As a follow-up to our previous post on this matter, we have gathered more information in our investigation of claims made by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) here.
Yesterday, we spoke with Jackie Abrams, Vice Chair of the Arlington County Fair. According to Abrams, no physical altercation occurred, police were never called and no one was ejected from the fairgrounds – she was emphatic and certain. “I was in radio contact with the other board members during the Fair, and definitely would have known if the police had been summoned. It did not happen [her emphasis],” said Abrams. She added that her calls to PFOX, and specifically to PFOX president Regina Griggs, had gone unanswered.
We also spoke to a second eyewitness to what may have been the genesis of PFOX’s claim. The first was Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance (AGLA) president-elect Daniel L. Hays who told us earlier that he heard what he would call “a heated discussion” Saturday afternoon, August 18. Vania Villanueva was working for her insurance company in the booth directly across the aisle from PFOX during that time. She told us that late that Saturday afternoon, a woman stopped by the PFOX booth while a young man was working there.
According to Villanueva, the woman became angry about what the young man was saying (she couldn’t hear him well enough to understand what that was). The woman spoke loudly, accusing the PFOX representative of deception, during which time the young man didn’t appear to say much of anything. After approximately 5 to 7 minutes, the woman left. Villanueva said she saw no physical attack, nor did she see any police, Fair officials, etc, nor did she observe anyone being escorted off the property.
So is this what really happened? The evidence would seem insurmountable, and there is nothing so far to support PFOX’s version of events, and much to contradict it. With continued silence from PFOX, what are we to conclude? According to John Lisle of the Arlington County Police Department, as of yesterday there is nothing new to add – they have no records, reports or recollection of any incident at the Arlington County Fair as described by PFOX.
The facts so far support a five minute verbal argument between a PFOX worker and a female fairgoer. This argument occurred during a time frame which allows us to assume that it was the genesis of the PFOX story. All other evidence to date contradicts any claim of physical violence, physical attack, police involvement, or any official involvement from the Fair or anyone being escorted off the fairgrounds – all contained in the official statement from PFOX, and reported by Focus on the Family (via CitizenLink), LifeSite, and commented on by Exodus president Alan Chambers.
We believe we have been fair and diligent in our quest for facts, simply asking anyone we talked with to tell us the truth about what they know. We have asked PFOX for any evidence that would support their claims and they have not responded.
The evidence is that the accusations of an attack and police action stems from a single verbal argument. This is a severe blow to the credibility of PFOX and Regina Griggs and indirectly to those who reported the incident without investigation.
So what should happen now? At the least, those sources who reported this story should issue retractions as should PFOX and Mrs. Griggs.
We leave you with the words of Regina Griggs from her interview with Family News in Focus:
Update (9/6/2007): Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette has given the following statement on this matter:
The alleged incident is a fiction. It makes for a good story, and possibly helps some with fundraising, but remains untrue. Both the Arlington County Police and the County Fair Board state they have no awareness or record of such an incident. Having spent quite a bit of time at the County Fair myself, I’m not sure the PFOX booth received much attention at all over that weekend.
Nice work, David. Thanks for the thorough report. Just a note — I think you have a duplicate paragraph in there…
Wow, thanks. I should have caught that before posting. Fixed.
David,
I really appreciate the work that you did tracking down this story. Maybe PFOX might be a little mroe careful the next time that PFOX attempts to decieve.
This incident reminds me so much of the whole David Parker affair up in Mass. That’s the father who objected to gay issues (e.g., the existence of families headed by gay/lesbian couples) being discussed in his son’s Kindergarten class. Parker has been feuding with the school district for the past couple of years, and has been arrested for trespassing. He then claimed a fight between his now 6-year-old son and a friend was actually an “attack” somehow instigated by GLBT-supportive activists. All evidence pointed to a simple disagreement between two kids over who to sit with at lunch leading to a really minor fight.
Just as in this case, a minor incident is blown all out of proportion in order to justify some perception of “Christians” under attack by gay and lesbian activists. It makes one wonder whether this is simply an example of deliberate duplicity, or some bizarre misperception of reality. Precisely because these incidents are so easily debunked, it is incredibly risky and stupid for someone to deliberately lie about them.
Is it possible that certain anti-gay activists have so internalized the “gays are out to destroy” Christians argument that they see every interaction with a GLBT-supportive society as an attack?
do you think they’ll respond? I mean, realistically, do you think we’ll hear a statement? Or will they just forget it happened, pretend it didn’t, and the go on fighting the ex-gay fight as if they were just as “credible” as before? Will this change how NARTH and Exodus see them/use them/cite them?
I can’t see why this could or would or should change anything. It’s the hallmark of the anti-gay industry: “Credibility is not an option.”
To that end, why would they even notice it?
This is an outstanding follow-up to an already great investigation. Good work.
I wonder how much longer it will be before Regina Griggs follows her mentor Richard Cohen into becoming an enduring embarrassment to the anti-gay lobby?
I’ve come to the conclusion that the heart of it is about the desire for supremacy. For a supremacist, equality will always be seen as an attack. That goes for all minorities though, not just GLBT’s.
Most supremacists at heart are also authoritarians, so they rely on their “authorities” to tell them which minorities it’s ok to revile. But since openly supremacist language is no longer acceptable, what better way to hide this than to present it as a “Christian” belief, and thus “religious freedom.”
“Religious freedom” then guarantees that some Americans are less equal than others. And “Christian belief” then guarantees that supremacy itself is now in the name of Jesus’ own commands of equality:
If you’re an authoritarian leader, the supremacist mindset comes first, and then ways such as religion/Bible/lies are sought out to support it.
If you’re an authoritarian follower, you listen to what ever the “authorities” tell you, no matter what the facts are, about Jesus Christ’s message of equality or otherwise.
Authoritarians are about 23% of the population, roughly Bush’s approval rating. That’s them, thus the rest of us are “attacking” them for not cowering to their superiority.
Great work, David!
It’s too bad a newservice like CitizenLink cannot to what it takes to tell the truth like a blog such as ExGay Watch!
Great investigative reporting. No, Regina Griggs and PFOX will not change their tune. Their whole existance is untruth piled on untruth.
Excellent work, David!!
Absolutely amazing research, and something that needs to be passed on to the next school district whom PFOX bothers besides. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
Watch this then decide….click ‘listen’ when you get to the website
[Link deleted by the moderator.]
Windows Media
I did a little research as well. Not all is at it seems.
Click ‘listen’ when you get to the website
[Link deleted by the moderator.]
Windows Media
No, karen, you obviously did no research whatsoever.
It is not permitted for commenters to merely parrot culture warriors without offering original commentary or reflection. Commenters are expected to demonstrate critical thinking, in other words. Nor is it permitted to link blindly to third-party audio/video files with no explanation of how they relate to the topic. Your action is a classic example of trolling.
Do not assume that the claims of third parties are self-evident to readers/listeners; explain how and why their information is trustworthy.
Have the courage to document and defend what you post. When you are willing to provide original commentary and context for any links — and substantiation for your claims or those of third parties — then feel free to comment.
“Do not assume that the claims of third parties are self-evident to readers/listeners; explain how and why their information is trustworthy.”
That’s exactly what is has been done by many here so what is the difference?
In addition….
The man on the tape is the man it happened to, who chose not to bring charges, is a first party.
[Link deleted by the moderator.] Why?
Karen, I don’t see a single instance here where someone has provided an unexplained link to third-party extremists. I especially don’t see anyone else linking blindly to sites that the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as hate groups.
We’re not here to be parroted or dictated at. We’re here to engage in conversation. I’m confident that you’re capable of that.
Yes, I am but obviously you are not unless everyone falls in lock-step with your agenda.
Toodles!
You’re unwilling to engage in conversation. You’d rather lob strawman arguments. So be it — don’t comment then.
Pointing a virtual finger saying “you” think this way or “you’re” that way…” reveals 3 fingers pointing back at ya so look in the mirror.
Angry, intolerant, heterophobic gays make regular gays look bad!
Karen continues to refuse to converse, to explain her accusations or substantiate her namecalling. Furthermore, it seems she is the only one pointing fingers and dictating what others believe. Sayonara, karen.
WingNutDaily now says the police confirmed that the incident occurred [http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57710]:
So….
What is odd is that the policeman’s report sounds so dang close to the report Griggs gave. How would she know the guy was escorted off the grounds if the policeman found the guy later – unless that policeman (or the other one?) later told her such. The similarity of stories is almost too good to be true. Almost a fabrication in collusion with a police officer, perhaps who is sympathetic to her cause.
We got that email a week ago and have been following up since. It was posted by a commenter to the PFOX thread about that time as he also received it. The problem, and this will be in the next post, is that the only non-PFOX witnesses so far dispute that version of events. The whole thing is rather overwhelming to decipher, which is why I’ve revised the post so many times and have not released it.
It is of course deceptive to say “the police have verified the event occurred”, since they didn’t see it either. John Lisle simply verified that PFOX reported it, and on it goes. They fail to mention that we are the ones who started the dialog with Lisle in the first place 😉
just a tad off-topic – does anyone know why the RSS feeds aren’t working?
We started having trouble with Feedburner again, and are probably going to stop using them. I will post a short one on this so people can reply. You may need to reset your feeds at some point. Thanks for mentioning it.