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Stories tagged with “Michael Farris”

LGBT

Christian College Chancellor Can’t Believe Gays Exist On His Campus

By Zack Ford on Dec 14, 2012 at 2:10 pm

Michael Farris could perhaps use his computer to research more about sexual orientation and identity.

Patrick Henry College Chancellor Michael Farris threatened to sue a blog run by LGBT students and alumni under pseudonyms, but backed off when he realized he didn’t have a case. But he’s still agitated by the existence of “Queer at Patrick Henry College” (queerphc), and has now said that homosexuals can’t exist at PHC because “they could not sign our honor code,” which demands that students be “sexually pure.”

Farris founded PHC in 1998 to be the home for his Home School Legal Defense Association. He is an ordained Baptist minister who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1993 as a Republican.

Queerphc contributor “Kate Kane” responded to Farris’ “disturbing” remarks:

There’s a stark difference in the definition of our terms. In the eyes of those like Farris, homosexuality is just a sexual action or sexual lifestyle. For us, it’s an orientation, a marker of personal identity. Is it possible that there are no students having gay sex while enrolled at PHC? Entirely possible. But that doesn’t erase the existence of LGBTQ students at the school.

In a student body where there are so many virgins, why is it difficult to believe in the existence of a gay virgin?

It’s difficult if you believe homosexuality is completely synonymous with having gay sex.

In addition, Farris seems to think that any LGBTQ student who signed the honor code would be lying. But if a student’s sexuality has been repressed for years, they may not even realize they are anything other than straight or cisgender [not trans] until after they enroll at the school. Personally, I did not begin to come to terms with my orientation until I was nearly ready to graduate. A student may also realize they are LGBTQ, but attempt to suppress it because they believe that being queer is wrong. Enrollment at a school like PHC could be part of a larger attempt to continue to live as straight or cisgender. Finally, since many parents hold the purse strings, some LGBTQ students might not have much of a choice as to where they attend school.

Kate’s point about the difference between sexual behavior and sexual identity is astute, and describes many conservative assumptions beyond those presented by Farris. Even students who knowingly abstain from acting on their same-sex orientations are still impacted by anti-gay stigma and could consequently feel isolated and demonized. PHC clearly has a long way to go toward creating an inclusive environment for its LGBTQ students, but queerphc is no doubt blazing a trail.

Health

Why Mitt Romney’s Lyme Disease Mailers Are Dangerous

By Judd Legum on Sep 29, 2012 at 6:08 pm

The Romney campaign is sending out a flyer in Northern Virginia pledging to fight Lyme Disease, which is describes as a “massive epidemic threatening Virginia”:

The Washington Post notes that “According to the CDC there are less than 1,000 reported cases of Lyme disease in Virginia a year — in a state of eight million people.”

It’s fairly difficult to contract Lyme disease because “an infected tick must be attached to the skin for at least 36 hours to transmit Lyme bacteria.” For those who are affected, there is a straight-forward and effective treatments for the disease — a course of antibiotics for 2 to 4 weeks.

So what’s the point of this Romney mailer?

A highly influential social conservative in Virginia, Michael Farris, believes that people can contract “chronic Lyme disease” that must be treated with long-term antibiotics. The Center for Disease Control says there is no such thing as “chronic Lyme disease” and “long-term antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease has been associated with serious complications.”

You can read about these complications in this article from “Clinical Infectious Diseases,” the official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called “Death from Inappropriate Therapy for Lyme Disease.”

Farris “claims that his wife is a chronic Lyme sufferer as are all his seven children.”

Farris, who has no medical training, was invited to speak with Romney on his campaign bus a couple of weeks ago. Farris said that he and Romney “talked about Lyme disease. It was cordial and encouraging.” Here’s a photo of the meeting from Romney’s Facebook page:

The Romney flier advocates providing “local physicians with protection from lawsuits to ensure they can treat the disease with the aggressive antibiotics that are required.” Farris’ wife receives treatment from “Dr. Joseph Jemsek, who moved his practice to Washington, D.C., after losing his medical license in North Carolina for treating patients with long-term antibiotics.”

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