Stop NARTH! Pamphlet
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Please email Lester Leavitt for a .pdf version of this brochure that can be printed and freely distributed. (email: LJmedia1@gmail.com)
"Stop NARTH!" – Condensed Media Message
Central Message:
“We, the gay (LGBT) community, our parents, our friends, our siblings, and our religious leaders, are asking every professional organization that participated in the “Just the Facts Coalition” to open the door for families to receive compensatory damages for the malpractice of NARTH and NARTH-like professionals who continue to use what are now fully-discredited methods of therapy.
“We ask that the member-worthiness of NARTH and NARTH-like therapists who belong to the thirteen member “Just the Facts Coalition” be evaluated on whether their practices are producing sustained, measurable, and satisfactory outcomes for the therapy of their clients with “unwanted homosexual attraction” before they be allowed to retain their membership in any professional body.”
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Put another way, if a doctor performs an appendectomy when he is drunk, and the patient dies, the family can sue him or her for malpractice.
Likewise, when a gay teenager commits suicide because he cannot rid himself of his “unwanted homosexual attraction,” then, and only then, will his parents wake up and realize that they had been taking their son or daughter to a professional who was “intoxicated with dogma.”
How many more teenagers need to die before we can prove that there never have been any “sustained, measurable, and satisfactory outcomes” for NARTH and NARTH-like therapists?
Malpractice is malpractice…plain and simple. If it takes 150 lawsuits to put 150 therapists out of business, then it is time to launch 150 lawsuits.
Calendar of Events – Nov 17th to 22nd, 2009
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Workshop #1: The Anti-Heterosexism Conference
The Effects of Homophobic Stress in Childhood and Adolescence on Later Adult Psychological Functioning in Gay Men
Chronic psychological stressors experienced in childhood and adolescence can result in pronounced disturbances in adulthood functioning. Through the use of case presentations this workshop will explore how chronic homophobia is experienced by gay male youth and why homophobia is particularly stressful for this group. Coping responses to homophobia will be discussed, including how some responses can result in self-destructive outcomes and psychological disturbances in adulthood. The workshop will explore a psychotherapeutic treatment model designed specifically to address the needs of the gay male client and will conclude with prevention strategies for future generations of gay youth.
A Model for Treatment
Presenter: Dominic Carbone, Ph.D
Nov 20-22, 2009
West Palm Beach, FL
NARTH Counter-Conference
The Anti-Heterosexism Conference
Is Mormon Church behind plot to restore homosexuality to DSM?
“In a secret meeting with an unnamed Mormon apostle, Glenn Beck was alerted to how the Mormon Church plans to pressure the APA into reversing their 1973 ruling and having homosexuality restored to the list of treatable mental disorders.”
* * * This is not a real headline!* * *
* * * It is an Internet meme! * * *
Deerfield Beach, FL – October 23rd, 2009
I personally believe that the Mormon Church is prepared to funnel millions of dollars into the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH) organization in order to force the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to reverse their 1973 resolution that removed homosexuality from the diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM) as a treatable mental illness.
There, I said it! It’s out on the Internet now. The Mormons would be willing to do this because the church still believes that it is impossible for God to create an organism that would not choose to procreate. The Mormon heaven is structured around eternal procreation. It’s weird, I know, but trust me on this. Whoa! Hold on. I’m going down the wrong rabbit hole with that conversation. Turn around.
Back to my problem. I have no proof of my claim, and others more able than I have been probing for a long time now and they have no proof, but it is generally understood that somehow, someway, the Mormon Church coerced and funded the relocation of the NARTH head offices to Salt Lake City in early 2008 while Dr. A. Dean Byrd (a Mormon) was the NARTH president. The Mormons would want to do this in order to legitimize their hate campaign against homosexuals by asking NARTH to do their “heavy lifting.” The move also allowed the Mormon authorities to align NARTH with their existing covertly funded ex-gay reparative therapy practice known as Evergreen International, which is now one floor above the NARTH offices. Dave Pruden, the long-time executive director of Evergreen International, now runs the daily operations of NARTH.
This is where this fringe “new media” methodology gets interesting. Glenn Beck has a tactic that he uses all the time, and if you follow the link at the end of this post you will understand it better. It is a form of entrapment, so let’s presume I want to use his own technique against him. This is what I would do.
First, I determine in my mind what it is that I want other people to accuse him of. Yes, it will be a lie, but that doesn’t stop Glenn Beck from doing this. Truth is not important on his show. It doesn’t sell books nearly as well as his lies do, so let’s go with the notion that I want people to believe that he (Glenn Beck) knows for a fact that the Mormon Church has a covert channel through which they are funding Evergreen International and NARTH. While we’re at it, and since Glenn Beck has to have at least one “Deep Throat” source within the Mormon hierarchy, let’s take it one step further and say that Glenn Beck’s source knows of the Mormon Church’s hidden objective to have homosexuality restored to the diagnostic and statistical manual of the APA.
A good Internet meme has to have a kernel of truth to “give it legs,” figuratively speaking, and this is that “kernel” for this story. NARTH really does have a position statement that supports their claim that it was wrong for the APA to remove homosexuality from the DSM, and the Mormon Church has reversed itself in recent months to support this NARTH position (link to Elder Bruce C. Hafen story.) The only lie is that the Mormons are going to fund NARTH so that they can “get their message out.”
But, maybe it isn’t a lie! Do you see where this is going? It could be the truth, but nobody has exposed that truth yet, so all we are going to do is ask somebody to prove that it is not the truth. That is where this headline comes from:
Breaking News: “In a secret meeting with an unnamed Mormon apostle, Glenn Beck was alerted to how the Mormon Church plans to pressure the APA into reversing their 1973 ruling and having homosexuality restored to the list of treatable mental disorders.”
With that as my platform, this is my question to Glenn Beck:
“Why are you repeatedly refusing to prove that this meeting with a Mormon apostle never occurred? And even if the meeting did not occur, why won’t you prove that the Mormon Church has no covert funding link to NARTH? You have high connections in the Mormon Church. Ask them to come clean on this. Prove to us that they have never funded Evergreen International in the last twenty years since they were organized. We’ve read their web pages and their claims, and we are not saying there is a funding link, but why are you so unwilling to prove that we are wrong on this?”
Isn’t this game fun? It plays out in one form or another every night on Glenn Beck’s show. You see, his is not a news program…at its heart it really is a game show!
Now you know the truth too.
If you still have the time, read the history of the original “Glenn Beck Meme” at the “official” website. As a student of media law, this was fascinating stuff.
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Lester Leavitt is a junior at Florida Atlantic University. He is studying multi-media journalism. In his spare time he blogs as an “iQreport” team member for the United Equality New Media organization.
Allies to Stop NARTH!
Thank you for following the link to this blog post. This is a gateway site. Please read on in order to gain a clear understanding of what is happening in West Palm Beach, FL on November 21st at 10:00AM. The very lives of youth and young adults are in your hands right now.
In case you are not aware, there is a major solidarity protest and media event being planned for November 21st to coincide with the Soulforce Anti-Heterosexism Conference, which is a counter-conference for the annual NARTH Convention that is taking place just 3 minutes down the road.
We have a message that we want to give to the media that day.
We have a message that we want to give to the media that day.
There are 6 Facebook Fan Pages that are accumulating “signatures” that will be presented to representatives of the thirteen member “Just the Facts Coalition”. (Follow the link to “Just the Facts” if you do not know who they are or what they did last year in the name of full equality for the LGBT Community and our gay youth.)
In my opinion, this coalition is the most powerful ally for gay youth in America today, and together they represent 480,000 professionals who are on our side.
The “Stop NARTH!” signature drive is being done in five groups, and the “Just the Facts Coalition” is the sixth group, to whom the petitions are addressed.
Every person in the world who supports full LGBT equality will either fall into one of these five fan page “petitions” or will be one of the professionals to whom we are pleading for additional support and help.
Please take a moment to read all five of the petitions. Each is unique, and provides a specific kind of help that we need from the “Just the Facts Coalition.” Each also highlights the harm that will continue to be done for as long as NARTH is allowed to exist.
The essence of all five petitions can be summed up as follows:
1) The “Just the Facts Coalition” is in a position to see that bylaws and ethics guidelines in all thirteen member organizations are proposed and supported.
2) The right combination of bylaws and ethical guidelines would make it possible to discipline or disbar members who “cannot consistently provide satisfactory outcomes” when it comes to their dealings with gay youth.
3) If a member of a professional body is disciplined or has his/her license revoked, it opens the door for family members and victims of malpractice to seek compensatory and punitive damages. If NARTH and NARTH-like practitioners continue to operate outside of regulatory bodies and professional organizations, they already have opened themselves up to malpractice actions and it would be in the best interest of the “Just the Facts Coalition” to publicize the fact that NARTH professionals are not members of any nationally recognized professional organization.
As of yet we have not identified anybody to receive the petitions on the part of the “Just the Facts Coalition.” If you are a mental health practitioner, school principal, social worker, health nurse, pediatrician, or school teacher, please volunteer. If you know somebody who could do it, please forward this email and my contact information to them.
We are also looking for members of the clergy and supportive religious congregations who could come forward and start a concerted signature drive in the interfaith community.
Click on the appropriate links (in the adjacent blog post) to read each petition. Please join the groups that you belong to and share the fan page aggressively.:
Thank you. Feedback is encouraged.
Lester Leavitt
LJmedia1@gmail.com
Phone: 954-290-1771 (Text first, if possible. I am a full-time student.)
Quick Links to Signature Petition Fan Pages
Click on the appropriate links below to read each petition. Please join the groups that you belong to and share the fan page aggressively.:
The Stop NARTH! group is allied with Stand Up Florida to get as many of this age group to West Palm Beach, FL as possible so that GSA Clubs at universities and colleges throughout the state. If you can help with a donation, please link to the Stand Up Florida donate page now.
This will hopefully be a large group. The petition here focuses on the damage done to many within the LGBT community who endured years of oppression and came out very late, often losing everything they held dear. Without focusing too much attention on the baggage that some will carry for the rest of their lives, we still will not shrink away from the fact that it happened.
Parents of Gay (LGBT) Children (siblings join the next group below)
The tragedy of suicides, attempted suicides, and runaway or castaway gay children still carries on today. It will continue for as long as there is a foundation upon which religious-based bigotry can support their doctrine. At the present time, NARTH is that foundation. We do not know what the hateful religions will erect in its place, but if we can destroy NARTH it will fracture the groups into smaller bodies that will forever lack any “science” to support them.
This should be the largest group. The focus of this group is on the harm done to heterosexuals by reparative therapy, and the petition has a sharp focus on the failed marriages and broken homes when a gay person feels “forced” into a marriage that will supposedly “cure” him or her. I personally have five siblings, an ex-wife, and four grown children who should belong in this group, but who are not functioning as much of a “family” to me. For this, I can thank NARTH and the Mormon Church. There are millions just like me who need to see that others have the kind of support I can only wish for.
The Interfaith Alliance Foundation was actually the 13th member of the “Just the Facts Coalition” and their numbers are included in the 480,000 cited in the petitions, but we would like them to stand as a group by themselves for this NARTH media event.
Members of the “Just the Facts Coalition” (and those who stand with them)
This group will stand together and “receive” the signature petitions from the spokesperson of the other five groups. The group will be made up of school principals, teachers, school health nurses, social workers, counselors, and mental health professionals. Essentially, anybody who is in a position of employment where a questioning young person would come to them in confidence, asking for help and advice.
Coming Out in Middle School
Coming Out in Middle School – in Oklahoma, no less.
Excellent program to copy: “OpenArms”
When 1 + 1 no longer equals 2.
Mickey (my husband) and I just finished watching the new documentary, “In the Shadow of the Temple.” We expected it to be difficult for me, but as it turned out it was Mickey who ended up with the tears in his eyes.
To hear others repeat almost word-for-word what he has heard me saying for almost three years now was tough for him. Most difficult was when he heard the one lady say that she had struggled too hard to heal from the wounds of the temple in her own life to go and wait outside for her daughter to be married in the temple. Mickey had not fully understood why I would not go out to be at Peter’s wedding in San Diego in August, although he fully supported my decision as mine alone to make.
The documentary is hard-hitting because it opens with the “absolute” doctrine of the Mormon Church…where if any shred of it is false, then by extension, the whole church is an enormous fraud. I taught that on my mission, and it truly sets the Mormons apart from other religions.
I guess that is why Christian fundamentalists in general, and the Mormons specifically, have to spend their last dollar and last breath fighting gay marriage.
It is the equivalent of somebody threatening the mathematical universe with the notion that 1 + 1 no longer equals 2.
This is what male and female currently look like to the religious fundamentalists. In their world, if anything happens to this model then it is the end of their religion. For whatever reason, if you eat steak on Friday or don’t get a circumcision, their world remains intact, but if you allow a man to fall in love with a man then 1 + 1 no longer equals 2. Never mind that it only ever happens to less than 4% of the human race and there will always be a source of babies from the other 96%.
In a talk on Sunday morning at the anti-heterosexism conference in West Palm Beach it was Rev. Deborah Johnson who explained this so well. She said if we fully understood the impact that it would have on them to be forced to admit that there is no such thing as absolute male and absolute female, then we would be more sympathetic with these religious extremists. It truly will be the end of their universe.
Can you just take a moment and imagine how hard it will be for them when their house of cards comes crashing down? At the end of the day, some of the fundamentalists may survive, but it will be the end of Mormonism. When you bet the farm on a crap shoot, you had better be able to consistently throw 7’s and 11’s.
This is what male and female currently look like to the religious fundamentalists. In their world, if anything happens to this model then it is the end of their religion. For whatever reason, if you eat steak on Friday or don’t get a circumcision, their world remains intact, but if you allow a man to fall in love with a man then 1 + 1 no longer equals 2. Never mind that it only ever happens to less than 4% of the human race and there will always be a source of babies from the other 96%.
So, what happens if instead, sexuality is on a continuum where that .01% of our DNA that makes a male different from a female is not absolute, and if while the fetus is in utero that some variables can affect the outcomes?
Well, if you are a progressive religion, nothing happens. God has allowed for mankind to have an expanding knowledge, but the fundamentalists didn’t get that memo.
They truly have staked their entire existence on an absolute of the Bible being the only word of God, the last word of God, and in the case of the Mormons, even their version of heaven cannot exist if it is possible for a homosexual to exist.
Oh well, homosexuals were here long before the Mormons, and we will still be here when Mormons are no longer relevant.
Poster Making Day – November 19th, 2009
Two days before the Nov 21st, 2009 NARTH Protest the students from Lynn University and Florida Atlantic University gathered to make a bunch of hand-lettered posters.
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