NARTH - A Leading "Ex-Gay" Proponent - Loses Its Tax Exempt Status

One of the principal manufacturers of the fraudulent "research" and "expert testimony" to support the lie that gays can "change" their sexual orientation and that, therefore, being gay is a "choice" is the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality ("NARTH").   Happily, as Warren Throckmorton reports, NARTH has had its tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS for failure to file file IRS Form 990 for three consecutive years.  One can only speculate as to why the required filings were not made, but among the possibilities is the fact that NARTH may have been seeking to hide the source(s) of its funding - much as has been witnessed with the National Organization for Marriage ("NOM") which many suspect is a front for the Roman Catholic Church.  In the case of NARTH, financial supporters are likely to comprise a who's who of anti-gay Christofascst organizations.  Here are highlights from Throckmorton's blog:

In September 2012, the tax exempt status of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) was revoked due to failure to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. The notice of revocation was yesterday according to the IRS website.

Even though the full name of the organization is not listed, the Employee Identification Number and address match up with the 2009 990 form. A call to the IRS also confirmed it.

NARTH’s website advises prospective donors that their donations will be tax deductible but it appears such deductions after September 15, 2012 may not be allowed.

It is difficult to know what this means. NARTH has never been a wealthy organization and conference attendance has declined in recent years. Members are hoping to maintain their ability to conduct reparative therapy with minors in CA via lawsuits against the state to overturn SB 1172 (see this article for more on SB 1172 and then NARTH’s perspective). NARTH has been actively soliciting donations to help support their legal actions. One would not be able to tell from the website that those donations are not deductible.

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Far Right Cat Fight: Scott Lively v. Warren Throckmorton

To me it's great entertainment to see those on the far right lose it and launch into total batshitery which does nothing other than to expose their insanity and their contempt for the truth.  Or at least any truth that gets in the way of their psychotic religious extremist agenda.  One of the nuttiest of the nutcases is Scott Lively (pictured at right), who has been a frequent subject on this blog for his extreme anti-gay lunacy which has ranged from his totally discredited box, The Pink Swastika, that claims the Nazi regime was founded and run by a gay conspiracy, to his advocacy for the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.  The latest target of Lively's spittle spraying ranting is Warren Throckmorton who for years preached the "ex-gay" myth and supported reparative therapy until he apparently became convinced that it simply doesn't work (and probably saw that his license would be in jeopardy if he kept pushing that snake oil).  What has launched this right wing contretemps is Throckmorton's repeated criticisms of David Barton's fraudulent book on Thomas Jefferson.  Box Trutle Bulletin looks at the cat fight and here are some highlights:

Purported historian David Barton has not had a good week. His NYT bestseller, The Jefferson Lies (which presents Jefferson as more of an orthodox Christian than evil secular historians would have you believe), has been pulled by its publisher, which “lost confidence” in the book after a host of historians — including many conservative Christians — pointed out its abundant flaws.

Barton has a few champions left. One of them — Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika — may be familiar to you, and he offers the most hilarious defense of all: The whole thing is a gay conspiracy. And you (yes, you) are involved.

Lively points out that Warren Throckmorton is one of Barton’s harshest critics. Throckmorton is a professor at a Christian university who has made a fascinating journey when it comes to his views on homosexuality. I doubt he would describe himself as pro-gay, but his steady and determined search for what is true has led him to speak out for the dignity and humanity of LGBT folk.

That’s enough for Lively: Throckmorton is a villain. And if you don’t think so…

just do a search of his name on the websites of the nastiest of these anti-Christ blogs such as Box Turtle Bulletin [!], Truth Wins Out and Joe My God. You will find that Throckmorton is a hero to these people and apparently a willing collaborator with some of them.

See, if gays admire Throckmorton, then Throckmorton must be bad — and therefore, David Barton must be good. Seriously, that’s the crux of Lively’s 1500-word analysis. And nowhere in those 1500 words does he actually debunk a single criticism against the Barton. In fact, Lively suggests that minor issues like accuracy and truth are of secondary importance.

Scott Lively provides us with some insight here — not into the working of the vast gay conspiracy, but into his own head. Lots of people are delighted by this setback to Barton and his alternative reality; gays are just a small subset of that population, and a minor one at that. But if you’re as obsessed with homosexuality as Lively is, then anything with a remote and tenuous connection to the gays must be all about the gays.

Rarely have I seen such a direct and blatant statement that something so trivial as the truth must never get in the way of what is, um, right. It’s nice to have stuff like that from our opponents out in the open, stuff we later outrage them with by quoting it verbatim.

Lively is a certifiable nutcase in my opinion.  He'd be laughable except for the fact that the ignorant and uneducated can be easily misled by such a fraud - Uganda being perhaps the best example of the evil that Lively seeks to perpetrate.

Christian Publisher Stops Publication of David Barton's Revisionist History Book

As a history major in college and a firm believer that only by knowing true and accurate history can we avoid mistakes and horrors of the past, I have long been appalled by the work of supposed historian David Barton who would have fit right in with the Goebbels propaganda machine for the Nazi Party.  The man constantly spews deliberate lies and has been a leading advocate of the myth that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation."  It's a total lie and the real truth about the Founding Fathers reveals that they were extremely suspicious of religion and that virtually none of them were of a mindset like today's evangelical Christians who live in some kind of deranged alternate universe from objective reality.  And not surprisingly, Barton is a huge proponent of Bible based civil laws that would make homosexuality a crime worthy of severe punishment.   Barton's latest book, The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson, sought to rewrite the history of Jefferson into some kind of fantasy that turned the truth about the man upside down.   Fortunately, the books publisher has ceased distribution of the book in the face of blistering condemnation.  Here are highlights from NPR:

Citing a loss of confidence in the book's details, Christian publisher Thomas Nelson is ending the publication and distribution of the bestseller, The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson. 


The controversial book was written by Texas evangelical David Barton, who NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty profiled on All Things Considered Wednesday. The publishing company says it's ceasing publication because it found that "basic truths just were not there."

Since its initial publication, historians have debunked and raised concerns about numerous claims in Barton's book. In it, Barton calls Jefferson a "conventional Christian," claims the founding father started church services at the Capitol, and even though he owned more than 200 slaves, says Jefferson was a civil rights visionary.

"Mr. Barton is presenting a Jefferson that modern-day evangelicals could love and identify with," Warren Throckmorton, a professor at the evangelical Grove City College, told Hagerty. "The problem with that is, it's not a whole Jefferson; it's not getting him right."

Warren Throckmorton and I have dueled over the years on reparative therapy - he has since changed his positions supporting the "therapy" -  but he believes in honesty.  That's something unknown to Barton.  Bob Felton has some commentary on Barton's lies about Jefferson:

In order of the provocative ‘truths’ Barton proposes to set the record straight about:

• Did Thomas Jefferson really have a child by his young slave girl, Sally Hemings? Almost certainly. DNA tests performed in the late 90s established that the descendants of Sally Hemings have DNA that matches Jefferson’s descendants. Most historians think that settles the question, but others point out that the common DNA may have entered the family line through the Randolphs, Jefferson’s wife’s family. The Randolph descendents have refused to submit to DNA testing and so, strictly, the matter is unresolved. Rumors of Jefferson’s relationship with Hemings were a commonplace during his lifetime, however, and it is undisputed that there were a lot of red-headed slave children running around Monticello, and that Hemings and her children received privileged treatment in Jefferson’s will.
  
• Did he write his own Bible, excluding the parts of Christianity with which he disagreed? The truth is more complicated than the question implies. Jefferson was an admirer of Jesus, but skeptical of the magic-man persona and the miracles. Jefferson cut-and-pasted the gospel narratives into an order he thought more coherent than in the traditional Bible, and omitted the miracles. Jefferson was carefully ambiguous about his religious beliefs, which, given his Enlightenment temperament, probably signifies agnosticism or deism.
  
• Was he a racist who opposed civil rights and equality for black Americans? Jefferson wanted to send the slaves back to Africa, and intimated toward the end of his life that he thought slavery might someday lead to exactly the civil war we got. It’s not clear whether he was a racist per se, so much as that he believed the race problem was irreconcilable and dangerous to the union. He was instrumental in the colonization movement that culminated in the founding of Liberia.
  
• Did he, in his pursuit of separation of church and state, advocate the secularizing of public life? Yes, emphatically so. Though his public pronouncements on religion were few and ambiguous, his private letters speak plainly and often of his contempt for the clergy.

There is much to admire in Jefferson, and even his flaws are not so bad when we consider his time and place. To recreate him as some sort of American saint is dishonest, though, and it is gratifying that Barton’s revisionism has fallen with such a clunk.

I know I comment on this repeatedly, but no one lies as much or as often as the "godly Christian" crowd.  It's ironic that the "godless liberals" do a much better job at being honest and avoiding constant outright lies.

Warren Throckmorton: Day of Silence Derangement Syndrome is Breaking Out

As I have noted before, years ago Warren Throckmorton and I had very heated e-mail exchanges arguing about the Christianist backed myth that gays can change their sexual orientation. At the time, Throckmorton was an advocate for the change myth. With the passage of time, additional research studies and APA findings that so-called reparative therapy is basically snake oil that doesn't work and, in fact, can be dangerous, Throckmorton has evolved and now disavows and writes against the most virulent anti-gay poison of the Christianists. Would that more conservative Christians would accept scientific knowledge and recognize that their anti-gay views might just possible be wrong. Next month on April 20th is the annual "Day of Silence" which focuses on anti-gay bullying. It goes without saying that the anti-gay hate merchants are once again having fits over the event which candidly aims to stop the bullying and humane treatment advocated by the Christianists. Warren comments on the whining and shrieking of the haters in part as follows:

On April 20, thousands of students will remain silent for part of the school day to call attention to anti-gay bullying and harassment. Called the Day of Silence, the event is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

In 2008, some Christian right organizations called on parents to keep their kids home on the Day of Silence. This is happening again this year.

The Day of Silence brings out some really odd statements from those opposed to it. One would think that sending your kids to school on that day is sinful. Take for instance this exchange, reported on Right Wing Watch, between Linda Harvey and Laurie Higgins:

Harvey: You can keep your kids home that day if you suspect or you find out that teachers are going to accommodate this protest silence in order to honor homosexuality, let’s be clear about what this is, this is a God-dishonoring day that honors sin, sinful, immoral behavior that most parents don’t want their children involved in.

Higgins: Christian teachers out there and if you’re working in a public school plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this.

Laurie Higgins says the Day of Silence people promote kids remaining silent in class. While the organizers are fine with teachers who allow this response, GLSEN is clear that students do not have the right to remain silent if the class activities call on them to speak.

The irony is that Higgins and Harvey accuse the Day of Silence participants of violating school rules by remaining silent, and then turn around and urge truancy. Higgins and Harvey are fine with skipping an entire day of school, but become unhinged when those opposed to anti-gay bullying want to remain silent during non-instructional times.

I urge parents to resist Day of Silence Derangement Syndrome and send their kids to school on the Day of Silence (and even the misguided Day of Dialogue the day before). Send them to school and encourage them to become part of the solution via opposition to bullying. Students may want to remain silent, or take part in the Golden Rule Pledge which can take place any day of the year.

Did I mention that Linda Harvey's anti-gay cottage industry, Mission America is a registered anti-gay hate group (Harvey is pictured above at left)? As for the supposed "Day of Dialogue" pushed by hate merchants like Harvey, the participants basically focus on telling LGBT students that they are sinners and doomed to Hell for eternity because of their sexual orientation. Friendly Atheist as a parody of the "you're a sinner who is damned to Hell" cards the Christianist minions will be trying to hand out to LGBT students and their allies:

Warren Throckmorton: PFOX is Part of the Problem

As noted in the last post, America has its own anti-gay fanatics who dress themselves in the cloak of religious piety even as they peddle hate, lies and untruths about LGBT individuals and, of course, the myth that gays can "change." Never mind that all of the legitimate medical and mental health associations disagree with this politically and religiously motivated claim.Some of these groups have been aptly registered as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center ("SPLC"). Others have not be so registered - at least not yet, but ought to be in my opinion. Even more disturbing is the fact that some of the leaders of these organizations are treated as if they were credible spokesman by news outlets such as MSNBC. One of the merchants of the "change myth" is Parents ad Friends of Ex-gays ("PFOX") which not surprisingly derives funding from and has board members from SPLC registered hate groups. One of PFOX's ongoing battles has been with the Montgomery County, Maryland, school division where PFOX has been striving to disseminate its fraudulent information. On his blog, Warren Throckmortion, a convert from the change myth industry slams PFOX and its dishonest agenda. Here are highlights:

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays has been getting push back over the ex-gay pamphlets sent home with students recently in Montgomery County, MD. Earlier today, Peter Sprigg, who is on the board of PFOX and works for the Family Research Council wrote the Washington Post to criticize a Post article for calling homosexuality “innate.”

What is also troubling about Sprigg’s letter is that he offers an organization as an alternative that does what he accuses the Montgomery Board and the Post of doing – making political statements in place of scientific ones. PFOX has no interest in all of the evidence regarding sexual orientation. Instead, they promote reparative therapy, with the dubious view that parenting and sexual abuse causes sexual orientation. The one PFOX conference I attended several years ago was a sad affair for a group of parents I spoke with after the sessions. Why? Richard Cohen had just finished telling them that lack of love was the culprit behind the gayness of their kids.

As I write this, PFOX is just one of the organizations along with FRC that continues to mislead their constituents regarding current information regarding sexual orientation. They blast those who say that homosexuality is innate or may be a response to pre-natal factors while at the same time promoting bad parenting and trauma as causal factors.

Montgomery County may still be in an ideological war over the factors which cause sexual orientation to take the direction it does, but an answer to that problem is not more “information” from PFOX.

Why is the So-Called Christian Press Imposing a Blackout on New Sexual Orientation Research?

As noted in the prior post, Lisa Miller, a kidnapper under federal arrest warrant, claims to be an "ex-gay" even though all of the legitimate medical and mental health associations are of the position that sexual orientation cannot be changed. Despite many new research studies that collectively support this premise and demonstrate the falsity of the "ex-gay" myth, the so-called Christian press - not to mention virulently anti-gay hate groups - seems to conveniently act as if this research and the newer studies don't exist. The reasons are pretty obvious: this research underscores that many pastors, Christian publishers and the anti-gay hate groups are lying to their flocks/subscribers. They care more about denigrating LGBT individuals and pocketing money made by misrepresentation than they do about telling the objective truth. As I note frequently, virtually no one is more dishonest that the "godly Christian" crowd. It seems that in their minds, the truth is whatever is convenient to their anti-gay agenda and will put money in their pockets. They make the money lenders described in the Gospels look like highly ethical and upstanding folks. Warren Throckmorton (pictured above) looks at this phenomenon and the amazement from some among the sheeple who are finding out that they've been deliberately misled. Here are some highlights:

Of late, I have given several talks to a variety of evangelical groups on the current research on sexual orientation. Along the way, I have been contacted by evangelicals who ask about the current status of sexual orientation research. After the conversations and speeches, many questions come up. One question I hear after almost all of these conversations is: Why haven’t we seen anything about these studies?

Many of the questioners read evangelical publications and consume evangelical media. However, they don’t know anything about the brain research of Ivanka Savic in Sweden (2005, 2008) or Adam Safron and colleagues at Northwestern University (since 2005).

They know there is no gay gene but they don’t know about the significant brain, perceptual and cognitive differences reported within the past five years by various researchers around the world.

Many evangelicals believe homosexuality is due to abuse. . . . . they are unaware of the 2010 study by Wilson and Widom’s study which found no relationship between abuse and having a gay partner for men or women (men were more likely to have had at least gay experience in their adult lives but not a recent partner). They are unaware of the 2010 work of Wells in New Zealand that found 81.6% of gays reported no sexual abuse in their lives.

Many evangelicals I speak to think that change of orientation is pretty common and the evidence is being suppressed by the gay-friendly media. . . . When I explain to them what change means in the context of the study, they are surprised. Then I point out the study, also by Mark Yarhouse, that found no change in orientation for men and women in mixed orientation marriages, they wonder why that study was not reported in the media. I wonder the same thing.

I could be wrong but I don’t think any of the studies to which I have referred here have been reported in the Christian press. The Jones and Yarhouse study was reported widely, but the Yarhouse study showing no change among sexual minorities in mixed orientation couples – which is more recent – was not reported anywhere.

Many evangelicals get their information from NARTH through groups like Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Exodus International, etc. Others get information from Christian media. However, these studies are not reported in these places.

I suspect the culture war is to blame. It cannot be because sexual orientation is not news. The issue comes up in the Presidential campaigns and other news all the time. However, evangelicals are quite unprepared to discuss this very current topic with the most recent and best scholarship.

In my view, Christian media and organizations have a responsibility to provide this information to their readers and consumers. Given the backlog of unreported studies, there is plenty of material for their reporting.

If I were Warren, I would not hold my breath waiting for this information to be reported. Candidly, the anti-gay organizations have no desire in reporting the truth. They will lie, distort information, and continue a news blackout on anything that gets in the way of their agenda. Truth and accuracy in reporting are mutually exclusive from the Christian press.

Participant Discredits the Original Ex-Gay Study

Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton has already been attacked by Christianists for telling the truth about "ex-gay" therapy: it doesn't work. Now, with a new article on Michael Bussee's recantation of his "cure" and and conversion to "straight" - not to mention other aspects of the "study" that coined the term "ex-gay", Throckmorton will likely be the target of additional diatribes by those who seek to keep the "ex-gay" myth alive for monetary and political purposes. The transformation of Throckmorton's advocacy for the truth about "ex-gay" therapy has been stunning since I first had running e-mail debates with him seven or eight years ago. Personally, I applaud his efforts to expose the truth rather than clinging to falsehoods that serve Christianists' political agenda to deny LGBT citizens of full equal rights under the civil laws. Here are some highlights from the new article:

A participant in the first study to use the term “ex-gay” to describe gay-to-straight change has called the study into question.

In 1980, E. Mansell Pattison and his wife Myrna Loy Pattison introduced the term “ex-gay” to the psychological literature via an article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In that study, they claimed that 11 men participating in a crisis hotline at the Melodyland Christian Center, pastored by Ralph Wilkinson in Anaheim, CA, had changed dramatically from gay to straight.

But in an interview, Michael Bussee, who had been a leader at Melodyland at the time of the study, told me, “We professed that we had been healed—past tense—because it was part of the theology to claim your healing in order to bring it about.”

Bussee said the Pattisons did not question the authenticity of the responses, saying, “They took it on faith that we were giving honest answers, but all of us were eager to ‘claim’ our healing.” . . . . “I think it’s very important to talk about the ‘faith’ context of the study. This was done at Melodyland at the height of the ‘charismatic renewal’. Healing and deliverance services were held every week and were packed by thousands of people.” In that environment, the participants believed they would be delivered from their same-sex attractions.

The term “ex-gay,” then, seemed to incorporate both a change of sexual attractions and a change of ideology. Of the two claims, the change of attractions has become the most controversial.

Along with several other ex-gay leaders, Bussee and his Melodyland colleague Gary Cooper helped found Exodus International, an evangelical ex-gay organization. However, they eventually came out of the closet, left their wives and became partners, thereby leaving ex-gay ministry in 1979. Cooper died in 1991 and Bussee has remained a critic of change efforts.

Both Bussee and Cooper were rated as Kinsey 6 (exclusively homosexual) before change and a 0 (exclusively heterosexual) after change. Since there was no follow-up, this study has been used to support the proposition that gays could change to straight via religious mediation. For instance, not knowing any of this background at the time, I referred to the Pattison study favorably in my 2000 American Psychological Association presentation about ex-gay outcomes.

Even if the study could be trusted, only 1% of the original 300 cases were reported as categorical shifts from gay to straight.

For these and other reasons, the study was open to criticism even before Bussee’s disclosure. However, based on the experience of Bussee and Cooper, there is even more reason to question the study—as well as the objective of sexual reorientation in general.

When is the main stream media going to stop giving any credence - much less a platform - to the quacks who continue to market the "ex-gay" myth?

A Catfight Between Peter LaBarbera and Warren Throckmorton

Over the years I've had e-mail correspondence and debates with both Peter LaBarbera and Warren Throckmorton. In my opinion, LaBarbera is a pathological liar who is bizarrely obsessed with male homosexuality. He engages in his so-called "undercover research" by attending raunchy gay leather events (which has earned him the moniker "Porno Pete") and disingenuously claims to not be aware of the debunking of the "experts" such as Paul Cameron even though they were discredited as much as a quarter of a century ago (I have an e-mail where he professes such ignorance). Nowadays, LaBarbera remains as anti-gay obsessed and dishonest as ever. In contrast, Throckmorton (pictured at right) - who unlike LaBarbera actually holds relevant training and a degree in the mental health realm - has evolved and changed his views on the changeability of sexual orientation as medical and mental health knowledge on sexual orientation has progressed. This evolution and acceptance of objective truth and fact amounts to heresy in LaBarbera's bizarre anti-gay world. Throckmorton responds to LaBarbera's attacks on his blog. Here are some highlights:

Yesterday, the information arm of the American Family Association, OneNewsNow published an article about my views on change of sexual orientation. The information on the matter came from Peter LaBarbera who said: “But in the last few years, he’s basically become a pro-gay advocate who discredits the idea of change for most homosexuals,” LaBarbera explains. . . . . So effectively, Warren Throckmorton has become a very useful advocate for the homosexual side because he can claim to be an evangelical and yet he’s undermining scriptural truth.” . . . . Christians know people can leave the lifestyle, and that through Christ, many thousands have. So he says Throckmorton’s message — that change is near impossible — is contrary to Christian thinking.

As I understand this argument, I am wrong to claim to be an evangelical because I believe that categorical change in sexual attractions, especially for men, is rare. In addition such a belief is in itself “pro-homosexual advocacy.” . . . . Here we have a test of orthodoxy – something that must be believed in order to be considered a Christian. . . . in the new orthodoxy of some in the Christian right, one must believe certain things about gays in order to be consider a Christian.

LaBarbera conflates behavior and inclination. He says I don’t think people can “leave the lifestyle” because I think categorical change of sexual attractions is rare and complex. While his description of behavior change is crude and stereotypical, I disagree with his assessment of me. I do believe that people change their behavior. They do so for a variety of reasons but in the context of this controversy, some do in order to seek conformity to their religious beliefs.

However, gay and bisexual people who change their behavior infrequently lose their same-sex attractions, no matter how earnestly they pray. . . . . My critics can keep on criticizing but they have not been able to address the evidence which does not cut in their favor.

If I need to apologize for something, it is that I misled evangelicals for several years on the matter of sexual orientation. I did not intend to do so. When I made the documentary I Do Exist, I really believed the stories told. I know the people making the video did as well.

I now think the culture war is a significant stumbling block for the church. . . . Who knows, maybe I will shift my views in different ways in the future. However, I hope it will be in response to evidence, not in order to fit into a man made definition of orthodoxy. In the mean time, I invite critics to simply deal with the evidence.

Kudos to Warren for accepting the facts and evidence as opposed to embracing lies and ignorance. Surprisingly, MARK YARHOUSE of Regent University comes to Throckmorton's defense in a comment on Warren's post:

I share your concern about conflating behavior change with change of orientation and then treating a commitment to change of orientation as a test for orthodoxy. . . . . it would seem that heightened expectations for categorical change increases the risk for disappointment, resentment, and shame for those who do not experience as many gains as they had hoped.

It is noteworthy that both Throckmorton and Yarhouse are moderating their past views that gays could "change." I suspect that in part it's due to advances in knowledge about sexual orientation. And also because they realize that if they persist in support for reparative therapy their licenses as clinicians could one day be on the line.

More Bad News for "Ex-Gay" Myth Proponents

I've noted many times before the genesis of Warren Thrickmorton's move from rabid supporter of the sexuality is a "choice" lie to one who now questions and exposes the flaws of the reparative therapy crowd, I still don't know what has prompted the change of heart - maybe a desire to keep his professional license - but whatever the cause Throckmorton has been doing a good job at cutting his former compatriots off at the knees. Add to that the recent recanting of "change" by former ex-gay ministry leaders and things have not been good of late for the self-enriching professional Christians and quacks like Marcus "Marcia" Bachmann who profit off of the desperation of the religiously brainwashed. As more and more exposes of the falsity of the choice myth and change myth come out, one can only hope even the sleaziest of politicians will in time find that giving political fellatio to the ex-gay crowd is simply too toxic. One such development is that in a recent post on his blog, Throckmorton examines the fringe nature of NARTH and the paucity of mental health professionals within its ranks. Indeed, the majority of its members are professional Christians and their hangers on. Here are some highlights:

Last week, the Family Research Council promoted the annual conference of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, touting the group as “one of the best sources of information about homosexuality.” In the description of NARTH, the FRC claimed that NARTH is “primarily composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professional therapists and counselors who offer ‘sexual reorientation therapy’ to help people overcome unwanted same-sex attractions.”

However, this is not accurate. NARTH is not composed primarily of mental health professionals. Actually, according to NARTH’s operations director, David Pruden, only about 250 of NARTH’s approximately 1000 members are mental health professionals. . . . the lion’s share of NARTH’s members consist of lay people, ministers, and activists who have an interest in the materials provided by NARTH but are not scientists or therapists.

By comparison, the American Psychological Association has 150,000 members. All mental health groups are by far much larger than NARTH. I suspect most, if not all, state chapters of these groups are larger than NARTH.

Given the fact that 75% of the members have no professional or scientific credentials, it seems more accurate to consider NARTH to be an advocacy group with some like-minded mental health professionals as members, rather than a scientific group. This impression is reinforced by the fact that two prime speakers at next week’s convention in Phoenix are not scientists at all, but anti-gay activists.

Ouch! This reality is underscored by the recent recanting of his "change" by a former leader of "ex-gay" conversion "ministries" as reported by Religion Dispatches. Added to that was backsliding by a leader of Exodus International. Here are some excerpts:

While many are understandably celebrating the stunning reversal of John Smid, former head of the ex-gay ministry “Love in Action” (and, to a lesser degree the softening of Alan Chambers of Exodus International), the truth is, very little is likely to change unless they put their weight behind the existing movements for equality.

Smid, who showed up on Hardball recently, admits that homosexuality ”cannot be repented of! People are, or they are not, homosexual… One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable.”

Although Chambers’ change of heart isn’t quite as compelling as Smid’s he was able to admit that he was wrong in his criticism and that he gives his “full support for what is the heart of their campaign—encouraging LGBT teens to choose life.” By which he means that, “Regardless of where someone falls on the debate over sexuality, I hope we can all agree to move the issue of bullying and suicide, especially where kids are concerned, to a non-polarized, non-politicized and non-divisive issue.”

What would make these sympathetic overtures really ring true, however, would be to see Smid and Chambers put their weight behind the movement to fully include LGBT people in the church—something they’re unlikely to do anytime soon.

New Study: Sexual Behavior Changes but Not Sexual Orientation

More bad news for Christofascists who peddle the ex-gay myth for political and financial profit - and, of course for lisping, mincing Marcus Bachman: A new study by of all people Mark Yarhouse at Regent University (not exactly a gay friendly institution) pretty much confirms what we in the LGBT community have always known. Namely, one can change their sexual behavior and try to pretend to be straight, but guess what. You're still GAY! One of the obvious fall outs ought to be that ZERO state or federal funds be paid to quacks like Marcus Bachmann who are fleecing the ignorant and religiously brainwashed by claiming to be able to turn them straight. Both Ex-Gay Watch and Warren Throckmorton (with whom I've had numerous e-mail exchanges in the past), a one time proponent of witch doctor like reparative therapy who has now seen the light, look at the new findings which cut charlatans like Bachmann and the folks at Exodus International off at the knee caps. First this from Ex-Gay Watch:
*
[R]esearch has suggested that men in mixed orientation marriages — that is, married ex-gays — remain just as gay in orientation. And the data comes from an unlikely source: Mark Yarhouse, a social scientist at Pat Robertson’s Regent University and one of conservative evangelicalism’s foremost researchers into sexual orientation change.
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Yarhouse, best-known for the 2007 Jones-Yarhouse study with Stanton Jones, drew his latest conclusions from a survey of 106 husbands and 161 wives in mixed orientation marriages. The men had an average age of 45 and had been married 16 years. Conservative Christian therapist Warren Throckmorton summarizes the findings for us: [The data] demonstrates that the Kinsey scores shift more toward the heterosexual side when the participants were asked about their sexual behavior but when asked about their attractions, fantasies, and emotional attachments, there was no change. The Kinsey Expanded scale included an average of participant Kinsey assessment of behavior, attractions, fantasies and emotional attachments. … At any rate, the results are consistent with what I am finding as well. People adapt their behavior to their beliefs and commitments but their orientation does not shift, on average.
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Sexual orientation cannot be made to change; behavior can. (Incidentally, Throckmorton says his own research suggests that men in mixed-orientation marriages actually tend to become more gay over time.)
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The honesty of this research is welcome. It does, however, raise an ethical issue for Yarhouse, according to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin. Yarhouse is something of a darling of the Christian Right for his previously published studies on sexual orientation change. So will he let himself continue to be used as a propaganda tool for anti-gay religious conservatives like Fischer and Quinlan? Or will he speak unambiguously to such ideologues about the reality of ex-gays and the myth of “change”?
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As for Throckmorton, here are brief highlights from his blog:
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Media have been all over the Bachmann clinic story this week with lots of related discussion about how much, if at all, sexual orientation changes. As a part of this discussion, I noted that a study I am writing up found that over all married gay people assess themselves as growing more same-sex attracted over time.
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Along the way, colleague Mark Yarhouse wrote to remind me that he found something similar in a study recently reported in the new issue of the Christian journal Edification . . .
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In all of the bluster about change therapies and clinics, I think evangelicals need to face what evangelical academics are finding in research. Also, a word to the media, both Christian and mainstream, quoting advocacy groups will get you two sides for dramatic tension, but if you want to know how research informs the questions you are asking, please consult those who, despite their religious loyalties, will report accurately.

Throckmorton Takes on Chuck Colson's Lies

While I don't know what has caused the "conversion" if you will of Warren Throckmorton - a former high priest of the Christianist myth/lie that homosexuality is a "choice" or the result of a dysfunctional family setting - it has been refreshing to see Throckmorton embracing modern medical and mental health knowledge on sexual orientation. Perhaps the American Psychological Association's condemnation of reparative therapy and citing its use by practitioners as "unethical" played a role. Or maybe Throckmorton has seen the hand writing on the wall and realizes that the anti-gay mantra of the Christian Taliban is repelling younger generations. Whatever the cause, in a post on his blog, Crosswalk, Throckmorton has slammed Chuck Colson's praise of the work of the faux experts at NARTH. Yes, that Chuck Colson, the Watergate felon who seems to have discovered the lucrative nature of being a professional Christian while in prison. Here are highlights from Throckmorton's post:
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Yesterday, Chuck Colson posted a column titled “Born Gay? A Parent’s Guide” which asserted that the way parents relate to their male children can create homosexuality. Colson quoted extensively from Joseph and Linda Nicolosi’s book, A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality as support for the view that weak or distant fathers and smothering mothers create gay males.
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Did you catch the assumption? If a boy is gay, his father was not “both strong and caring” and the bond with the mother was “unhealthy.” To an audience consisting of evangelicals, these are ominous words. In future broadcasts, Colson promises to bring more information “about what parents can do to lessen the chances their children will grow up homosexual.” Apparently, females are not of interest here since they are not mentioned by Colson.

This advice is unfortunate for academic and practical reasons. It is difficult to research family dynamics and sexual orientation because of the subjectivity of the variables. There are no direct tests of how attached a boy is to his father; recollections of children and parents are subject to bias and reconstruction. In practice, if you believe the reports of men who say they are gay because their fathers were distant, then you are bound to believe the reports of gay men who say they had close relationships with their fathers. In that case, the theory fails as a general explanation for homosexuality because, as I illustrate below, there are numerous gay men and their fathers who report histories of close bonding and mutual love.
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Another academic approach is to test a prediction based on the theory. In this case, one might expect the dynamics proposed by Nicolosi to be more frequent in fatherless homes. However, a 2010 New Zealand study led by Elisabeth Wells reported no effect of single parent homes on sexual orientation or behavior as compared to families with a biological mom and dad. Some of the results seem hard to explain by any theory.
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Practically, such advice has caused confusion and pain among evangelical families, where being gay is a challenge socially and religiously. I have worked with parents who were near divorce over who caused their son to be gay. They had read the books and gone to the conferences which blamed them for their son’s “condition.” Surely, no parent is perfect but something seems wrong about obviously loving and involved parents examining and re-examining every move they made to find out where they “failed.”
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I recall one young man I worked with in counseling who first disclosed his same-sex attractions to his father because his dad was his closest friend. When they read the theory Colson described, they were bewildered and angry. A very masculine linebacker for his high school football team, the young man scoffed at the idea that he was identified with his mother.
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It appears that the underlying purpose in Colson’s presentation of Nicolosi’s theory is to present an alternative to prenatal theories of sexual orientation.
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Fighting a political agenda is not a good reason to promote questionable theories. There is currently no scientific consensus about why sexual orientation takes the direction it does. Homosexuality is not strongly related to genetics but that does not mean that parenting is the only alternative non-genetic factor. Other prenatal factors, such hormonal variations during prenatal development, are being investigated and might be a part of the picture. The jury is out with much more research to be done, but what has been done on parenting does not inspire confidence in the claim that distant fathers and smothering mothers create gay men.

Conservatives Stand Together for Anti-Gay Bigotry

A new post at the Religion Dispatches looks at the manner in which the ultra far right is rallying around the hate merchants recently registered as anti-hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Among those flocking to support Klan loving Tony Perkins and Family Research Council and the Wilmons of American Family Association are leaders of the Congressional Republicans and other hate groups or those that border on crossing the line through their deliberately false and denigrating "facts" that they disseminate to uphold legalized discrimination against LGBT Americans. While many describe themselves as "family values" organizations or even charities, in truth most do little or no actual charitable work. Instead, their efforts are disproportionately focused on demonizing LGBT Americans and trying to inflict their religious beliefs on all citizens. Here are some post highlights:
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In response to the Southern Poverty Law Center's designation of 13 religious right organizations as "hate groups" because of their anti-gay rhetoric and advocacy, the Family Research Council just launched a campaign to "stand in solidarity" with those groups that received the "hate group" label (and others the SPLC labeled anti-gay) and in defense of what they call "Judeo-Christian values."
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By joining together in "solidarity" -- signatories include usual suspects Republican Reps. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mike Pence, and Michele Bachmann; Republican Sens. Jim DeMint, James Inhofe, and David Vitter; and probable presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum -- these groups and individuals are standing together as demonizers of homosexuality and, in some cases, supporters of criminalizing it.
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[SPLC's Mark] Potok emphasized that the SPLC's decision to place a group on the list is not about criminality or violence, but is based on whether the groups in question "demonize other groups with falsehoods" or conspiracy theories. FRC, he added, has associated gay men with pedophilia, a known falsehood.

TPM's Evan McMorris-Santoro reported that the SPLC sees little difference between FRC and the KKK: As [SPLC's Heidi] Beirich told me, there is no difference between the FRC and the KKK in the eyes of the SPLC now. Still, she said that the hate group designation doesn't mean the SPLC thinks everyone who supports the FRC "has a full understanding of what they're up to."
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Warren Throckmorton, the evangelical psychologist who has played such a significant role in raising awareness of the evangelical world's use of myth and falsehood to spread homophobia, had last month taken the religious right groups to task for their "mostly unfortunate and unhelpful" responses to the the SPLC. He called Kaminer's free speech argument a "distraction" but also wrote that attempts by the evangelical groups to claim religious persecution "miss the point."
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But even as the anti-gay groups are attempting to elicit sympathy from the SPLC's decisions, they're overplaying their hand in a big way. After all, despite the big splash that the "hate group" designation first made, it sort of fizzled and the mainstream press continues to treat the "marriage" issue as simply a dispute over the meaning of the Bible over which well-meaning people can disagree. Bringing it up again, and involving so many high-profile Republicans, invites new and probably enhanced scrutiny of the rhetoric and actions which drew the SPLC's attention in the first place. . . Though perhaps it wasn't the SPLC that did that, but rather, fittingly, the religious right's own hubris.
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Throckmorton and I had heated e-mail exchanges in the past and it has been interesting to watch him cast aside the "change myth" and adopt a more moderate approach. Whether it's because his mind has become more open or the fact that he fears for his license if he bucks APA guidelines is hard to say.

"Speak out against Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009"

It what has to be a case of lions lying down with lambs, gay rights activists like Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin and former high priest of the ex-gay "cure myth," Warren Throckmorton (who attacked me by name in a Townhall.com piece some years back) are in agreement that Uganda's horrific proposed anti-gay legislation needs to be defeated. Via a Facebook group, I have received e-mails from both Burroway and Throckmorton both urging individuals to speak out and target the defeat of the proposed legislation that not only calls for a life sentence for anyone convicted of homosexuality, but also threatens a death sentence for anyone who is convicted with HIV/AIDS."

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Sadly, this proposed bill is the logical extension of the anti-gay hate and intolerance that have been widely disseminated by far right Christian extremists for years when embraced by a backwards third world nation where the uneducated populace is easy prey to religious demagogues. Even domestic gay-haters such as Rick Warren seem to be concerned about the possible fruits of their anti-gay screeds and the message it will send about self-righteous "godly Christians." The Warrens have issued this statement:

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STATEMENT OF PASTOR RICK & KAY WARREN REGARDING ACTIVITIES OF MARTIN SSEMPA IN UGANDA
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Martin Ssempa does not represent me, my wife Kay, Saddleback Church, nor the Global PEACE Plan strategy. In 2007, we completely severed contact with Mr. Ssempa when we learned that his views and actions were in serious conflict with our own. Our role, and the role of the PEACE Plan, whether in Uganda or any other country, is always pastoral and never political. We vigorously oppose anything that hinders the goals of the PEACE Plan: Promoting reconciliation, Equipping ethical leaders, Assisting the poor, Caring for the sick, and Educating the next generation.
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Actions and words DO have consequences and it is revealing that suddenly a few Christianists are belatedly worried about what will potentially come back to their doorsteps. One needs to ask where are the leaders of Western based denominations that have church operations in Uganda in demanding that this legislation be killed? All of us need to voice out outrage and make it clear to Uganda officials that the nation will become an outcast if this bill passes.

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Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is an example of taking action. In a letter (pdf) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin told the Secretary that she is looking for “swift action” to stop the “Anti-Homosexual Bill” introduced earlier this month in Uganda. Here are highlights from Congresswoman Baldwin's statement:
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This egregious bill represents one of the most extreme anti-equality measures ever proposed in any country and would create a legal pretext for depriving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans of their liberty, and even their lives,” Baldwin wrote [to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton], joined by Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman (D-CA), Vice Chair, Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and Ranking Member, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). “Particularly given the United States’ substantial contribution to Uganda through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we believe swift action is necessary to ensure Ugandan leaders understand this bill is wholly unacceptable and antithetical to democratic values,” they wrote.
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Here is more information on how to voice your condemnation:

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We call on the Facebook community to join in opposition to this bill and to contact the various stakeholders named below to express your views.Contacts to express one's views about Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009:
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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
State House Nakasero
email: info@statehouse.go.ug
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Prime Minister Apollo Nsibambi
email: ps@opm.go.ug
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Speaker of the Parliament
Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuka
email: speaker@parliament.go.ug
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Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Affairs Honorable Opio Gabriel
email: ps@mglsd.go.ug
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Chair of the Uganda Human Rights Commission
Med Kaggwa
email: uhrc@uhrc.ug
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Directorate for Ethics and Integrity
email: info@dei.go.ug
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Chair of the Uganda Diplomatic Human Rights Working Groups
Mathisen Gørild
email: gorild.mathisen@mfa.no
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Please also send a copy to:
Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda Embassy of the United States of America
Jerry P. Lanier
email: kampalawebcontact@state.gov
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Christian pastors in Uganda:
Martin Ssempa
ssempam@gmail.com
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Stephen Langa
stephenlanga@yahoo.com
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You may contact Watato Church (formerly Kampala Pentecostal Church and closely associated with both Ssempa and Langa) at connect@watotochurch.com.
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This legislation is yet another example of religion being a force for evil in the world instead of a power for good.

Fall Out From APA Repudiation of Reparative Therapy

If nothing else, the American Psychological Association's recent outright rejection of reparative therapy and similar bogus "cures" for homosexuality has prompted a great deal of news coverage - stories have appeared in the New York Times, several New Jersey papers among many others - and hopefully will cause proponents of the choice myth to be further exiled and relegated to the extreme lunatic fringe where they belong. However, there are still religious zealots who just will not give up their lucrative business of selling snake oil to religious guilt plagued gays.

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One story that looks at this continued attempt to tell individuals that "they don't have to be gay" and which has caused Wayne Besen to comment, is one in the Wall Street Journal which looks at the latest marketing efforts of Warren Throckmorton, one of the former "ex-gay" high priests. When Warren Throckmorton and I first crossed swords on the issue of gays and the myth that one could change their sexual orientation, he was still peddling the repertoire of lies and falsehoods disseminated by the folks at NARTH. Now, Throckmorton, while moving a great distance from his former mantra - I suspect because he saw the writing on the wall as to where the APA was headed and did not want to put his professional license in jeopardy - is still selling only a slightly less toxic remedy to gays. Namely, if you cannot be straight, then live your life in celibacy to avoid conflict with your religious beliefs. Here are highlights of what slightly less false propaganda Throckmorton is now peddling:

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Dr. Throckmorton is a psychology professor at a Christian college in Pennsylvania and past president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association. He specializes in working with clients conflicted about their sexual identity. The first thing he tells them is this: Your attractions aren't a sign of mental illness or a punishment for insufficient faith. He tells them that he cannot turn them straight. But he also tells them they don't have to be gay.

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For many years, Dr. Throckmorton felt he was breaking a professional taboo by telling his clients they could construct satisfying lives by, in effect, shunting their sexuality to the side, even if that meant living celibately. That ran against the trend in counseling toward "gay affirming" therapy -- encouraging clients to embrace their sexuality.

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The new [APA] approach allowing therapists to help clients transcend their sexual orientation was developed by an APA task force of six academics and counselors, some active in gay-rights causes, and endorsed by the group's governing body. Their original mandate was to respond to the growing visibility of sexual orientation "change therapists" who claim it is possible to alter arousal patterns. The task force reviewed scientific literature on change therapy and found no evidence it worked.

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There are gay-affirming churches. But the task force acknowledged that for those from conservative faiths, affirming a gay identity could feel very much like renouncing their religious identity. . . . It isn't a step to be taken lightly, added Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist and member of the APA task force. "We try to find a balance between what the patient says he wants, what we think is best for the patient, and what is reasonable and feasible," Dr. Drescher said.

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The APA report mentions as one possible framework the approach taken by Dr. Throckmorton, who teaches at Grove City College and has a Ph.D. in community counseling. He starts by helping clients prioritize their values. Then he shows them stock video of a brain responding to sexual stimuli. When the clients see how quickly the brain lights up, they often feel relieved, he said, because they realize that their attractions are deeply rooted.

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Dr. Throckmorton says at that point, some clients choose to accept a gay identity. Others, however, say they prefer to live in accordance with their faith. In therapy that can last years, Dr. Throckmorton says he tries to help these clients accept that their attractions will not go away -- but need not define them.

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In my view, Throckmorton is heading in the wrong way. He'd be using his efforts more constructively - although likely with less remuneration - by taking the APA message to anti-gay churches. It's not gays who need to change but instead the homophobic churches that refuse to accept modern medical and mental health knowledge. Until churches are pressured to move into the 21st century, charlatans will continue to tell LGBT individuals that their lives are sinful and make a tidy profit in the process. I agree with Wayne's comments on what Throckmorton is peddling:

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[T]he APA should be commended for tackling the affects of religious faith on people working through this issue. Their landmark report explicitly tells religious therapists that clients should be given room to explore who they truly are, without the therapist burdening them with excessive faith-based guilt. This is a step forward, considering that nearly every “reparative therapist” uses shame-based methods to pressure vulnerable and desperate clients into suppressing their natural sexual orientation. However, (although I am not a psychologist) I remain largely skeptical of the therapy offered by Throckmorton and other conservatives. Throckmorton tells The Wall Street Journal that he starts his sessions by helping clients prioritize their values.

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Religious therapists (I am not referring specifically to Throckmorton) can manipulate the framing of priorities. For example they may ask clients what they find more important to their value system: “ephemeral hedonism” or “eternal life in heaven”. Given this loaded option, clients may feel they have no “choice” but to live a life of hell on earth in order to get the keys to the Kingdom when they die. This is quite a mental burden for clients to carry and surely can’t be conducive to optimum mental health.

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Clients can also be easily manipulated by therapists who induce guilt by saying, “it is fine if you choose to exercise your options in a selfish manner by choosing your sexuality over Scripture.” Such diabolical therapists may be within the new guidelines (barely) by ostensibly offering a troubled client the “choice” and “freedom” to be a “bad” person. But, we all know this is just a tricky form of psychological abuse. While the APA guidelines are helpful, the group may need to address in the future how unsavory counselors use loopholes to continue tormenting the fragile minds of clients.

Grove City College Student Suspended for Gay Porn Role

I am sorry that John Gechter - a student at far right Christianist Grove City College - pictured at left in the photo has been suspended for a year for having acted in gay porn movies, thereby exhibiting "behavior contrary to the values" of the College. Gecther says he used his porn income to pay Grove City's high tuition costs. Nonetheless, it's rather humorous since Grove City College is the home of Prof. Warren Throckmorton who until recently was one of the high priests (or maybe priestesses) of the choice myth and formerly traveled around the country claiming that sexual orientation can be changed. Throckmorton has backed down a lot of late - perhaps out of fear he will lose his license if the APA comes out 100% against reparative therapy. Slog has more details on the story and also speculates on the high incidence of closet cases at Christian colleges:

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What are the odds that a lot of closeted gay kids go to Christian colleges? High, I'd say. And what are the odds that lots of closeted gay kids at Christian colleges—and their closeted profs, closeted staffers, closeted youth pastors, et al—download and watch a whole lot of gay porn? Also high. So what are the odds that a student at a Christian college who appears in gay porn under a pseudonym is gonna get caught? Higher still, as it turns out.

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Twenty-two-year-old John Gechter, of Philadelphia, was suspended for one year pending appeal from Grove City College after a student saw him last month in a video posted online.

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Gechter is appealing the suspension and says he may sue claiming that the gay porn job isn't any of the school's business, especially since he performed using the name "Vincent DeSalvo." Gechter says he used his porn income to pay for his schooling. School officials say Gechter is suspended because Gechter was well aware his porn involvement "exhibited behavior contrary to the values" of the school about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh.

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I once had a gay friend who formerly lived in Lynchburg, Virginia, home of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University who used to remark all the time that most of the men on gay.com in that area were either (i) married men looking for gay sex or (ii) Liberty University boys looking for hook ups. Thus, John Gecther was likely only one of many Grove City boys into gay sex. Also, who was the Grove City student who was looking at the porn who rated out Gecther?