Ex-Gay Watch

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?

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

It’s not news that the solution Exodus gives to young people for their attraction to the same sex is to refrain from acting on it and “deny themselves for Christ.” But a recent article brings Exodus to a new Orwellian level, this time by saying that being ascetic with one’s interpersonal relationships is a Godly calling when you are gay.

In “Loneliness is Good,” an article cross-posted to the Exodus Student Blog, Mike Goeke tells of his struggle to find Christian male friends after being told doing so would be a way to help heal his homosexuality.

I read many books, and a common ‘cure’ for my problems included finding some good male friends with whom to have healthy, authentic relationships.

This is in line with the disproven hypothesis that gay men become gay because their lack of “authentic” relationships with other men, especially of their fathers. But despite joining an inter-denominational Bible group, Mike found himself more alone than ever:

I sat alone most nights, and rarely spoke to anyone.  I looked around the room and everyone seemed to know everyone else.  Instead of finding friends, my loneliness only seemed to grow heavier.

One night, after he had decided to give up on Bible study altogether, God caused him to come to a realization.

In the dark of my room, as I expressed my frustration, I sensed God speaking into my heart.  He said, not audibly but clear nonetheless, “go to the Bible study to meet ME.”

In the days that followed, I realized that my greatest need at that moment was not connecting with a friend.  My greatest need was connecting with my God.  As I quieted myself down, it became clear to me that God could not entrust me with the kind of friendship I longed for at that time.  I had set up ‘friends’ as a sort of idol and made friendship the key to my joy and my fulfillment and my healing. I would have devoured friends had He given them to me then. God was gracious in many ways to deny me what I so longed for because it compelled me to Him and the true source of my affirmation and identity.  And, amazingly, as I pursued a deeper relationship with God, I found myself developing relationships with other men, and the friendships I had longed for began to happen.

For ex-gays, just about any red flag or stumbling block can be justified as part of the struggle, maybe even as a message from God Himself. Struggling to make friends? God must be denying you friendship for some reason. And it must be related to your struggle with homosexuality. Exodus’ real purpose, it appears, is helping one rationalize all of life’s stumbling blocks into something God intends.

I have gone through several seasons of loneliness.  I believe that God orchestrates those seasons in my life – in all of our lives – to help pull us back to Him.  We can be so prone to lose sight of Him and to make something else or someone else our center.  But when He becomes all we have, we realize more clearly that He is really all we need.  When He, in His godly and relational perfection, speaks affirmation and friendship and love and acceptance into our souls, we are perfectly satisfied.  And when we are perfectly satisfied in Him, we are so much more ready to be a true friend to someone else, and to receive true friendship in a healthy way.

I agree that any obsession or extreme dependency can be unhealthy. It can indeed cause one to lose sight of what’s important – for the religious person, it can cause one to lose sight of God. But why must simple social awkwardness or a struggle to connect with strangers be conflated with one’s struggle with same sex attraction?

God designed us to be in community and to be in friendship.  Those are good things, and things we all must have.  But God did not design us to idolize or worship friends and relationships.

It’s natural for human beings to seek out communion with other human beings. We are, with few exceptions, social creatures. Experiencing loneliness, even in an extreme way, does not mean one is ultimately “idolizing friendships.” But I suspect a different motive behind Goeke’s longing for and wariness of male friendship.

Befriending someone is a natural first step to a romantic relationship – something disallowed as a celibate gay person.

He promises that He can satisfy you, and you will discover the immensity of what it means to be fulfilled and have abundance in Christ alone.  And when your eyes are off of you and on God as the true center of your existence, you might just realize that you are not alone after all.

But such ethereal comfort is not the same thing as earthly comfort. This article does nothing to address specifics of a lonely, if religiously devout, life. The plain fact is, not all religious people are called to be celibate, and being forced to embrace such a lifestyle can cause extreme loneliness that feels anything but “good.” In fact, it can lead to depression, despair, and all the consequences associated with it.

It is a twisted way of telling young gay people that a “Godly” life of loneliness is how it “gets better.”

The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality has congratulated gay-to-straight conversion therapist Marcus Bachmann for “sticking to the science.”

Bachmann, husband of Republican presidential runner Michele Bachmann, runs a clinic in Minnesota offering ex-gay therapy. His description of gays as “barbarians [that] need to be educated [and] disciplined” made headlines, prompting his embarrassing attempt to deny ever having made the remarks, claiming the recordings were doctored. (They weren’t.)

Defending Bachmann in its July 26 bulletin, NARTH said that

change therapies have been offered for the past century and have been found to be successful. In fact, over the past 125 years, change of sexual orientation has been documented via case studies, clinical reports, and research studies (NARTH, 2009). It is clear that change of both behavior and attractions is indeed possible.

This is false. For an idea just how poor some of these case studies have been, familiarize yourself with the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, aka “Kraig,” the subject of experiments by disgraced change therapist Dr George Rekers, who claimed to have cured him of his “sissy boy” tendencies.

More recent studies, such as those by Robert Spitzer, and Jones and Yarhouse have fared badly in proving the ex-gay mantra that “change is possible.” Dr Jack Drescher recently summed up the reality of orientation change by likening success to a winning lottery ticket: “Planning your financial future on a lottery ticket is like planning your sexual future on a conversion therapy.”

Undeterred by the absence of scientific evidence, NARTH continues to manipulate the data to support its belief that sexual orientation can be made to change through psychiatric therapy. Unfortunately for NARTH, at a time when such claims are under increasing scrutiny, its support is dwindling rapidly, as its message regarding Bachmann acknowledges:

Those candidates in the public spotlight, and it will get far more intense as we get closer to election-day, are to be congratulated for sticking to the science and supporting client rights no matter how politically incorrect it is to defend truth and freedom regarding homosexuality.

Knowing it’s an uphill battle, however, NARTH makes sure to trumpet its most pressing concern loud and clear before getting to its defense of Bachmann: Money.

Screenshot from NARTH

The National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexual is no longer offering continuing education to therapists in the state of California, according to SFGate blogger Susan Davis.

Although some activists had tried to have NARTH‘s rights to provide continuing education revoked on the basis of its homophobic, pseudoscientific beliefs and practices, Davis reports the actual reason is unpaid fees to the California Board for Behavioral Science. In the article, she reveals, surprisingly, that the CBBS doesn’t have the ability to remove an organization from membership for erroneous scientific claims:

As it stands now, the BBS can’t reject a continuing education provider due to its philosophy or even the validity of its scientific claims, executive officer Kim Madsen says, and “that’s been a challenge.” Instead, as long as the provider “meets the requirements as set forth in current law, we have to accept them.” (Those requirements include providing direct or indirect patient care, having qualified instructors and submitting the appropriate applications and fees.)

At its September meeting, however, the BBS will be reviewing those laws and requirements and having a discussion about what Madsen describes as “long-identified deficiencies in the continuing education model.”

Influential Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler has defended gay-to-straight conversion therapy by telling readers of his latest column that being gay is in itself “deeply sinful.”

Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote in the context of the controversy over the ex-gay views of therapist Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican presidential runner Michele Bachmann.

Most conservative Christians are careful to distinguish between orientation and behavior, or at least they keep the language very fuzzy, but Mohler firmly nails his colors to the mast:

Actually, the Bible speaks rather directly to the sinfulness of the homosexual orientation — defined as a pattern of sexual attraction to a person of the same sex. … Paul identifies the sinful sexual passion as a major concern — not just the behavior. … The New Testament reveals that a homosexual sexual orientation, whatever its shape or causation, is essentially wrong, contrary to the Creator’s purpose, and deeply sinful. Everyone, whatever his or her sexual orientation, is a sinner need of redemption. … But those whose sexual orientation is homosexual face the fact that they also need a fundamental reordering of their sexual attractions. About this the Bible is clear. [Emphases mine.]

Mohler’s message to gays is that they are sinning simply by having the desires. They must change.

CNN Religion yesterday suggested Mohler was one of “many Christians cool to conversion therapy for gays.”  Well, he is, in a sense, but not in the way CNN portrayed. Mohler admits secular scientists and therapists are almost unanimously against reparative therapy, and he describes in detail just how many scientific and professional organizations have denounced or cautioned against it recently. His hazy response is this:

Christians cannot avoid the debate over reparative therapy, nor can we enter the debate on secular terms.

It is, as my colleague David Roberts just said to me, “the final cop-out.” So what is Mohler’s answer to the sin of same-sex attractions?

We must bring to this conversation everything we know from God’s Word about our sin and God’s provision for sinners in Christ. We will hold no hope for any sinner’s ability to change his or her own heart, and we will hold little hope for any secular therapy to offer more than marginal improvement in a sinner’s life. … We know that something as deeply entrenched as a pattern of sexual attraction is not easily changed, but we know that with Christ all things are possible.

Well, at least Mohler is honest. His answer to the sin of homosexuality is effectively what Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out has said time and again is the essential message of the ex-gay movement: Pray away the gay.

Photo: Timmy Brister

Christian therapist Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican presidential runner Michele Bachmann, has been caught in a big lie.

Late last month, recordings emerged of a 2010 radio interview with the Bachmann. He said:

We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. And just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to go down that road. That’s what’s called a “sinful nature.” And we have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings [from] moving into the action steps.

Last week, Bachmann — who has since been shown to be offering gay-to-straight conversion therapy at his Minnesota clinic — denied his comments had anything to do with homosexuality and said the tape had been altered. Now MSNBC’s Hardball has stepped in to clear up the confusion by providing the unedited interview in its original context:

Yes, Bachmann made the offensive and homophobic “barbarians” comment, and no, the recording was not doctored. Bachmann just lied.

Hat-tip: Pam’s House Blend

Minnesota Christian therapist Marcus Bachmann, the husband of Republican presidential runner Michele Bachman, is a spokesman for anti-gay and ex-gay causes.

In a 2010 radio interview replayed widely this week  Dr Bachmann expresses his homophobic views quite clearly:

We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. And just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to go down that road. That’s what’s called a “sinful nature.” And we have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings [from] moving into the action steps.

In an MSNBC report, The Daily Beast‘s David Graham alleges that Bachmann has practiced reparative therapy. When asked whether Bachmann believed in a “gay cure,” Graham said he hadn’t explicitly admitted it, but “that appears to be his attitude.”

Anchor Thomas Roberts also notes that Marcus Bachmann received over $130,000 in US public money last year to fund therapy, and he questions whether government money has been paying for gay-to-straight treatment.

Update 7-7-2011 by David Roberts

Full audio of the Marcus Bachman clip is available below.  While some have implied that his statements were taken out of context, the additional audio is anything but redeeming.  Notice also the host’s question refers to the letter sent to all school superintendents in the US by the bogus “American College of Pediatricians” (not to be confused with the legitimate American Academy of Pediatrics).

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The entire show is archived here.

The Belfast News Letter reports that the World Health Organization has “affirmed the view of controversial groups which say it is medically orthodox to seek treatment for unwanted homosexuality.”

In an article published yesterday, the site said the affirmation followed this month’s Core Issues conference, featuring reparative therapists David Pickup and Lesley Pilkington.

The News Letter continues:

A WHO spokesman said Ego Dystonic Sexuality is a disorder where “the gender identity or sexual preference (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or prepubertal) is not in doubt, but the individual wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders, and may seek treatment in order to change it.”

WHO was also clear that it does not consider homosexuality per se a disorder.

The suggestion that WHO has recently affirmed reparative therapy in light of the Core Issues conference is puzzling. The above is, in fact, simply a direct quote from the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases. It is taken from F.66 of ICD-10 (2006), the most recent version of the index:

F66 Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation
Note: Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder.

Egodystonic sexual orientation
The gender identity or sexual preference (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or prepubertal) is not in doubt, but the individual wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders, and may seek treatment in order to change it.

I can find no evidence outside the article that WHO has made any recent announcement. At best, what may have happened is someone queried WHO about this, and a WHO staffer simply sent them the relevant excerpt from ICD-10.

This makes the story rather misleading. It is true that WHO in the past has affirmed the right to seek treatment to change sexual orientation — without endorsing a particular reparative therapy — and it’s true that WHO denies homosexuality in itself is a mental disorder. What is questionable is whether WHO has made a new statement on the subject in direct response to Core Issues, which is certainly the impression the report gives.

Incidentally, the American Pyschiatric Association (APA) removed ego-dystonic homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1987, having removed homosexuality in 1973.

(Scroll down for 06/24/11 update) Canada’s official party of opposition has voted unanimously to oppose tax-exempt charity status for ex-gay groups such as Exodus Global Alliance.

The federal New Democratic Party, better known simply as the NDP, adopted the resolution at its convention in Vancouver, BC, last weekend. Delegate Michael McLaughlin introduced it thus:

Delegates, an investigation published in September 2010 by [the] LGBT news blog Slap Upside The Head revealed that Exodus Global Alliance, an ex-gay organisation, enjoys registered charity status with the Canada Revenue Agency. Ex-gay organisations claim that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people can be made straight. They take advantage of LGB people, often in vulnerable family situations or at grips with depression and self-hatred, and browbeat them—saying that LGB people never live happy lives, that we are unhealthy and unwhole, and that we never experience love and that the only hope lies in their therapies. [...] We see that they are selling snake oil with benefits given to them by the Canada Revenue Agency at present.

Exodus Global Alliance is based in Toronto, ON, and proclaims that “change is possible for the homosexual through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.” It is partnered with but organizationally separate from the US-based Exodus International, whose president, Alan Chambers, sits on the board of both.

The current government of Canada is Conservative and enjoys widespread religious support. In May this year, the NDP all but wiped out the more centrist Liberal Party to become the official opposition for the first time in its 50-year history.

Update: Here is the full text of the NDP resolution to deny ex-gay organizations charity status:

6-12-11 Resolution on Ex-Gay Associations
Submitted by the NDP Federal LGBT Committee, Quebec Section

Be it resolved that the New Democratic Party call on the Government to immediately remove any charitable status currently enjoyed by “ex-gay” organizations and to see to it that according to this status to such organizations in future be prohibited.