Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Permeation of Lies

It is extremely important to expose the anti-gay industry. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few, the mainstream gay advocacy groups don't seem to devote that much energy with putting people like Dobson, LaBarbera, and Sheldon on the defensive. They seem to be busy with "winning the hearts and minds" of America.

While "winning hearts and minds" and taking the high road per see is a good thing, ignoring your enemy when they take shots at you could be very detrimental.

Especially when the ammunition is as bad as the studies the anti-gay industry uses to demonize us.

Maybe we need more Genghises than Gandhis

A perfect example is the following press release I wrote detailing how the anti-gay industry is using the "Day of Truth" event to get school children to spread propaganda about the gay community:

‘Day of Truth’ or ‘Day of Lies?’
Religious right organizations continue to lie in order to demonize the gay community

April 20, 2006 --According to the Allied Defense Fund and other so-called "pro family" groups, the "Day of Truth" is created to counter the success of GLSEN’s "Day of Silence" and to tell supposed truths about homosexuality.
Apparently truth to the Allied Defense Fund means passing out incorrect information about the gay community.
"The information they are giving out that supposedly tells the truth about homosexuality are nothing but lies," said researcher Alvin McEwen.
McEwen has studied so-called "pro family" studies and research papers pertaining to the gay community. He claims to have found a pattern of deception. According to him, the information those supporting "Day of Truth" are giving out is no different.
They also invite people to give out this information during the "Day of Truth."
McEwen points to a handout offered on the "Day of Truth" webpage entitled The Ten Big Myths of Homosexual Behavior:
"homosexual behavior are at much higher risk for many sexually transmitted diseases, including not just HIV, but also syphilis, gonorrhea, human papilloma virus (HPV), hepatitis, chlamydia, and a whole group of infections called "gay bowel syndrome."
"Gay bowel syndrome" is an obsolete medical term that is no longer used by any credible physician. According to an April 8, 2005 edition of the Washington Blade, the Centers for Disease Control does not even recognize the term.
In another handout, Homosexuality FAQ Sheet, is the following charge:
"The Centers for Disease Control have found that 60 percent of new cases of HIV infection are men who have had sex with men, and also that the number of homosexual men who admittedly neglect to use condoms is rising. Homosexual victims of AIDS, they found, had an average 1,100 sexual partners in their lifetimes. They estimated that 30 percent of 20-year-old homosexual men will be HIV positive or dead before they reach their thirtieth birthday."
"There are so many inaccuracies in that statement," McEwen said. "The main thing is that the gay lifespan claim is a lie."
McEwen points to an article in the June 17, 2005 edition of the Washington Blade. In this article, Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention told the newspaper:
"[The CDC] does not collect statistics on the lifespan of gay men. While gay men continue to be severely impacted by HIV and AIDS, AIDS-related death data cannot be used to indicate that homosexual men live shorter lives than heterosexual men overall."
"The anti-gay industry are like cockroaches." McEwen said. "For every lie that they tell that you spot, there are probably five others you didn’t see. The sad thing is that well meaning people of faith, especially children, are going to repeat these lies."