Camille is a twentysomething working in the LGBT nonprofit industry. She runs an LGBT news blog at gaywrites.org.
The fight over anti-LGBT conversion therapy is heating up and, as a result, we’re seeing more and more personal accounts emerging from LGBT people who have actually had to endure the practice. It seems like each story is more vile than the one before it, but this next retelling might take the cake. Sam Brinton (below) is a spokesperson for the National Center for Lesbian Rights who speaks often about his childhood experience with conversion therapy. Cracked (stay with me here) recently featured his story in a post called “5 Things I Learn At A ‘Pray Away the Gay’ Camp.” Sam’s family first sent him to “ex-gay” camp when he was 11 and realized he had a crush on a male friend. Here’s what the supposed therapy was like: Read more
As they gear up for legal battles nationwide, anti-LGBT activists’ weapon of choice is the infamous “Regnerus study,” a report by University of Texas sociologist Mark Regnerus that claimed to “prove” same-sex parenting is inherently harmful to children. The study has been thoroughly debunked as methodologically and ethically flawed, and experts far and wide — including Regnerus’ own university — have said they want no affiliation with it. We thought we’d seen it all, but nope — two sociologists are taking another crack at determining the study’s scientific validity (or lack thereof), and what they’re finding is even more absurd than the fallacies we were already aware of. Indiana University’s Brian Powell and the University of Connecticut’s Simon Cheng actually redid the study for Social Science Research, the same journal that published the original article. Not surprisingly, when they used proper methodology and eliminated “suspect data” — see below for a laughable example — they found that kids fare just as well when raised by a same-sex couple as by a mom and dad. From Right Wing Watch: Read more
The chaplain of Hillsdale College, a nonprofit liberal arts school in Hillsdale, Michigan, sent a bizarre email to the school community this week asking for their prayers against marriage equality. Chaplain Peter Beckwith (below) cited the marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court, which many believe will end up legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, to describe how “evil” was afoot and Hillsdale students, alumni, and staff should pray against it. Read more
This morning, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case that could finally legalize marriage equality nationwide. The Court will consider two primary questions: First, whether state bans on same-sex marriage are constitutional, and second, whether states that outlaw marriage equality can refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. Marriage equality is currently legal in 37 states (plus Washington, D.C.). The four states defending their bans on marriage equality — Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky — previously won a lower court case when arguing on behalf of marriage discrimination, whereas six other federal appeals courts found marriage bans in their districts unconstitutional. In a couple of months, we could see an end to the legal discrimination that deems same-sex unions second-class in a quarter of the country. Or, we could see states all over the country jump at the chance to enshrine bigotry into their constitutions. But first, the Supreme Court must make a decision. Read more
By now, you may have heard about a storm brewing at an elementary school in Kittery, Maine. Teachers read the book I Am Jazz, an autobiographical children’s book by transgender teenager Jazz Jennings, to K-3 students. One 7-year-old reportedly asked his mother when he got home if he was transgender. Enter conservative media, like Fox Nation writer Todd Starnes. Read more
