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-------------------------
Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote what amounts to a propaganda piece for Focus on the Family, welcoming their road show Love Won Out. Not only did they not interview any gay activists, they gave no history of the folly and failure of these groups. Nowhere did the story say that these "therapies" are rejected by every respected medical and mental health organization in America. Just look at the way the article ended:
Willie Kent, pastor of the Community Fellowship church in the Central West End, said, "My feeling is, homosexuals are not born." He said he doesn't think they are happy with their choice. "Homosexuals need help. They need to be told the truth." Registration is $50 in advance and 60 on the day of the event.
Folks, this wasn't journalism, but a free right wing ad. I complained to a metro editor this morning. He said that he would take a look at it. Let us hope that the coverage of today's event will be better. It certainly can't get worse.
23 Comments:
I noticed that the paper expanded the story on 2/24/06 and 2/25/06 (but is unclear if this made the print version of the paper), but the story is still anti-gay. I was interested that local gay rights groups were protesting this conference -- gay rights groups in other cities have elected to ignore ex-gays so as not to give them any publicity. To read the expanded story, search http://www.stltoday.com for: Genesis of homosexuality is called unclear By Eric Hand ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Saturday, Feb. 25 2006
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 2:27 PM
Notice they always say things like 'i dont FEEL people are born homosexual' as if their worthless *feelings* have merit in the world of science. Frankly i dont care if the billboards were defaced. If some racist or anti-semitic group were putting up scurilous messages that destroy peoples lives based on quackery and practicing a form of 'medicine' without a license, in all likelyhood they'd be defaced too! Or, more likely, if it were any other minority group--those billboards never would have been put up at all! Gary (NJ)
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 2:56 PM
Gary,
Stupid fake advertisments about Clarence Thomas and others like him aside, are there any groups out there trying to make people "ex-black"? (Strangely, it seems like certain black celebrities, singer Beyonce Knowles for one, seem to be trying to look caucasian yet indeed get a lot of "face" time on magazines, advertisements, etc.)
I've indeed heard some say that messianic Jews (those who practice Judaism who accept Christ as their savoir) draw animosity from other Jews but that may or may not be accurate.
I've never been able to see comparisons between ex-gay groups and racist-bigot/anti-semitic ones.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 3:10 PM
You know, I thought it was one of Rev. Moonie-Tunes old diatribes that blacks could change their skin color if they would just move to the North Pole for a couple of generations...but then I could be wrong...
Gosh, exexgay. . .are you in STL? Maybe you should let the paper know there are some ex-ex gays out there - seems like these reporters are acting as if this is some brand-new thinking. . .circa 1900.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 3:26 PM
You missed my point. I didnt specifically mean ex black or whatever. I meant, if a group implied that another minority such as blacks or jews or latinos or whatever were somehow inferior the way the were and that this perceived inferiority could be 'fixed' with quack therapy or science, the uproar against it would have been severe and no billboards would have been accepted to promote it. Whereas it's still 'ok' to pull this shit on homosexuals. And on that note i leave you with this article which appeared today in the news:
Gene trait suspected in moms of gay sons Randy Dotinga, PlanetOut Network Wednesday, February 22, 2006 / 09:16 AM
LATEST HEADLINES France grants gays joint parent rights Gay think tank honors major donor MORE NEWS FROM 2006/02/22 Gene trait studied in gay sons' moms U.K. civil-partner tally tops 3,500 Diocese eyes gay bishop candidates Gay leader slams Hillary Clinton Biker group protests anti-gay clan
Also on PlanetOut Report rips U.S. abstinence programs U.S. syphilis rates rise again News roundup: HIV/AIDS Safety Zone for sexual health
Scientists have reported that they've found an "extremely unusual" trait in the cells of some mothers with two or more gay sons, providing more evidence to suggest that homosexuality might be inherited.
Mothers of multiple gay sons were about six times more likely than other women to process their X chromosomes in a certain way, researchers discovered.
Researchers aren't entirely sure what the findings mean, said study co-author Sven Bocklandt, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. Making things more complicated, about 75 percent of mothers of multiple gay sons don't have the trait.
Still, the study, released Tuesday in the journal Human Genetics, raises plenty of questions, Bocklandt said, especially as researchers try to figure out whether homosexuality has genetic roots and if there truly is a "gay gene" -- or genes.
"What everybody wants is the gene, and we don’t have it yet," Bocklandt said. "But this is an independent confirmation that the X chromosome is involved."
Bocklandt and colleagues looked at a phenomenon known as X-chromosome inactivation, in which cells inside the bodies of females automatically turn off -- or inactivate -- one of their two X chromosomes. That leaves them with one working X chromosome -- just like males, who have a single X and a single Y chromosome.
Normally, each cell in a female's body randomly turns off one or the other X chromosome. In some cases, such as when families share a genetic disease, there is "extreme skewing" -- one X chromosome is more likely to be turned off than the other, Bocklandt said.
In the new study, the researchers looked at 97 mothers of one or more gay sons and 103 women with no gay sons to see what their blood cells did with their X chromosomes. The researchers recruited many of the women with the help of PFLAG.
They found that nearly a quarter of the mothers of multiple gay sons inactivated the same X chromosome -- in other words, nonrandomly -- compared to just 4 percent of the women without gay sons. Of those with one gay son, 13 percent inactivated the same X chromosome.
Dr. Ionel Sandovici, a genetics researcher at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England, who is familiar with the research findings, cautioned that the study is small, with just 44 mothers of multiple gay sons being examined. More research in larger groups must be done to confirm the results, Sandovici said.
The research does provide "circumstantial evidence" that the X chromosome contributes to the development of male sexuality, Sandovici said. But "we still understand very little about molecular mechanisms of sexual orientation, and this seems to be rather a complicated biological puzzle."
Gary, honestly, have you noticed that every other claim about sexual orientation being genetic and/or inborn seems to get disproven with further research?
Want to place bets on how soon this one gets the same result? The article itself that Mr. Besen originally linked to seemed to say there was a lot that was inconclusive.
Amazing...we're now six years past the ballyhooed announcements of the human genome project and we still have no conclusive evidence that same-sex attraction is genetic and/or inborn. So far, just theories that never stand the test of scientific replication.
But, hey, let's hang our hat on this newest dart on the wall and hope that it sticks...
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 5:06 PM
Well, while I know it can be frustrating, I suppose all these research stabs are more positive than all the decades where there wasn't any research of any kind going on. . .after all, the mental illness-based-on-junk-study syndrome was all society needed as a knowledge claim.
Of course, they still don't know what causes heterosexuality too - and what about asexuality or bisexuality?
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 6:04 PM
The latest:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/AB09483033E3209A862571210001B3F3?OpenDocument
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 8:32 PM
No kurt i havent noticed that ANY of them have been "disproven with further research" yes, i know that they are inconclusive but the evidence of science consistently points to a biological root. Evolution hasnt been PROVEN, but the evidence of its veracity is overwhelming except to the very ignorant and religiously recalcitrant. Also, most of us gays KNOW from the inside that this wasnt a choice nor the result of something mommy or daddy did or didnt do. I was attracted to other males when i was in early elementary school AND i had great parents and a happy childhood AND i have gay siblings AND I have a gay cousin who has a lesbian sister and more than a few of my gay friends also have gay siblings. Your constant attempt here to twist the facts is getting tired. Anyone who wants an excuse to mistreat and discriminate against others will find one. Have you even read Wayne's book? The bottom line is that "ex-gay" therapies are a con job that crush people's souls, drive them to suicidal despair and relieve them of large sums of cash. These happily married "ex-gay" with scads of kids that you keep trotting out are like unicorns or the loch ness monster. Wayne tried to find them too while researching his book and all he found was a trail of tears and shattered lives. Gary (NJ)
posted by Anonymous, at
2/25/2006 10:52 PM
Gary,
Even P-FLAG says on their web site that no one knows what causes same-sex attraction.
There is nothing proven...and, sadly, time and time again the studies which say there is proof cannot pass muster. (And Dean Hamer, last decade's news, is not the latest scientist to have his research disproven.)
I don't doubt you...boy, can things like this feel like they're inborn...but that doesn't make it so.
So Wayne is sure that there are no ex-gays who've left their gayness and are very much in love with their wives? Has he developed the powers of mental telepathy and clairvoyance to verify that?
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 11:07 AM
Regan: Because anti-gay people are bald-faced liars. And most of 'em are dumb, too.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 12:48 PM
Oh, come on, Kurt. . .religious bullying followed by religious intimidation followed by alleged religious "love" doesn't sound like a healthy argument for sexual orientation conversion, unless someone's S/M tendancies are fulfilled by destruction of any sort of self-esteem.
Perhaps what should be studied are the psychological crutches of religious organizations which market spiritual torture as a profitable means of salvation.
Since we don't know the cause of heterosexuality either (except the elementary notion of instinctive reproduction. . .and note instinctive) shouldn't we be making the argument that heteros with no desire to parent or those who have little sexual desire be converted to someone else's religious concept of a fulfilling life?
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 1:37 PM
Regan - I think it has to do with business. . .if they ever lose that ability to use us as a moneymaking scheme, their income and influence would drop significantly. It's an industry.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 1:39 PM
"Regan - I think it has to do with business. . .if they ever lose that ability to use us as a moneymaking scheme, their income and influence would drop significantly. It's an industry."
1. Dr. Joe Nicolosi of NARTH was on Focus on the family's radio program a few years back, and at the end of the broadcast he said something strange.
When asked what to do if someone was worried about same-sex attractions and wanted to talk to a group like NARTH, what should they do? He said words to the effect of "There's plenty of therapists like us out there." He and Dr. Dobson then agreed that a person should choose their therapist carefully.
If this is such a big moneymaking scheme, why didn't Dr. Nicolosi give an 800 number to call?
2. Where is there credible research done as to the amount of money to be made by ex-gay therapy?
3. "Oh, come on, Kurt. . .religious bullying followed by religious intimidation followed by alleged religious "love" doesn't sound like a healthy argument for sexual orientation conversion, unless someone's S/M tendancies are fulfilled by destruction of any sort of self-esteem."
Where is that point of view being espoused within ex-gay ministries? Those that I've heard say the opposite...that one should show the love of Christ, and that bullying will never work, and more importantly is NOT Christlike.
Indeed, by defacing billboards it looks like some (not all) on the opposite side are taking the very tactic you say ex-gay ministries are.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 1:44 PM
You know, the very first thing that would make any responsible journalist question your statement is the pretense of ignorance about the associations of the sponsoring organizations. If you haven't figured it out already, this is a division within an industry that is just as quick to support using the stick as they are to hold out a sugar cube.
You mention the defacing of billboards, but apparently seem unaware of the fact that recently in Georgia gay groups were prevented from renting any billboards in quite a few counties. And they weren't advertising a conversion therapy conference either. The owners of the billboard company determined the images, for example, of a fireman or a doctor with words about how these are your neighbors, friends, etc. was offensive to the communities in those locations. Imagine that.
This is part and parcel of the "conservative" management of information. For one thing, they can point to a couple of defaced billboards as an example of the gay community's intolerance, yet defend their refusal to allow gay billboards at all as protecting community morality.
Gosh, there must be SOME reason why organizations like FOF, the American Family Association, Exodus, the TVC, and the Concerned "Women" for America have their fingers in so many pies.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 4:01 PM
And let's not be naive here, Kurt. . .if Dobson and Nicolisi really believed that, there wouldn't be much need to hold $50-$60 a head conferences that are mostly attended by relatives and ministers who want who want to feel good about having their homophobia supported.
Since American Family Radio has some 200 stations around the country, televangelistas broadcast daily on television, preachers rage from their pulpit using a variety of manufactured videos already, just why is NARTH and its sponsors having such a difficult time reaching their alleged target audience? It's really almost a bit arrogant to believe that gays are going to reach out to the same people who have made a career out of demonizing them for real acceptance and support. . .which then leads one to the argument of why these people feel it so necessary to attempt to recruit members when the failure rate appears to be so high.
After all, I would believe that these organizations would be doing the public such a far greater service by offering reparative therapy programs for pedophiles and statutory rapists. . .but I haven't seen any billboards for that.
Just like the Terri Schiavo travesty, where the nation's televangelista faith healers didn't want to put their wondrous powers to test, this looks increasingly like a politically motivated scam.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 4:13 PM
"After all, I would believe that these organizations would be doing the public such a far greater service by offering reparative therapy programs for pedophiles and statutory rapists. . .but I haven't seen any billboards for that."
Actually, Focus on the family is the only (sadly) entity I've ever heard which has given airtime to [url=http://www.brokenyoke.org/]Bob Van Domelen of Broken Yoke ministries...Van Domelen served (and readily admits he deserved it) time in a Wisconsin penitentiary for having sex with high school boys in that state.[/url]
I do NOT want to get into a discussion of pedophilia here save this. I've seen program after program (i.e. "Law and Order", "CSI", etc.) depicting pedophiles (including those who do it with teenaged boys) as arrogant men who couldn't be helped if they wanted to be. One KNOWS there have to be peds out there who have unwanted pedophilic/ephebophilic urges they've not acted on.
Stupid Hollywood is implicitly telling these guys (and the rest of us) "You (the pedophile) will never change, you can't help it, you just need to get out of society, etc."
[url=http://www.family.org/RESOURCES/itempg.cfm?itemid=3060]FOTF is the only organization I've yet seen that's airing programs trying to help[/url] those who have pedophilic urges.
Also, FWIW, looks like the St. Louis event was quite well-attended...1,700+ people showed up...previously the highest attendance for such a conference was around 1,200.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 5:49 PM
Comparing a mediated reality portrayal (meaning television entertainment) with a simple one-shot little radio program featuring a pedophile isn't exactly the construction of a massive and expensive ministry, especially with thousands and thousands of registered offenders throughout the country.
And before you crow about the attendance at this faith healing conference, LWO had predicted 2000 participants in one account - nothing unusual since they seem predisposed to inflating numbers. Moreover, they were meeting in a metropolitan area in the middle of the Bible Belt - and they drew 1700 people from 28 states, most of whom were not people seeking redemption from the James Dobson traveling salvation show for their "homosexuality."
I'm sure you can offer more insights when FOF sponsors some "ex-hetero" conferences which would assist people dealing with unwanted heterosexual feelings derived from believed subjugation to religious dogma.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/26/2006 7:08 PM
Shoot, Regan. . .at least they get to purchase billboards...unlike gay groups in rural Georgia. I keep wondering where the Alliance Defense Fund and FOF was in defending the rights of gay citizens to tasteful expression on billboard ads. . .
posted by Anonymous, at
2/27/2006 7:06 PM
I randomly stumbled across this site while looking up the article for LWO conference. As a volunteer at the conference I'd like to clarify something. While it is true that FOF and Exodus offer resources for people who wish to stop identifying with the homosexual orientation, that wasn't really the primary focus of the conference.
More than anything it was a kick in the pants to the church. My eyes were opened to so many ways the church has failed in this area. All too often the only images one can conjure up of Christians when thinking in terms of homosexuality is sour faced bigots marching around with "God hates fags" sign, or something equally disgusting. This is a travesty, and truthfully I don't blame the gay community for not giving the church another chance.
Yet there are people out there who are starting to see things differently. I personally believe that homosexuality is a sin. Yet that is not the point. The point the point is that all humanity is sinful. The lies that I tell, the pride I harbor, the gossip I spread...are enough to land me in hell, right along with the murderers and thieves. If we're going to talk sin, I will be the first to say that I am the worst. The point is that there is freedom. Christ was sent by God to live perfectly, and to die an innocent death. Because he was without sin, he is able to take my sin upon himself.
This is getting to be a long post, so I won't take up much more space, but as a Christian I would like to extend my apologies to the gay community for the ways in which the church (and probably myself) has hurt you. It's hypocritical. There are ways to stand for what we believe in, but doing it in a disrepectful or downright hurtful way is not the answer.
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