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
In the ultimate act of hypocrisy, President Bush said he is "happy" for Mary Cheney, following her announcement that she is pregnant.
"I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy for her," Bush said in an interview with People magazine.
Yes, so happy that he tried to pass a the Federal Marriage Amendment, that would have made the child's family less stable.
By Bush's statement, we now know how disingenuous and phony the president was on the FMA. It was all about politics and getting right wing rubes to the polls. However, if he can be "happy" about a lesbian household having a baby, then he is not very sincere in his anti-gay conviction.
The religious right ought to be furious. The GOP and Bush have been using them like second hand toilet paper for years. After all the money they raised and energy they spent in their disgusting efforts to turn America into a Christian Iran - all they got in the end is a baby shower for Mary Cheney with the blessing of the most powerful leader in the world.
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James Dobson is a discredited political hack who has serially distorted research and twisted the truth to fit his right wing political agenda. He should never have been given a platform to discuss GLBT families in a respected major media outlet, such as Time Magazine.
The use of pseudo-science that aims to discriminate has no place in a publication like Time. Let's face it, they would never dare provide a similar platform for extremist groups to bash other minorities.
Tell Time that it is way past time to stop giving a stage to Focus on the Family and other groups that blatantly and provably lie about gay life.
Memo to Time: "If the right can't prove it, Don't use it."
Kyle Pruett, M.D., is Second Professor In Two Days To Challenge Dobson's Use Of Research
Miami Beach, FLA. - Truth Wins Out urged Time Magazine today to renounce a guest column written by James C. Dobson in this week's magazine after a second professor, Kyle Pruett, M.D. of the Yale School of Medicine, expressed concerns that the Focus on the Family leader "cherry picked" his work. In a letter to Time and Dobson, Dr. Pruett asked that Focus on the Family, "not quote from my research in your media campaigns, personal or corporate, without previously securing my permission."
Yesterday, New York University Professor Carol Gilligan, PhD, also wrote a letter to Time and Dobson saying that her research was distorted and twisted.
"Time Magazine should take Dobson's article off the web and pledge that they will never again use his group as a source on family issues," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. "Focus on the Family has damaged its credibility and should stop misleading Americans by misquoting respected researchers."
TODAY, Pruett wrote the following letter:
Dr. Dobson,I was startled and disappointed to see my work referenced in the current Time Magazine piece in which you opined that social science, such as mine, supports your convictions opposing lesbian and gay parenthood. I write now to insist that you not quote from my research in your media campaigns, personal or corporate, without previously securing my permission.You cherry-picked a phrase to shore up highly (in my view) discriminatory purposes. This practice is condemned in real science, common though it may be in pseudo-science circles. There is nothing in my longitudinal research or any of my writings to support such conclusions. On page 134 of the book you cite in your piece, I wrote, "What we do know is that there is no reason for concern about the development or psychological competence of children living with gay fathers. It is love that binds relationships, not sex."
Kyle Pruett, M.D. Yale School of Medicine
Additionally, New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, PhD, demanded an apology from Dobson yesterday and asked that Focus on the Family "cease and desist" from quoting her work in the future.
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
'I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work,' NYU Professor Carol Gilligan Tells Focus on the Family Leader in Blistering Letter
Miami Beach, FLA. - New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, PhD, today slammed Focus on the Family leader, James C. Dobson, for "twisting" and "distorting" her research in a guest column he wrote in this week's issue of Time Magazine. Dobson misrepresented her work in an effort to smear gay families while discussing Mary Cheney's pregnancy. In a pointed letter to Dobson, Gilligan demanded that he apologize and "cease and desist" from quoting her work in the future.
"Dobson's group is a fib factory that should change its name to Focus on the Fallacies," said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. "This organization habitually lies and shamelessly mangles research to support its anti-gay agenda. Time Magazine should immediately withdrawal Dobson's column because it is so riddled with scientific errors that it is essentially fiction."
In a letter to Dobson, obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out after the group contacted Gilligan and informed her of the Time article, Gilligan expressed her dismay and demanded that the right wing leader apologize. According to the letter:
Dear Dr. Dobson:
I am writing to ask that you cease and desist from quoting my research in the future. I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine. Not only did you take my research out of context, you did so without my knowledge to support discriminatory goals that I do not agree with. What you wrote was not truthful and I ask that you refrain from ever quoting me again and that you apologize for twisting my work.
From what I understand, this is not the first time you have manipulated research in pursuit of your goals. This practice is not in the best interest of scientific inquiry, nor does bearing false witness serve your purpose of furthering morality and strengthening the family.
Finally, there is nothing in my research that would lead you to draw the stated conclusions you did in the Time article. My work in no way suggests same-gender families are harmful to children or can't raise these children to be as healthy and well adjusted as those brought up in traditional households.
I trust that this will be the last time my work is cited by Focus on the Family.
Sincerely,
Carol Gilligan, PhD New York University, Professor
"No reputable media outlet should continue using Focus on the Family as a resource because they are chronically dishonest and lack credibility," said Besen. "James Dobson should start to wonder if there is something inherently wrong with his stance on gay issues if the only way he can support his positions is outright lying."
Truth Wins OUT is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the "ex-gay" myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit www.TruthWinsOut.org.
From an excerpt in the Irish Times written by Jim Duffy:
The first country in modern times to legalise same-sex partnerships was Denmark in 1989. Civil unions or registered partnerships now exist in Norway (1993), Israel (1994), Sweden (1995), Greenland, Hungary and Iceland (all 1996), France (1999), Germany and Portugal (2001), Finland (2002), Croatia (2003), Luxembourg (2004), New Zealand, United Kingdom and Andorra (2005), the Czech Republic and Slovenia (2006).
At least 10 Italian regions, as well as 10 US states, and regions of Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and as of this year Mexico City allow some form of recognition. Gender-neutral marriage exists in the Netherlands (since 2001), Belgium (2003), Massachusetts (2004), Spain and Canada (both 2005), with South Africa introducing it in December 2006. Taiwan has announced plans to recognise same-sex relationships, while Chinese legislators have raised the issue.
In a Swiss referendum in 2005, 58 per cent voted for civil unions, subject to restrictions on adoption, while a 2003 EOS Gallup poll found that 57 per cent of people in the then EU backed full gender-neutral marriage.
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Homophobia reached a comic new low today after WorldNetDaily published an insane ranting by a lunatic named Jim Rutz. The buffoon claims that if you eat to much ToFu, you might become a homosexual.
"Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them."
When are they going to rename this cyber rag Weird Nut Daily? What funny farm do they troll to recruit their writers?
Surely, it is only a matter of time before the weirdos at NARTH and Exodus (Richard Cohen, for sure) pick up on Rutz's zany ideas. Will someone get our opponents a good team of shrinks?
Oh, there is good news. You can still eat tempeh and stay hetero.
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(Weekly Column) Right wing leaders violently shook their rattles and practically soiled their diapers the moment they found out Mary Cheney was having a baby. For a moment, it seemed they were going to rename their anti-choice slogan, "Right to Straight Life" and demand that Mary immediately seek a partial birth abortion.
The Media Research Center's Robert Knight called the pregnancy "tragic" and said that Mary and her partner Heather Poe were "shortchanging the child from the start."
It was also quite breathtaking to watch the remarkable disloyalty the right wing showed Vice President Dick Cheney. Now, this is the Vice President who has pandered to the puritans for six years and even invaded Mesopotamia to help fulfill their twisted End Times Armageddon fantasies. Yet, quicker than one can microwave baby formula, the Biblical Benedict Arnolds feathered and tarred their conservative star.
"Not only is she doing a disservice to her child, she's voiding all the effort her father put into the Bush administration," Concerned Women for America's Janice Shaw Crouse whined to The Los Angeles Times.
If the VP didn't already have his hands full with the mullahs in Baghdad, he now has to deal with the American Taliban asking: Who's the baby's dad? It must be surreal for Dick to have his friends taking shots at him, when it is the VP who usually takes shots at his friends. If they keep it up, Knight and Crouse might find a hunting invitation in the mail.
Of course, it is hard to feel much sympathy for the Cheney family. In his own unquenchable lust for power, Dick has empowered the very radicals that now attack his family. His party has played the gay card and the race card, and well, more nasty cards than a double-dealing riverboat blackjack dealer. The party that Cheney has slavishly served has undeniably given comfort to the crazies and catapulted them from the fringes to the forefront of politics.
After playing extremist-enabler-in-chief for so long, did the VP expect his beloved daughter's announcement to be greeted with flowers? Well, Perhaps Ahmad Chalabi predicted it would happen this way. But the rest of us know from experience that the attacks on Mary and her family are not in their last throes. The question on everyone's mind is, will the macho veep, at some point, take on the creeps?
The indication so far is that Cheney family outrage is only reserved for Democrats. We all remember the vice presidential debate when the democratic nominee John Edwards mentioned that Mary Cheney was a lesbian. According to Mary, she mouthed an expletive at Edwards from the front row of the audience seating, while her mother and sister maturely stuck out their tongues at him.
Soon after, in a presidential debate, John Kerry also said that Mary was a lesbian. The response was swift and severe, with Lynne Cheney accusing Kerry of a "tawdry" political trick.
Of course, when right wing activist Alan Keyes once referred to Mary Cheney as a "selfish hedonist," Lynne remained silent. And now, where are Lynne and Dick to defend their daughter against mean-spirited attacks on the right? It seems they can't be bothered when their political base debases Mary.
Still, inside my deep reservoir of contempt, lies a begrudging glimmer of respect. This took guts and I hate to see Mother Mary gratuitously attacked because of her sexual orientation. Most impressive, this was a deliberate pregnancy, planned while the Vice President is still in office.
Granted, this decision likely had more to do with the 37-year old Mary's ticking biological clock than courage. She has always acted solely out of self-interest. For instance she practically vanished while the Bush administration worked to pass a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting gay couples from marrying. Yet, she roared out of the closet to collect a $1 million dollar advance for her commercially failed book, "Now It's My Turn."
Nonetheless, Mary has now become the most famous lesbian mother in world history. As karma would have it, she also finds herself living in Virginia, one of the most hostile states to gay families in America. In the Old Dominion, she has the legal standing of an out-of-wedlock mother living in sin, which is better than her partner, Heather Poe, who has no legal standing at all. Instead of two mommies, the child will have one parent and an unrelated "friend," although the couple has been together for fifteen years.
Perhaps, this is a good time for Mary to call up Mr. Leather, who she once worked with at Coors to promote the suds to gay studs. He could certainly come in handy as the Cheney family is quickly learning that it may take whips and chains to keep their fanatical former friends at bay.
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Defense Department regulations bar personnel from appearing in uniform in "speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration ...which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted."
Yet, seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform in a promotional video for the Evangelical organization Christian Embassy. "
I found a wonderful opportunity as a director on the joint staff, as I meet the people that come into my directorate," Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr. says in the video. "And I tell them right up front who Jack Catton is, and I start with the fact that I'm an old-fashioned American, and my first priority is my faith in God, then my family and then country. I share my faith because it describes who I am."
The 10-minute video is on the group's Web site, Christianembassy.com. The organization was founded nearly 30 years ago by the late Bill Bright, who also founded Campus Crusade for Christ. Army Brig. Gen. Bob Casen refers in the video to the Christian Embassy's special efforts to reach admirals and generals through Flag Fellowship groups. Whenever he sees another fellowship member, he says,
"I immediately feel like I am being held accountable, because we are the aroma of Jesus Christ."
Do they sell the candle in he mall?
In 2003, Army Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin drew criticism for appearing in uniform before church groups and saying, in remarks captured on video, that President Bush was "appointed by God," that the United States is "a Christian nation" and that Muslims worship "an idol." The inspector general's office determined that Boykin had not violated any rules, and he remained in a top intelligence post.
The fall of Rev. Paul Barnes is all over the news.
It is a shame that he is the one who is the subject of such scrutiny. Unlike Rev. Ted Haggard, who shamelessly bashed gay people to mask his own sexuality, Barnes shied away from such gratuitous political attacks.
For example, he did not use his influential and powerful church to get involved in the debate over Colorado Amendment 43. This was a measure approved by Colorado voters last month that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
In what is sure to be a difficult time, let us hope that Barnes moves towards greater self-acceptance and reconciles his sexuality and his faith.
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TWO URGES RELIGIOUS RIGHT TO RETHINK DESTRUCTIVE ANTI-GAY POLICIES AS MEGA-CHURCH PASTOR RESIGNS
How Many Lives Will Be Shattered, Families Destroyed and Careers Ruined Before Some Churches Accept Gay People For Who They Are? Asks TWO
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Truth Wins Out strongly urged conservative churches today to call off their war against homosexuals and rethink their deadly dogma after another prominent mega-church pastor was forced to step down after his sexual orientation was revealed. The Denver Post reported today that Rev. Paul Barnes, a married pastor of south Denver's 2,100-member Grace Chapel, resigned after confessing sexual encounters with men. He was the second prominent Colorado pastor, following Rev. Ted Haggard, to step down in recent weeks because he was gay.
"After the fall of Ted Haggard and Paul Barnes, it is time for conservative churches to admit that their approach to homosexuality is an experiment that has failed," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out, a non-profit organization that monitors so-called ex-gay ministries. "How many lives will be shattered, families destroyed and careers ruined before the religious right accepts gay people for who they are?
"Instead of tired anti-gay apologetics, the evangelical church should offer apologies to the gay and lesbian community and move swiftly to change their out-of-touch anti-gay positions," added Besen.
The Denver Post reported that the popular preacher resigned after a church administrator got an anonymous phone call from a person who claimed he overheard a conversation in which someone mentioned, "blowing the whistle" on Barnes. In a videotaped message to his congregation, a weeping Barnes spoke of how he had always known he was gay and could not change his sexual orientation despite copious prayer and three attempts at therapy.
"I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy," Barnes said in the 32- minute video, according to the Post "...I can't tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away."
This striking admission was similar to Rev. Haggard's disclosure that he had "been warring against it for all of my adult life," which strongly suggests that homosexuality can't be changed. This reality contradicts the position of several prominent right wing groups, most notably Focus on the Family.
"Conservative churches have spent millions of dollars pushing the idea that if you want to be straight, then read Scripture," said Besen. "This position has been severely undermined by living examples of spiritually gifted men, such as Haggard and Barnes, who were unable to become heterosexual, despite having everything to lose."
Besen said he is also concerned about how such deception hurts family members who are duped into becoming props in another person's lie. Indeed, Alan Chambers, the leader of the largest ex-gay group, Exodus International, recently claimed on NBC's Today Show that his organization gets 160,000 calls a year from married individuals seeking to become heterosexual or their psychologically scarred spouses. Although the group keeps no reliable statistics, even if a fraction of this inflated number is true, it would mean thousands of unnecessary divorces. This means that the "ex-gay" message is one of the leading causes of divorce in the nation.
"So-called ex-gay groups are divorce mills that love to show the media wedding pictures, but never show them the divorce papers, which is the realistic outcome," said Besen. "Our hearts go out to Char Barnes, who did not know her husband was a closeted homosexual until last week. It is time the right wing stops destroying families in the name of family values."
TWO is a non-profit think tank and educational organization that counters right wing disinformation campaigns, debunks the ex-gay myth, and provides accurate information about the lives of GLBT people. Besen, the group's founder and Executive Director, is the author of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking The Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth."
