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
The San Francisco Chronicle analyzed information from all public marriage licenses filed with the Assessor-Recorder's Office in San Francisco between June 17 and 25.
Now that licenses have no gender designation, it can be difficult to determine whether couples are heterosexual or homosexual. But looking at their names, The Chronicle estimated that 751 of the 1,004 licenses filed during that period were by same-sex couples and that 87 of those live outside California.
In addition, 80 couples have filed confidential licenses, meaning they are not public records. Nine of those were from outside the state, though the clerk's office didn't say how many of the couples were gay or lesbian.
The following ad was pulled in the UK after complaints. It is a tasteful ad and should have stayed on the air. Ads and sit-coms should begin showing gay couples. There should be nothing controversial about gay affection. If people have psychological issues with it, they need to get help. Gay relationships are just as normal and natural as any other and must be reflected as such in the media and advertising. The only thing offensive about the ad was that it was mayo, which is about this most disgusting slop ever created.
The American Family Association has gone ballistic with this. So, please call Heinz and let them know you are upset about them pulling the ad - 800-255-5750
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Exodus International Offers False Hope, Divorces and Ruined Lives, Says TWO
NEW YORK - TruthWinsOut.org (TWO) will join a coalition of state and local North Carolina organizations to counter a conference in Asheville that plans to teach people to 'pray away the gay.' The controversial Exodus International symposium will sell books that promote exorcisms and encourage gay men to play touch football and lesbians to wear lipstick to become heterosexual.
"Ex-gay groups would be a farce if its failures weren't so destructive to individuals and families," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of TruthWinsOut.org. "We plan a robust week of activities to highlight the harm caused by this nefarious right wing organization and to show the truth about the lives of GLBT people. I want to thank the Coalition for Equality for their commitment to educating North Carolinians about the dangers of the 'ex-gay' myth and the positive contributions GLBT people make to the community."
Schedule of Events, July 15-20
Tuesday, July 15, 7:00-8:30 PM, Kick off Event "Can You Pray Away the Gay?" Firestorm Cafe & Books (48 Commerce St., Asheville) Speakers: Wayne Besen, Director, TruthWinsOut.org and author of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-gay Myth," and Ian Palmist, Director, Equality NC
When not doing pill-form smack, Rush Limbaugh is talking smack. Media Matters notes that on his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh told a caller that "Democrats will bend over, grab the ankles, and say have your way with me" to African-Americans and gays:
CALLER: Hello. I want to know how the Republicans don't need Christians and conservatives, and they think we're 30 percent. Twelve percent black people in the population. Ten percent -- they claim -- homosexuals in the population. Rush, honey, when did 30 percent get to be a small number?
LIMBAUGH: I don't -- I think it's actually larger than 30 percent. But let me see if I can get your question right. You want to know why the Republicans are willing to say, "Screw you," to 30 percent or more of their voters and yet Democrats will bend over, grab the ankles, and say, "Have your way with me," for 10 percent and 2 percent of the population?
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The following ad was pulled in the UK after complaints. It is a tasteful ad and should have stayed on the air. Ads and sit-coms should begin showing gay couples. There should be nothing controversial about gay affection. If people have psychological issues with it, they need to get help. Gay relationships are just as normal and natural as any other and must be reflected as such in the media and advertising. The only thing offensive about the ad was that it was mayo, which is about this most disgusting slop ever created.
The American Family Association has gone ballistic with this. So, please call Heinz and let them know you are upset about them pulling the ad - 800-255-5750
9 Comments
It is remarkable that Focus on the Family's James Dobson would accuse anyone of "distortions" considering his ignoble record. But, that is exactly what the right wing ideologue did this week when he said on his daily radio show that democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama distorted the Bible.
"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said." "... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."
Why do people still listen to what this serial liar has to say? In the past two years, at least seven researchers have accused Dobson of manipulating or cherry picking their results to back his anti-gay teachings. Letters and videos documenting the concerns of these respected professors can be viewed at RespectMyResearch.org.
The first researcher to step forward was New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, PhD. On Sept. 14, 2006 Gilligan wrote a letter to Dobson that stated: "I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine...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."
The most recent scientist to claim Double-Talk Dobson distorted his work was University of Minnesota's Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H. In a letter to Dobson, dated April 28, 2008, he wrote, "I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of 'Focus on the Family.'"
Other leading researchers who have taken issue with Dobson's use of their work include: Dr. Kyle Pruett, Professor of child psychiatry, the Yale University School of Medicine; Dr. Robert Spitzer, Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University; Angela Phillips, Professor, Goldsmiths College in London; Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, Associate Professor, school of nursing, University of British Columbia; and Dr. Judith Stacy, Professor of Sociology, New York University.
Never before has such an array of venerated professors courageously stood up and turned the ivory tower into a watchtower to protect scientific integrity. What each doctor has in common is that he or she was shocked and outraged when informed how his or her work was used and abused.
While the sheer number of professors who have already stepped forward is unprecedented, it is clearly the tip of the iceberg. James Dobson's bastardization of the truth is so immense and complete that one would have to build and staff a laboratory and a library to fully investigate and document his legion of lies.
Yet, the wonderful "liberal media" continues to treat this man as if he is a God-fearing grandfather. What disturbs me, is that the one time Dobson was truly exposed as a kook was when he suggested Sponge Bob Square Pants might be gay. This was worthy of laughs, but when some of the brightest minds in the world take Dobson to task for manipulating years of hard work, the media is largely MIA. Isn't it time the media paint a full and accurate portrait of a man who has had the ear of many presidents?
The reason Dobson is so facile with the facts and believes he can pick and choose who is a "real Christian" is because he has a God complex. The Associated Press' Eric Gorski reports that, "A McCain campaign staffer offered Dobson a meeting with McCain recently in Denver. Dobson declined because he prefers that candidates visit the Focus on the Family campus to learn more about the organization."
Can you believe this egomaniac? He tells John McCain, a possible leader of the free world, that he must take a detour from the campaign trail to Colorado Springs to bow at the feet of King James. What next, McCain has to agree to roll a red carpet and feed Dobson fresh grapes?
What is clear, is that the Democrat's strategy of more God talk, following John Kerry's defeat in 2004, is unnerving religious conservatives. Obama can speak the language of Scripture and is comfortable in the walls of a church. His genuine connection to people of faith will likely peel away a portion of churchgoers who are disillusioned by the broken promises and endemic corruption of the Republican party. Dobson's latest tantrum highlights his fear that the religious right is losing its grip as the face of faith in America.
Dobson is not an ordained minister, nor is he a religious scholar. His is just a loud mouth, self-righteous manipulator who screams and hollers. Until King James can explain why the world's top professors keep giving him F's in religion, ethics and science, the media should stop quoting him. While, I appreciate the need for balance, accuracy is the higher journalistic value - even when it comes to the charlatan of family values.
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At least two individuals were treated for injuries at a local hospital after a group of men shouting anti-gay slurs began assaulting several people who had gathered at a street corner, where they were waiting for cabs following a celebration during the weekend pride festivities.
One of the injured, Michel Brown, was with Equality Arizona Public Affairs Director Sam Holdren, Public Affairs Intern Steven Tran and Generation Equality member David Encizo. Tran and Encizo were in the crowd when the attacks began, but were not physically injured. Holdren was steps away, returning to the scene to find Brown lying unconscious and bleeding.
The incident has already begun to have an impact on the local community, who hours earlier had been at the Pride in the Pines festival. At the festival, newly-elected Flagstaff Mayor Sara Presler-Hoefle had issued a proclamation, declaring that day Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Day in the city of Flagstaff calling "upon the all city residents, employees and volunteers to participate in the spirit and activities of this day."
Equality Arizona Executive Director Barbara McCullough-Jones issued the following statement today:
"The news of this attack is deeply disturbing. On a day when all of Flagstaff should have been celebrating and embracing diversity, this brutal attack has reminded us all that there is still much work to be done to prevent anti-gay bias from escalating into violence.
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