'Some face with that egg?

I realize I’m mostly preaching to the choir here, so if you’re unfamiliar with the anti-gay antics of PFOX, here's some suggested reading.

That said, I was recently made aware of PFOX distorting a study in an AFA-One News Now article.

As Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters quotes from the article:

Quoting a recent study, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is warning of the increased risk of suicide that is linked with young people who identify themselves as homosexuals before achieving full maturity -- a process encouraged by many homosexual high school clubs.

The study PFOX was referring to was:

Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth by Remafedi, Farrow, and Deisher, in Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics 87: 869-875 June 1991

And it wasn’t long after that that Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out contacted one of the researchers:

Dr. Gary Remafedi Says ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Manipulated His Study And Should Immediately Take The Distortions Off Its Website

Of course, being the “Christians” that they are, they haven’t. (Note: this study is also referenced on their FAQ page.)

Which brings us to the latest portion of the 'PFOX abuse of research' story, which overlaps with another.

Enter one (former Principal) David Davies.

From Box Turtle Bulletin:

Davis outed a gay student to her parents, organized a “morality assembly”, and interrogated students about their orientation, and suspended students that were part of the “Gay Pride” movement.

Now the judge has issued his opinion (pdf) and has awarded legal recovery to the plaintiffs. And Davis’homophobia cost the district $325,000 in legal fees and cost (plus a dollar to the plaintiff).

Quoting now from HBHM, who quotes from the opinion, with commentary:

Regrettably, Jane’s contact with Davis during her senior year may well have been her last interaction with a school administrator before her graduation. Instead of providing Jane with a positive experience in the public school system during her final year, Davis crushed her and brought her to tears. Davis’s conduct, in the capacity of a role model and authority figure, is particularly deplorable in light of studies which confirm the vulnerability of gay and lesbian students . . .

The next time some idiot (hello PFOX) ruminates as to the supposed harm of GSAs, please remind them of this incident.

So I went to go read the opinion, and as it turns out, the very next portion of the ruling that follows the above quoted part..

Davis’s conduct, in the capacity of a role model and authority figure, is particularly deplorable in light of studies which confirm the vulnerability of gay and lesbian students...

..then goes on to include this little gem:

"The demeaning of young gay and lesbian students in a school environment is detrimental not only to their psychological health and well-being, but also to their educational development. Indeed, studies demonstrate that ‘academic underachievement, truancy, and dropout are prevalent among homosexual youth and are the probable consequences of violence and verbal and physical abuse at school.’ Susanne M. Stronski Huwiler and Gary Remafedi, Adolescent Homosexuality, 33 REV. JUR. U.I.P.R. 151, 164 (1999)"

Yep, Gary Remafedi, the exact same researcher who’s findings, FOR A SECOND TIME NOW, have been found to be at direct odds with the claims of PFOX:

"Schools should not be encouraging teens to self-identify as gays, bisexuals or transgendered persons before they have matured. Sexual attractions are fluid and do not take on permanence until early adulthood. Rather than affirming teenagers as ‘gay’ through self-labeling, educators should affirm them as people worthy of respect and encourage teens to wait until adulthood before making choices about their sexuality. If teens are encouraged to believe that they are permanently ‘gay’ before they have had a chance to reach adulthood, their life choices are severely restricted and can result in depression."

As though the lasting and permanent effects of puberty are something to "identify" with...as though one has a "choice" in the matter...and as though the only thing any responsible mentor (like Principal Davis) should do, is to demean gay youth by discouraging them from even acknowleging their own current, ongoing, and undeniable same-gender attraction(s) -- lest they "encourage" the "permanence" of a "gay identity."

Wake the kids, phone the neighbors, but most importantly, run for you lives.

And who can forget the MULTITUDE of persecuted ex-gay students, falling through the proverbial discriminitory ex-gay cracks in the mercilessly secular pro-anti-ex-gay public school system (bold mine):

Griggs also notes that schools with Gay Straight Alliance clubs are notorious for suppressing ex-gay organizations or individuals supporting tolerance for the ex-gay community. “GSA clubs and their teacher sponsors make schools unsafe for anyone who has rejected the ‘gay’ label in their lives or who believes in ex-gay equal rights. Our efforts to reach all students are typically met with hostility and violence. Time after time, we have faced hostile gay students and teachers ripping up our ex-gay materials or demanding that we be banned from distributing our materials on campuses.”

Boo hoo, wah wah, we just want to be left alone to ruin the lives of gay people in peace… Good God, she sounds just like Randy Thomas.

I’d ask if there’s something in the holy water, but It’s not like they drink it.

Anyway, to conclude, they both have a vested interest in demeaning gays. Thomas, and those of like-political ex-gay ilk, have to reinforce the belief that they made the right choice in “leaving homosexuality” (not to mention for the maintenence of their ex-gay careers as well). And Mrs. ‘perfect Christian mother’ Regina Griggs needs to know that she's not responsible for her own son's homosexuality (or so I assume...).

And that's where we and our "evil activist" GSA's come in:

Griggs, Thomas, Alan Chambers, and many if not most of their political-like, may not personally subscribe to the notion that “crimes against human-sexuality” are executable offenses. But if they ever get their way, it will be the most radical amongst them, that get their way, and so on.

And as long as the death threat of Leviticus 20:13 is not CONDEMNED as an unacceptable means of condemning homosexuality, then to my mind, the potential REALITY that we may someday be legally put to death for who we are, is automatically endorsed in its usage.

Oh, and FYI all ye blameless believers in, and repeaters of God’s holy hatred of homosexuality, negligent homicide is still HOMICIDE.