PFOX To SCOTUS: Stop Same-Sex Marriage Because Gays Totally Make Fun Of Us

The "ex-gay" loony tunes at PFOX have filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in which they argue that same-sex marriage must not be approved because, among other nonsensical reasons, people make fun of them. From the conclusion of their brief:

Same-sex attraction is not an immutable characteristic determined at birth, like race or gender. The growing public acknowledgment of ex-gays and the personal testimonies of the individuals included above demonstrate that same-sex attraction is a phenomenon that can and does change. Sadly, because their very existence undermines the immutability narrative, ex-gays have been treated with hatred and disrespect by gay activist organizations. Homosexual sexual orientation is not predetermined and fixed by “the accident of birth,”but is in fact subject to alteration and change. Therefore, Amicus asks this honorable Court to not declare that sexual orientation is a new suspect class. For the foregoing reasons, this honorable Court should affirm the decision of United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Among the testimonies in the brief is one from "conversion therapist" Richard Cohen, who appeared on CNN to demonstrate his cure for homosexuality, which consists of beating a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming, "Mom! Mom! Mom! Why did you do that to me?" Which, of course, everybody makes fun of.

Billboard Of The Day

The "ex-gay" crackpots of PFOX have posted the above billboard in Richmond, Virginia. PFOX has launched similar billboard campaigns over the years. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: PFOX former president Richard Cohen earns national ridicule after CNN broadcasts a demonstration of his "gay cure," which involved Cohen pounding a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming, "Why, Mommy, why?" PFOX files "ex-gay" discrimination complaint with state of Maryland. PFOX kicks Right Wing Watch reporter out of "Ex-Gay Awareness Dinner." PFOX announces "the end of homosexuality." PFOX head Greg Quinlan declares that President Obama and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy are secretly gay. Quinlan says gay men are sexual cannibals. Quinlan says he's gay because he was molested. Quinlan defends the "ex-gay" therapy of Ladybird Bachmann. Quinlan claims gay activist Wayne Besen threatened to inject him with AIDS. Quinlan testifies against New Jersey marriage. Quinlan works to increase attacks on LGBT children.  Quinlan attempts to distribute "ex-gay" flyers at public schools. Quinlan demands that FDA cease linking gay sites in harm reduction campaign. Quinlan files SCOTUS brief in support of DOMA.

"Ex-Gay" Nutter Slams Southern Baptist Leader For Denouncing Torture Therapy

"Homosexual feelings are often the result of underlying sexual trauma or emotional detachment from same-sex peers and parents – when individuals realize the source of their feelings and pursue healing in their lives, change happens. In my work with the International Healing Foundation, so much of our ministry is dedicated to working with church leadership to help them better understand how to minister to those who experience SSA – we're helping them transform their pews from one of judgment and condemnation to hope and healing. This is not a 'utopian idea' of changing people, but rather, loving them where they are at and helping them pursue healing. My desire is for Russell Moore to sit down with me and so many of these men that I know who's lives have been transformed because of Christian therapists who understand how to help those struggling with unwanted SSA so we can better help the church in their ministry towards those struggling with homosexuality." - Christopher Doyle, head of Voice Of The Voiceless, in a letter published by the Christian P.ost.

RELATED: The International Healing Foundation is headed by Richard Cohen, who in 2006 appeared on CNN to demonstrate his gay cure which involves beating a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming, "Mom! Mom! Mom! Why did you do that to me?"

"Ex-Gays" Promote Catholic Dogma: Disordered Gays Must Become Celibate

In a new 38-minute film partially shot in Catholic churches and laden with images of popes and priests, a handful of "ex-gay" crackpots tell their sad sad story about their empty meaningless lives as sexual human beings and how they came to love Jesus. Among those featured is notorious nutjob and NARTH supporter Christopher Doyle and freakshow "therapist" Richard Cohen, who earned national ridicule years ago for his "gay cure" treatment which involved beating a pillow with a tennis racket while screaming, "Why, Mommy, why?" I'm not aware of either Doyle or Cohen actually being Catholic, but the film includes lengthy explanations of how the Catholic Church's condemnation of gay people as "intrinsically disordered" is actually a message of love. The film closes with several calls for lifelong celibacy for gay people who just cannot bring themselves to feign sexual interest in the opposite sex.

(Tipped by JMG reader George)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: In January, Christopher Doyle said that communist American gay activists are to blame for the religion-motivated murders of gay men in Africa. Last September I wrote about the latest scam from Doyle and Cohen.

The crackpot "ex-gays" over at PFOX have announced "the end of homosexuality." Training sessions will be conducted by Richard "Tennis Racket" Cohen and Christopher Doyle. For a mere $295, these totally and forever gay scamsters will train you to be a certified "Sexual Orientation Coach" via 12 thirty minutes sessions of de-gaying by means of "touch therapy" in which Cohen and Doyle will lovingly hold the clients in their completely homosexual arms while muttering gruff Jeff Stryker-isms into their ears. You really want it, don't you? Oh, wait. That was the old therapy. The new therapy will be performed online! Oh, the possibilities! For an additional $100 donation they will send you a Don't Let Me Suck Your Cock wristband so that unwary suitors know to steer clear at the local dirty bookstore. How proactive!

MEXICO: "Ex-Gay" Conference Canceled

Last month I reported that "ex-gay" crackpot Richard "Tennis Racket" Cohen was exporting his crazy to Mexico.  JMG reader Juan reports today that the event has been canceled following a petition campaign by the local LGBT community. Good for them! I'll update this post if more details come to light.

"Ex-Gays" Export Their Crazy To Mexico

Richard Cohen must know Spanish for "beat this pillow with a tennis racket and scream 'Why, Mommy, why?'" because he's taking his batshittery to Mexico. (Tipped by JMG reader Juan)

About Those Totally Not-Gay Magnets

Truth Wins Out head Wayne Besen notes that the "magnets prove gay marriage is unnatural" crapola out of Nigeria actually started with the American "ex-gay" nutjob Richard "Tennis Racket" Cohen.

How do you know when your university has become an international punchline? When its star “scholar” is plagiarizing work from International Healing Foundation crackpot Richard Cohen. University of Lagos should immediately expel Amalaha for academic fraud. It should also strongly consider closing its doors, for the university has lost all respectability and credibility. If this is what University of Lagos is teaching students, the degree is essentially worthless.

Besen points out Cohen demonstrating his "magnet proof" in an excerpt from the 2009 documentary, Chasing The Devil.

Announcing The End Of Homosexuality

The crackpot "ex-gays" over at PFOX have announced "the end of homosexuality." Training sessions will be conducted by Richard "Tennis Racket" Cohen and Christopher Doyle.  For a mere $295, these totally and forever gay scamsters will train you to be a certified "Sexual Orientation Coach" via 12 thirty minutes sessions of de-gaying by means of beating pillows while screaming "Why, mommy, why?" and by "touch therapy" in which Cohen and Doyle will lovingly hold the clients in their completely homosexual arms while muttering gruff Jeff Stryker-isms into their ears. You really want it, don't you? Oh, wait. That was the old therapy. The new therapy will be performed online! Oh, the possibilities!

Do you lack therapeutic skills that can help your SSA clients resolve wounds that lead to homosexual desires? Are you looking for a clear, easy-to-understand model of therapy that you can guide your SSA clients and help them achieve their heterosexual potential? MOST importantly, are you looking for a training you can do online, from your home or place of work/school, that doesn't require you to spend hundreds of dollars in travel and hotel? Look no more! International Healing Foundation (IHF) has adapted its successful three-day Counselor Training Program, which has trained hundreds of therapists and counselors all over North America, South America, and Europe in the last five years, to a new online format. All participants who attend each class will receive a Certificate of Attendance for Sexual Orientation Training and Education. A Certificate as a Certified Sexual Orientation Coach will be mailed to those who complete all the requirements within one year of the final day of this training.

For an additional $100 donation they will send you a Don't Let Me Suck Your Cock wristband so that unwary suitors know to steer clear at the local dirty bookstore. How proactive!

The "Ex-Gays" Need A Theme Song!

From the new "ex-gay" group founded by Christopher Doyle and Moonie Richard "Tennis Racket" Cohen:

Create your own music video! Amateurs or professionals can enter. Video should be 3-5 min. in length. Winner selected based on original song content, appeal and professionalism. Winner debuts their music video LIVE at the First Ex-Gay Pride Month Celebration in Washington, DC. Deadline to submit video July 30. Entry Fee: $30.

Somebody should just set Cohen's hilariously tragic tennis racket therapy to music.

HomoQuotable - Christopher Doyle

"The mission of SPLC's hate campaign is three-fold: 1) Character Assassination: spreading false and misleading information on their website and via the media about therapists who offer professional services to individuals with unwanted SSA; 2) Fabricate evidence and embellish the facts about the so-called 'dangers' of sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) therapy; and 3) Recruit vulnerable and disgruntled clients to take legal action against organizations that offer assistance for those struggling with unwanted SSA in hopes to put them out of business. The SPLC's method of character assassination is simple. Repeat a lie loud enough and long enough, and people will believe it. I personally have experienced this issue from both sides – I once lived a gay life, and today, I have a wife and children and no longer experience homosexual feelings." - Christopher Doyle, director of the "ex-gay" brainwashing and child torture clinic, International Healing Foundation, writing for the Christian Post.

RELATED: Doyle also is (or was) on the board of directors for PFOX.  His current group was founded by freakazoid crackpot Richard Cohen, whose "therapy" includes beating pillows with a tennis racket while screaming "Why? Mommy, why?"  Two years ago I encountered Doyle in the parking lot of the Philadelphia hotel hosting that year's NARTH convention, where he had a sputtering, fluttering, big girl attack when I took his photo. (Because he is totally now a masc/musc pussy-loving cured straight dude.) When I kept taking photos, Doyle put his hand on his hip and hissed, "I don't need this. Why don't you just sssssssstop!"

UPDATE: Doyle has responded to me in the comments at the Christian Post: "Wow Joe, you're so intolerant. Don't you have anything better to do with your time than protest and hate people?"  This, from the man who literally lobbies against anti-bullying laws and enables the gay-bashing of children.

Quote Of The Day - Richard Cohen

"The Marines of today know that virtually the entire Republican Party stood up for bigotry. The Corps knows that some important senators - John McCain and Jon Kyl, to name two - furiously fought to retain the status quo, always in the sainted cause of unit cohesion. (Kyl said repeal could "cost lives.") Marines know, too, that in surveys, those on the front lines are least supportive of having gays among them and they are also aware that their brass fought to keep "don't ask, don't tell." The issue for me, as for Gen. Amos, is unit cohesion. That's why he has to go. " - Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, calling for the dismissal or resignation of USMC Commandant James Amos.

CNN's Kyra Phillips: Richard Cohen Wasn't Appropriate Choice For Gay Cure Segment

Today CNN's Kyra Phillips offered an apology for featuring "ex-gay" whacko Richard Cohen on a segment about repealing a California law requiring the state to search for a "cure" for homosexuality, saying that Cohen wasn't the "appropriate choice." Phillips also complained about hate mail she received after the segment aired. After Elton's Michael Jenson:

Interestingly, at one point Phillips says she has a female friend whose parents are using the Bible to attack her sexuality. She also acknowledges that Richard Cohen was not the most appropriate person to discuss the issue, but she never explains why he wasn't. The end of the segment has Phillips discussing the reaction she received over her remarks and while I think it's unfortunate and wrong anyone would say anything hateful, discussing it here seems a little disingenuous. Nonetheless, I appreciate the fact that Phillips and CNN revisited the issue and at least set the record "straight" on conversion therapy.

This time CNN hosted a legitimate expert from the American Psychological Association.

GLAAD Vs. CNN

GLAAD has issued a call to action over yesterday's CNN segment asking "Does homosexuality need a cure" which featured the famously insane "ex-gay therapist" Richard Cohen.

We have spoken extensively to key producers and publicity representatives at the network this afternoon and they indicate that they understand the seriousness of our complaints. They are scheduling a meeting with GLAAD and key bookers at CNN so that this type of mishap can be avoided moving forward. In the meantime we’ll be keeping a close eye on future reporting and calling on our members to speak out about faulty reports. Please contact CNN Newsroom and voice your concerns about the platform extended to the discredited Richard Cohen and CNN’s failure to consult credible scientific authorities before proceeding with this report.

GLAAD invites you to complain directly to CNN yourselves via their feedback form.

UPDATE: GLAAD reports that they had been invited by CNN to refute yesterday's segment in a broadcast scheduled to air this morning, but CNN canceled at the last minute today.

After extensive conversations with CNN producers and publicity representatives yesterday afternoon and following our blog and twitter action, CNN called GLAAD in the evening, telling us they had received numerous complaints about the segment and inviting us to appear on this morning’s broadcast with Kyra Phillips to discuss our concerns. GLAAD then scheduled a representative to go on CNN but received a phone call from the network at 7 A.M. today telling us they had decided to cancel the segment. They also issued this statement: "By bringing this story to the fore, we engage various advocates from all sides. This story does not end here and CNN will continue to explore other views and positions." Just like the segment itself, CNN’s statement misses the mark and provides no explanation for its actions. GLAAD urges you to help us hold the network accountable.

HomoQuotable - Michael Jensen

"It's 2010 and CNN expects me to seriously sit here and expect that this issue is really still up for debate? It certainly is in some quarters, but those are quarters that at this point respectable journalists should stay out of. I guess this means we can look forward to other CNN segments including 'The Holocaust — did it really happen?' with anti-Semites invited to discuss the topic, as well as 'Race in America: Should African Americans go back to Africa?' with Ku Klux Klan leaders brought on as 'experts.' And just to be well-rounded, how about 'Is the earth really flat?'

"When I contacted CNN, I honestly assumed they'd at least issue an apology for the offensive wording of Phillips' question and admit Cohen was a poor example for an 'expert' to discuss this issue. Instead, they defend their actions as if they are actually behaving responsibly by doing this story and doing it this way. Oh, and CNN? Don't bother 'exploring other views and positions.' You've now got zero credibility on the subject anyway, so why bother?" - AfterElton blogger Michael Jensen, calling out CNN for yesterday's outrageous segment on "curing" homosexuality.

CNN Asks: Does Gayness Need A Cure?

Masked in a story about the move to delete an archaic California law requiring the state to seek a cure for homosexuality, CNN unbelievably handed the issue off to the wildly insane "ex-gay therapist" Richard Cohen, who infamously recommends beating your gay away with a tennis racket and a pillow. In 2002 Cohen was ejected from the American Counseling Association, yet he continues to present himself as a "psychotherapist." In Twitter speak: WFT@CNNfail?

Fun With Conversion Therapy

JMG reader BStewart23 directs us to this amusing Current TV clip mocking conversion therapy. "All you need is some lube and you've got a tailgate party!"

Author Of Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill Says Death Penalty Will Remain

According to a report in tomorrow's issue of the UK's Guardian, Ugandan member of parliament David Behati has presented his "kill gays" bill and vows that it will not be watered down. In addition to the death penalty or a life sentence for some cases, the bill provides for the imprisonment of people who don't turn in someone they know to be gay.

The Ugandan bill extends existing laws to make it illegal to promote homosexuality by talking or writing about it, and forcing people to tell the authorities about anyone they know who is gay. The bill, said Bahati, 35, an MP from the ruling party, aims to "protect the cherished culture of the people of Uganda against the attempts of sexual rights activists seeking to impose their values of sex promiscuity on the people of Uganda". He denied reports that international pressure might result in parts of the bill being toned down. "We are not going to yield to any international pressure – we cannot allow people to play with the future of our children and put aid into the game. We are not in the trade of values. We need mutual respect."

The Guardian goes on to point out that despite Bahati's claim that Uganda is immune to outside pressure, it was in fact outsiders from America's evangelical world that spawned the bill in the first place.

In March, Bahati met several prominent anti-gay US Christian activists who attended a conference in Uganda where they pledged to "wipe out" homosexuality. The conference featured Scott Lively, president of California's anti-gay Abiding Truth Ministries and co-author of The Pink Swastika, a book claiming that leading Nazis were gay. Also there was Don Schmierer, on the board of Exodus International, which promotes the "ex-gay" movement, believing people can change their sexuality and be redeemed. The third extremist evangelical to attend was Caleb Lee Brundidge, who is linked to Richard Cohen who believes that psychotherapy can "cure" homosexuality. Bahati's bill was drawn up within weeks of the conference.

Another American evangelical deeply involved in Uganda is Rick Warren, who yesterday released a videotaped message denouncing the submitted bill, something he only did after weeks of criticism over his silence. Bahati is disappointed with Warren, saying, "It's unfortunate that a man of God who has inspired many people across the world can give in to pressure and disappoint them."

Rachel Maddow Takes On "Ex-Gay" Nutcase Richard Cohen

You may recall the deranged "ex-gay" advocate Richard Cohen, whose ridiculous "reparative therapies" such as beating out one's homosexual tendencies with a tennis racket and a pillow became the laughingstock of YouTube. Well, it turns out that Cohen isn't quite the relatively harmless lunatic we all thought. His book's completely fabricated "statistics" about gays "recruiting" and molesting children (courtesy of fellow mental patient Paul Cameron) are being used to promote Uganda's "kill gays" bill. Last night Rachel Maddow ripped him to pieces. When Cohen attempts to deny some of his words, Rachel blasts, "I'm reading it from your book, dude."

"Ex-Gay" Richard Cohen Is Back!

Ex-Gay Watch just posted the above clip of uber-crazy "former" homosexual Richard Cohen with his Moonie wife. Oh, the strange hilarity.

The video above is from the upcoming movie Chasing the Devil: Inside the Ex-Gay Movement by Bill Hussung and Mishara Canino-Hussing. Ex-Gay guru and all around bizarre guy Richard Cohen seems only too happy to participate, bringing back memories of pillows and tennis rackets. Listen carefully, there are some interesting comments. One that I didn’t quite get is in the beginning, he’s says he has been married for “2300 23,000 years”? Is that just a joke or is it a Moonie thing? (I honestly don’t know)

Dr. Jack Drescher brings us a brief period of sanity, perhaps laced with bemusement at what he is seeing — yet again. Meanwhile,Cohen has a new web site and is training “coaches” or whatever, having apparently mended fences with Exodus International. One has to wonder, when will someone on that side of the aisle deal with Cohen in a public way? Or is this Prop 8 where the ends justify the means and keeping ex-gay pseudo-science going — even this most bizarre of chapters — is justifiable? Think about that as they put on happy faces and spin, spin, spin at the ongoing Exodus Leadership conference.

Anybody remember the immortal clip of Cohen "beating out" his homosexual tendencies with a tennis racket and a pillow? Ex-Gay Watch linked it above, in case you need a laugh. Yesterday Pam Spaulding posted Cohen's typically twisted condemnation of Prayers For Bobby, to which Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out responded:

Like a cheap infomercial, Cohen goes on to promote his silly products and continues to use his family - including his Moonie wife - in photos, as if they are mere props. Talk about moral turpitude and disrespect for the family! ...But, somehow the health of GLBT youths and modern science is irrelevant if it conflicts with Cohen’s religious dogma and bizarre, fringe psychological theories. Indeed, Cohen’s answer is having Bobby, if he were alive, pay him good money to bang a tennis racket against a pillow. Um, yeah, that would have saved him. In my view, Cohen is a greedy, opportunistic shyster who will capitalize on any tragedy to make a quick buck. Has this man no shame?