Rift Forms in Movement as Belief in Gay ‘Cure’ Is Renounced

Rift Forms in Movement as Belief in Gay ‘Cure’ Is Renounced

July 6, 2012

By ERIK ECKHOLM

New York Times

For more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, which holds that homosexuals can be “cured” through Christian prayer and psychotherapy.

Exodus leaders claimed its network of ministries had helped tens of thousands rid themselves of unwanted homosexual urges. The notion that homosexuality is not inborn but a choice was seized on by conservative Christian groups who oppose legal protections for gay men and lesbians and same-sex marriage.

But the ex-gay movement has been convulsed as the leader of Exodus, in a series of public statements and a speech to the group’s annual meeting last week, renounced some of the movement’s core beliefs. 

Alan Chambers, 40, the president, declared that there was no cure for homosexuality and that “reparative therapy” offered false hopes to gays and could even be harmful. His statements have led to charges of heresy and a growing schism within the network.

“For the last 37 years, Exodus has been a bright light, arguably the brightest one for those with same-sex attraction seeking an authentically Christian hope,” said Andrew Comiskey, founder and director of Desert Stream Ministries, based in Kansas City, Mo., one of 11 ministries that defected. His group left Exodus in May, Mr. Comiskey said in an e-mail, “due to leader Alan Chambers’s appeasement of practicing homosexuals who claim to be Christian” as well as his questioning of the reality of “sexual orientation change.”

In a phone interview Thursday from Orlando, Fla., where Exodus has its headquarters, Mr. Chambers amplified on the views that have stirred so much controversy. He said that virtually every “ex-gay” he has ever met still harbors homosexual cravings, himself included. Mr. Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said that gay Christians like himself faced a lifelong spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it.

He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr. Chambers said he believed that those who persist in homosexual behavior could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven.

Only a few years ago, Mr. Chambers was featured in advertisements along with his wife, Leslie, saying, “Change is possible.” But now, he said in the interview, “Exodus needs to move beyond that slogan.”

“I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is sinful according to the Bible,” Mr. Chambers emphasized. “But we’ve been asking people with same-sex attractions to overcome something in a way that we don’t ask of anyone else,” he said, noting that Christians with other sins, whether heterosexual lust, pornography, pride or gluttony, do not receive the same blanket condemnations.

Mr. Chamber’s comments come at a time of widening acceptance of homosexuality and denunciation of reparative therapy by professional societies that say it is based on faulty science and potentially harmful.

A bill to outlaw “conversion therapy” for minors has passed the California Senate and is now before the State Assembly. Earlier this year, a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, apologized for publishing what he now calls an invalid study, which said many patients had largely or totally switched their sexual orientation.

Defenders of the therapy say that it can bring deep changes in sexual orientation and that the attacks are politically motivated.

David H. Pickup, a therapist in Glendale, Calif., who specializes in the treatment, said restricting it would harm people who are unhappy with their homosexuality by “making them feel that no change is possible at all.”

Mr. Pickup, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, composed of like-minded therapists, said reparative therapy had achieved profound changes for thousands of people, including himself. The therapy, he said, had helped him confront emotional wounds and “my homosexual feelings began to dissipate and attractions for women grew.”

Some in the ex-gay world are more scathing about Mr. Chambers.

“I think Mr. Chambers is tired of his own personal struggles, so he’s making excuses for them by making sweeping generalizations about others,” said Gregg Quinlan, a conservative lobbyist in New Jersey and president of a support group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays.

Exodus International, with a budget of $1.5 million provided by donors and member churches, is on a stable footing, Mr. Chambers said. He said the shifts in theology had the support of the Exodus board and had been welcomed by many of the 150 churches that are members in North America, which increasingly have homosexuals in their congregations. More opposition has come from affiliated ministries specifically devoted to sex-related therapies, with 11 quitting Exodus so far while about 70 remain.

In another sign of change, the vice chairman of the Exodus board, Dennis Jernigan, was forced to resign in June after he supported anti-sodomy laws in Jamaica. The board pledged to fight efforts anywhere to criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults.

Robert Gagnon, an associate professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of books on homosexuality and the Bible, last week issued a public call for Mr. Chambers to resign. “My greatest concern has to do with Alan’s repeated assurances to homosexually active ‘gay Christians’ that they will be with him in heaven,” he said in an e-mail.

Gay rights advocates said they were encouraged by Mr. Chambers’s recent turn but remained wary of Exodus, which they feel has caused enormous harm.

“Exodus International played the key role in planting the message that people can go from gay to straight through religion and therapy,” said Wayne Besen, director of Truth Wins Out, a group that refutes what it considers misinformation about gays and lesbians. “And the notion that one can change is the centerpiece of the religious right’s argument for denying us rights.”

Many of the local ministries in Exodus continue to attack gays and lesbians, said David Roberts, editor of the Web site Ex-Gay Watch, and they often have close ties with reparative therapists. He speculated that Mr. Chambers was trying to steer the group in a moderate direction because “they were becoming pariahs” in a society that is more accepting of gay people.

Mr. Chambers said he was simply trying to restore Exodus to its original purpose when it was founded in 1976: providing spiritual support for Christians who are struggling with homosexual attraction.

He said that he was happy in his marriage, with a “love and devotion much deeper than anything I experienced in gay life,” but that he knew this was not feasible for everyone. Many Christians with homosexual urges may have to strive for lives of celibacy.

But those who fail should not be severely judged, he said, adding, “We all struggle or fall in some way.”

If you feel that you are tormented by uwanted same-sex attraction then the answer lies in loving and accepting your true self.....and offer you this suggestion. Before you invest the time, money, emotional energy and possibly years of your life trying to go from gay to straight, ask the ex-gay leaders what guarantee they can give you that it will work. If they are honest with you, the best they will be able to offer you as a degree of ‘heterosexual functionality’, but the gay never actually goes away. Then ask yourself what would be the best way to spend your time, money and emotional energy…..rejecting yourself or accepting yourself.

After 22 years of trying to change including ex-gay programs, exorcisms and 16 years of marriage, I came to the realisation that loving myself was far healthier than hating and rejecting my true self. Like 1,000’s of others today, I finally discovered that I can live a wonderfully fulfilling, moral life as an openly gay man and still have my faith.

Anthony Venn-Brown

’Ex-Gay’ Organizations Have Spread Worldwide

’Ex-Gay’ Organizations Have Spread Worldwide

 By Conswella Bennett -

The existence of ex-gay or "reparative therapy" ministries have been around since the 1970’s. Such groups have long been a source of eye rolling in the gay community and are the subject of derision. But the effects of their efforts are very real -- not only in the ruined lives and suicides among gay men and lesbians who have found that it’s no more possible to "cure" being gay than being short or being born in the United States.

No, these groups have not been content to spread their implied message that homosexuality is something worthy of a "cure." They are actively propagating their message and operations abroad operate, where they are busy spreading their propaganda and claims to cure people of their same sex attractions through religion.

Last week, the world was horrified by the brutal murder of one of the Uganda’s best-known LGBT activists, David Kato The murder occurred about two years after an Anti Gay Conference was held in an African nation where being gay is considered a disease, and the only options are being "cured" or incarcerated or murdered. Kato’s death brings home the ugly truths of the international tentacles of the ex-gay movement and its uglier aftermath.

The Family Life Network, a local Ugandan Non Governmental Organization that also included the participation of American evangelicals, organized that Anti Gay Conference. After the conference, an Anti Homosexuality Bill was introduced.

According to the Network for Church Monitoring website, "The Americas who participated were Scott Lively, founder of Abiding Truth Ministries and editor of The Pink Swastika, a work that blames homosexuals for the Holocaust and attempts to link the gay-rights movement to the Nazis; Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International and representing the International Healing Ministries who advocates "curing" homosexuals; and Caleb Lee Brundidge, an African-American who describes himself as a former gay man and leads "healing seminars" that "rehabilitate" homosexuals and lesbians."

Brundidge and Lively advocated keeping homosexuality illegal but proposed giving those convicted the choice of prison or undergoing approved "therapy" to cure them of their gayness. Schmierer took a similar line, telling those in attendance that homosexuals could be converted into heterosexuals," according to the Network for Church Monitoring website.

Kato, who died on Wednesday, Jan. 26, after being beaten in the face and head with a hammer, had served as the advocacy officer with Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). SMUG is a network of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people’s organizations based in Uganda, according to the organization’s website.

According to a message on a Ugandan support group website, Ice Breakers, SMUG came out two years ago urging that the repressive Anti Homosexuality Bill (also known as the "Kill the Gays" bill) be opposed. Acceding to pressure from Western diplomats, the bill "was tabled in Parliament of Uganda on Oct. 14.

In a brief email correspondence with EDGE, a day before Kato’s murder, Pepe Julian Onziema, a fellow activist and friend of Kato spoke of the bill. "Most people think the Anti Homosexuality bill is a non-issue or that it has gone away forever," wrote Onziema. The email interview was unable to be finished because of Kato’s death. The group’s website has been down in the days following the murder.

Reparative Therapy? No, Irreparable Harm
Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, noted that the most disturbing feature of a bill like the Uganda Anti Homosexuality Bill is that, "it makes it a legal requirement to expose any person who is lesbian or gay to the authorities. It shuts down any explorative questioning or their own attempts to address their homosexuality."

The "reparative therapy" groups’ claims have been met with much resistance from gay advocacy groups and mental health organizations. In fact, the whole notion that homosexuality can be cured through therapy has been debunked. That only adds to harm such therapies have on the mental health of young LGBT people, including depression and suicide.

Organizations that claim to cure homosexuality can cause harm to young LGBT youth, Johnson advised. "It silences them, and it makes them afraid," Johnson said of the programs that do not allow the young people to go through a natural process of self-discovery.

According to Johnson, there was a case in Nigeria and elsewhere involving Exodus International where people who thought they were gay or expressed confusion about their sexuality have been beaten, tied up or drowned. (Johnson added that such cases are not exclusive to other nations; they happen in the U.S. as well.)

Exodus International is the world’s largest and best-known ministry to individuals and families impacted by homosexuality. Since 1976, Exodus has grown to include over 240 local ministries in the USA and Canada," according to the group’s website. "We are also linked with other Exodus world regions outside of North America through their Exodus Global Alliance."

Anyone associated with Exodus International, which is based in Orlando, Fla., refused to talk to EDGE for this story.

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization formed by Wayne Besen, who was one of the first and most prominent journalists to counter the claims that homosexuality could be cured. Besen’s describes Exodus International as a worldwide umbrella group for ex-gay organizations with more than 100 affiliated ministries or counselors.

The Orlando-based organization has a $1 million dollar annual budget and 15 staff members, according to Besen. Executive Director Alan Chambers’ tenure is marked by increasing the group’s political lobbying efforts.

Johnson agrees with Besen that there is no truth to the ex gay ministry’s claims to cure homosexuality. "There are any number of ministries in the United States and branches in other parts of the world that portray homosexuality as a mental illness," Johnson said. "They have camps and centers for brainwashing," he added of these organizations tactics. "There is no cure for homosexuality because it’s not a mental illness."

Victim of an International Web of ’Ex-Gay’ Groups

Peterson Toscano, a theatrical performance activist who uses comedy and storytelling to address social justice issues, he knows first hand the failures of ex gay or reparative therapy. On his website, Toscano spoke of undergoing years of reparative therapy through counseling and ex-gay support groups in the US, England and Ecuador. And after undergoing several programs, he came out as gay in January of 1999.

According to his website, "He has worked to undo the damage of gay reparative therapy in his own life, and he also has raised public awareness about the harm that comes from seeking to suppress and change one’s sexuality and gender differences... He spent 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents attempting to change and suppress his same-sex orientation and gender differences."

Recently, the Catholic diocese has also jumped on the bandwagon with their claims of helping people to cope with same-sex attractions.

The Catholic diocese has begun a 12-step program. According to a press release, The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, at the initiative of Bishop Michael Sheridan, is taking steps to begin ministering more effectively to this underserved community:

The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs is borrowing a page from Alcoholics Anonymous by launching a 12-step program that offers pastoral care and support for homosexuals.

"It’s not about therapy and not about activism," said the Rev. Larry Brennan, diocese director of priest formation said in a press release. "It’s about support." The Catholic Church views homosexual relations as a sin, but not homosexual thoughts. It expects those with same-sex attraction to be celibate. The Courage Program has 110 chapters worldwide, including one in Denver, according to its website.

Psychiatry’s View: Two Thumbs Down
But just how valid are these ministries claims to cure same-sex attractions? Dr. Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York, said unfortunately, personal testimony (the usual method of ex-gay claims of success) does not constitute scientific validity (for which no scientific claim can in fact be made).

The American Psychological Association’s came out with a report on the lack of science underneath such claims. According to the report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation, "Researchers and practitioners provide such treatments to those who are distressed by their sexual orientation but not aim to alter their sexual orientation."

"For such individuals, the focus would be the frameworks that include acceptance and support, assessment, active coping, social support and identity exploration, development and integration without prioritizing one outcome over another," the Task Force’s report added.

Although many of theses religious ex-gay ministries have been condemned and are viewed as dangerous and harmful, some of these organizations have been given various perks. Such is the case of the government of Canada giving Exodus Global Alliance, a tax-free pass as a charity in their country.

The website, change.org states, "the Exodus Global Alliance has been registered as a charity with Revenue Canada since 1999, under the official mission of: "Educating and training in dealing with abuse and family issues. Developing ministries to help families and individuals in pain. Teaching church groups, schools and youth. Helping and teaching at conferences."

Sounds like a noble mission, but the Exodus Global Alliance conveniently left off the biggest part of their mission: "curing" homosexuality. According to change.org, in Canada, groups that are registered as charities must prove that they provide a service that benefits the public. Earlier this year, the government of New Zealand actually refused to grant the charity status of the Exodus Ministries Trust Board, under the guise that "curing" homosexuality was hardly in the public’s interest. Exodus Ministries "was not performing any public benefit because homosexuality was not a mental disorder and did not need curing," the New Zealand’s tax authority ruled.

Just a few months ago, Metro Weekly reported that Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) had been listed as an eligible organization in the World Bank’s 2010-2011 Community Connections Campaign, which would give the ’’ex-gay’’ group matching funds provided by the bank for any employee donations given to PFOX through the drive.

For the first time, the World Bank’s 2010-2011 Community Connections Campaign included PFOX immediately above Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) on its list of eligible organizations, a fact confirmed by a World Bank spokesperson.

After Metro Weekly’s Nov. 10 report, Truth Wins Out and Change.org started a petition campaign, concluding the petition by having signatories tell the bank, ’’I urge The World Bank to cease funding or matching gifts for hateful groups like Parents and Friends of Ex-gays.’’ A spokesman initially defended the decision.

But the World Bank eventually relented. On Nov. 15, a memo told employees of a change in the policy that will keep PFOX and 25 similar organizations from getting any more matching funds during this year’s campaign, according to Metro Weekly.