The reactionary scum calling themselves human beings have been busy fucking up the world for Queers. In Uganda, Russia (and Eastern Europe in general), France, Haiti and many other places Queers live a life of fear; they are blackmailed, raped, beaten, and murdered in cold blood while the so-called “authorities” abet and aid the slimeballs who perpetrate these crimes.
Police (re: pigs) do this because they understand that only through protecting the state, cloaked as it is in a cloth of heterosexism, that their own narrow minded interests will be continued. The pigs know that so as long as a capitalist (re: bourgeoise) apparatus is protected than their pathetic delusions concerning gender and religion will be enshrined. It is a system which perpetuates itself through the dual pillars of church and capitalism and it is one which must be destroyed.
While in Uganda Queers are criminalized, in Russia they are legal but subject to humiliation and second-citizenship status. In France the right-wing allied with Neo-Nazi fascists to try and block the passing of the marriage for all bill. In both countries the backward tenants of Christianity hold powerful sway. The proponents of this cult have had their violence sanctified by the state. As a result the Queer minority has fallen to nearly sub-human depths.
It is time to fight back.
Smash Liberal-Opportunism!
The pieces of shit which dub their ideology “progressive liberalism” are nothing but capital’s left-wing. They live to serve and shield the capitalist system; as a result they have made themselves enemies of the revolutionary Queer- they must be eliminated, crushed, and outright driven under into submission.
In the wake of Russia’s infamous Anti-Gay Propaganda bill which prohibits gay rights organizations from displaying any pro-gay materials in front of youth and bans all gay pride parades for a hundred years, in addition to the discrimination faced by Queer youth at the hands of fascist neo-nazis luring teenagers into scenarios where they are publically beaten and humiliated, the progressive liberal response to this situation has been to boycott a supposedly homophobic liquor company.
This kind of nonsense is not confined to Russia. In the wake of learning of Chick-Fil-A’s homophobia the American scene was transformed by a campaign to boycott the popular restaurant; later on a counter-campaign to support the bigots was launched. What does this mean? Primarily that regardless of location the progressive liberal is focused more on reorganizing capital than advancing the Queer working class.
While fighting tooth and nail for publicity in these commodity campaigns doesn’t hurt the movement towards equality it neither does nothing substantial for it while ultimately leading it along a bourgeois line. Consequently this type of thinking must be combatted for not only its misleading goal of disarming a movement of revolutionary potential but for its rejection of practical methods.
Enter: Violence
Another facet of liberal ideology is the emphasis on non-violence. They claim that great goals can be accomplished with peaceful modes of struggle. Citing examples such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, they go on and on about the glorious victories stemming from a rejection of bloodshed. There is of course but a single problem: their entire argument is a load of horseshit.
Let’s be honest: Gandhi didn’t do jack-squat while Mr.King’s movement ended in abject failure challenging only the appearance of racism and not its actual superstructure. Both examples ride on the successes of true revolutionaries who up took arms to fight for what they knew was right. Even in Queer history this is true: to gains rights and something more than “look at that goddamn fag” status, Queer in New York didn’t partition the government but rather rioted and fought the pigs with rocks, fists, and makeshift weapons during the Stonewall Rebellion.
It is time that the degrading lies of nonviolence be rejected. Since the reactionary elements do not hesitate to use violence why shouldn’t our Queer brothers and sisters in Uganda and Russia? It is important to remember that armed Queers don’t get bashed. Since we also know that non-violence only ever results in fluffy words it is time that Queers in these Queerphobic hellholes take matters into their own hands and start shooting, bombing, and razing to the ground any and all institutions and people who get in their way; after all, a bullet shot is a bullet earned. Real progress is measured in blood, not in the amount of picket signs.
“The Only Church That Illuminates is a Burning One”
Fuck religion, fuck the pedophile priests, and fuck the counterrevolutionary garbage which pervert the name of Jesus Christ, Abraham, and Mohammed. Such people are not worth the air they breathe. If all of them were to be shot en mass I would consider it their own fault.
A common tactic of the hopelessly deluded is to dub Queer people pedophiles. This is known in all of the countries listed plus a great deal of others who have erected police forces which refuse to help Queer people after they have been wronged on the grounds that gay men and lesbian woman are pedophiles and hence are subject to arrest. While this goes on the church, in its filthy depravity, covers up the abuse which young boys and girls suffer at the hands of their sickening “priests”.
The real pedophiles are the pulpit pounders not Queer people!
Religion only exists to serve capitalism and undermine class consciousness. It is used by the ruling class as an instrument to dull the fury of class warfare by redirecting hatred to invisible sources: “it was God’s judgment that that worker died; he became too greedy for more money by demanding a rise when instead he should have been content with the pay he had.” Had the Church been a legitimately progressive influence on society (I.E. fighting for social justice) it would have been expunged at the start of capitalism.
Through the Religionist nutjobs Queerphobia is best spread. With the Bible’s numerous instances of Queerphobia the hate of Breeders is tied to it foot and hand.
Oppose Breeder Politics: Eradicate Heterosexism!
Heterosexism is defined as believing that heterosexuals are superior to homosexuals and other Queer minorities. Yeah, and ice will stay cool in an oven. Give me a fucking break. In terms of reactionary levels these people, these Breeders, are the worst of the worse.
I will give to them that heterosexuals have been superior in fucking up the world but beyond that I am not willing to compromise on much: in-between reproducing on such a scale that tens-of-thousands of people die a day, to creating the nuclear family and all of the dysfunction which travels in monogamous relationships, the Breeders have done a superb job at becoming superior in terms of proving who is the bigger monster: heteros or homos (Psst… the answer is heteros).
The unsavory truth is that neither gay nor straight are superior to one another: both are equal (shocking!). Heterosexism is no different from racism, nationalism, or religion. It is an absurd fantasy promoted by the backward as a means to promulgate their rancid lifestyle. Nothing more. As conscious revolutionary Queers the task at hand is to unite all aspects of the working class to battle reaction yet before this can be achieved heterosexism must be firmly dealt with.
Towards A Queer Future
How does one go about in forging a future which is Queer friendly? Good question. Unfortunately I do not have the answers to that. I can say that it starts with abolishing religion, rejecting capitalism as a viable system, embracing violence, and battling liberalism while upholding a revolutionary communist line. Beyond that though… I haven’t the slightest idea (*wink* *wink*).
The following article is a review of the political narrative of Bioshock: Infinite, a game recently released by 2K software and Irrational Games. My document is not meant to be the “end all” script for the game’s analysis but it is intended to begin discussion on the topic at hand. For the purposes of this article I have limited myself to talking purely about the game’s political overtones and social-commentary; comments concerning the finer aspects of the gameplay I have intentionally excluded.
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Infinite is a unique experience. Much like its predecessors, lying within the game’s plot there are political overtones which carry significant amounts of social-commentary on American (United States) culture. Yet despite this I cannot say that Infinite is a watershed game in the same manner its past-contemporary was; during the narrative there is ups and downs. A genuinely progressive streak of intriguing musings on race and religion, intermixed with labor struggle, are abruptly hampered by a decadent liberal turn for the worse.
To understand what I mean we must delve into the world of Bioshock: Infinite.
Once there we will emerge onto a city which floats in the sky-Columbia! A city of pure Americana Columbia is the world of any ultra-conservative’s dream: there is no sex before marriage, children’s know their place and are well disciplined, labor activists are shot, and inter-racial marriage is a crime punishable by exile and even death. The guiding light of this utopia is the prophet Zachery Chomstock who reigns over Columbia as a demi-lord, a righteous holy man who shines the path towards salvation for the thousands of Columbia’s residents.
Enter: Broker DeWitt. A veteran of the brutal combat of Westward expansion, Mr. DeWitt served in the United States cavalry where he not only fought at Wounded Knee but also in the Yellow Boxer Rebellion. Haunted by debts the ghosts of his past have given him a final chance to pay off his obligations: bring them a girl-Elizabeth- and his slate will be wiped clean.
Entering Columbia through a shuttle which he rode at the top of a lighthouse (a familiar locale, eh?) our protagonist fights his way to the prison where Elizabeth is held; a giant tower in the shape of an angel and more than a bit reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty (among other grand monuments). Helped along the way by a paradoxical couple who know their way around the city, the player encounters many signs which allude to unrest within this morally upright paradise.
The first sign manifests as gossip concerning a group called the “Vox Populi”. Whispered in feared revelation the player learns that these people stand in opposition to the founders of Columbia, a aptly named group led by their Prophet called “The Founders”.
To call the Founders racist is an understatement. For they are not your great grandmother’s unnerving comments about the “superior qualities” of Whites but rather a raucous diatribe against the Negro cloaked in the visage of religion; the police force motto being “Protect the Future of Our Race” is then combined with the theocratic enforces use of Ku Klux Klan-esque robes to full effect. Together with the painting depicting Abraham Lincoln as a monster and John Wilkes Booth as a hero, we begin to see the true colors of The Founders.
This even extends to Elizabeth. The player soon discovers that she is locked away in the tower due to a religious frenzy. The prophet has done this because he has “foreseen the future” and knows that she is his successor, the one who will lead Columbia and pure the world of sing and vice.
As one might imagine this setting has much to see. By the time the player rescues Elizabeth from her tower, relatively early in the game (about a couple hours in), even more fascinating threads are introduced: Elizabeth can open “tears” in the fabric of the universe. She can even bring in objects from the other side to aid the player in their quest.
As one might expect all this makes for dynamite gameplay; the action is solid, the graphics flourish, and the soundtrack a reliable companion. Yet the political narrative is not as tight. Going into Infinite I believed I was about to play the “Avatar” of 2013. Meaning I was under the impression that Infinite was to deliver a hard-hitting package of progressive social-commentary which bordered on the revolutionary. Unfortunately such wasn’t the case.
The plot of Infinite is as described above: The Founders and the Vox Populi are at war, one side represents patriotism the other radicalism. Due to this nature the game packs quite a political punch but it is mostly contained to the first half of the game. This second half deals heavily with interpersonal actions across multiple universes (otherwise known as the “Multiverse”). This in turn negates the conflict in Columbia and regulates it to background details for the journey at hand.
So to analyze the content at hand we must look beyond the beginning. Near the quarter-progress mark is where the relevant social-commentary picks up and it is where we see Infinite take a turn for the worse.
It is at this point in the game where the player is tasked with acquiring weapons for the Vox. To do so they must travel to an area collectively known as “Fink Company”. This comprises the Docks, factory, slums, and market place. All of it belongs to an industrial magnate named Mr. Finkerton. As one might imagine within the conservative realm of Columbia there are no trade unions and so blaring throughout the PA system are tirades against demanding better wages, improved working conditions, and imagining something better. To this extent “labor agitators” are rounded up and placed in stocks.
As the player continues with their harried quest to find the weapon smith capable of forging their much needed weapons, a cache which if obtained will grant the Vox Populi the strength needed to launch a revolution, the player journeys through several distortions; rips in the universe which lead into alternative pockets inside the Multiverse.
After several leaps through these “tears” the player finally succeeds in their quest to create weapons for the Vox. Soon thereafter the player is thrust into a realm of revolutionary upheaval. Gone are the police filled streets searching for political dissidents and “in” are the days of armed workers overthrowing the rich. Any revolutionary is sure to be inspired by the sight of armed “leftists” storming police headquarters, slaying policemen with summary executions, and deriding the lies of the capitalists. I know I was quite taken.
It is for these very reasons, however, where the game slips and starts down on the reactionary slippery slope of moralism. Let’s first look at the dialogue: during this tumultuous moment in the game, where the Vox are taking matters into their own hands, conversation between Broker and Elizabeth take a right-wing turn.
Prior to the start of the revolution the player was regaled with musings on how because the Vox had weapons they would be able to make a better life for themselves. Yet after the Vox get weapons, and the protagonists see the carnage of class warfare, they suddenly begin this lopsided moralizing: “Comstock and Fitzroy [the leader of the Anarchists] they are no different, aren’t they… they are the same… they are just right for each other” and on and on in this manner equating the two as different sides of the same coin.
This was a severely disappointing development. In what manner were the Vox and Founders similar? Did the Vox exploit their fellow man’s labor in exchange for profit? Did the Vox institute slavery and White Supremacy? Did the Vox have visions of drowning the world in a sea of theocratic flame? No, they did not. At this moment we hear that these two factions are “one in the same” because they (wait for it…) use violence!
To spell out how “corrupt” the Vox Populi have become the developers take the cheapest road possible: they show the Vox leader-Fitzroy- nearly murder the son of Finkerton; with blood smeared on her face and shouting lines of how the boy’s death is necessary to ensure the complete destruction of the workers oppression, the scene is cut short in Fitzroy’s unexpected slaying[i].
Narrative wise the confusion heightens even more when you hear dialogue which advocates not for the workers to take control of the means of production but to burn down Finkerton factory; to not place Columbia under socialist leadership but to “drag it from the sky”. While Mr. Levine was inspired by (a picture of) Eugene Debs it doesn’t seem that any of the rhetoric of revolutionaries rubbed off on him as at this point in the plot I got the impression that the lead creative team was inspired more by the popular conception of Anarchism (destroy everything, no leaders!) than its reality (destroy capitalism, no bourgeoisie!).
It is almost as if Ken Levine decided to take such a grotesque turn as if in recompense for the wicked depiction of the virtues of “traditional America”. As if he had to paint the workers uprising as a hypocritical, needlessly bloody event so as to not be mistaken for advocating socialist revolution in the real world.
While the ideals of the Vox Populi are never truly expounded upon, and it is only in propaganda posters that they are referred to as “Anarchists”, if we take on their chosen lexicon then we know for certain that they represent a revolutionary, anti-capitalist faction. In this manner we cannot excuse the developer out of cop-outs (I.E “the Vox weren’t actually Anarchist so hence it isn’t actually anti-revolution). Between the rants against wealth, hoarding, advocacy for striking, and multi-racial worker brigades, we have all the proof we need that this faction is the perceived revolutionary pole thus making this event (the turn against the Vox) anti-revolutionary; or as we call it in the legitimately revolutionary circles: petty-bourgeois.
The narrative here is one of class collaboration. Of stressing the needs of unions and of liberal approaches to race relations, of free association of religion separated from politics. It is an endorsement of the status quo ultimately preaching the need for a smaller “worker friendly” version of capitalism. While I was hoping it would be so much more than that it isn’t. So it is true: we all cannot get what we want.
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So we see that Bioshock: Infinite is a mixed bag. While the gameplay is great and story engrossing when we take a closer look at the class narrative it becomes muddled. In the very least it is what I would consider to be False Progressive; or, an ideological outlook which leads masses to reactionary dead-ends. Still for all its short-comings it packs a punch if you are searching for an interesting world Post-Rapture.
[i] The historical parallel to be made here is that of Vladimir Lenin; when the Russian revolution was triumphant did they allow the Czar’s family to live? No, they did not. They executed them precisely because the Bolsheviks understood that one cannot allow heirs to “the dynasty” roam free and someday organize resistance to the new regime. Such deaths are an unfortunate yet necessary part of history.
A anti-ExGay activists hitting the streets to promote tolerance instead of hate.
For decades now the religious right has espoused the antiquated belief that through faith, prayer, and submission to god a homosexual person can be converted to heterosexuality. This is an outright lie. An individual’s sexual orientation is an inborn and unchangeable feature about them and cannot be changed, altered, or ‘morphed’ under any circumstances or settings. Testimonials to the contrary are usually short lived opinions by people who later discover that they simply repressed their feelings instead of changing. The bigots on the right, and in some cases the left, hold up discredited pseudo-science as their guiding light and worm in under democratic freedoms their supposed right to spew their hate but such language has long been fought and will continue to be fought.
Ever since American Psychiatric Association (A.P.A) removed homosexuality from their list of diseases in 1973 the social landscape began to shift towards a more enlightened understanding. Activism picked up in areas where gay and lesbian participation was previously unseen and more and more civil rights were being won in states all across the United States and indeed the world. From the A.P.A’s monumental decision other health organizations followed. Soon all the major psychological associations removed homosexuality from their respective lists and the public gradually swayed to the side of progressive change.
However, not all embraced the changes, for American society had long been ruled by conservative and liberal hatemongers who understood little about their own sexual orientation other than their lust for women. Naturally, with such ignorance pervading society many reactionary groups sprung up to oppose further progress. From this backlash emerged the ultimate perversion: religious backed “Ex-Gay Ministries.”
With the first “Ex-Gay” ministry founded in the same year that the A.P.A removed homosexuality as a disease the religious right showed that they intended to fight progress at any cost. Love In Action was the first “Ex-Gay” ministry and fell apart relatively quickly when one of the founders, Jack McIntyre, committed suicide after not being able to change, and another left after realizing that changing was impossible.
After Rev. Kent Philpott wrote his infamous book, The Third Sex, which featured six homosexuals who had claimed to convert to heterosexuality (though it was later revealed that all the individuals did in fact not change but simply suppressed their feelings) dozens of other “reorientation ministries” popped up claiming to “help” those “struggling” with unwanted homosexuality. It would only be a few years later, in September of 1976, that the largest “Ex-Gay” ministry, Exodus International, would be created thus launching the struggle for gay pride and identity into a deadly fight for survival.
“Ex-Gay Therapy”
The techniques employed by so called “Ex-gay” therapists are cultish at best. Among the list of stunning mind-control and alteration demands are, according to gay wonder blog Truth Wins Out: “snapping a rubber band on your wrist every time you are aroused by another man (or another woman if you are a lesbian), looking at a tree/wall and repeatedly saying that it is a color which it isn’t and forcing yourself to believe it, always striving to win otherwise defeat will cause homosexual thoughts, conversion through hypnosis, playing sports will make you a heterosexual (assuming that no homosexuals happily play sports), and gaining weight. Needless to say none of these ridiculous methods will cure anything, let alone “convert” someone to a foreign orientation. However, to gain a real appreciation for how absurd these techniques are hear some quotes from the wackjobs themselves…
‘My weight started to increase, and I found little desire to keep on a strict diet and stay fashionably slim. My very appearance was changing. I was looking less and less gay. And I was perfectly happy about it.’(John Paulk, Author, Not Afraid to Change)
‘I would start to experience a sexual response… So I would look out my car window and say something like, “Gosh, Lord, there’ a tree out there! That tree is green, and has leaves on it. It’ got brown bark.’ I would fix my mind on anything to distract myself…Over time, that made me mentally disciplined enough to displace all lesbian thoughts, period.’(Anne Paulk, Co-Author, “Love Won Out”)
‘When we consider that there is no objective distinction between homosexuality and the other perversions, we can easily see how the development of the homosexual “habit’ fits into this framework (of cures through medication). Some [homosexuals]…are being successfully treated with Prozac. Here too, sexual reorientation is reported to have occurred incidentally.’ (Dr. Jeffrey Satinover , M.D., Author, “Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth”)
‘Non-homosexual men who experience defeat and failure may also experience homosexual fantasies or dreams.’ (Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality)”
The list goes on and on.
“Ex-Gay” Scandals: Caught in the Lie
If there is one thing that so-called “Ex-Gays” are proficient at it is lying through their deluded teeth.Over the courseof the “Ex-Gay” movement there have been several high profile defections and scandals which prove the asinine claims of change are faulty.
On September 19th, 2000 Jon Paulk, chairman of Exodus International, was photographed at a gay bar in Washington D.C. The incident cost him his job at Exodus.
In 2003 Michael Johnston, founder of The National Coming Out of Homosexuality Day, resigned after allegations rose that he had sex with men he had met on the internet.
“…In 2000, Wade Richards appeared as a media spokesperson for a group called the Saviors Alliance for Lifting the Truth and gave his testimony of “change” at a major press conference sponsored by right-wing zealot Peter LaBarbera, who now works at Americans For Truth. But a year later, Richards rebuked the “ex-gay” ministries when he came out in an interview with the Advocate magazine…
… In the early 1970′ Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee were counselors at an “ex-gay” ministry in Anaheim, Calif. In 1976, they organized the first national conference of “ex-gay” ministries. At this conference, Exodus International was formed and it is now the world’ largest “ex-gay” organization. While traveling on behalf of Exodus, the two men acknowledged that they had not changed and were in love with each other. They soon divorced their wives, moved in together and held a commitment ceremony. In 2006, Bussee apologized at an Ex-Gay Survivors Conference for his key role in starting Exodus International…”
Colin Cook, founder of Homosexuals Anonymous, found his career had collapsed after it was discovered he had been giving nude massages to his patients. Later, when he was once more in the “Ex-Gay” industry, he once more found his career in jeopardy after accusations of phone sex, hugging and other such behavior surfaced.
“…In 1987, Jeremy Marks founded Courage, London’ first “ex-gay” ministry. In 2001, after nearly 15 years of watching people – including himself – struggle in vain to “change”, he renounced Exodus, saying that they were failing in their efforts to change peoples’ sexual orientation…
Desert Stream ministries acknowledged in their Mid-Year 2001 Report that, ‘At the end of 2000, we faced an unusual number of Desert-Stream-related leaders who fell into sexual sin, or who at least demonstrated a colossal lack of wisdom in their social choices…Several were placed on different plans of discipline and restoration.’
In its Summer 2003 newsletter, Portland Fellowship announced that its long-time director Phil Hobizal was stepping down because of an “emotional entanglement” with a man.
In Sept. 2007, ex-gay therapist Christopher Austin was convicted of sexually assaulting a client.
In 2002, therapist Richard Cohen, former president of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and head of the International Healing Foundation (IHF) was permanently expelled [from] the American Counseling Association.”
As any with a functioning brain can see the scandals of the “Ex-gay” movement spread far and wide. The statistics of those who “relapsed” back into homosexuality are expectedly high as well as those who later came out and said that “Ex-Gay” therapy is bogus and cannot change anything about you, let along your sexual orientation.
The glaring inconsistencies listed above are, of course, the more prominent. One cannot overlook the countless scandals which involved “Ex-Gay therapists” sexually abusing their clients, activists being convicted on child pornography, and a vast multitude of other hypocrisies and societal cancers reflected in the behaviors of such people.
The “Ex-Gay” industry is built on occurrences like this because no amount of “therapy,” prayer, worship, or faith will ever change a person’s sexual orientation or identity. The most one can hope for is denial and repression. However, since the vast majority of people do not deal well with denial they inevitably end up ‘spilling the beans’ and confessing to the deranged nature of “reorientation” techniques.
With California the first such state to officially ban all so-called “reparative therapy” earlier in 2012 truly the signs are there which show that not only are the “Ex-gays” a severely repressed group of society but that civilization at large is coming to reject their asinine espousals as well.
Real Science: The Biological Evidence of Innate Development
Now that you have heard the ridiculous claims made by the religious right it is time to hear the evidence which asserts that sexual orientation is an inborn trait and is not something “chosen” by the individual.
“In 1993, the National Institute of Health’ Dean Hamer illustrated that homosexuality might be inherited from the mother by her sons through a specific region of the X chromosome (Xq28). Hamer demonstrated this by noting that 33 out of 40 pairs of homosexual brothers whom he studied showed the same variation in the tip of the chromosome.”– Hamer DH, Hu S, Magnuson VL, Hu N. and Pattatucci AML. A linkage between DNA markers on the X chromosome and male sexual orientation. Science 1993; 261:320-326.
“A June 2006 Canadian study published in the journal, “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” said that nature, instead of nurture, explains the origins of homosexuality. The study’ author, Prof. Anthony F. Bogaert, at Brock University in Ontario, explored the causes behind what is known as the fraternal birth order. The research showed a correlation between the number of biological older brothers a man has and his sexual orientation. Dividing his sample of more than 900 heterosexual and homosexual men into four groups, Bogaert examined the impact of all types of older brothers, including step and adopted siblings, and the amount of time brothers spent together while growing up.His research found that only the number of biological brothers had an impact on sexuality, regardless of whether the boys were raised together.”– Bogaert, A.F. 2006. Biological versus nonbiological older brothers and men’s sexual orientation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 July 11 2006.
* “A study released in May 2006 by Swedish scientists demonstrates that biology plays a key role in determining a person’ sexuality. The research shows that the portion of the brain that helps regulate sexuality — the hypothalamus – reacted the exact same way in straight women and gay men when exposed to male pheromones, which are chemicals designed to provoke a behavior, such as sexual arousal. The same area of the brain only became stimulated in heterosexual men when introduced to female pheromones.”– by Ivanka Savic article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (PNAS) “Brain Response To Putative Pheromones In Homosexual Men,” (Vol. 102 No. 19) May 10, 2005.
* “In 2005, Dr. Brian Mustanski of the University of Illinois at Chicago published a study in the esteemed biomedical journal Human Genetics, claiming he identified three chromosomal regions linked to sexual orientation in men: 7q36, 8p12 and 10q26.”– “A Genomewide Scan of Male Sexual Orientation”, Human Genetics, Vol. 116, No. 4, pp. 272-278, 2005.
* “In 2003, University of Texas psychoacoustics specialist Dennis McFadden found that when measuring the way the brain reacts to sound, lesbians fell in between heterosexual men and straight women, suggesting they might be exposed to higher than normal levels of male hormone in utero.”– Loehlin, John C.; McFadden, David. “Otoacoustic emissions, auditory evoked potentials, and traits related to sex and sexual orientation”. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 1 April 2003.
* “In 2003, University of Liverpool biologist John T. Manning found that the lesbians whom he studied have a hand pattern that resembles a man’ more than a straight female’. Manning concluded from his study that this “strongly tells us that female homosexuals have had higher levels of exposure to testosterone before birth.”– Neave, N., Laing, S., Fink, B., Manning, J.T (2003) Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone, and perceived male dominance. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Lond), 270, 2167-2172.
* “A 1991 study by Dr. Simon LeVay found that a specific region of the hypothalamus is twice as large in heterosexual men as it is in women or gay men. This strongly points the role of biology in sexual orientation.”– Levay, Simon “A difference in hypothalamic structure between homosexual and heterosexual men” Science. 1991 Volume 253, Issue 5023, pp. 1034-1037.
* “Another 1991 study by scientists Richard Pillard and John M. Baily studied homosexuality among brothers and found that 53 percent of identical twins were both gay. In adoptive brothers, 11 percent were both homosexual. Of non-twin biological siblings, 9 percent were gay. Again, this points to solid evidence that homosexuality is a matter of nature.”– Bailey JM, Pillard RC (1991). A genetic study of male sexual orientation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 1089-1096.
* “The JUN/JUL 2006 issue of Seed Magazine points out that at least 450 vertebrate species engage in homosexual behavior.”– Lehrer, Jonah. “The Gay Animal kingdom” Seed Magazine. Jun/Jul 2006.”
AS you can Cleary see the evidence overwhelmingly points to inborn, genetic factors which determine one’s sexual orientation, and NOT choice, molestation, sex, rape, or any other garbage fantasy imagined by the bigotedly ignorant.
The “Ex-Gay” Assault on Youth and Education
Despite this mountain of evidence that proves “Ex-Gay” therapy false the religious right not only continues their battle to misinform but brings their crusade into the realm of public education.
Some wide, and potent, examples of the religiously deluded attempting to, and sometimes succeeding, in their hateful war are as follows…
“ …On May 2, 2006, Orlando-based Liberty Counsel and Washington-based Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) launched their joint “Change is Possible Campaign.” The goal is to threaten schools with frivolous lawsuits unless they allow the scientifically bankrupt message of ex-gays into classrooms.
The Christian Post reported in April 2006 that Liberty Counsel will ask students to distribute literature and put up posters promoting ex-gay messages. “We also encourage them to start Gay to Straight Clubs, and ask that the ex-gay viewpoint be included in all diversity day presentations that discuss homosexuality,” said a statement from the law firm.
Viroqua High School, near La Crosse, Wisconsin, cancelled Diversity Day in March 2006 after the Liberty Counsel threatened a lawsuit unless “ex-gays” were allowed to participate.
A high school in New Hampshire invited ex-gay activist Aaron Shorey to present his story on Civil Rights Day last year. He’s working with several other New England schools to get permission for similar presentations. The ex-gay group Inqueery, based in Des Moines, has also sent speakers to public high schools. In Boulder, Colo., educators are considering including an ex-gay pamphlet in a resource guide to help teachers handle questions about sexuality.
Similar lawsuits may be filed in New Jersey where Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) is seeking parents and students willing to sue to get the ex-gay view into schools.
In 2005, a federal judge sided with PFOX in a lawsuit against a Maryland school district. PFOX had sued to block the district’s new sex-education curriculum, arguing that its treatment of homosexuality was biased. The judge wrongly agreed that students should hear pseudo-science and PFOX now has a seat on the committee charged with drafting new lesson plans.”
When dealing with the religious right it is important to remember that they are not interested in democracy or freedom but rather only in their own twisted theocratic version of America. They will bully, intimidate, and coerce their view anywhere which it is not already present.
The “Ex-Gay” target youth because “children” are often the most venerable members of our society. Still mired in the pit of adolescence and all the sexual frustration that goes with ‘coming of age’ the theocrats need the clocks to turn back to a time when all signs of Queer culture and identity were violently erased. Since this condition no longer exists in many European and American societies they are reduced to petty indoctrination. Ignoring the fact that the “Ex-Gay” industry actively has within its ranks people who fake to be “Ex-Gay” in exchange for money, the monetary attraction is another primary reason why many so called “Ex-Gay therapists” have arisen; guilt, hatred, a way out all have common endnote- money; money which goes straight in the pockets of homophobes and sell-outs. Making a quick buck has never been more deadly.
This is the realty of the “Ex-Gay” movement: a mass of hypocritical, hatemongering, zealots which bully their way into schools, recruit the young to their deluded message, and spread forth lies. There is nothing remotely true in the words of such preachers. If there are any redeeming qualities it is that some have seen ‘the light’ and have fought back against the hate.
There is no such thing as “Ex-Gay,” Only people who have deluded themselves into believing that they have changed. No amount of prayer, worship, faith, or “therapy” will ever cause someone to change sexual orientation. Everyone is inborn with an orientation and such a concrete fact is unbreakable and unchangeable.
The Queer Gathering 