Anti-Gay Boy Scouts Find Some Skeletons in Their Closet

In light of the anticipated wave of emotion and anger over the upcoming release of more than twenty years of child molestation records from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), we need to make one thing clear: the vast majority of child molesters are not gay men.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the BSA failed to report allegations of sex abuse of scouts in hundreds of cases between 1970 and 1991. Additionally, there were some cases where the organization helped the accused “cover their tracks.”

This all comes on top of heightened scrutiny in past months when the BSA has come out in strong defense of it’s own policies discriminating against openly gay scouts and leaders. It’s hard not to notice the similarities between the BSA and the Catholic Church when it comes to their discriminatory policies against gay people and their long history of child sex abuse.

For generations, people have made an inappropriate and ignorant connection between homosexuality and pedophilia and the record must be set straight (so to speak). I’ve heard it as recently as a few months ago when an acquaintance actually said to me: “I think gay men should really only be allowed to raise girls.” He was implying that if there was a young boy in the house, gay parents might be tempted. He thought he was liberal in his thinking because hey, at least he’s okay with gay men raising a girl. He was ignoring the fact that what he’d said was far more insulting than discriminating against LGBT parenting altogether.

With last year’s Penn State tragedies and seemingly daily stories about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church, pedophilia is in the news and in the thoughts of many Americans. Anti-gay hate groups such as the Family Research Council (FRC) are constantly on the attack by lying about the false links between homosexuality and pedophilia.

FRC’s Peter Sprigg said in their brochure, “Debating Homosexuality: Understanding Two Views,”

“We believe the evidence shows … that relative to the size of their population, homosexual men are more likely to engage in child sexual abuse than are heterosexual men.”

And FRC President Tony Perkins claimed – again with no evidence whatsoever on their website:

“While activists like to claim that pedophilia is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two. … It is a homosexual problem.”

Dr. Carole Jenny of Denver Children’s Hospital put together an exhaustive studyon this very topic. She took 352 children who were referred to a clinic for potential sexual abuse. 35 of these children were ruled out of the study as abuse seemed unlikely in these cases.

Of the remaining 317 cases…

74 children were abused by other children or teens under the age of 18.

9 children could not identify their abuser.

2 children were abused by someone identified as gay or lesbian.

232 children were sexually abused by the heterosexual partner of a close relative.

And if you’d like to discuss gay men in particular, the same doctor did a study of 50 boys who had been molested.

Of those 50 boys…

37 were abused by a man in a straight relationship with a relative.

3 were molested by their mother or grandmother.

5 were molested by both parents.

3 were molested by a male family friend who had no history of sex with men.

1 was molested by an uncle, also with no history of sex with men.

1 was molested by a man who was possibly, but not definitely a gay man.

The vast majority of men who abuse boys are either not attracted to adults of either gender or are straight men who are emotionally disturbed, frequently only involved because of the power they may have over a young boy. Additionally, the reason so many boys are molested by men is that men have greater access to boys than they do to girls.

Several studies have concluded that only a fraction of pedophiles have ever shown an attraction to other adult men – a fraction that is far below the ratio of openly gay men in society. Rob Tisinai has put together an excellent video outlining much of this data and raises perhaps the most important point about those people who choose to blame the gays for these horrific cases.

“When our opponents demonize openly gay men and falsely shine the spotlight on us, they’re letting the real abusers hide in the darkness…and continue their abuse.”

With every one of these statements from hate groups like the FRC, they are extending the myth that openly gay men are the ones to watch when it comes to the sexual abuse of children. And for every minute they spend penning the articles they do, a real predator is getting away with these horrific acts.

When they do this, they make the decision to prioritize their own anti-gay agendas over the lives and well-being of children. It is up to us to spread the truth and combat the lies and fear with scientifically-proven facts. This is not about defending our honor, this is about really protecting our children.

Penn State: The Connection Between Pedophilia and Homosexuality

The Washington Examiner's Cal Thomas

For a few weeks now, the Religious Right has been shamelessly co-opting the Penn State child rape tragedies to spark further hatred of the gay community. As discussed here last week, one organization went so far as to raise money with their incoherent linking of being gay to the Penn State incidents.

Well, I’ve had enough. After reading an utterly embarrassing piece of writing in the DC morning ‘Examiner‘ which grasped at straws by trying to link the relationship of Kurt and Blaine on ‘Glee’ to Penn State, I cannot stay quiet about it. And tonight, I discovered an equally horrific piece at World Net Daily which continues along the ridiculous and completely unsubstantiated link between being gay and being a pedophile.

The long and short of it: Being a pedophile has zero to do with being gay.

Dr. Carole Jenny of Denver Children’s Hospital put together an exhaustive study on this very topic. She took 352 children who were referred to a clinic for potential sexual abuse. 35 of these children were ruled out of the study as abuse seemed unlikely in these cases.

Of the remaining 317 cases…

• 74 children were abused by other children or teens under the age of 18.
• 9 children could not identify their abuser.
• 2 children were abused by someone identified as gay or lesbian.
• 232 children were sexually abused by the heterosexual partner of a close relative.

And if you’d like to discuss gay men, the usual target of lies perpetrated by the Religious Right, the same doctor did a study of 50 boys who had been molested.

Of those 50 boys…

• 37 were abused by a man in a straight relationship with a relative.
• 3 were molested by their mother or grandmother.
• 5 were molested by both parents.
• 3 were molested by a male family friend who had no history of sex with men.
• 1 was molested by an uncle, also with no history of sex with men.
• 1 was molested by a man who was possibly, but not definitely a gay man.

This is outlined beautifully by blogger Rob Tisinai in a video I will include at the end of the post, which you should all pass around as much as you can.

The vast majority of men who abuse boys are either not attracted to adults of either gender or are straight men who are emotionally disturbed, frequently only involved because of the power they may have over a young boy. Additionally, the reason so many boys are molested by men is that men have greater access to boys than they do to girls.

Several studies have concluded that only a fraction of pedophiles have ever shown an attraction to other adult men – a fraction that is far below the ratio of openly gay men in society.

As Rob Tisinai says in the video:

“When our opponents demonize openly gay men and falsely shine the spotlight on us, they’re letting the real abusers hide in the darkness…and continue their abuse.”

It has become clear through every actual fact that can be found, that what is more important to Peter LaBarbera, WorldNetDaily, Cal Thomas at the Washington Examiner and every other anti-gay activist, is that gays and lesbians be denied equality. They are continually putting their own anti-gay agenda ahead of the lives and abuses of children.

With every one of these articles, they are extending the myth that openly gay men are the ones to watch when it comes to the sexual abuse of children. And for every minute they spend penning an article like these, a real predator is getting away with these horrific acts. Peter LaBarbera, Cal Thomas, and WorldNetDaily have all made the conscious decision to prioritize their own anti-gay agendas over the lives and well-being of children.

It is up to us to spread the truth and combat the lies and fear with scientifically-proven facts. This is not about defending our honor, this is about really protecting our children.

Star Wars Game Might Turn Kids Gay…Says Breitbart’s Blog

Cynthia Yockey wrote an Op-Ed for this month’s issue of the Advocate, titled: “Equality Will Come From the Right: Why Andrew Breitbart is a better friend to gays than is the Obama administration.”

Andrew Breitbart

The piece outlines why the writer believes the Republican Party will be responsible for bringing about LGBT equality in the United States. The writer profiles an organization known as GOProud, a group whose mission is to let the world know that not all gays are progressive. GOProud was invited last year to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and was met with many other right wing groups boycotting the conference due to their participation. They’ve since been uninvited for next year’s event. Andrew Breitbart has decided he will boycott CPAC should GOProud not be allowed to participate.

Breitbart has since been named to the board of GOProud. Media Matters has outlined the dozens of moments in anti-gay rhetoric which Breitbart has been responsible for. And today, from Breitbart’s website, “Big Hollywood,” comes another extraordinarily anti-gay article. This one is akin to Keith Ablow’s advice to parents that they shouldn’t let their kids watch Chaz Bono on Dancing With the Stars because it might make kids turn transgender.

John Nolte of Breitbart’s Big Hollywood asks “Will ‘Star Wars’ Online Video Game Ask Your Child to Engage In Same-Sex Relationships.” The opening line of the post says:

“Apparently, after selling somewhere around 500,000 copies to unsuspecting families everywhere, the creators of the video game “Star Wars: The Old Republic” have decided to add same-sex romances to the online feature.

Say goodbye to your child’s innocence.”

The rest of Nolte’s rant describes the announcement that the game producing companies involved (BioWare, Electronic Arts, and George Lucas’s LucasArts) would be including SGRA’s (Same-Gender Relationship Arcs) in the online version of the game. He even goes so far as to call the company’s move to make the game inclusive “pure bait and switch.”

Nolte includes a letter from a Big Hollywood reader which states that “Some parents are concerned that this homosexual content will attract pedophiles.” This, despite the fact that pedophiles are disproportionately heterosexual. While hundreds of religious leaders have inaccurately and successfully spread the malicious lie that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia, the scientists (you know, the one who base their beliefs on fact and not fantasy) argue the opposite based on actual statistics.

Despite Andrew Breitbart’s apparent support of the conservative gay group GOProud, it seems to me that he has no problem trafficking in stereotypes, distortions and horrific lies about gay people. While I am all for doing our best to educate all people on our plight for equality, stating that Andrew Breitbart is going to be responsible for bringing equality to LGBT Americans seems a bit far-fetched.