Ex-Gay Watch

Some stories need to be told. One such story is the short life of Anthony Castro. As first reported by Outsports, Castro’s courage and determination was tragically cut short by an auto accident on January 21. Yet his impact on his community and the perceptions others may have will live on.

From an ESPN article:

A four-year starter for the Banning High Broncos when the team’s starting quarterback was ruled academically ineligible, Anthony, a 6-foot, 210-pound fullback, volunteered to take his place. He had never played the position before, but that didn’t stop the Broncos’ captain from making all-conference.

Anthony was also captain of the swim team, a member of the wrestling squad and part of the yearbook staff. Despite his being the big man on campus, freshmen felt comfortable enough around him to ask for help if they were being bullied by other upperclassmen. Teachers loved him, and the girls adored him. In six years, there had been only one graduation party principal Jim Broncatello stayed at until the end. It was Anthony’s.

This may not appear special until you know that Anthony was openly gay in a conservative school in a redneck town whose mother kicked him out when she found out he was gay. Anthony rose above his challenges and gained the respect of those who knew him.

We salute him.

(photo courtesy www.outsports.com)

Remember Tyler Chase Harper and anti-gay T-Shirts? Harper is the blond teen ADF model/activist-in-training who sued the Poway School District because they wouldn’t let him wear an anti-gay T-shirt to school two days in a row. We’ve told you about him and his crusade before.

Harper has now graduated and has passed his “shameful” torch to his sister, Kelsie who – one supposes – also wants to wear a shirt condemning her fellow students.

Well, this time was no different than the last. The judge, again, said that giving students the ability to attend class without condemnation is within the rights of a school. And so poor Kelsie will also be disallowed from being able to amend the Day of Silence’s message of “We support all students” to include “except for the homos”.

Of course it isn’t over. Because with each legal appeal comes a press release. And a chance for the ADF to make a financial appeal to protect our good Christian students from the homossseeeexxxxual agenda.

Rev. Kent Philpott was a key player in the birth of the ex-gay movement.

In the mid 70′s, there was a growing movement to recognize the civil rights of gay men and women. There were challenges to sodomy laws, pride celebrations, and open politicians. Even the way in which gay persons were percieved changed; “Gay” came to be an adjective of what someone was rather than the older term “a homosexual” which suggested what someone did.

It was in this time and place of transition, around 1973 in the San Francisco bay area, that a preacher, Philpott, first decided to bring together gay people who had conflict with their religious upbringing into a support group for overcoming their shared “affliction”. The outgrowth of this meeting became Love In Action which was probably the first ex-gay ministry. (Later LIA joined with EXIT, Outpost, EAGLE, Metanoia and other new ex-gay groups springing up around the country in what eventually became Exodus.)

In 1975, Philpott took the stories of participants in his group and published The Third Sex?: Six Homosexuals Tell Their Stories, the first ex-gay testimonials. As with many such testimonials, ultimately none of the six had actually become heterosexuals. However, the readers across the nation did not know that and this book caught the attention of Christians seeking a solution to the “homosexual problem”.

One of Philpott’s ex-gays – known in the book as “Ted” – was John Evans. John later wrote an article describing his early involvement and ultimate disillusion.

On May 5, 1979, I, along with the three women in the book, sent a notarized letter to Logos International, the publisher of The Third Sex? The letter informs them that the claims in the book were 100% false. We demanded that he stop publishing the book immediately.

As is the usual response to former ex-gays, their objections were ignored and the book continued to be printed and distributed.

As time went by, Philpott played a lesser role in LIA and gradually disappeared from any form of leadership in the ex-gay movement.

Now, however, we find that he is ready to return – at least in some limited capacity. According to the Marin Independent Journal, Philpott’s church, Miller Avenue Baptist Church in Mill Valley, CA, is starting a Homosexuals Anonymous program.

It is interesting that Philpott’s church is selecting HA rather than an Exodus affiliation, but I hesitate to read too much into that choice.

In an article in Crosswalk magazine, Dr. Warren Throckmorton has further demonstrated his shift in focus away from reorientation efforts and towards a values determination for those who find a conflict between their sexual orientation and their religious convictions.

In this article, Throckmorton discusses a friend, Jim, who was unable to achieve a shifting in his base attractions away from men generally and towards women generally. Jim did not find the advice of ex-gay ministries to be useful and his observations suggested that their insistence on set models of psychological causes were not supported by reality. What Jim stated that he did find useful was an evaluation of his values and the crafting of a life which was consistent with those values:

I began working with a counselor had lots of experience in helping people change behavior. He correctly pointed out that it’s not about “being cured” from homosexual attractions, but rather, it is about how I live. That major paradigm shift has been so helpful, I cannot begin to fully describe it. As we have explored issues, things have gotten better, but I still have very difficult moments. Does that mean God is unable to fix me? Hardly. What it means is that this life is difficult, and my difficulty is just different from, not worse than, the “average” next guy. That’s just the way it is.

Dr. Throckmorton closes with some observations that it may well benefit the ex-gay community to consider:

Truth is, the research does not allow for certainty about why sexual attractions occur. Despite the media hype over research relating pre-natal factors to later sexual orientation, there are many contradictory findings. Research pointing to family factors offers a piece of the puzzle but does not apply universally to those are homosexually attracted. Because homosexual attractions may mean different things for different people, counselors should be extremely cautious with promises of change. Likewise, counselors uniformly inclined to promote gay acceptance should understand that devout people cannot switch their religious beliefs on and off any more than people can consciously change their sexuality.

Many same-sex attracted persons are raised in a faith that declares that such attractions are an abomination and forbidden by God. Others are raised to believe that while having attractions cannot be faulted, any same-sex behavior – or even accepting the attractions as natural – is a sin. Both of these attitudes may be, depending on geographical or cultural ideologies, reinforced by society’s collective stigma. Consequently many young people have religious or moral convictions that are incongruent with the attractions that they find in themself.

I can see four possible responses that a person raised with conservative Christian theology can have to unwanted same-sex attractions (other than outright rejection of their faith), though there may be more:

1. Recognition of one’s attractions and a reevaluation of religious assumptions resulting in the conclusion that same-sex relationships can be permissible or blessed by God within certain parameters. (Side A gay Christians)

2. Recognition of one’s attractions and conclusion that same-sex sexual activity is not permissible, resulting in a life of chosen celibacy. (Side B gay Christians)

3. Neither accepting nor rejecting an identity consistent with one’s attraction but instead seeking to live a life consistent with one’s values, regardless of one’s attractions. (this appears to me to be Throckmorton’s new approach)

4. Building an identity based on the rejection of one’s attractions, focusing efforts on a shift in attractions, and declaring that options 1 and 2 above are “a sinful lifestyle”. (the Exodus approach)

Of the above, I believe that approach 4 is the least likely to result in a successful and happy life.

If you’re seeing this post over the weekend you must be a serious XGW reader. As a serious reader you should definitely subscribe to our new Youtube channel which has been made possible in part by the site which recently upgraded us to a “Director Account.” The URL of our channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/exgaywatch

By subscribing to the channel Youtube lets you know whenever we post something new. Expect something big just in time for Love Won Out Phoenix.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has a syndicated daily radio show with 8.5 million daily listeners. She doles out advice on marriages, family and other personal relationships from a conservative perspective. She unabashedly confronts her callers with what she perceives to be their irresponsible decisions and advises personal responsibility.

I’ve listened to Dr. Laura, on and off, for over a decade. While for many years Dr. Laura simply dispensed advice, in the late 90′s and early part of this century she began to become quite political, encouraging her listeners to write letters and make phone calls on legislation that she favored or opposed. Some of this legislation had an impact on the lives of gay people.

In 2000, a television show was developed around Dr. Laura and her advice. Certain gay activists, including GLAAD and a dedicated website, went on the offensive to ensure that Dr. Laura’s empire did not successfully branch into television. Protests were staged and revenues targeted using the tactic of showing potential advertisers selected abstracts from Dr. Laura’s radio show in which she made disparaging remarks about gay people.

Whether because of the activism, because of abysmal ratings, or because of accusations made regarding planted audience participants and fake guests, Dr. Laura’s television show was quickly removed from the air.

In 2005 2000 Dr. Laura has also ventured into the ex-gay conversation by writing the foreword to Richard Cohen’s book Coming Out Straight : Understanding and Healing Homosexuality. (I don’t know if the current version contains a foreword by Dr. Laura, the cover does not feature her name as did the earlier version)

After her TV show tanked, Dr. Laura seemed to drop the politics and focus instead on interpersonal relationships of her callers. Somewhere along that time her language also began to be less abrasive and while it seemed that she held a great deal of bitterness towards the gay community, she demonstrated less vitriol when addressing actual gay callers.

Later that year she In 2005 Dr. Laura spoke to a Los Angeles meeting of Log Cabin Republicans. She stated that this was the first time any gay group had ever invited her to speak. And while her position on parenting seems to remain hostile, this olive branch may perhaps have softened some of her perspective.

Now, in an interview with Radar, Dr. Laura has more to say on the subject of homosexuality and ex-gay efforts.
Read more…

On Jan. 16, the national ex-gay umbrella network Exodus International declared its opposition to the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal hate-crime laws.

Exodus President Alan Chambers cited the Philadelphia-based antigay protest group Repent America as an example of Christians whose First Amendment rights were allegedly violated in 2004 by government officials and gay activists who were supposedly armed with local hate-crime laws.

Focus on the Family launched an almost identical campaign the same day, quoting Chambers and its own pundits as the sole sources of information about hate-crime laws.

Ex-gay activist Stephen Bennett couldn’t resist joining the campaign — boasting on Jan. 17 that he was coordinating a secret White House effort. According to AmericaBlog via Pam Spaulding, Bennett told the following to his mailing list:

“I cannot give any more of the details as of this time, but SBM is coordinating a private meeting with President Bush and other FORMER homosexual men and women, along with their families to VETO this bill, should it come to that point. A very well know Senator who believes in our efforts is working directly with SBM to secure this meeting. Lord willing, this meeting will be taking place VERY soon and we need you to PRAY.”

But just days later, on Jan. 19, a federal court ruled against Repent America for violating the First Amendment rights of others. As it turned out, the ex-gay campaign against gay/straight participation in hate-crime laws was built upon the shifting sands of arrogance, politics, and self-pity, not a solid foundation of fact regarding federal hate-crime legislation.  Read more…

While recently investigating two articles about or by PFOX, Ex-Gay Watch sought to determine if Richard Cohen remained president of the organization. Cohen is most well known for touch or “holding” therapy as well as having patients emotionally strike pillows with a tennis raquet. After demonstrating these techniques in a string of circus-like mainstream (and not so mainstream) media appearances, Cohen’s name disappeared from PFOX’s website rather unceremoniously.

Ex-Gay Watch emailed Regina Griggs, PFOX’s executive director nearly two weeks ago and more recently Warren Throckmorton seeking an explanation. Throckmorton responded: (printed here with permission)

I decided to stop working with PFOX for one main reason: Richard Cohen’s media appearances (CNN, Jimmie Kimmel and Howard Stern). I like Regina and others with PFOX so I did not make the decision easily. He is not now on the board which I suspect is a delayed fall out of his decisions to demonstrate his techniques publicly. Nothing has changed as far as my relationship with them however.

_{Mugshot above is of Cohen with one of several Howard Stern Show staffers using indecent exposure to mock same-gender attraction. Photo from The Howard Stern Show rundown, September 15, 2005 (NSFW).}

Chad Allen (Dr Quinn, End of the Spear), Robert Gant (Queer as Folk), and Judith Light (Who’s the Boss, Ugly Betty) star in Save Me, an indie film about a young man in an ex-gay ministry. The film premiered yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival and early reporting suggests a well-crafted and nuanced film that sensitively looks at the lives of those who participate in ex-gay ministries.

Unofficially Sundance gives the plot premise

Years in the making, Robert Cary’s exquisite third feature, Save Me, is a film about redemption. Mark (Chad Allen), a lost, young, gay man, leads a wild life of drugs and meaningless sex, searching desperately to fill the emptiness in his soul. When Mark finally hits bottom, his brother checks him into Genesis House, a 12-step, Christian, “ex-gay” ministry specializing in healing sexual brokenness.

USA Today (via AZ-Central) says

Judith Light in “Save Me as Gayle,” a brokenhearted mother who runs a ministry to “cure” gay men. Light’s character is humanized, not demonized. “Save Me” is just as likely to challenge the perceptions of liberals as conservatives. “Just because people are misguided in some way doesn’t mean that they’re bad or evil,” says Light, best known for TV roles in “Who’s the Boss?” and “Ugly Betty.”

And Christianity Today reports

One of the things that struck me about this film was how the filmmakers (some who are themselves gay as we learned during the question and answer time following the screening) portrayed the motives and stories of the conservative Christians who lead the ex-gay ministry with tenderness and grace. Is it possible that many in the gay community are more gracious in their understanding of Evangelical Christians than we are towards them?

I look forward to the opportunity to view this film and share with you my own observations.

Dr. Dea reports her four or five child-patients, all under the age of 15 living as the opposite sex, as being ‘much happier’ and having better grades. She also stated she was ‘waiting for the study that says supporting these children is negative.’ I’m waiting on the research that says supporting such behavior is positive on a long-term basis. The problem I see with this approach is that there are professionals engaging in this type of psychotherapy without valid, empirical research to support it. Would you take a pill that has not been through the rigorous testing of not only the developer, but also the FDA? Even then, such treatment can be questionable.

–National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuals (NARTH) professional David C. Maynard, MA, LPCA

The quote above is from the NARTH article Pediatricians Urge Normalizing ‘Gender Variant’ Children. It’s an particularly interesting comment on empirical research and rigorous testing coming from someone affiliated with NARTH — considering the lack of rigorous testing and empirical research to determine the need for and effectiveness of the reparative psychotherapy NARTH advances. The former president of NARTH apparently didn’t feel the need to engage in empirical research or rigorous testing of reparative therapy. The HRC, in its document It’s not about hope, it’s about anti-gay politics, states the following regarding Joseph Nicolosi and NARTH:

The questionable “success rate” of reparative therapy was underscored in a Newsweek article when the head of NARTH, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, was asked why he has done no research or follow-up study on his patients. “I don’t have time,” he glibly responded. The fact is, NARTH doesn’t keep statistics because they know they would have been put out of business decades ago. (Newsweek, August 17, 1998)

The American Psychological Association has stated it’s opinion about reparative therapy. In Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel, the organization states:

The term “reparative therapy” refers to psychotherapy aimed at eliminating homosexual desires and is used by people who do not think homosexuality is one variation within human sexual orientation, but rather still believe homosexuality is a mental disorder. The most important fact about “reparative therapy,” also sometimes known as “conversion” therapy, is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a “cure.”

Given David C. Maynard’s statement on the importance of empirical research, should we now expect NARTH to counter the opinions or 477,000 health and mental health professionals with the empirical research and rigorous testing of the need for and effectiveness of reparative therapy? I won’t be holding my breath. NARTH to this point hasn’t done such research, and there’s no reason to expect such research will be forthcoming any time soon.

What we’re then left with is well articulated hypocrisy from NARTH professional David C. Maynard — Yes Mr. Maynard, empirical research and rigorous testing is important. Perhaps as a NARTH professional you might wish to stress to the new NARTH leadership how important it is to validate the need for and the effectiveness of the reparative psychotherapy that your own organization advances.