Ex-Gay Watch

It’s a non-sequential?  The video above is from the upcoming movie Chasing the Devil: Inside the Ex-Gay Movement by Bill Hussung and Mishara Canino-Hussing.  Ex-Gay guru and all around bizarre guy Richard Cohen seems only too happy to participate, bringing back memories of pillows and tennis rackets.  Listen carefully, there are some interesting comments.  One that I didn’t quite get is in the beginning, he’s says he has been married for “2300 23,000 years”?  Is that just a joke or is it a Moonie thing? (I honestly don’t know)

Dr. Jack Drescher brings us a brief period of sanity, perhaps laced with bemusement at what he is seeing — yet again.  Meanwhile,Cohen has a new web site and is training “coaches” or whatever, having apparently mended fences with Exodus International.  One has to wonder, when will someone on that side of the aisle deal with Cohen in a public way?  Or is this Prop 8 where the ends justify the means and keeping ex-gay pseudo-science going — even this most bizarre of chapters — is justifiable?

Think about that as they put on happy faces and spin, spin, spin at the ongoing Exodus Leadership conference.

Filming and Editing by Daniel Gonzales

Mike Jones, the man who exposed Ted Haggard’s extramarital, same-sex encounters in 2006, has just made a video to get a few more things off his chest.  Jones was an escort in the Denver area and Haggard was the Pastor of the huge New Life Church, and President of the National Association of Evangelicals.  Haggard resigned in shame after his relationship with Jones was exposed, and has spent the years since going through various phases of counseling, even claiming that he was no longer gay after the first three weeks.

Recent news has brought out yet another such relationship with a young man who was volunteering at New Life Church during approximately the same time.  In this latest case, the church paid for the young man’s college tuition and counseling on the condition that confidentiality was maintained.

In a phone call early on, Mike Jones relayed to this writer his dismay at the way he had been treated by both sides of the issue, the gay community included.  Some of this spilled over into discussions at XGW, when Karen Booth of the anti-gay Transforming Congregations succeeded in pressuring eBay to remove an auction of Jones message bench (which had obviously gained notoriety at that time).  He had promised the proceeds to Project Angel Heart, a very old and worthwhile charity which provides food and assistance to AIDS and cancer patients.

Jones wrote a book about what happened called “I Had to Say Something: The Art of Ted Haggard’s Fall.”

I just finished watching the Lifetime special Prayers for Bobby.  It came across true and accurate to what I know about the matter, and may have even been somewhat reserved considering the time frame (circa 1980).  The mother’s reaction and the “help” her son Bobby was given could easily take place today in just that way — it does take place today in just that way.  Ryan Kelley did an excellent job as Bobby, as did Sigourny Weaver as his mother, Mary Griffith.  The pain, condemnation and agony was far too real, and I cried through  much of it.  It was very hard to watch in places, not because it went into deep detail, but because each portion was a representation of my own pain, and that of so many with whom I have talked.  The movie was a series of triggers for all of it.

I’ve lived much of the agony of a Bobby so I know it well, but I have been spared personally the hideous way in which ex-gay related programs abuse the parents.  PFOX is an extreme version of this, but Exodus and Love Won Out conferences have so often been aimed squarely at parents.  The byproduct of the pseudo-scientific underpinnings of ex-gay theory is that, one way or another, parents are to blame.  And once they are properly saddled with that grief, they are led to believe that somehow, if everyone works really hard and prays really hard (pays whole lot?), their son or daughter can be free of this “awful curse.”

When I first heard it, I thought the sermon was a bit too harsh to be realistic.  Moments later I remembered that in my work with some churches. and even at college, the idea that the funeral of one who was “lost” would serve as a morbid sermon to others was a common theme among more than a few pastors.

As I said, for me it was a very emotional ride.  They had so much to cram into a short period that I’m afraid it may be hard for those not already involved in some way to appreciate the depth of the issue.  If you watched, what was your experience or impression?

Update: I’ve added an image of the book with a link for those who might now want to get a more detailed version of the story and to catch a glimpse of the real Bobby and his Mom in front of that cute little car. I wonder what he would have written by now.

Educational film producer Sid Davis released countless “cautionary tales” over the span of the 1950′s and ’60′s, one of the most notorious being the film Boys Beware (1961). XGW mentioned the film in a brief posting in 2006 when Davis died. It shows predatory men targeting young boys for sexual gratification, warning the audience that homosexuals are on the loose. The film includes such quotable gems as:

What Jimmy didn’t know was that Ralph was sick. A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious — a sickness of the mind. You see, Ralph was a homosexual: a person who demands an intimate relationship with members of their own sex.

One never knows when the homosexual is about. He may appear normal and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill.

The entire film is a fallacy, in that it equates homosexuality with pedophilia – the condition in which a person, male or female, seeks out sexual relationships with prepubescents. Homosexuals seek out relationships in the same manner as heterosexuals, with sexually mature people, engaging in romantic courtship and often seeking mutual lifetime commitment. The film also equates homosexuality with an obsession with sex. But perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the film itself is that it ignores the fact that female pedophiles and child molesters exist, failing to warn young boys of this very real danger.

Watching the movie, it’s easy to dismiss it as old-fashioned and a testament to the ignorance of the time. But today anti-gay groups have diverged little from the basic themes: That homosexuals are dangerous to children, obsessed with sex, and are sick (and therefor need to be cured) – providing a need for ex-gay groups. In addition, ex-gay and anti-gay groups are focused especially on male homosexuality, despite the existence of homosexual women.

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.

Check out this ex-gay musical from the Gay Christian Network (GCN) 2007 conference. It opens with a hilarious parody of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan number The Major-General’s Song:

I am the very model of an ex-gay individual,
I’ve no more gay attractions (okay, maybe a residual)

My favorite line has to be this one:

I think of God, not Gaynor, when I hear someone say “Gloria,”
I always stay a block away from local gay emporia

Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan.

Brian Murphy, a Soulforce Equality Rider, attended the Ex-Gay Survivor Conference that was co-sponsored by Soulforce, Beyond Ex-Gay and the LGBT Resource Center at the University of California-Irvine.

Murphy, a filmmaker, interviewed fellow attendees and taped footage of various conference activities including the Chalk Talk, a time of written expression and reflection.

Watch Murphy’s complete film:

Three-minute trailer:

Brian Murphy’s weblog: All Points In Between

Filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox has released an extended preview for the feature-length documentary, “This Is What Love In Action Looks Like.”

According to the filmmaker:

In the summer of 2005, a 16-year-old from Memphis, Tenn., wrote on his MySpace blog about his parents sending him to a “Fundamentalist Christian” program that claimed to offer “freedom from homosexuality.” What followed is a modern-day message in a bottle, as teen-agers in the local community stood up for their friend with daily protests which eventually grew to include a plethora of individuals demonstrating at the facility in what would become an international news story.

The documentary features several former clients of the organization who tell their personal stories about the time they spent within the programs walls, including exclusive never before seen interviews with several teenagers who were forced into the “Refuge” program.

The documentary producer’s intent was to show the passion and conviction of both sides of such a strong debate, however, countless attempts to interview Love In Action officials, and their wider network of affiliates were continuously denied, unfortunately thwarting [the filmmaker's] wishes to allow them to tell their personal stories in detail.

This Is What Love In Action Looks Like will premiere in February 2008.

Facebook users: Join the Cause.

If James Dobson ruled the ex-gay movement with an iron fist, and if the opening scene of The Devil Wears Prada were to peek inside a political empire instead of a fashion magazine, then what might Dobson’s morning arrival at Focus on the Family look like?

[Elevator doors open onto the executive floor. James Dobson dons his glasses, steps from the elevator, and barks orders at his female personal assistant, who takes notes.]

Tell Alan I’m not going to approve that young man that he sent me for the youth layout. I asked for sexy, serious, and ripped; he sent me chaste, smiling and bleached. And RSVP yes to Peter LaBarbera’s party, I want the driver to drop me off at 9:30 and pick me up at 9:45, sharp.

[Dobson rounds a corner of the corridor to his office, his assistant stumbling behind in high heels and a long skirt.]

Then call Warren at Grove City and tell him no, for the 40th time, no, I don’t want “sexual identity guidelines,” I want “the road to godly masculinity through baseball.” Then call Newt’s ex-wife and remind her to stay out of the limelight. Then call Newt’s ex-ex-wife. Ask her to please be “out of the country” before Thompson’s next gig with that show that Russert hosts.

[Passing through his office foyer, Dobson tosses his jacket on an assistant's desk.]

Also, tell Nicolosi I saw all the videos that he sent for that panel presentation on divorced ex-gays and their new girlfriends, and they’re all so deeply unconvincing. Is it impossible to find a virile, amorous, eligible ex-gay divorcee? Am I reaching for the stars here? Not really.

[Dobson enters his inner office.]

Also I need to see all the things that Randy has pulled for Michael Glatze’s second try at Love Won Out. I wonder if he’s lost that ’70s moustache yet.

[Dobson sees a fawning female visitor, Estella.]

Who is that?

Hat tip: Miranda Priestly

The Human Rights Campaign’s XM Radio show, “The Agenda with Joe Solmonese,” has posted an audio clip about the documentary God and Gays. Film producer Kim Clark discusses the film’s positive reception by churches. Also appearing is Darlene Bogle, a former Exodus local group leader who now acknowledges her same-gender sexual orientation.

Hat tip: Gay Religion News Blog