Equality Chart 2011

Chart by Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

The Sissy Boy Experiment, Part 4

A follow-up with Box Turtle Bulletin blogger Jim Burroway.

UGANDA: Kill Gays Bill Back On Table

Box Turtle Bulletin alerts us that despite recent media reports that Uganda's "kill gays" bill had been shelved, in fact it will be debated in the national parliament next week. The bill came into being after American evangelicals visited Uganda with claims that foreign homosexuals wanted to pay Uganda's children to become gay.

The controversial Anti Homosexuality bill is one of several bills that Members of Parliament on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee are set to debate when the House resumes business next week. Speaking to the media at Parliament today, the committee chairman, Stephen Tashobya said though the bill has created both local and international concern, it is up to Parliament to pass the bill. Tashobya says the committee will hold public hearings where stakeholders’ views will be heard and a report made to the House for debate and possible passing before Parliament closes the 8th Parliament.

RELATED: Earlier this week the U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that would discourage the granting of American foreign aid to nations that "physically persecute" their LGBT citizens. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, faces an uncertain future with the full House.

HomoQuotable - Jim Burroway

"This [Westboro] ruling is important for many reasons. First and foremost, it preserves the primacy of free speech in America, which benefits us all. But from a parochial pro-LGBT narrative, it’s equally important to note that it proves the lie to the multiple instances when anti-gay activists falsely claimed that advances in LGBT equality and protections — whether they come in the form of marriage equality or hate crimes protections — will result in the infringement of religious and speech rights. They never have and, if this ruling is any indication, it reaffirms the fact that they never will. So the next time someone claims that marriage equality will result in pastors being prosecuted for hate speech, make a note of it: Snyder v Phelps." - Jim Burroway, writing for Box Turtle Bulletin.

"Hang Them": Uganda Paper Publishes Names And Photos Of "Top 100 Homos"

CBS News today picked up on the story of a Uganda newspaper publishing the names and photos of the country's so-called "top 100 homos." The yellow banner under the headline reads "Hang Them!"

In the days since it was published, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had stones thrown at his house by neighbors. A lawmaker in this conservative African country introduced a bill a year ago that would have imposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in prison for others. An international uproar ensued, and the bill was quietly shelved. But gays in Uganda say they have faced a year of harassment and attacks since the bill's introduction. The legislation was drawn up following a visit by leaders of U.S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy they say allows gays to become heterosexual. "Before the introduction of the bill in parliament most people did not mind about our activities. But since then, we are harassed by many people who hate homosexuality," said Patrick Ndede, 27. "The publicity the bill got made many people come to know about us and they started mistreating us."

Box Turtle Bulletin, the leading U.S.-based blog for LGBT issues in Uganda, has been all over this story since it first broke on October 4th. BTB's Jim Burroway reports that many of the published photos were harvested from Gaydar and Facebook profiles. Last week BTB noted that Rolling Stone (unrelated to the U.S. music title) had been shut down by the government for reasons that may or may not be related to the "top 100 homos" issue.

How To Help Kill Gay Kids

Using quotes from Maggie Gallagher, Theodore "Vox Day" Beale, and Sen. Jim DeMint, Box Turtle Bulletin contributor Rob Tisinai created the above Christianist hate flow-chart. Hit the link for Rob's post.

Uganda Beheading Story A Hoax

Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin reports today that yesterday's story about the beheading of a Ugandan LGBT activist was an apparent hoax planted by an anti-gay activist. Hit the BTB link for exhaustive examination of the scam.

Exodus Co-Founder: It Never Worked

Box Turtle Bulletin interviewed Exodus International co-founder Michael Bussee, who says he never once saw his former organization's "ex-gay" program actually turn somebody straight.

Anti-Gay Liberty Counsel Peddles Fake Anti-Gay Pediatricians Group

The Liberty Counsel has issued an alert that the so-called American College of Pediatricians has sent a warning to the nation's educators to be on the lookout for students "experiencing same-sex attraction or gender confusion."

The letter reminds school superintendents that it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience transient confusion about their sexual orientation and that most students will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged. For this reason, schools should avoid developing policies that encourage nonheterosexual attractions among students who may merely be experimenting or experiencing temporary sexual confusion. Such premature labeling can lead some adolescents to engage in homosexual behaviors that carry serious physical and mental health risks. There is no scientific evidence that anyone is born homosexual. Therefore, the College further advises that schools should not teach or imply to students that homosexual attraction is innate, always life-long, and unchangeable. To the contrary, research has shown that therapy to restore heterosexual attraction can be effective for many people. It is not the school’s role to diagnose or attempt to treat any student’s medical condition, and certainly not the school’s role to “affirm” a student’s perceived personal sexual orientation. The “Facts About Youth” website counters the propaganda published by the pro-homosexual pamphlet called “Just the Facts,” which is riddled with inaccuracies.

The above is obviously really about GLSEN's coming Day Of Silence, although they slyly don't say so. But there's one more little problem. The American College of Pediatricians (ACPEDS) isn't real, as was exposed earlier this week by Box Turtle Bulletin's Timothy Kincaid.

Despite the name, ACP is not a institute of higher learning. Nor is it a professional organization for pediatricians. This is an advocacy group dedicated to political goals which is using an authoritative sounding name to fool the unaware. Yes, their officers and their board are all pediatricians (usually older gentlemen in the South), but their “Pediatric Psychosocial Development Committee” reads like a members roster of the virulently anti-gay National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

Kincaid goes on to show that the 15 doctors listed as ACPEDS members are either part of the famously discredited NARTH or otherwise part of the anti-gay lie machine. ACPEDS, Focus On The Family and the Liberty Counsel are boldly lying to the nation's teachers and school administrators, knowing that few of them would be able to discern a legitimate doctors organization from the fake one they've cooked up in their relentless campaign to endorse the beating, bullying, torture and harassment of gay youth.

Kincaid notes that the real pediatricians group, the 60,000 member American Academy of Pediatrics, is actually quite gay-friendly and has endorsed gay parenting. Read Box Turtle Bulletin's excellent dissecting of this entire fraud being perpetrated by shameless Christianist liars.