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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
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TWO Calls On Palm Springs Mayor To Hold Focus on the Family and NARTH Accountable At Saturday's Love Won Out Conference
Miami Beach, Fla. -Truth Wins Out expressed extreme disgust with the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality today (NARTH) after a racist column was discovered on the group's website that defends slavery. The comments come only days before the openly gay, African American mayor of Palm Springs, Ron Oden, will appear at Focus on the Family's Sept. 23 anti-gay"Love Won Out" conference, which is headlined by NARTH's Executive Director Joseph Nicolosi.
The shocking opinion piece was penned by Gerald Schoenewolf, Ph.D., a member of NARTH's "Scientific Advisory Committee," in 2005 and re-posted last week by Timothy Kincaid on the website Ex-Gay Watch. According to Schoenwolf:
"With all due respect, there is another way, or other ways, to look at the race issue in America," wrote Schoenwolf. It could be pointed out, for example, that Africa at the time of slavery was still primarily a jungle, as yet uncivilized or industrialized. Life there was savage, as savage as the jungle for most people, and that it was the Africans themselves who first enslaved their own people. They sold their own people to other countries, and those brought to Europe, South America, America, and other countries, were in many ways better off than they had been in Africa. But if one even begins to say these things one is quickly shouted down as though one were a complete madman."
The NARTH endorsed comments come at a time when the right wing is actively courting African-American groups. This column solidifies NARTH's place as an irresponsible group that specializes in the business of misinformation to further discrimination.
"People who spew racist screeds, like Schoenewolf, are called madmen because what they say is downright mad," said TWO's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "This column rips away the veneer of respectability that NARTH has worked to cultivate and has exposed their extremism. We strongly encourage Ron Oden to hold NARTH accountable for its racism and homophobia when he confronts the group on Saturday. "
Schoenewolf went on to say that the civil rights movement is about victimhood and criticized its tactics by comparing them to lynching.
"The irony is that the Civil Rights Movement has been vehement about pointing out the hysterical lynchings that took place in the Old South, but completely blind to its own hysterical tactics."
These remarks follow a screed written by another NARTH Advisory Board Member, Dr. Berger, who said that gender variant children should be "ridiculed" by their classmates into conforming. Despite promotion of child abuse, Berger remains on NARTH's advisory board. Today, TWO filed an official complaint with The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
"It is increasingly clear that NARTH is a repository of fanatics who espouse quack-like theories," said Besen."The group's efforts to portray itself as mainstream are continuously undermined by its own crackpot members and the bizarre ideas they espouse."
TWO is a non-profit think tank and educational organization that debunks the ex-gay myth, counters right wing disinformation campaigns, and provides accurate information about the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
14 Comments:
Unfortunately, "Dr." Schoenwolf doesn't know the history of Africa's great empires back then, like the Mali, the Songhai, and the Niger that flourished western Africa. It went really well until the savage Europeans use their maxim guns in Nigeria.
Where on Earth do they dig up these fossils? They are doing such a fine job of discrediting themselves that further comment would be superfluous.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/18/2006 2:26 PM
Ron Oden should immediately cancel his appearance at that Focus on The Family conference. If this latest outrage doesn't convince him to do it, I don't know what's wrong with the man! We do damage to society when we choose to validate the public platforms of bigots. Just as I've always said, racism, sexism and heterosexism are members of the same family and they often travel together.
posted by DC HAMPTON JACOBS, at
9/18/2006 2:28 PM
How about the Zulu? The only African Nation to defeat the British Army. Anyhow, it is true that Africans sold their own people to Europeans. I can say - I'd be pretty upset if my community sold me into slavery and took me away from family. Anyhow as to their standard of living - that is such a Christian centro idea that we were actually helping people (ie: native americans, africans, etc... ) Old Idea, not necessarily racists but very, very ignorant and closed minded.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/18/2006 2:50 PM
Wayne, thanks for submitting an offical complaint to the Ontario College of Physician's and Surgeons. I'm and Ontario native and am aware of several cases they have investigated in the past. You will be comforted to know that they take complaints very seriously and the board will take some sort of action of Berger's unethical conduct. To me, it is serious enough to strip Berger of his licence and I really do hope that happens. I would also like to see NARTH's activities banned in Canada.
posted by Anonymous, at
9/18/2006 9:57 PM
BC Waterboy:
Please consider submitting a complaint of your own. They need to hear from Canadians.
posted by Wayne Besen, at
9/18/2006 10:36 PM
You don't the balls to print that on their blog?? They need to know how you feel. You've been very vocal and now silent???
posted by Anonymous, at
9/26/2006 8:32 PM
