Author Archives: VoV Contributor

Is the Federal Department of Justice Discriminating Against the Ex-Gay Community?

DOJ Pride’s Silence Towards Former Homosexuals Indicates Ex-Gay-Phobia is Alive and Well

On May 21, 2013 a whistleblower at the Federal Department of Justice released a copy of a gay-affirming training manual, forcing all DOJ employees to embrace, support, and “be positive” towards all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) employees at the DOJ. The official statement put out by the DOJ is that the LGBT training manual will aid in the “effective management” of the department and that it will “ensure that advancement, development, and mentoring opportunities are fair and effective” to all LGBT employees at the DOJ.

Employees of the DOJ are encouraged to, among other things: “acknowledge important events in an LGBT employee’s life – e.g., same-sex marriage, birth of a child, illness of a spouse, or death of a partner’s parent – in the same way you would for a heterosexual employee” and “display a symbol in your office (DOJ Pride sticker, copy of this brochure, etc.) Indicating that it is a ‘safe space’.”

According to a press release from this week, the whistle-blower contacted Liberty Counsel (LC) to complain of the DOJ’s policies’ infringing upon their rights.

In a phone interview with Voice of the Voiceless, LC’s Matt Barber commented: “Whistle blowers within the Department of Justice provided LC a document – a brochure – that was developed by ‘DOJ Pride’, which is a division within the DOJ that ‘works within the Department of Justice to identify and address key areas affecting its LGBT employees.’ This document was sent to all managers throughout the DOJ and it lists a series of do’s and don’t’s for managers in dealing with employees” that are LGBT. Barber describes the brochure as “chilling” when it comes to an employee’s free speech to disagree with homosexual behavior.

One has to wonder, with all of this love for diversity, is advancement, development, and mentoring opportunities being effectively administered to DOJ’s ex-gay employees as well, or are former homosexuals being forced to stay in the closet due to fear of discrimination? When Voice of the Voiceless contacted John Elias, the Secretary for the Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Employees of the U.S. Department of Justice and Their Allies and asked him this question, he said “no comment” and hung up on our staff.

Interestingly, the DOJ manual states that silence towards the LGBT community will be interpreted as disapproval. Does being hung up on and/or refusing to comment constitute silence? In the past three days, our office has left dozens of messages for every single person listed on the DOJ Pride staff, and we have yet to receive a comment from them on their policies for ex-gays. We have to assume then, based on their own diversity manual, that the DOJ is now discriminating against members of the ex-gay community.

This is especially troubling considering that ex-gays are now considered a protected class in Washington, D.C., where the DOJ is located. In the case of PFOX v. Government of the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights, No. 08–003662, slip. op. at *5-6 (D.C. Super. Ct. June 26, 2009), the District of Columbia Superior Court ordered the Washington D.C. Office of Human Rights to recognize former homosexuals as a protected class for sexual orientation nondiscrimination purposes.

While the DOJ has refused to comment about their policies for former homosexuals, it appears that ex-gay-phobia is alive and well in the federal government! As far as the hypocrites at “The Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Employees” at the DOJ, they proclaim: “welcome and include all employees,” but their conduct toward ex-gays has thus far been anything but welcoming and inclusive.

Chuck Peters is a research assistant with Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families. For more information, visit: www.VoiceoftheVoiceless.info

 

Anti-Ex-Gay Activists Soooooooo Angry About Sandusky-Branded New Jersey Bill

Wayne Besen, David Roberts, and Other Ex-Gay Haters Throw Tantrums on Blogosphere

It was bound to happen. Now that the New Jersey bill to ban therapy for minors with unwanted same-sex attractions has been successfully branded the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act, anti-ex-gay/gay activists are throwing tantrums on the blogosphere.

In a May 7 post, Toby Grace whines that “Brielle Goldani is now living a nightmare because of her courage and willingness to testify to the New Jersey Senate committee holding hearings on bill S2278, also known as “The Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act . . . Ms. Goldani says she has been essentially driven into seclusion by harassing phone calls at both home and work and stalking on social media sites. Troy Stevenson, director of Garden State Equality, characterized it as a “re-victimization,” and points out that, while there may be no camp with such a name in Ohio today, that in no way means there was none 15 years ago.”

To be clear, Brielle Goldani’s fraudulent testimony on March 18 has been thoroughly discredited in articles published byWorldNetDaily.com and Townhall.com. To sum it up, no one can corroborate Goldani’s story of being tortured in a camp called “True Directions,” which only exists in a 1999 movie starring Drag Queen Ru Paul. The Ohio Secretary of State and Attorney General’s office confirmed that no such camp has ever existed, as well as several licensed mental health practitioners in Ohio who have been working in the sexual orientation field for decades. Additionally, the top official in the Assemblies of God church network in Ohio denied such a camp has ever existed, as well as Goldani’s church in New Jersey, who she said paid for her (him at the time) to attend the so-called “conversion therapy torture camp.” Re-victimized? Sorry, one would have to be victimized in the first place to be re-victimized, and Goldani clearly has not.

But that hasn’t stopped the gay activists in New Jersey from doubling-down on their discredited conspiracy theories of “gay conversion therapy” camps. Troy Stevenson, Executive Director of Garden State Equality, claims there are an additional six camps in Ohio doing similar work as True Directions. Really Troy, six camps that use aversion therapy such as forced IV injections and electroshock therapy intended to zap the gay out of youngsters? The scene in New Jersey is quickly turning into a full-fledged circus with these unsubstantiated allegations, and the activists are getting nervous. So much so, that they cancelled the May 15 Assembly hearing where they intended to bring in “prominent” gay psychiatrist Dr. Jack Drescher to put a nail in the coffin for sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy and send the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act on its way to Governor Chris Christie’s desk.

Clearly on the defense, anti-ex-gay activists are sooooo angry that their lies are being called out. David Roberts of Ex-Gay Watch complained last night on Facebook that therapists like me who are against children being victimized by pedophiles like Jerry Sandusky, and then lied to by gay activists that their same-sex attraction isn’t caused by sex abuse, are using this bill for political purposes and to “further our profits.”

Even better, Wayne Besen at the hilariously-named Truth Wins Out claims that ex-gay advocates are desperate and relying on “junk science” to make the connection with Jerry Sandusky and the New Jersey bill. If we were so desperate Wayne, why did your fellow anti-ex-gay activists in New Jersey cancel the May 15 hearing? Why not go forward and push this bill through the Assembly committee just like they did with the Senate hearing? Could it be that all their lies are coming back to haunt them? Could it be that THEY are desperate to create distance from these lies and the Sandusky-branded bill?

GUILTY: New Jersey Gay Activists Cover Up Fraudulent Testimony With More Lies

Garden State Equality Fails To Produce “Evidence” of “Conversion Therapy Torture Camps”

An unknown representative of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest gay rights organization, who showed up uninvited and took the podium at the conclusion of Monday’s Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act Press Conference, was visibly uncomfortable as he answered questions from the press. The representative, who failed to identify himself, stammered back and forth, hands in his pockets, looking at the ground with a mischievous smile as if he was just caught with his hands in the cookie jar. This was the scene at Monday’s press conference at the State Assembly House in Trenton, New Jersey. Watch the video by clicking here.

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Anti-Ex-Gay Activists Applaud SNL’s “Gay Therapy Camp” Parody

Is Hetero Better Yo” and are NBC and CBS conspiring together?

 I rarely watch NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) anymore. First of all, with two small children (soon to be three) I usually don’t have the energy to stay up to 11:30, even on a Saturday night. But this weekend I had family in town and we ended up going to bed really late, so I happened to turn on NBC’s SNL, which was being hosted by Ben Affleck.

As I was about to turn it off and drift away to sleep, on came a scene of a typical summer camp, birds chirping in the background, with Affleck blowing a whistle: “Ok, can I get everyone’s attention. Welcome. I am Marvin, your camp director at New Beginnings Flagstaff. It’s ganna be a great summer, we’re ganna have a lot of fun…we’re ganna make a lot of friends, and yes, we’re ganna turn y’all straight cause you’re all gay kids and that’s a problem!” Watch the SNL “Gay Therapy Camp” parody by clicking here.

I have to admit, at that point I almost fell out of my bed laughing! What a ridiculous notion that a summer camp such as SNL’s “New Beginnings,” or better yet, “True Directions,” the camp Brielle Goldani said she was tortured and electroshocked in the effort to zap her from gay to straight, would actually exist in 2013! But that’s what gay activists would have you believe. In fact, Wayne Besen’s goons at the hilariously-named Truth Wins Out (TWO) wasted no time to applaud this parody as half-truth!

“This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live did a fairly decent job in exposing the ludicrous nature of the pray away the gay movement. The ex-gay industry has always been equal parts evil and ridiculous, and SNL‘s sketch, featuring an obviously repressed Ben Affleck as an ex-gay camp leader, showed the latter side.”

I’m still wondering where I fall with the two options…evil or ridiculous?

To SNL’s credit, the sketch was actually funny. Especially the part where Ben says he’s “straight” and then has a hard time repressing his urge to kiss one of the other male camp counselors. In fact, it seems that NBC really did their homework. They claim the camp made Affleck, who was previously confused and thought he was born gay, straight. Previously confused, he came to this camp and went from “gay to straight” and now he’s married to a church-going woman and everything is just great! That’s right folks, it’s that easy! 

At least NBC only did a parody, unlike CBS, who devoted an entire hour of their prime time “Criminal Minds” show to portray individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions as “ticking time bombs” who murder gay men they hate and straight women they can’t sexually perform with…all in the name of a warped-view of Christianity and the Bible.

It seems like more and more of these fictitious “conversion therapy camps” are making their way into the national media. It’s almost as if CBS, NBC, and anti-ex-gay organizations are conspiring together, right at a crucial time where legislation is being proposed in a half-dozen states (already passed in California) to ban sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy for minors who have unwanted same-sex attractions.

One final note: If this were truly a “conversion therapy camp,” I’m certain at least half of the kids in the camp (unlike SNL’s parody) would have already been “brainwashed” by their “Bible-thumping” families to believe they weren’t born gay. In the future, NBC shouldat least consult with some real ex-gays before writing another parody of SOCE.

To sign our petition and tell CBS’ Criminal Minds to apologize to the ex-gay and faith-based community, click here.

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

 

 

 
https://www.truthwinsout.org/news/2013/05/35196/

New Jersey Gay Activists Back Backpedaling on Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act

Garden State Equality’s Circus Clown Behavior Resembles Kangaroo Court

On May 6, Citizens United Against the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act, also known as Senate Bill 2278, held a press conference to blow the whistle on gay activists who are spreading false and misleading information about the nature of sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy for minors. If passed, this legislation would take away the rights of young people with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) to seek counseling from licensed mental health practitioners in New Jersey to overcome homosexual feelings.

The bill is being dubbed the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act, because when sexually abused children are denied treatment to resolve the symptoms of trauma, criminals like convicted pedophile and former Penn State University football coach Jerry Sandusky, go undiscovered, sometimes for decades.

If this legislation becomes law, monsters like Sandusky will have more protection to victimize, because children who develop SSA as a result of abuse may never tell their parents. They may never tell their parents because organizations such as Garden State Equality, the largest gay activist group in New Jersey, are indoctrinating young people to believe that homosexuality is in-born, and if a child believes they are born gay, then the possibility of resolving homosexual feelings that result from sex abuse may never enter their mind.

May 15 was supposed to be the nail in the coffin for New Jersey opponents of SOCE, who were attempting to push this legislation through a partisan legislature and put pressure on Republican Governor Chris Christie to take sides in an election year. After successfully moving the bill out of the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee, activists had secretly scheduled an Assembly hearing for this week.

In fact, Gay City News reported on May 8 that Dr. Jack Drescher, a prominent New York gay psychiatrist, was scheduled to testify on May 15 before the New Jersey Assembly in favor of the bill. But after last week’s press conference, activists are back peddling from their aggressive agenda, hoping to create distance from the Sandusky-branded bill and fraudulent testimony that was exposed after the initial March 18 hearing.

During the March hearing, a host of gay activists brought forth a parade of horrible accusations against SOCE, all based on unsubstantiated and anecdotal evidence. But what may have sealed the bill’s fate was the fraudulent testimony given by Brielle Goldani, a New Jersey transgendered woman who lied about being tortured in an Ohio “conversion therapy camp” called “True Directions,” a place that turns out to exist only in a 1999 movie starring drag queen Ru Paul.

At the conclusion of last week’s press conference, an uninvited and unknown representative of Garden State Equality took the podium, and in bizarre fashion, answered questions from the media in an attempt to defend the discredited New Jersey gay activists. Visibly uncomfortable, the representative stammered back and forth, hands in his pockets, looking at the ground with a mischievous smile as if he was a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

Unwilling to validate his accusations of an additional six “conversion therapy camps” in Ohio that are allegedly “abusive” to minors with any corroborated evidence, his boss Troy Stevenson, Executive Director of Garden State Equality, stepped in and was once again asked: “Tell us, what kinds of abuse do therapists do and what are the names of those camps in Ohio” so they can be investigated.

Stevenson promised to provide all members of the press corps the names of these camps right after the press conference (which he did not and still has not provided, after multiple e-mails and phone calls to his office) and then went onto to say: “The abuse we are talking about is taking a child, who has no consent over the therapy that is happening to them, and they’re being told there is something fundamentally wrong with an immutable part of their character.” He went onto say, “The American Psychiatric Association . . . finds this type of (sexual orientation change efforts) to be an abusive practice.”

First, in 2008 the American Psychological Association stated that homosexuality was not an immutable part of a person’s character: “There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”

Second, the American Psychiatric Association has never said that SOCE therapy is an “abusive practice,” and further, Stevenson claims that parents who send their homosexual-oriented children for therapy is akin to child abuse and that these children do not have any rights or consent, which is also inaccurate. Stevenson’s statements are completely false, and he is misleading the public, which is why he has not provided the names of these so-called “conversion therapy torture camps” or any citations to back up his claims.

Now that their backs are against the wall, New Jersey gay activists have been forced to cancel the May 15 Assembly committee hearing and go back to the drawing board. When they reschedule the committee hearing (most likely in June) they will be forced to provide validated and substantiated evidence to support their claims that SOCE is “abusive” and “harmful,” which they cannot. Additionally, to prevent another Kangaroo Court-style hearing, such was seen on March 18, the New Jersey Assembly would be wise to require all witnesses to testify under oath, under threat of perjury, so that “tortured transgendered women” like Brielle Goldani stay away this time (Note: a version of this article was published on May 17 at: http://www.christianpost.com).

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