Ex-Gay Watch

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) sent out a mailing today titled “NAACP Rocks,” referencing a 2006 letter of appreciation from the organization to PFOX.  According to the attached copy, PFOX held an exhibit at the NAACP annual convention that year.  It is not yet known if they participated in 2007 or if they will be there this year, but the email suggests they plan on participating in 2009.

The PFOX exhibit displayed useful information on unwanted same-sex attractions and tolerance for the ex-gay community. We distributed many brochures, flyers, stickers, and buttons. The attendees were enthusiastic about our booth and our ex-gay volunteers staffing the booth were well received. Many people remarked at how glad they were to see us and took extra handouts to distribute at their church back home. Gay groups like the Human Rights Campaign have exhibited at the NAACP for many years, but PFOX was the first and only ex-gay booth there.

We would like to exhibit there next year. Please make a love offering at http://www.pfox.org/donate.htm or send a gift to the address below so we can pay the exhibit booth fee.

Thanks and see you at the NAACP convention next year!

Here are examples of the brochures PFOX might have circulated.

According to the NAACP contract for exhibit space (as of this year), PFOX could secure a presence for as little as $500. The rules to exhibit seem pretty lax, though one would hope that groups which seek to curtail the rights of others would be antithetical to the goals of the NAACP. Ironically, PFOX considers themselves a civil rights group, protecting the rights of ex-gays, and referring to them as a separate and distinct orientation. This enables them to use verbiage lifted from organizations working for GLBT rights, the very rights that PFOX seeks to negate.  That bit of sad logic is an apt testament to the anger and bitterness so common to PFOX.

It is not known why there was a two year delay before this was announced.  XGW has no record of the information being public before now, and we haven’t yet received a reply to our query from the NAACP.  The letter has a boiler-plate structure to it and could be the standard sent out to all participants.

It is a pleasure for me to express appreciation to you for having been an exhibitor during our 97′ Annual Convention Commerce and Industry Show in Washington, D.C., July 15 – 18, 2006.

It is a pleasure for me to express appreciation to you for having been an exhibitor during our 97′ Annual Convention Commerce and Industry Show in Washington, D.C., July 15 – 18, 2006. We value your support and participation as the NAACP works to assure full rights and equal opportunities for all of our citizens. Cooperatively addressing shared concerns contributed significantly to the effective implementation of our vital
programs.

The success of our 97′ Annual Convention was due in large measure to the support provided by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays + Gays. We were gratified by the enthusiasm and avid participation of our delegates, members and friends from across the nation who expressed many favorable comments about our convention. The additional audiences we reached through our web cast are also aware of your involvement as a contributor to our historic 97thAnnual Convention.

One still must wonder if an organization with antisemitic or racist overtones would be approved to exhibit, much less receive a letter of thanks for doing so. Perhaps they were confused by the “and Gays” that PFOX tacked onto their name some years ago. It has been suggested that this was done at the advice of civil rights attorney and longtime PFOX Vice President Estella Salvatierra to enable greater access to groups which would not wish to be part of anti-gay efforts, but who might see “Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays” as more neutral. But again, a simple Google search (or even a scan of their website) would reveal the more accurate and odious nature of PFOX, so this is indeed puzzling, even disappointing news.

The letter is signed by Bruce S. Gordon, President and CEO.  Gordon resigned in March 2007 after expressing frustration with the job.

The NAACP says they welcome comments. If you reach them, please be civil and share any responses below. They may honestly be unaware of the nature of PFOX and their goals.

No word yet on whether PFOX representatives managed to generate any “attacks” during this event.

—

NAACP National Headquarters

Mailing Address: 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore MD 21215
Toll Free: (877) NAACP-98
Local: (410) 580-5777

• LGBT activists working with Soulforce open a dialogue with Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Maryland.
• Timothy Kincaid continues to methodically and intelligently disassemble “pro-gay marriage defender” David Benkof, who despite claiming to have ties to the gay press, has been dropped by the last gay publication to feature him. Kincaid also picks apart Benkof’s latest article, which attempts to prove that monogamy is not a gay family value. In the mean time, Benkof finds an ally in being cited on Peter LaBarbera’s website.
• Jason Kuznicki ponders the ramifications that a cure for homosexuality would present.
• The Orange County Register endorses marriage equality.
• Truth Wins Out will join the Coalition for Equality in Asheville, North Carolina to counter an Exodus conference to be held there July 15-20. A schedule of events can be seen here.
• According to RWW, Janet Folger is set on becoming a martyr. Convinced that Colorado’s anti-discrimination Bill (SB 200) – which prevents discrimination against LGBTQ persons in public accommodations – will make it illegal to distribute her anti-gay book “The Criminalization of Christianity,” she intends to fly out to Denver to “break the law.” She then poses the possibility that she will be writing her next column “from a jail cell.”
• Disgraced former pastor Ted Haggard returns to Colorado Springs.
• Peter LaBarbera is very concerned about a Congressional hearing concerning Transgender discrimination in the workplace, because he says it will force businesses to advocate “gender confusion.” But for LaBarbera, this cloud has a silver lining: “when most people see ‘big bulky men in dresses’ they immediately ‘recoil.’”

Readers may remember the incident from last October when Exodus member and therapist James Phelan “one-two drop kicked the hell out of” a fellow marathon runner.  The other runner had objected to Phelan yelling about how he thought those cheering along the sidelines with pride flags were “pushing the gay agenda.”  An alleged shove led to the drop kick response by Phelan.  We were never able to get any third-party verification of the incident, but Phelan not only admitted to his actions, but bragged about them in a post on his blog.

XGW posted about this to call attention, not just to what we saw as an overly violent reaction, but to Phelan’s apparent glee in the telling of it.  This did not seem proper for a professional therapist, particularly one who claimed a desire to “help” gay clients.  Exodus President Alan Chambers responded in similar fashion, and shortly thereafter Phelan was removed from the Exodus referral list.  Phelan was also allowed to resign from the anti-gay Transforming Congregations ministry over the same issue. He remains a member of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) without interruption, and is certified by Richard Cohen’s International Healing Foundation (IHF) as a “sexual re-orientation coach.”

We have since learned that Chambers has invited Phelan back as a member of Exodus, presumably to once again receive referrals from the organization.  Phelan explained in an email response to our query:

I was “suspended” by Alan Chambers because he did not like my comments in my blog back in Oct. These are when I posted about the marathon and he and Randy wrote in. My responses were, in his opinion, mean-spirited. As a result, later on, I did talk with them and agreed that I had said some mean things and apologized. At the same time, they (Randy, Alan, and Melissa Ingram- board chief) felt my blog was not in line with Exodus values. As a result, they asked me to wait some time before they would reinstate me to the member network. Through this time they did some monitoring and we did some telephone diaglouging. After the Exodus Leadership conference they spoke with me and said as of March 08 I was invited back to the network.

Phelan says he has not yet taken them up on their offer.  It appears that Exodus executives, while distancing themselves from Phelan when his behavior was in the forefront, now have reason to want him back.  For what it is worth, we suggest that Phelan pass up this invitation to return, and perhaps realize from recent events just how superficial and self-serving these entities can really be.

• The Family Research Council is promoting their annual Values Voters Summit with an impressive photo array of 24 speakers, including senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, actress Patricia Heaton, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Unfortunately, only 10 have confirmed they will be attending – the others have just been invited to attend, including the four mentioned. [H/T Good As You]
• TWO: In what seems to be yet another turn from its exodus from politics, Exodus International’s Youth Activist Mike Ensley pushes an anti-Obama stance because the presumptive Democratic nominee “has indicated that he wants judges who make social policy instead of just applying the law.” Meaning, “social policy” that Mike Ensley disagrees with. For good measure, Ensley parrots criticisms of Obama’s record on crime and foreign policy, two things that have nothing to do with helping those with “unwanted same-sex attractions.”
• The Christian Civic League of Maine has dropped its effort to repeal Maine’s anti-discrimination law.
• Different country, same junk science and falsehoods: Paul Cameron shows up in Russia, hailed as a “renowned scientist” when speaking before the Sociology faculty of Moscow State University.
• FOTF and FRC are dumping thousands of dollars into an anti-equality effort in CA. The AFA’s OneNewsNow puts it this way: “History has shown that what happens in California affects the rest of the country, so Prentice is calling on people to pray for victory.”
  
• A conservative UK Bishop will protest the presence of pro-gay bishops at the Lambeth conference by boycotting it.

Increasingly irrelevant in the US, the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) has created a new division to spread their views abroad.  The International Federation for Therapeutic Choice (IFTC), while it sounds formidable, appears only to be a new Yahoo group to which members are privy after paying the usual $65 per year to join.  Though NARTH claims membership of over a thousand, former members have estimated less than 200 are actually professional therapists, with the rest made up of pastors, activists and just plain everyday people.  With less than 50 in attendance at their last annual meeting, NARTH may be feeling a bit pale.  Their central figure, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, has been appointed by the NARTH board as the director of this new division. It is important to note that NARTH always appoints their own officers; the president, for instance, is never voted on by the membership.

As the population of the US becomes more educated about the facts surrounding GLBT issues, there is less willingness to accept the junk science of reparative therapy here.   New incursions by Exodus into countries which have had less experience with these issues seems misguided at best.  And as if to compound arrogance with error, NARTH is commonly used as an example of the “science” behind what is essentially religious dogma in these presentations.

It would appear that the creation of the IFTC is in keeping with this new attempt to grow ex-gay organizations and thought abroad. The NARTH member designated as their IFTC representative in Ireland is none other than Dr. Paul Miller.  Dr. Miller advises Iris Robinson, the wife of the First Minister (Northern Ireland). Robinson has achieved notoriety of late for her comments concerning homosexuality.  Dr. Miller, it turns out, trained under the embarrassing Richard Cohen, and holds his work in high regard.  Miller organized a seminar for Cohen as recently as 2007, and currently recommends his book, Coming Out Straight, on the website of his nonprofit, ABEO.

Also on Miller’s website, he lists NARTH along with Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) and, oddly enough, The Mankind Project and People Can Change (the latter is an ex-gay program based on MKP principles).  JONAH is a close ally of NARTH — their president, Arthur Goldberg, is NARTH’s executive secretary.  The Mankind Project and affiliated programs have been recommended by Nicolosi as a way to assist those seeking to change from gay to straight “heal old wounds” and become more masculine, more manly.  Recently sued for alleged culpability in a suicide, MKP uses rather odd methods to say the least.  XGW has also reported on recent distortions by People Can change.

It would seem that Dr. Miller has bought into the entire ex-gay package deluxe, and he has the ear of the “first lady” of Northern Ireland.  Certainly the people there deserve better than to be subjected to our discarded failures.

 Edited 1pm ET – geopolitical corrections

Speaking on Chris Fabry Live! last month, Exodus President Alan Chambers made this astonishing declaration:

The truth is, when we look at the issue of homosexuality, the only thing that we do know at this point in time is that it is developmental.  There has never been a study that’s been done that replicated, or proven sufficiently, that there is any genetic component to the issue of homosexuality…

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Chambers is the president of the largest ex-gay organization in the world, Exodus International.  While one might imagine he carries his share of bias to the table, it seems incredible that he could so completely misrepresent the current state of research on his key issue.  Even a cursory scan of the literature tells us that sexual orientation is a mixture of nature and nurture, with the nature becoming more prominent all the time.

A recent statement from the American Psychological Association (APA), praised by no less than the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) — a group to which Exodus refers — states the following about why some people are gay or lesbian:

There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.

Francis Collins, respected geneticist and head of the Human Genome Project, wrote the following in response to our query on the subject (after having been misquoted by NARTH):

The evidence we have at present strongly supports the proposition that there are hereditary factors in male homosexuality — the observation that an identical twin of a male homosexual has approximately a 20% likelihood of also being gay points to this conclusion, since that is 10 times the population incidence. But the fact that the answer is not 100% also suggests that other factors besides DNA must be involved. That certainly doesn’t imply, however, that those other undefined factors are inherently alterable.

Two strong studies have just been added to the debate, giving even more convincing evidence to the biological component.  One finds that the brains of gay males are structurally similar to those of straight women, while both are different from those of straight men.  The other indicates that the external views of a society have virtually nothing to do with those to whom we find ourselves sexually attracted — gay or straight. These studies, added to the mounting evidence for physical traits common to gay men and women, indicate not only a genetic/biological factor but possibly a strong one.  Certainly most of this information was available before Chambers made his statement last month.

At the moment there is only one honest reply to any question about what determines sexual orientation.  It appears to be a combination of genetic, biological and environmental factors, possibly set very early in life.  As a prudent addendum, the case for the involvement of genetic and biological factors is becoming stronger with each serious study.  So with all this only a Google search or two away, it strains credulity that Chambers is unaware of these facts.

We are left with two scenarios; either Chambers is totally unaware of vital information pertaining to homosexuality,  the focus of his entire organization,  or he is aware and stated otherwise to the audience of the Chris Fabry show.

• September 5 has been set as the theatrical release date for “Save Me,” the ex-gay drama starring Chad Allen and Judith Light.
• TWO: A panel on “gender issues” organized by the Southern Baptist Church is overrun by ex-gays, is all white and all male except for one member, and seeks to acquire Southern Baptist financial support. They supposedly are also here to offer a “Way Out.”
• Soulforce, Jay Bakker and Peterson Toscano dialogue with the leaders of Willow Creek Church.
• Wayne Besen reports of a man whose partner was “brainwashed” away from him by a born-again Christian woman who pretended to be his friend. The woman was determined “at all costs” to break the couple up and get them out of each other’s lives.
• Peter LaBarbera has accused a Chicago PBS station of airing “religiously-bigotted, pro-homosexual” programming at the taxpayers’ expense. The program aired was about a men’s chorus.
• Ted Baehr argues that homosexuals must be a tiny minority since gay-themed movies earn only one-tenth as much as “movies with very strong Christian worldviews.” By his own logic, then, Christians must outnumber gays ten to one, which would suggest the gay population is between 7-8% – several times higher than Focus on the Family’s numbers and hardly a “tiny minority.”
• Timothy Kincaid of BTB examines “pro-gay marriage-defender” David Benkof, exposing his positions, claims, and arguments by going through them with a fine-tooth comb.

By now, regular readers of Ex-Gay Watch will know of the controversy surrounding homophobic remarks made by Iris Robinson, a Member of UK Parliament.

Robinson, a health spokesperson and wife of Northern Ireland’s First Minister, said that homosexuality was “vile,” “disgusting,” “nauseating” and “an abomination,” and recommended ex-gay therapy to turn homosexuals heterosexual.

We have already discussed a handful of contrasting reactions, but there are others worth noting. For example, Canadian Exodus ally Wendy Gritter weighs in on Warren Throckmorton’s blog to denounce the invective in no uncertain terms: Read more…

Of course she will – and does – deny it is hate, but doesn’t everyone who hates? Those who oppose and discriminate against gays and lesbians may be quite sincere, and it never looks from the inside like they’re doing a disservice. On the contrary, from the anti-gay mindset, they’re actually doing gays and lesbians a favor by telling them the truth and offering them a way out of their hideous lifestyles. To them, it’s love.

Iris Robinson, a Member of UK Parliament for the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, caused a furore last week when she claimed that homosexuals could become heterosexual through therapy. She described homosexuality as an “abomination” and in doing so provoked the ire of the gay community.

In the US, ex-gay therapist Warren Throckmorton had the sense at least to admit her words were “harsh” and came with “poor timing,” where in the UK Peter Ould sympathizes with Robinson, and instead condemns as witchhunters those who take offence:

[Robinson] dared to simply repeat what the Bible clearly says in Leviticus, that homosexual acts are abominable. What has followed is a “witch hunt” because she challenged the accepted public orthodoxy that same-sex attraction is something you are born with and that it can’t change.

In fact, Robinson’s ugly diatribe against gays went beyond “simply” repeating “what the Bible clearly says in Leviticus”: Read more…

The psychiatrist Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson claimed could turn homosexuals straight has been named as Dr Paul Miller, who trained under the notorious Richard Cohen. Exodus International cut its ties with Cohen following a series of embarrassing TV appearances in 2006, in which he demonstrated controversial “touch therapy,” amid other ludicrous methods.

Speaking last Friday on BBC Radio Ulster, Mrs Robinson said that homosexuality was an “abomination,” and offered to refer homosexuals to the care of a psychiatrist friend who had helped gays to “turn away from what they are engaged in.”

Miller, forgetting that in science the onus is on him to prove his theories, not on others to disprove them, has now told Belfast’s News Letter that “a lot of the research has never been disproven but it has become politically unacceptable to talk about it.” He repeated Mrs Robinson’s claim that therapy could make people heterosexual:

Dr Miller – who is a former member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Board and is an honorary clinical lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast – claimed that he had seen hundreds of homosexual people become heterosexual.

“It is possible – I know these people and I’ve seen the outcome of the work in their lives so to say that it’s not possible is simply not true,” he said.

Read more…