Last time I introduced the new and impressively researched book from MassResistance, which runs about 500 pages and adds another 100 pages of footnotes. These days when the meaning of the word “gay” has been radically changed by leftwing radicals, this book puts the lie to the idea that the word, as used, is a synonym of “happy.”

Social conservatives should buy a copy of this book so they can have the facts about “What the Medical and Psychological Research Reveals.”

In Tammy Bruce’s 2003 book The Death of Right and Wrong, Bruce, a self-described lesbian conservative, describes many of her fellow LGBTers with harsh language:

For people whose entire identity and reason to live is based in their sexuality, what do they need to do in order to fit comfortably into our society? They must work to sexualize every part of society…

From where does this madness spring? Why this compulsion to change our society’s culture to mirror the Left Elite’s own worldview? This pattern of the Left Elite’s projecting their issues onto society isn’t as odd as you may think.

It makes perfect sense, according to the most respected psychoanalysts of our age. Childhood trauma, stress disorders, and the resulting malignant narcissism all play a part in the Left’s victim mentality and in their effort, mostly subconscious, to shape our world to mirror their own damaged psyches.

In chapter 3 of the book, MassResistance surveys the mental health data and provides footnotes for the reader to learn more. “There is widespread agreement among researchers,” the chapter begins, “that the GLB population shows significantly higher incidence of mental health problems than heterosexuals.”

Here is the sad list: “anxiety, depression, suicidal thinking and attempts, substance abuse, eating disorders, promiscuity, sex addiction, risk taking, and unstable relationships. If that isn’t bad enough, chapter 4 focuses on GLB “partner abuse.”

Those who read The Health Hazards of Homosexuality, may, like me, be surprised at the long list of physical ailments that are common in the GLB community — and yes, that includes lesbians. While the list is longer for men, bisexual men play the role of helping spread many of the diseases to women.

This is not an exhaustive list: HIV/AIDS, HPV, condyloma, genital warts, anal warts, anal cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, genital herpes, molluscum, viral hepatitus, hepatitus A, hepatitus B, hepatitus C, chlamydia and LGV, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Okay, that’s enough. There are many more, but you get the picture.

There were many other things I had been unaware of beforehand. Here are just a few of them:

“Bathhouses are accepted as ‘mainstream’ by homosexual organizations.” There is actually something called the North American Bathhouse Association. For some reason I was under the impression that their “disproportionate impact on the spread of disease” had led health organizations to shut them down.

If you were to read closely the pages about “fisting,” you could probably be counted as an expert on the topic. That was one of the sections I just paged-through. Thanks, but no thanks. But again, it’s important information, albeit completely awful to be made aware of.

If you’re still reading this article, I applaud your stamina. The good news is that we’re almost done. Just one more thing. From chapter 8:

Homosexuals would deny that any in their community engage in bestiality (intercourse with animals). If that is so, why is there a section discussing it at the pro-homosexual AIDS advice site, The Body? Why are bestiality videos sold at the International Mr. Leather event?

I’ll spare you the titles of the videos given as examples.

In this information age, it is astounding how much information remains mostly, and purposefully hidden. The politicized health organizations are as much to blame as the Leftist media and others advancing the LGBT agenda. This book can go a long way to helping solve this information problem — but only if social conservatives buy it and help spread the word.

People are “suffering unnecessarily,” as MassResistance’s executive director Brian Camenker writes in the Forward. The Introduction of the book states it clearly:

The mainstreaming of homosexuality is a serious threat to the public health and to the health of individuals caught up in the homosexual lifestyle.

The American public is not being told how dangerous homosexuality is to the physical and mental health of its practitioners, as well as to our larger society.

Click here to learn more about the book and to buy a copy.

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Charles Dickens famously opened his novel A Tale of Two Cities with the words, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Those words came to my mind as I clawed my way through the new book by MassResistance, The Health Hazards of Homosexuality. The book is as important as it is difficult to get through. It is the best resource I’ve seen on one of the worst topics in the modern public square.

Here is the book’s subtitle: “What the Medical and Psychological Research Reveals.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the organization MassResistance, you should get familiar. It is one of those small but hard-hitting and effective groups that fear nothing. Sometimes it’s the smaller teams of activists that accomplish the more difficult tasks — and MassResistance long ago earned the respect of many across the country and around the world for their boldness and tenacity.

“MassResistance is a pro-family activist organization that educates people to help them confront the attacks on the traditional family, children, religion, and society,” its website states and then asks “What makes us different?”

Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr once described us as a “hardcore pro-family group.” Through uncompromising first-hand reporting we expose the agendas and horrors targeting children in schools and the institutions of society. We provide analysis so the average person understands what’s really happening. And we give citizens and activists everywhere the tools and strategy to effectively confront the anti-family forces against them. Most people are unfortunately ill equipped to deal with this on their own.

In contrast, rather than being truthful and confrontational, too many pro-family groups are more interested in being viewed as “reasonable and “not extreme.” They tend to “fight” by writing commentary, re-posting shocking articles, and putting up a polite opposition to the latest left-wing lunacy. And they don’t accomplish much.

But MassResistance focuses on exposing the often harsh truth — and fighting back without compromise. We welcome people from everywhere who are willing to be part of this counter-revolution.

All true.

Brian Camenker, MassResistance’s executive director, penned the Forward to the book and opens it also with a question: “What makes this book different?” His answer: “It is a unique resource on an ‘untouchable’ subject.” And it is an awful subject:

A disproportionate incidence of pathologies is found among homosexual men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Yet the general public is told very little, if anything, about the baneful nature of homosexuality and its associated addictions and behaviors. The popular culture tells us, “Look the other way; there’s nothing to see here.”

There is an enormous volume of information available, but it’s widely dispersed and often hard to find. We spent several years collecting and organizing it. This book provides detailed discussion of homosexual lifestyle issues, sexual practices, and their medical and psychological consequences. We include background information and historical context which may be new to many readers.

And what are their sources? Brian Camenker lists them — most of which are pro-LGBT politically: The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Psychological and Psychiatric Associations, the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, the Fenway Institute in Boston, various other LGBT-friendly clinical guides, and numerous research studies.

The Preface outlines the “why” of the book:

This book aims to alert the public — especially young people and their parents — on the serious physical and psychological health dangers inherent in adopting a “gay,” lesbian, or bisexual (GLB) identity.

An important quote from psychologist Joseph Nicolosi sums up the sad reality:

Most medical groups have embraced the homosexual agenda and are advocating that lifestyle despite all the scientific studies and medical evidence that demonstrates medical and psychological risk. Homosexual activism and political correctness are clearly trumping science.

“The mainstreaming of homosexuality is a serious threat to the public health,” the book states, and the “American public is not being told how dangerous homosexuality is to the physical and mental health of its practitioners.”

Said another way: “Greater societal acceptance of homosexuality has resulted in even more disease and suffering.”

If someone was to have witnessed me reading major parts of the book they would have assumed I was a speed reader. I am not. Some of the information included in the book is not easy to get through. And as important as it is to have the ugly realities included, I can always revisit those pages later should I need to know more about things such as “felching.” No, you don’t want to Google it.

So why am I recommending a book filled with such disgusting things? Because we have to deal with the world as it is — even as extreme cultural leftists work almost nonstop to hide critical facts from the public.

Up next — a few things I learned by reading this excellent book.

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Is it true that the push for “transgender rights” is simply a compassionate effort to protect a tiny, vulnerable portion of society? Is it an innocent, well-meaning effort that will not adversely affect other Americans? The answer to these questions is decidedly No. While we should be compassionate to those who struggle with gender identity issues, we should beware of the push for “transgender rights.”

To be sure, we already have reason to be concerned about the normalizing of transgender identity in our society, from the almost satirical choice of Bruce Jenner to be Glamor magazine’s Woman of the Year to shocking stories like this one, reported by family activist Linda Harvey:

A 17-year-old Chicago girl recently had healthy breasts amputated because she read about the possibility of becoming ‘transgendered’ and decided this was the answer to her depression and suicidal tendencies — and her parents said, ‘Well, OK.’ So Emily is now called ‘Emmett’ and has just begun hormone therapy to (supposedly) become a male.

Yet there is far more at stake than public perceptions about gender identity and the health and well-being of teenagers who amputate healthy body parts.

We’re talking about downright dangerous legislation that even affects our children in their schools. Under the guise of LGBT non-discrimination bills, an aggressive agenda is being advanced across the country, one that protects LGBT “rights” at the expense of the rights of other citizens, foremost of which are our religious rights.

Thankfully, many American Christians have recognized the very real, gay-activist threat to these freedoms of speech, conscience and religion. But when it comes to transgender issues, most are not as aware of the real issues involved.

One obvious concern is the impact on our privacy, specifically, in public bathrooms and locker rooms. If LGBT activists have their way, public bathrooms and locker rooms would be rendered gender neutral, leading to obvious chaos, confusion and possible danger.

As a woman, would you want to use a gender neutral bathroom? As a father, would you want to send your daughter into one? How about you as a woman having to get undressed in the fitness center’s locker room next to a biological male who identifies as a female? (This is not hypothetical; see here.)

How about that biological male getting undressed in the locker room next to your wife, sir?

Transgender activists want to be able to use the bathroom and locker room of their perceived gender identity, no matter how uncomfortable it would make anyone else, thereby imposing the struggles of less than 1 percent of the population on the other 99 percent.

And, while I do not believe that a man who truly believes he is a woman is going into the bathroom in order to check out the ladies — or worse — I’m quite sure that heterosexual predators have taken advantage of these situations to pose as transgender women in order to have access to unsuspecting women. As reported October 8, the “University of Toronto Dumps Transgender Bathrooms after Peeping Incidents.”

Yes, “The University is temporarily changing its policy on gender-neutral bathrooms after two separate incidents of ‘voyeurism’ were reported on campus September 15 and 19. Male students within the University’s Whitney Hall student residence were caught holding their cellphones over female students’ shower stalls and filming them as they showered.”

What kind of madness is this?

It is the madness of the gender-neutral bathroom craze, a direct result of transgender activism. More seriously still, younger children are being negatively impacted, without parental knowledge or consent. As reported by MassResistance on February 19, 2013, “The ‘transgender agenda’ onslaught is now hitting Massachusetts schoolchildren with full force. What you are about to read is nothing short of madness. But it is happening.”

These charges are then outlined in disturbing detail, with direct citations from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Gender Identity document, including:

• There is a difference between a child’s “assigned sex at birth” and his or her “gender-related identity.”
• All schools must include “gender identity” in policies, handbooks and written materials.
• “A student who says she is a girl and wishes to be regarded that way throughout the school day and throughout every, or almost every, other area of her life, should be respected and treated like a girl. So too with a student who says he is a boy and wishes to be regarded that way throughout the school day and throughout every, or almost every, other area of his life. Such a student should be respected and treated like a boy.”
• Parents can be excluded from the process of a student changing his or her gender identity if the student so desires, meaning that if Jane decides to become Joe at school while hiding this from her parents, she can do so, provided she has a letter from a “parent, health care provider, school staff member familiar with the student (a teacher, guidance counselor or school psychologist, among others), or other family members or friends” verifying that she wants to be treated as a boy.
• The concept of “gender”/biological sex will be removed from all school life.
• There will be mandatory transgender diversity training for children and school staff.
• There will be no tolerance for other students’ discomfort with transgenderism.

As Brian Camenker of MassResistance said to the school board when these changes were being announced, this is “complete lunacy.” But it could well be coming to a school near you if transgender activists succeed.

You have been forewarned.

This article was originally posted at the Stream.org.

If you have school age children, contact your administration as soon as possible to ask this specific question: Will you be permitting students to refuse to speak in class on the Day of Silence? If the administration either answers “Yes” or dodges the question, please call your child or children out of school on the Day of Silence. Every absence costs districts money, and money talks.

Also, if your school will be permitting students to refuse to speak in class, politely insist that an email be sent to every family informing them of the following: 1. The Day of Silence will be taking place in classes on April 17, 2. Students will be permitted to refuse to speak during instructional time, 3.  The Day of Silence is organized and promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

Parents have a right to know.

The Day of Silence is the queen of all the numerous homosexuality-affirming activities that take place in public schools. It started in one university and then like a cancer metastasized to thousands of high schools, and then into middle schools. Before long it will take place in elementary schools. Leftists know that it’s easier to indoctrinate 16-year-olds than 36-year-olds and easier still to indoctrinate 6-year-olds.

GLSEN promotes the Day of Silence as an “anti-bullying” effort. If it were solely about eradicating bullying, everyone—liberals and conservatives alike—would support it. But it’s not.

The Day of Silence exploits government schools, captive audiences, and anti-bullying sentiment to advance the Left’s social, moral, and political beliefs and goals. GLSEN seeks to advance the belief that all public expressions of moral disapproval of homosexual activity are bullying.

GLSEN urges students to refuse to speak all day, including during academic classes, which is disruptive to instructional time. Administrators permit students to refuse to speak in class, and teachers feel compelled to create lesson plans to accommodate student-refusal to speak. Teachers feel that if they don’t accommodate student-refusal to speak, they will be seen as supporting the bullying of self-identified homosexual students.

The little unspoken secret is that many teachers on both sides of the political aisle hate the Day of Silence because of the distraction and disruption it creates. Unfortunately, they’re afraid to say that to their administrations because GLSEN and its ideological acolytes proclaim that opposition to the Day of Silence necessarily means endorsement of bullying. The truth is one can both oppose bullying and oppose the Day of Silence.

The homosexuality-affirming legal organizations Lambda Legal and the ACLU have both stated that students have no legal right to refuse to speak in class, so school administrations have every right to require students to participate verbally in class. And teachers have every right to require students to answer questions, give oral presentations or speeches, or participate in debates or discussions.

A coalition of pro-family organizations is once again urging parents to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence if their school administrations will be allowing students to politicize instructional time by refusing to speak. This is the only organized national effort to oppose any pro-homosexual activity or event in public schools.

Each year through the Day of Silence Walkout, parents of freshmen learn about the Day of Silence. And remarkably, there are parents of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who learn for the first time that the Day of Silence takes place in their children’s schools. This lack of awareness happens because school administrations do not notify parents about the Day of Silence.

The absence of conservative influence within the culture on issues related to homosexuality is to some extent the fault of conservatives. Ignorance, fear, and an astounding lack of perseverance on the parts of conservatives have turned our cultural institutions—including public education—into the playground of “progressives.” Our passivity has enabled homosexual activists and their ideological allies to become social, political, and pedagogical bullies. Evidence of that is everywhere, including in schools on the GLSEN’s annual April school event, the Day of Silence.

We must demonstrate the boldness and perseverance of the Left if we hope to stop the relentless appropriation of public education for the promotion of homosexuality.

Matt Barber, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, BarbWire

Dr. Michael Brown, Director, Coalition of Conscience

Brian Camenker, President, MassResistance

Linda Harvey, Founder and President, Mission America

Laurie Higgins, Cultural Analyst, Illinois Family Institute

Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality

Diane Gramley, President, American Family Association of Pennsylvania

Matt Staver, President, Liberty Counsel

Debra Smith, Founder, Informing Christians

Tom Rasmussen, Executive Director, Montana Family Foundation

Pastor Scott Lively, President, Abiding Truth Ministries

Penny Nance, President, CWA

Debbie Leininger, State Director, CWA of Illinois

Beverly Uhlmer Roberts, State Director, CWA of Texas South

Linda Wall, VA Mass Resistance

Nolan Clayton, Faith and Freedom Family Ministries

Pastor Christopher Clegg, Operation Save America

Bishop RD Edwin Goodwin Sr. leads the Northwest region of the International Church of God in Christ (COGIC).  He speaks for 500 churches in Illinois. 

Motivated by love of God and love of neighbor, Bishop Goodwin wrote to Governor Patrick Quinn on January 31st: 

“We the Bishops of the Northwest Area of the Church of God in Christ in Illinois, and its 500 churches in the state of Illinois, stand united against same sex marriage in this state.” 

He continued, “In the upcoming elections, we will continue to stand united for what we believe in and for candidates who have similar mindsets as ours.” 

Last month I spoke to a group of COGIC pastors on the south side of Chicago who recognize the dangers of “homosexual marriage.”  I’ve been traveling around the greater Chicagoland area meeting with pastors who are concerned about the same-sex “marriage” push.  They are motivated to do what is necessary to confront this evil.  

One such pastor is Keith Williams who recently took time from his busy ministry schedule to attend a the Illinois Senate Executive Committee hearing on this issue.  Williams, a black pastor, confronted the issue head on.  He told the politicians the truth, asserting that same-sex “marriage” is immoral.  He quoted from Genesis in the Bible, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”  He predicted divine judgment on the state if it approves this evil. 

I am inspired by the examples of Bishop Goodwin and Pastor Williams and dozens of others.  These are Christian leaders with the courage to confront difficult matters head on.  Christian leaders like Bishop Goodin and Pastor Williams, however, are far too few. 

In a recent presentation to the Hispanic Illinois Republican National Assembly, I expressed my concern over Christian apathy and indifference, a concern shared by Brian Camenker, a Jewish pro-family activist from Massachusetts:

There is a problem in the pro-family movement….Too many white congregations mean well but unfortunately don’t execute. They’re afraid to talk about biblical truth, lest it offend someone. They would often rather ‘pray about it’ than get involved. Individuals often can’t make the time in their busy lives to go out and make a difference. They are well-meaning but don’t have zeal. And as a result they’re usually woefully disorganized and ineffective when it comes to meaningful social action. I’ve had many clergymen lament this to me. This is true even in the Orthodox Jewish community, where often it’s individual rabbis who carry most of the pro-family action load by themselves. 

I told the assembled Hispanic Republicans: 

As a leader of a large state pro family group I wish that I could stand before you today and say that Mr. Camenker’s observations are inaccurate.  Unfortunately, I cannot. 

Much of the blame for the potential looming loss of the institution of civil marriage lies at the feet of the Christian church. 

In recent decades we have deliberately failed to make the case for both Christianity and marriage, choosing to tolerate radical perversions of the idea of freedom.  This has done immeasurable harm to Christian and non-Christian alike. 

Yet I am hopeful and encouraged by the signs of life in the body of Christ.  Over the past few months, in organizing against the effort to redefine marriage, I have had the privilege of working with many African-American and Hispanic pastors and religious leaders.  I am humbled by their dedication and courageous willingness to speak up on this issue – despite the cultural forces that seek to intimidate us into silence. 

In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul compares the diverse Christian community to the human body, saying that “the body is not one member but many”:

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

At the end of a recent meeting in Aurora, I watched a Hispanic pastor invite an African-American pastor to a monthly meeting of other pastors. It is a great joy to see that God is at work connecting the body of Christ through the threat to his institutions of marriage and family. 

There is much more work to be done if the body of Christ is going to realize fully its God-given potential to influence the culture for the glory and honor of Christ  in Illinois.  If you haven’t yet spoken out, now is the time to join us!  God is doing a work here in Illinois – but he uses people like you and me to accomplish his goals.  Please join us!

Defend Marriage Lobby Day 
Click HERE for a PDF version of the lobby day instructions.         

When:  Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 
Where:  Illinois State Capitol
Address:  401 S. 2^nd Street, Springfield, IL  62701
Time:  10:30 am – 1:30 pm 
Rally: At the Lincoln statue in front of the Capitol (10:30 AM)

For the few of you who cannot make it, please schedule meetings with your state representatives in their local offices and/or call their Springfield office through the Capitol switchboard at (217) 782-2000  to voice your concern about the effort to redefine God’s institution of marriage..

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