« Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post »
07/23/2008
Oil & water, yin & yang, 'ex-gay' & science
Yet another researcher is speaking out against the way the so-called "ex-gay" community has misapplied his work. This time it's Dr. Gary Remafedi, who gives the Truth Wins Out organization the following quote about the way the PFOX organization has employed his data:
"My work has been cited by PFOX in response to a Washington Post article on gay-straight alliances (GSA),” wrote Dr. Remafedi. “PFOX misuses one of my studies on suicide attempts in gay youth to argue that people should not identify their sexual orientation at young ages. Our findings do not support the contention that young people choose their identity or the timing of events in identity formation. Nor is there any evidence that the availability of GSAs influences those developmental processes.”
It remains to be seen how Regina Griggs will respond to this, yet another man of science lashing out against the misuse of data with which he is intimately familiar. Though using typical "ex-gay" form as a guide, we think "[::insert fingers in ears:: ] la,la,la,la, la -- I can't hear you" would be a valid educated guess.
Minnesota Scientist Accuses PFOX of Misrepresenting His Research [TWO]
*The WaPo article in question: Owning His Gay Identity -- at 15 Years Old [WaPo]
*PFOX's response to the article: PFOX Exposes Dangers Of Self-Identifying As ‘Gay’ Before Maturity [PFOX]
**NOTE: Alvin McEwen has been meticulously covering this issue on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.
Your thoughts
I've been searching around for information on Regina Griggs, who I guess is some kind of "expert" on "ex-gays," and all things gay. It landed me here, but I still haven't found much on this statement, by Griggs:
"Over 70 percent of young kids 13- to 24-years-old, men having sex with men, are now HIV-positive," Griggs notes.
Of course I know this isn't true, but the article "PFOX: Children incapable of self-identifying sexually" (http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=192536) is spreading around the right-wing blogosphere. I'd like to be armed with where this Griggs character got her data, in case I want to refute it somewhere.
Typically, I argue that it is impossible to get reliable figures on anything to do with gay people, because we don't know how many there are in the first place. But this almost never mollifies them. Anyone have a link? Thanks.
Jamie in Las Vegas
Posted by: James L. Greenlee | Jul 27, 2008 5:05:14 PM
comments powered by Disqus
