Boom!

and just when i had started to think the inside story would never be told...

Journey Into Manhood. Ever heard of it? It's the pray-the-gay-away organization run by People Can Change. Ty Mansfield* talks about it all the time. Journey Into Manhood (JiM) is an expensive weekend retreat run by non-professionals who claim a shocking 79% success rate! They do this by...

...ah, yes. I almost forgot about the confidentially agreement. Do you know who remembers the agreement and is fully prepared to breech it? Ted Cox.

Ted Cox, a "perennially straight writer," spent two years posing as a gay man and attending reparative therapy events around the country including JiM!

Feel free to read the whole article (it isn't very long) but before you do, feel free to read these choice quotes:

"For one exercise, you're standing just inches away from another man and you're staring him in the eyes, and someone in the background is telling you to think about what emotions come up. You do this with every man at the camp. It is very uncomfortable."

"I became sad because I saw men reenact traumatic events from their childhood. ... One man, for example, reenacted his father beating his mother."

"What was surprising at the weekly meetings was this emphasis on falling in love with Christ. In order to overcome your attraction to men, it was to fall in love—in almost a romantic way—to the most perfect man. Some of the songs they sang sounded like soft-rock 80s love hits, but they were about Jesus instead of your sweetheart."

I can hardly contain my laughter about that last one. Surely, if you can't pray the gay away you can always sex-up the Lord!

In the article Mr. Cox also talks about the staffers trying to reinforce the American machismo mind-set. How does that myth still persist? These non-professional therapists need to spend a night at a leather bar.

As do the weekend campers.

*In a related story: Ty Mansfield Still Not Caught Soliciting Male Prostitute, Says Google Search.

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good video

To Cure The L

an open letter to the one known as -L-

You'll never be one of them. They don't want you.

If they knew about you - if they ALL knew about you - you wouldn't ever be allowed near them or their children again.

Your wife didn't fix you, your degree didn't fix you, and Evergreen didn't fix you.

They won't fix you, L. You're not broken.

They won't straight you, L. You're bent.

Don't opt for chemo. You don't need medicine. You need The Cure.

You've spent decades trying to pretend you don't need it but you know you do.

Your soul knows what you need.

And as long as you keep dismissing your soul...

...you'll never be whole.

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good video

That Cousin of Mine

A cousin of mine sent me an invitation to sign a Facebook petition. This cousin knows I'm gay, comes from a conservative military family (that also knows I'm gay), and is preparing to serve an LDS mission. What do you think, bloggers, did I handle this well?

Cousin,

My Facebook account informs me you have requested I sign the "Petition to US Congress and President Obama."

Item 5 of the petition states:

"I am against the Hate Crimes Bill (Pedophile Protection Act) that would make it a federal hate crime to defend a child against a pedophile."

This is simply not the case. The legislation, known as the Matthew Shepard Act, amends the existing federal Hate-Crime Law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

The bill would also:
- remove the current prerequisite that the victim be engaging in a federally-protected activity, like voting or going to school;
- give federal authorities greater ability to engage in hate crimes investigations that local authorities choose not to pursue;
- provide $10 million in funding to help state and local agencies pay for investigating and prosecuting hate crimes.

Nowhere in the bill are provisions made regarding pedophilia. The author of the petition has made the bigoted assumption that all non-heterosexuals are pedophiles and that assumption couldn't be further from the truth. Nor does it have anything to do with this bill.

This bill's detractors usually claim it will suppress free speech by making it illegal to speak or preach against homosexuality. This too is a flawed notion. Quoting from the bill itself, "Nothing in this Act...shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of, the First Amendment to the Constitution."

I believe you have been deceived by the wording of this petition and been led to sign it thinking it was protecting something it doesn't. Political rhetoric can be difficult to sort through and I'm not bothered you fell victim to its lies. I would appreciate, however, if you removed your name from it.

Sincerely,
playasinmar

PS.

You can read more about the bill here
http://www.hrc.org/laws_and_elections/5660.htm

You can read more about Matthew Shepard here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard

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good video

A Recent Poll

"A recent poll of Massachusetts residents revealed that 36 percent of voters who oppose gay marriage agreed with the state­ment, 'If you speak out against gay marriage in Massachusetts you really have to watch your back because some people may try to hurt you.'"

Wow, 36%. That's a big number. There are 6,497,967 people in Massachusetts. That's 2,339,268 people (give or take) that feel they need to "watch their backs."

What have we done, gays? We're terrorizing... our enemies... merely... for... thinking...

Wait just a second. 36% of voters who oppose gay marriage? 64% of the state is registered to vote and according to the study I found, support amongst the state's citizenry for genuine gay marriage* is 56%. So if 36% of 44% of 64% fear for their backs...

...that's about 10% 650,000 people!

So, to the 10% or so Massachusett-ites who fear for your spines, we're sorry for the vague threats we've been issuing. But we didn't bring the Neolithic attitude toward the gay minority to the party so grow up. Try worrying about the planet or the economy or something else you may be able to influence in some way.

And to the well-read scholar who wrote the even-handed analysis the original quote came from I say this:

1. First, thank you for participating in this debate in a cool, controlled manner.
2. Second, you claim individualism and communism are bad without establishing a reasonable middle-place. I think you need to elaborate on that.
3. Finally, pick a better statistic then "36 percent of 44 percent of 64 percent."

*References: here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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For the Love of Pete, if anyone spots me making a math error in here please, please let me know.

good video

AVPA

a very poor acronym

Let's face it: Gay Mormons have to put up with two of the worst acronyms ever coined.

The Church would have us believe we suffer from Same-Sex Attraction or "SSA." This gives us a good example of how something very trite can be very true: SSA is ASS backwards.*

Another unfortunate concept you may have noticed is Mixed-Orientation Marriage or "MOM." the oedipal implications of a gay man saying, "I am in a MOM," are staggering.

Perhaps it would be better for individuals in such marriages to admit to being in a Mixed Orientation Partnership. I think MOP (pronounced "mope") would be the most accurate title for those poor, unfortunate souls.

*Too many colons?

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good video

Why You Will Lose - part three

- a three part series by playasinmar -

Part Three - Breeding

Let's pretend you can stop us from marrying forever. All the things you whine on and on about (they need a mommy and a daddy, for example) would still be trumped by the fact that all kids need a family. Certainly this applies to foster kids.

But gays cAN't have kids on their own! They want the ones we straights are disCaRDing!! tHen thEY can indoctrinate future generatiONs with lies about how normALl gay folks are!!! they musT be stopped FRom adopting!!!1!

Indeed, some states have done just that. In doing so they have secured their futures and the futures of all children everywhere. No gay families equals no gay recruiting, no gay support, and no gay tolerance. Problem solved, right?

However, in their frothy denunciations they have overlooked the loophole: Gays are breeding.

Its true. The government can take away all sorts of rights from its gay citizenry but it can't take away their ability to have sex. Sorry, straight bigots, but you can't do that.

So gays are generating their own children one way or another. Surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, and saki make babies happen regardless of orientation. Not that it happens without effort. The family you want to build is always happier than the family a torn prophylactic built. Maybe that alone is why kids in gay families love their gay parents.

So go ahead and keep discarding your precious progeny, straight bigots. And if you think gays don't deserve a shot to care for the children you treat like refuse, fine. The gays and their families aren't going anywhere.

And honestly, some of us are getting real tired of asking for your permission to exist.*

*I believe in the basic human right to start any and all sentences with "and" if one so chooses.

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good video

A Single Poly Question

a question a day keeps the doctor away

This one's gonna be brief. I really have just a single question.

Why is polygamy illegal?

If a man married to one wife has multiple affairs a court will order him to pay support to any children he fathers.

Nobody is ever prosecuted for philandering. The worst that could happen is he'd lose a custody hearing should they divorce.

But if he is willing to volunteer support, if the mistresses want to live near him, and if nobody is underage, what's the problem?

Let me reiterate that underage marriage is obviously wrong and should be prosecuted. Based on that big raid last year it seems that underage marriage isn't a frequent issue.*

Does anyone know why polygamy is illegal?

*Besides, I want to discuss polygamy as a concept as opposed to a particular groups use of it.

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good video

A Very Important Video

this is a video you cannot miss:

A Mormon housewife from California spends a month with a gay couple raising four children.

What will happen? View and discuss below.

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good video

Its Finally Happened

After ascending Rameumptom to declare his superiority. After that trip to Guatemala. After dating AtP. After singing with and defending the OCMCO (Orange County Mormon Choral Organization).

After all those years of hemin' and hawin' about what it takes to be happy...

...Max has a boyfriend. And they live together!!

This is great! This is such good timing; the news comes only days after I identified his need for companionship. Now I have further evidence supporting my All-it-Takes-to-be-Happy-is-Submitting-to-Happiness™* theory.

Congratulations, Max. I hope you and Whoever-He-Is spend the rest of your lives sharing warm, sexy nights together! :)

P.S. Does anyone know who the mystery boyfriend is? My guess would be the blogger Issacson based on those steamy Guatemala pics. Does anyone else care to venture a guess?

*Per playasinmar stylebook instructions, the All-it-Takes-to-be-Happy-is-Submitting-to-Happiness™ theory can be abbreviated in all caps as AITTBHISTH.

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good video

A PSA

i've solved all your problems - don't freak out

.

The following bloggers desperately need a boyfriend*:

John Galt
Forester
Crow
Beck
Clint
Max
Ty
L

So if you know one of these poor souls (and you’re single) do the world a favor and hook one of these guys up.

*Which is to say a we-have-so-much-in-common, I-am-able-to-express-love-for-you-naturally, and I-don't-cry-after-having-sex-with-you boyfriend.

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good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88mnAAQP2Ss

Why You Will Lose – part two

- a three part series by playasinmar -

part two – For the Love of Nerds

It doesn’t take a creative person to sit in front of a computer and pound out C#. It takes a creative person to pretend to like programming but programming itself is 99% mindless busy work.*

Are you familiar with the traditional nerd (from the Latin battlus starus galacticus)? The thick glasses, inept social skills, dresses like Stephen Speilburg, and hair like Bill Gates type of nerd is real. Very, very real.

These people are easily the smartest among us and yet the most difficult to be around voluntarily.

Ask your self why their employers went to bat for them in the fight against Prop 8.
Ask yourself why these tech firms already have policies in place to extend medical coverage to the partners of gay employees.
Ask yourself why, exactly, in a world full of heterosexual tech graduates they would try so hard to retain the small number of gay ones.

And ask yourself what, precisely, straight communities have to fear from regular gays if Apple has already learned to love gay nerds.

*Alas, poor Chedner.

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good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drE5cHe6c3s