Dan,

I commend you for this post. Couldn't agree more. I cringe when I think about the suffering that will be brought upon untold numbers of young children because of the nonsense you point to. 1,2,4,5 certainly applied to this heterosexual male. Upshot: I have developed more sympathy for the trauma at the hands of their environment that real gays go through for most of their lives.

Roughhousing? I thought roughhousing meant you WERE gay!

Silly me...

Sounds like people who dream that stuff up are in
reverse evolution.

Well goddamn, I for one am gonna go home and beat my two queer boys into heterosexuality. I wish the site would provide some useful tips on recognizing lesbianism. It worries me that my infant daughter is always calmed by listening to the Indigo Girls.

Jeremy,

Obviously, the lesbians are the girls who like sports, poker, and the music of Melissa Etheridge.

Also see this article of theirs: "How to Prevent Homosexuality". So not only are people like Dan and me potentially gay, our parents could have stopped it, if only they had done a better job!

Here are the rest:

8. I think I would enjoy the work of a florist (Y/N).

9. I like show tunes (Y/N).

10. I think Christina Aguillera is a bitch. Why does she pick on Britney like that? (Y/N)

11. I am a liberal (Y/N).

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(The first question is or was on a real test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personal Inventory.)

What about this gold mine: http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0021043.cfm

"Meanwhile, the boy's father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son's maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger."

Yeah, because looking at Dad's wang is DEFINITELY gonna cure his gay.

The guide-lines are funny but I think have a grain of truth too (well, from Focus' perspective, I guess). Could it be that it's the necessary-sufficient thing in operation here? I'm guessing that most boys who exhibit these "characteristics" wouldn't turn out gay but maybe most (if not all) gay men did exhibit these, uh, qualities? I know I certainly did (well, at least, 1 and 2 at least).

"Readers, talk amongst yourselves -- in particular, how boys who like the "the roughhousing that other boys enjoy" could never be gay."

I think Dobson would be appalled by how popular wrestling is in the gay community.

8. Endorsed John Kerry.

Talk about being obviously gay! Give up the lies Dan - its time to come out NOW.

Yeah, yeah.

Have any of you ever read psychology? He listed (quoted Dr. Nicolosi listing, actually) a few traits and said clearly that they "may" show up.

He didn't say "if your son does any of these things then he's a big flamer."

Also note the difference between an innocent viewing genitalia and a pubescent or older boy doing the same. Nicolosi suggests it as a means of identifying with the father rather than the mother (which most children do initially as she is their primary caregiver).

"Roughousing," I expect, is merely a way for men to play and interact with their sons in an effort to get them to identify with their fathers more. Nothing wrong with that either.

Of course, you all have made up your mind that homosexuality is completely normal, so I don't expect you to give Dobson a fair hearing. But I thought Drezner at least would encounter it on an academic level.

"Have any of you ever read psychology? "

Focus on the Family clearly has and misunderstood all of it. Dobson is a religious leader and nothing more. Whatever scientific training he ever had, he has discredited. he is the kind of idiot that thinks that the book of Genesis is an authority on paleontology.

"Of course, you all have made up your mind that homosexuality is completely normal, "

And you seem to have made up your mind that Dobson's various heresies are completely acceptable. The only fair hearing Dobson deserves is in front of some Dominicans.

The saving grace of libertarian conservatives is their capacity and willingness to make fun of their lesser brethren. (No offense Shralp)

Did you notice that the title included boys and girls, the subtitle used the gender neutral "child", but the list was all about boys?

Read this link from the Boston Globe.

Quote:

"Patrick exhibits behavior called childhood gender nonconformity, or CGN. This doesn't describe a boy who has a doll somewhere in his toy collection or tried on his sister's Snow White outfit once, but rather one who consistently exhibits a host of strongly feminine traits and interests while avoiding boy-typical behavior like rough-and-tumble play. There's been considerable research into this phenomenon, particularly in males, including a study that followed boys from an early age into early adulthood. The data suggest there is a very good chance Patrick will grow up to be homosexual. Not all homosexual men show this extremely feminine behavior as young boys. But the research indicates that, of the boys who do exhibit CGN, about 75 percent of them - perhaps more - turn out to be gay or bisexual."