Bush Threatens Hate Crimes Law Veto

The White House has issued a threat to veto the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act if it is enacted by Congress. The press release sounds as if it were dictated by James Dobson and Tony “Klu Klux” Perkins. What makes the situation all the more abhorrent is that this President, who has subverted the U. S. Constitution probably more than any President in history, cites possible constitutional questions as part of his justification. Let’s get real. The real reason for the veto threat is that the far right wingnuts who are the last portion of the American public to support Bush/Cheney are demanding it. These people are truly horrible!!!!!!!!!!! Here’s the disingenuous White House statement and related commentary with my comments in italics:

"The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion, or national origin unless Daddy Dobson says it’s OK.

"However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable, even more so than my signing statements and other violations of the law."
The White House statement said that state and local criminal laws already provide penalties for the crimes defined by the bill and "there has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement, even though the number of hate crimes is up all around the country."

On the issue of constitutionality the White House statement said terms of the bill could be enforced only "if done in the implementation of a power granted to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel, to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of the laws. [The legislation] is not by its terms limited to the exercise of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision." Again, when has the law stopped Bush/Cheney, who think the Geneva Conventions are not applicable to them. What absolute hypocrites.

Hates Group and the Christian Right

There are two important posts I saw today – the first is on AmericaBlog and addresses the mainstream media’s horrendous failure to expose the real nature of the leading “Christian” anti-gay organizations that oppose any rights for gays and amended hate crime legislation that would provide equal protection for all groups (Note: religion is already a protected class under existing hate crime law). As others have pointed out, Tony Perkins at Family Research Council has former ties to Klan leader, David Duke, yet this fact is never mentioned when Perkins is given a platform by the main stream media. Here is the complete post from AmericaBlog (http://americablog.blogspot.com/).

ABC News: Hate groups on the rise in America. Then why are the lead religious right groups promoting a well-known hate group? by makeprofilelink("John Aravosis (DC)"); John Aravosis (DC) · 5/02/2007 07:04:00 PM ETDiscuss this post here: Comment myCount('2708010949725980586'); s (129) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

It's time the media asked the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, and the Concerned Women for America why they are promoting a known "hate group" on their Web sites.Who says they are promoting a known hate group? Why, none of than the same expert on American hate groups just interviewed on ABC's World New Tonight: the Southern Poverty Law Center. ABC reports that the number of hate groups has risen 40% since the year 2000. One of those hate groups, as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is Paul Cameron's "Family Research Institute." Cameron's specialty is concocting phony "science" that dehumanizes gays. Cameron has discussed the extermination of all gay people. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Cameron's Family Research Institute alongside the neo-Nazis and the Klan - that's how bad he is.

So with hate groups on the rise in America, why are 3 of the top 4 religious right organizations in America - the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, and the Concerned Women for America - promoting Cameron and his research on their Web sites as I write this? They are promoting a known hate groups that has been likened to the Klan and neo-Nazis. The Southern Poverty Law Center says that "Cameron's 'science' echoes Nazi Germany." America's lead religious right organizations are using their Web sites to promote "science" that "echoes Nazi Germany." Think about that. And these aren't fringe groups. These are THE groups - the people who meet with George Bush, who pull the Republicans' strings in Congress. They aren't the fringe of the religious right - they ARE the religious right.How in God's name are these organizations quoted by American media, welcomed into the offices of Republicans in Congress, and invited to meet with George Bush's White House staff when they cavort with hate?And why do the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, and the Concerned Women for America continue to promote on their very public Web sites the Nazi science of a known "hate group"? Is their hatred for gay Americans so great that they would promote the work of a group akin to the Klan?You can read much more about this, including links to all the original sources I cite above,

here. Rest assured we will continue to document how long the religious right leaders continue to promote this known hate group. It's a fact that every member of Congress should discuss during their floor speeches about the hate crimes bill tomorrow in the House. These are the faces of the people who oppose the hate crimes bill. These are the faces of hate enablers. It makes me sick as a Christian that these extremists claim to speak for me.

The second posting comes from Ex-gay Watch and discusses the fact that NARTH, one of the leading “expert” groups on “curing” gays continues to cite false research by Paul Cameron, whose organization has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Why does the main stream media continue to allow these bigots to go on their merry wat spreading lies and untruths? Here’s the Ex-Gay Watch posting (http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/).

NARTH Web Site Promotes Discredited ‘Research’ of Paul Cameron
Posted on April 30th, 2007 by Jim Burroway
Last week, we saw that Exodus was still promoting Paul Cameron’s junk science. Even though this wasn’t the first time an Ex-Gay Watch author raised this issue, last week’s post prompt some remarkably swift corrective actions from Exodus president Alan Chambers. In a commendable act of transparency, Exodus’s FAQ on life expectancy was replaced with this statement: “This article has been removed due to the inaccuracies surrounding the research of Paul Cameron.”

Now it’s time to turn our attention to NARTH. A quick search of NARTH’s web site reveals that they have been just as willing to promote Cameron’s so-called “research.”

For our first example, NARTH member Ross Olson sent a letter to the Pediatric Annals, a letter that was

published on NARTH’s web site (I don’t know if that letter was ever published by Pediatric Annals). In that letter, Olson criticizes an article that described a thirteen-year-old transgender MTF. Because the original article described the teen’s sexual activities, Olson jumped to the conclusion that the teen was being sexually abused, and that allowed him to bring up the familiar charge that ties homosexuality to pedophilia. For support, he cited Cameron’s “research” as though it has been presented in a professional journal. Here’s the screen-shot of that paragraph:

This citation is one of the more amazing ones I’ve ever seen. The Journal of the Family Research Institute? It doesn’t exist, at least not as Olsen implies. The link actually goes to a quasi-monthly newsletter that Cameron published for several years called the Family Research Report (hence the “FRR” in the URL). It’s not a journal by any stretch of the term, let alone a peer-reviewed one. Maybe Dr. Olson aspires to be the Dr. Cameron of pediatrics.

But the worst offense has to be an article by Christopher H. Rosik that appeared in the Journal of Pastoral Care. The article carries the ironic title, “Conversion Therapy Revisited: Parameters And Rationale For Ethical Care.” Ironic, because he deploys a number of unethical distortions to provide rationale for a supposedly ethical care. The article, which purports to be a wide-ranging review of gay sexual practices, follows many of the common practices authors use to write lesser anti-gay tracts. Rosik cites Cameron’s discredited “obituary study,” the same study that Exodus cited without attribution on their FAQ.

Rosik also cites Cameron’s “randomly sampled 5,182 adults” to claim that incestuous sexual relationships during childhood were disproportionately reported by homosexual respondents.” But that so-called “random” survey was riddled with problems, including an abysmally low response rate (about 23%), biased questions and puzzling results among the heterosexual population (for example, 52% of straight men have shoplifted; 12% committed murder or attempted murder.)

When Cameron’s work was publicly brought to Exodus’ attention a second time they finally did something about it. Exodus removed the discredited content and left a public note about the problem for all to see. Will NARTH show the same integrity as Exodus and publicly acknowledge their error? Or will they fall back to their familiar patterns of behavior we saw last year by defending the indefensible and denying responsibility for the content of their own web site before finally eliminating these embarrassments and pretending they never existed?

These organizations truly sicken me. How many lives have they destroyed or seriously harmed? Why are serious journalist afraid to take on these liars and false Christians, expose them, and destroy their political influence/control of the GOP?

JAMES DOBSON - THE FACE OF HATE AND UNTRUTH

James Dobson’s top ten (and knowingly false) reasons for opposing “gay marriage,” with my responses:

1. The legalization of homosexual marriage will quickly destroy the traditional family. Noting evidence from Scandinavian countries where the existence of homosexual “marriage” destroys real marriage, Dobson cites three reasons “gay marriage” will undermine the family: “First, when the State sanctions homosexual relationships and gives them its blessing, the younger generation becomes confused about sexual identity and quickly loses its understanding of lifelong commitments, emotional bonding, sexual purity, the role of children in a family, and from a spiritual perspective, the ‘sanctity’ of marriage. Second, the introduction of legalized gay ‘marriages’ will lead inexorably to polygamy and other alternatives to one man/one woman unions. …
ACTUALLY, LEGITIMATE RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT, CONTRARY TO DOBSON’S CLAIMS, THE MARRIAGE RATES IN COUNTRIES WITH LEGALLY RECOGNIZED GAY UNIONS HAVE INCREASED, NOT DECREASED.

2. Children will suffer most. “The implications for children in a world of decaying families are profound. … More than a thousand studies have concluded that kids do best when they are raised by loving and committed mothers and fathers.”
ACTUALLY, LEGITIMATE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT CHILDREN WITH GAY PARENTS DEVELOPMENTLY DO AS WELL AS THOSE RAISED IN BY HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES. THE KEY IS A STABLE TWO PARENT RELATIONSHIP – SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS IRRELEVANT.

3. Public schools in every state will embrace homosexuality. “With the legalization of homosexual ‘marriage,’ every public school in the nation will be required to teach this perversion as the moral equivalent of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.”
THE REALITY IS THAT DOBSON DISLIKES ANYONE WHO IS DIFFERENT THAN HE IS. HENCE, BESIDES GAYS, HIS ORGANIZATION OPPOSES IMMIGRANTS, HISPANICS, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, AND IS MOSTLY POPULATED BY WHITES.

4. Adoption laws will be instantly obsolete. “From the moment that homosexual ‘marriage’ becomes legal, courts will not be able to favor a traditional couple of one man and one woman in matters of adoption.”
FALSE AGAIN. MOREOVER, MANY GAYS IN FACT ADOPT CHILDREN NOT OTHERWISE EASILY PLACED – E.G., SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN AND/OR MINORITY CHILDREN. DOBSON APPARENTLY WOULD PREFER THAT CHILDREN BE SHUFFLED ENDLESSLY FROM ONE FOSTER HOME TO THE NEXT.

5. Foster-care programs will be impacted dramatically. “Foster-care parents will be required to undergo ‘sensitivity training’ to rid themselves of bias in favor of heterosexuality, and will have to affirm homosexuality in children and teens. Moral training, at least as it applies to sexuality, will be forbidden.”
SINCE ALL LEGITIMATE MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATIONS AGREE THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT AND ILLNESS AND THAT “CURE” AND “CHANGE” PROGRAMS ARE DANGEROUS, DOBSON PREFERS THAT GAY CHILDREN AND YOUTH BE SUBJECTED TO MENTAL ABUSE AND TAUGHT SELF-HATE.

6. The health care system will stagger and perhaps collapse. “This could be the straw that breaks the back of the insurance industry in Western nations, as millions of new dependents become eligible for coverage.”
FIRST, THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT THAT GAYS ARE A VERY TINY PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION. SO WHAT’S THE HUGE WORRY. MOREOVER, DOBSON ACTS AS IF ALL DOMESTIC PARTNERS ARE CURRENTLY COMPLETELY UNINSURED. THE REALITY IS THAT AS WITH ANY “FAMILY” COVERAGE, THE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS WILL INCREASE IF ONE’S PARTNER IS ADDED TO COVERAGE (JUST LIKE YOU PAY A HIGHER PREMIUM ON YOUR STRAIGHT SPOUSE).

7. Social Security will be severely stressed. “Again, with millions of new eligible dependents, what will happen to the Social Security system that is already facing bankruptcy? If it does collapse, what will that mean for elderly people who must rely totally on that meager support? Who is thinking through these draconian possibilities as we careen toward ‘a brave new world’?”
EXCUSE ME. AREN’T MOST OF US ALREADY COVERED BY SOCIAL SECURITY? BESIDES, WHY SHOLD A STRAIGHT SPOUSE WHO IS PAST THE AGE OF PROCREATION GET SPECIAL RIGHTS OVER A GAY SPOUSE.

8. Religious freedom will almost certainly be jeopardized. “Canada is leading the way on this revolutionary path. I could cite dozens of examples indicating that religious freedom in that country is dying. Indeed, on April 28, 2004, the Parliament passed bill C 250, which effectively criminalized speech or writings that criticize homosexuality. Anything deemed to be ‘homophobic’ can be punished by six months in prison or by other severe penalties.”
NOT TRUE. ONLY SPEECH DEEMED TO INCITE OTHERS TO VIOLENCE.

9. Other nations are watching our march toward homosexual ‘marriage’ and will follow our lead.
“Marriage among homosexuals will spread throughout the world, just as pornography did after the Nixon Commission declared obscene material ‘beneficial’ to mankind.”
ACTUALLY, THE DEVELOPED WORLD IS AHEAD OF THE USA ON THIS POINT. MOST OF WESTERN EUROPE AND EVEN CUBA AND PARTS OF MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA HAVE DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP LAWS. ACTUALLY, THE USA IS NOW LESS COMPETITIVE WITH SOME OTHER COUNTRIES WHEN IT COMES TO ATTRACTING THE BEST AND BRIGHTESS WHO MAY BE AFRAID OF THE THEOCRACY DOBSON WANTS.

10. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be severely curtailed. “The family has been God’s primary vehicle for evangelism since the beginning. Its most important assignment has been the propagation of the human race and the handing down of the faith to our children.”

READ YOUR BIBLES. ST. PAUL AND CHRIST ACTUALLY RECOMMENDED THAT ONE NOT MARRY (PAUL ADVISED MARRIAGE ONLY FOR THOSE WHO LACKED ADEQUATE SEXUAL SELF CONTROL). MOREOVER, CONTRARY TO SOCIAL NORMS OF THE TIME, JESUS NEVER MARRIED AND HIS APOSTILES LEFT THEIR JOBS AND FAMILIES TO FOLLOW CHRIST. A BOOK I JUST READ, “THE MAN WHO JESUS LOVED” HAS A GREAT REVIEW OF HOW JESUS AND ST. PAUL WERE NOT THE PROPONENTS OF MARRIAGE AND FAM,ILY AS DOBSON CLAIMS.

Surfer Guy Eye Candy

I am a surfer (I started surfing when my son was eleven and his mother did not want him surfing). I can testify to the fact that the eye candy one sees at the beach or out in the line up waiting for waves is very nice at times.

Another Self-Inflicted Victim of the Closet

According to 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/05/050107bp.htm), the chair of international oil giant British Petroleum has resigned after it emerged he had lied in court during a lawsuit to prevent his former gay lover from doing a tell-all interview with a tabloid. It appears Lord Browne is yet another casualty of trying to lead a double life rather than admit to the world (and perhaps fully to himself) who he really is. I truly long for the day when no one feels the need to hide their sexual orientation and lead much of their life an actor on a stage:

“Lord Browne of Madingley, said to be the most powerful businessman in Britain, tendered his resignation after documents related to the trial were made public by the House of Lords, the UK's highest court. Browne was to have stepped down later this year.

His decision to leave now means he forfeits an estimated $25 million bonus from BP. During his tenure at the oil company he amended the company's worldwide employment policy to add sexuality to the categories protected from on the job harassment.”

I guess the one positive benefit from Lord Browne’s situation was the advancement of a non-discrimination based on sexual orientation policy throughout British Petroleum. It’s sad that he did not feel that he could apply that policy to himself.

Virginia-Vermont Lesbian Custody Fight

The U. S. Supreme Court correctly refused to intervene in a decision by a three judge panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals that rejected the argument that a Vermont joint custody order cannot be enforced in a state that does not permit same-sex civil unions. Had the Supreme Court taken the case, it would have had to follow the long standing precedent of the courts holding that states must enforce the custody rulings of other states.

Lisa Miller, who moved to Virginia and basically kidnapped the couple’s child, was attempting to forum shop, hoping Virginia’s anti-gay laws would help her cause. She is represented by Matthew Staver of Liberty Counsel, a self-styled “Christian” legal firm affiliated with some of the most extreme anti-gay organizations in the country that takes on cases all around the county seeking to deprive gays of equality. No doubt Mr. Staver found the case all the more attractive because Lisa Miller claims to have found religion and been “cured:”

“In a telephone interview Monday, Miller said she is no longer a lesbian, and she accused Jenkins of "religious persecution."
"She's trying to say that because of the way I am teaching Isabella to walk with the Lord and that homosexuality is a sin, I am not looking out for Isabella's best interest," Miller said.
Jenkins is seeking primary custody of Isabella in Vermont courts. One of her attorneys, Jennifer Levi, said their case is not based on Miller's religious beliefs but on her refusal to comply with previous court instructions.” http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=123807&ran=8040

Unfortunately, the Virginia Court of Appeals did not have to take evidence on the fraudulent nature of Ms. Miller’s “cure” claim and was able to rule to enforce the Vermont custody order based on long standing practice. If and when the right case arises that will allow it to be proven in court that the claim that gays can be “cured” is false, perhaps the Matthew Stavers of the world will see their job opportunities wither away. I would love to see an ex-ex-gay file a lawsuit against Exodus International or its affiliates for injury caused from their bogus cure programs.

Hell Hath No Furry Like the Straight Spouse

Having come out of the closet myself much later in life after being married and having three children, on one measure I can identify with the situation in the increasingly hostile McGreevey divorce case of former Gov. McGreevey: (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-%20yn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042800205.html) even though I in no way condone the former governor’s apparent sleeping around and sleazy truck stop sex trysts while married. It is very hard to get an estranged wife to accept that you did not marry her or come out of the closet simply to hurt her or destroy her otherwise pleasant life.

My own divorce – which I am attempting to finalize after over four years of separation – is increasingly nasty and my estranged wife seems to want nothing more than to punish me for the rest of my life for “what I did to her.” Meanwhile, she forgets that she is the one that gave me the ultimatum to either "go back in the closet and never come out, or move out." I doubt she will ever believed that I never set out or intended to hurt her. Nor, I guess can anyone who has not been in the closet and in extreme denial for many, many years appreciate what religious based bigotry and societal judgments did to me. It has taken time to finally put all the religious based self-hate and feelings of guilt behind me (I will post again describing the process). I continue to hope that in my own divorce case my, estranged spouse will eventually opt for the comments of the judge hearing the McGreevey case:

“ELIZABETH, N.J. -- A judge handling the contentious divorce of the nation's first openly gay governor and his estranged wife urged them on Friday to use "common sense" during their split. Judge Karen Cassidy also called former Gov. James E. McGreevey's sexual orientation insignificant to the case.”

Fortunately, even here in Norfolk, two judges have said that my sexual orientation is insignificant to the case each time my estranged wife’s attorney has attempted to play the gay card. The saddest thing is that for now, two of my children (all of my children are now over 18) are not even speaking to me because of the poison they hear from their mother. Fortunately, my youngest child seems to be coming around. Despite the hurt I have received from my children, they continue to be one of my greatest joys and a source of immense pride.

Homophobia Alive and Well in Hampton Roads

Some of the comments on the Virginia Pilot web site in respect to yesterday's article on the newly formed Hampton Roads Business Out Reach clearly show why this area continues to be a relative backwater notwithstanding its fairly large population (i.e., over 1.6 million people). Neither progressive businesses nor the so-called "creative class" that develops innovations and is accepting of differences are going to come to an area dominated by knuckle dragging Bible beaters. Here's a sampling of what the Neanderthals had to say:

National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Stop it before it starts. We already have enough damaging ethics going around now to damge our children growing up. We do not need to teach our kids that this kind of behavoir is normal!~(or right in any way) - James M. - Virginia Beach National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (view comment)

I Don't Think So. Only "simple" organisms are capable of asexual reproduction. God made Adam and Eve, Not Adam and "Steve"!! So why promote this abomination in business? - Tracey E. - Chesapeake

Want to know. I'm happy to see that we will now be able to learn which businesses cater to homosexuals. Those places were "I" will not spend amy of my money! So go ahead , keep me advised. - zeno n. - chesapeake

I am sure that these homophobes would be shocked to know that even Wal-Mart now rates a 65% score on the Human Rights Campaign corporate score card and, among other things, offers the following gay-friendly programs and policies (I guess zeno will have nowhere to shop now):


1. includes “sexual orientation” in its equal employment opportunity policy.

2. provides diversity training on sexual orientation.

3. offers at least one transgender wellness benefit.

4. provides domestic partner dental, vision, dependent and COBRA coverage onpar with spousal benefits.

5. supports a GLBT employee resource group OR company has a GLBT-inclusivediversity council.

6. has directed appropriate marketing or philanthropy toward the GLBT community.

I wish I could send these jerks a copy of the photo posted above - perhaps they'd blow a gasket.

Poison from the "Family" Values Crowd

Pam Spaulding's blog posted the information set out below about the lies and disinformation being put out by Traditional Values Coalition (one of the "Christian" groups that loves to quote the false research of Paul Cameron discussed in my earlier post). While I still monitor the TVC web site, from time to time, the amount of hate spewing from the site can make one literally feel ill. I would love an opportunity to debate Sheldon on camera and expose him for the liar he is. Last fall when I was in a debate on the Virginia Marriage Amendment sponsored by the Libertarian Party, a member of the audience (who turned out to be on the faculty at Pat Robertson's Regent University) tried to quote some of Paul Cameron's garbage and I was able to shut him down by citing some of the data in my earlier post. All of us need to educate ourselves so that we can expose these liars so that fewer LBGT individuals suffer the horrible death of Matthew Shepard (the photo is of the fence above where Matthew died). Here's Rev. Sheldon's latest poison:

"Homosexual/Drag Queen Hate Crimes Bill On Fast Track
We must defeat H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan.
Without your action, this anti-Christian legislation will pass -- under the guise of hate-crime prevention -- and accomplish the following homosexual goals:

* Silence the Bible-believing Churches, Pastors and Christians
* Criminalize so-called "hate speech," - which is any speech that is critical of homosexuality or cross-dressing behaviors. The suppression of free speech will be justified by the claim that such speech "incites" individuals to commit violence against homosexuals, cross-dressers etc. Any remarks about homosexuality, such as reading Bible passages, preaching on these passages, telling a person they can come out of the homosexual lifestyle, etc. will be deemed critical remarks and will be ruled to be outside the bounds of First Amendment protections for pastors, business owners and individuals.
* Elevate homosexuality and gender confused individuals such as drag queens, cross-dressers, she-males, etc. to the status of federally-protected minorities. These behaviors will be considered equal to race under the federal law.
* Interfere with local law enforcement by elevating every alleged incident of "hate" against a homosexual or cross-dresser into a federal crime.
* Fund anti-Christian curriculum for children K-12, through the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to promote homosexuality and cross-dressing as normal behaviors."

I find it interesting that Jesus spent most of his time condemning the self-righteous of his time (who acted not unlike Rev. Sheldon) as opposed to condemning so-called "sinners" who did not conform to the legalism and hypocrisy of the the scribes and Pharisees.

Ex-Gays and Paul Cameron's Bogus Research

Richard Rothstein over at QueerSighted (http://www.queersighted.com/) has a post that rings all too true to my experience:

“While the other adolescent boys were learning how to be themselves, I was learning how to be like them. I was an observer and a chameleon. By the age of 12, I fully understood that I was profoundly different from other boys. While they were discovering girls, I was discovering them--and I knew it was wrong. How did I know it was wrong? Because it was completely different from everything I saw on TV, in the movies and read in books and comics. Prince Charming wanted Cinderella and Snow White not Robin Hood and Tarzan. I was completely alone. No one and nothing wanted what I wanted.”

Needless to say, my sense of isolation was nearly overwhelming at times. Sadly, those who seek to perpetuate the “it’s a choice” myth continue to cite false and discredited research, cause in my view deliberate harm to gays of all ages. The latest example is Exodus International which has references to long discredited “research” of Paul Cameron on its website as discussed by Mike Airhart (who I have met while visiting D.C) on Ex-Gay Watch (http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2007/04/exodus-web-site-promotes-discredited-research-of-paul-cameron/). My comments in an August, 2003, e-mail debate with Peter LaBarbera fully describe the fraud worked by Paul Cameron and those who cite his “research:”

“Mr. LaBarbera,

You asked for back up regarding PaulCameron's anti-gay statements. I have set forth below a web address for a web page on the hatecrime.org web site that sets out a number of "loving" statements by Paul Cameron.

Hatecrime.org: http://www.hatecrime.org/subpages/hatespeech/cameron.html

I have also set out the web addresses for two web page with articles by Cameron.

1. "What Causes Homosexual Desire and Can It Be Changed?" at:

http://www.biblebelievers.com/Cameron3.html#footnote

2. "MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HOMOSEXUALS DO" at:

http://www.biblebelievers.com/Cameron2.html#info

Some of his statements are truly outrageous and are anything but objective medical analysis. My personal favorites are: (1) "gays average somewhere between 106 and 1105 different partners/year," (2) "A large minority of gays engage in torture for sexual fun, " (3) "25% of white gays admitted to sex with boys 16 or younger as adults." I don't for the life of me know who these individuals were that gave Cameron such wild and inflammatory information. Certainly none of the gays I know, know of, or have read about support these claims. The vast majority in reality hold responsible jobs and lead regular and fairly dull lives, etc.

As indicated below, Cameron's studies were in fact bogus. I have found no reputable medical authorities that agree with Cameron's incredible claims. Instead, one finds that he has been publicly censured and thrown out of professional organizations for his conduct. Yet, he is regularly cited by "Christian" Right organizations as authority for their statements.

As further evidence that Cameron should not be relied on as a legitimate authority, the following information is off of a Psychology site at the University of California at Davis:

Paul Cameron Bio and Fact Sheet

Paul Drummond Cameron was born November 9, 1939, in Pittsburgh (PA).
He received his BA from Los Angeles Pacific College in 1961; his MA from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1962; and his PhD from the University of Colorado in 1966. His dissertation was titled Age as a determinant of differences in non-intellective psychological functioning.1

He was affiliated with various colleges and universities until 1980. They include Wayne State University (1967-68), University of Louisville (1970-73), Fuller Graduate School of Psychology [part of the Fuller Theological Seminary] (1976-79), and the University of Nebraska (1979-80).

On his curriculum vitae, he describes himself as a "Researcher/Clinician." According to the web site of the Nebraska Department of HHS Regulation and Licensure, his license as a Psychologist is "inactive."

He is chairman of the Family Research Institute, PO Box 62640, Colorado Springs, CO, 80962-2640. Telephone: (303) 681-3113. Fax: (303) 681-3427. E-mail: pdcameron@juno.com

In the mid-1980s, the gay press labeled Paul Cameron "the most dangerous antigay voice in the United States today."2, 3, 4. Here are some important facts about him.

On December 2, 1983, the American Psychological Association sent Paul Cameron a letter informing him that he had been dropped from membership. Early in 1984, all members of the American Psychological Association received official written notice that "Paul Cameron (Nebraska) was dropped from membership for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists" by the APA Board of Directors.5 Cameron has posted an elaborate argument about his expulsion from APA on his website, claiming that he resigned from APA before he was dropped from membership. Like most organizations, however, APA does not allow a member to resign when they are being investigated. And even if Cameron's claims were accepted as true, it would be remarkable that the largest professional organization of psychologists in the United States (and other professional associations, as noted below) went to such lengths to disassociate itself from one individual.

At its membership meeting on October 19, 1984, the Nebraska Psychological Association adopted a resolution stating that it "formally disassociates itself from the representations and interpretations of scientific literature offered by Dr. Paul Cameron in his writings and public statements on sexuality."6

In 1985, the American Sociological Association (ASA) adopted a resolution which asserted that "Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism" and noted that "Dr. Paul Cameron has repeatedly campaigned for the abrogation of the civil rights of lesbians and gay men, substantiating his call on the basis of his distorted interpretation of this research."7 The resolution formally charged an ASA committee with the task of "critically evaluating and publicly responding to the work of Dr. Paul Cameron."
At its August, 1986 meeting, the ASA officially accepted the committee's report and passed the following resolution:

The American Sociological Association officially and publicly states that Paul Cameron is not a sociologist, and condemns his consistent misrepresentation of sociological research. Information on this action and a copy of the report by the Committee on the Status of Homosexuals in Sociology, "The Paul Cameron Case," is to be published in Footnotes, and be sent to the officers of all regional and state sociological associations and to the Canadian Sociological Association with a request that they alert their members to Cameron's frequent lecture and media appearances."8

Cameron's credibility was also questioned outside of academia. In his written opinion in Baker v. Wade (1985), Judge Buchmeyer of the U.S. District Court of Dallas referred to "Cameron's sworn statement that 'homosexuals abuse children at a proportionately greater incident than do heterosexuals,'" and concluded that "Dr. Paul Cameron...has himself made misrepresentations to this Court" and that "There has been no fraud or misrepresentations except by Dr. Cameron" (p.536).9”

Notwithstanding being provided with this information, LaBarbera continues to spin blatantly false propaganda against gay Americans. Obviously, anyone who cites Cameron’s “research,” has little desire to tell the truth and is obviously further some disturb religious or political agenda. Unfortunately, the mainstream media NEVER challenges these false Christians with the true facts of their alleged underlying expert research.