Ex-Gay Watch

A 2007 study of sexual orientation change is back in the news following its publication in a scientific journal. But despite conservative Christians’ championing of the research as proof that gays can change, the article presents nothing new.

Stanton L Jones of Wheaton College, IL, and Mark Yarhouse of Regent University, VA, followed 61 subjects over about seven years of ex-gay therapy to assess whether homosexuals could change.  It was published by Inter-Varsity Press in 2007 as Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation.

Interested readers can revisit Dr Patrick Chapman’s three-part review of the study to see clearly why it fails — there’s no need to rehearse the flaws again, because what’s presented in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy (Volume 37) is essentially the same. Its negligible results offer little hope for gay Christians who want to do anything more than change their behaviour

The conservative Christian LifeSiteNews.com has already latched onto this old news with the grossly misleading headline “Major Study: Changing Sexual Orientation Is Possible,” but even the authors’ own press release downplays this claim:

In short, the results do not prove that categorical change in sexual orientation is possible for everyone or anyone, but rather that meaningful shifts along a continuum that constitute real changes appear possible for some.

To bolster its optimism, LifeSiteNews.com also throws in mention of NARTH’s 2009 report on sexual orientation change, a mere literature review falsely touted as a new milestone study. Robert Spitzer also gets a nod for his 2003 study, which has been used to prop up an ex-gay, anti-gay message, but the article fails to mention he has since denounced conservative abuses of his findings and says orientation change is rare.

An increasingly desperate Christian Right will try to milk this latest publication for all its worth, but don’t be fooled: Same study, same results, same flaws.

Update: Warren Throckmorton reminds us to mention Mark Yarhouse’s other recent study, which demonstrated that “ex-gay” men in mixed-orientation marriages change their behaviour but not their sexual orientation. Ex-Gay Watch also commented on this here.

Exodus International has relaunched its online bookstore at Exodusbooks.org, but some key titles are missing from the shelves.

In particular, there appear to be no books by the notorious Dr Joseph Nicolosi, the father of ex-gay reparative therapy and former president of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality.

Nicolosi’s seminal work Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality (1992), in which he articulated his view that distant fathers and overbearing mothers cause homosexuality, is no longer listed. Also missing are Nicolosi’s A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality and NARTH’s Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions, although I can’t confirm if those two were previously in the catalogue.

So is it an oversight, or has Exodus made a conscious decision to disassociate from NARTH and its promise of a gay cure through psychiatry? If the latter, I can’t help but note that Exodus chief Alan Chambers has harsh words for apostates who try to distance themselves from his own organization.

Anyone notice any other glaring omissions from Exodus’s new bookstore?

-Focus on the Family announces another round of layoffs.

-Klaus Wowereit, openly gay mayor of Berlin, is reelected to a third term.

-“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” officially ends.

-Anti-gay vandals target a Colorado family farm.

-Another teen commits suicide in the wake of anti-gay bullying.

- Exodus International’s North Atlantic regional conference draws more protesters than attendees.

-Maggie Gallagher steps aside as chair of the National Organization for Marriage.

-President Obama exhorts the United Nations to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.

-A gay soldier is booed by audience members at the latest GOP presidential debate.

-A Republican congresswoman signs on as a cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Anti-gay activist Dr Michael L Brown will be a guest speaker at NARTH’s conference in Arizona this fall.

Brown, who recently self-published a massive diatribe against the “gay agenda” titled A Queer Thing Happened to America, will appear at a plenary session on November 4.

We’ve already documented extensively Brown’s anti-gay rhetoric and his hostile, inflammatory stance towards gays and lesbians. To this history of homophobia, he recently added a skewed interpretation of the death of Lawrence King, the California teen shot dead by classmate Brandon McInerney. Writing on OneNewsNow.com, Brown placed the blame for Larry’s death on gay activism:

And how can I claim that gay activists are complicit in Larry’s death? To start, there are plenty of unstable children in our schools today, just like Larry and Brandon, yet gay activists are encouraging kids to come out at young and younger ages. This is downright irresponsible.

After all, it is gay activists who constantly remind us that LGBT kids are bullied and even beaten up at school. They tell us how dangerous the school environment is for kids who identify as LGBT, and yet at the same time, they praise kids like Larry for coming out at 10. They even want more Gay Straight Alliances in our middle schools, where pre-teens can declare their gay identity to their peers and faculty advisors without their parents’ knowledge. Why? So they can become targets of hatred and potential violence? If our schools really are so “homophobic” and dangerous, why not encourage these kids to keep their sexual orientation to themselves until they’re in a safer environment?

More of my review of A Queer Thing Happened to America  is forthcoming, as promised — when I have the stomach to pick it up again. Alas, discovering Brown had written seven pages comparing my arguments to those of NAMBLA left me literally feeling nauseated.

Hat-tip: Dr Warren Throckmorton.

During the years from 2005 to 2007, IRS records show Exodus designated over $1 million for “various education programs and publications that explain how to change sexual orientation…”

Exodus International Form 990 for year 2007

This period begins several years into Alan Chambers’ tenure as Exodus President, and covers what might be called their pinnacle.  While those of us who study Exodus may not find this particularly startling, we must remember that they have vehemently denied ever having this as their goal.  To have an official record stating those intentions is important.

Of course, Exodus’ history is littered with evidence of their emphasis on change.  Their motto, Change is Possible, has been plastered on billboards across the country.  They have routinely claimed a 30% to 50% success rate in changing from homosexual to heterosexual (a laughable figure), and even paid $100,000 for a study intended to substantiate that figure.  To this day the Exodus bookstore features books on reparative therapy by Joseph Nicolosi and others which promote pseudo-scientific theories on causation and conversion of homosexuality.

Exodus representatives repeatedly deny the idea that they seek to bring sexual orientation change to anyone.  In a symphony of semantics, they deflect responsibility for most anything they do.  In a particularly sarcastic article written in 2009 when Exodus could still afford professional PR people like Julie Neils, she wrote:

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the words, “Exodus International” and “religious group that claims to cure gays” in a sentence I’d be rich . . . and in Tahiti right now.

Exodus International Form 990 for year 2006

Exodus also makes a big deal of the claim that they only exist to help those who seek them out — those “400,000 phone calls and emails” we are always hearing about.  Until 2006, Exodus put the following expense claim on the same form to the IRS:

Missions and outreach projects allow Exodus to reach individuals not actively seeking help who may be open to change.

Again, hardly a surprise to those familiar with Exodus but basically we have here evidence of their intent — ironically enough — to recruit those not “actively seeking” their help in the first place.  This directly contradicts their own claims, but Exodus has a way with words that enables them to say one thing and mean another.

Perhaps equally significant is the fact that this verbiage has been removed in years since.  Clearly Exodus still does these things yet they don’t wish to make that fact so obvious as they once did.  What kind of message does all this double-talk send?  Perhaps it is just this kind of mixed-message that sends churches like Willow Creek in the other direction.

Supporting Documents

Exodus Form 990 — 2005

Exodus Form 990 — 2006

Exodus Form 990 — 2007

I’m not a soldier, and I never have been. But I’m guessing if you have the mental and physical strength to protect lives and take lives while preserving your own life in the face of constant deadly danger most of us will never experience, you also have whatever it takes to share close quarters with a soldier you know to be gay.

Today, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell goes into effect. The US military no longer requires gay soldiers to remain in the closet. Gays and lesbians can now get on with serving their country without the unnecessary, unjustifiable and discriminatory pressure of having to hide their partners, families and the basic facts of who they are.

The DADT repeal is not only a victory for equality, but also a victory for common sense. If you can handle bombs, guns, violence, death and destruction, you can handle the fact the guy next to you is gay. If you can’t get over that, you shouldn’t be in the military.

Congratulations to the brave gay men and women of the American military who now have the freedom to be honest and open with their fellow soldiers.

In the video below, a US soldier and formerly anonymous video blogger phones home to tell his dad he’s gay:

-Authorities in Ecuador shut down thirty ex-gay clinics.

-Gay MP David Norris re-enters the Irish presidential race at the encouragement of his supporters.

-The Oregon Republican party announces that it will remove anti-gay statements from its official platform.

-The North Carolina legislature approves an anti-gay marriage amendment for a May 2012 vote.

-Clint Eastwood voices his support for marriage equality.

-A New Hampshire House panel advances a bill that would repeal the state’s marriage equality law.

-Ugandan LGBT advocate Frank Mugisha wins a human rights award.

-The National Religious Broadcasters see anti-Christian bias everywhere.

Last weekend saw the latest Love Won Out conference, the ex-gay roadshow which was once sponsored by Focus on the Family (with Exodus as partners) but is now completely run by Exodus International.  The latest locale was Sugarland, Texas (outside Houston) — firmly in the Bible Belt and where one might expect more than the usual number of sympathetic participants.

According to he Houston Chronicle, however, that doesn’t seem to have been the case.  They report 450 in attendance, for what we believe is the lowest figure yet — certainly in recent years.  That’s less than half the numbers reported in it’s heyday of just a few years ago.  Remember also that most attendees are repeat visitors, part of a small core who use the conferences to visit socially.  Even in such a venue, however, some ministries maintain rather strict requirements.  Living Hope Ministries, an Exodus affiliate in Arlington, Texas, (and old stomping ground of former Exodus VP Randy Thomas) requires their attendees to mark out the last names on their name tags lest they be tempted to contact each other by means not sanctioned by the group.

There would seem little doubt that Exodus is in decline.  Recent months and years have seen their pleas for funds become more dire, their staff and benefits cut, significant ministry partners disassociate, and now their main recruiting tool attract fewer attendees.  Some time ago they began combining the figures for their member groups with their stagnant church affiliates, perhaps to give the impression that they have grown (or at least not shrunk).  Their church affiliate network, which then VP Randy Thomas predicted would have 10,000 members by 2010 never got past about 100.

Exodus still has a presence and can do damage to those who mistake them for a safe harbor.  And they continue to export their untruths to countries less equipped to provide an informed opposition. Unfortunately, we have already witnessed what kind of fire can start from those sparks.

-Openly gay congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) officially announces her candidacy for the US Senate.

-An Orthodox Rabbi offers a for matchmaking service that marries gay men to lesbians.

-Three men in Iran are convicted and executed for committing sodomy.

-A federal appeals court rules that the state of Arizona can’t discriminate against its LGBT employees.

-Rap artist The Game encourages gay rappers to come out of the closet.

-Yet another court rules against NOM’s efforts to evade campaign disclosure laws.

-An effort to legalize same-sex marriage in Colorado fails to garner enough support for a 2012 ballot initiative.

-Support for marriage equality continues to increase among young evangelicals.

-The anti-gay attacks continue in Salt Lake City.

A conference on gay-to-straight therapy has been forced to seek a new venue after a Polish university withdrew its support.

The event, featuring notorious NARTH therapist Joseph Nicolosi, was due to take place on September 16 at the Medical School Foundation in Poznan, Poland. The institution cancelled the event before the contract was signed, however, following criticism by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. A front-page story pointed to the American Psychological Association (APA) resolution stating there was a lack of evidence to support the claims of reparative therapists to reverse or cure homosexuality.

The university said hosting the conference “identifies [reparative therapy] with its organization.”

Source: LifeSiteNews.com