by Dan Savage
69 There’s even a great, big book on the subject published by Oxford University Press that has “science” in the title: Simon LeVay, Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
71 Then in 2012 a groundbreaking study undertaken by the University of California, Santa Barbara: “Study Finds Epigenetics, Not Genetics, Underlies Homosexuality,” press release from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, December 11, 2012, http://www.nimbios.org/press/FS_homosexuality.
71 According to Jason Koebler of U.S. News & World Report, who reported on the study: Jason Koebler, “Scientists May Finally Have Unlocked the Puzzle of Why People Are Gay,” U.S. News & World Report, December, 11, 2012, http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/12/11/scientists-may-have-finally-unlocked-puzzle-of-why-people-are-gay.
6. My Son Comes Out
76 In 2000, the same year The Kid was published, there were sixty-five hundred adoptions by gay American couples, according to a study by the Williams Institute: Julie Bolcer, “Gay Adoptions Triple over Last Decade,” Advocate, October 21, 2011, http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/10/21/gay-adoptions-triple-over-last-decade.
77 A study by the Palm Center, formerly at the University of California and now independent, found that the repeal of the ban on openly gay soldiers has had “no overall negative impact”: Lila Shapiro, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Study Shows No Negative Effects on Military One Year After Repeal,” The Huffington Post, September 10, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/dont-ask-dont-tell-study_n_1868892.html.
77 In 2012 the head of the largest “ex-gay” group in the country, Alan Chambers of Exodus International, admitted: Andrew Potts, “Exodus International President Admits Sexual Orientation Change Impossible: Alan Chambers Becomes the Latest of a String of Senior Exodus International Leaders to Admit That People Cannot Change Their Sexuality Through Therapy,” Gay Star News, July 7, 2012, http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/exodus-international-president-admits-sexual-orientation-change-impossible070712.
78 And Fischer believes that children with gay parents should be kidnapped because: “Bryan Fischer of American Family Association Slams Gay Marriage Victories, Same-Sex Parents,” The Huffington Post, November 20, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/bryan-fischer-gay-marriage_n_2162477.html.
78 The study, authored by University of Texas sociologist Mark Regnerus, was funded by two anti-gay think tanks: Brian Tashman, “Harry Jackson Cites Dubious Studies to Claim Gay Parents Harm Children,” Right Wing Watch, September 24, 2012, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/harry-jackson-cites-dubious-studies-claim-gay-parents-harm-children.
78 Among the problems is the paper’s definition of ‘lesbian mothers’ and ‘gay fathers’: Tom Bartlett, “Controversial Gay-Parenting Study is Severely Flawed, Journal’s Audit Finds,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 26, 2012, http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/controversial-gay-parenting-study-is-severely-flawed-journals-audit-finds/30255.
79 Case in point: UCLA released a study, published in October of 2012 in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, comparing (and tracking over time) children who were adopted: Justin A. Lavner, Jill Waterman, Letitia Anne Peplau, “Can Gay and Lesbian Parents Promote Healthy Development in High-Risk Children Adopted from Foster Care?,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 82, no. 4 (October 2012): 465 72, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01176.x/abstract.
79 The Academy supports the legal adoption of children by [same-sex] coparents: American Academy of Pediatrics, “Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents,” Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics: 338 41, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/109/2/339.full.pdf.
82 Marriage equality is socially liberal inasmuch: Andrew Sullivan, “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage (Again),” The Daily Beast, December 29, 2007, http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2007/12/reihan-on-socia.html.
82 We exist. We already exist. Our relationships exist, our children exist: Mari Herreras, “Australian Labor Senator Louise Pratt: ‘We Exist…. Stop Pretending That We Don’t,’” Tucson Weekly, September 26, 2012, http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2012/09/26/australian-labor-senator-louise-pratt-we-exist-stop-pretending-that-we-dont.
83 According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2011, the average American believes that 25 percent of the population is gay: Lymari Morales, “U.S. Adults Estimate That 25% of Americans Are Gay or Lesbian: Those with Lower Incomes, the Less Educated, Women, and Young People Give the Highest Estimates,” Gallup Politics, May 27, 2011, http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/adults-estimate-americans-gay-lesbian.aspx.
90 In January of 2011, The New York Times reported data that the Census Bureau had gathered on gay families: Sabrina Tavernise, “Parenting by Gays More Common in the South, Census Shows,” The New York Times, January 18, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/us/19gays.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all.
8. Folsom Prism Blues
101 Loy Mauch, a Republican member of the Arkansas State House of Representatives, asked in a letter to the editor in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, “If slavery were so God-awful”: Max Brantley, “Loy Mauch Update: The Republican Rep Is on Record on Slavery Too,” Arkansas Times, October 6, 2012, http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/10/06/loy-mauch-update-the-republican-rep-is-on-record-on-slavery-too.
101 Terry England, a member of the Georgia State House of Representatives, compared women to farm animals: Adam Peck, “Georgia Republican Compares Women to Cows, Pigs, And Chickens,” Think Progress, March 12, 2012, http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/12/442637/georgia-rep-compares-women-to-animals/.
101 2 I honestly think [homosexuality] is the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism: Posted by I Want Democracy Now, “Oklahoma State Rep. Says Gays Biggest Threat to US,” YouTube, March 11, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_y3-ckuM3E.
102 You know, I’ve done a lot of reading on this. I wish I could describe to you their behavior: Kyle Mantyla, “Things That Make You Go ‘Wow,’” Right Wing Watch, February 4, 2009, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/things-make-you-go-wow.
106 Formed as a part-time venture in 1996 by long-time gay-basher Peter LaBarbera: Evelyn Schlatter, “18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda,” Southern Poverty Law Center, http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/the-hard-liners.
107 Would you want to sleep in the same bed where a homosexual orgy: Peter LaBarbera, “AFTAH Writer Is Grossed Out by ‘International Mr. Leather’ Perversion-Fest Hosted by Hyatt Regency Chicago,” Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, June 17, 2011, http://americansfortruth.com/issues/the-agenda-glbtq-activist-groups/gay-culture/homosexual-pride-parades-festivals/page/2/?googleb0t=true.
108 LaBarbera’s tongue hangs out as he details all of the various demos: Joe Jervis, “Peter LaBarbera Hates Everybody Equally,” Joe.My.God. (blog), February 6, 2009, http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/02/peter-labarbera-hates-everybody-equally.html.
108 Straight people have anal sex too; in real numbers: Noah Michelson, “Breaking: More Straight Americans Than Gay Americans Having ‘Gay Sex,’” The Huffington Post, August 22, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/noah-michelson/gay-sex_b_1822137.html.
109 Maybe it was the glowing feature about IML in the Chicago Tribune a few years ago: Terry Wilson, “Leather Contest Seen as a Kind of Family Reunion,” Chicago Tribune, May 22, 1998, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-05-22/features/9805220096_1_leather-community-contest-gay-community.
110 Nothing screams ‘Perversion!’ like the annual Folsom Street Fair: Peter LaBarbera, “Folsom Street Fair 2012 Poster Epitomizes San Francisco Homosexual Deviance and Folly of Liberal ‘Tolerance,’” Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, August 13, 2012, http://americansfortruth.com/issues/folsom-street-fair-san-francisco/feed/.
110 An Alabama minister
who died in June of “accidental mechanical asphyxia” was found: “Dead Reverend’s Rubber Fetish: Autopsy: Pastor Found in Wet Suits After Autoerotic Mishap,” The Smoking Gun, October 8, 2007, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/dead-reverends-rubber-fetish.
114 Here’s a Donohue classic: “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity”: “‘Scarborough Country’ for Dec. 8,” MSNBC on NBC News, December 9, 2004, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6685898/ns/msnbc-about_msnbc_tv/t/scarborough-country-dec/.
114 Most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?”: “Mark Foley Plays the Catholic Card,” press release from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, October 4, 2006, http://mediamatters.org/research/2006/10/04/bill-donohue-to-foley-most-15-year-old-boys-wou/136833.
114 Doing Donohue one better, Father Benedict Groeschel, of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, told the National Catholic Register: Annie-Rose Strasser, “Priest Blames Child Victims of Sex Abuse for Seducing Their Abusers,” Think Progress, August 31, 2012, http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/08/31/785271/priest-blames-child-victims/.
116 Last Sunday, homosexuals paraded around naked in the streets of San Francisco: Bill Donohue, “Naked Gay Sadists Hit the Streets,” Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, September 25, 2012, http://www.catholicleague.org/naked-gay-sadists-hit-the-streets/.
117 This basic developmental system, one in which certain salient childhood events ‘imprint’ our psychosexuality: Jesse Bering, “Oedipus Complex 2.0: Like It or Not, Parents Shape Their Children’s Sexual Preferences,” Scientific American, August 17, 2010, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/2010/08/17/oedipus-complex-2-0-like-it-or-not-parents-shape-their-childrens-sexual-preferences/.
118 [The Passion] relies for its effect almost entirely on sadomasochistic male narcissism: Christopher Hitchens, “Schlock, Yes; Awe, No; Fascism, Probably: The Flogging Mel Gibson Demands,” Slate, February 27, 2004, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2004/02/schlock_yes_awe_no_fascism_probably.html.
9. The Straight Pride Parade
123 The annual Halloween costume balls [were] run by the Mafia: Eric Marcus, Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights (New York: Harper, 2002).
124 Americans spent 7 billion dollars on Halloween in 2011, and nearly 70 percent of adults now celebrate the holiday: Martha C. White, “Now That’s Creepy: Americans Will Blow $7 Billion on Halloween,” Psychology of Money, Time, September 29, 2011, http://business.time.com/2011/09/29/now-thats-creepy-americans-will-blow-7-billion-on-halloween/.
125 Daniels warns that Halloween…parties involve “sex with demons,” “orgies,” and “sacrificing babies.”: Kimberly Daniels, “The Danger of Celebrating Halloween,” Prophetic Insight (blog), Charisma Magazine, October 27, 2009, http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/prophetic-insight/7134-the-danger-of-celebrating-halloween.
125 We all can see [that Halloween] is a huge celebration in the LGBT world, especially for the gender-confused folks…. The core of Halloween is glittering artificiality: Linda Harvey, “Satan’s Holiday: 10 Reasons to Fast from Halloween,” WND.com, October 16, 2012, http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/10-reasons-to-fast-from-halloween/.
127 When I see women dressed as sexualized fast-food sauces, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry: Amanda Hess, “Are Sexy Halloween Costumes Over?,” XX Factor (blog), Slate, October 29, 2012, http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/10/29/sexy_halloween_costumes_has_this_trend_come_to_an_end.html.
10. Four Closet Cases
134 In May of 2005, The Spokesman-Review published a long story on West’s secret double life: Bill Morlin, “West Tied to Sex Abuse in ’70s, Using Office to Lure Young Men: Allegations Shadow Politician Throughout His Career,” The Spokesman Review, May 5, 2005, http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/west-tied-sex-abuse-70s-using-office-lure-young-men-bill-morlin-spokesman-review.
139 Rekers was one of eight contributors to the Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions: Julie Harren Hamilton, PhD, Philip J. Henry, PhD, eds., Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions: A Guide to Treatment (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press, 2009).
139 The young man told reporters that he gave Rekers nude “sexual massages” during the trip: CNN Wire Staff, “Anti-Gay Rights Activist Resigns After Trip with Male Escort,” CNN, May 14, 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/12/anit.gay.activist.resigns/index.html.
11. Mistakes Were Made
147 A new study casts doubt on whether true bisexuality exists, at least in men: Benedict Carey, “Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited,” The New York Times, July 5, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/05sex.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
150 Three years later Mika told another interviewer that he had: Instinct staff, “Exclusive Sneak Peek: Mika Tells Instinct, ‘Yeah, I’m gay,’” Instinct magazine, August 3, 2012, http://instinctmagazine.com/blogs/blog/exclusive-sneak-peek-mika-tells-instinct-%E2%80%9Cyeah-i%E2%80%99m-gay-%E2%80%9D?directory=100011.
156 Whenever, say, some prominent heterosexually married male public figure has a same-sex affair: Tracy Clark-Flory, “The Invisible Bisexual Man,” Salon, August 27, 2011, http://www.salon.com/2011/08/28/bisexuality_2/.
158 However, I would be remiss to fail to acknowledge the fact that, on some level: A. J. Walkley and Lauren Michelle Kinsey, “Bi the Bi: Are Closeted Bisexuals the Reason for Bi Invisibility?,” The Huffington Post, December 28, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aj-walkley/bi-the-bi-are-closeted-bisexuals-the-reason-for-bi-invisibility_b_2365117.html.
159 Some of the numbers that “Gary J. Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar” came up with were disputed: Gary J. Gates, “How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?,” The Williams Institute, University of California, April, 2011, http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/how-many-people-are-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender/.
160 In an unusual scientific about-face: David Tuller, “No Surprise for Bisexual Men: Report Indicates They Exist,” The New York Times, August 22, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/health/23bisexual.html.
160 Past research not finding bisexual genital arousal patterns among bisexual men may have been affected by recruitment techniques: A. M. Rosenthal, “Sexual Arousal Patterns of Bisexual Men Revisited,” Biological Psychology, September 2011, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21763395.
12. On Being Different
163 Miller came out in “What It Means to Be a Homosexual,” which was published later that year in book form as On Being Different: Merle Miller, On Being Different: What It Means to Be a Homosexual (New York: Penguin, 2012).
169 Somewheres in Des Moines or San Antonio there is a young gay person who all of a sudden realizes: Richard Metzger, “Christian Hate Group Protests ‘Harvey Milk Day’ in California,” Dangerous Minds, May 19, 2011, http://dangerous-minds.net/comments/christian_hate_group_protests_harvey_milk_day_in_california.
172 In the battle between reality and fundamentalism of all varieties: Andrew Sullivan, “A Lot Better,” The Dish (blog), October 10, 2012, dish.andrewsullivan.com/2012/10/10/better.
13. Extended Stay
175 The purpose of a “democratic society,” Connelly argued, was to “safeguard and enhance life”: Joel Connelly, “Assisted Suicide Gets Push from out of State,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 27, 2008, http://www.seattlepi.com/local/connelly/article/Assisted-suicide-gets-push-from-out-of-state-1280453.php.
182 A total of 255 terminally ill adults have ended their lives with the assistance of a physician since the law came into force in 2009: “Death with Dignity Data,” 2011 Death with Dignity Act Report, Washington State Department of Health, http://www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports/VitalStatisticsData/DeathwithDignityData.aspx.
183 Death with dignity is not incompatible with palliative care, and data show that 90 percent of Oregon patients: Lewis M.
Cohen, “Massachusetts Vote May Change How the Nation Dies: Why It Matters That Death with Dignity Is Poised to Become the New Norm,” Health and Medicine Explained, Slate, October 29, 2012, http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2012/10/massachusetts_death_with_dignity_2012_kevorkian_and_humphry_started_the.html.
14. Rick and Me
186 Rick Santorum would very much like to be president: Stephanie Mencimer, “Rick Santorum’s Anal Sex Problem,” Mother Jones, September/October 2010, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/rick-santorum-google-problem-dan-savage.
187 It would be among the first ‘Google bombs’ in the modern political era: Steve Peoples, “Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem,” Roll Call, February 16, 2011, http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_84/-203455-1.html.
189 In what has been a long-running burden for Mr. Santorum: Noam Cohen, “A Leader in Iowa, Santorum Still Has Trouble Online,” Media Decoder (blog), The New York Times, January 4, 2012, http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/a-leader-in-iowa-santorum-still-has-trouble-online/.
190 Dan Savage has a santorum problem. Yes, santorum with a small s: Mark Judge, “With Dan Savage, It Doesn’t Get Better,” Real Clear Religion, January 7, 2012, http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2012/01/07/with_dan_savage_it_doesnt_get_better.html.
190 I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman: Barack Obama, Saddleback Presidential Forum, April 17, 2008, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76109_Page2.html.
191 The largest defeat by a Republican United States senator seeking election or re-election in modern Pennsylvania history: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Santorum’s Electability Pitch Undermined by 2006 Senate Re-Election Loss,” Bloomberg News, February 14, 2012, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-14/santorum-pitch-undermined-by-senate-loss.html.
191 In April of 2003, Santorum, then a senator from Pennsylvania, sat for an interview with: Andrew Marantz, “Bombs Away,” The New Yorker, January 16, 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2012/01/16/120116ta_talk_marantz.
