Tag Archives: Anti-Ex-Gay Activists

New Jersey Gay Activist Lies May Have Sealed Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act’s Fate

Garden State Equality and Brielle Goldani’s Lies To Advance Legislation Catching Up

It is now crystal clear that Troy Stevenson, Executive Director of Garden State Equality and Brielle Goldani’s lies are catching up to them. On May 30, CBS New York reported:

New Jersey Senate has put off a vote on a bill banning licensed therapists from trying to convert gay minors into heterosexuals. The postponement was made Thursday so some unspecified changes could be made to the legislation. It will be heard next by an Assembly panel.

Interestingly, the report failed to include some key facts that have been leading up to this decision. While the story mentions an Assembly panel hearing, it fails to report the fact that the same hearing was scheduled for May 15 and was also postponed, presumably due to “unspecified changes,” which is code for “we’re backing away from this toxic bill and we don’t want to tell you why.” Voice of the Voiceless (VOV) previously reported:

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 May 15. 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 now, gay activists in New Jersey are running away from their fraudulent statements on March 18, and legislators are following the same course. Below is summary of their lies:

Lie #1 – Transgender Brielle Goldani said she was tortured in 1999 in a Columbus, Ohio “conversion therapy torture camp.” No one has been able to corroborate her story, including the Ohio Secretary of State, Attorney General, and her home church in New Jersey, whom she said paid for the camp. Additionally, mental health practitioners who have been working for decades in Ohio have never heard of a camp called “True Directions,” except of course, in Draq Queen RuPaul’s 1997 film But I’m a Cheerleader.

Lie #2 – Garden State Equality claimed there were an additional six “conversion therapy camps” after the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act Press Conference in May. After multiple e-mails and phone calls to their office, Executive Director Troy Stevenson failed to produce any evidence or provide any names, as he promised he would. Not surprisingly, the New Jersey mainstream media has failed to hold him accountable to produce the names of these so-called “conversion therapy camps.”

Lie #3 – This week VOV discovered yet another allegation from Troy Stevenson of a “conversion therapy camp” in Oklahoma. Apparently, this “conversion therapy camp” caused Troy’s childhood friend to commit suicide. Who knows how much truth is in this story. If this boy did commit suicide, that is obviously a tragedy. Any loss of life at any time is a tragedy, and we grieve for this boy and his family.

But what is really concerning is Troy Stevenson and Brielle Goldani’s attempt to use half-truths and downright fabrications to advance their political agendas in New Jersey. Just how far will these activists go? How many lives will they exploit in order to score cheap political points for Senator Barbara Buono’s campaign against Governor Christie? How many children in New Jersey will be told they are born gay and their same-sex attractions did not result from childhood sexual abuse from the likes of Pedophile Jerry Sandusky?

It appears, at least for now, that the New Jersey Senate is backing away from this toxic legislation. But who knows what Troy Stevenson and Garden State Equality are up to next? Who knows how many more unsubstantiated allegations of “conversion therapy camps” will come next without a news media to challenge them? Below is the e-mail I sent to Stevenson this week, asking him once again, to provide evidence of his allegations. To date, he has not responded.

Christopher Doyle, M.A. is the Co-Founder and Acting Director 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

 

 

Mr. Stevenson,

I wanted to follow up once again to the e-mail I sent you below, as well as ask you a question in response to your personal story of a conversion camp in Oklahoma (see below).

You have yet to provide, as promised, the names of the six Ohio conversion camps. We can only conclude that these camps do not exist. If they do, please give us names so we may investigate. Also, please give us the name of this conversion camp in Oklahoma.

It is to your benefit to be transparent about these allegations you and your organization have continually made against those of us who work in this field. I am happy to work with you and Garden State Equality to end any abusive practices, if they exist. However, all we have heard to this point is unsubstantiated allegations and half-truths from your side.

Thanks,

Christopher Doyle
Co-Founder
Voice of the Voicelesss

 

Personal – I’ve never told anyone this.

Posted by Troy Stevenson, Executive Director, on March 18, 2013 (Image)

Right now, I’m on the train to Trenton with members of the Garden State Equality team. We’re getting ready to testify in front of the Senate Health Committee to talk about “gay cure” and “conversion” therapies and why they are so harmful for LGBT youth.

As I was going over my prepared remarks, I realized that there is a story I’ve never shared before that I’m ready to tell — because this issue is deeply personal to me, and it’s important for legislators to hear it.

When I was 15 years old, I met a young man from the rival high school in my home town in Oklahoma. He was the first person I felt I could truly connect with, the first person I came out to, and the first person I ever kissed.

But that first kiss was interrupted. The football team caught us behind the school after practice. We ran for what we felt was our lives, and what may very well have been in Oklahoma in the early 1990s.

We made it to our homes safely, and my first call was to my friend to make sure he was OK.

But he wasn’t OK. He described the “conversion” camp his parents sent him to when he told them he was gay. He described things that I couldn’t imagine, indignities that I won’t repeat. He said, “I will never go back.”

That was the last time we spoke. The next day I found out that he took his life. There is no doubt in my mind that the thought of returning to that torment was more than he could take.

It took me another decade before I was brave enough to honor his memory and honor my true self-identity by coming out of the closet once and for all. I became a better person, an advocate, and stronger than I knew I could be. I found a new home, here in New Jersey, and I am proud to lead an organization that works every day to fight for the equality, fairness, and acceptance that I never felt as a young person.

I’ll be telling this story to the legislators later this morning, but I wanted you to hear it first from me directly.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do and for the role you play in this organization, our community, my chosen home.

–Troy Stevenson
Executive Director, Garden State Equality

“Christian” Professor Joins Anti-Ex-Gay Whiners in New Jersey, Supports Gay Activist Lies

Voice of the Voiceless Concerned Over Warren Throckmorton’s Selective Outrage

When Brielle Goldani lied to the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee about the nature of Sexual Orientation Change Effort (SOCE) therapy, claiming the Assemblies of God church tortured her in the effort to zap her from “gay to straight,” where was “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton to cry foul?

When members of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest gay activist organization, lied about an additional six “conversion therapy camps” in Ohio that do “similar work” as Drag Queen Ru Paul’s fictitious “True Directions,” where was “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton to dispute it?

But now that gay activists are on the defense in New Jersey and their lies are catching up to them, “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton has come out of the woodwork to defend these liars. In a May 22 post on his blog, “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton wrote the following:

Christopher Doyle is misleading his evangelical peers about a New Jersey bill which would prohibit sexual orientation change efforts for minors . . . either Doyle has not read Senate Bill 2278 or he is deliberately withholding information from his readers . . . the New Jersey bill specifically addresses the concern about abuse . . . the bill correctly separates sexual abuse recovery from sexual reorientation. If a person is confused in their attractions after a trauma, then recovery from the trauma may bring some clarity to sexual attractions. This facilitation of coping and identity exploration is allowed by the law. Furthermore, the law allows therapists to discuss issues surrounding abuse (“unlawful conduct”) . . . in his Christian Post article, Doyle takes his opponents to task for presenting false witness. However, it seems clear that he has misrepresented the bill in his comments. Oppose the bill if you believe you should but don’t do it for false reasons.

Where “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton is incorrect is that if SOCE is outlawed for minors in New Jersey, those young persons who develop unwanted same-sex attractions as a result of sexual abuse will not be allowed to pursue their full heterosexual potential. Sure, counselors can help them heal the trauma caused by pedophiles such as Sandusky, but what if the minor’s goal is to specifically heal the SSA that results from multiple factors, including the trauma? For example, a minor’s goal might be to resolve the SSA brought on by sexual abuse AS WELL as resolve unwanted homosexual desires that may not occur from the sex abuse, such as familial and environmental factors.

Should a counselor then say: “I’m really sorry Johnny, but the state of New Jersey forbids me from helping you reach your full heterosexual potential, so while I’m really happy that you’ve recovered from the sex abuse, this is as far as I can take you . . . I can’t provide you any more counsel on how to overcome additional same-sex attractions you may still have. Good luck!”

The ludicrous nature of the proposed legislation in New Jersey is matched only by “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton’s ludicrous timing. But it’s better late than never for him. He may as well join his other anti-ex-gay haters who are now backpedaling and whining about the re-branding of New Jersey’s anti-SOCE bill as the Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act. Sorry “Christian” Professor Warren Throckmorton, YOU are the one misleading the public, not me.

Christopher Doyle, M.A. is the Co-Founder and Acting Director 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

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