Ex-Gay Watch

Pentecostal leader Michael Brown continues to throw homosexuality into the mix with an array of exotic sexual fetishes, including pedophilia, zoophilia and coprophilia, sexual arousal from human feces.

In January, we looked at Brown, the latest evangelical leader to join Love Won Out‘s roster of conference speakers. Ex-Gay Watch found Dr Brown’s rhetoric to be aggressively militaristic. Those who read the discussions here and on Warren Throckmorton‘s website will be familiar with his argument that nothing separates homosexuality from any other manner of non-conventional sexual practices.

Last week, Brown appeared on the Concerned Women for America (CWFA) radio program, alongside Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth. The subject was evangelical Wheaton College’s decision to invite left-leaning, pro-gay evangelical Jim Wallis as a speaker. Without a hint of irony, host Matt Barber condemned the decision, saying that Wallis’s views were

… unequivocally unscriptural. That’s why I have a problem. I’m all for academic freedom, but if something is just so on it’s face!

All for academic freedom, except when something is “unequivocally unscriptural.” A strange sort of academic freedom, which appears to amount to “academic freedom except when I disagree.”

Then Michael Brown entered the conversation to reiterate the same arguments he has made here on XGW and elsewhere. His contention amounts to the claim that nothing distinguishes homosexuality morally from any other sexual practice, no matter how bizarre or offensive.

No moral line between homosexuality and pedophilia

Broadening the definition of “orientation” as widely as possible, Brown asks:

Are all sexual orientations gifts from God? Zoophilia, or coprophilia, the sexual stimulation by faeces, or bestiality, I mean things that everyone would be repulsed by, or paedophilia. Are those gifts from God? … How do you distinguish which sexual orientation is a gift from God and which is not?

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Read more…

Beyond Ex-Gay co-founder Peterson Toscano found himself on a broadcast radio show yesterday with a host, another guest and all but one caller holding staunchly anti-gay positions. His responses were responsive and calm in the face of some really vile commentary.

In one particularly egregious statement, the host suggested the real reason those who protested Love Won Out in Memphis did so was because the available population of men with whom to have sex would be reduced if more gay men were “turned straight.”

If you have ever had trouble keeping your cool when asked such things, you really should listen to this clip [mp3]. It’s fairly long and definitely not easy listening, but it’s an excellent example of how to debate such issues, especially in unfriendly situations.

Listen here.

Recently we became aware of Wendy Gritter’s keynote talk (mp3) at the Exodus leadership conference in January. Wendy is the executive director of an Exodus member ministry in Canada called New Direction. While it is what most here would describe as an ex-gay ministry, many things about it are unexpected. For one, you won’t find them using that term, “ex-gay” or many others associated with an Exodus ministry. Whether this is for show, or a sincere attempt to be different, you are free to explore here.

Many of her suggestions echo our own pleas to ex-gay ministries over the years; stop political lobbying, stop emphasizing “change,” genuine respect for those who are comfortable with their sexual orientation (even though this may come from a personal understanding of Scripture which diverges from their own), recognizing and removing the underlying tone which says that ex-ex-gays just didn’t try hard enough, and on and on.

We thought Wendy might just be a breath of fresh Canadian air and asked her to write a guest post to spur on discussion. What might Exodus, or any ex-gay ministry, be like if they were to take these suggestions to heart? What does it mean that an ex-gay ministry which may just “get it” more than any so far, grew out of a country largely unfriendly to the kind of fundamentalism that often surrounds their US counterparts? How close does New Direction come to your idea of what a fair ex-gay ministry should be, if it is to be at all?

Wendy will be available to respond off and on in comments, so don’t spare the hard questions. Her post follows:
–

Thank you for the invitation to write this piece. To be honest, my knees are knocking a bit.

I want to begin by saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the pain that some of those who follow this site have experienced from leaders like me and ministries like the one I lead. I’m sorry that some of you connected with this site who identify as Christian have had your faith questioned and judged. I’m sorry there is a felt need for a site like XGW. I’m sorry that it feels like legitimate concerns have not been listened to. I am sorry for the arrogance that can come across from leaders like me. Read more…

Peterson Toscano reported Wednesday on his arrival in Memphis for Beyond Ex-Gay’s Deconstructing the Ex-Gay Myth — A Weekend of Action & Art, which begins today. Two local media outlets have reported on the event: the Memphis Flyer published an interview with Toscano yesterday, while the Memphis Commercial Appeal featured fellow Love In Action survivor Jacob Wilson.

Focus on the Family, whose Love Won Out roadshow rolls into Memphis on Saturday, will no doubt point to the local press’ greater interest in Beyond Ex-Gay’s event as an example of anti-Christian media bias, yet Focus’ own reporting displays far less objectivity than the comparatively neutral Flyer and Commercial Appeal columns. In a February 20 press release, Focus on the Family refers to Beyond Ex-Gay simply as “local activist groups” with a “revisionist view of the Bible.”

The press release goes on to cite the Jones & Yarhouse study as proof that orientation change is achievable by anyone who wants it, without any acknowledgment of the study’s methodological flaws or the fact that, even taken at face value, the study’s own claims are considerably more modest than the press release’s bold claim that “a traditional reading of the Bible… was proven true” by Jones & Yarhouse.

Given Focus on the Family’s consistently dismal track record when it comes to honest and accurate reporting, it comes as little surprise that Love Won Out is already misrepresenting the Jones & Yarhouse study. Fortunately the general public can now see the fruits of LWO’s prescriptions for themselves through the stories and artwork of ex-gay survivors.

Senior ESPN Writer LZ Granderson recounts his own frightening experience with a mob in New Orleans that started with taunts of “faggot.” Granderson is gay and also often writes about social issues surrounding sports on ESPN Page 2, where this story can be found.

As I walked by the group of men — on my way to the Playboy party, no less — one of them called me a faggot. Then another joined in. They followed me for a while, continuing to hurl names at me. I tried to ignore it but eventually the “Detroit” came out of me and I turned around and said some things I probably shouldn’t have. Next thing I know I’m surrounded and wondering if I’m going to see the dawn and if not for a pair of New Orleans policemen who saw trouble brewing and yelled at the group to break it up, I might not have.

He makes a plea to commissioner Roger Goodell to deal with homophobia in the NFL:

…if he’s serious about cleaning up his league, the topic of homophobia in the NFL needs to be included in that conversation. It doesn’t matter if he or I or any of you believe homosexuality is a choice or not. There’s a little something called respect for human life that should supersede the rules commonly found on the playground.

And something which I think sums his argument up perfectly:

For those of you who are reading this and believe I’m trying to forward some sort of agenda, let me be the first to tell you that you are absolutely correct. I want a country where it isn’t OK to get the snot kicked out of you because you’re different.

It’s nice to see an article like this from what might be considered by some an unexpected source. Perhaps if Granderson’s “agenda” catches on, it won’t be such a surprise to see in the not too distant future.

Read the entire article.

There is a new interview and discussion of the ex-gay issue from both major angles at InterfaithVoices.org.  Peterson Toscano discusses how his life was harmed by the process, after which no change was evident.  Alan Calhoun, group leader from Regeneration Ministries discusses his shame over being gay, and his experience with ex-gay ministry personally.

Dr. Michelle Wolkomir is interviewed over the material in her new book, Do Not Be Deceived: The Sacred and Sexual Struggles of Gay and Ex-gay Christian Men in which she studies an Exodus member ministry. The discussion, which starts approx 23 minutes in (you can easily scan ahead), is interesting if fairly brief.

Source: Winnipeg Sun

The story is a familiar one. A young man is found by family to be sexually attracted to men and coerced through a fear of hell to seek “therapy” to go straight. This is the story that led a young Canadian man to seek out the help of Terrance Lewis, a minister and (former) counselor at Providence College and Seminary.

The man said Lewis started a program of “touch therapy,” which included the two kissing and fondling each other and engaging in sexual roleplaying.

“He said I was to tell no one about it because no one would understand,” the man testified.

During “touch therapy” sessions in Lewis’ car, Lewis asked him to masturbate, the man said. Lewis also admitted to fantasizing about him, the man said.

Many ex-gay therapists have practiced what they call “touch therapy,” including Richard Cohen, who extends this from touching to hugging or even cuddling on the couch. Dr. Chris Austin carried touch too far and was convicted of sexual assault, as was Terrance Lewis in the story above. While certainly not all ex-gay therapists go to this extreme, starting with the premise that sexual orientation should, or even can, be changed has led to unorthodox and at times, illegal “therapy.”

Those who insist that professional, medical organizations must accept these as effective and therapeutic do so because they defend their “world view.” Everyone has the right to see the world as they like, but should an entire science be held responsible for maintaining that view? At what point is it the responsibility of the therapist to acknowledge that even a deeply held belief can lead one to seek help which is not — helpful.

A rather creative video to demonstrate the folly of blaming the fall of the Western World on gay marriage. [brief underwear clip]

I founded the Ex-Gay Watch web site in 2002 to promote new voices in the social dialogue regarding so-called ex-gays.

After two years of writing 20 hours per week (or more) about ex-gay political activists, I began to run out of energy and time.

XGW could have ended right there, but two excellent writer/researchers — Daniel Gonzales and Timothy Kincaid — stepped in, rescued Ex-Gay Watch, and took the project to the next level. At a time before “Make it work!” became a popular catchphrase, that’s what Daniel and Timothy did — spectacularly.

XGW further evolved with the issues and changing times in 2007 when David Roberts took over as editor and recruited additional writers who were diverse in perspective and geography.

With the web site in capable hands, I’m ready to move on and pursue a more activist approach against efforts by ex-gay political activists to undermine equality, freedom of speech, religious freedom, and sexual honesty.

The specifics of that different approach will be announced in the near future. Meantime, Ex-Gay Watch has exciting plans of its own.

Best wishes to the writers and commenters of Ex-Gay Watch. As a certain hero of mine would say: “Carry on!”

When I ordered God, Gays and the Church, I was – perhaps quite naively – not prepared for the egregious level of homophobia contained in its pages.

Released yesterday to coincide with the gay debate at the Church of England Synod, the book is a compendium of essays about homosexuality and ex-gays, here re-termed “post-gays”. It is published by The Latimer Trust, and edited by Lisa Nolland, Chris Sugden and Sarah Finch of the UK-based Anglican Mainstream.

The book argues that the debate has been too heavily slanted towards gay experience, and promises to redress the balance by telling the stories of ex-gays. In fact, ex-gay testimonies make up just one small part of the book.

I didn’t have a major problem with the contributions of Peter Ould or James Parker. Both describe themselves as post-gay, and both tell their own stories. However, the rest of the book is a sadly familiar concoction of anti-gay myths propped up by long-since debunked theories. Read more…