Chances are, you have probably never heard of Anthony Muñoz. Even though he’s an NFL Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman, he doesn’t live an extravagant Hollywood life. But he’s somewhat of a celebrity in the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky region, and this year was selected by Xavier University to give the undergraduate commencement speech on May 11. With that comes an Honorary Doctorate from the Jesuit Catholic University.

Muñoz was chosen primarily because of his reputation of charitable work and years of service to the greater Cincinnati area through the Anthony Muñoz Foundation. But last week, openly gay Cincinnati Councilman Chris Seelbach and some Xavier University students objected to the selection of Muñoz, purportedly due to his ties with the politically conservative Citizens for Community Values (CCV), who holds to a traditional Biblical view on homosexual behavior.

The small group of Xavier students who objected to Muñoz initiated an online petition, which netted 443 signatures, claiming that the NFL Hall of Famer has ties to the “radical” CCV group, who opposed a Cincinnati Charter Amendment granting homosexual orientation as a protected class. As such, the petition argues that the views of CCV are “drastically out of line with the views of the teachings of the Catholic Church, Xavier University, and our President, Father Michael Graham, S.J.”

In a phone interview last week, a spokesman from Councilman Seelbach’s office told me: “Several hundred students at Xavier signed a petition to clarify whether he (Muñoz) condones discrimination against anyone in the LGBT community. In the past, CCV has opposed several charter amendments, first in 1993 to ban the city from protecting any kind of discrimination against the LGBT community, and then again in 2004. It wasn’t a call to remove him from speaking, but just to clarify his position. Again, it was the students who initiated this, not the Councilman.”

But the petition, signed by less than seven percent of the University’s 6,650 students indicates otherwise: “We are requesting that Mr. Muñoz clarify his personal position on LGBTQ rights. If he fails to do so, or does so in a way that is contrary to the ideals of Xavier University, Mr. Muñoz should be uninvited from speaking at the commencement ceremony and he should not be honored with a degree.” According to these students, it is of the utmost importance for any commencement speaker to adhere to the ideals of Xavier, a Catholic University, which opposes discrimination towards the LGBT community.

But what if supporting LGBT rights conflicted with the values of the Catholic Church?
What if, by accepting gays and lesbians as a protected class, this somehow violated the conscience of faithful Catholics in the Xavier community who oppose homosexual behavior? Would their recognition of such laws be in contradiction to their faith? Further, would a failure to acquiesce be license to rescind the commencement invitation of a respected, long-time community member, such as Muñoz, who has given hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of his time to make Cincinnati a better place?

According to guidance from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2006), persons with a homosexual inclination “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” Hatred towards this population should be condemned, and “those who minister in the name of the Church must in no way contribute to such injustice.” However, their guidance also makes it very clear that homosexual acts cannot fulfill the natural ends of human sexuality when they pronounce: “The sexual act finds its proper fulfillment in the marital bond” and “sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.”

In today’s culture war, it’s clear that some (not all) gay activists are advancing civil rights on behalf of the LGBT community not only to promote respect, compassion, and sensitivity (as the Catholic Church does) but also to legitimize homosexual behavior and thereby advance certain political objectives of the gay lobby, such as same-sex marriage. Such ends are clearly out of line with the teachings of the Catholic Church. At a time where same-sex marriage is being hotly debated at educational institutions across the country, issues of civil rights can easily be mixed in with politics.

But according to Seelbach’s office, the Councilman believes that citizens have the right to disagree with homosexual behavior and that this issue was not about the politics of same-sex marriage. “What happened was, Father Graham was concerned with this, and met with him (Muñoz), and again, Mr. Muñoz said he does not condone discrimination. There was no issue of marriage equality; it was just about discrimination being wrong.”

However, questions still remain as to whether this controversy was really initiated by Xavier students (who were only two years old when the aforementioned Cincinnati Charter Amendment was first initiated in Cincinnati in 1993) or if it was instigated by a disgruntled local politician with an axe to grind against anyone who opposes LGBT rights, which seem to be ever-expanding and increasingly eroding the free speech of persons of faith to express their views in the public forum.

In order to get more clarity, I called the Xavier University Student Government Association (SGA) and spoke to incoming SGA President Andrew Dziedzic, who told me that the outgoing President, Seth Walsh initiated the petition with two other members of the SGA. “None of the three students who initiated this petition were acting as representatives of Xavier University, only as private citizens,” commented Dziedzic.

But multiple attempts to reach the three students who initiated the online petition resulted in unreturned phone messages. Curious as to what these students might be hiding, I did an online search and discovered that Seth Walsh, outgoing SGA President and co-sponsor of the petition to remove Muñoz as commencement speaker, has been working since May 2012 as a “Community Liaison” for none other than Councilman Chris Seelbach! Among his duties are “maintaining important meeting records” and “representing Councilman Seelbach in the community at events.” One has to wonder how else Walsh is representing Seelbach, himself an Xavier Alumni, in the Cincinnati community?

To his credit, Anthony Muñoz personally met with the President of Xavier University to clarify his position on LGBT rights, as requested by the small group of Xavier students, that he does not condone discrimination. Remember, it was ONLY the students who requested this clarification, who were about two years old in 1993 and have been apparently following this issue for the better part of their lives.

Just like he has been for more than a decade, Muñoz is a class act and pillar of the community. It’s a shame he was bullied into this political catfight because of his support for traditional values. It’s also an embarrassment that some “Catholic” students at Xavier (remember, they were working alone without any prompting from local politicians) view the advancement of certain political objectives as a more important cause then standing up for their own church’s traditions and honoring a man who has given so much to their community. It reminds me of a line from that old song: “Kids, what’s the matter with kids these days?” Just remember, it was ONLY the kids! (Note: this article was published on May 5 at: www.christianpost.com).

 

Christopher Doyle, M.A. is the Co-Founder and Acting Director of Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, persons with unwanted same-sex attraction, and their families. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info

 

 

Wayne Besen Joins New Jersey Liar in Promoting “Gay Conversion Torture Camp” Conspiracies

There comes a time when you run out of talking points and simply have to resort to downright fabrication in order to fuel controversy. That’s just what Wayne Besen is doing on his anti-ex-gay hate blog, hilariously named Truth Wins Out (TWO). Voice of the Voiceless (VOV) thinks Wayne would have a hard time recognizing truth if it slapped him in the face.

Not even twenty-four hours after VOV called TWO, The Huffington Post, and GayStarNews out after suggesting that South African youth were tortured and killed by a militaristic-style camp with “reparative therapy elements,” Besen has doubled-down on his discredited conspiracy theory, saying:

To be clear, calling boys “sissies” and “moffies”does have an undertone about sexual orientation, but Bekker is deflecting attention from the real issue by saying that “turning boys into men” is not the same thing as changing homosexuals into heterosexuals. Indeed, on a surface level that’s true. Moreover, no one is claiming that the crimes were committed because the boys were gay, but rather were part of a hyper-masculine environment committed to the idea that these boyswouldn’t be “moffies.”

Really? No suggestions of gay to straight themes in the camp? Then why didn’t Besen just condemn this horrific tragedy instead of suggesting that the attitudes of these brutal criminals were similar to the disposition of professional therapists in the USA? Instead, Besen wrote this:

While no specific ties appear to exist at this point between American “reparative therapy” programs and this gruesome camp, the notable parallel is that groups like NARTH and Journey Into Manhood, as well as “therapists” like George Rekers have long been focused both on “preventing” homosexuality by teaching boys to be as masculine as possible, and on “curing” homosexuality in teens and adults by teaching them how to Be Men. Of course, it doesn’t work, as sexuality has nothing to do with either effeminacy or masculinity, but that’s the idea.

Here we go again, an activist-blogger trying to play therapist. I won’t even give him the decency of responding to his uneducated opinions on sexual orientation change effort therapy. But what I will address is his obvious exploitation of a tragedy to make subtle associations, wherever he can, with certain groups and therapists who disagree with his uninformed opinions.

By connecting professional therapists to brutal criminals, Besen uses a psychological technique called “jamming” (not that Besen would be educated enough to know this) where a respected person is compared to a non-respected person in order to make people believe they are similar, even unconsciously. Besen is notorious for doing this when he routinely compares PhD-level psychotherapists to ex-gay religious ministry leaders, many of whom have no formal psychological education or training. Not that there is anything wrong with persons of faith who minister to homosexuals, but it’s like comparing apples to oranges. All educated therapists know that relying on simple behavioral therapeutic techniques, such as celibacy, do not help persons resolve unwanted same-sex attractions.

The truth is, Besen and his goons at TWO are so desperate to bring down highly educated mental health professionals who help persons with unwanted same-sex attractions, that they’ll do and say just about anything, even lie, to achieve their objectives. In fact, here is a picture we found of Wayne and his good friend Matt Barber, after Barber called him out at the 2010 Awakening Conference at Liberty University. Besen tried (but failed) to pass as a college student in an undercover ploy to dig up dirt. To his surprise, the Christians at Liberty welcomed Besen with open arms, not that he would know how to accept such compassion.

With his latest tirade, Besen is stooping to the level of Brielle Goldani, the New Jersey transgendered woman who lied about being tortured in a so-called “Conversion Therapy Camp” in Columbus, Ohio in 1997. It turns out that the camp, “True Directions” did exist, but only in a 1999 movie starring drag queen Ru Paul.

VOV broke the story on WorldNetDaily.com (see: http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/transgendered-woman-lies-about-therapy-torture/) and will be announcing major developments in New Jersey on Monday, May 6 to stop this destructive legislation that was advanced on fraudulent testimony.

So be careful what you read on the internet folks, especially on amateur blogs like Besen’s TWO. He likes to make things up…that’s his specialty.

Christopher Doyle, M.A. is the Founder and Acting Director of Voice of the Voiceless

Rev. DL Foster Comments on Chris Broussard’s Reaction to Jason Collins “Coming Out” in the NBA

May 1, 2013, Atlanta, GA – Voice of the Voiceless (VOV), a public advocacy organization supporting and defending the rights of former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families, today voiced approval of ESPN’s handling of Chris Broussard’s reaction to Jason Collins’ announcement that he is gay. Collins made headlines this week when he become the first player in a major professional sport to openly announce his homosexuality.

Broussard, a veteran ESPN sports reporter was invited to add perspective —not as a representative of ESPN— but as an American citizen with free speech rights, in response to the “coming out” of Jason Collins. Despite Broussard responding with grace, truth, and honesty, he was yet excoriated by the same groups who demanded that another sports star (Tim Tebow) keep his Christian faith hidden because it is “too polarizing.”

“Discrimination has found a new soft target in the media marketplace. Bracketed by concerns of losing one’s employment and the threat of a public media lynching is the new reality for American citizens of traditional biblical faith who would dare openly voice their perspectives on sexuality and morality,” said Rev. DL Foster, VOV Co-Founder.

Nowhere is that concern more pronounced than in the media as Americans found out on Monday in the wake of the previously unknown player’s announcement that he was homosexual. Despite intense pressure from a chorus of pro-gay personalities, ESPN stood by Broussard, issuing a statement that called the discussion “respectful” and part of its “commit[ment] to diversity.” We applaud ESPN for their tolerance and respect for diversity.

Much like the team sports ethic, ESPN gets it that dissension in national discussions about homosexuality is a vibrant part of our American ideals. VOV calls on other organizations to resist extremist voices that seek to push our nation into a one-sided media monopoly on important issues.

Rev. DL Foster is the Co-Founder of Voice of the Voiceless