Ex-Gay Watch

Anti-gay activist group, Repent America, has claimed that God destroyed New Orleans because it welcomes gay visitors. A few choice selections from its press release include:

“Southern Decadence” has a history of filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars. Last year, a local pastor sent video footage of sex acts being performed in front of police to the mayor, city council, and the media. City officials simply ignored the footage and continued to welcome and praise the weeklong celebration as being an “exciting event”. However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin.

And

“Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city,” stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage.

If this group sounds familiar, they are the same group who held up banner declaring homosexuality to be sin at a day designated by the Philadelphia Phillies for gay fans to come to the park. They also attend gay events with bullhorns to drown out the entertainment with anti-gay slogans.

Ironically, they may have misheard what God was saying with this storm. Had they listened closer they might have realized that the part of the city with the least damage was the French Quarter and that so far most of the deaths have been in Mississippi (not a state famous for it gay excesses).

Had God been truly trying to make a point about The Gays, he could have just skipped the South altogether and send a tornado after wedding chapels in Massachusetts. But, then again, maybe God finds gay people much more to his liking than bigots.

I don’t like to be glib about a natural disaster that has shattered thousands of lives and killed hundreds. But it seems important to point out that there is a growing trend — from Fred Phelps to Pat Robertson and all the anti-gays in between — to blame every disaster on The Homosexual Agenda. And the irony is that God seems determined to prove them wrong.

Everyone except the homosexuals; They’re not allowed to help “bring life and well-being to society”.

And while we’re at it, we’re not going to let them join the priesthood either. To ban celibate homosexuals requires homosexuality be viewed as an identity separate from actions. So… in this one case we’re going to treat it like an identity. However, in the rest of God’s absolute truth, there remains only “homosexual actions.”

Various arms of the AFA such as OneMillionYouth.com and the AgapePress have been promoting a new bible distributed by Tim Todd Ministries containing comic book style inserts on various cultural issues. Comics can be viewed at the Truth For Youth website including one on safer sex which is factually incorrect:

Excuse me, did they just cite a factually discredited SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD ARTICLE? I’m sorry, the notion that latex condoms are porous and allow the transmission of HIV is so factually incorrect I shouldn’t even waste your time providing a link. But you know what? I’m trying to keep things a bit more HONEST than Timm Todd and slightly more recent sources. Let’s see what the Centers For Disease Control said in a document dated Jan 23, 2003:

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that latex condoms provide an essentially impermeable barrier to particles the size of STD pathogens. [*]

This goes beyond the notion of “red state / blue state facts” into the realm of deliberate misinformation and downright lying. Tim Todd and the American Family Association should be ashamed to so zealously promote such a publication.

From 365Gay.com, a rumor that the Vatican will become even more anti-gay:

The Vatican is preparing to bar gays from entering the priesthood and is considering removing those gays who are already priests.

Of course, 365Gay.com is quoting “People within the church who are familiar with the workings of the Vatican,” so it is just a rumor at this point. But with this Pope, it is certainly a believable one.

The Catholic institution set the new ex-gay guidelines before they became popular: you cannot do anything about being gay, but having gay sex is evil. Catholics have groups like Courage rather than Exodus; they focus on chastity rather than change. But it appears that chastity will not be enough for Pope Benedict XVI; apparently, he is aiming to reverse the Vatican II ordinances that permit Catholics to be homosexual at all.

Word has it you people enjoy my info-graphics. I was thinking of putting one together on illustrating how various Exodus staffers’ definitions of “change” lands all over the map.

If anyone has any interesting quotes (you MUST include a source) then please send them my way. Work is getting crazy so I’ll be keeping a low profile for a few days.

An article in a UK paper, The Guardian, about the ex-gay movement. (hat tip Morgan Fox)

Although part of the article reads like “aren’t those Americans odd”, there were a few quotes worth noting. The first is a story that I wish the local papers would carry:

Jeff Harwood, a gay Christian who spent three years in Love in Action in the 90s, said: “It was very emotional, digging up things you’d done … the more you [could] dig up, the more credit you [got].”

Mr Harwood came out of the programme believing himself “cured”. He dated a woman but the relationship fell apart and former impulses returned. He reached a crisis. “I just said ‘this is it’. God is nothing but a cosmic sadist. I sat in my bathroom with a carving knife, wondering whether it would be better to slit my wrists or cut off my genitals.”

A friend talked him out of suicide and now, aged 41, he is reconciled both to his homosexuality and Christianity.

The second compares Love in Action’s quotes of success to that of “graduate” Harwood:

Of almost 40 “graduates” of the Love in Action programme that he knows of, more than half are still openly gay, and only 12% consider themselves ex-gay, he said.

Love in Action’s figures differ. Gerard Wellman, 24, the ministry’s business administrator – and a “successful graduate” of the programme – said that 70 % of graduates say “it works for them”. He added: “Homosexual describes behaviour, not people.”

Of course, as long as Wellman and LIA/R continue to redefine words like “homosexual”, “successful”, and “works”, it isn’t possible to ever come to an agreement as to how effective these programs are. After all, by LIA/R’s standards, Harwood would be considered a success: he sat through the entire program, renounced his sexuality, and dated a woman. What happened next doesn’t count.

The Christian Post had an article about Exodus. While it is basically a bland little information piece, there are a few items in it which are worth noticing.

First, the article points out the difference in perception relating to orientation origin between the general populace and the Evangelical Christians:

Secular society is mixed in its understanding of what some call “the gay gene.” According to a Barna report released in July 2001, about half of all adults believe that homosexuality is a result of the environment. One third of Americans believe people are born gay, and 17 percent are not sure.

However, among Evangelical Christians, general opinion is quite clear: 85 percent of them believe a person is not gay from birth.

The article also explained why Exodus and others are willing to go on Penn & Teller or other programs that ridicule their position:

“Whether they criticize us or not, the great thing is we get to proclaim the good news about freedom in Jesus Christ,” said Chambers. “Every time that we are talked about, written about, or appear on a television broadcast, people call. People who want this alternative, call, and they get the good news that people can change.”

We should keep in mind that while we view the programs as a warning as to the dangers of their “therapy”, they view it as free advertising.

Of particular concern is a project that Chambers discussed relating to the recruitment of children into the ex-gay lifestyle:

Chambers believes that “anyone who’s smart these days would focus on the young because the truth is those who influence the young influence the future.”

This is why Chambers plans to launch a nationwide campaign to educate the young, their parents, and youth workers through distributing literature on campuses, and by having three sets of conferences: one for the youth, one for their parents and youth workers, and one for pastors.

As we know that the ex-gay lifestyle is damaging and unhealthy, as witnessed by so many that have come out of it, we need to vigilant in our warning of parents, schools, and others about this ex-gay agenda to seduce our children to this harmful way of life.

Southern Voice released an article yesterday highlighting Jerry Falwell’s newfound support for equal housing & employment rights for gays & lesbians, as shown on “The Situation with Tucker Carlson.”

Says Falwell:

FALWELL: But civil—civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or a conservative value. It‘s an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on.

Southern Voice credits Soulforce‘s long-term lobbying of Falwell for the turnaround. Falwell says he still “doesn’t agree with the lifestyle,” but supports antidiscrimination laws protecting gays & lesbians. The argument in the past has been that since gays & lesbians do not exist (only heterosexuals with “SSA Disorder”), no laws should exist to protect them. Now, Falwell eschews that position, favoring the right to privacy instead.

I have to admit I enjoy the gay literary genre of autobiographical short stories. In that genre, I’ve found a frequently occurring archetype. (My most recent example is here, fast forward to +42:40) A typical story goes a bit like this:

Two young proto-queers become best of friends. Both boys recognize that they are “different” somehow and share that in common with the other. However, neither boy fully grasps what it means to be gay. Their friendship continues to elevate and reaches a level which is frightening to them just short of physical intimacy. Seemingly at the peak of their relationship one boy suddenly withdraws from the other without explanation. He then attempts to socially alienate his former friend and the two never speak again.

I’ve come across too many examples of this basic story to list. It often seems these sorts of common experiences are the only things that form the foundation of gay culture. Now I’m curious, how many of you have had experiences like this? Here’s the thing, this sort of experience never happened to me.

Randy Thomas, the membership director of Exodus, spoke at a press conference by the promoters of a constitutional amendment in Florida to ensure that gay couples are not allowed the same rights as heterosexual couples. As reported by the Florida Baptist Witness:

Thomas, a former homosexual, said proponents of traditional marriage forced him to consider the legitimacy of homosexuality and “gay marriage,” which led to his departure from the homosexual lifestyle.

“I was not happy with the conservatives back in the 80’s, but what they did was they challenged me to dialogue,” he said.

Thomas affirmed the coalition’s repudiation of bigotry against homosexuals.

“We support a person’s right to self-determination. But we don’t want one person’s determination to affect all of us,” he added.

I have a few thoughts on Thomas’ statements and inclusion at the press conference.

First, to the best of my recollection, gay marriage was never mentioned back in the 80’s. There were no proponents of traditional marriage to force him to consider anything at all. This seems to be a newly concocted slant and frankly untrue.

Second, why is Thomas at a rally to make certain that gay couples have restricted rights? Thomas is the MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR of Exodus. Is Exodus actually trying to pretend that persons struggling with SSA are going to be drawn to Exodus by trying to stop them from marrying?

It is not by accident that the membership director for Exodus is actively involved in the restriction of rights to gay people. I think it highly likely that the membership that Exodus is seeking to attract is not gay people at all. If your target is actually gay people, this seems either counter-productive or, at best, as waste of time.

I can’t be certain, but it seems at least likely that Exodus is seeking a different type of membership, perhaps anti-gay individuals or organizations, either political or religious. These seem the likely audience reached by this sort of effort.

Third, Randy is claiming that “we” (presumably Exodus) supports self-determination. And yet when Randy was ministy manager for Exodus, in an article in Christianity Today he was quoted as warning that:

Randy Thomas, ministry manager for Exodus International, an Orlando-based ministry helping people leave homosexuality, said Lawrence will shape public policy.

“This ruling gives validity to the gay community,” Thomas said. In addition to potentially redefining the family, it further solidifies their position as a political and social force.”

Lawrence v. Texas was the Supreme Court decision that said that states could not criminalize gay people (i.e. it allowed them self-determination).

It seems very clear that Thomas has a truth deficit.