Friday, May 04, 2007

The Desperation Was in Overdrive

The nasty smear tactics of religious conservatives was no surprise, as they tried in vain to beat back the hate crimes bill that passed the House yesterday. But I was still blown away from some of the lies -- which were so outlandish they were hysterically funny. And then, after you laugh, you realize that millions of people listen to these nuts and believe their every word. We were playing clips on the the show yesterday of the right-wing radio host Janet Folger and the odious Andrea Lafferty of the Tradition Values Coalition talking about the "30 sexual orientations" that would be supposedly be covered the hate crimes bill. Here is the vicious smear they had up on the TVC web site explaining their position. Of course these are sexual fetishes, some of which are illegal and grotesque (like pedophilia) and are not by any stretch "orientations" (which include heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual, that's it) nor are they gender identities, let alone are they covered by hate crimes laws.

From the TVC website (don't want to link to them):


Congress is making a serious mistake by providing federal protection for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” These terms include a wide variety of sexual orientations outside of normal heterosexuality. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, lists a whole range of sexual orientations that may end up being “protected” by passage of ENDA or H.R. 1592.

The list below is from the 2000 edition of the DSM.

NOTE: Page numbers are from "Paraphilias," Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 2000), pp. 566-582
Apotemnophilia - sexual arousal associated with the stump(s) of an amputee
Asphyxophilia - sexual gratification derived from activities that involve oxygen deprivation through hanging, strangulation, or other means
Autogynephilia - the sexual arousal of a man by his own perception of himself as a woman or dressed as a woman (p. 574)
Bisexual - the capacity to feel erotic attraction toward, or to engage in sexual interaction with, both males and females
Coprophilia - sexual arousal associated with feces (p. 576)
Exhibitionism - the act of exposing one’s genitals to an unwilling observer to obtain sexual gratification (p. 569)
Fetishism/Sexual Fetishism - obtaining sexual excitement primarily or exclusively from an inanimate object or a particular part of the body (p. 570)
Frotteurism - approaching an unknown woman from the rear and pressing or rubbing the penis against her buttocks (p. 570)
Heterosexuality - the universal norm of sexuality with those of the opposite sex
Homosexual/Gay/Lesbian - people who form sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with members of their own gender
Gender Identity Disorder - a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, or the other sex, "along with" persistent discomfort about one’s assigned sex or a sense of the inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex (p. 576)
Gerontosexuality - distinct preference for sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with an elderly partner
Incest - sex with a sibling or parent
Kleptophilia - obtaining sexual excitement from stealing
Klismaphilia - erotic pleasure derived from enemas (p. 576)
Necrophilia - sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse (p. 576)
Partialism - A fetish in which a person is sexually attracted to a specific body part exclusive of the person (p. 576)
Pedophilia - Sexual activity with a prepubescent child (generally age 13 years or younger). The individual with pedophilia must be age 16 years or older and at least 5 years older than the child. For individuals in late adolescence with pedophilia, no precise age difference is specified, and clinical judgment must be used; both the sexual maturity of the child and the age difference must be taken into account; the adult may be sexually attracted to opposite sex, same sex, or prefer either (p. 571)
Prostitution - the act or practice of offering sexual stimulation or intercourse for money
Sexual Masochism - obtaining sexual gratification by being subjected to pain or humiliation (p. 573)
Sexual Sadism - the intentional infliction of pain or humiliation on another person in order to achieve sexual excitement (p. 574)
Telephone Scatalogia - sexual arousal associated with making or receiving obscene phone calls (p. 576)
Toucherism - characterized by a strong desire to touch the breast or genitals of an unknown woman without her consent; often occurs in conjunction with other paraphilia
Transgenderism - an umbrella term referring to and/or covering transvestitism, drag queen/king, and transsexualism
Transsexual - a person whose gender identity is different from his or her anatomical gender
Transvestite - a person who is sexually stimulated or gratified by wearing the clothes of the other gender
Transvestic Fetishism - intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing (p. 575)
Urophilia - sexual arousal associated with urine (p. 576)
Voyeurism - obtaining sexual arousal by observing people without their consent when they are undressed or engaged in sexual activity (p. 575)
Zoophilia/Bestiality - engaging in sexual activity with animals (p. 576)
Gender Identity Disorders
Homosexual and transgender activists claim that “gender identity” can be different from a person’s biological sex and is inborn. In other words, a man who thinks he’s a woman, should be free to change his sex; a woman who thinks she’s a man should be free to change her sex and be free of alleged “discrimination” in the workplace.

TVC’s report, “A Gender Identity Disorder Goes Mainstream” explains how radical transgender activists are working to overthrow the idea that a person’s biological sex is who they are – not what they think they are. Men are not women; women are not men. To think otherwise is to display evidence of a mental disorder and gender confusion. These conditions are treatable. They should not be normalized as “gender variant” behaviors.

TVC’s report, “Sexual Orientation: Fixed Or Changeable” discusses the idea of sexual orientation being on a continuum that can change over time.

The DSM still lists transvestism and gender dysphoria (confusion over one’s status as male or female) as mental problems to be dealt with by a psychiatrist.