Jeff Johnston, Focus on the Family

Jeff Johnston is Focus on the Family’s resident ex-gay, and he is increasingly being called upon to speak as an expert on various identity issues, though he bears no such expertise. Following up on the group’s promotion of ex-transgender ministries, Johnston is back to spread a series of remarkable falsehoods about what it means to be trans. His claims are built around the false understanding that being trans is a disorder, even though the American Psychiatric Association is declassifying it as such next year. From this false premise, Johnston encourages many mistruths and harmful ideas for supporting transgender youth.

First, Johnston claims that sexual orientation and gender identity are the same, which they aren’t:

[Gender Identity Disorder] is a label usually given to children with same-sex attractions, but it can be given to adults.

Gender dysphoria — GID is now obsolete language — refers to how people experience their gender, which has very little to do with who they are attracted to. Some trans people are heterosexual, some are gay, and some have sexual orientations that do not fit into such neat boxes. Sexual orientation and gender identity can intersect, but they operate independently.

Johnston then claims the best way to support young people who are questioning their gender is to try to force them to accept the body they have, rejecting their gender identity:

Gender Identity Disorder is treatable. There are therapists who work with kids to help them accept the body they were born into and to embrace it as a good thing. This kind of therapy helps children to stop hating their bodies and to embrace their gender.

This sort of “ex-trans” therapy directly contradicts what the majority of medical professionals have found. For example, the American Psychological Association tells parents that “it is not helpful to force the child to act in a more gender-conforming way.” Doing so reinforces the stress young people often feel when their sex does not match their gender identity.

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Ten-year-old Sophia Bailey Klugh recently wrote a letter to President Obama thanking him for supporting marriage equality, because she knows first-hand how much her two dads love each other. But she also told the President that her friends at school think it’s “gross and weird” and asked him, “If you were me and you had two dads that love each other and kids at school teased you about it, what would you do?”

Well, this past week, Obama replied to Sophia and addressed her question:

In America, no two families look the same. We celebrate this diversity. And we recognize that whether you have two dads or one mom what matters above all is the love we show one another. You are very fortunate to have two parents who care deeply for you. They are lucky to have such an exceptional daughter in you.

Our differences unite us. You and I are blessed to live in a country where we are born equal no matter what we look like on the outside, where we grow up, or who our parents are. A good rule is to treat others the way you hope they will treat you. Remind your friends at school about this rule if they say something that hurts your feelings.

Obama’s letter is a simple reminder of the differences between him and Mitt Romney. Rather than embrace all families after Massachusetts granted the freedom to marry, Romney was oblivious to their existence and prevented same-sex couples from receiving appropriate birth certificates for their children. He opposes marriage equality and would prevent couples like Sophia’s dad from getting married, depriving her of the proper family security she deserves.

Tomorrow, four states will have the opportunity to weigh in on the question of marriage equality, three of which will have the opportunity to embrace the freedom for the very first time. All four campaigns have had fierce efforts both for and against, with millions of dollars spent on ads. As election day approaches, here is a final look at what the campaigns have been saying to the public in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington.

Opponents of marriage equality have run fairly uniform ads across four states, largely because the National Organization for Marriage has been the primary source of funding in every one of those campaigns. Most of these ads have relied on misleading claims that individuals who would prefer to discriminate against same-sex couples as victims. Others rely on the false threat that schools will suddenly teach young children about sexuality. One of NOM’s final ads compiles all of these lies into one clip that attempts to scare voters about the “broken promises” of marriage equality. Despite these very negative scare tactics, NOM’s last ad paints opposing equality under the veneer of love and respect for gay people. Watch the Minnesota version of this underhanded ad:

Meanwhile, the state campaigns for equality have actually run very independent campaigns, featuring individuals who live in the state rather than imported scare tactics:
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When the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Mitt Romney, the group argued that it believed he would LGBT support nondiscrimination protections, engaging in some remarkable spin about their optimism for his candidacy. But the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown doesn’t take the Log Cabin Republicans “that seriously,” telling BuzzFeed that he believes strongly in Romney’s anti-equality credentials:

BROWN: I was in Connecticut during the 2004 Massachusetts fight. [Romney] was very strong, he spoke at rallies, he was strong the whole way through. Were there some people that were disappointed that he didn’t just, by fiat, say, “We’re not going to obey the judges!”? There are always people that do that, but in the real world, Romney went above and beyond.

He’s always been a strong supporter of protecting marriage, and he was an early signer of the Marriage Pledge. We obviously believe that he will follow through in his commitment; I don’t see why anyone would say otherwise.

Of course, Romney signed NOM’s pledge, committing to support a federal constitutional amendment banning the freedom to marry and to defend Christians’ “religious liberty” to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Though Brown has a public written commitment from Romney that Log Cabin Republicans doesn’t, his expectations of rolling back marriage equality suggest his judgment is questionable. He also told BuzzFeed that he believes opponents of equality could win in all four states this week, and even where they lose, he believes NOM can still successfully rescind the freedom to marry. For example, he is committed to Iowa passing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage if and when the state leadership changes and Senate Leader Mike Gronstal (D) is no longer there to prevent such a measure from advancing. Also, if the Supreme Court rules for marriage equality in either the Proposition 8 case or any of the Defense of Marriage Act challenges, Brown is ready for the “big opportunity” to bring a renewed fight for a Federal Marriage Amendment.

Polling over the past two years has consistently shown that marriage equality has a majority of support in this country. With young people more likely to support it, the trend is only likely to continue. Brown may have the more apt perception of Romney’s positions on LGBT issues, but the Log Cabin Republicans certainly have more reason to be optimistic about the future of equality.

The National Organization for Marriage has launched a last-minute barrage of robocalls to Maine, Maryland, and Washington State (which will vote Tuesday on whether to enact marraige equality) and presidential swing-states Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The calls, in both English and Spanish, feature noted anti-equality activists Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Fox News Channel host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR).

More ironic is the participation of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who in his RNC convention speech suggested that this be an election in which we choose “more freedom instead of more government.” Rubio has previously boasted the endorsement of anti-gay hate groups like the Family Research Council. NOM said, with partner groups, it will spend $500,000 on the calls, aimed at encouraging voters to oppose pro-equality candidates and ballot initiatives.

The Ali Forney Center in New York City is one of the nation’s largest shelters for homeless LGBT youth, with various health resources and emergency beds to help serve the thousands of young people on the streets, often because their families have rejected them for having a queer identity. It seems that Hurricane Sandy “decimated” the shelter’s drop-in center with four feet of storm surge water, destroying the building’s electricity infrastructure, floors, computers, phones, files, furniture, and essentially everything in the facility. The center’s executive director, Carl Siciliano, offered this message to supporters:

This is a terrible tragedy for the homeless LGBT youth we serve there. This space was dedicated to our most vulnerable kids, the thousands stranded on the streets without shelter, and was a place where they received food, showers, clothing, medical care, HIV testing and treatment, and mental health and substance abuse services. Basically a lifeline for LGBT kids whose lives are in danger. [...]

We have been deluged with kind offers from people who wish to volunteer and donate goods. Unfortunately, we will have to provide our services in the time being in much smaller spaces that won’t accommodate volunteers or allow for much storage space. The best way people can reach out to help in this very challenging time is by making monetary donations. Please go to our website at www.aliforneycenter.org/hurricanesandy

It is heartbreaking to see this space come to such a sad end. For the past seven years it has been a place of refuge to thousands of kids reeling from being thrown away by their parents for being LGBT. For many of these kids coming to our drop-in center provided  their first encounter with a loving and affirming LGBT community. I thank all of you for your care and support in a most difficult time.

Joe.My.God. has the details about how to make a donation, including a new PayPal option to make supporting LGBT homeless youth as convenient as possible.