CNN Interviews Pastor of Connecticut 'Gay Exorcism' Church

CNN interviews Patricia McKinney, pastor of Connecticut's Manifested Glory Ministries Church, the ministry behind the gay exorcism video.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Masters and Johnson 'Gay Conversion' Studies Exposed as Fraud

Oft-cited by right-wing religious groups and the Catholic church, the 1979 Homosexuality  in Perspective book by sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, has nothing to back it up, we learn, 30 years later...

"Back in 1979, on Meet The Press and countless other TV appearances, Masters and Johnson touted their book, Homosexuality in Perspective—a 14-year study of more than 300 homosexual men and women—hoping to build on their groundbreaking sex studies of heterosexuals that had helped ignite America's sexual revolution...When the clinic's top associate, Robert Kolodny, asked to see the files and to hear the tape-recordings of these 'storybook' cases, Masters refused to show them to him. Kolodny—who had never seen any conversion cases himself—began to suspect some, if not all, of the conversion cases were not entirely true. When he pressed Masters, it became ever clearer to him that these were at best composite case studies made into single ideal narratives, and at worst they were fabricated. Eventually Kolodny approached Virginia Johnson privately to express his alarm. She, too, held similar suspicions about Masters' conversion theory, though publicly she supported him. The prospect of public embarrassment, of being exposed as a fraud, greatly upset Johnson, a self-educated therapist who didn't have a college degree and depended largely on her husband's medical expertise..."

(via the awl)

Gay 'Witch Hunt' on in Uganda as Catholic Priest, Others Named

The "ex-gay" group in Uganda which last week held a press conference to announce they were "declaring war" on homosexuality, has named a hospital worker, a European ex-pat, and a Catholic priest and gospel singer as gay:

"Paul Kagaba, who says he was a homosexual for eight years, told a press conference in Kampala that Musaala, a gospel music award-winner, regularly holds parties for gays at his residence in Gayaza near Kampala.  He was speaking at the press conference which was held at the anti-gay crusader, Pastor Martin Ssempa’s Redeemed Church at Makerere. In attendance was another self-confessed reformed homosexual, George ‘Georgina’ Oundo, and Pastor Solomon Male, an anti-gay activist."

Musaala defended himself: "Whatever they say, I am not gay and I will never be gay. I am only a minister of the Roman Catholic Church. es, I have a private house in Gayaza. It is a beautiful house with gardens and I host there different kinds of parties. Different groups of people, especially those from my church, Old Kampala, also come for prayer and retreats. Basically, I use my house for prayers and retreats. I don’t know why people say these are gay parties. Many people make such accusations. This is neither the first nor the last. Let them say what they want. I will challenge the accusations as they come."

More from Box Turtle Bulletin, including reports that the group's leader George Oundo, "converted" to heterosexuality for financial gain.

News: Bruno, EHarmony, Cuba, Eric Balfour, Old New York, Footloose

EHarmony launches gay matchmaking service as a result of settlement in discrimination lawsuit: "It's not a comfortable fit for EHarmony's founder, Neil Clark Warren, who based the original service -- which requires applicants to fill out lengthy questionnaires -- on his own practice as a psychologist. 'It's what I did for 40 years,' said Warren, 74, who is retired but remains on the board. 'I never had a gay couple.'"

Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno slapped with NC-17 rating over gay sex.

"Ex-gay" therapy group can't rid themselves of shame: "The assumption of these men is that if they can work through a childhood issue that they believe led them to being attracted to other men, they will be able to live as heterosexuals. That notion runs counter to the notion that people are born gay and can't change. None of the men in the group felt comfortable to talk with The Bee."

Wingnuts Lou Sheldon and Andrea Lafferty on what might happen if gays are allowed in the military: "Imagine the impact that the rampant spread of STDs, including HIV would have on the military? How will the military handle the spread of these diseases in the barracks? How will the military handle sodomy in battlefield situations?"

Do-It-Yourself: Is this where magazines are headed?

STUDY: Police across Europe unequipped to deal with homophobic crimes. "The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said police in most countries were incapable of dealing with homophobic crime -- ranging from verbal abuse to deadly attacks -- and said many governments and schools failed to take it seriously enough. This creates a vicious circle, with victims preferring to remain 'invisible' rather than being open about their sexual orientation or reporting abuse to authorities, the study showed."

Chace Crawford to replace Zac Efron in Footloose remake?

Mariela Castro launches anti-homophobia campaign in Cuba: "The 2009 campaign for respect for freedom of sexual orientation, under the slogan "Diversity is Natural", will try to contribute to 'the education of society in general, with an emphasis on university students, about respect for people's free and responsible sexual orientation and gender identity, as an exercise in equity and social justice.'"

Affleck and Damon, BFFs.

The UK has a gay Apprentice candidate.

Actor Eric Balfour wearing a sock during some strange Red Hot Chilli Peppers parody at Here lounge in L.A. (possibly NSFW)

Snow Patrol fight back against accusations they're dull: "Jonny fights fires. Tom (Simpson, keyboardist) toils shirtless on construction sites, Paul (Wilson, bassist) is in the Navy Reserve. Nathan (Connolly, guitarist) is a volunteer policeman and I explore my Cherokee ancestry. We're like the Village People, only slightly less gay."

Eddie Cibrian's boyband past comes back to haunt him.

Early daguerrotype image of New York City sells for $62,500 at auction.

California Libertarian Party backs effort to replace the word "marriage" with "domestic partnership" throughout California law.

L.A.'s Outfest Film Festival shakes up leadership: "Kirsten Schaffer, formerly director of programming and deputy director for the Los Angeles-based organization, replaces Todd Heustess who had been in the job just seven months." 

Oprah's boarding school in South Africa rocked by lesbian sexual harassment scandal.

Group of 'Ex-Gay' Ugandans Declare War on Homosexuality

Uganda's "ex-gay" movement gained momentum this week as eight men held a press conference at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala, according to Ugandan website New Vision: "the youthful men described homosexuality as abnormal and anti-Christian, and declared war against it."

The government is backing them up with threats of its own.

Said one of the men, who claims he gave up homosexuality two weeks ago: "We have been involved in recruiting homosexuals, spreading the gospel of homosexuality, and we know the operations of homosexuals. We shall do all it takes to eliminate the practice in Uganda. Homosexuality is dangerous and dehumanising but is growing fast in Uganda."

Said another: "Many business moguls are involved."

The group's leader, a man named George Oundo, apparently held a separate press conference earlier in the week. He said: "We shall expose those who refuse to abandon the practice and we shall not be intimidated because we are protected by Jesus. We know their operations, including a restaurant in the city centre where homosexuals wait for clients from nearby hotels."

The article ran next to a contextual Google advertisement from Mate1 that read "find sexy gay singles in your area!"

(Note: occasionally here on Towleroad you may see similar contextually-driven ads that also appear to buck the slant of our content. Some of them are extremely difficult to block, and in many cases we do try. We apologize if they cause offense.)

British Study: 1 in 6 Psychiatrists Has Tried to 'Cure' a Gay Person

A pretty astonishing rate given the outright rejection of such "therapy" by the mainstream medical community, and the warnings of its dangers.

The Independent reports: "A study of more than 1,400 psychiatrists and therapists in BMC Psychiatry found that 222 (17 per cent) said they had treated at least one client to alter their homosexual feelings at some point. The researchers expected the cases to be concentrated in the past, but the 400 to 500 cases recorded were distributed evenly across the decades. 'It is happening up to the present moment,' [Professor Michael King, of the University College Medical School] said. It might only be the 'tip of the iceberg'."

Added King: "Heaven knows what they do. We didn't attempt to ask them because there is no evidence that anything works. We didn't expect it to be happening at this rate and we are really rather concerned. It ought to stop. It is distressing and harmful and there is absolutely no evidence it works."

Image above via Wayne Besen's "ex-gay" watchdog group Truth Wins Out.

A video I posted back in January by Peterson Toscano, an "ex-gay" survivor, who talks about the 17 years he spent attempting to "cure" his homosexuality, AFTER THE JUMP...