GLAA Forum

Stella monstrat viam

That phrase is Latin for "the star shows the way." In this case it shows that the observer took this series of time-lapse photos from Australia. From my latitude you can never see Alpha Centauri, the Southern Cross, or the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Toward the end of the video an upside-down Orion appears; to see that here, you could stand on your head. As for the Milky Way, you could view a different stretch of it from these parts, assuming there were a massive regional power outage on a cloudless night.

This piece is called "Ocean Sky" and is by Alex Cherney at Terrastro.com.

Francis accepts honor for Kameny from American Astronomical Society

Kameny Papers Project co-founder Charles Francis spoke in Austin, Texas on Tuesday to a gathering of the American Astronomical Society, of which Frank Kameny was once a member. Charles was accepting an award on behalf of the late gay rights pioneer:

On behalf of Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, I am honored to accept this Certificate of Appreciation from the American Astronomical Society....

55 years ago Frank Kameny was one of you.

He was an astronomer for the U.S. Army Map Service....

He had the education. He had the training. He had the experience. And just before him lay our golden age of space exploration.

Then, in 1957, at age 32, Frank Kameny had his "accident": the fatal accident of being "found out gay" in the 1950s. By definition, to be gay was to be an insane deviate -- subject to blackmail and a threat to national security.

Gay British mathematician Alan Turing -- the man who saved Britain by breaking the German Enigma Code -- had committed suicide in the face of government persecution only three years prior. Kameny received his letter from the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Map Service. It said, "It is necessary that you return at once to the Army Map Service in connection with certain administrative requirements." Frank was fired. His career in astronomy lay in ruins.

But unlike Alan Turing and so many others, he could see a way forward out of his personal crisis. He decided to fight. And he fought with a sense of confidence honed like a knife by his education and training. The one thing they could not take away from him was his belief in the integrity of his own mind, the logic, the data sets, and the integrity of facts. I don't think his opponents and detractors ever fully appreciated they were dealing with an astronomer -- an astronomer who would spark the LGBT movement for civil equality.

Thanks, Charles.

Gorillas out of the mist

A tourist gets a thrill of a lifetime: an up-close encounter with wild mountain gorillas near Uganda's Bwindi National Park. A young gorilla grooms the tourist, and an adult female kisses him, while a silverback and several others look on. This recalls a beautiful moment in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist in which Sigourney Weaver, playing primatologist Dian Fossey, encounters one of the magnificent animals. The animals in these scenes with Weaver are wild gorillas. You can see that Weaver had studied how to behave in such a situation so as to appear non-threatening, as the tourist had also been taught to do. The gentleness and curiosity of these endangered creatures are both moving and a reminder of how vulnerable they are to the poachers who have killed so many of them — as indeed the poachers killed Fossey, who fought to protect the gorillas.

TWO: Top 10 Ex-Gay Stories of 2011

Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out runs down the sorry list of "ex-gay" frauds from 2011. Thanks to Wayne for his work on this issue.

Save that foreskin!

This just in from Germany:

A research organization is growing human skin in the hope of using it to trial cosmetics and medicines, reducing the need for animal testing. The synthetic skin is made using cells from infant foreskins.

The idea of a "skin factory" may sound sinister, but that is exactly what scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart have created. Their so-called Hautfabrik grows tiny swatches of skin - not for skin grafts, but for testing consumer products.

The renowned institute is presenting their ground-breaking invention as an affordable and sustainable alternative to animal testing, which many consider unnecessarily cruel.

(Hat tip: Joe Jervis)

Star clouds and petroglyphs

"Hierbas Buenas" Valley Petroglyphs (Night Time Lapse Movie) from Stéphane Guisard on Vimeo.

Astrophotographer Stéphane Guisard uses the ancient petroglyphs of Chile's Atacama desert as the foreground for this stunning time-lapse video of the night sky. On view are Rigel and the Orion Nebula, the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Andromeda Galaxy and Jupiter, and finally the Pleiades. Keep in mind that this is the southern hemisphere, so objects appear upside down to northerners. Hint: click on HD and full-screen.

Besen responds to PFOX president's claim that Truth Wins Out tried to have him murdered

Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out reports:

Truth Wins Out sent a letter to Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays today sternly warning PFOX that it would face legal consequences if it did not publicly apologize within five days for defaming TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. The letter from Virginia attorney Michael Hamar outlined four concrete demands that PFOX would have to satisfy to avoid having the matter settled in a court of law.

On October 7, 2011 Quinlan ... was interviewed on News-Plus with Mark Segraves (WDCW-TV). At the 10:38 mark of the show, Quinlan fabricates an alleged hit on his life. According to Quinlan:

"Truth Wins Out if you look further, including Wayne Besen. He's asked for people, you know, somebody needs to run Greg over. He needs to be hit with a bus. Somebody should inject him with AIDS. Those are the things that Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out says about me. That's pretty hateful rhetoric."

"Greg Quinlan deliberately and maliciously fabricated a story with the sole purpose of smearing Truth Wins Out and damaging my reputation," said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. "These defamatory actions are unconscionable, unacceptable, and I refuse to let these vicious lies go unanswered."

Wow, just when you thought they couldn't come up with anything worse. Thanks to Wayne for fighting these people.

Creation

Star-forming nebula NGC 3324, in the constellation Carina, as seen from the Hubble Space Telescope. It is 7,200 light years distant. More images here.

Hawking: let's go trash somebody else's planet

Okay, so that's not quite how physicist Stephen Hawking puts it. He says space exploration is our only long-term survival option in light of the effect of our destructive impulses on planet earth: "Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space."

I have been a lifelong enthusiast for space exploration, but I don't think this is a legitimate reason for it. If we insist on fouling our own nest, we should stew in it. Setting aside the difficulty of interstellar travel in the absence of warp drive, any planet habitable to human life is likely to have its own life forms. Let's spare the rest of the universe our concept of Manifest Destiny, not to mention our diseases. Once we've overcome our galactic-sized sense of entitlement, then maybe we'll be fit to head outward.

Marcus Bachmann demands payment for canceled reparative therapy sessions

Seriously, Marcus Bachmann wants more attention for his fraudulent "pray away the gay" practice? Here's the audio clip of Bachmann demanding payment for reparative therapy sessions that the patient had canceled:

Voicemail from Marcus Bachmann by user6446359

Truth Wins Out reports:

“I cancelled my remaining appointments in compliance with Bachmann & Associates’ stated procedure,” said John Becker, TWO’s Director of Communications and Development, “yet Marcus Bachmann himself called me and threatened to send the fraudulent $150 ‘bill’ to a collection agency by Friday. I find it odd that Bachmann handled this matter personally rather than through his billing department. This is certainly an unorthodox way of doing business, much like the unethical ‘ex-gay’ therapy offered at his clinic.”

What is it with these anti-gay crackpots who set off our gaydar? A few more doughnuts and Marcus could pass for Baron Harkonnen, the villain in Frank Herbert's homophobia-laced science fiction novel Dune.

Time lapse views of earth from space

This NASA video was compiled from images taken during the past three months from the International Space Station.

First contact

An official from Brazil's Indian Affairs department allows a BBC film crew to accompany him on an aerial surveillance of one of the last uncontacted tribes on earth, in the Brazilian rainforest. He allowed this wondrous footage to be captured because he must prove their existence to counter logging interests who deny their existence.

For more information on efforts to save these uncontacted tribes, click here.

Lovebirds to be separated

Buddy, 20, and Pedro, 10, are two African penguins who were both bred in captivity and have formed a pair bond. Unfortunately for them they are an endangered species. A couple of female penguin hussies have been trying to break the two up and zoo officials have decided to separage the pair until they breed.  While no single gay gene has been find there is widespread evidence that there is a genetic link.  Pedro and Buddy are definitely doing what comes naturally. By doing their duty for the survival they will insure the survival of any gay genes they possess.  And the two lovebirds are two be reunited later.

Update:  This video explains it more.

American Astronomical Society honors Kameny

The American Astronomical Society decided unanimously on October 15 to present an occasional award for exceptional service by an astronomer and to name it after Frank Kameny, who will poshumously be its first recipient. [This turns out not to be quite true; see comments.] Frank was a Harvard-training astronomer working for the U.S. Army Map Service when his career was ended because he was gay. Thanks and congrats to the AAS members who successfully pushed for this honor.

Do you know what day it is?

 

And science says people come out at a much earlier age.

Pray the gay away works

There has been quite a bit made recently about a new study that maintains that sexual orientation can be changed with religiously-based therapy, i.e., pray the gay away.  The study Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation can be found in PDF.

Of the original 98 subjects (72 men, 26 women), 61 subjects completed the key measures of sexual orientation and psychological distress at the conclusion of the study, and were successfully categorized for general outcome. Of these 61 subjects, 53 per cent were categorized as successful outcomes by the standards of Exodus Ministries.

It is hard to quibble with the science in this paper, but we will none-the-less try.  First off, the author readily admit their bias.  And it should be noted that their institutions, Regent University and Wheaton College, are both known for their anti-gay bias.  Since I do not share their bias I fail to see that a 53% success rate is warranted from 23% reporting that they have had a heterosexual relationship and a further 30% report celibacy along with a lessened interest in the same sex.  The history of conversion therapy includes administering lobotamies and actual and chemical castration.  Would these qualify as successes under the standards of Exodus Ministeries?

The second issue with this study has to do with the two subgroups.  Of the 61 subjects included at the 6 year mark, 29 were from Phase 1 population.  These were meant to represent the typical groups of regular subjects entering the Exodus program.  This group had been in Exodus for less than a year when they entered the study.  Then a Phase 2 group was added, also called the "Truly Gay" subpopulation.  This group had been in Exodus for 1 to 3 years when enrolled in the program.  If you look at Table 1 in the PDF, you can see that in fact Phase 1 participants actually measured as more gay after 6 years (thought not to a degree that shows statistical significance).  It is only the Phase 2 participants that show a statisically  significant degree in change of sexual orientation.  The authors should be closely questioned on how they chose their subjects for Phase 2 before any great credence is given to these findings.

Meanwhle, John Smid, a former official with Exodus International, states

Yes, there are homosexuals that make dramatic changes in their lives as they walk through the transformation process with Jesus. I have heard story after story of changes that have occurred as men and women find the grace of God in their lives as homosexual people.  But, I’m sorry, this transformation process may not meet the expectations of many Christians. I also want to reiterate here that the transformation for the vast majority of homosexuals will not include a change of sexual orientation. Actually I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual. I have met some women who claim that is the case but then again, male sexuality and female sexuality are vastly biologically different so this would not be a fair comparison.

Log Cabin to Herman Cain: We can show you the science

This just in from Log Cabin:

Log Cabin Republicans invite GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain to meet to discuss the science of sexual orientation and the benefits of repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ after his having made such remarks on ABC’s The View today.

“If Herman Cain truly wants to see the science proving that sexual orientation is not a choice, Log Cabin Republicans would be happy to show it to him,” said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper. “The claim that a person chooses to be gay or lesbian has been discredited by every major professional medical organization, starting with the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association. An individual’s orientation is no more a choice than the color of his skin or whether he is left-handed, and too many people have been hurt because of failed attempts to change the way they were born.”

Thanks, Clarke.

Below, Cain shares his ignorant views on The View.

Obama knocks Perry, GOP debate audiences

President Obama had some choice words at a Silicon Valley fundraiser yesterday for Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the recent Republican debate audiences:

I mean has anybody been watching the debates lately? You've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change. It's true. You've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have healthcare. And booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay. That's not reflective of who we are.

Gov. Perry, in response, is deeply offended that the President is playing, gasp, politics.

(Hat tip: Joe Jervis)

The Magic of Reality

Evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins talks about his new children's book. Michael Powell writes about Dawkins for NYT here.

Flash mob targets Bachmann

HuffPo reports:

Gay rights activists protested Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's appearance at the California Republican Party convention Friday by staging a flash mob-style dance routine.

The soundtrack, Madonna's "Like a Prayer," was meant to call attention to the Minnesota congresswoman's anti-gay rhetoric and the controversial therapy methods reportedly practiced at the Christian counseling clinic she and her husband own, according to the Courage Campaign.

"Politicians like Rep. Bachmann need to understand that you can't simply "pray the gay away," the group stated in a release.

To be honest, I'm over flash mobs.

Liberty Counsel, defending your right to agree with them

Liberty Counsel, whose founder and chairman is dean of the law school at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, describes its mission. Christianity is under attack, they say. Why? Because the ACLU doesn't think they should turn a public high school graduation into a revival meeting. The folks at Liberty Counsel act as if there is one and only one religion: theirs. To them, religious freedom means that they have a right to impose their beliefs on the rest of us — and they have a lot more in mind than making people listen to a clueless student "sharing the Gospel" of the Lord's glory with everyone, a Gospel of which young Megan Chapman, the heroine in this video, shows no sign of being aware.

For starters, I'd like to share with Miss Chapman (I doubt her traditional values include using "Ms.") a pertinent passage, Matthew 6:5-6, in which Jesus Christ explicitly instructs his disciples not to make a public show of prayer. To which I expect she would reply, "Whatever." After this know-nothing version of Christianity takes over our public schools, and science is driven out of them, what chance do you think we'll have of competing with countries like China and India? The barons of the oil industry may like the idea of climate science being rejected, but the contempt for knowledge and expertise now on the march in the GOP won't stop there. Who will populate the American biochemical industry if "creation science" wins primacy? The answer is: immigrants from countries where students are taught real science.

(Hat tip: Joe Jervis)

Mississippi ballot measure would define every fertilized egg as a person

Laura Bassett reports at HuffPo:

Mississippi voters will be allowed to decide on a ballot measure that defines "personhood" from the moment of fertilization, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last week. The measure could potentially outlaw abortions, birth control, in vitro fertilization and stem cell research across the state.

Measure 26, which will bypass the legislature and go straight to a popular ballot vote, redefines the term "person" as it appears throughout Mississippi's Bill of Rights to include "all human beings from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof." The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against the proposal earlier this year, not based on its content or constitutionality, but because Mississippi state law says a ballot initiative cannot be used to change the Bill of Rights.

The Mississippi Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit in a 7-2 ruling, saying that it had no power to review any ballot initiative before the actual vote takes place.

"We didn't lose on the merits of the case, but what's disappointing is that it means the measure does go on the ballot that could later be held unconstitutional," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, an ACLU attorney on the case.

Well, at least this measure doesn't say that every sperm is sacred. But defining legal personhood as beginning at fertilization is quite a radical proposal with almost absurdly far-reaching implications. The relentless religious extremism in this country has become embarrassing. Of course, Mississippi is ranked at or near dead last among the states in most measures. They're basically still fighting the Lost Cause.

How we look from six million miles

NASA/JPL released this photo of the earth and moon, taken August 26 by the Juno spacecraft from about six million miles out. JPL writes:

This is a remarkable sight people get to see all too rarely," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "This view of our planet shows how Earth looks from the outside, illustrating a special perspective of our role and place in the universe. We see a humbling yet beautiful view of ourselves."

The image was taken by the spacecraft's camera, JunoCam, on Aug. 26 when the spacecraft was about 6 million miles (9.66 million kilometers) away. The image was taken as part of the mission team's checkout of the Juno spacecraft. The team is conducting its initial detailed checks on the spacecraft's instruments and subsystems after its launch on Aug. 5.

Juno covered the distance from Earth to the moon (about 250,000 miles or 402,000 kilometers) in less than one day's time. It will take the spacecraft another five years and 1,740 million miles (2,800 million kilometers) to complete the journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft will orbit the planet's poles 33 times and use its eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant's obscuring cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) on Aug. 5 to begin its five-year journey to Jupiter.

(Hat tip: Andy Towle)

Irene is on the way

Here's what is coming out way (vis Astronomy Picture of the Day). And you know someone will blame us, don't you?

Engle: Pray for 'ex-gay' conversions

Right Wing Watch shares this video of Lou Engle testifying to his efforts to save our souls. This reminds me of the psychiatrist played by Peter Sellers in What's New, Pussycat?, who is crazier than his patients.

Marcus shows Michele how it's done

Reparative therapist Marcus Bachmann shows his skills to wife Michele, who is running for President, during a visit to the Iowa State Fair.

(Hat tip: Miguel Tuason)

Rep. Allen "Scooter" West compares homosexuality to choosing a flavor of ice cream

Right-wing Rep. Allen West prefers chocolate chip, so don't you be trying to give him Rocky Road. He also likes riding a motorcycle, and doesn't want to ride a scooter. Pardon me, Congressman, but if sexual orientation is changed as easily as choosing a flavor of ice cream or switching your mode of transportation, then maybe you're afraid of a secret urge you're feeling to try a different flavor. But the fact is that I only like men; as Mr. Sondheim says, it's not a choice, it's who I am. The feelings come naturally. Where choice comes in is whether to act on those feelings. At risk of bringing up a sore subject, no one's putting a gun to your head, Congressman.

NPR story falsely suggests there is a serious debate on the efficacy of "ex-gay" therapy

NPR's Morning Edition on August 1 ran a story titled "Can Therapy Help Change Sexual Orientation?"

I cannot do better than my colleague Dale Carpenter, who comments on Facebook:

NPR's journalistic method: (1) quote the leading professional source on a subject saying that there is no basis for believing "x"; (2) interview one guy who agrees and one guy who disagrees; (3) declare "a debate is raging."

Yes. And here's a comment from my GLAA colleague Charles Butler:

It writes as if the question of this isn't settled. It portrays the APA stance as much less emphatic than it is and represents the reporting of one man as being equivalent to much study by the scientific community. And it includes an ignorant swipe at transgender people.

This is what we call false symmetry. In a compulsion not to investigate the truth but to create "balance," a reporter misinforms people. Shameful.

Barron defends Bachmann and Tea Party against "gay left"

Check out this item from Joe Jervis. Apparently, Chris Barron of GOProud is talking as if the well-documented evidence of Michele Bachmman's anti-gay statements and her husband's provision of "ex-gay" therapy is all a fabrication by the gay left to discredit the Tea Party. It is hard to decide if Barron is delusional or merely unscrupulous. Either way, it's a mystery whom he and his cohort Jimmy LaSalvia expect to convince with their over-the-top assertions. Part of their m.o. is to treat any criticism of them as enraged far-left denunciation. But to the extent that people pay attention to them at all, they provoke more amazed head shaking than rage. Their hyped-up rhetoric notwithstanding, they are in self-imposed exile from the reality-based community.

No doubt it suits their purposes to treat anyone in the LGBT community who disagrees with them — which is to say, the overwhelming majority — as a member of the far left, just as the anti-gay right has long pretended. But the far right has no use for them, as was demonstrated by their experience at CPAC earlier this year, in which Barron had to apologize for accurately characterizing Republican super-lawyer Cleta Mitchell as homophobic. (Mitchell, among other things, represented D.C. marriage-equality opponents before the Board of Elections.)

So what's the point of GOProud's bilious performance art? Presumably, like Stepin Fetchit, they are at least getting paid for their degrading shtick.

Quacks and busybodies

My latest column uses the scandal over Dr. Marcus Bachmann's use of reparative therapy as a jumping-off point to discuss the "ex-gay" fraud. Here's a portion:

It [seems] increasingly hard to find an anti-gay public figure who is not (A) a closeted homosexual, (B) the estranged parent of a gay child, or (C) a woman embittered by her husband leaving her for his boyfriend. A case could be made for the rebuttable presumption that any outspoken homophobe has a personal gay issue for which his or her anti-gay pronouncements are merely a cover.

To be sure, the junk science known as "reparative therapy" is no joke. On July 8, John M. Becker of Truth Wins Out reported on undercover work in which he received reparative therapy from Bachmann's firm. He concluded, "Based on my experiences at Bachmann & Associates, there can no longer be any doubt that Marcus Bachmann's state- and federally-funded clinic endorses and practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person's sexual orientation, despite the fact that such 'therapy' is widely discredited by the scientific and medical communities."

Bachmann defensively replied that he only offers the therapy "at the client's discretion." Truth Wins Out observed that "if a bodybuilder had asked a doctor to help him or her inject steroids, the practitioner could refuse. If an African American asked a doctor for a skin bleaching, he or she could decline."

... As it happens, an "ex-gay" proponent and busybody named Sharon Kass, who enjoys emailing me, wrote to me on July 14 saying, "Tip: Ex-gay science is real. PC 'gay-affirmative' is not," and provided links for narth.com, gaytostraight.org and peoplecanchange.com. I suggested that instead of sloganeering she should try to refute Wayne Besen's book, Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. I added that I am happy the way I am.

Our happiness, in fact, is the real issue, not whether we can change. We have a right to pursue our happiness regardless of whether our orientation is immutable.

Read the whole thing here.

Vandalism as advocacy?

Think Progress reports:

Today a group of gay “barbarians” descended upon Marcus Bachmann’s Christian counseling center to protest the harmful ex-gay therapy offered there. During a radio interview in 2010, Bachmann compared gay people to “barbarians” who need to be “disciplined.” Organized by Nick Espinosa, who famously showered Newt Gingrich with glitter, the protest glittered Bachmann’s empty waiting room and reception area, chanting “You can’t pray away the gay — baby, I was born this way!”

(I would share a photo of Bachmann's waiting room being glittered, but it's in a format that's incompatible with my blogging software.) I think throwing pies or glitter is juvenile and boorish. Our opponents love to portray themselves as victims; we should not give them ammunition.

Quote of the Day

David B. Cohen on Politico's Arena:

Do members of Congress really want to test out their chicken little theory that nothing will happen should the ceiling not be raised?

As far as Michelle Bachmann is concerned, this just proves that she is not a serious candidate for president. I suppose the country can just pray away the debt-ceiling crisis just like clients in the counseling clinic owned by her husband and herself can pray away their gayness.

(Emphasis mine)

Fischer: Criticism Of The Bachmanns Is Religious Bigotry and A Hate Crime

Right Wing Watch shares the latest nuttiness from Bryan Fischer.

Comedy Repression Therapy

The Daily Show - Comedy Repression Therapy
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

In case you missed it, comedian Jerry Seinfeld appeared on The Daily Show last Wednesday to help Jon Stewart overcome his urge to tell gay jokes about Marcus Bachmann. A very funny bit.

Truth Wins Out calls Marcus Bachmann a liar

This just in from Truth Wins Out:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Wayne Besen
Phone: 917-691-5118

E-Mail: WBesen@TruthWinsOut.org

Truth Wins Out Claims That Marcus Bachmann Is Lying When He Says His Clinic is Not Anti-Gay

There is No Excuse For Bachmann & Associates to Offer Fringe 'Pray Away the Gay' Therapy Rejected By Mainstream Mental Health Organizations

NEW YORK -Truth Wins Out called Marcus Bachmann a liar today for falsely telling the Minneapolis Star Tribune that his clinic was not anti-gay and had no "agenda or a philosophy of trying to change anyone." His untruthful assertions contradict the evidence that clearly shows his clinic is disdainful towards LGBT people and practices a discredited and harmful brand of therapy designed to "cure" gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

"Marcus Bachmann is not telling the truth when he dishonestly claims that his clinic is not anti-gay," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen, responding to Bachmann's new statement in the Star Tribune. "Our investigation clearly shows that his clinic has great antipathy towards gay and lesbian people and his therapists work to convert clients from gay to straight."

"Marcus Bachmann is willfully and wantonly misrepresenting what I experienced during my five therapy sessions at his clinic," said John Becker, TWO's Director of Communications and Development, who led an undercover operation at Bachmann's clinic. "We urge Bachmann & Associates to stop misleading the public and commit to ending the harmful and discredited practice of 'ex-gay' therapy."

According to The Star Tribune article, Bachmann explained that he only offered "ex-gay" therapy at a client's request.

"Will I address it? Certainly we'll talk about it," Bachmann said. "Is it a remedy form that I typically would use? ... It is at the client's discretion...We don't have an agenda or a philosophy of trying to change someone."

Bachmann said counselors at his clinics follow the wishes of patients and don't force any treatment.

"This individual came to us under a false pretense," Bachmann said. "The truth of the matter is he specifically asked for help."

"Bachmann & Associates was under no obligation to offer a quack therapy treatment that is rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health association in America," said TWO's Wayne Besen. "Taking a clients hard-earned money for a 'cure' that is not possible is unethical and a form of consumer fraud."

The notion that a counselor is required harm a client just because he or she asks is patently absurd, asserts TWO. Similarly, if a bodybuilder had asked a doctor to help him or her inject steroids, the practitioner could refuse. If an African American asked a doctor for a skin bleaching, he or she could decline. If a physician is urged to help manage a model's anorexia, he or she could turn the model away and instead offer real medical help.

While Bachmann claims that his clinic is not anti-gay, nor invested in "ex-gay" therapy, his office sells a book written by a viciously homophobic minister named Janet Boynes who calls homosexuality a "dirty and shameful life." In her tome, Called Out: A Former Lesbian's Discovery of Freedom, she says:

"What are the effects of living a homosexual lifestyle? The list is long: Hurt. Despair. Frustration. Loneliness. Depression. Restlessness. Shame....Hollywood would have you believe gays and lesbians are happy, humorous, well adjusted people, but very rarely do they show the other side - the ugly side. They don't show the tears behind the mask. They don't show the desperate ache to be loved beneath all the jokes, clever comebacks and playful remarks." (pg. 184)

"If Marcus Bachmann's clinic is not anti-gay, than why is he selling homophobic trash like Janet Boynes' hateful and deceptive book in his office?" asked Besen.

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

Besen's rhetoric tends toward the florid, but his criticism is on target.

Besen: "ex-gay" spokesperson is "a former drug-dealing thief, habitual liar, bar brawler, and crack addict"

Edge Los Angeles reports on the predictable grousing by anti-gay fanatic Peter LaBarbera against ABC News for its recent coverage of the exposé of Bachmann & Associates by Truth Wins Out:

"Folks, it sure didn’t take long for the liberal media to go into Christian-bashing mode against GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann," LaBarbera posted following the July 11 news report.

Going on to call the ABC News segment "comically biased," LaBarbera lambasted the program for seemingly taking the side of Truth Wins Out, and went on to call the organization " ’Focus on the Failures’ because their nonsensical argument seems to be that since many practicing ’gays’ fail in their quest to change, transformation away from homosexuality is a myth.

"Incredibly, ABC even went so far as to title its piece ’Pray Away the Gay at Bachmann Clinic?’ - recycling TWO founder Wayne Besen’s mocking and bigoted attack-slogan for the idea that people can overcome homosexual desires through faith in God," LaBarbera wrote. "Shouldn’t it have occurred to Ross to sit down with and interview a SUCCESSFUL former homosexual like Janet Boynes..." ?

In his comments to EDGE, Besen dismissed the idea that Boynes is a spokesperson for any genuinely "ex-gay" individuals.

"Janet Boynes is a fraud," Besen stated bluntly. "She misrepresents herself as an ’ex-lesbian’ when she has always been actively bisexual. She is a former drug-dealing thief, habitual liar, bar brawler, and crack addict who allegedly found Jesus.

"I find it quite interesting that, according to her book, she was up on stage preaching about ’ex-gays’ while she was still living with a woman and had not actually changed," Besen added. "It shows an intense thirst for the spotlight.

Speaking of which, a local "ex-gay" evangelist named Sharon Kass, who periodically sends me emails trying to save me from homosexuality, sent a message to the GLAA Forum this morning saying, "Tip: Ex-gay science is real. PC 'gay-affirmative' is not." Then she provided URLs for the latest in "ex-gay" quackery: www.narth.com, www.gaytostraight.org, and www.peoplecanchange.com. I replied:

Ms. Kass,

You are a fanatic and "ex-gay" science is a proven fraud. You offer nothing but rhetoric and links to anti-gay websites. If you were serious you would refute Wayne Besen's book on the subject, but you can't so you just keep repeating the same falsehoods. You are fooling no one. No one here has any interest in pretending to be straight. God made us gay. Yes, sure, you can easily just deny that, but we are speaking the truth and you are lying. Also, we are exercising our American birthright to the pursuit of happiness while you are obsessively opposed to our rights. You, therefore, are the offending party. Go mind your own business.

The growing numbers of Americans affirming gay equality are very real, and you're obviously not happy about it. So you just deny it. That looks weak to me.

Kass replied, "You're deep in denial, Rick," and added, "Obama and Romney are both trying to use you. Wake up." I have only limited interest in plumbing the mind of Sharon Kass, but I'd love to know what Barack Obama or Mitt Romney has to do with the question of my being gay and self-affirming. If she means that politicians in general use people, well, that works both ways. I personally have no use for Mitt Romney, who has been all over the map on virtually every issue. President Obama has a far better record on gay issues. He is not perfect, and I have had occasion to criticize him, but he is the best president on gay issues so far. That doesn't mean we should be satisfied. We work with our allies and challenge them to be better; but effective advocacy for change consists of more than sitting back and taking potshots at politicians. We have to participate in creating change, not wait for a savior to arrive and do it all for us.

HRC petition calls on GOP presidential candidates to renounce reparative therapy

Paul Guequierre writes at HRC Back Story:

Last week Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann demonstrated a dangerous level of extremism by signing her name to the far-right group the Family Leader’s pledge “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.” Not surprisingly, Rick Santorum also signed the anti-LGBT pledge. Today, HRC is calling on the GOP candidates for President to disavow the dangerous “ex-gay” or “reparative therapies” endorsed by Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus, a practicing, but unlicensed Minnesota psychologist whose clinic has been known to practice these therapies. Join us by signing our petition.

Michele Bachmann is obviously out of touch with mainstream America. Unfortunately her extremism rises to a dangerous level. Reparative therapy, the kind endorsed by Bachman, has been strongly denounced by leading medical organizations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. Both organizations have concluded that same-sex attraction is normal and attempts to change it could be harmful. Learn more about the lies and dangers of reparative therapy at www.hrc.org/reparativetherapy.

The in-fighting in the Republican Party is on the rise. The quackery pushed by the Bachmanns makes for a good wedge issue. Either more sane party members will stand up against the extremists, or they show themselves to be willing tools of the extremists.

Truth Wins Out goes undercover to expose Bachmann & Associates' quackery

(Photo by Steve Pope, Getty Images)

John M. Becker of Truth Wins Out, the organization founded by Wayne Besen to counter "ex-gay" junk science, reports on his recent undercover work in which he received reparative therapy from Bachmann & Associates, the counseling firm run by Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. Becker's conclusion:

Based on my experiences at Bachmann & Associates, there can no longer be any doubt that Marcus Bachmann’s state- and federally-funded clinic endorses and practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person’s sexual orientation, despite the fact that such “therapy” is widely discredited by the scientific and medical communities. It’s time for Michele and Marcus Bachmann to stop denying, dodging, and stonewalling. They owe it to all Americans to provide a full and honest explanation for their embrace of these dangerous and fraudulent practices.

I wrote about the Bachmanns last week before this invaluable report came to light. Basically, the more we learn about Dr. Bachmann's practice, the worse it looks. And the mainstream media is beginning to pick up on it. ABC's World News Tonight is set to report on it this evening. Congrats to Truth Wins Out.

Towleroad reports here. Box Turtle Bulletin here. Ex-Gay Watch here. The Daily Beast here.

Pawlenty hems and haws on whether being gay is a choice

Tim Pawlenty will really rev up Republican primary voters with this display of evasiveness.

Software could have spotted fake Lesbians

Newscientist reports that gender checking software could have identified the "Gay Girl in Damascus" was a man.

Developed by Na Cheng and colleagues at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, the ever-improving software could soon be revealing the gender of online writers – whether they are blogging, emailing, writing on Facebook or tweeting. The team say the software could help protect children from grooming by predators who conceal their gender online.

I wanted to check to make sure I was a man but the server seems to be down at the moment.