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Tell NY Times: Caveat Anti-Gay "Science"
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Progressive Portal
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Jul 10, 2005 12:00 PDT
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ARE BISEXUALS LYING? AUTHOR WHO SUPPORTS KILLING "GAY FETUSES"
QUOTED IN DEPTH - WITH NO INFORMATION ABOUT HIS EXTREMIST HISTORY
[From Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting <http://www.fair.org> and the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination <http://www.glaad.org>]
In a lead article in the New York Times' July 5 Science section bearing
the inflamatory headline "Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality
Revisited," Times writer Benedict Carey reported that an upcoming study
"casts doubt on whether true bisexuality exists, at least in men." In
suggesting that men who claim a bisexual sexual orientation are liars,
the Times relies heavily on a single study whose senior researcher has a
career marked by ethics controversies and eugenics proposals - facts
that were not presented to readers.
According to the Times, the study "lends support to those who have long
been skeptical that bisexuality is a distinct and stable sexual
orientation. People who claim bisexuality, according to these critics,
are usually homosexual, but are ambivalent about their homosexuality or
simply closeted. 'You're either gay, straight or lying,' as some gay men
have put it."
In leaping to dramatic conclusions from a single study with a small
population, Carey echoes the study's authors, who seem equally eager to
generalize from scant evidence - and to confuse the study's assumptions
with its conclusions. Carey quotes the study's senior author, J. Michael
Bailey of Northwestern University, who acknowledges that bisexual
behavior exists, but argues that "in men there's no hint that true
bisexual arousal exists, and that for men arousal is orientation."
But that arousal equals orientation seems to be assumed, not proven. The
study measured men's self-identified orientation against their physical
arousal while watching various kinds of pornography; bisexual men's
self-identified orientation did not correspond with their physical
arousal, according to the study, with some being aroused much more by
on-screen men and a smaller group responding much more to on-screen
women.
CONTINUED BELOW ...
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This finding could just as easily be read as evidence that arousal in
bisexual men does *not* equal orientation - that simple measurement of
arousal does not predict people's behavior or identity. But the Times
reporter himself uses the phrase "true bisexuality," which suggests that
people with bisexual behavior and identity might still not qualify as
"true" bisexuals.
Well into Carey's piece, some cautionary or critical viewpoints were
aired. None of those viewpoints, however, gave readers any hint of
Bailey's controversial history. In 2001 Bailey co-authored an article
that argued that, if it became possible for parents to determine the
sexual orientation of their fetus, "selecting for heterosexuality seems
to be morally acceptable.... Selection for heterosexuality may tangibly
benefit parents, children and their families and seems to have only a
slight potential for any significant harm" (Archives of Sexual Behavior,
Vol. 30, No. 4, 2001). The fact that a researcher has promoted the
eugenic elimination of homosexuality would seem to be relevant
background for gauging the credibility of his studies of bisexuality.
Bailey more recently came under fire for his 2003 book, "The Man Who
Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism," which
defended the discredited theory that transsexual women are not
female-gendered people born with male bodies, but "are extremely
feminine gay men or are sexual fetishists who are 'erotically obsessed
with the image of themselves as women'" (Chronicle of Higher Education,
12/10/04). Bailey profiled a handful of transsexual women for his book,
many of whom filed complaints against him for not getting their consent
to be studied (Times Higher Education Supplement, 5/28/04).
The book shares remarkable similarities to Bailey's new study on
bisexuality: In both, the researcher denies people's own evaluation of
their identities, suggesting that bisexuals and transgender people are
lying about who they are.
In fact, the Times' headline could have been taken from the press
release for Bailey's book, which was headlined, "Gay, Straight, or
Lying? Science Has the Answer." A new study by the same author, peddling
a very similar theory, should have been a red flag to journalists, and
readers should have been informed of the author's controversial history
in order for them to better evaluate the study.
When the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation asked the Times to
retract its inflammatory headline, the paper argued that "gay, straight
or lying" is "a commonly used phrase among many gay people" (GLAAD.org,
7/7/05). It's unclear why a derogatory stereotype about one group -
bisexuals - should be more acceptable in a headline because it is
attributed to another group - gay people.
ACTION: Please ask the Times' new public editor, Byron Calame, to
examine the Times' report on bisexuality, particularly the lack of
relevant information about the senior researcher's controversial
background and the headline's suggestion that an entire sexual minority
is "lying."
As always, please remember that your comments have more impact if you
maintain a polite tone.
Take Action
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Write or call Byron Calame, Public Editor, New York Times:
E-mail: public-AT-nytimes.com (change "-AT-" to "@")
Phone: (212) 556-7652
Other Times e-mail addresses:
http://biresource.org/137#more-137
Or register at GLAAD's Web site and use its letter-writing page:
http://glaad.org/action/write_now_detail.php?id=3827
More Information
-----------------------------------
GLAAD statement about the article:
http://glaad.org/action/write_now_detail.php?id=3827
Read the New York Times article:
http://tinyurl.com/7acvg
Read others' comments and post your own on these blogs:
http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2005/07/straight-gay-or-lying-bisexuality.html
http://tinyurl.com/c7mw3
BiSexual Resource Center, including responses to the Times article:
http://biresource.org/
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