Convicted felon Arthur Abba Goldberg spoke at Peter LaBarbera’s poorly attended Truth Academy on Thursday. His speech is exactly what one would expect from an individual of low moral character and a penchant for extreme dishonest behavior.
He began his talk answering whether “gays can change”, in which he flippantly replied “the simple answer is yes”, to the delight of the small crowd of under 30 people. Then he rhetorically asked, “is gay parenting good for kids?” Abba Goldberg bluntly replied “no”.
In one of the more outrageous parts of his speech, Abba Goldberg made the bizarre claim that allowing consensual sex for LGBT people will lead to a “slippery slope” that will descend into bestiality.
“What do you do when you want to french kiss a dog?” asks Abba Goldberg. “Bark once if ‘yes’, and bark twice if ‘no’? Hello…where do we get this idea of consent from?”
The fact that Abba Goldberg even had these wacky ideas as part of his presentation shows that he has more issues than a New York magazine stand. What kind of psychologically healthy person even dreams up these scenarios? Perhaps, this speech explains why Abba Goldberg sees nothing perverse about referring clients to therapists who get clients naked and have them touch their genitals in front of a mirror.
Predictably, the con artist reverts to conspiracy theories and paranoia, falsely claiming that people of faith are victims of all-powerful gay activists who make the faithful afraid to speak out.
“The problem is that most people, particularly people of faith, fear being open,” said Abba Goldberg. “A fear of speaking to a matter of true diversity, of free speech. We really actually have viewpoint discrimination and outright manipulation.”
It always amazes me how these dolts claim they are oppressed and lack free speech – even as the are engaged in the act of free speech. They speak to their brainwashed followers, the media, and anyone who will listen. Yet, they seem to think they are somehow muzzled, simply because most Americans reject what they are shoveling.
Abba Goldberg goes on to distort the debunked Masters & Johnson study on homosexuality, where Virgina Johnson admits the results were fabricated. This was widely reported in the news last year, yet Abba Goldberg still used this study to support his ideology. This either proves that he is incompetent and does not know his material, or he suffers from a character defect, where truth is considered an inconvenience.
Abba Goldberg also dishonestly makes it seem as if “ex-gay” therapy is controversial in mainstream psychiatry and psychology. It is not, and there is a broad consensus that there is no evidence that such therapy works.
Just as he missed the Masters & Johnson study, it appears he was unaware of what the major mental health organizations say and last year’s landmark American Psychological Association report condemning reparative therapy.
In an act of unprecedented chutzpa, the convicted felon claims that there is “no documented evidence (of harm) for those who have gone through the entire process (of ex-gay therapy) of healing.” He cruelly blames any harm caused in “ex-gay” therapy on those who drop out in the middle of the process.
This is circular logic and a clever sleight of hand on the part of Abba Goldberg. Virtually all people who go through “ex-gay” therapy drop out in the middle, precisely because there is no end. Thus, according to his own reasoning, the vast majority – if not all- people who go through his program at JONAH can come out damaged. Sure, the people who finish aren’t damaged, but Abba Goldberg neglects to tell clients there is no finish line and has neglected to put forth people who have actually finished. His lone example — after a decade of alleged success — is a young man who is fairly new to “ex-gay” therapy.
Are we supposed to be impressed by this shoddy, almost non-existent record?
Furthermore, it is unconscionable that Abba Goldberg says there is no evidence of harm. What about the two young men who came forward two weeks ago to say they were victims of inappropriate sexual behavior by Abba Goldberg’s therapist, Alan Downing? We know that Abba Goldberg saw the video – so it is fair to say he is misleading the crowd and suppressing key evidence.
Without science on his side, Abba Goldberg devolves into crass stereotypes. In one of his typical bromides, the convicted felon claimed, “there is a tremendous amount of violence, particualrly in the lesbian community. It’s huge within that community.”
Abba Goldberg’s speech gets comical when he describes how young men become gay — although he noticeably has been unable to “cure” his own gay son.
The con man admits that there may be a biological component to homosexuality — but he says this element is merely “sensitivity”, which often causes men to reject their fathers and eventually end up gay.
Yeah, you can stop laughing. Basically, this bizarre explanation is made up out of thin air and constantly repeated by “ex-gay” organizations, despite lack of evidence or peer review studies.
Even screwier is Abba Goldberg’s claim that gay men lift weights to make up for a masculinity deficit.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Actually, I’ve been going to the gym since I was 12, when I played on my school’s football and basketball teams. It is galling to see this little smurf of a man giving advice on masculinity. I take one look at this dweeb and don’t think he would make the cut on any of the teams that I have played on over the years. He really ought to change his pathetic, unscientific macho man act before he embarrasses himself further.
(I wonder what his thoughts are on the governor of California?)
What would an anti-gay speech be without the lie that people are gay because of sexual abuse?
“Sexual abuse is clearly a major issue,” said Abba Goldberg. “Because what happens is that a kid gets sexually abused, sometimes it really feels pretty good, you know, it’s like an erotic high. He may also have detachment at this point from his father. And, so, (he thinks), this is what masculine love is all about.”
Once a con artist, always a con artist. Although Abba Goldberg portrays himself as an “expert” on homosexuality — he knows very little on the issue. His presentation relied on twisting science, lying about debunked studies and regurgitating myths and stereotypes.
Tellingly, this sad, discredited figure is the best the anti-gay industry can do.
