Bill Maier At the forthcoming Maxim Institute/Focus on the Family/United Future anti-civil union meetings throughout New Zealand, Focus on the Family (US)'s Bill Maier is billed as a keynote speaker. Who is Bill Maier? According to the US Focus on the Family website Dr. Bill Maier is Focus on the Family's vice-president and psychologist in residence. A child and family psychologist, Maier hosts the national "Weekend Magazine" radio program and the "Family Minute with Dr. Bill Maier." He is a frequent guest host for the daily "Focus on the Family" radio program and "Focus on the Family Commentary". He also acts as a media spokesperson for Focus on a variety of family-related issues. Dr. Maier received his masters and doctoral degrees from the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has served at respected institutions such as Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Camarillo State Hospital, and the Long Beach Child Guidance Center. He has extensive experience in parent training and education, and his major area of research interest is the impact of cultural trends on child development and family functioning. As noted in the first of this series of articles on current anti-civil union organising efforts, Maier's qualifications come from a converted Californian fundamentalist theological college. Are they recognised by the States of California or Colorado? Does he practice exclusively within the fundamentalist ghetto? Furthermore, according to the Focus on the Family website, Maier is a backer of so-called ex-gay "reparative therapy." In 2001, he accused lesbian and gay rights activists of 'suppressing' the 'truth' about gay 'cure' 'therapy' after Robert Spitzer delivered a paper on alleged behavioural change to the American Psychiatric Association. Of course, there's less to this story than meets the eye. Natalie Davis' blog notes that Spitzer's sample was biased. Spitzer sampled about 145 gay men and 67 lesbians, which were preselected from Exodus and NARTH, two 'reparative therapy'/'ex-gay' groups. Davis notes that Ariel Shidlo and Michael Shroeder did a larger sample (n=202), and interviewed their subjects for twice as long. They found that 178 respondents experienced no 'change' in their lesbian or gay sexual identity, while 18 experienced sexual confusion, and a mere six respondents reported 'change'- and five of these were now fundamentalists who ran 'ex-gay' ministries. It should be noted that neither of these were subjected to peer review at the time that Davis commented on the two studies in 2001. The US National Lesbian and Gay Task Force has also compiled some interesting quotations from Maier. Maier complained that the US Supreme Court's Lawrence v Texas ruling had resulted in a situation where "activists have stated that their goal is to radically alter an 'archaic' institution and transform the notion of 'family' entirely. "The Federal Marriage Act is the only way to protect the institution of marriage from being dismantled by gay activists and radical deconstructionist judges." "By changing the definition of marriage, the courts are attacking the institution of marriage itself." Maier stated this on Cybernewscast Network Services, a social conservative online 'news service (Randy Hall, "House Majority Leader Supports Federal Marriage Amendment: CNS.Com, 30.06.03). After the Massachusetts Supreme Court handed down its decision that authorised same-sex marriages in that state, Maier worried that "divorce, out of wedlock births, and fatherlessness" would proliferate, and that children would be "deprived of family with a mother and father... the proposition of same-sex marriage and its consequences will harm millions of children" ("Massachusetts Court Ruling on Gay Marriage Expected Soon", CNS.Com 10.07.03.) (The so-called "Federal Marriage Act" is a proposed US constitutional amendment which would outlaw same-sex marriages, as well as civil union or domestic partnership alternatives in some drafts. The Bush administration supports it, but a growing proportion of Americans are willing to make an exception for lesbian and gay civil unions). So, what is going on here? It seems that Focus on the Family is not content with interfering with Singapore's domestic policies related to criminalisation of male homosexuality. It is now trying to interfere with New Zealand's state sovereignty. Remember 1985? Never again. Recommended Reading: Bill Maier: "Gay Activists Withholding the Truth on Reparative Therapy": http://www.family.org Natalie Davis "A Tale of Two Studies" (11.05.01): http://fando.blogs.com/fando/2001/05/a_tale_of_two_s.html (US) National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce: Know Thy Enemy pdf: http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/KnowThyEnemy.pdf See Also: Wayne Besen: Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth: Haworth Press: Harrington Park: 2003. [Although badly edited and too anecdotal in places, this book does contain some valuable insights into the development and excesses of the US 'ex-gay'/reparative therapy frauds. Moreover, if Maier does attend the conference, someone should ask him about FOF's pet 'ex-gay' John Paulk and his appearance in a gay bar, which Besen recounts in detail.] Craig Young - 17th May 2004