Exodus: Live Out Loud

Teen-Targeted Books Promote Alcohol, Drugs and Sexual Experimentation

From WorldNetDaily:

Publishers Weekly calls it "A nasty, guilty pleasure." So what is this book filled with shocking profanity, characters guzzling alcohol and smoking cigarettes throughout, taking illegal drugs, glorifying hedonism and selfishness, and where sex (including homosexuality) is always on their minds? Is this book and others like it tucked away at an "adult bookstore"? No, it is a novel from the No. 1 best-selling series titled "Gossip Girl," and it is probably at your local library and bookstore in the teen section. Teen People magazine dubs these books "'Sex and the City' for the younger set."

Read the whole article >>

In addition, groups that promote homosexuality to youth also offer dangerous influence through reading materials. GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), which is the group behind the Gay-Straight Alliance club network, promotes a list of gay-affirming reading materials for students. Here are some of the selections they suggest for 7th to 12th grade readers.

Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie is comprised of interviews with LGBT-identified youth from around the globe. One of the individuals showcased describes “his journey into sex work as a way of uplifting his self esteem.” The interview talks about how “doing sex work in drag” and sadomasochism can be “empowering” experiences.

Free Your Mind by Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufman is a guide-to-life for youth who think they may be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. In truth, this book is full of deceptive, dangerous advice. Teens are encouraged to find “meaningful” new “relationships” via gay and lesbian chat rooms on the internet. The book also greatly overstates the protection offered by condoms, and lists “bathing together” and mutual masturbation as “safe” sexual practices.

Find out what books are available to teens in your public schools and libraries. If the only books addressing these topics are like the ones listed above, consider donating books from the Exodus Bookstore, so they will be available to questioning teens who go browsing in the libraries for answers.

Exodus Youth Releases Outreach Guide

Exodus Youth has just released its latest resource in the Truth and Tolerance series: the Outreach Guide. This booklet is a comprehensive resource for reaching out to LGBT-identified youth and young adults with the truth and grace that is only found in Jesus Christ.

The Outreach Guide is for youth groups, Christian clubs and student organizations who are looking for a way to speak Biblical truth about sexuality while also befriending, loving and sharing Christ with those who are struggling with or embracing homosexuality, bisexuality or transgenderism.

The Guide contains outlines for various types of events, tips for sharing and communicating well, important legal information, and more. Click here to find out how to get this FREE resource.

Boston Herald Reporter Chuckles Over Change

***Welcome PJ Media Readers***

Yesterday I was taking notes at the press conference for the Liberty Sunday Simulcast.  As fortune would have it, I sat behind a reporter and a photographer for The Boston Herald.  She was leafing through the biographies of all the speakers, I noticed that she stopped on the biography for Exodus President Alan Chambers.  She leaned over to the photographer, pointed to his biography, said with a slight grin, "ex-gays..." and they both had a slight chuckle that made it appear they thought Exodus was a joke.

After the press conference, David Fountain ( Exodus Conference Director ), not having known what I had witnessed went up and offered the reporter our information piece and she quickly said "no thank you."

Given the chuckling I witnessed earlier ... one might think that she doesn't have much respect for our beliefs and the truth behind our testimony.

If I am going to be held accountable to practice what I preach, which I do not mind, I would hope reporters would be held  accountable for their actions as well.  The Society of Professional Journalists* say, "Seek Truth and Report It."  Here is the preamble to their Code of Ethics:

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.

Whether the above mentioned reporter believed we were truly "ex-gay" or worthy of being laughed at really isn't the point.  The Exodus message was a major element of the press conference yesterday and this reporter laughed at our presence and refused our information.  This dismissal of our message was not fair, comprehensive or truthful to the entirety of the event.

People like Alan, including myself, are not gay whether the Boston Herald tolerates that fact or not.  Diversity and tolerance includes people like us.  If that fact is denied, then true diversity and/or tolerance is not displayed.  We have a place in the public square whether media outlets choose to pay attention and be coscientious to report the whole story or not.

I have invited this reporter to read this post and will let you know if I get any feedback.  It is my genuine hope that my observations of her actions are wrong.

---
* I don't know if this reporter belongs to, or ascribes to the same beliefs as the SPJ or not.

The no-longer-gray lady indulges its taste for not-fit-to-print news.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_09_22_05hm.html

"

Just wondering—what exactly was the news value of the New York Times’s huge front-page Metro-section spread yesterday: A Sex Stop on the Way Home? Subtitled Just Off a Park’s Playing Fields, Another Game Thrives, with an eye-catching cropped photo of the gut (but not the shoulders or head) of a beefy man in shorts and pink socks standing just inside his SUV’s open door, the story recounted in jaw-dropping detail the pick-up rituals of anonymous homosexual sex in a Queens parking lot. The lot adjoins athletic fields used by both youth and adult teams."- Heather MacDonald, Gay Times, City Journal, Sept. 22, 2005

New book promotes sex with children

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46394

Ph.D. 'expert' claims pederasty good
for 'nurturing,' 'mentoring' young boys

"A new book published by Haworth Press features multiple Ph.D. "experts" claiming that sex with children "can benefit" boys and even serve a "mentoring function."

"Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition of the West" features "scholarly" treatises by a raft of mostly-PhD academics, all praising earlier civilizations – particularly Greece and Rome – for the role homosexuality played in those ancient cultures." WorldNetDailey, Sept. 19, 2005

Gay Children's Book Author Writes Coming Out Book For Teens

http://www.narth.com/docs/author.html

"August 25, 2005 -  David LaRochelle, a gay children's book author/illustrator has recently written Absolutely, Positively Not, published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

The book was recently reviewed by Mary Ann Grossman with the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.

Absolutely, Positively Not tells the story of Steven who tries to convince himself he's not gay, but without success. When Steven finally comes out to his best friend, Rachel and her mother, they're not surprised. When he admits he's gay to his father, his dad recalls that gay males who served with him in the military service were some of the bravest he knew." - NARTH.com

Canada National Broadcaster Reports One Million at Gay Pride - Ten Times Actual Size

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jun/05062801.html

The Canadian National Broacaster, a publicly funded network, is known for it's gay bias when reporting numbers of persons at events supporting or denouncing 'politically correct ' issues. Case in Point: The recent gay pride event  vs. the annual March for Life. Christian and Family Organizations are aware of and expect this. They were not surprised when the March for Life crowd was drastically underreported.. but were astounded when the recent gay pride parade participant numbers were inflated ten times to make them over a million strong. This number has been refuted by other media in Canada and more realistically announced at approximately 125,000. Campaign Life Coalition's Aidan Reid told LifeSiteNews.com he saw the CBC report on the evening news Sunday night. "When I saw they had reported the crowd at nearly ten times the actual number, it reinforced my belief that the CBC is not interested in reporting truthfully, but rather is simply a puppet of the radical homosexual lobby," said Reid.

Campaign Life Coalition's Aidan Reid told LifeSiteNews.com he saw the CBC report on the evening news Sunday night. "When I saw they had reported the crowd at nearly ten times the actual number, it reinforced my belief that the CBC is not interested in reporting truthfully, but rather is simply a puppet of the radical homosexual lobby," said Reid.

Book Review: Outrage

http://www.townhall.com/bookclub/sprigg.html

"How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage" Peter Sprigg -Author

"Veil of Deception"

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/26/212909.php

Review of "Veil of Deception"- documentary video produced by Mission America.

"This documentary takes you through how activists are circumventing the will of the people by using courts to impose their views. Marla D’Amico-LaBelle of the W. Massachusetts Faith in Action Team, puts it this way, “They wish to impose their will by persuading the courts to enact law, without the consent of the governed, without the consent of the governed.” -Lennie, May 26, 2005

Canadian Media Up to Usual Tricks Following Toronto Marriage Rally

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05052401.html

Canadian Media did their best to downplay the police estimated five to nine thousand member rally for traditional marriage in Toronto on Tuesday. Several major papers ignored it all together or rejected articles about the rally submitted by their staff. One paper showed only a picture of one rally attendee praying in front of a group of gay protestors and the rest seriously reduced the number in attendance.

Media's Bias Confirmed Yet Again

http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0036266.cfm

April 21, 2005

by Terry Phillips, correspondent

A new study finds the mainstream media leaning way left, but some of the results may surprise you.

A new study of mainstream media bias has gone farther than just pointing out a leftward tilt—it's quantified just how often reporters turn to liberal sources for their stories.

Writing Frankly, Young-Adult Author Pushes Limits

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/books/23bloc.html

By DINITIA SMITH
Published: February 23, 2005

CULVER CITY, Calif.- Francesca Lia Block's Los Angeles is a glittering dream world of "stained-glass Marilyn Monroes shining in the trees, leopard-spotted cars, gardens full of pink poison oleander," where the pollution makes for extra-beautiful sunsets. It is also the home of Weetzie Bat, the heroine of Ms. Block's highly successful books for young adults.

New books sound alarm on sexuality & family issues

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=19864

By Jason Hall & Stephanie Carter Jan 10, 2005

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--As issues about human sexuality and the definition of family continue to make headlines in the United States, three Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professors have published books calling believers to take strong, biblically defined stands on these important topics.

Book Review of autobiography by famous tennis player Martina Navratilova

http://www.pfox.org/asp/newsman/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=185&zoneid=10

            “If you ever saw a girl get a crush on her teacher, this was it.  I

used to think to myself that if only I was older, I could have married him.  It

didn’t matter one iota that he already was married…I believed George Parma

would have been the perfect husband, but that’s the way it goes when you’re ten.”

Was Lincoln Gay?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/books/review/09BROOKHE.html?oref=login

By RICHARD BROOKHISER
Published: January 9, 2005

THIS book is already getting noticed. In ''The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln,'' C. A. Tripp contends that Lincoln had erotic attractions and attachments to men throughout his life, from his youth to his presidency. He further argues that Lincoln's relationships with women were either invented by biographers (his love of Ann Rutledge) or were desolate botches (his courtship of Mary Owens and his marriage to Mary Todd). Tripp is not the first to argue that Lincoln was homosexual -- earlier writers have parsed his friendship with Joshua Speed, the young store owner he lived with after moving to Springfield, Ill. -- but he assembles a mass of evidence and tries to make sense of it.

Finding Homosexual Threads in Lincoln's Legend

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/16/books/16linc.html

By DINITIA SMITH

Published: December 16, 2004

Was Abraham Lincoln a gay American?

The subject of the 16th president's sexuality has been debated among scholars for years. They cite his troubled marriage to Mary Todd and his youthful friendship with Joshua Speed, who shared his bed for four years. Now, in a new book, C. A. Tripp also asserts that Lincoln had a homosexual relationship with the captain of his bodyguards, David V. Derickson, who shared his bed whenever Mary Todd was away.

In "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," to be published next month by Free Press, Mr. Tripp, a psychologist, influential gay writer and former sex researcher for Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, tries to resolve the issue of Lincoln's sexuality once and for all. The author, who died in 2003, two weeks after finishing the book, subjected almost every word ever written by and about Lincoln to minute analysis. His conclusion is that America's greatest president, the beacon of the Republican Party, was a gay man.

AL: Law to Ban Homosexual Books Proposed

http://www.polstate.com/archives/006291.html

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

by Kristopher

Representative Gerald Allen (R-Cottondale) is so old school. He is now so concerned about the "homosexual agenda" that he is pushing a bill that would prohibit the use of public funds for "the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle."

Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.

"I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them," he said.

A spokesman for the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center called the bill censorship.

"It sounds like Nazi book burning to me," said SPLC spokesman Mark Potok.

Gerald, Gerald, Gerald. Is this really the America you want to live in? One where if you don't agree with something written in a book you can just bury it in a big hole? It's certainly not the America, or the Alabama, I want to live in.

Anti-Gay Marriage Advertorial Rankles 'Washington Post' Readers

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000725897

By Joe Strupp

Published: November 23, 2004 4:35 PM ET

NEW YORK A 16-page advertising insert taking a strong stand against gay marriage ran in some editions of The Washington Post Sunday, sparking more than 1,000 e-mails and phone calls, according to Ombudsman Michel Getler, who said most of the comments opposed the publication as offensive.

"They were overwhelmingly negative about the Post distributing this thing," Getler told E&P, noting that many of the responses were from outside the Post circulation area, indicating a formal campaign against the publication may have begun. "People were upset and they let the paper know."

The advertorial did not run in the metro edition of the Post, according to Getler, but could be found in about 200,000 zoned copies. It was labeled "BothSides Magazine" and appeared to be a creation of Grace Christian Church, with support from a number of Virginia area churches.

Give credit where it’s due: Gays

http://www.suntimes.com/output/wiser/cst-ftr-paige23.html

 

November 23, 2004

BY PAIGE WISER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

A book on a colleague's desk distracted me for weeks. It was titled How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization: The True and Heroic Story of How Gay Men Shaped the Modern World (Tarcher Penguin, $19.95).

How? How? I wondered, sneaking peeks at the jacket synopsis each time I walked by. I wanted that book. I wasn't aware that without gay men, we'd be sunk -- but I'd suspected as much.

Author Cathy Crimmins gives homosexuals all due credit for: superior songwriting; advances in the theater; better funerals; more satisfying sex; disco; fashion; fitness; fruity drinks; party-throwing; Singalong "Sound of Music"; heavy metal, and much more.

Even better are her helpful distinctions between what's gay and what's straight. Irony, for instance, is gay, and Crimmins believes it was invented by homosexuals. There is a section called "What makes a meal gay, and how can I tell if I'm in a gay restaurant?" (One answer: If the buffalo wings are served with a side of leeks, it's gay.) Iceberg lettuce is straight; arugula is gay

No same-sex marriage in Texas textbooks

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6415905/

School board gets publishers to define marriage as man, woman

AUSTIN, Texas - The State Board of Education approved health textbooks for Texas high school and middle school students Friday, after publishers changed the wording in their books to reflect marriage as being between a man and a woman.

A day earlier some board members had argued that health textbooks should not contain “asexual stealth phrases” such as “individuals who marry” instead of husbands and wives.

The decision could affect dozens of states because books sold in Texas, the nation’s second-largest textbook buyer, often are marketed elsewhere.

Board member Mary Helen Berlanga asked the panel to approve the books without the changes.

“We’re not supposed to make changes at somebody’s whim,” Berlanga said. “It’s a political agenda, and we’re not here to follow a political agenda.”

Media's Gay Marriage Consensus

http://www.fair.org/extra/0409/gay-marriage-consensus.html

 

Insider critics charge press didn't play it straight

 

By Julie Hollar

When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November 2003 that the state could no longer deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, it touched off a string of events that have kept gay marriage in the media spotlight for months. With that new-found prominence has come scrutiny from watchers of the media, with mainstream media critics and ombudsmen from prominent newspapers seeming to reach a consensus: News media have a pro-gay bias.

Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz (WashingtonPost.com, 7/26/04) found fault across the board: "ALL of the press was being way too sympathetic to the gay marriage side, given that there are many, many Americans who don't support that issue." Fox News Watch panelist James Pinkerton (2/28/04) complained that "in the media's mind it is just a given that gay marriage is both inevitable and desirable."

Others offered a more nuanced critique. While Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler (3/21/04) deemed the Post's news reports to be "excellent" and "from all sides," he wrote that "critics who say the paper has had few, if any, features portraying opponents of this social change in a positive or even neutral light have a point. The overall picture, it seems to me, could use more balance."

The Media’s ‘Pet Cause’

BreakPoint
Cultural commentary with Prison Fellowship's Chuck Colson
http://www.breakpoint.org

October 11, 2004

Skewed Language -

Read carefully this lead sentence from an Associated Press news item on
October 1: “The House emphatically rejected a constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage yesterday, the latest in a string of conservative
pet causes advocated by Republican leaders in the run-up to election
day.”

Most of us would assume that the words emphatically rejected mean a
lopsided vote against the proposal. In this case, it does not.

The House voted 227 to 186 in favor of the amendment: 55 percent for, 45
percent against. (And, by the way, thank you for your calls, which again
jammed the switchboard at the Capitol.) As a body, the House did not
reject the proposition at all. It significantly affirmed it, with a 55
percent majority.

Rethinking Sex

http://www.americanscientist.org/template/BookReviewTypeDetail/assetid/35487;jsessionid=baa_tDG1JySE1g

From the "professing themselves to be wise, they become foolish" file:

Robert Dorit
Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. Joan Roughgarden. viii + 474 pp. University of California Press, 2004. $27.50.

More than 2,400 years ago, Socrates was charged with using philosophy to "study things in the sky and beneath the earth"—with seeking a material understanding of the world, in effect, rather than accepting well–established theistic narratives. He defended himself in an Apologia—a passionate and intellectually rigorous speech that made clear the grounds for his opinions and actions. As recorded by Plato, it stands as one of the defining documents of Western culture.

Evolution's Rainbow is Joan Roughgarden's Apologia, an extraordinary book that entwines a radical attack on the Darwinian concept of sexual selection with a personal narrative written from her perspective as a transgendered woman (until six years ago, she was Jonathan Roughgarden). The book is thought–provoking, even at times profound, although some of its arguments are infuriatingly extraneous or superficial. Some critics will dismiss it as a book with an agenda—polemic tainted by the author's unwillingness to detach her scientific analyses from her personal experience. To take that narrow view, however, does grave injustice to Roughgarden's ambitious undertaking.

The book's scope is broad and inclusive. Part I, titled "Animal Rainbows," surveys the natural history of two thorny subjects: sex and gender. Consider, for instance, the fact that sexual reproduction is itself a fundamental evolutionary paradox. Parthenogenetic reproduction—cloning—produces offspring that are virtually genetically identical to their mother. In contrast, making offspring with a partner may seem like a good idea for a variety of reasons, but those offspring will share only half of a given parent's genes. Sex thus comes at a cost. Although a number of competing theories for the evolution of sexual reproduction have been put forth, we still have no unanimously accepted explanation.

Did N.Y. Times engineer same-sex marriage?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40516

New book blows lid off buried media-judicial scandal

Posted: September 20, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The Massachusetts chief justice who voted with the majority in a 4-3 ruling that directed the legislature to rewrite the commonwealth's marriage laws to permit same-sex couple unions is married to a former prominent columnist for the New York Times.

Margaret Marshall, a native of South Africa, is married to recently retired columnist Anthony Lewis.

One of Marshall's chief nemeses, J. Edward Pawlick, attorney for Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage, sees the marriage as a politically beneficial alliance with the Sulzberger family, who consider Lewis a family friend as well as a one-time premiere columnist for the newspaper.

Pawlick's new book, "Libel By New York Times," traces the paper's involvement in the judicial decision that rocked the nation.

Marriage on Trial

www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0033632.cfm

September 9, 2004

by Josh Montez, correspondent

Book from FOF experts deflates same-sex marriage trial balloon.

If you're looking for insight into why it's important to protect traditional marriage you might want to pick up a new book entitled: "Marriage On Trial: The Case Against Same-Sex Marriage and Parenting," written by Focus on the Family Vice President and Psychologist-in-Residence Dr. Bill Maier and Glenn T. Stanton, senior analyst for marriage and family at Focus on the Family.

"Dr. Maier and I conceived the idea of the book as a way to equip people to intelligently and compassionately deal with the issue of same-sex marriage," Stanton said.

Stanton said the book counters numerous works currently accepting homosexuality, and does it in a balanced way.

"We wrote this book to help people really understand this issue from a sociological perspective, a theological perspective, and really, a common-sense perspective."

Stanton says besides defending traditional marriage, the book points out the shortcomings of same-sex marriage.

NLGJA dictates Journalistic Coverage on McGreevey's Resignation

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usnw/20040812/pl_usnw/open_letter_on_the_coverage_of_new_jersey_gov__james_e__mcgreevey_s_resignation_from_nlgja171_xml

Thu Aug 12, 7:46 PM ET
To: National Desk
USNewswire

Dear Fellow Journalist:

New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced today in a news conference that he is resigning effective Nov. 15.

The conference broke news on three fronts:

(1) McGreevey said for the first time publicly that he is "a gay American" (which also makes him the highest-ranking openly gay public official in the country).

(2) He "shamefully" acknowledged that he "engaged in adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony."

(3) He resigned.

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) recommends caution in framing the reasons for McGreevey's resignation, both in stories and in headlines.

It would be inaccurate and an oversimplification to say McGreevey resigned solely because he is gay. Gov. McGreevey admitted to an affair; he spoke of his orientation in the course of doing so. His disclosure was an integral piece of news in the unfolding story.

Journalists should note that McGreevey said he disclosed his sexual orientation because "I realize the fact of this affair and my own sexuality if kept secret leaves me, and most importantly the governor's office, vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."

McGreevey also spoke of "the pain and suffering and anguish that I have caused to my beloved family, my parents, my wife, my friends" as a result of his affair.

As McGreevey acknowledged, "It makes little difference that as governor I am gay. In fact, having the ability to truthfully set forth my identity might have enabled me to be more forthright in fulfilling and discharging my constitutional obligations."

Journalists should report that McGreevey's motivation for resigning, to use his own words, was "the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern."

As such, it would be neither fair nor accurate to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the acknowledgment of his sexual orientation and his decision to resign.

REVIEW: Getting It Straight

Review by John Horvat
TRADITION, FAMILY PROPERTY - http://www.tfp.org/TFPForum/TFPRecommends/Books/getting_it_straight.htm -
In a debate where research and scientific facts are brazenly disregarded, it is nonetheless comforting to know that evidence does exist which overwhelmingly destroys the myths used by the radical homosexual movement.

'Gay agenda' divides 'entire nation,' Floyd writes in new book

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=18753

Jul 26, 2004
By Michael Foust

The Gay Agenda

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Will & Grace. Oprah Winfrey. Britney Spears. All are part of America's entertainment culture, and all have played a significant role in America's increasing acceptance of homosexuality, Ronnie Floyd writes in his latest book.

"The Gay Agenda is finding a place throughout our schools, textbooks, and media, straight into the hearts of children and young people," Floyd writes in "The Gay Agenda," published by New Leaf Press.

"... Make no mistake, two irreconcilable agendas are at war."

Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., and former president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference, offers both an overview of the homosexual activist movement as well as a call for Christian involvement.

The national debate over same-sex "marriage," he says, is only the latest issue in an ongoing cultural battle to normalize homosexuality.

"This issue is dividing homes, churches, and an entire nation," he asserts. "Families are devastated. Church denominations are being ripped apart. Protestors rage at each other across picket lines. These divisions cause untold grief."

Mike Haley of FOTF Writes Book on 101 FAQ About Homosexuality

http://www.christianpost.com/dbase.php?cat=society&id=758

Saturday, Jun. 5, 2004 Posted: 9:52:11AM EST

The Board Chairman of the nation’s largest Christian ministry dealing with homosexual issues, Exodus, has written a comprehensive book answering the 101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality, which was released on June 1.

What makes this book stands out from other books on homosexuality is that it “will answer the questions from a much broader perspective than just meeting the need of one particular group with regard to this issue,” said author Mike Haley during an recent interview with Trish Amason of CitzenLink.

Haley is also the Manager of the Gender Issues Department for Focus on the Family and leads FOTF’s Love Won Out Conferences which educates Christians and non-Christians on how to respond to homosexuality. The conferences also emphasize that homosexuality is not genetic and can be prevented and changed.

Each question in the book was treated with detail, using references and the expertise of many speakers at the Love Won Out conferences.

“Honestly, I just hope it can be used as a resource tool for pastors, Christians, family members and people who struggle themselves,” told Haley, formerly a homosexual, to CitizenLink. “To say that there is help, there is support, there is encouragement and here's the place to find it. I have a very extensive resource list in the back for readers who want to know where to go for help, (and) I let them know what the help is going to look like.”

'Gay Romance Novels' Going Mainstream

http://www.cnsnews.com//ThisHour.asp#'Gay Romance Novels' Going Mainstream

(CNSNews.com) - Time-Warner Books is putting "its name and its distribution power behind a line of romance novels for gay men," the Boston-based Romentics Novels announced on Wednesday. Romentics says it has signed a deal with Warner Books to publish "Hot Sauce," the first in a series of Romentics romance novels written by gay men for gay men. Romentics was "founded in 2003 at the height of the debate over same-sex marriage," according to the press release. It describes its books as "old-fashioned romances about sweet love, some sex, and scattered moments of uncertainty." A March 2004 review in the Toronto Globe & Mail noted that the sex scenes in Hot Sauce are "explicit, though not gratuitous." The same review notes, "there's a sizzling quickie by Page 4." "From out-of-the-closet to all the unique elements of gay culture, Romentics follows a not-so-straight path to happily ever after," the press release says.

O'Donnell plans gay parenting magazine

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=106004488&p=yx6xx5y94

31/05/2004 - 12:48:15

American comedienne Rosie O’Donnell is planning a new magazine aimed at gay and lesbian parents.

R Family Magazine, due out in 2005, is O’Donnell’s second attempt at launching a publication. The first, Rosie, died an acrimonious death in 2003 after clashes between her and publishers Gruner And Jahr.

O'Donnell's spokeswoman Cindi Berger says: "Rosie does hope to launch a magazine in the new year."

New Book Demystifies Gay Issues

www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0032148.cfm

May 24, 2004

by Trish Amason, assistant editor

Focus on the Family's Mike Haley hopes to shed light on the political, social and personal confusion surrounding homosexuality with '101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality.'

Homosexual couples now can be legally married in the United States, just the latest culture-war victory for gay activists who have succeeded over the last several decades in winning wide-ranging cultural acceptance of their lifestyle. How should the church, and individual Christians, respond not only to the gay activist agenda — but also the gay neighbor across the street or the gay coworker in the next cubicle?

Mike Haley, manager of the gender issues department at Focus on the Family, has written a book that addresses these issues — and a whole lot more. "101 Frequently Asked Questions About Homosexuality," due out later this month, tackles everything from "Do homosexuals choose to be gay?" to how best to handle it when family members "come out."

CitizenLink sat down with Haley recently to find out more about the book — and what he hopes readers will glean from it.

Gay, Jewish - and proud of it

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/427398.html
By Jay Michaelson; Imagine learning that, because of how you were born, God hates you. Imagine being raised in a traditional religious world, where obeying God is the primary value, and then, just as you were becoming a bar or bat mitzvah, coming to realize that you are incapable of doing so. Over the next several years, you try your hardest: You fight against the urge, repress it, deny it, even try to change it with aversion therapy. You can't tell anyone, because even to reveal the truth would cast you out of the community. But, in private, you try, and try and try - and fail. What would you do?

Until recently, the only alternatives in the traditional Jewish world were to lie, to die or to leave. As they have throughout history, many gay Jews conceal their identities and marry people of the opposite sex. Today, they fill chatrooms and listservs with their private struggles. Many others cannot cope, and choose to end their lives. Although statistics for the Jewish community are not available, studies show that 30 percent of gay youth attempt suicide by the age of 16. About 276,000 American teenagers try to kill themselves every year, and it is estimated that a third of these attempts are related to homosexuality.

Many gay Jews leave behind the Orthodox world, or Judaism entirely, after experiencing what's sometimes called a "Huck Finn moment." In Mark Twain's novel, a turning point occurs when Huck decides he'd rather help Jim, the runaway slave, even though he's been taught he'll go to hell as a consequence. "Well, I guess I'll go to hell then," Huck says, and follows his conscience instead of his religion.

Be Careful, Little Eyes ...

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/5/192004c.asp

Children's Books Aren't Always Sweet and Cuddly; Parents Should Pay Close Attention in Libraries, Bookstores
Feature by Jason Collum
May 19, 2004

(AgapePress) - Olivia Hartsell loves having her parents read to her. The Wilmington, North Carolina, first-grader has begun taking advantage of the school library, bringing home books she chooses.

One book Olivia chose in March, though, set off a firestorm of debate when her parents, Michael and Tonya Hartsell, demanded the book be taken off the shelves at Freeman Elementary School library. The book: King & King, a tale of how a prince searches through a troupe of eligible potential princesses before he finds his true love -- another prince, whom he ultimately "marries."

Homosexuality, bestiality, horror and suicide are topics cropping up in works targeted at children. It's enough that one parent, who works for a major national bookstore chain, has launched a website to educate parents about certain books that, while they may seem innocent and are intended for children, really deserve a stern review from parents first.

The website, ParentsAware.net, is in its beginning stages. It has several sections, including pages of young and teen reader books that are recommended and those to be avoided.

Interest group presses city for library computer filters

USA TODAY - http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-05-17-slc-library-filters_x.htm -
SALT LAKE CITY — The special-interest organization Communities for Decency wants the City Council to force the city's library system to install pornography filters on its public computers.

Publisher Won't Reissue Lynn Cheney Novel

New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Lynne-Cheney-Canceled-Book.html -
A publisher has canceled plans to reissue a racy novel by Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, after she said the book did not represent ``her best work.''

Homosexual kids' book now best seller

World Net Daily
3-20-04
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37664
A day after a children's book about a homosexual prince finding his true love received national media attention, the colorful hardback rose to a surprisingly high No. 38 on Amazon.com's list of best sellers.

Parents angered by book about gay princes

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2455466March 18, 2004, 6:48AM

Associated Press

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The parents of a first-grader are fuming over the book their daughter brought home from the school library: a children's story about a prince whose true love turns out to be another prince.

Stossel, “Give Me a Break”

http://www.cwfa.org/articles/5374/LEGAL/family/index.htm

3/15/2004
By Jan LaRue, CWA’s Chief Counsel

Journalist on ABC's 20/20 gives a pass to so-called gay marriage.

Over my better instincts, I agreed to be interviewed by John Stossel of ABC TV News’ 20/20 program on the subject of same-sex marriage. Trusting liberal media for fairness in editing a pre-taped interview when you’re a conservative, AKA, “radical, right-wing, religious bigot,” oops, and “wacko” too, is very dicey to say the least. Can you spell “hit piece”?

Author James McCourt Strolls Down 'Queer Street'

Reuters, February 19, 2004
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=4398879
Author James McCourt Strolls Down 'Queer Street'
By Christopher Michaud
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reviewers have hailed James McCourt's new book "Queer Street" as a Joycean, erudite and entertaining, if dizzying post-war cultural history of gay life, though readers don't seem so sure....

'Civil Wars': Vermont Life

New York Times, February 15, 2004
229 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY, 10036
(Fax: 212-556-3622 ) (E-Mail: letters@nytimes.com )
( http://www.nytimes.com )
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/books/review/15WIDMERT.html
'Civil Wars': Vermont Life
By Ted Widmer
. Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage, By David Moats; 288 pp. New York:
Harcourt. $25

'Pulp' celebrates lesbian paperbacks

Chicago Tribune, February 12, 2004
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0402120055feb12,1,2510716.story
'Pulp' celebrates lesbian paperbacks
By Chris Jones, Tribune Arts Reporter
In the unlikely confines of the rare-book room at the Duke University library resides an extensive collection of lesbian pulp fiction. Such lurid titles as "The Evil Friendship" and "The Twilight Lust' lie there
amid the Egyptian papyri and the Walt Whitman texts...