• • Rhode Island's Gov. Carcieri to headline MFI banquet
• • Judge denies prisoner sex-change request
• • Tim Hortons pressured out of pro-marriage Rhode Island event
• • Maine's Collins, Snowe neutral or silent on marriage referendum
• • UPDATE: Planning Board recommends against strip club zone
• • APA admits treatment for homosexual behavior not harmful
• • Porn industry not doing well financially, but porn is more prevalent than ever
• • Save-the-Date: Truth Project Training
• • Warning about Red Sox commercial content

Rhode Island's Gov. Carcieri to headline MFI banquet

Massachusetts Family Institute is excited to announce that Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri will be our keynote speaker at our 18th Annual Fundraising Banquet to be held on Thursday, October 15 at 7 o'clock at the Newton Marriott. As governor, Carcieri has been an outspoken champion of life and traditional marriage.

Today, Rhode Island stands as the only New England state upholding marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Governor Carcieri has steadfastly threatened to veto any legislation seeking to change that definition and recently lent his support to the National Organization for Marriage. In 2007, the Rhode Island Supreme Court, with a majority of members appointed by Carcieri, refused to recognize same-sex "marriage," on the grounds that it is a question for the legislature, not the courts, to decide after public debate. Governor Carcieiri is also strongly pro-life, repeatedly speaking out against abortion.

Don Carcieri was elected Governor of Rhode Island in 2002, defeating the endorsed Republican candidate in the primary before earning victory over a Democrat with 15 years of political experience. Earlier, Carcieri had a career in business that was capped with his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Cookson American and Joint Managing Director of Cookson Group Worldwide, a manufacturing company with more than 12,000 employees. In 1981, he moved his family to Kingston, Jamaica, where he headed the Catholic Relief Service's West Indies operation for two years.

Governor Carcieri and his wife, Suzanne, were married in 1965 and have four children and 14 grandchildren.

The Banquet will be a celebration to unite and encourage those who are involved in the pro-family movement. This program will also include the presentation of Citizenship Awards to those unsung heroes who have shown courage, commitment and compassion in the effort to support marriage, strengthen the family and affirm Judeo-Chrisian values in the Commonwealth.

We hope that you will join us on October 15th as we receive encouragement from a model governor who has stood up consistently for our values and stayed true to his convictions on marriage and life. You may reserve your seats for $50 per person by sending a check to MFI, 100 Sylvan Road, Suite 625, Woburn, MA 01801. Be sure to indicate that the money is for banquet tickets, and the names of all guests as they are to be printed on name tags. You can also donate online HERE and send an email to info@mafamily.org with the required information. If you have any questions, please call 781.569.0400.

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Judge denies prisoner sex-change request

A Boston federal judge has denied a murderer's request to continue hair removal treatments as the inmate awaits a ruling on whether the state will be forced to pay for a sex-change operation. U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf said yesterday that Michelle Kosilek has not shown she will suffer "serious harm" without further electrolysis treatments. Kosilek was born as Robert and is serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, Cheryl, in 1990.

Prison officials oppose Kosilek's request for surgery, saying the sex change would pose security problems. Wolf ruled in 2002 that Kosilek was entitled to treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of ordering taxpayer-funded surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005. There have been bills filed barring Massachusetts from paying for the "sex reassignment" surgery, but they have not been passed into law.

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Tim Hortons pressured out of pro-marriage Rhode Island event

Facing strong pressure from homosexual activists, Tim Hortons, a coffee franchise, has reversed its decision to provide coffee for a pro-family rally to be held in Rhode Island. This Sunday, August 16, the National Organization for Marriage is hosting a "Celebrate Marriage and Family Day" in suburban Providence that will feature speeches, a cookout and a ceremony in which married couples are invited to renew their vows.

In a flyer for the event, Tim Hortons was listed as a sponsor. A number of blogs dedicated to the homosexual agenda wrote about the sponsorship and urged readers to contact Tim Hortons to express their dissatisfaction. This past Monday, the company issued a statement confirming it will pull out as a sponsor of the event.

"It has come to our attention that the Rhode Island event organizer and purpose of the event fall outside of our sponsorship guidelines," reads the statement. "As such, Tim Hortons can not provide support at the event. We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused."

Christopher Plante, the executive director for the RI chapter of NOM and the event's organizer, was taken aback by the uproar over the issue, according to CBC News. "Tim Hortons was approached by one of our advisory board members and simply asked whether they would provide coffee for the event in question and they graciously accepted to do that," said Plante. "We were talking with a state-wide or regional [representative], not a local franchise."

            Source: CBC News

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Maine's Collins, Snowe neutral or silent on marriage referendum

According to the Washington Blade, a homosexual newspaper based in Washington, D.C., U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has decided to not take a position on the likely upcoming referendum on Maine's same-sex "marriage" law. Asked during a brief exchange whether she would be taking a position on the "people's veto," Collins replied: "I'm not. I don't get involved in state issues."

Several pro-family groups came together to put Maine's same-sex "marriage" law to a popular vote after the legislature and governor approved it in May. More than 100,000 signatures have been submitted for certification, far more than the 55,087 that are required by law. If approved for the ballot, the marriage referendum will be called "Question 1" and appear on the ballot this November.

Marc Mutty, chair of Stand for Marriage Maine, said he "respects [Collins'] position that she's going to leave it up to the voters." The position of the other Republican Maine senator, Olympia Snowe, is not publicly known and her office did not respond to a request by the newspaper.

            Source: Washington Blade (via Southern Voice)

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UPDATE: Planning Board recommends against strip club zone

The Fall River Planning Board has recommended that amendments to establish an adult entertainment district and a smaller "local business" district within the Fall River Industrial Park be denied. The City Council, at its meeting last night, was expected to review those recommendations. Planners proposed a strip club district on 158 acres, but City Planner James K. Hartnett said the majority of that land has been developed, and while it could be converted, there are private covenants on some land, prohibiting adult use. He also cited "34 studies" from communities across the country "documenting the negative effects of adult entertainment."

This is an update on THIS previous E-Alert story.

            Source: SouthCoast Herald News

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APA admits treatment for homosexual behavior not harmful

From CitizenLink.com:

Psychologists Show Change in Orientation is Not Harmful

Study of people who have struggled free from homosexuality leads to calls for more research.

A study showing that sexual orientation is changeable and that attempts to change are not harmful was presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Toronto on Sunday.

Conducted by Dr. Stanton Jones, provost professor of psychology at Wheaton College, and Dr. Mark Yarhouse, professor of psychology at Regent University, the research looked at a group of individuals involved in the Exodus program over a period of seven years.  Exodus International uses a Christian-based approach to bring about change in sexual orientation.

They found 23 percent of those participating reported a change in their sexual orientation.  Thirty percent noted a dramatic decrease in homosexual attraction, which they categorized as successful change.

Randy Thomas, executive vice president of Exodus, has experienced change in his own life.

“This study not only gives credence to our lives,” he said, “but positively contributes to the ongoing cultural dialogue over sexual and gender identity, as well.”

The research also pointed out that those who attempted to change their same-sex attractions were not harmed.  And many participants reported a “diminishing of psychological distress” the longer they pursued “reorientation.”

Many at the convention agreed more research is needed.

“We hope that future research efforts will make room for our experiences,” said Thomas, “so that personal autonomy and religious diversity are respected both in the field of science and in the public arena.”

For years, the APA has asserted that sexual orientation is not changeable, and that the potential risks of therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior.

In 1973, the APA Council and the Board of Directors adopted the Leona Tyler Principle, a precaution that directed the organization’s public statements to be founded on research, not political correctness.

Dr. Jones said in the ensuing years, the principle has taken a back seat as the association bowed to cultural pressure.

“Since then, it’s passed resolutions on everything from boxing to Zionism,” he said.  “So frustration has grown around APA making pronouncements where it doesn’t have a good scientific or professional basis to make those pronouncements.”

The APA recently released a task-force report that shows some patients may want to change, but stops short of giving its blessing to such programs.

-- Kim Trobee, editor

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Porn industry not doing well financially, but porn is more prevalent than ever

The pornography industry, which experienced huge growth during the 1990s, is suffering large losses during the most recent recession. A growing abundance of free content on the Internet is undercutting consumers' willingness to pay for porn, according to a story in the LA Times. Industry insiders estimate that since 2007, revenue for most porn production and distribution companies has declined 30% to 50% and the number of new films made has fallen sharply. "It's the free stuff that's killing us, and that's not going away," said Dion Jurasso, owner of porn production company Combat Zone, which has seen its business fall about 50% in the last three years.

While the industry may be suffering financially, the problem of pornography and its easy availability on the Internet continues to get worse. At least five of the 100 top websites in the U.S. are portals for free pornography, referred to in the industry as "tube sites," according to Internet traffic ranking service Alexa.com. Some of their content is amateur work uploaded by users and some is acquired from cheap back catalogs, but much of it is pirated.

The TImes article says that the only growth market most executives see is mobile devices, since they let consumers watch porn anywhere and in relative privacy. Major companies that serve as a gateway to content on cellphones in the U.S. such as Verizon don't allow explicit adult content. But like cable and satellite companies in the 1990s, they may change their minds when they see the potential profit.

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Save-the-Date: Truth Project Training

Please save the date of Saturday, December 5, for a special Truth Project Training Event. This training event is designed for those who want to lead The Truth Project in a small group. The 4-hour training session will equip small group leaders to facilitate the dynamic DVD-based curriculum for imparting a biblical worldview into the lives of others. The agenda focuses on training and vision components, the role of a small group leader, the expectations of the small group, and a sampling of the curriculum via DVD. This event will be held at Trinity Evangelical Church in North Reading from 8:30am to 12:30pm, December 5. The cost is $99 per individual or couple and includes the entire 8-disc DVD curriculum with a Leader Training DVD. More information will be forthcoming this fall, and online registration will also be available. For more information on The Truth Project, visit www.thetruthproject.org.  

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Warning about Red Sox commercial content

It has come to our attention that some advertisements being shown during Boston Red Sox games are not appropriate for younger viewers. The offensive ads are for AXE Skin Contact Shower Gell and feature a scantily clad man and woman wrestling in a sexual manner in a bedroom. As parents, we encourage you to be vigilant in what your children are watching on television, including the commercials. If you notice an offensive commercial while watching Boston Red Sox programming, we encourage you to contact NESN and complain about the advertising content: http://www.nesn.com/contact.html.

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