Americans for Truth

Last week, we spoke with John Lisle, a spokesman for the Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department, who confirmed PFOX’s account of the assault August 18 at the Arlington Country Fair – homosexual activists’ claims of fraud against PFOX notwithstanding. Click HERE to view the original PFOX release describing an assault that “gay” bloggers Wayne Besen (Truth Wins Out), Jim Burroway (Box Turtle Bulletin) and David Roberts (Ex-GayWatch) said never happened.

The following is Lisle’s statement, e-mailed to Americans For Truth on September 11 (emphasis added):

Here is what I can tell you about the alleged incident at the Arlington County Fair on August 18.
 
I have now spoken to two officers who are familiar with an incident similar to what has been described [i.e., by PFOX–Editor].

 

One officer told me this week he was on patrol at the Fair when a woman approached him and told him a man had knocked over pamphlets at the PFOX booth and assaulted another man there.

 

The officer then spoke to the alleged victim.  He did not want to press charges and therefore no written report was filed.

 

Based on the description the officer was given, he located the suspect at the Fair.  Another officer escorted that gentleman off the Fair grounds.

 

If you have any additional questions please let me know.

 

John Lisle
Media Relations Office
Arlington County Police Dept.
1425 N. Courthouse Rd.
Arlington, VA 22201
www.arlingtonva.us/police
703-228-4311 phone
703-524-3674 fax

Predictably, homosexual activists are already touting the “failure rate” revealed by this study. However, many of the same activists have denied that people can change their “orientation” (i.e., their homosexuality) at all, a claim that is belied by Jones’ and Yarhouse’s research and ample evidence in the real world. Hopefully, this will be the first of many serious studies proving the reality of change to skeptical secularists and the media.

Another factor from my experience as a close observer of the “ex-gay” phenomenon is that many former homosexuals do not linger in “reparative therapy” programs, or participate in them at all. They attribute their dramatic and (relatively) rapid transformation to the power of God, and likely would not show up in a study of this kind. In fact, these “unstudied” overcomers would appear to be the most successful ex-homosexuals because they’ve moved on with their lives — as “reborn” Christians move on after overcoming any besetting sin. Moreover, they are not proud of their former sinful lifestyle and may not even wish to discuss it.

Who knows how many thousands of formerly “gay” men and “ex-lesbians” fit into this category — who will likely never be a statistic in this type of research? — Peter LaBarbera

The following is taken from a Baptist Press report on the ex-”gay” study. For the full Baptist Press article, click HERE.

Landmark Study: Change for Homosexuals Is Possible 

By Michael Foust, Baptist Press

Sep 14, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–In what some are calling groundbreaking research, a new four-year study concludes it is possible for homosexuals to change their physical attractions and become heterosexual through the help of Christian ministries.

The data was released Sept. 13 at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., and will be published in the forthcoming book, “Ex-Gays?” (InterVarsity Press) by psychologists Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse. Thirty-eight percent of the subjects followed in the study said they had successfully left homosexuality, while an additional 29 percent said they had had only modest successes but were committed to keep trying. In another significant finding, Jones and Yarhouse said attempts at conversions do not appear to be psychologically harmful.

Experts in the field call it the first scientific study performed on a sample of individuals undergoing Christian counseling, monitoring their successes and failures from the beginning. A follow-up study is being conducted and will be released in the future.

“These findings contradict directly the commonly expressed views of the mental health establishment that change in sexual orientation is impossible, and that if you attempt to change it’s highly likely to produce harm for those who make such an attempt,” Jones, professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, said at the news conference.

Read the rest of this article »

The following letter was sent today by the leftist, Chicago-based organization “Gay Liberation Network,” which routinely protests pro-family and Christian events — and which once blasted historic Moody Church in Chicago as a “House of Hate.” 

Note how Bob Schwartz equates the defense of historic Judeo-Christian morality with “hate.” We encourage readers to pray for Bob, who, is a very bitter and angry man. Readers can contact Dennis Igoe, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville, at dennis@naperselect.com or 630-505-4900.

___________________________ 

E-mail subject header: “Thank you for cancelling bigot banquet”

Dennis Igoe
Manager, Naperville Holiday Inn
Naperville, Illinois
 
Dear Mr Igoe:
 
It has just come to our attention that you canceled a banquet by “Americans For Truth,” an antigay hate organization.  We thank-you for doing so, given that antigay hate under the guise of religion is still hate.  Similarly, anti-immigrant hate under the guise of patriotism is the real agenda of the Minuteman Project, a group barred from another Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake.
 
No doubt Peter LaBarbera had our organization, Gay Liberation Network, in mind when he informed you that “homosexual organizations” might picket his hate fest.
 
It has become the cant of bigot organizations like Americans For Truth to cry that there is “anti-christian discrimination” at work whenever anyone stands up for fair play, such as in this instance of a private corporation refusing to provide a platform for rank bigotry.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
BOB SCHWARTZ
Gay Liberation Network
 
Copy: Americans for Truth

A news release from Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays:

Arlington, VA (Aug. 28, 2007) — Last week Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) exhibited at the Arlington County Fair in Arlington, Virginia.  PFOX has exhibited at this county fair for the past four years and hands out materials on same-sex attraction and tolerance for the ex-gay community to a hungry public.  A local gay group also exhibits there and distributes materials on gay rights.

As happens every year, gay activists disrupted our booth activities.  They screamed obscenities, threw our materials from the exhibit table to the ground, insisted we recognize their same-sex “spouses,” demanded that PFOX leave, and hit a PFOX volunteer because he is ex-gay.

When we explained that the county’s sexual orientation law allows both the gay booth and our ex-gay booth to exhibit, the unhappy gays insisted that sexual orientation laws on hate crimes and discrimination do not apply to ex-gays — only gays — and no tolerance should be extended to former homosexuals. 

All the gays who stopped by our booth that week insisted that no one could change their sexual orientation from gay to straight, although they knew of people who had changed in mid-life from heterosexual to a gay lifestyle or had changed their gender. 

The gays became infuriated when our ex-gay volunteers testified about leaving homosexuality.  They adamantly refused to accept the ex-gays’ sexual orientation.  One gay man went so far as to hit our ex-gay volunteer because he refused to recant his ex-gay testimony.  We summoned a police officer, who ejected the gay man off of the fairgrounds.  Our ex-gay volunteer decided not to press assault charges against the gay man because he wanted to turn the other check as Jesus had done. 

Read the rest of this article »

Kevin McCullough is one of the few talk radio hosts who is not afraid to take on the homosexual activist movement. 

As one who has been on the receiving end of too many online “gay” lies to count, I can sympathize with Kevin McCullough – one of the few radio conservatives nationwide who doesn’t downplay the homosexual issue. (And there are some pretty big names in conservative radio who do by going ‘PC’ on this issue with their silence … so support Kevin.)

McCullough’s basic point is one that cannot be repeated enough: people have a choice over their sexual (mis)behavior — which is why homosexual activists stress the expedient ideological construct of (supposedly innate) “sexual orientation.”

Racial minorities have no such choice. Unlike homosexuals, they cannot leave their minority group, as every ex-gay or ex-lesbian does when he or she abandons that destructive lifestyle choice. Thus the biggest “gay” lie of all is that “being gay” — i.e., naturally predisposed toward homosexuality — is “who you are.” — Peter LaBarbera

_________________________

Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Why do angry gay bloggers always lie?
Posted by: Kevin McCullough at 8:17 AM

NGBlog [WARNING: NGBlog has a hard time making his point without cussing–Ed.] and OutsideTheTent have had me in their sights for sometime.

And when the towering intellects that they both are come up short against an actual point of substance the best they can do is call me stupid, or poopy pants, or whatever brilliant turn of phrase pops into their skull.

They are so desperate to make me appear stupid they slow down the video of me discussing the Mary Cheney pregnancy on CNN to the one frame where in the middle of speaking I appear half-inebriated.  [See an AFTAH post on the Mary Cheney baby story HERE.]

Classy…

Read the rest of this article »

DATE CHANGE FOR AFTAH BANQUET!

 Charlene Cothran and David Parker: two heroes for truth coming to Chicago.

Folks, you won’t want to miss Americans For Truth’s first annual banquet, on Friday, Oct. 5 at 6:00 PM, outside Chicago, Illinois. This surely will be one of the most compelling and exciting evenings for defending truth in the area of homosexuality that you will ever experience!

Our dynamic speakers represent both sides of pro-family advocacy on this issue: the loving Gospel message of hope through Christ in overcoming unwanted same-sex desires – and the bold defense of truth in the public square, in this case parents’ right to protect their children from manipulative, pro-homosexual lessons in taxpayer-funded public schools. Here are the details:

WHAT: Americans For Truth Dinner Banquet: Celebrating Truth and the Freedom to Be Moral

 

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 5: Silent Auction 6:00 PM, Dinner 6:45 PM

 

WHERE: Lombard, Illinois, west of Chicago, location TBA; call AFTAH’s Banquet Coordinator at 312-315-6152 for information on room reservations for those coming from out of state. (It is easy to get cheap flights into Chicago’s O’Hare or Midway airports.)

 

WHO:  Keynote Speakers:

Charlene Cothran
Former lesbian who, after her dramatic Christian conversion, retooled her Venus Magazine from a publication for fellow “gay and lesbian” African Americans to a Christian magazine seeking to help men and women overcome homosexuality through Christ 

 

David Parker
Caring father who became a nationally known parents’ rights crusader after being arrested at his 1st-grade son’s Lexington, Mass., elementary school for insisting that he and his wife be notified before their son was exposed to any pro-homosexual teachings

ADMISSION:  $50 per person; table of ten, $500. Pay online HERE.

 

PAYMENT AND RESERVATIONS:  E-mail Americans For Truth at americansfortruth@comcast.net; or call AFTAH’s Banquet Coordinator at 312-315-6152 to reserve your seats. SEATING IS LIMITED SO DON’T DELAY.  Pay using your credit card using AFTAH’s new and improved Online Donation Page (designate ”Banquet” in the comments section). Or send checks payable to “Americans For Truth” at $50/person to: AFTAH, P.O. Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.  You may also pay by credit card by calling 312-315-6152.  

 

WHY:  At this special event, pro-family leaders will celebrate God’s power to transform men and women struggling with homosexuality; and expose the relentless attack on children’s innocence, parental rights and religious freedom by a “gay/transgender” lobby that seeks to discredit and silence the voice of faith in America.   

  Homosexual activist Jim Burroway is upset that we highlighted Russell Groff’s tragic death from AIDS at the tender age of 26 — a consequence of his embrace of the homosexual lifestyle.

There’s an interesting piece on Stacy Harp’s blog about the wacky homosexual fringe. Stacy’s a friend and a pretty smart cookie — she’s way too intelligent to think you can actually make any sense of the lunatic ranting of Joe Brummer, “GayLeftBorg,” Wayne (”Anything But Straight”) Besen, and other homosexual extremists. But hers is a worthwhile read to get a glimpse of the lies, hatred and outright nuttiness we have to endure from the homosexual Left.

Memo to Joe: for the twelve thousand, three-hundred and sixty-second time, we abhor violence against homosexuals, or anyone for that matter. (See my piece, “Stoning Homosexuals: Which is the Real Voice of Hatred,” contrasting how radical Islam and Biblical Christianity treat homosexuality.) … Anyway, click HERE for Stacy’s article.

Bad Boys 

Speaking of militant homosexuals attacking, we’re sorry that due to summer doldrums — and yes, my own procrastination – we have yet to put up a post on the latest clever little attack (in their own obsessed minds) on yours truly by Jim Burroway and Boys at Box Turtle Bulletin. (Try saying that ten times fast.) Seems Jim created a “LaBarbera Award” to spoof me – after I dared to write about a young man, Russell Groff, who died prematurely — at age 26 — of AIDS after entering the homosexual lifestyle.

Jim says that I engaged in reckless rhetoric and he even called me a “despicable coward” for writing about Russell (I unwisely linked to a pro-homosexual tribute of Groff to provide background about him). Ouch. We’ll have more on “Fact-Checker” Burroway’s distortions later. Suffice it to say that Russell’s grieving mother feels otherwise and wants to use his tragically cut-short life to warn other parents and children about the dangers of homosexuality.

Then there’s the unfunny graphic on the Box Turtle site that mocks me, perpetuating the tired, “queer” activist theme that because I expose homosexual excesses, I must secretly be perverse myself.

Yawn. How many variations of “Kill the Messenger” can the homosexual activists come up with to discredit us? And all this time people on both sides of the debate have been saying how creative “gays” are. Go figure. Regardless, I’m sure Jim and the Box Turtle Boys were quite taken with their own wit.

Apologies to all for ever calling Burroway’s site, which strangely gets promoted by Christian therapist and psychology professor Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College — yes, that Grove City College — “high minded.” Warren assures me that Jim is a nice guy but somehow I’m not seeing it. 

Please pray for these poor souls who spend their lives defending a lifestyle that God clearly rejects. – Peter LaBarbera

Maryland public school officials silence PFOX, ADF attorneys respond

Teachers send harassing e-mails; school personnel incite students to toss PFOX fliers in trash

PFOX News Advisory: July 17, 2007
PFOX@pfox.org www.pfox.org

Contact: ADF MEDIA RELATIONS at (480) 444-0020

ROCKVILLE, Maryland – Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sent a letter clarifying the law Monday to school board officials in Montgomery County, Maryland because some teachers and principals have engaged in viewpoint discrimination and censorship against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), with whom they don’t agree.

“School officials do not have the right to engage in censorship of viewpoints they don’t like,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “The board has a policy permitting the distribution of literature by outside organizations and community groups, and it is unconstitutional then for district employees to single out certain organizations for censorship.”

When PFOX distributed its flyers to students, a teacher from Thomas S. Wootten High School and co-sponsor of that school’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club accused PFOX of being “like the KKK but only in the form of religion.” Using his school issued email account, the teacher wrote to PFOX: “STAY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS AND LEAVE OUR CHILDREN ALONE!” Another teacher from Winston Churchill High School vowed that he “and many of [his] colleagues” would “fight further intrusions of your group into our public schools.” Some school personnel went as far as to place PFOX’s name on trash cans in the main lobby of the school and incited students to throw out PFOX’s fliers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, whose decisions are binding on school districts in Maryland, held on two different occasions that community organizations have a First Amendment right to have schools distribute information to students without content- and viewpoint-based discrimination….

…A copy of the letter ADF attorneys sent to Montgomery County Board of Education President Nancy Navarro can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/MontgomeryCountyLetter.pdf.

Click HERE for the PFOX website with the rest of the ADF release and contact information for Montgomery County, Md., schools and media.