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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
A 21 year old Tampa man is charged with murder after his 3-year old son was pummeled into unconsciousness and then died. The toddler's mother, Nysheerah Paris, testified that her husband thought the boy might be gay and would force him to box.
Nysheerah Paris told the court that Paris would make the boy fight with him, slapping the child in the head until he cried or wet himself. She said that on one occasion Paris slammed the child against a wall because he was vomiting.
This is clearly the result of James Dobson and Joseph Nicolosi's "ex-gay" therapy taken to the extreme. While these men and the groups they represent are in no way directly responsible, they have created a world where there is almost nothing worse than being gay - in some circles. Any remedy - no matter how bizarre - is fair game if it will supposedly help one become heterosexual. By the way, what they do doesn't work.
Ironically, Nicolosi, leader of The National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), takes patients as young as three, calling them "prehomosexual boys". Once in his clutches he work to butch them up.
Ex-gay therapy is unethical and in some cases a threat to the people it purports to help. It is a legal case waiting to happen. These quacks should be put out of business sooner than later. Not because they have a different, skewed point of view. But because they abuse patients and destroy lives, while lining their pockets by exploiting desperate and vulnerable people.
22 Comments:
Wayne, this is pathetic. Can you directly link NARTH to this brutal murder? If not your assertions are just ludicrous, on the level of me associating you and your website with the beating up of any ex-gay anywhere. Frankly, this kind of innuendo is just beneath most of the rest of us.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/14/2005 11:25 AM
Put the abusive fuckers out of business!!! Murderers!!!
Peter is just plain moronic, and probably a NARTH supporter. Having read the post, Wayne never linked the two. But, he did point out that the similarities in the cases.
What a tragedy!! I also blame the mother for not doing anything when the abuse started. From the article, the assault that resulted in the murder was obviously not the first time the father had done such heinous things to the poor child. Maybe the father will get some of his own medicine while in a prison cell.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/14/2005 1:54 PM
This tragedy shows once more, the power of the extreme Christian right. While there are people that label homosexulity as "sinful" and Wrong" or even worse... "a choice" there will be ignorant people that follow blindly the teachings of the fundamentalists... and the consecuence is something like the death of this inocent kid. I will be careful to blame the mother, maybe she was told in church to obey her husband without complaining, maybe she was a victim of abuse, like many women are... even in USA, there are women victims of Domestic violence, and ignorant people who think kike the murderer of her own son!
posted by Anonymous, at
7/14/2005 2:51 PM
*cough*
"This is clearly the result of James Dobson and Joseph Nicolosi's "ex-gay" therapy taken to the extreme. While these men and the groups they represent are in no way directly responsible, they have created a world where there is almost nothing worse than being gay - in some circles. Any remedy - no matter how bizarre - is fair game if it will supposedly help one become heterosexual."
And that isn't trying to associate NARTH with this? Ridiculous.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/14/2005 7:22 PM
I totally disagree with Peter. NARTH (ie Focus on the Family, Research Council, Concerned Women and the like) has created an environment for this heinous abuse to occur and I DO hold them responsible for creating this. No two ways about it, a powerful organization convinces people that gays are a threat and are to be hated, the masses will hate them. I am personally sickened by what organized fundamentalist religion is doing to us. It is inexcusable, inhumane and certaining anything but christian in nature. It is time they were held accountable for the environment of harassment and belittlement they have created for gay people. The print material let alone the hate speeches spewing from these low lifes is akin to racism and should be illegal. It has nothing to do with religious freedom, it is simply power and greed and it is very shameful. Tim W.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/15/2005 12:13 AM
It is not just fundamentalist religious sects that are antigay, it also applies to the majority of mainstream religions who espouse hatred and intolerance and incompatibility with scripture. The Catholic church in particular is at the spearhead of this antigay movement with its very sick stand that homosexuals are accepted in the church as long as they abstain from sexual activity. They should apply that to heterosexuals instead and see how fast the church would disappear into extinction. Better yet, they should do it and do us all a huge favor. The world would be better off without it altogether, along with many others.
It is clear that Peter is a self-loathing apologist. It is clear that people like him are the reason the right remains ahead of us. He just doesn't have enough fight or guts to make a real difference. YES, Focus on the Family does create the climate for murder. Petey, can we say denial??? What is "beneath us" is to keep taking it up the ass by James Dobson. Or maybe that is what you r in 2?
So nobody here's going to present any evidence that the actions of this father that killed his son were precipitated by any engagement with Reparative Therapy literature. Rather, you're going to call me and others "abusive fuckers", "moronic" or "a self-loathing apologist"?
I'm SO impressed by your reasoned argument guys.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/15/2005 12:36 PM
Here is what I have found to be the truth about the ex-gay movement. It is largely made up of people who fall into one of two categories: 1. Individuals who were raised in strict, religious households and are so guilt-ridden from the experience they can't face their orientation. 2. People who had bad experiences with other gay people i.e. rejection, hurt, betrayal while being "out" in gay life.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/15/2005 5:04 PM
Peter, not sure why you are backing the actions of reparative therapy and the NARTH movement. It has been denounced by many in the mental health field as ineffective and harmful to the psychological well-being of gay people. You are certainly entitled to your opinion but may I ask why you use that old familiar condescending tone when defending NARTH? That tone being that of a religous fundamentalist, not sure if you are or not but I recognize it immediately because that is the manner in which these people refer or talk to us. It is most unwelcome sir. The NARTH movement is based on the false assumption that gays can change sexual orientation and this is absolutely without doubt false. The link between that barbaric beating and NARTH is simple, the notion that one can change sexual orientation or have it beaten or in the case of reparative therapy, brainwashed out of them, that's the link and it is a very valid one. I don't support any of this movement to change gays because it is based on false and highly religously biased information. Tim W.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/15/2005 8:31 PM
Oh Peter, Peter, Peter! Let me begin by asking you something no one has asked you yet... just what sort of proof would you require to believe that there could reasonably be a link between the reparitive therapy movement and this murder?
To be fair Peter, Wayne did stipulate that Nicolosi et al were "in no way" responsible for this crime. Something I am beginning to believe that you have purposefully decided to forget. Wayne was VERY clear about that. HOWEVER he did lay a certain level of blame at their feet for creating a culture in which such a crime could be considered to be a reasonable course of action by a small, poorly educated, unintelligent, unusually fanatically devoted faction of the Religious Right. By the very actions of Dr. Dobson, Mr. Nicolosi, et al, in publishing testimonials of accepting 3 year olds into their "therapy" did they NOT fertilize the fevered imaginations of such already disturbed individuals? Should they NOT beheld up tosocial condemnation for making such inappropriate public statements that could and would be taken completely wrong? Seriously, is it not entirely appropriate? Or are they somehow immune from this social oversight because they are wrapped in the mantle of "freedom of religion"?
One other question... is it your assertion that the parents of the murdered child would have had NO knowledge of reparitive therapy and/or it's common techniques and practices at all? If that is your position then would you mind explaining just how people who regularly attend a deeply fundamentalist church would or could miss out on getting this information?
Chris, I'm not surprised by the response you got from Bob Knight, the concerned woman for America. Their smugness is beyond reproach and they would never accept responsibility for any of their actions. They are probably applauding what that scumbag did to his own son as "one less queer". Make no mistake, these people are vicious and are about anything but love and don't believe the crap they spew about loving sinners because they don't. Knight and the like are only in love with themselves, they see gays as an easy target, what we must show them is that we are not an easy target and they are f**king with our lives and it must stop. Tim W.
posted by Anonymous, at
7/19/2005 8:24 AM
Chris, Tim, the Religious Reich is in this as it is in all things not about to take responsibility for their actions. It's like trying to track down the source of the rumor that the "liberal media" doesn't want the public to see our troops showing their religious devotion, often accompanied by photos with an AP copyright! It keeps tracking back to the church pastors who give you the runaround when you try to find out where THEY got the silly idea from.
Lies and falsehood is the stock and trade of these people who claim to be the rightful heirs of God on Earth.
posted by JulieDee, at
7/19/2005 5:35 PM
