On Sept. 29, Exodus chairman and Focus on the Family operative Mike Haley accused gay people of intolerance for daring to disagree with his message at the “Love Won Out” conference in Oklahoma City, scheduled for Oct. 25.

“The opposition being displayed by gay activists in Oklahoma City is really quite indicative of the myopic application of tolerance being displayed by liberal activist groups nationwide,” said Mike Haley, a former homosexual and Love Won Out conference host. …

“Gay activists continue to force-feed their message to our culture while attempting to silence any opposing viewpoint,” Haley concluded. “But people continue to hunger for the truth, and our hope is that October 25 will be a day of hope and healing for them.”

In subsequent press releases like this one, Mr. Haley has continued to treat homosexuality as a sickness — and he says the message that gays don’t fit ex-gay stereotypes is “misguided and dangerous.”

From the Associated Press, Oct. 20:

“The gay community likes to promote that homosexuality is genetic,” said Mike Haley, who was a homosexual in his teens and 20s but is now married with two children. “You state a myth long enough, people are going to believe it.”

This statement ridicules gay people, and some scientists, for saying just what the Exodus national office said earlier this week when it acknowledged a possible genetic role in sexual orientation.

Melissa Fryrear, another conference speaker, said people become gay because of breakdowns in their relationships with their same-sex parent. Others, particularly lesbians, turn gay because they were molested or raped in their youth, she said.

Up to 90 percent of lesbians were violated sexually, compared to about 25 percent of women nationally, said Fryrear, who was a lesbian in high school and college.

Fryrear, of course, offers no scientific studies in support of her claims.

Among the “misguided and dangerous” people feared by Mr. Haley and Ms. Fryrear are tolerant people of faith and human-rights advocates in Oklahoma City whose lives do not conform to ex-gay stereotypes.

Tolerance advocates and gay-rights protesters including Wayne Besen will be present when the ex-gay conference is held this Saturday.

Categorized in: