Ex-gay survivor Christine Bakke spoke today at an Ex-Gay Expos?© press conference in Colorado.
When I heard that NARTH planned to hold its annual conference in Denver, I knew I had to come forward today to tell my story. NARTH and Focus on the Family work in unison to spread a message that threatens the healthy development of young people who are gay and lesbian.
Over the years NARTH has developed its faulty theories and anti-gay treatments all under the banner of offering hope and help. Focus on the Family, using its extensive media arm, has disseminated NARTH’ message of “change” to millions of homes; to families much like mine that looked to Focus on the Family for reliable information.
In addition, for the past 10 years Focus has aggressively provided a platform for NARTH leaders and other ex-gay spokespeople to speak to tens of thousands of parents and pastors through an event they call Love Won Out. This day long conference held around the country, and now even overseas, targets people looking for answers.
Sadly, attendees leave with misinformation and false promises. Ministers and parents head back home to pressure the young gay and lesbian people under their care to pursue a treatment that the APA and every major US medical association states is unnecessary and harmful.
Read more at Ms. Bakke’s blog.
What gets me is that every mental and medical health organization says homosexuality is not a mental disorder and is a normal variation of human sexuality. How can people argue with the professionals?
But the really sad thing is that these people are actually believed over the professionals. Not only that, but they keep their clients ignorant of the facts. When I went to a “reparative therapist” to try and become straight, he only mentioned about the American Psychological Association saying that homosexuality was not a mental illness. When I mentioned that I heard of other organizations that also state that homosexuality is not a mental illness, he nervously said, “No they didn’t.”
When I actually printed the sources from the internet and showed them to him all the 10 or so organizations that say that homosexuality is not a mental illness, he nervously said again, “Well I really didn’t know anything about that, I really didn’t. You see how gay activists are so desperate to get people to accept their immoral lifestyle? They even convinced the most respected mental health organizations to promote acceptance of it!”
The “reparative therapists” really need to get off the professional’s turf!
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