Free Republic

At the APA Conference in New Orleans — where APA President Koocher commented about the ethicality of sexual reorientation therapy — Clinton Anderson, director of the APA Office of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns, offered further commentary.* Mr. Anderson said he does not dispute that some people leave homosexuality. "I don't think that anyone disagrees with the idea that people can change, because we know that straight people become gay and lesbian — so it seems totally reasonable that some gay and lesbian people would become straight. The issue is not whether sexual orientation changes...the issue is whether therapy changes...

Does family birth order predict homosexual orientation? If you read the popular press, you might think so. A recent report from Canadian psychologist, Anthony Bogaert, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests a link for males, but not females, between adult sexual orientation and the number of older biological brothers. In other words, the more older brothers one has the more likely one is to be gay. Dr. Bogaert speculates a pre-natal cause for this observation, in part because the brothers had to be biologically related. Growing up with adopted or step-brothers did not predict sexual orientation....

A feature published in The Columbus Dispatch (June 11) describes the work of New Pathways Ohio, a ministry affiliated with Exodus International. The head of New Pathways is headed by Elton L. Moose of Springfield, an ex-gay and one of the charter members of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. Moose was also a participant in Dr. Robert Spitzer's study of individuals who have dealt with their same-sex attractions. Columbus Dispatch reporter Rita Price interviewed three men who attend New Pathways in an effort to deal with their unwanted same-sex attractions. David, who only wanted his first...

Scots infected with HIV protested Bill Clinton's appearance in Glasgow yesterday, highlighting the former president's connection to a scandal in which tainted blood from high-risk Arkansas prisoners was used to treat thousands of people in Europe who later came down with AIDS and hepatitis. Clinton was in Scotland to address a business conference but was met with protesters outside the event who say he is culpable for their illnesses. In the early 1980s, while Clinton was serving as governor of Arkansas, his administration awarded a contract to Health Management Associates to provide medical care to the state's prisoners. The president...

While two parents in Lexington, Mass., are upset about the fact their second-grade son was read a fantasy book in school about two princes getting married, what makes them even more angry is the fact the boy's teacher said because same-sex marriage is legal in their state there is no way a mother or father can opt out a child from such experiences. "We are outraged," parents Rob and Robin Wirthlin told the local Article 8 Alliance. "This is a highly charged social issue. Why are they introducing it in the second grade? And we cannot present our family's...

WASHINGTON, DC – The First Amendment Center has released the first consensus guidelines to help public schools develop sexual orientation policies. The new guidelines advise school officials to include the viewpoints of all participants in order to develop policies that promote fairness for all. According to Charles Haynes, a primary drafter of the guidelines and Senior Scholar at the First Amendment Center, the ex-gay viewpoint in public schools is protected by the First Amendment and should be heard. Haynes explained that incidents such as the one last year in Montgomery County, Maryland, might have been avoided had guidelines like these...

Editor's note: Recently, WND Managing Editor David Kupelian, author of the best-selling book, "The Marketing of Evil," was widely quoted in the news media for his criticism of the new film "Brokeback Mountain." Here, Kupelian explains how and why the controversial movie is one of the most powerful homosexual propaganda films of our time. "Brokeback Mountain," the controversial "gay cowboy" film that has garnered seven Golden Globe nominations and breathless media reviews – and has now emerged as a front-runner for the Oscars – is a brilliant propaganda film, reportedly causing viewers to change the way they feel about homosexual...

Is another taboo about to be broken? A British professor who has been studying pupil-teacher relationships for 25 years concludes sexual contact between them should not necessarily be criminal conduct – in fact, she says, they can be positive experiences. Prof. Pat Sikes Pat Sikes of the University of Sheffield was seduced by her history teacher at the age of 14 and later became his wife. Now she has written "Scandalous Stories and Dangerous Liaisons: When Female Pupils and Male Teachers Fall In Love." It contends classroom affairs are more common than is usually imagined. She writes that expressions of...

Sheryl Swoopes is arguably the finest female basketball player ever. No, check that, actually there is no argument, as a three-time MVP in the Woman's National Basketball Association, and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, she is the best. So when she came out of the closet recently, there was excitement in the gay and lesbian community about a high-profile public figure declaring herself a lesbian. Her story was featured in a recent ESPN magazine article where she said about her sexuality: "I didn't always know I was gay. I honestly didn't. Do I think I was born this way? No....

The installation of a new leader of the predominantly homosexual Metropolitan Community Church, held at the Washington Cathedral yesterday, was to be accompanied by the announcement of a new program called "Focus on the Human Family," but attorney's for Dr. James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" intervened to protect the Christian ministry's trademarked name. The Reverend Nancy Wilson was installed as the Presiding Bishop as scheduled, but not before MCC committed to removing the "Focus on the Human Family" name from its website. The service's program followed the original theme of "Unfinished World, Unfinished Calling," but references to the disputed...

CHICAGO -- High school is a time when everyone wants to fit in. On Tuesday, NBC5's Anna Davlantes introduced viewers to two suburban teenagers who say that fitting in didn't matter when it came time to choosing the school's homecoming king and queen. The choice that students made, however, is attracting attention and causing controversy.Davlantes said it may not shock people that a jock and a cheerleader were chosen as homecoming king and queen at Buffalo Grove High School, but what surprises some and concerns others is what's different about the two students and what it might say about their...

A new, national daily radio show focused entirely on the most radioactive issue confronting Americans – homosexuality – will launch Monday, and it will be hosted by a prominent former homosexual – and his wife. Stephen and Irene Bennett, founders of Stephen Bennett Ministries, will co-host the 30-minute program, "Straight Talk Radio," scheduled to debut in eight states Oct. 31. "'Straight Talk Radio' will feature the most outspoken guests, tackle tough issues and host very lively debates, while injecting a blend of adrenaline, compassion and a bit of humor," said Bennett, a former homosexual who abandoned his 11-year promiscuous "gay"...

Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests, reports Catholic World News. The policy statement is a direct result of the pope's concern about the pedophilia scandal in the church – especially in the U.S. The new document, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994, will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation: Cardinal...

A new book published by Haworth Press features multiple Ph.D. "experts" claiming that sex with children "can benefit" boys and even serve a "mentoring function." "Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition of the West" features "scholarly" treatises by a raft of mostly-PhD academics, all praising earlier civilizations – particularly Greece and Rome – for the role homosexuality played in those ancient cultures. In the chapter titled "Pederasty: An Integration of Cross-Cultural, Cross-Species, and Empirical Data," Bruce Rind Ph.D. lauds the rampant child molestation that reportedly occurred in those societies, at one point citing evolution...

[This article is key to understanding what children in public schools might be taught as normal and acceptable. Of course, we're already seeing some of it. If you're remotely interested in this topic you'll want to read the article in its entirety. ] Gay Cornell University Professor Ritch Savin-Williams argues that teenagers are rejecting gender categories in their pursuit of satisfying sexual relationships. And, he's encouraged by the trend. Reviewed by Frank York Professor Rich Savin-Williams in The New Gay Teenager, presents the premise of his book in the first page of his Preface. He observes: "Gay people have historically...

A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D., Chairman of NARTH's Scientific Advisory Committee co-presented a research paper on "Dual Parenting" at the 12th World Conference of the International Society of Family Law, July 19-23, 2005. August 12, 2005 - University of Utah School of Medicine Professor A. Dean Byrd and Kristen M. Byrd, with the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, presented "Dual-Parenting: A Social Science Perspective For Optimal Child Rearing," at the World Conference of the International Society of Family Law in Salt Lake City in late July. In the paper, the authors outlined the importance of both a...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing school districts in California and Kentucky in an attempt to force them to conduct mandatory homosexual appreciation sessions for students and staff. In south Los Angeles, the ACLU of Southern California, along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), reached a settlement requiring mandatory attitudinal training at Washington Preparatory High School. “The training is a model for the state,” said Christine Sun, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, in a press release. The sessions, according to the NCLR release, include: “mandatory day-long faculty training on diversity, discrimination and harassment,...

A group of 11 representatives in the House want Congress to add "sexual orientation" to the list of protected characteristics used in regulating workplace discrimination in federal employment. Government employment discrimination and whistleblower-protection issues are handed by the Office of Special Counsel, which is empowered to prosecute managers believed to have violated the law. During the Clinton administration, Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan – an avowed lesbian, according to Concerned Women for America – incorporated "sexual orientation" under the "conduct unrelated to the job" portion of the regulation, thus elevating homosexuality to a protected status. Last year, Scott Bloch, who now...

On June 8, the Associated Press reported from St. Augustine, Fla.: For the next six days, 49 rainbow flags will flutter on the Bridge of Lions after a three-year battle by gay-rights organizations. U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. ruled Tuesday against the city in a suit filed by the Rev. Ruth Jensen and Vicki Waldon of the St. Augustine Pride Committee, Equality Florida and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The city rejected a request last month to fly the flags for a week of gay-pride events. Adams said the organization would suffer "irreparable harm and loss if...

J. Matt Barber was a manager in Allstate's Corporate Security Division, its investigative arm, at the Fortune 100 company's headquarters in Northbrook, Ill. Besides working for the insurance provider, Barber was and is a professional heavyweight boxer, a jazz drummer and a Web commentator. His columns have appeared on TheConservativeVoice.com, MensNewsDaily.com and others. Though the column in question was written and posted in December, it wasn't until Jan. 31 that Barber was called into a meeting with two Human Resources officials, one of whom Barber says "slapped down" a printed copy of the column in front of him and asked...