by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(May 5, 2008) Only weeks after threatening the life of an Oklahoma lawmaker for speaking out against homosexuality, homosexual activists recently caused the shut down of a workshop on the subject by the American Psychiatric Association and stormed the stage during a speech at Smith College.
The most recent incident occurred at this week’s annual conference of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) where a workshop on religion and homosexuality was scheduled to take place.
Invited panelists included the openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson along with the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., who was slated to speak on “A Pastoral Approach for Gay & Lesbian People Troubled by Homosexuality.” Warren Throckmorton, a psychology professor at Grove City College, was also asked to speak on “Practice Framework for Managing Sexual Identity Conflicts.”
However, because the panel included prominent voices whose viewpoint opposed the opinion that homosexuals are “born that way” and can’t change, gay activist began criticizing the event, calling it “junk science on stage.” The Washington Blade, a gay publication, warned that the panel could legitimize “homophobic views.”
Robinson suddenly decided to withdraw from the workshop, telling the Blade: “Conservatives, particularly Focus on the Family, were going to use this event to draw credibility to the so-called reparative therapy movement,” he said. “It became clear to me in the last couple of weeks that just my showing up and letting this event happen … lends credibility to that so-called therapy.”
The organizer of the workshop, David Scasta, a past-president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, said it was nothing of the kind and lamented the fact that Robinson withdrew without talking to him first about his concerns.
Scasta told the Washington Times that the panel “was a way to have a balanced discussion about religion and how it influences therapy. We wanted to talk rationally, calmly and respectfully to each other, but the external forces made it into a divisive debate it never intended to be.”
Because Robinson’s participation in the workshop was critical for the balance of the panel, the decision was made to cancel the event.
“The organizer of this symposium discussed the session with the APA and decided to withdraw because a key participant who would have brought balance to the discussion had withdrawn,” said the APA in a May 2 statement.
“In addition, misinformation and rhetoric surrounding this event had risen to a level that would hinder the kind of open dialogue and interaction that was originally anticipated.”
During the same week, dozens of lesbian activists at Smith College in Massachusetts stormed the podium during an April 29 speech by Ryan Sorba on his upcoming book, The “Born Gay” Hoax. The event was planned and funded by the student group, Smith Republicans.
According to members of the Massachusetts-based pro-family group, MassResistance, who filmed the event, members of the audience began chanting slogans and beating on pots and pans shortly after Sorba began speaking. About 15 minutes into the speech, people began climbing through the windows and storming the stage where they stood in front of the podium, screaming and jumping up and down. Dozens of people began running through the room shouting “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.”
The video shows police officers and plainclothes security guards standing in the room but doing nothing to stop the bedlam. Rather than take action, the officers accompanied a university official to the podium where Sorba was ordered to leave the room “for his own safety.”
At first Sorba was told that he could return after about 20 minutes but rioters refused to leave the room, saying they planned to stay in case he came back to make sure he would not be able to deliver his speech. The event was later completely cancelled.
The following day, Smith College president Carol Christ issued a statement about the incident. Instead of condemning the censorship, she merely suggested a better strategy for defeating ideas such as Sorba’s.
“When faced with the visit of a controversial speaker, our challenge as a community is to reaffirm our commitment to teaching and learning. Hearing the views of someone with whom you disagree affords the opportunity to sharpen one’s own counter-arguments, displaying the weaknesses in their reasoning or evidence,” she wrote. “Alternatively, we can boycott speakers whose views we find offensive.”
Commenting about the incident, a spokesperson for Americans For Truth, a pro-family group, said people who are confident in their ideas don’t storm opponents’ speeches.
“Rather, they listen intently to them, and then present another viewpoint to compete in the marketplace of ideas. In the long run, homosexuals can’t compete with truth, and they seem to know it.”
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Women of Grace Study Questions:
1) What does the Church teach about homosexuality? (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Articles #2357 and 2358).
2) Is there any scientific evidence in support of a gay gene? (See Chapter One in the Catholic Medical Association publication “Homosexuality and Hope” which can be accessed in its entirety at www.catholiceducation.org/articles/homosexuality/ho0039.html )
