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Former leaders of "ex-gay" ministry apologize

gewhite3

gewhite3

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Source Link: http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid46942.asp

Advocate.com

Former leaders of "ex-gay" ministry apologize for "bringing harm"


Three former leaders of a ministry that counsels gays to change their sexual orientation have apologized, saying that although they acted sincerely, their message caused isolation, shame, and fear.

The former leaders of the interdenominational Christian organization Exodus International said Wednesday they had become disillusioned with promoting gay "conversion."

''Some who heard our message were compelled to try to change an integral part of themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families,'' the three said in a statement released outside the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

The statement was from former Exodus cofounder Michael Bussee, who left the group in 1979; Jeremy Marks, former president of Exodus International Europe; and Darlene Bogle, founder of Paraklete Ministries, an Exodus referral agency.

The statement coincided with the opening of Exodus's annual conference, which is being held this week at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif.

Current Exodus president, Alan Chambers, said the ministry's methods have helped many people, including himself.

''Exodus is here for people who want an alternative to homosexuality,'' Chambers said by phone. ''There are thousands of people like me who have overcome this. I think there's room for more than one opinion on this subject, and giving people options isn't dangerous.'

Founded in 1976, the Orlando, Fla.–based Exodus has grown to include more than 120 ministries in the United States and Canada and over 150 ministries overseas. It promotes ''freedom from homosexuality'' through prayer, counseling, and group therapy. (AP)
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It took them a long time to admit it, but at least they have finally come around.
 
I haven't heard that one but I'm going to do some research. I like to keep up with what these anti-gay groups are up to.
 
The three that are apologizing aren't with Exodus any longer. It's well known that Michael Bussee, an original co-founder of Exodus, left the organization in 1979 to have a committment ceremony with his partner, Gary Cooper, who was also with Exodus. Funny how the very thing they were promoting turned against them because they realized that they couldn't change.
 
The apology reveals a significant flaw in "gay conversion ministries" that most of us already know about. Denying your sexuality can cause severe problems. Gay men who go to these ex-gay ministries are victims of mental torture. I'm sorry to say that the United State's homophobic stance provides a fertile ground for such groups.
 
I'm sorry! :(

They can take their apology and stick it up their asses.

Ex-Gay Ministries promote Homophobia and self-hatred. They do nothing to cure it!

Here's what Homophobia does:

I am the boy who never finished high school, because I got called a fag everyday

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the woman who died when the EMTs stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didnt have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends I'm a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them.

I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to "teach me a lesson"
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Ex-Gay Ministries aren't for people who "want an alternative to homosexuality." Ex-Gay Ministries are for people and families who dont' want to DEAL with homosexuality! :mad:

So, to me, some lame ass apology isn't anywhere near good enough!

They should stand against such bullshit, and work against it! To shut everyone of those fucking so called "ministries" down! :grrr:
 
They can all fuck off. I hope they choke on their too-late appology and I hope that the countless lives they've ruined haunt them until they die.

Horrible, dispicable people.. this "applogy" comes 30 years too late... it should have come before the damage was done.

I'm sure they'll now write books and make MORE money off the hurt they've caused.
 
(where the fuck did I put that tazer)

- Exit Jasun singing "I dont' wanna hear, I don't wanna know.. please don't say forgive me, I've heard it all before, and I can take care of myself.."
 


(and, no, I don't accept their appology and I never will. Not until they kill themselves and follow the people they made go before them. Even then I'll just say "good.")
 
Why can't the mainstream media have articles like this denouncing the "ex-gay" movement as a fraud? That's what gets me. You only see stuff like this on gay sites.
 
Honestly?

Because most straight people - no matter how suportive they may seem - really wish we could be cured.
 
Soilwork said:
Honestly?

Because most straight people - no matter how suportive they may seem - really wish we could be cured.
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I would agree with this. As wonderful as it is when a parent 'accepts' the sexuality of their gay child, how many of them would rather they were straight? All, I bet. They can argue that life is easier if you are straight (and that may be true), but really I think it is all about shame.

Where I have to disagree with you, Soilwork, is in your anger toward these people seeking forgiveness. Personally, I have never let any of them bother me, either as an Exodus member or ex-Exodus member. Have they caused harms to others in their beliefs? Obviously, but lots of people hurt us along life's way. Are we going to hate all of them for life? I'm not going to waste energy being angry at them...they are nothing to me.
I think that by the time we are adults, we owe it to ourselves and those we love, to settle the issue of who we are, including our sexual identity. We can't spend our lives being effected by others beliefs...we need our own and we need to cling to them. Each person's struggle is their own and may require different amounts of time to fight them, but in the end, the struggles are ours and we alone are responsible to win them. We can't afford to let others destroy us.
 
Oh I'm not letting them destroy me.

If they want absolution, they're going to have to do it without me.

I dont' hate them. But I don't think they've suffered enough for their misdeed and I'm not sure they ever will. I never will forgive them for all the pain they've caused.

But to be honest, I dobut they care.

I'm sure they're just doing this to hype the book they're writing next month or something.
 
Coming soon: their new ex-ex-ex-gay ministry. To help ex-gays who then went back to homosexuality embrace the ex-gay lifestyle that they turned their backs on.

Lex
 
I think if they are genuinely sorry, they should just keep their mouths shut and certainly never write a book, but we all know that they will be welcomed into the gay community with open arms, like the former governor of New Jersey....the gay American. :rolleyes:
 
Their apology is like a person murdering someone and apologzing afterwards. Too little, too late. God knows how many lives they've ruined, both gays and the women many of them married when they were "cured".
 
Three former leaders of a ministry that counsels gays to change their sexual orientation have apologized, saying that although they acted sincerely, their message caused isolation, shame, and fear.
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They left out suicide, murder, hatred, child abuse, broken homes, broken families, homophobia and anti-gay laws (hey... they CHOSE to be gay, so they don't deserve rights).

So nice for them to say they were sorry.

I'm not sure why this is bugging me so much. Maybe I'm not a good enough Christian that I can't just love the sinner. I sitll want them to choke on their fucking appology.

(and isn't it nice of them to do it at the Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood? If they had any courage, they'd truck it down to Orange County and do it in Irvine where all the Exodus people are spewing their Christianazi propaganda. But no.. they still have no spines.)
 
While I would require seven years to forgive them, let us not overlook the tremendous value that this apology could have. It can be used to help combat the mindless ignorance of many people who have viewed Exodus as a legitimate program.

By making a public statement, they can hopefully help mitigate future harm.

I also wish they'd had the balls to go to Orange County, or to appear on CNN or FOX or Larry King or in the Senate, but we take what we get. In some ways, it took more courage for them to do it in front of many of the people who may have been harmed by their 'work'.
 
Well, the apology does something. It begins the public dialogue on why the Exodus program is just a fake hope. It discredits them and will probably serve as a milestone towards their eventual abandonment. In a way, that's a good thing. What the LBGT community needs to do now is make it aware, loudly to those who may be tempted to use Exodus that its a bad idea. Many closetted boys/men and girls/women, or their families who are deciding to embark on the so called ex-gay program need to know, your sexuality is part of you, and denying it can only make you unhappy.

Then, you can work on the lies about homosexuality and the mythmakers who preach the hate based on such lies.
 
problem is that their appology doesn't really spell out "Gay conversion doesn't work."

And it opened the door for the Queen Ex-gay to say "We give people options... isn't that a good thing?" IT makes most people in middle America shake their heads in agreement and say "Yes... options are good."

This could do even more harm.

Where are those holes that open up in the ground and swallow you when you need them?
 
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