While investigating the removal of policy statements admonishing Richard Cohen and holding/touch therapy on the Exodus website, we received a reply from the assistant director of Cohen’s International Healing Foundation (IHF).  She describes what seems like a reconciliation of sorts between the two groups:

Richard explained more about his work and his position and methods to Exodus and they all made peace.

Exodus and IHF have either ignored or denied our request for any further comment for the record. However, we have been able to confirm through two credible sources (who wish to remain anonymous), one from inside Exodus, that the meeting did take place. Cohen came to Exodus for a discussion with the leaders. We have also confirmed through one of these same sources that Exodus agreed to pull their statement about Cohen from their website as a result of the discussion.

Exodus placed the following statement on their website after Cohen appeared in an embarrassing blitz of media throughout 2006:

Richard Cohen

Exodus International does not endorse the work of Richard Cohen or the methods utilized in his practice. Some of the techniques Mr. Cohen employs could be detrimental to an individual’s understanding of healthy relational boundaries and disruptive to the psychological and emotional development of men and women seeking clinical counsel and aid.

We asked Exodus President Alan Chambers for an official response as to why this statement was removed, but he refused to go on record.  Today, the following new statement appeared on the Exodus website: Read more…

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Filed under: Exgay Activists, Exodus

• Other Sheep Kenya will host a seminar on Christianity and Homosexuality in Nairobi on July 7-9.
• The daughter of a gay man shares about being separated from her father by Christian relatives.
• Anti-gay news groups insist on using the word “homosexual” as opposed to “gay” to emphasize their belief that LGBTQ persons are sex-obsessed. “Gay” sounds too positive; “Homosexual” has the word “sex” in it. To ease the strain on manual editing, One News Now does a “search and replace” for the word “gay” on all articles it reprints. Unfortunately, the proper name “Gay” also gets searched and replaced, making for hilarious and foolish-looking consequences.
• CitizenLink maligns single parents in its zeal to ban same-sex marriage in Arizona.
• Randy Thomas’ ex-gay testimony is featured in an article on the website Church Solutions. Randy still uses the lacking evidence of a single “gay gene” to “prove” that homosexuality isn’t biological, despite the fact that science has long been focusing on diverse biological factors to explain homosexuality as opposed to a single gene theory.

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Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) sent out a mailing today titled “NAACP Rocks,” referencing a 2006 letter of appreciation from the organization to PFOX.  According to the attached copy, PFOX held an exhibit at the NAACP annual convention that year.  It is not yet known if they participated in 2007 or if they will be there this year, but the email suggests they plan on participating in 2009.

The PFOX exhibit displayed useful information on unwanted same-sex attractions and tolerance for the ex-gay community. We distributed many brochures, flyers, stickers, and buttons. The attendees were enthusiastic about our booth and our ex-gay volunteers staffing the booth were well received. Many people remarked at how glad they were to see us and took extra handouts to distribute at their church back home. Gay groups like the Human Rights Campaign have exhibited at the NAACP for many years, but PFOX was the first and only ex-gay booth there.

We would like to exhibit there next year. Please make a love offering at http://www.pfox.org/donate.htm or send a gift to the address below so we can pay the exhibit booth fee.

Thanks and see you at the NAACP convention next year!

Here are examples of the brochures PFOX might have circulated.

According to the NAACP contract for exhibit space (as of this year), PFOX could secure a presence for as little as $500. The rules to exhibit seem pretty lax, though one would hope that groups which seek to curtail the rights of others would be antithetical to the goals of the NAACP. Ironically, PFOX considers themselves a civil rights group, protecting the rights of ex-gays, and referring to them as a separate and distinct orientation. This enables them to use verbiage lifted from organizations working for GLBT rights, the very rights that PFOX seeks to negate.  That bit of sad logic is an apt testament to the anger and bitterness so common to PFOX.

It is not known why there was a two year delay before this was announced.  XGW has no record of the information being public before now, and we haven’t yet received a reply to our query from the NAACP.  The letter has a boiler-plate structure to it and could be the standard sent out to all participants.

It is a pleasure for me to express appreciation to you for having been an exhibitor during our 97′ Annual Convention Commerce and Industry Show in Washington, D.C., July 15 - 18, 2006.

It is a pleasure for me to express appreciation to you for having been an exhibitor during our 97′ Annual Convention Commerce and Industry Show in Washington, D.C., July 15 - 18, 2006. We value your support and participation as the NAACP works to assure full rights and equal opportunities for all of our citizens. Cooperatively addressing shared concerns contributed significantly to the effective implementation of our vital
programs.

The success of our 97′ Annual Convention was due in large measure to the support provided by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays + Gays. We were gratified by the enthusiasm and avid participation of our delegates, members and friends from across the nation who expressed many favorable comments about our convention. The additional audiences we reached through our web cast are also aware of your involvement as a contributor to our historic 97thAnnual Convention.

One still must wonder if an organization with antisemitic or racist overtones would be approved to exhibit, much less receive a letter of thanks for doing so. Perhaps they were confused by the “and Gays” that PFOX tacked onto their name some years ago. It has been suggested that this was done at the advice of civil rights attorney and longtime PFOX Vice President Estella Salvatierra to enable greater access to groups which would not wish to be part of anti-gay efforts, but who might see “Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays” as more neutral. But again, a simple Google search (or even a scan of their website) would reveal the more accurate and odious nature of PFOX, so this is indeed puzzling, even disappointing news.

The letter is signed by Bruce S. Gordon, President and CEO.  Gordon resigned in March 2007 after expressing frustration with the job.

The NAACP says they welcome comments. If you reach them, please be civil and share any responses below. They may honestly be unaware of the nature of PFOX and their goals.

No word yet on whether PFOX representatives managed to generate any “attacks” during this event.

—

NAACP National Headquarters

Mailing Address: 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore MD 21215
Toll Free: (877) NAACP-98
Local: (410) 580-5777

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Filed under: Exgay Activists, PFOX

Readers may remember the incident from last October when Exodus member and therapist James Phelan “one-two drop kicked the hell out of” a fellow marathon runner.  The other runner had objected to Phelan yelling about how he thought those cheering along the sidelines with pride flags were “pushing the gay agenda.”  An alleged shove led to the drop kick response by Phelan.  We were never able to get any third-party verification of the incident, but Phelan not only admitted to his actions, but bragged about them in a post on his blog.

XGW posted about this to call attention, not just to what we saw as an overly violent reaction, but to Phelan’s apparent glee in the telling of it.  This did not seem proper for a professional therapist, particularly one who claimed a desire to “help” gay clients.  Exodus President Alan Chambers responded in similar fashion, and shortly thereafter Phelan was removed from the Exodus referral list.  Phelan was also allowed to resign from the anti-gay Transforming Congregations ministry over the same issue. He remains a member of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) without interruption, and is certified by Richard Cohen’s International Healing Foundation (IHF) as a “sexual re-orientation coach.”

We have since learned that Chambers has invited Phelan back as a member of Exodus, presumably to once again receive referrals from the organization.  Phelan explained in an email response to our query:

I was “suspended” by Alan Chambers because he did not like my comments in my blog back in Oct. These are when I posted about the marathon and he and Randy wrote in. My responses were, in his opinion, mean-spirited. As a result, later on, I did talk with them and agreed that I had said some mean things and apologized. At the same time, they (Randy, Alan, and Melissa Ingram- board chief) felt my blog was not in line with Exodus values. As a result, they asked me to wait some time before they would reinstate me to the member network. Through this time they did some monitoring and we did some telephone diaglouging. After the Exodus Leadership conference they spoke with me and said as of March 08 I was invited back to the network.

Phelan says he has not yet taken them up on their offer.  It appears that Exodus executives, while distancing themselves from Phelan when his behavior was in the forefront, now have reason to want him back.  For what it is worth, we suggest that Phelan pass up this invitation to return, and perhaps realize from recent events just how superficial and self-serving these entities can really be.

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Filed under: Exgay Activists, Exodus

Increasingly irrelevant in the US, the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) has created a new division to spread their views abroad.  The International Federation for Therapeutic Choice (IFTC), while it sounds formidable, appears only to be a new Yahoo group to which members are privy after paying the usual $65 per year to join.  Though NARTH claims membership of over a thousand, former members have estimated less than 200 are actually professional therapists, with the rest made up of pastors, activists and just plain everyday people.  With less than 50 in attendance at their last annual meeting, NARTH may be feeling a bit pale.  Their central figure, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, has been appointed by the NARTH board as the director of this new division. It is important to note that NARTH always appoints their own officers; the president, for instance, is never voted on by the membership.

As the population of the US becomes more educated about the facts surrounding GLBT issues, there is less willingness to accept the junk science of reparative therapy here.   New incursions by Exodus into countries which have had less experience with these issues seems misguided at best.  And as if to compound arrogance with error, NARTH is commonly used as an example of the “science” behind what is essentially religious dogma in these presentations.

It would appear that the creation of the IFTC is in keeping with this new attempt to grow ex-gay organizations and thought abroad. The NARTH member designated as their IFTC representative in Ireland is none other than Dr. Paul Miller.  Dr. Miller advises Iris Robinson, the wife of the First Minister (Northern Ireland). Robinson has achieved notoriety of late for her comments concerning homosexuality.  Dr. Miller, it turns out, trained under the embarrassing Richard Cohen, and holds his work in high regard.  Miller organized a seminar for Cohen as recently as 2007, and currently recommends his book, Coming Out Straight, on the website of his nonprofit, ABEO.

Also on Miller’s website, he lists NARTH along with Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) and, oddly enough, The Mankind Project and People Can Change (the latter is an ex-gay program based on MKP principles).  JONAH is a close ally of NARTH — their president, Arthur Goldberg, is NARTH’s executive secretary.  The Mankind Project and affiliated programs have been recommended by Nicolosi as a way to assist those seeking to change from gay to straight “heal old wounds” and become more masculine, more manly.  Recently sued for alleged culpability in a suicide, MKP uses rather odd methods to say the least.  XGW has also reported on recent distortions by People Can change.

It would seem that Dr. Miller has bought into the entire ex-gay package deluxe, and he has the ear of the “first lady” of Northern Ireland.  Certainly the people there deserve better than to be subjected to our discarded failures.

 Edited 1pm ET - geopolitical corrections