Ex-Gay Watch

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation demands that Rolling Stone magazine publish a lengthy correction of a seriously flawed article on a niche of promiscuous gay men who actively seek to become infected with HIV.

However, GLAAD overstates its case. The group cites “shoddy journalism with no factual evidence to support it.” Unfortunately, responsible gay and mainstream media outlets have accurately reported on “bug chasers” before. While Rolling Stone exaggerated and distorted the facts, the magazine article’s sources maintain that bug-chasers do exist. The evidence is there. There is concern among some doctors. The issue should continue to be addressed by responsible media organizations.

Notes from yesterday’s Exodus news briefing.

1. Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays), misportrays the reasons why station KBYU pulled a program by reparative therapist Jeff Robinson. Instead of addressing the radio station’s actual concerns, Griggs launches into the rhetoric of victimhood that is so common among culture warriors of all sorts.

2. Exodus member ministry leader Rob Taylor offers the puzzling observation that adult comics and dolls are made for kids. Truth is, kids generally don’t read comics anymore, and adult-oriented comics with sexual overtones have always held an important niche in the comic book industry. Meanwhile, gay dolls (like their heterosexual counterparts) are targeted and sold as a novelty in adult bookstores and web sites, not through Toys ‘R’ Us. Taylor seems to be demanding that a niche of gay adults be denied the right to have the adult comics and dolls that a niche of heterosexual adults has long enjoyed.

3. Exodus member ministry leader Nancy Brown practices some of the situational ethics that she criticizes, while using strawman arguments against all gay-rights proponents as a class. Brown blinds herself to distinctions among liberal, left, progressive, independent, moderate, conservative and libertarian gay activists. Brown also lumps together the wide variety of very different hate-crimes legislative proposals as if they were a single bill with one purpose. And Brown offers no specific examples to support her arguments.

In fact, some foreign countries like Canada, and some university campuses, have punished certain forms of “hate speech,” both pro- and anti-gay. The various U.S. hate crimes bills have not targeted free speech, nor does the Constitution permit them to do so. And contrary to Brown’s stereotype, there are moderate, libertarian and conservative gay activists who oppose hate crimes laws.

These local ex-gay ministers damage their public outreach through some unfortunate overgeneralizations, undocumented assumptions, and lack of clarity. Improved communication skills would be an asset to local ex-gay ministries. Exodus has thoughtful, compassionate and constructive staff members. Local ministers are capable of doing better.

An Exodus media spotlight acknowledges and opposes antigay violence in U.S. schools. That’s a good thing; religious-right organizations regularly deny the existence of antigay violence and discrimination, so it’s encouraging to see an ex-gay organization acknowledge violence after it happens.

Here’s a suggestion: It’s all too easy for advocacy groups of all kinds to say they’re against something after the fact. But what are they for? How do they intend to prevent injustice? Whether the topic is bullying, the war against Iraq, or nuclear power, advocacy groups tend to be better at saying they are against something than at offering a practical solution.

Violence in schools happens when no one tries to stop it. Exodus, in particular, has not endorsed (to my knowledge) any specific efforts to reduce antigay violence in schools. The organization leaves it to individual teachers, coaches, and students to decide whether an act that they observe or commit constitutes violence or justifiable punishment against homosexuality.

Exodus seems reluctant for educators to be instructed in discerning which actions by faculty and students against gay, confused, butch or effeminate youth are permissible, and which actions are impermissible.

Unless violence is explicitly defined and actively prevented, saying one is against violence is a little like closing the proverbial barn door after the horses have escaped.

Or, expressed another way: Words opposing violence are indeed valuable. But Jesus of Nazareth called for a bit more than that.