Ex-Gay Watch

• Despite Exodus’s supposed retreat from politics, Randy Thomas speaks out on the Exodus website against gay marriage (specifically, the recent California gay marriage victory) and legislation that protects the LGBT community from hate crimes. He also speaks on behalf of Exodus’s political beliefs in an article in AdvanceUSA, a conservative Christian political blog.

• A new field poll suggests that most Californians support the recent gay marriage decision.
• A coalition will be held to counter Love Won Out in Orlando on Wednesday June 4, at 11 am. The guest list includes Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out. On Saturday at 7:30 AM there will be a PFLAG-led vigil in front of the Love Won Out conference at the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando.
• Wayne Besen: Dr. Warren Throckmorton’s career is “over,” and his partial-retraction of the “I Do Exist” video was the nail in its coffin. “in tatters.”
• A lesbian blogger critiques the testimony of “ex-lesbian” Christine Sneeringer. Point-by-point commentary is interjected into the text of the testimonial.
• Blogger Joe Moderate shares why he left the ex-gay movement.
• An article in the Presbyterian publication The Laymen declares that the only viable options for gays are to commit suicide or enter into ex-gay therapy to “change.” Alan Chambers echoes this sentiment by implying that death or change are the only two options available for gays.
• Catholics are now opening ex-gay centers in Poland.
• Dakota Voice’s Bob Ellis says he has the “real story” (in 7 parts, no less) on the movie For The Bible Tells Me So.

The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, the Anglican Church’s first openly gay bishop, will visit the UK for a 10-yearly global Anglican gathering this summer, despite having been officially uninvited.

The Lambeth Conference takes place in England in July and August, and will bring together hundreds of Anglican bishops from across the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made it clear that Bishop Robinson was not welcome on the grounds that those who cause “exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion” can have their invitations withdrawn.

Robinson’s consecration as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 precipitated a worldwide division that still threatens to split the Anglican Communion permanently.

He will use his UK visit to promote his memoir, In the Eye of the Storm, and will attend the UK premiere of For the Bible Tells Me So, a US-made documentary about homosexuality, the Church and the Bible, in which he also features. Afterwards, he and gay Lord of the Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen will take part in a public discussion about gays and religion.

The Bishop marries his partner of 20 years, Mark, next month. “I always wanted to be a June bride,” he once told an audience, confessing that “as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew there’d be trouble.”

H/T: Dave Walker at Church Times.

Recently the American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced their new panel for the revision of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Named as chairperson of the work group for “Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders (GID)” is Dr. Kenneth Zucker, known for his reparative therapy work on transgender children with Dr. Susan Bradley.  Additionally we have Ray Blanchard, who famously renamed “transvestism” to “transvestic fetishism,” a term that is based on sexual fantasies in the DSM-IV (1994).  There are other changes made by both Blanchard and Zucker. Mr. Blanchard is also the creator of the term “autogynephilia.” For the sake of brevity, I will concentrate on Dr. Zucker’s ideologies and the potential negative influence on DSM-V.

Dr. Zucker explains for NARTH How Should Clinicians Deal With GID In Children.

Dr. Zucker admits that there are complex social and ethical issues surrounding the politics of sex and gender in postmodern Western culture. He note that the “most acute ethical issue may concern the relation between GID and a later homosexual sexual orientation. Follow-up studies of boys who have GID that largely is untreated, indicated that homosexuality is the most common long-term psychosexual outcome.”Dr. Zucker says that clinicians have an ethical obligation to inform parents of the relationship between GID and homosexuality. Clinical experience suggests that psychosexual treatments are effective in reducing gender dysphoria and that individual counseling and parental counseling are both effective methods of treating GID.

Mentioned in NARTH’s “Gender Identity Disorders In Childhood And Adolescence: A Critical Inquiry And Review Of The Kenneth Zucker Research by the NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee (March 2007).”

Developmental Course and Outcome: Regarding psychosexual differentiation [the persistence and desistance of GID], three outcomes have been identified: (1) persistence of GID with a co-occurring homosexual sexual orientation; (2) desistance of GID, with a co-occurring homosexual sexual orientation; and (3) desistance of GID, with a co-occurring homosexual sexual orientation. Outcome (2) has been the most common among boys- with girls not well studied. From a developmental perspective this suggests that gender identity, at least among children with GID, is malleable and likely influenced by psychosocial experiences, such as therapeutic interventions.He points out that it is legitimate for parents to establish limits for their children on cross-gender behaviors. If not, the behavior is, in effect, being reinforced.

Children and adolescents who are resistant to psychosexual treatment may be candidates for early hormonal treatment but only after all other options have been exhausted. The clinician may consider two options: management of the condition until the child is 18 and can be referred to an adult clinic or the early institution of sex hormones.

Dr. Zucker has long insisted that GID is nothing but a child’s cross-dressing play created by psychological fantasies that need to be eradicated by removal of Barbie dolls (as explained by J. Michael Bailey).  This assertion punishes gender-variant children who may be diagnosed by gender specialists as valid GID cases, and causes them to be misunderstood by parents and friends.  This is made worse when Dr. Zucker constantly addresses GID children by the wrong pronouns and reinforces the weight of society’s expectations concerning maleness and femaleness in their lives. Lynn Conway explains the modus operandi of Dr. Zucker with his close colleague and often key defender of his theories, Mr. Bailey. Read more…

A clever message that makes a good point.

I just finished listening to an interview between Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out and Mike Ensley of Exodus International.  They were on the Alan Colmes radio show, and Michael Bussee also called in briefly during the open phones.  I almost felt sorry for Mike, he really seemed unprepared for a serious interview.  Wayne, on the other hand, should probably seek more radio and TV work, he excels in that type of exchange.

I only heard the last two-thirds, but that was enough.  I don’t think I realized how acclimated I have become to the twisted byproducts of indoctrination that often come out of the ex-gay movement, not until I listened to the tortured answers Mike gave to the simplest questions.  When Colmes would strain to get a simple reply, Mike would prattle on undeterred or complain that it was a complicated issue.  Obfuscation is always more complicated than an open, direct approach.  The problem for Mike is that, so far, he seems only to have sipped the Exodus Koolaid.  Perhaps even he doesn’t believe some of what is coming from his mouth.

As Wayne noted, Mike (and most Exodus/ex-gay representatives) are vague in their message to the public.  They have learned the general absurdity of asking people to accept the ever elusive “change,” (the definition of which has been beaten into the ground), so they have come up with creative slogans suggesting, for instance, “freedom” from homosexuality.  Those of us who deal with ex-gay issues frequently know what this means (change by any other name…), yet when asked to explain (as Mike was tonight), the response is “freedom from the influence of same-sex desires.” Again, if not orientation change, what on earth does that mean?  Celibacy?  Asexuality?

An honest approach might be to tell people that, if they believe homosexual sex is wrong, they can be celibate.  Or if you are bisexual, you might also be able to emphasize your heterosexual attractions.  But as long as they continue to hawk change, as long as they do not accept a gay-affirming outlook as an equally acceptable outcome for the people they deal with, and as long as they continue to work against the rights of other GLBTs to live equally, Exodus will be a bad thing.  That they are not open and honest about what they are doing just shows that they know we know.

In the mean time, I suspect Mike will be absent from live interviews for a while.

Addendum: In this audio clip, Mike responds to a simple question (Are you gay?) with various canned phrases and concepts which make up part of the Exodus newspeak lexicon.  You can hear Colmes struggle as he plows through the muddled bits to get a “straight” answer.  It’s no wonder Mike and his brethren feel so misunderstood – they don’t make any sense.

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Mike Ensley’s article in the latest issue of Charisma Magazine illustrates everything that is wrong with Exodus and the ex-gay movement. In What to Do When Your Child Is Gay, Exodus’s “Youth Analyst” warns parents against trying to control their teenage children – and yet achieves a more subtle manipulation through misinformation.

Unfortunately, while aiming to help parents deal with their child’s homosexuality, labelling it a “problem” is the problem in itself. By making sexual orientation (“same-sex attraction,” in his terminology) into an issue to be rectified, Ensley and those who share his ideology are the problem, and consistently defining homosexuality as a “struggle,” rather than a simple reality, is what makes it a struggle.

“Realize homosexuality can afflict any family,” are the first of Ensley’s words of advice to parents of SSA children, thereby tagging gay orientation with yet another negative label, “affliction.” He continues: “You need [support and resources] because you’re suffering, and your wounds matter simply because you matter.” Such words have a veneer of compassion, but ultimately they legitimize the characterization of homosexuality as an affliction, without ever questioning why it should be so, or whether those negative perceptions are the crux of the problem itself. Read more…

• BTB covers the California same-sex marriage decision, anti-gay groups decry ruling

• Gambian president Yahya Jammeh threatens to behead homosexuals in effort to make Gambia “one of the best countries to live in”

• John Corvino opens a dialogue with Focus on the Family

• Wayne Besen will debate Mike Ensley of Exodus tonight

Peterson Toscano announced yesterday that Beyond Ex-Gay will participate in a conference in Barcelona, Spain on May 30.  Organized in response to recent efforts by the ex-gay movement to make inroads into Spanish-speaking countries, the one-day conference will examine various methods of reparative therapy and the potential harm that they can cause.

Speakers will include Toscano, local gay leader Jordi Petit, psychologist Noemi Dominguez and local ex-gay survivors.

Additional coverage: Beyond Ex-Gay, Box Turtle Bulletin

Recently I wrote a post announcing the launch of HOD, the Israeli website for gay religious Jews. This website was started especially to counter Atzat-Nefesh, the website operated by straight people who say gays can change their sexual orientation. One of the primary goals of HOD is to put a human face on LGBTQ persons. They do so by meeting with their opposition, including staunchly conservative rabbis. Recently they sent out a letter to Jewish clergy, and Rabbi Ratzon Arussi responded by calling for the rehabilitation of “the sin of our time:”

“I have read your letter with much consideration because it is touching and insightful,” Arussi wrote in his response to Rabbi R., who wrote the letter on behalf of homosexuals. “The religious community requires the correct tools in order to deal with homosexuality, and especially one exhibited openly. Those who can live normally with a female should not develop these unnatural instincts in themselves,”

Rabbi Arussi composes this statement under the false impression that same-sex attractions are a casual choice that are caused by “unnatural development.” He continues by attempting to flaunt Judaism’s “superior” situation for gays when compared to Christianity:

Our holy Torah is a way of life and, in contrast to the Christian faith, does not sentence us to celibacy, but rather, encourages and even commands us to be sexual. However this is meant to make us holy, to purify our souls before the passionate intoxication of sexual lust, and therefore sexuality has been placed within the context of procreation, which builds the world,”

…except that, for a homosexual, developing a sexual relationship with a person of the opposite sex can be (at best) uncomfortable and (at worst) a miserable experience. I believe that the Torah was given to Jews to find complete joy and know G-d, not misery. And since we Jews realize how important sexual experiences can be to one’s overall life experience and their experience of G-d, we should realize that not every kind of sexual experience can bring one closer to the Divine. Secondly, Christianity does not “sentence one to celibacy,” but in fact highly encourages marriage, child-bearing, and fidelity to one’s partner.

“We need to know how to deal with homosexuality, which is the sin of our time, and woe to us for having come to this. We need to know how to deal with those sons of Israel born as homosexuals, in order to ease their pain, and to show them that there are other ways to find true happiness.” [emphasis mine]

It seems the rabbi changes his perspective here, declaring that gays are born the way they are, rather than develop unnatural tendencies despite their ability to “live normally with a female.” And if the rabbi wishes to ease the pain of the gay sons of Israel, it would do him some good to learn about the true cause of the suffering of homosexuals – bigotry and misunderstanding.

Rabbi Arussi does not make any mention of female homosexuals, but instead focuses on the males, something that is very typical among those who oppose gay equality. While Jewish law does not expressly forbid female homosexual relations, lesbians are no more accepted in Orthodox society than gay men. Yet not even lip service is paid to the homosexual daughters of Israel.

Strides have been made in the positive, however – Tel Aviv, arguably the most progressive city in Israel, has decided to establish a monument honoring homosexual victims of the Holocaust.

The monument is to be the first in Israel to commemorate these victims, though four of its kind exist worldwide, in Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Amsterdam. It has been designed as an iron triangle, on which the victims’ names are to be inscribed.

Homosexual men and women were persecuted by the Nazi Party because they were believed to be “deviants.” Men were forced to wear a pink triangle, while women wore black patches (reserved for those whose behavior was deemed “asocial”). Most of the thousands of people arrested with the charge of homosexuality were men. However, while lesbian activity was not explicitly persecuted, homosexual women were considered no less deviant in the eyes of the Nazis and suffered their fate in the concentration camps. It’s my wish that even the rabbis who consider homosexuality to be a deviant behavior visit the monument in Tel Aviv to honor those souls.

Ex-gay ministries depend on certain adversarial elements to inspire the commitment of their members. Although the majority will agree their members did not have a choice in their homosexual feelings, ex-gay ministries emphasize choice as the key factor in the re-orientation of these feelings. Biblical emphasis on purity, chastity, and self-sacrifice give the ex-gay person a sense of process. By making consistently “biblical” choices in the expression of their sexuality, the ex-gay person can experience a level of “freedom from homosexuality” albeit paid for in their own blood, sweat and tears.

My opinions are not founded on scholarly research; rather they come from my own personal foray into (and out of) the ex-gay movement. I have lived on both sides of the controversy. Not so long ago, I could not imagine making statements such as these. Perhaps the most controversial statement I can make regarding my change of heart is that it was borne out of an earnest exploration and thoughtful examination into the seeds of my own Christian faith. I started out with a very rigid picture of God. I knew the fear but not the love of God. My experiences in ex-gay ministry served only to affirm this narrow view of faith.

Set against a biblical contrast of right versus wrong, ex-gay ministries often draw a direct link between the quality of a person’s faith and their commitment to make a choice in the “straight” direction. This value system often results in the ex-gay person being caught by a cycle of perpetual self-evaluation. Compelled to dissect every thought, every word, and every deed into these black or white categories, the life of an ex-gay can become all about choosing sides. With homosexuality as the target, the goal then becomes to eradicate all thoughts and behaviors associated with “wrong” sexual attraction. This becomes the “calling” of the ex-gay person who finds their purpose in the process of self re-orientation. I believe this mode of thinking establishes a clear and distinct association between the effectiveness of God in a person’s life and that person’s ability to commit to ex-gay change. Read more…