CNS' Managing Editor of Gay-Bashing: 2019 Edition

CNSNews.com managing editor Michael W. Chapman has been spewing hate at the LGBT community for years, and he's continuing to use his Media Research Center-provided platform to spew more of it.

By Terry Krepel
Posted 7/23/2019

Michael W. Chapman

Chapman joined other right-wing Catholics to use the sexual abuse scandal among Catholic priests to attack the LGBT community. Chapman wrote in a Jan. 8 blog post:

Contrary to the claim by some clergy that the sexual abuse problems in the Catholic Church stem from "clericalism" -- excessive deference to priests and bishops -- German Cardinal Walter Brandmuller said the fundamental problem is homosexuality in the priesthood. He stressed that 80% of the abuse cases over the decades involved gay priests abusing post-pubescent boys, i.e., young teen boys, ages 11 to 17. This is a "statistically proven" fact, he added.

Cardinal Brandmuller, the former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences at the Vatican, made his remarks in a Jan. 4 interview with the German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA). His remarks were translated by several British and U.S. media, including Life Site News.

“80% of the abuse cases in the ecclesial environment involved male adolescents, not children," said the cardinal, adding that this is "statistically proven."

According to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice report on clergy sexual abuse in the United States between 1950 and 2002, "81% of victims were male and 19% female. Male victims tended to be older than female victims."

"The largest group of alleged victims (50.9%) was between the ages of 11 and 14, 27.3% were 15-17, 16% were 8-10 and nearly 6% were under age 7," stated the report. There were 8,449 male victims and 2,004 female victims; 2 victims identified as transgender.

But as ConWebWatch has documented every time Bill Donohue or some other right-wing Catholic makes the claim at CNS, this is a deliberate misreading of the John Jay report. The researchers who conducted the report stated that no connection was found between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse and argued that the idea of sexual identity should be separated from the problem of sexual abuse, since one does not have to have a homosexual identity to commit homosexual acts. The John Jay researchers also stated that the reason more than 80 percent of the victims of clergy sexual abuse were adolescent males is because that's who the priests were around a lot of the time, making this in no small part a crime of opportunity rather than one of sexual orientation.

Neither Chapman nor Brandmuller -- or LifeSiteNews, which first reported Brandmuller's comments -- will mention this inconvenient fact, since this will get in the way of their anti-gay agenda.

In a Feb. 12 post, Chapman whined that a Disney Channel show was purportedly shoving gayness down people's throats:

In a recent episode of Disney's popular Andi Mack show, which targets elementary and middle school kids, the homosexual character "Cyrus Goodman" finally comes out of the closet and states on-screen, "I'm gay." His friend "Jonah Beck" then replies, "Yeah? Okay, cool."

This is the first time that a Disney character has said the words, "I'm gay," according to the Washington Blade. The Disney program is designed, in part, to teach young children that homosexuality is normal and must be accepted.

On Feb. 18, Chapman complained that "Disney Paris will officially host for the first time a "Magical Pride" parade that caters to homosexuals," further huffing that Disney "was once a pro-family company" but now is "introducing more homosexual content into its movies and programs."

On Feb. 28, Chapman found a new corporate target for his anti-gay animus, grousing that "Multinational retail giant Walmart is now promoting homosexuality with a Facebook ad that follows two gay men -- 'Pat' and 'Andy' -- on a blind date shopping at a Walmart store. The video ad is entitled 'Love is in the Aisle: A Dating Show at Walmart.'" Chapman then called on his fellow gay-haters at the right-wing American Family Association to complain that the commercial "normalizes homosexual relationships," which are a "dangerous lifestyle," and that "There is no doubt in our mind that Sam Walton is turning over in his grave." Chapman also touted the AFA's petition to demand that Walmart remove the ad.

An anti-trans interlude

Let's take a look at his recent hate for transgenders.

In a Jan. 25 article, Chapman cheered how "Japan's Supreme Court ruled to uphold existing law that transgender persons who want their gender legally changed on official documents must be sterilized in order to prevent "problems" in parent-child relationships and protect society from "confusion" and "abrupt changes." He then disparagingly defined a transgender man as "a female pretending to be a male."

On March 6, Chapman had a fit about how "two members of Congress read the pro-transgender 'kids' book I Am Jazz on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives" -- so much of a fit that, as the article URL indicates, the original headline on Chapman's post called the book a "transgender propaganda book," before being later changed to "pro-transgender 'kids' book." In keeping with his theme of hatred, he disparagingly calls Jazz Jennings "a biological boy pretending to be a girl."

Chapman then took offense to the book's description of Jennings as being "born this way," huffing that "To date, there is no scientific evidence proving that transgender people are, as Lady Gaga sings, 'born this way.'" As evidence, he provided a link to a rant about "gender ideology" from the right-wing, anti-LGBT American College of Pediatricians.

Chapman, as he has before, then turned to discredited anti-gay psychiatrist Paul McHugh to assert that "transgenderism is a “mental disorder” that merits treatment, that sex change is 'biologically impossible,' and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder." And, for reasons known only to him and God, he includes an image of a painting of the Second Continental Congress.

Back to overall gay-bashing

In a May 7 article, he reported on Bud Light partnering with GLAAD in offering a rainbow aluminum bottle that, in Chapman's words, is "devoted to promoting and celebrating the agenda of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders." He then complains that "GLAAD has spent years trying to obscure the fact that in the United States HIV/AIDS is a disease that has largely affected the gay population" and illustrates his article with pictures of stock photos of outrageously dressed people in gay pride parades, as if they are representative of the entire LGBT community.

On May 14, Chapman highlighted how "Twitter recently locked the account of esteemed sexual psychologist Ray Blanchard, Ph.D.--apparently for posting that "transsexualism" and "gender dysphoria are types of mental disorder"--and then unlocked his account and apologized." Chapman then engaged in a rare bit of so-called reporting:

Following Dr. Blanchard's ordeal, CNSNews.com contacted Twitter's communications department by email and tweet on two occasions. CNSNews.com cited Dr. Blanchard's post and asked, "Given that Twitter states it 'made an error' in this case, is it permissible to post -- without having one's account locked -- on Twitter that, 'Transsexualism and milder forms of gender dysphoria are types of mental disorder'?"

Nicholas Pacilio with the Twitter press office responded on May 14, "We would decline to comment further beyond the May 11 and 12 communications [of Blanchard] you've cited. Thank you."

Twitter apparently is unwilling to state whether people can post the scientifically held view that transsexualism and gender dysphoria are types of "mental disorder."

This reminds us of the time that CNS obsessed over ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok's sex life to the point that it rewrote an article so it could pester the FBI about whether the agency had a policy against employees committing adultery.

On May 16, Chapman harrumphed: "Reverend Franklin Graham denounced a recent episode of the PBS cartoon 'Arthur,' which showed two male characters getting married and Arthur and other characters applauding this blatant promotion of male sodomy." Neither Chapman nor Graham explained where "male sodomy" was mentioned anywhere in the episode.

Chapman spent a May 22 article complaining that "the percentage of Americans who think same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, just like real marriage between a man and a woman, has more than doubled from 27% in 1996 to 63% in 2019. In addition, the percentage of Americans who believe gay relations are morally acceptable has increased from 40% in 2001 to 63% in 2019. In roughly two decades, Americans' support for homosexual behavior and so-called gay marriage has dramatically increased."

Chapman then huffed: "Sodomitical 'marriages' were legalized by the Supreme Court in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision," then misquoted the poll; it referenced "gay and lesbian relations"while Chapman insisted on calling it "sodomitical relations."

Chapman dedicated a May 30 article to the latest rantings of notoriously homophobic minister E.W. Jackson that "gay couples cannot be parents in the real sense because they do not procreate, by definition as homosexuals, and can only 'manufacture' children for 'their own entertainment' through scientific manipulations."

Chapman also came to the defense of Israel Folau, an Australian soccer player who lost his job after he tweeted anti-gay sentiments, which Chapman spun as merely "expressing his Christian beliefs." Chapman cheered Folau's anti-gay rantings a year earlier.

Chapman used a June 27 article to highlight a poll showing that "the percentage of non-gay Americans aged 18-34, who are considered allies of the LGBT community, fell from 63% in 2016 to 45% in 2018. He devoted the final three paragraphs to rehashing LGBT health risks, empathizing that "anal sex is the highest-risk sexual behavior for HIV transmission."

Chapman went on to cheer a Catholic bishop for ordering his parishioners not to attend any Pride Month-related events, calling them "contrary to Church teachings on faith and morals," as well as another Catholic bishop who defended the other bishop by insisting that "that preaching the truth of the Gospel is not homophobic." Chapman added: "Unlike the unitive and generative nature of heterosexual coitus between a married man and woman, homosexual intercourse is non-unitive and non-generative."

Chapman also denounced the Cartoon Network for failing to hate gays the way he does and for marking Pride Month. Chapman added another editorial comment: "June is celebrated as "Pride Month" in honor of the Stonewall riot in 1968, when gay partiers fought back against the police during a vice raid on the homosexual bar, the Stonewall Inn, which was then owned by the Mafia." Chapman didn't explain the relevance of pointing out who owned the bar.

Chapman used a June 28 article to feature a poll finding that "Although U.S. adults think LGBT persons make up nearly 24% of the U.S. population, this is a dramatic overestimation, according to Gallup, which asserts that the LGBT population is in reality closer to 4.5%."

On July 9, Chapman played up an attack by the right-wing, anti-gay Ruth Institute -- which he euphemistically described as a "pro-family" group "equipping Christians to defend the family and build a civilization of love" -- attacking the current season of MTV's "Are You The One" for being "gender fluid," uncritically repeating rants from group leader Jennifer Roback Morse (whom Chapman graces with both a "Dr." and a Ph.D." title in an attempt to make her seem more authoritative) that MTV is "selling the ideological agenda of the Sexual Revolution" (as if Morse isn't pushing an ideological agenda) and that "Your sex is biologically given at birth. The gender-confused should seek counseling to live with that reality.”

Chapman dialed up a different gay-hater in another article the same day, this time Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality in full freakout mode over "drag queen story hours" in bookstores and libraries. He huffed that the story hours are a way to "indoctrinate" kids into the LGBTQ world and imprint "perversion" in their young minds, and are no different than "mental rape."

Chapman brought back Graham one more time for a July 16 article:

Evangelical Christian leader Franklin Graham thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for refusing to allow the gay-rainbow flag to fly over U.S. embassies during June "pride" month, noting how offensive the flag is to Christians and millions of people of other faiths. He also criticized liberal politicians for celebrating "pride" in June, stating that the flaunting of such unnatural behavior "reveals the deepening depravity that now vexes our country."

Needless to say, Chapman didn't mention the depravity of Graham and other evangelical leaders supporting a president who has five children by three different women, bragged about grabbing women by the "pussy" and who paid hush money to a porn star to cover up an affair.