This week in the blogsphere much ridicule has (deservedly) been directed at Focus on the Family's "Is My Child Becoming Homosexual" post and at James Dobson's suggested cures for children with homosexual tendencies. Rarely does the radical right look quite as unhinged from reality as it does in these posts. And how can I resist piling on when such a pile of ridiculousness is right there, beckoning to be mocked? On Dobson, I am beyond flumoxed as to this "square peg" business. Does anyone have even the vaguest clue as to what that has to do with anything related to sexuality? That just confuses me. But that's nothing compared to my shock at other parts of his prescriptions. Does he really want gays, even if they are just young gays, checking out each other's packages and playing "rough-and-tumble games" with older men? That doesn't sound like Focus on the Family to me. And what if he's talking about children who have gay fathers? Is he encouraging grown gay men to shower with young boys, press up against them and play rough? I'm shocked and appalled (ok, no, I'm just amused).
The more general Focus on the Family post though is deeply troubling in a host of ways. Profoundly troubling, really. But instead of really getting into that for now, I'll just note one thing. It appears that it's the position of this group that gays are lost to homosexuality once they hit puberty. Does that really fit with the arguments of a lot of these loons on the causes of homosexuality? I thought it was that somehow youngsters were smuggled out to San Fran and locked in leather bars and presto ... or maybe that kids start prancing around, hands on their hips, if they see Just Jack for 60 seconds. This seems to suggest that they see it as something more biological than cultural. Does that strike anyone else as an unexpected position?
Posted by armand at August 11, 2005 01:46 PM | TrackBack | Posted to CultureAnd of course you notice that this is all about gay men. Lesbians are barely mentioned.
There's so much snark available here, but it does make me think of the general "climate of fear" discussion we have been having.
Posted by: binky at August 11, 2005 02:17 PM | PERMALINK“By the time the adolescent hormones kick in during early adolescence, a full-blown gender identity crisis threatens to overwhelm the teenager,” warns psychologist Dr. James Dobson. To compound the problem, many of these teens experience “great waves of guilt accompanied by secret fears of divine retribution.”
I'm pretty sure the waves of guilt and fears of divine retribution derive not from (what in most cases is a kid's pretty cursory understanding of) the bible but from sound-bite oriented screeds along the lines of, well, Focus on the Family's whole thing. Who else promises divine retribution and suggests that gays should feel guilty.
Also, how does one define an "effeminate boy" during ages 4 to 11. Is it just me, or is that whole thing rather circular.
Similarly, how about blaming the victim: gays are more susceptible to being called gay slurs by bullies? That's the gay kid's fault? You're right; these folks really are unhinged.
Posted by: joshua at August 11, 2005 02:24 PM | PERMALINKDobson has a column in our local free newspaper supplement that comes in the mail. I have to read it, like watching the train wreck.
One of the few times I ever really remember seeing my mom pissed and I mean really really pissed at my dad was one time he got ahold of some Dobson marriage improvement stuff. It was around the time that our family was going through a lot of trauma around a badly behaved sibling (who was eventually asked to move out) and it was affecting everybody. I was too small to know how or why, and my dad never went to church, so maybe it came from a friend or something, but it was a set of Dobson pamphlets and tapes that basically said "wives submit to your husbands and this is the way to have harmony in the house." My mom is a church goer, stay-at-home 1950s mom, the whole deal. And when she read that stuff I thought she was going to put my dad through a window.
So, if Dobson can piss off June Cleaver, you know he's out there.
Posted by: binky at August 11, 2005 02:42 PM | PERMALINKOn the "What we know about Homosexuality" portion of Family's website, we also learn that no one would knowingly chose a path that, among other logical things, also leads to exposure to STDs like AIDS and Tuberculosis. Yes, now infection from TB is also a consequence of immoral sodomy. Don't listen to those scientists who would tell you that its an airborne disease transmissible only in its active form. If you have the consumption, you too are evil. Well, I guess if the infected person is coughing on you during sex...
Posted by: ryan at August 11, 2005 03:10 PM | PERMALINKUnfortunately and sadly, it seems gay children should keep their orientation secret until they are at least 18. Funny, I didn't realize we were in Iran!
Posted by: John at August 11, 2005 03:20 PM | PERMALINKDepends how much reading you want to do, but I've seen posts at a couple of websites (a big link-o-rama here) mentioning the connection to the Family Research Institute. The "research" and claims were so patently false that the guy was kicked out of the APA, ASA and state psychologists organization.
And this stuff isn't just hanging out in the fringe. See here for how their words ended up in the President's mouth.
Posted by: binky at August 11, 2005 03:31 PM | PERMALINKChildren are much better in the loving arms of the state rather than in the hands of "filthy" homosexuals! Thank God many gays and lesbians are having their own children, raising a new more tolerant generation. AFA, Bush and all the other crazies can't stop a better future that's clearly coming.
Posted by: John at August 11, 2005 03:40 PM | PERMALINK"And of course you notice that this is all about gay men. Lesbians are barely mentioned."
That's because lesbianism is not mentioned in the Bible. And when you stop and think about the fact that polygamy was ok in biblical times....hmmmm. What was going on back then?