The Gaytheist Agenda

Some vintage ads make us wax nostalgic. Others make us cringe. Some even have us wondering how such deranged individuals got hired as ad execs and slipped their work past the censors.

 
She broke 14 nails cleaning her old stove? How many fingers does she have?


 
Poor Mabel is experiencing menopause. Let’s drug her into oblivion so she’ll stop being such a nuisance to others.


 
I wonder what happens if she buys the “wrong” brand of bacon….


 
It’s nice to have a girl around the house. A good doormat is an absolute necessity.


 
Hubby lock you out of the bedroom over “feminine hygiene” issues? Douche with Lysol.


 
Because a woman should never let a thing like pregnancy get in the way of her “wifely duties”. Bring on the drugs!


 

The rest I post with no comment other than WTF?!? .


 


 


 


 

This has nothing to do with LGBT issues or atheism but it piqued my interest nonetheless. It’s a MoJo photo essay on phone sex operators. They’re the real, live people you reach if you call those 1-900 numbers advertised on late night television. However don’t look if you want to keep alive the illusion that you’re talking to the svelte, doe-eyed blonds from the advertisements.

 

You will no longer be seeing them at this blog. I won’t be quoting them or linking them for any reason. Sapphocrat has the story. From now on all news will be coming from other sources. I don’t think any of us will be missing out by avoiding them, and many other worthy sources will have a chance to be heard. It’s sort of a win-win situation.

 

On the April 4 edition of his program, The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly had a dialog with conservative radio host Marc Rudov and Fox News Analyst Margaret Hoover. Here are the video and exerpts provided by Media Matters. I’ll provide my commentary.

O’REILLY: “Back of the Book” segment tonight: There’s no question that some powerful forces in America want to mainstream the gay lifestyle, and now, you can decide whether that’s a good or a bad thing, because it’s all on the table.
…..
O’REILLY: — three in 10 seconds. And Fox News analyst Margaret Hoover, who is here in New York — and you’re appalled by this mainstreaming, correct?

HOOVER: Not at all.

O’REILLY: No?

HOOVER: Not at all. Look, a conservative feminist stands for increasing personal responsibility and increasing personal freedom, and there is nothing about this — I mean, these are private people, individuals, in their private lives spending their own money, leading their own lifestyle, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Their pursuit of happiness involves this, and frankly, there are kids out there that need families and parents that love them. There are plenty of broken homes that don’t have parents –

What do you know? A voice of reason advocating that LGBT people and families are private citizens who deserve to live their own lives and be left alone. How uncommon in certain circles.

O’REILLY: Even — even when the mainstreaming now has become fairly intrusive? You know, you look at television or you pick up a newspaper and, you know –

HOOVER: Is it really intrusive, though?

O’REILLY: To some people.

If the definition of “intrusive” is that one cannot pick up a magazine newspaper or turn on the television without seeing it then pretty much anything could be defined as intrusive. The media is filled with sex, violence, politics, religion, racial strife, war, crass consumerism and countless other things that any number of people might consider offensive. A person who is so sensitive that they cannot tolerate being exposed to that which exists in the normal, everyday world should avoid picking up newspapers and turning on the television.

O’REILLY: All right. What do you say, Marc?

RUDOV: Well, I think we are promoting a homosexual lifestyle, and I fear for the consequences — the long-term consequences for children.
…..
You know, in California, for example, in October of last year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law SP-777. It’s a new law that says you can’t use “Mom,” “Dad,” “husband and wife” in textbooks anymore. Girls can come to school dressed as boys; boys can come to school dressed as girls. They can use each other’s lavatories. And all of this is so not to offend gays and transgenders and bisexuals –

SB-777 does not say that Mom, Dad, husband and wife cannot be used in textbooks anymore. In fact it doesn’t even address textbooks at all. Nor does it state that girls and boys can cross-dress or that they can use each others bathrooms. Rudov is outright lying. Read the text of the bill yourself if you like, though it’s quite dull really.

O’REILLY: Well, that’s part of the mainstreaming –

RUDOV: — who are about 6 percent of the population.

O’REILLY: Yeah, that’s part of the mainstreaming of the –

RUDOV: That’s right. But the –

…..

RUDOV: And the 94 percent of us who aren’t in that –

Yes, because the majority would be so oppressed by allowing the minority to have equal rights. Just look at the damage the Civil Rights Act has done to me and other Caucasians.

O’REILLY: Wait, wait, Marc. Let –

HOOVER: Marc, I’ve got to object –

RUDOV: — we have to go along with it.

HOOVER: But, Marc, I have to object to this notion that children form their sexuality and their sexual identity from their parents. The truth is that scientists, biologists, we don’t know how sexuality is formed in people, and to suggest that people are going to be gay if they’re raised by gay parents is just scientifically unfounded. You just can’t say that. You can posit that, but you can’t say that’s the fact.

You — I — if you’re going to be worried about the future of children and children growing up in same-sex couples, you ought to be a heck of a lot more worried about deadbeat dads and broken homes and inner city America, because there are a whole lot of people and kids that are growing up that don’t have parents that love them.

But of course gay parents would raise gay children. Look at the centuries of straight children that straight parents have raised. Wait. Never mind…

As to the rest of the program, what little there is, I’ll leave you to form your own opinions of it…

 

Thanks for another case of o’reilly hates gay people.

 
You’re welcome. Really I could tolerate him and others not liking LGBT people. There are people I’m not fond of after all and it’s impossible to like everyone. What gets me is the intolerance they foster, particularly when they do it with propaganda and outright lies. There’s no reason for that, and it only leads to hurt and harm.

 

While Wayne Besen gets wired for sound, Kevin Nguyen asks the burning question: “When did you choose heterosexuality?”

Today was certainly an exciting and productive day. We gathered outside the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, CA, at 11am with our signs and began our vigil. Originally our group numbered about 10 people and over time grew to approximately 22. Traffic on Leghorn St. was fairly constant so we got a good deal of attention and while some people showed obvious consternation over our presence many honked their horns in support.

Not long after our arrival some participants of Love Won Out began filing out of the church. One young woman approached our group and initiated a conversation. We discovered that she was lesbian and celibate. She explained while she wasn’t actively pursuing change she felt that celibacy was what made her feel most spiritually fulfilled. The more she spoke, however, I had to wonder–as did others in our group–if she was telling us this to convince us or herself.

Three brave attendees walk the gauntlet. We reassure them that contrary to what they’ve heard, Teh Gay isn’t really contagious.

At a later point a young man came by our group and became engaged in conversation with Wayne, David and a few others. He insisted that he was very pleased with what he was hearing in the symposium and was not hearing any of the negative things that are known to be said in such conferences. For example, he denied hearing that women become lesbians because they have been raped, or that men “turn” gay because they were molested or had poor relationships with their fathers. Despite his insistence that he was enjoying the symposium, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see him later at the panel discussion (details on that below). He’d apparently decided to skip the rest of the symposium and join us for some facts instead of propaganda.

During the vigil Wayne Besen conducted video interviews me Sapphocrat (my better half) and several of the other participants for Truth Wins Out. A reporter for the San Jose Mercury News also interviewed several individuals so look for a story about the event, likely in tomorrow’s edition. Finally, two women from In The Life stopped by for their own interviews so some of our group just may end up on their wonderful program!

“In the Life” interviews David Nahmod.

During the symposium’s lunch break two guys approached us at a brisk pace. While at first I thought they might be coming to confront us, it turned out they were there to comment on what was happening inside. They were from a gay Christian organization, one explained, and they were attending the symposium so they could expose what actually goes on inside. To our delight they’ll be blogging their experiences (they were taking copious notes) and putting up videos on YouTube as soon as possible.

At the ready to fend off Teh Gays. (Guess the boss is the one in the sharkskin suit.)

Shortly before 1pm we broke and moved on to the Billy DeFrank Center for the panel discussion on the “Ex-Gay” industry. The discussion was well attended with an audience of about 25. The panel consisted of, in alphabetical order:

Reverend Sky Anderson, Minister of Community Life, Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose.
Wayne Besen, Executive Director, Truth Wins Out.org.
Gloria Nieto, President, Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club.
Robert Elster, Ex-Gay Survivor.
Aejaie Sellers, Executive Director, Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center.

After introductions by Aejaie Sellers, Wayne Besen opened with a brief history of the Ex-Gay industry. The first Ex-Gay ministries began right here in San Rafael, California and at first the LGBT community didn’t pay them much attention because they weren’t seen as a significant threat. Then in 1998 things changed as the RRRW figured out that if they could convince people that being gay was a casual choice, “like what to have for dinner”, then they could push through anti-gay legislation. LGBTs then became the “cultural landing for the culture wars”. ( This handy timeline by Jeremy Townsley provides much more detail about the rise of the Ex-Gay industry. )

Left to right: Rev. Sky Anderson, Wayne Besen, Robert Elster, Aejaie Sellers

Robert Elster then took the floor and described his experiences as an Ex-Gay Survivor. He stated that “God called us to be homosexuals”. Robert participated in both Love in Action and Homosexuals Anonymous, two well-known Ex-Gay programs some 20 years ago. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) was one of the more severe options suggested to Robert to eradicate his same-sex attractions. (Mind you this was well after homosexuality was removed from the DSM. ) During his time with the programs he was constantly assured that if he would only try to be straight he could be straight, and it was even implied that if he were to marry a woman that would make him straight. So out of desperation he married a woman thinking that would “cure” him. After several years and the birth of his two children he decided to stop deceiving himself, his wife and everybody else and admit the truth. He was still gay and always had been. Sadly it took a protracted legal battle for him to be allowed any contact with his children, for the usual prejudices against LGBT people were in play, and at the time of this post he’d just recently won his case.

Wayne commented that Robert’s story was typical of Ex-Gay Survivors. He then summarized the experience of being an Ex-Gay stating, “How can we be anything when we spend all of our time trying not to be something?” Wayne then offered the floor to Reverend Sky Anderson.

Rev. Sky stated that he is often contacted by churches that are supportive of the LGBT community and need advice on how to deal with the animosity they face from others for their support. Sadly doing the right thing often comes with a price tag attached. He went on to say that the Ex-Gay movement, particularly in its early stages, was reminiscent of the Briggs Initiative and Propositions A&B. Specifically that they started out quietly…”with a whisper”. He further stated that “seeing an Ex-Gay movement here opens old wounds”. He feels that it is “only the beginning of something that is going to be much bigger”.

Wayne observed that the Ex-Gay movement seems to be winding down. This is the second event he’s seen for which there were no billboards announcing it. Perhaps, he said, “the message isn’t resonating (with the general public) as much anymore and they’re just speaking to the choir”. Youth, in general, are not as responsive to the radical, anti-gay message as are older individuals. “For every one person converted are they turning off five others?”

Left to right: Gloria Nieto, Rev. Sky Anderson, Wayne Besen

Gloria Nieto then explained that the greatest force behind Ecumenicals (in politics) was Karl Rove. Now that he’s no longer there as their “architect” the GOP is rather without a rudder. “There is no roadmap for them right now.” The anti-gay movement in the Latino community went from Rove to “higher-profile evangelicals” such as Ruben Diaz who has one foot in the political camp and one in the religious. Gloria then asked the important question, “How do you know what is going on in Spanish-speaking communities if you don’t speak Spanish?”. One answer is Blabbeando, who monitors a variety of Spanish-language blogs.

Robert asked Wayne about the “statistics” (or lack thereof) provided by Joseph Nicolosi. Wayne replied that when pressed, Nicolosi replied that he “didn’t have time” to get the requested statistics (but that he sure had time to cash his clients’ checks). Then Wayne went on to say that NARTH/Exodus “experts” typically cover themselves by quoting one another for their vague statistics.

Aejaie then commented that Ex-Gay “therapy” is “more manipulative than therapeutic”. Wayne explained that they’re always looking for a reason for gayness. Lesbians were molested as children. Gay men were too close to their mothers or not close enough to their fathers. For transgender people it’s all of the above taken to the extreme. The “therapy” techniques range from the bizarre to the downright abusive. Women are given “makeup seminars” and discouraged from playing sports. Men are taken out to play touch football and have nude massages for non-sexual male bonding (!). Participants are encouraged to develop (non-sexual) friendships with straight people of the same gender under the premise that this will make them straight. Rev. Sky Anderson noted that some programs have utilized ECT and even electrodes on mens’ penises as means of attempting to rid them of same-sex desires.

Then Aejaie asked the panel members to suggest the top three things LGBT people can do to fight the Ex-Gay movement. Gloria Nieto said, “Keep talking to politicians. Tell the truth about who we are.” Reverend Anderson stated, “First, we’ve got a lot of work to do between the trans community and the gay community.” Then he added, “Stand with whoever is oppressed”.

Wayne feels there are three major areas we could be doing better.
1- Money; we’re “out-financed”
2- Outreach; Truth Wins Out has a staff of two and a small budget. By comparison Exodus International and Focus on the Family have dozens of staff and billions of dollars (particularly when you account for the more than 120 affiliate ministries of Exodus International). FotF is the #1 program in Zimbabwe, for example, which means they’re spreading their lies to a market we have no chance of even reaching yet. We’re sadly outmatched in this department.
3- “We could use a lawsuit against these guys”. Not against the ministries, because of course they’re protected under Freedom of Religion. But against the so-called “therapists” who inflict the damage on program participants. Even a few of these suits could begin the real downfall of the Ex-Gay industry.

Robert added his own list:
1- “Bloom where you’re planted.” , e.g., your own church– work from within whatever community you belong to
2 - Youth. Robert wants to pass own story to them so they will never become complacent
3 - We need to find peace & harmony w/in ourselves and stop beating up each other within our own community

Aejaie added, then, that we need to engage the entire community, not just the LGBT community, in our efforts to thwart the Ex-Gay industry. She then opened the floor to questions from the audience.

So that’s about it for now. I anticipate video and local stories being available soon and I’ll provide them when I can. Until then…

 

I’ve discovered that in addition to being a sexist, racist pig, Howard Stern has been exploiting a developmentally disabled man on his show for many years now The man, Gary Loudermilk, has Down Syndrome, and is known as “Gary the Retard” to Stern and his listeners.

He is frequently antagonized by Artie Lange, who often merely has to say “RETARD!” to elicit an angry tirade from Gary. On August 12, 1998 he was scheduled to appear on the show but got lost at the airport. A listener who worked at the airport eventually found him and called the show. In 2003, Gary was a member of the show’s weekly football pool along with Daniel Carver, Gary Dell’Abate’s son Jackson, and a chicken named Sanders. Gary the Retard picked the Seattle Seahawks to win every week. They seem to be the only NFL team he knows. He works at Burgerville, USA and recently claimed to have a girlfriend who was just released from incarceration. It has been indicated that the woman has been taking advantage of his handicap to get money and access to the show.

Right, and the dirtbags on the show just keep right on doing what they do, and letting others do what they do because it hey, it keeps the ratings up. Who cares that a disabled man is being exploited by them and by their listeners with their assistance and consent. And why aren’t any people who live and work near Mr. Loudermilk advocating for him? Wouldn’t they want somebody to do so if it were them or someone in their family in his shoes?

 

Gary is also frequently tormented by The Retarded Flu. Early in 2005, staff member Sal “the Stockbroker” Governale, pulled a prank phone call on Gary, using an assumed name and informing him that a flu was in his phone line, coming to “get him” and that he would have to repeat the phrase “Shoo, shoo, retarded flu!” in order to keep it away. In doing this, the flu would be weakened. Gary was warned to be careful though - the flu could disguise his voice. Since then, the “retarded flu” prank has been pulled on Gary numerous times, including at live appearances, and he always falls for it, chanting “Shoo, shoo, retarded flu!”.

Stern, everybody associated with his show, and the listeners who enjoy what he peddles are sick, twisted freaks. Exploiting people with disabilities is disgusting and indefensible. That this has been allowed to go on for so long astounds me, though considering what I know of the history of disability rights it really shouldn’t…

That is the question being asked by Christian World News. Here is their line of reasoning.

Does broadcast and print media give atheism the same degree of scrutiny as Christianity and other religious faiths?

The Media Research Center’s Culture and Media Institute says no.

For more on what this study reveals, watch Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Media Institute.

The Institute examined the apparent “rise in atheism,” subject covered in broadcast news programs, three leading weekly news magazines, and four programs on taxpayer-funded National Public Radio, all shown during 2007.Although only eight percent of Americans call themselves atheists, the report found that not only is the news media hostile toward religion, particularly Christianity, but the media may be spreading a “Gospel of Godlessness” on the American public.

“Whether deliberately or not, the news media did not subject atheism or atheists to the same skepticism to which they subject Christians and Christianity,” the report said. “Journalists who look at America’s majority religion through a skeptical prism should equally apply their critical faculties to atheism.”

There is no link to the actual report CWN refers to, though they cite some of the figures below. However without a link to the full report there is no way to know if any of the information is accurate or what was left out of the story. Accordingly I remain highly skeptical.

In their report, CMI details their discovery of imbalances in the media’s coverage of the religion. Among the findings:

- Eighty percent of feature stories about atheism or atheists had a positive tone, 20 percent were neutral. No feature stories were negative.

- Atheists were used to challenge religious viewpoints more than journalists used religious viewpoints to challenge atheism. Fifty-four percent of atheist-themed stories included a religious counterpoint, but 71 percent of the Christian-themed stories included atheist counterpoints or were written from an atheistic perspective.

How is the lack of negative stories considered evidence of bias? Again, because I cannot see the actual study I have no idea what stories were involved. Is it not possible that the reason the writers of the stories wrote them in a positive tone is because they saw the matter in a positive light? I understand that Christians consider atheists horrible people just for being atheists, but why should everybody play along just to satisfy their bigotries?

It may be true that Atheist views were used to challenge Christian views more than vice-versa. However consider the fact that only recently have Atheists become more visible and outspoken. Historically Christians have held the limelight, holding every political office, taking center stage on Sunday morning, preaching on the radio and television, etc. Now things are changing and Atheists suddenly have a number of bestselling books, have Internet presence, are speaking out and getting media attention. It’s not surprising they might just tip the balance for a while.

“By airing unchallenged interviews and reporting predominantly positive-toned features, the news organizations in this study effectively promoted atheism and held it in higher regard than other religions,” the report said. “While the media are not obligated to treat all religions and belief systems equally, their failure to subject atheism to the levels of skepticism directed at Christianity and other religions suggests a deplorable double standard.

The views of atheists are hardly unchallenged. Atheists have only begun speaking out in the past few years. Christians have spoken unchallenged for millennia. If Christians don’t like what the Atheists are saying they need only say so in their Churches, in their Christian schools, on their myriad Christian broadcasting networks, on their countless Websites, in their thousands (if not millions) of magazines and newspapers, and so on. And the reality is, Christians do challenge Atheists constantly–I can attest to that.

The study also found that atheism stories or commentaries by atheists were present in 51 percent of the issues of Newsweek, and 35 percent of the issues of Time. This included features, mentions in stories on other issues, and groupings of letters to the editor from atheists. In contrast, only one issue of U.S. News and World Report referred to atheism.

Of all of the broadcast networks, the Institute found that ABC provided the most enthusiastic television network coverage of atheism. The network ran features on an atheist Web site called Blasphemy Challenge and an atheist convention held in Baltimore, Md.

Again, Atheists have just begun finding their voice and speaking out. They have bestselling books, groups, conventions and a burgeoning movement. The media tends to cover what is fresh, new and of interest to the public. Right now that is the Atheist movement. Eventually something else will crop up and the media will move on, as is it’s way.

Even the presidential race has been touched by atheism. Six out of seven news organizations considered in this study addressed the concerns and interests of atheists in the upcoming presidential election. Yet, only Republican candidates were asked how they would treat atheists.

Fear not Christians, the presidential race is still overwhelmingly dominated by religion. It’s shameful anybody would be chagrined that the concerns of Atheists would be addressed, but I’m keeping in mind the source here. But if CWN is wondering why only Republican candidates were asked how they would treat atheists, it’s because they’re the only ones perceived to be hostile toward atheists. That’s something for them to think about.

Ava Lowry is the driven teen behind Peace Takes Courage and Ava’s Army. She has also created an amazing series of videos that have drawn both ardent fans and, sadly, vicious opponents.

Ava’s latest video presents some of the hate-mail she has received from RWers over time. Viewers are warned that there is hate-speech, excessively foul language and other content unfit for children and those with delicate constitutions.

The Moral Values Party indeed. Those who threaten or wish harm upon others over a difference of opinion are truly depraved. But I expect nothing more from the party that resorts to bullying at every turn.

I commend Ava for continuing her quest to advance the cause of peace, encourage the youth of America to believe in themselves, and make the world safe for progressive causes. Ava is a true asset to America and the world.

Normally the “Ex-Gay” industry is no laughing matter. But this is one of those exceptions.