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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
Truth Wins Out (TWO) expressed its hope today that James Dobson resigning as chairman of Focus on the Family would eventually lead the anti-gay organization in a new direction. Dobson has created an entire industry that distorts the lives of gay and lesbian people for political gain, says TWO.
James Dobson's legacy of lies has caused significant pain for gay and lesbian people and their families. I hope his departure will eventually signal a shift in tone and end Focus on the Family's destructive attacks against gay and lesbian Americans. But, I remain skeptical.
The Associated Press reports that Dobson, 72, will still be a powerful presence. He will continue to host his daily radio show, which reaches 1.5 million listeners in the United States. A Focus on the family spokesman also said he will "continue to speak out as he always has - a private citizen and not a representative of the organization he founded."
It is time for Focus on the Family to abandon the politics of polarization and choose moderate leaders who are not fixated on culture wars. This would also be a good time for the organization to consider abandoning its failed "ex-gay" ministry, Love Won Out.
In Nov. 2008, Truth Wins Out protested Dobson's selection into the Radio Hall of Fame. In the past two years, TWO has found eight researchers in three countries who say that Dobson has distorted their work. Videos and letters that these scientists sent to Dobson can be viewed at www.Respectmyresearch.org.
Dobson's rhetoric is so divisive that former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) said that, "Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies." Focus on the Family co-founder Gil Alexander Moegerle said that, "I believe Dobson-style politics have been inept, simplistic, exclusionary, divisive and alarmingly sectarian...James Dobson's political style has been one of relentlessly demonizing his adversaries."
Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman on Oct. 23, 2004 that, "Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth." Dobson also told the Daily Oklahoman that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is "a God's people hater. I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people."
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people against anti-gay misinformation campaigns. TWO also counters the "ex-gay" industry and educates America about gay life.
15 Comments:
please someone kick his ass on the way out the door for me. Good riddance to that evil disfunction.
posted by Spouse Walker, at
2/27/2009 3:25 PM
"It is time for Focus on the Family to abandon the politics of polarization and choose moderate leaders who are not fixated on culture wars."
That's a nice sentiment, but FotF's sole purpose for existence is to fight the culture wars. Everything is about promoting their racist, sexist, and heterosexist agenda.
posted by libhom, at
2/27/2009 7:00 PM
You're more optimistic than I. FOTF's cash cow is its anti-gay crusade, the "ex-gay" programs in particular. To a lesser extent they live off preaching that women are little more than baby making machines and man-servants. Why would they change their winning formula just because Dobson has left?
posted by Buffy, at
2/27/2009 8:15 PM
Congratulations, Wayne, on adding to the pressure for Mr. Dobson to leave FOTF. Your well-documented revelations about his abuse of research and his almost countless factual distortions may have sped things up. That is a great thing.
Libhom, I am more hopeful. I think FOTF is a corporation, albeit classified as "non-profit," that primarily likes to make money (nothing wrong with that). I think they see the writing on the wall, that any continued wallowing in the homophobic pig pen could reduce them to fringe status. I expect them to not change their message, but to radically repackage it within the next year.
posted by Chris L., at
2/28/2009 8:33 AM
Buffy: I used to actually be on FOTF's mailing list to monitor them. It turns out that Osama bin Dobson started the organization in reaction to a UN Women's Conference. His publications routinely try to guilt women into staying home with the kids (but never men).
The heterosexism is part of a larger militant, fundamentalist political agenda. FOTF always has been considered fringe by people who know what they are. They have never been bothered by this.
posted by libhom, at
2/28/2009 12:08 PM
I didn't know that Dobson started it in response to a UN women's conference. So his compulsion was to demand that women stay home? I'll bet his own mother was frequently gone when he was a little boy. These types are so transparent. It'd be nice if people, both men and women, would deal with their issues instead of going out and building these nonsensical conglomerates.
posted by Chris L., at
2/28/2009 2:42 PM
