You can purchase an autographed copy of Anything But Straight by sending a $35 check or money order to:
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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
A recent study by the New York-based organization Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues unveiled an unfortunate problem with gay and lesbian groups across the country, whether they were local or national institutions: Our organizations are woefully underfunded.
Another study by the San Francisco-based Horizons Foundation found that only one in 300 people give $1,000 or more per year to gay and lesbian causes.
Folks, freedom isn't free and our fundamentalist opponents are badly outspending us. In the modern media age, money means access and political power. If you don't mind Rev. Jerry Falwell and James Dobson running this country, than by all means shovel out more money to attend your next circuit party. However, if you want your basic rights and freedoms, it is time to pony up.
You can begin funding the movement now by clicking the "DONATION" button at the top right of this page. My writing and work to combat the ex-gay ministries comes directly out of my pocket. I need more than your letters of support, I need your help. Only you can help me fight the right by making a donation today.
If not me, please give to HRC or NGLTF or any of the worthy state and local gay rights organizations. It is hard to walk the extra mile on a shoestring budget. The underfunding of the GLBT movement in the shadow of crisis is disgraceful and embarrassing. It is time we end our shame and open our wallets to show that we are worthy of our rights and willing to do what is necessary to succeed. Give twenty dollars. Give one thousand, if you can. But it is time to give something.
This is a very sad week for freedom of the press. New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed because she refused to rat on her anonymous source. Without the use of such sources, it would be virtually impossible to conduct investigations into government corruption. This would literally lead to unchecked power and the erosion of our free society.
The court made an egregious mistake by jailing Miller. What she did was patriotic, while what the court did is criminal and against the long term interests of this nation.
In my first book, Anything But Straight I used many anonymous sources. Several of the people I interviewed were not out of the closet. Other people, still with the ex-gay ministres, gave me information that was damaging to those groups. Without ensuring that these whistle blowers would be protected, they would not have come forward. The quality of my book would have suffered and the public's right to know would be have been jeopardized. I stand in solidarity with Judith Miller and thank this American hero for allowing journalists everywhere to do their jobs.
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I have long said that the "ex-gay" fraud is nothing more than a ruse to trick Americans into beleiveing homosexuality is a casual choice so they will oppose gay rights. Ex-gay leader Alan Chambers of Exodus International pretty much proved my point with this quote on Lifesite:
"Our existence as ex-gays is additional proof that homosexuality is not an immutable trait and therefore, marriage is not a civil right to be extended to any group of individuals who demand it."
Cuban Americans have added to this nation culturally, socially and economically. However, on the political front, as a group, they have consistently made poor choices. Since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, they have solidly voted Republican. Their ill-conceived voting pattern helped put Bush in the White House - twice - by helping swing Florida to the Republicans.
What have they ever gotten in return for their loyalty? Not only have they put in power a party hostile to minorities, the Republicans have given them nothing but lip service on Fidel Castro.
Indeed, the U.S. ventured several thousand miles, according to Bush, to arrest a brutal dictator and bring freedom to the Iraqi people. Yet, there is an oppressive dictator only 90 miles south of Key West that thumbs his nose at freedom. Under Bush's rationale, where was our invasion of Cuba? Don't hold your breath, unless Castro discovers oil.
The fact is, Cuban voters keep reliably handing Republicans Florida and getting nothing in return. Has ever a group been so used by a political party in American history? It is time for Cuban Americans to admit that they have bet on the wrong horse for far too long and join the Democratic party, where at least they will get more than empty pandering and meaningless rhetoric on Castro.
Like the Cuban exiles, I too want Castro eliminated. However, the Republican Party has not gotten the job done. It it time to wake up to this reality and move on.
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Four blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing after what a shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair called ''barbaric'' terrorist attacks. Two U.S. law enforcement officials said at least 40 people were killed and London hospitals reported more than 360 wounded.
These terrorists, whatever their sick and twisted cause, need to be destroyed. From America, our hearts go out to the victims and their families in London.
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Congratulations to The United Church of Christ, which became the first mainline Christian denomination to endorse gay marriage when its 25th biennial General Synod decisively approved an "equal marriage rights for all" resolution.
The vote set off a celebration in the Georgia World Congress Center, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Gay couples hugged one another. Some wiped away tears. A group of UCC delegates joined hands afterward and sang, "Amen." But other delegates rushed from the hall warning of schism within the 1.6 million member denomination.
What would possess a person to leave a Church because it doesn't discriminate? As if the highest value in the world is upholding prejudice? Let these whiners leave and join a Church like the Southern Babptist Convention that defines itself by whom it excludes.
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The passage of gay marriage measures last week by Spain's parliament and Canada's House of Commons carries groundbreaking implications. Although Belgium and the Netherlands previously legalized gay marriage, the populations and global influence of Canada and Spain are greater. The newer laws are also more progressive, giving gay marriage the same full legal protection and adoption rights as traditional marriage. The reasoning and demographics behind the two votes are just as significant. (L.A. Times)
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A new book out this week conclusively shows that sexual orientation is natural, normal and certainly not a choice. The only people still saying that nurture causes homosexuality are right wing groups like Focus on the Family. To prove their point, they scrape druggies, loons and sundry losers off the street, and slip them a lot of hard cash to say that God turned them straight. Unfortunately for Focus, they keep running into the walls of reality and science. I guess walls never stopped them. Look how they work to destroy the one separating church and state.
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