I’ve disagreed several times with ex-gay blogger Karen Keen, who seemed a bit too unskeptical of obvious wrongdoing by certain Exodus International leaders and ministries, a wee bit too tolerant of harm done to most former ex-gays for the supposed benefit of a few.

However, I give Keen credit for not only acknowledging, but also agreeing with, key concerns about Exodus International’s keynote role last week in a Uganda antigay conference.

Keen writes at length about the conference and Exodus’ responsibilities. I encourage readers to view Keen’s entire article; here are some excerpts. (Read More)

Queerty warns readers of 76-year-old Lambert Dolphin, an ex-gay activist who trolls young-adult dating sites in search of young men.

The overt purpose is proselytization, not sex, but his obsession with the men-under-24 age group is cause for alarm. Young men who have been contacted by Dolphin say they’re “terrified.” Dolphin’s website parrots standard reparative-therapy rubbish about young gay men needing father figures rather than healthy and honest relationships with people their own age. Such rationales are the product, sometimes, not of reputable therapeutic insight, but of emotionally unwell ex-gays who project their own disturbance onto others, who require reputable and professional therapy — and who should not be encouraged to inflict their unhealthy issues upon innocent strangers with an air of phony authority.

Dolphin has not responded to Queerty’s requests for comment.

It’s unfortunate that some Exodus International leaders continue to idolize such father-figure hogwash; that the organization makes no effort whatsoever to police the ex-gay “counseling” industry by offering public standards of conduct; that Exodus’ Love In Action program had a history of mingling sexually-disturbed middle-aged adults with teen-age men; and that Exodus continues to oppose an ex-gay patient’s bill of rights.

Timothy Kincaid of Box Turtle Bulletin finds that the leader of last week’s antigay Ugandan antigay conference, which was co-keynoted by Exodus International board member Don Schmierer, is using Ugandan media to spread anger and fear in Uganda with unsubstantiated smears equating opponents of draconian antigay laws with pedophiles.

According to one such media report:

Family Life Network and other stakeholders last week organized a seminar and series of meetings on the subject of homosexuality. The Executive Director of Family Life Network Stephen Langa, participants received shocking and worrying revelations about the level of defilement and recruitment of school boys and girls into homosexuality and lesbianism.

Langa says in a statementhttp://www.truthwinsout.org/wp-admin/edit.php that some parents asked if there is any safe school in Uganda, given the level of immorality and organized rackets in schools. According to the statement from the workshop, the information available indicates that both day schools and boarding schools are affected by this vice.

The antigay Ugandan media have thus far failed to demand that Langa substantiate his accusation, nor have they independently investigated the conditions in schools. Homosexuality is punishable in Uganda with life imprisonment, and extrajudicial mob executions have been reported by human rights observers. The killings are motivated by anger generated by defamatory media reports such as this one.

Langa is spearheading a March 15 meeting that will announce a campaign to “wipe out” homosexuality in Uganda.

Read more at Box Turtle Bulletin.

Addendum: The Southern Poverty Law Center has been monitoring Uganda’s historically violent antigay campaigns — and U.S. ex-gay leaders’ support of the latest such campaign.

Press Release, March 12, 2009
South African Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

SA GLAAD hereby expresses its solidarity and support for American GLBT advocacy groups who yesterday berated the anti-gay group Exodus International for its public involvement and support of those who are responsible for vigilante violence and state-sanctioned persecution of gays, lesbians and trans people in Uganda.

SA GLAAD wholeheartedly supports the initiative of the coalition of Truth Wins Out (TWO), Ex-Gay Watch, and Box Turtle Bulletin in their confrontation of these homophobic groups — and in particular Exodus International which is the largest homophobic anti-GLBT US group.

For a decade or longer, GLBT refugees have been fleeing Uganda to escape violence and persecution. Police arrest and torture suspected GLBT and activists fear for their lives. The mistaken belief that gay people “recruit” is widespread in Uganda. Tabloid newspapers regularly publish pictures of suspected GLBT with details allowing people to identify them and even to target them. Rampant religious fundamentalism is seen to lie at the root of this problem.
(Read More)

It is clear that Exodus’ Alan Chambers is unlikely to resign without pressure, following the group’s participation in a hate conference in Uganda last week. Today, Truth Wins Out contacted every Exodus-affiliated ministry in the world with the following letter. We hope they will do what is moral and just and relieve Mr. Chambers of his duties as the group’s president. Here is a copy of TWO’s letter:

March 12, 2009

Dear Exodus Ministry Leader:

While there is much we do not agree on, I think we can concur that human rights abuses are wrong and always unacceptable. Yesterday, I joined Ex-Gay Watch and Box Turtle Bulletin in a letter calling on the Exodus Board of Directors to dismiss its President, Alan Chambers. We also called on Exodus to prematurely end the board term of Don Schmierer.

We did so after Chambers allowed Exodus’ brand to be used at a conference last week in Uganda that promoted forced ex-gay therapy and life imprisonment for homosexuals. A new Ugandan organization was even created to “wipe out” homosexual practices. Scott Lively, a Holocaust revisionist, headlined the symposium.

Exodus Board member Don Schmierer spoke at this heinous event and Exodus’ President Alan Chambers approved his appearance. The meeting has received worldwide condemnation, even by some ex-gay leaders and therapists.

I am respectfully asking you to join me in calling for the resignation of Mr. Chambers. He has clearly taken your organization in a shameful and unsavory direction that threatens the reputation and credibility of all such programs.

Please review the facts — then follow your heart and conscience. If you believe Exodus needs to take a fresh path, please express yourself by contacting Bob Ragan, chair of the Exodus Board of Directors, at regeneration.bob@juno.com (410) 661-0284.

Incarcerating gay people for life, forced ex-gay therapy, Holocaust revisionism, and human rights abuses.

Surely, this is not what you signed up for when you got involved in Exodus International. Certainly, this is not the type of activity that you would want your good name and religion associated with. Please take action to restore a sense of dignity and morality to Exodus before it is too late.

The world is watching.

Sincerely,

Wayne Besen
Executive Director
Truth Wins Out

I think that this is a good test whether these leaders answer to God or Exodus’ Alan Chambers and Randy Thomas.

Watchdog Groups Demand “Ex-Gay’ Organization Dismiss Leader, Alan Chambers, After Exodus International Participates In Ugandan Anti-Gay Hate Conference

Exodus Under Fire After Group Remains Silent As Speakers At Ugandan Event Seek To “Wipe Out’ Homosexuality And Imprison Gays

NEW YORK — The three leading watchdog organizations that monitor “ex-gay” ministries today called on the largest such group, Exodus International, to fire its leader, Alan Chambers. The coalition charged in a letter to Bob Ragan, chair of the Exodus Board of Directors, that Chambers allowed the organization to be used and give credibility to a conference that promoted human rights abuses against gay and lesbian people.

Representatives from Ex-Gay Watch, Box Turtle Bulletin and Truth Wins Out signed the letter, which stated:

“We, the undersigned organizations, have monitored the ex-gay industry for more than a decade. To our great horror, prominent members of the ex-gay organization Exodus International participated last week in a conference in Uganda that promoted shocking abuses of basic human rights. This included draconian measures against gay and lesbian people such as forced ex-gay therapy, life imprisonment for people convicted of homosexuality and the formation of an organization designed to ‘wipe out’ gay practices in Uganda. The conference also featured Scott Lively, a holocaust revisionist who at the event also blamed the 1994 Rwandan genocide on gay people.”

“Alan Chambers has shown a serious lack of leadership by allowing Exodus to become part of such a horrible event,” said David Roberts, Editor of Ex-Gay Watch. “The participation of board member Don Schmierer in the Ugandan anti-gay conference undermines any credibility they may have had, and puts them right in the middle of serious human rights abuses. What on earth were they thinking?”

“I’m outraged that Don Schmierer used his position with Exodus to legitimize calls for further criminalizing and forced “therapy’ for gays and lesbians,” said Jim Burroway, founder and editor of Box Turtle Bulletin. “Exodus’ failure to speak out against the conference’s recommendations and denounce the Holocaust revisionism of Scott Lively is inexcusable. Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable.”

“Exodus has turned a deaf ear to the violence committed against Ugandan sexual minorities,” said Truth Wins Out’ News Director, Mike Airhart. “Worse, it stood in public solidarity with those who are responsible for vigilante violence and state-sanctioned denial of freedom.”
“Alan Chambers has consistently taken Exodus International in unsavory directions that have brought great shame on the organization,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “Exodus’ participation in the Ugandan conference only confirms that it is time he is removed from his position of leadership.”

The coalition’ letter went on to say:

“The facts incontrovertibly show that Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, was aware of the list of speakers and abhorrent content prior to the conference. Exodus board member Don Schmierer, who spoke in Uganda, made no objections to the radical and dangerous platform offered. Instead, these mortal threats to the lives of gay and lesbian people were met with a deafening silence. Exodus, in effect, gave this insidious conference its tacit approval.”

The coalition also called on Exodus to take the following steps:

• Remove Board member Don Schmierer for speaking at a hate conference that promotes physical harm and psychological torture against GLBT people
‚Ä¢ Boldly articulate Exodus’ policy against human rights abuses including forced therapy
• Promise to end future participation in all conferences that call on the persecution and criminalization of gay and lesbian people
Ex-Gay Watch is a group of writers who monitor the actions of ex-gay organizations. The result of this work appears at exgaywatch.com where civil debate and comment are welcome.

Box Turtle Bulletin is an online watchdog effort by a group of writers who specialize in news, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric. It is available at www.boxturtlebulletin.com

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from anti-gay lies. TWO also counters the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life. More information can be found at www.TruthWinsOut.org.

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We, the undersigned organizations, have monitored the ex-gay industry for more than a decade. To our great horror, prominent members of the ex-gay organization Exodus International participated last week in a conference in Uganda that promoted shocking abuses of basic human rights. This included draconian measures against gay and lesbian people such as forced ex-gay therapy, life imprisonment for people convicted of homosexuality and the formation of an organization designed to “wipe out” gay practices in Uganda. The conference also featured Scott Lively, a holocaust revisionist who at the event also blamed the 1994 Rwandan genocide on gay people.

The facts incontrovertibly show that Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, was aware of the list of speakers and abhorrent content prior to the conference. Exodus board member Don Schmierer, who spoke in Uganda, made no objections to the radical and dangerous platform offered. Instead, these mortal threats to the lives of gay and lesbian people were met with a deafening silence. Exodus, in effect, gave this insidious conference its tacit approval.

Today, we take the unprecedented step of joining together to demand that Exodus International’s Board of Directors take immediate action to hold accountable those who used the Exodus brand to promote an atmosphere conducive to serious human rights abuses. The accountability must begin with reasonable and responsible action by Board Chair Bob Ragan, including:

• Dismissing Exodus President Alan Chambers for his knowing role in using Exodus to promote human rights abuses
• Removing Board member Don Schmierer for speaking at a hate conference that promotes physical harm and psychological torture against GLBT people
• Boldly articulating Exodus’ policy against human rights abuses including forced therapy
• Promising to end future participation in all conferences that call on the persecution and criminalization of gay and lesbian people

We do not take this call to action lightly. These steps are necessary and commensurate with the massive breach of ethics and trust by the Exodus leadership. Clearly, Exodus has lost credibility and its claim to “love” gay people in the aftermath of Uganda seems duplicitous and insincere. As long as Chambers and Schmierer remain at Exodus, the organization is hopelessly compromised and even complicit in grave human rights abuses. It is time for the Exodus Board, led by Bob Ragan, to assert its moral authority by appointing new leadership and taking the organization in a more humane and principled direction.

Sincerely,

Jim Burroway Box Turtle Bulletin	David Roberts Ex-Gay Watch
Wayne Besen Truth Wins Out	Mike Airhart Truth Wins Out

---

The documentation implicating Exodus leaders for their participation at a hate conference in Uganda is robust and powerful. Most important, it is guided by indisputable facts:

The Case

Don Schmierer is a member of the board of directors for Exodus International. Last weekend, he used those credentials while speaking at an anti-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda alongside noted Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively. Those credentials as a leader of American’s largest and most influential ex-gay organization gave Schmierer the ability to speak authoritatively about the policies and ethics of sexual reorientation therapy. And more broadly, his presence as a leader of Exodus International lent credibility to the other speakers at the conference and the policy recommendations that emerged.

And so with Exodus International’s prestige fully utilized, we were outraged to discover that the conference was a forum for some of the most despicable statements and recommendations we have ever come across. During this conference we heard:

• Gays blamed for the rise of Nazism in Germany. According to one eyewitness, Lively spoke extensively about his revisionist version of Nazi history, based on his book, The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party. In that book and in speeches, he claims that Nazi movement was, at its core, a homosexual movement. Despite the historical record to the contrary, Lively blames gays for the rise of Nazism and for the Holocaust itself, and claims that “the connection between homosexualism and fascism is not incidental.”
• Gays blamed for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Lively often claims that wherever gays gain the upper hand, they unleash a murderous rampage on innocent populations. In The Pink Swastika, Lively claims that “homosexuals are responsible for 68% of all mass murders in America.” According to one eyewitness at the Kampala conference, he extended that charge by blaming gay men for the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda, which borders Uganda just to the south.
• Gays blamed for recruiting/molesting children. In line with a common slander deployed by Ugandan anti-gay extremists in recent campaigns of anti-gay vigilantism and violence, Lively claimed that the gay rights movement consists of an entire network trying to recruit young children, including “predatory homosexuals who are always out to satisfy their sexual desires.”
• Parents blamed for their children’s homosexuality. Don Schmierer presented his contradictory list of fourteen “signs that an adolescent may be struggling with gender issues.” But his focus appeared to have been on one suggested cause: it’s the parent’s fault. One eyewitness said, “He told participants that one of the biggest causes of homosexuality is the lack of “good upbringing” in families. In other words, good parents make straight children; bad parents, gay children.
• Calls for new laws enacted in Uganda to require that those convicted of homosexuality be forced to undergo sexual reorientation therapy. The law in Uganda currently calls for a life sentence upon conviction for homosexuality. As far as we have been able to tell, no one at the conference called for decriminalization of homosexuality, nor a reduction in the current penalties. Instead, there were calls to strengthen the law to add the requirement that convicted gays be forced to endure unregulated and unproven therapies, under duress and against their will.
• Announcement of a new organization designed to “‘wipe out’ gay practices” in Uganda. It is unclear what form or tactics this new organization will take, but another follow-up meeting was called for March 15. Our fear is that this will lead to another round of officially sanctioned extrajudicial anti-gay vigilantism, with Ugandan media — as they did in previous campaigns — publicly identifying private LGBT citizens and calling for their arrest or worse.

Given Uganda’s recent history, this is no idle fear. There were at least three successive public anti-gay campaigns in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In the most recent campaign, government-affiliated newspapers published articles identifying specific individuals with physical descriptions, addresses, places of employment — even photos — of those targeted, making them easily identifiable to neighbors, family members, employers, and the police.

Watching this unfold with the active participation of an Exodus board member has left us concerned with the direction that Exodus is taking. Some of us contacted Exodus president Alan Chambers on Friday, February 27 to raise our concerns about Schmierer’s participation alongside a Holocaust revisionist at this conference. We did this even though we do not believe it is the responsibility of Exodus’ critics to inform Exodus about the activities of an Exodus leader.

Chambers is not just the President of Exodus International, he’s also a fellow board member with Don Schmierer. He, along with board chairman Bob Ragan, had plenty of time to contact Schmierer to demand that he withdraw from the conference. (They do have cell phones, SMS text messages and email in Uganda, especially at the luxurious four-star Hotel Triangle in Kampala where the conference took place.) Chambers also had plenty of time of time to publicly articulate Exodus’ policy on forced conversions and criminalization of homosexuality, two subjects which are not new to the controversies surrounding ex-gay ministries. And he had plenty of time to clarify Exodus’ position on Scott Lively’s Holocaust revisionism and to denounce Lively’s dangerous rhetoric. But in all of this, Chambers has remained silent.

Don Schmierer, as a board member — and as one who was identified at the conference under those very credentials — could have spoken out against the excesses of anti-gay violence that has marked Uganda’s history. He could have spoken out against criminalization of homosexuality and denounced the policy recommendation of forced conversion therapy against the will of the individual being “treated.” Schmierer could have denounced Lively’s rabid anti-gay extremism, historical revisionism, and dangerous scapegoating. But in all of this, Schmierer has remained silent.

And the board, particularly Board Chairman Bob Ragan, could have exercised its oversight responsibility to ensure that Exodus’ name and reputation remain unsullied by its association with Scott Lively and the Uganda conference.

Exodus serves as an umbrella organization of some two hundred ex-gay ministries, each of which, according to Exodus, is “an independent organization which has met Exodus’ criteria for membership.” If Exodus is unable to regulate the actions of its own board member, how can we expect Exodus to monitor the practices and qualifications of their member ministries?

Despite informing Exodus of our concerns on February 27, they have remained silent on Schmierer’s association with Scott Lively, as well as their own links to him. And with the passage of each day, as we’ve received more reports about the conference, our concerns have grown to outrage.

It is not the first time forced therapy has become an issue with Exodus International. This issue was raised in 2005 when “Zach”, a 16-year-old gay teen, was forced against his will to attend an eight-week ex-gay therapy program at Exodus-affiliated Love In Action in Memphis. That same year, another father drove his 17-year-old son to Love In Action in handcuffs. Despite all this, Love In Action remains one of Exodus’ most prominent member ministries. Today, the calls for enshrining forced therapy into Ugandan law has been met with silence at Exodus. We call upon Exodus once and for all to address the morality of forcing people into unregulated and unproven therapies against their will.

Laws banning private consensual relationships between adult same-sex couples are no longer in force in the United States. While this is settled law in this country, it is not a settled position among most anti-LGBT organizations. Furthermore, criminalization of private, consensual relationships remain a reality in many countries throughout the world, many of which provide harsh, draconian penalties upon conviction. As Exodus International engages in ex-gay movements around the world, we call upon Exodus once and for all to address the morality of punishing private adult consensual relationships.

Because of Schmierer’s actions, Exodus International will bear responsibility for any renewed convulsions of violence that may arise in the aftermath of this conference. Given the highly volatile history of anti-LGBT vigilantism in Uganda, we find Schmierer’s actions there appallingly reckless and irresponsible. Lives and the well being of many Ugandans may well be at stake in the weeks and months to come. Because of the danger that Schmierer’s actions may pose to citizens of that volatile nation, we call upon the Board of Directors of Exodus International to remove Don Schmierer from the Board of Directors.

Scott Lively, along with another of Alan Chambers’ “good friends”, Seattle pastor Ken Hutcherson, is a co-founder of Watchmen On the Walls, one of twelve anti-gay hate groups identified and tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Incidentally, Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries is also listed by the SPLC as a hate group. While speaking at a Watchmen conference in Novosibirsk, Russia, in 2007, Lively excused the murder of Satendar Singh, a gay immigrant from Fiji who was killed in an anti-gay hate crime in Sacramento. We call upon the Board of Directors of Exodus International to resolutely and unambiguously denounce Scott Lively’s dangerous rhetoric. We further call upon the Board to end future participation in all conferences that call on the persecution and criminalization of gay and lesbian people.

It is clear that that Exodus under the leadership of Alan Chambers has failed to live up to its claim of challenging “those who respond to homosexuals with ignorance and fear.” The Board must take swift action and remove Chambers as its leader. If the Exodus Board fails to act, it bears culpability and full responsibility for creating a climate where hate crimes can and do occur both at home and abroad.

A prominent board member of the “ex-gay” group Exodus International spoke at a conference in Uganda last week, where activists vowed to “wipe out” homosexuality through police action, forced re-education, life imprisonment, and vigilantism.

Exodus President Alan Chambers (pictured) enabled the hate by doing nothing to stop the conference. The following is a timeline of the call for human rights abuses that took place on Chambers’ watch.
(Read More)

For 30 years, Focus on the Family and its offshoot, the Family Research Council, have acted to erode public approval and participation in Christian churches through cultural and religious warfare against Americans — including warfare against members of their own conservative churches.

Focus on the Family and FRC on Monday accused their former church members of “an absence of morality and religion.”

Focus and FRC were responding to the release of the American Religious Identification Survey by Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. The survey found that the percentage of Americans claiming no religion has nearly doubled to 15 percent since 1990.

While Focus looked for bogeymen to blame, a more objective and reputable news source, Beliefnet, offers the following insights into the nature of America’s changing attitudes toward religion:

• Evangelicals for years could mock mainliners for their lethargic growth numbers. It’s more complicated than that. Baptists, the largest evangelical denomination, dropped from 19.3% in 1990 to 15.8%. What has grown is the group called “non-denominational Christian,” often associated with megachurches which grew from 200,000 people in 1990 to 8 million today — from 5% of the population in 1990 to 11.8% in 2008.
• The Muslim slice of the population has grown from 0.3% in 1990 to 0.6% now.
• Only 1.6% call themselves atheist or agnostic, though ARIS concludes that based on their beliefs 12% are either atheist or agnostic. 27% expect that when they die, they won’t have a religious service.
• 12% of the population believe in a higher power but not a personal God.
• Still, from 2001 to 2008, the percentage of the population that’s Christian remained stable at 76%. 34% now call thesmelves “Born Again or Evangelical Christians.”
• 82% say they believe in God.
• Best educated faiths (% of college graduates): Muslim, Other Religins, Eastern Religions, Jews, Mormons and Mainline Christian.
• Least educated: Pentecostal, Baptist, “Protestant Denominations”

(Photo credit Michael Allen Jones, mjones@sacbee.com)

For much of Jacques Whitfield’s 11-year marriage (pictured) he maintained a parallel life. He cheated on his wife and, he said, cheated himself. Now he has come out and is happy. This is a tale of why the closet and so-called “ex-gay” organizations are harmful to gay people and their families.

Even with countless stories, such as this, “ex-gay” programs continue to promote doomed marriages. This is because they care more about politics than people. They hold inflexible lies above real lives. The damage is all around, yet groups like Exodus, Focus on the Family and NARTH are too blinded by their flawed Biblical interpretations to see. They do so much wrong in the name of right, incredible harm in the guise of hope, with a staggering price on individuals and society.

Will they ever learn? Or, will their fanaticism make them immune from the facts?