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A missing Tennessee woman was found dead in the trunk of a car driven by her girlfriend — who killed herself after exchanging gunfire with cops in suburban Detroit. Eleni Kassa, 31, of Murfreesboro, was reported missing on Nov. 18 by her family after she failed to pick up her daughter from school, police in the Tennessee city said in a statement. A probe “revealed a possible domestic violence incident occurred with Kassa’s and her girlfriend, Dominique Hardwick, 36, following an argument at Kassa’s Murfreesboro apartment,” cops said.

A new study is challenging the American Psychological Association's contention that therapies for unwanted same-sex attraction are harmful. The study, "Effects of Therapy on Religious Men Who Have Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction," which was first published July 23 in The Linacre Quarterly, finds that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), often derisively called "conversion therapy," improves the mental health of participants. Researchers surveyed 125 male residents of the United States. The men, mostly Christian, were at various stages of experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction. Some were sexually active while others were abstaining from sex. Eighty-nine percent of respondents were Christians from a variety...

“Am I Gay?” Today, every family in America faces this question one way or another. Even the best families. Maybe you have a child, or sibling, or close friend who feels attracted to people of the same sex. Maybe a niece or nephew or grandchild wonders about their sexuality. Maybe they are asking YOU about these questions. The book “Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay” challenges the idea that feelings of same sex attraction necessarily mean a person is “gay.” The author, Daniel Mattson, tells his story of experiencing same sex attraction, acting on it, and ultimately, allowing Jesus to...

A Jewish counseling center in New Jersey has been found guilty of consumer fraud for offering help to people with unwanted same sex attraction. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the center on behalf of four clients, saying they were tricked into believing the center, Jews Offering Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), could relieve them of unwanted sexual orientation. A judge ruled against the center Thursday and the four clients were awarded $72,000. Critics of the ruling say this will likely set a dangerous precedent for organizations helping people with unwanted same sex attraction. "They've already said they will take aim...

Some with Same-Sex Attraction Choose Celibacy – A Reflection on an Article in the Washington Post By: Msgr. Charles PopeA little over a year ago, I wrote an article asking and answering this question: What Does the Catholic Church Offer for those with Same-Sex Attraction? And the answer is, “the truth.” It is the same gift we offer anyone who will give us the gift of attention and presence. The truth, as revealed by God, is what we offer and celebrate along with the Sacraments, the communal life, and prayer.Of course the truth we offer in terms of human sexuality...

... In 1930, when he was 12, my dad was caught in bed with another boy at his New England prep school and sent home. My enraged grandfather hired a psychologist to straighten him out. The psychologist proclaimed that my grandmother’s extravagant love of her eldest child, and my grandfather’s harsh discipline, were responsible for Dad’s sexual confusion. He pronounced the cure: that my father leave home. ... So at the age of 12, he was exiled by his family to board at schools and summer camps and spent the rest of his life on the run. After my mother...

It was never a medical decision—and that’s why I think the action came so fast…It was a political move…That’s how far we’ve come in ten years. Now we even have the American Psychiatric Association running scared. -Barbara Gittings, Activist Getting Started The American Psychiatric Association (APA) currently considers same-sex attraction a diagnosable and treatable mental disorder –if one is marked by persistent distress about their “sexual orientation.” The disorder is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV TR (DMS-IV TR) as a paraphilia, euphemistically entitled, “Sexual Orientation Not Otherwise Specified.” Psychiatrists began to use this clunky phrase...

The report was compiled by a six-member task force that admitted to a built-in bias that "same-sex sexual attractions, behavior and orientations per se are normal and positive variants of human sexuality and are not indicators of either mental or developmental disorders." The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) said the task force was stacked with gay or gay-friendly activists who would naturally conclude that reparative therapy does not work. "No APA member who offers reorientation therapy was allowed to join the task force," said David Pruden, NARTH vice president. "In fact, one can make the case...

Gay row hits Sanremo festival: Group threatens to disrupt event over 'gay convert' song (ANSA)Rome, Dec. 23-Italian gay rights group Arcigay on Tuesday threatened to disrupt Italy's biggest musical event of the year, the Sanremo song festival, if a song apparently about 'converting' gays to heterosexuality is not pulled... Mancuso said Povia was ''not exactly new'' to taking public stances against homosexuality, adding that he was famous for a magazine interview in which he declared that ''people aren't gay, they become gay on the basis of who they spend time with''... The Arcigay president said Povia had gone on to...

As best as I can determine, my same-sex attraction began in reaction to my father, who was a violent alcoholic. He often drank, came home to throw things around the house and abuse my mother in addition to threatening me and my brother. I thought he hated us. Consequently, I didn’t want to be anything like him. In my sorrow, I started looking for the love of my father in thearms of other men. At age 17, a predator took advantage of me under the teacher/pupil dynamic and I became completely mixed up about human sexuality. Over the years, one...

In concluding her Jan. 30 column about homosexuality and the Catholic Church ("It's not a mortal sin to work for justice"), Mary Jean Smith writes: "The archbishop and others are wrong on this issue. I am not guilty of mortal sin. It is not a sin to love my daughter and work for justice on her behalf." Here is what Archbishop John Nienstedt actually said: "Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin," he...

Homosexuality came easy to me, because I was already weak. My mom died when I was 19. My father had died when I was 13. At an early age, I was already confused about who I was and how I felt about others. My confusion about "desire" and the fact that I noticed I was "attracted" to guys made me put myself into the "gay" category at age 14. At age 20, I came out as gay to everybody else around me. At age 22, I became an editor of the first magazine aimed at a young, gay male audience....

PARENT GROUPS ASK MARYLAND TO STOP NEW SEX ED LESSONS Neutral Unisex Bathroom Created for Cross-dressing Student Montgomery County, Maryland – Three parent organizations are asking the Maryland State Board of Education to halt the new sex ed curriculum approved by the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education (BOE). Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC), and Family Leader Network have filed an appeal requesting Maryland to stay Montgomery County Public School’s sex ed plans. The newly approved curriculum, entitled "Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality," promotes cross-dressers, homosexuals, transgenders, bisexuals, the intersexed,...

217th General Assembly (of the Presbyterian Church USA) Birmingham, Ala. BIRMINGHAM -- "Persons who deal with same-sex attraction in a way that is faithful to Scripture are heroes of the church," Dr. Robert Gagnon said Monday afternoon, because they take "very seriously" the message of the Gospel. Gagnon, a professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, told more than 100 people packed into a meeting room at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex for the OneByOne luncheon that "it's a straightforward call to discipleship. 'Anyone who does not carry...

Dr. A. Dean Byrd Reviews Dissertation on Factors In Re-orientation Success March 13, 2006 - In a doctoral dissertation directed by Dr. Jay C. Wade, Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, Elan Y. Karten investigates the psychological and religious characteristics of dissatisfied same-sex attracted men who seek sexual re-orientation interventions. As a logical follow-up to Spitzer's landmark study, the Karten research was specifically designed to investigate the following: the respondent's relationship to his father; type of sexual self-identity; quality of psychological relatedness to other men; and which form of religious values demonstrated the strongest relationship to change. Karten defined...

Homosexuality and Hope Statement of the Catholic Medical Association To order booklet form visit CMA Bookstore To print out this article, click here to open in a new window and print. CONTENTS I CONSIDERATIONS Introduction 1) Not born that way 2) Same sex attraction as a symptom 3) Same-sex attraction is preventable 4) At-risk, not predestined 5) Therapy 6) Goal of therapy II RECOMMENDATIONS 1) Ministry to individuals experiencing same-sex attraction 2) The role of the priest 3) Catholic medical professionals 4) Teachers in Catholic institutions 5) Catholic families 6) The Catholic community 7) Bishops 8) Hope PART I CONSIDERATIONS INTRODUCTIONThe...

A study to be published in the March 2005 issue of the journal Human Genetics, and available online now, actually undermines the commonly held view that homosexual orientation is determined by genetic factors. The study’s lead author Brian Mustanski from University of Illinois at Chicago said in a UIC news release that "There is no one 'gay' gene. Sexual orientation is a complex trait, so it's not surprising that we found several DNA regions involved in its expression." However, a thorough examination of the actual report reveals no statistically significant findings for any of these DNA regions. The authors describe...

Nadine Davidoff has had enough of men assuming that what gay women really want is a bloke. When you see two girls walking down the street arm in arm there are a few of safe assumptions you could make about the scene; either the girls are friends or they are gay - they could even be partners. However, a certain subset of heterosexual men inexplicably arrive at a completely different conclusion: that the girls are putting on this display for their benefit and that they secretly want the men to join in the fun. Who knows where this misconception comes...

A 22-year-old man stands before a classroom of middle schoolers, describing how he came out as a homosexual and going so far as to declare, "there are gay students in this classroom." The young man is Noe Gutierrez, Jr., and the scene is one from "It's Elementary," an award-winning 1996 video (widely aired in 1999) which aims to give "practical lessons on how to talk with kids about gay people." You won't find that scene in Gutierrez's latest video, however. Although he requested permission to use it, producer/director Debra Chasnoff turned him down. Apparently, she doesn't want schoolchildren knowing what's...

'Officially' attractive cop guilty of entrapment Christopher Curtis, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network Thursday, January 22, 2004 / 05:33 PM An appeals court in Florida ruled Wednesday that a detective working undercover was too good-looking for a gay man to be charged in a drug sting. According to the Sun-Sentinel, a Florida newspaper, Detective Mike Nahum went to a gay club in Fort Lauderdale in 2002 to investigate suspected drug activity. According to court records, he met Julio Blanco, a self-described "lonely gay man." Blanco testified that Nahum said he wanted to have a "good time" and to "party." While Blanco...