”

One wonders if he has the same negative view on experts when it comes to his own dental profession?  Would McLeroy trust his own expertise over a guy off the street that fancied himself a dentist because he owned a pair of rusty pliers?

Of course, many fundamentalists have long disdained experts, such as historians, because they have a tendency to reveal men like McLeroy to be agenda-driven amateurs. The extremism of the Texas School Board is evident by the guidelines they voted for.

For example, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, the Eagle Forum’s Phyllis Schlafly and the National Rifle Association have replaced Thomas Jefferson. This is in a despicable effort to marginalize the man who coined the phrase, “separation of church and state”, while elevating America as a right wing “Christian Nation.” (Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein were also eliminated to make room for these conservatives)

Newt Gingrich’s flash-in-the-pan Contract with America and Rev. Jerry Falwell’s short-lived Moral Majority are elevated as historically important, while the supposed religious roots of the American Revolution will be now be studied.

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” David Bradley, a conservative school board member from Beaumont, told The New York Times.

Social conservatives have created an entire industry to twist our nation’s history. But, if the founders were fundamentalists who intended America to be a Christian version of Iran, than why do these folks have to work so hard to prove their point?

It seems to me that our founders were quite eloquent and certainly able to convey their desire to be a fundamentalist nation, if that is what they had intended. But, our country is not called “God Land.” Jesus’ name is not in the United States Constitution.

Case closed.

These simple facts are clearly eating up these zealots inside and driving them to distraction. They just do not want to accept that their totalitarian and exclusionary vision of America is a radical and dangerous departure from the ideas of religious freedom embraced by our Founding Fathers.

These bitter fundamentalists are left cobbling together arcane quotes – often out of context – that make a circumstantial case that some of our nation’s founders were religious.

So what?

There are millions of Americans who go to church each week, but they don’t want to live in an oppressive theocracy that brainwashes students and undermines democracy. At heart, the conservative members of the board believe they are superior and anyone who does not imbibe on their delusion can be minimized or erased from the historical record.

Furthermore, the new textbook “standards” are not about learning, but a laundry list of southern fundamentalist cultural grievances. For instance, the civil rights movement is downgraded and the peaceful Martin Luther King Jr. will now be “balanced” by lessons on the Black Panthers.

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society will be degraded for “the unintended consequences” such as affirmative action. The Board rejected attempts to increase the number of Latino figures in history lessons and demands that Republicans get more credit for voting in favor of civil rights legislation.  So, even as they demean minorities, the Board is conservatively correct enough to portray social conservatives as supporters of the Civil Rights movement. Nice touch.

There was also approval for an amendment highlighting that Italians and Germans, not just Japanese, were placed in US camps during World War II, to dispute the idea that imprisoning the Japanese was motivated by racism.

The bloc of seven fundamentalists on the Texas Board of Education doesn’t really care about public education. In fact, several members either home school their children or send them to private schools. Their real goal is to infiltrate the system to remake it in their image. There are three things that I hope will come from this controversy:

1) Enough people come forward during the 30 day comment period to reverse the vote.

2) Mainstream textbook makers will take a moral stand and refuse to print propaganda

3) If the standards remain, schools that are able should switch to computer software for lessons, so they are not saddled with Bible-based “history” books for a decade

Is there any doubt that brutally unflattering chapters about these zealous hijackers of history will be written into future social studies textbooks?

Exodus Should Immediately Shut Down Scandalized ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Desert Stream, Says TWO

Truth Wins Out today called on Exodus International to shut down Desert Stream Ministries (DSM) following new revelations of sexual abuse with at least one minor. The admissions were made last week on the blog of DSM’s leader, Andy Comiskey (pictured), who is also the creator of the ex-gay program Living Waters.

“Exodus should swiftly move to shutter Desert Stream Ministries to protect young people from the sordid and tawdry atmosphere revealed by Andy Comiskey,” said Truth Wins Out’s  Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Exodus has a history of turning the other cheek when confronted with inappropriate behavior in its affiliates.”

On March 8, Comiskey wrote a blog post entitled “Falling Mercies” where he says DSM had been, “cast out of our home church”, Vineyard Anaheim, as a result of “a darker strain of sin in our own ranks.” He goes onto reveal that this sin was, “a longstanding staff person from Desert Stream had sexually abused at least one teenager who had sought help from us.”

Comiskey alleges that he was a victim of seven-figure blackmail from the relative of one of the abused boys. This led to, “a scourging of our entire ministry through police interrogations, the naked bulb of insurance agents and their lawyers, and Vineyard elders who for good reason wanted to know what was really going on in Desert Stream Ministries.”

As a result of the investigation, Comiskey says DSM was “torn in two” and that “we the righteous became the scum of the earth–not only the defender of victims, but the predators.”

In his post, Comiskey seemed to care little for those harmed by DSM and tried to come across as a victim saying, “News of our tragedy, now official on police and court records, attracted our accusers like vultures: ‘Do they change homosexuals or create them?’”

Comiskey claims that, “At the end of 3 years, the case was settled. Our insurance covered most of the costs.” He rightfully thanks the media for not covering the story and allowing his ministry to continue. “Not one story was printed about the tragedy,” writes Comiskey. “God spared us. His mercy leveled and sustained DSM.”

“Comiskey is mocking the mainstream media for not serving as the public’s trusted watchdog,” said Besen. “I hope news outlets understand that inaction has allowed this ministry to continue its operations. Given these revelations, it would be an optimum time for the media to investigate this story.”

For reasons possibly related to this scandal, Comiskey moved Desert Stream from Anaheim to Kansas City, Mo., several years ago, where it currently remains in operation.

This is not the first time Desert Stream has been in trouble. In 1998, The Los Angeles Times reported that one family sued Desert Stream alleging that a minister had sexually abused a teenager while the youth was undergoing therapy to turn him heterosexual. Besen’s book, “Anything But Straight”, discusses a newsletter that says:

“At the end of 2000, we faced an unusual number of Desert Stream-related leaders who fell into sexual sin, or who at least demonstrated a colossal lack of wisdom in their social choices…several were placed on different plans of discipline and restoration.”

In February 2008, Truth Wins Out produced a video featuring ‘ex-gay’ survivor Jaylen Braiden, who claims an Exodus team leader at Desert Stream took him advantage of him.

Comiskey is one of the most influential ex-gay activists and groups use his curriculum, “Living Waters”, across the globe. Comiskey is the author of “” and calls homosexuality “spiritual disfigurement.” His book also indulges in “spiritual warfare”, calling homosexuality satanic.

“Satan delights in homosexual perversion because it not only exists outside of marriage, but it also defiles God’s very image reflected as male and female….Another related source of demonization is the homosexual relationship itself….that attachment and communion are indeed inspired, but the source is demonic.”

So far, Exodus has failed to comment on Desert Stream’s troubles, nor has it moved to either suspend or close down DSM. After stonewalling for more than six months, Exodus finally cut ties with Lansing-based Corduroy Stone last after charges of impropriety were made last year by Patrick McAlvey in a Truth Wins Out video.

“It sends the wrong message when Exodus remains silent on issues of such gravity,” said TWO’s Besen. “We urge Exodus to investigate and take proper action against one of its key ministries so more people are not harmed in the future. We also can’t fathom how Comiskey has kept his job in light of this scandal. It is truly mind boggling.”

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation campaigns, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to help individuals be true to themselves and lead genuine lives of honesty and integrity.

Gov. Charlie Christ Should Stop The Madness And Oppose This Jobs-Killing Bil

Truth Wins Out condemned a shortsighted and terribly misguided Florida bill that aims to reward movie studios with tax breaks that promote “family values’ and punish those that do not fit the narrow definition of “traditional families”. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Stephen L. Precourt (R-Orlando), told The Palm Beach Post that he wanted to encourage filmmaking akin to “The Andy Griffith Show”.

Truth Wins Out’s Wins Out’s Executive Director, Wayne Besen, released the following statement in response to the proposed legislation:

As a Florida native, this ill-conceived bill appalls me. We basically have a bunch of holy-rolling prudes and scolds trying to harm the Florida economy and undermine the state’s movie industry by pushing their backward version of morality down the throats of all Floridians. Instead of focusing on job creation, these blue nosed values vultures are opportunistically hijacking the jobs bill to push their religious agenda.

The 1950’s are over and these fundamentalists are stuck in the past.  Attempting to remake Florida’s movie industry in the mold of a bygone era is shortsighted and terribly misguided. It will place the state’s entire movie industry in harm’s way and send a terrible signal to the moguls in Hollywood. If Florida Republicans insist on thumping the Bible and thumbing their noses at the movie industry, the studios will find new beaches on which to film – at the expense of jobs for Floridians. I seriously doubt that the churches behind this fiasco will pick up the slack and employ all the unemployed actors once the state’s movie industry is crippled.

But, I guess that is what happens when the public elects political fundamentalists whose selfish, Dark Age agenda trumps real issues. As long as Florida voters send such cavemen to Tallahassee, they should know exactly what to expect.

We urge Florida Gov. Charlie Christ to swiftly reject this absurd bill and speak out against such extremism.

If the bill passes, good luck with the Andy Griffith movies, Florida. I’m sure they’ll be splendid, compete with contemporary movies and win numerous Academy Awards. And, I hope the Florida legislature takes the next logical step and bans color from the movies! If we are going to live in the past, why not do it right?

According to The New York Times, the new bill would increase all the incentives, creating a minimum tax credit of 20 percent for eligible productions with a budget of $625,000 or more. The family friendly bonus would go up to 5 percent, but the program would still be optional. Right now the bonus can go only to movies suitable for a 5-year-old, with “cross-generational appeal” and “a responsible resolution of issues.”

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation campaigns, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to help individuals be true to themselves and lead genuine lives of honesty and integrity.

From CNN:

Why would a gay politician vote against gay rights?

That describes the voting record of California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, who came out Monday in an interview with a radio talk show.

“I am gay … those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long,” Ashburn, a Republican, told KERN radio in Bakersfield, California.

The revelation from the 55-year-old father of four came after he was arrested last week, accused of driving a state-owned vehicle under the influence of alcohol. He had left a gay bar in Sacramento.

“I’ve always believed that I could keep my personal life personal and my public life public, but through my own actions, I have made my personal life public, and I owe an explanation to my own constituents,” he said.

Ashburn has largely opposed gay rights legislation, according to votesmart.org., a nonpartisan, nonprofit political research library.

Last year, he voted against a bill to recognize out-of-state, same-sex marriages and against a bill proclaiming May 22 as “Harvey Milk Day,” named after the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.

Equality California, a group that works for gay rights, said on its Web site that Ashburn “has consistently received a zero percent” on its legislative scorecards since 2004, with the exception of 2007, when he scored 10 percent.

But Ashburn’s votes did not surprise Wayne Besen, founder of truthwinsout.org, which he described as a nonprofit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people.

“It’s a perfect mask for someone who’s trying to stay in the closet,” said Besen in a telephone interview. “They hope that people will think that they’re heterosexual. It’s quite common; we’ve seen it over and over again. … They’re already living a lie and this takes it to a new level.”

He added, “They’re willing to harm themselves to protect an image of who they’re not. It shows how extreme and harmful that homophobia is. The closet will force people to make decisions that will harm their own lives.”

But Ashburn said he had no plans to change his votes on such matters. “My votes reflect the wishes of the people in my district, and I have always felt that my faith and allegiance was to the people there in the district, my constituents,” he reasoned.

Besen was unimpressed by Ashburn’s argument.

“We live in a republic, and we elect people to vote based on their conscience and what they know to be true. We could just simply have a machine do the voting instead if we relied on what the constituents wanted.

“He shouldn’t be representing constituencies that are at odds with his life. He should be convincing them and arguing about what’s wrong with their life.”**

Ashburn has announced he is not running for any public office when his term ends at the end of the year.

But one of his colleagues expressed hope that Ashburn’s candor would lead him to a different view on any gay rights legislation that may yet arise.

“It’s an opportunity for him to lead his caucus, to bring a new perspective to his caucus, to help them open their eyes a little bit,” openly gay state Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, told CNN affiliate KCRA-TV.

** This was meant to be anti-gay views, not “life”.

Poor Ryan Sorba.

It is clear that he is about to humiliate himself with his upcoming book, “The Gay Gene Hoax”.  Although I have not read much of his polemic, what I have so far seen is as insufferable as it is inaccurate.

Sorba is a dilettante who has no understanding of the topic matter and essentially  footnotes bad information hoping his audience is too uneducated to notice.

His book is also a poorly orchestrated hit job on activists, such as myself, who have shown the notion of “ex-gay” to be a myth.

For example, on page 77 of his sophistic screed Sorba writes, “In all likelihood, the man (Wayne Besen)is a calculating and manipulative liar.” (Needless to say, the unbalanced minds at Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) chortled over this attack.)

Interestingly, a few pages later (89) the presumably honest and forthright Sorba quotes the debunked 1979 Masters & Johnson book, “Homosexuality in Perspective” to support his flimsy arguments.

It seems that Sorba is shockingly unaware that the book he quotes was disavowed last year by Virginia Johnson in Thomas Maier’s groundbreaking book Masters of Sex.

Indeed, the results were said to have been entirely fabricated.

Virginia Johnson actually argued in 1978 that “Homosexuality in Perspective” should never have seen the light of day – but it was already too late in the publishing process to undo the damage.

For someone who fancies himself an expert, it is incredible that Sorba was not informed on this major development, considering articles were published on Maier’s book in major newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Maybe Sorba was so busy watching FOX News and reading The Washington Times that he missed the widely publicized information. To help bring him up to speed, here is an excerpt from the Washington Post:

He (William Masters) was also the driving force behind the team’s controversial embrace of conversion therapy for gays. In “Homosexuality in Perspective” (1979), he and Johnson claimed they could straighten out gay men or women in a matter of weeks, with a “failure rate” of only one-third. Buttressed with phony case studies, the book’s findings were quickly denounced by the medical establishment and seized upon just as quickly by the religious right as evidence that gay lifestyles were a choice, not an orientation.

So Masters and Johnson bear some of the blame for the “ex-gay” ministries that currently litter our cultural landscape…

The very foundation that Sorba uses to back his case is a house of cards that had already fallen. Clearly, Sorba is profoundly ignorant of his subject matter, irredeemably truth challenged or so contemptuous of his conservative readers that he believes they will take his erroneous words at face value.

I found this glaring error in about five minutes of research. I can only imagine the treasure trove of embarrassing gaffes to be found with a full-length reading. Even a cursory five-minute glance at Sorba’s sloppy research shows that he is not ready for Prime Time.

Truth Wins Out held its first New York City benefit last Friday and raised more than $10,000 to fight religious extremism and the ex-gay myth. Philanthropist Henry van Ameringen, who pledged $25,000 this year, hosted the event. The elegant party drew more than 50 people who braved a messy snowstorm that turned the city’s streets into frozen slush.

“We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of Henry van Ameringen and we thank him for hosting a delightful evening that introduced Truth Wins Out to new supporters,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen.

A highlight of the event was a $5,000 contribution from Tom Viola, Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  This organization mobilizes the unique abilities within the entertainment industry to mitigate the suffering of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. It also facilitates the fundraising capabilities of the theatre community for other charitable organizations.

“It was quite an honor to receive this unexpected gift from Tom Viola and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS,” said TWO’s Besen. “They do such amazing work and we are proud to be a recipient of their legendary benevolence.”

Truth Wins Out also expressed its gratitude today for those who served on the host committee and ensured a successful evening despite the inclement weather. The host committee includes: Ted Snowdon, John Berendt, Sean Strub, Anabel Evora, Mike Wilke, David Mixner, William Kapfer, Ph.D, Gene Stone, Glen Shadix and Lisa Darden.

One special guest was Moses, a gay Ugandan who spoke out at the National Press Club in February against his country’s Anti-Homosexuality bill. He was joined by Patrick McAlvey, who appeared in a Truth Wins Out video discussing his unpleasant experience in an Exodus ex-gay ministry.

If you were not at the benefit but would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Truth Wins Out, please send a check to:

33 West 19th Street, Fourth Floor, NY, NY 10011

or donate online.

TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen to Appear at Just Love Counter-Conference on Saturday, March 6

Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director, Wayne Besen, will join nationally recognized gay and lesbian advocates to oppose Exodus International’s “ex-gay” road show, Love Won Out, which travels to La Mesa’s Skyline Church on Saturday. On the same day as the Exodus event, a counter-conference will be held, Just Love, which will expose the ex-gay industry and educate people about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

“Sexual orientation is not a choice, but thanks to conferences like Love Won Out, some people do choose to embrace prejudice and discrimination,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out and author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. “You cannot pray away the gay and the sooner people learn to accept themselves, the better off they are.”

On September 19, 2000, Besen photographed the ex-gay founder of Love Won Out, John Paulk, in a gay bar in Washington, DC. He also has shadowed Love Won Out, organizing or participating in protests or counter-conferences wherever Love Won Out’s road show appears. The last one was in Birmingham, Alabama in November 2009.

Just Love will take-place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral (2728 6th Ave) from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Sessions will be conducted by experts including the former co-founder of Exodus International, Michael Bussee, who is now an outspoken critic of the group he helped start. Other notable speakers include, ex-gay survivor Daniel Gonzales, Jim Burroway, Editor of Box Turtle Bulletin and Amity Buxton, founder of the Straight Spouse Network (SSN), which supports straight spouses whose partners came out as gay.  There will also be a session for leaders of the faith community led by Louise Brooks of California Faith for Equality and the Human Rights Campaign.

“We refuse to be defined by misinformation, junk science and religious bigotry,” said TWO’s Besen.  “Just Love will set the record straight on the ex-gay industry and provide factual information on our lives. We will dispel stereotypes, shine a bright light on the lies and send the message that gay people are fine just the way they are.”

Truth Wins Out’s research team revealed today that an alleged split in July 2009 between Exodus International and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) may only be cosmetic. While PFOX is no longer listed as an Exodus referral agency on Exodus’ website, the groups appear heavily enmeshed.

TWO has found that nearly one-quarter (22-percent) of PFOX chapters are actually Exodus member ministries. The cross-over ministries include:

Wisconsin’s Reclamation Ministries, South Carolina’s New Song Ministries, Oklahoma’s First Stone Ministries, New Mexico’s LifeMor ministries, Missouri and Illinois’ Pure Heart Ministries, and Florida’s Family Ties Ministries.

“Despite their public divorce, Exodus and PFOX appear to be very much in bed together,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out.”These groups should be honest and admit the true extent of their working relationship.”

There is one other possibility. PFOX may be falsely listing Exodus ministries as PFOX chapters in order to mislead the public into thinking the organization is larger than it actually is.

In July 2009, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) broke away from Exodus International – or perhaps it was the other way around. The details remain murky. They were supposedly split over strategy, with PFOX couching its bizarre arguments in civil rights language.

For example, they want “ex-gays” to be included in laws that protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Exodus, simply wants gay people not to be covered by such laws. There was also Exodus’ concern over PFOX’s judgment in placing quack “therapist” Richard Cohen on television.

African violence against the LGBT community is partially the result of American anti-gay and “ex-gay” activists stirring the pot in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. We all know that Exodus International’s board member Don Schmierer was at a Spring 2009 conference in Kampala that helped lead to the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

However, Truth Wins Out’s research team revealed today that another American “ex-gay” organization, Homosexuals Anonymous, had a conference in Kenya in November 2009. It was led by Doug McIntyre, HA’s Director. According to the organization’s October 2009 newsletter:

On November 3, 2009 the Director of HAFS will begin a visit to the beautiful country of Kenya.  We have been invited to begin a new work for the HA program and educate the members of a two thousand member church so that they can begin to reclaim the lost youth of the area. An invitation has been extended to teach in  15 local schools and participate in a leadership training program for nearly 200 pastors and church leaders.

While it remains unclear what happened at this particular HA event, a disturbing patten has seemingly developed. Ex-gay activists appear in African countries right before spasms of violence and persecution erupt.

Is this a mere coincidence or is the groundwork being laid for attacks on LGBT people? Are American ex-gays being used as a means to justify terror tactics and horror against innocent people? Do American “ex-gay” activists allow dangerous regimes and frothing mobs to rationalize violence by claiming, “these people deserve what they get because they can change?”

Truth Wins Out left a message this morning for HA to obtain more information on the group’s role in Kenya. They have yet to return our call.

The BBC reports that Kenyan police have released five people arrested for planning a “gay wedding” north of Mombasa, saying there was no evidence to prosecute them. But police spokesman Martha Mutegi told the BBC the men had been advised to leave the area for their own safety and to avoid angering the local community.

There are, however, those who dispute the BBC report. They claim that a gay wedding never actually took place and that the event was a fabrication in order for anti-forces to incite mob violence.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and punishable by up to 14 years in jail. A BBC reporter in Mombasa says police began a crackdown on the gay community last week following anti-gay protests.

Perhaps it is time that American ex-gay activists stay home and stop creating mischief overseas. (Here is a glimpse of the type of false and destructive message that was brought to Kenya)